Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

monday OP wrote

I have the impression that we have unlocked a new witch hunt in the anarchist cyberspace. I saw p callings for Hakim Bey and Wolfi Landstreicher writings to be taken down at the @library, or like one said that even Berkman and Goldman be evaluated due to the rape of Becky Edelsohn by Berkman and the silence of Emma Goldman. Not sure what I think or feel about it..

7

monday OP wrote

One thing I know for sure, we should burn the @library authority to the ground..

Any project that grow to be this important inside anarchism should be scrutinized against any hierarchy generated by itself

6

anarresinfoshop wrote

It's weird that anarchists create heroes of their famous anarcha-celebrity 19th century progenitors.

I feel it comes from the defensive insecurity felt in trying to advocate for anarchy-- such a novel set of ideas, compared to hierarchical life and hegemonic dominating socialization. But it's kind of childish, for lack of a better way I can think to explain this.

You can be aware of historical figures, and acknowledge that some of them played an outsize role in an earlier stage of historical development...and also not really care for hero-worship or deifying them for all time...

Let me put it another way. Remember that Leon tried to be friends with Emma and Berkman? and they both shrugged him off like he was some incorrigible weirdo they wanted nothing to do with. Well...one was unpopular, the others were very popular in anarchist spaces and to this day...one of them was a successful insurrectionary assassin, the others...well, weren't...lol...

5

roanoke9 wrote

Great point. Kill your idols needs to be pushed more. Not surprising, your anecdote because another not frequent enough critique of Emma Goldman was her ableism, a very "cool crowd" hierarchy to maintain.

4

anarresinfoshop wrote

"cool crowd"...yeah, that is definitely the vibe I get from reading descriptions of the interactions between Leon and the more famous anarchists of their time in America. It's kind of sad, but at the same time, it's entirely predictable because these people were all human. they were all real people, not heroes or demigods. While it's fine to admire a writers' writing, an activists' actions, or whatever have you...why deify? The impulse is disgusting, frankly, when you really look at it and see it for what it is...just another strange and twisted habit. It invokes for me the idea of an addict, thinking back about the twists and turns and nature of their addictive behaviors, their old 'habit', after the time and repose offered by rehabilitation and abstinence thereof. One can reflect on it as, just, well, silliness that got entirely out of hand, and became pretty hurtful to everyone involved.

Of course, I can't say anything about social dynamics from so long ago, read third and fourth hand. but regardless, it is striking how much those descriptions forcibly reminded me of interactions I've had in my life among friends. And let me tell you, I've always been the Leon, not the Alexander.

4

roanoke9 wrote

I also have been in the Leon position mostly . Always at the outskirts of any group, even misfit groups who form as foil to cool kids I was always just passing through like an alien observer. There is an upside though, because in-group social pressures only really work if you are "in" or at least aspire to that.

4

anarresinfoshop wrote

the deviant loner weird kids who eat lunch by themselves, will inherit the earth? at least, I can hope. ;)

3

roanoke9 wrote

You can hope. I don't want to inherit anything. I just to make space where I can feed myself and be left alone. I feel for you but don't find hope helpful. Especially world sized hope. I once did and it nearly destroyed me so many times that I aim for more modest attainments. Imagining? Essential. Hope though, is like playing russian roulette with my own mind. If it helps you though, I don't begrudge others having hope.

2

ziq wrote

I've never been part of the group and would refuse membership if given the opportunity.

3

monday OP wrote

I agree with all this idolizing thing that anarchists aren't supposed to do, not sure if I agree with your last hi t about Leon and our beloved couple here.

The thing with Emma is that many of her lectures were never written, like he was a big Nietzsche stan, and maybe some wonderful insights were lost bc we don't have records of their thoughts on the value of Nietzsche to anarchism ( I am pretty convinced, but maybe we should reclaim Nietzsche as much we reclaim Stirner)

1

fortmis wrote

I'm of the belief that the writings should stay available but have prefaces / accompanying notes that give some detail relating to the authors' backgrounds -- both the dodgey stuff and the good stuff

5

monday OP wrote

I agree, I would even go back and reinstate Atassa. Not sure if I am 100% with ziq comment saying that librarians are not editors in the sense they only make things available but, they are actually publishing texts on the @library platform, its not like a file repository or torrent bay. They do have the power to write notes, biographies (I would like very much to know some of the authors better), etc.

And again, anyone that agrees that @library should have any authority over online anarchism is someone that probably want Anarcho police and Anarcho laws

2

fortmis wrote

There's also this insightful comment from /u/subrosa about how it's important for a library to reflect the relationships between reader and author. And the anarchist library risks being a platform for just about anything when it allows uploads direct from the writer.
I think your comment about wanting to get to know authors is relevant to the importance of the reader/writer relationship.

3

fortmis wrote

Any more info on where these convos are taking place // and how they're going?

2

monday OP wrote

Sorry the late reply on this, but I wasn't really keep tracking on this convos bc it's Twitter hysteria bleeding on mastodon and probably other places like raddle and AnarchyPlanet conglomerate.

It obvious that the people saying that the original Emma Goldman stuff to be deleted was bluffin, the point was with Hakim Bey and Landstreicher. The sides on this argument always try to threat or disqualify the other side, I really don't care, anarchism irl is even more problematic and the discussions online seems like overkill for subjects like this, we grant to much importance imho.

And sorry if this is unreadable, I don't want to make it more easy to read

1

fortmis wrote

the discussions online seems like overkill

extremely true. I'm willing to go to word battle though in order to prevent people from pressuring the Library to start removing texts (although, as ziq mentioned, it seems fair to give them the right to remove Lloyd's texts, seeing as he consciously fucked with / manipulated them)

2