“The society which has abolished every kind of adventure makes its own abolition the only possible adventure.” Paris, May 1968


Saturday, 21 January 2012

What's in a name?

I have never been a great lover of political labels. Sure I've frequently referred to myself as an anarchist but more out of laziness than anything else. It saves having to explain everything all the time. I used to say that I was a libertarian until the term was expropriated by the right. Now if you call yourself a libertarian people will tend to think that you are big mates with Ron Paul and the Tea Party creeps. Well, in truth most people will express no interest whatsoever knowing full well that X Factor is far and away more interesting, more important and probably more honest than any politics. We have heard a lot recently about the need for an anarchist "movement". I'm not so sure. I tend to think that what we need is a mass movement and the end of politics as a separate activity. That's not to say that small groups of comrades can't have an influence out of all proportion to their numbers because they surely can. But only if what unites them is a project rather than an ideology and their politics is defined by what they do rather than any labels that may be attached to them.

1 comment:

Vintage Scans said...

Try telling people you're a red. Christ, those Russians have a lot to answer for. I'd get less grief if I said I was a disciple of Oswald Mosley.