Gone Native

What's the difference between a schizophrenic and a normal man?
The schizophrenic tries to make sense of the madness around him.

I repeat myself.

Pacifists are but partisans of whoever won the last war.

Learning Precedes Intelligence

I read an article today on how lemon sharks learn from observing each other feed.

And then I remembered that the definition and measure of intelligence in our culture seems to have always been rooted in one key trait: the capacity for training.

Rusty Exercise

There is no substitute for using your power deftly to elevate others, seek their opinion, and treat them fairly (as you see fit, of course, since there really is no "fair").  You can try to apologize for your power, or act like it doesn't exist, or give it away, but these emphasize rather than erase the sin of hierarchy.

That principle, a bit of moral fluff, is going to be true both here and in the Anarchist Utopia, since there will always be some forms of power or--a better term perhaps--advantage that renders others dependent on or observant of you.  Natural advantage is a lovely thing, and present in all spontaneous, undirected order, but can it ossify, in time, and become privilege?  Of course it can.  Humans make habits of everything.

Now it's starting to be my opinion that I have been considering two rather distinct anarchist ideas.  One is a process of collaboration and ally-making with others, not as roles or offices but people.  The second is the classic political project of assaulting and questioning concentrated power.  There is structure and there is also culture.  They interplay and each feeds the other; sapping a poison from one pool will only buy time before the other feeds the one.