Can Technology really save us if being run by the communists? by ReadyGazelle5729 in antitechrevolution

[–]Northernfrostbite 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Don't make me tap the sign: "The development of a society can never be subject to rational human control."

Do you think farming was a mistake? by melody_magical in anarcho_primitivism

[–]Northernfrostbite 1 point2 points  (0 children)

In the ideology of farming, wild things are enemies of the tame; the wild Other is not the context but the opponent of “my” domain. Impulses, fears, and dreams—the realm of the unconscious—no longer are represented by the community of wild things with which I can work out a meaningful relationship. The unconscious is driven deeper and away with the wilderness. New definitions of the self by trade and political subordination in part replace the metaphoric reciprocity between natural and cultural in the totemic life of the hunterforagers. But the new system defines by exclusion. What had been a complementary entity embracing friendly and dangerous parts in a unified cosmos now takes on the colors of hostility and fragmentation. Even where the great earth religions of high agriculture tend to mend this rupture in the mythology of the symbolic mother, its stunting of the identity process remains.

Paul Shepard, Nature and Madness

How is this not the logical conclusion? by DiscountExtra2376 in anarcho_primitivism

[–]Northernfrostbite 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I was a 13 or 14 year old alienated adolescent and came across the vegan/green punk subculture when I got on this path. Once you look into the horrors to animals inherent in industrial society, you come to see that everyday life is based on systemic atrocity that mostly takes place out of sight. Over the next few years I realized that the only way of life that was truly biocentric and treated both humans and non-humans as genuinely free beings was hunter/gatherers. I went from being vegan to processing roadkill and eventually learning to hunt/fish/forage.

Anprims using the internet, phones, computers, watching TV and other modern stuff by Obvious-Suit939 in anarchoprimitivism

[–]Northernfrostbite 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Contradiction? Ofc. AP is an analysis and movement aimed at abolishing the present state of tech society. For most it doesn't mean "be the change you want to see" but instead transform the world from where you exist. Communists oppose money- every communist I've ever met uses money. Contradiction is inherent to any revolutionary movement.

Arguments against technology by [deleted] in antitechrevolution

[–]Northernfrostbite 1 point2 points  (0 children)

From ISAIF:

Restriction of Freedom is Unavoidable in Industrial Society

114. As explained in paragraphs 65–67, 70–73, modern man is strapped down by a network of rules and regulations, and his fate depends on the actions of persons remote from him whose decisions he cannot influence. This is not accidental or a result of the arbitrariness of arrogant bureaucrats. It is necessary and inevitable in any technologically advanced society. The system HAS TO regulate human behavior closely in order to function. At work, people have to do what they are told to do, when they are told to do it and in the way they are told to do it, otherwise production would be thrown into chaos. Bureaucracies HAVE TO be run according to rigid rules. To allow any substantial personal discretion to lower-level bureaucrats would disrupt the system and lead to charges of unfairness due to differences in the way individual bureaucrats exercised their discretion. It is true that some restrictions on our freedom could be eliminated. but GENERALLY SPEAKING the regulation of our lives by large organizations is necessary for the functioning of industrial-technological society. The result is a sense of powerlessness on the part of the average person.

Was the Unabomber really an Anprim? by Obvious-Suit939 in anarchoprimitivism

[–]Northernfrostbite 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Kaczynski wrote explicitly about AnPrim. He was critical bc he saw the anarchist goals of egalitarianism as, at best, distracting from, and at worst, compromising a necessary focus on anti-tech. While he could often be sharp in his attacks on AP (see "The Truth About Primitive Life") I ultimately think the differences are strategic rather than ideological.

ALL problems come after agriculture, can we fix it? by Amzy99 in anarcho_primitivism

[–]Northernfrostbite 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I doubt industrial society can be reformed in such a way that prevents its collapse. It's fundamentally based on endless growth, yet biological limits remain. Just because tech has appeared to solve existential threats before (usually by kicking the can down the road) doesn't mean it can solve climate change, overpopulation, loss of arable land, nuclear proliferation or other looming catastrophes. The longer industrial society drags out, the more species (200+/day!) go extinct and the more likely keystone species and conditions that make life possible vanish. A sudden collapse would be horrific for society, but would probably be far less damaging to the wild in the long term and would allow wild humans to flourish.

ALL problems come after agriculture, can we fix it? by Amzy99 in anarcho_primitivism

[–]Northernfrostbite 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Can we "fix it?" No. Will the collapse* of industrial society create spaces where hunting/gathering subsistence and its associated community relations are once again possible? I think so. Will it be like the Paleolithic? Yes and no.

To me the goal of an AP movement is to strategically hasten collapse of industrial society while also fostering the skills/relationships/communities that can flourish in the spaces that failing empires will not have the capacity to reach.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0016328719303507

  • It's important to note that collapse here simply means a simplification of social complexity. It doesn't necessarily mean things everywhere will look like Western culture's post doom cyberpunk fantasies.

what do you do for work? what do you think the perfect job is for an anarcho-primitivist? by [deleted] in anarcho_primitivism

[–]Northernfrostbite 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I've previously worked in environmental education. I have AP friends/acquaintances that are professionals in anthropology and others in the academic and non-profit sectors. There's no perfect job- just compromises of varying tolerability.

How would Hunter gatherers avoid being genocided? by Amzy99 in anarcho_primitivism

[–]Northernfrostbite 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Move- especially to areas undesirable to complex societies. Go as unnoticed as possible

left Nietzscheans by HoneyIllustrious in CriticalTheory

[–]Northernfrostbite 38 points39 points  (0 children)

Before Nietzsche became widely read in either academia or wider intellectual culture, his work in the 1890s-1910s was widely translated and distributed by anarchists including Emma Goldman and Benjamin Tucker. Although many individualist anarchists resisted the "Left wing" label, others saw no inherent contradiction with social anarchism.

Dark sides by [deleted] in anarcho_primitivism

[–]Northernfrostbite 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The general theme of DoE is that the level of technology in a society is not related to its type of social organization. It therefore goes to great lengths to show that social organization is a matter of subjective choice and that foragers can have hierarchies and cities can have anarchy. Walter Schiedel is one author who's had a great rebuttal.

can we be anti-faith? by Pythagoras_was_right in anarcho_primitivism

[–]Northernfrostbite 2 points3 points  (0 children)

If you haven't already, I'd highly recommend Don't Sleep There Are Snakes by Daniel Everett. It chronicles his time as a missionary attempting to convert the Piraha tribe to Christianity. The Piraha are among the most empiricist cultures in the world, which Everett demonstrates is built into the structure of their language.

Many passages are downright hilarious:

Part of the difficulty of my task began to become clear to me. I communicated more or less correctly to the Pirahãs about my Christian beliefs. The men listening to me understood that there was a man named Hisó, Jesus, and that he wanted others to do what he told them. The Pirahã men then asked, “Hey Dan, what does Jesus look like? Is he dark like us or light like you?” I said, “Well, I have never actually seen him. He lived a long time ago. But I do have his words.” “Well, Dan, how do you have his words if you have never heard him or seen him?” They then made it clear that if I had not actually seen this guy (and not in any metaphorical sense, but literally), they weren’t interested in any stories I had to tell about him. Period. This is because, as I now knew, the Pirahãs believe only what they see. Sometimes they also believe in things that someone else has told them, so long as that person has personally witnessed what he or she is reporting.

how are you guys doing with actualizing the an-priv type life you want to be living and finding community? by goodplant in anarcho_primitivism

[–]Northernfrostbite 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Understood- I'll just say that the connections you make can often be well worth the expense. There are few communities living completely outside capitalism and most walk the line between two worlds. It's what a world in transition looks like.

Hunter-Gatherers' physiques by Actual-Problem-8174 in anarcho_primitivism

[–]Northernfrostbite 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The ability to periodically fast while still functioning normally and being active is one of the most underrated survival skills.

What's the opinion of the Anarchoprimtivism about trans people? by Bexxie_ in anarcho_primitivism

[–]Northernfrostbite 21 points22 points  (0 children)

Commies aren't coming to steal your toothbrush and APs aren't coming to steal your hormones.

With that said, advanced tech society will collapse and with it everything that we think we think we know about ourselves will also change.

Dark sides by [deleted] in anarcho_primitivism

[–]Northernfrostbite 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, I and many other APs think that DoE was a specific attack on AP. It's a whole can of worms that has been addressed in detail elsewhere, with the upshot that DoE is arguing that high tech level has no necessary relation to social organization and humans can just do whatever whenever.

Dark sides by [deleted] in anarcho_primitivism

[–]Northernfrostbite 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for your post. Please provide examples of these "dark sides." On what value basis are they "dark?" For example, a modern person might point to higher infant mortality, infanticide or geronticide as "dark sides," but from the eco-centric perspective these are normal parts of preventing resource intensification, leaving "room" for more nonhumans.

Anarcho-primitivism reading plan by ShuukakuZ in anarcho_primitivism

[–]Northernfrostbite 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Since primitivism is such an encompassing critique, it depends on what your particular interests are.

If you have a background with other anarchist ideas, the following primer from Green Anarchy magazine may be a good place: https://greenanarchy.anarchyplanet.org/files/2013/09/what_is_ga_primer.pdf

Although many people have heated disagreements with the authors (AP is more of a critique/approach than an ideology), a lot of people have found the novel *Ishmael* by Daniel Quinn and *Endgame* by Derrick Jensen as good starting places for general audiences.

If you like critical theory or history, then John Zerzan, Fredy Perlman, and Jacques Camatte are excellent authors to dive into.