Tag: identity politics

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Plain Words #2

[For reading and printing 8.5×11]
[For printing 11×17]

The second issue of Plain Words is here, featuring continued analysis of the poverty of social media and the internet, instructions on keeping yourself safe from enemy eyes, a look at the Aachen bank robbery case in Germany, a contribution by anarchist prisoner Sean Swain, information on Marius Mason, some communiques from actions undertaken in memory of anarchist and ecological fighters, news of general unruliness around town, and a glimpse at earth liberation actions of the past.

CONTENTS
“Express Yourself: Liberal Democracy’s Trap”
“How to Mask Up”
“Sabotage in Memory of Lambros Foundas”
“Graffiti in Memory of James Marker”
“So What If They Did Rob the Banks?”
“Floodgates: The Urge to Obey, A Flight from Initiative, and Identity Politics”
“Professor’s Office Sabotaged”
“A Message from Anarchist Prisoner Sean Swain to Bloomington Zinefest”
“Free Marius Mason”
“Blast from the Past: Earth Liberation Front Attacks Wal-Mart in Martinsville”
Action Chronology

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Floodgates: The Urge to Obey, A Flight from Initiative, and Identity Politics

We receive and transmit:

Traditional systems of authority are dead or dying. It matters increasingly less whether one identifies with their job, loves their country, kneels before God, or worries about tarnishing the family name. In the past, anarchists have fought to the death against these institutions, believing that if people rose up and destroyed them, humanity would be free. While these relics are decaying, it is due to many different forces, rebellion not being primary. As a result, daily life is still bound to alienation, livelihood tied to the whims of the precarious market, and obedience maintained by the threat of the justice system or the normality of habit, or both. Humanity is still submissive, but our rulers are faceless abstractions: invisible flows of capital, imagination-killing technologies, the justice system, etc. These systems have their agents in our midst: police, prison guards, CEOs, judges; but they no longer solicit respect, they just do their jobs to keep the system running, and they are interchangeable in our minds. So we are followers without leaders, waiting to be led. Continue reading “Floodgates: The Urge to Obey, A Flight from Initiative, and Identity Politics”