I was disappointed in the first the "Green and Black Bulletin." This is not because I am against Freedom covering ecological issues. No, far from it. A regular column on green issues would benefit Freedom immensely. I know that anarchism and ecology are intertwined and that any relevant and decent form of anarchism must be rooted in an ecological perspective.
No, the reason I have reservations about this Bulletin is two fold. Firstly, it proclaims it will be a "primitivist" column, thus excluding most forms of ecological anarchism. To suggest that anarcho-primitivism is "'green anarchism" is blinkered, not to mention sectarian and downright false. Secondly, the first bulletin does not enfuse me with confidence that the column will have anything positive to say about eco-anarchism or, indeed, anarchism. I know it is early days, but to start off attacking other anarchists as being "reformist" and proclaiming it is a case of "anarcho-primitivism versus anarchism" does not bode well for the future.
As an example, Moore asserts that "classical anarchism" simply wants to "rework" modern society and "remove its worst abuses and oppressions" leaving "99% of life . . . unchanged." So the "worst abuses and oppressions" of capitalism account for just 1% of life! Which sounds like the comment an apologist of capitalism would make. He also has little belief in the creative abilities of the bulk of the population. He seems to think that people who went to the trouble of smashing the state and kicking the bosses out would stop there, leaving industry and technology unchanged and that workers will continue doing the same sort of work, in the same way, using the same methods! In other words, it is not enough to get rid of the boss, although this is a necessary first step!
So, "classical anarchists" doubt that many of the workers who use technology and work in industry will leave either unchanged (see, for example, Kropotkin's Conquest of Bread). Rather, they will seek to liberate the technology they use from the distorting influences of capitalism, just as they liberated themselves. This will take time, of course, and be an imperfect process (but, then again, primitivists seem somewhat impatient, subscribing to what Kropotkin rightly dismissed as a harmful fallacy, namely the idea of a one-day revolution). Moore simply distorts the ideas of "classical anarchism" by his assertions.
On a different issue, looking at the arguments in the bulletin I am struck by how vague "anarcho-primitivism" is. For example, John Moore states that the "kind of world envisaged by anarcho-primitivism is one unprecedented in human experience" and that "there are no hard-and-fast rules" in getting there. In other words, we don't know what we want nor how we get there! Even worse, he states that "there can't be any limits on the forms of resistance and insurgency that might develop." Whatever happened to the anarchist principle that means shape the ends? That means there are "limits" on tactics, as some tactics are not and can never be libertarian. More on this later.
And I cannot help thinking that all this talk of "Civilisation" lets the ruling class off the hook for our and the planet's problems, as it is "technology" and "mass society" which is blamed (the capitalist class can rest easy -- injustice, authority, oppression, ecocide, etc. are not their fault, they are simply the inevitable result of "mass society"!). Rather than seeing power originating in socio-economic relationships, it is rooted in "the machine." Which, ironically, is the mirror image of Engels' argument in "On Authority." For Engels, technology meant freedom was impossible during production. He wanted to keep technology and dump autonomy. Primitivists want to dump technology, suggesting that the comments on workers' control being "workers' self-exploitation" have more in common in classical Marxism than classical anarchism.
This is not the only convergence with Marxism, since primitivism seems to share with Leninism an objectivist vision of social change. For Leninists, it is the economic crisis that puts "socialism" (i.e. state capitalism) on the agenda, similarly for the primitivists it is when "civilisation collapses" through "its own volition." Perhaps this is because they know that the mass of people who, quite rightly, view their utopia with horror. After all, Moore does not explain how the UK could feed nearly 60 million people by primitivist (i.e. hunting and gathering) means (and let us not forget one of the editors of Green Anarchist did say they would prefer "mass starvation" to "mass government," i.e. existing -- "mass" -- society). Perhaps this explains why, according to Moore, primitivism does not "seek to . . . win converts." Why bother, when society will collapse and people will not have a choice? The idea of anarchism as being created from below, by the conscious desires of the oppressed for freedom and justice is missing.
What of Moore's comments that civilisation may, perhaps, collapse "through our own efforts" and that only "widespread refusal . . .can abolish civilisation"? He does not explain how this can be achieved, if you do not seek "converts" (i.e. convince people of your ideas). Given that he argues that "daily life" is marked by "internalised patterns of obedience," it suggests that by "our" he means primitivists, not the classical anarchist idea of a revolt by the people. He talks of "communities of resistance," yet does not root them in the workplace or the neighbourhood and so the practical concerns of most people. Wildfire concurs, dismissing "workers' councils, committees" out of hand while, apparently, subscribing to Moore's idea of "interdependent" communities. How such communities would communicate, never mind work together, without federal organisations is left unasked, never mind unanswered!
So dismissing the mass of the population (i.e. the working class) as an agent of change leaves primitivism with two options. Either wait for the "inevitable collapse of civilisation" (and wile-away the hours slagging other anarchists off as reformists) or embrace eco-vanguardism and celebrate any form of "resistance" which may bring the glorious day forward. This reached is logical conclusion when "Green Anarchist" supported the actions and ideas of the (non-anarchist) Unabomber and published an article stating that the "the Oklahoma bombers had the right idea. The pity was that they did not blast any more government offices...The Tokyo sarin cult had the right idea. The pity was that in testing the gas a year prior to the attack they gave themselves away." A subsequent exchange of letters in Anarchy magazine saw one "Green Anarchist" editor justify this sick, authoritarian nonsense as simply examples of "unmediated resistance" conducted "under conditions of extreme repression." Which makes you ask "resistance" to what, exactly? Working people? Are they the enemy? Perhaps, given Moore's comments about the mass of people internalising obedience.
As I said above, no anarchist can talk about "any" means of "resistance and insurgency" being valid. Libertarian ends require libertarian means. Perhaps I am reading too much into the reprinting of Moore's article, but given the legacy of its original publication place (Green Anarchist) it suggests a fatal unwillingness to learn from the mistakes of the past and an equally fatal unwillingness to develop anarcho-primitivist theory in a way to avoid these authoritarian pitfalls "Green Anarchist" so helpfully and unintentionally exposed in it. Perhaps future "Green and Black" Bulletin's will address the kinds of issues I've raised here, while opening itself up to contributions from other kinds of eco-anarchists. I hope so, but we will see.
yours in solidarity,
Iain