the anarchist cookbook

168 Pages·2015·9.42 MB·English

the
anarchist
cookbook
Keith McHenry
with
Chaz Bufe
See Sharp Press ◆ Tucson, Arizona
Copyright © 2015 by Keith McHenry and Chaz Bufe. Introduction copyright © 2015 by
Chris Hedges. All rights reserved.
For information contact:
See Sharp Press llc
P.O. Box 1731
Tucson, AZ 85702
www.seesharppress.com
The Anarchist cookbook / by Keith McHenry with Chaz Bufe –
Tucson, Ariz.: See Sharp Press, 2015.
154 p. : ill. ; 28 cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-937276-76-8
Contents:
1. Anarchism. 2. Cooking, American -- Recipes. 3. United States --
Economic conditions -- 21st century. 4. Food -- Political aspects.
5. Food relief. I. McHenry, Keith. II. Bufe, Charles.
320.57
Portions of this book previously appeared in somewhat different form in Hungry for Peace, by Keith McHenry,
Provocations, by Chaz Bufe, The Complete Manual of Pirate Radio(cid:14)(cid:2)(cid:68)(cid:91)(cid:2)(cid:60)(cid:71)(cid:77)(cid:71)(cid:2)(cid:54)(cid:71)(cid:384)(cid:81)(cid:80)(cid:14)(cid:2)(cid:67)(cid:80)(cid:70)(cid:2)You Can’t Blow Up a Social
Relationship, by our favorite author, Anonymous.
Contents
Introduction (Chris Hedges) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . i
Its Author on the Original “Anarchist Cookbook” (William Powell) . . . . . . . . . . v
I. Anarchism
1. Anarchism: What It Is and What It Isn’t . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
2. You Can’t Blow Up a Social Relationship:
The Anarchist Case Against Terrorism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
3. Revolutionary Nonviolence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
4. Avoiding FBI Entrapment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
5. Anarchism vs. “Libertarianism” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
II. Recipes for Social Change
1. Common Approaches: What Works, What Doesn’t
A. Boycotts and Divestment Campaigns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
B. Co-ops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
C. Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
D. Labor Organizing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
a. Business Unions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
b. Revolutionary Unions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
c. Labor Tactics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
E. Occupations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
F. Sabotage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
G. Simple Living . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
H. Street Demonstrations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
I. Vanguard Parties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
J. Voting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
2. Practical Matters: Basic Steps to Effective Organizing
(cid:2) (cid:2) (cid:35)(cid:16)(cid:2)(cid:35)(cid:72)(cid:383)(cid:80)(cid:75)(cid:86)(cid:91)(cid:2)(cid:41)(cid:84)(cid:81)(cid:87)(cid:82)(cid:85)(cid:2)(cid:16)(cid:2)(cid:16)(cid:2)(cid:16)(cid:2)(cid:16)(cid:2)(cid:16)(cid:2)(cid:16)(cid:2)(cid:16)(cid:2)(cid:16)(cid:2)(cid:16)(cid:2)(cid:16)(cid:2)(cid:16)(cid:2)(cid:16)(cid:2)(cid:16)(cid:2)(cid:16)(cid:2)(cid:16)(cid:2)(cid:16)(cid:2)(cid:16)(cid:2)(cid:16)(cid:2)(cid:16)(cid:2)(cid:16)(cid:2)(cid:16)(cid:2)(cid:16)(cid:2)(cid:16)(cid:2)(cid:16)(cid:2)(cid:16)(cid:2)(cid:16)(cid:2)(cid:2)(cid:16)(cid:2)(cid:16)(cid:2)(cid:16)(cid:2)(cid:16)(cid:2)(cid:16)(cid:2)(cid:16)(cid:2)(cid:16)(cid:2)(cid:16)(cid:2)(cid:16)(cid:2)(cid:16)(cid:2)(cid:23)(cid:23)
B. Public Outreach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
C. Meetings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57
a. Consensus Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .58
D. Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
E. Tours . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .62
F. Gatherings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
3. Nonviolent Direct Action Campaigns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
A. Marches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
B. Tent Cities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
C. Occupations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
D. Blockades . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
E. Risking Arrest Sharing Free Food . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
F. Anarchist Relief Efforts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
4. Projects
A. Food Not Lawns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
B. Homes Not Jails . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
C. Bikes Not Bombs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
D. Indymedia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
E. The Really Really Free Market . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
F. Free Radio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
5. Stolen Property and How to Recover It . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
A. Reclaiming Stolen Property Worldwide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
B. Reclaiming Stolen Property Locally . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

III. Food
1. The Food Crisis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
2. Conscious Eating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
3. Recipes for Small Groups
A. Breakfast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .105
B. Lunch/Dinner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
C. Sauces and Dressings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
D. Soups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
E. Snacks . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
F. Desserts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
4. Cooking for Large Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
5. Recipes for Large Groups
A. Breakfast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .127
B. Lunch/Dinner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
6. Spices and Herbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
7. Gardening . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .141

Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
This book is dedicated to

I
ntroductIon
Julien Benda in his 1927 classic “The Treason of the ancien régime. This was as true in revolutionary
Intellectuals”—“La Trahison des Clercs”—argued France as it was in revolutionary Russia.
that we are faced with two options in life. We can It is only, Benda wrote, when we are not in pur-
serve the goals of privilege and power or the virtues suit of practical aims or material advantages that we
of justice and truth. But, Benda warned, the more can serve as a conscience and a corrective. All those
we make concessions to privilege and power the whose primary allegiance is to the practical aims of
more we diminish the capacity for justice and truth. power and material advantage—even if they de-
This is a truth any anarchist understands. fend this allegiance as one that will lead to justice
“As long as social injustice lasts we shall remain and truth—are corrupted intellectually and morally.
in a state of permanent revolution,” the French anar- Anarchists, like the intellectuals Benda lauds, must
chist Elisée Reclus said in the same vein. be indifferent to popular passions. They must “set
This, to me, is what it means to be an anarchist. an example of attachment to the purely disinter-
Peter Kropotkin made this point when he said that ested activity of the mind and create a belief in the
anarchists do not seek power for themselves but un- supreme value of this form of existence.” They must
derstand “the close dependency on everyone’s hap- (cid:78)(cid:81)(cid:81)(cid:77)(cid:2)(cid:337)(cid:67)(cid:85)(cid:2)(cid:79)(cid:81)(cid:84)(cid:67)(cid:78)(cid:75)(cid:85)(cid:86)(cid:85)(cid:2)(cid:87)(cid:82)(cid:81)(cid:80)(cid:2)(cid:86)(cid:74)(cid:71)(cid:2)(cid:69)(cid:81)(cid:80)(cid:384)(cid:75)(cid:69)(cid:86)(cid:2)(cid:81)(cid:72)(cid:2)(cid:74)(cid:87)(cid:79)(cid:67)(cid:80)(cid:2)(cid:71)(cid:73)(cid:81)-
piness upon the happiness of all; and of the sense tisms.” They must preach “in the name of human-
of justice, or equity, which brings the individual ity or justice, the adoption of an abstract principle
to consider the right of every other individual as superior to and directly opposed to these passions.”
equal to his [or her] own.” Anarchists understand Benda conceded that those who hold fast to these
that power is always the problem. It does not matter principles are often unable to prevent the power-
who wields it. And to remain steadfast to the virtues (cid:72)(cid:87)(cid:78)(cid:2)(cid:72)(cid:84)(cid:81)(cid:79)(cid:2)(cid:337)(cid:383)(cid:78)(cid:78)(cid:75)(cid:80)(cid:73)(cid:2)(cid:67)(cid:78)(cid:78)(cid:2)(cid:74)(cid:75)(cid:85)(cid:86)(cid:81)(cid:84)(cid:91)(cid:2)(cid:89)(cid:75)(cid:86)(cid:74)(cid:2)(cid:86)(cid:74)(cid:71)(cid:2)(cid:80)(cid:81)(cid:75)(cid:85)(cid:71)(cid:2)(cid:81)(cid:72)(cid:2)(cid:86)(cid:74)(cid:71)(cid:75)(cid:84)(cid:2)
of justice and truth we must be eternally alienated hatred and their slaughters.” But they did, at least,
from and antagonistic to all forms of power. “prevent the laymen from setting up their actions
Kropotkin also grasped that the indiscriminate as a religion, they did prevent them from thinking
violence and terrorism practiced by some in the themselves great men as they carried out these ac-
anarchist movement was a grotesque caricature tivities.” In short, Benda asserted, “humanity did
of anarchism. Violence, he warned, demoralized evil for two thousand years, but honored good. This
and ultimately corrupted any revolutionary cadre. contradiction was an honor to the human species,
(cid:43)(cid:86)(cid:2)(cid:76)(cid:87)(cid:85)(cid:86)(cid:75)(cid:383)(cid:71)(cid:70)(cid:2)(cid:86)(cid:74)(cid:71)(cid:2)(cid:74)(cid:67)(cid:84)(cid:85)(cid:74)(cid:2)(cid:69)(cid:81)(cid:87)(cid:80)(cid:86)(cid:71)(cid:84)(cid:2)(cid:88)(cid:75)(cid:81)(cid:78)(cid:71)(cid:80)(cid:69)(cid:71)(cid:2)(cid:81)(cid:72)(cid:2)(cid:86)(cid:74)(cid:71)(cid:2)(cid:85)(cid:86)(cid:67)(cid:86)(cid:71)(cid:2) and formed the rift whereby civilization slipped
and discredited anarchism in the eyes of the pub- into the world.” But once the intellectuals began
lic. Those who employ violence against the enemy, to “play the game of political passions,” those who
he knew, soon employ violence against internal ri- had “acted as a check on the realism of the people
vals, as the Bolsheviks amply demonstrated. Revo- began to act as its stimulators.”
lutions are nonviolent. They succeed by appealing All forms of centralized power, from Vladimir
to the consciences of people within the structures of Lenin and the Bolsheviks to the corporate state, seek
power who will no longer defend a discredited elite. to crush this spirit, which is the spirit of anarchism.
(cid:48)(cid:81)(cid:2)(cid:84)(cid:71)(cid:88)(cid:81)(cid:78)(cid:87)(cid:86)(cid:75)(cid:81)(cid:80)(cid:2)(cid:85)(cid:87)(cid:69)(cid:69)(cid:71)(cid:71)(cid:70)(cid:85)(cid:2)(cid:87)(cid:80)(cid:86)(cid:75)(cid:78)(cid:2)(cid:67)(cid:2)(cid:85)(cid:75)(cid:73)(cid:80)(cid:75)(cid:383)(cid:69)(cid:67)(cid:80)(cid:86)(cid:2)(cid:85)(cid:71)(cid:73)(cid:79)(cid:71)(cid:80)(cid:86)(cid:2) The Russian revolutionary Victor Serge understood
of the organs of internal security and the state bu- this when he wrote “every revolutionary govern-
reaucracy defect or refuse to use coercion to defend ment is by its very nature conservative and therefore
i
retrograde. Power exercises upon those who hold it tory. They have militarized police and given them
(cid:67)(cid:2)(cid:68)(cid:67)(cid:78)(cid:71)(cid:72)(cid:87)(cid:78)(cid:2)(cid:75)(cid:80)(cid:384)(cid:87)(cid:71)(cid:80)(cid:69)(cid:71)(cid:2)(cid:89)(cid:74)(cid:75)(cid:69)(cid:74)(cid:2)(cid:75)(cid:85)(cid:2)(cid:81)(cid:72)(cid:86)(cid:71)(cid:80)(cid:2)(cid:71)(cid:90)(cid:82)(cid:84)(cid:71)(cid:85)(cid:85)(cid:71)(cid:70)(cid:2)(cid:75)(cid:80)(cid:2)(cid:70)(cid:71)- license to kill with impunity. They have stripped us
plorable occupational perversions.” Power seeks, of our most basic civil liberties, including the right
even when in the opposition, to make cadre loyal (cid:86)(cid:81)(cid:2)(cid:82)(cid:84)(cid:75)(cid:88)(cid:67)(cid:69)(cid:91)(cid:14)(cid:2)(cid:69)(cid:67)(cid:80)(cid:2)(cid:74)(cid:81)(cid:78)(cid:70)(cid:2)(cid:87)(cid:85)(cid:2)(cid:75)(cid:80)(cid:2)(cid:75)(cid:80)(cid:70)(cid:71)(cid:383)(cid:80)(cid:75)(cid:86)(cid:71)(cid:2)(cid:70)(cid:71)(cid:86)(cid:71)(cid:80)(cid:86)(cid:75)(cid:81)(cid:80)(cid:2)(cid:89)(cid:75)(cid:86)(cid:74)-
to its doctrine and its hierarchy. It seeks, in short, to out access to the courts or due process, and have
capture the individual conscience and make it serve authorized the government to order the assassina-
the ends of power. This is done through the promise tion of fellow citizens. At the same time, the cor-
of lofty ideals and goals. But all who surrender to (cid:82)(cid:81)(cid:84)(cid:67)(cid:86)(cid:71)(cid:2)(cid:85)(cid:86)(cid:67)(cid:86)(cid:71)(cid:2)(cid:86)(cid:74)(cid:84)(cid:81)(cid:87)(cid:73)(cid:74)(cid:2)(cid:75)(cid:86)(cid:85)(cid:2)(cid:69)(cid:81)(cid:84)(cid:84)(cid:87)(cid:82)(cid:86)(cid:71)(cid:70)(cid:2)(cid:71)(cid:78)(cid:71)(cid:69)(cid:86)(cid:71)(cid:70)(cid:2)(cid:81)(cid:72)(cid:383)(cid:69)(cid:75)(cid:67)(cid:78)(cid:85)(cid:2)
the dictates of any power structure became captives and courts have established another set of laws and
to the basest instincts of human existence. regulations for the power elite, ones that legalize
Mikhail Bakunin, who foresaw the counterrevo- criminality and perpetuate what is little more than a
lution that would be imposed by the Bolsheviks, also (cid:73)(cid:78)(cid:81)(cid:68)(cid:67)(cid:78)(cid:2)(cid:79)(cid:67)(cid:383)(cid:67)(cid:16)(cid:2)(cid:39)(cid:78)(cid:71)(cid:69)(cid:86)(cid:81)(cid:84)(cid:67)(cid:78)(cid:2)(cid:82)(cid:81)(cid:78)(cid:75)(cid:86)(cid:75)(cid:69)(cid:85)(cid:2)(cid:75)(cid:85)(cid:2)(cid:67)(cid:2)(cid:69)(cid:74)(cid:67)(cid:84)(cid:67)(cid:70)(cid:71)(cid:16)(cid:2)(cid:47)(cid:81)(cid:80)(cid:71)(cid:91)(cid:2)
made this point. A genuine revolution he said “does has replaced the vote. The consent of the governed
not foist upon the people any new regulations, or- is a cruel joke. And, handing us our death sentence,
ders, styles of life, but merely unleashes their will corporations have unleashed fossil fuel industries
and gives wide scope to their self-determination and to ravage the planet, threatening the viability of the
their economic and social organization, which must human species, along with all other species.
be created by themselves from below and not from There is nothing in 5,000 years of economic his-
above.” It must “make impossible after the popular tory to justify the absurd doctrine that human so-
victory the establishment of any state power over cieties should structure their behavior around the
the people—even the most revolutionary, even your demands of the marketplace. The false promises of
power—because any power, whatever it calls itself, the market economy have, by now, been exposed as
would inevitably subject the people to old slavery lies. The ability of corporations to migrate overseas
in new form.” has decimated our manufacturing base. Wages have
Anarchists are the guardians of liberty. Their been driven downward, impoverishing our work-
role, holding fast to justice and truth, is to thwart ing class and ravaging our middle class. Huge seg-
the lust by centralized power for absolute control. ments of the population—including those burdened
This means, unlike the protestations of black bloc by student loans—suffer from crippling debt peon-
self-styled anarchists, engaging in strategies and age. And the elites stash an estimated $18 trillion
tactics that keep the powerful fearful of a public in overseas tax havens while corporations such as
that refuses to be chained and that will revolt if they General Electric pay no income tax. Corporations
are manacled. And this makes anarchism the most employ virtual slave labor in Bangladesh and Chi-
important creed of our era, for it places its faith in (cid:80)(cid:67)(cid:14)(cid:2)(cid:79)(cid:67)(cid:77)(cid:75)(cid:80)(cid:73)(cid:2)(cid:81)(cid:68)(cid:85)(cid:69)(cid:71)(cid:80)(cid:71)(cid:2)(cid:82)(cid:84)(cid:81)(cid:383)(cid:86)(cid:85)(cid:16)(cid:2)(cid:35)(cid:85)(cid:2)(cid:69)(cid:81)(cid:84)(cid:82)(cid:81)(cid:84)(cid:67)(cid:86)(cid:75)(cid:81)(cid:80)(cid:85)(cid:2)(cid:85)(cid:87)(cid:69)(cid:77)(cid:2)
perpetual resistance rather than the accumulation of the last resources from communities and the natu-
power. The most successful examples of anarchist (cid:84)(cid:67)(cid:78)(cid:2)(cid:89)(cid:81)(cid:84)(cid:78)(cid:70)(cid:14)(cid:2)(cid:86)(cid:74)(cid:71)(cid:91)(cid:2)(cid:78)(cid:71)(cid:67)(cid:88)(cid:71)(cid:2)(cid:68)(cid:71)(cid:74)(cid:75)(cid:80)(cid:70)(cid:2)(cid:88)(cid:67)(cid:85)(cid:86)(cid:2)(cid:85)(cid:67)(cid:69)(cid:84)(cid:75)(cid:383)(cid:69)(cid:71)(cid:2)(cid:92)(cid:81)(cid:80)(cid:71)(cid:85)(cid:14)(cid:2)
power took place in Russia after the 1917 revolution (cid:74)(cid:81)(cid:84)(cid:84)(cid:75)(cid:383)(cid:69)(cid:2)(cid:74)(cid:87)(cid:79)(cid:67)(cid:80)(cid:2)(cid:85)(cid:87)(cid:72)(cid:72)(cid:71)(cid:84)(cid:75)(cid:80)(cid:73)(cid:2)(cid:67)(cid:80)(cid:70)(cid:2)(cid:70)(cid:71)(cid:67)(cid:70)(cid:2)(cid:78)(cid:67)(cid:80)(cid:70)(cid:85)(cid:69)(cid:67)(cid:82)(cid:71)(cid:85)(cid:16)(cid:2)(cid:54)(cid:74)(cid:71)(cid:2)
with the rise of the Soviets and during the civil war greater the destruction, the more the corporate ap-
in Spain. These anarchist achievements, before be- paratus is used to crush dissent and exact tribute in
ing crushed by force, made visible the egalitarian the name of “austerity.” This is the terrible algebra
and decentralized structures that are led by the peo- of corporate domination.
ple as opposed to a new class of bureaucratic man- (cid:35)(cid:80)(cid:67)(cid:84)(cid:69)(cid:74)(cid:75)(cid:85)(cid:79)(cid:2) (cid:75)(cid:85)(cid:2) (cid:67)(cid:68)(cid:81)(cid:87)(cid:86)(cid:2) (cid:85)(cid:86)(cid:71)(cid:67)(cid:70)(cid:72)(cid:67)(cid:85)(cid:86)(cid:2) (cid:70)(cid:71)(cid:383)(cid:67)(cid:80)(cid:69)(cid:71)(cid:16)(cid:2) (cid:35)(cid:80)(cid:67)(cid:84)-
darins. These structures must be our model as we chism is about resisting forces of oppression as Mu-
enter an age of diminishing resources and corporate mia Abu Jamal, Edward Snowden, Jeremy Ham-
totalitarianism. mond, Chelsea Manning, and Julian Assange have
We have undergone a corporate coup d’état. It is resisted. Anarchism means refusing to succumb
over. They have won. A handful of corporate global to fear. It means refusing to surrender, even if you
oligarchs have seized everything—wealth, power (cid:383)(cid:80)(cid:70)(cid:2)(cid:91)(cid:81)(cid:87)(cid:84)(cid:85)(cid:71)(cid:78)(cid:72)(cid:14)(cid:2)(cid:78)(cid:75)(cid:77)(cid:71)(cid:2)(cid:47)(cid:67)(cid:80)(cid:80)(cid:75)(cid:80)(cid:73)(cid:14)(cid:2)(cid:42)(cid:67)(cid:79)(cid:79)(cid:81)(cid:80)(cid:70)(cid:14)(cid:2)(cid:67)(cid:80)(cid:70)(cid:2)(cid:35)(cid:68)(cid:87)(cid:2)
and privilege—and the rest of us struggle as part of Jamal, caged like an animal. It means saying no. To
a vast underclass, increasingly impoverished and remain safe, to remain “innocent” in the eyes of the
ruthlessly repressed. These oligarchs have cement- law in this moment in history is to be complicit in a
ed into place the most sophisticated and terrifying monstrous evil. Anarchism is about, as Benda and
security and surveillance apparatus in human his- Kropotkin, knew, living morally. Rebellion is not
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(cid:70)(cid:71)(cid:383)(cid:80)(cid:71)(cid:70)(cid:2)(cid:72)(cid:81)(cid:84)(cid:2)(cid:67)(cid:80)(cid:2)(cid:67)(cid:80)(cid:67)(cid:84)(cid:69)(cid:74)(cid:75)(cid:85)(cid:86)(cid:2)(cid:68)(cid:91)(cid:2)(cid:89)(cid:74)(cid:67)(cid:86)(cid:2)(cid:74)(cid:71)(cid:2)(cid:81)(cid:84)(cid:2)(cid:85)(cid:74)(cid:71)(cid:2)(cid:67)(cid:69)(cid:74)(cid:75)(cid:71)(cid:88)(cid:71)(cid:85)(cid:14)(cid:2)
but by what he or she becomes. And all the great
rebels including Christ, Buddha, Sitting Bull, Harriet
Tubman, Emma Goldman, and Malcolm X preached
this truth. All the great rebels also knew that they
could not let fear—the primary instrument those in
power use to maintain control—cripple resistance.
“Repression,” Serge wrote, “can really only live
off fear.”
“But is fear enough to remove need, thirst for jus-
tice, intelligence, reason, idealism—all those revolu-
tionary forces that express the formidable, profound
impulse of the economic factors of a revolution?”
Serge asks. “Relying on intimidation, the reaction-
aries forget that they will cause more indignation,
more hatred, more thirst for martyrdom, than real
fear. They only intimidate the weak; they exasper-
ate the best forces and temper the resolution of the
strongest.”
The anarchist does not succumb, not because he
or she is assured of victory, but because to be ruled
by fear, to bow before the demands of power, means
one is no longer an anarchist. Anarchism is a state
of being.
In his poem of resistance, “If We Must Die,” the
poet Claude McKay reminded us that rebellion, like
(cid:67)(cid:80)(cid:67)(cid:84)(cid:69)(cid:74)(cid:75)(cid:85)(cid:79)(cid:14)(cid:2)(cid:75)(cid:85)(cid:2)(cid:383)(cid:80)(cid:67)(cid:78)(cid:78)(cid:91)(cid:2)(cid:67)(cid:68)(cid:81)(cid:87)(cid:86)(cid:2)(cid:82)(cid:71)(cid:84)(cid:85)(cid:81)(cid:80)(cid:67)(cid:78)(cid:2)(cid:70)(cid:75)(cid:73)(cid:80)(cid:75)(cid:86)(cid:91)(cid:2)(cid:67)(cid:80)(cid:70)(cid:2)(cid:75)(cid:80)-
(cid:70)(cid:71)(cid:82)(cid:71)(cid:80)(cid:70)(cid:71)(cid:80)(cid:69)(cid:71)(cid:16)(cid:2)(cid:54)(cid:74)(cid:71)(cid:2)(cid:67)(cid:69)(cid:86)(cid:2)(cid:81)(cid:72)(cid:2)(cid:84)(cid:71)(cid:68)(cid:71)(cid:78)(cid:78)(cid:75)(cid:81)(cid:80)(cid:2)(cid:67)(cid:78)(cid:81)(cid:80)(cid:71)(cid:2)(cid:70)(cid:71)(cid:383)(cid:80)(cid:71)(cid:85)(cid:2)(cid:87)(cid:85)(cid:16)(cid:2)
If they come for us, if we are cornered, if as McKay
(cid:85)(cid:67)(cid:75)(cid:70)(cid:2)(cid:89)(cid:71)(cid:2)(cid:79)(cid:87)(cid:85)(cid:86)(cid:2)(cid:70)(cid:75)(cid:71)(cid:14)(cid:2)(cid:86)(cid:74)(cid:71)(cid:80)(cid:2)(cid:78)(cid:71)(cid:86)(cid:2)(cid:87)(cid:85)(cid:2)(cid:68)(cid:71)(cid:2)(cid:70)(cid:71)(cid:383)(cid:80)(cid:71)(cid:70)(cid:2)(cid:67)(cid:85)(cid:2)(cid:84)(cid:71)(cid:68)(cid:71)(cid:78)(cid:85)(cid:14)(cid:2)
and “let it not be like hogs/Hunted and penned in
an inglorious spot/While round us bark the mad
and hungry dogs.”

—Chris Hedges
Princeton, New Jersey
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