There's something so deeply intimate about democratic centralism in voluntary associations. Like "I will carry out this decision that was democratically agreed upon even though I disagree because I have fundamental faith in our shared principles and I know that you would do the same if our roles were reversed." And that's first base among comrades. Absolutely wild.
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I did some of those interactive geography quiz things and I'm still pretty solid, though it's always good to brush up.
But was reminded by the process that my memorization technique 'yell at myself aloud why i should have gotten it right when i get it wrong' (and why i got it right when i did but it was tricky) is actually highly effective for things like geography, where the necessary information is evenly split between logical and arbitrary.
'hah! austria's the lumpy one in that area with a tail.' (the czech republic and hungary are both adjacent and of similar size and lumpiness, but austria has a panhandle trailing off west and is thus easily distinguished)
'argh! togo is narrower than benin!' (this is a more reliable distinction for me usually than which is east or west)
'myanmar is the one that's like thailand but isn't.' (this works because for whatever reason i recognize the shape of thailand automatically.)
'tajikistan shares a border with afghanistan, you know this.' (that was kyrgyzstan)
because next time you have to discern the exact same thing, you're very likely to remember the sentence you said emphatically last time, which contains the information you need.
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we're in mourning. We wish we were more proactive in convincing others to disband or distance themselves from Black Hammer or caused more problems for their efforts when we had the chance.
people who are eager to make a difference, who are less skeptical and more vulnerable, will be victim to all sorts of manipulation, and it isn't just people who outwardly claim to be on "the right" who will do it.
this should be a lesson to all would-be "communists" and "anti-imperialists" who make excuses for authoritarian leadership and cults of personality, but we're doubtful that many of them will be willing to listen or take it as a sign that this sort of dependence on central figures is rife with corruption.
this is a pattern! you must break free!
the facts are that these kinds of abuses are not isolated incidents, they are not simply the failures of one individual, or even a handful, but also the result of the flawed, dangerous method and structure of these organizations themselves.
replace one "chief", "boss", "party leader", "minister", or whoever-the-fuck-else with another, and you'll be guaranteed to run into the exact same problems and obstacles to effective organization.
the future is one where we are not governed!
you might ask: "why?"
...because it doesn't matter who is at the wheel -- whomever is with the pilot at the time of the crash will go down with them. such is the nature of trusting your direction to an authority.
that is why we can't entirely rely on any leaders or any singular organization (vanguardist "communist" or otherwise,) to liberate us.
COINTELPRO and the countless other subversive undermining of actual democracy have proven that these top-down structures are not only inefficient, but vulnerable beyond what a simple reform is capable.
why be represented by others, thus yielding our power to them, when we can represent ourselves?
our power is our own!
this isn't to assert that tragic and premature loss of life is something any revolutionary project can avoid in perpetuity.
conflict with the state, with capitalism, white supremacy, and all-else that seeks to dominate us, will result in casualties on both sides.
whether we can predict and limit this damage depends on how effective we are planning and navigating the questions of power and hierarchy in our dealings with each other.
the details matter, as does all of our perspectives and input. this is how consensus, cohesion and synthesis is reached.
if we had spaces to safely converse and organize for intentional action regarding our relationship with these "leaders", instances like this would be rarer, if not nearly impossible. instead, much like prisons, patriarchal families, and churches, our adherence to law and structure get in the way.
what else is there?
no leader yet has proven that they can't be swayed by the enticing forces of power, fame and control. their corruption and failures will always be imminent, and us as followers must gamble that we won't be caught in their cross-hairs in their quests for power.
we can operate based on models of consensus instead. we have outgrown leaders and leadership, the old and tired marxist models that have proven themselves unable to adapt to modern situations and desires, having massive gaps in its analysis of race and gender.
in the wastes of capitalism, amidst the bodies of those slain in the name of a revolutionary project, drowned by promise after promise from pundits, leaders and politicians alike:
we need something new! we must move on!
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