Open Statement for California Anarchist Gathering

OCCUPIED TERRITORY JUNE 2004 (Friday 18th - Saturday 20th):
CALIFORNIA ANARCHIST/ANTI-AUTHORITARIAN GATHERING

"The State is a condition, a certain relationship between human beings, a mode of human behavior; we destroy it by contracting other relationships, by behaving differently." -Gustav Landauer

FROM THE BARRICADES TO THE BEDROOMS: MAKING LOVE WITH AUTONOMY

Never before has the anarchist and anti-authoritarian movement in this country been this strong, and this influential. Across the post-left, left, and progressive spectrum, anarchist ways of organization, theory, and action are being put into place. No longer settling for hollow and boring ways of organizing in the liberal, and Marxist-Leninist “top-down” models of organization, people are now settling for nothing less than complete abolition of hierarchy. Affinity groups, spokes councils, and consensus process are replacing vanguards and Democratic Party candidates. Direct-Action, and the shutting down, stopping, and destruction of capitalism’s institutions and structures are being held as the models of resistance by many. Community based activism like Food Not Bombs, Critical Mass, and community gardens, and militant “groups” like the ELF, ALF, Black Bloc, and Anti-Racist Action, are becoming wide spread, and taking anti-authoritarian modes of organization and resistance far and wide. From above ground community activism, to militant underground resistance, we are now encompassing some of the most powerful work ever to be done by any movement.

CELEBRATING DIFFERENT TENDENCIES:

If we have never before been this strong, then we have never before needed solidarity and unity with each other than ever before. As some sisters and brothers are fighting the battle against vivisection, others are imprisoned for sabotage against eco-terrorists, while others organize workers for a better tomorrow. As our movement expands and grows, we come into more and more road blocks within our movement, causing many of us to splinter out from each other. While it is good to think and understand our own personal ideologies, we must recognize that we are all in this together, and that there is something to learn from every person, and every struggle. From the ethics of veganism, the (anti) politics of re-wilding, to the praxis of union organizing, we all have work to do, and we all have something to teach others. At “Occupied Territory 2004”, we will celebrate and learn from all anarchist/anti-authoritarian tendencies, while respecting our own personal beliefs.

CREATING ANARCHY, UNBUILDING THE SPECTACLE AND EMPIRE:

There’s nothing quite like the moment when that paint bomb hits it’s target, or when 2,000 people are able to physically shut something down that half a million couldn‘t stop by marching, or even just listening and understanding someone as opposed to just ‘waiting for your turn to talk’; in essence, there’s nothing quite like anarchy. But unlike other political ideologies that dream of a far off time when things will be better; with a better candidate, or a revolutionized class of people; we can have our dreams come alive when ever we want, we just have to work to expand this to a greater scale.

Every wheat pasted poster made those metal electoral boxes more useful than they ever were before, every defeated Nazi made that community that much closer, every sexist comment challenged made certain people more empowered than they ever felt before. Anarchy comes to us in these little bits, sometimes were so busy trying to sustain it that we forget to enjoy it. We forget to actually enjoy the fact that we are living it! Every homeless spokes council organized, every smashed window, every pied politician, every pig stripped of their dignity; every interaction allows us to win, and yet we are so disconnected from each other we seem to always lose. Within a movement with no central authority, or strict direction, it’s important to understand that expanding that anarchy with others is the key to expanding our movement. We can do this expansion simply through mutual aid and understanding, by continuing our own activism and understanding it’s links with other strands of resistance.

OCCUPIED TERRITORY 2004!:

In this spirit of resistance, we are launching “Occupied Territory 2004”, in Fresno CA. Centrally located in California, we are calling on all anarchist and anti-authoritarian anti-capitalist groups to converge and create the world that we so desperately need. Let us build the structures that will replace ones that alienate and exploit. Let us not live in a world of spectacles, but in a world of truth and of choice, free association and freedom. Let us make the decisions for our selves, and represent our various movements, movements that will hopefully bring us to sustain those precocious moments that we work so hard for: for anarchy.

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At this point in time we are working on workshops ranging from Anarchism and Metal Health, 60-70’s militant resistance, Earth First! Issues, and anarchist organizing. We have six months to go, to include workshops, lectures, talks, and adventures ranging from re-wilding, to forming unions. Please email us at:

modanarcho [at] yahoo.com

If you have a work shop on that relates to the anarchist movement, that revolves around anti-fascism, animal liberation, eco-defense, worker liberation, anti-sexism, ect, then get in touch!

Speakers are also greatly needed, if you are someone who would like to speak, by yourself, or on a panel, then please email us as well.

http://www.infoshop.org/inews/stories.php?story=03/12/21/0391337