ANARCHISM:–The philosophy of a new social order based on liberty unrestricted by man-made law; the theory that all forms of government rest on violence, and are therefore wrong and harmful, as well as unnecessary. - renowned girlboss Emma Goldman

What is DEBATE ME, BRO?

when i hear anarchism, i just think of fire, said the girl i was debating with, wondering why i believed what i believed. she thought of chaos, violence, and stereotypical riot, and really, who could blame her? a quick google search doesn’t tell you anything about the abolition of all forms of hierarchy. instead it turns up the tragically terrible circle-a logo, people’s most searched questions (“is anarchy illegal?”), and a tv tropes page about anarchy as chaos. yet, shockingly, actual human beings organize for anarchy—we start queer and trans liberation collectives, and distribute political literature in our communities, and organize with prisoner solidarity and mutual aid projects, and speak and write about radical politics, and live to transform public space. and most of all, we answer your truly concerning questions.

yeah, living in a world where your politics are endlessly stereotyped can get exhausting fast. i have been informed that “anarchists kill babies.”

i have been asked by three different people if i was at the january 6th insurrection.

i have been accused of inciting by five people and a chatbot. four of said people were teenage boys. the chatbot…wasn’t.

i have been told that anarchy doesn’t work because “monkeys are in anarchy and they kinda violent sometimes,” only to look it up and find that most species of monkeys are deeply hierarchical.

i have been faced with the eloquent question “have u seen all the movies? anarchy never works.”

i have had random people at events get all starstruck because they “LOVE RUNNING INTO ANARCHISTS!,” and i have seen announced in group chats that “communism sux.”

upon mentioning i don’t believe in government, i have heard “but you believe it exists, right?”

i have been told as an insult to “go live in the autonomous zone,” and because this is such a big part of my and my co-organizers’ lives, i’m starting a blog to answer your questions. and to talk about the horror show known as Anarchy 101. reply to my emails with that thing you’ve always wondered about anarchy, and i’ll do my best to answer here. because unlike most people who grill every anarchist they meet, you actually want to learn and grow and maybe get radicalized—so if this is you, why don’t you debate me, bro?

btw: this is one of my jobs, and i put a lot of work into it. i believe in an ethos of paying people for their work when we can, as in this capitalist society, creative/queered labor tends to be undervalued. if you love this newsletter, get value out of it, and believe in paying people for their work, please consider a paid subscription.

p.s. if you don’t trust online forms (understandably) and still feel like submitting a question, feel free to email debatemebro@riseup.net.