Category: Organizer Essays

Many people in radical circles spend a bit of their time doing prisoner support activities. This can range from joining a books-to-prisoners project that mails free books to inmates, to individually becoming pen-pals with a prisoner. Some people focus on political prisoners—prisoners held because of their involvement in radical actions or framed because of their beliefs. Other people see the entire prison-industrial complex as illegitimate, criticize the way that it targets marginalized communities, and/or believe that it is wrong to imprison people at all. Many people are in prison because of the war on drugs, or because economic inequality under capitalism impoverishes entire communities and pushes people to do illegal things to survive.

A key way we can support prisoners is by communicating with them. Prison is a deeply isolating environment. In an email-dominated world, writing an old-fashioned letter on paper can be surprisingly rewarding for you as well as a prisoner. There are many pen-pal networks that connect prisoners with those on the outside. Here are some tips on writing letters to prisoners:

-When writing to prisoners, you have to put their prisoner number on the first line of the mailing address to get it through.

-Make sure to put a return address on your letter. If you are writing to a prisoner you don’t know, it may be best to use a PO box or other neutral address.

-If you’re writing to a prisoner, keep in mind that the prison officials or other authorities may read your letter. Don’t discuss anything sensitive. If the prisoner is waiting for trial or sentencing (or on appeal), it may be better not to discuss the details of their case.

-Prisons prohibit mailing certain items like books, food, money, etc. Ask the prisoner for the rules.

-Don’t make promises you can’t keep, like offering to find a lawyer to take their case, sending them money or expensive items, offering them housing on release, organizing a support campaign, etc.—being let down when you’re locked up can be especially devastating. Be clear about your intentions. If you’re not looking for a romantic relationship, it can be helpful to everyone involved to say so right off.

-While the fact that the state is locking people up is shitty, it doesn’t follow that all prisoners are angels. They are people just like everyone else, and some of them are flawed or can be manipulative. If you think about prisoners as just like everyone else, it will help you to use reasonable caution without treating them better or worse than you would any other pen-pal.

-Be careful about accepting collect phone calls from jail—prison collect calls are usually absurdly expensive.

Here are some resources to get started:

Critical Resistance: www.criticalresistance.org

Anarchist Black Cross: www.abcf.net

 

In this political and historical climate, great sex can be a quite subversive, expansive, and radical mode of dismantling socializations and creating alternatives to mainstream sex culture, which can often be toxic, bland, unhealthy, and boring. Comfort in one’s skin and sexuality, consent, and self-care are essential. There is no way to have freeing sex without actively checking in with yourself and whoever you’re having sex with about emotional and physical comfort and openness. If folks are shutting down, disassociating, or not that into it, the how the fuck can it be any good? Knowing what one wants is not easy—part of what can make sex so revolutionary is discovering what it is we like and pushing ourselves (consensually of course) to and beyond our limits. This is not a discussion of relationship models: polyamory, monogamy, or non/multi-fidelity, self-sexing, sleeping around, etc. Who we do it with and how we negotiate these relationships is indeed a part of having great sex. These preferences evolve and fluctuate. The intricacies are limitless and differ based on individual experience. Therefore, discovering which models work for us is a personal choice distinct form the issues below. An important disclaimer is that these suggestions are based on the opinions and experiences of one person, which are always changing anyway. If they don’t work for you right now, please feel free to ignore them and move on with your life.

Laughter

I laugh a lot during sex: from a coy giggle, to a belly laugh, to laughing at myself at an awkward moment or just as a way to communicate joy. One may laugh solo or in unison with sex partners. It is important to relieve any insecurities or anxieties that unexpected gaiety may bring up. Sometimes I laugh to relieve tension—not get so caught up in my “performance.” There is a myth that we should act a certain way during sex; virile, coquettish, animalistic, blasé, submissive, dominant, alluring, etc. Laughing helps hush those voices, freeing me from self-defeating expectations of hotness. Sound can also act as a reflection of what is going on and as a release for the sensations being experienced; crying, screaming, moaning, and gasping are all marvelous additions to this sex symphony, enhancing the intimacy of the experience.

Role-Play

Roles like butch or femme or top or bottom are awesome, but anything gets boring if not tweaked or switched up from time to time. It is very easy to stick with what we’re good at or cling to a role or identity out of habit. Role-play can be a great way to challenge one-s rigidities and discover hidden perversions in a safe context; availing oneself of the opportunity to receive when previously being the provide, taking turns sucking and being sucked, biting and being bitten, slapping and being slapped, holding and being held. There’s also drag, props, and outfit sex. Incorporating costume changes can work wonders in the bedroom. Just imagine what the addition of a mermaid outfit, a map, and kitchen utensils could add to your sex life. Story telling is another aspect of role-plat. It can get intricate with scripts or songs, heck, even a dance routine. The important thing here is that everyone is okay with where the story goes. These games could challenge political and social norms in positive and smarty-panted ways. It is important to remember that this is fantasy and that these role-play scenarios set up safe consensual spaces for folks to go there consciously, critically, humbly, and with an open mind. Reading aloud can also be a un way to explore roles. Reading stories, erotic or not, can absolutely add a certain something to the moment. It gives an added activity and focus and brings in more opportunity for fetishes. For example, reading an entomology dictionary, political theory, or porn to each other adds a certain geeky quality that can really do it for folks.

Redefining Sex

Lately I have switched my focus away from stereotypical notions of genitals and genital contact (boys get blowjobs and girls get finger banged). There is so much to play with and destroy, pervert, re-name. It is respectful and sexy as hell to ask people what they call their boy parts and how they want them touched. When opening up what we consider erogenous zones, more conversations about re-imagining bodies, gender, and society may become possible. Anybody can get a blowjob anywhere on their body and the same goes for finger banging. I try not to focus on genitals and orgasms but nerve endings and what turns them on and also works on an emotional level for a person.

Lube

It is astounding how many people have sex without lubrication. The orifice foes not matter, what matters is that it feels good. In my opinion, everything is better with lubrication, lots of it. Different folks like different qualities of lube, from sticky to slippery, gummy to smooth, chunky to creamy even. I would love for more people to experiment with what works best for their bodies. Slip it in.

Pushing Self-limits

Sex can push everyone beyond comfort zones. Many things we are taught are dangerous or scary, nasty or off-limits can be explored safely in a sexual situation. Personal stories of abuse, neglect, self-hatred, and other of the myriad of private struggles surface in this practice, and what is good limit-pushing for me may not at all be good for you in your process. It is important to go at our own paces with boundary pushing and not to go places inappropriate for our own experiences. Many issues can come out with consensual boundary pushing; power dynamics, stereotypes to be debunked, pain thresholds, ideological differences, and the concept of the comfort zone in general. I have hope that if we hold enough space for each other to expand these concepts, then maybe other forms of social and environmental change are possible.

 

Here are some tips on low-cost, do-it-yourself bike touring—taking your bike on roads outside cities. You don’t have to have a ton of money, a fancy bike, or tight spandex alien pants to bike 100 miles to the next town over a couple of days. It is easy to think that you have to drive a long way and go to some special place like a national park to be on vacation. But when you start bike touring, you re-discover what our ancestors knew—there are tons of amazing places really close to every city that are well worth exploring. When you bike tour, you see space and distance in new ways that you totally miss when you[re speeding by in a car. Just like biking in town, bike touring is ecological, healthy, and way more fun than being locked in a glass and steel coffin. You also meet more people bike touring than traveling by car or plane. Good luck!

Planning your trip

Picking a good route is key to a good trip. Look for secondary roads that will have less traffic. Lots of traffic can be stressful even if there is a wide shoulder. On the other hand, a tiny road with no shoulder can be a great ride if there isn’t a lot of traffic—you can just go in the ditch whenever a car goes by. If your trip is in a hilly area, you may want to look at a topographical map to avoid hills. If a road follows a river, it will usually be more or less level until it leaves the river and jumps to the next valet. You can buy fancy bike maps from groups like Adventure Cycling that show lots of details important to cyclists, or look at books about bike touring, but you can plan a good trip even with an AAA map. Asking about routes at bike shops also helps. The more research you do in advance, the less you’ll have to figure out on the road and the more you’ll enjoy the ride. If your route doesn’t go through a town at least every 40 or so miles, you’ll need to carry extra food and water. Note that not every town on a map has food and water in very rural areas.

What to Bring

You don’t need a fancy bike, but more gears help. Tires thinner than knobby mountain bike tires are better because they have less friction, but really thin tires can have trouble with rough roads and carrying weight. The key is to make sure that riding does not hurt your body, because if it hurts to go 2 miles across town, it will really hurt you on a long trip. Check that the seat is adjusted to the right height—your knees shouldn’t be too bent at their lowest position. A comfortable seat makes a huge difference You’ll at least want working brakes. Pumping the tires to the full pressure also makes riding easier.

The most common mistake that bike tourists make is bringing too much stuff. You’ll feel every extra ounce on each hill. Avoid carrying anything in a backpack or shoulder bag. You want all the weight you carry to be on the bike, either in a basket or a bike bag. You can get used bike bags, make your own, or use fancy new ones. The basic things you’ll need include:

-Basic bike tools like patch kit and pump, Allen or hex wrenches, and a pocket knife with a screwdriver. The longer you’re biking and the more you know about bike repair, the more you’ll tend to bring—for instance, a spoke wrench or a chain tool—but keep in mind that if you break down, you can usually hitchhike or take a bus to a town with a bike store. Avoid silly weight like extra tires!

-Water bottles and a bit of food, but keep in mind that bike touring is not like backpacking. You don’t have to be self-sufficient for days. You’ll fill your water bottle and get food every time you hit a town, usually a few times a day, so it is best to avoid carrying a ton of food or water. You can take a camping stove, but it is extra weight and isn’t all that necessary.

-A tent or tarp, sleeping bag, sleeping pad, sunscreen, toiletries, and soap.

-Fewer clothes are better. Warm layers for night, and shorts and a t-shirt for riding. One change is sufficient if you wash each day and dry them on the back of your bike while you’re riding.

-Safely stuff like a helmet and bike light that can double as flashlight.

Where to Stay

Some people camp in campgrounds, a few of which even have cheap hiker/biker sites. Some city parks, churches, or country stores allow bike camping; ask around. Lots of times people will let you stay in their yard or on their land if you make friends and ask. Warmshowers.org is a website for traveling cyclists to find free places to crash for the night. Other cyclists camp illegally. If no one can see you from the road, it might be okay, but this can also be stressful if you get caught.

You can put your bike on some city bus routes or commuter trains to get beyond the urban sprawl for a nicer start for your ride. The more you talk to people you meet and ask questions or for help, the better time you’ll have.

 

Critical Mass bike rides are spontaneous, leaderless rides that begin at specific times and locations in various cities around the world. Since no one organizes the rides, they have no agreed agenda or demands. They aren’t a protest. Instead, when we ride on Critical Mass, we’re living the world we would like to see—filling the streets with bikes, laughter, human speed, clean air, engagement, and life. At Critical Mass, we can bike down the street safe from speeding cars—together—empowered by our numbers. Critical Mass is a celebration.

Critical mass rides sometimes enrage car drivers because bike traffic competes with car traffic for space on the road. Cars have their critical mass 29 days of the month when bikes get crowded out—it’s called rush hour! Critical mass is a single day when bike traffic briefly outnumbers car traffic. Maybe in 50 years, bikes will outnumber cars every day. As concerns about climate change increase, people are searching for alternatives like bikes. A community of cyclists is developing—demanding respect and some space on the road.

Even though every ride in every city is different, frequent Critical Mass riders (mass-holes?) have been learning ways to make our rides better. Here are some tips for riding in Critical Mass or creating your own:

– Ride Slow, talk fast: The key to a successful Critical Mass is having enough bikes riding close enough together so as to take up all or at least one lane of the road. That makes riding in the zone filled with bikes fun and safe. To keep the ride together, the people in the front have to bike really slow—un-naturally slow. If the front goes fast, the ride will quickly get too thin and break apart—allowing angry car drivers into the breaches. Tiding slow is actually a great opportunity to meet your fellow riders, sightsee, smell the flowers, or catch up with friends.

– Smile and wave: It is inevitable that you’ll eventually come across an irate motorist. When this happens, it is best to de-escalate and meet anger with joy. Don’t take the bait to stop your bike and argue—just keep moving and ring a happy bike bell. Keep in mind the point of Critical Mass—to have fun riding our bikes together. Most mass-holes do not want to intentionally delay traffic—rather, we want to be traffic and ride. When a ride gets angry and confrontational, you’ll quickly lose a lot of riders—and they won’t want to come back next time.

– Mass Up!: If you’re at the front, it’s up to you to notice if the ride behind you is getting too thin or spread out. If it does, stop at a red light and wait for the ride to mass up.

– Adjust tactics depending on size: If a ride is huge, it may take up all lanes and run traffic lights to keep things moving and together. These behaviors don’t work if you’re on a small ride—it just pisses off drivers, makes the ride look arrogant, and turns the ride into a stressful battle, not a fun party. If the ride is tiny, consider just taking a single lane and obeying all traffic laws. It can help to turn frequently so cars are not backed up behind you.

– -Determining the route: Some rides use a system called “xerocracy” in which anyone who wants can hand out a Xeroxed flier suggesting a route. Other riders discuss and agree on a general route before the ride. Some have a typical route that they repeat ride after ride. Others pick their route on the fly—whoever is in front makes the decision at each intersection about whether to turn right, left, or go forward. Watch out about going in circles! It can be nice to discuss a fun place to end while you’re riding—a park, the shore, a bar, a good place to watch the sunset, etc. Some rides end at parties, bike film festivals, political events, or outdoor bike-in movies.

– Dress up and decorate your bike! The more fun and beautiful a ride is, the more riders it will attract and the less angry motorists will become. You can include bikes with sound systems, pass out snacks, or have theme costumes: A Halloween ride or a bike prom ride, etc. Some riders carry signs or hand out fliers to explain what is going on to people that they pass by.

– How to start a ride: If your town doesn’t have a ride, anyone can start one by simply picking a meeting spot and a time and place. You don’t need permission, since no one’s in charge! The most popular time is 6 pm on the last Friday of each month—nut any time will do as long as you keep it consistent. Then you can announce the ride for a month or so and get all your friends to go. You can put fliers on bikes you see locked up around town. Once you’ve had your first ride, hopefully word of mouth will keep the ride going into the future. If police show up at your meeting spot, keep in mind that Critical Mass has no leaders and thus no one can really speak to the cops on behalf of the ride. Bikes have a right to ride together if they like—just happy coincidence!—and don’t need permits to do so. If the cops demand that you get a permit, ask them if they make cars get a permit for rush hour!

 

This culture is wedded to binaries: good/evil, left/right, with us/against us, pick your favorite. And this society wants things to stay in whatever either/or box they get put into, we don’t like gray areas. Gender and sex is one place where ambiguity is particularly not tolerated; parents, doctors, and the State all want to know your sex and gender, preferably at birth. Further, having ambiguous gender or transitioning from one perceived gender to another can cause some people to react violently. Because gender is such a charged topic, transgendered people often don’t receive the respect they deserve. This is a short, incomplete introduction to transgender topics.

In this society, this is the usual scenario: a baby is born and one of the very first things done is sexing the child. Everyone wants to know—boy or girl?

Some folks don’t like this binary from the start; their genitals don’t seem to match either male or female completely. These folks are called intersexed. Unfortunately, because of the anxiety of doctors, parents, or society around sex/gender, panic ensues and intersexed individuals are more often than not subjected to surgeries they do not need and may not want, an which can be damaging to a pleasurable adult sexuality. Adults seems to have a hard time imagining infants ever being adults and having sex or getting pleasure from their genitals; so, it seems, genitals are for identifying infant sex only, not for the pleasure of the person who has them. How sad.

More often, we are born with genitals that look like either male or female and so we are assigned a gender at birth to match either “boy” or “girl.” This works for most—or so it seems. Males are happy being men in male bodies, females are happy being women in female bodies (excepting the malaise of late capitalism, of course). But what if this is not the case? For some, the sex they are assigned at birth does not match the gender they feel inside. They are girls in male bodies and boys in female bodies or somewhere in between, because not all trans folks see themselves as one or the other, but rather on a continuum of gender.

Though not all trans folks dismiss the binary sex/gender divide, they just see themselves on the wrong side of it. For the most part, transsexual is a term used by folks who have completed sex reassignment (or who want to). For FTM (female to male) transsexuals, this means taking testosterone and having top surgery (double mastectomy) and bottom surgery (hysterectomy, vaginectomy, and either metiodoplasty or phalloplasty). For MTF (male to female) transsexuals, there are hormones and vaginoplasty and labiaplasty. Not all transgendered folks are transsexuals, and not all want all the surgery, for various reasons. Sometimes they just don’t want surgery, or don’t have healthcare, or enough income to pay for hormones and/or surgery, because trans folks can suffer from discrimination in employment just for being trans/ Some trans guys, for example, just take T (testosterone), or just take T and have top surgery. Also, not all trans folks see themselves as either male or female, but as some combination of both. These folks sometimes use the term genderqueer, which reflects issues with or a rejection of the usual societal gender binary.

The main thing to remember about trans folk is that they are people just like everyone else. Having respect for what pronouns trans folk want to use is a good start. For instance, FTMs usually want to be called he or him. MTFs prefer to be referred to as she or her. And some trans folks use ze or hir, or make up pronouns to fit them. These can be hard to get used to, particularly when someone is transitioning, but trying yo use their preferred pronoun is only respectful. It is true that some trans folk don’t “pass,” but gender is not about what you see from the outside, but what the person feels inside. Transwomen and transmen struggle enough with their own body dysphoria and internalized transphobia that getting called out on their looks can be devastating. So if you see someone who might be trans, don’t ask them in front of a bunch of people; in fact, don’t ask at all. If they want you to know, if it is relevant to your relationship, they will let you know. This can also be an issue of safety for a trans person. Violence against trans folk is frequent and often deadly, so outing a trans person is never a good idea.

Another huge issue is bathrooms, and for trans folk using the “wrong” bathroom cab get them beat up or worse. Until gender neutral bathrooms are the norm, chances are that you will see an ambiguously gendered person use a bathroom now and again. DON’T PANIC! Adult usually know what bathrooms to use, and being trans does not alter this ability. Not panicking just might keep someone form getting beaten, and since a lot of violence against trans folk is perpetuated by police and other authority figures, altering them is not wise either. (Not that we anarchists would ever call cops anyway, right?)

Increasingly, trans identity is being seen as an individual matter; who we are is our business and not the prerogative of doctors or the larger society. No matter how comfortable we are in our bodies, trans or not, we are all affected by binary gender roles, though this is most blatant and violent with transgenders. Gay men, no matter how butch; femmy men, no matter how straight; butch women, straight and lesbians; nerdy guys, the list goes on of people oppressed by binary gender norms. Trans folk cross these gendered lines and forge a way beyond just this or that, man or woman, male or female. By listening to and celebrating trans folk, we too can unhinge ourselves from the yoke of conforming to roles we may not want.

Some books on transgender issues:

-Trans Liberation: Beyond pink or Blue—Leslie Feinberg

-Gender Outlaw: On Men, Women, and the Rest of Us—Kate Bornstein

-Sex Changes: The Politics of Transgenderism—Patrick Califia

-The Testosterone Files—Max Wolf Valerio

-Nobody Passes: Rejecting the Rules of Gender Conformity—Mattilda ed.

-Intersex Awareness Day: October 26th

-Transgender Day of Remembrance Day: November 20th.

Don’t let fear interfere with the the free and independent life that you’ve got planned out in your organizer. You don’t have to be afraid to go out at night. Violence can control both physical movement and limit the scope of our minds. Let’s get some ideas, get on with our lives, and learn how to defend ourselves. Women’s self defense projects grew out of feminist consciousness raising groups and incorporate personal experience with martial arts. Learning self-defense is empowering and liberating. Practice self-defense with friends, in classes, and in collectives. Support self-defense/domestic violence prisoners and learn about their cases. Shere these brief tips and stories about what has worked for you.

1. Start by developing the habit of paying attention to your surroundings. Try to be alert and ready, without panic or paranoia. Be careful about being preoccupied while on a cellphone or headphones.
2. Check out what the people around you are up to. Are they disturbed or angry? Where are their hands? Are they reaching for a weapon? Are they following you? Stereotypes and ignorance about a neighborhood or community will only make your situation worse. Become familiar with the places where you live and travel. Consider possible escapes, whether the area is inhabited or desolate.
3. Be aware of your own condition: are you upset, intoxicated, or sick? Take a deep breath and ground yourself before engaging in a situation. Relax your shoulders, and truly exhale.
4. Be ready to defend yourself in public or unfamiliar territory, as well as in your home or on your stomping grounds. Most attacks occur at home, and most attackers are intimate with survivors.
5. When inappropriate or aggressive behavior surfaces, confront it before the situation escalates. Trust your feelings—examine discomfort closely. Is someone crowding your comfort zone? A common barometer is whether they are close enough to kick or punch you. Set boundaries with words and gestures.
6. Adopt a fighting stance” bend your knees, and stand with one foot forward and your legs spread apart. Keep moving so you don’ freeze up.
7. Don’t be afraid to assert yourself, speak loudly, and yell. Learn how to say “No, get away from me, stop following me, leave me alone.” Practice role-playing situations, practice yelling if it doesn’t come easily. If you are on a short fuse, learn to control your anger—don’t get baited into dangerous situations.
8. Avoid turning your back on an assailant.
9. Don’t carry weapons you don’t know how to use, and that an attacker could turn against you. Many items in your possession will be sufficient: keys, a lighter, a pencil, or a comb.
10. Strike to disable: poke at the eyes, punch at the throat, kick at the knees or groin. Remember that you are not trying to win a fight, only do enough damage to get away. Size and strength won’t keep you from escaping: consider how small a feral animal such as a fox can easily escape from a person’s grasp.

For women and trans self defense in the Bay Area contact Girl Army, 103 International Boulevard, Oakland CA (510) 496-3443

NON FICTION

-The Mouse That Roared: Disney and the End of Innocence– Henry A. Giroux

-Kinderculture– ed. Shirley R. Steinberg, Joe Kincheloe

-We Don’t Need Another Wave– ed. Melody Berger

-The Sex Lives of Cannibals– J. Marteen Troost

-Shadows of War– Carolyn Nordstrom

-The Broken Fountain– Thomas Belmont

-Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fall or Succeed– Jared Diamond

-Ishi: The Last of His Tribe– Theodora Kroeber

-Don’t Lets Go to the Dogs Tonight– Alexandra Fuller

-The Irresistable Revolution: Living as Ordinary Radicals– Shane Claiborne.

-My Life as a Traitor– Zarah Ghahrmuni and Robert Hillman

-My Colombian War: A Journey Through the Country I Left Behind– Silvana Paternostro

-Endgame– Derrick Jensen

-Against History, Against Leviathan– Freddy Peralman

-The Ego and its Own: The Case of the Individual Against Authority– Max Stirner

-T.A.Z The Temporary Autonomous Zone, Ontological Anarchy, Poetic Terrorism– Hakim Bey

-Gamorah– Roberto Saviano

-Worse than Slavery– David M. Oshinsky

-Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk Rock– Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain

-Empire’s Workshop: Latin America, The United States, and the Rise of New Imperialism– Greg Grandin

-Going Underground– George Hurchalla

FICTION

-Invisible Monsters– Chuck Palahniuk

-My Years of Meats– Ruth L. Ozeki

-Satan: His Psychotherapy and the Cure by the Unfortunate Dr. Kassler J.S.P.S.– Jeremy C. Leven

-Watership Down– Richard Adams

-Open Eyes, Unlock Doors– Robnoxious

-Raise High the Roof Beams, Carpenter– J. D. Salinger

-The Day of the Locusts– Nathaniel West

-We– Yevgeny Zamyatin

-Waiting for the Barbarians– J.M. Coetzee

-The Waves– Virginia Woolf

-Immortality– Milán Kundera

CHILDREN/YOUNG ADULT

-The Monster at the End of this Book– Jon Stone

-Loser– Jerry Spinelli

-Dogs Don’t Tell Jokes– Louis Sachar

-The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time– Mark Haddon

-Entries From a Hot-Pink Notebook– Todd Brown

-Disguised: A Wartime Memory– Rita de Clercq Zubli

-The Egypt Game– Zilpha Keatley

-Francie– Karen English

-Ashes of Roses– Mary Jane Auch

-The Little Prince– Antoine de Saint-Exupery

-That Was Then, This is Now– S. E. Hinton

POETRY

-Wilderness- Jim Morrison

-Rimbaud Complete– Arthur Rimbaud

-Flowers of Evil– Baudelaire

-Selected Poems– Federico Garcia Lorca

-North– Seamus Heanuy

-Crossing the Water– Silvia Plath

ZINES

-Anarchy– Politics (Berkeley, CA)

-At Daggers Dawn (Portland OR)

-Bite Back– Animal Rights (West Palm Beach FL)

-Car Busters– Politics (Czech Republic)

-Cell Phones Suck –technology

-Communities– Politics (Routkedge, MO)

-Cracks in the Concrete– Personal/Politics (St. Westmont NJ)

-Cuckoo– Comics (Portland OR)

-Defenestrator– Politics (Phila PA)

-Doris– Personal (Asheville NC)

-Dwelling Portably– (Bloomington IN)

-East Village Inky– Personal/Politics (Brooklyn NY)

-Exclamation Point! — Personal (Concord, CA)

-Fifth Estate– Politics (Ferndale MI)

-Free Society– Music/Politics (Petersborough ON)

-Give me Back– Music (Washington DC)

-Ilse Content– Personal (Olympia WA)

-Ker-Bloom! — Politics (Pittsburgh PA)

-The Match– Politics (Tucson AZ)

-Modesto Anarcho– Politics (Modesto CA)

-Placebo Jane– Personal/Music

-Poz– Queer (Virginia Beach, VA)

-Punk Punk– Children’s Book (SF CA)

-The Revolutionary Pleasure of Thinking for Yourself — (Berkeley CA)

-Spread– Sex (NY NY)

-Storm Waiting– Politics (Seattle WA)

 

Jenn’s Amazing Vegan Gravy

-1 16 oz. can dark stout beer

-1 onion

-3 large mushrooms or 9 small ones

-1 clove garlic

-1/3 c. olive oil

-1/2 c. wholewheat flour

-1/3 c. nutritional yeast

-2 c. water

-1/2 tsp dried basil

-1/2 tsp thyme

-2 tsp tomato paste

-1 tsp maple syrup

-2 Tbsp cider vinegar

-2 bay leaves

-3 Tbsp soy sauce

-2 Tbsp re/brown miso

Mince vegetables as fine as humanly possible and saute in oil on low heat for 5-10 minutes until tender. Add beer and water and dissolve flour into liquid while it’s cold. Add all other ingredients and simmer on low heat for 20 minutes stirring periodically to avoid burning.

Tofu Eggless Salad

-1 lb. firm tofu

-4 sticks celery

-2 carrots

-1/2 c. coarsely chopped onion

-2 cloves garlic

-1/2 c. vinegar

-2 Tbsp nutritional yeast

-1 Ybsp mustard

-1 tsp pepper

-2 tsp salt

-2 Tbsp parsley

Finely mince vegetables, mash tofu with potato masher, and mix all ingredients in a owl. For better results, through everything in a food processor and blend thoroughly. Chill and serve.

 

The currently self-destructing system of corporate profit at the expense of human happiness and the environment props itself up by constantly selling us hope for the future as a substitute for transformation of the present. We need hope if we’re to keep struggling for a different world in the face of hostile and discouraging conditions, but we have t be careful to avoid the false hope that consumerism, the media, and mainstream politics always offer us: A new shining leader who will fix everything, if only we elect them. Dizzying new forms of techno-entertainment to take our minds off the crumbling economy and the dying planet. And lots of new stuff to buy—hybrid cars, “alternative” fuels, crap made from fair trade this and recycled that. If you can be thing, young, and beautiful through consumerism, surely you can be green too, right?

Let’s go back a step. The current political/economic/cultural system is not offering solutions to problems—it’s causing the problems. Under capitalism, constant competition forces everyone involved in the system to make decisions harmful to human beings and the earth. Every part of the system has to constantly increase profit, sales, efficiency, speed, and size, while reducing costs or risk being eaten up by someone else. The result is a race to the bottom—a sacrifice of the experience that make life worth living and the ecological systems that make life possible.

The system’s own internal logic of constant growth is inconsistent with a finite and fragile natural environment. Since the industrial revolution, human civilization has brought the world’s natural systems to the brink of collapse. Global warming is only the most stark example. Look at the rivers, the oceans, the forests, the air, the soil, wildlife—will your children’s natural world be better or worse than yours?

You might think that with all the technology and abundant material possessions that capitalism has created at the expense of the earth’s environment, people in developed countries would be the happiest in the history of the world. But capitalism—with its constant competition and insatiable appetite for more—corrodes the human spirit and human cultures just as surely as it destroys the natural environment. We have undergone the greatest speed-up in the history of the world. Time to spend with our families, time to be in nature, time to learn about the world for its own sake, time to make music, time to master a craft, time to just sit and be still—capitalism rations it all. Communities, family ties, our health and sanity are all sacrificed on the altar of More. The industrial economy crushes diversity, autonomy, local decision making, and free choice—instead, you get 10,000 identical Starbucks, processed frozen treas, and programmed mass culture. Workers always get the hardest deal—in sweatshops in China or closed factories in the USA—but even the “lucky” people in capitalism, inhabit a culturally, ecologically, and spiritually poor cage. The modern world is the ugliest, saddest, dirties, and most stressful and dangerous place humans have ever created.

In the face of this absurd system, people are organizing everywhere for different ways of living. While the system concentrates power in distant hands, we seek forms of organization that re-localize decision making—putting control of our lives back into our own hands and the hands of people we can speak with face-to-face. While the system worships competition and creates a pressure-filled world in which every individual is pitted against every other individual, we are building alternatives based on cooperation, trust, and mutual aid. From each according to their ability, to each according to their need. The system makes assumptions about individual psychology that just aren’t true: that everyone is inherently selfish, greedy, violent, and values material possession over time to enjoy our lives. We’re observing how people actually help each other out, how we have compassion for others, and how our time is more valuable than having a bunch of stuff. While the system seeks to promote individual isolation—living alone in suburbs, driving alone to a job, working alone in a box—we’re re-discovering our social nature. People have always lived together with others, cooperated to meet our needs, and caroused and sang late at night around a campfire. While the system always seeks more and faster stuff, we’re re-learning the richness and joy of being slow, low-tech, and simple.

All of these transformations lighten our impact on the natural world while making our day-to-day existence more meaningful, engaged, and connected with others. People have been organizing for these alternatives for a long time—some are described in the pages of this organizer—they don’t match neatly with our learned short-attention span in which plots are resolved in a half-hour tv episode. And yet, whole the transformation we’re building is a long-term project, it doesn’t require that we replace action now with a vague—or false—hope for the future. Because real social transformation is not about hoping for the future, but changing the way we live now. Real social transformation isn’t something that someone else does for you—a leader, a company selling you a new product, or a celebrity offering you entertainment. Real transformation is strictly do-it-ourselves. It is unmediated by the system of buying, passively watching or waiting for someone else to do it for you.

Part of real transformation—maybe the most important part—is within your own heart and your own head: freeing yourself from the fog, lies, and distractions offered by the outside—form buying, accomplishing stuff, or getting approval from someone else. Satisfaction and meaning can only come from within. Once you realize that you’re responsible for your own life, you are free to seek liberation from corporations, landlords, bosses, church leaders, teachers, and politicians.

Ultimately, the struggle against the system a struggle that we must make together. There is no single plan, no single solution, no single cause, no single alternative technology or form of organization that will bring liberation. But by trying many different ideas, struggles, and experiments, people just like you—probably including you—are developing alternatives in the here and now and for the future. We should pat ourselves on the back, celebrate our victories, and keep on keeping on. The future we seek starts right now.

 

Carbon Dioxide (CO2) is the main human-generated atmospheric gas causing climate change, CO2 is dumped into the air every time fossil fuels (oil, gasoline, natural gas, coal) are burned. Individual people burn fossil fuels in their daily lives—by driving cars, using electricity, and eating animal-based diets—and the society as a whole burns fuels to run industry—growing food, manufacturing products, transporting goods. You can get a rough feeling for how much your different activities contribute to global warming by using this carbon calculator. By estimating your emissions, you can see how you compare with the “average” and think about ways to reduce your personal emissions. To reduce societal societal emissions will require collective actions to force industries, government, and institutions to reduce fossil fuel dependence and create alternatives.

https://islandwood.org/footprint-calculator/

Footprint Calculator