Getting specific is part of what Season 4 of The Brilliant podcast is about. Specifics about what a green perspective is (this conversation with BF is about the book Corrosive Consciousness). Specific about what different projects of dialogic anarchist practice looks like (namely an announcement for our new project Anarchy Bang https://anarchybang.com/ and, of course, this podcast). For my first The Brilliant conversation in 2019 I sit with Bellamy and talk about what he intended to do with his book Corrosive Consciousness, talk about what was done well (the argumentation) and what wasn’t (the tone) and the disingenous politicking that resulted once John Zerzan got ahold of the book and presented it on his bully pulpit.
I was upset that the book was undermined, this is the full story of how, what, and why that happened. An interesting test case of what politics look like in the anti-political milieu and what bad faith looks like in practice. We also get the skinny on leaf-cutter ants which I can’t get enough of.
(1495)
3 Comments
this is touching (but i already have a hard time with zerzan, so i guess i’m the choir).
what i wonder is whether people who are *not* in the throes of emotional state (in this case, who are not pissed off because of all the ways that jz is dismissive and bad faith) will put the energy int o good critique? iow, our emotions are required for motivation, and trying to divorce them is understandable (maybe even totally appropriate) but also robotic?
not critique, but praxis seems to be the issue here. so how do I liberate myself from dependence on civ? not quickly thats for sure. my experience teaches me that unless i am in possession of those hunter/gatherer skills that would allow me to retreat from civ to the forest or jungle i need to find a way out from within. i have no doubt there are folks listening who can kill and dress an animal, make fire w/ a bow and spindle, identify wild foods, etc. but how many are there and would they even be wiling to teach someone else? so in the absence of those skills, or a community to teach them, and the money to attend, what are the rest of us to do? perhaps we need a new definition of hunting/gathering that takes civ into consideration. not only that, i need to change my concept of living. if a phone and a PC and all that stuff is what i want to keep while being liberated, i don’t have a chance. if i expect to eat three meals a day, of my choosing, i don’t have a chance. BF makes an excellent argument in BW about how we enslaved to civ most of us are, and w/o changing my attitude there is no hope of ever being free, if thats what i want. i have been actively liberating healthy food from grocery stores for years. if i were a member of a group who could coordinate projects, i have no doubt we could eat well. it may sound ridiculous, but i think it’s a viable option, one of many, we could use while working towards obtain more skills. some will say, ‘what about getting caught?’, well i say ‘risk is unavoidable’. and i feel currently more confident in avoiding apprehension, than i do a bear. i think i could fight my way out of an apprehension, but i doubt i would survive a bear attack. i saw the revenant and would prefer a store cop to a gizzly myself. the point is there will always be risks. i think if we can’t retreat to the backwoods of the country, maybe we can work together to free ourselves in the city till we can. i know i don’t have the skills to express my sentiments as eloquently as some folks, but i think i make a good point about redefining our terms to fit the situation. if i am wrong, and i often am, i am open to criticism, and i’m not worried about getting my feeling hurt, so say what you want. if it’s appropriate, i’ll listen, if not, then it won’t be any different than what i see on anews and i’ll ignore it.
Next time you get Bellamy back on can you ask him to talk about his current relationship with Stirner? It sounds like they are on the verge of a breakup, or are they poly now? But seriously,I would enjoy to hear how he describes his philosophical views now and if S. still is a noteworthy influence?