The Eve of December, 2006

I picked up Daniel Guérin's Anarchism today and got through the first quarter of the material. I think I first checked it out from the library a little over a year ago; at the time, I had no clue what he was talking about. The content was as foreign to me as the majority of the major thinkers behind the philosophy. It's an oddity that I was able to make some sense of it this afternoon. Thus far, the book has done an excellent job of breaking things down: Socialism's role in anarchism is that anarchism is of the libertarian socialist strain, and seeks to abolish all forms of rule--not to bring society into absolute chaos, regardless of what most think. The other form, which I guess is more akin to communism, is authoritarian socialism. It might not be the same, as I've not fully digested the text's messages. Regardless, I think this is a strong first step into something that may occupy much of my time in the future. Anarchism appeals to my soul, for some reason. It's not solely the extreme abhorrence of the capitalist system (which I'm sadly and seemingly inextricably tied to), but the anarchist's views on life itself. I'll delve into that another time though; for now, check out the stuff at Crimethinc. Amazing stuff there. I'm stuck on how the anarchist and the 21st century can co-exist; any attempt to alleviate one's self of the system is one of futility, as said system is so intertwined with our lives. Regardless of how much Proudhon or Bakunin or Stirner or Malatesta or Chomsky I may be able to regurgitate, I'm still on a Dell computer with a Microsoft operating system, and how to overcome, rationalize or circumvent the problem has yet to be discovered.

Well, I guess if Phil was still alive, he'd be 22 today. Caught up to the rest of us; he was the baby of the group. It's been over three months since he passed, but somehow it still doesn't seem like it's real. This time of the year is around when we'd all be seeing him, dropping in for the holidays, etc. Tonight we'll be celebrating the birthday that wasn't to be, and if he's in a place where he can possibly escape for a little bit, I wouldn't be surprised if he pays us all a visit.