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Title: A New United Front Author: Lilly May Date: 1/28/2021 Language: en Topics: federationism, anarcho-communism, anarcho-syndicalism, the platform Source: Retrieved on 1/28/2021 from https://medium.com/p/f8e30db70d16/
The current state of organizing within leftist spaces is not focused.
Many have tried to combat this, of particular note are the platformists
who try to focus intensely on their praxis. However, to date organizing
with the left more often than not, to be blunt, more characteristic of
dis-organization. Therefore, a new approach must be taken up to combat
the lack of focus and general disorganization found within leftist
circles. Federationism provides this level of focus and organization
necessary. Praxis being the application of theory to actions taken in
the world, within praxis is also the idea of direct action which is to
use praxis to directly reach certain goals without appealing to the
state or elections to address the issue.
The people of the world are increasingly restless in the face of
increasing authoritarianism; inaction on issues of importance from
localities to the world stage; and the failures of the state,
capitalism, and hierarchy. People often get confused and overwhelmed
trying to figure out what they can do. The left provides a great myriad
of solutions big and small, and it is just too much, people become
frozen with choice paralysis. What people need are digestible choices
which are clear in their intent and efficacy. Federationism again steps
in to fill this need by employing a triad of praxis which gives clarity
to what people can do to resist against the issues which keep them
oppressed.
The aim of this text is to provide a clear set of actions that
federationism promotes as furthering tangible resistance to oppression,
and to provide a strong groundwork for the efforts of universal
liberation. This text will be expanding on the two federationist
principles of the triad of praxis and the prepared revolution. The goal
of each item is to place supreme emphasis on materially helping people,
showing people why joining a movement toward federationism is beneficial
to themselves and others, or both.
The goal of liberation can only be reached through liberatory methods.
Federationism must be organized in accordance with the ultimate
intention of liberatory institutions in mind. As such, this is the call
to action on the formation of unions of Federationist Associations known
as a Federationist League, and a union of Federationist Leagues to be
known as the International Federationist League. Federationist
Associations shall operate at the most local levels of society in order
to aid individual communities. From there local Federationist
Associations shall federate freely with each other, creating an
interconnected and decentralized network of mutual aid and revolutionary
praxis.. A Federationist League shall be a decentralized federation of
local Federationist Associations which will seek to act in coordinated
unity with itself to spread federationist theory and enact federationist
praxis. Federationist Leagues should ideally operate on a regional or
national level depending on a variety of factors such as population and
the logistics of voluntary cooperation. Federationist organizations can
in accordance with the principles of a decentralized federation work
with any other federationist organization as is seen fit or necessary,
with no truly prescribed way of structuring a union of federationist
organizations.
Federationist Leagues and Associations will seek to enact praxis at
various levels of society and across communities. Acting as a catalyst
for the spreading of revolutionary attitudes and federationist theory,
and engaging in praxis to materially improve the condition of the
exploited classes. Federationist Leagues are to maintain focus on the
triad of praxis in accordance with building a prepared revolution.
However, Federationist Leagues shall also enter into a New United Front.
The threat of fascism and reactionary ideology is on the rise at this
present time. Around the world there is a growing need for a dedicated
bulwark against the far-right, to protect our communities, to protect
our loved ones, and to protect our dreams of a better world. It has
become absolutely necessary to be ready to defend against and to fight
against fascists and reactionaries. As such it is paramount that a New
United Front be formed to combat fascism and other reactionary
ideologies.
Federationist Leagues should seek to work with, and ultimately create
decentralized networks with other libertarian leftist tendencies and
organizations in order to work on the shared goal to oppose reactionary
ideology and movements. Federationists should work with others to create
this New United Front, as it allows for greater solidarity to be built
up between anti-authoritarian tendencies, and allow for joint praxis to
protect us all.
Federationists should seek out other libertarian socialist groups and
organizations to form a New United Front with, provided that such groups
and organizations are ultimately revolutionary in their aims and eschew
electoralism as a strategy. All groups in a New United Front should
understand that revolutionary potential lies in acting as a catalyst for
spreading social and class consciousness. Trying to actively incite
revolution, particularly through violent acts, would only create a
premature revolutionary attempt that is far easier to crush and will
incite specific and targeted repression from the state.
A New United Front is a deliberate choice compared to calling for a new
popular front. Liberals and centrists at this time are largely not open
enough to anti-fascism, with large segments of centrist interests
attempting to and generally succeeding in siding with the right-wing
against the left, while liberals continue to waste their efforts on
electoralism within systems designed to make real change impossible from
elections. Acting against reactionaries requires dedication and focus to
the task. Energy cannot be spent on those who donāt understand the
direness of the need to oppose fascism, and those who would require
considerable effort for them to even just not side with the fascists. A
united front, rather than a popular front, is what is necessary at this
time to oppose the particular threats to liberatory movements that
currently exist. Any efforts on the part of a New United Front on
winning others over should be spent on trying to convince our other
comrades to abandon electoralism and to instead take up direct action.
While winning over liberals and the like over to the libertarian left
will be a necessary task, however it is more pressing to begin to win
over the electorialists and reformists first.
The goals of a New United Front should first and foremost be focused on
physically opposing the far-right wherever they show themselves, as well
as to physically protect communities from reactionaries. Secondary
objectives should include all other forms of anti-fascist direct action.
The goal of a New United Front should be to be able to provide
coordinated and decentralized coverage of areas to be able to directly
confront and dissuade the far-right anywhere they might rear their head.
The benefit of this being the greater strength of solidarity it brings,
allowing for stronger showings of anti-fascist direct action, allowing
each group within it to grow in strength, ability, connections, and
experience.
The purpose of this coalition, beyond the immediate needs of
anti-reactionary direct action, is to allow for greater solidarity
between the various tendencies of the libertarian left. This coalition
will allow each group to pursue praxis as they see fit and provide
outreach to demographics which each is suited toward. A larger
interconnected network of solidarity and mutual aid will allow for each
group to feel more motivated, have greater access to resources and
potential comrades, as well as gain the strength of being in a larger
organization without sacrificing the integrity, transparency, and
individuality within each member of the coalition. This New United Front
presents an opportunity to greatly strengthen libertarian socialism and
the movement toward liberation.
Community outreach is the process by which federationists will organize
to directly meet the needs in their communities. The purpose of this is
to remove or at least weaken the need for the state both materially and
in the minds of people. Community outreach will assist in raising
individual and community autonomy away from the hegemonic control of the
state and other oppressive institutions. This tactic is not new, it has
been used by groups such as the Black Panthers, and by the Democratic
Union Party in Syria and Rojava, further the tactic is a more organized
exercise of the basic principle of mutual aid. Mutual aid being the
voluntary exchange of goods and services to the mutual benefit of all
involved parties.
The foundational cornerstone of community outreach is going to the
people in oneās own community and learning directly from them what they
actually want and need. From there it is a straightforward matter of
seeking out solutions to these problems. There is not a single person
who knows more about what the people need than the people themselves.
Where direct action comes in is helping to meet that need, and over time
helping communities come together to meet their own needs for
themselves. This is not entirely dissimilar to neighborhood councils
that exist in various cities, or even the mass line strategy of Mao
Zedong. However, what is crucially different is that the actual
execution of these tasks is not the providence of the state, this is
individuals engaging in mutual aid with each other, ultimately building
up to communal self-governing and empowerment. Communities do not need
to outsource their ability to lead decent and fulfilling lives to
bureaucrats in an office that can be miles away from them in the best of
scenarios. What people and communities need is to be given the tools to
engage with their own empowerment and liberation, this is not something
that can be gifted from above it must be cultivated at the ground level.
Common examples of community outreach are providing food to those in
need, creating community gardens, picking up litter and garbage in a
community, brake light clinics, and so forth.
As previously stated, the long term goal of community outreach is the
fostering of communal and individual autonomy. This is achieved by
bringing a community closer together in a social and material sense. It
is vital that the community will begin to empower itself and its members
on its own. This should in turn help create a community which acts
increasingly on the principle of mutual aid and itself sees community
outreach as an important social good that individuals will take up for
themselves. Community outreach is also important due to the fact that
more tightly knit communities see large drops in crimes committed, as
the material conditions are met for all members there is a lack of
motivation for most crimes, which in turn helps protect the community
from the enforcers of the state.
As a community is brought closer together it is just as important to
bring them closer together with the communities around them. Just as
they struggle so too do the people in their neighboring communities, and
the lessons imparted in bringing their community closer together can be
applied to bring them closer together both within their community and
between communities. Over time this solidarity can be channeled into
working towards community and intercommunity autonomy, through the use
of neighborhood and local councils through the Federationist
Associations of the area. These councils will demonstrate to the people
that they do not have to rely on the state or capitalism to provide
things, and that they as individuals and as a community have the power
to self-govern. Further, as this develops it will be seen that as
capitalism and the state fall further into the abyss of decline and
fascism that there is a need to evolve and create institutions of
self-defense from the state and reactionaries.
The goal is to create semi-autonomous zones filled with people who have
the skills and tools to self-govern and coordinate with each other and
those in other communities, creating a solid foundation for a revolution
of liberation. Whenever the revolution comes due to the implosion of the
capitalist system, these communities can be prepared to provide for and
to protect themselves, while also having a head start on building a
better future of society which is not weighed down by oppressive forces.
Through community outreach federationists can extend the language and
ideas of self-governance to the realm of the workplace. Asking the
community why it is that democracy is so beneficial to them in every
way, but then why is disallowed in the workplace where they are paid
only a fraction of the value of what they produce while their boss does
very little but earns so much more.
Federationists should encourage a form of syndicalism and workplace
democracy to develop within local workplaces, demonstrating the material
gain that can come from these systems. From there pointing out how
syndicalism and workplace democracy integrated with their community
autonomy could lead to much more prosperity within their community. The
step to integrate parallel power, specifically syndicalism, within the
larger framework of community self-governance and social revolution is
absolutely crucial. Syndicalism on its own merely creates a separate
solidarity between workers, but will in general result in isolation
between the community struggle and the worker struggle. The struggles of
the community and worker must be realized as within the same
understanding of the social revolution and the fight for liberation in
all aspects of life. Without an integration of the community and worker
struggles, both will be left weakened and will over time erode and lose
their sense of purpose and direction, which is exactly what has happened
in most prior potentially revolutionary periods.
The increase in worker consciousness and working towards a movement of
radical worker autonomy will just as in the case of community autonomy
have workers realize the lack of necessity for both the state and
capitalism. This paired with the breaking down of the boundaries between
community life and work life, will lead people to understand that such
boundaries are falsely constructed. As the realization grows that
community life should increase the value found in oneās work and that
work life should increase the value found in oneās community, there
should also be a collective awakening to the grand possibilities of a
future without oppression, subservience, or coercion.
It is also important that federationists help demonstrate what this
breaking down might look like. Federationists should promote and help
the operation of community and worker owned and operated media
organizations, health clinics, and child care programs in particular.
Independent media organizations, even if tiny in scale can have
important and large impacts on communities. Federationist media
organizations can provide news and coverage of events that corporate
media will twist or hide. Such media outlets donāt need to out compete
other more established outlets, the main focus should simply be
providing information that helps see through ruling class lies and
deception; counters dangerous narratives; and keeps communities
connected and up to date with the important realities that they are
facing and encouraging mutual aid. Health clinics, like media outlets,
do not have to seek to replace existing clinics. Health clinics in areas
that are medically underserved can go a long way in demonstrating the
principles of mutual aid and solidarity. Less formal health clinics have
helped countless people throughout history, particularly women and queer
individuals, in times when accessing healthcare was near impossible if
not simply impossible. Child care programs can very directly help take a
load off of parents and guardians who may wish to organize but have to
take care of children, and in turn can have that barrier removed for
them. Again, such programs donāt have to seek to out compete or replace
already existing services. These programs give the benefit of including
known and trusted individuals to look after children. Additionally, it
can allow helping children get ahead in their material conditions by
assisting with schooling. Further, such programs can help foster
critical thinking, a cooperative mindset, and personal autonomy within
children to help them reach a greater understanding of themselves and
the world they find themselves in.
It is key that demonstrations are used to mobilize communities.
Demonstrations being protests, marches, strikes, and so on which push
for things which are in line with federationismās goals or which are
advantageous to communities in order to push for further concessions. It
is of the highest importance that this approach is understood strictly
in the sense of direct action, and not in regard to electoralism.
Reforms doled out from above can always be taken away more easily than
those fought for by the people, and take longer for such reforms to be
taken for granted and be subsumed into the status quo and co-opted by
opportunists within the government. The use of demonstrations is to
force those in power to concede to the demands of the people. Due to the
dynamic of the people making demands against the initial will of the
state it is critical that demonstrations involving federationists seek
to drive the narrative around the demonstrations. If the state is
allowed to take uncontested control over the narrative, demonstrations
lose their power and can be dismissed by those in power. As such it is
important to craft clear issue focused demands.
Demonstrations in order to be effective must remain in the public eye
for as long as possible, presuming the state does not quickly give into
demands. The visibility of demonstrations lends to winning over the
hearts and minds of the populace at large, as the message is broadcast
to people and can introduce them to wider social movements which the
state normally tries its best to cover over. As such, failure to meet
demands of demonstrators must be met with swift and decisive escalation
of the demonstrations. Escalation of demonstrations involves both the
size and scope. An escalated demonstration can increase the area being
occupied, the length it is occupied, or both. An escalated demonstration
can also most critically include the escalation of demands, this in
tandem with the escalation in the size of demonstrations and in where
demonstrations take place can help pressure the state into giving the
people what they are owed.
Escalation of demands is crucial to radical organizing. Demonstrations
are not a negotiation, and it is long past time in which they are viewed
by anyone as such. If a local government or employer does not accept
initial demands within a short window of time, then as a principle of
federationist praxis the demonstration must be escalated. It is
important to remind these institutions of oppression that in reality
they are using stolen power and borrowed time, and that they cannot
resist a firm and dedicated push by the people. Failure to accept
demands means that demands will be increased, with any later agreement
to initial demands no longer being acceptable and that at the very least
the first set of additional demands is the new lowest that they can
agree to. Further, using escalation of demands in tandem with escalation
of size and scope of the demonstration can in turn lend even more
leverage.
Every attempt to shut down or disperse a demonstration must in turn be
met with an escalation. Trying to work around the demands of the
demonstration is to be met with an increase in the demands. Trying to
negotiate down to half measures of the demands is to be met with an
increase in demands. Trying to disperse a demonstration is to be met
with a regrouping and escalation of the size and scope of the
demonstration. Any additional attempts of any sort of these subversive
actions are to be met with exponential escalations of the
demonstrations. The forces of the state and capital are to be made to
understand the precarious nature on which they stand. Further, an
important tactic for escalated demonstrations is to have multiple
moderate sized demonstrations, rather than one large demonstration, as
it prevents state enforcers from being able to adequately contain
demonstrations or detain demonstrators.
A further note is that escalation of size and scope should include the
tactic of doing so in areas which capitalists and state enforcers are
not expecting or would be caught off guard by. Additionally, reaching
out to other communities to join in the demonstrations out of solidarity
can win far greater and more important victories by spreading the
winnings to greater numbers of people. This can ultimately culminate in
a combination of a general strike and general mass protest, where a
large portion of the people within a country or international region
come together in solidarity to make their demands.
Such a general demonstration may also be the ideal position from which a
revolution may spring forth as by the point that such a demonstration is
possible and is called for it would likely constitute a critical mass in
social consciousness within a populace, attempts to disperse such
demonstrations can then be met with revolutionary action. A general
demonstration would ideally come with the demand for a peaceful transfer
of power, and the formation of social councils and a general assembly
which shall be representative of federationists as well as other groups
within a New United Front. Such an ideal and peaceful transfer of power
in order to abolish the state apparatus and from there begin the
transitive phase from capitalism to communism is unfortunately highly
unlikely. The state will in all likelihood push back with ferocious
violence, at which point it is clear that the state will have lost its
last false pretense for holding power and that a revolution for
liberation by any means necessary must commence. The state chooses to
rule through violence and coercion, and as such has certainly already
decided to seal its fate by requiring that it can only be abolished
through similar means.
While organizational direct action is the primary mode of praxis that
federationists should seek to engage it, that is not always possible or
practical. Some federationists may lack the time or resources to
dedicate to such relatively large scale tasks, and others may face a
lack of ability to even access or start organizational direct action
within their area for any number of reasons. As such, there must be a
space for individuals and small informal groups to engage in direct
action.
The core essence of federationist praxis, particularly in regard to
praxis for individuals and small groups, is influenced by and borrows
heavily from insurrectionary anarchism (to correct a previous
mischaracterization from initial versions of The Federationist
Manifesto, insurrectionary anarchism does not reject the idea of
revolution inherently nor do most insurrectionist anarchists, but
certain tendencies do take up that interpretation of insurrection as
negating revolution). Naturally federationism does not fully agree with
nor purport to be a replacement of the insurrectionary tradition, rather
federationist praxis simply takes inspiration from the ideas that can be
found within the tradition. Insurrectionary anarchism consists of five
main points, the focus on temporary affinity groups over permanent
organizations; the concept of attack; transcending the dichotomy between
the individual and society; self-management of the struggle; and
constant agitation and build up. Of these points federationism largely
agrees with all these points, with the main exception of organizational
theory.
Federationism puts forward that radical change has only ever been
brought about by mass movements and that the smaller scale of affinity
groups, especially temporary ones, simply cannot replace the longer term
efficacy found within permanent organizational structures. However,
temporary affinity groups are absolutely perfect for a variety of direct
action tactics that will be covered later. Federationism does not reject
individual or affinity group praxis, however such praxis is best left to
certain tasks rather than being the whole of organizing. That being
said, affinity groups and their focus on full direct democracy and lack
of leaders or followers is something that should be replicated as much
as possible within more permanent organizational structures.
Federationist Leagues must seek to attempt to mirror the sort of society
federationism hopes to bring about, as such there should be no
distinction of leaders or followers, each member is unique and valuable
in and of themselves. Federationist Leagues are not to be āmass
organizationsā which erase the individuality of members in favor of the
collective, instead they are to be as direct of democracies and possible
and seek to empower individual members rather than seek to enforce
subordination to the collective. The collective and individual are
dependent on each other, and must seek to work together not overcome the
other. As such, while more permanent and formal means of organization
are necessary, this should not stop the use of individual or affinity
group oriented praxis where it is best suited.
The concept of attack is the idea that one should always be doing
something, and that through action not theory one learns how to become
an actual revolutionary. Under the concept of attack theory and readings
are best useful as clarifying how to act. Further, there can be no
compromise or negotiation with the state or forces of capital.
Federationism agrees with these concepts, that taking action is the most
important facet of revolution and that theory should serve the role of
clarifying how to act. Federationist theory should only ever be straight
forward and as direct as is practical, there is no place for overly
esoteric writing with complicated words and phrases that only turn
people away. Additionally, there is no place for compromise or
negotiation with those which oppress the people and seek to do so
indefinitely, there can only be actions to force them to weaken
themselves in order to strengthen the revolutionary movement and better
provide necessities of life that the people need and are currently
deprived of.
The transcendence of the dichotomy between the individual and society is
absolutely essential for any person who wishes to bring about a better
world. Individuals deserve and have a right to autonomy and liberty to
form their lives and identities in the ways that they want to and be
free of poverty, oppression, and fear of the future. However, this sort
of individual can only come about in a society which provides the
material conditions which allow for it, and fosters a culture of
encouraging individuals to seek out their own definition of self and
success. The individual and society are merely two parts of a greater
whole, each is absolutely vital in creating a better world. As such
federationists must reject any reductionist and misleading notions that
the individual and society are opposites pitted against each other. Such
an idea stems from the state, which draws such a distinction, and those
who claim to fight for liberation but maintain that this false dichotomy
in their thinking will only lead the movement towards liberation astray
with their inability to escape the confines of statist and domination
centered thinking. Free individuals are only possible in a society which
fosters them, and a free society is only possible where individuals seek
to raise each other up and come together in solidarity.
Self-management of the struggle in the principle that those that
struggle against oppression must remain autonomous in their choices and
praxis. Self-management is on principle opposed to more formal
organization, which is where federationism parts ways with
insurrectionary principles on this matter. However, federationism takes
into account the critique of organizations presented by this principle,
the critique being that organizations are prone to enforcing total
conformity within their ranks and are far easier incorporated into
already existing hierarchical power structure and as such losing all
revolutionary potential and betraying members which had placed their
hope with the organization. Following this line of reasoning
federationism proposes that the structure of the Federationist Leagues
be decentralized and, to be frank, a league not a party. Federationism
is opposed to top-down structures of authority, and rejects any attempt
to create mandatory uniformity within its members and constituent
leagues, as well as absolutely condemns integration within existing
power structures. Federationist Leagues are to be decentralized and
reject the devolution into a āmass organizationā which would place power
with the organization as an entity rather than with the members that
make up the organization. Federationist Leagues are to always be
self-managed by all their members, not from any sort of special
committee(s).
Constant agitation and build up is the fifth general principle of
insurrectionary theory. This posits that a revolution is a concrete
event that has a start and finish, and further that it is not inevitable
that it will just happen one day. A revolution must be built up through
acts of insurrection in our everyday lives, some big and some small.
Federationism agrees with insurrectionary anarchism on this point
entirely, and this is the purpose of Federationist Leagues.
Federationist Leagues merely serve as organizations to empower
individuals to take on these daily actions in a unified manner. We the
people are what will bring about the revolution through our struggle
against injustice and oppression, and our actions must build up to that
point. We cannot rest our hope in a revolution that we would not work
towards ourselves, we must seize the present for ourselves in order to
construct our liberated future!
As previously stated, direct action for affinity groups and individuals
should be for certain sets of praxis. Such praxis may be necessary in
the case of individuals or small groups being in some way prevented from
organizing into larger groups, or that there may be certain
circumstances in which the actions which are necessary for a community
fall outside of the main work of a Federationist League. Following the
necessity of individual and affinity group direct action, federationism
proposes certain acts as being easy to accomplish comparable to the good
they can produce. Such actions are not the only ones, but are generally
applicable to most people.
First, joining demonstrations. Federationists do not need to always join
in on strikes, protests, or other forms of demonstrations as a
collective unit. If an individual or group of federationists wants to
join and support demonstrations, then there is no reason they should be
prevented or discouraged from doing so. Doing so can in turn grow a
greater sense of community, solidarity, and connections.
Second, agitprop. Agitprop is a portmanteau of agitation and propaganda.
It is the display and spreading of messages through popular media, such
as literature, pamphlets, posters, and any other such mediums which can
spread the messages of federationism and liberation. Agitprop can raise
awareness of issues, attempt to help increase understanding of
federationist ideas, and so forth. Particularly simple forms of this may
be leaving pamphlets around in public places, or even passing them out
and talking to ordinary people about the ideas of federationism, as well
as what is known as wheat pasting. Wheat pasting is the application of a
gel or liquid adhesive made from a mixture of wheat flour, starch, and
water to things such as posters or artwork which make their removal more
difficult than simply tearing it down or scrubbing it off. Wheat pasting
allows for a greater assurance that reactionaries will not be able to
not so easily tamper with posters, flyers, or artwork promoting
federationism.
Third, talking to ordinary people. Following up on the idea of passing
around pamphlets and discussing with passerbys the ideas of
federationism, simply bringing up federationism and its ideas to other
people can help spread its message and ideas to more people. One does
not need to convince every person they talk to of federationism, merely
being exposed to the ideas opens people up to hearing them from someone
else at some other time. The more people are familiarized with the ideas
of liberation and the ideas of federationism, the easier it will be to
spread such beliefs and as such help raise social consciousness.
Fourth, seed bombing. Seed bombing is the practice of taking
specifically local indigenous species of plants, placing them in
capsules and spreading them in areas that have been taken over by urban
or industrial decay. Such actions can bring about healthier and more
vibrant local ecosystems, as well as combat the local effects of
industrial capitalism.
Fifth, volunteering. Volunteering with other organizations or groups can
provide one with a massive number of opportunities to help others in
ways they may not have considered before. Anything from local rewilding
efforts to food service can assist oneās community and create a closer
bond with it and to the people living there. Additionally, strictly
speaking one does not have to volunteer with an already existing
organization, but can replicate their actions in their own community.
Federationists in order to aid in revolutionary action and
organizational praxis should engage in personal training for themselves.
Such training does not have to be a purely individual activity, but its
purpose should allow federationists to help themselves and others.
First, learning additional languages. Learning more languages allows for
communication with more people. As such one can understand and help
people in their communities who may not speak the common language of the
area and who are likely being placed in a marginalized position because
of it.
Second, learning self-defense. Self-defense training will enable one to
protect both their self and others. Both physical self-defense such as
martial arts, and self-defense using weapons such as firearms are
useful. Being able to fight and defend others is a core part of
federationism and should be taken upon federationists to put into
reality.
Third, learning first aid. Just as much as protecting others can come in
the form of fighting, it also comes in the form of saving lives.
Federationists should not just look to fight back, but to grow, nurture,
and heal their communities and friends.
Fourth, learning rhetoric. Unfortunately the quality of ideas is often
not enough to convince people of them, and as such federationists should
learn both spoken and written rhetorical skills in order to become more
convincing. This will help convince others of ideas, as well as help
identify bad and malicious arguments used by reactionaries and allow for
their tricks to be exposed. Debate should generally not be concerned
with, as debates are battles of rhetoric not of proving truth. Changing
minds and winning over hearts comes from genuine personal connection
from feeling understood, which comes from conversation not debate.
Fifth, learning ethics and rights. It is important for federationists to
have a defined sense of right and wrong. Taking the time to learn ethics
allows for one to grow in passion and conviction for what they believe
in, and prevent oneās self from being debased into fatalist despair
which saps their motivation. Further, it is likewise important to know
the rights given to oneās self by the state. It is important to know
oneās rights as it allows one to understand how they can navigate
through the system around them and prevent one from being tricked by
agents of the state into forfeiting their rights.
Sixth, learning habits. All of the previous options for personal
training are great, however it is also important that whatever is chosen
should become a habit. Federationists must take care and effort to learn
how they personally learn best and how they form habits in order to
stick with these important steps of personal improvement.
Politics are boring. Itās painfully so, and it is largely intentionally
so. Politics are boring because if politics were engaging then the
exploited and oppressed would be confronted with their exploitation and
oppression. As such it is the job of federationists to always ensure
that our political actions are not boring, tedious, jargon-filled, and
so on and so forth. Following the outline made by the collective
CrimethInc. federationists should be ensuring our politics are relevant
to everyday life, and consist of activities that are simply enjoyable.
Meetings of federationists, and when federationists head out to engage
in direct action, should be more akin to social events than traditional
political meetings. People should be actively conversing with each
other, there should be food and refreshments that anyone in the
community can have and are actually pleasant to eat and drink. There
should be activities that everyone can engage in that in a sense turn
praxis into a sort of āgameā. Going out to engage in praxis should
further be a social event as well. People should be talking with each
other, and making friends and connections with their community. Going to
meetings and engaging in direct action should not be something that
members dread or are indifferent to, but instead actively motivated to
keep coming back to.
Emma Goldman is quoted as saying āIf I canāt dance to it, it's not my
revolution.ā This is absolutely important to note, revolutionary
activity may be serious and that can be enjoyable in one sense, but it
also needs to be truly jovial sometimes. Communities should be
encouraged to come to gatherings where there will be games, singing,
dancing, etc. and not just for politics. Federationists should work to
organize such social events as something not strictly political and for
their own sake. Of course seeking to welcome as many people as possible,
and bring the community together.
For meetings which are specifically about politics, then there should be
sorts of enjoyable games which act to help remove the idea of needing
hierarchy. Games should build trust between members, and have them learn
more about each other on a personal level. Games should be varied to
prevent members getting tired of them. Such games could include finding
out basic ideas of what motivates and demotivates your members, which
can in turn help members figure out what praxis they want to focus on;
the use of puzzles that require cooperation to solve, which helps put
members in cooperative mindset; a simple scavenger hunt, just for fun;
and having a notebook in which members can share books, ideas, or
drawings they want others to know about, which can build up a collection
of community interactions. Further, as a more long term game, members
can be split up into teams and be asked to create a cooperative economy
between the teams, introducing resources and rules as things move along
that teams are asked to cooperate on in order to make sure everyone is
getting their needs met. Such games will help break down the monotony of
traditional politics and demonstrate the benefits of cooperation, mutual
aid, and strong community bonds.
Federationists must seek to always organize upon certain principles
which will help bring about a truly liberated and free society. Without
these essentials, organizations are doomed to fail at the same hurdles
of previous revolutionary attempts.
First, be transparent. Federationists have nothing to hide about their
organizations from others. There are no secrets of how resources are
used or who is in āreallyā in charge.
Second, be simple. Federationists have no use for confusing or dense
rules, writings, or actions. Making things overly complicated alienates
those who are interested, and only allows people to try to obstruct
organizing by slowing things down or making things overly complicated.
Third, be held up to scrutiny. Federationists should expect and welcome
the scrutiny and critiques of those they seek to win over, as they are
above neither. Organizing is for the benefit of the people and
communities which are exploited and oppressed, learning from them is
absolutely important.
Fourth, make a conscious effort to avoid āmass organizationā.
Federationists seek to elevate individuals and empower them. The
collective organization is not more important than the members which
make it up. As such members should be empowered in a social dimension,
not erased by the organization in identity or the actions of the
organization.
Fifth, federationists do not lead. Federationists have no interest in
leading the people in a revolution, instead they only seek to help
educate and empower them. Just as the rising tide raises up all boats,
empowering as many people as possible empowers the rest of society. The
point of the revolution for liberation is that there will be no more
leaders to command followers, all people are to be equals that cooperate
with each other towards their common goals.
Sixth, locate strategic points. Federationists should seek to locate and
identify local strategic points to occupy control during demonstrations.
Simply put, organization is meaningless without action. Action is most
effective when the points which project the power of oppressive
institutions are occupied and prevented from furthering their oppression
and exploitation. Forcing oppressors out of locations which help project
their power is the only way to win victories in the fight for
liberation.
A prepared revolution is based upon the premise that there should be a
predetermined set of rules and institutional structures in preparation
for a revolution. Such rules and institutional structures are to ensure
that chaos and disorder do not sweep through communities and prevent
revolutionary ideas from being undermined. Such things donāt need to be
and in fact should not be complex or particularly specific, they exist
to give a basic framework and set the stage for liberation to be the
trajectory and result of the revolution. Such rules would be largely
self-evident such as disallowing murder or theft, and decision making
institutions would be a decentralized federation of assemblies of the
people. The purpose of this would be to allow for a form and direction
to be offered to those participating in the beginnings of a spontaneous
revolution. The exact specifics of what rules and the exact structure of
the institutions should be left to the Federationist League of a given
area or country, and should be different based on the different needs of
each area.
A prepared revolution is essential to the creation of a liberated world.
This is because the means and the ends of any revolutionary project are
in fact one and the same. The lack of principles in attempting to
achieve liberation can only lead to failing at that task. Liberation and
autonomy are not things which can be handed down from above, they can
only be forged from below. The state will never truly liberate anyone
because the purpose of the state is always oppression. Just as only
using a hammer forces one to see all things as nails, the use of the
state forces those who wield its power to only see dissidents that must
be oppressed.
Further, as part of a prepared revolution, federationists must take care
to locate strategic points to hold during protests and during an
inevitable revolution within their local area. Federationists do not
wish for a revolution to occur or wish to hasten its arrival, a
revolution is a bloody and traumatizing affair. However, it is
inevitable that a revolution will break out. Capitalism and the state
are inherently unstable institutions which grow stronger and weaker in
cycles as the mechanisms that uphold them engage in greater and greater
dysfunction, such as a market crash. Federationists have the task of
preparing for this revolution, in the meantime organizing and gathering
support for the ideas liberation and self-empowerment. Revolutions which
are forced to start outside of spontaneous means are prone to failure as
such revolutionary attempts are usually done against the popular will,
which defeats the purpose of having a revolution at that time.
During the revolution the basic unit of community self-governance is to
be the commune. From the starting point of individual communes a process
of forming a decentralized federation should begin. Ideally communes at
the start of a revolution should be the new form taken on by local
Federationist Associations. This is not to say that only federationists
should be allowed to participate in communes, just that the structural
base of communes should grow out of the systems in place for
Federationist Associations.
Communes should of course be radically and directly democratic, and seek
to abolish all inequities in society that currently plague communities.
As a baseline they should include a number of households up to about
150, as this size is the upper limit of which people can meaningfully
interact with everyone else in the community. Communes following the
start of a revolution will be allowed to make their own rules, provided
they donāt conflict with the universal rules provided by the
Federationist League they are a part of during the process of prepared
revolution.
Communes should hold weekly meetings in order to check in with all
members and their needs. Communes should, relative to their size and
need, elect a council which will handle basic day to day maintenance of
the commune. Ideally the size of the council should be an odd number
between three and nine, allowing for personal accountability. Members of
councils should be instantly recallable should they in any way overstep
their bounds, and should only serve for a short length of time. The
purpose of the communeās council should be to encourage all members to
participate at least a few times, sharing the burden of the labor to
maintain the community they all share.
Assemblies are to be decentralized federal bodies which enable
cooperation and coordination between communities. The lowest level of
assemblies are to be federations of communes, from there those
assemblies will federate with each other to form a larger assembly, and
so on and so forth until there is a general assembly which includes all
communities under its purview.
Regular assemblies are to have the power to create rules for the areas
and people they represent, though a system of deliberative semi-direct
democracy, which will operate on the basis of subsidiary. Subsidiarity
meaning that issues are only handled by higher levels of cooperation as
they are necessary, as such assemblies will only convene as necessary,
as determined by members of the communities. Rules can be suggested by
individuals, communes, or affinity councils. Assemblies will then have
members deliberate on the specifics and implementation process of the
proposed rule. Following the initial deliberation, the draft of the rule
will be presented before all members and deliberation at the commune
level will begin in order to suggest changes to the draft. The delegates
in the assembly will from there aggregate the critiques provided to them
and begin another round of deliberation. Finally, once a proposed rule
has been finalized it will be called to a directly democratic vote. A
simple majority vote will have the rule be applied as a suggestion to
the communities and adopted by all localities which also had a simple
majority in favor or the rule. If a three-fourths super majority is
reached, with more than half of constituencies voting in favor with at
least a simple majority, then the rule will become an incentivized
suggestion. Incentivized suggestions will require some level of
cooperation with the rule, though the localities will be allowed to
negotiate to have specific changes made, and will require an at least
three-fifths super majority vote to ratify the incentivized suggestion.
Assemblies are to be composed of only delegates which will act as
messengers of the communities they represent. Delegates are to be
immediately recallable for any reason. Communities should be represented
by at least three seats in assemblies, and no more than nine. The seats
should be divided into a dedicated seat for a woman, a man, and a queer
person. The seat for queer people shall be dedicated for trans and
non-binary members of communities, though they may also hold either of
the other seats as well given they identity at least partially as either
a woman or man. If no queer members of the community wish to seek the
position or are ineligible to serve, then then seat will alternate as
either being for a woman or man until such time as a queer person is
both eligible and seeking the position. This is to ensure that gender
equality in all dimensions is facilitated through the institutional
structure of society and decision making.
Delegates should not hold consecutive terms, and term lengths should be
short. The position of delegate should likewise be encouraged to all
members of a society to hold at least a few times. Delegates should not
be a professional class separated from their communities, but actual
members of their communities participating in the important democratic
decision making process of a revolutionary society.
Worker syndicates would work in much the same way as communes and
assemblies, and alongside them. Individual workplaces shall based on
general industry form a decentralized federation with other workplaces
of the same general industry, called a syndicate. Syndicates from there
would form decentralized federations with both other syndicates of the
same industry, forming levels of decentralized syndicates until all
workplaces in each general industry are represented by a general
syndicate, in the same fashion as assembles.
It is the role of syndicates to engage in decentralized planning of the
economy. Such planning should be based on the principle of: to each
according to their need, from each according to their ability. The
emphasis is to be placed on providing all with the resources they need
before expecting any contributions from them.
Workplaces and syndicates are to in turn work with the comparable level
of commune or assembly. Syndicates in order to better complete their
task of a decentralized planning of the economy are to work between
industries through a labor affinity council. Syndicates would likewise
to assemblies operate on the same delegate system.
Affinity councils are as the name implies councils organized around
specific topics, representing certain groups in society. Affinity
councils would work alongside assemblies in order to provide a level of
focused expertise in a certain area. As previously stated, affinity
councils can in turn make suggestions to assemblies to create rules for
communities. The same decentralized federation and delegate systems
would also apply as they are applied to assemblies and syndicates.
Examples of affinity councils were outlined in The Federationist
Manifesto and include councils such as affinity councils for gender
equality, racial equality, labor cooperation, and ecological
conservation and restoration.
As the social revolution draws ever closer it is important to conceive
of the notion of justice. Currently forms of ājusticeā under capitalism
and the state are nothing short of lies and false promises. There
instead needs to be a move towards conflict mediation and resolution,
with influences from restorative and rehabilitative systems of justice.
The use of courts should be made unnecessary in most if not all cases,
and should only be utilized in the most severe instances of endangering
the safety of others.
As such, the question is often asked what is to be done with the
inevitable reactionary and counter-revolutionary prisoners that will be
taken during the course of a revolution. Federationism is in favor of
using a system similar to that of the CNT-FAI during the Spanish Civil
War. Prisoners should be placed in an open plan prison, and given free
reign to do as they wish so long as they do not try to escape. Prisoners
are to be given all rights befitting their status as people worthy of
dignity. They are to be able to receive communication and visitors, and
given a reasonable amount of privacy. The point is not punishment but
temporary containment until such time as they no longer can pose a
threat.
The focus of treatment of prisoners should be towards a program of
deradicalization away from their reactionary ideas. Focusing on the
resocialization of prisoners towards more supportive and accepting
communities, as well as emotional outlets and therapy. Prisoners are to
be understood to have been misguided by an exploitative and repressive
state apparatus, and are in need of respect and assistance, not revenge
or punishment.
Suspected war criminals are to be held in similar accommodations and
given a fair trial of their actions as soon as possible. Prisoners found
guilty of war crimes are to be held indefinitely until it can be said
with certainty that they are no longer a threat to others. It is not the
place of any just society to sentence any person that does not pose an
immediate threat to the safety of others to death.
For too long have the oppressed and powerless been forced to exist under
the tyranny of the state. For too long have they been told to wait by
faux revolutionaries who promised to end their oppression for them. It
is time that all people that seek the liberation and self-emancipation
of all to band together under a new united front. It is time to
restructure the way that we go about organizing in preparation for the
social revolution. The planet is dying, and we can no longer afford to
waste time on reformism or the state. The spontaneous revolution will
arise when the exploited of the world are informed, empowered, and
prepared. The movement of liberation will not be stopped, and the sigh
of the oppressed will become the breath of freedom!