**Welcome! Say hello and introduce yourself on this thread**

Ah, this is the place to introduce one-self? Thought it was on the other thread...

Just to make sure:: hello, I'm Baderneiro Miseravel, brazilian dude who's totally into translation, found this place while searching for articles about the last greek revolt, found some interesting discussions and texts, so I decided to stick around and participate to the limit of my possibilities, share perspectives, etc.

Started off as a leninist, but when I got in the local communist party but in the first few months there I realized that: 1) was being manipulated there; 2) even then, they couldn't get anything of interest done. So I started looking for different, lost my prejudice about the anarchists as I discovered anarcho-communism, inssurectionary anarchism and the situationists...

Then I got here. Hope to be able to contribute some!

Welcome Baderneiro! There are lots of ex-Trotskyists/Leninsts here (including me), so you're in good company.

Well thanks Steven:-) Yes, the site has been, and remains, very helpful.

nice site, progressive and intelligent. good article about the failed hungarian revolution circa 1956.
was starting to feel http://www.schnews.org.uk/ was a little too neo-anarchistic (but still a good site) and i ended up here.

i became interested in left-wing politics a while back, it took a little while for me to find an ideology i could agree with.
marxism felt a bit cliched, radical anarchism a bit too directionless.
libertarian communism seems very interesting, my only thoughts are that most people shy away from anything labeled 'communism'.
as a public library employee (lol) it seems really important to propagate the ideas involved, as with the rise of new-labour, there is no longer a strong left-leaning representative for us, and politics has drifted into the muddy liberal centre right, even in local london councils.

greetings,
j

Just found this thread and cottoned on to what it's about....

Hello all!

just registered but been checking out libcom site for a while...as a recent middle-aged returnee (if there's such a word) to anarcho/libertarian politics and struggling with old liberal tendencies I find the site really useful for clarifying ideas and filling in gaps in my knowledge of historical and present tendencies - I have occassionally found the forums a bit cliquey and offputting, with the same people with a history having the same (old) arguments despite the forum topic, but thought I'd take the plunge anyway

Hey

I've been here before as K-Townbootboy. I'm from Copenhagen, and a not so active veteran from the radical leftist movement here.

antij

j

You've made a powerful enemy today my friend.

Hello comrades,

I am from Northern California in the U.S. I have always thought about the struggles of people my entire life, learning from experiences in my youth, which has led me to search the internet for some answers. I am now 20 years old, and I am a supporter of (and will continue to support and eventually help organize) the recent student protests against budget cuts in my state. I am glad I found this website to progress my own ideas and knowledge about anarcho-_______isms and other similar social strategies. I have never been involved in direct action, yet will to get people in America aware of our collective struggle. I hope to become a proponent of these ideas in my professional career to a certain extent. I am not sure what "classification" to put on myself, and I actually feel such terms are unnecessarily decisive at times. I have recently been reading about current Marxist philosopher/social theorist guys, like Zizek, Harvey, and this further inspires me to think about our social structure and the mess it creates. I hope to learn from others on this forum who are more experienced then myself so I can better articulate the challenges we all face and more importantly, what the hell to do. thanks yall.

so i thought i already did this but according to me tracker i haven't.
I am as my user profile describes. Unlike many on this forum (whose real names I know) this is my actual name. I know many have to hide thier id from potential dangers like employers or fash, and that's smart and I don't blame them. But for me I don't care. Thought about calling myself the Croppy Boy just so revol could say "I don't think we'll get on" but in my case it would be more to do with my hairstyle then republican politics. Gaeligores may call me Seasu (how do you do fadas on libcom?). I'm from a republican background. The good thing about Organise! is that it one of the few working class organisations (or indeed, of any organisations) in Ireland that have people from both 'sides of the house', from 'opposite sides of the tracks'. (I know - boring sectarian nonsense in the 21st century.) BTW I was amused to read earlier on either this or another introductory thread someone suggest revol is orange. He's not, not completely. He's actually a half and halfer. When faced with lots of republicans he pretends to be loyalist. I suspect if faced with lots of loyalists he'd pretend to be a republican. Of course, we're neither, we're anarchosyndicalists.

Hi guys Dylans here.

Ive been poking through the site for a few weeks now and reading some of your documents and resources etc, You have some good historical resources here and I just noticed the forum so I signed up.

I have been educating myself on some areas of history that I knew little about and I must say it's a fascinating process. I am presently reading about Makhno and the Ukraine, and also re-reading some writers that I respect such as Luxemburg and Serge and Goldman.

I've been thinking deeply about ideas of workers democracy in revolution. In particular the role of the party in revolution and the growth of party authority over democratic institutions. This of course brought me to Kronstadt and to you. So I am keen to enter comradely debate and mutual education on some of these sadly unknown periods of our history.
I

Forgive me if I am not familiar with your protocol on these boards I am sure I will figure it out.
Dylans

Ok, Ive been reading through the forums every now and then but never created an account on this forum and thought that this was the time to do it. Im a 33 yo swede who works as a forklift operator and docker in western Sweden. Ive been within the extraparliamentary left since the late 90's but first made any real efforts as a part of it since 2001-2002 as I found leftism/leftists to be too much of hassle to be around before that.

Im more or less only interested in class-politics and in some ways the LGBT movement (if it contains some class perspective).

Ive known about libcom for a long time but realized I should make an account after reading about it some more at swedishzine. Like I said Ive been lurking some but never written anything.

Welcome rekyl and dylans!

Hello I´m fingers malone
I´m from north east London but now I live in north east Seville.
I´m involved in a few things here, housing struggles, our squatted social centre and some workplace struggles (not in my workplace unfortunately, but supporting strikes etc.)

Through participating in some struggles (which usually we lost) I am trying to challenge my ideas about how we organise, why we don´t win, the problems there are trying to link up people in struggle, why people are reluctant to fight back, what really matters etc etc. and understand these problems better.
I don´t usually write much as I don´t know much theory but I´m going to try to write a bit more.
Libcom is really useful, I learn a lot here, keep it up.

Hello I´m fingers malone
I´m from north east London but now I live in north east Seville.
I´m involved in a few things here, housing struggles, our squatted social centre and some workplace struggles (not in my workplace unfortunately, but supporting strikes etc.)

Through participating in some struggles (which usually we lost) I am trying to challenge my ideas about how we organise, why we don´t win, the problems there are trying to link up people in struggle, why people are reluctant to fight back, what really matters etc etc. and understand these problems better.
I don´t usually write much as I don´t know much theory but I´m going to try to write a bit more.
Libcom is really useful, I learn a lot here, keep it up.

Hello everyone!

Hello, I've been snooping around your website for a little bit now so I figured I'd get an account. Your archives are amazing. Cheers.

Hello,
I guess you could call me an angry young man but on a more serious note Im looking to get active in my community (Belfast area) and as well as having a brilliant archive, this seemed like the perfect place to get started with contacts.

Welcome fractional, b&r1936 and Erased!

Erased

Hello,
I guess you could call me an angry young man but on a more serious note Im looking to get active in my community (Belfast area) and as well as having a brilliant archive, this seemed like the perfect place to get started with contacts.

I take it your aware of Just Books and Organise!?

october_lost

I take it your aware of Just Books and Organise!?

I'm aware of them but not entirely sure as to how to get active with Organise! or even if they are still properly active; any information would be much appreciated.

Erased

october_lost

I take it your aware of Just Books and Organise!?

I'm aware of them but not entirely sure as to how to get active with Organise! or even if they are still properly active; any information would be much appreciated.

think they are active contact deezer.

allybaba

Erased

october_lost

I take it your aware of Just Books and Organise!?

I'm aware of them but not entirely sure as to how to get active with Organise! or even if they are still properly active; any information would be much appreciated.

think they are active contact deezer.

Thanks

Hello, I'm Danny. I have been lurking here for awhile now and am excited to continue to learn and finally discuss.

welcome dannyc!

Just signed on because I read Steve's brief biog of Vicente Marti, an exiled Spanish comrade who helped organize the 1966 "Camping International" (that's what they wisely chose to name it --**) near Saint-Mitre in S.France. Vicente did his own autobiog, available as a pdf file in French at:

That 1966 camp attracted me because I'd spent a year getting to know the anarchist movement, and it further cemented the principles which have stayed with me all my life (well, for the following 45 years so far, cross fingers).

Vicente's reminiscences are so far the only reference I have come across to that camp, and at least two British comrades I knew who were there have since died.

** Names are just names. The Liverpool group in about 1966/7, managed to to hire a hall for a Federation conference, by describing themselves as "A literary and debating society".

That url went missing. Vicente's autobiog is at
http://www.atelierdecreationlibertaire.com/IMG/pdf/La_saveur_des_patates_douces.pdf

No posts since August? Really?

Anyway, I am WikiLeaks... wait, never mind. I'm General Strike, the only general working people like. I'm a student living in Bristol. At the moment I'm very much involved in this whole anti-cuts business, occupations and the like.

Hi all. I'm a 23 year old retail worker from a small town in the West Midlands. This site has been invaluable in developing my understanding of Libertarian Communism and I definitely need to say thank you for steering me away from the whole Crimethinc stuff. Looking forward to continuing learning from you guys and advancing my involvement in the class struggle.

welcome all of you. No one seems to bother with this thread anymore....

People usually introduce themselves by writing something objectionable on some random thread. Perhaps this needs to be made a sticky?

Hi Everyone, this is StreetWalker, from India, 31, single, my mood generally is pretty exasperated since i now live in the middle of great turbulence called development of the Indian economy. It sucks out the life of everyone in my generation, hard work- breaking social structures and run away consumption lifestyles , thats what is today's India. But I know all this is not going to last, because this country has too many people and started off too late.

So in here to discuss with you wise guys any sustainable ways to help us third world guys.

Reading the first line of your post my first thought was that you'd be a spam bot advertising an online dating site :-). Welcome to the boards regardless.

I’ve been signed up to libcom for sometime. But only just started posting here. Hello lib-community.

Hey all
I've been reading through libcom's library (beats being employed) and following some of the forums for 18months or so and just got round to creating a profile :P thought i'd drop in and say hi! headed manchester way for these network x shenanigans tomorrow :a:

Hello, I'm Doctor Bad Sign. I'm a bit of a science nerd, and I like to sing songs.

I'm not a real doctor by the way ;)

Doc

Hello,

I'm GL, I live in San Francisco, where the remnants of the counterculture movement have morphed into a consumerist mentality indistinguishable from the capitalist culture which counterculture was originally conceived to be "counter" to. It's depressing but at least the labor movement is still strong, compared to the rest of the US at least.

welcome to the boards, hope you enjoy them.

Hi,

I'd started a thread which seems to be way back now. Then I found this one.

As I said, I've been lurking for a while, but I've been very scared of joining because of all the hostility which I've seen sometimes.

I have a lot to say, and a lot I'd like to hear from you all. Does anyone care to listen?

Hey guys. Wasn't sure where to put this before, so this is my intro thread.

http://libcom.org/forums/libcommunity/noob-here-revleft-28012011

Hi there all. I am Annie from North London. Originally from Scotland and moved down here a few years ago for work.

Used to be involved in a few lefty things many years ago: local anti poll tax group, anti war protests etc. Not been very active in awhile but hoping to change that,

In recent years I have read quite a bit on anarchism and would consider myself an anarchist-communist,

Not sure if I will actually post much here but thought I would sign up and see what's going on here.

Hi there Annie, we'd be glad to have you along to a North London SolFed Meeting although our comrades in London AF are also worth checking out too ;)

I am working in HYUNDAI MOTOR INDIA LTD as a TECHNICIAN. Our union is Hyundai motor india employees union. I wish to have solidarity with car industry workers or union. Especially with hyundai-kia workers. Anybody help me? My email id: rajavelu.hyundai [AT] gmail.com.

Admin edit: email broken to avoid user getting spammed.

Hello I'm L'Anarchiste Francais aka The French Anarchist for those who aren't French speakers, or familiar with French. I live in Paris as a student, doing my second year and have been active in "the scene" as some of my friends jokingly put it, for nearly all my life.

I participated in the pension reform general strikes last year, and have been in a couple other various strikes/protests that weren't so known world wide.

I'm semi-fluent in English, and of course French. I'll probably make a few mistakes writing in English, but my English speaking/born friends say I've gotten better quite a bit from the last time they saw me. So here's hoping I don't make too much of a blunder.

Anyway, that's just a little biography about me, hope to see what these forums have to offer as this is the first leftist/anarchist forum that I've actually joined.

Hi

I posted a topic only a few minutes ago under the heading 'violence and anarchism'. It would probably have been wiser of me to read this feed first and I would have realised that this acts as a topic for any new members to raise any questions they have but oh well. Check my post out if you can as I have never had any contact with fellow anarchists and feel what I need more than anything in my education is discussion and debate.

Cheers

No worries ryuit, nobody really use this thread anymore. Welcome to the boards.

Hi, I'm an American opposed to imperialist wars, though not necessarily fond of socialism (but that could change when I learn more about it, as I usually try to be open to different ideas). I often visit Mises.org (yes, those greedy capitalists! :) ). But one thing I am grateful for is that some of my teachers in school taught me to think critically, and while I definitely lean toward "laissez-faire" (or, as perhaps socialists would say, "laissez ain't fair" :) ), I think some of the socialist criticisms of existing capitalism are correct and I am not a supporter of liberalism or neoconservatism. Also, I admit I have never been poor and don't know what it's like, although I would only agree to higher taxes if such a thing would actually help the poor (which I don't really believe has worked very well in the past, and I don't think will work under any system, but we'll see). My parents are immigrants from India, and I've visited there in the past so I've seen the poverty and don't wish that on anyone. But I haven't seen state-run programs do a very good job of fixing that. I have my doubts about whether libertarian communism would do it better (or any socialist ideology, really) but we can discuss that.

Welcome Snuggle Bear, have a look around and see what you think.

Should probably post something to introduce myself.

I consider myself a Marxist. I used to consider myself an Anarchist but I found Marx's practical-materialist framework much more substantial and convincing than anything offered by Anarchism.

Aside from Marx and Engels' I've found Loren Goldner's site really helpful. I've also been inspired by Pannekoek, Gorter and Bordiga.

I agree with the positions of the Communist Left on the trade-unions, national liberation struggles, the United Front, entryism etc. Have residual doubts over the parliament question though.

Currently not a member of any formal organisation.

Look forward to discussing with you guys.

Hey people. I live in wisconsin, I work at goodwill (it's a thrift store if you don't know). I make enough money to get by. I don't like the idea of capitalism or gov. I got married last year. My wife is a great poet and is currently trying to publish her book. When I'm not working or hanging out with my wife, I like playing and making video games. I'm working on a game now with a lot of anarchic themes about 3 kids whose parents are sent to an immigration detention center and have to learn how to survive on their own.

I guess I'm looking for adventurous people with common ideologies to chat with too.

genofunk

Hey people. I live in wisconsin, I work at goodwill (it's a thrift store if you don't know). I make enough money to get by. I don't like the idea of capitalism or gov. I got married last year. My wife is a great poet and is currently trying to publish her book. When I'm not working or hanging out with my wife, I like playing and making video games. I'm working on a game now with a lot of anarchic themes about 3 kids whose parents are sent to an immigration detention center and have to learn how to survive on their own.

I guess I'm looking for adventurous people with common ideologies to chat with too.

Don't know if your video game would get any sponsors/backers though with that theme.

gypsytimetraveller

genofunk

Hey people. I live in wisconsin, I work at goodwill (it's a thrift store if you don't know). I make enough money to get by. I don't like the idea of capitalism or gov. I got married last year. My wife is a great poet and is currently trying to publish her book. When I'm not working or hanging out with my wife, I like playing and making video games. I'm working on a game now with a lot of anarchic themes about 3 kids whose parents are sent to an immigration detention center and have to learn how to survive on their own.

I guess I'm looking for adventurous people with common ideologies to chat with too.

Don't know if your video game would get any sponsors/backers though with that theme.

It's going to be free and open source.

genofunk

gypsytimetraveller

genofunk

Hey people. I live in wisconsin, I work at goodwill (it's a thrift store if you don't know). I make enough money to get by. I don't like the idea of capitalism or gov. I got married last year. My wife is a great poet and is currently trying to publish her book. When I'm not working or hanging out with my wife, I like playing and making video games. I'm working on a game now with a lot of anarchic themes about 3 kids whose parents are sent to an immigration detention center and have to learn how to survive on their own.

I guess I'm looking for adventurous people with common ideologies to chat with too.

Don't know if your video game would get any sponsors/backers though with that theme.

It's going to be free and open source.

Cool. Would prefer a game based around trying to break outta the detention centre and setting about screws with tin cups and shit.

Hi, I live in Cleveland, OH and am fed up with how horrible everything in the world seems. I have an insatiable hunger for knowledge and my stumbling seems to have landed me here. From what I've read so far I'd consider myself an Anrarcho-Communist but I'm always interested in learning more and debating potential inconsistencies/problems with a theory. I have lurked on many forums and found the community here to be welcoming enough give commenting a shot.
:rb:

Welcome somethingcreative. Hope you find what your looking for.

I like playing and making video games. I'm working on a game now with a lot of anarchic themes about 3 kids whose parents are sent to an immigration detention center and have to learn how to survive on their own.

I guess I'm looking for adventurous people with common ideologies to chat with too.
.

Anarchist personals anyone?

Hi,

I live in Paris and have spent the past two and a half years researching the work of Raoul Vaneigem for a phd thesis and eventually a book. I'm obviously a great believer in the Situationist International. At the moment I just want to get my thesis done and then I want to translate the texts I have found from archival research into English. If I ever get any chance, I also want to set up a small publishing company to propagate Situationist and radical texts.

I have found this site invaluably informative on aspects of theory and I'd quite like to contribute. Although, ironically I find the impersonality of the internet makes me more shy than talking to actual human beings face to face.

If anyone has any thoughts about aspects of the SI and Vaneigem that are not talked about enough in academic literature I'd be glad to hear about it. At the moment I am writing about Vaneigem's working-class background, for example.

So hello and I look forward to talking to people.

Cool, thanks for the welcome. Hopefully I will get this thesis done by the end of the year and when I do I shall definitely post it online.

Hello everyone.

I am from Glasgow in Scotland and I am 16 years old. I have recently became interested in Anarchism and hope to use this forum as a place to learn and debate with comrades.

I'm an anarchist from Dundee in Scotland, presently on hiatus from studying Archaeology and Anthropology down south. I'm interested in joining the Anarchist Federation or Solidarity Federation. I've been keen to learn and debate about anarchist theory since I started being exposed to the idea that the state is innately oppressive in Social Anthropology lectures. I've developed an interest in pariticipating in more direct action after seeing it at some of the London demos in opposition to the impotence of the protesters the media condescendingly describe as 'proper' - I feel like I'm idly standing by when I have a duty to at least try to do something, and I'm sick of letting selfish self-preservation get in the way of my fulfilling that duty.

Atanvarno

I'm an anarchist from Dundee in Scotland, presently on hiatus from studying Archaeology and Anthropology down south. I'm interested in joining the Anarchist Federation or Solidarity Federation. I've been keen to learn and debate about anarchist theory since I started being exposed to the idea that the state is innately oppressive in Social Anthropology lectures. I've developed an interest in pariticipating in more direct action after seeing it at some of the London demos in opposition to the impotence of the protesters the media condescendingly describe as 'proper' - I feel like I'm idly standing by when I have a duty to at least try to do something, and I'm sick of letting selfish self-preservation get in the way of my fulfilling that duty.

Another Anarcho Archaeologist! The lecture theatres must be full of them. ;)

I studied Archaeology myself though I'm long graduated now. Also a Solidarity Federation member. Welcome to Libcom!

Whereabouts do you study, if you don't mind me asking?

Hello there,

From UK London but currently living in Sydney...

Currently unemployed and have no desire to ever to work for a boss/corporation/company again after being made redundant three times in the IT industry and then seriously fucked over by a large transnational gaming company.

Was always interested in socialist politics from studying the cold war for my GCSE's I was a left wing type until discovering Chomsky and his writings about modern corporations being Tyrannies in around 2005...

That got me really interested in Anarchism, so I read more Chomsky, Bakunin and Rudolf Rocker. I'd class myself as Anarcho-Syndicalist/Socialist Libertarian.

Though my school report does say "never does what he's told, and is always questioning authority" so maybe I was always really an anarchist. :D

Currently doing an access course to try and get into uni as a mature student.

chomsky is my home boy

Hello there,

From UK London but currently living in Sydney...

Currently unemployed and have no desire to ever to work for a boss/corporation/company again after being made redundant three times in the IT industry and then seriously fucked over by a large transnational gaming company.

Was always interested in socialist politics from studying the cold war for my GCSE's I was a left wing type until discovering Chomsky and his writings about modern corporations being Tyrannies in around 2005...

That got me really interested in Anarchism, so I read more Chomsky, Bakunin and Rudolf Rocker. I'd class myself as Anarcho-Syndicalist/Socialist Libertarian.

Though my school report does say "never does what he's told, and is always questioning authority" so maybe I was always really an anarchist. :D

Currently doing an access course to try and get into uni as a mature student.

Welcome to Libcom! I'm currently working in the games industry myself. On crunch time at the moment, so I know all about the industry's bullshit.

I'm currently looking into possibilities for worker organising in the games industry, and I'm hopeful that SolFed will eventually get itself a Digital & Tech Workers Network.

If you're interested in chatting with a fellow Anarcho-Syndicalist in the games/tech industry, feel free to send me a message. :)

Hope you enjoy your time on the site!

Hello all. 27 year old South London anarchist here in an online sales administration job.

*waves*

MannyCalavera

Hello all. 27 year old South London anarchist here in an online sales administration job.

*waves*

Grim Fandango and South London FTW.

Lovely Brockley 8-)

I used to live round that way before I moved up to Oxford.

As an ex-pat denizen of Lewisham Borough, I'm pleased to see it becoming such a hot-bed of radicalism. :D

Tommy Ascaso

Nice! Are you involved in anything locally? I'm starting to wonder if we've met! There are a few South London Solfed members in Brockley.

Nope. Trying to rebuild myself politically after years in the wilderness. I'll will be looking to get involved though with whatevers appropriate going. Anything good I should know about?

Malva

Hi,

I live in Paris and have spent the past two and a half years researching the work of Raoul Vaneigem for a phd thesis .

Jeez did you get paid to do that? :lol:

Tommy Ascaso

There's our group which is pretty exciting at the moment, we've tripled in size since November and more and more people are getting involved now. If you want to get in touch contact our Secretary here: http://www.solfed.org.uk/?q=contact

There's also Social Centre Plus in Deptford which is in the old job centre, not sure how much longer that's going to last though! Lewisham Anti-Cuts Alliance is alright for a local group but hasn't got a huge amount of things planned. What were you doing before entering the wilderness?

Um...just bits and bobs, not as much as I should of done.

I'll drop an e-mail. Been trying to figure out the difference between AF and SolFed all week and I have decided that bollocks to the differences I am just going to go the for the one with local presence :D (even though I am more drawn to AFed ;) ) Cheers :)

I've recently been posting Libcom as axiom but I used to use the username yearzero.
I somehow lost stuff on my computer so had to start a new account. I joined the A(C)F in '95. Used to live in the east end but have moved out to the country where I'm involved in the AF's Surrey-Hants group.

Tommy Ascaso

There's our group which is pretty exciting at the moment, we've tripled in size since November and more and more people are getting involved now.

Got in from work and spent the last hour sorting through SF media requests and membership enquiries (several of which are for you lot). Looks like Martin's going to be busy doing his induction workshop :)

Soon the journos and coppers will outnumber the anarchists in SolFed! In all seriousness tho, the Organiser Training page on the website has brought in numerous inquiries in the week or so it's been up, too!

Oh, and thegonzokid got post #1000!

You must win something for that.

An endless supply of free booze during SF conference? :)

Just thougt I'd officially introduce myself. I'm a student in the Manchester area and
the following brought me to revolutionary politics and libertarian communism:

Oliver James' book 'Affluenza', a strong belief that life shouldn't be an endless competition, Cli-Che Guevara, Bill Hicks' 'Positive Drug Story' sketch, Medialens, Chomsky's 'Propaganda Model', photographs of the 2008 Greek riots, a guide proposing workers' self-management in restaurants, Mike Judge's film 'Office Space', Malcolm X and the Black Panthers. Finally, I would like to say a special thank you to the despicable Aaron Porter and the hapless TUC for cementing my anarchist principles.

I'm aiming for this to be a life-long adventure and not just some ritualistic 'youthful rebellion'. So if I ever sell-out and embrace the soul-destroying 'respectability' of my upbringing then please at the very least hit me!

W, welcome to the boards. There's a number of active anarchist orgs in Manchester and some unaffiliated anarchos, too. So I'm sure you'll be able to find people to share your adventure with.

thegonzokid

Got in from work and spent the last hour sorting through SF media requests and membership enquiries (several of which are for you lot). Looks like Martin's going to be busy doing his induction workshop :)

Did Thames Valley SolFed forward our requests on to you as well? We've had three membership enquiries ourselves.

Steven.

If you wish to continue posting as yearzero we can just send you a new password

Thanks Steven, I would like to get back to my old self.

Dan.

wojtek

... a guide proposing workers' self-management in restaurants, ....

You mean "Abolish Restaurants" by prole.info?

Auto

thegonzokid

Got in from work and spent the last hour sorting through SF media requests and membership enquiries (several of which are for you lot). Looks like Martin's going to be busy doing his induction workshop :)

Did Thames Valley SolFed forward our requests on to you as well? We've had three membership enquiries ourselves.

No need mate, you can just deal with them directly. These were membership requests sent to the national email address that I forwarded to the relevant locals. Liverpool SF are on the verge of two new signings which will push our membership into double-digits for the first time, I think, ever. :D

I suppose I should introduce myself, I'm a anarcho-communist living in surrey and a member of the surrey and hants AF group. Only been involved for two years, so my idea's are still changing on a regular basis but I've reached the point now were i'm convinced of anarchism and theres no going back.

waslax

wojtek

... a guide proposing workers' self-management in restaurants, ....

You mean "Abolish Restaurants" by prole.info?

Yeah that's the one, I found it on Indymedia I think - am lovin the accompanied illustrations in it.

wojtek

waslax

wojtek

... a guide proposing workers' self-management in restaurants, ....

You mean "Abolish Restaurants" by prole.info?

Yeah that's the one, I found it on Indymedia I think - am lovin the accompanied illustrations in it.

You better read it again cos it sure isn't proposing workers self-management in restaurants. Just the title should be enough to tell you that.

admin: made more polite for newbies

soz my bad! Clearly wasn't thinking straight - I deserve a right good rippin into. haha

Oh and cheers Chilli Sauce!

Peter

wojtek

waslax

wojtek

... a guide proposing workers' self-management in restaurants, ....

You mean "Abolish Restaurants" by prole.info?

Yeah that's the one, I found it on Indymedia I think - am lovin the accompanied illustrations in it.

You better read it again cos it sure isn't proposing workers self-management in restaurants. Just the title should be enough to tell you that.

admin: made more polite for newbies

I don't know about Abolish Restaurants. I had a knee-jerk reaction against it (as did others I know and respect) based on the title. But on re-reading it, it's just a Marxist (as in a close and thorough analysis of restaurants through the lens of Capital) of the restaurant/service industry that praises the self-management of restaurants as seen during the Spanish revolution.

Perhaps not the best title, but give it a re-read, my friend.

Dear Comrades

As a left-winger with definite anarcho-communist sympathies, I came across this website after reading last Saturday's (26.3.11) Guardian Newspaper, that run an article about the Anti-Cuts Demo, and mentioned 'Libertarian Communism'. After a Google search, I found 'LibCom.org', and have spent the week reading articles.

I was a member of the SWP sometime ago, and have been a member of the CPB. I am a published author, and am finding this site, and its energy very inspiring. I live in Sutton, south London, a place that is becoming ever more barren by the day!

Thank you.

Steven.

Red, welcome to the site! Glad you like it. Do you happen to remember which Guardian article mentioned "libertarian communism"?

Dear Steven

The article appeared in the Saturday Guardian dated 26.3.11, on page 6. It is entitled:

Anti-cuts Demonstration

In it, the Guardian lists all the different groups taking part in the march - one section, near the bottom of page 6 is a section carrying the heading 'Anarchists and libertarians', this deals with these groups.

Thank you for your welcome.

I now have my old username back — axiom is yearzero.

Red-Metta,

My London geography is shit, but there's a lot of organised anarchist activity in South London, not the least of which includesSouth London Solidarity Federation and the Social Centre Plus in Deptford if you're looking for something to get stuck into.

Chilli Sauce

Red-Metta,

My London geography is shit, but there's a lot of organised anarchist activity in South London, not the least of which includesSouth London Solidarity Federation and the Social Centre Plus in Deptford if you're looking for something to get stuck into.

yo homeboy check this out-

Hello, I'm Rabbit, 19 in Vancouver, Canada, a disillusioned and frustrated student toying with the idea of anarchy as a philosophy and a way of life. I found Libcom through a Google search for co-operatives as a solution to workplace alienation (the conclusion seems to be that they won't solve anything).

I like Marx but I am not a communist. At the moment, I can't quite imagine a working synthesis between anarchism and communism, and I wonder how the anarchists and communists are getting along so well in a single forum! Is this a case of the wolf and lamb lying together "if only it rain hard enough"?

You fellows all seem to be from England, but do you know of any anarchist organizations here on the West Coast? Vancouver's full of crazies, we must have something.

just realised i never did this introduction.....
Ellar

I suppose I should introduce myself, I'm a anarcho-communist living in surrey and a member of the surrey and hants AF group. Only been involved for two years, so my idea's are still changing on a regular basis but I've reached the point now were i'm convinced of anarchism and theres no going back.

yeah thats the same with me, except i:

1) became interested in anarchism about 2 years ago (as a grounding in anti-authoritarian left wing politics, and to basically learn about how crap bolshevism is). was very much anti-marx for a while.

2) then branched out to marxism, situationism and council communism (so as to develop my understanding of the nature of capitalism etc - this became a point of no return, because i got beyond sentiment and into actual scientific analyses and understandings which made it impossible to go back to being a left liberal). fell out with anarchism for a bit.

2.5) became sympathetic to the SPGB parliamentary strategy at this point (sending (recallable) worker delegates to parliament but not reforming capitalism. when there are enough worker delegates in parliament, then the capitalists cannot use the state against the workers when they take over the means of production). but i wasn't entirely convinced by SPGB's lack of involvement in actual class struggle, and a few other things. i'm still a bit SPGB sympathetic.

3) finally reconciliated with anarchism, realising that anarchist communism is completely compatible with libertarian marxism (as long as you don't lord your theory skills over other anarchist communists, and don't take sides on the Marx-Bakunin First International split). i'm pretty hostile to any kind of anarchism except anarchist communism or anarcho-syndicalism (which is more a strategy than a type of anarchism).

if i had to describe my politics with a single specific label i'd say i'm a non-sectarian council communist.

i'm thinking of joining london AF or SolFed soon, although i'm set to move up north later this year so i might wait until then.

Rabbit

Hello, I'm Rabbit, 19 in Vancouver, Canada, a disillusioned and frustrated student toying with the idea of anarchy as a philosophy and a way of life. I found Libcom through a Google search for co-operatives as a solution to workplace alienation (the conclusion seems to be that they won't solve anything).

I like Marx but I am not a communist. At the moment, I can't quite imagine a working synthesis between anarchism and communism, and I wonder how the anarchists and communists are getting along so well in a single forum! Is this a case of the wolf and lamb lying together "if only it rain hard enough"?

You fellows all seem to be from England, but do you know of any anarchist organizations here on the West Coast? Vancouver's full of crazies, we must have something.

Hi Rabbit, def agree with you about co-ops (as I think most of the regular posters on here will as well). That said, all anarchists are first socialists! I'd start here with the Anarchist FAQ

Also, if you're looking to get involved, I know Canada is really big the IWW has some really good branches in the Great White North. And even if there's no branch, they're glad to put you on the right track of organizing in your workplace and, depending on your industry, there might already be an N. American organizing committee you can plug into.

S.A.S: Satanic Anarchist Scouser!

Sappo lad? I'm Yozzer Hughes (not
really, he's a fictional character).

I'm a 22yo Anarchist guy from
Liverpool, England.

I'm a bisexual hippy who
masquarades as Satanic Nihilist
skinhead.

Speedcore, gabba,
breakcore, noise terror, black metal,
punk <

So I should tell you folks a bit about me. I am a twenty-four year old from the bowels of Disney World in Orlando, Fl. I have transplanted my self over to the west coast of the US now and live in the Pacific Northwest.

Philosophically, I have undergone more transformations than most my age. In my younger and less differentiated forms, I was drawn to anarchism through crust punk, being particularly obsessed with CRASS and I sang in a hardcore band and helped start my local Food Not Bombs. However, although the green anarchy/crusty milieu is where I came from initially.. It was the first level of negation from the programmed paradigm. I soon realized the spectacular nature of my modes of praxis and the limitations of a complete lack of theoretical underpinnings for the class conditions which form the state. Not only that, but I began to see overlap between the rhetoric of green/individualist/primitivist/"TAZ" anarchism and how well they play into the dominant narratives of the ruling class..

So I have come out of that theoretical vacuum with a heightened sense of class awareness and the necessity from a revitalization of the IWW/Haymarket synthesis of anarchism and communism. I feel that in order for either to be realized.. they need each other. Anarchism needs communist theory for a critical analysis of the structural conditions of capital.. but communism need anarchism to realize the vision implicit within communist critiques of capital.

I am a father, a worker, a musician, and a writer.. and I find much intrigue in the hermetic, gnostic, and alchemical traditions from which Hegel derived the dialectic and am currently working on a thesis (auto-didactically) on a form of revolutionary gnosis.. which I could also describe as a detournément and attempt at the realization of hermetic philosophy.

I am here because I really enjoy much of what I've read here. I look forward to contributing towards the community and discourse here...

resist hypostasis

So I should tell you folks a bit about me. I am a twenty-four year old from the bowels of Disney World in Orlando, Fl. I have transplanted my self over to the west coast of the US now and live in the Pacific Northwest.

Philosophically, I have undergone more transformations than most my age. In my younger and less differentiated forms, I was drawn to anarchism through crust punk, being particularly obsessed with CRASS and I sang in a hardcore band and helped start my local Food Not Bombs. However, although the green anarchy/crusty milieu is where I came from initially.. It was the first level of negation from the programmed paradigm. I soon realized the spectacular nature of my modes of praxis and the limitations of a complete lack of theoretical underpinnings for the class conditions which form the state. Not only that, but I began to see overlap between the rhetoric of green/individualist/primitivist/"TAZ" anarchism and how well they play into the dominant narratives of the ruling class..

So I have come out of that theoretical vacuum with a heightened sense of class awareness and the necessity from a revitalization of the IWW/Haymarket synthesis of anarchism and communism. I feel that in order for either to be realized.. they need each other. Anarchism needs communist theory for a critical analysis of the structural conditions of capital.. but communism need anarchism to realize the vision implicit within communist critiques of capital.

I am a father, a worker, a musician, and a writer.. and I find much intrigue in the hermetic, gnostic, and alchemical traditions from which Hegel derived the dialectic and am currently working on a thesis (auto-didactically) on a form of revolutionary gnosis.. which I could also describe as a detournément and attempt at the realization of hermetic philosophy.

I am here because I really enjoy much of what I've read here. I look forward to contributing towards the community and discourse here...

Where in the NW are you at?

Olympia, WA.

Thanks for the FAQ! I found this article very useful as well.

Oh, I'm in no industry. As an unemployed/self-employed student I have no right to do anything but theorize!

Rabbit

Thanks for the FAQ! I found this article very useful as well.

Oh, I'm in no industry. As an unemployed/self-employed student I have no right to do anything but theorize!

I don't think that this is fair. One of the saddest and most frustrating thing about student radicals is that they often believe that they aren't in a position to struggle to improve their own immediate conditions. There are a thousand-and-a-half things that an unemployed person/student has the right to do besides theorize! I think recent student struggles in North America and around the world are good examples.

greetings comrade,(resist hypostasis)

il get around to introduciung myself more later but just wanted to say that im interested in what you have to say here primarilly because amiongst many things i would describe myself as a revolutionary libertarian communist and a gnostic christian,without pretending to myself let alone others that they neccessarilly fit easily,comfortably or fully together.

i am interested in working and understanding together,overcoming much of the sectarian stuff that starts with many of us being personally offended and offensive,goes tribal,then destructive and then plain alienating.if we have a world to win we also have to overfcome many of our own shortcomings-like the old joke about polish socialists or trots or any other of the 57 beans varieties,that 2 make a party/organisatioin and 3 make a split with at least 4 different opinions.i am not soft on this stuff but i suspect a symbol oif our own weakness is our impatience,our fear when things get uncomfortable like handling disagreement,and that we make ourselves feel right(eous)and more powerful by "clobberring"those around us,closest to us or yes in some way,weaker or smaller than us.it seems to me thsat if you and me can dismantle (a bit of)capitalism together we should work out how.do it and try to have our principled arguments iif not later then whiklst we do it.if that means walking and talking at the same time,so be it.it seems to me that ther were times when the heroism of nestor makhnos army worked to the benefit of the russian revolution and putting down them,krondstadt sailors,the left srs,the mensheviks weakened it.this is almost 100 years on,we ought to be able to do things differently and better.whilst it is not yet our world,as opposed to the ruling class the very develoments and technology and power of capitalism can be trqansformed by us.for example as some plqaces are operated by less people(and im not justifying dumping people out of work,only acknowledging the reality)it also means sometimes that it takes less people to strike and strike out a particular activity.weneed to look for evry possibilty and you and i,all of us can pout our experience together,learn and gteneralise from it.we do the work,we hqve the potential and certainly the ability to run it much better tha n them,and thats partly because thsi is not russia in 1917.

the struggle continues,lets collaborate when we can to bring it down now not later and then to rebuild the new world we hqave to win.

lostlost
08/04/2011

Hi, i've been a member on here for awhile but only looking and not posting, so this will be the first one! I'm based in London (south) and am somewhat new to anarchist ideas etc as such (after a stint in a Leninist style group a few years back). The history, theory and news sections of this website are in particular very interesting and I thought i'd say hi here before my username begins to pop up in them.

welcome!

Hi everyone, just introducing myself. I'd like to start off by saying I'm new to anarchism. As someone who was mostly apolitical for most of my life, a few years ago I began to become aware of the devastating impact capitalism is having on our society, and all of the ills and evils it causes. I felt however, I didn't have much in common with traditionally anti-capitalist groups like marxists and state communists, who seemed to be more interested in waffling over obscure theory than actually making any effort to change the situation (and were also very authoritarian in character, which put me off). I was also initially put off anarchism because I was influenced by the media's view of anarchists as violent scumbags. However I eventually did a little research on it and realised I mostly agreed with anarchism (In particular I found this FAQ fascinating). I then found this site and thought it'd be a great place to ask some questions. So, I'd just like to present a few of my key views and values, and it'd be great if anyone could comment on them or tell me how compatible with anarchism they are.

Anti-Capitalism: An obvious one. I think it's plain to see the damage capitalism is causing to our society. Rabid competition is just not natural and brings out the worst in people. A society based on cooperation is one we should be aiming for.

Internationalism: I regard nations/states as artificial divisions between people. I can't understand nationalists or patriots at all, how can you be proud of being born, by chance, between one certain set of imaginary lines on the ground or another? I would love to see the abolition of national and political borders.

Nonviolence: Not the same as pacifism. I accept that in some cases violence may be the only option, but it should be kept to an absolute minimum, and I would not willingly engage in it personally. Bear in mind though, that when I talk about violence, I mean violence towards people. Property damage, if directed at the right targets, is in my mind a legitimate tactic, alongside other more peaceful methods of direct action.

Anti-Religion: I'm sure I don't need to elaborate too much but I think religion teaches people to accept things unquestioningly and believe without evidence. And it is just absurd anyway, even when you don't consider its social implications.

Pro-Science: Science isn't perfect, and doesn't always get right, but it is by far our best way of understanding the world we live in.

Pro-Technology: By extension from the last point, I think technology can be a wonderful thing and can improve everyone's lives and standards of living. Unfortunately it often gets expropriated by capitalists and used for their own ends, but that is the fault of the capitalists, not the technology itself.

Anti-State: I really only developed this view when I started looking into anarchism rather recently. Before I hadn't even considered whether the state was a good or bad thing, I just unquestioningly accepted it will always be around, so reading about anarchism was a bit of an eye opener to be honest. I'm now firmly anti-state.

Freedom: "People should be free to do whatever they like as long as they don't harm others" is my rather basic moral code in day to day life. It is also the basis on which I would like any future society to be constructed.

There we go then, sorry for the rather long post. I just want to know what people think about my views!

Welcome gmtx725.

That list looks like an excelant start to enquiring further, but a bit too broad to be taken up as a whole on this particular thread.

Just for starters though have a look via the seach facility for some texts and threads on the issue of Science and Technology.

Whilst you will not find a great deal of support here for 'anarcho-primitivism' there is a whole debate around the theme of the non-neutrality of science and technology in a capitalist society.

After that you might want to bury a little deeper into exactly what the nature of 'capitalism' and therefor 'anti-capitalism' is. In this area you may find Marx's analysis and that of some non-traditional anti-state 'marxists' worthwhile.

Hi, I'm a communist libertarian (anarcho-communist) from emma goldman collective (part of Union Communiste Libertaire) in Saguenay, in the province of Quebec in Canada. I have some ease in english, but my mother-thong is french. I study archives management and sociology in school and like to do historical researches as amateur. I'm interrested a lot in concepts of unequal devlopment, postcolonial anarchism and anarchism in rurality.

emma goldman collective blog: http://ucl-saguenay.blogspot.com/
UCL: http://www.causecommune.net

Alan Gilbert

I'm interrested a lot in concepts of unequal devlopment, postcolonial anarchism and anarchism in rurality.

Just on this, there's a working group at Sussex Uni on Uneven and Combined Development. It's inspired by Trotsky, but in my opinion the concept is perfectly usable from an anarchist perspective. There's loads of reading on that site, but it's all in English. It's something i think anarchists need to think more about, both in terms of the conditions for organising struggles and the implications for uneven breakout and spread of revolutionary events.

Welcome to the boards! :rb:

Hi, I'm a 22 year old student from N.Ireland, and have recently begun to take more of an interest in world affairs and the structure of our society, partly through studying History, but also from arguing with this reactionary lunatic in my class. I became aware of Anarchism and just how destructive Capitalism is through listening to Noam Chomsky lectures and more recently from reading some of his books. So I'm quite new to Anarchism, but want to get involved as quickly as possible.

Yeah, I've sent them an email

Ello, Bonjour, all that jazz.

I'm from revleft originally, I go by Il Medico there (and The Doctor before that). Decided to mosey on over here to check the site out. It should be nice being able to read through a discussion without much reactionary shit.

I'm an ICC sympathizer in America, though I haven't been in contact with them much lately.

I'm a student, a worker, an avid reader (albeit mostly fiction and poetry, or in other words, non-political stuff for the most part), a bad writer with aspirations to get paid to be such, a Rocky Horror enthusiast, a whatever you call people who enjoy Doctor Who far too much, and so on.

I realize this introduction has turned into something resembling an online dating ad, so I'll throw in that I enjoy long walks on the beach and pina coladas. ;)

Oops, double post. Sorry 'bout that mates.

Bad Wolf

a whatever you call people who enjoy Doctor Who

I guess nerd would be what folks like that are called. But then again, I can smell my own ;) Welcome!

Which Doctor Who? The Russell T Davies smug shit ones?

jef costello

Which Doctor Who? The Russell T Davies smug shit ones?

Haha. I sense some hostility towards the new series. Due my distinct lack of being old, yes I started with the Davies run New Series (first episode I watched being "Rose", in other words I started right at the beginning of the New Series) and am indeed a fan, especially of the David Tennant era. I watch and enjoy both the old and new series however.
Khawaga

Bad Wolf

a whatever you call people who enjoy Doctor Who

I guess nerd would be what folks like that are called. But then again, I can smell my own ;) Welcome!

Haha. I prefer to think of myself as a geek. Mainly cause in my mind you have to be good at math to be a nerd, a skill I painfully lack.

Alan Gilbert

have some ease in english, but my mother-thong is french.

i think you meant to say mother-tongue! :p

welcome to libcom everyone

Harrison Myers

Alan Gilbert

have some ease in english, but my mother-thong is french.

i think you meant to say mother-tongue! :p

welcome to libcom everyone

Yeah, I enjoyed that, too. :lol:

Hello. Worker in the UK healthcare sector coming out of lurk here. Budding libertarian communist at about a zero in organisational confidence, but happily* soaking up the atmosphere of monster alienation & conservativism in my workplace. I kill some time by collecting choice bits from the Trust's PR organs' own candle-in-the-wind take on the 'Best Value' ramraid of services & conditions.
Most recently interested in Rudolph Rocker, and historical context to struggles in healthcare.
Thanks to all involved in the creation and curation of the huge resource here.
Proper mint, like.

*unhappily

Hinnys on Holidays

Hello. Worker in the UK healthcare sector coming out of lurk here. Budding libertarian communist at about a zero in organisational confidence, but happily* soaking up the atmosphere of monster alienation & conservativism in my workplace.

Thats pretty much me, except i work in public libraries. :p
PS. I've heard that the IWW have a healthcare section http://www.iww-healthworkers.org.uk/ if you are ever interested in chatting to other radical healthcare workers.

Hinnys on Holidays

Most recently interested in Rudolph Rocker, and historical context to struggles in healthcare.

His book about the jewish anarchists/trade-unionists activities in the East End of london around early 20th century is quite interesting, although it don't think it has anything about healthcare.

Harrison Myers

Hinnys on Holidays

Hello. Worker in the UK healthcare sector coming out of lurk here. Budding libertarian communist at about a zero in organisational confidence, but happily* soaking up the atmosphere of monster alienation & conservativism in my workplace.

Thats pretty much me, except i work in public libraries. :p
PS. I've heard that the IWW have a healthcare section http://www.iww-healthworkers.org.uk/ if you are ever interested in chatting to other radical healthcare workers.

I also think a Health and Social Care network was either established or proposed at Solidarity Federation conference so might be worth getting in touch for more info. I think you'll also find many Rudolph Rocker enthusiasts amongst our ranks :)

hello friends! over the course of a dozen shitty jobs i've grown very interested in anarchist/radical politics. i stumbled upon the library here a while ago and it's pretty great, so i decided to join the forums too. so, hello!

You fellows all seem to be from England, but do you know of any anarchist organizations here on the West Coast? Vancouver's full of crazies, we must have something.

i don't know if they're still around (i moved from vancouver a while ago) but vancouver has the 12thandclark collective, and the purple thistle which is pretty cool. look em up

I used to work for the NHS (well, mainly temp agencies really) although that's years ago now. There's at least a couple of nurses on libcom - so it might be worth posting a thread on health and social care organising to flush them out.

Welcome new people!

Hey
I'm Joe, I'm a student from Derbyshire way, I've always been involved in the left, but recently have started identifying as Anarchist.
:)

Hey
Im an 18 year old college student/part time painting canvas restoration apprentice and MC from south east london. I come from for the most part a revolutionary family, have been a communist since i knew what one was, and figured i was probably an anarcho-syndicalist though my exact idea of what that meant was fuzzy. Over the past few years i have been educating myself and worked out much more of what my own political ideology is. Ive been lurking here for about a year and i figure its time to start chatting, can only improve us all.

Im not involved in any organizations though im friends with some WAG members and have been building up awareness and anger in my local area by leafletting, handing out some papers i picked up from the LARC and just chattin to people i know, having alot of sucess and hearing alot of good responses across all demograpics, particularly from the local working class/underclass(though i dislike that term i cant think of a better one) youth. Where i live in in the innercity and straddles a still predominantly white working class community with recent history of horrible racism, decimated by the end of the docks that is on one side being invaded by yuppiefication, the other side of my area is more multicultural, and very poor.

Some of the snide and cuntish and sometimes sectarian seeming stuff ive seen has put me off a bit, but i figure theres trolls everywhere and thats the internet for ya.

Look forwards to talkin. that shit might have rambled a bit, you knwo how it goes

Ah, gosh, I'm nervous.

Anyway, hey, everyone! I'm a barely seventeen semi-middle-class jerk with precious few links to industrial production. I want to do better.

I apologize in advance for the scarce introduction, but I've got no history of organizing (sorry, folks, I write in inferior US English ;) ) or of activism, beside a few minor stunts that stupid kids like myself pull in school. However, I began to flesh out my political identity years ago when I first pulled the wool from my eyes and have been (hesitantly) identifying myself as an anarchist communist for some time now. However, I feel as if I haven't been able to live up to that name, considering my rather lackluster record of taking a more direct part in the struggle, and that's where the hesitation comes from. Part of me joining this site, aside from maneuvering out from under all the dodgy comments :) , is to help find ways that I can begin organizing and, well, doing something.

That aside, I'm glad to be here.

Well, thank you! I can see I'll have to spend some time trawling the library to shape up my politics.

Still, in a lot of ways I feel alienated from society by not having contributed by making something tangible, but then knowing that trying to do so will just line the pockets of investors and bosses. This contradiction pisses me off--all a part of wanting to overturn it, I guess.

Still, in a lot of ways I feel alienated from society by not having contributed by making something tangible, but then knowing that trying to do so will just line the pockets of investors and bosses. This contradiction pisses me off--all a part of wanting to overturn it, I guess.
.

Yeah i'm eighteen (going to be nineteen next month) I know exactly how you feel, i've only recenlty become comfortable with my politics because I had all kinds of confused feelings along the same lines as yours.

I've found the more I meet people who share my ideas face to face it's all allot less intimidating and your confidence builds quick.

Some of the snide and cuntish and sometimes sectarian seeming stuff ive seen has put me off a bit, but i figure theres trolls everywhere and thats the internet for ya.

Hey theauter, I get this but don't be too put off by it, it just seems to be something about communicating over the web that sometimes makes people act differently. Face to face encounters are usually far more friendly, even when people disagree.

Theauter, I just spotted this & it's so good to see it:

...have been building up awareness and anger in my local area by leafletting, handing out some papers i picked up from the LARC and just chattin to people i know, having alot of sucess and hearing alot of good responses across all demograpics, particularly from the local working class/underclass...

Post more if you can; we hardly ever see anything from the youth on the council estates. Also, anything that anarchists 'on the outside' can do to build bridges and facilitate the stuff that you guys want to do, (always remembering that some unfriendly people read these boards too :-) ). Cheers.

Hi there,
i'm an anarcha-feminist / anarcho-communist living in Newcastle. I've been lurking on here for a while and finally got myself together to post.
I've been politically active for over 10 years, but am now trying to base my politics more around everyday life and practical solidarity as much as possible but i'm not always finding people locally on the same page as me about this. I've been involved in Tyneside Claimants Union and in setting up a local independant residents groups (but its not always been easy to organize stuff), and also in some anti-deportation campaigns and general anti-cuts stuff.
We've got some new stuff happening in the north east too so i'll see how that goes.
Anyway, cheers for the website (its pretty mint) and sorry for rambling.

Shw mai.

I'm a twenty year old student soon heading off to uni to study International Politics at Aberystwyth. For the past few years, I've contemplated many different ideologies and have found almost all of them lacking. What always puts me off is the rationalising of inequality and the murdering of innocent people. To me, it seems that common sense is discarded when people discuss politics.

Apparently, it's ok to justify murdering thousands of people if they live in a less 'civilised' habitat than yourself while describing yourself as a person governed by a moral code.

I don't know if Libertarian/Anarchist Communism is the answer, if there is an answer, but fighting for a better world is imperative, and right now, you lot (:)) seem to be talking more sense than others I have come into contact with.

So if any of you happen to know the situation in Aberystwyth on the Libcom front, message me. It would be nice to organise something there, but it's hard to gather information from where I am.

Aflwydd

Shw mai.

I'm a twenty year old student soon heading off to uni to study International Politics at Aberystwyth. For the past few years, I've contemplated many different ideologies and have found almost all of them lacking. What always puts me off is the rationalising of inequality and the murdering of innocent people. To me, it seems that common sense is discarded when people discuss politics.

Apparently, it's ok to justify murdering thousands of people if they live in a less 'civilised' habitat than yourself while describing yourself as a person governed by a moral code.

I don't know if Libertarian/Anarchist Communism is the answer, if there is an answer, but fighting for a better world is imperative, and right now, you lot (:)) seem to be talking more sense than others I have come into contact with.

So if any of you happen to know the situation in Aberystwyth on the Libcom front, message me. It would be nice to organise something there, but it's hard to gather information from where I am.

Welcome! Aberystwyth is a lovely town, isn't it? There should be a second-hand book store there with a lovely section on labor/worker struggles. They may have had a copy of Strike! by Brecher that I kick myself for not having bought.

Tojiah

Welcome! Aberystwyth is a lovely town, isn't it? There should be a second-hand book store there with a lovely section on labor/worker struggles. They may have had a copy of Strike! by Brecher that I kick myself for not having bought.

It is wonderful. I have a massive, massive literature wish list (over 150 pages on MS word), so am glad to hear that there's a second-hand book store about! The libraries in my town/borough are pretty limited on anarchist literature, and being someone who hates reading books off a monitor, I haven't got through as much as I would like.

Aflwydd

Tojiah

Welcome! Aberystwyth is a lovely town, isn't it? There should be a second-hand book store there with a lovely section on labor/worker struggles. They may have had a copy of Strike! by Brecher that I kick myself for not having bought.

It is wonderful. I have a massive, massive literature wish list (over 150 pages on MS word), so am glad to hear that there's a second-hand book store about! The libraries in my town/borough are pretty limited on anarchist literature, and being someone who hates reading books off a monitor, I haven't got through as much as I would like.

I wish I could remember the name of the place. It's been a while since I've been to Aber. (Best start calling it by its street name, by the way, or the locals will eat you up!)

I would have to say that 150 pages of books sounds more than a lifetime of reading. So best get started!

Aflwydd

Shw mai.

I'm a twenty year old student soon heading off to uni to study International Politics at Aberystwyth. For the past few years, I've contemplated many different ideologies and have found almost all of them lacking. What always puts me off is the rationalising of inequality and the murdering of innocent people. To me, it seems that common sense is discarded when people discuss politics.

Apparently, it's ok to justify murdering thousands of people if they live in a less 'civilised' habitat than yourself while describing yourself as a person governed by a moral code.

I don't know if Libertarian/Anarchist Communism is the answer, if there is an answer, but fighting for a better world is imperative, and right now, you lot (:)) seem to be talking more sense than others I have come into contact with.

So if any of you happen to know the situation in Aberystwyth on the Libcom front, message me. It would be nice to organise something there, but it's hard to gather information from where I am.

Hey Aflwydd, welcome to Libcom. :)

I'm not sure what the overall libcom situation is in Aberystwyth. I vaguely recall SolFed having an isolated member out that way, but I may be mis-remembering that. I think there are definitely libertarian types out there in Wales, so it's worth putting the feelers out.

Anyway, welcome again, and I look forward to your postings. :D

Hello there,

I'm a 23 year old grad student (Anglophone literature and cultures), currently residing in Zagreb, Croatia. I've been enjoying the articles prior to my decision to register (frankly, it is a mystery to me why I didn't do that earlier).

Just a brief note regarding my radicalization and ensuing politics: from my teen years, I've been more or less hostile, in a vague and abstract manner, towards big business, state opression, religion and imperialism. Back then, I'd probably describe myself as left liberal or social democrat with sympathies for the idea of communism.

When I got to college, on my 3rd year, there came a bang: students' occupation of colleges (here, different colleges have different buildings, there are virtually no "campuses" except for one that was built some 5 years ago) raising the demand for emancipatory higher education for all - against any kind of financial participatio of students in covering the costs of their schooling. I was thirleed and engulfed, and gradually the situation became paradoxical: I realized that there are structural limits to demands such as ours, and that these limits need to be torn down. In other words, I accepted fully that capitalism cannot function in favour of those who produce the wealth and sevices. I say "fully acceptd" because, prior to that event, I had been reading certain articles and works (among others, "The German Ideology", "Communist Manifesto" and Chomsky's works), but couldn't really relato to them experientally.

Now, after some two years of learning and reading, I wouldn't want to label myself, but I'd say that the most vibrant influence on my own political positions and understanding are: left communism (I find ICC and ICT very agreeable, though with some problems; also, the historical German Dutch left, that is, its members' writings, make a lot of sense and put things into perspective) and libertarian communism (anarcho-syndicalism especially).
Oh yeah, and I still participate in the student movement, but in the form of a rank-and-file union, students' and academic workers' (the statute reflects, and directly mentions, the principles of direct democracy as a mode of operation of the union, which is also legally recognized).

I hope I'll get a job when i graduate, any kind of job.

That's about it. Hope to have fruitful discussions with ye all ;)

hey theauter, hope you're well. do you have a website/ youtube page for your MCin'? I would love to hear it!

Hey there. I am a teenage anarchist from croydon (town in south east london) currently studying in sixth form, just having done my AS' (one of which is in government and politics). I have signed up mainly to just discuss political matters with like minded people, instead of with my only mate that is knowledgeable/interested in politics who is a member of UKIP (UK Independence Party, basically they just want to leave the EU) or my parents, which always seems to result in raised voices. As a matter of priority, I will just be asking questions at first in an effort to consolidate my views so I know what 'ist' to call myself (not to consolidate everything into one monthly lump sum with ocean finance :p ) as Im a bit unsure at the moment. This may result in a bunch of threads that have basically already existed, for which I apologize in advance, though Ill try and find relevant threads for my queries before I go to make a new one.

Hey!

I think Libcom's a great resource, and I've been lurking for a little while so thought I'd sign up. I'm living in Sheffield, and have had some involvement with local initiatives like the university occupation and the (dormant) anarchist feminist group. I'm not a member of any active anarchist/communist groups, but I know some of the AFed people here. I haven't done a great deal of reading on theory and history, so I won't be getting stuck into in-depth dissections of Kronstadt just yet, but I'll try to contribute where I can!

Hi new folk!

infrared

I haven't done a great deal of reading on theory and history, so I won't be getting stuck into in-depth dissections of Kronstadt just yet, but I'll try to contribute where I can!

Just a general point here: i'm as guilty of this as anyone, but often the discussions here do seem quite full-on and assume a lot of prior knowledge (use of acronyms, name-dropping thinkers, assuming familiarity with jargon etc). to any new people/lurkers: if you're interested but don't get something, feel free to ask on the thread. the posting guidelines explicitly state "Be aware that not everyone has read as much Bakunin as you. Be nice to new posters and people developing their ideas" and us admins will do our best to enforce that (there's a 'report' button on every post to flag for admin attention). Obviously it's quite normal for people to lurk for a while on a forum before diving in, but if you're not following something that seems interesting, odds are 10 others are in the same boat so by all means ask wtf people are on about. After all, libertarian communism is supposed to be about our self-emancipation, not the preserve of experts! :rb:

Hello all. I'm a 23 year old retail worker, but will soon be leaving all that behind to go to uni, up Manchester way. My politics have been slowly developing from a position of total political apathy to libertarian communism and anarcho-syndicalism, thanks largely to the wealth of great material available on this site, which I've been lurking on for a good while but felt too out of my depth to really get involved in discussions. In terms of applying my politics practically I've had a number of false starts, probably due to being fairly naïve politically, but I guess its all a learning process and I hope to rectify this in the future.

I'm not currently in an anarchist organisation but will definitely be looking to join up once I've made the move to Manchester this September.

Hi all. I've been lurking on the site for the past couple of months and have enjoyed many of the articles and forum discussions. I come from a vaguely Marxist background (i.e. parenthood) but have personally been mostly liberal/reformist until recently. I don't feel I know enough about libertarian communism/anarcho-syndicalism/etc. to contribute much yet, nor am I very active or organising, but I'm working towards it. This is a bit of a premature hello, but I couldn't help it - partly to let you know there are more people interested than may be immediately obvious.

I'm a software developer.

Hey Snipfool, welcome to libcom, glad to hear people are lurking and findin the things on here helpful :)

snipfool

Hi all. I've been lurking on the site for the past couple of months and have enjoyed many of the articles and forum discussions. I come from a vaguely Marxist background (i.e. parenthood) but have personally been mostly liberal/reformist until recently. I don't feel I know enough about libertarian communism/anarcho-syndicalism/etc. to contribute much yet, nor am I very active or organising, but I'm working towards it. This is a bit of a premature hello, but I couldn't help it - partly to let you know there are more people interested than may be immediately obvious.

I'm a 24 year old software developer.

Nice to meet you snip. :) I know there's one or two Anarchos who work in digital/tech industries. Some of us are looking, in the long-term, to start organising industrially. You'd be very welcome to contribute to that.

Where are you from? If you feel comfortable saying, of course. :)

Mavis

Hello all. I'm a 23 year old retail worker, but will soon be leaving all that behind to go to uni, up Manchester way. My politics have been slowly developing from a position of total political apathy to libertarian communism and anarcho-syndicalism, thanks largely to the wealth of great material available on this site, which I've been lurking on for a good while but felt too out of my depth to really get involved in discussions. In terms of applying my politics practically I've had a number of false starts, probably due to being fairly naïve politically, but I guess its all a learning process and I hope to rectify this in the future.

I'm not currently in an anarchist organisation but will definitely be looking to join up once I've made the move to Manchester this September.

hey, i'm in the same boat (not in an organisation, not done much practical stuff etc, and still developing my politics) and i also may be going to Manchester uni this September (although i'm not sure i'll get the grades). from what i hear there is a strong anarchist presence there

if you've got political questions, you're quite welcome to start threads and i'm sure posters here will answer and do their best to explain things

Hey Auto. Ah, a QA Tester, the developer's natural enemy :)

Yeah, please feel free to involve me in any development of those plans.

Hi all,
I'm also fairly new to the scene, and have not been involved in any activism of note.

Growing up I was interested in anarchism, and read a few things by Maletesta. I then got more interested in green politics, but found this to be quite limited in scope. More recently I've come back round to anarchism, and probably like a lot of people have enjoyed reading things by Chomsky.

Like someone else posted, I don't feel I have a huge amount to contribute to discussions at the moment, but just wanted to say thanks to those that post on here, it's a great resource to people like me and a good way of feeling connected of course!

cheers

What industry do you work in Anatta (if you don't mind me asking)? As there is a lot of class struggle anarchists in Manchester, I'm sure at least on of the regular posters on here would be glad to put in you in contact with folks in your industry.

Hi Chilli Sauce.

What industry do you work in

Well... I've kind of floated around a fair bit, but am now back studying, and will be doing a PhD next year.

Before that it was really a mixed bag of various dull office jobs.

Are you at the University of Manchester? Bbecause if so and you want to get in touch with some other folks at the uni...hit me up at [email protected]

If you are gonna be at the University of Manchester then I second Chilli here, off the top of my head there are two other anarchists (possibly three) working there..

I've been meaning to get in touch with Manchester Solfed since I moved back from London. Seems theres a decent ammount of "fresh meat". Are any of Manc solfed on here, or is it just worth emailing them direct?

I do not think any of Manchester SolFed post regularly on here. Yeah, your best in my opinion would be to contact them directly.

BTW I am not in SolFed, just Manchester based

Yeah Manchester SolFed don't have much web presence, but are quite active around the uni, and have been looking to organise with students and others around anti-cuts stuff. If in doubt the external relations officer should be able to put you in touch.

Hello all, I'm 17, student from essex, lots of good info here, i've contacted AFed a few times but haven't got a concrete reply yet

Matt_efc

I've been meaning to get in touch with Manchester Solfed since I moved back from London. Seems theres a decent ammount of "fresh meat". Are any of Manc solfed on here, or is it just worth emailing them direct?

Hi Matt, it's my job to put potential new Solfed members in touch with their nearest local so if you want to message me your email address I'll forward it to the Manchester comrades. There's probs never been a better time to get involved in SF and it'd be great to have you onboard.

hey dudes and dudettes, i'm a member of cymdeithas yr iaith www.cymdeithas.org/english i have also attended a few south wales anarchist meetings. Been socialist for years now i'm drifting towards anacho-syndicalism.. i used to vote for the socialist/nationalist party plaid cymru but voted nobody last election... i just want to explore more ideas really.. i belive in non violent direct action and am going to court next week for one i did against cuts to welsh medium television... and i have a welsh lanmguage anarcho blog... translation 'getting the system out of my system' http://anerchiadanarchaidd.wordpress.com/

Hola people. I'm from Scotland, so if you know any good jokes about this shithole please, share :)

Hello all, I'm 17, student from essex, lots of good info here, i've contacted AFed a few times but haven't got a concrete reply yet

oh dear thats no good, theres plenty of AF here who should be able to help you out, no local group in essex but you can still join as a individual member.

Is Battlescared around? or anybody on the boards who can help?

Hi folks,

I’ve enjoyed reading this site for several months, and thought it only polite to say hello. Several decades ago I was fairly active as a libertarian, though eventually I dropped out, due mainly to the circular arguments that gradually ground me down.

After some miss-spent years in the political wilderness (the Labour Party) it is refreshing to read class based libertarian discussions and articles.

I’m going to jump straight in - see ‘Maybe AF should reply to this?’

Welcome Auld-bod! And don't worry, you didn't break any protocol in that thread. If anyone did, then it was me...

O hai!
:rb:

Just another anarcho-syndicalist here.

Hello all, names Dennis and I'm 19 years old. I've been visiting this website for some time now and i decided to at last join in. I'm from Romania and I'm an anarcho-syndicalist. Soooo, this sums it all. All the best dudes.

Hello everyone,

I've been involved in the far left movement for about half a decade now and come in that regard from a Trotskyist background. I've been drifting away from what passes today as "Trotskyism" though and would consider myself more of an "Orthodox Marxist" now. I'm not from the UK, but I'm interested in both the CPGB (the Weekly Worker people) and more recently the SPGB has also sparked my interest.

The liberation of the working class has to be the work of the working class itself after all and these groups seem to emphasize that exact point, combined with a partyist strategy that I'm sure not many people like here :D

I've registered here some time back, but only now start to post. A reason for this is the rather hostile environment on Revleft, a community I'm sure many of you know quite well. I hope I'll fit in here.

Hi Jos, some of the left communist organisations and websites that might be of interest to you:

Internationalist Perspective

Internationalist communist tendency

International communist current

If some of the other comrades want to add to this list please do so.

http://thecommune.co.uk/

Def the Commune^^^

Kolektivne proti kapitalu
Mouvement Communiste

Baronarchist

Hello all, I'm 17, student from essex, lots of good info here, i've contacted AFed a few times but haven't got a concrete reply yet

Hi,
Just wondering if anyone from the AF has got back to you yet?
I'll PM you as I'm in the AF but based in the Surrey / Hampshire border area.

Dan.

Hi all,

I've posted on here a couple of times already, but didn't realise there was an Introduction thread.

I'm a painter, sign writer, bar man (not in that order, unfortunately) from Bournemouth living in Brixton, London. I've been living in London now for about 7 years, and previous to that lived in Germany for 2 years.

I got into Anarchism only last year, after a long progression that lasted ten years and started off with Radiohead of all things, and ended up on Chomsky. Then, after a brief search on YouTube and Wiki, and found out he is (or claimed to be) an Anarchist. I was surprised, as he looked a little old to be throwing shit around, and then I found out what Anarchism was, is, and is fighting to be. I went for a trip to Freedom Press, and picked up "ABC" by Berkman, and I've gone from there, reading Guerin, Malatesta, Kropotkin, Bakunin, and others. I'd consider myself a Anarcho-Syndicalist/Communist.

I've been keeping tabs of the work of Solfed (particularly the South London branch), and I've love to join. My only concern is that I'm not sure I'd have enough time to give anything constructive.

Anyway, that's me.

P.S. If anyone ever wants any flyer/posters designed or things painted, let me know, and I should be able to give a hand at no cost

Cheers!

Hey,

I'm new here.

Simply put I am longing for British people to rise up against the elitist/corporatist plutocracy that is controlling minds, destroying freedoms and the planet for the short term benefit of a priviledged few.

I long for a new kind of society that is empathetic and nurturing, one that is sociallly and environmentally responsible, one that values the work of a toilet cleaner as highly as that of a politician, one that banishes capitalist megalamaniacal greed and works for peace.

What say you?

I agree. I was trying to compare actual value with the enforced value system. I lament; in retrospect it was bound to fail :o)

Many thanks

Hello!
University student from greece.Looking forward to constructive discussions =)

I've been lurking and posting around here for a while, but I figured I might as well introduce myself.

I became radicalized growing up kind of poor with a single mom, and then more-so by getting involved in campus political activities. I didn't really know what the labor movement was all about until I did an organizing internship in Baltimore with the AFL.

I'm a member of the IWW, and I work at a children's museum/science center where I'm still trying to figure out how to organize.

Cheers!

Good day to all comrades here!

I am a libertarian communist from Ukraine in my early 20s and I uphold the idea of creative synthesis of anarcho-communist, left-communist and revolutionary Narodnik traditions. For those who frequent RevLeft, I go under the alias of Kiev Communard on that forum. I believe we will have a productive discussion here.

Yo!

I'm from Hungary, but living in London for while now. I don't like the particular labeling, I mostly refer to my self as communist or anarchist, plain and simple. I have some geeky, IT background, which could prove useful in many cases.

As you will find out, I'm all for full scale class warfare, here and now. Don't like the prophetic visions, there's a war going on, and I try to find and play my role in it.

Avanti!

Hi

stumbled across this site while looking for idea's for my site here

Not really been involved in much politics for the past 10 years or so, apart from the odd rant in my local. Formerly a member of ACF/AF and sheffield anarchist group, helped setup sheffield red and black centre and organised a number of events there. Was heavily involved in AFA including setting up chesterfield AFA with others, also was a trot in the late 80's early 90's and was a member of Workers Power. Guess i would call myself anarchist-communist/ council communist.

theft

Sheffield

Ps my site has the texts from the 3 issues of Autonomist Action that was produced before SAG's demise as well as the one issue of anarchist theft i produced.

Steven.

Hello new people. soc have been finding your posts interesting!

soc? Serbian Orthodox Church

Theft

Steven.

Hello new people. soc have been finding your posts interesting!

soc? Serbian Orthodox Church

:D almost. FYI: Shelter Of Crime

stumbled across this site while looking for idea's for my site here

Nice website!

Hi I'm new here. I'm a communist with a little c meaning I vehemently oppose vanguardism and believe the working class must emancipate themselves if we're ever to have a successful revolution. I'm anti statist and anti money and think they should both be done away with as quickly as possible.

I've had a little look around so far and this looks like a really chill forum much less agro than some others. Even if there is a bit of Marx bashing :o

Welcome Manic and others, its good to see more and more people using the forum.

Hi I'm new here. I'm a communist with a little c meaning I vehemently oppose vanguardism and believe the working class must emancipate themselves if we're ever to have a successful revolution. I'm anti statist and anti money and think they should both be done away with as quickly as possible

Hi Manic, sounds to me like your on the road to anarchism ;)

Hello, searching for anarcho-syndicalism in a world beyond, so maybe I'm here wrong, because it's not the world, but a forum. So what.

KriegPhilosophy

stumbled across this site while looking for idea's for my site here

Nice website!

Glad you like it, hopefully loads more new stuff coming over next few days :)

T La Palli

Welcome Manic and others, its good to see more and more people using the forum.

Noooooooooo!!!

jks

I think there's a thin line between Marxists and certain types of anarchists. For me the main differences are probably strategic.
But as old Otto said "Crowned heads, wealth and privilege may well tremble should ever again the black and red unite"

I am here by mistake! I am trying to find my way out.

Hello,

Wavering always between anarchist/socialist, happy to read and learn here

Cheers

Hello,

I'm a Marxist, in the process of moving to London and interested in learning more about Anarchist theory and practise and meeting some friendly people!

Good vibes to all

http://working-class-self-organisation.blogspot.com/2011/10/only-church-that-illuminates-is-burning.html

Hello, a new-newbie here.
I've not really done much research into the various people I see mentioned a lot here, though I do know a bit about Karl Marx as I used to sleep in Highgate when homeless and was a bit curious about him. I've always liked communism though, and I can't stand the way this blasted country works at the moment, with people on the streets and little people like me struggling to remain off the streets whilst the politicians are jet-setting off all over the place /rant.

Sorry, I tend to rage a lot lately, I'm usually pretty cheerful and I spend most of my happiest time tagging; it was your graffiti article that first brought me to the site actually, and then I moved onto the other sections. I'll probably lurk for the most part, and I look forward to learning! :)

Welcome burningfoxes!

BF and K, your avatars would make a cute couple ;-)

Lol. True.

That's my cat... only he's not really a cat.
More like a really, really cowardly lion :D

Hi,
Haven't posted on here at all really as i find writing in general especially posting on forums intimidating but yeah thought I should say hello as was posting in the thread about the occupy movement.
I live in Glasgow, am from London. Am a libertarian communist/platformist and obv a feminist too.
Used to be in the AF, now just involved in student and community stuff up here. :]

Hi there,

I am a new guy from Germany, been an anarchist sympathizer for years but only recently made the break to fully embrace the anarchist ethics.

I like to think of myself as an "anarchist without adjectives", but I'm most closely aligned to communism, for that is the form of social relations I can identify with the most. I am not however close-minded to our approach to liberation and think that pragmatism takes precedence - that is to say, I'd also be happy with syndicalism or other forms of socialist organization. I think that the communists have the most clear-cut understanding of economic and social relations though, and it is the most intellectually appealing form of the movement to me.

I am a student of economics. Why would an anarchist, or a communist for that matter, study economics? Well, know thy enemy. The more you know about his internal workings, the more effectively can you dismantle it - sadly though, there seems to be no Marxist or other kind of socialist economics professor at my uni, so the information I can get is rather... one-sided. But that's what sites like these are for, are they not?

My custom title is "your friendly hippie anarchist", and I guess that will offend quite some people here. I've been reading around a bit the past few days and it seems to me like libcoms hate hippies, lol. Well, I can fully understand why and I agree with them for the most part. To me, the hippies had a beautiful thing going on, but they were too far out for their own good. The whole hippie commune deal with its psychonauts and trippy music is deeply appealing to me, and I can envision this as a form of post-revolutionary society. Were the hippies born too early? Maybe. I do not intend to follow their escapist route, so I take libertarian (or, more importantly, revolutionary) politics as a means towards that end.

I am a proponent of the "subjective reality" view of the world and lean towards R.A. Wilsons philosophy of "agnosticism about everything". This emphasis on subjectivity does not mean to me that we cannot lead a mutual struggle against the dominant forms of social relations - on the contrary, I deem hierarchy and capitalism incompatible with this world view, and thus they must be abolished. I am not quite sure if that makes me an idealist or a materialist, haha. Anyway, I am quite influenced by the primitivists in their critique of civilization, though I do not wish to go back to the stone age like some of them do, but rather to a post-civ world.

I am thus not a "pure" libertarian or anarchist communist, though I have more in common with them than with others. Some would coin me post-left, though I guess that is both accurate AND false...

I have a blog at http://railyon.wordpress.com where I publish short essays and reviews in German and English. I think my review of David Gordon's "Analytical Marxism" can be summed up in a few words: a steaming pile of shit, haha (because Gordon is a capitalist apologetic). I'm currently translating that review into English.

Hey all,

I have just been prompted to introduce myself...

I'm a libertarian communist and member of Brighton SolFed. Haven't really done internet politics in the past as I find it easier to thrash out ideas in face-to-face conversation, but at the moment those conversations keep directing me to libcom.

Hello I'm a newbie who's crap at introductions so I'll keep it short.

I'm from England and have only recently begun to start reading into Anarchism having been more familiar with Marxism-Leninism.

After realising I'm an anti-statist as well as a anti-authoritarian I've started to read into Anarchism mainly writings by Makhno and Kropotkin as well as various articles about them and their theory on here.

I'm also terrible at punctuation as will become apparent if it hasn't already.

figure I'll introduce myself.

I'm 18 and live in the US. I used to post on revleft under the name of zeekloid but got fed up with that site. I completely gave up politics due to my experiences in the local activist scene and dealing with revleft (the worst of whom were the PSL and a lot of the hypocrite anarchists) but I guess I'll see if I like it here. I'm very skeptical politically so don't be offended if I ask questions about how a non-capitalist system would work, I'm not sure if I really fit here, I'm more here to learn.

hi folks,

i'm doing a fair bit of lurking at the moment so thought i'd say hi. i'm a freelance software developer in north London who's beginning to self-identify as an anarchist (despite not knowing any IRL). my commitment to this exciting new hobby to date has mostly involved being an uncooperative pain in the arse at various places i've worked. (and little else)

i've come to anarchism mostly from a general interest in spanish civil war history, a bunch of gripes/worries about the modern workplace and other related stuff (old friends and neighbours espousing alarmingly fascistic views in the wake of the august riots, dale farm, etc etc).

i voted liberal democrat at the last election and this is your chance to mock and taunt me for it. i've enjoyed the following political books over the last 18 months or so (just to give you an idea of the half-baked, half-understood ideas that i currently try to pass off as a coherent set of beliefs):

Discipline and Punish
Capitalist Realism
Demanding the Impossible
Chomsky on Anarchism (currently reading)
Society of the Spectacle (couldn't make head nor fucking tail of that one)
A couple of idiot's guides to critical theory + Marx

anyway, nice to meet you. i think i know one or two of you folks on twitter, where i'm @jrwtt.

*waves excitedly at jrwtt/jonr* it's you!

jonr

hi folks,

i'm doing a fair bit of lurking at the moment so thought i'd say hi. i'm a freelance software developer in north London who's beginning to self-identify as an anarchist (despite not knowing any IRL). my commitment to this exciting new hobby to date has mostly involved being an uncooperative pain in the arse at various places i've worked. (and little else)

i've come to anarchism mostly from a general interest in spanish civil war history, a bunch of gripes/worries about the modern workplace and other related stuff (old friends and neighbours espousing alarmingly fascistic views in the wake of the august riots, dale farm, etc etc).

i voted liberal democrat at the last election and this is your chance to mock and taunt me for it. i've enjoyed the following political books over the last 18 months or so (just to give you an idea of the half-baked, half-understood ideas that i currently try to pass off as a coherent set of beliefs):

Discipline and Punish
Capitalist Realism
Demanding the Impossible
Chomsky on Anarchism (currently reading)
Society of the Spectacle (couldn't make head nor fucking tail of that one)
A couple of idiot's guides to critical theory + Marx

anyway, nice to meet you. i think i know one or two of you folks on twitter, where i'm @jrwtt.

Welcome to the site Jon. If you're interested in knowing some anarchist IRL, you could come to this:

http://solfed.org.uk/?q=anti-cuts-forum-sponsored-by-sf-and-af

Hello, I'm Halley and a mother to a 2 year old boy..I'm currently pursuing my studies, where I had my first introduction to anarchism (I was doing a research study)..It is a sad thing to find out that there are a lot of screwed up people out there especially in the higher positions :x

Hi,

Im box, I come from Texas, United States.
My politics are strongly convicted in anti-authoritarian/ anti-capitalism but can be kind of sketchy tendency wise because a lack of strong regional influence.

but! I have been lurking for almost a year and never really felt convicted to join until of recently due to boredom and the need to connect with mah comrades.

and now that I have noticed I used "convicted" twice and before I let it bother me Im just going to post this shit

Cheers
Box

Hi.

I'm from London, Britain. I have been an anarchist for about six years now, having been a trotskyist/leninist before. I identify as an anarchist communist and have been to a few Anarchist Federation meetings although I am not yet a member.

I am looking to get more politically active now that I am out of work and I hope I'll enjoy my time here on Libcom.

Oh! Mather's comment put the intro' thread in the front page, and now I don't feel so awkward, posting here without any personal context for anyone to go by.

I landed out of the womb in Texas, perhaps like Box above if he was born here. I have only left it in very short moments, into Russia (and not just Moskva, but the dilapidated, depressed communities around it) and several times to the border area of Mexico. It was enough for the world to become real in my mind.

Not many proper anarchists here, outside of college towns. For the syndies/commies, Wobbly presence is small, informal. In my city they came together from people reading political theory on the Internet, figuring out where they stood, and running into each other.

You could call me an "anarchist without adjectives", but since I don't know more than the most obvious issues of environmentalism, and animal rights, I have thus far paid most attention to labor and identity/culture struggles. It's a bit hard to get involved in the community, however, when I have no work, nor many friends to help get free. Until I acquire those, I keep awake by talking to fellows on the Internet, like at this page.

If I talk too much, or too harshly, I welcome anyone who digitally takes me aside in a private message and explains how better to handle myself at Libcom. Also, anyone who needs help with any activity that an online fellow can help with, here's one volunteer.

See you around.

Howdy-ho, long-time lurker second-time poster. I was born and raised somewhere in rural Arizona within the inland empire of the US of A. I self-identified as a communist during highschool, thought I was some kind o libertarian during the middle part of my university studies, then finally realized I was an anarchist all along searching for some legitimization of my views within party structures. I realized the error of my ways!

There are a few anarchists in Tucson and there is a collective here of which I am not a part owing to my distance from the actual city. Arizona, as I'm sure you have some sense of, is a fairly right-wing and reactionary state even as far as the USA is concerned and as such it's not the easiest to meet radicals out here; many "left-wing" people I was friends with as a youth of 16 to19 are now active participants in the cultural ash heap of consumer culture. I called myself an existentialist then (and was a particularly large fan of Camus) and it seems most consistent for me to be an anarchist now. How others have jumped aboard so dirty a bandwagon is uncertain to me; maybe the drugs are better than what I get but I don't think so owing to rampant drug testing

Anyway, just introducing myself, yada yada yada. I hope to be able to learn more about what I believe through active discussions with ya'll over the course of time.

Hasta manana!

Yo,

Wobbly here, been diggin the idea of "Anarchy" for a while, but only recently have I began developing a stronger "class analysis" and educating myself on the communist/syndicalist foundations to Anarchism.

I signed up with the IWW during the little uprising and capitol occupation we had in Wisconsin last February to try and promote workplace actions and possibly take part in a little smashy smash if the opportunity arose. I didn't have a clue how to react to the situation as I have no experience in labor organizing. I moved away from Madison to a different part of the state over the summer and have been trying to get some radical organizing going on up here, but have hit a lot of roadblocks with working a lot with lazy, unreliable, stoners, having liberals getting in the way of anything that might "alienate" people, and "dropping-out" lifestylist types.

Great to have you on board RB. As someone who got more involved/radicalised after Madison, I'll be curious to hear your thoughts on how thing develop in your neck of the woods. Do keep us informed.

Hi, I am a young anarchist from the USA (I used to be a marxist, not anymore). I really like this site.

Redwinged Blackbird

Yo,

Wobbly here, been diggin the idea of "Anarchy" for a while, but only recently have I began developing a stronger "class analysis" and educating myself on the communist/syndicalist foundations to Anarchism.

I signed up with the IWW during the little uprising and capitol occupation we had in Wisconsin last February to try and promote workplace actions and possibly take part in a little smashy smash if the opportunity arose. I didn't have a clue how to react to the situation as I have no experience in labor organizing. I moved away from Madison to a different part of the state over the summer and have been trying to get some radical organizing going on up here, but have hit a lot of roadblocks with working a lot with lazy, unreliable, stoners, having liberals getting in the way of anything that might "alienate" people, and "dropping-out" lifestylist types.

Hey, how's it going? I spent around 4 months in Madison doing work through the IWW to push for a general strike. We might know each other!

Ravineman

Hi, I am a young marxist from the USA. This site is, in the words of my generation (at least where I am from), totally beast. I've only been a marxist for 5 or 6 months now and I have only been a libertarian marxist for 3 or 4 months now. I discovered marxism after reading a PLP newspaper, and ever since I have been devoted to communist causes!

Welcome! Lib marxism is great.

There is a great article here which you might be interested in (if you have not seen it already)

Sup, unemployed 24 year old from down Cornwall here (I say unemployed, I do a shift a week at a newspaper distributors), I've always been pretty left wing but reading Homage to Catalonia first got me interested in anarchism as an ideology and I've recently been reading the ABC of Anarchism so thought I'd sign up here to join the discussions and learn more.

Welcome Lurching!

Steven.

Welcome newbies (and LOL at voting LibDem)!

Hah, at the last election (when I was still clueless) I would have voted for Alliance (since we can't vote for the Lib Dems here). Thankfully though, Bill Hicks led me to Chomsky, who led me... here.

Does Bill Hooks talk about Chomsky? I must have missed that.

Who's Alliance?

Chilli Sauce

Who's Alliance?

Bill Hicks described himself as Chomsky with dick jokes, I think.

Well, I like Bill Hicks and even with Chomsky's descent into social democracy, that statement is quite a stretch...

the croydonian anarchist

Chilli Sauce

Who's Alliance?

So who are they?!

Chilli Sauce

even with Chomsky's descent into social democracy

What ????????????

There's got to be tonnes of threads on this, but he's really gotten liberal in his old age. He advocated voting for Obama in swing states, advocates for the trade union membership without nearly enough critique, and talks about how if America was a "real democracy" tax day would be (paraphrasing) "a celebration of our shared priorities". Plus he often one of the first (leftist celebrity) signatories of petitions pushing Obama from the left.

Doesn't mean his analysis of US hegemony can't still be spot on, but politically he's not nearly as anarcho as he used to be. That said, a lot of this seems audience specific. If he's interviewed by anarchists, he'll be much more radical.

Chilli Sauce

the croydonian anarchist

Chilli Sauce

Who's Alliance?

So who are they?!

The Northern Irish version of the Lib Dems basically.

snipfool

Bill Hicks described himself as Chomsky with dick jokes, I think.

Yeah that was it. I read that and thought who's that? Then checked good old wikipedia.

Hi, I'm a student and quite generic. Pay me no mind.

Greetings! I'm Wren, currently residing in Chicago. Been reading for a while but just joined the forum for some good old fashioned discussions and filling in space in time gaps! I've been a member of the Industrial Workers of the World since 2006 and currently run the IWW Literature Department. Our site is store.iww.org if you wanted to check it out. I've got a 1 year old named Opie and my partner and I are expecting our second child in July. I see I already know some of you (we be trollin') and look forward to hearing from some new comrades! Stay solid, y'all!

Hiya,

I don't know whether this is the right place for me, but if someone has a better suggestion then I'd be grateful to hear it....I just want a bit of advice about how to go about this....And here seemed as good as any! And the place i found the most info about squatting on!
I'm properly going to come across like a bitter vindictive person, and to be honest part of that might be correct, but after everything my landlord has put me through, then I don't really care.
I plan on moving soon, within the next month, and I want to find someone who will squat in my flat, and make it as hard as possible for the land lord to move them.
I live virtually on the welsh border, and I don't care who or for what reason someone wants to take me up on the offer. I want someone to make his life stressfull and realise that he shouldn't have pissed me off.
He's not bothered about the place, other than collecting rent, there is damp creeping up the spare room (its a 2bed flat) because he couldn't be bothered to get someone to fit an extractor fan in the bathroom yet this bathroom also has exposed wires (which originally we were told were dead, but after seeing them spark we were told that nope they were actually live wires) Their is no heating except one working radiator in the living room. The electrics are shot to shit, and being a typical dumb blonde I know this just because when you turn something on you can see a visible spark behind the plug socket, and something tells me that that isn't right.
I don't want anyone to damage the property, it's also a listed building, but I want someone to make his life a misery, as regardless of the building faults, he's been a complete backhanded, sneaky knob who's wanted me out since someone opened the pub below
Just to explain the building is a pub, with three flats, the flat that i ocupy is top floor and has both inside and outside access. He's wanted me and my partner gone so that he can let our flat (aswell as the bottom 2) out to the pub renters. We were here first, pay our rent on time, organise our own repairs and cause very little hassle. But until I can get the flat condemmed as a rental property this is my next option.

If anyone knows where this 'add' might be better placed, or any great ideas and suggestions (other than to stop being bitter) then id greatly appreciate it "/

Hey everyone, just signed up for an account.

I'm a young anarchist from yorkshire, recently got involved in SolFed but I've been an anarchist for a while. Started getting involved in activism with the student demonstrations and its just gone from there. Always interested in discussions and really feel my 'ignorance' with some of the more nuanced elements of politics, hopefully being on here will go a way towards changing that.

Narrator

Hey everyone, just signed up for an account.

I'm a young anarchist from yorkshire, recently got involved in SolFed but I've been an anarchist for a while. Started getting involved in activism with the student demonstrations and its just gone from there. Always interested in discussions and really feel my 'ignorance' with some of the more nuanced elements of politics, hopefully being on here will go a way towards changing that.

Small world, brah.

It's the first time I post a comment on the forum. I introduce myself first before writing on.
I'm a French libertarian communist interested in both anarchism and council communism (especially the unorthodox marxists like Pannekoek, Gorter, Korsch, Rubel...), as well as situationnism, etc.
Concerning my history, I was close to marxists groups first, but I wasn't really at ease with the political attitude of these leninists organizations, especially concerning the union, which I consider like inefficient struggle means. Paradoxically, I got closer to the French IWA, joining it sometimes. Since around two years, I've increasingly move away from it, while I disagreed with some attitudes (disrespect, attachment to old theories never questionned regarding the reality...). But I've kept in touch with friends. It makes me like a mix of anarchism and unorthodox marxism. And I join no organization, not interested in it by these times of political crisis, considering the severe divisions of the anarchist ans council communist groups.

Hey, I'm Die Rote Fahne. I'm a Luxemburgist, and I am interested in the works of Zizek, Trotsky and David harvey.

I'm from Newfoundland, Canada and I'm currently getting my diploma in Occupational Health and Safety.

Awesome to be here. I'm a member of other forums including one I admin myself, and a former member of revleft.

Sup?

Hi, I am an anarchist organizer and "activist" in Tennessee in the United States. The area where I live used to be the most sacred spot of the Cherokee and now it houses a large paper mill, chemical/ plastics factory and a nuclear waste/plutonium site. We also have a large amount of folks in poverty and we are plagued with meth and prescription pill addiction. Ive worked against Mountain Top Removal, i have been involved and dj'd for a pirate radio station in a town nearby that was shut down the feds, and I was recently involved with a local Occupy group (which went terribly). I organize Really Really Free Markets and am in the process of starting up a moneyless network of mutual aid within my city.

I was introduced to Anarchism through local punk rock shows where I met Crimethinc. folks,from there I attended Green Anarchy functions when that was going on back in the day...My philosophy is very old school Kropotkin esque and I am not a primitivist but I do acknowledge the damaging effects that technology has on humanity.

I usually stay away from message boards, but recently I have been trying to get in touch with folks outside of my region and country because I am very interested in experiencing and learning from some global struggles. I have a blog if you are interested: http://thedisaffectedkingsport.blogspot.com/

I am interested in helping shape a global movement of permanent breakaway autonomous zones. My favorite anarchist thinkers are Emma Goldman, Murray Bookchin, John Zerzan, Peter Kropotkin, and Max Ernst.

Hi everyone

I'm a long time lurker, first time poster. I'll say a bit about some of what got me to the point where libcom is one of my favourite sites.

I haven't been an anarchist for that long, I've not read any of the important texts, but quite a lot of this site. I don't know why it took me so long to call myself an anarchist communist. I have always considered myself radically socialist and anti-authoritarian and against wealth inequality and anti-war all that jazz. I used to get my opinions from New Internationalist and The Ecologist and The Gruaniad. I'm into environmental sustainability and permaculture too. I was never a huge fan of police, or the army either but I didn't really know anything more about anarchist politics than most people. I thought communism was impossible because of inevitable government corruption and 'human nature'. I didn't really know how to make democracy work better. I didn't see how we could have a new revolution without it turning sour.

The thing that made me want to learn more about anarchism was when I witnessed my first kettle at G20 (I dodged it, and actually tried to get back inside for some reason) I was there for the climate camp but I had a walkabout and I saw a few anarchists on road and they seemed to be having fun and they seemed to hate what I hated.

After seeing an anarchist in the flesh, I took a mild interest in anarchist politics and looked anarchism up on wikipedia and quickly lost interest. I saw a proper caring, sharing, vibrant and relaxed anarchy as a very nice idea but a bit utopian and unachievable, I had too many questions about how decisions would be made and whatnot. I thought people need leaders to do the fiddly decisions they can't be bothered with. Added to that, at the time I thought the only thing real-life anarchists did to achieve their political goals was smash a few windows and not vote in government elections. I'm sympathetic to newbies who ask stupid questions, I don't know a lot but I'm pretty sure I get it.

Then on March 26th I got bored on the main march and followed a red and black flag and a bike sound system up to Fortnum & Masons- I watched people smashing into the bank and argy-bargy with the coppers. I kind of went with the flow, but didn't do anything illegal. I tried to stay with the agitators and not just appear to be a spectator, because it was more fun, at one point I was caught in a small and temporary kettle and a cop shoved one guy to the floor who was trying to get out and struck him with his shield, me and the guy to his right stepped forward and held up our hands palms up- ('calm it!' style) and the cop allowed it. I picked a side, and I was on the side of public disorder, but not violence. Being been in the thick of it during a public order situation and it was a fun time- running around the west end watching people chuck stuff at armoured fuzz and smash up the property of corporations. I went home and decided that it was all a bit silly really, but I'd look into this anarchism thing again.

While that sort of thing is a lot of fun, and I'm not totally opposed to mob vandalism against the right targets and if people look out for each other, and it kind of led to my recruitment to the mileu- I do think that those anarchist-led public disorder events might be a bit of a turn off for many people and that possibly the most important part of doing our best to assist in the abolition of capital and the state (in our spare time) is the community and workplace organising side of things. By all means, if it kicks off then go for it but I know more people who were critical of anarchists off the back of seeing window smashing, even if they are sympathetic to some anarchist concepts.

I do slack off in the old class struggle a bit, I don't struggle all that hard. I am a relatively new shop steward at my workplace, though I haven't really done anything bar going on the N30 strike and to a few meetings, though I haven't done my introductory training yet. I will get round to joining SolFed one day, I've done their workplace organising training and it is da lick and the people in my local are safe and do lots of good stuff.

I am also trying to find the time to get involved properly in my local solidarity group but my main political activity is just talking to non-anarchists about what I think and reading about the various ongoing struggles, hoping there's a whiff of revolution in the air so I can do my best to participate in the right way.

I also enjoy grime and dubstep raves, getting crunk and long walks in the countryside or around town. Various other things. I am a bit addicted to this website.

(edit, my intro was too long so I cut it, then I wrote it again with extra waffle)

Hello all,

Where to start? Hmmm...

WELL, I'm not sure how I would begin to introduce myself so ill explain a little about why I'm here. Ive always been a bit on-the-fence with my politics but a lot has changed recently so I find myself trying to find out where abouts I might fit in. I personally think I belong to this community more then anywhere else but I completely lack the concentration to read a book and knowledge to know the full ins and outs of what this community believes and stands for. I consider myself a Socialist and consider myself a libertarian also, but I need to learn more about it all. I am interested in meets so I can talk to people and learn more of what its all about.

So yea, thats about it really. If anyone has any questions then I'm happy to answer.

Hello everyone,

I signed up a few weeks ago and keep intending to check the site out properly, which I'm doing now. I'm an anarchist-communist. I was driven here more out of a frustration with discussions I was having in other places but I hope also to learn something as well as just adding my two cents here and there. I like reading politics as long as the texts are short and I like engaging in struggle as long as I can avoid the activist scene.

Hey Cheburashka, where abouts are you based? theres probably some meetings or groups nearby that you could meet with.

I signed up recently. I've always lurked but I finally made an account. Based in the US. A few comrades and me helped bring about the Occupy movement and we run occupywallst.org. I'm anarcho-communist myself.

Hopefully I'll be able to meet and network with like minded people.

I could probably write a 101 on how to use social networking and the internet to prop up a movement soon.

I am a person who found anarchism when I accidentally came across an excerpt of Proudhon's "Property is Theft". I am interested in philosophy, currently focusing on existentialist philosophers Nietzsche, Camus, and Sartre. I also involve myself with discordians and associate with some Dudeist philosophies as well. If love is cool and oppressive power relations aren't then I guess I'm an anarchist.

Greetings.

Anarchist communist from The Ohio Country, university educated (a science discipline) and underemployed (food and retail worker); IWW organizer.

I've been reading the library here for years, and got an account some time ago. However, I've just now decided to get involved in this particular bunch of serious internet business.

I've been a poster at some other site for a minute.

Salutations & solidarity!

I'm a syndicalist from New York who just recently re-located to Berlin. I was previously working in a office with a setting that can simply described as the world of the super ego, and was recently let go for being not so motivated to act busy as busy as the other guys. Naturally enjoying music and a little hedonism I plan to keep things going by djing clubs in the city, as for my fellow djs I know we're all sort petite bourgeoisie freelancers imho.
I can't remember how I arrived at anarchism but I figure it had to do with my interest in Marx provoked while a naive wage slave for an verbally abusive boss a few years back.

As for theory things like Debord still hit home to me and I also studied anthropology at uni. Anyway I've been lurking on the site for a while, make chums, exchange theory and get to making a "toz" so we can have all that full communism. I've grown tired not just with the economic injustice from capitalism, rather the social relations it imposes upon man reducing our condition to something beast-like... I want to say smash it then hug everyone.

:)

Hello. I've visited the site for ages and use the library often but I've only recently signed up.
I get the feeling that I'm far from unique here in coming to anarchism from marxism. It took a while, I'm obviously a bit of a slow learner. I can't say that I had a great moment of clarity over the bodies (of work) of a dead russian, my perspective just shifted. The reading came later, still working on it.
I'm originally from england, having moved away some years ago.
Regrettably, my life isn't even nearly interesting enough to inflict a long boring intro on you all.

Hello, I actually just visited the site today, and I was originally looking for more blog posts on anarchism, and I stumbled upon here. Anyway, I won't say that I've always been an anarchist, but it's an ideology I've sided with in most cases. And it was only when I started working when I considered myself an anarchist -- an anarcho-pacifist -- because of all the capitalism being stuffed up my mind day in and day out. So, I'm kind of a newbie, but I've been reading Camus, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, and others, and since there aren't too many people like me here (I'm from the Philippines), it's kind of hard to express what I want to say.

Anyway, there you go. I'm always ready to learn and join the revolt. Nice meeting you all. Thanks for having me here!

Welcome, always good to have another Dostoyevsky fan on libcom.

Oh yeah. Haha. Every time I read "Notes from Underground," it feels like I'm reading for the first time. It's my favorite book!

And thank you for the welcome. Have a nice day!

Just found the introduction thread, after I have already made a few posts, but I will introduce myself none the less. I am a student and part time worker from Canada who has been into revolutionary politics since I can remember. I was drawn to Marx at a very young age, despite having barely understood much of what I read. Today I consider myself an insurrectionary anarchist. While I am interested in a wide variety of thinkers, a few I am currently most interested in are Bakunin, Guy Debord, Mr. Dupont, Bonanno, and the invisible committee. I, at one point considered myself a active participant in RAAN (Red & Anarchist Action Network) but think that the organization has its issues and downfalls and at another time (during my trotskyist days was close to joining the RKOB). I wish to either find another decentralized organization and to become more active, as well as improve my grasp on the theoretical aspects of anarchism and communism.

Hello there.

Well I feel like writing this down for posterity. I'm 27 and live in Scotland, and feel like I've 'came over' to anarchism (specifically 'libertarian socialism' if I've been reading correctly). Like many, I'm working class, work in an unskilled job, and am crippled with debt.

I recently completely a degree in History and Politics, but was never quite receptive to anarchism. I think this was due to the widespread misrepresentation of Anarchy being 'chaos', as opposed to a rejection based on any actual reading on the subject (I can't quite recall ever studying it formally).

As long as I've been politically aware I've been a socialist of the statist variety, namely as I never considered there could be any other another type. I did the whole rebellious teenage Che Guevara stage, and thinking the Soviet Union and Cuba, etc were somehow to be lauded.

I have always struggled with the arbitrary notion of borders and the nationalism which is bound by them. My studies (particularly in history) duly chipped away at any respect I held for nation-states or nationalism. I read a Noam Chomsky quote recently where he states, "There's a good reason why nobody studies history. It just teaches you too much." This is vert much true, and I certainly consider the History aspect of my degree conferred a far greater political education than Politics itself!

Anyway, I'm still very much in the embryonic stage. My vague understanding is that the closest large-scale example of Anarchism in action was revolutionary Catalunya, but I may be wide of the mark there. If anyone could point me in the direction of good information regarding this, or Anarchism in action elsewhere, I'd be very grateful. Most of my friends would consider themselves statist socialist, so when I declare myself to be an Anarchist (as I have not done yet), I want to be able to defend myself against accusations that it cannot work in practice!

Thanks for reading.

Hello! I am a proud union member in two unions. The American Federation of Musicians and the Industrial Workers of the World. I am a professional bagpiper and when I'm not performing I am helping to organize fellow workers and fight for their rights. You can check out my website if you like at:
www.highlandbagpiper.net
I look forward to getting to know all of you.

Hey,

Politics and History student from the UK. Anti-Capitalist.

Joined because I know very very little about contemporary anarchism or libertarian communism. I was also supposed to be writing an essay and nothing beats procrastination.

Look forward to the chat.

well guess its about time..

30+ years old, got pointed to this forum by fellow activists (though i dont consider myself an activist) and been reading mostly the theory section and the hilarious threads in libcommunity. unproud union member, losely connected with the local commies (i know where they hang out to drink and i post in their forum). my skills involve beating several large drums at once and using windows 7 like a pro. political education started some 10 years ago when i bumped into the MEW in the library looking for an explanation what differs neoliberalism from liberalism. after ive read some Marx & Engels, Gegenstandpunkt and the aforementioned commies took it from there. Other "poltiical" stuff i read to some serious extent is Adorno, Stirner, Chomsky. Always sorry about my english, i probably understand anything but my active words are severely limited.

Hi, I'm a Wobbly and Common Struggle - LCF member who has worked a plethora of shitty jobs and is currently a nursing student. (Anti)politically I'm primarily influenced by the French ultra-left, later autonomism, and critical readings of the Italian and German/Dutch Lefts, with a healthy dash of insurrectionary stuff thrown in.

I've lurked libcom for quite a while, but just recently made an account and decided to post once in a while.

I also blog far too infrequently at Autonomous Struggle of the Glittertariat

Greetings, all!
Introductions are often accompanied by self-description, but I'm going to try to avoid using words ending in "-ist" this time around. Instead, I'll use the method the film Amelie uses:
I like Nature, my earthly environment, whether the locale be wild, urbanized, or even devastated. The living things all around me sustain me; and, whether good or bad, things are always literally spectacular.
I like Language in general. English is said to have the largest "lexicon" or "word count" on this planet because it borrows everything from so many other languages. Awesome! But synonyms do not really exist; therefore, the pursuit of "foreign" languages has been for me an obsession to collect more ideas. Consider the English expression "work, work, work" versus the Spanish "trabaja y lucha!"
I dislike the Despair, the breakdown of all imagination that occurs when people give up and acquiesce. Don't think for a second that I say that haughtily. I am stifled by fear AND despair as badly as the next person, but it is a great shame and a cowardice. Manageable, one hopes! Sporadically surmountable, definitely!
I dislike the way "How are you doing" replaces expressions of goodwill in English like the now archaic "Good morning/Good day/G'dafternoon/Evenin'" forms of hello. Don't pry into my emotions when you're walking by at 10 miles-per-hour. Do you understand the words coming out of your mouth?
Yours truly,
Diggerlover

Hi, like many I've been lurking around these pages for a while. I don't really know what to say here; I'm a student of physics who has started having serious doubts about the value of scientific/technological progress, particularly the almost unavoidable involvement of corporate scumbags with research and development. I'd like to find ways of engaging with scientists and getting them to choose not to work for arms companies or surveillance companies. I've identified as "left" for as long as I can remember, only recently started to engage with anarchist thought, though. I'm eager to learn and to contribute, but I don't feel well-grounded in libertarian theory (or even marxist theory, for that matter), so I'll probably keep my head down and keep reading this excellent site for now.

Hi,

just thought I would let you know that from now on, I will not only visit the site in order to keep me informed, but also to post a stupid or uninformed comment every now and then.
In short:
I hate money and bosses, that is why I do not work (allergic to capitalism). I am much more happy since I began traveling and focusing my energy in other revolutionary activities. So, I am not involved in the classical "work place struggle".
I also hate dogmatism. And especially authority combined with that. Ignorance being the father of all evil.
I like grass-roots social movements and baking bread.
And I like this board while I do not like facebook.
I love you.

Edit: As English is not my mother tongue, please feel free to make me aware of ridiculous sounding expressions that miss the point.

Hiya

I was a student many years ago, and had expectations for the future and stuff. Graduated, was unemployed for ages, found a job that didn't last, was unemployed again, and this made me unwell. So I have not worked for years and years, and feel well pushed-out.
I was active a bit in politics at university, and in my home town, but illness prevented me from doing that after leaving.
I don't really know much about anarchism, but am here to learn and explore. What impresses me about the Aims and Principles, is the stance it takes on trade unions - I have never been in one apart from the student union at uni. I like the idea of helping us stop oppressing each other as working class people too. I am bi-sexual, and got treated badly by a charity I was involved with, when I made my sexuality known.
I believe that there is the technology, resources, money and personnel, to secure the basic material needs of all humanity. All that is missing is the political will on the part of the ruling class, the removed elite who own and control things. We got to take it ourselves.
So, it's cool being here anyway, and I want to learn and explore and help myself and others.

hello, im Rory, im a 23 year old politics student (though currently intermitting due to health/personal reasons), I consider myself a Libertarian Socialist and have read articles on this site before so decided to sign up :)

Diddy-D, been enjoying your posts, comrade.

Hey, I'm a libertarian communist from the Pacfic Northwest. haven't really bothered using forums before. nice to find folks who share my views.

Potawatomi

Hey, I'm a libertarian communist from the Pacfic Northwest. haven't really bothered using forums before. nice to find folks who share my views.

Hey, welcome to the board. If you don't mind me asking, where in the pacific NW do you live? You can PM me if don't feel comfortable making that info public

redsdisease

Potawatomi

Hey, I'm a libertarian communist from the Pacfic Northwest. haven't really bothered using forums before. nice to find folks who share my views.

Hey, welcome to the board. If you don't mind me asking, where in the pacific NW do you live? You can PM me if don't feel comfortable making that info public

Welcome, they're a few from the the NW area that post here so you're in good company.

redsdisease

Potawatomi

Hey, I'm a libertarian communist from the Pacfic Northwest. haven't really bothered using forums before. nice to find folks who share my views.

Hey, welcome to the board. If you don't mind me asking, where in the pacific NW do you live? You can PM me if don't feel comfortable making that info public

Seattle

What's up everyone ?

Joining the forums from Oz... have lived recently in the UK and Western Europe. I'm a postgrad Sociology student after doing the obligatory BA in philosophy and music. I work for charities - can not, will not, go private sector. Politically I guess I'm more of a strict Marxist, though my interests are in critical theory and slamming bullshit mass culture.

Chat soon.

Hey everyone,

I've been a lurker here at libcom for quite some time... but, I got tired of being a creep I guess so, I created an account this morning... I assume this means i'll have to follow it up by taking a shower too? Man! ...I KNEW not being a creep was going to be a lot of work! :roll:

Anyway, I paint things. mostly pictures! :)