Ever since my freshman year of high school I loved the idea of communism because of the equality but always disliked the proletarian dictatorship aspect. Then one day I downloaded Metalocalypse season 1 and in the folder was an essay by the uploader of this torrent entitled "Libertarian Socialism". I was intrigued so I read up and realized that I had never found an idea so synonymous with my views and I've considered my self an anarchist communist ever since.
I think it was last summer I was went to buy a copy of the communist manifesto and saw a book on anarchism and so I bought that too. I read both but liked the anarchism one better. Then I read another anarchist book which explained anarchist communism and liked it a lot. Then I read two more anarchist books and became officially convinced of being an anarchist communist.
I got tired of the UJC (Young Communist League of Cuba), fumbled around and found that Anarchism suited me better since all the parties I learned about or saw were just basically the same, with really no new idea on how to do things. Plus they basically just taught me old history stuff that I already knew about.
I have always been a fanatic freedom lover, and was an Right-Libertarian for quite sometime. Then I read some of the Anarchist FAQ, and realized that only true liberty and freedom exists in Anarchy.
when I was 14 I was just a de facto right-winger cuz my dad was and Fox news as on all the time. at the age of 15 I really started developing my anarchist communist ideologies, there was stigma from my home room teacher more than anybody, and my financial management teacher ironically enough, was the one with the soviet flag in his room.
[FONT=Calibri]Why do i describe myself as an anarcho-communist[/FONT] [FONT=Calibri]I believe in the need to have a society that is just, fair, and gives everyone an equal outcome. I respect everything that Marx said and my only criticism is it did not nearly go far enough. I also think that we should be able to choose our actions and be free to make mistakes, but having done so would feel instant regret. Public ownership should extend from a country estate to a toothbrush. Personal possessions, the family unit and all forms of hierarchy should be abolished.[/FONT] [FONT=Calibri]I have problems with Anarchy and communism individual but together it feels like it could work. The anarchists lack the community spirit of togetherness, and the communists lack giving us the freedom to make our choices with passion.[/FONT] [FONT=Calibri][/FONT] [FONT=Calibri]Mick.[/FONT]
I was an active member of the CP and became desillusioned by the lack of willingness to find alternatives for the obious lapses in the system that allow for authoritarian repression. I then travelled extensively throughout Eastern Europe and Russia an saw what this had caused...spoke to a lot of people...communists, socialists and heard what that all has led to, That is the point when I felt completely desillusioned with the revolutionary movement and spend a few years of non political and undirected anger about continuous infringements on civil liberties and freedom in Europe. One day I downloaded some literature on web neutrality and in the zip file were also some books by Proudhon which I decided to read (never had before...anarchy was bad according to the party line) and actually found all the components I had missed in the CP...decided to read further into it...
I remember thinking that money should be abolished at an incredibly young age (i'm talking 5-8 kind of age) which pretty much established me in the communist side of things and as i learnt more about history and the nature of the human mind as well as coming to understand the petty bureaucracies of the education establishment i was in and other hierarchical systems i was in i came to despise hierarchy as well. Then i began to study different political theories as i grew up and decided i was an anarcho-communist, more recently i have become more revolutionary in my politics and have begun studying revolutionary methods and tactics.
I switched from progressive to right libertarianism like freshman year in high school, but I went to a lot of libertarian conventions (I was an alternate delegate at the last libertarian party convention) and I realized how fake it was, and that I also wanted economic equality. So I read a few books on the subject and switched to anarcho-communism.
I started off as a Democrat (born in the US, there no more). When I was 15 I became a Libertarian (more for the social issues than the economic, because I didn't understand or care about economics), and as I got older I became a Democratic Socialist because I had begun to realize the evils of major corporations. When I was 17 I became an Anarcho-Syndicalist when I learned more of and fell in love with the workers' struggle, and became an Anarchist Communist soon after I understood the realities of the world, the exploitation of the poor by the rich, and became more interested in philosophy. I've been an Ancom ever since.
I became a member of a Trotskyist party before I understood the theories and practices of these organizations. Naturally I read a lot, grasped Marxism, read Trotsky, read Lenin and understood communism to be necessary and even in line with everything I thought about the world anyway. However, the more I learnt about communism, the more I disliked the party I was in and Leninism in general. I saw it as contrary to the principles of communism, and couldn't see how centralised, heirarchical and debateless organizations as counterproductive institutions could 'lead' the struggle for communism. This led me to anarchism, and I found that I've been an anarchist for a very long time without even knowing it. It was refreshing to read Kropotkin, hear Chomsky talk about anarchism, speak with ACs and know that there are less dogmatic, more genuinely democratic and anti-authoritarian/anti-heirarchical means to achieveing a classless and stateless society. I still accept much of Marxist theory; the materialistic view of history, the history of class-struggle, and I actually think that Marx would identify more with many ACs than he would have with Leninists.
A few years back I had seen the movie Land and Freedom about the Spanish Civil War. I have always been interested in history and this caused me to research it. I had looked up a great deal about it online and had gotten a few books about it, including Homage to Catalonia which the movie had been based on. Through that research I had learned about the society that the Anarchists had created in Spain for a short time and it really drew me in. This had gotten me to start studying about Anarchism and the various forms of Communism. I believe that we should have a society based more on equality. I gravitated more towards Anarchism as opposed to Communism based on the Direct Democracy approach that Anarchism takes and the workers being empowered from below as opposed to a top to bottom heirarchy.
What got me interested in Anarchism was mostly the Maquis in the second world war. It was a small seed of doubt. Reading about how Syndicalist societies functioned in the Spanish Civil War was the anvil with which the hammer of truth beat out the lies of the past. Then again the S.C.W was the proving ground of anarcho-leftism in general, if it weren't for statists ruining the party, so to speak.
Starting off I considered myself a Marxist-Leninist, and while I don't think I've completely thrown that part of me away I now consider myself more of an Anarchist. I can't really pin point any specific point, it was more of a gradual thing.
My entire life I questioned why my family was poor, why my mother and father were both never around and why they had to work all the time. I didn't understand how someone could just shut off the gas in our house because we were late on the bills. I wasn't angry so much as confused at first. My father didn't vote, my mother voted democrat. Neither were union strong, I had very little introduction to politics until my high-school years. Personally, in my own life, I was seeing the results of capitalism. Then I got to high school and saw the divisions between the kids who could afford brand name clothing and those who could not. I saw the racism, sexism, and homophobia, etc. From there it was a process of reading, the one thing I have always been good at. I started reading Marx in ninth grade, Kapital completely defeated me and I put it down. I picked it up again a few months later and started working on it piece by piece with my AP Literature teacher, who was one of the few teachers at my rural high-school who wasn't a conservative. We did that every study hall (half hour every mon, tues, thurs, fri) for the rest of my freshman year. The equality, anti-marginalization and compassion hit home, and I fell in love with the reds. I considered myself a Marxist for half of highschool. I got into Trotsky briefly, then Anarcho-Syndicalism. Bakunin, Proudhon and Emma Goldman first, then eventually I tackled Kropotkin. I started developing my own theories, and did what any other nerd with no friends would do: as much reading as possible on the subject. By the time I was ready for college I had a decent grounding in Anarcho-Communism, and preferred it over authoritarian statist communism. I then went to college. College was where I wanted to start organizing. To my surprise there were no committed leftist of ANY doctrine at my school. No one with balls anyway. Bourgeoisie everywhere, and no one wanted to do anything to disrupt the flow of class, agitate, educate or organize. It was miserable. My grants ran out after 2 years. I went home. Now I'm back in my podunk town, full of theory and ideas, projects and aspirations, but no funds, resources and little support besides my crew of goons who listen to me when i crawl on my soapbox. I'm trying to build support and am attacking the high-shool with the help of my little-brother, distributing literature and producing my own zine. What will come out of it remains to be seen. oi comrade!
I was a communist before I really knew what communist meant. I remember thinking once when I was like 13 or 14 as I was leaving the grocery store with my mom and I though to myself that it would be cool if everyone got like coupons for food or something instead of having to worry about having the money for it. I later turned towards Anarachy because I realized, having a been a rule follower most of my life, that rules get in the way of happiness.
At 14 or so, the nerd that I am started to be interested in politics. I couldn't understand why the state was so corrupted and I saw all of the social inequalties in my town without knowing how to react to them. Then I discovered communism...tried to read The Capital...died for a while. But then I read the communist manifesto, and I didn't feel like I was agreeing with all of it. But eh, it's like 150 years old so I tought that something new and more actual must exist. So I did my research and discovered anarcho-communism which perfectly suits my sets of beliefs. And I am slowly convincing people at my school. Yay for not being the only commie kid anymore
[FONT=Calibri]Public ownership should extend from a country estate to a toothbrush. Personal possessions, the family unit and all forms of hierarchy should be abolished.[/FONT] I would rather not share my tooth brush thank you. Personal possessions do not exploit anyone and should not be "abolished". Private property on the other hand, (factories, farms, etc) definitely need to be irradicated and transformed into a source of benefit for the whole of mankind. I also do not see a need to dismantle the concept of a family. Families are a source of comfort and strength, not necessarily hierarchies. Parents of course shouldn't boss or rule over their children but should be there to guild and help them along their way.
Speaking for myself, I started to consider myself an Anarcho-Communist when I realized just how useless government (as we know it) is. Communism is about freedom, and it's been demonstrated time and again that government exists, first and foremost, to protect itself, and does so at the expense of freedom (both national and individual).
I started out as a Communist when I was about twelve, but only really got into Anarchism at the age of about fifteen or sixteen. I always thought that the problem with Communism was dictators like Stalin, which I see as just another type of oppression. Then I read this essay on Anarchism and it really interested me, so I researched Anarchism and it all made sense.
well Iv grown up in a leftist family (no one as extreme as me Mom=maybe democratic socialist im not sure and my dad doesn't live with us now) From like age 4 to like 11 i had always wanted to go into the military and then become law enforcement (Dad is to blame for that), but then i started getting into leftist music. the music made me want to do research so i looked shit up and figured out that cops are assholes and the USA military is bad hahahahaha. Then at age 13 i considered myself a liberal and started reading smartish people ,like Noam Chompsky. Than i found out about Emma Goldman and did some research on her and read Anarchism and Other Essays and I was like ,Wow! this is awesome. Then as i was browsing the non-fiction section of the library I stumbled ,and upon the communist manifesto and then that lead up to my wonderful discovery of Anarcho-Communism. Now i have become the 15 anarchist communist revolutionary i am today!
I became disillusioned about "normal" communism, by witnessing the attitudes, ideals, goals and methods of the party I had joined.
I was an extreme right winger for a long time (always been interested in politics). Someday, I just changed. It all started around mid September. I felt like I was so supportive of inequality. I wanted to change that. I don't know what started it. All I know is I'm glad it did. I hated the idea of a dictatorship of the proletariat, state atheism, and whatnot. I'm glad I changed . Also, peter kroptkin's book the conquest of bread really speaks to me.
I've been interested in politics most of my life really. When I was younger I was a reactionary (because of my grandmother and the church), but by the time the 2nd Bush election came around I was more of a liberal (although I was only in elementary school still). I remember saying to my dad at a thanksgiving dinner (with my reactionary family there) "George Bush is an asshole, isn't he dad?". Fast forward to the Obama election, I was more of a liberal, but I started learning about socialism, and liked the general idea of it, although I didn't know many of the ideas of it. After learning more about it, I decided that I was an anarcho-syndicalist. Now, I consider myself an anarcho-communist.
Because I started to hated selfish capitalists, and the police state. I started looking into anarchism, when I was 16, and then communism. I've read both works of anarchism and communism. I started learning more about it, then just screaming I'm an anarchist. Fuck the government. I actually started learning about what it was.
