I spend 2,5 years on reading this book. Not because it is very complicated, but because it is big (almost 700 pages) and I was reading it non-regulary.

That’s “Collectives of the Spanish revolution” by Gaston Leval, the guy who participated directly in this greatest anarchist experiment. He describes the structure of the cooperatives and agricultural collectives, the work of the factories and the pluralities of the forms of economic organizing. Watching on this all makes clear that the anarchism of Spanish revolution was not ideal, but it was certainly the best that could be offered for this historical period for Spanish society.

This book will make you sure: anarchism is real. Abolishing of money is real. Non-capitalist, mutual-benefit economy is real.

A special attention was payed to a betrayal of stalinists, who played a crucial role in destroying the anarchist order and giving up the Spain to Franco.

This is the quotation I have chosen for you:

“What is in the core? The vivid creativeness of the masses. Without organic preparation no social and truly socialist revolution is possible.

Our constructive revolutionary achievement was destroyed by the Francoist victory and by the sabotage and betrayal of Stalin and his agents. But
it remains in history as an example and a proof that it is possible to avoid the dictatorial stages when the capacity to organise the new society quickly is present; and dispense with the so-called dictatorship of the proletariat or more exactly the revolutionary party usurping the representation or delegation of the proletariat which those drunk with power — their power to which the people must bow — persist in wanting to impose on us under pain of massacring us as counter-revolutionaries. Just as in their time Marx and Blanqui, and more recently Lenin and his henchmen and all dictatorial maniacs, they have riot the faintest idea of how to reorganise social life after capitalism. But just as Lenin did, they would very quickly organise a police force, a censorship, and in due course concentration camps.

A new way has been indicated, an achievement which emerges as a beacon light of which all revolutionaries who seek mankind’s emancipation and not its subjection to a new slavery will have to follow. If they do, yesterday’s defeat will be largely compensated for by tomorrow’s victories”.

Here is the .pdf

Belarus have adopted a new law. According to it each girl under 16 will pass an obligatory gynecological exam. In case she is not a virgin, the gynaecologist ьmust inform a head of local police, the latter informs psych, and they the girl must talk to an investigator.

In case they discover who she had sex with, this person goes to jail, if he is over 16 yo. Once again: its a law.

Right for privacy? Fucked up. Medical secrecy? Fucked up. Personal dignity? Fucked up. Also, Belarus has one of the highest child suicide rates in the world.

The European Union donated around 2$ mln to Belarusian Border Committee for buying the equipment, vehicles and surveliance systems. Later on these tools were used for suppression the dissidents.

Woops, EU does not want migrants SO MUCH that eager to fund the dictatorship regimes and their repressive activities.

Latino Americans. By now there are 250 000 of them in the US, and the mumber grows very fast.

Some scholars say that this is the result of an anti-immigrant policy of the US elites, which demonize Latinos and thus forcing them to look for a community where they will be accepted and understood.

On my opinion that shows once again: the oppressed need an ideology. In a situation, when all other ideologies: Christianity, Anarchism, Communism, etc. show their bankruptcy in addressing their – they choose Islam. They did it in the Middle East, and now they are doing this in the US. And if this trend will grow (and it will), it gonna push US to a changes. Not anthropological or cultural – but civilization ones.

“The core principal, which is so entcising on Islam is that you have very personal relationship with God”. – one of the heroes said.

As you, maybe, know, few time ago Belarusian parliament passed the law, which allows fining and arresting ppl for “extremist” posts in social media. What our courts do now? They add certain videos, web-pages, social media pages, T-shirts, sayings or even fridgies (!) to a “Republican list of the extremist materials” (which already holds few hundreds of items) and than they detain you wherever you want.

This list consists of anarchism-related materials on around 1\3.

For the last 7 month I had 2 court trials (and one more will be soon), one for “Distribution extremist materials”, one for “Demonstration nazi symbolic”, in both pictures these were FB posts with nazi posing with their symbolics, with my comments about what I think about them.

For the 1st time I was fined in the amount of 200 eur. 3 weeks ago – on the amount of 500 eur. Both times, once again, for posts in social media! Few days ago I got to know that they started new administrative case: for writing “ACAB” on my “Vkontakte” page. This abbreviation is also acknowledged as extremist, and now I face fine or up to 25 days of arrest.

Moreover, week ago, while passing the EU-Belarus border (I was coming back to Belarus from Vilnius) I was disembarked from the bus by the border guards, and they were checking my identity and luggage for around 2 hours.

Many other guys from the anarchist movement report about the same pressure.

Anyhow, fuck cops and authority. It’s OK to be an extremist.

BTW interesting facts about the original video and distribution of roles within it: out of 43 men in the video, exhibiting “undesirable” behavior, 42 are white, 1 is black. Out of 7 males exhibiting “desirable” behavior, 5 are black, 2 are white. Hmmmm…