revolution & Revolution
There seems to be, in anarchist (and probably all radical) circles, this idea of The Revolution. A mythical day always just a few years away when the people will all rise up and throw off their chains, finally seeing the light and becoming truly free.
This comes from an idealization of past revolutions and is neither fair to the revolutionaries who participated nor is it fair to us. They were no “better” than we are, except perhaps in understanding that all the armchair philosophy in the world isn’t going to make things better.
That’s why they went out and did it. And by “it” I don’t mean a full scale insurrection, though that happened sometimes. I mean helping those who need it, forming groups to disseminate information to the public at large, working together to provide food and healthcare to those who couldn’t afford it, etc.
It is these “small revolutions,” these ways of taking back control here and now, that will inspire people. It is these small, itty bitty revolutions that show how we, not by handing over our desires to experts to tell us whether or not they’re feasible, but by finding a way to make shit happen, prove that voluntary cooperation is not only freer but more effective than anything the state attempts to do.
When Food Not Bombs feeds more people for less money than some state-funded soup kitchen, it not only creates allies, but it reveals the state for the hulking mass of ineptitude that it is.
Pirate radio stations, shared transportation, infoshops… these aren’t a joke. They aren’t “small time.” They’re the whole shebang. They’re the core of what we’re doing. They are anarchy existing under the state, and they are the slight hope that maybe, just maybe, once we get the ball rolling, we’ll get our Revolution after all.
There seems to be, in anarchist (and probably all radical) circles, this idea of The Revolution. A mythical day always just a few years away when the people will all rise up and throw off their chains, finally seeing the light and becoming truly free.
This comes from an idealization of past revolutions and is neither fair to the revolutionaries who participated nor is it fair to us. They were no “better” than we are, except perhaps in understanding that all the armchair philosophy in the world isn’t going to make things better.
That’s why they went out and did it. And by “it” I don’t mean a full scale insurrection, though that happened sometimes. I mean helping those who need it, forming groups to disseminate information to the public at large, working together to provide food and healthcare to those who couldn’t afford it, etc.
It is these “small revolutions,” these ways of taking back control here and now, that will inspire people. It is these small, itty bitty revolutions that show how we, not by handing over our desires to experts to tell us whether or not they’re feasible, but by finding a way to make shit happen, prove that voluntary cooperation is not only freer but more effective than anything the state attempts to do.
When Food Not Bombs feeds more people for less money than some state-funded soup kitchen, it not only creates allies, but it reveals the state for the hulking mass of ineptitude that it is.
Pirate radio stations, shared transportation, infoshops… these aren’t a joke. They aren’t “small time.” They’re the whole shebang. They’re the core of what we’re doing. They are anarchy existing under the state, and they are the slight hope that maybe, just maybe, once we get the ball rolling, we’ll get our Revolution after all.
via Mutualizm
