Brief Summary
This video introduces the Anarchist FAQ, a collaborative project by anarchists worldwide aimed at presenting anarchist ideas, refuting arguments against anarchism, and serving as an organizing tool. The FAQ addresses common misconceptions about anarchism, particularly its compatibility with capitalism, and explains the historical context of its creation. It emphasizes the importance of individual responsibility, critical thought, and direct action in realizing a freer world.
- The FAQ is a collaborative effort by anarchists worldwide.
- It aims to present anarchist ideas and refute arguments against anarchism.
- It emphasizes individual responsibility, critical thought, and direct action.
- The FAQ was initially created to counter claims of compatibility between anarchism and capitalism.
- It serves as a resource for anarchists and anti-capitalists.
The Anarchist FAQ is a collaborative project written by anarchists worldwide to present anarchist ideas and theory. It serves as an organizing tool for anarchists both online and in the real world. The FAQ aims to convince readers to embrace anarchism and refute common arguments against it, as well as other proposed solutions to social problems.
Anarchism often clashes with common sense assumptions, such as the necessity of the state and capitalism. The FAQ explains why anarchists think the way they do, basing their ideas on an in-depth analysis of society and humanity. The arguments are summarized to avoid being simplistic, acknowledging the document's length as unavoidable. Extensive quoting is used to link past voices of anarchism with present adherents and to convey ideas succinctly, not as an appeal to authority. Quotes from experts, like Noam Chomsky, support arguments with facts and save space.
The FAQ started in 1995 to refute claims by libertarian capitalists of being anarchists. A group of net activists decided to create an FAQ explaining why anarchism opposes capitalism and why anarcho-capitalists are not anarchists. Following a suggestion, a pro-anarchist FAQ was deemed a better approach than an anti-anarcho-capitalist one. The FAQ still shows signs of its past, such as addressing figures like Ayn Rand and Murray Rothbard, who represent extreme examples of capitalist ideology.
The authors believe they have created a useful online resource for anarchists and anti-capitalists. Sections F and G contain the bulk of the early anti-libertarian content, refuting the idea that an anarchist can support capitalism, a common claim online. In the real world, this refutation is less necessary, as most anarchists consider anarcho-capitalism an oxymoron.
The FAQ has expanded beyond its original purpose into a general introduction to anarchism, its ideas, and history. Recognizing that there are no easy answers and that freedom requires individual responsibility, the FAQ is quite in-depth. Some frequently asked questions are included to cover relevant arguments and facts.
The authors acknowledge that not all anarchists will agree with everything in the FAQ, which is expected in a movement based on individual freedom and critical thought. However, they hope that most anarchists will agree with most of the content and respect differing viewpoints. The anarchist movement is marked by widespread disagreement and argument, but also by tolerance and a willingness to work together.
The FAQ is not meant to be a definitive statement on anarchism but a starting point for people to learn and translate that learning into direct action and self-activity. By applying anarchist ideas in practice, their strengths and limitations can be discovered, developing anarchist theory in new directions. The authors hope the FAQ reflects and aids this process of self-activity and self-education.
The authors invite readers to suggest additions or questions for inclusion in the FAQ. The FAQ is not their property but belongs to the whole anarchist movement, aiming to be an organic, living creation. They encourage people to get involved and distribute the FAQ, as it is a resource for the movement. The FAQ is copylefted to ensure it remains a free product available for all.
The FAQ strives to be gender-neutral, recognizing that language has changed over the years. While past anarchists, including female figures like Emma Goldman, used the term "man" to refer to humanity, the FAQ attempts to use inclusive language. When quoting past comrades, "man" is understood to mean humanity as a whole, and efforts are made to add "woman," "women," "her," and so on where possible without making the quote unreadable.
The authors hope the FAQ entertains and provokes thought, potentially creating more anarchists and accelerating the creation of an anarchist society. They dedicate the work to the millions of anarchists, living and dead, who have tried and are trying to create a better world. The Anarchist FAQ was officially released on July 19, 1996, to celebrate the Spanish Revolution of 1936 and the heroism of the Spanish anarchist movement.
Ian McKay is the main contributor and editor, with contributions and feedback from Gary Elkin, Dave Neal, Ed Boris, Andrew Flood, Mike Ballard, Francois, Jamal Hana, Mike Huben, Greg Alt, Chuck Munson, Pauline McCormick, Nestor McNabb, Kevin Carson, Sean Wilbur, and comrades on the anarchy one union and organized mailing lists.
Summarize any YouTube video in seconds
Get summaries like this one for any video, in your language, with the free Summ app.
Transcript
Full transcript of “Introduction to An Anarchist FAQ | An Anarchist FAQ Audiobook”. Click a timestamp to open the video at that moment. Need another video? Use the YouTube transcript generator.
0:02 an anarchist faq introduction proletarians of the world look into the depths of your own beings seek out the truth and realize it yourselves you will find it nowhere else peter arshnav the history of the macnovis movement welcome to our faq on anarchism this faq was written by anarchists across the world in an attempt to present anarchist ideas and theory to those interested in it it is a cooperative effort produced by a virtual working group and it exists to present a useful organizing tool for anarchists online and hopefully in the real world it desires to present arguments on why you should be an anarchist as well as refuting common arguments against
0:48 anarchism and other proposed solutions to the social problems we face as anarchist ideas seem so at odds with common sense such as of course we need a state in capitalism we need to indicate why anarchists think like we do unlike many political theories anarchism rejects flip answers and instead bases its ideas and ideals in an in-depth analysis of society and humanity in order to do both anarchism and the reader justice we have summarized our arguments as much as possible without making them simplistic we know that it is a lengthy document and may put off the casual observer but its length is unavoidable readers may consider our use of
1:33 extensive quoting as being an example of a open quote quotation being a handy thing to have about saving one the trouble of thinking for oneself end quote this is not the case of course we have included extensive quotations by many anarchist figures for three reasons firstly to indicate that we are not making up our claims of what certain anarchists thought or argued for secondly and most importantly it allows us to link the past voices of anarchism with its present adherence and lastly the quotes are used for their ability to convey ideas succinctly rather than as an appeal to authority in addition many quotes are used in order to allow readers to investigate the ideas of those quoted and to
2:18 summarize facts and so save space for example a quote by noam chomsky on the development of capitalism by state protection ensures that we base our arguments on facts without having to present all the evidence and references chomsky uses similarly we quote experts on certain subjects such as economics for example to support and bolster our analysis and claims we should also indicate the history of this faq it was started in 1995 when a group of anarchists got together in order to write an faq refuting the claims of certain libertarian capitalists to being anarchists those who were involved in this project had spent many an hour online refuting claims by these people that capitalism
3:04 and anarchism could go together finally a group of net activists decided the best thing was to produce an faq explaining why anarchism hates capitalism and why anarcho-capitalists are not anarchists however after the suggestion of mike cuban who maintains the critiques of libertarianism webpage it was decided that a pro-anarchist faq would be a better idea than an anti-anarcho-capitalist one so the anarchist faq was born it still bears some of the signs of its past history for example it gives the likes of ayn rand murray rothbard and so on far too much space outside of section f they really are not that important however as they present extreme examples
3:50 of everyday capitalist ideology and assumptions they do have their uses they state clearly the authoritarian implications of capitalist ideology which its more moderate supporters try to hide or minimize we think that we have produced a useful online resource for anarchists and other anti-capitalists to use perhaps in light of this we should dedicate this anarchist faq to the many online libertarian capitalists who because of their inane arguments prompted us to start this work then again that would give them too much credit outside the net they are irrelevant and on the net they are just annoying as you may guess sections f and g contain the bulk of this early anti-libertarian faq and are included
4:36 purely to refute the claim that an anarchist can be a supporter of capitalism that is relatively common on the net in the real world this would not be required as almost all anarchists think that anarcho-capitalism is an oxymoron and that its supporters are not part of the anarchist movement so while coming from a very specific reason the faq has expanded into more than we originally imagined it has become a general introduction about anarchism its ideas and history because anarchism recognizes that there are no easy answers and that freedom must be based on individual responsibility the faq is quite in-depth as it also challenges a lot of assumptions we have had to cover a lot
5:21 of ground we also admit that some of the frequently asked questions we have included are more frequently asked than others this is due to the need to include relevant arguments and facts which otherwise may not have been included we are sure that many anarchists will not agree 100 with what we have written in the faq that is to be expected in a movement based upon individual freedom and critical thought however we are sure that most anarchists will agree with most of what we present and respect those parts with which they do disagree with as genuine expressions of anarchist ideas and ideals the anarchist movement is marked by widespread disagreement and argument about various aspects of anarchist ideas
6:07 and how to apply them but also we must add a widespread tolerance of differing viewpoints and a willingness to work together in spite of minor disagreements we have attempted to reflect this in the faq and hope we have done a good job in presenting the ideas of all the anarchist tendencies we discuss we have no desire to write in stone what anarchism is and is not instead the faq is a starting point for people to read and learn for themselves about anarchism and translate that learning into direct action and self-activity by so doing we make anarchism a living theory a product of individual and social self-activity only by applying our ideas in practice can we find their strengths and
6:53 limitations and so develop anarchist theory in new directions and in light of new experiences we hope that the faq both reflects and aids this process of self-activity and self-education we are sure that there are many issues that the faq does not address if you think of anything we could add or feel you have a question and answer which should be included get in contact with us the faq is not our property but belongs to the whole anarchist movement and so aims to be an organic living creation we desire to see it grow and expand with new ideas and inputs from as many people as possible if you want to get involved with the faq then contact us
7:39 similarly if others particularly anarchists want to distribute all or part of it then feel free it is a resource for the movement for this reason we have copy lefted an anarchist faq by so doing we ensure that the faq remains a free product available for use by all one last point language has changed a lot over the years and this applies to anarchist thinkers too the use of the term man to refer to humanity is one such change needless to say in today's world such usage is inappropriate as it effectively ignores half the human race for this reason the faq has tried to be gender neutral however this awareness is relatively
8:25 recent and many anarchists even the female ones like emma goldman used the term man to refer to humanity as a whole when we are quoting past comrades who used man in this way it obviously means humanity as a whole rather than the male sex where possible we add woman women her and so on but if this would result in making the quote unreadable we have left it as it stands we hope this makes our position clear so we hope that this faq entertains you and makes you think hopefully it will produce a few more anarchists and speed up the creation of an anarchist society if all else fails we have enjoyed ourselves creating the faq and have shown anarchism to be a viable coherent
9:12 political idea we dedicate this work to the millions of anarchists living and dead who tried and are trying to create a better world an anarchist faq was officially released on july 19 1996 for that reason to celebrate the spanish revolution of 1936 and the heroism of the spanish anarchist movement we hope that our work here helps make the world a freer place the following self-proclaimed anarchists are mostly responsible for this faq ian mckay main contributor and editor gary elkin dave neal ed boris we would like to thank the following for their contributions and feedback andrew flood mike ballard francois jamal hana mike huben greg alt chuck
9:59 munson pauline mccormick nestor mcnabb kevin carson sean wilbur and our comrades on the anarchy one union and organized mailing lists
