MetaFilter posts tagged with anarchy

Never forget

7segment — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 14:49:08 -0800

Today marks the 5th anniversary of Marvin Heemeyer's killdozer rampage in Granby, Colorado. This resulted in the destruction of 13 buildings and an estimated $7 million in damage, a surreal heavy equipment duel with the police, and Heemeyer himself the sole casualty. Watch a fan-assembled montage of footage from the event.

REGULATION VACATION CELEBRATION!

bshort — Thu, 07 May 2009 22:09:33 -0800

Sick of all that socialism? Come to Somalia! Who needs health care, the rule of law or a central government? It seems to be a pretty minimal state, some Libertarians are eying it with interest and others think it's doing very well for itself. (via Fipi Lele)

...lay around that shack, 'til the anarchy comes back.

telstar — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 15:32:46 -0800

The Unabomber was right. Kevin Kelly explains.

Spontaneous rebellion alone is not sufficient.

divabat — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 12:52:44 -0800

The Revolutionary Pleasure of Thinking for Yourself

The Price of Anarchy

parudox — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 23:23:01 -0800

Braess' paradox and the price of anarchy [PDF]: "We had three tunnels in the city and one needed to be shut down. Bizarrely, we found that car volumes dropped. ... We discovered it was a case of Braess' paradox, which says that by taking away space in an urban area you can actually increase the flow of traffic, and, by implication, by adding extra capacity to a road network you can reduce overall performance." The Price of Anarchy in Transportation Networks is the paper mentioned in the first link — see that for maps of Boston, London, and Manhattan that show which roads were beneficial to block (individually) in a simulation. If you are interested in selfish networks and are not afraid of math, check out Selfish Routing and the Price of Anarchy (review) as well as this paper for some bounds on the price of anarchy.

Who is burning Athens?

taz — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 04:27:53 -0800

"Night of terror - Madness and lunacy in Athens" reads the headline of one Greek newspaper this morning; "Night of agony and terror - Athens, Pireaus and Thessaloniki at the mercy of hooded individuals" reads another, and the rest follow suite. Three days of mass protests, demonstrations... and finally rioting, rampage and looting across Greece have followed Saturday's fatal shooting of a 15-year-old boy by police in Athens' bohemian/anarchist neighborhood of Exarchia. #griots posts on Twitter have been following events as they unfold (and if you check out last night's twitter history from blogger thibet you can get an idea of the chaos as it occurs as he makes his way through central Athens). Many are also photoblogging on Flickr with the tag "griots". Live streaming news from Skai Channel (in Greek, but lots of street action; requires windows media plugin for FF) Not a few voices on the left theorize that official action (or inaction) are calculated to push the citizenry, historically wary of police action, into welcoming, even demanding repressive measures: As I write, parts of the historic center of the Greek capital remain a battle zone with police forces chasing demonstrators and several buildings set ablaze. This writer cannot help the feeling that the police is actually permitting, if not leading, ‘extreme elements’ to create mayhem in order for it to have a perfect excuse to impose a state of emergency or some similar package of ’security’ measures. - blogger st3pp3nw0lf Leftists protests and demonstrations are common occurrences in Greece, and even more dramatic anarchist actions are mostly tolerated explains former U.S. diplomat Brady Kiesling: "Greek police have limited power to use force against these groups because public sentiment will not tolerate it. This has resulted in a delicate balance in Exarchia, with neither pushing the other too far. Many Greeks cite the events of November 17, 1973 – a day that is still commemorated, when the army stormed the Athens Polytechnic University and killed a number of striking students – as a reason why the police must be restricted. ... The police stay out of certain areas, unless there's a major emergency, and the anarchists don't trash things badly unless there's a good reason," Mr. Kiesling says. But "once someone gets killed, the doctrine is massive retaliation." Others suggest that the relative savagery of this storm of rioting has been exacerbated by desperate asylum seekers who exist on the fringe of a society that is on the front lines of European countries inundated by refugees, but which has few resources for (and some say little interest in) supporting this unprecedented influx of humanity at even the most basic levels. Managing editor of the Greek Newspaper Kathimerini lets no one off the hook in his scathing and cautionary op-ed on the incident and its aftermath, in which he warns that all interests and factions, left and right, will try to make capital of "Anger's Teen Martyr" : The rising tide of anger and despair of the past few years now has its martyr, a 15-year-old boy whose blood will be used to bind together every disparate protest and complaint into a platform of righteous rage against all the ills of our society (endemic and imported). ... If Greece had already appeared difficult to govern, it will now be out of control, as we can ascertain by the government’s grovelling and the police force’s spiteful inaction in the face of widespread rioting across the country over the past two days.

For a Prosperous Tomorrow

streetdreams — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 21:15:37 -0800

Anarkon is a corporate collective comprised of the nations most innovative and forward thinking businesses, known internally as Affiliates. Our primary objective is to sell a long overdue revolution to the American public through an innovative branding and advertising campaign which will benefit today’s large corporations, the American economy and the consumer alike.

Wheels on fire, rolling down the road...

Blazecock Pileon — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 16:12:40 -0800

From New York City to Seattle, Critical Mass cyclists are not having a good week. In Seattle, some question the motivations of Critical Mass, some report conflicting stories, while others suggest foul play.

where the beer is not the life of the party

dunkadunc — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 14:13:07 -0800

What's Folk-Punk? Although celtic-punk groups like the Pogues, Flogging Molly, and the Dropkick Murphys may have been the first bands to combine punk rock with folk music, other groups have been crossing over folk music and punk rock for some time now. Focusing on anticapitalist, anarchist, and antiwar themes, folk-punk owes just as much to singers like Woody Guthrie and Phil Ochs as it might to punk groups like Black Flag, X, or the Dead Kennedys. Popularized through DIY basement shows and independent labels like Plan-it-X and No Idea Records, folk-punk has a small but growing following in the punk scene. While Against Me! was one of the most popular folk-punk acts before they changed their sound and switched to a major label, other bands like Ghost Mice, Defiance , Oh io, and This Bike Is A Pipe Bomb (previously) don't look like they'll be renouncing their DIY ethic anytime soon.

Put your money where your ideology is...

Arturus — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 19:22:32 -0800

Their factory was shut down three months ago. After occupying it, and reorganizing along anarchist ideological lines, the workers of Bike Systems GmbH are attempting to resume production. Now's your chance to place an order for a bicycle from a militantly anarcho-syndicalist, worker-occupied, self-managed factory in Germany. (via)

Anarchy Unbound

Falconetti — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 15:04:36 -0800

Who Needs Government? Over at Cato Unbound, Peter Leeson gives a spirited defense of self-government, which is followed by a number of responses from scholars, including a rebuttal by Leeson. Check the sidebar on this issue's front page for more discussion.

The Siege of Sidney Street

liquidindian — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 16:25:57 -0800

Gun crime on the streets of London? It's not new. Here's a tale of robbery, murder, revolution, and Churchill in a topper. First, the Tottenham Outrage, a factory robbery resulting in two murders, 27 injuries, and a bizarre chase. The villains are Latvian anarchists, a group who are trying to finance their revolutionary aims through crime. The next year, a plan to tunnel into a jewelers is botched, and attempted burglary becomes the Houndsditch Murders . The police investigate, and on locating the gang, The Siege of Sidney Street begins. The army is called in, and the Home Secretary pops by and assumes control. After much shooting, a fire breaks out, and two men burn to death. But neither of them is the mysterious gang leader, Peter the Painter, and the five later tried are all acquitted. Churchill, however, is guilty of showing off a bit.

"Almost true freedom."

Sticherbeast — Sat, 02 Jun 2007 04:00:44 -0800

Off The Grid: Life On The Mesa. A new documentary explores life in 15 square miles of northern New Mexico. With no cops, no official authority, and barely any understanding of who even owns the land, a special environment has arisen. Hippies, rednecks, and other assorted loners exist in either the last outpost of true American freedom or "the largest outdoor insane asylum" - and then they are tested by self-proclaimed revolutionaries with their own idea of how to run things. Check out the official MySpace page for the trailer and some clips.

An Introduction to Anti-Civilization Anarchist Thought And Practice

jason's_planet — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 12:06:06 -0800

An Introduction to Anti-Civilization Anarchist Thought And Practice What Is Primitivism? . . . Biocentrism vs. Anthropocentrism . . . A Critique of Symbolic Culture . . . The Domestication of Life . . . The Rejection of Science . . . Against Mass Society . . . Beyond Leftism . . . Rewilding and Reconnection

Spunk

serazin — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 15:25:51 -0800

Long un-updated, but still chalk full of anarchist theory, The Spunk Library (catalog indexes on upper right). Of possible interest to metafilter users: Maybe a "group" discussion dominated by two or three people ISN'T.

Froods and Leets and Yalms! Oh my!

ZachsMind — Tue, 08 Aug 2006 08:00:50 -0800

Anarchy Online is free until January! ...but is it worth it?

Food for thought

Smart Dalek — Thu, 27 Jul 2006 07:59:59 -0800

The new war on hunger. No strangers to controversy, the Food Not Bombs Network generated further discord while distributing meals to others. In the course of its work, FNB's food lines often neglect the issue(s) of sanitation disposal. In response, Legislation has been swiftly drafted to correct problem; feeding the destitute in public gathering areas has since become a criminal offense in a number of cities.

I had come to Spain with some notion of writing newspaper articles, but I had joined the militia almost immediately

Len — Thu, 20 Jul 2006 10:48:17 -0800

"I had come to Spain with some notion of writing newspaper articles, but I had joined the militia almost immediately." – George Orwell, writing about the revolutionary war which started 70 years ago yesterday: July 19th, 1936. Also: Anarchism and the Spanish Civil War. The Visual Front: Posters of The Spanish Civil War. Photos from the Spanish Civil War. Films from the CNT (National Confederation of Labour), 1936-1938.

Class Dismissed!

dinsdale — Sat, 10 Jun 2006 16:56:41 -0800

This year's Malinowski Memorial Lecture at the London School of Economics was presented by David Graeber, until recently an Associate Professor at Yale, entitled Beyond Power/Knowledge: an exploration of the relation of power, ignorance and stupidity. (PDF link) Although Yale declined to provide a reason for Mr. Graeber's recent dismissal, it's likely that his outspoken anarchism and activism, as well as his support for a union of graduate students, were influences in the decision. He explained some of his views on anarchism, "globalization", and, yes, hope for the future, on the Charlie Rose Show. (Youtube) Weekend reading assignment: Fragments of an Anarchist Anthropology. (PDF link)

A for Anarchy

homunculus — Sat, 15 Apr 2006 11:45:38 -0800

A for Anarchy: Exploring and enjoying the anarchism that many think was lost in the movie version of Alan Moore's V for Vendetta.

Visit Somalia!

goodnewsfortheinsane — Wed, 01 Mar 2006 17:10:50 -0800

Visit Somalia! Okay, so it has no government that is recognized by another country. It has a provisional parliament, though - but they usually opt to convene in another country's capital, over 600 miles away, out of fear. But hey, look at the bright side: They've got a minister of tourism, and he'll do his best to make sure you won't be kidnapped. No guarantees, though - it can still happen.

Governments should be afraid of their people.

John Kenneth Fisher — Sun, 24 Jul 2005 19:44:52 -0800

"...I don't know who you are. Or whether you're a man or a woman. I may never see you or cry with you or get drunk with you. But I love you. I hope that you escape this place. I hope that the world turns and that things get better, and that one day people have roses again. I wish I could kiss you."

--Valerie

The Dirty Punk Fuckin' Anarchy Machine !!

mr.marx — Wed, 10 Nov 2004 18:37:03 -0800

The Dirty Punk Fuckin' Anarchy Machine !!

_A_narchy in _O_ceania

plep — Tue, 17 Aug 2004 10:20:13 -0800

The Melbourne Anarchist Archives 1966-73. Part of an extensive site on radical history in Australasia.

Boobies for Anarchy?

danOstuporStar — Fri, 29 Aug 2003 14:35:50 -0800

Anekee, Anekee, I'm so confused. (WARNING: no nudity but probably NSFW and a Flash-only-site.)
What's going here? A beautiful (18+) teenage girl sell memberships to her site, presumably with the promise of revealing skin. Nothing new, right? But wait, what she really wants to do is Free Your Mind.™ Could her mission possibly be be true? (<< that link is definitely NSFW)