joreth: (Rock Climbing)

"Atheism and anarchist theory were the first things that gave me any hope in this world. They were the things that said we had the power within us to make things better. Everything else said we were either evil or helpless to fate."
~Unknown

From http://gretachristina.typepad.com/greta_christinas_weblog/2008/09/atheism-and-hope.html

This reminds me of [livejournal.com profile] tacit 's post http://tacit.livejournal.com/205515.html Why I'm An Optimist

(I'm not an anarchist, but that's part of the quote)

Date: 9/10/08 07:52 pm (UTC)From: [identity profile] aclaro.livejournal.com
Forgive me if you already know all this.. but I wouldn't have identified as an anarchist 6 months ago because I didn't realize how the rest of the world uses the word. As far as I can tell, anarchists do not believe that people need an "elite class" to rule them.. ie, having a *boss* isn't necessary, the workers still know how to make the factory run. Anarchists believe that people can organize and run their own society. Catalonia was an example of anarcho-syndicalism where people organized in groups according to specialties and ran business democratically. It was still an organized society with law and structure, it just lacked an elite body tasked with making decisions for the people who were affected. My guess is the quote referred to this kind of anarchism.. the power of the people to control their own lives and working conditions, NOT a system of total chaos (sometimes I think the redefining of this word in America is not accidental).

just some links - catalonia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anarchist_Catalonia

anarcho-syndicalism: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anarcho-syndicalism

off my soap box now :).

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