“In England and the United States, the police were invented within the space of just a few decades—roughly from 1825 to 1855. The new institution was not a response to an increase in crime, and it really didn’t lead to new methods for dealing with crime. The most common way for authorities to solve a crime, before and since the invention of police, has been for someone to tell them who did it. Besides, crime has to do with the acts of individuals, and the ruling elites who invented the police were responding to challenges posed by collective action. To put it in a nutshell: The authorities created the police in response to large, defiant crowds. That’s — strikes in England, — riots in the Northern US, — and the threat of slave insurrections in the South. So the police are a response to crowds, not to crime.”

— Origins of the Police by David Whitehouse

#acab #anarchism #socialism

The reason I started posting about my love for working is pretty simple: someone told me anarcho-syndicalists are out here “forcing” people to work. Honestly? If that was true, I couldn’t care less.

I post because I genuinely love the idea of collaborating with others, having an actual say in what I do, and shaping my day alongside my fellow workers.

I want to see real democracy and self-management at work, not bosses compelling workers without their consent.

#AnarchoSyndicalism#Anarchism#Syndicalism

I'm #ActuallyAutistic, and I want to see a worker-controlled community where the labor process isn’t dictated by rigid hierarchies or managers running some Taylorist algorithm. Imagine abolishing those antiquated top-down structures and running things through federated councils, real participatory democracy, not just a suggestion box theater.

My ideal workday would be one where I’ve got agency over what I do because I’m collaborating with comrades in the union, actively practicing collective self-management, and making decisions by consensus (shoutout to all the meeting minutes, voting procedures, and all the Parecon spreadsheets). Work allocation rotates, responsibilities are balanced, and nobody’s stuck optimizing a Gantt chart for someone else’s profit margin.

With rigid hierarchies intact, there’s no meaningful praxis of democracy. It’s always a one-way mirror, decisions handed down, labor alienated, surplus value siphoned off to distant capital. The material outcomes of our work should strengthen our community, not some absentee shareholders whose only connection to our lives is a quarterly earnings call.

Do I enjoy working? Definitely. But in a world built on genuine worker self-management, where we plan, balance, and carry out decisions together, I’d enjoy it just a little bit more.

#Anarchism#RevolutionarySyndicalism#Syndicalism#AnarchoSyndicalism#WorkerSelfManagement

Durruti had learned endless things during the months of civil war, but the main lesson that he received was a full confirmation of the working class's capacity to govern itself and the damage done by the committees' bureaucratic leaderism.
-- Abel Paz

#anarchism #quote #bot

We anarchists do not want to emancipate the people; we want the people to emancipate themselves.
-- Errico Malatesta

#anarchism #quote #bot

Eat the ritch!

#eattherich #feedthepoor #anticapitalism #anarchism #socialism #communism

For real, you are not a capitalist, you work for a capitalist and they're profiting off you

#capitalism #anticapitalism #anarchism #socialism #communism #activism

Sounds legit

#anticapitalism #eattherich #feedthepoor #anarchism #activism #socialism #communism

We are not in the least afraid of ruins. We are going to inherit the earth; there is not the slightest doubt about that. The bourgeoisie might blast and ruin its own world before it leaves the stage of history. We carry a new world here, in our hearts. That world is growing this minute.
-- Buenaventura Durruti

#anarchism #quote #bot

I've been toying with the idea of some sort of Solarpunk/Library Socialism Movement in St. Louis for a while. I do not feel like any current organization deals with the specific issues I'm concerned with in a comprehensive, local way.

As a result, I have a vision I've been toying with that I feel ready to share: https://nextcloud.nullarch.com/s/qkkisXnC5iw2EAX

I'm very open to feedback or interest in this idea/project.

#stl #stlouis #saintlouis #solarpunk #librarysocialism #climate #urbanism #housing #anarchism

Migrating back here from my previous, now-defunct, account @nix@social.stlouist.com. if you know me please boost so I can reconnect with followers.

This is a good time for an #introduction I suppose.

I'm an #educator from #stl that firmly believes in decentralized self organization, such as #anarchism, #socialecology, #solarpunk, or #librarysocialism.

Also I'm a big #urbanism and #foss nerd and #ebike commuter. I'm very involved in the local #freestore and trying to help organize larger #postcapitalist ventures.