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Anarchist Quotes

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Anarchist Quotes

“At first glance, an alliance of anarchists and government might appear to be somewhat paradoxical. But the formal convergence in Oakland makes explicit the movement's aims: They're anarchists for statism, wild free-spirited youth demanding more and more total government control of every aspect of life - just so long as it respects the fundamental human right to sloth.”

FirstsHumansLongGovernmentMightMovementYouthAspectAimFundamentalsFormalGlancesAlliancesAnarchistSlothParadoxicalExplicitSpiritedAspects Of LifeConvergenceOaklandWild Free
Author:Mark Steyn
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“A long long time ago I took an oath to tell all secrets that came my way. Don't tell me a secret, I won't keep it. I'm against secrets, I'm against hierarchies, lineages, all assumption of special knowledge on the part of anyone in the presence of anyone else is abhorrent to me. I mean, I am a true anarchist first and foremost.”

WayFirstsMeanLongSecretSpecialLong TimeMy WayAssumptionHierarchyLong Time AgoAnarchistOathLineageAbhorrent
Author:Terence McKenna
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“Anarchism means all sort of things to different people but the traditional anarchists' movements assumed that there'd be a highly organized society, just one organized from below with direct participation and so on. Actually, one piece of the media confusion has a basis because there really are two different strands in the occupy movement, both important, but different.”

PeopleMeanTwoImportantDifferentPiecesMediaMovementDirectBasesConfusionTraditionalOrganizedJust OneParticipationDifferent PeoplesAnarchismAnarchistStrandsOne PieceOccupy Movement
Author:Noam Chomsky
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“Anarchism as the name for an ideal total social form is a really complicated question. I have never found satisfying answers from anarchists about the definition of the state they are opposed to. Most are opposed to coercive forms of state power. Questions about large scale systems of organization and how they will be funded - those are questions it's hard to get anarchists to give good answers to.”

GivingHardStatesFormFoundNamesSocialAnswersIdealsOrganizationDefinitionsComplicatedScalesSatisfyingAnarchismAnarchistLarge Scale
Author:Cynthia Kauffman
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“Anarchists believe that we can govern ourselves in the absence of coercive and centralized authority; the underlying premise about human nature (to use an infinitely problematized but necessary term here) is fundamentally positive. And the evidence that in disasters people are really pretty kind, generous, brave, resourceful and creative fed that.”

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Author:Rebecca Solnit
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“When anarchists are having a debate, they're having a debate about tactics, 'Should you do this?', 'Should you do that?' The question isn't 'Should you do this?', 'Should you do that?', the primary question is how do you build confidence among the masses of people who experience hierarchies, who experience exploitation, who experience oppression.”

PeopleShouldMassDebateOppressionPrimariesExploitationTacticsHierarchyAnarchistBuilding Confidence
Author:Vijay Prashad
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“I had relatives in New York City who I stayed with. And in those days, the area from Union Square down Fourth Avenue had small bookstores, many of which were run by Spanish immigrants who'd fled after [Francisco] Franco's victory. I spent time in them, and also in the offices of Freie Arbeiter Stimme (Free Worker's Voice) with anarchists. I picked up a lot of material and talked to people, and it became a major influence.”

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Author:Noam Chomsky
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“The communists basically acted as the police force of the security system of the [Spain] Republic and were very much opposed to the anarchists, partially because [Joseph] Stalin still hoped at that time to have some kind of pact with Western countries against [Adolf] Hitler. That, of course, failed and Stalin withdrew the support to the Republic. They even withdrew the Spanish gold reserves.”

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Author:Noam Chomsky
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“There's an interesting question, whether the anarchists had alternatives [in Spain]. If they did tend to support the government that had been destroyed, what were the alternatives? There was actually a proposal by Camillo Berneri, an Italian anarchist who was in Spain at the time, which is not a crazy notion in my opinion. He opposed participation in government and was against the formation of an army, meaning a major army to fight [Francisco] Franco.”

IfsGovernmentFightingInterestingOpinionSupportCrazyMajorsArmyNotionDestroyedAlternativesItalianParticipationSpainProposalAnarchistFormationFrancoFrancisco Franco
Author:Noam Chomsky
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“[Camillo] Berneri proposed that the anarchists should link up with the effort of Northern Africa to overthrow the Spanish government, carry out land reform, attract the base of the Moorish army, and see if they could undermine [Francisco] Franco's army through political warfare in Northern Africa combined with guerrilla warfare in Spain. Historians laughed at that, but I don't think they should have. This was the kind of war that might have succeeded in stopping Spanish fascism.”

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Author:Noam Chomsky
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“I would agree that much with people who accept private property - that conscription is an unpardonable transgression, whether it be "corrupt" or not. The Spanish anarchists opposed conscription during the civil war in Spain as a gross expropriation of property, the most precious property that we have, our own physical beings themselves.”

PeopleWarAcceptingAgreePropertyCivil WarSpainGrossAnarchistPrivate PropertyTransgressionConscriptionDuring The Civil War
Author:Murray Bookchin
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“I don't feel the individualist anarchists, particularly in the American tradition, including the Transcendental tradition of New England, in any way deserve the derogatory comments that are often made about them by the left. When one gets down to it ultimately, my anarcho-communism stems from a commitment to true individuality. My attempt to recover the power and the right of the individual to control his or her life and destiny is the basis to my anarcho-communism.”

WayFeelsMadeIndividualLeftDestinyDeserveCommitmentTraditionBasesEnglandIncludingIndividualityCommunismCommentStemAnarchistTranscendentalNew EnglandAmerican TraditionDerogatoryLife And Destiny
Author:Murray Bookchin
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“In my case I would emphasize anarcho-communalism, along with the ecological questions, the feminist questions, the anti-nuclear issues that exist, and along with the articulation of popular institutions in the community. I think it's terribly important for anarchists to do that because at this moment not very much is happening anywhere in North America.”

ThinkingImportantMomentsAmericaCommunityCasesIssuesHappeningsInstitutionsFeministNuclearAnarchistEcologicalNorth AmericaArticulationCommunalism
Author:Murray Bookchin
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“I've been criticized by many anarchists as believing that anarchism is impossible without affluence. On the contrary, I think affluence is very destructive to anarchism. If you are absorbed by that commodity world then you're not going to move toward any radical positions, you're going to move toward a stance of protectiveness.”

IfsThinkingWorldBelieveMovingImpossiblePositionContraryRadicalDestructiveCommodityAnarchismAnarchistStanceAffluenceProtectiveness
Author:Murray Bookchin
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“I would like to see a critical mass of very gifted anarchists come together in an appropriate place in order to do highly productive work. That's it. I don't know why that can't be done except for the fact that I think that people mistrust their own ideals today. I don't think that they don't believe in them; I think they mistrust the viability of them. They're afraid to commit themselves to their ideals.”

PeopleThinkingKnowsBelieveDoneFactsTodayTogetherOrderMassIdealsDon't BelieveCriticalCommitProductiveAppropriateGiftedAnarchistMistrustCritical MassProductive Work
Author:Murray Bookchin
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“Anarchists should get together who agree, and develop their gifts at a critical point, in a critical place, and form genuine affinity groups in areas where they can have certain results, notable results - not move into areas of great resistance where they're almost certain to be crushed, defeated, demoralized.”

ShouldTogetherMovingFormCertainResultsGroupsAreasAgreeCriticalGenuineResistanceDefeatedCrushedAnarchistNotableGet TogetherAffinityDemoralized
Author:Murray Bookchin
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