THE BEST OF THE BLOGS:

THE LETTER "B":

Once more Molly goes chugging down her blog roll to pick out the best of the recent posts. Today we feature the letter "b":

Janet Biehl continues her efforts to present a comic strip version of the life of Murray Bookchin. Look to her blog for the more recent efforts.

Bombs and Shields has an interesting story/report on how some NYC police officers are in more than slight doodoo because they assaulted a lawyer and his wife who tried to intervene when they noticed that the police were beating a handcuffed black man. Now kicking the crap out of a lawyer is one of the more stupid things that any person can do. No doubt the police will have to do more than a little of the ol' extra wiggle to get out of this one. Can't say that I feel sorry for them.

Butt Darling from Australia has a report on how the Australian secret police have been building up dossiers on journalists who have the "wrong" politics, particularily if they criticize the secret police or law enforcement in general. Can anybody say "criminal conspiracy" ? Can anyone say "blackmail" ? Can anyone say "intimidation" ? Can anyone say any number of other criminal offenses that are only "criminal" when they are not done by private citizens rather than agents of the state ?

A little afterthought here. Anarchafairy has replied to my previous post on the last edition of 'The Best of the Blogs', saying basically that I mistook what he was trying to say. In his opinion "lifestylism" and "social anarchism" are not mutually exclusive, and a truly comprehensive anarchist "praxis" will encompass them both. Point granted. Have a look at his replyin the comments. Molly would dearly love to see an integration of "theory" and social action with such aspects of everyday life as "redneck culture" from country and western music(and not just "rap") to bingo, as "sports fandom", as the attempts of ordinary people to preserve their family structure, as the far more important do it yourself culture amongst ordinary people as compared to primitivist posturing, of gardening by ordinary people as opposed to the pathetic recommendations of primmies whose skill is considerably below that of the average gardener, of the public festivals favoured by regular people rather than the contrived festivals of cultists- see Barbara Ehrenreich's 'Dancing in the Streets', of the efforts basically of ordinary people which vastly outnumber the sort of thing that Murray Bookchin vented his spleen against. Of,of,of,of. What Molly says over and over here is that the idea of raising a myth of "ubermensch" is a great and grevious mistake, besides being simply ugly beyond belief. Radical "alternatives" to daily life formed in the hothouse of subcultures will almost inevitably be inferior to those formed by the average person. There is nothing here to integrate with a "social anarchism". Anarchism has to remember its roots as being based in the ideas of justice and equality, not privilege and elitism. When it pretends that it has some magical "new way of living" that others are expected to follow like rats after the Pied Piper then it betrays the very essense of anarchism. It also plays very much into the class interests of the new ruling class who advance less kooky versions of such so-called "alternatives", often for great financial profit.

Yes, by all means anarchism has to be integrated with everyday life. All that Molly is saying is that there is an "undiscovered continent" amongst the great 99.99% of people who don't pretend to be a sect of superior beings, and that their actions are worthy of attention, publicity and emulation. Looking across the 49th parallel to the cesspool of chintzy "post-leftism" that raised Murray's blood pressure while he was alive I see little worthy of value and imitation, let alone "integration with". I do, however, see many things much !!!!!!!!! more widespread that are admirable and point the way to a hopeful future.