It's no coincidence that looksmaxxing communities are full of reactionaries. Eugenic thought, bioessentialism and heteropatriarchal ideology are deeply embedded into looksmaxxer circles

The base for anarchism, Kropotkin and Bakunin are Russian holy grail

Anarchism as i view it demands of us a certain type of praxis, one which is not intentionally or even most successfully individualistic but ends up practiced individually, because it is not within our right to force others to work with us or agree with our goals and methods, and also it is not a reasonable expectation to have when we set out to perform some Act which is in accordance with our philosophies that anybody else might join.

hell, it has more often than not been my experience that Direct Action, even Aid, is generally fought directly against rather than even merely ignored by others.

what this thread is about is not how to undo that tendency of humanity to fight against people trying to help, it is about how to do what you're doing without expecting that others will join you in an organization, or that any sort of movement will begin or end with your actions, or that anybody anywhere will ever appreciate your actions at all.

you do them because they are the right things to do after all, not because they make you fucking popular, right??

it's not to say that you won't be organized with, or that you shouldn't be logistically prepared for that possibility ahead of time (you definitely should). what i am saying is that maybe that won't happen. maybe you're the only one out there handing out food (narcan, books, bullets directly into fash brainpans, whatever thing your deal is) and maybe people give you shit about it constantly. those things shouldn't discourage you, they just need to be outcomes you plan for like any other. the action needs doing whether it's just you in a rain poncho or it's 14,000 paid volunteers with trucks.

what are your experiences with this phenomenon? what tools have you learned/developed for dealing with pushback, with apathy and antipathy? how do you get up every day and do whatever it is YOU do (assuming you do something) that helps keep the world afloat? please share your advice and stories and gripes and ideas - whatever's relevant to the topic.

So, apart from the edgy little nazi desperately spamming in the hope of any attention right now, the sub seems a lot quieter than in recent months.

Assuming I'm not just wrong about that (I don't know if the mods have any analytics about community activity) is there any reason for that? Specifically are there any accounts anyone has noticed have stopped being regular visitors since the US election?

Good luck!

No such thing!

You. Won't. Reply. Hctib.

Hello, I was reading the anarchist cookbook and I found the topics they address very interesting. Some comments, advice and similar bibliography recommendations

Makhno's army hits Russian TV

Sometimes when a dream comes true, the exact opposite of what you dream can happen. In the summer of 2007, a television series about Makhno and Makhnovchina was shown on Russian television. The popular libertarian peasant movement of Ukraine that was active during the Russian Revolution, 1917-1921, and resisted the monarchist White Guards, Ukrainian nationalists, and Bolsheviks. The producers of the series, primarily through TV commercials, promised that this is "the first honest film about Makhno", which pays tribute to him who was maligned like no one from the USSR, but was never forgotten by the people.

The series "The Nine Lives of Nestor Makhno" is perhaps the longest biography of an anarchist ever to appear on the screen - twelve episodes. It was filmed in Ukraine in 2005 but for some reason was only shown by Channel-1 (Russia's state channel) in the summer of 2007. Before its TV broadcast, the series was released on pirated DVDs that became a hit. The two-volume script of the series was also released shortly before the telecast and release of the "legal" DVD. By the time it finally aired in July 2007, the series had managed to capture the attention of a large television audience. And this was not a surprise, due to the intensive advertising and especially the fact that it was really the first film dedicated to Makhno, who had been presented as a skunk on the fringes of some Soviet films. Russian television is not poor in TV series (in fact it is a long and nauseating series itself) but none has received similar attention and has not been discussed as much. Soap operas are rarely of high quality, as you might imagine, but in our case the viewers were interested in the story itself.

I note a very positive but not unusual review: "In this TV series, the anarchist idea, as understood and felt by Makhno, is the purest and most moral of the ideologies that guided people in those stormy days." You would never guess which newspaper this review was published in. In Krasnaya Zvezda (Red Star), the newspaper of the Russian Ministry of Defense!Several months after the screening, online discussions about the film continued, not only on forums and blogs but also on anarchist and leftist websites. Very often the reviews of the series are not consistent with the political views of the reviewer, while among the friends of the series there are both anarchists and bitter opponents of anarchy. Reviews range from absolute liking and acceptance of the series to very critical, even negative.

What is sad, is that the series often has little to do with the dynamics that were formed in the Russian Revolution and the civil war, not to mention how Makhno and the anarchists are portrayed in it. Sometimes even anarchists are seduced by the sympathetic image of Makhnos in the series, refusing to realize that it creates more myths and misinterpretations around this anarchist hero.In my humble opinion "The 9 Lives of Nestor Makhnos" is a rather poor quality television series, comparable to many others that played in the same period. It was produced under tight budget pressure (where you have to shoot cheap and fast), which is one of the reasons it was shot in Ukraine where film production is cheaper. And finally the lion's share of the budget was taken by advertising and marketing. Another result of budget constraints is the fact that the historical depiction (from the costumes to the unnatural battle scenes and armored chariots) is not all that convincing. And that wouldn't be so devastating if the story was told correctly. But in the end the writers of the series put both the true and the false stories about Makhno at the same time. Perhaps the only big lie about Makhno that is absent from the series is that the Makhnovites were anti-Semitic.I can say that for the most part the performances in the series are rather poor and the production fails to be consistent, as the Anarchists, Bolsheviks and Ukrainian nationalists are presented as comic book characters, while the Russian nobles, White Guards and tsarist asphalites look more "serious". The Jews are presented as a mishmash of comic book characters and tragic victims amid the turmoil of civil war. In short, recall a political stereotype, of those possibly originating from the ideologically militarized Soviet cinema, and you will surely find it in the series, mixed with something new, but always present.However, I often got the feeling that the series was actually an underappreciated revolutionary saga. While the producers very often show Makhno and his rebels as humorous figures, they are never presented as scumbags. They may not be wise enough to understand "high politics" but at least they are not perverted criminals who commit pogroms. It would be wrong to say that the producers were aiming for a historically correct, balanced and unbiased view of Makhnovtsina. Above all it is a show and its audience should be entertained.Historical characters appear in the series as caricatures. Makhno, played by actor Pavel Derevianko (many times good but just as often subpar), is a combination of a young man with the heart of a king and a not-so-intellectual revolutionary, flesh and blood of the people . He may not be cultured enough to speak the language of the intellect, but he fully understands the people, is able to communicate effectively with them and lead the popular struggle against kings and oppressors. He is a down-to-earth, no-nonsense guy but also full of the spirit and attitude of the farmers. The way he is presented on screen may differ from Makhnos' historical physiognomy, but wasn't he essentially all of the above? Sometimes he is presented in the series as a psychotic guy who drinks a lot or as a rebel-villain, but he is always the "good guy" of the case.The long list of historical figures featured in the series are also far from their original standards. Arsinov, the famous participant and historian of Makhnovchina, an armed revolutionary who actually knew how to rob banks and shoot cops, turns into a funny, completely out-of-reality intellectual, as the "utopian anarchist dreamers" used to portray in Soviet films. For some reason Vsevolod Volin is completely absent from the series. Kropotkin briefly appears in the series as completely paranoid, obsessed with his books, unable to notice Makhno's presence. Lenin, whom Makhno meets in Moscow, is rather indifferent but again, he represents the voice of practical political "wisdom" in contrast to Makhno's revolutionary romanticism and peasant shallowness. Trotsky, rightly portrayed as a malignant and bitter rival of Makhnovchina, appears much more like a demonic cartoon figure than the hands-on dictator he really was.Makhno's officers are also largely an invention of the production. The different psychological types necessary for the entertainment of the spectator bear little relation to their authentic standards. And ultimately acting plays the primary role in whether a character comes across as likable or not. For example Leva Zadov, head of Makhno's "political police", a highly controversial personality, in the series he is a nice guy, an honest anarchist. Military chief of staff Viktor Belas is also a likable revolutionary worker type, only the production changed his name to Chernysh for some reason. Perhaps because they wanted to associate it with the black flag of anarchy, since "Cherni" in Russian means "black" while "Beli" means "white".The historical events also do not seem true to the series. While Makhnovchina is generally presented correctly, some important issues are presented distortedly. The screenwriters are positive texts towards the Bolsheviks who are ultimately presented as bearers of the practical wisdom of the government (but, are they not at the same time the satanic instigators of a bloody revolution and civil war, as modern Russian propaganda tells us?). The problematic alliances of Bolsheviks and Makhnovites against the Whites are presented from a Bolshevik perspective. Some important events are omitted, such as the battle of Peregonovka, which was the most important blow to the Whites, for some the event that decided the outcome of the civil war in Russia, at the same time as other events, (such as the murder of Makhno's first wife and child by anarchists, in their attempt to keep him in political action) are 100% an invention of the producers in order to get something out of a thriller!The lack of a real historical advisor sometimes becomes apparent in the series. The tsarist prisons and prisoners look more like they are in modern Russia. Makhno sometimes makes xenophobic comments about Americans, Chinese, and Estonians, evidence of the production's attempt to connect him with some contemporary political views, which ultimately makes him look ridiculous. Additionally, one of Makhno's officers sings a few lines from an 80's Russian punk song called “Black Flag”, instead of the lost historical anarchist anthem of the same name!A lot of the show's dialogue revolves around what anarchy is, but unfortunately for viewers, it's impossible to understand anything. In the series there are many opportunities where the anarchists try to explain but as a rule they turn into meaningless dialogues like those presented to them in Soviet films: “What do you propose? You have nothing to suggest! You're basically telling us that everything should be abolished!". The anarchists in the series are either uncharismatic orators, unable to express what they mean, or they give childish, banal answers. Ultimately it remains unanswered why the land-devoted peasants supported Makhno and the anarchists despite the repression and executions inflicted on them by the Bolsheviks, the Whites, and the Ukrainian nationalists.Of course, one can watch the series as one's political outlook allows, but some Russian anarchists tend to take TV Makhno at face value! Although I view the series critically, at times I couldn't help but feel that despite its faults, the series pays homage to the tragic historicity of Makhnovchina and the defeated Russian Revolution. This, of course, is due to the fact that it is in itself a particularly tragic epic, and the slightest positively written television recording of it cannot help but move you. But then again, do we need the television image to remember our dead comrades?

Finally, the "historical accuracy" of the series is called into question, despite the fact that it is the main slogan of the promotion of "Nine Lives". Nevertheless, the series created a real interest in the world for Makhnos. His memoirs, Arsinov's classic The History of the Makhnov Movement, popular books about Makhno, and even occasional studies published in Russia in recent years, as well as the prime-time series, undoubtedly intensified people's interest much more. And if someone motivated by the series turns to at least one of the more or less decent books out there, it will be a good start in understanding the popular and tragic history of the Russian Revolution. One thing to keep in mind is that we should never treat a TV series as an actual historical document.

Michael Tsovma

Michael Tsovma is active in the a/a movement and studies its history. He himself has shot historical documentaries about the Makhnovist movement and the anarchist movement in general. This article was published in 2007 at http://www.anarkismo.net/article/6844

Sorry for messing with your head!