cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/22937320
Peter Kropotkin (1842 - 1921)
Fri Dec 09, 1842
Pyotr Kropotkin, born on this day in 1842, was a Russian scientist, historian, and anarchist theorist, known for his writings on mutual aid and advocacy of anarcho-communism.
Born into an aristocratic land-owning family, he attended a military school and later served as an officer in Siberia, where he participated in several geological expeditions. He was imprisoned for his activism in 1874 and managed to escape two years later. He spent the next 41 years in exile in Switzerland, France (where he was imprisoned for almost four years) and in England.
While in exile, Kropotkin gave lectures and published widely on anarchism and geography. He returned to Russia after the Russian Revolution in 1917 but was disappointed by the Bolshevik state. Kropotkin's funeral was one of the last public demonstrations of anarchists in the USSR, with funeral marchers carrying anti-Bolshevik slogans and Emma Goldman delivering a speech.
Kropotkin was a proponent of a decentralized communist society free from central government and based on voluntary associations of self-governing communities and worker-run enterprises. He wrote many books, pamphlets, and articles, the most prominent being "Fields, Factories and Workshops", "Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution", and "The Conquest of Bread".
"We must recognize, and loudly proclaim, that every one, whatever his grade in the old society, whether strong or weak, capable or incapable, as, before everything, THE RIGHT TO LIVE, and that society is bound to share amongst all, without exception, the means of existence at its disposal."
- Peter Kropotkin
- Date: 1842-12-09
- Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, libcom.org.
- Tags: #Communism, #Birthdays, #Anarchism.
- Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/22488576
Free Territory of Ukraine (1917)
Tue Nov 27, 1917
Image: Two soldiers next to a Makhnovian flag, reading "Death to all who stand in the way of freedom for working people" in Cyrillic. Unknown date and location [Wikicommons]
Makhnovia, also known as the Free Territory of Ukraine, was an anarchist society established on this day in 1917 with the capture of the Ukrainian city of Huliaipole.
The Free Territory was an attempt to form a stateless anarchist society during the Ukrainian Revolution of 1917 to 1921, during which time "free soviets" and libertarian communes operated under the protection of Nestor Makhno's Revolutionary Insurrectionary Army (flag shown above).
As Makhnovia self-organized along anarchist principles, references to "control" and "government" were highly contentious. For example, the Makhnovists, often cited as a form of government (with Nestor Makhno as their "leader"), were ostensibly organized to serve in a purely military role, with Makhno himself functioning as more of a strategist than commander.
The economy of Makhnovia varied by region, from "market socialism" to anarcho-communism in character. Where money was used, production was often organized in the form of worker cooperatives.
The Bolsheviks were openly hostile to the Free Territory. On November 26th, 1920, less than two weeks after the Revolutionary Insurrectionary Army assisted Bolshevik forces in defeating the White Army, Makhno's headquarters staff and many of his subordinate commanders were arrested at a Red Army planning conference to which they had been invited by Moscow, and executed.
Makhno himself fled the region several months later, settling in Paris, France.
- Date: 1917-11-27
- Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, libcom.org, www.marxists.org.
- Tags: #Anarchism.
- Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org
The only way to stop a bloody and electorally disastrous regional war in the Middle East ...
Holy fuck
They’d rather have Biden lose to him than waste one of their up and coming stars on a fool’s errand.
Sure, but they could put Harris in there. She'd probably result in a less disastrous loss in the senate.
Well, he's achieved a lot, I mean, he beat medicare!
A right thing. And not a very substantial one. But don't sell the UK short. The government might be despicable, but the massive marches in London by the people have been inspiring. The power of that crowd needs to be channelled into direct action.
I’m pretty sure that the United States was founded on the principle of self determination
Self determination for who? For rich, land-owning, white males.
The US was founded on the same genocidal settler-colonialism as Israel.
Boycott HP: https://bdsmovement.net/boycott-hp
HP-branded corporations play key roles in Israel’s oppression of Palestinians. They are complicit in Israel’s occupation, settler-colonialism and apartheid regime. They provide computer hardware to the Israeli army and maintain data centers through their servers for the Israeli police. They provide the Itanium servers to operate the Aviv System, the computerized database of Israel’s Population and Immigration Authority. This forms the backbone of Israel’s racial segregation and apartheid.
You probably just want to get on the email lists of local organisations (activist groups, minor political parties, union councils, etc.).
They will often cross-promote each other so you'll be made aware of other organisations through them.
It doesn't says by who until the 4th paragraph, information that should be in the headline
archive.is usually works to remove the paywall:
https://archive.is/lQVvD
We need to understand and dismantle the systems that produce them.
I feel compelled to point the author is hardly unbiased.
No author is unbiased. If you think they're unbiased it's just their biases are the same as yours or those of the status quo (whatever you might consider that to be).
I just don’t have it in me to accept anything at face value because someone says so.
Thankfully, you don't have to! You have a brain in your head, so you can read the arguments being made, think about them, and critically evaluate them. You can try to come up with counter-arguments, or failing that, look around for counter-arguments other people have made and critically evaluate those too.
The commenter above gave you sources for the quotes, so you can find copies of them and read the complete argument being made in those works.
It's a rather flamboyant, but famous, translation of a quote of Antonio Gramsci:
Italian original:
A more literaral English translation: