tl;dr because this is long: Is there a good reason why anarchists who aren't doing illegalism shouldn't just ... be out there with our whole names and faces?
So I'm just going to ask, and idk, call me a cop and ban me if that's the thing that feels safe for this space. But this is really chewing on me and there's some pretty critical timing. Like I have to make a decision before Monday.
I've posted that thing I wrote, mentioned elsewhere that I'm thinking of starting a distro, asked about op sec. This is because I'm thinking about starting a distro and doing actual grass touching tabling around the state I live in, because there's very really truly nothing out here. There's some MLs and anarchist larpers that live around the college towns and some mutual aid projects in some of the big cities (there are only three that I know of off the top of my head). But for most of the state there's nothing. I don't even know that there's a running FNB chapter anywhere.
Well, nothing but the internet and gen Z going wild on TikTok. Which is lovely to watch but the things that speak to kids are different than the things that speak to adults. Adults who are also anarchists, who do not have the emotional or physical wherewithal to do bloc anymore, or who have familial obligations that preclude them from out in the world flashy illegalism.
So what is an old riot grrrl who used to revel in this shit but is now too old, disabled, and fat to do the fun shit like banner drops and cop watch patrols supposed to do? The answer used to be open infoshops and start free stores and anarchist libraries. We used to be the ones taking spaces so that we could talk to the people, so that we could build community, so that we could be a space for people to come when they needed something. I remember in the early aughts I moved to from middle of nowhere to Chicago with a suitcase and a sligshot organizer so I could hit up the libraries and infoshops for information and to make connections with the locals, and the phone number of a friend. That kind of freedom of movement isn't possible anymore because there are so few in real life anarchists around anymore that are working to create that space.
The state stole that from us.
Now no one is an anarchist in real life. They scared us out of the ability to actually build communities. We all have to always be aware because the state is watching us. I've spent the past month trying to figure out how to build a distro and do the kind of activism that I want to do (infoshop/meeting space) while also being in school to do a job where a lot of people in law enforcement are going to know my name and they won't like me at all.
But for real, if the FBI is actually watching me they're going to be very bored. I've been looking for office copy machines and trying to source cheap toner for a couple of weeks now. I've also been looking at online auctions for glass jars to buy so that I can go to the bulk store and not rely on packages so much. I also wrote a largely ineffectual zine that maybe 50 people will ever read, shit posted a bunch all over the internet, in mostly anarchist or anarchist adjacent spaces. I don't do anything.
I want to go out. I want to talk to people again about it, not just people that already agree with me. I want to plant seeds.
I sometimes think about how at one point in time there were millions of people in federations, and honestly, I don't care so much about federations or anything like that, but it's wild to think that there was a time when there were millions of people who had their entire name linked to an anarchist organization. I was told at a FNB cook once that we shouldn't use our real names when we're cutting vegetables. What normie is going to hear that and think that this is a totally normal place to be where normal people do normal things? When we are actually just normal people?
How are we supposed to build any kind of community if we can't be our whole entire authentic mostly boring anarchist selves? Obviously if you're doing an illegal then be as careful and as safe as you absolutely can be. But me? I'm fucking boring. I don't even lift anymore because I'm more useful to folks locked up from the outside than I am from the inside. Why shouldn't I just be able to be like "Hey normal person, my name is INSERT ACTUAL NAME HERE, I'm an anarchist. This is what it's like."
Can I just do my distro and be open about building community or should I just hide this part of me away into online spaces? Is there a good reason that anarchists who aren't doing illegalism shouldn't just ... be out there with their whole names and faces? And like, to be clear I'm not suggesting that we give out our addresses to everyone and drop doxxable info all over the internet. But it feels so much like we've all accepted the idea that we need to hide our political philosophy, so much so that we don't have publicly available spaces anymore. and worse that we're often forced to work with people who are working towards ends that are incompatible with an anarchist society if we want to touch grass.
Is this the worst idea???
How do we build a community if we only talk to each other online and we live in places where no one is doing anarchy out loud except in masks and within small tightly knit friend groups?
Bezotcovschina wrote
Sure, weight your risks up and act accordingly.
Honestly, I think most people here can post their names, photos and address right here and be completely safe. I think I can. But I do understand why they don't want to. And some people absolutely can not.
I agree that false sense of insecurity might be completely paralyzing for their anarcho-adjusting activities. But for some people in some places strict security measures are foremost necessity. Just be reasonable about it. I would absolutely loved to see more people on streets openly associating with and doing anarchy. And I accept that not gonna happen in foreseeable future.