Anarchism and Social Ecology
!anarchism@slrpnk.net
A community about anarchy. anarchism, social ecology, and communalism for SLRPNK! Solarpunk anarchists unite!
Feel free to ask questions here. We aspire to make this space a safe space. SLRPNK.net's basic rules apply here, but generally don't be a dick and don't be an authoritarian.
Anarchism
Anarchism is a social and political theory and practice that works for a free society without domination and hierarchy.
Social Ecology
Social Ecology, developed from green anarchism, is the idea that our ecological problems have their ultimate roots in our social problems. This is because the domination of nature and our ecology by humanity has its ultimate roots in the domination humanity by humans. Therefore, the solutions to our ecological problems are found by addressing our social and ecological problems simultaneously.
Libraries
Audiobooks
- General audiobooks
- LibriVox Public domain book collection where you can find audiobooks from old communist, socialist, and anarchist authors.
- Anarchist audiobooks
- Socialist Audiobooks
- Social Ecology Audiobooks
Quotes
Poetry and imagination must be integrated with science and technology, for we have evolved beyond an innocence that can be nourished exclusively by myths and dreams.
~ Murray Bookchin, The Ecology of Freedom
People want to treat ‘we’ll figure it out by working to get there’ as some sort of rhetorical evasion instead of being a fundamental expression of trust in the power of conscious collective effort.
~Anonymous, but quoted by Mariame Kaba, We Do This 'Til We Free Us
The end justifies the means. But what if there never is an end? All we have is means.
~Ursula K. Le Guin, The Lathe of Heaven
The assumption that what currently exists must necessarily exist is the acid that corrodes all visionary thinking.
~Murray Bookchin, "A Politics for the Twenty-First Century"
There can be no separation of the revolutionary process from the revolutionary goal. A society based on self-administration must be achieved by means of self-administration.
~Murray Bookchin, Post Scarcity Anarchism
In modern times humans have become a wolf not only to humans, but to all nature.
The ecological question is fundamentally solved as the system is repressed and a socialist social system develops. That does not mean you cannot do something for the environment right away. On the contrary, it is necessary to combine the fight for the environment with the struggle for a general social revolution...
~Abdullah Öcalan
Social ecology advances a message that calls not only for a society free of hierarchy and hierarchical sensibilities, but for an ethics that places humanity in the natural world as an agent for rendering evolution social and natural fully self-conscious.
~ Murray Bookchin
Network
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What historical examples are you thinking of? I'm unaware of any historical instance of an anarchic front having a comparable population or budget to the states it fought against and losing. The Zapatistas are still independent, though. Also, while not strictly nonhierarchical, the Taliban quite notably defeated NATO in Afghanistan with a fraction of the resources and population, while lacking all these elements you claim to be essential for military success.
The Taliban did not have a tax office, and yet they won. The Taliban did not have a military-industrial complex, and yet they won. The Taliban did not hold territory, and yet they won. The Taliban did not mass-produce standardized technological gadgets, and yet they won. They have a deeply regressive and oppressive philosophy, but they do prove the power of insurgency. As do many other succesful insurgencies and revolutions.
It seems like when you think of anarchists, you can't help but think of a group that is hopelessly outnumbered and lacking any control over the means of production. But if we're talking about the inherent capacity of a philosophy to organize 450 million Europeans to defend against a state subjugating 150 million Russians, that's not a fair comparison.
This is a valid counterpoint, but one should be aware that the Afghan government was extremely corrupt and inept, quite ready to be bribed and pushed over.