RAAN 'Communique', gluing shit etc.

i just know they have the coolest logo ever.

whats industrial bonding agent ?

An industrial bonding agent - a super glue used in intdustry.

Kentucky is the bluegrass state. They're certainly stupid, but I'm not sure regional identification is the proof.

They are a bunch of subculturals. The guy who wrote the thing on Venezuela is a punk. They have no structure and their main activity consists of doing new-age exercises, squatting, train hopping, gluing locks, making hippie "zines" and hanging out in dingy infoshops. Crimethinc. with slightly better pollitics is exactly what they are.

unifying anti-leninist marxists and anarchists is a worthy goal. injecting radical politics into the subcultures is a worthy goal. but glueing locks and spraypainting RCP bookstores doesn't cut it.

have you ever met them?

You're so clever.

You're right, too. Clearly leninist gangsters are much cooler.

Have you moved your critique of Rise to now declare him a leninist gangster? Seriously?

Bet they are warriors! How can any of you doubt them?

No but the FARC and the CPN-M are, and he more than "kinda likes them".

Um, no, it isn't. You can check it yourself.

I've never posted on this forum, but I feel like I ought to clear up some things on this thread.

First of all, I'm involved in RAAN, but I've never hopped a train, I live in a state without a single "dingy infoshop", I've never squatted (not sure what's wrong with squatting though...), I don't do new-age exercises, and I definitely don't make hippy zines. Have you met the guy who wrote the Venezuelan thing? By describing him as "a punk" it's clear that you don't know him at all. Reading this thread he and I were laughing our asses off by how badly you mischaracterized us and most of the folks involved in RAAN. From the impression I get, most "raanistas" are skinheads and other crazy communists. Me? Well, I'm vegan sxe (have a ball with that) and though it cuts into the "crimethinc with better politics" image, I tend to do things like work full-time jobs. I've never done parkour, though I wouldn't mind learning. I can think of a thousand situations where those kind of skills would be useful (ie anytime I'm running away from someone).

If you're interested in critiquing this action or other actions/texts put out by RAAN folks, let's do that. Personally I think this action and the ensuing communique is hilarious. Apparently some of y'all just don't "get it", which is ok... nobody is perfect.

For those not familiar, texts, history, and so on are here: www.redanarchist.org

First of all, I don't think RAAN is a membership organization, and I personally have only met a few people involved in the network. I can't really say what ages of people involved are or their subcultural connections. RAAN has already been around for 5 years, and it will be interesting to see where it'll end up in another 5 years. Out of curiosity, which document or piece of propaganda did you read - besides the Parkour thing - that gave the indication that RAAN is a punk crust as fuck squatter train hopping group? And seriously, what is wrong with those things? I'm not into it personally, but why would I attack people for living without rent or finding free ways to travel?

As for the Venezuelan article, skinheads have very strong cultural ties to certain neighborhoods and have more political importance in the country (through RASH) than anarchist groups there. It's a first person account of his time there, and since he hung out with red skins, why not write about them?

Well, I don't take leftist "serious organizing" very seriously, but I know that if for nothing else running away is a good survival skill. Precarious work and unemployment have a tendency to force one towards illegality.

Yup crimethinc with slightly better politics.

I made a report on my visit to Brittain last year to my IWW branch. In it I included what groups I met with, or met members of, and what events I attended. I did not mention the fact that I went to a really great Venezuelan Ska show in London, why? Because there is nothing revolutionary about ska music, it was a social call. If they are skins and happen to be revolutionaries good for them, but the fact that they are skinheads is treated as something worth even mentioning when it isn't. Let's imagine for a second that a 35 year old woman who really like cats and soft rock went to Venezuela and visited the groups your comrade did, do you think she woul have mentioned skinheads? Or even noticed them? Probably not.

I'm not attacking anyone I'm criticising your political program, feel free to do the same to me, that's what this place is for. I've got nothing against any of that, it just isn't political or particularly radical so why bring it up when discussing politics? You brought up the fact that you were straight edge, great I'm a raging alcoholic and am somewhat hung over right now, none of those things are relevent to building a real political movement. What it is useful for is finding other people who are into the same subculture as you, by pointing out that you are straight edge it is a way of hailing other straight edge people, or at least other people who are in the hardcore punk scene.

Well you probably should. Now seriously your web page has pictures of assault rifles and people getting shot on it. Do you think the lady with the cats mentioned above would see your group as having anything to offer her as part of the working class? Of course not, but then again that isn't who you are oriented towards is it? Punk rock, veganism, straight edge, and precarity it's all part of a package isn't it? Revolution requires the vast majority of the working class to be down with it, and the vast majority of the working class does not care about your subculture. At some point you are going to have to choose between the two.