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MEANDER QUARTERLY
Newsletter of Evolutionary Anarchists
@Liberty, Equality, Cooperation, Respect for Nature@
Vol. 5, No. 2 August 1993
<<<<<< SPECIAL SPUNK PRESS ELECTRONIC EDITION >>>>>>
Please send all newsletter correspondence, material for publication,
donations, and address changes to:
Ed Stamm, PO Box 1402, Lawrence KS 66044 USA. Note: If you have a
long essay or letter, if possible send it to me on a 5 1/4" floppy disk
saved as ASCII text. I will return your disk.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
ELECTRONIC MAIL ANARCHY ZINE
Correction: The E-Mail address for submitting material to
"Practical Anarchy On-line" has changed to:
Internet <ctmunson@macc.wisc.edu>
Bitnet <ctmunson@wiscmacc.bitnet>
If you want to be added to the list of subscribers (it's free), contact
Chuck at:
<ctmunson@macc.wisc.edu>
PETITION TO REMOVE STATUE
A effort is underway to have the statue of Teddy Roosevelt removed
from the grounds of the Museum of Natural History on Central Park West in
New York city. Roosevelt is mounted on a horse, with an indigenous
american on foot on one side, and an african american on foot on the other
side, giving the appearance of a master/servant relationship. Contact:
NANA, Chief-Chairperson Osceola, 137-35 Northern Blvd, Flushing NY 11345.
BEE ENTHUSIAST FIGHTING DISCRIMINATION
Garry De Young was recently asked to alter his presentation to the
Northeast Oklahoma Beekeeper's Assoc., because some members of the audience
might be offended by his reference to Andrew D. White's "The History of the
Conflict Between Science and Religion in Christendom". He refused to
change his text and refused to speak. "The Speedy Bee" refused to publish
De Young's account of the incident, and terminated him as a columnist. If
you would like copies of De Young's correspondence, send $5.00 to: Garry
De Young, Box 76 - Rt 1, Stark KS 66775.
INTERNATIONAL
LEAH (LEILA) FELDMAN (1899-1993)
Born in Warsaw, active in the London Yiddish-speaking anarchist
movement, participant in the Russian revolution, organizer of an anarchist
federation in Palestine, active upon her return to London as a supporter of
German anti-militarists and of the anarchist movement during the Spanish
Civil war, member of a collective with Spanish and other exiles in London,
she was remembered by a gathering of her friends and comrades on January 7,
1993. (from "K.S.L.")
FASCIST VIOLENCE IN LONDON
"On the night of April 12, an attempt was made to burn down the 121
Centre. 121 has been open for several years as a drop-in and advice
center, with a cafe and bookshop. The 121 collective has been involved in
local housing and poll tax campaigns, as well as struggles against police
violence and council corruption. They have consistently opposed fascism
and racism." 121 Railton Rd, Brixton, SE24 London, England (ph 071 274
6655). The flyer also mentions that Freedom Bookshop has recently been
attacked and damaged.
TURKISH ANARCHISTS SEEK CONTACTS
"In December 1992, a group of Turkish anarchists began publishing
"Ates Hirsizi" (Fire Thief),....coming out of Istanbul, with articles
mainly in Turkish, but with a few in English and Kurdish." Ates Hirsizi,
Lodfarer Caddesi, Dr. Sevki Bey Sokak No. 4, 2 Sultanahmet, Istanbul,
TURKEY.
(from "Industrial Worker")
ARTICLES AND LETTERS
I would like to respond to the article entitled "On Social
Anarchism" in the Meander (Vol. 4) #4, April 1993. In it Donald F. Busky
rants on abut the history of anarchism and mentions such prominent names as
Bakunin and Kropotkin. But as I sometimes call myself a communist
anarchist I can't hold myself from objecting to what he writes about
Kropotkin. First, a trivial note. Kropotkin was not, as Mr. Busky tells
us in his article, a russian crown prince. He was indeed a nobleman and
was at one time working as a servant boy at the russian court, but crown
prince? No. However, this was not my point. My point is that Mr. Busky
got the whole principle of communist anarchism wrong when he writes, "In
other words, there would be an economy based on free production and
distribution." The case is, that the communist anarchist economy would be
based on free consumption, not free production. If you build an economy
with the first principle being free production you get an economy where
competition rules and you find yourself back in capitalism. To build an
anarchist economy you have to regulate the production according to the
demand created by the free consumption. No, this regulated production
doesn't necessarily mean that you have to have a centralized state that
takes care of the actual regulation. Instead, I favor the syndicalistic
solution with a network of communes and federations where the regulation
takes place within the network by means of constant "trade". If an
independent commune desperately needs a lot of Dr. Marten's boots they tell
the federation. In the federation a number of other communes are
represented and one of them might just have a factory that makes Dr.
Marten's boots and can deliver them to the requester. What is the
difference, then, between this structure and the classical communist
structure where the state handles questions of production? The difference
is power. The federation in a syndicalist network of this kind doesn't
have the power to decide anything for a commune, the federation is just a
cooperative organization for a number of independent communes.
I liked what Mike Thain said about living without taking much from
the system and particularly what he said about not giving much back. Could
you tell us more about your way of life, Mike? I mean, how is it possible
to earn enough money for food and rent working just two days a week? Where
and how do you live? What do you eat? This is indeed practical anarchy!
I want to establish a temporary free
zone in my home as well! Miekael Cardell, Sweden
[When discussing economics, one thing which must be made clear is
whether you are discussing a transformation of the existing economy, or
creating an independent economy just among anarchists. My personal
opinion is that any attempt to transform society as a whole is hopeless. A
system of free consumption would quickly collapse from higher than previous
demand and lower than previous production. Who would strive to consume
less while continuing to work almost as hard as they do now? Only those
who are ideologically committed to making the scheme work. It would be
necessary to cut back on production of non-essentials, and increase
production of necessities in order to meet everyone's basic needs. Most
people are not willing to give up their goodies to help other people meet
their basic needs or to slow the destruction of the environment. However,
we would be unable to meet the basic needs of all the world's poor through
our own meager anarchist production; we would quickly become impoverished
ourselves. The maximum program of converting the entire world economy
would involve too much bloodshed to even consider and then we'd have to set
up a police state to maintain it. If we just do our own thing among
ourselves, the necessary exchange mechanisms will evolve on their own
through negotiation, and hopefully we will be able to co-exist more or less
peacefully with the rest of society. Ed]
******
Caracas, May 20, 1993
Dear Friends: Recently we learned of your address, so we are
sending the latest number of our
"Correo A", and to let you know about our group and publication, we would
like to point out the following:
a) "Correo A" is a publication of Colectivo Circulo A, which is a
socialist libertarian group working in Venezuela since the 80's, where an
anarchist tradition did not exist until then. The first number appeared in
Nov. 87 and we have tried to publish 4 numbers per year.
b) We produce around 1200 copies that are sold at a rather symbolic price
of US $0.23, and they are distributed in Caracas (capital city of
Venezuela) and 12 other cities in the rest of the country. "Correo A" is
not just the only libertarian publication in Venezuela, but it is also the
only regular publication of the extra-parliamentarian left. Because of
this it is well appreciated among politically interested young people
wanting alternative points of view, in an intellectual environment where
alternatives are few.
c) Colectivo Circulo A tries to organize groups to discuss and act
according to anarchist ideas and take part and collaborate with several
social and popular movements. Even though we are rather few in number we
try to keep a permanent and enthusiastic presence in our society, which we
hope will develop a higher consideration of our positions.
d) We have published a few booklets about anarchism and in December 1990
we co-edited with Editorial Recortes, related to the Federacion Anarquista
Uruguaya, the book "El Pensamiento de Malatesta" written by Angel
Cappelletti, one of our collaborators. We have some projects along these
lines that will be fulfilled according to our possibilities.
e) We keep postal contacts and we interchange publications with 55
libertarian groups in 17 countries. We are now trying with some others.
If you answer this letter we shall be delighted to keep on sending
our "Correo A" and to write articles for you in reference to Venezuela,
Caribbean countries or Latin America. It will also be a pleasure to
welcome any of you that happen to come to this part of the world, and to
receive your publication sent to the address written below, and any other
publication or contribution as well (in English, French, Italian,
Portuguese or Spanish, of course). Everything we can get will be very
useful for us because of our lack of information, except for the
ideologically oriented mass media. You can send our address to any other
group you wish and reprint any article of "Correo A".
We are very pleased to know about you. We look forward to the
beginning of a libertarian and brotherlike relationship. SALUD, ALEGRIA Y
ANARQUIA!! (HEALTH, JOY AND ANARCHY!) Colectivo Circulo A (Circle A
Collective)
Our address: N. Mendez
Casilla 25, Fac. Ingenieria
UCV, Ciudad Universitaria
Caracas 1040
VENEZUELA
P.S. We received your "Meander Quarterly"...Thanks!
["Greetings fellow anarchists!
I was glad to receive your letter and the copies of your
publications. Unfortunately, I can only read English, some French, and a
tiny bit of Spanish, but I will print your letter in the next issue of
"Meander Quarterly" and ask for a volunteer to translate some of it for us.
Enclosed is the latest issue of our publication.
You sound very well organized. Here in North America, instead of
having one publication with a circulation of 1200, we have 50 publications
with a circulation of 100! That's an exaggeration, but not much.
Actually, this decentralization is healthy up to a point, but we have no
federation that includes all anarchists, no international bureau for
contacts and translations, and too many big egos and extremists who are
unwilling to compromise for the good of the cause. We give anarchism a bad
name because we confirm the image of being disorganized and anti-social.
Hopefully the example set by your group and our other foreign comrades will
shame us into action, but I doubt it.
If you are able to penetrate the iron curtain that surrounds the
U.S., write to us and we can try to set up contacts in the cities you plan
to visit. Kansas is nice but not very interesting. If you do plan to pass
through, visit me! In Solidarity, Ed Stamm"
If anyone can translate from Spanish to English, and would like to
take a look at their publication, and translate some of it, I'll forward
"Correo A" to you. If we did have an anarchist federation, it would also
be nice to have a committee that would mediate disputes among anarchists.
Ed]
******
"The target county for a(n electoral) takeover should be as remote
and obscure, dirt poor & good-for-nothing as we can find, because we're
probably going to have to fight legal battles with present residents & I'd
prefer to fight weak opponents....I envision some 200 or more voters moving
to a place, associating mostly among themselves & with whatever locals are
compatible, if any are; if not, avoid them....I agree it would not be easy
to attract 200 freedom-seekers to "the middle of nowhere." If we're only
willing to try what's easy, we may as well quit right now." Jim Stumm
(from "ABAPA Freer")
[The county he favors is Esmeralda in Nevada (pop. 1343 with 806
voters in a recent election). This discussion is taking place mostly among
Libertarians, and includes other strategies as well. One problem
anarchists would have with this plan is that we are mostly wage-slaves, not
self-employed or professionals who can tele-commute. We probably would
need to be within commuting distance of at least a medium sized city. If
we got involved in such an effort, we could set up our own town independent
of the Libertarians, but within the same county. Ed]
******
"Imagine for a moment that you are visiting a plant nursery. You
hear a commotion outside, so you investigate. You find a young assistant
struggling with a rose bush. He is trying to force open the petals of a
rose, and muttering in frustration. You ask him what he is doing, and he
explains, "My boss wants all these roses to bloom this week, so last week I
taped all the early ones, and now I'm opening the late ones." You protest
that every rose has its own schedule of blooming; it is absurd to try to
slow down or speed this up; it doesn't matter when roses bloom; a rose will
always bloom at its own best time.
You look at the rose again, and see that it is wilting. But when
you point this out, he replies, "Oh too bad, it has genetic dysbloomia.
I'll have to call an expert." "No, no!" you say. "You caused the wilting.
All you needed to do was meet the flower's needs for water and sunshine,
and leave the rest to nature!" You can't believe this is happening. Why
is his boss so unrealistic and uninformed about roses?
Such a scene would never take place in a nursery, of course, but it
happens daily in schools. Teachers, pressured by their bosses, follow
official timetables which demand that all children learn at the same rate,
and in the same way. Yet children are no different than roses in their
development: they are born with the capacity and desire to learn, they
learn at different rates, and they learn in different ways. If we can meet
their needs, provide a safe, nurturing environment, and keep from
interfering with our doubts, anxieties, and arbitrary timetables, then -
like roses - they will bloom at their own best time." Jan Hunt
(from "LUNO")
******
"When they came for the Fourth Amendment I didn't say anything
because I had nothing to hide.
When they came for the Second Amendment I didn't say anything
because I didn't own a gun.
When they came for the Fifth and Sixth Amendments I didn't say
anything because I had committed no crimes.
When they came for the First Amendment I couldn't say anything."
(from "Urine Nation News")
******
Mr. Ed Stamm: 5 June 1993
I'm going to be more fair with your than you were with me. You
directed yourself toward me in the April 1993 issue of The Me@nder by
saying, "Prisoners." Well, Mr. Ed Stamm, I do have a name. So because I
don't fit your whimsy classification of "doing what people thought was
right in a tight situation," that gives you the uppity right to direct
yourself at me in any way you want? I don't have a split personality, and
I'm not more than one person, yet being in prison does seem to give certain
idiots the right to direct themselves toward me in very impersonal,
look-down-the-nose ways, or, at least, they think it does. Fine! I'm used
to it anyways....
From your comments of the L.A. Riots, I see that you're so blind to
the rage that fueled them that you cannot even fathom the reason and force
behind them. I guess you have never seen someone clubbed and kicked while
they are handcuffed (other than on television), and much less have you been
beaten in this manner. You have not had an unarmed close friend shot in
the back and left paralyzed by a racist National City cop. You have not
seen or lived in the barrios or ghettos that are rotting with poverty and
inopportunity, where many of the young and old think of stealing, robbing,
and drug dealing, not as a risk, but as a necessity, or as an opportunity.
You have never felt trapped and been embittered with rage and pain where,
like the lion or wolf whose leg gets stuck in the steel teeth of a trap,
you lash out at everything and everyone and even bite into yourself....
Yes, you are so blind because you fear giving people with this rage
hope and a new idea of what the future should be, because deep down in your
heart you know that these people with rage will not just sit back and wait,
but that they will transform this anger and hate into the energy that
propels them into constructing and evolving a better future -- not
tomorrow, not in 50 years, but today. You fear arming people with new
ideas, with renewed hope, because you are complacent with your status and
your position in life. Your are complacent with the myriad of jails and
prisons that surround you. Your are complacent with the schools that
strangle ideas, and that efface the voices of those that struggle for the
betterment of society. You don't seek evolution; you tenaciously seek
listlessness.
If you remember correctly, the reason that I spoke out first was to
address your specious assumption that prisoners were criminals that
shouldn't burden the pocketbooks of the opposition since they lacked andy
redeeming qualities. That is unless they fell under certain of your
flimflammations. Information that edifies, and that gives a person a
better understanding of the world, and that empowers him with hope and
ideas, does not belong to any particular class of people -- it belongs to
all! Why do you want to deny this information to the people that are more
inclined to listen, and that have the most time to reflect on themselves
and on the world? To the complacent, it is but a mere hobby when it comes
to social change, but to the forlorn it is a hope that they will grasp with
all their human strength and power of the mind. What do you really want
Mr. Ed Stamm, criminals who seek to sate themselves with greed, or people
struggling with the new hope in the hearts for a better tomorrow -- for
all?
Con safos, Jaime Enrique Baxter, 88410-012 F.C.I., 8901 S Wilmot
Rd, Tucson AZ 85706.
[Dear Mr. Baxter, I apologize for not addressing you personally.
I was commenting on the general topic of prisoners, and I used your case as
a general example. Still, I should have addressed you by name.
The L.A. riots seemed to be fueled more by the desire for consumer
goods than by anger. Most participants were too busy looting to liberate
territory, unless you consider carrying off athletic shoes, jewelry,
electronics and alcohol to be expressions of rage.
I worked in fast food, landscaping, and restaurants for many years
before I finally got a clerical job. I guess some victims of the system
are above these sorts of occupations. I'm not arguing that the existing
system is fair, but it is possible to eek out a living under the present
harsh conditions without resorting to crime. Just because someone feels
criminal activity is justified does not mean it is. We must have objective
standards or we'll all be preying on one another.
I feel my efforts are worthwhile. At least I can say I have
pursued this cause without hope of personal gain, in my own precious free
time away from my job, at the expense of my family, without placing a
burden on the movement.
If we had unlimited resources, we could send free subscriptions to
everyone who requests one. But since we don't (see our deficit on the
financial statement) we have to carefully choose who to send it to. I
personally feel that prisoners, in general, are a bad choice, because of
the anti-social tendencies that landed them in prison. I still feel that
common criminals do not deserve political prisoner status. Apparently few
prisoners retain an interest in anarchism once they are out, because they
drop off the mailing list and do not bother to keep in touch. Ed]
******
"BEHOLD A PALE HORSE"
"The (Kate Sharpley Library) has been fortunate enough to get a
video cassette of the film "Behold a Pale Horse". Starring Gregory Peck as
the "bandit", Anthony Quinn as the head of the Guardia Civil and Omar
Sharif as the priest, anarchists will have missed it when it was shown as a
film, with no A. mag then appearing to call attention to it. It is a
portrayal of the Spanish resistance (though it only refers to Republicans
and Nationalists and you could be forgiven for not realising it was a
picture of the CNT struggle against fascism, if you didn't know too much
about Spain)." (from "K.S.L.")
[How many of you recognized the "crazy" chained prisoner on the
train in "Dr. Zhivago" as an anarchist? (He was played by a famous German
actor, whose name escapes me). Ed]
******
Dear Ed: 06/14/93
Hi. There has been a lot of slagging about what I said in a past
issue, about monkeywrenching and shoplifting. I'm going to do something I
don't do all that often. I take back most of what I said. But I will
explain myself anyway, to try to set the record straight. First off, I did
not mean we should intentionally create chaos. Rather, I meant if a
minimum wage worker can't get paid enough to survive, he or she should not
feel extremely guilty to tack back what they need from what has been taken
from them by the ruling class. I guess I kind of thought that: 1.) if
everybody did it, it would be impossible to get caught, and 2.) if
everybody took what they needed, it would make little difference how much
they actually got paid. In this way, logically, the poorer would steal
more and the richer would steal less, and ideally everything would balance
out. I guess it would be better to suggest such a concept to socialists,
perhaps. But c'mon guys, lay off, this isn't my guiding philosophy.
Aren't we all entitled to spout off our spontaneous crazy dreams on a whim?
But when you get so analytical with it, of course you can pour cold water
on it. But I really wasn't advocating violence and terrorism. I just
basically thought if you're going to screw somebody to survive, it would be
better to screw a huge, lifeless corporation than an individual, especially
when your underpaid sweat goes into the building of that corporation.
TO ED: "Newsletter of Moderate Anarchists"? Are "we" moderate?
Since when? That would seem to be a euphemism for "Newsletter of
Capitalists" or "Newsletter of Libertarians". "Moderate" is a political
orientation - not for individual freedoms or corporate freedoms, but both,
and therefore neither. Anarchists, as far as I can tell, are supposed to
be apolitical, not middle-of-the-road. No need to pigeon-hole within
anarchism, there are so few of us as it is. Leave room for everyone. Keep
the subtitle as it is. PLEASE don't call us "moderate".
ON ED'S ALTERNATIVE COMMUNITY: Ed, it sounds great. Have lots of
like-minded people living in the same neighborhood. It might even work.
But please keep in mind that anarchists are among the hated and feared (the
cultists in Waco were hated and feared by the FBI). If you concentrate
your forces, you turn many targets into one target, albeit a stronger one.
Learn from Factsheet Five, as a parallel. Thousands of people depended on
F.F. for all their networking needs. And one man, Hudson Luce, managed to
wipe it all out in one fell swoop. But now people are wising up and
spreading out, linking with more sources, creating a complex web of
communications that can't be easily broken. I'm not arguing with your
plan, a planned community can be good. I'm only questioning the idea of
anarchist separatism in general. It seems the only way anarchy can exist
is on a universal basis. That's why we're "evolutionary anarchists" isn't
it? Because we realize that anarchism has to first become widely accepted
before it can truly be practiced. The people must be enlightened before
they can reform.
SOCIALIZED HEALTH CARE: I'm all for it. Right now I'm out of
school for a year and I don't work full-time, so I have no health care at
all. Government sponsored health care couldn't be any worse than the
corrupted political entity known as the health industry is now. Why
couldn't the government support health care as a last resort, but also
allow private doctors to compete with them? At least I could get a
prescription for antibiotics if I get bronchitis without paying well over a
hundred dollars. Plus, then the private doctors wouldn't have to go
through the political rigamarole involved with Medicare. Maybe it could
work something like the legal system, where poor people can at least get a
crappy public defender - better than nothing. Americans are so brainwashed
into fearing anything socialized. They try to ignore socialism as it
pertains to the postal service and national parks. The Soviet Union gave
socialism a bad name by mixing it with totalitarianism, but it doesn't have
to be like that, does it? Socialism seems to be the next potential step
towards anarchy, as it dismantles the class system.
Well Ed, keep up the good work. Oh yeah, one more thing. A lot of
people seem to think that if someone sends an essay or whatever to a
publication, and the editor chooses not to print it for whatever reason, or
edits it for clarity or any other reason, that this can be somehow
considered censorship.....But as editor, it is your responsibility to pick
and choose....Of course, editing should not change the meaning or context
of the writing, but otherwise it is usually necessary to edit. In other
words, you should feel free to print only parts of letters if you wish, and
leave out the ones that don't particularly add to the content of the zine.
I guess this regards your offer to send copies of the letter and essay you
left out.
Authority and Obedience, Mike Thain
[We really should not spout off crazy ideas, because no one is
going to listen to us if we do. An economy based on theft would not last
very long. No one is going to produce anything if they know it will be
stolen. People have to have some faith that if they work to attain
something, they have a chance of attaining it and it will not be taken
away. Otherwise you end up with everyone screwing over everyone, i.e.
chaos. The reason things are getting so bad here in the U.S. is that
people are losing hope of achieving their goals through honest labor. If
you're "unskilled", you have trouble finding work. If you do have a job,
you may be laid off. If you don't get laid off, about 25% of your pay goes
to taxes, which isn't counting sales tax, property tax, license fees,
telephone tax, etc., etc. I believe that changing society as a whole is
beyond our means, and a waste of our effort since most of the population
doesn't appreciate our vision. Better to concentrate on getting our own
system going.
My definition of "moderate" is as follows:
"Thoughtful; balanced; not excessive or extreme". Those of us who do not
support criminal, irresponsible, crude or extreme views and measures need
our own forum for discussion. Does the movement really need another "Fifth
Estate", "Anarchy", "Open Road", "The Match", "Bayou La Rose", or "Love and
Rage"? Moderate anarchists are anarchists who think about long term
goals, sustainability, how our actions and words appear to non-believers,
and especially the right of other individuals to be non-believers. We are
not satisfied with spouting dogma or praising any desperate act of sabotage
or violence. One very major distinction is that we do not advocate the use
of violence by a minority to transform society. Some groups claim to
represent the majority, but the majority does not seem to share their
enthusiasm. Transforming society as a whole, through a violent revolution,
is a dangerous fantasy that will not play out as expected. We need to "win
people over instead of winning over people". If society uses violence to
attempt to exterminate us however, then our response may be a rational,
controlled, organized, and self-disciplined use of violence to defend our
community. But not a chaotic gaggle of individuals going off half-cocked
with no clear objective. We may decide that fleeing the country or going
underground are better tactics if we are not sufficiently numerous or
organized to put up a decent struggle. Hopefully this is not a scenario we
will have to face, but we do need to think about it.
I am not proposing a rigidly organized anarchist "compound". I
just want us to be in the same neighborhood, and have people organize
themselves as they see fit. If our community approach is successful, a
violent suppression would be unlikely. It would be much more costly than
the suppression of a small, fanatical cult. The government would have to
suppress an entire, diverse community.
If the government picks up the tab for only those people with no
private health care, then we'll have the usual scenario where all the
paying customers go to private industry, and the government gets all those
who can't pay. No wonder the national debt is so large. Anything that
produces revenue is privatized and anything that loses money is socialized!
Who is paying for the bank failures? The tax payers. All of our natural
resources like timber, minerals, and oil are either sold to or leased by
corporations while the taxpayers get stuck paying for the wars and cleaning
up the messes. Our health is destroyed by our jobs, but we pay the medical
bills. We pay to be taxed, policed, ordered about, and drafted, to
paraphrase Prudhomme. I want out of this scam.
The post office and the national parks are also bad examples of
socialism. They are bureaucratic and antagonistic towards the people they
serve. This seems to be a recurring phenomenon in socialist systems, one
we will need to work on.
I try not to edit, because it is easy to edit out views one
disagrees with or views which are not especially interesting to the editor.
The editor should be more like a technician than a shaper of the
discussion. However I do agree that a small portion of the material
submitted either doesn't fit the zine, is obviously the work of a crazed
mind, or is simply offensive and not worthy of discussion.
I do try to list all the material that is submitted but not printed, so
that readers can decide if I made the right decision. I use a .... to show
where a letter has been trimmed, and I keep the originals in case someone
requests a copy of the unedited version. I did slip this issue when I
threw away some literature which crudely accused a certain ethnic group of
secretly controlling society. I felt at the time that it was not even
worthy of mentioning, but readers should at least have the right to know
that censorship is taking place. I did, in effect, censor those views out
of the discussion. Unlike Joffre Stewart's rants, which caused such a
controversy in the SRAF Bulletin, these flyers contained not even a grain
of valid criticism mixed in with the racist theories. Joffre was at least
a self-proclaimed anarchist, somewhat thoughtful in a nutty way, and a rare
black anarchist at that. I would no longer favor publishing Joffre's
material (which I did at the time), but I would make it available to those
who requested it. Should we trust each new editor's discretion, or would
readers prefer to have available copies of all material not published? Ed]
******
Dear Ed, for the Meander,
I think your proposal for a network of moderate anarchists is an
excellent idea. To me anarchy is a lifestyle or better yet an attitude
toward life. All the old lefty stuff about being politically correct and
serious politics and ideology is the opposite of what I want in my life.
Sure anarchy is the free expression of living spirit, but the way Fred
Woodworth puts it (The Match #88 p. 70) for example makes things hard, even
sort of ugly. These sorts of attitudes only assure that anarchy remains
valid for a small group of individuals who are a curiosity but not part of
[the] mainstream. The answer is not political but one of life style and a
question of ethics. If our lives are important to live then lets not
sacrifice ourselves to politics.
I don't know how you plan to bring people together in a common
community, but it is a good idea as long as you are able to build sound
relationships with the larger community around you. I have already many
years invested in this community (The Lardeau Valley) and would find it
hard to move although I could support such an effort somehow. There are a
few anarchist types around here and we are working towards lofting our
social ideals into reality, some of us have land which can be used and some
of us have skills which can be shared etc. For example, a woodfired
brick oven bakery is being built on one location. These ovens are large
enough to be commercially viable and the bread produced is excellent. It
is also a good commodity to barter, exchange or even give away. We also
have in operation a flour mill which is big enough to supply the needs of
several ovens or bakeries. We hope by getting things like this going we
can redefine the economics of the valley. Other self-sufficient kinds of
economies are also developing (by economy I mean the flow of goods and
providing of services, not the exchange of money).
Politics is an authoritarian way to control labor and economies,
why not just do it yourself as an expression of your own life, a form of
direct action?
"Any Time Now" is a publication project intended to be of relevance
to anybody who wishes to explore a life affirming process of liberation.
Subscriptions are 4 issues for $4.00. Write to "Any Time Now", Argenta
B.C., V0G 1B0 Canada. For Peace and Freedom, Dick Martin
[Are there jobs available in your community for those of us who are
dependent on outside income? Are there really enough potential customers
for the bread you will be baking to support more than a few people? Are
there any urban areas nearby where jobs are available? It sounds like you
have many excellent projects in the works, but I think your community could
only be seriously considered as a location for our neighborhood if the
answer to at least one of these questions is "yes". Not many of us are
skilled enough to be self-employed, or tough enough, or single and
childless enough to live at the poverty level, especially if we are doing
better in regular jobs. But if we located near a decent sized city, you
would have the anarchists with wage slave jobs as customers for your bread,
not to mention being a more visible example to the general public of
successful cooperation. Would you like to be added to the Affinity Group
of Moderate Anarchists address exchange list? Ed]
******
It seems to me that the various kinds of anarchists and
libertarians are wasting lots of energy arguing about which arm of the
octopus is most dangerous. Even worse are the Left fascists and Right
fascists who try to make a pet of a particular arm and feed it in hopes
that it will limit the other arms. Can't we consense that ALL arms are
dangerous and need to be (at least) drastically shrunk - and get on with
it?
I think "anarchist" is no longer a useful label, except for those
who DO want chaos (the popular image). "Libertarian" isn't good either,
except for the Libertarian Party. "Voluntaryist" gets confused with
volunteering - not quite the same. We need a new term.
The most confusing terms of all are "anarcho-socialist" and
"anarcho-capitalist". Of course the people who so label themselves don't
have in mind recent U.S.S.R or U.S. systems. But why take a term with a
bad public image and try to redefine and idealize it? STUPID!
Pat of "ABAPA Freer"
[There are actual differences between anarchists and libertarians,
mostly based on legitimate differences of opinion about what the best form
of society would look like. We are "fellow-travellers" on some issues, but
completely opposed on others. It would be nice if we could set aside our
differences and work together on the issues we agree on. But this is not
as simple as it sounds. Libertarians would like to have no restrictions on
private property while anarchists would like to see collective ownership of
the means of production. If we focus on society as a whole, we're
deadlocked. But if we established a "free zone" together, people could
participate in whichever system they choose.
As far as calling ourselves "anarchists", this has been a
continuing controversy in our movement. I think there are two reasons we
stick with this term. First, the anarchist movement has a history that
most of us feel we are an extension of. Second, the term very clearly
distinguishes us from other groups whose programs may appear to be similar
to ours, but who lack the love of freedom that is central to our beliefs.
Ed]
NEWS BRIEFS
209 TOY WORKERS PERISH IN FACTORY FIRE
A fire at the Buddha Monthon toy factory in Bangkok, Thailand
killed 209 workers and injured 500 more. All but one of the exits were
locked when the fire occured, trapping the workers inside. The factory was
partly owned by Kader Industries, a Hong Kong export company that sells
toys to Hasbro, Fischer-Price, Tyco and Toys-R-Us. (from "Industrial
Worker")
BOYCOTTS
Newspaper Guild #3 (AFL-CIO) has called for a boycott of "U.S. News
& World Report" and "The Atlantic" to counter the union busting tactics of
owner Mortimer Zuckerman. For more info contact the union at 133 W 44th
St, New York NY 10036.
Teamsters Local 636 has called a boycott of the Iron Age Protective
Shoe Company, which makes steel-toed boots. For more info write the union
at 616 Chartiers Ave, McKees Rocks PA 15136 or call (412) 331-3208. (from
"Industrial Worker")
FINANCIAL STATEMENT
Balance before V5N1 -25.00
INCOME (prior to V5N1)
Contributions 18.00
Paid Ads 0.00
EXPENSES (V5N1)
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Laser Printing -13.80
Printing -58.75 (130 copies)
Sales Tax -4.65
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International Postage -19.93 (16 copies)
Remail Returned V5N1 -0.72
Remail Returned V4N4 -0.87
Balance (before V5N2) -157.23
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Contributions 48.32
Thanks to: Thomas Cooper, Jaime Enrique Baxter, Ed Stamm, Lee
Rivers, Mike Thain
Paid Ads 1.00
Balance (before V5N2) -107.91
=======
In an effort to cut expenses, I did this issue on my own PC and
dot-matrix printer, saving us the expense of typesetting and laser
printing. I will itemize expenses for this issue in the next issue.
If anyone is not interested in receiving "Meander Quarterly",
please let me know so I can take you off the mailing list.
If you know anyone who you think would be very interested in
receiving this publication, have them write me. If you appreciate this
zine and haven't made a contribution recently, please consider doing so -
every little bit helps. The cost of production and distribution is about
$0.75 a copy (includes printing and postage only - labor is donated).
ADVERTISE IN "MEANDER QUARTERLY"!
Paid advertisements about 1/4 of a page (2" x 4") will be accepted
at the rate of $2.00 per issue. Ads will appear together near the last
page. This is a no-profit operation and any excess funds will be passed on
to the new publisher next year. Some ads may appear free, as a public
service or on an exchange basis. Circulation is about 125.
OTHER BUSINESS
POSTAL ADVICE - F.Y.I.
Some copies of the last MQ were returned for 10 cents postage due
because the zine was classified by zealous postal officials as oversized
mail. They measure the mail according to the direction the address label
runs. Mail is
allowed to be wide, but not very tall. Because of the way I attached the
mailing labels, the zine was considered too tall. Luckily this rule
doesn't seem to be too strictly enforced, or else I would have gotten them
all back (whew!). Also, mail going to Canada and Mexico needs to be in
envelopes.
NO CURRENT ADDRESS
If you are in touch with any of the following, have them send us
their new address if they would like to get back on the mailing list:
John McGreevy
Mike Kolhoff
ITEMS SUBMITTED FOR PUBLICATION BUT NOT PUBLISHED
Readers can send a self-addressed stamped envelope (SASE) plus the
duplication fee (stamps are ok) and I will send you a copy of the items you
request:
Poems by Thomas Alexander Cooper (5c)
Promotional flyer from Ernest Mann (10c)
OTHER PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED
ABAPA Freer, c/o Pat, PO Box 759-MQ, Veneta OR 97487.
Forum for seekers of individual freedom.
Any Time Now, Affinity Place, Argenta B.C., V0G 1B0 CANADA.
Ideology, compassion, electoral anarchism,
war and social evolution, panarchy. Mail order
anarchist literature.
Discussion Bulletin, PO Box 1564, Grand Rapids MI 49501
Forum for "non-market, anti-statist, libertarian
socialists".
The Fire Fly, PO Box 1077, Mission SD 57555.
Teaching and raising children, praise for Cuba,
dialog explaining anarchism.
Industrial Worker, 1095 Market St Ste 204, San Francisco CA
94103. Tabloid of the Industrial Workers of the
World. Labor news and commentary.
K.S.L., Bulletin of the Kate Sharpley Library, BM Hurricane,
London WC1 3XX ENGLAND. Historical essays on
anarchism, pamphlets, books, archives/library.
LUNO, c/o Gene Lehman, 31960 SE Chin St, Boring OR 97009.
Alternative educational strategies and commentary.
The Match!, PO Box 3488, Tucson AZ 85722.
Anarchist magazine focusing on individual rights.
People's Culture, Box 5224, Kansas City KS 66119.
Women in Literature, Art and Action; Russia; the
most recent split in the Communist Party USA.
Permafrost, Karl Myers, PO Box 339, Seattle WA 98111-0339
Personal experiences of the editor and his
observations on life.
Practical Anarchy, PO Box 173, Madison WI 53701-0173.
News, events, reviews, and discussion of topics of
interest to anarchists (and librarians).
The Urine Nation News, Digit Press/imageTECH, PO Box 2149,
Roswell GA 30077. Against drug testing and in
favor of legalizing hemp (a.k.a. marijuana).
Yello Submarine, PO Box 81, Elmira NY 14902-0081
Raunchy humor, cartoons and populist politics.
Interesting reprints from other zines.
ADVERTISMENTS
SOCIALIST LITERATURE
Philadelphia Solidarity,
"a group of socialists attracted
by the concept of anti-hierarch-
ical workers' councils and repell-
ed by the bureaucracy of the
vanguard workers' parties" has
lots of literature available.
Write for a listing, or send $5.00
for a sample bundle: Box 25224,
Philadelphia PA 19119, or call Ben
Perry at (215) 849-2765.