ContrarianLemming
16th July 2010, 21:37
(I realize this is writen in a somewhat comical fashion, but it is intended for learners)
"But Stalin also greatly improved quality of life for Russians! and he only killed 800,000*"
"I do not wish to accociate myself with a movement these (http://www.thezephyr.com/archives/anarchist.jpg) and those (http://www.wilsonsalmanac.com/images1/castro.jpg) people are involved in!"
"Fuck orginization! It's reactionary! Burn Starbucks!"
Hear these phrases often? me too!
What do they mean?
There are many diseases afflicting our humble group of radicals, some common, some rare, some easilly fixed, some easilly ignored, lets learn!
Sovietphilia
*Does the person you talk to try to justify Maoist purges?
*Does he/she say "only" before each death count?
*Does he/she claim practicality should come before freedom?
*Does he refer to you as "ultraleft"?
You might be dealing with a real live authoritarian socialist! I call it "Sovietphilia", this chronic long lasting disease is difficult if not impossible to cure, like the common cold it must often go away by itself, way to speed this up include spamming the user with allegations of "red fascism", calling the person to source everything they say (no pics or it didn't happen) and daring them to look at alternitive sources.
Luckily for us, these poor souls are a rare breed and can be ignored without shame, or simply laughed at, no one will think less of you comrade!
An easy way to debate with these folks in a constructive manner is to "get down to the basics" and discuss the real ideas, not the history, and you might find these people have ideas like yours, and might very well take to heart Che's quote "If you tremble indignation at every injustice then you are a comrade of mine" - as long as that indignation was commited by right wing troops! Otherwise it didn't happen or was justifiable, so we should let them go along with seeling "Gulag Myths" leaflets.
Self Hating Leftist
*Does he/she often explain how lifestylism/authoritarianism has overrun the movement?
*Does he/she often become hostile at the mention of Punk or Grunge or how they may have spread the ideology?
*Does he/she believe "street cred" is getting through Kapital without getting bored once?
*Does he/she jump from tendency to tendency, trying to find the least embarresing? (it's orthodox marxism)
A close reletive of the "Bookworm leftist", the self hating leftist is the theoretical spanish civil war entusiaist we all know and love, though we must pity this group more then others: they are overly knowledgable of the state of the movement and we must keep a close eye on them - it can be fatal - as reversion back to mainstream politics is not unlikely. Eventualy the self hating leftist may grow to tired of putting up with "Oh you want chaos!" or "You must love Mao!" and revert back to Liberalism, if only to end it all.
Curing Self hating leftists is a long and difficult process, often the curer must bring long lists of supposed "anarchist"actions and show how these were not actual far left actions, the curer must show the self hater how there stereotyped views have been overly influenced by a mainstream upbringing and watching to much bourgeois news as a teen, often resulting in perverse side affects.
Often an inexperianced left wing doctor may cause the far leftist to revert into a bookwork, or if they take it to far, send them down lifestylist avenue, straight into Crimthnck city.
Lifestylist
* Does he/she smell?
* Does he she focus on buying fairtrade and "changing your world view, not the world itself"
* Does he/she focus more on womens struggle, animal rights and fighting republicans (in allieance with democrats) then on class struggle?
* Do they consider themselves "hippy"
The largest and most difficult to ignore group, though often easier to cure then most. The lifestylists ideals are built on not changing the world, but changing your own way, by living the "anarchist life" while forgetting about teaching others about it. Typically explaining how revolutions are authoritarian acts and that "slow change" is preferable. Lifestylists are most likely to participate in mainstream politics.
Predominantly an anarchist disease, Lifestylists can be cured through through explaining how the capitalists will not allow slow change, they will not slowly die off, that freedom must be taken, that it is not authoritarian to destroy authoritarian institutions.
Often is can be useful to point to historical examples of this, ones based most strongly on voluntarian, like the Italian general strike of 1920, which resulted in short lived anarcho syndicalism.
Lifestylists should not be mistaken for Insurrectos or book worms: they can often be well read.
Bookworm leftist (Intelligentsia)
* Does he she often critizize the "idealism" of anarchists and marxists?
* Does he/she reject modern struggle in favour of historical debate?
* Does he/she know what "dialectice materialism" is?
* Has he/she read every far left classic?
* Does he/she often quote far left theoritsts as "proof" for there arguments?
* does he/she accept the word of there given tendency as complete truth and as inevitable?
The Bookwork leftist can often be a deformed self hating leftist and may eventually besome a sovietphiliac. They are typified by a focus on acedemics and intellectual study, often represented by the "armchair intellectual" and college student know-it-all.
Typically in the marxist camp, the bookworm is the ultimate enemy of the Insurrecto and the lifestylist, though the lifestylist and bookworm may find common ground in their dislike of the former.
The bookworm leftist is incurable, we just have to hope they'll join in on a revolution and not just criticize it's actions from afar - or - worse yet, declear themselves it's leader.
Insurrectionary/Anti thoery
* Do they despise orginizations of any sort?
* Do they "bloc up" during protests
* are they 15? (no offence to actual class struggle leftists of this age)
* Do they support mindless property destruction?
Often mistaken for lifestylists, Insurrectos are the ultimate embarresments of the anarchist movement, often the only form of anarchist reported on mainstream news (a direct cause of self hating leftism), Insurrectos are not however the direct cause of the missconception that the anarchist camp desire "chaos", this miscnception predates insurrectionary anarchists.
Note this breeds obsession with the color black, the clothing chain "Dickies" and it's biological impulse to migrate en-mass to republican national conventions, wherever mayham be caused.
Though well meaning, this group is devoid of theory, often embaressing the movement when they cannot describe an anarchist society outside of quoting John Lennons "Imagine".
This diseased group is typified by the Black Bloc, an utterly useless tactic if you don't want to look like a very dangerious group, and it's ability to attract FOX news cameras like magnets.
Often cures by itself, either becoming a proper leftist or reverting back to the conservatism they came from.
* a Stalinist figure
"But Stalin also greatly improved quality of life for Russians! and he only killed 800,000*"
"I do not wish to accociate myself with a movement these (http://www.thezephyr.com/archives/anarchist.jpg) and those (http://www.wilsonsalmanac.com/images1/castro.jpg) people are involved in!"
"Fuck orginization! It's reactionary! Burn Starbucks!"
Hear these phrases often? me too!
What do they mean?
There are many diseases afflicting our humble group of radicals, some common, some rare, some easilly fixed, some easilly ignored, lets learn!
Sovietphilia
*Does the person you talk to try to justify Maoist purges?
*Does he/she say "only" before each death count?
*Does he/she claim practicality should come before freedom?
*Does he refer to you as "ultraleft"?
You might be dealing with a real live authoritarian socialist! I call it "Sovietphilia", this chronic long lasting disease is difficult if not impossible to cure, like the common cold it must often go away by itself, way to speed this up include spamming the user with allegations of "red fascism", calling the person to source everything they say (no pics or it didn't happen) and daring them to look at alternitive sources.
Luckily for us, these poor souls are a rare breed and can be ignored without shame, or simply laughed at, no one will think less of you comrade!
An easy way to debate with these folks in a constructive manner is to "get down to the basics" and discuss the real ideas, not the history, and you might find these people have ideas like yours, and might very well take to heart Che's quote "If you tremble indignation at every injustice then you are a comrade of mine" - as long as that indignation was commited by right wing troops! Otherwise it didn't happen or was justifiable, so we should let them go along with seeling "Gulag Myths" leaflets.
Self Hating Leftist
*Does he/she often explain how lifestylism/authoritarianism has overrun the movement?
*Does he/she often become hostile at the mention of Punk or Grunge or how they may have spread the ideology?
*Does he/she believe "street cred" is getting through Kapital without getting bored once?
*Does he/she jump from tendency to tendency, trying to find the least embarresing? (it's orthodox marxism)
A close reletive of the "Bookworm leftist", the self hating leftist is the theoretical spanish civil war entusiaist we all know and love, though we must pity this group more then others: they are overly knowledgable of the state of the movement and we must keep a close eye on them - it can be fatal - as reversion back to mainstream politics is not unlikely. Eventualy the self hating leftist may grow to tired of putting up with "Oh you want chaos!" or "You must love Mao!" and revert back to Liberalism, if only to end it all.
Curing Self hating leftists is a long and difficult process, often the curer must bring long lists of supposed "anarchist"actions and show how these were not actual far left actions, the curer must show the self hater how there stereotyped views have been overly influenced by a mainstream upbringing and watching to much bourgeois news as a teen, often resulting in perverse side affects.
Often an inexperianced left wing doctor may cause the far leftist to revert into a bookwork, or if they take it to far, send them down lifestylist avenue, straight into Crimthnck city.
Lifestylist
* Does he/she smell?
* Does he she focus on buying fairtrade and "changing your world view, not the world itself"
* Does he/she focus more on womens struggle, animal rights and fighting republicans (in allieance with democrats) then on class struggle?
* Do they consider themselves "hippy"
The largest and most difficult to ignore group, though often easier to cure then most. The lifestylists ideals are built on not changing the world, but changing your own way, by living the "anarchist life" while forgetting about teaching others about it. Typically explaining how revolutions are authoritarian acts and that "slow change" is preferable. Lifestylists are most likely to participate in mainstream politics.
Predominantly an anarchist disease, Lifestylists can be cured through through explaining how the capitalists will not allow slow change, they will not slowly die off, that freedom must be taken, that it is not authoritarian to destroy authoritarian institutions.
Often is can be useful to point to historical examples of this, ones based most strongly on voluntarian, like the Italian general strike of 1920, which resulted in short lived anarcho syndicalism.
Lifestylists should not be mistaken for Insurrectos or book worms: they can often be well read.
Bookworm leftist (Intelligentsia)
* Does he she often critizize the "idealism" of anarchists and marxists?
* Does he/she reject modern struggle in favour of historical debate?
* Does he/she know what "dialectice materialism" is?
* Has he/she read every far left classic?
* Does he/she often quote far left theoritsts as "proof" for there arguments?
* does he/she accept the word of there given tendency as complete truth and as inevitable?
The Bookwork leftist can often be a deformed self hating leftist and may eventually besome a sovietphiliac. They are typified by a focus on acedemics and intellectual study, often represented by the "armchair intellectual" and college student know-it-all.
Typically in the marxist camp, the bookworm is the ultimate enemy of the Insurrecto and the lifestylist, though the lifestylist and bookworm may find common ground in their dislike of the former.
The bookworm leftist is incurable, we just have to hope they'll join in on a revolution and not just criticize it's actions from afar - or - worse yet, declear themselves it's leader.
Insurrectionary/Anti thoery
* Do they despise orginizations of any sort?
* Do they "bloc up" during protests
* are they 15? (no offence to actual class struggle leftists of this age)
* Do they support mindless property destruction?
Often mistaken for lifestylists, Insurrectos are the ultimate embarresments of the anarchist movement, often the only form of anarchist reported on mainstream news (a direct cause of self hating leftism), Insurrectos are not however the direct cause of the missconception that the anarchist camp desire "chaos", this miscnception predates insurrectionary anarchists.
Note this breeds obsession with the color black, the clothing chain "Dickies" and it's biological impulse to migrate en-mass to republican national conventions, wherever mayham be caused.
Though well meaning, this group is devoid of theory, often embaressing the movement when they cannot describe an anarchist society outside of quoting John Lennons "Imagine".
This diseased group is typified by the Black Bloc, an utterly useless tactic if you don't want to look like a very dangerious group, and it's ability to attract FOX news cameras like magnets.
Often cures by itself, either becoming a proper leftist or reverting back to the conservatism they came from.
* a Stalinist figure