*The Idea* - Anarchist Communism in 2022: February 15 2022

I was really interested to see that this book has been written (and edited, all through voluntary labour, without even upvotes along the way), and to be invited to contribute to the printing costs.

I was thrilled when I was first introduced to these ideas, some twenty years ago. Although I have been a periodic member of the Labour Party, it doesn't really speak to me and my ideas about society. The Labour Party seems to me a (sometimes, not always) slightly more compassionate face of capitalism (and patriarchy, and all that goes with it). As the Anarchist Communists might say, the Labour Party's downfall was parliamentarianism, where compromises with the establishment have to be made.

My mentor in those early days (and still is, now I think of it) was a lovely, humane, compassionate man, aware of the complexities of life and the frailties and vulnerabilities of people, and, nonetheless, full of agape for the common man and woman (that's the 99% of us who have to work for a living), and resolute that there are absolute truths - none of your tricksy postmodernist nonsense here.

Incidentally, I'm using agape in its original Greek meaning, not the one later adopted by Christianity.

I have struggled over the years to develop my own coherent understanding of Anarchist Communism and to practice ideas where there are opportunities. I'm overly romantic about what is possible, especially given that most people have little idea about Anarchism and when they do, associate it with disrule and bomb-making, rather than organising for the common good and well-being of everyone.

I used to feel that my attempts were failures until I was at a seminar about Louise Michel and the International School for refugees that she set up in Fitzroy Square in London, in the 1890s.

The school was closed in 1892, when it was raided by the police who found bombs and bomb-making equipment in the basement. These were suspected to have been planted by the school caretaker, later unmasked as a police spy. Given the latest shenanigans of unmasked police spies, no change there. (Incidentally, the records of the time are still redacted over 100 years later with the names of police spies and the amount they received hidden behind black lines).

Even though the school was short-lived, it was a successful attempt at an Anarchist approach to education. My own attempts have been equally short-lived and without even the explicit acknowledgement of an Anarchist approach, but, all the same, they have taken place. On a visit to the University of East London where I was talking about what I was doing, they spotted immediately the Anarchist current - so not as obscure as I thought and not lost.

I heard Nick Heath, the author, speak at an event about Anarchist Communism as part of the Anti-University last year. I liked his accessible way of explaining ideas, and I look forward to reading his book.

I invite anyone who is interested in alternative ideas and would like to read them set out in a book to support this fundraiser. Even if you are not an Anarchist yourself, but believe that alternative ideas, clearly argued, should circulate and be shared and discussed, I ask you to consider supporting the publication of this book through a donation, however large or small. Thank you.

Podcasts from the Anarchist Communist Group: scroll down to find Nick Heath opening on Anarchist Communism vs Big Tent Anarchism.

Louise Michel: Why I am an Anarchist

The International School, Fitzroy Square, London

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Walking