Thanks for your long critique, and it occurs to me that the other Aragorn would have said something somewhat similar were he still alive. That dude truly believed in anarchism more than anyone I've ever met, but not as a 'true believer' but as someone painfully honest about how shitty anarchists were in order to contrast it with how amazing they also were.
There are absolutely great long-term anarchist projects, though they are usually not in the United States. One that you and I didn't mention, which managed to keep itself fully out of the woke trap, is the multiple IWW solidarity network projects. The one I worked with in Seattle was pretty incredible and quite effective, though it really should be said it operated much more on an autonomous Marxist model than an anarchist one, which a strong leader who was able to prevent woke ideas from paralysing the group.
Also, I hope I made clear my critiques are primarily aimed at US anarchism, which is a different species from for example the French anarchism I saw while there. I have critiques of that as well (many that I met were hopeless alcoholics always dreaming of action but being too drunk to do anything, except when it came to fighting the police), but it was quite clear to me that a primary problem in American anarchism is that it's full of Americans.
And I probably had a better experience with Berlin anarchists then you did, several of which I count as dear friends.
Towards the point of your second comment, yes and no. Many of the non-leader leaders were middle class (and everyone leading Antifa is not just middle but also hopelessly bougie), but just as many were what we might call low and working. This first anarchist friend I met, who was often in Black Bloc actions until she left anarchism altogether, was poor, no college education, and worked two low paying jobs. Many of the friends I met from her were in similar positions (as I was), and none of them count themselves as anarchists anymore.
The only truly working class anarchist group in Seattle was the IWW/Solidarity Network, which again was brilliant and maybe the only effective thing anyone was doing there. But also, two of the socialist (trostskyist specifically) groups used the same model and were just as effective, so I don't know what to make of that.
Ultimately, though, whether it's a problem inherent to anarchism, or to American anarchism, or to Antifa, or just that I somehow managed in 20 very social years to only meet the really shitty anarchists and rarely ever the good ones, I don't know.
Thanks for your long critique, and it occurs to me that the other Aragorn would have said something somewhat similar were he still alive. That dude truly believed in anarchism more than anyone I've ever met, but not as a 'true believer' but as someone painfully honest about how shitty anarchists were in order to contrast it with how amazing they also were.
There are absolutely great long-term anarchist projects, though they are usually not in the United States. One that you and I didn't mention, which managed to keep itself fully out of the woke trap, is the multiple IWW solidarity network projects. The one I worked with in Seattle was pretty incredible and quite effective, though it really should be said it operated much more on an autonomous Marxist model than an anarchist one, which a strong leader who was able to prevent woke ideas from paralysing the group.
Also, I hope I made clear my critiques are primarily aimed at US anarchism, which is a different species from for example the French anarchism I saw while there. I have critiques of that as well (many that I met were hopeless alcoholics always dreaming of action but being too drunk to do anything, except when it came to fighting the police), but it was quite clear to me that a primary problem in American anarchism is that it's full of Americans.
And I probably had a better experience with Berlin anarchists then you did, several of which I count as dear friends.
Towards the point of your second comment, yes and no. Many of the non-leader leaders were middle class (and everyone leading Antifa is not just middle but also hopelessly bougie), but just as many were what we might call low and working. This first anarchist friend I met, who was often in Black Bloc actions until she left anarchism altogether, was poor, no college education, and worked two low paying jobs. Many of the friends I met from her were in similar positions (as I was), and none of them count themselves as anarchists anymore.
The only truly working class anarchist group in Seattle was the IWW/Solidarity Network, which again was brilliant and maybe the only effective thing anyone was doing there. But also, two of the socialist (trostskyist specifically) groups used the same model and were just as effective, so I don't know what to make of that.
Ultimately, though, whether it's a problem inherent to anarchism, or to American anarchism, or to Antifa, or just that I somehow managed in 20 very social years to only meet the really shitty anarchists and rarely ever the good ones, I don't know.