A Healthy Dose of Anarchy . . . After Katrina, nontraditional, decentralized relief steps in where big government and big charity failed

Humans are long due for a discursive rebound of anarcho-praxis, the fabric of a community life eroded by the explosion of consumerism and spectator-ism brought-on by state-sponsored corporatism. Kudos to Reason Magazine for publishing a tale how informal alliances of individuals (from the likes of Rainbow Gatherings, Burning Man, and other informal networks) converged on the gulf coast in the aftermath of Katrina to practice what Kropotkin describes as "mutual aid."

Here's an excerpt:

The term “mutual aid” isn’t as touchy-feely as it might initially sound. The Russian anarchist Peter Kropotkin advanced the concept in the early 20th century as an argument against the idea that people are naturally inclined to compete against one another. The concept remains popular among radicals today, and some of the relief workers in the area espouse anarchist politics.

When locals trying to rebuild asked Common Ground for help getting the proper permits, the group’s policy was to help rebuild, building permits or not. “We’re essentially breaking the law,” Koné told me, pausing for emphasis. “That’s civil disobedience.” If it keeps people from living in mold-filled houses, he said, then Common Ground will do it. The logic of the approach became clear to me after I spent weeks trying to get in touch with anyone at the New Orleans Department of Safety and Permits. I was hoping to get the department’s reaction to Koné and other critics who called it inefficient and unresponsive to ordinary residents. No one ever returned my calls.

Common Ground’s call to action is “Solidarity Not Charity.” Its logo features a fist holding a hammer on one side and a medical cross on the other, á la Bolshevik-era posters. Volunteers argue online about whether the group is too authoritarian or not authoritarian enough, whether there are too many anti-oppression workshops or too few. As Owen Thompson, a college student and Common Ground volunteer, has pointed out in the webzine Toward Freedom, it makes sense for New Orleans to be attractive to anarchists right now: Here is a place where government failed absolutely, and as such it could be the perfect place to argue that government itself is a failure.

Read the rest of the article here.

When there's finally enough solidarity and humanity to duplicate these efforts millions of times over, then peace, justice, and harmony will have made a quantum leap.