Archives: Blog entry

A <em>blog entry</em> is a single post to an online journal, or <em>blog</em>.

Extending the accounts of my North American speaking tour

Post date December 17, 2008

USA poster

In late 2007 and early 2008 I went on a speaking tour of North America of some 44 cities across two Canadian provinces, 18 US states and Washington DC. The start of my blog on this site was the entries I made for the 2008 section of my speaking tour across North America. However as the 14 or so weeks on the road were both exhausting and my access to internet was sporadic most of the entries made at the the time were very short. So over the last year or more I’ve popped in from time to time to edit some of these entries, in some cases expanding them to 5,000 words or more. Hindsight has allowed me to do some background reading but also realise that my tour was happening in the context of two significant events, the election of the first black president and the start of the capitalist crisis of 2008.

The politics of envy and inequality

Post date December 16, 2008

well, the bailout of the American car industry went ahead. Unsurprisingly, my suggestion that it should involve turning the industry over to the workers was not raised. Instead, it was used to attack the unions and the working class as a whole. To quote Senate to Middle Class: Drop Dead by Michael Moore:

125 years of the black flag of anarchy

Post date December 15, 2008

As well as 2008 being the 150^th anniversary of anarchist use of the word “libertarian” to describe our ideas, this year also marks the 125^th anniversary of the association of the black flag with anarchism.

The origins of RAG & the production of their magazine at the 2008 Dublin zine fair

Post date December 12, 2008

Last Sunday I staffed the WSM stall at the first Dublin independent zine fair and while I was there made an audio recording of the Revolutionary Anarchist Feminist Group (RAG) session at the zinefair. WSM stall at the Dublin Zine fair

Revolutionary Anarcha Feminists on their origins and the production of the RAG magazine by Andrew Flood on Mixcloud

Proudhon proved right!

Post date December 12, 2008

Proudhon’s “property is despotism” in action:

Barclay brothers tell Sark: you didn’t vote for us, so we’ll take our money elsewhere

Truly, the people of Sark need to be educated about the joys of a “new liberty” — how could they be so silly to demand a say in the management of their lives?

Can libertarian or communist be saved?

Post date December 11, 2008

This is something I ponder once in a while. Has the right succeeded (at least in North America) in appropriating the word “libertarian”? Has Stalinism ensured that “communist” be a word best avoided?

150 years of Libertarian

Post date December 11, 2008
16 Comments on 150 years of Libertarian

This year, 2008, marks the 150^th anniversary of the use of the word “libertarian” by anarchists.

Greece is the Word….

Post date December 10, 2008

Greece is the Word, AFAQ Launch, Black Flag and much more…

Well, volume 1 of an An Anarchist FAQ has now been launched. It was a bit strange to be in Glasgow without the family, but the event itself went well. Over 20 people, most of them new faces, and lots of good, if at times broad, questions (most of which I answered, I think). One comment was that I spoke too quickly, which is probably true but as it was in Glasgow I’m assuming accent-wise that was not a real issue!

60,000 demonstrate in Dublin against Education cuts

Post date December 9, 2008

Last Saturday I took part in the 60,000 strong protest march organised by one of the teachers unions against the education cuts that the government has introduced to deal with its tax shortfall from the capitalist crisis. I’ve uploaded a youtube video of the entire march with a voice over of an article from Workers Solidarity.

Buying An Anarchist FAQ

Post date December 9, 2008
1 Comment on Buying An Anarchist FAQ

Obviously, you can order An Anarchist FAQ (AFAQ) from any bookshop or any on-line bookseller. However, if you do then the publisher (i.e., AK Press) gets less money back in return (middle-men get their cut, in other words).

Normally, this is not an issue but as AK Press is an Anarchist publishing house then this means that they will not get that money to fund new anarchist material. Given its size and given that its price is £20/$25, every penny counts!