MEANDER QUARTERLY Newsletter of Evolutionary Anarchists @Liberty, Equality, Cooperation, Respect for Nature@ Vol. 5, No. 2 August 1993 <<<<<< SPECIAL SPUNK PRESS ELECTRONIC EDITION >>>>>> Please send all newsletter correspondence, material for publication, donations, and address changes to: Ed Stamm, PO Box 1402, Lawrence KS 66044 USA. Note: If you have a long essay or letter, if possible send it to me on a 5 1/4" floppy disk saved as ASCII text. I will return your disk. ANNOUNCEMENTS ELECTRONIC MAIL ANARCHY ZINE Correction: The E-Mail address for submitting material to "Practical Anarchy On-line" has changed to: Internet Bitnet If you want to be added to the list of subscribers (it's free), contact Chuck at: PETITION TO REMOVE STATUE A effort is underway to have the statue of Teddy Roosevelt removed from the grounds of the Museum of Natural History on Central Park West in New York city. Roosevelt is mounted on a horse, with an indigenous american on foot on one side, and an african american on foot on the other side, giving the appearance of a master/servant relationship. Contact: NANA, Chief-Chairperson Osceola, 137-35 Northern Blvd, Flushing NY 11345. BEE ENTHUSIAST FIGHTING DISCRIMINATION Garry De Young was recently asked to alter his presentation to the Northeast Oklahoma Beekeeper's Assoc., because some members of the audience might be offended by his reference to Andrew D. White's "The History of the Conflict Between Science and Religion in Christendom". He refused to change his text and refused to speak. "The Speedy Bee" refused to publish De Young's account of the incident, and terminated him as a columnist. If you would like copies of De Young's correspondence, send $5.00 to: Garry De Young, Box 76 - Rt 1, Stark KS 66775. INTERNATIONAL LEAH (LEILA) FELDMAN (1899-1993) Born in Warsaw, active in the London Yiddish-speaking anarchist movement, participant in the Russian revolution, organizer of an anarchist federation in Palestine, active upon her return to London as a supporter of German anti-militarists and of the anarchist movement during the Spanish Civil war, member of a collective with Spanish and other exiles in London, she was remembered by a gathering of her friends and comrades on January 7, 1993. (from "K.S.L.") FASCIST VIOLENCE IN LONDON "On the night of April 12, an attempt was made to burn down the 121 Centre. 121 has been open for several years as a drop-in and advice center, with a cafe and bookshop. The 121 collective has been involved in local housing and poll tax campaigns, as well as struggles against police violence and council corruption. They have consistently opposed fascism and racism." 121 Railton Rd, Brixton, SE24 London, England (ph 071 274 6655). The flyer also mentions that Freedom Bookshop has recently been attacked and damaged. TURKISH ANARCHISTS SEEK CONTACTS "In December 1992, a group of Turkish anarchists began publishing "Ates Hirsizi" (Fire Thief),....coming out of Istanbul, with articles mainly in Turkish, but with a few in English and Kurdish." Ates Hirsizi, Lodfarer Caddesi, Dr. Sevki Bey Sokak No. 4, 2 Sultanahmet, Istanbul, TURKEY. (from "Industrial Worker") ARTICLES AND LETTERS I would like to respond to the article entitled "On Social Anarchism" in the Meander (Vol. 4) #4, April 1993. In it Donald F. Busky rants on abut the history of anarchism and mentions such prominent names as Bakunin and Kropotkin. But as I sometimes call myself a communist anarchist I can't hold myself from objecting to what he writes about Kropotkin. First, a trivial note. Kropotkin was not, as Mr. Busky tells us in his article, a russian crown prince. He was indeed a nobleman and was at one time working as a servant boy at the russian court, but crown prince? No. However, this was not my point. My point is that Mr. Busky got the whole principle of communist anarchism wrong when he writes, "In other words, there would be an economy based on free production and distribution." The case is, that the communist anarchist economy would be based on free consumption, not free production. If you build an economy with the first principle being free production you get an economy where competition rules and you find yourself back in capitalism. To build an anarchist economy you have to regulate the production according to the demand created by the free consumption. No, this regulated production doesn't necessarily mean that you have to have a centralized state that takes care of the actual regulation. Instead, I favor the syndicalistic solution with a network of communes and federations where the regulation takes place within the network by means of constant "trade". If an independent commune desperately needs a lot of Dr. Marten's boots they tell the federation. In the federation a number of other communes are represented and one of them might just have a factory that makes Dr. Marten's boots and can deliver them to the requester. What is the difference, then, between this structure and the classical communist structure where the state handles questions of production? The difference is power. The federation in a syndicalist network of this kind doesn't have the power to decide anything for a commune, the federation is just a cooperative organization for a number of independent communes. I liked what Mike Thain said about living without taking much from the system and particularly what he said about not giving much back. Could you tell us more about your way of life, Mike? I mean, how is it possible to earn enough money for food and rent working just two days a week? Where and how do you live? What do you eat? This is indeed practical anarchy! I want to establish a temporary free zone in my home as well! Miekael Cardell, Sweden [When discussing economics, one thing which must be made clear is whether you are discussing a transformation of the existing economy, or creating an independent economy just among anarchists. My personal opinion is that any attempt to transform society as a whole is hopeless. A system of free consumption would quickly collapse from higher than previous demand and lower than previous production. Who would strive to consume less while continuing to work almost as hard as they do now? Only those who are ideologically committed to making the scheme work. It would be necessary to cut back on production of non-essentials, and increase production of necessities in order to meet everyone's basic needs. Most people are not willing to give up their goodies to help other people meet their basic needs or to slow the destruction of the environment. However, we would be unable to meet the basic needs of all the world's poor through our own meager anarchist production; we would quickly become impoverished ourselves. The maximum program of converting the entire world economy would involve too much bloodshed to even consider and then we'd have to set up a police state to maintain it. If we just do our own thing among ourselves, the necessary exchange mechanisms will evolve on their own through negotiation, and hopefully we will be able to co-exist more or less peacefully with the rest of society. Ed] ****** Caracas, May 20, 1993 Dear Friends: Recently we learned of your address, so we are sending the latest number of our "Correo A", and to let you know about our group and publication, we would like to point out the following: a) "Correo A" is a publication of Colectivo Circulo A, which is a socialist libertarian group working in Venezuela since the 80's, where an anarchist tradition did not exist until then. The first number appeared in Nov. 87 and we have tried to publish 4 numbers per year. b) We produce around 1200 copies that are sold at a rather symbolic price of US $0.23, and they are distributed in Caracas (capital city of Venezuela) and 12 other cities in the rest of the country. "Correo A" is not just the only libertarian publication in Venezuela, but it is also the only regular publication of the extra-parliamentarian left. Because of this it is well appreciated among politically interested young people wanting alternative points of view, in an intellectual environment where alternatives are few. c) Colectivo Circulo A tries to organize groups to discuss and act according to anarchist ideas and take part and collaborate with several social and popular movements. Even though we are rather few in number we try to keep a permanent and enthusiastic presence in our society, which we hope will develop a higher consideration of our positions. d) We have published a few booklets about anarchism and in December 1990 we co-edited with Editorial Recortes, related to the Federacion Anarquista Uruguaya, the book "El Pensamiento de Malatesta" written by Angel Cappelletti, one of our collaborators. We have some projects along these lines that will be fulfilled according to our possibilities. e) We keep postal contacts and we interchange publications with 55 libertarian groups in 17 countries. We are now trying with some others. If you answer this letter we shall be delighted to keep on sending our "Correo A" and to write articles for you in reference to Venezuela, Caribbean countries or Latin America. It will also be a pleasure to welcome any of you that happen to come to this part of the world, and to receive your publication sent to the address written below, and any other publication or contribution as well (in English, French, Italian, Portuguese or Spanish, of course). Everything we can get will be very useful for us because of our lack of information, except for the ideologically oriented mass media. You can send our address to any other group you wish and reprint any article of "Correo A". We are very pleased to know about you. We look forward to the beginning of a libertarian and brotherlike relationship. SALUD, ALEGRIA Y ANARQUIA!! (HEALTH, JOY AND ANARCHY!) Colectivo Circulo A (Circle A Collective) Our address: N. Mendez Casilla 25, Fac. Ingenieria UCV, Ciudad Universitaria Caracas 1040 VENEZUELA P.S. We received your "Meander Quarterly"...Thanks! ["Greetings fellow anarchists! I was glad to receive your letter and the copies of your publications. Unfortunately, I can only read English, some French, and a tiny bit of Spanish, but I will print your letter in the next issue of "Meander Quarterly" and ask for a volunteer to translate some of it for us. Enclosed is the latest issue of our publication. You sound very well organized. Here in North America, instead of having one publication with a circulation of 1200, we have 50 publications with a circulation of 100! That's an exaggeration, but not much. Actually, this decentralization is healthy up to a point, but we have no federation that includes all anarchists, no international bureau for contacts and translations, and too many big egos and extremists who are unwilling to compromise for the good of the cause. We give anarchism a bad name because we confirm the image of being disorganized and anti-social. Hopefully the example set by your group and our other foreign comrades will shame us into action, but I doubt it. If you are able to penetrate the iron curtain that surrounds the U.S., write to us and we can try to set up contacts in the cities you plan to visit. Kansas is nice but not very interesting. If you do plan to pass through, visit me! In Solidarity, Ed Stamm" If anyone can translate from Spanish to English, and would like to take a look at their publication, and translate some of it, I'll forward "Correo A" to you. If we did have an anarchist federation, it would also be nice to have a committee that would mediate disputes among anarchists. Ed] ****** "The target county for a(n electoral) takeover should be as remote and obscure, dirt poor & good-for-nothing as we can find, because we're probably going to have to fight legal battles with present residents & I'd prefer to fight weak opponents....I envision some 200 or more voters moving to a place, associating mostly among themselves & with whatever locals are compatible, if any are; if not, avoid them....I agree it would not be easy to attract 200 freedom-seekers to "the middle of nowhere." If we're only willing to try what's easy, we may as well quit right now." Jim Stumm (from "ABAPA Freer") [The county he favors is Esmeralda in Nevada (pop. 1343 with 806 voters in a recent election). This discussion is taking place mostly among Libertarians, and includes other strategies as well. One problem anarchists would have with this plan is that we are mostly wage-slaves, not self-employed or professionals who can tele-commute. We probably would need to be within commuting distance of at least a medium sized city. If we got involved in such an effort, we could set up our own town independent of the Libertarians, but within the same county. Ed] ****** "Imagine for a moment that you are visiting a plant nursery. You hear a commotion outside, so you investigate. You find a young assistant struggling with a rose bush. He is trying to force open the petals of a rose, and muttering in frustration. You ask him what he is doing, and he explains, "My boss wants all these roses to bloom this week, so last week I taped all the early ones, and now I'm opening the late ones." You protest that every rose has its own schedule of blooming; it is absurd to try to slow down or speed this up; it doesn't matter when roses bloom; a rose will always bloom at its own best time. You look at the rose again, and see that it is wilting. But when you point this out, he replies, "Oh too bad, it has genetic dysbloomia. I'll have to call an expert." "No, no!" you say. "You caused the wilting. All you needed to do was meet the flower's needs for water and sunshine, and leave the rest to nature!" You can't believe this is happening. Why is his boss so unrealistic and uninformed about roses? Such a scene would never take place in a nursery, of course, but it happens daily in schools. Teachers, pressured by their bosses, follow official timetables which demand that all children learn at the same rate, and in the same way. Yet children are no different than roses in their development: they are born with the capacity and desire to learn, they learn at different rates, and they learn in different ways. If we can meet their needs, provide a safe, nurturing environment, and keep from interfering with our doubts, anxieties, and arbitrary timetables, then - like roses - they will bloom at their own best time." Jan Hunt (from "LUNO") ****** "When they came for the Fourth Amendment I didn't say anything because I had nothing to hide. When they came for the Second Amendment I didn't say anything because I didn't own a gun. When they came for the Fifth and Sixth Amendments I didn't say anything because I had committed no crimes. When they came for the First Amendment I couldn't say anything." (from "Urine Nation News") ****** Mr. Ed Stamm: 5 June 1993 I'm going to be more fair with your than you were with me. You directed yourself toward me in the April 1993 issue of The Me@nder by saying, "Prisoners." Well, Mr. Ed Stamm, I do have a name. So because I don't fit your whimsy classification of "doing what people thought was right in a tight situation," that gives you the uppity right to direct yourself at me in any way you want? I don't have a split personality, and I'm not more than one person, yet being in prison does seem to give certain idiots the right to direct themselves toward me in very impersonal, look-down-the-nose ways, or, at least, they think it does. Fine! I'm used to it anyways.... From your comments of the L.A. Riots, I see that you're so blind to the rage that fueled them that you cannot even fathom the reason and force behind them. I guess you have never seen someone clubbed and kicked while they are handcuffed (other than on television), and much less have you been beaten in this manner. You have not had an unarmed close friend shot in the back and left paralyzed by a racist National City cop. You have not seen or lived in the barrios or ghettos that are rotting with poverty and inopportunity, where many of the young and old think of stealing, robbing, and drug dealing, not as a risk, but as a necessity, or as an opportunity. You have never felt trapped and been embittered with rage and pain where, like the lion or wolf whose leg gets stuck in the steel teeth of a trap, you lash out at everything and everyone and even bite into yourself.... Yes, you are so blind because you fear giving people with this rage hope and a new idea of what the future should be, because deep down in your heart you know that these people with rage will not just sit back and wait, but that they will transform this anger and hate into the energy that propels them into constructing and evolving a better future -- not tomorrow, not in 50 years, but today. You fear arming people with new ideas, with renewed hope, because you are complacent with your status and your position in life. Your are complacent with the myriad of jails and prisons that surround you. Your are complacent with the schools that strangle ideas, and that efface the voices of those that struggle for the betterment of society. You don't seek evolution; you tenaciously seek listlessness. If you remember correctly, the reason that I spoke out first was to address your specious assumption that prisoners were criminals that shouldn't burden the pocketbooks of the opposition since they lacked andy redeeming qualities. That is unless they fell under certain of your flimflammations. Information that edifies, and that gives a person a better understanding of the world, and that empowers him with hope and ideas, does not belong to any particular class of people -- it belongs to all! Why do you want to deny this information to the people that are more inclined to listen, and that have the most time to reflect on themselves and on the world? To the complacent, it is but a mere hobby when it comes to social change, but to the forlorn it is a hope that they will grasp with all their human strength and power of the mind. What do you really want Mr. Ed Stamm, criminals who seek to sate themselves with greed, or people struggling with the new hope in the hearts for a better tomorrow -- for all? Con safos, Jaime Enrique Baxter, 88410-012 F.C.I., 8901 S Wilmot Rd, Tucson AZ 85706. [Dear Mr. Baxter, I apologize for not addressing you personally. I was commenting on the general topic of prisoners, and I used your case as a general example. Still, I should have addressed you by name. The L.A. riots seemed to be fueled more by the desire for consumer goods than by anger. Most participants were too busy looting to liberate territory, unless you consider carrying off athletic shoes, jewelry, electronics and alcohol to be expressions of rage. I worked in fast food, landscaping, and restaurants for many years before I finally got a clerical job. I guess some victims of the system are above these sorts of occupations. I'm not arguing that the existing system is fair, but it is possible to eek out a living under the present harsh conditions without resorting to crime. Just because someone feels criminal activity is justified does not mean it is. We must have objective standards or we'll all be preying on one another. I feel my efforts are worthwhile. At least I can say I have pursued this cause without hope of personal gain, in my own precious free time away from my job, at the expense of my family, without placing a burden on the movement. If we had unlimited resources, we could send free subscriptions to everyone who requests one. But since we don't (see our deficit on the financial statement) we have to carefully choose who to send it to. I personally feel that prisoners, in general, are a bad choice, because of the anti-social tendencies that landed them in prison. I still feel that common criminals do not deserve political prisoner status. Apparently few prisoners retain an interest in anarchism once they are out, because they drop off the mailing list and do not bother to keep in touch. Ed] ****** "BEHOLD A PALE HORSE" "The (Kate Sharpley Library) has been fortunate enough to get a video cassette of the film "Behold a Pale Horse". Starring Gregory Peck as the "bandit", Anthony Quinn as the head of the Guardia Civil and Omar Sharif as the priest, anarchists will have missed it when it was shown as a film, with no A. mag then appearing to call attention to it. It is a portrayal of the Spanish resistance (though it only refers to Republicans and Nationalists and you could be forgiven for not realising it was a picture of the CNT struggle against fascism, if you didn't know too much about Spain)." (from "K.S.L.") [How many of you recognized the "crazy" chained prisoner on the train in "Dr. Zhivago" as an anarchist? (He was played by a famous German actor, whose name escapes me). Ed] ****** Dear Ed: 06/14/93 Hi. There has been a lot of slagging about what I said in a past issue, about monkeywrenching and shoplifting. I'm going to do something I don't do all that often. I take back most of what I said. But I will explain myself anyway, to try to set the record straight. First off, I did not mean we should intentionally create chaos. Rather, I meant if a minimum wage worker can't get paid enough to survive, he or she should not feel extremely guilty to tack back what they need from what has been taken from them by the ruling class. I guess I kind of thought that: 1.) if everybody did it, it would be impossible to get caught, and 2.) if everybody took what they needed, it would make little difference how much they actually got paid. In this way, logically, the poorer would steal more and the richer would steal less, and ideally everything would balance out. I guess it would be better to suggest such a concept to socialists, perhaps. But c'mon guys, lay off, this isn't my guiding philosophy. Aren't we all entitled to spout off our spontaneous crazy dreams on a whim? But when you get so analytical with it, of course you can pour cold water on it. But I really wasn't advocating violence and terrorism. I just basically thought if you're going to screw somebody to survive, it would be better to screw a huge, lifeless corporation than an individual, especially when your underpaid sweat goes into the building of that corporation. TO ED: "Newsletter of Moderate Anarchists"? Are "we" moderate? Since when? That would seem to be a euphemism for "Newsletter of Capitalists" or "Newsletter of Libertarians". "Moderate" is a political orientation - not for individual freedoms or corporate freedoms, but both, and therefore neither. Anarchists, as far as I can tell, are supposed to be apolitical, not middle-of-the-road. No need to pigeon-hole within anarchism, there are so few of us as it is. Leave room for everyone. Keep the subtitle as it is. PLEASE don't call us "moderate". ON ED'S ALTERNATIVE COMMUNITY: Ed, it sounds great. Have lots of like-minded people living in the same neighborhood. It might even work. But please keep in mind that anarchists are among the hated and feared (the cultists in Waco were hated and feared by the FBI). If you concentrate your forces, you turn many targets into one target, albeit a stronger one. Learn from Factsheet Five, as a parallel. Thousands of people depended on F.F. for all their networking needs. And one man, Hudson Luce, managed to wipe it all out in one fell swoop. But now people are wising up and spreading out, linking with more sources, creating a complex web of communications that can't be easily broken. I'm not arguing with your plan, a planned community can be good. I'm only questioning the idea of anarchist separatism in general. It seems the only way anarchy can exist is on a universal basis. That's why we're "evolutionary anarchists" isn't it? Because we realize that anarchism has to first become widely accepted before it can truly be practiced. The people must be enlightened before they can reform. SOCIALIZED HEALTH CARE: I'm all for it. Right now I'm out of school for a year and I don't work full-time, so I have no health care at all. Government sponsored health care couldn't be any worse than the corrupted political entity known as the health industry is now. Why couldn't the government support health care as a last resort, but also allow private doctors to compete with them? At least I could get a prescription for antibiotics if I get bronchitis without paying well over a hundred dollars. Plus, then the private doctors wouldn't have to go through the political rigamarole involved with Medicare. Maybe it could work something like the legal system, where poor people can at least get a crappy public defender - better than nothing. Americans are so brainwashed into fearing anything socialized. They try to ignore socialism as it pertains to the postal service and national parks. The Soviet Union gave socialism a bad name by mixing it with totalitarianism, but it doesn't have to be like that, does it? Socialism seems to be the next potential step towards anarchy, as it dismantles the class system. Well Ed, keep up the good work. Oh yeah, one more thing. A lot of people seem to think that if someone sends an essay or whatever to a publication, and the editor chooses not to print it for whatever reason, or edits it for clarity or any other reason, that this can be somehow considered censorship.....But as editor, it is your responsibility to pick and choose....Of course, editing should not change the meaning or context of the writing, but otherwise it is usually necessary to edit. In other words, you should feel free to print only parts of letters if you wish, and leave out the ones that don't particularly add to the content of the zine. I guess this regards your offer to send copies of the letter and essay you left out. Authority and Obedience, Mike Thain [We really should not spout off crazy ideas, because no one is going to listen to us if we do. An economy based on theft would not last very long. No one is going to produce anything if they know it will be stolen. People have to have some faith that if they work to attain something, they have a chance of attaining it and it will not be taken away. Otherwise you end up with everyone screwing over everyone, i.e. chaos. The reason things are getting so bad here in the U.S. is that people are losing hope of achieving their goals through honest labor. If you're "unskilled", you have trouble finding work. If you do have a job, you may be laid off. If you don't get laid off, about 25% of your pay goes to taxes, which isn't counting sales tax, property tax, license fees, telephone tax, etc., etc. I believe that changing society as a whole is beyond our means, and a waste of our effort since most of the population doesn't appreciate our vision. Better to concentrate on getting our own system going. My definition of "moderate" is as follows: "Thoughtful; balanced; not excessive or extreme". Those of us who do not support criminal, irresponsible, crude or extreme views and measures need our own forum for discussion. Does the movement really need another "Fifth Estate", "Anarchy", "Open Road", "The Match", "Bayou La Rose", or "Love and Rage"? Moderate anarchists are anarchists who think about long term goals, sustainability, how our actions and words appear to non-believers, and especially the right of other individuals to be non-believers. We are not satisfied with spouting dogma or praising any desperate act of sabotage or violence. One very major distinction is that we do not advocate the use of violence by a minority to transform society. Some groups claim to represent the majority, but the majority does not seem to share their enthusiasm. Transforming society as a whole, through a violent revolution, is a dangerous fantasy that will not play out as expected. We need to "win people over instead of winning over people". If society uses violence to attempt to exterminate us however, then our response may be a rational, controlled, organized, and self-disciplined use of violence to defend our community. But not a chaotic gaggle of individuals going off half-cocked with no clear objective. We may decide that fleeing the country or going underground are better tactics if we are not sufficiently numerous or organized to put up a decent struggle. Hopefully this is not a scenario we will have to face, but we do need to think about it. I am not proposing a rigidly organized anarchist "compound". I just want us to be in the same neighborhood, and have people organize themselves as they see fit. If our community approach is successful, a violent suppression would be unlikely. It would be much more costly than the suppression of a small, fanatical cult. The government would have to suppress an entire, diverse community. If the government picks up the tab for only those people with no private health care, then we'll have the usual scenario where all the paying customers go to private industry, and the government gets all those who can't pay. No wonder the national debt is so large. Anything that produces revenue is privatized and anything that loses money is socialized! Who is paying for the bank failures? The tax payers. All of our natural resources like timber, minerals, and oil are either sold to or leased by corporations while the taxpayers get stuck paying for the wars and cleaning up the messes. Our health is destroyed by our jobs, but we pay the medical bills. We pay to be taxed, policed, ordered about, and drafted, to paraphrase Prudhomme. I want out of this scam. The post office and the national parks are also bad examples of socialism. They are bureaucratic and antagonistic towards the people they serve. This seems to be a recurring phenomenon in socialist systems, one we will need to work on. I try not to edit, because it is easy to edit out views one disagrees with or views which are not especially interesting to the editor. The editor should be more like a technician than a shaper of the discussion. However I do agree that a small portion of the material submitted either doesn't fit the zine, is obviously the work of a crazed mind, or is simply offensive and not worthy of discussion. I do try to list all the material that is submitted but not printed, so that readers can decide if I made the right decision. I use a .... to show where a letter has been trimmed, and I keep the originals in case someone requests a copy of the unedited version. I did slip this issue when I threw away some literature which crudely accused a certain ethnic group of secretly controlling society. I felt at the time that it was not even worthy of mentioning, but readers should at least have the right to know that censorship is taking place. I did, in effect, censor those views out of the discussion. Unlike Joffre Stewart's rants, which caused such a controversy in the SRAF Bulletin, these flyers contained not even a grain of valid criticism mixed in with the racist theories. Joffre was at least a self-proclaimed anarchist, somewhat thoughtful in a nutty way, and a rare black anarchist at that. I would no longer favor publishing Joffre's material (which I did at the time), but I would make it available to those who requested it. Should we trust each new editor's discretion, or would readers prefer to have available copies of all material not published? Ed] ****** Dear Ed, for the Meander, I think your proposal for a network of moderate anarchists is an excellent idea. To me anarchy is a lifestyle or better yet an attitude toward life. All the old lefty stuff about being politically correct and serious politics and ideology is the opposite of what I want in my life. Sure anarchy is the free expression of living spirit, but the way Fred Woodworth puts it (The Match #88 p. 70) for example makes things hard, even sort of ugly. These sorts of attitudes only assure that anarchy remains valid for a small group of individuals who are a curiosity but not part of [the] mainstream. The answer is not political but one of life style and a question of ethics. If our lives are important to live then lets not sacrifice ourselves to politics. I don't know how you plan to bring people together in a common community, but it is a good idea as long as you are able to build sound relationships with the larger community around you. I have already many years invested in this community (The Lardeau Valley) and would find it hard to move although I could support such an effort somehow. There are a few anarchist types around here and we are working towards lofting our social ideals into reality, some of us have land which can be used and some of us have skills which can be shared etc. For example, a woodfired brick oven bakery is being built on one location. These ovens are large enough to be commercially viable and the bread produced is excellent. It is also a good commodity to barter, exchange or even give away. We also have in operation a flour mill which is big enough to supply the needs of several ovens or bakeries. We hope by getting things like this going we can redefine the economics of the valley. Other self-sufficient kinds of economies are also developing (by economy I mean the flow of goods and providing of services, not the exchange of money). Politics is an authoritarian way to control labor and economies, why not just do it yourself as an expression of your own life, a form of direct action? "Any Time Now" is a publication project intended to be of relevance to anybody who wishes to explore a life affirming process of liberation. Subscriptions are 4 issues for $4.00. Write to "Any Time Now", Argenta B.C., V0G 1B0 Canada. For Peace and Freedom, Dick Martin [Are there jobs available in your community for those of us who are dependent on outside income? Are there really enough potential customers for the bread you will be baking to support more than a few people? Are there any urban areas nearby where jobs are available? It sounds like you have many excellent projects in the works, but I think your community could only be seriously considered as a location for our neighborhood if the answer to at least one of these questions is "yes". Not many of us are skilled enough to be self-employed, or tough enough, or single and childless enough to live at the poverty level, especially if we are doing better in regular jobs. But if we located near a decent sized city, you would have the anarchists with wage slave jobs as customers for your bread, not to mention being a more visible example to the general public of successful cooperation. Would you like to be added to the Affinity Group of Moderate Anarchists address exchange list? Ed] ****** It seems to me that the various kinds of anarchists and libertarians are wasting lots of energy arguing about which arm of the octopus is most dangerous. Even worse are the Left fascists and Right fascists who try to make a pet of a particular arm and feed it in hopes that it will limit the other arms. Can't we consense that ALL arms are dangerous and need to be (at least) drastically shrunk - and get on with it? I think "anarchist" is no longer a useful label, except for those who DO want chaos (the popular image). "Libertarian" isn't good either, except for the Libertarian Party. "Voluntaryist" gets confused with volunteering - not quite the same. We need a new term. The most confusing terms of all are "anarcho-socialist" and "anarcho-capitalist". Of course the people who so label themselves don't have in mind recent U.S.S.R or U.S. systems. But why take a term with a bad public image and try to redefine and idealize it? STUPID! Pat of "ABAPA Freer" [There are actual differences between anarchists and libertarians, mostly based on legitimate differences of opinion about what the best form of society would look like. We are "fellow-travellers" on some issues, but completely opposed on others. It would be nice if we could set aside our differences and work together on the issues we agree on. But this is not as simple as it sounds. Libertarians would like to have no restrictions on private property while anarchists would like to see collective ownership of the means of production. If we focus on society as a whole, we're deadlocked. But if we established a "free zone" together, people could participate in whichever system they choose. As far as calling ourselves "anarchists", this has been a continuing controversy in our movement. I think there are two reasons we stick with this term. First, the anarchist movement has a history that most of us feel we are an extension of. Second, the term very clearly distinguishes us from other groups whose programs may appear to be similar to ours, but who lack the love of freedom that is central to our beliefs. Ed] NEWS BRIEFS 209 TOY WORKERS PERISH IN FACTORY FIRE A fire at the Buddha Monthon toy factory in Bangkok, Thailand killed 209 workers and injured 500 more. All but one of the exits were locked when the fire occured, trapping the workers inside. The factory was partly owned by Kader Industries, a Hong Kong export company that sells toys to Hasbro, Fischer-Price, Tyco and Toys-R-Us. (from "Industrial Worker") BOYCOTTS Newspaper Guild #3 (AFL-CIO) has called for a boycott of "U.S. News & World Report" and "The Atlantic" to counter the union busting tactics of owner Mortimer Zuckerman. For more info contact the union at 133 W 44th St, New York NY 10036. Teamsters Local 636 has called a boycott of the Iron Age Protective Shoe Company, which makes steel-toed boots. For more info write the union at 616 Chartiers Ave, McKees Rocks PA 15136 or call (412) 331-3208. (from "Industrial Worker") FINANCIAL STATEMENT Balance before V5N1 -25.00 INCOME (prior to V5N1) Contributions 18.00 Paid Ads 0.00 EXPENSES (V5N1) Computer Typesetting -20.77 Laser Printing -13.80 Printing -58.75 (130 copies) Sales Tax -4.65 Domestic Postage -30.74 (106 copies) International Postage -19.93 (16 copies) Remail Returned V5N1 -0.72 Remail Returned V4N4 -0.87 Balance (before V5N2) -157.23 INCOME (prior to V5N2) Contributions 48.32 Thanks to: Thomas Cooper, Jaime Enrique Baxter, Ed Stamm, Lee Rivers, Mike Thain Paid Ads 1.00 Balance (before V5N2) -107.91 ======= In an effort to cut expenses, I did this issue on my own PC and dot-matrix printer, saving us the expense of typesetting and laser printing. I will itemize expenses for this issue in the next issue. If anyone is not interested in receiving "Meander Quarterly", please let me know so I can take you off the mailing list. If you know anyone who you think would be very interested in receiving this publication, have them write me. If you appreciate this zine and haven't made a contribution recently, please consider doing so - every little bit helps. The cost of production and distribution is about $0.75 a copy (includes printing and postage only - labor is donated). ADVERTISE IN "MEANDER QUARTERLY"! Paid advertisements about 1/4 of a page (2" x 4") will be accepted at the rate of $2.00 per issue. Ads will appear together near the last page. This is a no-profit operation and any excess funds will be passed on to the new publisher next year. Some ads may appear free, as a public service or on an exchange basis. Circulation is about 125. OTHER BUSINESS POSTAL ADVICE - F.Y.I. Some copies of the last MQ were returned for 10 cents postage due because the zine was classified by zealous postal officials as oversized mail. They measure the mail according to the direction the address label runs. Mail is allowed to be wide, but not very tall. Because of the way I attached the mailing labels, the zine was considered too tall. Luckily this rule doesn't seem to be too strictly enforced, or else I would have gotten them all back (whew!). Also, mail going to Canada and Mexico needs to be in envelopes. NO CURRENT ADDRESS If you are in touch with any of the following, have them send us their new address if they would like to get back on the mailing list: John McGreevy Mike Kolhoff ITEMS SUBMITTED FOR PUBLICATION BUT NOT PUBLISHED Readers can send a self-addressed stamped envelope (SASE) plus the duplication fee (stamps are ok) and I will send you a copy of the items you request: Poems by Thomas Alexander Cooper (5c) Promotional flyer from Ernest Mann (10c) OTHER PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED ABAPA Freer, c/o Pat, PO Box 759-MQ, Veneta OR 97487. Forum for seekers of individual freedom. Any Time Now, Affinity Place, Argenta B.C., V0G 1B0 CANADA. Ideology, compassion, electoral anarchism, war and social evolution, panarchy. Mail order anarchist literature. Discussion Bulletin, PO Box 1564, Grand Rapids MI 49501 Forum for "non-market, anti-statist, libertarian socialists". The Fire Fly, PO Box 1077, Mission SD 57555. Teaching and raising children, praise for Cuba, dialog explaining anarchism. Industrial Worker, 1095 Market St Ste 204, San Francisco CA 94103. Tabloid of the Industrial Workers of the World. Labor news and commentary. K.S.L., Bulletin of the Kate Sharpley Library, BM Hurricane, London WC1 3XX ENGLAND. Historical essays on anarchism, pamphlets, books, archives/library. LUNO, c/o Gene Lehman, 31960 SE Chin St, Boring OR 97009. Alternative educational strategies and commentary. The Match!, PO Box 3488, Tucson AZ 85722. Anarchist magazine focusing on individual rights. People's Culture, Box 5224, Kansas City KS 66119. Women in Literature, Art and Action; Russia; the most recent split in the Communist Party USA. Permafrost, Karl Myers, PO Box 339, Seattle WA 98111-0339 Personal experiences of the editor and his observations on life. Practical Anarchy, PO Box 173, Madison WI 53701-0173. News, events, reviews, and discussion of topics of interest to anarchists (and librarians). The Urine Nation News, Digit Press/imageTECH, PO Box 2149, Roswell GA 30077. Against drug testing and in favor of legalizing hemp (a.k.a. marijuana). Yello Submarine, PO Box 81, Elmira NY 14902-0081 Raunchy humor, cartoons and populist politics. Interesting reprints from other zines. ADVERTISMENTS SOCIALIST LITERATURE Philadelphia Solidarity, "a group of socialists attracted by the concept of anti-hierarch- ical workers' councils and repell- ed by the bureaucracy of the vanguard workers' parties" has lots of literature available. Write for a listing, or send $5.00 for a sample bundle: Box 25224, Philadelphia PA 19119, or call Ben Perry at (215) 849-2765.