THE BOG

What I am about to describe feeds on a pervasive character trait and worry among intelligent people, particularly those in a profession that requires that they stay on their toes. It goes like this: "I can't do anything or decide anything as I don't yet have enough information" and "I can't be thought by my colleagues not to be up on everything in my field".

Somewhere along the line, most Anarchists alive today are going to bump up against what is called "Post-Anarchism". It is a school of thought, founded by one Saul Newman, which attempts to reconcile Anarchist theory with poststructuralist thought.

And that's just the point. It attempts to reconcile Anarchist theory with poststructuralist thought. What for?

First, Anarchy is not theory. It is practice.

Second, in order to understand what "poststructuralist though" is, one has to understand what structuralist though is.

In order to do that one gets washed away in a sea of "social science". "Structuralism as a term refers to various theories across the humanities, social sciences and economics many of which share the assumption that structural relationships between concepts vary between different cultures/languages and that these relationships can be usefully exposed and explored. " That's a whole lotta yada yada.

But wait!

As is the case with most "social science", their theories were soon found to be shot through with holes.

So a new movement arose, spearheaded by French psychoanalysts. "Post-structuralism refers to the intellectual developments in continental philosophy and critical theory that were outcomes of twentieth-century French philosophy. The prefix "post" refers to the fact that many contributors such as Jacques Derrida, Michel Foucault, and Julia Kristeva were former structuralists who, after abandoning structuralism, became quite critical of it. In direct contrast to structuralism's claims of culturally independent meaning, post-structuralists typically view culture as inseparable from meaning."

The list of absolutely essential names to read in the Post-structuralist school goes on...

Admittedly, they weren't Anarchists. But, we are told, their thinking is very important, very important indeed, for the understanding of Anarchist theory.

We couldn't possibly understand Anarchy without plumbing the depths of the rumination of Galoise-puffing psychoanalysts.

And that, so I'm told, is the reason why rather than spending the next few months, perhaps years, helping the indigent; I should be reading the history of social (read that pseudo-) science, and its refutation, which is equally full of shit.

FUCK OFF!

Everything I'll ever need to know about Anarchy is this: Capitalism and the government that is spawned of it works against the people and enslaves them. It is pernicious and leads to what would be otherwise unimaginable evils. The way to freedom is the eradication of Capitalism and Government.

Then one rolls up one's sleeves and goes to work building a world without Government or Capitalism - instead of reading some worthless shit.

Doreen Ellen Bell-Dotan, Tzfat, Israel
DoreenDotan@gmail.com