Lifestyle Anarchism

[Clarksist]

Many people seem to be very anti Lifestyle Anarchists (i.e. Crimeth Inc.), but I have never understood two things about it.

1.) What, per se is Lifestyle Anarchism as opposed to Anarchist who live life by their Anarchist ethics?

2.) Why is Lifestyle Anarchism bad?

Of course the answer to the first question may also answer the second, but seriously, why is this so frowned upon?

[rioters bloc]

a lot of people think that lifestyle anarchists are too individualistic rather than collective, and aren't as involved in class struggle as they should be. while this isn't true of all lifestylists, the majority of the ones i know do follow this trend.

so the general idea is that by changing aspects of your own life, you are contributing to the smashing of capitalism/the state/etc. to an extent i agree that it's hypocritical to constantly call for the abolition of the current system without making any attempts to disengage from it [even if not from all aspects, but as much as you can] but i don't think that this should be done instead of class struggle but rather alongside it.

i hope that answers your questions. basically, lifestyle anarchism is living life by 'anarchist ethics', but it doesn't necessarily see it as a system which should replace the current one on a large scale, and its seen that living by these ethics yourself is enough. whereas other anarchists who may reject lifestylism would say that that's not enough.

this is a good essay which helped me to understand the differences:

'social anarchism or lifestyle anarchism' - http://www.spunk.org/library/writers/bookchin/sp001512/

[UltraLeftGerry]

Lifestyle anarchism does not seem to be particularly subversive. They use an anarchist aesthetic, but I doubt many of them have read Kropotkin. Take the Sex Pistols for example. They're pure nihilists, advocated rebellion for the sake of rebellion. Contrast them with The Clash and what they stood for. :D Seriously though there's a connection between those two bands in the point I am trying to make. There have always been non-conformists and rebellious types. They have been in it for themselves a lot of the time and we assume they're leftists (Camus fits this description IMO, he strikes me as somewhat reactionary). They may be alienated and and angry at society but they are not channeling their energies into creating a better world. Murray Bookchin, who I with disagreee on many things (but I am quite friendly to anarchists on the whole) wrote a book entitled Social Anarchism Or Lifestyle Anarchism: An Unbridgeable Chasm. He attacks lifestyle anarchists for putting themselves or more specifically their trendy "rebellious lifestyles" above the class struggle. I'm not trying to sound like a puritanical Leninist when I say that, I mean they have little desire to push for any real change and perhaps think that one day if everyone wakes up and embraces anarchists ideals then capitalism will disappear. There's also a far amount of overlap with lifestyle anarchists and those silly post-left anarchists and the pol-potist anarcho-primitvists, though they are not always connected.

[Ownthink]

Here's my quick shot at this "lifestyle whatever" stuff:

To be a staunch Communist, only to leave your protest/leftist board/meeting and the guy on the corner asks for change and you say "Get a job you worthless heap!". Or when someone asks you to share and you get angry and shout "No!" or something.

That would be anti-lifestyle, am I correct? Since we are all fighting for a free society/sharing/equality, that would be anti-lifestyle of someone to do these aforementioned things.

[violencia.Proletariat]

2.) Why is Lifestyle Anarchism bad?

well first of all, crimethinc rejects theory in general. secondly its just an excuse to do NOTHING worthwhile. it makes no sense to spend the majority of your time (which it takes to do it) to live alternatively to capitalism which is NOT the objective. im sorry but digging around in a dumpster (nothing wrong with this except when your trying to call this anarchism), making your own clothes, and not supporting any kind of buisness ever, isnt anarchism. it will NOT get you anarchism.

[Organic Revolution]

crime thinc doesnt reject theory at all, it advocates the evolving of theory.

[violencia.Proletariat]

Originally posted by Organic [email protected] 29 2005, 06:14 PM
crime thinc doesnt reject theory at all, it advocates the evolving of theory.
i specifically remember a line in one of their phamplets that says "forget all the old guys with beards"(in reference to anarchist thinkers, maybe marx too?). crimethinc offers no valide theory in return, to me thats a refution of theory.

[Snitza]

Honestly, they're so multi-sided and ambiguous about everything they put out that you can interpret "crimethinc" any way that pleases you.

This is probably intentional, to shroud them in a cloak of "mystery" and "unreachability". I doubt anyway really "gets" what they're saying on the whole, anyway.

[Guest1]

I would say lifestylism is one of the most serious enemies of workingclass organizing, just take a look at the US and you can see how much of a disease it is, where it has completely shut down any real organizing on the left.

If it ever becomes a serious problem on this site, I would support making lifestylism one of the things which prevents a member from joining the CC.

[Clarksist]

i specifically remember a line in one of their phamplets that says "forget all the old guys with beards"(in reference to anarchist thinkers, maybe marx too?). crimethinc offers no valide theory in return, to me thats a refution of theory.

What they mean by "forgetting the old guys with beards" is that we shouldn't be idolizing these guys, we should be cultivating our own ideas.


im sorry but digging around in a dumpster (nothing wrong with this except when your trying to call this anarchism), making your own clothes, and not supporting any kind of buisness ever, isnt anarchism. it will NOT get you anarchism.


But its anti-revolutionary to help out a business, and become consumerist. The idea is to start shit, but if your going to complain about capitalists, being a consumer is only fueling the capitalists.

[Organic Revolution]

well.. im a anarchist who believes that i should live revolutionary and also advocate class struggle.. so Cym... kick me out then!

[Ouroboros]

I hate Clash. One day I bought that stinky London Calling album. For more than 25 years, each time I discover great peace of music the best I can say is "It's almost like Clash."

[Clarksist]

That's great.. except that we live in capitalism, and so we have to work and buy things (gasp!) or we'll die.


The idea is to buy as little as possible.


Lifestyle anarchism is anti working-class organization.


If the organization is hierarchal. A party is anti-revolutionary in itself. Party chairmen dictating party ideology on its members. The exclusion itself in a party is anti working class revolution.

[violencia.Proletariat]

What they mean by "forgetting the old guys with beards" is that we shouldn't be idolizing these guys, we should be cultivating our own ideas.

well most of the people that are idolized on this board dont really have beards. lenin had a goatee and mao didnt have a beard.

but seriously in the specific context they were talking about ignoring the theory. because they went on to something like, anarchy is everyhwere and blah blah...


But its anti-revolutionary to help out a business, and become consumerist. The idea is to start shit, but if your going to complain about capitalists, being a consumer is only fueling the capitalists.

its anti revolutionary to spend all your time looking for things not made by buisnesses and not increasing class warfare. you HAVE to be a consumer unless your going to be a dumpster diving squatter, etc. and the squatting movement is not revolutionary


The idea is to buy as little as possible.

no its not. the idea is to obtain communism. now by not buying anything made by a buisness you are just living off of other peoples waste (dumpster diving, etc.) but if everyone did this you wouldnt have communism because no one works for anything they are trying to live off of consumerist by products. well everyone cant do that when there are no consumers.

if you say well we can create our own stuff, then you have a bunch of primitive communes. not my idea of a succesful revolution.

[which doctor]

Escaping capitalism in America is almost impossible, even for communes. There is always something we need to buy. THe goal is to not encourage consumerism and capitalism. Don't worry because capitalsim WILL fall one day. It can only get so big and so powerful before it begins collapse upon it's own weight. It builds itself up so big without a firm foot hold. We can obtain communisn without us all becoming lifestylists. Don't plan on escaping the system anytime soon.