Praxis: Building the new within the old
Building a new type of world is difficult. Straightaway, anarchists are presented with an inherit issue with being radical: having to resist the highly exploitative nature of capitalism whilst simultaneously building a new, socialist system in place of the current one.
There has been a myriad of literature written about how anarchists can organise themselves and what they can do in terms of praxis. However, regardless of what anarchists do, they will always face the problem of still participating in the capitalist system, which will help the ruling class in maintaining their grip on power. This cannot be overcome as of yet since we all have to take part in this system in order to survive. It will likely stay like this until a large enough mutual aid network can be established without being disrupted by outside forces.
Mutual aid, the sharing of resources and services for mutual benefit, is fantastic praxis. It allows you to help strengthen your community and it creates a buffer between the harshness of capitalism and your local community. This will be incredibly helpful when the falling rate of profit reaches critically low levels since it will soften the blow as the conditions for a social revolution begin to brew.
Here’s a great quote which illustrates why mutual aid is important to an anarchist society:
“Competition is the law of the jungle, but cooperation is the law of civilization”
Peter Kropotkin
What does mutual aid look like?
A world without mutual aid is a world were chaos and selfishness are rampant. This cruel world is the exact one we’re living in right now and something needs to be done about it, but what exactly?
To fill this void of utter chaos anarchists will have to construct means of practicing mutual aid in their communities. This can be done by starting up a “really really free” market at a local venue (Community centre, church etc). Really really free markets are a place where the local community gather to share food, clothing, accessories and offer services such as clothing repair to other members of their community.
These types of community gatherings occur worldwide, from Singapore to New York City. Before setting up a really really free market in your local town: check websites such as Facebook and Twitter to see if people have already organised one near to you. If nobody has set one up, setting up a new market is rather easy. The first thing you should do is scout for a place to host your market. We recommend somewhere that is easy to access, not a government building and somewhere that doesn’t require funds in order to host at. An ideal place to host your market is a place of worship (Church, Synagogue, Mosque etc) or a local community centre since they are usually fairly central and easy to get to. After you have contacted the venue and have agreed that you can host a really really free market there, the next step is to gather goods to share.
You can gather goods and appeal to have people share their services at your market by posting about the event on places such as Facebook, Twitter and Mastodon. Make sure to keep online presence ‘professional’ and remember to remind people when and where your market is taking place. It may be of help to ask for people to help out with setting up the market and cleaning up afterwards.
What other forms of praxis is there?
Aside from mutual aid, anarchists can do many other forms of praxis. Below is an list of what praxis anarchists can start doing to help fight against the state and their authority.
- Flypost posters and flyers
- Sticker up lampposts
- Host talks and gigs at a local venue
- Participate in your local anti-fascist scene
- Join a LGBTQIA+ pride parade with “No Rainbow Capitalism” banners, flyers et
- Resist environmental destruction operations
- Go vegan (for the animals, your health and the environment)
For a list of resources that may be of use to you, please check out our resources page.
REMEMBER, ALL THE SMALL STEPS YOU TAKE, EITHER AS AN INDIVIDUAL OR AS A GROUP, WILL HELP IN SOME WAY.
