Fellow Anarchists

[DaComm]

For what reason have you become anarchists? Honsetly, I became one after thouroughly searching the AnarchistFAQ.

[AK]

I gradually progressed from being a generic and, admittedly, ill-informed Leninist ("Russia was a superpower. Russia = communist = good"), to a Trotskyist ("state capitalism is bad, therefore I only support the USSR up until Stalin came to power" - never mind that the bureaucracy was growing under Lenin and there must have been something wrong with the Bolshevik system if individuals (such as Stalin) could come to power and wield such authority), to a Council Communist ("the organs of workers' power that arise during the revolution as an opposition to the authority of the Bourgeoisie must be the very same organs of workers' power which govern the socialist society" - mind you, I still adhere to this rule) and finally to an anarchist ("state capitalism is an incorrect theory as there is nothing capitalistic about the mode of production where bureaucrats control production and the state owns the means of production as capitalism is defined as the mode of production in which the means of production are privately owned and are operated for the purposes of making a profit, all social hierarchy must be abolished and the concept of a 'workers' state' is wrong as I have a different view of the state now.").

[Black Sheep]

I started out as a stalinist - first contact with communist thought, that is.
"Hurray USSR" , stalin apologist, "you say USSR did this crime but LOOK AT THE CRIMES OF G.W.!!!",
anti-revisionist smug (also because the CPG is the biggest leftist party) "lol what organization do you belong to again? what? who are they?"
ill-informed and/or (deliberately) badly informed about every other tendency.

I started getting info on other tendencies here god dammit, on the best website in the world, revleft.com that is
started questioning Leninism, my questions were never answered adequately, and thus anarchism.

But i did have a strange appeal to anarchism from the beginning.Weird.

[Stranger Than Paradise]

I moved from indiscriminate Communist to Anarchism specifically. Since i've become an Anarchist my views have changed as well. I didn't use to be a Syndicalist oriented Anarchist and the idea of Communism when I originally became a Anarchist evoked ideas of state capitalism to me. But now I would just describe myself as a Communist even though I'm an Anarchist as well.

Tendencies don't worry me that much. I'm very practical and I would be willing to accept any tendency within the context of a revolution as long as the economy was run by a federation of workers councils.

[scarletghoul]

Read some Chomsky and liked it. Found out he was Anarchist. Researched Anarchism and it made sense and seemed beautiful, liberating, etc.

(Some time later I found a Mao biography in the house and thought "might as well read it", then i became anarchist who admired mao.. then read more of mao's theoretical work, and some marx, and some history of the movement and realised that the state power is the best defence a revolution can have ..)

[anticap]

I don't call myself an anarchist, but I'm influenced by it along with Marxism.

I became aware of the anti-state concept via so-called "anarcho"-capitalism, but by that point I had already begun to turn away from right-"libertarianism." I discovered proper anarchism after I became interested in anti-capitalism. That's when I learned that anarchism is inherently anti-capitalist. I then started bouncing around in the space between anarchism and Marxism, and that's where I remain.

[Sasha]

i call myself an autonomist, see my politics as an personal mishmash of social-anarchism, councel-communism and grassroot-community activism.
While i still see myself as working towards an revolution my day to day actvist work can just as well be describe as reformist topic based actvism as autonomist direct action

[Widerstand]

A good dose of teenage rebellion + love for hardcore punk + semi-nihilist hatred for society and humanity laid the foundation, then I accidentally stumbled upon this book:

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41Ac6DLYWYL._SL500_AA300_.jpg

And after that I was done for, and started reading essays by Bakunin, Goldman, Chomsky, Berkman's ABC of Anarchism, and other authors. Right now I'm somewhat drifting towards Frankfurt School Marxism though.

[Revolution starts with U]

I was like 8 when I heard "Fight the Power." I started calling myself an anarchist at around 12 when I found the circled A (name's Adam, I sign with it), and wrote a short story with main characters Sacco and Vendzetti.
I didn't know anything about anarchist theory, still really don't. I just know no man has the right to express authority over me. :thumbup1:

[Veg_Athei_Socialist]

I liked the idea of free and voluntary cooperation between people to help each other for the common good for a long time. I didn't like the idea of people being forced to cooperate against there own will because the quality of that work wouldn't be so good, that and I believed people should have personal freedoms. When I picked up a copy of the Communist Manifesto I saw Guerin's Anarchism from theory to Practice and got that. Reading that I wasn't quite convinced but after Berkman's ABC I definitely became one.

[revolution inaction]

i took part in the anti war demonstration before the iraq war, this helped me realise that the government can ignore the people anything they want, then i tryed to come up with a way that the people could genuingly control the state,
rapidly going through the stages of,
make a new party any get it elected,
oh no htat wouldn't work how about
bomb the government into submission?
no thats no good either maybe
a secret conspiracy to seize control of society!
no that wouldn't work, but you know someone else has probably thought of this before lets have a look,
oh wow anarchist communism ftw!

[DaComm]

I gradually progressed from being a generic and, admittedly, ill-informed Leninist ("Russia was a superpower. Russia = communist = good"), to a Trotskyist ("state capitalism is bad, therefore I only support the USSR up until Stalin came to power" - never mind that the bureaucracy was growing under Lenin and there must have been something wrong with the Bolshevik system if individuals (such as Stalin) could come to power and wield such authority), to a Council Communist ("the organs of workers' power that arise during the revolution as an opposition to the authority of the Bourgeoisie must be the very same organs of workers' power which govern the socialist society" - mind you, I still adhere to this rule) and finally to an anarchist ("state capitalism is an incorrect theory as there is nothing capitalistic about the mode of production where bureaucrats control production and the state owns the means of production as capitalism is defined as the mode of production in which the means of production are privately owned and are operated for the purposes of making a profit, all social hierarchy must be abolished and the concept of a 'workers' state' is wrong as I have a different view of the state now.").

How very interesting indeed, as are all of your stories. And what made you turn decisively against hierarchical social structures?

[Zanthorus]

state capitalism is an incorrect theory as there is nothing capitalistic about the mode of production where bureaucrats control production and the state owns the means of production as capitalism is defined as the mode of production in which the means of production are privately owned and are operated for the purposes of making a profit

Somewhat ironically, this position is actually closer to Trotskyism than the position you supposedly held when you were a Trotskyist.

[NoOneIsIllegal]

I began as a democratic socialist. I always embraced socialism and egalitarianism, but I was uneasy on my government/state feelings. Over the years, I began to question my own thoughts: that political parties and that the state-machine can help deliver socialism to the masses. I slowly started drifting towards anarchist thought, thinking equality and justice can only be brought through the masses and the working-class, not the state, even if the people/parties have good intentions.

I am an anarchist because I see it as the only rational and logical way to socialism.

[NGNM85]

I disdn't subscribe to any particular ideology before Anarchism, I just had a vague Left sensibility acquired from my time in the local punk scene and affiliation with the school gay advocacy group. I wanted to get a clearer understanding of Anarchism, so I picked Up Emma Goldman's Anarchism, and that was it. It seemed to confirm most of what I'd observed of the world and put it in context. After that it was a long process of discovery, reading Bakunin, Kropokin, Stirner, Bookchin, Berkman, Marx, Che Guevara, etc, etc. However, in a little over a decade since I really haven't changed that much, ideologically. It always comes back to the basic truths that drew me to Anarchism in the first place.

[bcbm]

to be more punx

[Apoi_Viitor]

Well, I started off as a right-wing-libertarian - until I was introduced to Chomsky. Through my readings off him, I was able to realize that socialism doesn't necessarily equal tyranny :laugh: . And due to my libertarian, humanist, anti-authoritarian background, Chomsky's "libertarian socialism" appealed strongly towards me. From there, I read up on the Frankfurt School, Situationism, and Existentialist Marxism, which sort of pushed me towards Anarchism. Finally, after reading Peter Kropotkin's The Conquest of Bread, I became a self-identified Anarchist.

Although very recently, I've become more sympathetic towards Marxism and Leninism - and through Foucault, I've come to see my taken-for-granted assumption that 'human nature' exists, and my absolutist insistence on 'humanism', as being over-simplistic. So I guess as of now, I'm probably something of a "Left Communist".

[gorillafuck]

to be more punx
it has been upped.

[AK]

Somewhat ironically, this position is actually closer to Trotskyism than the position you supposedly held when you were a Trotskyist.
Makes you wonder how it could have possibly been called state capitalist if Trotsky supposedly completely rejected any relationship to capitalism. Weird that.
EDIT: Oh shit, am I an anarcho-Trot?

[AK]

How very interesting indeed, as are all of your stories. And what made you turn decisively against hierarchical social structures?
Inequality is still present.

[fa2991]

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41Ac6DLYWYL._SL500_AA300_.jpg

Ew.

[Invincible Summer]

Read some Chomsky and liked it. Found out he was Anarchist. Researched Anarchism and it made sense and seemed beautiful, liberating, etc.

Because of that first line, I read that whole paragraph to the tune of "I Kissed a Girl" by Katy Perry.


(Some time later I found a Mao biography in the house and thought "might as well read it", then i became anarchist who admired mao.. then read more of mao's theoretical work, and some marx, and some history of the movement and realised that the state power is the best defence a revolution can have ..)

I basically have a similar story to scarletghoul's. Always an anarchist at heart, but really appreciate Mao's contributions (although he didn't carry it out too well). I'm willing to accept state power as a means of prolonging revolution, although I'm very wary about it.

[AnthArmo]

This is going to be a long story. You have been warned.

Started off next-to-completely ignorant while sitting in my year 11 history class room (I was in year 10 though, doing extension)

My only political belief's were a vague hatred for war and poverty, and the absolute conviction that charity doesn't work, you need to get to the root of these problems. General experience had also told me that if one individual holds power over another, they will abuse that power. So I sorta went in with Leftist convictions to begin with.

We started on the Cold War. I didn't know what Communism was, so I asked my teacher. This is what he told me.

"Communism is when the government takes care of everybody. Everybody has a job, even if its something as small as cleaning a small area of land. Everyone has a home, a living wage, an education and healthcare. Everybody is equal. There is no poverty."

I thought "beauty" and asked what happened to it. He told me "It didn't work". When I asked why, he simply replied "Just didn't".

This didn't satisfy me. My instinctive urge was to head down to the library and borrow every book on "Communism" or "Socialism". The Librarian gave me a story about how he used to admire Mao, but "grew out" of it.

I read, and read, and read. The first books I read were simple, and gave a brief, pro-western "common sense" look at the Soviet Bloc. It explained Marxism, including how Capitalism worked during Marx's time. It explained the Communist ideal of "Worker control of the means of production". I knew next to nothing, but to me is seemed like common sense that workers should control their own workplaces.

According to these books, the Russian Revolution was quickly taken over by Stalin, were the party controlled everything from the top down. It then went over how this didn't work because the centrally planned economy was highly innefficient, and that workers didn't have the same incentives as the west.

After reading these first books, my instinctive reaction was "Ok, but this doesn't sound like Marx's initial vision. And what happened during the Russian Revolution?" They seemed to gloss over the Russian Revolution a great deal.

Most people would have been satisfied with the "common sense" viewpoints offered. Viewpoints such as "Good in theory, not in practice" and "Not enough incentives". But it just wasn't enough, it felt as if the REAL socialism hadn't been really tried out.

Did some further reading, learnt about the Owenite experiments, worker cooperatives, Russian Revolution. Eventually stumbled upon Revleft, saw the sectarian fighting and lurked for years. Noticed that the Anarchists (Apathy Maybe was my hero :D) seemed to have the best arguments in general. Eventually stumbled across Anarchist FAQ and ABC of Anarchism following from here. Now I'm an Anarchist :)

[The Feral Underclass]

I did it for the uniforms.

[AK]

General experience had also told me that if one individual holds power over another, they will abuse that power.
Your story is interesting, but one thing I should mention is that we don't oppose social hierarchy simply for the reason that someone is bound to abuse their power. We generally tend to oppose social hierarchy because it creates inequality. I mean, I once opposed capitalism simply because I thought that capitalists are inherently corrupt. But that's simply not true. The system itself is the problem, it creates social inequality. I wish I could say capitalists were corrupt, but the problem is they are well within their rights to exploit and economically enslave the workers.

[meow]

Your story is interesting, but one thing I should mention is that we don't oppose social hierarchy simply for the reason that someone is bound to abuse their power. We generally tend to oppose social hierarchy because it creates inequality. I mean, I once opposed capitalism simply because I thought that capitalists are inherently corrupt. But that's simply not true. The system itself is the problem, it creates social inequality. I wish I could say capitalists were corrupt, but the problem is they are well within their rights to exploit and economically enslave the workers.
eeeh. some anarchists might oppose anarchism for inequality reason. but others do so for simple objection to any one hvaing power over others. i am anarchist because i desire freedom. both for myself and everyone else.
anarchists are anarchists for many reasons. the reason for opposition to hierarchy is irrelavent.

as for why i am anarchist? many reasons. i have thought about this for many years. partly because i want equality and hate inequality. partly because i hate capitalism for many reason. etc.

[AK]

eeeh. some anarchists might oppose anarchism for inequality reason. but others do so for simple objection to any one hvaing power over others. i am anarchist because i desire freedom. both for myself and everyone else.
anarchists are anarchists for many reasons. the reason for opposition to hierarchy is irrelavent.
Social hierarchy (which creates inequality) implies someone having power over another. They are the same thing. This also fits in nicely with the desire for freedom.

[howblackisyourflag]

milton friedman to ron paul to chomsky to marx to chomsky again.

anyway, this thread shows how much time we waste on deciding what exact type of leftie we are when we could just all call ourselves socialist and get on with the valuable work of organizing.

[AK]

milton friedman to ron paul to chomsky to marx to chomsky again.

anyway, this thread shows how much time we waste on deciding what exact type of leftie we are when we could just all call ourselves socialist and get on with the valuable work of organizing.
I'm not in any state to do political organising at 10:49 pm.

[DaComm]

milton friedman to ron paul to chomsky to marx to chomsky again.

anyway, this thread shows how much time we waste on deciding what exact type of leftie we are when we could just all call ourselves socialist and get on with the valuable work of organizing.

You're right, quit slacking everybody we've got work to do!

[Widerstand]

Ew.

I ew at thy sectarianism, foul fiend!

[DaComm]

milton friedman to ron paul to chomsky to marx to chomsky again.

anyway, this thread shows how much time we waste on deciding what exact type of leftie we are when we could just all call ourselves socialist and get on with the valuable work of organizing.

But seriously, I hope that was sarcasm.

[Ravachol]

I used to be an individualist anarchist influenced mainly by the likes of Stirner and Galleani. When I got more interested in the class-question (as opposed to the anti-authoritarian nature of anarchism alone) I briefly identified with mutualism before rejecting it alltogether upon discovering Autonomism and re-discovering Syndicalism as well as reading texts from the "Ultra-Left" (Aufheben, Kampsa Tillsammens, Tiqqun, Mr. Dupont,etc).

Currently I see myself as a rather heterodox Anarcho-Communist with equal influences from Syndicalism, Autonomism and "Ultra-Left"-ism.

[Old Man Diogenes]

For what reason have you become anarchists? Honsetly, I became one after thouroughly searching the AnarchistFAQ.

The Communism comes indirectly from the moral teachings of one of my close relatives, and the Anarchism comes from a personal belief that everyone should be their own master. Politically at first I was a Liberal, but was frustrated by their moderation and statism. I then found out about Socialism and wasn't really too keen on it in it's State form, so for a time I was sort of a left-wing, philosophical Anarchist. Through the speeches of Noam Chomsky I discovered Libertarian socialism, read some books (though at this point I've never actually read any Chomsky), and the rest, as the say, is history. :)