Sandinistas

Dear "Emancipationt1, In the March-April issue, the article ltReflections on Nicaragua" suggests that anarchists follow the example of liber-tarian theologists and neo-Stalinists, who 'Traok up with self-determination movements all over the world." Since the author gives us no examples of autonomous worker organization in Nicaragua, his suggestion can only mean giving aid to pro-Sandinista groups. Apparently "~illie"believes that within the Sandinistas there are anarchist "antibodies" and an unarticulated liber-tarian spirit," which can be encouraged to produce a spontaneous defense against creeping authoritarianism in Nicaragua. What this amounts to is a program for class collaboration. The Sandinista may not have imposed as repressive a regime as Castro's Cuba (not yet anyway). At the moment the Sandinista regime resembles the Mexican Revolutionary Institutional Party regime, a somewhat social democratfc one-party State. Sandinista hopes of turning Nicaragua into a full fledged Marxist-Leninist State, have been frustrated by the lack of Russian economic aid, and the need to placate world opinion and attract capitalist investment. The Sandinistas have shown themselves to be prepared to repress the labor movement when workers' demands come into conflict with "national interests." The Sandinista publicly sup-ported the Polish junta's crackdown on Solidarnosc. The Sandinistas outlawed strikes, until international opinion forced them to change the laws for cos-metic purposes. The Sandinistas have draf-ted workers into the military and used draftees to harvest crops, thereby under-cutting agricultural wages and militar-izing labor. ' None of this justifies a return to wer by the followers of Somoza, nor agan's war. As anarchists, however, we should not be taking sides in conflicts between nation-stares, political parties, nor employers. The existence of liber-

Castro, and I doubt they will stop the Sandinistas. Only an organized labor move- ment, committed to self-management and social equality, can do that. If such a movement exists in Nicaragua, Anarchists , in the U.S. should support f t. But .if there is no such movement, our efforts should be dfrected solely towards obstsuc- ting the U.S. war effort, while aiding the authentic libertarian Labor movements in the rest of the world. Currently the IWW is following such a , program, The IWW regularly raises funds for the AIT-CNT in Spain and the Solidar-nosc underground in Poland. Next year rhe IWW will be bringing together workers from around the world, in Chicago for an inter-national revolutionary labor conference. Delegates are expected to come from Europe, Asia, and Latin America. The con- ference will be used to strengthen ties between workers, not with nation-states. Anarchists who have a commitment to inter-national labor solidarityshould support these efforts. The IWW can be contacted by writing them at: 3435 N. Sheffield, Suite 202, Chicago, IL 60657. For the Social Revolution, Jeff Stein

EAYKAMET OBSERVLLZBCE PUNNED May 1986 will mark the 100th anniversary ' of the Hatmarkets tragedy in Chicago. During this brutal attempt to suppress the workers' movement in America, eight anar-chists were arrested and put on trial, five of them laterdyingat thehandsof the state-Anarchists in Chicago and across North America are calling an international labor conference to commemorate the Ray-market events and to observe as well the 50th anniversary of the Spanish Revolution that began in the summer of 1936. A tar-get date for this conference has been set as April 28 to May 4, 1986. The organizers askyoursupportandanearlycommunica-tion if you're interested in attending. A Itpreparation conference" to plan the May events will be held in Chicago over the Thanksgiving weekend 1985. For more info: Immpossible Books, Box 102, 120 W. Fuller-, ' ton, Chicago, IL 60614

The Kropotkin Dear "Emancipation" Recently, I had the opportunity to travel in ~Gssia. I really wasn't sure what I'd find there since all you aver hear about the place is propaganda from one side or the other. I least of all expected to find other anarchists, but I

did, I was sitting in a wharf-side bar in Leningrad, boldly wearing my AAA pin, when I noticed a middle-age man, obviously a dock worker, looking me over. And I began to wonder if being bold and ail'dne das such a good idea in the domain of a total-itarian stare. As the worker, who by now was KGB in my mind, started over, I began to run over alibies and excuses in my head. He sat down next to me, tapped my pin and whispered, "Makno? Durutti?" Feeling bold again, T replied, perhaps a little too loudly, "And Kropotkin and Bakunin!" Shhing me, he again whispered, "American Anarchist?" I nodded, confused about exactly what was happening. "Me too," he said. "Let's go." He led me back to his small apartment. After we both relaxed a lit-tle over some very stong vodka, we began toasting Anarchists past and present, and discussing little known bits and pieces of Anarchist history. Late in the evening, about half the bottle later, he raised his glass, saying, "To the Kropatkin." Smiling I raised mine announcing, "Here's to Prince Peter." Lowering his glass he said, "Not Peter Kropotkin,-the Kropotkin," Confused, I asked him what in the world could be the difference. "You don't know!" he bellowed with a hearty laugh. "The pastry --The Kropot-kin." Settling down he said, "You really don't know, do you?" Surely he's putting me on, T thought. But it was his vodka, so I played along. With a very serious look on his face, he began to tell me his tale of the Kso-potkin. In the early 1900's prior to the failed 1907 revolution in Russia, a group of Anarchists working in a fancy bakery, frequented by Russia's elite, decided to put a little humor into their work. They had noticed how it was considered chic for the aristocrats to consume vast quantities of Napoleons. Indeed, Napoleons were the largest selling item at the bakery where they worked. Naturally, the workers and peasants, who could barely afford bread, never lasted pastries of any kind. Not wishing the masses to miss out on the deligh'ts cjf pastries, our group of anarchist pastry workers dreamed up a simple, but delicious pastry --the Kro-potkin. Right under the noses of the bakeries bosses, our anarchist bakers stale an egg here and some flour there. Then, turning out Kropotkins while the boss went off to lunch, they'd smuggle The U.S. Forest Service is attempting to slip by us a new 50-year plan to increase KT-eatlyits tree harvesting, clear-cuttfng, oil and mineral developement, and road construction over 141-million acres in America's 154 national foresrs.

The USFS proposal calls for a 39 percent timber productf on increase from these public lands. In some areas of the country (including Virginia and West Vir-ginia's milli on-acre Blue Ridge section) the plan would allow a four-fold increase in the number of roads and declare 85 percent of the forest eligible for harvest If allowed, this natfonal plan would permit large private timber and enexgy companies carte blanche control over these lands and their water resources. Some opposftion to this new "resaurces management" plan, particularly in the Tennessee and North Carolina regions near the Pisgah and Nantahala national forests, has begun to come together. Environmental activists, loggers, and hunters in some areas are putting aside differences to protest this threat to our diminishing forestland, but important and final deci-sions will be made in the coming months (some as early as this September 30th) and it is necessary that the public let the federal controllers know its outrage and resolve.

The issues and conditions involved in this plan can be confusing, but here are just a few of the hard facts: * This plan evolved because of pressure from the timber lobby to increase harvests on public lands. * There is actually a timber glut in the United Stares at this time, and the large timber companies (because of costs in road building and tree marking) can make a greater profft by cutting on public lands than on their own woodlots (which can be saved untjl the glut lifts). * Cost cutting by harvesting on public forests allows the large companies to squeeze out local loggers who do selective cutting. {Clear-cut ting always favors the high capital-intensive, heavy equipment boys. )

* The need of the government for profit from ti~beris a lot of baloney: timber sales from the publf c lands returns 39

page 4 cents for every dollar invested; while tourism In the wilderness areas and national forests returns 50 dollars for every dollar investment. * Selective cutting in large forest areas means sensible use of valuable hardwoods, little waste of younger growth, preservation of wildlife and plant species, and protection of the watershed; clear-cut ting means much of the harvest goes to pulp and the integrity of water-shed and soil are damaged by heavy equip-ment. (Clear-cuts retain less rainfall.)

* Research from the U.S. Forest Service's own factlities shows that 80 to 90 percent of soil erosion and se.dimenta-tion of streams comes from building logging access roads.

* Complex forest stands are necessary to maintain wildlife, but clear-cut areas under contract tend to be replaced by quick-yield pines which can compromise an entire regional eco-system. * The USFS has yet to develop wide standards or regulations in national forests for the extraction of oil, gas, or minerals. * Private mining companies are allowed by USFS to do extensive exploration and prospectfng studies in the forest areas but to keep their findings secret. * It should always be remembered that the Forest Service always initially demands much, much more than It needs or wants so as to bargain backwards and end

I with plenty. * And, finally, we should note that the

I Department of Energy is looking closely at all national forests and their rock forma- I tions as possible dump sites for high level radioactive wastes. Because SO 1 percent of the nuclear power plants are I ROW east of the Mississippi, there is a movement (with western politicians pushing hard) to place eastern nuclear wastes permanently in sacrifice or discard areas in the Appalachian mountains; this will be much easier to do if waste areas can be quietly created by clear-cuts and total mineral extraction in the already uninha-bited motlntains and valleys of a national forest. Ron" let these things happen! It is not too late but time is short. Begin now by showing those "in charge" your resolve to protect our forests. The Main Off ice of the Forest Service is at 14th and Independence Avenues, SW, Washington, DC 20050. (202) 447-3957. and its "chief" is R. Max Peterson, Box 2417, Kashington, D.C. 20013 Let them know that you will not tclerate the 50-year plan. Remember: politicjans and bureaucrats have a built-in terror of public reaction. Row long arc we gaing to be their meal-ticket while they destroy our forests? If you live in the east, you can make an effort to protect the lands of Virginia, Tennessee, the Carolinas, and Georgia by confronting:

Joe Alcox Regional Forester 1720 Peachtrce Rd. Atlanta, Ga. 30367 Give him hell! He is suppose to be 1tcaring" for this region. If you need more details,write to one of the more active groups, like: Western North Caqolina Alliance Eox 117 Murphy, M.C. 28629 To help with nuclear storage questions, write: Blue ,Ridge Envlranmental Defense League Box 88 Glendale Springs, N.C. 28906 For a more western perspective and for information on the great underground con-spiracy to grow more trees, send a few dollars and get in touch with: Friends of the Trees Box 1C64 Tnnasket, Wash. 98855 and

Earth First!

Box 5871 Tucson, Ariz. 85703 continued from I... There is just one snag. ThSs land is under the lQpprotectiont'of the Federal Government via the Bureau of Land Manage-ment (B.L.M.) and the US Forest Service (F.S.). Not totally unexpectedly these agencies plan to act more as auctioneers and vendors than as Under a new 15 year plan 65 million acres of the 80 million acres af undeveloped land in the Natfonal Forest System would ke clear cut. These soadless areas would be des-troyed at a rate of one to two million acres a year, eliminating half of the remaining natural wilderness by the end of the century (see page 4 for story). -\ But just because the "appointed" protec-tors are falling down on the job does not mean that a13 is lost. In the spfrir of the late Greenpeace Rainbow Warrior and the French Resistance, small groups and lone individuals across the land are

A Different FiftyYears In response to the outrages of the USFS "Fifty Year Plan", Earrh First! is pressing for the f01 lowing general guidelines: (I) flu nezJ road eonstrzsctiour. A review of aZZ exisfiing roads to deter-mivla which ones are unnecessary or environrnentaZZy dbmaying and should be cZosed. - (2) NO logging of old growth or pre- viousZy unZoggad forest. (31 80 deficit timber sales. (4) WithdmwaZ of all flatior?aZ Forest Zands from appropriation under the mining or minsral Zsasing laws, in-clud.ing a complete morato~tknon energy Z&asing. (51 Complete cZosure of the Fo~estto pages 6 joining the fr~ntlines in tli~protection of Kother Earth. Taking monkey wrench in hand, these scattered kands of eco-raiders are making wilderness areas quite ucat-tractive t6 clear-cutters, strip miners, and Off Road Vehicle Freaks. After all, what lumber company fs interested in the expense of cutting wilderness areas if they return to wark Kanday morning, miles from "nowhere", to find their equipment has been permanently disabled? (If you've priced bulldozers and other heavy equip-ment lately you know it doesn't come cheap!) Likewise, it's no fun rearing through the back woods in your new "Big Foot" 02.V. with its $1,000 tires, go to cross a pristine stream, and come out the other side with four flat tires from an ecoeagers spikes. You get the idea. These areas are worth hundreds of times any amount of lumber revenues; no non-violent action to protect them 5s too small'or large. Even a single action makes a difference because there are hundreds of other groups and indivi-duals out there doing their bit too, and it really adds up. So do your homework. Check out the threatened areas near you. Pick your target. And ecotage. vehieZes lincZuding mountain bicycZesl except ondesignatsc7roads. (61 A phase-out of commerciaZ live-stock grazing. (71 Prohibition of trapping and of precktor control. (81 Reintroduction of extirpated speci~sinto sz!itabZe hubita*. 193 Prohibition of herbicides, i~sec-ticides, and other poisons. (101 Complete protection of aZZ road-less areas and recovery areas vhere roads have been closed (111 Management concentration on reforestation, erosion control, and other heaZing activities lusirig nafiitl~ species cnZyl. (12) Re~urn to o: natural f{re ecosptem.

/ Proudhan & His "Bank of the ~eople" 1 Charles A. Dana ! Kerr, Chicago, 1984 1; In 1849 Proudhon was imprisoned in France on the charge of libel against then-president Louis Napoleon Bonaparte. While Proudhon was "serving time", Charles A. Dana (editor of Tha lieu Yark Trihuns) I published a series of articles about him. I Shortly af rer the apFearance of .these ( articles, Dana revised them for The Spirif I of the Age, a weekly paper published in : New York and edited by the Rev. William Henry Channing. i In 1896, Benjamin R. Tucker collated the i series into a pamphlet; and now the I Charles H. Kerr Publishing Co., an old-! line publisher of radical literature, has ' reprinted Tucker's pamphlet with a new I introduction by Paul Avrich. I The Kropotkin continued from 3... thefr Kroporkin treats out in hollowed

loaves of bread. During the evening, they 11 would pop up at a workers' tavern, quickly: passing out their Kropotkins and the odd , revolutionary pamphlet. I ! This went on for about a year, before i one of the czar's spies brought him the I news and a captured Kropotkin. At first, the czar laughed hysterically while mun-ching on a Napoleon. But then his mood shifted. Snatching the Kropotkin from his spy's hands, he took a bite. It was truly , marvelous. Never before had the czar tasted such a pastry. This infuriated him; how dare common workers prepare such , afood! Theczarissuedordersthatthe bakers be hunted down and the recipe de- I atroyed.

I I Soon after, both Kropotkins and our , heroic bakers disappeared. Na one knows whether they'escaped or were caught. But ; being anarchists, they had published their recipe on the hack of their pamphlets --after all, such things are the property of I , no one. It is rumored that after the ; Bolsheviks seized power, they discovered I one of the baker's pamphlets in the Czar's archives and that new Kropotkins are available again, but only to the upper I echelons of the party. Though my Russian I As originally intended, Dana's articlcs do indeed serve as an excellent introductfon to Psoudhon's economic and political ideas, which he termed "Mutualism". The Kerr Company is to be congratulated for making this pamphlet available once again. Deep Ecology: Living as if Nature Mattered is an important new work on Mother Earth and the anti-authoritarian tradition. Written by Bill Devall & George Sessions, it has been published by Earth First! The book is a call for the development of ecological consciousness & psychologfcal maturity. With its estimates of the social environmedtal movements of both J&

Europe & America, it can be very useful as a handbook for direct action. Hardcover copies are available ($17 postpaid) from: Earth First!, Box 5871, Tucson, Az. 85703 friend didn't beieve the rumor, as he put: it, "The Bolsheviks aren't smart enough to recognize a good pastry recipe when they see one." At the end of his tale, I could no longer contain myself, and laughed out loud. "So you don't believe me," my friend pouted. '*I'm sorry, but I did enjoy the stary," I replied. 81 I111 show you," he said, as he began

removing,books from the book case. He then opened a small hidden compartment and rook aut a faded old pamphlet. "There," he said, pointing to the back cover. Sure enough on the back of a copy of "God and the State" was a recipe for --the Kropot-kin. I apologized and he carefully placed the treasure back in the wall. "1'11 save it for better days," he said. Before he closed the panel, I pulled off my AAA pin and laid it an top of the pamphlet. Be smiled and I think a tear came to his eye. We embraced and I left. It was after one and my friend would have to be on the docks by 6, and I aoula be off on the rest of my tour. Salud ! Comrade X

HapppyBl~hday=

aim!

On July 31st, "~mancipation", your fa-vorite anarchist monthly, will celebrate fts Seventh birthday. Of course, many things have changed for our editorial collective since that summer in 1978 when a small band of high school students put out its first enthusiastic, mildly un-palfshed four-page issue (then named the "Anarchy Times"). As in all movements and groups devoted to social reconstruction and bucking the tide against stupidity, human waste and class criminality, we have seen many friends and compatriots pass in and out of our family of libertarian mfl-itants, labor activists, ecology crusa-ders, flinty-minded intellectuals, gay advocates, long-haired poets, feminest hell-raisers, education revolutionaries, dreamy-eyed hippies, vegetarian pacifist, punk subculrurists and Taoist mystics. The separate issues of "Emancipation" have reflected our diversity and the wide-ranging diversity of the North American AnarchZat community itself. The present and future are and well be as zany, dangerous and demanding as ever. The "Emancipation" group and the other work collectives of the Anarchist Association of the Americas will do everything we can to present in print and action alternative

methods of living and working in a society which appears to be largely mad and on a planer which is more than a little endan-gered. There is an incredible task ahead for all willing to take part in the crea-tion aŁ a just, free and ecologically healthy world. The Anarchist movement is not like other movements of the left. We do not measure "sucess" in quite the same way. We have no elections to win, no rival parties to upset, no power to seize. But we do have each other, a commitment to our unwavering principles, and the conviction that it is possible to build a classless ~aciety where hierarchy, Capital, the State, authoritarianism and violence no longer have a part. Though often accused (in the last century and a half) of being overly idealistic and naive, we are in fact the least romantic or naive of people. We do nor believe revolutions ever truly end. We know the reconstruction of society is an unending process in a most imperfect world, and unlike our other friends on the left,, we know you cannot reduce theory, socfety or people to merely an economic factor, a political faction or even a spiritual factor. If you get the drift and feel that you as a free and autonomous individual can work collectively, wfthout a leader, to open up such a life for all, then come and lend a hand* All you may gain is everything you should have had to begin with. ----II---II- I

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