Hey y’all!
This is the megathread for the reading group of the book An Anarchist FAQ. Here I will be updating the post body with links to each new post of the reading group. Keep an eye on it as everytime a new post is made progressing further into the book, a link should be added here. Also the title will be updated each week, to denote the week we’re in.
Links to An Anarchist FAQ reading posts:
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Section F - Is “anarcho”-capitalism a type of anarchism?
- Section F.8: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/71344207
- F.8 What role did the state take in the creation of capitalism?
- Sections F.6-F.7: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/70907037
- F.6 Is “anarcho”-capitalism against the state?
- F.7 How does the history of “anarcho”-capitalism show that it is not anarchist?
- Sections F.4-F.5: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/70534477
- F.4 What is the right-“libertarian” position on private property?
- F.5 Will privatising “the commons” increase liberty?
- Section F.3: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/70151192
- F.3 Why do anarcho"-capitalists place little or no value on equality?
- Section F.2: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/69761059
- F.2 What do “anarcho”-capitalists mean by freedom?
- Sections F.0-F.1: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/69364903
- F.0 Introduction
- F.1 Are “anarcho”-capitalists really anarchists?
- Section F.8: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/71344207
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Section E - What do anarchists think causes ecological problems?
- Sections E.5-E.6: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/68964218
- E.5 Can ethical consumerism stop the ecological crisis?
- E.6 What is the population myth?
- Section E.4: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/68163491
- E.4 Can laissez-faire capitalism protect the environment?
- Section E.3: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/67779279
- E.3 Can private property rights protect the environment?
- Section E.2: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/68538332
- E.2 What do eco-anarchists propose instead of capitalism?
- Sections E.0-E.1: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/67379167
- E.0: Introduction
- E.1: What are the root causes of our ecological problems?
- Sections E.5-E.6: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/68964218
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Section D - How do statism and capitalism affect society?
- Sections D.10-D.11: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/66964149
- D.10 How does capitalism affect technology?
- D.11 Can politics and economics be separated from each other?
- Sections D.6-D.9: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/66565265
- D.6 Are anarchists against Nationalism?
- D.7 Are anarchists opposed to National Liberation struggles?
- D.8 What causes militarism and what are its effects?
- D.9 Why does political power become concentrated under capitalism?
- Section D.5: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/66169004
- D.5 What causes imperialism?
- Sections D.3-D.4: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/65766753
- D.3 How does wealth influence the mass media?
- D.4 What is the relationship between capitalism and the ecological crisis?
- Section D.2: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/65370352
- D.2 What influence does wealth have over politics?
- Sections D.0-D.1: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/64962024
- D.0 Introduction
- D.1 Why does state intervention occur?
- Sections D.10-D.11: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/66964149
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Section C - What are the myths of capitalist economics?
- Section C.12: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/64574574
- C.12 Doesn’t Hong Kong show the potentials of “free market” capitalism?
- Section C.11: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/64183077
- C.11 Doesn’t neo-liberalism in Chile prove that the free market benefits everyone?
- Section C.10: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/63776701
- C.10 Is “free market” capitalism the best way to reduce poverty?
- Section C.9: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/62818331
- C.9 Would laissez-faire policies reduce unemployment, as supporters of “free market” capitalism claim?
- Section C.8: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/61828798
- C.8 Is state control of money the cause of the business cycle?
- Section C.7: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/61353662
- C.7 What causes the capitalist business cycle?
- Sections C.5-C-6: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/60908463
- C.5 Why does Big Business get a bigger slice of profits?
- C.6 Can market dominance by Big Business change?
- Section C.4: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/59995450
- C.4 Why does the market become dominated by Big Business?
- Section C.3: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/59538729
- C.3 What determines the distribution between labour and capital?
- Section C.2: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/57667336
- C.2 Why is capitalism exploitative?
- Section C.1: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/55777470
- C.1 What is wrong with economics?
- Section C.0: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/55295947
- C.0 Introduction
- Section C.12: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/64574574
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Section B - Why do anarchists oppose the current system?
- Sections B.4-B.7: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/54809617
- B.4 What classes exist within modern society?
- B.5 But won’t decisions made by individuals with their own money be the best?
- B.6 Is capitalism empowering and based on human action?
- B.7 How does capitalism affect liberty?
- Sections B.3: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/54312979
- B.3 Why are anarchists against private property?
- Section B.2: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/53715581
- B.2 Why are anarchists against the state?
- Sections B.0-B.1: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/53206006
- B.0 Introduction
- B.1 Why are anarchists against authority and hierarchy?
- Sections B.4-B.7: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/54809617
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Section A - What is Anarchism?
- Sections A.4-A.5: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/52709377
- A.4 Who are the major anarchist thinkers?
- A.5 What are some examples of “Anarchy in Action”?
- Section A.3: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/52213671
- A.3 What types of anarchism are there?
- Section A.2: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/51731516
- A.2 What does anarchism stand for?
- Sections Intros-A.1: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/51243397 (broken)
- A.0 Introduction
- A.1 What is anarchism?
- Sections A.4-A.5: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/52709377
There is also an EPUB version of AFAQ, courtesy of @irelephant@lemmy.dbzer0.com: here
Happy reading!
@BlastboomStrice@mander.xyz could you add me to the reading group ping list?
Hm, since this a megathread it probably fits to send here my overall notes (that keep expanding as I read more):
https://codeberg.org/BlastboomStrice/book-notes/src/branch/main/AFAQ-Summary.md
I try to “compress” the content by ~90% in the summary and in the end I might make a summary of the summary (at the end of the file maybe)? This is a long project:)
I like the thought of the reading group, but how does it work? I never see any discussion, any questions related to the content or any other activity.
Could you maybe share your experience doing it?
Yeah… I think the book is too big (~2.000 pdf pages) so the few people that we actually read it in this group (I think it’s like 4 people) are at different parts of the book (like early Section B, early Section C, late Section C, etc.). That way it’s harder to have a conversation about the contents:/
In a (very) few posts above, you may see some people talking about the content and I tend to participate in these conversations, but they don’t go very far. Other times I might be having an issue interpreting the book while keeping notes, so I may ask a queation under an older post, but since almost noone checks older posts, I end up answering my own question lol.
In the instance’s matrix chat there might be a short convo about the book from time to time, but I think it’s about as much convo we have here on lemmy haha.
Im not very sure how I could keep this place more alive, I think if there was another reading group for way shorter books (like 100-200pages) most could probably read it in a month or two and have a more lively discussion. I probably cant take up on this task though as I probably wont have time to participate in reading even more books haha.
Kinda hope at least that the weekly tagging of the participantd and slowly progressing may encourage people to keep reading this book.
I also want to say that in the future, if someone stumbles upon this books and wants to ask something, they could probably find the appropriate post and ask (and probably noone will answer apart from me cuz it will be buried in the post history).
Another thing is that due to the FAQ nature of afaq, people could just jump in ~at any moment without having read the previous parts.
I dont know:/ Maybe I could focus on keeping this post more active and use it as an “everything goes in” thread? Should I encourage people to post the same stuff under both this post and the post with the appropriate section so that any questions arent buried in post history? Should I post here links to any new messages in the other posts? (I kinda like the last idea, hm, might do that.) Shrug
Thank you so much for your detailed reply!
I think mentioning the concrete questions / topics in the title might make it easier for people to engage / know if that part interests them. But maybe that would work only for me lol.
Besides that I apreciate the effort and consistency.
I added them:)
Oh nice idea, might change the set up the following weeks, or at least add descriptions per (sub)section in this megathread post.
Comment thread with links to new related messages in older posts:
So I just noticed that I (and probably others) link to or refer to the Anarchist FAQ when discussing / answering. How do you think we could connect those threads with the reading group?
Hmm good question, not sure how to answer. I guess we need an index somehow? Maybe the individual reading posts could be used? Shrug
So yeah, I’m giving some extra structure to the weekly reading we do.
This megathread should (hopefully) make things better:
- It should be one place where all the posts are listed, so you can click on the post with the Section you want and view it quickly.
- It will be pinned, reducing the work on the mods/admins (having to pin a new post every week eventually gets tiring).
PS. Feedback request: Let me know what you think, I discussed it a bit on the matrix server, but I’d like some broader feedback on this. I initially started this using hexbear’s way of doing group readings, but I feel like this is a huge book and probably needs a different organisation.
Uh, any tips, advice, or something, about getting into it?
Right now, seeing it already started gives me a mix of “I’m behind”, “the posts about the first sections are old now so barely anyone will talk about it” and “what the hell does one do in a reading group anyways” that aren’t really helping me get started, but still I think a kind of reading group is the only way I see myself being held accountable to actually read theory.
(I did see this comment ~as you as you sent it, but Im currently a bit out of time, will try to respond properly tomorrow)
Hmmm I guess a few things could be done.
- You could use the weekly ping I do as a reminder to keep going.
- You could post your thoughts on a specific section under the appropriate post and I (or you or whoever) can simply create a thread with links to new messages on old posts under this post. This post is pinned so it might get visibility.
- You could post any general thoughts on this thread
Some afaq speficic stuff:
- Afaq is (kind of) an faq, which means that you can theoretically not read it linearly as we do. I’d suggest you read section A as an introduction and then you can either keep reading linearly or find any section you like and start reading that, maybe the current section we will be when you finish A.
- Due to afaq being huuuge, it’s almost certain that we (the people in the group) probably wont be on the same page. Combined with the fact thay only a few of us read it, we’re a few people at random sections.
I guess a nice idea would be to run parallel reading groups for smaller books so that people can choose what they like.
PS. I estimate that this group will end in about a year.
Okay, thank you for the advice!
