MadCast: majorhoward

My favourite milk is not represented, though it is a little hard ot get one's hands upon, the Croatian island of Pag produces magnificent sheep's milk, though most of it is made into similarly magnificent cheese, and you can only really get the milk on the island. gourmands unite!

Anarchism is not anarchy, or chaos, it is not no government (at least in my concept), it is an absolute minimum of government in the flattest, most justifiable form possible, with the most minimum of laws and regulations, organized (again in my conception), around the worker controlled means of production. some (syndicalists particularly) say, this organization should be done around workplaces as autonomous units, but I believe that to be unnecessarily divisive. as to regulations, we would have an absolute minimum, as most regulations, say, in car manufacturing to keep with the turn of phrase, are to keep greedy and profit mad people and businesses and corporations from screwing over everyone that buys their product. What auto worker who builds cars, wants to drive around in a faulty car. they will work in a car factory because they like building cars, and taking pride in their work, make good cars. Take me for example, I like building and playing with things that go VROOM. Were I, and cohorts like me, in control of the production, we would make quality cars because not only is that what we would be driving, but we would take pride and enjoyment in our work. The kind of regulation we have today I wholeheartedly believe to be unnecessary in a society without a profit motive. (Upon a similar and related note I would quite recommend Graeber’s book Bullshit Jobs. Not only do I think you would enjoy it, I think it, as well as Kropotkin’s Mutual Aid, quite notably addresses and answers your query.)

ok, so there are two answers to a question like this, the short one and the long one. the long one, comes in the form of Kropotkin's mutual aid. The short one can be (with the attendant simplifications) boiled down to the essence of not wanting one's fellows to die needlessly. removing the profit motive, which is what leads manufacturers to cut corners more than anything in my experience, would lead, I think, to a much safer vehicle. the fundamental miscommunication I think we are having here comes out of the idea that anarchist society wouldn't need regulations for it, people would take care of one's fellows. take for example the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, a 100% voluntary and unpaid gig, that has people risking their lives, and sometimes losing more than a few, for people they don't, and probably never would have otherwise, know. That is, I rather think, a short and fair answer.

well, I do quite whole heartedly believe that pretty much all of our problems with factionalism stem from the intentional and unintentional dividing of people by capital and corporations. In his book Mutual Aid, Kropotkin takes on the very subject and proposes, what I believe to be true, that the state of human nature is mutual aid, and that given a fair shake and a chance, that is the attitude that will prevail. If, in the unlikely chance that it does not, it is a free and mutual association which any and all parts of are free to withdraw from at any time, and join at any time. As to the whole bullying thing, I will ask you a question. which is more likely to bring about good results, for the betterment of all people involved. a system that has everyone scratching and clawing and trying to be everyone else, or all those same people working together for the same goal and end?

As somebody that has trouble understanding other people at the best of times, I entirely agree with you upon your dislike of internet forums as a means of meaningful communication, upon the matter of emotion generating understanding and agreement, I must disagree though. I don't harken back to Chamberlain's logical but cold speeches about appeasement, I recall churchill's fiery tirades. My Scottish arse has a very, might I say, fiery soul, I am not a terribly emotional person, but for example when the question of separation from the UK comes to the fore, my logical side agrees, but my emotional side takes over and I get bent out of shape, in a good way. None the less, I do feel we are getting off topic and would like to steer it back to the relevant topic, but if you ever want to talk in person about any of the things we have discussed, or anything else that you would like for that matter, do let me know, I would be game. I have also been know to do very stupid shit for the pure simple fun of it, logic be damned, I mean fuck, I recently had an operation to cut out my second bought of cancer from drinking because I love me the sauce, and I'm not stopping any time soon.

so, I will do my best to address this paragraph by paragraph, please take no offence if I misunderstand you, @MadCast: Angelix, I assure you in all good will any misunderstandings are not in bad faith, simply that I am a drunk and miss shit sometimes. my issue with the paragraph also stems into why I would prefer a moneyless society. there used to be limits, at least here there did, I am no expert on America. then rich cunts lobbied the career, and the incidental, politicians, and suddenly the tax margins, they shifted a bit, then a bit more, then a bit more under pressure of lobbyists, and before you know it, Bezos had this much wealth https://mkorostoff.github.io/1-pixel-wealth/. Regarding the paragraph upon celebrity, I have nothing to disagree with you upon that subject except maybe the origin of celebrity if I understood your correctly, if not, I apologize. I believe celebrity derives from capital and tangential bourgeoise industries, rather than the other way around. relevant to the continuation paragraph about cults of personality especially in politics, I stand in the firm belief that history is not driven by individuals, but by groups, and with the in mind, any sufficiently charismatic person can take the lead of a sufficiently charged group, for good or ill, and with that said, I don't believe that people who support the likes of Trump, or Oswald Mosley, or Franco, are inherently bad or evil, just misinformed, and badly educated. as well, regarding the "its just politics" line, FUCK THOSE PEOPLE, politics are vastly important, even to one such as myself that abhors our current shammy "representative democracy" (or republic or other system depending upon where one resides). I like to think, as does everybody else I am quite sure) that I am not a hypocrite. I do quite firmly believe that, for example in the current scandal going through the Us government of Trump and the Senate trying to appoint a justice with about two months remaining in the term when they complained when Obama tried with 11 months left, I would oppose both appointments as unjustly hierarchical and anti-proletarian. With the final statement in mind, I am of the firm belief that the time of waiting for a disaster of significant even has long passed us. I have been through my fair of the shit, and seen some stuff that disguised and revolted me, helped turn me into an anarchist amoung other things, by that I mean that we can't wait for the outcome of some global catastrophe to finish, if we do, we are finished. We need to work and comparing, by any mean necessary, ahead of the collapse, I thoroughly believe things need to be changed ASAP, if we wait, the earth and everything on it dies a horrible death, and no offence intended, but approaching things from a completely emotionless and entirely logical view is quite a large part of the problem, it stifles the response in my opinion. OUTRAGE AND INDIGNATIONS ARE, to me, a very valid and logical response to the shit going on in the world right now.

The film? I thought the film largely replaced actual anarchist theory and praxis with this weird and horrid combination of a conflict between neo-liberalist and neo-conservative US elements, with a sprinkling of what most of the world sees us anarchists as, terrorists and nothing else, we in the anarchist community refer to that misconception as anarcho-terrorism. when such elements are employed in the service of actual anarchist cause we call this propaganda by deed, but this. as well as context below bears a caveat, the most important and pressing issue I have with the film mostly, but even with the graphic novel to a very limited extent, no Anarcho-Communist I know, either myself or my associates, would advocate to go on a killing spree like V does simply to make a point, most form of anarchism, (fuck "anarcho-capitalism" that shit is bullshit) are primarily about communal mutual aid and mutual organization for the overthrow of capitalism and betterment of all mankind. that being said, we anarchists have disagreements with the other communist ideologies, like the MELTS, the MLs, the Leninists, the Maoists, the Stalinists, ect. but all traditional communist ideologies end in the same place, the withering of the state to a time without any government or bureaucracy, we anarchists simply think it is best to skip the dictatorship of the proletariat and most statist natures. The second major caveat I will add to this is that even if it is a very bad and misunderstood interpretation of anarchism, it might induce some people to look up actual anarchism which is not a bad thing. (given the context of the question, I am avoiding in substance all question of the LGBTQ nature, but as an asexual chap myself, it bears fruit, simply of a different context) The graphic novel on the other hand, Alan Moore is a grand old lad. if you mean what do I think of it cinematically, I think of it as a solid, if unremarkable film, the acting was good but not great, the same of the special effects and story, but I assume you ask the question dur to the anarchist context, no? If you have a few minutes and are interested further, this is a really good video interpretation I have sent to people before, if anyone is interested. (I myself am not an anarcho-pacifist, I believe that to be conciliatory to capital and counter-revolutionary, as well, I am decidedly anti-electoral as I believe to good faith participation in neo-liberal and neo-conservative politics serves only to prolong the suffering of most of the worlds peoples)

The issue I take with your argument Angelix, (and to be perfectly clear so there is no chance of a misunderstanding, no personal attack is meant), is A) there has never been, and will never be, one person who is Plato's philosopher king. Take for example, probably the best example that comes to mind right now, Marcus Aurelius, by all accounts an Enlighted and stout individual, but his ashes were not cold before the Pax Romana fell apart and Commodus oversaw the beginning of the end of the Roman Empire, full of plots and assassins and intrigue. and b) your prohibition on multiple terms? how well did that turn out, to keep the example in the same theme, the Romans. It didn't, they had restrictions on terms served in everything from Consuls, to Tribunes, to Censors, to Senators, to Dictators in the Republic. they were commonly and often flagrantly and blatantly ignored, and that is one of the major things that broke apart the Republic, and brought to rise the Empire. more than that, I will happily take democracy over a cult of personality any day, which is far more often that not what develops in a dictatorship. Now, to the question of how anarcho-Communism would handle it, I don't terribly want to get banned from here, as I said in reply to Voshay, I am no Gandhi or massive fan of his, if you want to talk more about it I am game to in either private messages or voice chat. Lets just say the revolution that I think has to happen to save humanity and the planet is not a peaceful one. As to the problems you see in direct democracy, most of the issues I see with it die with the death of capitalism. Take the book Mutual Aid, which argues, convincingly I think, that rather than a Hobssian or Lockeian view of human nature and the state of nature, the state of nature, Mutual Aid argues, is a state of mutual aid in both most of the animal kingdom, and in humanity, even extending for a long ways into the history of civilization and human development. when one considers something like maslow's hierarchy of needs, most of the issues with direct democracy fall away, everyone has their needs met. for example, humans produce enough food to feed ten billion people, but it is not profitable to get it to a lot of the people that need it, so they starve. The point being, most of the strife, I think, that is in the world right now is being caused by moneyed interests playing off one group against another. take for example the history of the USA. after slavery was outlawed, the same group of people still controlled most of the wealth, and instead of things getting so much better for the now ex-slaves (not to say that it didn't get somewhat better, fuck slavery), the moneyed interests played off poor whites against poor african americans. so share cropping became a thing, and one group kept hating the other, because both were deprived, and so if one were to try direct democracy in a system like that (which is still rather prevalent in the USA) yeah, it would be a wolf and sheep, disinformation thing, but in a world were the populace themselves are the revolutionary and securing power, what is good for one is good for all, and as I said, that revolution, I think, as much as I dislike war, the 1% won't give up their riches without a fight. ok, I think I have already gone a little bit overboard, if you want to talk personally about politics, mine yours or anyone's I am always game, I do believe I have answered your final question as well about a military and/or police force or something of the like that there would not be an official one, but most of the crime that happens in our world is due to lack of education and poverty, more than anything else, eliminate poverty, provide comprehensive and free education, and eliminate hunger? yeah, that. if you are interested in the idea of a philosopher king, and have not read it, I would recommend Plato's Republic, it deals with other concepts as well, such as knowledge and disinformation, as well as where knowledge come from and other concepts too, but it is one of the earliest written philosophical texts to my knowledge that is fleshed out and deals with the idea of a philosopher king. I have my objections to it, but now and here are not the time and place. OK (I know I went king of overboard) BUT RANT OVER NOW. (I'll just say as an afterthought it is kind of hard to explain Anarcho-Communism without first understanding Communism, but hey, I tried.)

Specifically I am an Anarcho-Communist. Most philosophies of Anarchism abhor centralization of power, particularly my own. I envision a moneyless system similar to what Kropotkin describes in The Conquest of Bread, but with differences. for example, where he wants a very local only government, I would love a system designed along the lines of Switzerland's, insofar as it is a loose confederation of separate communes, that can agree, or choose to distance themselves, upon any resolution, and use a voting system combining the best parts of representational and direct democracy, and with prohibitions upon being a lifelong civil servant or politician, such as a prohibition upon holding public office any more than once in every five cycles. As well, I envision a minimal superstructure, for example, no executive, no judicial, barley any legislative at all, and most important to my mind, and this one is the problem that leads to nearly all corruption in our system as it is, I would advocate for the communal ownership of productive property. Given your example of people like Jeff Bezos, not to go sloganeering, but the people united can never be defeated. that is to say, I wholly disagree with the theory of history that puts "great people" as the drivers, and any groundswell of the people, united and with a common cause of equality and freedom, can roll over a Bezos or some such like him without noticing a bump. I can't remember where I first heard this phrase, but it has always rung true to me, Freedom to starve is no freedom at all. Uniting, losing chains, all that sort of thing, not to get myself banned from here, but lets just say I am no Gandhi in my ideal methods. I can go into more depth if you like, or we can have a conversation on the subject, I don't want to turn this into an essay though.

So I know, as was said recently in the wake of Ginsburg's passing that this is a gaming community first and foremost, but if the SMFs and RFMs and the like are ok with it, in honour of a different and separate passing, the recent death of the academic giant and Anarchist activist David Graeber, (the guy who started the push backing the slogan "we are the 99%") I though I might put up a post here if anyone is interested as Anarchism is largely misunderstood in most circles. So with that out of the way, and if this post persists, I am an Anarchist, AMA (hopefully regarding Anarchism, no Scots jokes if you would).

Alright lad, the long and the short of it is that when one of the DMs has the time to run a session in the week, that info will generally be posted on Mondays. There are no set dates, just when one of us can run, there will be a forum post.

It was unfortunately so lightly attended before that we had to cancel, (I know I scare people), but lets have another go at this. "The Road" pt. 2 Wednesday September 9th, at 2000 EST - This adventure takes place after "The Hatchery" come one come all, (or at least up to 6) 1 2 3 4 5 6 In your signup, please indicate the date you are signing up for, and include your character name and class/level. Please also keep in mind that the MadCast CoC will be fully enforced at these and all MCAL sessions. Please also speak up if you have any other concerns and they will be addressed. I ask that everyone, in the spirit of community, be ready to delay a signup if someone with a restrictive RL schedule has a rare opportunity to play. Please PM on the forums or Discord with any questions, so we can keep this thread a clean record of signups.

this might be my ignorance if she knows a different Scottish lad, but I would hardly describe myself as polite, especially not super polite.

Some Golden Honeydew, Palinka, Moraccan Vanilla, and Nutmeg Granita, with mixed berries, and a Thai IPA. Life isn't terrible.

how into British/Norwegian comedy are you? if you want something magnificently silly but still somehow dry, look up Norsemen.