The Blog
I'm not interested in your money. Please keep it, put it to a patreon or donate it to whatever cause you deem worthy.
I'm not attempting to be a thought leader or truthsayer. I have no specific ideology to convince you is correct. I'm not a comedian, entertainer or investigative journalist. There is nothing wrong with any of those things. I am simply none of them. I'm not trying to sell you something. Because I am not trying to earn money from you or convince you of anything in particular this content can be dry and academic. I provide you little to debate over with others. So, to interject some gusto and passion I've created this blog. It's an homage to the revolutionary zines of my youth. Have fun with it or at my expense. This is the place of engagement which would otherwise be left vacant as you're not my customer or audience. Pictures are my own unless otherwise noted.
I was riding freight trains along the edge of civilization, during a geopolitical reconfiguration, on the cusp of the millennium. It was all revolutionary without a book, debate or meeting. In fact, it was revolutionary because of it.
When we had completed our relatively short travels the experiences vanished like smoke dissipating into the sky.
We would see each other again but attempting to relive that experience was akin to stoking a fire out of long blackened and grayed ashes. You can't talk, write, cite or debate these things into reality. It's not touching grass. It's leaving a blaze in your footsteps that brightens the way for others as others will for you. In this insurgent communion you will create the interactions that leave imprints on yourself, others and the world.
The late 90's somewhere in London. It's an old story and unfortunately one on repeat. Get out of the empirical classifications and it's found everywhere. It's a hit song on the radio that bludgeons you. It seems like an inevitable story. The important thing is how that story ends. With each new iteration a different ending is possible. We are all its authors and characters. Every story needs a protagonist.
Kill Your Idols
The internet is an amazing communication tool. I've been able to interact with folks who I had great respect for from afar. One example was my communication with Rob Miller from Amebix in the early 2000's when he was in somewhat of an isolated state. We exchanged emails through his blade company about topics such as my past experiences and surviving/coming through chaos. More recently I've interacted with some core founders of Food Not Bombs. FNB's was so important to me as a teen. Above is a picture that I took of the setup from mid/late 90's. Unfortunately, this ability to communicate has turned ugly. Rob started posting Covid conspiracy stuff on his Facebook page a few years ago and ultimately self-destructed Tau Cross with his shocking Holocaust bs. Keith McHenry (Food Not Bombs) is also posting Covid conspiracy trash and pro-Russian propaganda as "anti-war."
The point?
You don't make excuses for people. They are no more untouchable than those they critique. Their slogans apply to themselves. Whether it's Chomsky excusing the brutal Assad regime or a punk group with a cult following. Fuck these people. You tell them they are wrong just as much as you do a politician. You do this to me if I go down this road. Most importantly you hold yourself accountable. If we are acting in good faith, we appreciate this. If we are not, then we debate it in defensiveness. This isn't "anti-establishment." This is conceited nonsense.
Obtained somewhere near Mount Olympus (WA) during the previous millennium.
Propaganda has so infiltrated the left that what was once honest critique in solidarity is today seen as ... propaganda.
Image from Slug & Lettuce 32 (1993 Nov)
Printed today from film.
I took this pic at a counter protest 25+ yrs ago.
I wasn’t even old enough to drive there.
It pisses me off that
I need to tell ppl 25+ years later that it’s not ok to accept or work with the reactionary right.
London, England. Two years before the World Trade Towers fell. Three years before the U.S. illegally invaded Iraq.
Before the twenty years of war in Afghanistan. The edge of a century and a tipping point in modern history.
I was criticizing YouTube grifters and political opportunists the other day and struck a nerve with someone.
They asked me "Ya, well what do you do?" That's a fair question. I've done a lot of things. It feels like we can become frozen with inaction when being honest about the state of things in the world. Small gestures seem meaningless and can even be misconstrued to be inadvertently supporting the root cause of whatever it is we are trying to address. This is not the case. Anyone telling you that what you're doing is not enough is either projecting their own insecurities about their inaction upon you or dwell in a place of privilege. There are thing we can all do and they will be different as we are all in different situations. This is just one example of the possibilities. I inquired about an ad from a non-profit site. At first I was packing food for asylees from the southern border. Then I started delivering the food to their hotels and places of temporary shelter. That led to me assisting with travel as most were not going to stay in this location but were being moved through the asylum/immigration systems. That experience taught me about some immigration law, ICE and the needs of these families and children. With that knowledge I was able to speak at a city meeting regarding state funding for supportive services. I don't have a degree in any of this. I work full time. I am not multi-lingual. I am only able to put a few hours to such activities. Don't let people on YouTube who themselves live in mansions convince you that only the largest changes (also the most immediately improbable) are the only ones worth considering. That's an excuse to do nothing and make money mocking those who actually engage in whatever ways that might be. If you sit behind a screen waiting to change the system then you might be missing opportunities to change peoples lives who will in return change yours as well.