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Title: A Tranarchist Manifesto Author: Magical Comrade Molotov Catgirl Date: December 22, 2019 Language: en Topics: Anarcho-Transhuman, anarcho-transhumanism, transgender Source: https://invisiblexarmy.wordpress.com/2020/09/03/a-tranarchist-manifesto/
The outline of this manifesto had been bouncing around our headspace for
quite some time now, but we have not deemed it fit to put it into
writing, due to our disappointment at how the conversations about
Transhumanism had been dominated by cishet white male libertarians. But
the revelation of Richard K. Morgan - who wrote one of the most popular
Transhumanist fiction in Altered Carbon - as a transphobe had changed
our minds: for far too long our visions of technologies and their many
promises had been controlled by the Conservative establishment and
enslaved to exploitative Social Darwinists, to which we say: no more! In
this text, we’ll outline a philosophy we call Tranarchism, which differs
from the existing idea of Anarcho-Transhumanism in that we believe in
the present day, the rights of trans people, above all else, is
essential to the development and eventual blossoming of both
Transhumanism and Anarchism. We seek to argue that trans rights,
Transhumanism, and Anarchism are three sides of the same triangle, and
it’ll eventually come a time when one cannot exist without the other
two.
First, on trans rights. Going by the most inclusive definition, a trans
person is just anyone who doesn’t always identify with the gender
arbitrarily assigned to them by so-called medical “professionals” based
on the outward appearance of their genitalia. We know, as a scientific
fact, that biological sex exists on a spectrum, and the concept of
binary sex is nothing but a social construct created by the
establishment to control the people; genders are even more varied and
complex, and anyone who seeks to gatekeep and control gender identities
are just tyrants in their narrow and little minds. That trans rights -
the right to reject a role imposed upon oneself based on arbitrary,
essentialist standards - is the most fundamental of morphological
freedoms should go without saying, but as it is always the case with the
cishets, it needed to be said: you cannot, in good conscience, support
or explore a Transhumanist ideology that challenges the very idea of
humanity, while holding onto such outdated and conservative ideas like
binary sex and gender. Anarchists, who seek to abolish all systems of
oppression, should pour their effort into the fight for trans rights,
for the system of binary sex and gender roles are the oldest and most
evil of these institutions. If you cannot see beyond it, you are not fit
for either Transhumanism or Anarchism - the only kind of free thinker
you are is one free from the burden of thinking for yourself.
Second, on Transhumanism. At its most basic level, Transhumanism is
simply the idea that we can and should transcend human limitations
through technological means. While libertarians would no doubt claim the
honor of creating the ideology, Transhumanist ideas had existed since
the dawn of the human species, in the epic of Gilgamesh when he set out
to find the elixir of immortality. In fact, one may very well argue that
Transhumanism is practiced today, with trans people who modify their
biochemistry through hormones, and people with disabilities who overcome
them with technologies like hearing aids or wheelchairs. Humanity had
always coexisted and co-evolved with technologies: the idea that we’ll
be able to stop doing so is not only foolish, it’s inherently
transphobic and ableist. We would argue that Transhumanism is simply an
extension and generalization of trans rights into the broader idea of
morphological freedom: if we believe that a trans person should be
allowed to modify their bodies to fit their gender, should we deny an
otherkin or furry the right to modify their body to become their ideal
selves, should the technology ever become available? We think not, not
unless one wishes to be a hypocrite. However, we believe that
Transhumanism cannot - and in fact, should not - exist under State and
Capital. It’s as Gibson said: “The future is already here, it’s just not
evenly distributed.” So long as centralized power exists in the form of
State or Capital, technological progress will always serve as a tool of
oppression and exploitation for the establishment first and foremost,
before it eventually trickles down to the masses...if ever. The kind of
technological wonder promised by Transhumanism is nothing short of
nightmarish for the people if wielded by an authoritarian establishment.
Last but not the least, Anarchism. Contrary to Capitalist propaganda,
Anarchism doesn’t mean a lack of rules, nor do Anarchists reject labor.
The word “anarchy” simply means “without leader”; we seek to abolish all
unjust systems and hierarchies, instead of sowing discord for the sake
of discord. It just so happens that throughout human history, laws put
forth by State and Capital had always been created to protect the
establishment and control the masses. What we reject is work, or wage
slavery: the mandate that you must sell your labor for a fraction of its
worth or face execution by starvation. So long as there exists a
hierarchy, someone will have to be stamped underfoot, and throughout the
history of the so-called Western “civilization”, trans people had always
been on the lowest rung in society regardless of what kind of state the
State is in. It is our belief that only a total abolishment of all
hierarchy will see the liberation of trans people, once and for all.
While some Anarchists had turned reactionary and embraced Primitivism,
seeing technology and civilization as one and the same as State and
Capital, we know that it is not the case: we’ve seen how new technology
enabled the people to organize and fight back in ways never before
thought possible. It is our belief that technology, put into the hands
of the people instead of the establishment, will hasten the destruction
of state and capital and not only enable but improve an anarchist
society.
Trans rights. Transhumanism. Anarchism. The three sides form a triangle
of liberty and equality, where all people are empowered to determine
exactly who they are, from the state of their minds to the shape of
their bodies. We concede that it is possible that humanity had not yet
reached a point where our collective consciousness is ready for such
radical self-determination, but we trust in humanity’s ability to learn
from mistakes and improve, if only painfully slowly. The time will
eventually come when all people, without fault, are ready to embrace and
enjoy the fruits of technology in a society without state or capital,
when people finally learn to rule their own lives independent of
establishment and hierarchies. It is the duty of us, as Tranarchists, to
facilitate and prepare for this transition, so that when the time
finally arrives that technology is able to give us all that we dreamed
of, all obstacles are removed and it is the people who reap that reward.
All for all!