Navalny himself did not represent the kind of alternative to Putin we desire. As a Russian anarchist put it a couple years ago,

"Navalny is an opportunistic ultra-nationalist bigot of a politician who paints himself as a populist using a narrative of anti-corruption politics that would only prop up a different batch of oligarchs."

Still, the protests when Navalny was arrested in 2021 were arguably one of the last expressions of the kind of mass resistance that could have prevented the invasion of Ukraine:

https://crimethinc.com/2021/01/24/letter-from-russia-on-the-protests-of-january-23

(See attached video.)

The recent events in Russia show that when authoritarians like Putin or Donald Trump gain power, it is only the beginning of the bloodshed.

But the tendency to rally around opposition figures rather than developing horizontal networks of resistance is part of the problem.

“Every leader kills people, including my leader. Every leader kills people. Some kill more than others. Leadership requires killing people.”

-Tucker Carlson

Liberal outrage over Carlson saying this to excuse Vladimir Putin—immediately before Putin had Alexei Navalny killed—is beside the point. Supporters of Carlson, Putin, and Donald Trump admire killers. Liberals are only offering a more milquetoast version of the same vertical political model. This puts them at a disadvantage today.

The anarchist alternative is to seek to distribute agency horizontally: not to worship leaders and glorify the state and its violence, but to become capable of self-determination, making it impossible for anyone to impose systematic violence through the state. In the long run, this is the only real alternative to authoritarianism.

"Leadership is a social disorder in which the majority of participants in a group fail to take initiative or think critically about their actions. As long as we understand agency as a property of specific individuals rather than a relationship between people, we will always be dependent on leaders—and at their mercy. Truly exemplary leaders are as dangerous as the obviously corrupt, in that all their praiseworthy qualities only reinforce their status and others’ deference, not to mention the legitimacy of leadership itself."

https://tochangeeverything.com

"Let love be the fire that burns this world. Let love be the seed that grows from its ashes."

https://crimethinc.com/notesonlove

"After all these years, it still seems to us that revolution is not simply a matter of resistance, but of changing the ways we relate: to each other, to our own lives, to the world we otherwise take for granted. We maintain that the processes of experimentation and insurrection cannot be separated. It is as pressing to interrupt the received routines of this society—yes, even our conventional relationship to bicycles—as it is to destroy the means by which our rulers hold power. In fact, these are one and the same: one must plot a surprise party the way one would strategize for an attack, and vice versa. We should stand up to our oppressors the way we would sit down to a feast."

"Whether you begin with performance art and arrive at the conclusion that our entire civilization has to be transformed, or humorlessly set out to make war on capitalism only to discover that you can’t win by vandalism alone, play and revolt are as inextricable as creation and destruction. Whimsy must arm itself to survive in this world; militants must win hearts to triumph. Whether you fancy yourself an artist or an insurgent, it takes courage to acknowledge this and act accordingly.

To change everything, start anywhere—so long as you don’t stop there."

https://crimethinc.com/recipes

Ataques techno-anarquistas
Recordando Reclaim the Streets

https://crimethinc.com/2024/06/18/attaques-techno-anarquistas-recordando-reclaim-the-streets-1

Para celebrar el 18 de junio, el aniversario del histórico Carnaval contra el Capitalismo que dio el pistoletazo de salida al movimiento contra la globalización capitalista hace unos veinticinco años, revisitamos Reclaim the Streets, un modelo viral para la reapropiación alegre del espacio urbano.

#Español

8 senzilles passes cap a la Revolució

https://crimethinc.com/2012/02/09/8-senzilles-passes-cap-a-la-revolucio

El secret és començar. Fins que no hi ha res nou passant, alguna cosa que interrompi l’statu quo, ningú té motius per a prestar-nos atenció. Intentar establir un diàleg al buit no és suficient: perquè la gent es prengui seriosament el que diem, ha de tenir alguna cosa de què parlar. No ens limitem a proclamar que un altre món és possible: manifestem-ho, de manera que tothom que hi pugui creure, ho faci. No parlem només d’abolir el Capitalisme: escollim un punt de pressió, provem-lo i observem qui s’hi apunta.

#Català

Donald Trump claiming that George Washington "probably didn’t” own slaves is a good opportunity to direct you to our extensive history of the slaves and indentured servants who sought to escape from him and the Native Americans who defended themselves against his attacks.

https://crimethinc.com/Washington

The Disaster Is Already Here

https://crimethinc.com/2024Flood

Anarchists in southern Brazil discuss the role of capitalism and the state in both causing and exacerbating the catastrophic floods of May 2024, and explore the role of direct action in solidarity efforts in response.

Includes an interview with participants in a decades-running squatted social center that was submerged for 24 days.

The horrific spectacle of the presidential debate—a mendacious aspiring autocrat against a doddering genocide denier—shows the moral and intellectual bankruptcy of the factions competing to determine the future of capitalism.

The fact that only a couple hundred people showed up to demonstrate against the spectacle shows how much we have yet to do to be ready for the crises that are upon us.

Hurry to find people you can organize with. Our only hope is grassroots change. 🏴

https://crimethinc.com/ActionResources

A map showing the results of the first round of voting for the French National Assembly this weekend.

It is a grievous error to stake our freedom on electoral politics alone. From France to North America and all around the world, we must organize for community defense against fascism.