Activism

On the Need for an Anarchist Federation

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It’s Going Down

The following text argues that the push by the fascist far-Right will continue in the current time period and to combat its rise, the anarchist movement must form a federation of different groups in order to better organize.

The events of the 6th demonstrate that we are living through the decline of the American Empire. Issues already latent in the capitalist system have only been exacerbated last year with millions being subjected to death, poverty, and police suppression. Last year also saw the rise of a more organized fascist movement in the Qanon and Proud Boy groups. It’s fair to call the Storming of the Capitol a fascist coup although not an intelligent one. The far right had not only mass mobilization but also internal support from police officers that let them in but despite this all they managed to do was smash windows and kill their own. Even in this failure we should seriously prepare for the prospect of more pronounced fascism in the united states. The United States is already an empire directed at killing indigenous, Latinx and black communities, committing genocide for decades. Now however the last remnants of capitalism with a human face are being thrown off and now more than ever is there a need for a more organized Federation of Anarchists.

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Categories: Activism, Anarchism/Anti-State

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  1. A veteran anarchist writer offers the following critique of this article:

    “Problems with the article. First off you cannot equate the present situation in the US with the 1920s-30s in Europe. Fascism requires significant support from the ruling class to proceed – they do not have that. Fascism results from the failure of strong working class movements – fascist movements take power to counter these. The left is weak in the USA . The govts that were overthrown were liberal/social democratic – the Dems are right-wing (neoliberal) not in any way progressive.Fascism had strong support among professionals, students and intellectuals as well as the petty-bourgeoisie and lumpen elements. The first three of these groups today are among the foremost anti-fascists. Finally, fascism is more than just trappings – it seeks to do certain things. Neoliberalism has largely accomplished these already – destroyed the socialist movements, crippled the unions, created a corporate state etc. Fascism – in terms of the desires of the ruling class is essentially superfluous – and fascism gets a level of support from the victims of neoliberalism, whose jobs have been lost etc.

    As for federation, national federations have been tried before and failed. Canada and the US are too large for them, with too many regional differences. It would be better to focus on regional federations, which could then come together for national events, when these were deemed necessary. Even this is in some respects putting the cart before the horse. The fact that Black Rose fell apart because of sexism says that many USian anarchists have a lot of personal work to do. They must come to realize how the negative aspects of US culture and history impinge upon their success. This personal work also entails developing a sense of comradeship or friendship and mutual respect which seems to be lacking a great deal. Without these changes any large scale organization with spend much of its time in quarrels and mutual recrimination.”

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  2. For some reason, “the need for an Anarchist Federation” reminds me of the difficulty of “herding cats”.

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