All fair points ziq and I don’t think any of them are overly antagonistic. I’m glad you posted this as I’ve been curious about people’s opinions on the project.

I see the nature of your disagreement with Wilbur as just as much a difference in opinion of “how to” anarchy as opposed to what “is” anarchy.

Anarchists devoted to a living anarchy in the now are often at odds with those focused on postulating the ideal anarchic world that is to come ATR. Further, within these groups you typically find a tension between intellectual and more activist currents. You and Shawn may just be diametrically opposed in both categories.

I tend to come down more on your side of the argument, but I can appreciate how Shawn’s project is beneficial. With anarchist discourse moving ever more in the direction of sound bites, sloganeering, and social media campaigns I do like the idea of anarchists taking more time to engage with ideas in a more drawn out and sustained manner.

Old dead authors can be a drag, but some at least are more interesting than the constant stream of pop culture and media critique that comprise the bulk of anarchists intellectual diets in the online age.

not worth the anxiety

though I can get on board with this:

"To me, anarchy isn't an attachment to dead scholars or a celebration of wise noble leaders or an exhaustive examination of someone's grand plans for building better social contracts. It's not a manifesto, a moral code, a societal blueprint, an economic theory or a set of rules to live by."

statements like these:

"I've never understood why 160-year-old texts would be especially relevant to people living in 2021.... my anarchy is only concerned with life in the here and now"

are too locked into a linear time framework that comes across as willful ignorance. your anarchy obviously isnt only concerned with the here and now, as you have, and continue to, dedicate time and effort to reading, thinking through, and critiquing these past texts. it seems there is a relevance there to you, even if some kind of fight against past-centeredness. but the past folds into the present, as I recently learned (or unlearned) from Bayo Akomolafe: the past has yet to come.