Days of War Nights of Love: Crimethink For Beginners

A mixed bag of anarchist essays professing to teach the reader to think for him/her self. Very little new material contained herein made me wonder where I had already learned this stuff. Kurt Vonnegut, Earnest Callenbach and Howard Zinn came to mind. The writers of this interesting Adbuster/Zine like presentation understand the sociopolitical constructs that keep people from thinking for themselves, but I'm not sure the belligerent, disembodied tone of the articles actually allow readers to think for themselves either. The provocative creation of the word CrimethInc! implies revolutionary thinking, but it's really the same territory that artists, queers and outsiders have understood all along. Shoplifting is as much crime as it gets.

Still the analysis of capitalism and the bourgeoisie (better explained as what keeps people inside a middle class perspective) may be useful. The use of words like "bourgeoisie" brings to mind the Marxists rantings of young feminists I met at UC Santa Cruz and that just about captures the tone of this book - young, arrogant, privileged and lost. The only underlying raison d'etre I could find was the pursuit of happiness and encouragement to define that in your own terms. This anarchy thing, then, is just another face of the culture of hyper individualism that has eaten the West inside out by replacing meaning and purpose with individual happiness.

The section on work is telling. I was inclined to re-label the whole anarchist philosophy "looser think" based on how the rubber meets the road here. If the same desire not to work for "the man" were reframed in the hyper positive "do what you love and the money will come" language of entrepreneurs who want to "be their own boss", the freedom that these anarchists seek would cover the same territory only not nearly as successfully or as happily. And while entrepreneurs profess to help people and society in general, our anarchists, here, talk only of supporting each other. Bringing down the system is optional and only if you feel up to it.

I did enjoy the little historical stories of subversive acts tucked throughout the book like a scavenger hunt. The section on hypocrisy was genuinely helpful in addressing the tendency of activists to want to be pure in integrating our beliefs and actions. Also the bit about identity being the scarcity economics of self was a good critique of our tendency to be attached to political ideologies. A little gem in Jeanette Winterson's essay titled "Product is the Excrement of Action" hit close to home in her example of making art from experience.

Into The Forest

Back to the end of civilization, only now in fiction. A 15 year old girl living in a cabin with her sister narrates this account of how their family survived when the power goes out everywhere they know of, followed by gas and food shortages. At first they have their father to help them cope, but when they bury him it becomes a very grim tale indeed. I stay with it because of the details and because it is grounded in a no-nonsense practicality with a slightly progressive feminist air to it and no religious/spiritual/myth making baggage. It is also well written unlike a lot of fiction based on a contrived scenario and it takes place in Northern California just outside of Redwood so has a familiar setting. The grimness goes on so long that I start trying to re-imagine the story to help out our book loving, studious heroine. Then suddenly the story turns in an unexpected, but transformative shift and a new grace follows our survivors to a satisfying end. Written ten years ago.

Gut Symmetries

For relief from too much reality, Jeanette Winterson's cubistic, asymmetrical narrative of a love triangle does the trick. I selected it for its plot, the part where the mistress falls in love with the wife, but am equally entertained by the mathematical metaphors and the over the top family history of the characters. What plot is squeezed in is so outrageous that the images summoned become metaphors too.

Some in the lesbian community think that Winterson is intellectually pretentious, while others find her incomprehensible. Later I discover that she is one of the authors of a collection of anarchistic essays recommended by flickr friend coalandice. This somehow doesn't surprise me. The lesbian community was once a hideaway of anarchistic ideas, but now the youngsters just want to get married and have babies. Gack.

Planet of Slums

Nobody should have any delusions about the global economy raising all boats, after reading this. Fascinating details, thoroughly researched and footnoted. Has a Dante's Inferno quality to it as the author describes the conditions and peels back the myths about the poor and the neo-liberal free market solutions that have been bestowed on them.

This thesis exposes the fallout of the International Monetary Fund policies as it works its way through each third world country for the benefit of those fleecing the world for every last penny. Though I already knew about IMF policies wreaking havoc on local economies, agriculture and the environment, I had no idea that exploiting the poor could be so profitable, but because there are so increasingly many of them congregating in such concentrated areas, they are a large market for all the things that the IMF forced the host country to take away ie, housing, food, power and water.

One of the slums mentioned a number of times is Klong Toey which is within walking distance of my house in Bangkok. I never ventured into it, only drove past.

His parenthetical references to his sources breaks up the narrative a bit and he assumes that one should know where all these cities are. Quick where is Kinshassa, Dakar and Port-au-Prince? Being a British publication, the author may have assumed a higher level of education of his reader, but I appreciated the global sweep of his coverage.

The final analysis by the Pentagon is as revealing as their report on Global Warming was. Something here for everyone whether you fear economic collapse, terrorism or bird flu. A much needed perspective for anyone wanting to fathom solutions for planetary problems. Luckily he is working on another book about how the poor are resisting. After all, after the Inferno comes Purgatory. Would be nice to have a Paradisio too.