I am at a disadvantage in terms of knowing what is going on generally in Milwaukee at least on a temporary and shallow level because I really rarely watch the news (maybe have once in the last year), or read the paper (I don't unless it randomly appears in front of me or I am looking for something that relates to activity that I know or heard happened and want to see how it is covered). But a shallow skimming would allow for a knowledge of "what is going on?" beyond the conversations that we have with our friends and the brief and seldom had conversations had with people on the street.

I'd like to brainstorm. In what ways should anarchists intervene in local struggles in Milwaukee? Is it even positive to do so, to see ourselves separate from local struggles as "anarchists" rather than just people who are also living members of a community of individuals? It seems it is necessary to participate beyond the separation of solidarity actions, but in direct participation in struggles that involve ourselves, and to involve ourselves we need to exist in an area larger than the space between work, school, our houses and the places we hang out, in order to participate and have a greater knowledge of the social landscape.

Where are the crisis's in our own lives and how can they deepen in ways that allow autonomy (from the state and capital, etc) and thus greater options for ourselves and others? I often feel that the Riverwest neighborhood has a much more autonomous culture than that of the East side and neighborhoods on the North side might be even more so, but sadly I lack the connections to really know. In these places it is not odd to manifest a hatred for cops, for capitalism, etc, or at least not to the same degree as it is in Mequon or the East Side. It seems it could be valuable to think about how this developed in order to help it expand and deepen, to go beyond merely hating to acting more and often.

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"From a certain point onward, there is no turning back. That is the point that must be reached." Franz Kafka

I think these are great things to be thinking about. I wouldn't, however, be too hard on yourself for not reading something like the journal sentinel (much less TV news which is worse than garbage) because it is has such a narrow scope of debate. I guess what I'm saying is, that reading such a publication can inform you about the world and about things going on in the region, but it only serves to activate citizens to go out and vote or consume(more) differently. (it does, however, cover quite a range of regional environmental issues) I suppose reading riverwest currents would do a MUCH better job informing us about struggles in our own, or nearby communities and when my JS subscription runs out I'll probably switch to that.

As I've said in the past, I definitely think that in order to become more autonomous we need to begin to learn ways to satisfy our basic needs (food, shelter, appropriate technology/tools). To me, this is the biggest crisis we face. (Un)fortunately, my friends and I haven't for the most part felt the pangs of hunger or the thirst for clean water. With over 50% of african-american males unemployed in milwaukee, I think that it's clear that many people in milwaukee do feel the strain of inadequate food and water. So. . .. Let's make a point to grow and collect as much food as we possibly can this summer!

As far as incorporating those who feel a need NOW for healthy food, I'm in support but at a bit of a block as to how to go about it. Sure, I could grow a lot of food and bring it to areas where less fortunate folks could take it for free but I don't like the charity aspect of this. I want to be able to empower others to have control of the means to fulfill their own needs. However, traveling to other neighborhoods and calling out that I'm going to make a garden and you should join me (for your own good) seems even worse. How can we go about reaching out and empowering ourselves at the same time? How, indeed, do we encourage the "fuck the system" sentiment that surely exists in other areas of milwaukee without coopting the culture and values that it sprung from?

At the risk of sounding selfish and inward looking, I feel like our community has a long way to go (in terms of building & learning the means to support our own autonomy) before we should worry excessively about reaching out.

I tried my hand at a bit of canning this past fall. This summer I'd like to grow a bunch of stuff and get even better at it. I also want to get more serious about foraging and learn how to make candles and maybe soap. The more of this we can do ourselves, the less we'll have to work to pay for it (or rely on dumpsters to provide it). Perhaps when we truly possess the knowledge needed to support ourselves, the community that so often seems apprehensive toward our ideals will discover just how much we have to offer.

(not that this will happen in a summer but we've got to start sometime)

making soap...a big yes...and save the glycerin for, well, you know. but as far as the media may go i'm more concerned about a thorough word-of-mouth-relevance in my direct community; rather than the dispossession of actual information in the surrounding cityscape. as far as not having been penetrated by the capitalist media: this, i think, is a virtue. spectacular lifestyle media generously presents an unfortunate circumstantial guilt to those that are not involved in "the loop"...but the loop consists of very cyclical logic and--despite the ayn randian philosophy of pure objectivism--opinions, and their wages, of the journalists make great citizens of each one of the spectators. i don't feel that anarchists are privy to being consumed by the propaganda of capitalist media, but i do feel that there is a danger of being turned into an opportunist or realist...and that is a further cooperative move toward justifying some parts of consumerism. we have a very inviting community of volunteer action and i feel that that openness is a generous detail on how anarchism can spread to minds that need more freedom. the more local the news: the better. reaching out isn't as important to me as being an inviting and ever steaming community toward autonomy.

i too see food as a good source for us to gain respect as individuals in a community. i've been a big supporter of "practice what you preach". the best way to educate/liberate others is to show that we are well educated about our liberation...if that isn't too redundant. a local publication would be a wonder. and suggestive adverts on how to voluntarily participate in the collection of free resources is also a good solution. entertainment and nourishment are welcoming and warming invitations. but i like to tell people that i get as much stuff for free as possible, and this intrigues others to see if they can do the same.

i think that mainstream, national, global information can bring an irrelevance to information and cloud the vision of whatever it is we need to discuss. communication is a needed resource and it has to become autonomous. so, communicate directly, and ignore the spectacular advertising of objectivity dusted with consumerism...which isn't really objectivity then, is it? tear up some roads too, but don't be co-opted by consumerist based medias.

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Mostpeople have less in common with ourselves than the squarerootofminusone.

Ifmostpeople were to be born twice they'd improbably call it dying--

I didn't mean to imply that people should take mass media seriously. Anything that is capable of mass infrastructually should in most cases be viewed extremely skeptically and critically, and not taken seriously. We know what is necessary for mass and what the desire for mass necessarily produces. In what other ways can we know what is happening in the communities that we live in, beyond just riverwest and beyond anarchists and their friends? I don't necessarily think that the alternative is for alternative media to produce on the same scale and logic of other mass info dispensing organizations. I think a better alternative is for us to have more meaningful interactions in the communities that we live in, and to engage in conversations that go beyond talk of the weather or trivialities. Again a return to the qualitative, but in the mean time I think it can be useful for what mass exists to be used a tool for us to have a more general idea of "what's going on", even if it isn't really what's going on.

Either way we're in the dark, but how do we make it brighter?

The autonomy of not depending on something (the state for protection, capital for our material and other percieved needs) is different than the autonomy of resistance which carves out spaces formerly occupied and opens them to new possibilities. They're interelated and depend on each other. Individuals are less reluctant to resist a system they depend on, but individuals are less able to be autonomous in contexts which allow for less options in providing for basic material needs, the support of friends and larger network and base of support (community), etc. These seem to be major themes of the Call. Resistance is possible to the degree that is materially possible in a given context, so the point is how to think of this in the context of milwaukee. How do we find crises, exploit and deepen them in order to build an autonomous context for further ruptures to develop? This doesn't mean we watch fox news, or necessarily pay attention to the news at all, but it means we must be more aware of our context and understand it well enough to act effectively.

What is our context? This is a start.

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"From a certain point onward, there is no turning back. That is the point that must be reached." Franz Kafka

in reading call again: "All in all, we would rather start from small and dense nuclei than from a vast and loose network. We have known these spineless arrangements long enough." setting up a local publication/periodical and inviting those to come who have similar intentions as ours would allow for us to be able to start a tight nucleous. gorilla farming would be an amazing step toward autonomy...but more importantly, in my view, we need to keep those who impose hierarchy on other out of our community--police, white supremists, mooches.

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Mostpeople have less in common with ourselves than the squarerootofminusone.

Ifmostpeople were to be born twice they'd improbably call it dying--

Agreed. I also like the permanence of a publishing project and the way it can tie folks together for years through shared effort on something to be proud of. Not that gardening isn't fun but once you eat the food, there's nothing to really take with you or show for it.

Sure seems like we've got a tight nucleus in this forum. . . almost too close heh heh.

I raised some questions that seem to be skipped. The purpose of the post I made was to talk about these issues.

Quote:

How do we find crises, exploit and deepen them in order to build an autonomous context for further ruptures to develop?

And how specifically in Milwaukee? If we aren't thinking about this, then we're fumbling around in the dark. Not to say that this fumbling isn't admirable.

I don't think gardening or creating a publication with a tight nuclei is a way to find crises and exploiting them. And although I like gardening and publishing and making known ideas I am passionate about, I think the idea or wording of nuclei seems a bit vanguardist or cliquish. I think what the authors of the call mean by this is building relationships of affinity rather than political/ideological obligation and using these passionate interactions as a catalyst for conflict, a reason for living, etc.

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"From a certain point onward, there is no turning back. That is the point that must be reached." Franz Kafka

This is a tough question which I'll need to give more thought to. It might be good to talk about in discussion as well to get more real-time feedback. Even so, I'll try to give it some thought before the weekend.

We could talk about it in real time during the discussion on "Call."

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"From a certain point onward, there is no turning back. That is the point that must be reached." Franz Kafka

mario_buda wrote:

I am at a disadvantage in terms of knowing what is going on generally in Milwaukee at least on a temporary and shallow level because I really rarely watch the news (maybe have once in the last year), or read the paper (I don't unless it randomly appears in front of me or I am looking for something that relates to activity that I know or heard happened and want to see how it is covered).

Police brutality, economic discrimination, porrr generally getting screwd over, people moving away from the city, self destructive violence in the ghettos...

Same ol' same ol'

Mario Buda wrote:

Where are the crisis's in our own lives and how can they deepen in ways that allow autonomy (from the state and capital, etc) and thus greater options for ourselves and others?

By supporting Marxism-Leninism!

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Anti-Revisionist Marxist-Leninist Hoxhaist

How again will a dictatorship of the proletariat (not by the proletariat, but by those who claim to speak in their best interests similarly to capitalist idealogs and state worshipers) create autonomy from the state and capital? If anything this "left wing of capital" is a more concentrated and strong marriage of the state and capial not an end to it.

Is the idea that this could somehow be liberatory be some kind of cruel joke? Many well meaning people have been betrayed and had their lives stolen, devoured by this joke. It needs to be destroyed just like anything that attemps to speak for and control others.

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"From a certain point onward, there is no turning back. That is the point that must be reached." Franz Kafka

Anyone take notes during our discussion of call? Or takes notes on call? I took some and will post them when I get a chance to type them up.

Someone who works on the "a Murder of Crows" magazine sent me something new that they wrote that brainstorms the state of the anti-authoritarian and pro-revolutionary melieu in North America to attempt some dialog and critical analysis of what directions it might go. It's called "assumed hostilities" and you should be able to find it at the Cream City Collectives or in the Burnt Bookmobile. It would be a nice to have a discussion regarding some of the questions from that as well.

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"From a certain point onward, there is no turning back. That is the point that must be reached." Franz Kafka

I think a lot of potential exists in organizing around our basic needs. Safety, Health, Food, Love, Enjoyment. Rather than knowing people in the arrangement of activist or organizer, we need to know eachother based upon our needs and desires. If these projects are done in a way that isn't charity, but is based on autonomy, they have the potential to benefit the growth of autonomous communities. Communities that are prepared to take what they need and desire, are also prepared to destroy what gets in their way.

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"Down with a world in which the guarantee that we will not die of starvation has been purchased with the guarantee that we will die of boredom."

I really have no interest in organizing based on anything other than my desire, but I think it's important for us to be aware of the context we exist within well enough to be able to fulfill our desires most easily, toward a greater power and autonomy. What one might call a material force.

In Milwaukee where is affinity built most, where is it built worst, and where could it be built better?

How can we increase our autonomy?

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"From a certain point onward, there is no turning back. That is the point that must be reached." Franz Kafka

One recent example of a crisis or conflict that could have been built on, still has the potential to be built upon, are the recent interactions with the police and Riverside High Students. After the recent water balloon fight by students was put down and brutalized, there was some nonsense about working with the police in order to make them accountable, but this for the most part fell through. Immediately afterward some anti-police wheatpastes and graffiti started popping up on the East Side and around the High School, but a lot more could still happen (because we can be sure the police will make sure that more happens as well).

So the point of intervening in this continuing conflict would be to expand the conflict to move beyond demands, accomodation, compromise and to articulate a view of the police as their insitutional role, as enforcers of capital.

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"From a certain point onward, there is no turning back. That is the point that must be reached." Franz Kafka