Posted 2010-01-28 12:49:44:

Reflections from some of his closest friends

Howard Zinn is an individual who had a great impact on me. I still have a copy of the unreturned A People's History of the United States that I checked out from the U of L library so many years ago, getting a radical analysis when I was probably supposed to be studying a more moderate, safe, and liberal one.

Howard Zinn was a personification of bottom-up struggle; while he was a brilliant scholar and writer, he never once attempted to be a vanguardist. He stood with the oppressed people, whether the working class, dissident soldiers, or communities of color in the South. He was a consistent peace and social justice activist, as well as an active participant in the civil rights movement.

He championed the unsung heroes of history, from anarchist-feminist Emma Goldman, to the Student Non Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in the South, the kind of organization that participated with others and, from the grassroots, created platforms for celebrities and "leaders" of the civil rights movement. One ... (read and comment)

Posted 2010-01-25 14:46:46:

Prefiguring New Economic Social Relations

For a long list of reasons, economic relations must change. Yet, it seems as though the most immediate reason involves ecological catastrophe; exponential profit margins are not compatible with finite ecosystems. Hence, the need for a plethora of ideas. I plan to offer such a vision.

I must make some clarifications in advance. First, I acknowledge similarities between the preceding ideas and others. In all fairness there’s nothing new here; it is ultimately a 21st century vision for libertarian communism, or anarchist-communism, with elements of participatory economics, council communism, and perhaps even autonomous Marxism.

While we’re doing housekeeping, I want to make clear that this article, or the author, is not making an attempt at vanguardism. If anything, I would like to encourage others to think more about anarchist economic relations, and so that we might be able to offer articulate responses to those who say: “Well, what’s your alternative to capitalism/ centrally-planned socialism?�... (read and comment)

Posted 2009-12-28 21:50:35:

Preview of upcoming film by Frank "Stimulator" Lopez featuring the theories of Derrick Jenson and others

This is a viewpoint often neglected when the all-too prevalent "greenwashing" seems to dominate mainstream environmental activism.

... (read and comment)

Posted 2009-12-17 10:58:36:

Marxist-Lennonism ;)

Some hope and pessimism. I hope you enjoy the video and have a safe/happy holiday season.

• Alex

... (read and comment)

Posted 2009-11-18 12:01:28:

Reflecting on Tragedy and Anti-Muslim Sentiment

Originally posted at http://comradshaw.wordpress.com

By no means should anyone make light of the Ford Hood tragedy; it was certainly a heinous occurrence.

It presents a complex problem, however; fear-mongers are using this as an opportunity to continue to bash Islam and Muslims, and equate them with extremists, or terrorists. I assume that’s what the mainstream media means when they refer to Nidal Malik Hasan, the individual who shot and killed 13 fellow military officials, as “radical” (historically, the word has been used, as a term of endearment by many instead of a pejorative, as someone who tries to get to the root of the problem, following the classical etymology of the term).

There is, of course, the allegation that he said “God is great” before he went on his rampage or, to be sure, “Allahu Akbar.” Why someone’s personal faith would be drawn into question when a violent act is committed is known; it is convenient to concoct boogey-men who happen to live in r... (read and comment)

Posted 2009-09-22 14:39:37:

An Anti-Authoritarian Lens on the Health Care Crisis in The U.S.

People who favor a radically different society do not write much about healthcare. I’m not speaking of liberals or social democrats, but individuals who prefigure a society that empowers communities in which decisions are made directly by people in said communities.

It’s understandable why they are reluctant to write about healthcare at great length; for a real, democratic, free health care system based on the needs of the community, in which decisions are decided collectively by health care personnel together with members of the respective community, a complete transformation of extant communities is required. Even when it seems that capitalism is on its way out, that it is imploding with or without revolution, this is still the epoch dominated by this detrimental economic model. The likelihood that radicals will ever see a society that functions according to the need of communities through mutual aid, voluntarism, and a dismantling of social hierarchies is highly unlikely. This doesn’t discoura... (read and comment)

Posted 2009-09-10 12:41:43:

Noam to make Financial Contribution

The Brick House is something that I believe has a great deal of potential. I have decided to contact people who have historically contributed to projects like this. I contacted dissident and linguist Noam Chomsky, and he said he would contribute financially. Noam is a reminder that there are individuals, perhaps across the nation, that would be willing to contribute to a community-center based on anti-authoritarian principles. I personally think that a community center like the Brick House would be better suited to rely on personal donations than rely on government and corporation contributions. This is just my 2 cents. ... (read and comment)

Posted 2009-08-29 12:46:47:

Towards an Egalitarian Decision-Making Process

If voting changed anything, they’d make it illegal.

• Emma Goldman

Voting within our organizations expresses a lack of creativity, creates hierarchy, and is largely hypocritical. For a space to be anti-oppressive, it seems that decisions being made by vote would create a paradox. After all, voting stands diametrically opposed to cooperation, as it is largely a competitive sport, i.e., a war of ideas. A non-oppressive space, as many of our community centers are called, requires egalitarian decision-making. Voting is a decision-making process that represents “democracy” (a loaded term) for the 51 % of the organization, whilst the 49% is left out of the process.

There are certainly less egalitarian ways in which decisions can be reached other than voting. I work in a restaurant as a food server. Rarely, if ever, do the servers make decisions for themselves. This is only a personification of the detriment that is private property, which subordinates the wage laborer to the property-owner, or ... (read and comment)

Posted 2009-08-27 15:04:14:

A Critique of the Zeitgeist Movement

The Zeitgeist Movement is now ubiquitous. Everywhere I turn, I hear alienated youth having dialogue about this phenomenon, and I opened a local free newspaper recently to find an article about college dropouts who drive a bus around the country promoting the movement’s ideas.

There is a of course a great irony in this movement: “Zeitgeist” has all but replaced the fringe-groups discussing September 11th being an inside-job and other irrelevant “conspiracies” (of course the conspiracy industry is reluctant to acknowledge the two greatest public conspiracies: capital and the State). In other words, the anti-political fiction du-jour has had quite the metamorphosis. Alex Jones, one of the entrepreneurs of the conspiracy industry and proponents of “New World Order” “theory” (if ever a word was so bastardized), has been dethroned by Peter Joseph and his hypothetical technological utopia.

Joseph, too, has drastically changed his tune. The first Zeitgeist film was cliché conspiracism, i.e., ... (read and comment)