AN ANARCHIST INTERNATIONAL: A LETTER TO THE ECONOMIST (December 23, 2008)

Whatever the ideological roots of Anarchism in recent Greek riots, which quickly garnered sympathy far and wide, it is certain that they have little to do with Mikhail Bakunin and Peter Kropotkin, the movement’s long-forgotten progenitors (“Rioters of the World Unite,” December 20, 2008). The new era of networked protest against all authority most likely borrowed the name without much thought. Nonetheless, it is likely to stick, and some of the youths around the world will in time learn a thing or two about Anarchism proper from the Internet, their weapon of choice. The ideology will follow soon enough, too. An Anarchist International, which you prophesy half in jest, may take only a few years to build. And it could not have come at a more propitious time, given the pathetic state of the world’s economy. To paraphrase Lenin: “Global Depression + World Wide Web = Anarchism.”