VinnieK Posted July 16, 2009 Share Posted July 16, 2009 Thinking about it, you're right. Also, even if it's not the same kind of pastoralism as the kind the British indulge in, most cultures at the very least engage in some kind of romanticization of the 'noble savage', even if only as a useful position from which to criticize the perceived decadence and faults of their own civilization (the speech Tacitus puts in the mouth of Calgacus in the Agricola is a classic example). See, this is how we should deal with teenagers brandishing weapons at people. Smash their kneecaps with a big hammer and force them into a civilized discussion about the tensions and contradictory attitudes towards the urbanized life in which they live, ripping one of their fingernails out every time they get a bit lippy. Brutal justice is served, but not without them learning something. Everybody's happy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
La_Dolce_Vita Posted July 16, 2009 Share Posted July 16, 2009 Is that excluding the various results yielded by tapping "anarchism" into Amazon's search facility such as Anarchism and Other Essays; Italian Anarchism 1864-1892m No Gods, No Maters: An Anthology of Anarchism, or even a visit to your university book shop or library? I was taking quite a different understanding of what you meant by textbook. No Gods No Masters is a good book though! As for the issue of these ideas being a bit antiquated, surely you don't think that you're sharing cutting edge social theories here? Most of what you refer to dates back to the twenties at the latest - hell, even some anarchists consider anarcho-syndicalism as anachronistic and old hat tosh, whilst your views of an ideal educational system being driven by pupils and embracing creativity is one that dates back to at least the 1960s when such theories first became fashionable amongst education and sociology circles. No of course I don't think they are cutting edge. I consider anarcho-syndicalism anachronistic and takes a strange view of how syndicates can be used after a revolution. But most of what I have read is recent, though that is not to say that this is a reproduction and churning up of old ideas. Though even if they are old, I fail to see how they are 'dated' or even irrelevent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VinnieK Posted July 16, 2009 Share Posted July 16, 2009 Though even if they are old, I fail to see how they are 'dated' or even irrelevent. Well, they may not be irrelevent. It's more a personal opinion than a reasoned assessment - I'm just surprised that those on the radical fringe are still proclaiming the exact same criticisms and beliefs that we've been hearing for decades now, sometimes it feels like anarchism is even more set in its ways and prone to stagnation than even communism sometimes was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keyboarder Posted July 16, 2009 Share Posted July 16, 2009 *Pulls up a bed* *Commences REM* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
La_Dolce_Vita Posted July 16, 2009 Share Posted July 16, 2009 Though even if they are old, I fail to see how they are 'dated' or even irrelevent. Well, they may not be irrelevent. It's more a personal opinion than a reasoned assessment - I'm just surprised that those on the radical fringe are still proclaiming the exact same criticisms and beliefs that we've been hearing for decades now, sometimes it feels like anarchism is even more set in its ways and prone to stagnation than even communism sometimes was. Hmm though I wonder whether the fact that it is so set in its ways is because of its quality of being so anti-authoritarian. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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