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A Beginner's Guide to Practical Social Anarchism
What is Practical Social Anarchism?
According to Murray Bookchin, a Social Anarchist is committed to four basic ideals:
1.Creating confederations of decentralized municipalities
2.Unwavering opposition to statism
3.Belief in direct democracy
4.Fostering libertarian communism
This refers to a belief that power can be overthrown and re-distributed equally by means of creating groups for discussion and action within communities. The group is, and always has been, powerful, wether it have a pyramid of power with leadership commanding the mass of the people, or a congregation of commoners with common beliefs in mind who distribute power equally. However, the group is always secondary to action. These groups organize against powers of control and greed. They also believe in direct democracy, as opposed to statism democracy as seen in many of the nations today, in which a republic is formed based on a one-time decision putting someone in power for a long period of time without control by the people, (How often do government candidates from a partison party keep thier promises?) and control over elections which could possibly be "rigged". A sense of natural sharing and compassion is also encouraged. Believe it or not, people are born with these traits in mind. They're called "common sense". Why do we need a power to control our common sense when we have organization based on belief?
A Social Anarchist opposes power with the idea that class-war, poverty, and other forms of suffering aren't necissary to the common welfare of the average person and are products of abuse by power. There are "lifestylists" who simply enjoy the "freedom to do whatever" aspect. These are usually teens going through a rebellion who don't care about class-war, and commonly re-enforce it. While a healthy teenage rebellion would be nurtured and have room to grow and take it's course in a more free environment, the freedom of common sense by the people would also ensure that one that got out of hand would surely be dealt with. This goes for all the so-called "terrorists" out there also. Part of Anarchy, at least for me, would be the belief that governments often resort to violence as a way to solve problems with a goal of domination of another party.
The beauty of an anarchist way of life is once you get beyond the beliefs, the organization can take on many forms based on the situation of the members without facing opposition by a partison power. But remember, a anarchist group is supposed to be a forum and a workshop to bring an end to bureaucratic groups, not another one that is strugging to maintain a coup.
First Steps to Becoming an Anarchist
It is commonly agreed to that the first thing you need to do is dig into your resources and read like a mad book-worm. It's more difficult for anyone to control how you interperate reading material. And especially with the means of the internet, if there was control slapped on an anarchist movement, there'd always be new information edging it's way out of the woodwork. Since anarchy relies on open-mindedness and questioning of authority, it's encouraged to interperate anarchist views in your own way and act on your beliefs. Knowledge is a powerful tool no one can take away from you once you've gained it.
This is where it gets to the four steps we mentioned before. Your anarchist group should be used to share information and points of view with eachother. With anarchy, different points of view are welcomed, and learned from. An "Anarchist Club" at school may seem like a group of social outcasts, but can really be used as a tool to further the revolution and help educate the ignorant and encourage the open-minded and interested.
Once you have interpereted what Anarchy means to you and have like-minded friends to help you on your journey, you should continue the movement by producing informative pamphlets and leaflets. But be careful, a piece of information that is poorly edited will make your efforts and ideals poorly viewed by others. Destructive and violent propaganda can get you arrested, and while you will become a "martyr", it will thwart your efforts and make you look bad. Going overboard is uncalled for, and to me violence is a cause for concern rather than a cause of victory.
Just remember, the difference between anarchism and other "-isms" cannot be stressed enough! There is no exact formula on how to develop the movement, but it is important to do your part. Many other experienced anarchists will be out there offering a piece of advice and a point of view, but remember not to follow anyone who claims to be an anarchist because this is one of the many things you are supposed to be aware of and against. Use your knowledge and your judgement! And remember: The difference between an anarchist and an activist is the overall goal of a perfect society rather than correction of a single issue. Never say die and never stop until your goal has been reached.
Anarchist Resources
These resources are places on the internet where you can find out more about practical anarchism and increase your knowledge and interperetation of anarchy.
How to Stay Out Of Trouble
Naturally, government agencies don't like the idea of people distributing propaganda such as this against them. If you form a group of like-minded people, chances are word will get out against you and your efforts will be attacked; wether it is by police or by angry pro-government people, especially if you are successful in announcing your message and doing something about problems. But the traditional means of breaking up "radical" parties will be harder to use against you. If an authority group tries to break up an organization, the conventional means are to destroy the leadership and kick the people out of thier meeting-place. But with an equal, uncentralized group, this is impossible to completely accomplish.
But still, nobody wants to be thrown in jail. Try to watch who you allow into your group, but not to the point at which paranoia undermines your success. Try and be factual, peaceful and non-destructive at all times and not create a "thug" image. If you find yourself REALLY in trouble, there is an organization called The Anarchist Black Cross (http://iww.org/~monkeywrench/lorenzo/abc/intro.html) that helps anarchists in trouble.