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+++THE ASSOCIATION FOR ONTOLOGICAL ANARCHY gathers in conclave, black turbans & shimmering robes, sprawled on shirazi carpets sipping bitter coffee, smoking long chibouk & sibsi.+++
'''QUESTION:''' ''What's our position on all these recent defections & desertions from anarchism (esp. in California-Land): condemn or condone? Purge them or hail them as advance-guard? Gnostic elite...or traitors?''
Actually, we have a lot of sympathy for the deserters &
their various critiques of anarchISM. Like Sinbad & the
Horrible Old Man, anarchism staggers around with the corpse
of a Martyr magically stuck to its shoulders—haunted by the
legacy of failure & revolutionary masochism—stagnant
backwater of lost history.
Between tragic Past & impossible Future, anarchism seems to
lack a Present—as if afraid to ask itself, here & now, WHAT
ARE MY TRUE DESIRES?—& what can I DO before it's
too late?...Yes, imagine yourself confronted by a sorcerer
who stares you down balefully & demands, "What is your True
Desire?" Do you hem & haw, stammer, take refuge in
ideological platitudes? Do you possess both Imagination &
Will, can you both dream & dare—or are you the dupe of an
impotent fantasy?
Look in the mirror & try it...(for one of your masks is the face of a sorcerer)...
The anarchist "movement" today contains virtually no Blacks,
Hispanics, Native Americans or children...even tho
in theory such genuinely oppressed groups stand to gain
the most from any anti-authoritarian revolt. Might it be
that anarchISM offers no concrete program whereby the truly
deprived might fulfill (or at least struggle realistically
to fulfill) real needs & desires?
If so, then this failure would explain not only anarchism's
lack of appeal to the poor & marginal, but also the
disaffection & desertions from within its own ranks. Demos,
picket-lines & reprints of 19th century classics don't add
up to a vital, daring conspiracy of self-liberation. If the
movement is to grow rather than shrink, a lot of deadwood
will have to be jettisoned & some risky ideas embraced.
The potential exists. Any day now, vast numbers of americans
are going to realize they're being force-fed a load of
reactionary boring hysterical artificially-flavored crap.
Vast chorus of groans, puking & retching...angry mobs roam
the malls, smashing & looting...etc., etc. The Black Banner
could provide a focus for the outrage & channel it into an
insurrection of the Imagination. We could pick up the
struggle where it was dropped by Situationism in '68 &
Autonomia in the seventies, & carry it to the next stage. We
could have revolt in our times—& in the process, we could
realize many of our True Desires, even if only for a season,
a brief Pirate Utopia, a warped free-zone in the old
Space/Time continuum.
If the A.O.A. retains its affiliation with the "movement,"
we do so not merely out of a romantic predilection for lost
causes—or not entirely. Of all "political systems,"
anarchism (despite its flaws, & precisely because it is
neither political nor a system) comes closest to our
understanding of reality, ontology, the nature of being. As
for the deserters...we agree with their critiques, but note
that they seem to offer no new powerful alternatives. So for
the time being we prefer to concentrate on changing
anarchism from within. Here's our program, comrades:
- Work on the realization that ''psychic racism'' has
replaced overt discrimination as one of the most disgusting
aspects of our society. Imaginative participation in other
cultures, esp. those we live with.
- Abandon all ideological purity. Embrace "Type-3"
anarchism (to use Bob Black's pro-tem slogan): neither
collectivist nor individualist. Cleanse the temple of vain
idols, get rid of the Horrible Old Men, the relics &
martyrologies.
- [Deoxy:tcrime.htm#work Anti-work or "Zerowork" movement] extremely important,
including a radical & perhaps violent attack on [Deoxy:creative.htm Education] &
the serfdom of children.
- Develop american samizdat network, replace outdated
publishing/propaganda tactics. Pornography & popular
entertainment as vehicles for radical re-education.
- In music the hegemony of the 2/4 & 4/4 beat must be
overthrown. We need a new music, totally insane but life-affirming,
rhythmically subtle yet powerful, & we need it NOW.
- Anarchism must wean itself away from evangelical
materialism & banal 2-dimensional 19th century scientism.
"Higher states of consciousness" are not mere SPOOKS
invented by evil priests. The orient, the occult, the tribal
cultures possess techniques which can be "appropriated" in
true anarchist fashion. Without "higher states of
consciousness," anarchism ends & dries itself up into a form
of misery, a whining complaint. We need a practical kind of
"mystical anarchism," devoid of all New Age shit-&-shinola,
& inexorably heretical & anti-clerical; avid for all new
technologies of consciousness & metanoia—a democratization
of [Deoxy:shaman.htm shamanism], intoxicated & serene.
- [Deoxy:prudes.htm Sexuality is under assault], obviously from the Right,
more subtly from the avant-pseud "post-sexuality" movement,
& even more subtly by Spectacular Recuperation in media &
advertising. Time for a major step forward in SexPol
awareness, an explosive reaffirmation of the polymorphic
eros—(even & especially in the face of plague & gloom)—a
literal glorification of the senses, a doctrine of delight.
Abandon all world-hatred & shame.
- Experiment with new tactics to replace the outdated
baggage of Leftism. Emphasize practical, material & personal
benefits of radical networking. The times do not appear
propitious for violence or militancy, but surely a bit of
sabotage & imaginative disruption is never out of place.
Plot & conspire, don't bitch & moan. The Art World in
particular deserves a dose of "Poetic Terrorism."
- The despatialization of post-Industrial society provides
some benefits (e.g. computer networking) but can also
manifest as a form of oppression (homelessness,
gentrification, architectural depersonalization, the erasure
of Nature, etc.) The communes of the sixties tried to
circumvent these forces but failed. The question of land
refuses to go away. How can we separate the concept of
space from the mechanisms of control? The territorial [Local:GangsOfAmerica
gangsters], the Nation/States, have hogged the entire map.
Who can invent for us a cartography of autonomy, who can
draw a map that includes [Deoxy:ct/whatyouwant.htm our desires?]
+++AnarchISM ultimately implies anarchy—& anarchy is chaos. Chaos is the principle of continual creation...&+++
[http://deoxy.org/media/HakimBey/Chaos Chaos never died.]
--[http://www.hermetic.com/bey/taz_cont.html A.O.A. Plenary Session, March '87, NYC]