MEANDER QUARTERLY Newsletter of Evolutionary Anarchists @Liberty, Equality, Cooperation, Respect for Nature@ Vol. 5, No. 3 November 1993 Please send all newsletter correspondence, material for publication, donations, and address changes to: Ed Stamm, PO Box 1402, Lawrence KS 66044 USA. Note: If you have a long essay or letter, if possible send it to me on a 5 1/4" floppy disk saved as ASCII text. I will return your disk. *** Correction: The first letter which appeared in V5N2 (which discussed Kropotkin and anarchist economics) was from Miekael Cardell. *** ANNOUNCEMENTS MARCH ON WASHINGTON FOR LEONARD PELTIER November 21, 1993. For more information, write LPDC, PO Box 853, Lawrence KS 66044 or phone (913) 842-5774. (from "Bayou La Rose") ELECTRONIC ARCHIVE - CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS Spunk Press is an independent publishing organization started at the end of 1992 by a few individuals, and run via a mailing list....We want to archive scanned in, typed in or posted alternative and anarchistic material as well as distribute and encourage the production of such material on-line. Anything anarchistic, alternative, underground or fringe scientific will fit into the Spunk Press archive....If you want to take a look at the archive....you can peek into: RED.CSS.ITD.UMICH.EDU under: PUB/POLITICS/SPUNK If you're on the Internet (and you want to have something added to the archive) you can write to the Spunk Press editorial collective at: SPUNK-LIST @ LYSATOR.LIU.SE If you have no way of reaching the Internet, via mail bridges or other ways, you can write to: Spunk Press, c/o Practical Anarchy, PO Box 173, Madison WI 53701-0173 USA If you want to join us in collecting material, consider joining the Spunk-List. If you just want to get information about new titles and what's going on in Spunk Press, consider joining the Spunk-Info mailing list instead. To be added to either list, write: SPUNK-LIST-REQUEST @ LYSATOR.LIU.SE and specify which list you want to be added to. NEWS NEW JERSEY ANARCHIST IMPRISONED Oliver Hydon of the Anarchist League and "Root and Branch Collective" was arrested on June 29th while participating in a protest at a home in Colrain MA. The home had been seized by the Internal Revenue Service in December of 1991 from Randy Kehler and Betsy Corner, who allegedly owe the IRS more than $45,000 in back taxes, penalties and interest. The couple has refused to pay federal income tax since 1977 to protest U.S. military actions in Nicaragua, El Salvador, Panama and Iraq. They have given the money they would have paid in taxes to peace groups. After the home was seized, protesters occupied it. The IRS then sold the house at an auction for $5,400. On April 15, 1992 the new owners of the house, a cop and his fiancee, moved in. The protesters then began a peaceful vigil on the front lawn. On May 28, 1993 the court barred protesters from coming within 100 feet of the home. Oliver Hydon was arrested on June 29th, released after appearing before a judge, and was rearrested in front of the home on the 30th. He was held in the Franklin County Jail and refused to eat, wear prison clothes, sleep on prison beds, bathe, or leave his cell. Oliver does not recognize the authority of the judicial system and is not cooperating in the slightest bit. He was scheduled to appear in court on July 13th. Oliver faces 2 1/2 years in prison and/or $5,000 in fines. (from "Jersey Anarchist") [He may have been released by late July. I sent him a copy of "MQ" and it came back "return to sender". Ed] UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-BERKELEY GRAD EMPLOYEES WIN UNION RECOGNITION "After a long and bitter struggle, including nine weeks on strike in the fall of 1992, tutors, acting instructors and readers who scan exams voted by a wide margin to authorize the Assoc. of Graduate Student Employees, Local 2165 of the United Auto Workers, as their collective bargaining formation. The vote was 220 to 60 for representation. The election covers less than half of those workers for which representation was sought, and AGSE president Andy Cowell said it was part of a larger strategy that seeks to gain union status for all grad workers at UC Berkeley. A federal court had originally ruled that the university was under no legal obligation to bargain with AGSE, but under state law, the [university] must acknowledge and bargain with the union at least for the above job categories." (from "The General Assembly") FORD FIRES MEXICAN UNION REPRESENTATIVES June 30 - Officials of the Confederation of Mexican Workers (CTM), the Mexican government, and Ford are working together to break a union local at Ford's Chautitlan plant. Ford ended its lockout on June 15, but has laid of 680 workers, including the union's executive board. Ford refused to negotiate the layoffs or other issues with local officers and meets only with the CTM. The Local Executive Committee (Tel. 011-525-518-2309) asks that you send faxes of protest to Mexican president Carlos Salinas de Gortari (011-525-522-0549). (from "Industrial Worker") POLICE SEEK KOREAN UNION LEADERS July 9 - Prosecutors in South Korea launched a manhunt for union leaders as tens of thousands of Hyundai workers went on strike, paralyzing operations in 7 units of the nation's biggest exporter. ENVIRONMENTAL WRITER JAILED Rik Scarce was jailed on May 14 for refusing to answer questions from a federal grand jury. He was the fourth witness to go to jail in a nationwide investigation of the Animal Liberation Front. Rik Scarce Legal Defense Fund, PO Box 2463 CS, Pullman WA 99165 Tel. (509) 332-4279. (from "Industrial Worker") DOMINO SUGAR BOYCOTT In a letter to one of our readers, Domino Sugar Corporation is claiming that neither ILA Local 1814, nor any other labor union, is calling for a boycott of their products, as was reported in "Bayou La Rose" and reprinted in the May issue of this newsletter. According to a story in the September 1993 "Industrial Worker" "anti-labor law in the U.S. directly attacks solidarity weapons like secondary boycotts", so I'm guessing none of the unions involved are allowed to call for a boycott. The "IW" headline reads "Boycott Domino, Redpath & GW Sugars" however. So there is a boycott on, but not one officially sponsored by the unions involved. DISCUSSION "Control Units are designed to control the lives of prisoners totally, and to ultimately break their spirit. These units are usually reserved for prisoners from Puerto Rican, New Afrikan, and Native American liberation movements. Others included are white anti-imperialists, draft resisters and grand jury resisters. Though the government refuses to admit it, there are more than 100 political prisoners and prisoners of war in U.S. prisons today." (from "Jersey Anarchist") [All of these prisoners are in for political crimes? Printing and distributing literature? Organizing political groups? Community organizing? Belonging to an outlawed group? For saying or writing things against the government? How many are in control units for draft resistance or grand jury resistance alone? Isn't it true that many of those who are categorized above as political prisoners are in prison for armed activity of an unorganized and politically questionable nature? Ed] ****** In the 70's and 80's I was active in the anti-nuclear movements (both nuclear and power reactors) in the San Francisco Bay area. Whenever I attended a rally or meeting someone would always get up and say, "to be really effective you must be FOR something, not merely against things." They were usually a Quaker, or from some other christian group, and they meant in the case of nuclear produced electricity either promoting solar, wind, biomass, etc., or in the case of weapons, advocating non-violent dispute resolution, arbitration, or mediation. I hated these clarions of positiveness, and would argue that being against something was more direct and truthful and sufficient. Now I find myself in the awkward position of advocating a similar word trick. I have become convinced the words "Anarchy," "Anarchist," and "Anarchism" have become so tainted that the effort to preserve them is hurting societal advancement which is our real, primary objective. We must stop being self-defeating purists demanding the people accept words rightfully associated with criminals, sex deviants and chemical abusers. I suggest we move on to something that promotes economic, social, and political justice. We could use words like Equality, Equalist, and Equalism. Sincerely, Lawrence W. Skinner [Eventually people will figure out that we're anarchists, and they'll feel like they've been deceived. The word "anarchy" has been thrown around a lot by the media recently, but no one seems to be aware of an organized movement to abolish hierarchy. "Rightfully associated"? I haven't heard of criminals claiming they acted to promote the cause of anarchism, with the exception of a few of the "political prisoners" mentioned above. Ed] ****** "There is a story, probably apocryphal [i.e. bogus], that when the American constitution was being debated Benjamin Franklin said words to the following effect: "Gentlemen, I urge you to come to an agreement swiftly, for we see how well the people get along in their present condition of anarchy; but a little longer, and they will regard us as superfluous." Carl Bettis (from "Crooked Roads") ****** "The working class and the employing class have nothing in common. There can be no peace so long as hunger and want are found among millions of the working people and the few, who make up the employing class, have all the good things of life. Between these two classes a struggle must go on until the workers of the world organize as a class, take possession of the means of production, abolish the wage system, and live in harmony with the Earth." (from the Preamble to the IWW Constitution) ****** GREAT LAKES REGIONAL ANARCHIST GATHERING I hung out with the 50 or so people who showed up. Most of those attending were young people from the punk scene, which was a subculture I didn't have much experience with. Media coverage was favorable (there was no "Day of Action"). I moderated a workshop on setting up an anarchist neighborhood. I think we had about eight people participate in the discussion. Two of those participating felt such a strategy could speed up gentrification of working class neighborhoods. One participant suggested we try to locate in the same city first, and then move towards the neighborhood idea. Milwaukee, Chicago, Philadelphia and Madison were suggested as possible locations. There are already fledgling communities in Minneapolis, Philadelphia and Chicago, but the size of these cities was considered to be a minus by some. One of the people concerned about gentrification suggested taking over a dying small town, hopefully within commuting distance of a medium sized city. It was an interesting discussion, but no concrete plans were made. Madison is a really nice town built around two large lakes, with several cooperatives already going (none explicitly anarchist though). I saw a printing coop run by the IWW, a bakery coop, a food coop, and used a taxi coop. Some of those attending the gathering stayed in a student run housing coop. The University of Wisconsin and the the state capitol are located in Madison. About an hour and a half from Madison is Dreamtime, an artist community which I didn't get a chance to visit. Ed Stamm ****** "The state and authoritarian society are only interested in protecting the power and privilege of the few that run and own nearly everything around us. We all know that laws are very selectively enforced. The few laws that are supposed to protect us all are usually ignored when they affect most of us. But when the rich are concerned, all the power of the state is available to protect their interests. Furthermore, there is nothing illegal about homelessness, poverty, the rape of the earth, and the powerlessness that most of us feel because we have no control over our lives." Fred (from "Autonomy") ****** THESES FOR DISCUSSION ON ANARCHIST ORGANIZATION 1) The question of organization is crucial for anarchists. Anarchists are not opposed to order as such, but to hierarchical and coercive order, the order of command. But the most perspicacious critique of hierarchy is as dust if it is not accompanied by a vision of a non-coercive, non-hierarchical social order and by appropriate collective action to realize this vision. 2) The end justifies the means, but the means determine the end (Bakunin). The ways in which people work together to bring about a free and cooperative society must themselves be free and cooperative. Otherwise, collective action will either reproduce structures of hierarchical control or issue in the stifling of the minority by the majority. Oppression in evil no matter how many participate in it. 3) There can be no transitional stage between the present coercive order and the free anarchist order. Anarchy must be realized here and now, however incompletely, for it to arise at all. The transitional stage in no transition at all, but a standing in place. 4) Propaganda is an absolutely vital element of anarchist action. Revolution is impossible unless people are capable of conceiving of matters being otherwise. The propagation of anarchist critiques and anarchist alternatives are crucial in inciting people to think and act for themselves. These critiques and alternatives should be as diverse as possible; the modes of coercion are manifold and irreducible to one another (although not unrelated). 5) To restrict anarchist action to broadcasting the glorious message of liberty to the oppressed masses, who will then spontaneously rise up and overthrow their bosses, is idealism. 6) Anarchists must involve themselves in their communities on a daily basis, working with others as equals, persuading by their deeds as much as by their words. Mere propagandizing is prone to isolated, ineffectual dogmatism, holding oneself apart from and above the masses with whom one is supposedly concerned. 7) Better than this is the affinity group. The members of an affinity group realize anarchist social relations here and now. They form a zone of free communal solidarity which acts as the seed-crystal for the transformation of the social fabric as a whole. 8) Only to the extent that the affinity group acts withing the surrounding community, transforming it while at the same time being open to its concerns, is it a vital force for positive change. Affinity groups, acting in the name of the people without being responsive or responsible to them, can degenerate into terrorist factions which unwittingly (or wittingly!) serve the State's will; or operate as "secret dictatorships" which ensure that the people do what the affinity group "knows" to be in their objective interest. 9) The peril of the isolate affinity group is anarchist Leninism. 10) Hierarchical control cannot tolerate the presence of free alternatives. It poses the threat of a good example. The State and capitalism will not fall on their own, but must be pushed. So collective anarchist action must build not only anarchist communities here and now, but also organizations for defense against, and the overthrow of, these two cold monsters. 11) The defect of anarcho-syndicalism (anarchist labor unions) as a means of bringing about the new world is that it tends to be at best merely defensive. 12) What is needed is a synthesis of anarcho-syndicalism and community rooted affinity groups (but not in the fashion of the FAI and CNT!). The former, by attacking control where it lives, will give a sheltering space wherein the seeds of the new society can be planted and flourish. And the anarchist communities thus arising will give the defense groups, not merely an idea, but a concrete way of life to fight for. Ron [edited due to length] (from "Autonomy") [I really like these ideas, but I have to protest the tactic of using force to topple the existing social order. Where are all these non-confrontational anarchist communities that have been stamped out by the State? I agree that self-defense is justified, but not the use of force to transform society in the direction that we favor. What gives us this right, and why would we want to burden ourselves with this thankless task? Are the workers flocking to our movement, seeking freedom from their masters? Let's challenge the powers-that-be to tolerate the presence of free alternatives, and take things from there. I also disagree about there being no possibility of a transitional stage. Nothing comes into being whole and perfect. Everything is always in transition. Ed] ****** TAKING BACK OUR RIGHT TO STRIKE "Union members know the story all too well. You've seen it happen to workers at Eastern Air Lines, the New York Daily News, International Paper, and Greyhound. Workers, as a last resort, go on strike over legitimate grievances. The company involved uses a loophole in the law to bust the union by hiring non-union workers to replace striking workers - forever.... The basic U.S. labor law says you can't be fired for striking [unless you're a public employee. Ed]. The loophole was created when the Supreme Court said right, you can't be fired, but you can be "permanently replaced." That's silly [that's outrageous! Ed]. There's no difference to the worker whose job is gone.... The Workplace Fairness bill currently in Congress would guarantee your right to return to your job after a strike. Last year the House of Representatives passed the bill, but the Senate failed to break the Republican stranglehold that kept the bill from being voted on - just as they did earlier this year with President Clinton's economic stimulus plan.... Contact your Senators and urge them to cosponsor S.55....[your senator], U.S. Senate, Washington DC 20510." Jack Curtis (from "Union Plus") ****** Currently topping the list of things that piss me off is a local television journalist, Stan Cramer, who does "Call For Action" reports - consumer protection exposes of fraud, health hazards and the like. Fearless, hard-hitting, investigative journalism it is, to be sure, but...the odd thing is, it appears the rich and powerful are never a threat to consumers; at least they never seem to be Cramer's targets. When he decided to go after unsanitary restaurants, he settled on five small, independently owned establishments in the area - no billion-dollar operations like certain fast-food chains we could mention. One recent series of stories was an expose of street beggars - that corrupt cartel of ruthless wheelers and dealers who daily defraud innocent citizens of sums amounting to fifty cents or more. Stan "The Man" Cramer is shocked, shocked, to discover that many of the homeless have given up looking for work. What, just because they don't have a telephone or mailing address where employers could contact them, or facilities for bathing before an interview, or decent clothes to wear? Some people will use any excuse! What's more, Cramer charges that these beggars choose to live on the streets even though there's plenty of space at the homeless shelters. I'm eagerly awaiting his series on why the shelters are so bad that people would rather remain homeless - but I have a hunch I'll be waiting a long time. Cramer's target the following week: People Who Let Their Grass Grow Too High. Is no special interest too powerful for this fearless crusader to confront? On the topic of religion...I'm only now starting to realize how my upbringing has irrevocably shaped my life. You can't read the Bible daily and go to church thrice weekly for your first twenty years without a lasting influence on your outlook. Like it or not, my viewpoint is bound to be Christian - and more specifically, Protestant and somewhat fundamentalist. If I become an Atheist, a Taoist, or a Satanist, I'll still be a Christian Atheist, a Christian Taoist, a Christian Satanist. As things stand now, I'm a Christian Anarchist (but poles apart from Tolstoy). But I could have done worse than the Church of Christ denomination I grew up in. At the very least, I acquired: good study habits; a disdain for conforming to a corrupt society; a sense of individual responsibility for my conduct and welfare; and, thanks to the C of C's tradition of lay ministry, contempt for the notion of turning my life over to the "experts". If I'd grown up in a more liberal, mainstream religion, I might be less individuated, more conformist than I am now [like Ed Stamm for instance! Ed]. On the minus side, I was instilled with an arrogance (belonging to the Elect) that still plagues me. Even worse, I never learned to dance. By the way, I've been rereading the Pentateuch to get a better sense of context for some long-familiar passages, and it strikes me that the God of Moses is one anti-semitic deity. I mean, he slaughters Jews right and left - a plague here, poisoned food there, earthquakes, snakes...usually because they've done something terrible like mention the fact that they're about to die of starvation or thirst. When it comes to the paranoid style of leadership, the Lord could give lessons to Ross Perot. The Dictionary Game is described by Douglas Hofstadter in Metamagical Themas, but he's not the inventor; the game doubtless originated with some nameless bureaucrat. Here's how it's played: 1) Take a common phrase, such as "Honesty is the best policy." 2) Replace each significant word in the phrase with its dictionary definition. 3) Repeat until total obscurity is obtained. For example, "Honesty is the best policy" becomes "Freedom from deception is the most productive definite course or method of action selected to guide and determine present and future decisions." If you play the dictionary game with that phrase, you get: "The quality or state of being free from the act of deceiving is the most productive distinctly limited or immediately identifiable ordered series of acts or proceedings or procedure or process for achieving a manner or method of performance taken by preference from a number or group to guide and fix conclusively or authoritatively now existing or progressing and expected or yet to come acts or results of giving judgement." Carl Bettis ****** ....I'm in favor of a lot of prisoner support on a selective basis. The ones who knew what they were doing in rebellion against one or more laws, are of our kind. Prisoners (for crimes involving physical violence against others) will be locked up by any society - anarchist, fascist or whatever (unless these violent ones work for the government). Particularly with the "War against Drugs" there are now many prisoners of an entreprenurial mind that need to know there are people like us on the outside who find government actions (unjust and) deplorable. If they can ever get on their feet again, they should be allies. Tad D. ****** "I received a call at my second job..."This is Detective X of the Sheriff's Office...we need you to come home. We're serving you with a search warrant." I had been arrested several days earlier, as a piece of computer equipment I had thought salvage was found to be stolen. With the property now retrieved, I thought that was the end of it, I would go to court, and once I told my side of it, it would all be over. Not so.... I came home to discover several police vehicles, marked and unmarked, in front of my home, and every piece of electronic equipment I had, computer and not, strewn across the house. I was taken into my own room to identify my own computer, and found a police officer, not a sheriff, downloading my hard drive into a Bernoulli box.... While I was being questioned, I saw all my computer systems being carried out the door, including the BBS (computer bulletin board system). I was now under investigation, I was told, but no one would tell me what my BBS had to do with that investigation.... To date I am only charged with the initial crime...nothing has come out of the confiscation of my BBS, or the software on the board. Yet still, my BBS is in police custody, for a matter being investigated by the Sheriff's Office.... The search warrant itself is interesting; fourteen specific items are being sought, none of which were located in the home or in storage - yet there are eight general listings which served to give enough latitude for everything else. "Any and all telephones with memory devices or speed dialers..." "Computers, CPUs, etc, together with peripheral equipment such as keyboards..." "Any and all computer or data processing software..." "Records or documents in any format relating to theft of telephone or communications services, or unauthorized access to computer, electronic or voice mail systems..." "Any computer or data processing literature..." "Proof of occupancy..." "Any confirmation or purchase order numbers reflecting use of credit cards or credit services..." "Neutralize and seize any degaussing equipment [what's that? Ed]..." Suffice to say, this is a massive fishing expedition. NO ONE IS SAFE. Even if you are completely and totally innocent, even if you have never even had so much as a parking ticket, your entire computer system can be confiscated as "evidence" SIMPLY BECAUSE YOU HAVE ONE. If you have a computer, the assumption is that it is used for some form of criminal activity.... Your system will be downloaded and searched by the police. Your private mail will be read; your programs will be searched; any writing you do will be held against you." Joe Sysop (from "Fido News" reprinted in "RSVP") [If you find yourself in a similar situation, tell the police you want an attorney and find one immediately! Don't make any comments about the situation until you have talked to an attorney. An excellent resource is the American Civil Liberties Union's handbook "The Rights of Suspects" by Oliver Rosengart. Ed] ****** Dear Ed, I appreciate your keeping me on the mailing list of your meandering magazine, even though occasionally some of the contents make me want to yell and break things. For example, your response to Dick Martin in the last issue really got my goat. Please correct me if I am wrong, but my understanding is that Dick is already living in a community, and the projects he described are building on the work that has already been done there. He's not just dreaming & blowing hot air - the flour mill he mentioned is already operational and the brick oven was being built when he wrote. Your response seemed to totally ignore what Dick and he friends have already accomplished. I know you wrote elsewhere that "(your) personal opinion is that any attempt to transform society as a whole is hopeless," but it also appeared to me that you can't even imagine making any real changes in your own life. Life in the "anarchist community" you talk about doesn't sound any different to me than the life you've got now....I'm not convinced that anything short of a radical transformation of society is enough to ensure our survival for more than a few more decades. If our goal is anything less than survival, then rather than printing our little magazines and calling ourselves anarchists we might as well be watching TV or collecting stamps. Philatelically, Boog, PO Box 1313, Lawrence KS 66044. [I wrote "It sounds like you have many excellent projects in the works, but I think your community could only be seriously considered as a location for our neighborhood if (jobs are available)." I can't see how wanting a location that is accessible to more people is blowing hot air; I'm just trying to be realistic. The projects I've tried to get started locally have failed because there were not enough people willing to get involved, such as "The Gentle Anarchist" newsletter, the meeting-reading space at the Love Garden, and revitalizing the labor union at KU. It doesn't work without enough activist participants. First you say don't question the idea of a community in an isolated rural area, then you say anything less than a radical transformation of society as a whole is worthless. Which is it? Ed] [note: In order to use the @ symbol in E-mail addresses, my worprocessing program makes me leave a blank space on either side. Omit the spaces when using the addresses. Ed] Ed, ....First off, I'm glad you mentioned Practical Anarchy Online. I just started getting involved with that scene a bit....there is a list service for anarchists on the Internet. Just email to: and say subscribe on the subject line.... I'm moderating a conference on Taoism and related topics. Right now it's only a local conference on my host board, but we will eventually petition to have it included on the Usenet network under the title alt.tao. Anyone with internet access who would be interested...should email me at , to get on a list of people who will receive info and updates when the forum is included on the internet. (Miekael Cardell) asked how I can live and eat and pay rent working two days a week....I was working about 12 hours a day, two days a week. My schedule has been changed to three days a week, 8 hours a day. Still it's around 20 hours a week. At around $5 an hour ($4.60 for 1st and 2nd shift, $5.10 for 3rd shift and I work one 2nd shift and 2 3rd shifts), it comes out, after taxes, to about $100 a week ($400/month). Following is a list of my expenses: Rent $185 Food 50 (estimate) Electric 20 Phone 20 Loan Repayment __80 $355 total expenses Keep in mind this is a rough estimate. I had to buy a mountain bike to get around on so there is over $300 on my credit card. Also I do spend some money on books, alcohol (but not much), and other luxuries. The loans are from two years in college. I'll be paying that for about 5 or 10 years I think. The rent, phone and electric are low because I share an apartment with two roommates (but I have my own room). At the end of (August) I'm moving and I'll be paying about $20 less for rent. As for food, my girlfriend's parents giver her a bunch of food now and then, so I'm really not buying all that much. Even if I did buy all my own food it would be around $100/month total, which would put me about dead even, fairly tight....As for food, I'm a vegetarian, so I don't have any extremely high priced foods. I think it would double if I ate meat and chicken and stuff. It's all very simple. I don't go blowing money at the bars every night like most people I know....I also don't go out to eat often and I don't go on expensive vacations. And I don't have too much stress so I don't need a vacation - life is a vacation. Tell me what other expenses you would add to the list and I'll tell you how I deal with them. I think the biggest difference between me and most people is that I don't have a car, thus no car insurance, car payments, gasoline, maintenance, etc. Oh by the way I live in Kent, which is a college town, and far more expensive than most places. For a two bedroom apartment we pay about $500. About an "economy based on theft", that's not what I was saying, but rather theft as part of the resistance.... You said, "No one is going to produce anything if they know it will be stolen". But I think I made it clear that I was promoting theft from corporations, NOT individuals, so individuals could produce all they want, and not have to fear. And if corporations stop pumping out their trash because they know we'll steal it, who cares? It'll leave more opportunities for individuals and small businesses. So I'm not advocating "everyone screwing over everyone", I'm advocating everyone screwing over those who have gotten too powerful. So instead of creating chaos, this would act as a nice leveling mechanism, making sure the rich get poorer and the poor get richer....(Remember Robin Hood?)....who will complain except the 5% of the people who own 90% of the wealth? They are so out of it, they deserve to be leveled a bit....The people with money own the government and media. They screw us daily. If someone came up to you and held you up for, say, $10, we'd be talking prison, but then someone screws EVERYONE for millions and billions, and we write books about their success....So why not show the mugger a new way? Convince him to rob the super-stinking rich, and leave all his comrades alone? But you're right that changing all of society is a waste of time, but if a lot is good, then a little would be at least a little good, right? ....As for national health care, I don't care about the "national debt" - that's just figures on paper. I only pay taxes because I'm forced to. So if I can get some of that back in the form of free health care, I don't care what it adds to the national debt. Even if they saved as much as it would take to provide health care for everyone their entire lives, it wouldn't make a single dent in that debt....and I didn't spent one penny of that debt. Why should I care? If the government was overthrown right now, the only people who would lose out, as far as the debt goes, would be foreign investors and people who actually believe government bonds are a good idea. And besides, the government could just decide to declare bankruptcy and cancel all their own debts. Who could argue with them? They have the biggest military in the world. So excuse me if I don't shed a single tear for their financial blunders. I just want to get a throat culture now and then for less than $100..... As Thoreau said, "the wealth of one class is counterbalanced by the indigence of another." Was it really a race riot in L.A., cause it looked more like a class riot. The purpose of socialism is to end the class system. The main way to do this is to level the rich and raise the poor, mostly financially. If you collect money from everyone, then give it to those who need it most, this accomplishes that purpose beautifully. I think it's a much better use of our tax money than things that DO make money, like more and more cops to seize our assets on suspicion of drug possession. Gas and Beans, Mike Thain [As Carl Bettis pointed out, it's the consumers who pay for theft, since the merchants just hike up the prices to cover their losses. Look what happened in L.A. - there was a short-term influx of goods into the community, but many of the merchants decided not to reopen. Some of the smaller ones were just wiped out. It's not very good to sell your labor cheap, and buy the products back expensive, but it's better than not having products to buy at all. Lots of it is unnecessary stuff, but lots of it is basic necessities which the residents will now have trouble getting access to because of the exploits of their bolder neighbors. Ed] ****** Dear Moderate Ed, Sometimes a person has to scream into another's ear just to get him to listen and to make him quit his dreamy monologue, yet I think you should have also published the short letter I sent you the day after I sent you the first one [apologizing for the harsh tone of the first letter]. ....stealing comes under many disguises. The government steals through taxation....Banks and bankers steal from both the common people and from the government. Many businessmen steal folks blind within the margins of the law. And, it comes to mind at this moment, a few folks steal the time of others by being totally parochial hardheads [my thoughts also. Ed]. Well, history has a myriad of instances where people rioted and pocketed what they had in the past only seen from afar. Mexico's history is replete with such instances as is European history. So why all the fuss and moral crooning from you? If you thought the L.A. riots weren't being run in a manner appropriate to your ethical standards, then by gosh you should've quickly gone and tried to direct them yourself ....I find it funny how some folks view stealing. Julius Caesar in his writings about his battles for Gaul writes about the booty, the ravages, and the conquests that he did during his conquest of Gaul, yet he turns around and has the gall to call many of the different and conquered peoples bands of criminals and bandits. I guess stealing is kind of like terrorism; where one set of eyes calls it a justifiable military act while another sent of eyes calls it pure and simple terrorism. It must depend on the eye balls.... You shouldn't call or assume that the victims of the system (as you called them) aren't willing to work. Most do work and eek and eek and eek a miserable livelihood; some even have two or three part-time jobs....Many folks get tired of just eeking when they see others living it up through no effort of their own (or at least that is what comes into their minds). They turn on the stupid-tube and are bombarded with buy, buy, buy, and things and places that they've never touched, seen, or been to....Do you really think, Mr. Stamm, that people really want to live in decrepit neighborhoods, or that they want to see their children grow up in them? In my books, the worst kind of stealing of all is the stealing of opportunity, of a future, of hope. And when these are stolen - beware! People robbed of the aforesaid are likely to cook and eat cornfed backwoods people alive. A person can't understand a riot until he/she has been in one, and once he/she has been in one this person is hard put to explain it truthfully. If you don't believe this, then find out for yourself - create one! Moderately! Honestly, Jaime Enrique Baxter, #88410-012 F.C.I., 8901 S Wilmot Rd, Tucson AZ 85706. [I didn't publish your second letter because I thought it was a personal note. To my eye balls, theft is theft, whether done by the government or by a mob. To say one is theft but the other is not is politics. Likewise with terrorism; it's wrong to kill non-combatants no matter who does the killing. If you want to see the rise of a fascist government, the best possible environment is one of instability, terrorism, widespread crime and rioting. The majority will cry out for protection from the underclass. I think this is already quite advanced in the U.S. Unfortunately, I would have to say that if I was armed and found myself in the middle of a riot, I couldn't stand by and watch people getting beaten up and robbed. I wouldn't have stood by and watched Rodney King get beaten up either. I don't think anyone should work too hard or steal to get the goodies that are dangled in front of us. We need to show people there is more to life than possessing things. I do sympathize with people who riot for basic necessities, but I honestly don't think that was the case for most of the rioters in L.A. Cornfed backwoods people are armed and dangerous. Do you think Hitler got his concentration camp guards in Berlin? Ed] ****** NO JUSTICE, NO PEACE, NO EXCUSE Since last April, much has been written in the left and anarchist press about the acquittal of the cops who beat Rodney King and the beatings, killings and stealing that followed shortly afterwards in Los Angeles. As could be expected, most of the leftist press either endorsed or apologized for the violence committed by the residents of L.A., while justly condemning that of the L.A. Police Dept. What is more distressing, but no less surprising, is the fact that some of the anarchist press, as well, has either supported or been unwilling to criticize the beatings and killings that took place in L.A. on the following days. During the "uprising" or "rebellion," as leftists and many anarchists are fond of calling the events in L.A., people of many different colors were beaten and/or killed, for no reason other than hatred, hatred sometimes based on racist feelings, sometimes simply based on viciousness and lack of respect for the lives and property of others. Few of those attacked were cops and none of them were politicians, judges, or even jurors in the trial of the cops who beat King; they were primarily people going about their own business who were unlucky enough to cross the path of their attackers. The businesses, homes and meeting places of many people, again, people of various colors, were trashed, burned and stolen from, including the Aquarian bookstore, the oldest black bookstore in the U.S., and the First AME Church, the oldest black congregation in L.A. These were not generally the businesses, homes or institutions of the wealthy, but the small shops of neighborhood business people and the homes of poor people. Is this what revolution means to the left in the U.S.? Is this the kind of society we wish to build? From June Jordan in "The Progressive," to the editor of "The Libertarian Mutualist," to Barbara Smith and Phil Wilson in "Bay Community News," to the anonymous anarchists who produced "L.A. Today," to the writers in "The Revolutionary Worker," leftists and anarchists have defended, and "understood," and explained, and excused this hatred and violence. They blame Reagan and Bush and racism and the courts and the cops and the firefighters for the destruction and murder in L.A. Not one of them has said beating and killing other people who have not initiated or planned to initiate violence against another person is wrong, regardless of what happened in the courts earlier that day [except for that crank Ed Stamm of course]. The writers of "L.A. Today" were blunt enough to label the violence in L.A. as not only justified, but necessary, while the editor of "The Libertarian Mutualist" was moved to "commend the brave perpetrators of random violence for being right on target." Neither have any of these writers said burning down other people's homes and shops is wrong. Ayofemi Folayan, in "Sojourner," even implicitly blamed the fire department for the fires in L.A., despite the fact that firefighters were being attacked when they tried to do their job, instead of holding those who lit them responsible. They all apologize for (in the words of "Anti-Authoritarians Anonymous") "the excesses committed by a population enraged beyond measure," as if rage is an excuse for murder. When a man, frustrated by his job and life in general, beats his girlfriend, do these people call on us to understand his rage? When cops, outraged by the refusal of one of their victims to obey their orders, beat the shit out of him, are we expected to understand their rage? No, of course not. In such circumstances, we are expected to hold these violent individuals responsible for their actions and condemn them accordingly. The events in L.A. were no different. The haters there were no more defensible than the cops who bashed Rodney King. The reason these writers were willing to defend the perpetrators of the violence in L.A. is because they apply a double standard to people, a racist and class-biased double standard. They seem to postulate that, because of institutional racism and economic inequality, black and/or poor people are incapable of making the same moral choices that non-black and/or non-poor people make, and are therefore not responsible for the violent acts that some of them engage in. On the other hand, many of these leftists consider white people universally responsible for the actions of some people who are white, and therefore, in their moral system, all white people are fair targets for the "rage" of the "oppressed." As someone wrote in "L.A. Today," "We have to realize that the conditions people of color suffer under in this country fully justify any act of resistance they choose to take, even if it "takes out" a few of our kind ("our kind" meaning whites, anti-racist and racists alike). Some of the victims may be good persons, activists, good friends or lovers, but we must be careful to lay the blame where it belongs: not on Black people but on the racist white capitalist system itself. In the blinding anger of insurrection people don't stop to ask your class credentials or your opinions on racism; if you're white you're a target. This is to be expected. Not fun, but expected." Note that they say that racist murder is "not fun." They never say it is "not good." Poor and/or black people, despite having fewer options in a number of areas in their lives, due both to racism and restrictive laws, still are capable of making choices about their actions, and are responsible for the consequences of their decisions, just as other people are. To think otherwise is to infantilize black and/or poor people, to consider them less fully human than other people. Such thinking lays the basis for paternalistic interventions in their lives by the state, ensuring their continued dependence and poverty. Despite the fact that leftists blame the state and white people for the violence and destruction in L.A., they turn to the state (run primarily by white people) to remedy the situation, not by leaving people alone, but by becoming more involved in people's lives. They support government housing, government jobs, welfare, government funded and regulated child care, government funded drug "treatment," more black cops, and other government centered programs and activities. If racist government is the problem, how can it be depended upon to change things to the benefit of poor black people?....Encouraging people to rely on themselves instead of the state can lead to self-sufficient, independent, and, hopefully, more rebellious people; people who rebel against the real evils in society, the government and its laws, courts, cops and the military, not their neighbors and other non-coercive people. The events in L.A. pushed leftists and anarchists to show where they stand, and, unfortunately, too many of them are standing on the wrong side. Leftists have been embracing government, racism, nationalism, murder and destruction as the means to free society as least since 1917. Historically, however, anarchists have talked of the need for consistency of means and ends, i.e. only moral or ethical means can yield moral or ethical results. But the anarchists who produce "L.A. Today" and "The Libertarian Mutualist" and those who share their views expect us to believe that murder, assault and theft today will somehow lead to freedom and anarchy in the future. The experience of the authoritarian socialist movement has put the lie to such ideas, but apparently many anarchists are slow to learn. Unless anarchists develop a critique of the welfare state, abandon their leftist racism, and encourage people to rely on themselves and assume responsibility for their lives, there will be little to distinguish them from the rest of the authoritarian left, their anti-statist posturing notwithstanding. Only by encouraging libertarian actions in the present can we have any hope of a libertarian future. Boston Anarchist Drinking Brigade (from "Kick It Over") ***** Mike Thain's letter in V5N1...does exemplify an old, recurring problem within the anarchist movement, that of confusing anarchy with crime. The problem also appears in Mr. Baxter's letter, when he suggests that anarchists should applaud, or at least sympathize with the L.A. riots, and even with common criminals. I have some thoughts and references which may shed some light on this problem. First, get a copy of "Bourgeois Influences on Anarchism" by Luigi Fabbri. It's available from See Sharp Press, PO Box 6118, San Francisco CA 94101, for $1.50 + $0.75 postage and handling. Fabbri wrote this pamphlet sometime before WW I when the anarchist movement was still a serious threat to the prevailing social order. From the point of view of those who identified with that order, from the point of view of those who could not conceive of any other type of social order, anarchy represented the destruction of all social order. Anarchy was disorder, "chaos", violence, and crime. It is this view of anarchy - anarchy as nihilistic violence - that was propagated through novels and the bourgeois press. Consequently some criminals and "rebellious" adolescents became attracted to the anarchist movement. Just like today. But Fabbri makes it clear that the majority of anarchists never took these people very seriously, as on p. 17, where Fabbri relates the story of a member of the Neopolitan mafia who delivered a toast at an anarchist gathering, raising his "cup to the union of the three parties: camorra, anarchists, and socialists - against the government! The toast was received with uproarious laughter, as it's commonly known that the camorra easily allies itself with the government and against socialists and anarchists. But this shows us how the mentality of common criminals has come to accept as true anarchy that which is circulated by papers on the take from the police." Second, anarchy is too often defined in negative terms, as opposition to the state, making anyone who is at odds with the state, including criminals, an "anarchist". If we must define anarchy in negative terms, we would be better off defining anarchy as opposition to power in general, not just as opposition to state power. The destruction of the state would not rid us of all forms of power. This is a point made very well by the French philosopher Michel Foucault in "Power/Knowledge" (see also "Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison"). Power in the old regime (pre-revolutionary France) emanated from the body of the King. Regicide was a truly revolutionary act, because by killing the King one disrupted the entire political structure of French society from the top down. But in modern societies power is "capillary" or "microscopic". It operates horizontally from many points of origin instead of vertically from a single center. The power structures of the penal system are replicated in the classroom, in the family, in army barracks, in hospitals, [in the workplace], and in the church. Power is everywhere, at all levels, and the state is not necessarily its primary manifestation or cause, though of course it is one manifestation of power. The destruction of the state would leave many other power structures intact. Even if all power did emanate from the state, it is unlikely that crime would be an effective way to resist it. On the contrary, crime legitimizes an ever larger police and penal system. And the most common victims of crime are not government bureaucrats, politicians, or corporate executives. These people have the means to protect themselves. The most common victims of crime are the poor and the powerless, people whose lives are worth very little to the state. That's why Joel Rifkin could kill over 18 prostitutes. That's why inner-city youth die everyday. That's why prisoners are beaten and raped. Crime divides people against one another by race, class, and neighborhood. Crime fosters a climate of suspicion and a cynical view of human nature which is very much at odds with the spirit of love and cooperation at the heart of anarchy. Crime cheapens life and contributes to a culture of violence which is very much consistent with the militarization of the American economy. Crime is not a progressive act. But not all prisoners are criminals. The justice system is not so just. The penal system is even less just. Very unequal penalties are meted out for similar crimes. The moral repugnance of a crime seems to have little relation to the penalty. A murderer might spend less time in prison than a hippy drug dealer, and be better prepared to defend himself in prison, while the hippy becomes a sex slave. For this reason we should not disregard someone just because they're in prison. Mr. Baxter was right to insist that we treat him as an individual, without pre-judging him, but he should also understand why we would be suspicious, and should try to give us reasons not to be. Ed D'Angelo ****** Creating an intentional anarchist community is a good fantasy to keep alive. It's a fun way of thinking through our utopian ideas. The first step to creating a real-life place is to create the image. But, y'know, we don't have to wait until we can get together on a farm or near a tolerant small town. There's a lot we can do right now wherever we live. In fact, it might be just as easy to become self-sufficient on a network of city lots as on a rural farm, maybe easier. Often, successful communal farms rearrange the living units so that people can live alone, in pairs, and as traditional families. They gather regularly, but the daily dynamics of a classic commune are more intrusive than we, the products of mid-twentieth century North American culture, like in the long run. The difference between a communal farm and a city is that there are a bunch of strangers and stuff between the members' living spaces. This isn't as big a deal as it might seem. On every communal farm I've seen, only a small percentage of the land was actually utilized. The space is great from a psychological point of view, but extra land can be an energy drain if it has to be maintained. I think the idea is to extract ourselves from the prevailing corrupt system and create our own life support systems with moral guidelines. The main chain is the money. The more we earn and spend, the more connected we are to the ugly beast. Rent or mortgage payments are the biggest expense for most of us, and they'll follow us to the new community. A car is another big one and it's easier to do without one in the city. Food is an obvious necessity for self-sufficiency, and gardens do take space. However, vegetables and fruit are not the main grocery bill for most of us, and we can grow a bunch on a small lot. We all spend our money on different things. Some of it can be produced ourselves, some can't. By networking in our present areas, each of us could produce a product or provide a service, and trade it for other goods and services. We could take advantage of the economy of scale this way. If each household could produce everything, we would be stronger and more self-sufficient, but it's not that easy, especially when our state-mandated educations have ignored those skills. When an urban network becomes viable, a rural branch could be established with good chances of success. The lack of a place doesn't have to stop us from putting our philosophies into practice. The place will be there when the group is ready for it. It's tempting to fantasize when we should be making progress, and I'm as guilty as anyone about that. If I made my own beer I'd remove a considerable amount of financial support from various government agencies. I could trade it for bread and who knows what all. I agree with Mike Thain's suggestion that we can influence society as a whole by not withdrawing from it. I don't think we can give up on the rest of humanity. That's where new anarchistic thinkers come from. Very few of us were raised by anarchistic parents, and our children don't always take an anarchist's perspective when they grow up. To escape and create our own heaven on Earth, leaving the statist sinners to hang in their hierarchy, seems too self-serving to me. We're all in this together. Les U. Knight, PO Box 86646, Portland OR 97286-0646. ****** [The model I have in mind, as a beginning, is the ethnic neighborhood. Once we get enough like-minded people in the same location, all kinds of projects become possible, like your beer-brewing idea. I think there will be a long period where most of us will be employed in the mainstream economy, but we can gradually wean ourselves away from it. We could eventually buy a piece of rural land too, and subdivide it into lots, which could be pooled, kept individually, or resold as people choose. Far from isolating ourselves, we would hopefully inspire others and attract newcomers to our community. Nothing sells like success. There's the joke I often tell, about the little old lady who required six Boy Scouts to get her across the street. She didn't want to go! Ed] NEWSLETTER BUSINESS FINANCIAL STATEMENT -107.91 Balance (before V5N2) ======= -75.00 Printing (150 copies) -4.43 Sales Tax -10.14 International Postage (surface) -26.39 Domestic Postage (first class) -223.87 Balance (after V5N2) ======= 133.87 Donations (after V5N2) Many thanks to: Lawrence Skinner, Carl Bettis, Ed Stamm, Miranda E., Robert Casanas, X (Tad D.? - found $5 on the floor), Erik Riese, Ed D'Angelo, Ed N., Les U. Knight, Harry W., Gerald Higgins, Harry Siitonen, Jaime E. Baxter, Dan Wilcox, Joe E. and Christian Garton. 2.00 Paid advertisements -88.00 Balance (before V5N3) ======= IMPORTANT NOTICE - SEARCH FOR NEW EDITOR Since we rotate the editorship of this newsletter annually, my last issue as editor will be February 1994. Anyone interested in being the new editor should write to me and a new editor will be chosen at random from among those who volunteer. The drawing will be held in early January, and announced in the February 1994 issue. The following are very helpful to would-be publisher/editors, but are not required: a computer; knowledge of word-processing or desktop publishing; ability to type; large blocks of free time; deep pockets; and friends to help you out with the work. This is really a lot of work for one person. Previous editors have been bogged down by it, so if there are any partners or small groups out there, consider volunteering. I sent out postcards to readers we haven't heard from in a while, asking them to get in touch and to possibly send in a donation if they were still interested in receiving "MQ". Those I didn't hear from did not receive this issue, dropping circulation to about 80. NO CURRENT ADDRESS The following readers had their copy of "MQ" returned as undeliverable: Robert Adamson, Democracy Wall/Lee Yu See, Dina Fernandez, Terry Schippers, Third Millenium and Paul Wright. SURFACE MAIL NO BARGAIN I thought I'd save some money, and I sent the August 1993 issue surface mail to our overseas readers. As of October 1, our reader in Sweden had not received his copy, which was mailed in late July. The issue before that was sent airmail, and he got it in two days! Airmail is worth the money. My apologies. NOT PUBLISHED "What is posthumanism" by Daniel Ust, 321 Maple St #49, Perth Amboy NJ 08861-4109, on enhancing the human body through the use of technology. Write to Daniel for a copy. PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED Autonomy, Box 163, 1340 W Irving Park Rd, Chicago IL 60613. Newsletter of Some Chicago Anarchists. Bayou La Rose, PO Box 5464, Tacoma WA 98415-0464. Revolutionary anarchist tabloid. Corre@, [don't use name of publication on envelope] N. Mendez, Casilla 25, Fac. Ingenieria, UCV, Ciudad Universitaria, Caracas 1040, VENEZUELA. Spanish language anarchist quarterly. Crooked Roads, PO Box 32631, Kansas City MO 64111. Literary publication (final issue - V4N1). Discussion Bulletin, PO Box 1564, Grand Rapids MI 49501. Independent forum of non-market, anti-statist, libertarian socialists. EIDOS, PO Box 96, Boston MA 02137. Sex tabloid. The Firefly, PO Box 1077, Mission SD 57555. Alternative newsletter. FreeZine, PO Box 1465, Troy NY 12180. "Social Alternatives for Everyone". The General Assembly, c/o PO Box 40400, San Francisco CA 94140. Newsletter of the Education Workers Network (favor more radical labor unions). Global Mail, Ashley Parker Owens, PO Box 597996, Chicago IL 60659. Mail art and zine listing. Industrial Worker, 1095 Market St #204, San Francisco CA 94103. Tabloid of the IWW. Jersey Anarchist, PO Box 8532, Haledon NJ 07508-8532. Revolutionary New Jersey anarchists' bulletin. Kick It Over, PO Box 5811 Stn A, Toronto, Ontario, CANADA M5W 1P2. Anarchist quarterly. LUNO, 31960 SE Chin St, Boring OR 97009. Education reform and social commentary. People's Culture, Box 5224, Kansas City, KS 66119. Progressive scholarly newsletter with local focus. RSVP, c/o Tad Davies, 821 Highview Ave, Manhattan Beach CA 90266. An anti-authoritarian discussion bulletin with a philosophical tone. SLAM, PO Box 4809, Alexandria VA 22303. "Underground" music zine. Union Plus, 376 Boylston St, Boston MA 02116. A publication of the AFL-CIO (on recycled paper!). W.R.I. Newsletter, PO Box 806, Chino CA 91708. Musings of Robert Sagehorn on various scholarly topics, from a Libertarian perspective. Yello Submarine, PO Box 81, Elmira NY 14902-0081. Populist, alternative and other strange reprints. ADVERTISEMENTS ADVERTISE IN "MEANDER QUARTERLY"! Paid advertisements about 1/4 of a page (2" x 4") will be accepted at the rate of $4.00 per issue. Ads will appear together near the last page. This is a no-profit operation. Some ads may appear free, as a public service or on an exchange basis. Circulation is about 80. ****** "I Was Robot" and "Free I Got" are now available on floppy disks. $35.00 for one, $50.00 for both. "Free I Got" as a book has been reduced to $7.00. Send to: Little Free Press, 1011 6th Ave NE Apt 21, Little Falls MN 56345. FRANK IS ALIVE AND WELL! If you want to contact him, send a sealed stamped letter + $2 to Y.S., POB 81, Helmira NY 14902-0081. Receive issue of Yello Submarine + more info. ****** VIDEO OF SENIOR ANARCHISTS: A 28 minute VHS video cassette summarizes the life work and principles of six elders; Ruth Sheridan, Harry Siitonen, Jean Pauline, Audrey Goodfriend, Mel Most, and Utah Phillips. $27.50 to: IWW Lit, 1476 W Irving Park, Chicago IL 60613. (from "Industrial Worker") [Anyone want to kick in and share a copy? Write Ed Stamm.] ****** FUEL CAFE: Java - Food - Subculture (414) 374-FUEL Opening soon at 818 E. Center, Milwaukee WI 53212 ****** Every child a wanted child! * Temporary Workers Union Protect your partner, protect * 1095 Market St 216 yourself - wear a condom. * San Francisco CA 94112 ****** _____________________________________ Postable poetry broadsides 4 for $1 with SASE. Dan Wilcox 280 South Main Ave. Albany NY 12208. ****** Affinity Group of Moderate Anarchists (AGMA) PO Box 1402 Lawrence KS 66044 ****** NOT THIS NAFTA!