1 A few years ago, I was asked by some friends to write on play and games for Anarchy. I sent them an essay, entitled “A Funny Thought Concerning a New Way to Play,” in which I insisted above all on a certain attitude: a deep distaste for competition, for the unkind imposition of arbitrary...
The scene is all too familiar: a meeting where tasks are distributed, many hands raised, words flowing with enthusiasm. A week later, several of those tasks remain undone, the commitments made dissolve into personal excuses and awkward silences. The cycle repeats, generating frustration, inefficiency, and, more deeply, a collective burnout that undermines any prospect of...
“Praxis is the reflection and action of human beings upon the world in order to transform it.” —Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed Playful Cartographies in Times of Social War In a world where crisis seems to have become permanent, developing revolutionary strategies is not an option but an urgency. Political action—especially from an anarchist...
Ideas move, especially influential ones. Translation is part of this movement, as is education. Of course, some ideas end up “lost in translation”. But there’s also something gained from this movement. Militancy is about inserting, defending, and refining certain ideas to ensure their coherence over time. As an especifismo militant, I’m often tasked with moving...
“Let us become beautiful ourselves”: Élisée Reclus on vegetarianism, anarchism, and colonial violence Analysis, Jul 5th by Spencer Beswick The great geographer and theorist of anarchist communism was part of a radical milieu that engaged a wide range of social issues, from capitalism and colonialism to free love and animal rights In his classic essay...
Preface The term “libertarianism” has become heavily associated with the American conservative movement and the Koch brothers, who have co-opted the term to promote their anti-government, pro-capitalist agenda. This is without a doubt one of the biggest tragedies of left-leaning political theory and philosophy, as a dismissal of the term and associated work is a...
Part 1: Anarchist Analysis Introduction We stand now at a turning point, wherein many roads sprawl out in front of us. With unprecedented access to information, the atlas seems to lie within our hands. But, at this crossroads, the popularizers of these many paths shout over one another to persuade new travelers, only to find...
…This is a transmission from a future that will not happen. From a people who do not exist… “The end is near. Or has it come and gone before?” – An ancestor Why can we imagine the ending of the world, yet not the ending of colonialism? We live the future of a past that...
“Communication is the essence of freedom. Coercion cannot convince. Make people wise, and you make them free.” – William Godwin – THE BOOK HAD A DREADFULLY LONG TITLE, and it gave British Prime Minister William Pitt a headache. Not because of the cumbersome heading — that sort of thing was fashionable at the time —...
It’s easy to understand how images have come to replace the realities at the heart of our lives. When reality appears to have nothing to offer us half so seductive as images, why not? On the subconscious level, we “know” that the world has little to give in the way of bliss, ecstasy, love, adventure,...
Four or five years ago I tried marijuana for the first time. I experienced a heightened visual awareness and a sort of nongenital sexuality. Every color I looked at was several degrees brighter than its usual luster, and my entire body had a delightful tingle, as if it were one undifferentiated erogenous zone. In the...
Some ten years ago, during a series of lectures on the social value of the Zionist movement, I had the painful surprise of being violently taken to task by comrades of Jewish origin, accusing me of engaging in a veritable anti-Semitic campaign. The arguments put forward at the time, to legitimize a movement I considered...
NON-GOVERNMENT HEALTH WARNING: This interview is best viewed using the windows of an open mind. Previous reading of “Robert Anton Wilson” material will help with this. Even so, it may seriously affect your vision of the world we live in — resulting in permanent hilarity! Introduction Robert Anton Wilson’s legendary books make us laugh at...
Prior to the opening reception of the writer/artist’s new show at 1:1 gallery, (Vanishing Art & Hoodoo Metaphysics, Sept. 23 – October 20) a group of students from Phong Bui’s class in the Art Criticism and Writing M.F.A. program at the School of Visual Arts drove upstate to meet with Peter Lamborn Wilson. Sitting in...
WHATEVER else you may think about Robert Anton Wilson, he is a gentleman. There is no other term for a man who can come off stage after speaking for two hours, jet-lagged and short of sleep, and grant an interview to a young writer in a large leather jacket. I am still amazed that he...