crimethinc - the party's over

8/4/2019 Crimethinc - The Party's Over

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TheParTy’s

Over

beyondpolitics,beyonddemocracy



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Be …BeyONDDeMOCraCy ?!

Could it be that democracy, long the catchword of every revolution

and resistance, is simply not democratic enough? What could be

more democratic?

Wh a T

COULD There

PO s sIBL y



No they can’t. Bg P g

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power. This imbalance is intrinsic to the structure o representative democracy, at

the local level as much as at the top. The proessional politicians o a town council

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zens o the town, who have to be at work; when one o those ordinances displeases

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citizens could elect a dierent town council rom the available pool o politicians -b , b

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scenario that a whole new government was elected consisting o rebrands intent

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apparatus itsel is the oundation o that imbalance. To succeed in their objective,

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aside, majority rule is not only inherently oppressive but also paradoxically divisive

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every LITTLe ChILDCaN grOW UP TOBe PresIDeNT.



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accept the authority o a group simply

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threaten us – and those it does threat-

en are already silenced beore anyone

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opinion than on what their conscienc-

es tell them, to see themselves as pow-

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-sition whether or not it is in their best

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wish or power to appeal to the lowest

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comes to be associated with conormi-

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rule democracy oers a perect justi-

cation or repressing those who don’t

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never wanted power to be centralized

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That’s what police are or – and courts

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The TyraNNy Of The MajOrITy

by confining political

participation to the isola-

tion of the voting booth,

the democratic system

prevents people from

learning how to wield

power and work out con-

flicts collectively.

consequently, political

conflicts can be framed

as disagreements be-

tween people within the

same economic classes,

rather than between the

classes themselves.



The rULe Of LaW

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legal institutions are no substitute or airness, mutual respect,

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oers no guarantees against injustice; it simply creates another

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serving to protect our communities and work out conficts, this

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Ironically, we are told that we need these institutions to pro-

tect the rights o minorities – even though the implicit unction

o the courts is, at best, to impose the legislation o the majority

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capitalism, only a minority can do this, so in a roundabout way

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a certain .

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b b . you will never ascend to the stage



WhO LOses?

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exclusion itself b-

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United States today are not permitted to vote either, and

the distinctions between citizen and non-citizen have not

eroded signicantly in 2500 years. Every bourgeois prop-

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dream o giving his employees an equal say in their work-

place, but that doesn’t make it any less exclusive. What i

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tain the division between powerful and powerless

because it gives the greatest possible number of

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stable: you can slaughter, imprison, and brainwash entire

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the majority” upon his ellows rather than work through

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operation and collectivity that make individual reedom

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WILL NeverBe ONe Of TheM

y O U



Let’s suspend our misgivings

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supposed to vote according to their

enlightened sel-interest – but who

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b – b , who establishes what is considered

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public relations rms? In the Unit-

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lic” spaces such as shopping malls,

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any other question that could seri-

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unction o the democratic process

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tives rom the owning class to solve

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can always buy others’ votes: either

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your hard-earned property” – or as

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make a lot more sense than major-

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CAPITALISM + DEMOCRACY = ONE DOLLAR, ONE VOTE.

It Is not your votes

but your dollars

that elect us

CaPITaLIsM & DeMOCraCy



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condition that exists in a vacuum: it is

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sion that can be kept in the basement

and taken out and polished up or pa-

rades. Freedom cannot be given – the

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being ree doesn’t mean simply being

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.

IT’s NO COINCIDeNCe freedom

Is NOT ON The BaLLOT.

WhOever yOU vOTe fOr,gOverNMeNT WINs



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man in a voting booth checking a box on a bal-

lot beore returning to work in an environment

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then the heritage our emancipating oreathers

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our interactions with each other and you would

have something qualitatively dierent rom our

present system – a harmony in human relation-

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“LOOk, a BaLLOT BOx – DeMOCraCy!!”



No one can represent your power and interests for you

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political power could be held by proxy; in act, they are a priest

class that answers only to itsel, and their very existence is proo

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priest caste. When we let them preabricate our options or us,

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power , b

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rePreseNTaTIve DeMOCraCy Is a CONTraDICTION IN TerMs



a sPeCTaCLeTO DIsTraCT



He seems to have appeared from outside the

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would have gone into challenging the system it sel

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More frequently, we areterrorized c h c c-

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long as this is the case, there will always be tyrants.

This is why it is all the more important that we put

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WhaT COULD Be

MOre DeMOCraTIC

ThaN democracy?



CONseNsUs

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c h cc each individual equally; i one person is unhap-

py with a resolution, it is everyone’s responsibil-

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all. Consensus-based decision-making does not

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over her, though it does require that everybody

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tegrates all into a working whole while allowing

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agenda item

introduce and

explain item

share additional

info and

perspectives

brainstorm

ideas

feedback,

commenting,

criticizing,

questioning

is group

support

behind a

particular

idea?

brainstorm

how idea

will take

shape

make proposal

to synthesize

everyone’s input

is it supported?

try again

stop for now discuss why any blocks?

all in favor?

CONseNsUs!

answer

clarifying

questions

address

concerns

friendly

amendments

is proposal

supported?

restate

proposal,

call vote

stand

asides?

have they

been

addressed?

no

no

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

no

nono



utonomy is not to e confused with so-called independence:

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o being responsible or their own poverty; as

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to this Western mirage, autonomy oers

interdependence b

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ecient than people acting on

their own initiative as they see

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cient than attempting to dic-

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above – that is, unless your un-

damental goal is to control other

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obligatory uniormity, however horizontally

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that cooperate thus can contain conficts and contradic-

tions, just as each o us does individually, and still empower

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aUTONOMy

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TOPLess feDeraTIONs

Independent autonomous groups can work together in edera-

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cient. International mail delivery and railway travel both work

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course, we need to instill values o cooperation, consideration,

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DIreCT aCTION

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work and endless negotiations, you establish your own channels instead. I you

want hungry people to have ood to eat, don’t just give money to a bureaucratic

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buy their products, don’t work or them, sabotage their billboards and oces,

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Don’t wait or permission or leadership rom some outside authority, don’t

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hOW TO sOLve DIsagreeMeNTs

WIThOUT CaLLINg The aUThOrITIes

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each participating individual, the threat o exclusion should

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they embitter criminals. Those who reuse to respect others’

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nity, may nd themselves banished rom social lie – but that

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two o the possibilities awaiting such people today. Violence

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Serious disagreements within communities can be solved

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enough or people to sort out their dierences. Even drasti-

cally dissimilar communities still have it in their best interest

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…



WhOever They vOTe fOr, We are

UNgOverNaBLe!

LIvINg WIThOUT PerMIssION

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this, the violence and strie inherent in confict-based rela-

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be able to protect us. In consensus-based structures, there

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The rst precious grains o this new world can be ound

in your riendships and love aairs whenever they are ree

rom power dynamics, whenever cooperation occurs natu-

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– cannot

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T hree wolves and six goats cu . O cuu mk

mp c: “W u pu !” T , bu upy, cquc. Bu y pp , k .

“V u mk ,”y . “O, , ’ you.”

T ck by ucm c: mjy, cu cm, m b k . Ty p u , bu f u buk m: “B ku yu mc-cy! A y !”

BOx 494 ChaPeL hILL NC 27514

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