ANARCHY NOW!

I just watched a new DVD released by AK Press called Anarchism in America. It's actually a re-release of a documentary made in the early 80's. I expected a lot more from it, but some of the interviews and news-reel footage made the weaknesses of the film very much worth it. What I was the most irritated by was the confusion created by the outlining of similarities between Anarchists and Libertarians. I understand that some contemporary anarchists (like Noam Chomsky) prefer to use the term "libertarian socialist" when describing their political philosophies, but the classical libertarian belief system (if you go by the libertarian party platform) has much more in common with feudalism than anarchism. Because, in my belief, if government is removed from the picture, capitalism must go with it. Otherwise corporations will just replace the government, and as much as Milton Friedman would just love that, it would be worse than any political dictatorship we've ever seen. I much prefer anarchists who emphasize the individual as part of the collective "we." Without individual liberty we can't be collectivists, and without a sense of cooperation we can't preserve our liberties. Classical libertarians want the right to exploit labor and smoke weed at the same time. Fucking selfish.

Anyhow, here's a clip from the movie of American anarchist Murray Bookchin talking about his conversion from Marxism to anarchism.