The political role of libcom.org - your views

No not in that form it's not common but take what you said here: http://www.libcom.org/forums/viewtopic.php?p=104855#104855

I mean we are hardly going to invite Freedom or Black Flag or Anarkismo so why would we invite libcom? I know you were joking but it's clear that there you don't see the libcom collective as a political collective.

Oh and you took my qoute out of context. I was contrasting libcom to Freedom so I was exagerating libcom's differences to Freedom.

I'm apparently a "Libcom fellow traveller" (even though I didn't think most of the admin didn't like me that much), and the idea of a Libertarian Communist Federation frankly makes me feel ill.

oops make that 'do see libcom as a political collective'

i.e. a political collective, more than a website collective.

and oh i said not-to-uncommon. I didn't say common. Errrr, I don't like people discussing what I said without much thought.

dat might be your own preconceptions though. Personally, having spoken to Johnetc a bit, they seem to be doing it mostly for their own amusement, partly as a learning experience, and partly to provide a service. Lately, they seem to be trying to bring it a wee bit further than that and have it as the main online entry point for the entire world for libertarian viewpoints, but that's probly just the egomania kicking in .

No, the joke about libcom is more along the lines of it being a place of childish bickering and sniping. But this is becoming far less prevalent i think.

I suppose libcoms main purpose is simply to be a place of discussion and organisiation which allows news and views of the class struggle to be disseminated, circulated and disected with the aim of furthering the lucidity, solidarity, understanding and effectiveness of this class struggle.

Yeah I noticed the smell of chloroform coming from revols keyboard.

sorry revol

yeah obviously its the users fault, well you can replace 'users' with 'jack's'. Its hardly the end of the world anyhow!

The political role of Libcom will evolve as its editors politics change - this has already happened enormously in just two years.

That was suspiciously con-commital Paul!

Could you expand a little? Where do you see us as having moved, and do you think this is a good thing or not?

From openly anarchist, towards what could be loosely termed libertarian communism, but with a harsher attitude towards anarchists than that usually held by libertarian socialists/communists.

In another year or two, who knows......

what do you mean by 'anarchist'?

We are all what we understand to be 'anarchist' but don't use the term because of what sneaks through under that label

i see many political roles for libcom, but the main one is to reverse the trend of anarchist politics among the younger section of the movement especially isolating itself from the working class.

It is also providing a non-sectarian space for all libertarians to get together, and i think the value of this shouldn't be underestimated.

It is also proving to be a good place to get something concrete organised and i believe we will get better at this with experience (collective writing processes, decision making, practical organising, networking etc). We have only touched the surface with this IMO.

Just dont go all mental and join Workers Power or some other tanky group within two years

I know John, but I thought I'd put the 'party line' out there! I'm perfectly happy to call myself an anarchist- I'm in the AF after all.

Not sure about that.

Nah your mixing up the people in the space with the space itself - the fact they're here arguing at all is progress only a non-sectarian space could allow for.

Wel, it is what everyone in the group has said at some point or other, and is what Paul was allusing to, no?

You have said in the past (esp Jack) that 'anarchist' referred to something you felt you had no alleigance to, which supports both Paul and your points.

i think libcom serves a dual purpose in that it is a really good entry point for people finding out about anarchism and a place for internal discussion and criticism.

a resource for anarchists new or old, with a library full of stuff and forum board where ideas can be thrashed out is pretty handy.

honestly, a space where people involved in the class struggle can be really self-critical is a good thing. since there are lots of anarchists (especially me) with shit politics, this sort of forum is really useful. Frequently people hold back from criticism because they don't want to cause offence, the internet allows for this inhibition to disappear a bit (tho maybe it sometimes goes too far).

i usually guess that libcom developed out of a frustration with the state of anarchism in england and that it was created to try and network between class struggle-based anarchists and to act as an alternate access into radical politics than the direct action movement and squatting.

oh dara you don't have shit politics. You just need to shower more often.

what a sweetheart

Re: the comments on doing libcom for our own amusement - i think this is a must, if you dont enjoy or have the ability to make fun of your own actions (esp. in this area) then there isnt much point in doing it.

Of course if you cant do that we all know what you end up like:

http://www.libcom.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=8603

yeah dont let my constant stream of abuse get you down.. you know its only cos im insecure.

but levinas? come on..