immigration & a few random thoughts on coalition-building

found this article today on the christian science moniter, it’s written from a libertarian-capitalist perspective – you know the free-markets & open-borders folks whose rhetoric is consistently appropriated by mainstream republicans? Their suggestion for comprehensive immigration reform is the most sensible i’ve heard yet from anyone outside the anarchist movement: to open up the borders completely, welcome all immigrants, and consign the whole legal/illegal nonsense to the dustbin of history.

check it: http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0607/p09s01-coop.html?page=1

Which get’s me thinking – as a hypothetical question for all my anarcho’s out there in webland: why aren’t we working with these people on issues where we agree? anarchists have historically ended up in alliances with socialists on socialist issues (usually to our detriment), why not make alliances with libertarian capitalists on libertarian issues? check that article i put up on the political spectrum a few days ago. we’re leftists, sure, but we’re also libertarians.

In my opinion at least we – as a movement – need to assert our independence from the larger and largely authoritarian leftist milieu. work with them on issues where our analysis matches theirs but ONLY on issues where our short-term goals are the same. and the same criteria should be applied to everyone – left right or center.

Our proper place is not at the outer fringe of the left on a linear political spectrum, it is at the intersection of liberty and equality. Anarchism is not an extreme ideology, it’s common sense. So we need to stop acting like extremists and start being pragmatic about what kind of work we do and who we do it with. In the long-term view, after all, this isn’t about being right – or being left – it’s about finally winning freedom for humanity and ecological balance for our planet. So whatever means are effective to reach that goal should be the means we use. Protest politics are extremely effective in winning concessions from centralized power, but that is ALL they can accomplish. And we don’t want concessions from the centralized buerocratic powers, we want to abolish them and replace them with free confederations and local autonomy.

Put differently, if direct action means taking actions that will directly achieve our goals and our goals are the abolition of capitalism and state and creation of a political and economic system based on localized self-governance within a confederated network based on solidarity and mutual aid; then smashing windows, dropping banners, and attending endless mind-numbingly ineffective boring protests clearly are not direct action. Direct action would be taking on the – much more difficult and demanding – work of building real alternative anarchist institutions that can empower working-class people. The labor unions of classical anarchosyndicalism are only one of many forms that those institutions could take, and we should explore all the possibilities. Sure it’s hard, but who says anarchists can’t do hard work? Who says we can’t organize effectively? The capitalists and marxists, that’s who! and isn’t it about time we proved them wrong?

and, once we’ve got our own base of power, our own strength, then we can look at tactical alliances on single issues with people who share our goals on those issues. That may very well mean the occasional alliance with a leftist group, but it could just as easily mean alliances with libertarian capitalists and other “conservative” elements that genuinely want to see the power of the state diminished. But we’ve got to have our own base of power, our own institutions, FIRST. cooperation is only cooperation when it occurs between equals. As long as we remain fragmented and disorganized we’ll always be the fringe radicals in other people’s organizations and we’ll always be vulnerable to purges and repression. Ad that’s not a very good way to survive – let alone win! – a revolution.

That’s my thoughts anyway, i’m gonna get down off my soapbox for now and go do my laundry.

Posted: June 7th, 2007 under economics, politrix.
Comments: none