Midwest Action Network

Columbus is Dead #6: Towards an Opposition to Hegemony

So you've read a thousand books and seen a million images on why something needs to be done. You've witnessed political corruption from the status quo and the weak opposition presented against it. Some of you have turned to political activism, others to labor and community organizations. Working inside the system doesn't work and those working outside hardly put up a fight anymore. Its been over a decade since the Soviet Union collapsed and with the Soviet Union we've seen the continued failure of the left grow worse.

During the reign of the Cold War, the world feared nuclear annihilation from an external threat. With that threat gone, we were left with little else to blame than capitalism and the state. This wasn't to last. The next enemy the social order created was the drug dealers, a well armed but small threat used to justify the militarization of the police. This was joined by the U.S. taking on other marginal threats like petty warlords and national leaders. These enemies were spectacularized by the mass media while the U.S. promoted its military might with campaigns of shock and awe. The policies of the "New World Order" created by the Persian Gulf War suggested that a united international force was created that defended the concepts of liberal democracy and freedom.

Throughout the 90s this alliance was tested with small war after small war. These small wars were hardly threatening to Americans, being fought for the overt purposes of benevolence. These wars created the kind of unity necessary to avoid the questioning that creates opposition to the social order. It's no surprise that Seattle '99 rallied a new popular struggle based on growing opposition to the policies of the state and capitalism. For almost two years the rebellion against globalization changed the face of the nation and world. It connected struggles from the developing world with those in the developed. This movement against globalization created concerns that questioned the middle class and the values that create its security.

Then September 11th 2001 happened. Terrorists presented a viable threat for the state to combat. With no borders, an alien culture and no overt profit motive, their threat surpassed the drug dealers and petty warlords of the 90s. Al Qaeda became the most viable enemy since communism to U.S. dominance.

The state took the offensive and launched a war against Afghanistan in search of Al Qaeda. The nation defended this war, the perceived character of the enemies' actions overshadowed the message they were trying to convey. The movement against globalization dissolved into an anti-war movement that feared the growing violence of the U.S. state and an invisible enemy that could be anywhere.

The invasion and occupation of Iraq shortly followed the association of Iraq to Al Qaeda, fabricated by the Bush regime. Corruption scandal after corruption scandal has plagued the state while popular support shifted from defending the policies of war to opposing them.

This is where we are at. The Democratic party's opposition to the war has gained them more support in the state, but has given little results in presenting a viable challenge to the current policies of war. This unpopular war has overshadowed the increases in control passed and defended by the parties of the state. The globalist policies continue to be defined while the spectacular war keeps challenges from redeveloping and perhaps deepening.

Throughout it all, anarchists have remained in opposition. Our opposition moves beyond the policies of state and capital, questioning the very power of the social order, testing its hegemony. The challenge anarchists present is more than a struggle of response and reaction, fighting wars of attrition or battling to reform our exploitation. Anarchist struggle is more than creating a movement of escapists and isolationists, defining our lives separate from capitalism, only inconvenienced when the state enters our lives.

We want more than what we've got now, we want more than what they offer, we want more than what we can take. Anarchists want not a petty increase in material accumulation, though we support the struggles against poverty, oppression and exploitation. Anarchists want social freedom without privilege and without hierarchy. We want to shatter our separations and spend full lives sharing connections with others where domination can't exist.

We want subversion. We want disruptions to the daily functions of the social order. We want these disruptions done in a way that inspires others to repeat our activities. Be it in solidarity and agreement with the general aims of the practice or be it as another bud of resistance seeking to flower, our activities show the world that dissent can be inspiring and empowering.

We create projects that support anarchist aims. Anarchists promote a practice that conflicts with the system, desiring projects that can adapt and adjust to the changing world while still offering solidarity to subversion.

We collaborate and create projects that develop their own methods of subversion. Not satisfied with the mere issues of resentment, anarchists push the present values of society to its limit, poking holes in its logic and presenting new ways of viewing or understanding the world.

Anarchists are not alone in this world and our practice is growing. Others can benefit from our methods, aims and desires. Wherever a tension forms, anarchists are able to respond by engaging the tension directly. Be it on terms we create or by creating them with others, we can resist threats from the present order, refusing idleness with others, resisting its encroachment on our lives.

**Columbus is Dead Issues 1 through 6 can be ordered as a set for $3. Send well concealed cash to: Arawak City Distribution P.O. Box 6839 Columbus, Ohio 43205 We are also willing to send issues for free upon request. Mail us or email info@cbusimc.org to request the latest issue.