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Title: The New Revolution Author: Levi Raskin Language: en Topics: syndicalism, revolution, anarcho-syndicalist, anarcho-syndicalism
An anarchist with an iPhone is the new revolutionary. Gone are the days
of bushy beards and well-groomed moustaches and enter the
flannel-wearing, soymilk-drinking iPhone user. While this is meant
mostly in jest, this example illustrates the great oxymoron of modern
anarchist, and for that matter leftist, life: we as anarchists strive to
work against the capitalist system and overthrow the tyranny of the
spectacle, but we can be beholden to it in our daily lives. What we
preach and how we act are contradictory. Karl Marx, the father of
leftist philosophy, would be utterly appalled at how far we have come
from his vision. There is no possible way to achieve class consciousness
when we are beholden to the sole identity granted by our Twitter handles
and our Instagram likes.
At least in the United States, daily work and experience is so dependent
upon cellphones, television, and other forms of placating media where no
work is necessary to understand. Books, poems, art. Three mediums which
have slipped into the avant-garde of daily living. These events and
experiences require a significant amount of critical thought to relate
to, more so than would be required while vegetating in front of
television. Even “educational” channels and shows suffer from the
inherent vapidity of the viewer; they operate under the delusion that
they teach when they merely give. There is no questioning of the facts,
no interpretation of the data, no drawing from your own experiences of
the world when you suffer through the tedium of viewing television.
Books, poems, art, and other methods unmentioned, of course, all require
comparison of ideas, interpretation of literary meaning, and simply work
done by you, the viewer. It is easier to succumb to the spectacle, to
allow oneself to be overtaken by the products of capitalism, simply
because that is the purpose of these devices: to addict.
It is for this reason that the oxymoron raised earlier is invalid. While
in the better future these capitalist constructions that seek to enslave
the masses to the opiate of the new release would be meaningless and
disappear, that is not intended to fault those who have succumbed to the
spectacle. School children cannot be blamed for boredom, classrooms are
inefficient and unexciting. Those under the effects of their environment
must be removed from said environment when possible, and when separation
is impossible, then mitigation must occur. The work towards minimizing
the placating effects of the spectacle and maximizing the elating
effects of your true passions is the new revolution.
Within a society that does not value the human and only values the
corporate, just societies do not exist on a large scale, but a small
one. Only within these microcosms can we attempt this revolution by
acting right, speaking right, and defending what is right. By these
fairly vague terms I simply mean that we, as anarchists, have the duty
to act in such a way as to best enable our victory over the spectacle,
even if that means reading a book for half an hour a day instead of
watching TV or working on some other productive task as opposed to
consuming what is provided; to speak out about the perils of this
current society to those within our circle of influence, though of
course with tact and respect; and by using whatever free time we might
have to fight this system. The monotony of the 9-5 is monotony that
exhausts and depraves those that in order to survive, must produce to
enrich someone else. Whatever dignity that can be recovered is dignity
that must be retained as closely as possible.
The retention comes from the continual drive, even if it must be
conscious, to produce for you and you alone. Consumption is meaningless
in the capitalist world; the spectacle has degraded television and
everyday entertainment to mindless drivel. Production for the sake of
consumption by yourself and those within your circle is meaningful
production because it comes out of desire for the human connection. The
interpersonal relationships, complete with both positive and negative
emotions, are relationships that are simply more powerful and important
to the human condition than the one-side relationship consisting solely
of admiration that consists the spectacle.
Lives within these private societies, where production occurs for the
sake of the interpersonal, is the only way to combat the spectacle and
eventually topple the capitalist regime. People producing for the human
connection is the very antithesis to the capitalist model of producing
for the sake of profit. Yes, an anarchist with an iPhone is ironic, but
only if they allow the spectacle to overtake their rationality. If they
are true anarchists, their internal battle with the spectacle is ongoing
and raging. This is a battle that, if planned carefully and executed
thoughtfully, can be won: they are the vanguard of the new revolution.