Tuesday, February 14, 2006

Anarchists Continue To Foolishly Take Anarchists Seriously

Open letter to the Green Anarchy Collective


Today we are writing to you in hopes that you, the Green Anarchy Collective, will take a good look at the theoretical direction of Green Anarchy magazine and how it relates to action. We also would like you to step out of the Anarchist frame of reference to see why you are marginalizing yourselves into an abstract reality.

After receiving issues #1-21 there doesn’t seem to be a coherent vision of action that can be linked up with the theoretical aspirations written in your publication. Lots of writing but no concrete action that would actually serve as an example to build upon. Perhaps you would point to Wild Roots or the feral visions gatherings. We do not discount these efforts but these are not A to B examples; these represent Temporary Autonomous Zones at best. Examples are one of the ways that makes Anarchy accessible to people by showing them that there is indeed another way. We want to stress that most of what is written in Green Anarchy is not accessible to most people and does not serve to promote a greater understanding of one another and our struggles. The rejection of civilization or technology with in G.A.’s pages is fine except that no viable alternative is offered in the face of an obviously terrible dystopia. The only reason why Anarchy even exists is because it does have practical applications in this modern world. Without the ability for theory to be put into practice it remains an abstract knowledge relegated to cliques and intellectual study groups. Hopefully Green Anarchy aspires to be more than a lifestyle movement instead of its current state of theoretical discourse. .

Anarchy exists today because some people find it useful in the struggle for a different way of living. Let us step out of the Anarchist milieu for just a moment as it can give you a much-needed perspective. When people are first approached with the idea of Anarchy and class struggle and ecology and all the other things that go along with it, they are often repelled by a lot of the things that Green Anarchy magazine can sometimes exemplify. Green Anarchy does have some good aspects with the occasional importance critique, but the way in which they are presented and how they would play out in real life is a different story. For someone that works in a furniture shop or is homeless or is a radical, most of the ideas are presented in such a way that it is almost a joke to them because of the tone, the attitude, and general fetishization of anti-social violence that occurs with in the pages of this magazine. Also, the fact that G.A. denounces everything from paper to writing doesn’t stand-up well for a magazine that is made with paper and words. Further more, a lot of people in America find it very hard to imagine a real functioning world without the state, pesticides, cars, and police. Perhaps Green Anarchy could be more constructive in its proposition to these people. People aren’t going to huddle in the corner tonight because they are cold; they are going to turn on their nuclear powered electricity that in turn will heat their place. They also aren’t going to huddle in the corner cold or go hungry because of Green Anarchy magazine and its rejection of civilized life. For some reason this falls out of the Green Anarchist thought process. Word to the wise, don’t start shutting off the fossil fuel that powers the heating systems until you know that people are going to be warm at night by another means.

Which brings us to the main point of this letter

Green Anarchy has had a wonderful opportunity to explore a number of subjects that could only add to the knowledge of Anarchy, but they have chosen to piss that away with a dismal view of our very existence. Unfortunately, the Green Anarchy Collective has also chosen to publish articles that include extreme sectarianism and character assassinations, among many other undesirable characteristics.

Continued...

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