When you are an anarchist of any flavor, what you are professing is a belief that all sentient beings are born with certain inalienable rights which are basically property rights beginning with the right to your own life and the fruits of that life. It's a pretty simple concept, there are no giant leaps of faith or brutal decisions, no one has the right to tell you how to live or to take what you have created or earned.
Yet this seemingly self-evident concept gets trampled and lost in the endless bickering, name-calling, and pretentious attitude that appears to be inherently part of a group that is composed of people wary of groups of people. The point is, by constantly taking an aggressive attitude, mocking and belittling those who have not grasped that concept, ask questions or promote a flavor of anarchism that differs from yours.
If anarchy has any chance to grow and become acceptable it the general public it needs to be accessible, inclusive and easily understood. The holier-than-thou attitude and an intellectual superiority stances are not conducive to promoting an agenda that is supposed to place everyone on a level playing field and erode the fictional factors that divide us. By satirizing a Randian or complaining bitterly about an Ancap you are playing into the socially accepted view of anarchist as benighted, delusional dreamers who are powerless, impotent and frequently violent. Making masked pronouncements in convoluted and threatening language may seem romantic and exciting but are damaging to the overall movement.
Take the time to explain, demonstrate, and take action in a positive manner to win hearts and minds. Create ways to give the message to the young, disenfranchised and disillusioned people who are tired of the status quo but lack the clear image we embrace.
I began telling people who were frustrated by the current presidential fiasco to vote their conscience. Not a particularly groundbreaking statement, I know, but asking them to make an ethical decision based on their thoughts and reason, not an emotional response to the media lies and convoluted editorial agenda. This resulted in many virulent, abusive and, frankly, nonsensical comments that turned the readers off and reinforced the perception of anarchists as socially awkward, narcissistic, trolling pseudo intellectuals without a clear message and a nihilistic attitude. This is what keeps our message on the fringes of the mass consciousness and helps the mainstream political powers to minimize and distort our beliefs.
We must become better, accepting and willing to teach with respect and an intelligent series of cohesive positions to make our point without the attitude of superiority and derision. If not, then we lose.
Thank you for sharing this material, I like what you posted. Thank you so much
Thank you for reading it and commenting.
Can you explain to me how to add photos to a blog here?
Awesome thank you for sharing this! :) i followed you perhaps u look at my blog and u find some graffiti that u like! <3 kalipo
Thank you for your kind words, I will check out your stuff!
Can you explain to me how to add photos to a post on Steemit?