In your own words, define Anarchy.
Anarchy is life without dominance or submission. There are a lot of forms of domination in the world right now--governments, capitalist economies and systems of property, patriarchy, white supremacy, homophobia, transphobia. Anarchists believe we shouldn't have any of them. ("Government" is any political system where a centralized group of decision makers pass laws that are enforced by violence and the threat of violence--i.e. police, prisons, militaries. "Capitalism" is an economic system where the rich gain social and material power by owning the property the rest of us need to survive. "Patriarchy" means male dominance of society in general. "White supremacy" means white control of society in general. "Homophobia" is fear and hatred of homosexuality. "Transphobia" is fear and hatred of people who do not identify with the gender they were assigned by society. Do a google search for any of these terms to learn more about them.) The anarchist project is to construct a world without enforced hierarchy, to the greatest extent possible. This project has many components. Some of the components are more traditionally and recognizably "political": demonstrations, strikes, tree sits, breaking stuff, people defending themselves from or attacking the police. Some of the anarchist project is still publicly visible to some extent, but may not be recognized as something being done by anarchists or in ways inspired by anarchist principles: opening radical community centers and music venues, feeding people for free, running community bike shops. Other parts of the anarchist project are not publicly visible at all: learning some of the ways that living in a patriarchal and white supremacist society negatively affects how I treat people, trying to treat people in a less sexist and racist manner as time goes on, and talking to the people in my life about those things. I consider all of those things (and others I am not thinking of or aware of right now) to be ways that different anarchists are moving towards anarchy in the best way they know how. Some anarchists would emphasize some pieces of that picture as being "really" anarchist or reject others as being "not" anarchist, but I think it's all important. (As you might guess, anarchists tend to disagree with each other about almost everything. Ha!) Why do you feel Anarchy is important or the best form of government? Anarchy is important because it speaks to the part of the human spirit that holds freedom as the highest value. Anarchy is not a form of government, though. Anarchy is society without government. It may or may not be the "best" society, depending on what you think makes a society "good." By some measures, anarchy could be the worst form of society. If variety of consumer goods is extremely important to you, for example, it seems very possible to me that anarchy would be the worst society. If there were no police, we would have to directly handle some of the dangerous situations currently handled by the police, either alone or with our communities. That sounds scary to me, but it is an implication of what anarchy would be like. I personally think freedom is the most important thing. That's why I'm an anarchist. Anarchy is freedom without restraint; by that measure I think it is "the best." But a lot of people don't think that freedom is the most important thing, for good reasons. To them, anarchy could not possibly be the best form of society, because it requires great risk to reject so entirely the way we live now in order to try something largely unknown. You would only take that risk if you think freedom is worth any cost, or if you think you have little or nothing to lose from the collapse of what exists now. What is the overall message of your music? I hope the music I write doesn't serve a single overall narrative. On a personal level, I think a lot about what I am doing in light of what I say I claim to believe. Most of my songs are probably about that, either directly or indirectly. If you ran this country, what would you do? I'm an anarchist. I wouldn't run the country.
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"So Jack, how do you feel about Obame winning the election?"
"I'm pretty happy about it! You know that..." My sentence was cut off as Jared slapped me across the face screaming, "Get Rad! PUNKROCKANARCHY!" Before I could say anything back, I heard something that shocked me "Obama is a fucking communist" I was furious with that comment and ready to retaliate when I realized something. Instead of telling him to shut the fuck up I could question his statement! "So Aiden, How is Obama a communist?" Hesistant to speak, it takes him a while to say anything. "Cause he has communist policies!" Oh he felt so fucking good I couldn't wait to teat that fucker down! "And those policies are?" No answer! He knew that he had lost but still had to respond in some way for fear of mockery among friends. "Obama is fucking retarded!" Oh WOW, he got me! What a smart comment regarding the policies of Obama. How could I have not seen this before? Obama is a, "fucking retard" and that makes him a communist! Why didn't I vote for Romney? With the recent election of Obama, Republicans all over the place have risen to the occasion, sharing their, "intelligence" behind Obama's "corruption". Sure I'm not always the most knowledgeable person when it comes to politics but I make sure what I say is true. I also shut up when I know I've lost. Also just because I'm an Anarchist doesn't mean I'm unintelligent or uncultured. I'm concerned with where this country is heading too. The only difference is I believe in ACTUAL freedom, is that so strange? I'm not saying that being a Republican is the wrong way to go. If you think it's the ideal form of government, that's great! Sure, I won't be nice to you about it, but I still respect you have your own perspectives. Just because people on TV tell you that Obama has communist policies does not make it true. Obama has done well with the shitstorm brought on by the previous Republican Party and he is most certainly not an idiot! -Jack Just a couple of minutes ago, I decided to join a facebook group called The Pact. Some of you may have been recently added to this and I find it important to convince you to like this page. The Pact was created by two kids who have both been affected by suicide. They don't have any funding or a big project behind them, just two kids. This is so much better then those suicide prevention walks because there is no corruption. People do those walks so they seem like better people to the general public then they really are. When you get two kids dedicated to one purpose, you know they aren't going to bullshit you. Clearly they are dedicated to one purpose and I really hope they keep up their work! Please like their page, you don't need to do anything but click one fucking button. If you feel comfortable you can even share a story in a judge free zone. However if you don't want to post a story you can simply follow the page and maybe even occasionally check it out! I am willing to post anonymous stories so make a fake email and send me what you want posted!
I know this is too late to really enjoy, but it's still a story to report. This man, sponsored by Redbull, Felix Cumgargler broke the highest skydive record. Not only did he break that but he also broke the goddam sound barrier. Felix Swashbuckler jumped from 23 miles up! Impressive right? meh. I'm unimpressed after hearing about the man that helped him beat the record. Joseph Kissinger or something along the lines of that, was the holder of the previous record. He jumped from 20 miles up and what impressed me the most was the fact that he did it 52 fucking years ago. He had nowhere near as much technology as Redbull did. Not only that, but he also failed the first two times. On one of the attempt his suit teared open and on the second attempt his parachute was incorrectly deployed, nearly killing him. Joseph Kittenlicker is the badass out of the two of them. Just remember that 52 years ago the technology was shit compared to today. It almost killed Joseph Dishflinger twice! But it didn't stop him. Two near death experiences and he still persevered to set the record at 20 miles!
Well, it's sophomore year and I have already broken a few promises. I told people I would treat the incoming freshman with the respect they, "deserve" (A sentence I can no longer say with a straight face). I also mentioned regular posting times which I may or may not stick with. Jared, however, has not posted in three months (hint hint Jared). Otherwise I'm looking forward to sophomore year. Even though I'm still an underclassmen, the seniority over one group is great. That and the fact that I'm coming in to a school I know is also a good feeling. Better yet classes seem to be easy and with my newfound free period what could go wrong? Absolutely fucking nothing! The sophomores have complete contol over the freshman in the fascist regime we have created. 1PercentIrony is no longer an Anarchist Blog. We have supreme leadership over the freshman and everyone besides Thomas Hall sucks. But on the other hand, welcome incoming freshman who probably won't read my blog. I hope everyone enjoys their year. The blog this year may take a different turn for the better or worse. Either way Jared and I will post somewhat regularly. Expect at least two or three maybe four posts per month and none in the summer because fuck you I'm spiderman.
There may also be new additions to the site. I urge anyone interested in writing to send in a story to [email protected] I also may or may not make shirts with the 1percentirony watermark on it. If you have an idea for the shirt email me with a picture of said shirt. In the off chance you would like to purchase one talk to me, pay me, and I'll order them. PROPAGANDA FTW Most of the people who read this blog understand that Jared and I believe in Anarchist policies rather then being Christian Rights like all of the other people in Darien. When we say that we believe in Anarchy, however, I don't think the right message is being spread. There are two different types of Anarchy. The Anarchy everyone thinks of is the bad type. It involves the younger generation drinking and doing drugs as well as other destructive choices. This leads to no political reform and is used as a "valid" reason to say, "Fuck The Police". There is also a good type of Anarchy. If you hang out with Jared and I often enough, you probably know about the band Ramshackle Glory. The lead singer Pat often talks about a form of Anarchy that involves Political Reform. The good form of Anarchy isn't about getting trashed all the time. It is about working together as equals and making sure nobody feels inferior. Sure most of you think that working together is impossible but it's your fault. All the people that like to bully younger and weaker kids are the reason it can't work. In America, it seems impossible to communicate and work together if you have a different culture, ethnicity, or sexuality. If that stereotyping and bigotry could be stopped, a better form of Anarchy could be used.
For the sake of a properly written essay I must first explain what the Bad form of Anarchy is. The bad form are the people who hide behind their destructive decisions and pass it off as some sort of Reform. They rail pills, binge drink, and make terrible decisions. This never leads to any progress. It also starts stereotypes that Anarchist are idiots who are incapable of anything. These people are Anarchists for the sake of fucking shit up. The Anarchist policy involves no government as well as complete equality. Sure it may sound stupid and terrifying but the general idea is what most Democracy's claim they have. These Bad Anarchists create non-realistic opinions and ideals regarding their government choice which leads to the general public looking down on Anarchy. Conversely the better form of Anarchy, the form that Jared and I believe in, differs from what I just explained. The good form of Anarchy has policies that revolve around political reform, mostly peaceful forms of protest, equality of everyone, accepting beliefs and cultures, as well as many other ideals that involve equality. Even though most Anarchists have made destructive life decisions and can amount to terrible things in the viewpoint of America, they are some of the nicest most devoted people you will meet. Jared and I went to a concert a while back and most of the music played there was opened up with a story. It always regarded everyone and wasn't offensive towards any religion or ethncity. Everyone accepts the difference they have and try to adapt to them. Everyone is treated as an equal not only at the concert but in general. There wasn't a stage at the concert which I think is because of equality. The bands are regular people who enjoy music. But enough about the concert. The good form of Anarchy also takes part in protest. Even though this is, in a sense, a sort of bad anarchy, Anonymous constantly takes part in protest. They are considered Anarchists and there never seems to be violence involved in their protest. Be it during Occupy Wallstreet, or any other protest, a lot of the Anarchists protest peacefully. Sure a lot of it may turn violent but the better form of Anarchy seems to stray away. Anarchy could never work on a country wide basis as there will always be the Bad Anarchists that want to fuck with everything. Anarchy is still a great form of, "government" that involves everything in a democratic/socialist Utopia. If Anarchy could work out it would be a great policy to follow country-wide. There would be equality and a chance for everyone's voice to be heard. Nobody would be left out because of race, culture, or sexuality. This is why Jared and I follow the Anarchist policies of Ramshackle Glory. This is also the difference between the Good forms and Bad forms of Anarchy. If people could just realize that every form of Anarchy doesn't have to involve drug addictions and flipping cop cars |
Jack OgilvieNow that my cynicism has balanced out I'd rather explain myself as an Anarchist with a passion for writing about, well, my passions. Enjoy the stuff I write but please don't be offended by the stuff I post. Archives
February 2013
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