POLEMICH edinburgh university anarchist society I

A To Afflict The Comfortable, To Comfort The Afflicted A

ISSUE 1.FEBRUARY 2010.FREE.

"All rebellion

is fake" "E

very

one ow

ns too m

uch to d

o anythin

g"

WHO.WHAT.WHY.

READ REACT RESIST

"WE ARE ALL MIDDLE CLASS NOW"- John Prescott, then Deputy Prime Minister

"No one gives a f**k about anything apart from their own selfish life""Fill

you

r ho

me

wit

h an

yth

ing

you

lik

e bu

t you

can

't in

ven

t an

othe

r co

lour"

"Cult

ure

is a

che

queb

ook"

the middle

Richard James Edward

Polemic, Issue 1. February 2010. Compiled entirely using opensource, free software. All articles are published anonymously.

The working class have got richer, but so have the middle

classes. And so have the upper classes. More than that,

the gulf between those at the upper end of the scale and

those at the bottom has grown. It may be easy to

believe for you, but it is dangerous, it silences those in

real trouble. We are not all middle class now, it is a lie.

A lie that perpetuates apathy. Claiming we are middle

class is the wet dream of those who think that our

system is perfect. That it works, for everyone.

Anarchism is political humanism. Without some sort of quasi-spiritual faith in humanity’s ability to

act in its own collective best interests, our viewpoint is utopian and pointless. Many would argue that

it already is. Anarchism’s biggest critics usually take the line of its unfeasibility, that it is a nice idea that

is impossible in the real world. A quick perusal of the British Humanist Association website shows a

loose belief system based around the goodness of the human race, and our ability to govern

ourselves in the absence of a divine authority. That sounds a lot like us talking, and we would do well

to forge links with organisations that share the value that we hold distinct from more statist left-wing

groups. If the leap into the anarchist “faith” is akin to the adoption of some sort of belief in humanity,

does that make us a religion? Not exactly, and although it sounds like arguing semantics, the

distinction between “religion” and “spirituality” should be emphasised. “No Gods, No Masters”

remains a rallying call of the anarchist movement. This is more a rejection of religious authority than

of the spiritual concept of an intelligent creator, a belief which is personal and does not infringe upon

the liberties of others. It is, on the other hand, sad that the only reason some people do good is that

Faith in Anarchy

We are the newly formed EUAS. In these pages you will read words, words to make you think; to aggrovate, to challenge, to knock down walls. Forget thinking outside the box; destroy the box. Because if we do not challenge, we will never change. We are affiliated to no party, funded by no company, in line with no ideology, settled in no camp.

"Any dictator would admire the uniformity and obediance of the US media"

"The

mor

e yo

u ca

n in

crea

se fe

ar o

f dru

gs a

nd c

rime,

wel

fare

mot

hers

, im

migr

ants

and

alie

ns, t

he m

ore

you

cont

rol a

ll th

e pe

ople

"Noam Chomsky

READ REACT RESIST "If we choose, w

e can live in a world of com

forting illusion""The B

ible is one of the m

ost genocid

al books in history"

BUY.SELL.CONSUME

STOP THE BOREDOMSTOP THE BLEEDING29 teenagers fatally stabbed in London in 2008. Nearly all of themwere from backgrounds of poverty and destitution, growing up inestates you can’t escape. Places you only see from your car. WHOLESWATHES of this country exist with nothing to do. We are so SCAREDof the youths in hoodies because they represent the crass frustratedface of this system's failure, right there on our news screens

they fear the retribution of a divine judge. As anarchists we do not oppose spirituality

as a facet of a person’s worldview, merely the infringement of liberty, equality and respect by power-

hungry religious organisations. As a human-centred organisation, anarchism’s co-operative and

egalitarian focus is the vessel through which our power is channelled out. Humans are social

animals, and to work alone is to work backwards in the line of evolution. We cannot work with others

at all without believing at least a small part in their essential good nature, and this is the basis of

friendship. One needs no “incentive” to co-operate freely with friends. In the same way, free

associations of individuals as a part of a wider society are much easier to set up if transactions take

place between two people in mutual agreement rather than between two stacks of currency. It is hard

to cheat a person that you know. It is much harder to cheat a person that you respect. In repetition of a

familiar-sounding adage: We must treat other people the way that we would wish to be treated. Then,

there will be no call for any authority to make superfluous laws and structures of government that

serve only to solidify existing power. Anarchism is simply the faith that humanity can do this free

from coercion, violence and arbitrary authority. It is not a religion, nor a mere political standpoint. The

role of faith in anarchism shall continue to be debated.

The Supreme Court defines pornography by specific facets, including: if the work

arouses lustful thought and if the work has no artistic/literary or scientific

value. We recommend the Supreme Court sit down and watch the 16 minutes an hour of

soulless, sexed up ADVERTISING bleeding into American minds, leaked from their

televisions. We recommend the Supreme Court watch every white

face and every stupid man and every sexualised child in those 30 seconds of

hardcore selling, and consider the social relations they create as they

deaden the capacity to think. We recommend the Supreme Court

realise just how much the pornography of consumption is the

spine of the American dogma of capitalism,

re-examine the system, and start questioning

why the culture they sculpt propagates violence,

demonizes sex and oppresses "difference."

IN THE END, EVERYTHING IS RETAIL.

Defining Anarchism has long been a

contested issue often destroying all hope for

unity among Anarchists, creating a

multitude of mutually hostile sub-

ideologies, each attacking the other over

trivial theory. Noam Chomsky defines the

movement as “a belief that no structure of

authority is self-justified”. Yet even this

simple idea of being suspicious towards

authority doesn’t do the movement justice,

which has for centuries strived to replace

state cohesion, fascism and all inequalities

b DEFINING ANARCHISM

created as a result of the state

with a just society, based on

cooperation, equality, respect,

free from the boundaries of

structural authority.

In essence, Anarchism is a

return to the natural order of

mankind. Not in a new-age,

hippie-pantheistic sense but

as revival of society best suited towards humanity as determined by our

evolutionary history. As Peter Kropotkin

(pictured) argues in his highly influential

book, Mutual Aid; the vast majority of

animal species live in societies in which

they collectively struggle, not just for the

simple means of existence but against all

natural conditions unfavourable to the

species. Therefore the mutual protection

gained as a result paves the way for

obtaining experience, old age, intellectual

development and the survival of the species.

This shouldn’t, however, be understood as a

nostalgia for a more primitive society and

lifestyle as some green anarchists argue, but

instead as a jump towards the further

development of our species within the

framework of a sustainable and just society.

Indeed, Capitalism cannot be maintained

for much longer. The private ownership

over the means of

production and the ruthless

free market which leaves

millions starving, creates

horrendous profit-driven

conflicts whilst irreversibly

destroying our planet will

come to an end, either as a

result of popular will or by

force under the threat of

destruction due to the

coming ecological crisis.

What Anarchism offers, on the other hand,

is not simply a means of survival but a

system in which all people are free to

discover, build, research, work and devote

time towards any activity, any area of study,

any technology that doesn’t harm the

human species and our natural world.

READ REACT RESIST

"The power of the harrasser, the abuser, the rapist, depends above all on the silence of women."

Ursula Le Guin - "It is above all by

the imagin

ation that w

e achieve p

erception

and

comp

assion an

d hop

e."

"The Bible is on

e of the most gen

ocidal books in

history"

JUST PLEASE KINDLY STAY INSIDE THE CAGE...

READ REACT RESIST“Nothing is true, everything is permitted”.

Not in the classic nihilistic sense in which

the saying is often interpreted but as a

desire to break free from the constraints of

late capitalist society. To escape from

indulgence in only what is profitable, what

is deemed acceptable by a small elite, what

will lead to better career opportunities and

discover the unrestricted potential of

mankind.

And to those who dismiss these thoughts

as “idealists”? Of course Anarchists are

idealists! What is the shame in this? Isn’t it

preferable to be an idealist, to endlessly

strive for a equal, classless society in which

wealth is abolished and everybody works

for the advancement of society and culture,

rather than accept a abominable, inhuman

and all to bleak definition of “reality”?

On the 17th November 2009, 15 protesters gathered outside Old College, Edinburgh to

pressurise a NATO conference and express anger over NATO military action. Within five

minutes of their arrival, the protesters were banned from the university grounds and

boxed behind iron railings, surrounded and outnumbered by police on all sides. Uponstanding on the pavement to observe, police immediately began to film us. Forward Intelligence Teams thrust cameras in your face. Your only crime? Standing on the pavement. A policewoman approached us, "If you're going to protest, you need to get in the cage."Our government now refers to politicalprotesters as 'DOMESTIC EXTREMISTS'.That means if you voice your opinion you arenow no longer just an ordinary citizen, you area problem. What happened to the right to protest?

What happened to our democratic rights to the street?

This is no fictional dystopia; this is the reality in

the UK today. Did you know that 3,600 new criminal

offences have been introduced since 1997? Consider that

next time you think the law is objective."The state calls its own violence law, and that of the individual, crime"

- Max Stirner

"In a completely sane world, madness is the only freedom." - J.G. Ballard"Ever

yon

e th

inks

of c

han

gin

g th

e w

orld

, bu

t n

o on

e th

inks

of c

han

gin

g hi

mse

lf."

"If

you

wan

t to

be

hap

py,

be."

- Leo Tolstoy

OF COURSE YOU ARE FREE TO PROTEST

CELEBRATING CULTURES OF RESISTANCE: FILM FESTIVAL HOSTED BY THE ANARCHIST FEDERATION. 20/03/2010. 11.00-23.00, BANSHEE LABYRINTH, 45 NIDDRY STREET,

EDINBURGH. FREE ADMISSION.

It is possible for us to feed the world’s entire population dozens of times over but 6 million children under the age of five die of hunger

every year. Every day, ‘British’ people throw away the equivalent of 220,000 loaves of bread, 1.6m bananas, 5,500 chickens, 5.1m

potatoes and 660,000 eggs. We are complicit in our negligence. 840 million people worldwide suffer from malnourishment. In 2007-

08 India produced 230.67 million tonnes of food and yet India has over 200 million people suffering from hunger. Food should be for

necessity, not profit. This is the system you live in. Don’t pretend you have a ‘choice’ when you shop.

READ REACT RESIST

THE FORGOTTEN RURAL LIFEThe countryside is fast becoming the

residence of the few and the wealthy. The

rural economy has collapsed. The farming

way of life is increasingly held by an ageing

population that is rapidly decreasing in size.

Farms are owned by less people, worked by

less people, and riddled with ever growing

legislation with no prospects of attracting a

new generation of labourer.Farm work has poor pay, unaffordable housing, long hours, and strenuous labour: farmers have

one of the highest suicide rates in the country. The drive for economic efficiency has destroyed the

British rural economy. Mass production and monoculture in food production means that it is

impossible for Britain to feed its own population. The oldest, most basic and most necessary

process of harvesting food is becoming increasingly difficult in the one of the most economically

developed countries in the world. That is something urban dwellers sometimes forget. It is

something that needs to be changed. THOUGHT FOR FOOD

Nobody RANTS anymore. It's gone out of fashion. Art is now a product to be made

to be sold, to be bought to be consumed. A canvas print of an Anarchist A in

pink selling for 200 pounds because the original was by Banksy. Even

politicians no longer speak the speak of utopia; there is nothing to aim for.

Around the dinner table, when the talk turns to CHANGING something, eyes roll,

smiles break out. The word 'comrade' sounds like a joke coming from the mouth of

anyone under 50. The media placates us with stories of breast implants and

broken marriages. The music we listen to is so safe, so banal. Go get the girl and

sleep with her, that's all your aim is for today. Or perhaps you could become a

REAL radical and take some drugs, the system sleeping safely at night knowing

you are changing nothing but your own ability to percieve.

READ REACT RESIST

An interesting question was posed to me the other day, and although I had no trouble

answering it it made me think more widely about the role of anarchism in a democratic state.

The question was “if a hypothetical 'Anarchist Party' gained a majority in parliament, and was

thus in a position to pass legislation, how would you begin dismantling the state?”. Ignoring

the obvious practical improbability of such an event, let's consider where it might take us.

My immediate response was to laugh and point out that we would now have at least half the

country's population working together, and hopefully they would be some way towards

sustainable living, independent of the state. This would make our 'dismantling' of it

immediately superfluous, and such an 'anarchist government' wouldn't even need to formally

disband itself, it would just do nothing, a government or even entity in name only. Of course

there would be problems; I predict that a large proportion of those who hadn't voted for us

would be in some way involved with either the armed forces or the police, and would not take

kindly to their unofficial disbanding. But the point remains the same: by the time an anarchist

movement had the political power to enact legislative change, such change would no longer

be necessary.

This led me to consider my own attitude towards politics, and in particular voting. If it is

anything, an anarchist movement should be practical and not ideological. This is why, on the

whole, I disagree with those who say we should abstain or spoil our ballots. Even if it is a

corrupt and alienating system, it can produce at least short term goods, or prevent something

worse. If we're faced with two choices, I would pick the lesser of the two evils every time rather

than stand by and stoically observe in the name of 'principal'. All of this doesn't make me

some kind of self-contradicting 'state anarchist', however. Whilst partaking in the system I still

fully believe, essentially, in its eventual demise.

What it is important to realise is that there is no dichotomy between on the one hand trying to

bring about 'change from above', and on the other supporting the grass roots change that will

in time cause the organ of state to wither and die. I see a distinction between political and

social anarchism, the former advocating absolute defiance of the state and the latter a way of

life that aims to defy the prevalent materialistic obsession with ownership and greed. Under

these definitions, I am not a political anarchist. To be so, I think, is to stubbornly follow an

imagined doctrine at the expense of practical options that can make a very real, and

immediate difference to the lives of many.

An Anarchist State?

Hthe edinburgh university anarchist societyI

Join in the debate: http://euas.noflag.org.uk

"One must start with the impossible in order to reach the possible"

- Hermann Hesse

AThe Edinburgh University Anarchist Society was formed barely six months ago by a group of students who wanted a forum for the fermentation of radical ideas. We do not have a concrete ideology; even within our members, there are disagreements, there are arguments, there is plenty of debate. But we are united by our common quest to question, and to build from those questions answers for a better future. The main aim of the society is to pursue goals conducive to a free and equal anarchism in wider humanity. We hold and wish to promote the values of equality, liberty and respect, and these are the founding ideals upon which the society is based. To get involved in our discussions, come along to one of our meetings, every Wednesday at 3pm in the Forest Cafe. You may get a free banana. You don't need to be a self-described Anarchist to show your face; we're friendly people, we promise.

Response To The Student Editorial On Lesser-Known SocietiesWe’re thrilled to have been included. The publicity is of course welcome, and our

“subterfuge” of the EUSA indexing system wasn’t really done on political grounds, we’d

honestly rather have the free publicity from that, too. The stall was a success despite its,

ahem, unplanned nature, however illicit stall occupations were not the sole preserve of

revolutionaries such as ourselves! With regard to our footwear and coats, it was rather cold, I

seem to remember, and trying to turn over capitalism and the state is just miserable with

cold feet. “Menacing” wasn’t quite what we were going for, I’m sure. It’s good that we’re

finally out there, and the brainchild of the back first-year philosophy lectures is finally

becoming realised. We wore boots and trenchcoats that winter too. It’s Edinburgh.