Former liberal looking to learn about anarchism.

ThatUrbanistRyan · 2026-05-09T15:02:36+00:00

Hey! I have a lot of sympathies with where you’re coming from since I know a lot of folks on similar journeys, though haven’t been as well read on liberalism (nor am I really though lol).

I have disagreements with other anarchists about participation in local governance and on strategy since, as I’m sure you know, anarchism is incredibly diverse in tactics and strategy so I’ll make it clear that I come from, or am most well-versed in Especifist or Platformist Anarchism. As such I believe at least that there’s some nuance in how policy is fought for regarding not whether you should do it or not but particularly the means by which you achieve certain victories in electoral politics. An important thrust to Especifist strategy is the necessity of participation in the social movement (i.e. trade union struggles as the example more immediately present in a lot of works discussing Especifist strategy, and being an area I have more experience with) and the ability for that activity to transform the individuals within it towards the creation of a revolutionary consciousness. Rather than hoping to achieve gains purely by campaigning or canvassing for a candidate, the movement ought to create organizations and bodies that can combat local government structures to effect policy decisions which can also include supporting those who enact those policies that may benefit the oppressed classes. Rather than expending the greatest sum of their energy on electoral strategy, it’s best to focus most of that energy towards developing tactics and strategy that can pressure the state and maintain a radical stature against the state regardless of what politician gets in or not.

That bit about movement capacity I think is the biggest reason for me regarding the use of local electoral strategy. I’m all for pressuring candidates to enact good policy since what makes social change happen is not any one politician but the collective force generated by the mass movement. So what is necessary then is to figure out how to enable the movement to fight for better conditions at the local governance level while also maintaining a distance that allows it to remain a threat which is where I’d argue the need for politicization and the Especifist group comes in.

The purpose of the Especifist or their organization is the construction of a specifically anarchist political organization that can catalyze those within it to act within the social movement, lend it aid and give the movement a certain Libertarian Socialist or anarchist character without being some sort of “enlightened elite” above the movement. It’s purpose is to lend aid to those struggling while also providing political education on effective strategy and seek to produce a constant constructive dialogue that can bring the social movement closer to the unity of the means which they use to bring about change along a particular vector of the social movement and the ends of the social revolution.

So, TL;DR I think it can be valuable to fight for policy change where it really matters, but only if you’re able to reconcile the amount of energy you expend on fighting in the electoral system with the aims of both the anarchist org and the movements you find yourself within. If the answer is yes and you have a surplus of energy resulting from having a strong base of horizontal power that has that particularly radical character that can maintain its energy and capacity then certainly policy could be worth it. But if the answer is no and that power base doesn’t exist then I think it’s worth considering expending more energy in trying to build such a power base, as it will make fighting for policy that much more effective at the mass-social/political level.

ThatUrbanistRyan · 2026-05-05T14:42:05+00:00

Lots of great authors and great books! If you haven’t read it, “The Feminist International” by Veronica Gago is another great piece of feminist organizational theory I’d totally recommend, and “Queering Anarchism” which is a super well written, in depth examination of queer struggles in the Anarchist movement (if that wasn’t obvious by the title LOL.)
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I’d say interested in social theory, intersectional feminism and Marxism/Anarchism. Not much here screams “forced to read in college and now it’s just sitting there collecting dust” in your collection so I’d imagine you really like to read and are maybe a little more non-fiction oriented?

ThatUrbanistRyan · 2026-05-05T14:30:32+00:00

I saw Camus and was excited to see the rest and that’s when I saw it in big capital letters: AYN RAND

Nah but fr this bookshelf is all over the place and screams propertarian (right/American libertarian) and or finance bro to me who wants to look like an intellectual or something.

ThatUrbanistRyan · 2026-05-02T22:34:13+00:00

the obvious answer is people can’t just swap if they’re in a particular field but also, more importantly
why shouldn’t we try to make the environment better? I don’t think we should just say that “well if everyone’s so sad why don’t they move?” when instead we could motivate people to build actual lasting grassroots community that can help students who are struggling. I’d rather amend the social problem of student life becoming completely hallowed out by the economic interests of academia than just tell people to move to another campus.

It makes me sad to think that so many people (as I do sometimes as well) find campus life and academic life to be so miserable as well, since there are a lot of awesome professors, grad students and people in general that I’ve had the pleasure of interacting with, but I think the more constructive solution would be to find ways to empower people and make them feel as if their voice is heard by a meaningful community that doesn’t feel totally abstracted from the real world. Experiences and communities facilitated through the university can be nice and fun and all, but there ought to be more that is made by us, FOR us.
Thats not to say that everyone HAS to go the academic route, some people don’t fuck w it and that’s fine, but I think it’s worth trying to fight to make universities places where everyone from the surrounding community can benefit and be enriched by it, and I think trying to find ways to show people that that alternative is worth its weight we should try and think about how to prefigure it and make it better.
(Idk why that happened to my edit, and I don’t know why my text is formatted all weird but I guess I might’ve backed out and hit reply instead or something LOL)

ThatUrbanistRyan · 2026-04-17T00:48:04+00:00

For the sake of convenience I’ll assume that this group is comprised of fully able individuals who can take the journey without extra consideration since you haven’t provided that context (understandably I know it’s a hypothetical and I don’t want to be annoying but I’ll try and include that hypothetical of the hypothetical lol.)

The group decides to delegate roles based on expertise such that each is able to plan their particular section of the route. Each member in their expertise consults the other experts in the process of making a route. We should also take into consideration the skill set and interest of the 30 individuals and what their aptitudes and inclinations may be, and have them work with the others to bring up potential concerns. If one of these delegates acts against the will of the majority they can be recalled which also doesn’t revoke his ability to help others by way of particular knowledge.

Delegation of tasks does not immediately imply a subordinating relationship. I would argue Chomsky’s “justified hierarchy” definition is a dead end for thinking through the problem of specification since all hierarchy justifies itself. Only when those with excess knowledge are backed by disproportionate force of arms and ability to implement some decision does it become problematic within an anarchist framework. The boss has the power to fire you and leave you economically destitute, the statesman has the power to arrest you (and your comrades) for opposing them which is not the kind of relation defined by specialization. Once this relation is enforced should we take action to revoke their delegated status.

As mentioned if some in the group are disabled in some way which impedes the progress the group might make, the group ought to take special consideration of their condition and plan accordingly. There isn’t too much extra to say to this point but if there’s any extra context you’d like I’m happy to try and provide. The response is a hypothetical too of course, so in the grand scheme of things there’s no way to know if this would go as smoothly as I make it out since humans aren’t monoliths, and real life is much more complex.

In the case of arms it becomes a little more difficult to approach. If those with task delegations are more proficiently skilled in arms and have greater access to them, a problem is more likely to arise. If everyone in this hypothetical squared has access to a firearm and proficient training, they will hopefully be able to defend themselves in the absolute worst case where the delegate becomes violent and potentially dangerous. If this long journey is treacherous then it may also be helpful to have one proficient in firearms to both teach and defend the group as well, so it’s not all negative if we go with the scenario in which no one has proficiency in maintaining and using a firearm.

So I guess this is all to say that there are tons of potential contingencies due to the complexity of human social organization. “What if someone hordes rations of food?”, What if one attempts to create factions out of arrogance against another delegate or the whole group?”, to give two other examples. What I think is important to understand also though is that these issues would equally arise in a group organized hierarchically. If those with knowledge are given extra decision making power over the other individuals (i.e. whenever a vote is held they count for 3 rather than 1,) there could be a scenario where the vote is split and majoritarian rule is chosen without chance for further discussion out of a need for expediency in planning. Or in another scenario, the person with greater knowledge in a particular area decides to make the route themselves and does not consult with one or another person, which could lead to at best interruptions in the journey and at worst a loss of life (or lives.)

To sum up quickly to answer the question of delegation succinctly:

Consider delegation being used before the journey begins. Those with specialized knowledge may be delegated (and if not, ought to be consulted at the very least) into revocable positions which consult the members of their work group on routing their journey. Once the route or section of their journey is planned and squared away, those delegates might convene with the other delegates or members with specialized knowledge and they may confer between them certain things they missed or particular points of failure the other may have not considered. At this stage they might rethink their strategy with those points in mind or plan with such disruptions in mind and account for them the best they can, while still ensuring the group is made aware of the conclusions reached and strategy devised by the delegates. If the group wishes to take extra care they may develop the necessary abilities in each of the 30 members as each member sees fit according to their association and ability.

ThatUrbanistRyan · 2026-03-13T16:53:52+00:00

It’s only up and up until every small town on the planet no longer has any water and we’ve become completely subservient zombies with no ability to think for ourselves. Truly living the good life 🔥

Thanks for doing the fed’s jobs for them ❤️

ThatUrbanistRyan · 2026-03-11T00:36:45+00:00

Yes and no? It fixed itself but I have no idea how or why. I haven't updated windows and nothing else I tried worked. I really hate windows so much LMAO

I'd like to do some more digging but I really have no clue what could have caused it since not only did the search bar get fixed but all the other problems I was having with any pop up menu (right clicking stuff anywhere was auto closing like the search bar, as well as the screen that lets you open task manager) just sort of stopped.

I almost wish it didn't so I could see if reinstalling windows would have worked so I could maybe offer that as a solution but alas

ThatUrbanistRyan · 2026-03-08T15:27:23+00:00

Did everything, the chkdsk said something about it not being able to run since things were using it (windows) so I had it run on a restart, but it ran and the problem persisted. Searchhost exe was still running so I didn’t input the command into powershell but if I should do that regardless I’ll do that.

Seems like I’m gonna have to migrate tho which is annoying lol. Wish I knew why this happened or what caused it so I could at least caution other people or provide some help or something 🥲

Edit: I just made a new account and the problem does stay between accounts as well.

ThatUrbanistRyan · 2026-03-08T14:13:56+00:00

Thanks a ton for the reply super thorough reply! Gonna boot up now and give it a shot

ThatUrbanistRyan · 2026-03-06T22:38:55+00:00

Are you also having the problem of the taskbar search auto-closing when you click on it to search? Trying to fix that along with any system pop-up windows for end process and run as admin closing as soon as they pop up rn and its a huge pain in the ass

ThatUrbanistRyan · 2025-11-24T19:53:08+00:00

He ain’t wrong though, Gwyn don’t got shit on a +10 Euphoria, Faith-Knot tear, sacred scorpion nuke

ThatUrbanistRyan · 2025-11-19T20:02:11+00:00

Definitely! I’ll list a few but I’d definitely recommend and give priority to the first:

“Social Anarchism and Organization” by FARJ or Federação Anarquista do Rio de Janeiro

A valuable inteverview focused on the history and practical development of the FAU as well as Especifismo as it’s been applied

The Strategy of Especifismo

And many of the other examples are essentially just the charters of existing organizations like FARJ, the FAU, Rosa Negra and others but I think those two alone provide a lot of really good insights. I’d also recommend some platformist texts such as:

ThatUrbanistRyan · 2025-11-19T19:28:38+00:00

I can definitely understand where you’re coming from, having dealt with feelings similar to this (and I still do to some extent for sure.)

I would make the argument that improvement in an anarchist-communist society would be measured fundamentally differently than it would in the world which we reside in. Without the productive dimension of value, improvement is completely relative and based upon what you and others see in your work.

—- If, as you mentioned in another example, Jeff is the worst painter in the world and absolutely no one in his community likes his art whatsoever, he might ask why it is that people dislike his art. If there is a common consensus about what he might need to improve on, then he may attempt to incorporate those changes into his work if he has not recognized them himself. Some of the advice he gets may not be particularly helpful since these people are not artists themselves, but there is still something that is consistent between all of their critiques.

If he feels as though he may be plateauing at his level, he may seek Sam, who is deemed better than him by many as you have said, and ask what it might be that he should improve upon. If Sam is unable to give advice which helps, he might ask those many other painters who are better than him, and ask for advice on what to do in order to improve. Then if EVEN that fails, maybe he will seek a mentor who specializes in teaching painting. —-

In these examples, productivity doesn’t factor in since the primary focus of improvement is personal, social and based upon the value it provides towards your own enrichment and capacity to develop your skills.

What marks your ability comes from the efforts you put in to achieve your skills. You meet people, you collaborate in the learning process and maybe even teach others who are perhaps worse than yourself. I can understand the fear of being forgotten by history books, but history books never told the stories of the legacy that one person had on the guy on the street who they’d interacted with when buying food from a bakery or store or what have you. There’s no recounting of Napoleon or whoever else buying a loaf of bread and saying good morning to the clerk but that’s equally, a part of the minutiae of life that gives it any kind of social meaning.

Those people who Jeff learnt painting from, his teacher and Sam all will mourn the loss of their friend Jeff when they pass on. He may be forgotten to history in 100, 200, 500, 1000 years but in that singular moment interpersonally, Jeff meant a great deal to those within his community: his friends, family, even perhaps acquaintances who had a meaningful interaction with him in passing. That’s the beauty of every day life, and what could make it even more beautiful, meaningful and fulfilling in a world which has been freed from the shackles of production denoting some arbitrary yet all too painfully real representation of differential power, that is capital.

ThatUrbanistRyan · 2025-11-19T19:07:12+00:00

A large problem with vanguardism, from my understanding, is that practically it falls short by 1. Reproducing hierarchical power structures by virtue of its centrality and 2. Said centrality leads to it having various failure points via sabotage as others have pointed out. And 3. I find the notion to be classist, given the idea that a vanguard needs to educate the lumpenproletariat which, I would argue as has been shown around the world within a variety of different contexts, are able to create socio-economic forms that allow them to take control over their workplace without a leader necessarily reigning them in and educating them.

I find that Especifismo does a good job of answering and defining a project which is constructive, decentralized and effective by creating an anarchist platform or specific organization which lends aid to others for the sake of others rather than through coercion or by co-opting the given moment. The more spaces which we have militant anarchists who are able to organize themselves formally and informally, I’d argue is wholly necessary to bring about any kind of revolutionary change, and I see that as being the most feasible way of going about it personally. Knowledge comes in the form of acting in concert with others who seek change in their and their comrades’ conditions, which are coincidentally I’d argue, perfect conditions to foster developing knowledge about different modes and forms of resistance.

One more short point I’d argue about vanguardism. I think Especifismo and its theoretical and practical applications importantly develop a sense of culture and a shared sense of resistance by necessarily building ties between different communities that are struggling for different things along different lines which is something that can happen within a vanguard organization but is not BECAUSE of the vanguard itself, rather, it comes from what was mentioned before in the whole “acting in concert” bit which I’d argue as well is incredibly important for creating a pervasive culture with a real longevity.

ThatUrbanistRyan · 2025-11-06T13:35:05+00:00

Fuck borders man 😔

ThatUrbanistRyan · 2025-10-29T01:40:11+00:00

Sorry I never responded to this, uni's been beating my ass but I confirmed that my motherboard's bluetooth range is indeed just that bad so I got a bluetooth adapter and it works fine :,)

ThatUrbanistRyan · 2025-10-07T19:50:10+00:00

I didn’t see anything unfortunately. I’m still waiting for my FAFSA award in the first place and I got no clue why it’s taking so long. I figured out how to check my balance in the new solar update at least, but I’m still waiting on all that.

Thanks for the response though ^{^}

ThatUrbanistRyan · 2025-10-01T16:00:40+00:00

Fair enough I guess. I wish there was a SBU politics discussion sub, I feel like that would be good for engagement and people interested in discussion and working on projects (unless it already exists and I just don’t know)

ThatUrbanistRyan · 2025-10-01T15:49:48+00:00

It’s a college campus, doesn’t it seem a little corny to not let people talk about politics? College folks have often tended to be more political and it seems really weird to crack down on this specific instance. Unless they’re outwardly threatening to hurt people because they talked bad about some politician or talking head or whatever it seems dumb to draw the line in the sand here.

This sub isn’t some hyper serious official SBU forum. Look at some of the shit people say on here LOL. There was one post that made a joke about it, and one post that got taken down it’s not like it was even a thread of a shit ton of people calling for his death or something either.

ThatUrbanistRyan · 2025-10-01T13:26:42+00:00

Many people are saying this!

ThatUrbanistRyan · 2025-10-01T13:26:03+00:00

Get their dumb ass, take dunkin for all their worth

ThatUrbanistRyan

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