gemini://idiomdrottning.org/backlash-from-stepaway

I’ve been posting some essays lately on how we need to look beyond the classic anarchist toolbox since those tools aren’t well adapted to fixing climate change.

I’ve been getting a lot of backlash on that from peeps who still wanna smash the state.

A lot of the conversation is classic Six Thinking Hats stuff, where you’re supposed to separate brainstorming from critical analysis. The classic creativity formula: Make a mess, clean it up!.

It’s not appropriate to come along with a bunch of negativity like I did when people are trying to green-hat. However, the negativity and the analysis do need to come at some points in the process too. It’s important that we get it right.

Also, think of it from the other perspective: I’m trying to think of new solutions because of the limitations of federation to deal with problems like climate change, where local missteps have global fallout. I want to brainstorm new solutions to that particular problem! All y’all trying to shut down that thinking with “nope, go back to anarchism basics!” can you please hold off a li’l bit, so the rest of us can think?

get ways to separate decision making, policy wonkery, bill crafting from the “being the pretty face” of politics. For example, Manchin crafted large parts of the Inflation Reduction Act on his own with his staff with trainwrecktacular results.

Not a lot of progress on either route so far, and other avenues are very welcome♥︎, but that’s just a sitrep on where my brain is at right now!

As far as stepaway projects go, that’s been my entire point with these series of essays: that after dedicating decades to stepaway projects, I belatedly realized that while stepaway projects are great for class struggles (stepping away from market capitalism), they don’t address this problem: that the capitalist machine can keep wrecking the Earth without us! We can step away from being exploited and that’s fantastic, but our stepping away doesn’t stop their machine from polluting & burning.

As I wrote in Farewell, anarchy: > I don’t think they know what they’re messing with so let me paint a > li’l picture of what it’s like in that timeline. Sky blood red. Air > full of soot and poison. No clean water. Mass extinction of species, > including most mammals and most likely also of humans. Sober up and > let’s prevent that outcome.

It’s not something I can step away from; there is no haven from that level of destruction.

I get that negativity is painful but I want us to try to think of a real solution. Real solutions require a clear-headed view of the problem space. Please don’t shoot the messenger 🙏🏻

Backlash from those who stepped away