MIM’s Review of “Living La Utopia”
*This has remained an unfinished draft for too long… *
The Maoist International Movement (aka Mad Madam MIM!) have reviewed an anarchist film about the 1936 Spanish Revolution, “Living La Utopia”.
Living La Utopia is a film that I loved when I saw it. The people who were interviewed were old (60 years after the revolution), and reflective. They all spoke of that time with fondness and amazing clarity. One man begins by saying “anarchism is a door to the infinite … “, indeed. These interviewees, with their access to the world of generation, gave an intimate perspective on anarchism that’s often missing. Its not about destruction of what is - anarchism is about sustainably living the utopia if you can, and fighting for your children to live it if you can’t.
MIM’s review is less than appreciative of these points, though. MIM begins by criticising anarchism as banditry, and moves on to criticise anarchism for being unrealistic, sloganist, and ignorant. Even though its clearly an anarchism-bashing article, MIM does bring up some really good criticisms of anarchism as it is practiced in the world today. Lots of these are still totally pertinent criticisms that have gotta be addressed. (none of which I think are fundamental to anarchism itself, just the way its practised):
Anarchists’ failure to organise in an anarchist way by creating strongly disciplined structured
- MIM gets confused here between ‘anarchism’ and the spanish anarchists in 1936. Nonetheless, a valid criticism of today’s anarchist organising. There are lots of groups around today who form collectives and profess to be non-hierarchical and anarchist. Do these collectives work because they’re so small that power dynamics are on the level of personality
Laziness and ineffectiveness when compared to maoism and leninism.
Religiosity - people join anarchist groups because anarchism is an idealistic (not practical) doctrine wherein a revolution might never come to fruition.
Banditry - because no-one is in control, no-one can stop others from being anti-social. Anarchism becomes an excuse for violence.
Attractiveness to the lumpenproletariat
- (this only really highlights MIM’s own bigotry against those elements of the proletariat who aren’t opised to become a ‘red bourgeoise’)
I don’t know if Maoists are the best source for anything, let alone a critical analysis of the faults of anarchism.
I’d tend to agree with at least some of the faults that you have ennumerated and add others.
The greatest fault !!! that I can see is the tendency for anarchists to try and create their own little self contained world,
and if there is one political cult that are grand masters of this fault it is the Maoists.
Anyways, I notice that your site contains links to platformist sites. These are definitely “structured” anarchist
organizations, though “highly disciplined” they are not. The Spanish anarchists failed not because they were too “undisciplined
and unstructured” but for the very opposite reason. The membership endured the poor choices of the leadership out of an
extreme! self dicipline born from organizational loyalty.
All the matters of criminality can be summed up by the way that marginal movements look for Robin Hood figures where none
actually exist. In the USA, and to a lesser extent Canada, anarchism’s minority love affair with criminality descends from an
undigested reverence for decades of Maoist !! clowns who covered their criminal acts with a thin veneer of politics.
This sort of posturing doesn’t feature in the actions of anarchists who actually have an effect in the real world
such as the present day Spanish CGT or even the present CNT.
Anyways, I enjoy your blog, and I have added it to the links on mine. I stole your ‘A Selection of Modern Anarchist Writings by Women’ to add to my online libraries section of links. In return you might like to steal the following collection of Emma Goldman’s
ritings to add to yours:
http://womenshistory.about.com/od/goldmanewriting
Take care,
Molly
Edited by Anna to fit on the page properly
Comment by Mollymew — October 6, 2006 @ 3:24 am
Dear Molly, thanks for sharing your cool analysis with myself and my readers. You rock!
I find the delusions of the left sometimes more frustrating than the delusions of the right. This constant searching after heroes is absolutely futile and only serves to deny our right to self-determination. Like hello? Why do leninist / trotskyist /stalinist organisations use hero worship? Its to control and limit people’s autonomy.
Anyways…
I really wish I had been able to finish this piece when I started it (last year) - but life took over. Perhaps I’ll give it another go.
Comment by Anna Aniston — October 11, 2006 @ 5:27 am
“#
Attractiveness to the lumpenproletariat
I don’t know what you mean here. MIM says the best class to go with in the first world is the lumpen-proletariat. MIM says there is no first world proletariat.
MIM, whether you disagree with them or not, are by far the most scientific “leftists” out there. They are incredibly advanced. Just read their gender theory. Nobody knocks over idols like MIM. Check out irtr.org also, there are some real interesting Maoists there.
Comment by genda-killa — October 16, 2006 @ 5:02 am