tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1730344528638938257.post2146729000060315843..comments2011-03-14T14:21:42.850-07:00Comments on America After America: Revolutionary /b/astards (Part II)The Blackt Out Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02712727125835850649noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1730344528638938257.post-3570079570018430952011-03-14T14:21:42.850-07:002011-03-14T14:21:42.850-07:00Good, thought provoking post. I think we need to ...Good, thought provoking post. I think we need to think about how the nature of protest has shifted in the postmodern world, too, from a "modern" to a "postmodern" one. After the 60s protest, the protest movement split into these rights, identity based protests. Women were concerned with women's rights, gays with gay rights, etc. This isn't necessarily bad, but it's a reality. Culturally, we more often then not think of ourselves as these more discrete interest groups. The rights of women and gays, for example, are rarely conflated, even though we could most likely make that argument that these groups have issues in common. It coincides with more "choice" in the market place for various identities and entertainment. <br /><br />Plus, as more of our lives is defined by our online activities, it is no surprise that the internet becomes an organizing feature of protest, as well as our social life. The question is what kind of group is Anonymous, regarding their political aims. Are they speaking for a larger cross section of American culture, or are they tied to, say, the open source movement, the free software movement, or what? Are they just taking advantage for attention, or do they have a coherent political identity of some kind? If so, what is it? If not, what can we say of them collectively as a political bloc? <br /><br />MindyAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1730344528638938257.post-3640404027192580302011-03-10T18:02:56.725-08:002011-03-10T18:02:56.725-08:00Oh, you made one really good point that I totally ...Oh, you made one really good point that I totally failed to acknowledge:<br /><br />You pointed out that Anonymous, unlike the other groups mentioned, is sometimes totally personal in motivation. You called them a "hired gun."<br /><br />A group that uses the same collective identity for both highly political and highly personal causes is fairly unique, as far as I know. The fact that Anonymous can act in solidarity with Wikileaks one day and hack a facebook account in search of nude photographs the next is an interesting result of the dislocation of identity and responsibility that you mention.<br /><br />So, yes, there are certainly differences.The Blackt Out Manhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02712727125835850649noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1730344528638938257.post-71434343167988215312011-03-10T17:48:33.650-08:002011-03-10T17:48:33.650-08:00Those are valid points, but:
1. I wasn't argu...Those are valid points, but:<br /><br />1. I wasn't arguing that Anonymous was only an return to an old style of rebellion, just that significant parallels exist between Anonymous and old school radical groups. Indeed, there are some things about Anbonymous that are unique, and I mention some of that uniqueness later in the post.<br /><br />2. The "collective identity" you mention is expressed in a very new way by Anonymous, but it's not purely a new thing. It actually has its roots in groups like the Weather Underground that acted both collectively and anonymously. Whereas the informal, totally decentralized membership that you pick up on, while not true of the Yippies and the Weather Underground, actually does have some precedent in other radical organizations. Al Qaeda, for example, is really just a label that can be freely adopted by individual cells with no true formal structure, much like the Anonymous identity.<br /><br />4. Anonymous does have certain shared values. The big, overriding one is the belief that information is free and should be freely available. Most of their high profile targets--Scientology, the banks that wouldn't make transfers to Wikileaks, etc.--were chosen because of these beliefs.<br /><br />5. I'm not making any moral judgments in this post. I'm not saying that the actions of Anonymous or Abbie Hoffman or the Yippies or the Weathermen or even John Brown were right or justified or moral. I'm just pointing out similarities and drawing conclusions from those similarities.<br /><br />Thanks for the comment.The Blackt Out Manhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02712727125835850649noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1730344528638938257.post-90153865406105075732011-03-10T17:29:05.832-08:002011-03-10T17:29:05.832-08:00"*I use the term "members" loosely ..."*I use the term "members" loosely here, since Anonymous has no formal membership."<br /><br />And with this, much of the post contradicts itself. Although the persona of a tricker rebel might not be new, the idea that it can happen from a collective identity and provide absolution of personal responsibility, or at least a layer of safety and security, IS new, and IS revolutionary. Furthermore, the weatherman and yippes had to agree on a collective set of values - the physical nature of their rebellion required a personal relationship, and therefore required a deeper agreement and shared goal between members. Annon is also much more unique in that it is essentially a gun for hire for causes that catch it's member's attention. Not always for good for that matter.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com