Screenshots from Dean's Dream

 

 

 

Review: Often in the Right Place: The Education of an Anarchist by John Zerzan

 

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I think the ideas of John Zerzan are about to undergo an imminent resurgence of appeal. There are stories abound of recent college graduates booing commencement speakers who are keen to champion AI. A recent NYT headline noted that Anthropic ‘secretly’ called for a halt in all AI research as a ““brake pedal” was needed to protect humanity from self-improving models.” We have set sail on a course very few of us asked for or had any say in. We are on death ship sailing toward a flat-earth horizon. 

AI aside, we continue to pollute the planet, deplete natural resources, isolate ourselves from each other, make the rich richer, and fund endless wars, all because we cannot see beyond this absolutely ludicrous socio-economic arrangement. Resistance is largely muted, drowning in infighting and lack of creative vision. Our imaginations have been hijacked by basic survival, the daily grind, consumer desires and endless meaningless distractions. But I think that is about to change.

A growing sense that we are living in end times is now not all that radical of a thought. Thinkers from many different political viewpoints echo this sentiment but most still fail to offer a root understanding of how we got here and what life has looked like for most of our existence as a species.

Marx got a sense of it as did the early anarchists who split from the First International, arguing an anti-authoritarian  transition from Capitalism to Communism was needed immediately. The anarchists posited that not only the economic system be dismantled out but also the State. By the mid to late Twenty century some anarchists were looking to move beyond the limits of Leftist politics all together and finally some post-Left anarchists arrived at the conclusion that what was really needed was a criticism of mass-society itself. Civilization. And finally, some of them began looking at what human existence looked like before the beginnings of mass-society, pre-domestication i.e. Gatherer-Hunter nomadic tribes. Anarchy in its natural and most familiar form that is still within us.

One fascinating question Zerzan poses time and time again and throughout this book is, why is it that other radical thinkers get so closer to actual critiques of civilization but then always seem to fall short. Just as we wonder why we domesticated in the first place? Its worth asking why we often can’t see beyond (or going back to) the wild once again?

Zerzan’s autobiography traces his own political evolution from conservative small Oregon town to Bay Area counter culture, to radical union organizing to anarchism to post-Leftism and finally to Green Anarchy. Now more than ever, the well-being and survival of the planet and its inhabitants need to think beyond the voting booth, beyond reforming the economy and the state and take a total look at the horror we are in. It’s hard for people to imagine rejecting civilization at this point but it is even harder to see how this death ship can reset course to somewhere even remotely sustainable. 

My only criticism of the book is a couple of chapters that go into a bit too much whimsical detail of some of his speaking tours. These tours do seem necessary to mention but I would rather have heard a bit more about debates and discussions and the exchange of ideas that were had.

All in all, Zerzan’s ideas are worth a revisit. Get your hands on any of his essay collections or the "Against Civilization" compilation he edited and then come back to this memoir to see how he got here. 

(*I don’t know why but I believe Feral House was supposed to originally publish this memoir. They had a far better book cover than the one that ended up being used IMO, so I used it for this blog post.)

 

 

I don’t think it is an under-estimate to say that right now 90% of my social interactions outside of work and home are mediated through technology and social media. And I know I am not the only one. Never so easy to stay in touch. Never so alone.

I had a very vivid dream the other night. I was sitting in a parked car on a dreary British high street. When I saw my dead friend  and university flat-mate, Mark making his way into a newsagent. Mark died a few years ago from cancer of the esophagus. I called out to him, “Mark, Mark.” I did not or could not get out of the car but I leaned out the window repeatedly calling his name until he heard me. Strangely, the desperation of that call, in that dream, is still sitting with me.

He finally heard me and walked up to the car. His face, emotionless, perhaps even a tad confused.

Relieved. “Mark.” I was a bit out of breath from calling his name. “Mark, thank you for being my friend.” Was all I could muster up and say. 

Again, without emotion he looked at me, and reached out his hand. We exchanged a solid hand shake and then he walked away without having said anything and entered the shop he was originally heading into.  

millions now singing are already silent

i read the news today

oh boy

trump's army had just won the war

and though the news was rather sad

i just had to laugh

a european reader of the new york times

in response said,

"i can no longer listen to jazz. 

america is dead."

cat named dog

toad named frog

oh a boy

named girl

its all a whirl

peace named war

are we sure?

cat named dog

toad named frog

peace named war

can we be sure?

woke up 

fell out of bed

dragged a comb across my head

you're dead, you're dead

you're already dead, you're already dead

and out of this world

a crowd of people turned away

norma*, john**, john*** and john**** 

please stay, please stay, please stay, please stay

you're out of this world

millions now silent will never sing

millions now living are already dead

_______

*Norma Tanega

**John Lennon

***John Ratter aka Penny Rimbaud

****John Herndon (Tortoise)

week one

 

modern warfare

little men with White Nationalist tattoos

talk new pull up standards for the military

while the reality is

gender neutral drones will be fighting gender neutral drones guided by Asinine Intelligence

with lots of collateral damage.

 Perhaps life is little more than a cycle of building tension and occasional cathartic release. 

Sacred Hole In The Ground

 

These lamp posts have opinions

 

"Microphones in the trees Cameras in the sky Antennas in the canyon 

And the lobby's full of spies 

For us who are like bulldozers Sleeping in the sun 

For us who are like lightning 

Buried in the mud

 Don't! Give! Up! 

Don't! Give! In! 

Our time will come 

'Cause we are the flood 

So grab my hand 

Lets set some fires" 

-A Silver Mt Zion

 Walking to grab a burrito the other day, I walked by a sketchy street corner with a few people hanging out, up to no good. One of them had his hood up, mask on and stared me out. I took a wide path around some nearby dogs, tried to look tough and carried on my way to the burrito cart but could feel his eyes on me.

At the burrito cart, several blocks away I ordered my usual veggie burrito, and began doom scrolling on my phone as I waited. Before long a hooded figure approached me and said "Pete, what's up?" It was another pasty white Brit, who doesn't look unlike myself. A bloke named Will who also works with vulnerable kids. We had a quick catch-up chat, grabbed our food and went in opposite directions back to work.

On the way back, I had to walk past the sketchy scene again and the same dude was there, sat in the exact spot, staring me down. "Hey, hey!" he shouted. I was ready for him to ask me for some spare change but no, Instead he asked, "Do you know Will?" WTF? I thought. "Yeah, I know Will I was just with him." I replied, thinking there is no way he could have just seen us together unless he can see through dozens of buildings. He carried on, "Well when you see him..." I cut him off, "I probably won't see him we work in different places." But homeboy carried on, "When you see him, tell him I am the guy who will destroy him in ping pong." I cracked up, OK man, I might not see him for awhile but I I'll text him ... And we both laughed... He then took his mask off to reveal a big friendly grin.

Back at the office. I texted Will. "Crazy coincidence, after I saw you, a random dude pulled me aside and told me he will destroy you in ping pong." Will replied, completely unphased,

"That's Atlas. That kid is living in a dream world."

Atlas who lives in dream world!

...as do we all...

the firs wave back

 

sitting under a thicket of firs

i drink a small amount of beer. 

enough to relax and quiet the chatter. 

we talk about self-driving cars and plastics in the placenta of new borns. 

who asked for this? 

don’t talk to me about democracy

a dragon fly hovers above

the north wind wafts campfire smoke our way

uncle ted was right.

said it before/ say it again 

said it before/ say it again

the firs wave back

where is my fucking note book?

...continued investment in complexity as a problem-solving strategy yields a declining marginal return... -Joseph Tainter, The Collapse of Complex Societies.