Insurrection Debated

Arguing about Insurrection vs Revolution seems to me to be arguing about tactics and/or strategy.

What's at least as important, I believe, is getting to general agreement about goals, and spreading that agreement among the populace at large.

Without general agreement about goals, in the absence of the daring anarchists in the street being widely supported by the US population at large, Revolution is impossible, and it could get damned difficult to distinguish Insurrection from banditry. To put it another way, if the most principled anarchists one can imagine heroically mount an Insurrection among a population whose values & prejudices at odds with the Insurrectionary goals, what practical difference exists between the "liberating" Insurrection and the "authoritarian" violence of the State? If you use force of any kind that goes beyond the political will of the majority, are you truly different from the army, in the eyes of the majority? So rooting yourselves in the "people" is essential; anything else is just anti-social, Right in essence, tho Left in form. BTW In writing this, I confess to being an ageing Baby Boomer, someone who once was energized by the 60s and then disillusioned. Assuredly, aging Boomers like me are on our way towards the boneyard. Someone in here has written well: soon the young and daring will push us aside. Ignore us if you want. But those of you who write this, are you unaware of how eerily & precisely you echo exactly what the Baby Boomer revolutionaries were saying in my generation? Do not you recognize that when you vow to create a new society of "Chaos," you sound exactly like the New Left of the 1960s, not to mention the Bakunist anarchists of the 19th century? And we lost our wars, as the Bakunists also lost before us. Perhaps if you hope to launch a new world, you should emulate role models -- if you can find them -- who succeeded. -- "The Dead Hand of the Past Weighs a Nightmare on the Brains of the Living"

— Anonymous

The Revolution means to "revolve" around. I's sat that an "evolution" movement is needed. The Boycott - the most powerful non-violent tool that the conscious have. Words have power, yes, something that western so called civilization still may deny. Be mindful with the terms we use, they mean a lot.

— Koolvedge

hear people from the "south", insurrection preceeds revolution
Why we are Insurrectionary Anarchists...

* Because we consider it possible to contribute to the development of struggles that are appearing spontaneously everywhere, turning them into mass insurrections - that is to say actual revolutions.
* Because we want to destroy the capitalist order of the world which is useful to nobody but the managers of class domination.
* Because we are for the immediate, destructive attack against the structures, individuals and organisations of capital, state and all forms of oppression.
* Because we constructively criticise all those who are in situations of compromise with power in their belief that the revolutionary struggle is impossible at the present time.
* Because rather than wait, we have decided to proceed to action, even if the time is not ripe.
* Because we want to put an end to this state of affairs right away, rather than wait until conditions make its transformation possible.
* These are some of the reasons why we are anarchists, revolutionaries and insurrectionists.

by Alfredo Bonanno.

— Anonymous

My whole response is: Karl Popper. Idealism is a modified Solipsism. One cannot wipe the old system away and start with a new system as the ‘system’ is a whole and you are part of it both economically and culturally. To wipe away the old is wipe yourself away. The revolutionary spirit inherent in radicalism (something I appreciate and admire) cannot come to fruition in any ultimate sense. Two counter-examples I offer my flamers before they begin: Cambodia and Khmer Rouge and China and the Cultural Revolution. See also South American history from the conquistadors until the present. — Son of Gehenus

show me a plan, Stan. In the meantime i’ll continue to protest with my wallet—refusing to consume certain goods, while embracing others. — arcataberry

I implore you to recognize that at the core of our money based system there is corruption, in fact the system breeds it. The world currently has the technology to have a resource based economy and feed and educate all the worlds people, eliminate debt and drudgery, and set up a social system in which technological and cultural progress can accelerated to levels never before imagined. Please take the time to go through this information and then show it to everyone you know. http://www.thevenusproject.com/ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnK5mBCFTMg&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NT-2fenmLnc&feature=related The quality of life can be made souring for all peoples if we recognize our responsibility to inform others and to embrace change. — Anonymous

Why not walk through the front door with ideas for change, baby boomers are on there way out. Instead of burning down the back door with a disdain for the common cheeseburger eater, or whatever passive aggressive label of the day is for the average consumer. So we overthrow the old system and then what ? What common goal or vision does our generation have? Instead of creating a gap why not fill in glaring holes we see on a daily basis first — Anonymous

Both. Here, there and everywhere. Moving from one to the other at different times and places. Here’s a work in progress I wrote about this very issue: http://www.anarchistnews.org/?q=node/8571#comment-80454 — Anonymous

You pathetic mine numbed self absorbed robots. Your psychobable disertaions are free entertainment for the true soldiers of change. Plans are in place, the time is soon. Just a few more “moves” need to occur. The timed fuse has been fired and is running it’s course. A new day is at hand. Gun and ammo sales are at an all time high. America is soon to be transformed BACK to it’s roots. And you and yours will have no place in this reformation. Your ilk is now an endangered species, soon to extinct. — Anonymous

This debate seems based upon a misunderstanding of the meaning of insurrection and revolution. A revolution in the political, economic, and social order is the end not the means. Insurrection, that is an uprising against the present order, can not exist without a revolutionary populace. Global insurrection may be the inevitable result of the final collapse of global capitalism, but it makes the revolution, it isn’t the revolution itself. Insurrectionary action without popular political action is a recipe for suicide and the marginalization of any radical movement. If you don’t believe me look at the history of the militant left in the late 1960s and 1970s. — Anonymous

What is “insurrection” good for without organization and vision behind it to replace the old society with something new? In some ways, I think this is a false dichotomy. We need spontaneous actions and people willing to go toe-to-toe with police and bosses. But we also desperately need organizations and counter-institutions capable of replacing the existing society. Personally, I much prefer Spannos’ easily understandable defense of sensible organization to groups that suggest that disrupting well-intentioned radicals organizing is somehow good or necessary political practice. Good piece, Chris Spannos! I hope more people read it and move away from some of the macho posturing that has become so common in the anarchist scene, with talk of “ending civilization”, disrupting leftist organization, etc. — Anonymous

My Biggest problem when people claim “Revolution” here in the states is that I feel it is very reckless. ––— *Revolution* - 2 a: a sudden, radical, or complete change b: a fundamental change in political organization ; especially : the overthrow or renunciation of one government or ruler and the substitution of another by the governed c: activity or movement designed to effect fundamental changes in the socioeconomic situation d: a fundamental change in the way of thinking about or visualizing something : a change of paradigm……. ––- Sometimes Revolution will usher in something that no one wants, so I feel it’s not the answer. Personally I feel that instead of the word revolution we need a “Restoration” of smaller fed government and bigger local / State Government. Plus end all meddling in foreign polices (cut all funding), Get back to the Real American Agenda…. –– Now with Insurrection, it should really be more aimed at the giant corporations around the world, for all humans to be treated and payed equally no matter who you are or where you live. These are the modern day imperialist with a logo. So instead of going straight at a “Government” entity go for the juggler their corporate buddies. Then let the government show their true colors. — Dks

I think The Coming Insurrection scares North Americans because we don’t have the same kind of spontaneous radical culture that leftists/anarchists in Europe do. Even American protest culture for the most part has a higher sense of pacifism most likely because of the high influence from the liberals and progressives. The portion of radical leftists that would be ready and willing to support an insurrection in America is far less than in Europe unfortunately. Most American leftists seem to be revolutionaries that are more content for waiting until “the big one” which will apparently happen with no prior planning or thought. Perhaps the reason nobody takes insurrectionary anarchism seriously is because nobody wants to face the reality of our situation and the actions that need to be taken eventually. Protests and activism won’t bring about the social change we so desperately need. Action will have to be taken eventually and now is the time to plant the seeds for that action. — Anonymous

revolution or insurrection? insurrection… …but - (& is this just me? or…) it seems like in the states there isn’t that kind of street spirit that seems to still exist in Europe (the banlieu uprisings, the Greek riots, the bailout protests) that would be equal to the festivity and public display intrinsic to an insurrection. like we would all be self-consciously standing around a car fire making some stupid reference to some stupid 80’s movie that had a car fire in it. like college and cubicles and our weird closed circuit culture has cut off our capacity for spontaneity and sincerity and uninhibited action. like the PATRIOT act and 8 yrs of Bush and rumors of FEMA camps and the draconian sentencing of the RNC 8 and the Green Scare have made us shy after our brief day in the tear gas-obscured sun of seattle. but somehow the day will have to come. if i may be allowed to get a little sentimental, even romantic, even mystical, i would say that insurrection is not only an outburst of rage, but an outburst of love (insurrection means literally ‘a rising up’, which could indeed be spiritually edifying). i think of Dostoyevsky’s phrase about ‘watering the earth with our tears’, about each of us admitting that we are all guilty before one another, shedding our societal pretenses & embracing in some sort of apocalypse of love. but… but… that would probably require some sort of divine intervention, or some heavy dosing of the water supply………………ps why no paragraph breaks? drive me crazy! — Time Ghost