As the hexbear cadre becomes dug in for the protracted people’s posting war I find myself reflecting on what makes Hexbear a great place. IMO there are a lot of things; our trans comrades (who we love unconditionally), a pig w/ poop on it’s balls, a dope ass bear. But I think it’s you scattered few that really help maintain that special hexbear vibe that we all appreciate.
I, like the majority of users here, would not describe myself as an Anarchist. But an opinion I often see and one I tend to agree with is that we cannot and should not ignore the tactical contributions of past anarchist struggles. Even further, I read a very thought provoking comment somewhere the other day (can’t remember who made it) that as ecological conditions deteriorate to below the level of stability necessary to maintain a state, anarchist theory could become more relevant and important to grapple with. I found that idea to be very thought provoking.
But what I’m really getting at here is that I appreciate the ideological diversity you precious few contribute. Here’s the thing; I think the magic ingredient for any enjoyable social media experience is a certain level of friction. Echo chambers are genuinely boring. Thank you for your contributions here.
Don’t be afraid to generate some friction because the struggle that generates sharpens all of us. My liberal ass is proud to be here in the posting trenches with you folks.
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I think the reason I still consider myself an anarchist is that my primary competence is software design. So I believe a lot of my worth to the current working class movement is in leveraging technology to make non-hierarchical methods of self-organization more scalable. So much organizational communication is set up as-is to make up for the mistakes that happen when humans are doing work that’s very formal and precise and their main modes of communication involve extensive use of natural language. Corporations have known for years that project planning tech can help increase productivity and reduce managerial overhead. The only issue is that it also acts as a force multiplier for the bourgeoisie and allows them to cement even more levels of hierarchy while still retaining a steering wheel that’s still functional for them.
I think this, and also the observation that large systems tend to scale better when their constituent systems are decoupled and allowed to run independently, are the things which have kept me at the task of reducing hierarchy in leftist circles.
Hey that’s really interesting thanks for sharing! I think what keeps me essentially an ML is always my belief that a non hierarchical society cannot adequately defend itself against an organized hierarchical state.
That being said I am open to the notion that the cynicism inherent to that belief may limit the scope of my imagination. Who knows, these are aesthetic differentiations anyway insofar as there is any praxis is attached to them.
It is interesting to imagine how technology can be a force multiplier for left wing movements. Again, I tend to err on the side of the cynical. But it has been heartening to see the combatting of liberalism that has been happening since federation. It does certainly make me wonder what kind of valence this platform or something similar could have as an organizational tool IRL.
Unfortunately, I think you need some state apparatus to combat the colossus that is a global capital empire. Asymmetrical warfare during an occupation is one thing, but actually being able to prevent an occupation is another entirely.
But, I’m a firm believer that the extent to which state apparatus must be completely hierarchical and quick to calcify power can be reduced through technology. I think that, in the same way it would be difficult to look at at MS-DOS and imagine Windows 11, it is difficult to look at software like loomio and imagine LibreSyn or whatever. But that dynamic didn’t stop Bell Labs from inventing half this shit decades before it was practical to produce. It didn’t stop Alan Kay from drawing a goddamn iPad in 1968.
There’s good, fresh, groundbreaking work to be done here. Interdisciplinary work that spans the full gamut of tech and organizing and sociology and cybernetics and distributed ratio networks and trustless proofs and modern group encryption algorithms and the list goes on.
Thank you, comrade. Happy to be posting beside you!
Happy to generate some friction for your liberal ass
I’m an ML but anarchist comrades are fucking awesome. FULL STOP!!!
I’m not asking anyone to give up on having a leader. I’m just saying that “leadership” is itself a contrived concept and largely a product of bourgeois society.
Even if I don’t have a firm confidence in a vanguard party, I think that vanguard parties would make themselves more resilient by not revolving around one figurehead as an anchor and potential choke point.
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Dibs on being the Lance of this Elite Four.
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I call being Rika, Rika is gender
So that’s what the 4 means in the trot logo, they were right all along
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Even further, I read a very thought provoking comment somewhere the other day (can’t remember who made it) that as ecological conditions deteriorate to below the level of stability necessary to maintain a state, anarchist theory could become more relevant and important to grapple with.
I found that idea to be very thought provoking.
Thought provoking? This is going to live rent free in my head for the rest of my life! So about 30 more years before I probably see it begin to happen before my very own eyes.
Good post though.
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- to our anarchist comrades
when thinking about western revolutionary potential vs non-western, I’ve increasingly been grappling with the idea that the anarchists might actually have better tactics than us (MLs) in the West. Though MLs would hypothetically be a greater threat, their organization into groups and parties in the way that they do them makes them vulnerable to western surveillance and infiltration and so can be destroyed, the last century has been pretty demonstrative of the potential of MLism outside the West, but in the West it’s been a pretty obvious failure. so anarchist techniques applied effectively might be superior in the coming years. idk, I’m probably gonna start getting through the Anarchist FAQ and relevant literature in the near-to-medium future and see what I learn.
You should look into the anti-fur campaign in the PNW in the 90s, as well as the efforts to defend the Redwoods. IMO, those are two really big wins for anarchist-style organizing in the West.
And of course the IWW, including its descendant unions like the ILWU and certain locals of the UMW.
I’m sad I found this post so late because this is exactly what my line has been for a long time regarding western anarchists, and why they are so frustrating. I see our potential but it can only grow when we reign in the constant focus in online spaces on “tankies” who have literally never held any meaningful power in the imperial core and many of my comrades are socialists who I am fairly certain have no impending intent nor the power to do any sort of Soviet style purges. And lastly they have no reason to because there is no revolution to betray at this juncture and frankly assuming the same exact beefs from 100 years ago will play out exactly the same despite vastly differing material conditions is ironically anti-materialist, and this goes for MLs and Maoists too.
We have to get our shit together before any of that can even possibly become a cause for concern again. TLDR touch grass and do work, we’ll figure it out as we go along and as material conditions continue to deteriorate, but right now our responsibility is to offer a clear alternative that isn’t just genocide.
Left unity posting always warms my heart
as ecological conditions deteriorate to below the level of stability necessary to maintain a state, anarchist theory could become more relevant and important to grapple with.
That may have been me, I also simultaneously understand that on the other side of the coin, we are running out of time and while I would love to be able to patiently help build the world we all want to see by building community solidarity and providing mutual aid for people undertaking direct action we are also running out of time and more “authoritarian” measures need to be considered just to keep the world livable.
Also that take applies mainly to the imperial core, wherein the formation of a real vanguard seems like a far off fantasy at this point and more immediate forms of praxis and decentralized organization and networks might be advantageous and even necessary to prevent more people from falling into the arms of reactionaries.
These threads get sadder and sadder every time. You’ve got like 3 anarchists here who have been around, a few new accounts, and at least one pretender. Next time I wouldn’t be surprised if you can count them on one hand.
Yeah, the anarchist situation on Hexbear seems pretty dire, only one post on this com in the past week. What happened?
