Sunday, June 12, 2011

On Anarchy and Emma Goldman

"Anarchism stands for the liberation of the human mind from the dominion of religion and liberation of the human body from the coercion of property; liberation from the shackles and restraint of government. It stands for a social order based on the free grouping of individuals…"
— Emma Goldman (Anarchism and Other Essays)

Wow. Liberation from religion, property, and government.

When I was a young college aged anarchist with ideals that seemed totally unattainable inside the "restraint" of modern society I used to wish for an apocalyptic change. That changed when I saw Night of the Living Dead. I wouldn't live a day in a post apocalypse because I couldn't load a gun. I knew where the guns were, I knew enough to figure out how to take off the safety and shoot... but in the time it took me to figure how to load I would be eaten by zombies. Either that or the looters would steal my water and food.

I decided at that point to start watching what I wished for. So here I am 20+ years later and I recently stopped to take a look around at myself and my life.

And last night it hit me.

Freedom from religion? Check.

Freedom from property? Check.

And 2 out of 3 ain't bad my friends.

Emma also said: "I would rather have roses on my table than diamonds around my neck", and that I do. Not too bad for a Anarchist Recessionista.