anarchist international anarchist international licensed under creative commons 2012 LBC Books chapter one 1 chapter two 13 chapter three 23 chapter four 35 chapter five 61 chapter six 67 chapter seven 77 chapter eight 97 chapter nine 117 chapter ten 141 appendix one 151 appendix two 165 appendix three 179 The general thrust is accomplished by a sort of oscillation, by a series of waves in the flood- tide; there are always temporary reversals. -Elisee Reclus, 1895 July 20, 2011 I. Foundational Statement of the Anarchist International Preliminary Clarifications Geist, noun: the spirit of an individual or group We are the Anarchist International. Our existence has been kept a secret from you for over a century, although it is almost certain that you have been able to discern our ac- tions when they have taken place. Some would like to argue that the Anarchist International came into being in 1872 when the anarchists were expelled from the First International, but this is certainly incorrect. The Anarchist International came into being when the first wandering nomads from across the various kingdoms and empires met in smoke-filled rooms or desert oases and began to conspire on how to live freely. In the 1860s, we attempted to give our shadowy net- work a visible, above-ground platform that has since come to be known as the First International. During this period, we worked with communists, socialists, and people of various other political persuasions in an attempt to create an interna- tional organization that would coordinate the destruction of the capitalist world system. As is now well known, the First International fell apart due to a split between us and those who wanted to further enslave humanity. Unable to accept our former comrades’ insistence on centralization and hierarchical authority, we left the First International to continue our work. From that point on, we have been fighting alone and have watched in horror as our former comrades effectively sapped and destroyed the world revolutionary Geist throughout the 1 th course of the 20 century. All of the potential contained in the struggles of Russia, Germany, China, the former Yugosla- via, Vietnam, Cuba, and Venezuela was taken by our former comrades and used to create systems that have continued to keep the people of those countries in bondage. Our former comrades realized the dream of the International and waged a global war against capitalism only to now end up just as miserable, tyrannical, and deformed as their former enemies. The crushed skulls, surveillance cameras, and ecological dev- astation of contemporary China serve as the perfect proof that our decision to leave the First International was not in error. After the passing of the USSR, the global blitzkrieg of neo- liberalism, and the complete destruction of the dreams of the First International, we found ourselves living in a time that had lost the world revolutionary Geist. In response to this absence, we started an offensive against the now triumphant world capitalist system. With this offensive we established the first networks of the new International and with these networks we met with moder- ate successes in our endeavors. The ground-to-air missile launchers guarding the G8 in Genoa from a terrorist attack, the murderous brutality of the Carabinieri, and the paranoia of everyone involved were the first signs of what was to come in the fall of 2001. With the attack on Manhattan in September came the rout- ing of our first offensive. Our enemy then quickly displayed to us its power, its capabilities, and its brazen brutality. It would not be until 2007 that our current offensive would begin. Now, after four years, we have experienced the initial breakdown of the world capitalist system and felt our own strength multiply in response to our weakened enemy. And so it is that, with the eyes of the world population facing our enemy, we announce the existence of the Anarchist International. 2 Remarks on Time and Geist Waveform, noun: The mathematical representation of a wave, especially a graph obtained by plotting a characteristic of the wave against time A comrade described the Anarchist International as a re-occurring waveform pattern that occurs throughout linear time. This is because the entire membership of the Anarchist International is composed of what could be called reincar- nated anarchists. We use the word reincarnation despite its metaphysical and occult associations because it adequately suits our purposes. To illustrate what we mean, we refer you to a small tavern on Friedrichstrasse in Berlin in the year 1841. Several young revolutionists are sitting inside, drinking wine and beer, talking amongst themselves, when suddenly one of their friends enters the bar. He is wearing glasses and a long dark coat. When he sits down, he joins the argument and discus- sion. The young man in glasses is the only member of the An- archist International who is present, and so the conversation- turns against him. The young man with glasses is named Max Stirner. Another young man in the tavern is Friedrich Engels, the man who would later help Karl Marx destroy the First International. These two, Stirner and Engels, have theoretical disagreements as the discussion and argument progresses. Three years later, in 1844, Stirner publishes The Ego And Its Own, a book that will influence anarchists across the world for the next 160 years. Four years later, in 1848, the first European-wide offensive begins, blossoms, and is crushed. Engels and Marx publish the Communist Manifesto the same year, paving the way for the horror of State Communism. At the same time, Max Stirner is wandering penniless through 3