textfiles/politics/SPUNK/sp000077.txt

MEANDER QUARTERLY
Newsletter of Evolutionary Anarchists
@Liberty, Equality, Cooperation, Respect for Nature@
Vol. 5, No. 3           November 1993

Please send all newsletter correspondence, material for publication,
donations, and address changes to:
        Ed Stamm, PO Box 1402, Lawrence KS 66044 USA.  Note:  If you have a
long essay or letter, if possible send it to me on a 5 1/4" floppy disk
saved as ASCII text.  I will return your disk.


*** Correction:  The first letter which appeared in V5N2 (which discussed
Kropotkin and anarchist economics) was from Miekael Cardell. ***

        ANNOUNCEMENTS

MARCH ON WASHINGTON FOR LEONARD PELTIER
        November 21, 1993.  For more information, write LPDC, PO Box 853,
Lawrence KS 66044 or phone (913) 842-5774. (from "Bayou La Rose")

ELECTRONIC ARCHIVE - CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
        Spunk Press is an independent publishing organization started at
the end of 1992 by a few individuals, and run via a mailing list....We want
to archive scanned in, typed in or posted alternative and anarchistic
material as well as distribute and encourage the production of such
material on-line.  Anything anarchistic, alternative, underground or fringe
scientific will fit into the Spunk Press archive....If you want to take a
look at the archive....you can peek into:  RED.CSS.ITD.UMICH.EDU
under:  PUB/POLITICS/SPUNK
        If you're on the Internet (and you want to have something added to
the archive) you can write to the Spunk Press editorial collective at:
        SPUNK-LIST @ LYSATOR.LIU.SE
If you have no way of reaching the Internet, via mail bridges or other
ways, you can write to:
        Spunk Press, c/o Practical Anarchy, PO Box 173,
        Madison WI 53701-0173 USA
If you want to join us in collecting material, consider joining the
Spunk-List.  If you just want to get information about new titles and
what's going on in Spunk Press, consider joining the Spunk-Info mailing
list instead.  To be added to either list, write:
        SPUNK-LIST-REQUEST @ LYSATOR.LIU.SE
and specify which list you want to be added to.

        NEWS

NEW JERSEY ANARCHIST IMPRISONED
        Oliver Hydon of the Anarchist League and "Root and Branch
Collective" was arrested on June 29th while participating in a protest at a
home in Colrain MA.  The home had been seized by the Internal Revenue
Service in December of 1991 from Randy Kehler and Betsy Corner, who
allegedly owe the IRS more than $45,000 in back taxes, penalties and
interest.  The couple has refused to pay federal income tax since 1977 to
protest U.S. military actions in Nicaragua, El Salvador, Panama and Iraq.
They have given the money they would have paid in taxes to peace groups.
        After the home was seized, protesters occupied it.  The IRS then
sold the house at an auction for $5,400.  On April 15, 1992 the new owners
of the house, a cop and his fiancee, moved in.  The protesters then began a
peaceful vigil on the front lawn.  On May 28, 1993 the court barred
protesters from coming within 100 feet of the home.  Oliver Hydon was
arrested on June 29th, released after appearing before a judge, and was
rearrested in front of the home on the 30th.  He was held in the Franklin
County Jail and refused to eat, wear prison clothes, sleep on prison beds,
bathe, or leave his cell.  Oliver does not recognize the authority of the
judicial system and is not cooperating in the slightest bit.  He was
scheduled to appear in court on July 13th.  Oliver faces 2 1/2 years in
prison and/or $5,000 in fines.  (from "Jersey Anarchist")  [He may have
been released by late July.  I sent him a copy of "MQ" and it came back
"return to sender".  Ed]

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-BERKELEY GRAD EMPLOYEES WIN UNION RECOGNITION
        "After a long and bitter struggle, including nine weeks on strike
in the fall of 1992, tutors, acting instructors and readers who scan exams
voted by a wide margin to authorize the Assoc. of Graduate Student
Employees, Local 2165 of the United Auto Workers, as their collective
bargaining formation.  The vote was 220 to 60 for representation.
The election covers less than half of those workers for which
representation was sought, and AGSE president Andy Cowell said it was part
of a larger strategy that seeks to gain union status for all grad workers
at UC Berkeley.  A federal court had originally ruled that the university
was under no legal obligation to bargain with AGSE, but under state law,
the [university] must acknowledge and bargain with the union at least for
the above job categories."  (from "The General Assembly")

FORD FIRES MEXICAN UNION REPRESENTATIVES
        June 30 - Officials of the Confederation of Mexican Workers (CTM),
the Mexican government, and Ford are working together to break a union
local at Ford's Chautitlan plant.  Ford ended its lockout on June 15, but
has laid of 680 workers, including the union's executive board.  Ford
refused to negotiate the layoffs or other issues with local officers and
meets only with the CTM.  The Local Executive Committee (Tel.
011-525-518-2309) asks that you send faxes of protest to Mexican president
Carlos Salinas de Gortari (011-525-522-0549).  (from "Industrial Worker")

POLICE SEEK KOREAN UNION LEADERS
        July 9 - Prosecutors in South Korea launched a manhunt for union
leaders as tens of thousands of Hyundai workers went on strike, paralyzing
operations in 7 units of the nation's biggest exporter.
ENVIRONMENTAL WRITER JAILED
        Rik Scarce was jailed on May 14 for refusing to answer questions
from a federal grand jury.  He was the fourth witness to go to jail in a
nationwide investigation of the Animal Liberation Front.  Rik Scarce Legal
Defense Fund, PO Box 2463 CS, Pullman WA 99165  Tel. (509) 332-4279.
(from "Industrial Worker")

DOMINO SUGAR BOYCOTT
        In a letter to one of our readers, Domino Sugar Corporation is
claiming that neither ILA Local 1814, nor any other labor union, is calling
for a boycott of their products, as was reported in "Bayou La Rose" and
reprinted in the May issue of this newsletter.  According to a story in the
September 1993 "Industrial Worker" "anti-labor law in the U.S. directly
attacks solidarity weapons like secondary boycotts", so I'm guessing none
of the unions involved are allowed to call for a boycott.  The "IW"
headline reads "Boycott Domino, Redpath & GW Sugars" however.  So there is
a boycott on, but not one officially sponsored by the unions involved.

        DISCUSSION

        "Control Units are designed to control the lives of prisoners
totally, and to ultimately break their spirit.  These units are usually
reserved for prisoners from Puerto Rican, New Afrikan, and Native American
liberation movements.  Others included are white anti-imperialists, draft
resisters and grand jury resisters.  Though the government refuses to admit
it, there are more than 100 political prisoners and prisoners of war in
U.S. prisons today."             (from "Jersey Anarchist")

        [All of these prisoners are in for political crimes?  Printing and
distributing literature?  Organizing political groups?  Community
organizing?  Belonging to an outlawed group?  For saying or writing things
against the government?  How many are in control units for draft resistance
or grand jury resistance alone?  Isn't it true that many of those who are
categorized above as political prisoners are in prison for armed activity
of an unorganized and politically questionable nature?  Ed]

        ******


        In the 70's and 80's I was active in the anti-nuclear movements
(both nuclear and power reactors) in the San Francisco Bay area.  Whenever
I attended a rally or meeting someone would always get up and say, "to be
really effective you must be FOR something, not merely against things."
They were usually a Quaker, or from some other christian group, and they
meant in the case of nuclear produced electricity either promoting solar,
wind, biomass, etc., or in the case of weapons, advocating non-violent
dispute resolution, arbitration, or mediation.
        I hated these clarions of positiveness, and would argue that being
against something was more direct and truthful and sufficient.  Now I find
myself in the awkward position of advocating a similar word trick.  I have
become convinced the words "Anarchy," "Anarchist," and "Anarchism" have
become so tainted that the effort to preserve them is hurting societal
advancement which is our real, primary objective.
        We must stop being self-defeating purists demanding the people
accept words rightfully associated with criminals, sex deviants and
chemical abusers.  I suggest we move on to something that promotes
economic, social, and political justice.  We could use words like Equality,
Equalist, and Equalism.   Sincerely, Lawrence W. Skinner

[Eventually people will figure out that we're anarchists, and they'll feel
like they've been deceived.  The word "anarchy" has been thrown around a
lot by the media recently, but no one seems to be aware of an organized
movement to abolish hierarchy.  "Rightfully associated"?  I haven't heard
of criminals claiming they acted to promote the cause of anarchism, with
the exception of a few of the "political prisoners" mentioned above.  Ed]

        ******

        "There is a story, probably apocryphal [i.e. bogus], that when the
American constitution was being debated Benjamin Franklin said words to the
following effect:  "Gentlemen, I urge you to come to an agreement swiftly,
for we see how well the people get along in their present condition of
anarchy; but a little longer, and they will regard us as superfluous."
Carl Bettis (from "Crooked Roads")

        ******

        "The working class and the employing class have nothing in common.
There can be no peace so long as hunger and want are found among millions
of the working people and the few, who make up the employing class, have
all the good things of life.  Between these two classes a struggle must go
on until the workers of the world organize as a class, take possession of
the means of production, abolish the wage system, and live in harmony with
the Earth."  (from the Preamble to the IWW Constitution)

        ******

GREAT LAKES REGIONAL ANARCHIST GATHERING
        I hung out with the 50 or so people who showed up.  Most of those
attending were young people from the punk scene, which was a subculture I
didn't have much experience with.  Media coverage was favorable (there was
no "Day of Action").  I moderated a workshop on setting up an anarchist
neighborhood.  I think we had about eight people participate in the
discussion.  Two of those participating felt such a strategy could speed up
gentrification of working class neighborhoods.  One participant suggested
we try to locate in the same city first, and then move towards the
neighborhood idea.  Milwaukee, Chicago, Philadelphia and Madison were
suggested as possible locations.  There are already fledgling communities
in Minneapolis, Philadelphia and Chicago, but the size of these cities was
considered to be a minus by some.  One of the people concerned about
gentrification suggested taking over a dying small town, hopefully within
commuting distance of a medium sized city.  It was an interesting
discussion, but no concrete plans were made.  Madison is a really nice town
built around two large lakes, with several cooperatives already going (none
explicitly anarchist though).  I saw a printing coop run by the IWW, a
bakery coop, a food coop, and used a taxi coop.  Some of those attending
the gathering stayed in a student run housing coop.  The University of
Wisconsin and the the state capitol are located in Madison.  About an hour
and a half from Madison is Dreamtime, an artist community which I didn't
get a chance to visit.  Ed Stamm

        ******

        "The state and authoritarian society are only interested in
protecting the power and privilege of the few that run and own nearly
everything around us.  We all know that laws are very selectively enforced.
 The few laws that are supposed to protect us all are usually ignored when
they affect most of us.  But when the rich are concerned, all the power of
the state is available to protect their interests.  Furthermore, there is
nothing illegal about homelessness, poverty, the rape of the earth, and the
powerlessness that most of us feel because we have no control over our
lives."
Fred (from "Autonomy")

        ******

THESES FOR DISCUSSION ON ANARCHIST ORGANIZATION
        1) The question of organization is crucial for anarchists.
Anarchists are not opposed to order as such, but to hierarchical and
coercive order, the order of command.  But the most perspicacious critique
of hierarchy is as dust if it is not accompanied by a vision of a
non-coercive, non-hierarchical social order and by appropriate collective
action to realize this vision.
        2) The end justifies the means, but the means determine the end
(Bakunin).  The ways in which people work together to bring about a free
and cooperative society must themselves be free and cooperative.
Otherwise, collective action will either reproduce structures of
hierarchical control or issue in the stifling of the minority by the
majority.  Oppression in evil no matter how many participate in it.
        3) There can be no transitional stage between the present coercive
order and the free anarchist order.  Anarchy must be realized here and now,
however incompletely, for it to arise at all.  The transitional stage in no
transition at all, but a standing in place.
        4) Propaganda is an absolutely vital element of anarchist action.
Revolution is impossible unless people are capable of conceiving of matters
being otherwise.  The propagation of anarchist critiques and anarchist
alternatives are crucial in inciting people to think and act for
themselves.  These critiques and alternatives should be as diverse as
possible; the modes of coercion are manifold and irreducible to one another
(although not unrelated).
        5) To restrict anarchist action to broadcasting the glorious
message of liberty to the oppressed masses, who will then spontaneously
rise up and overthrow their bosses, is idealism.
        6) Anarchists must involve themselves in their communities on a
daily basis, working with others as equals, persuading by their deeds as
much as by their words.  Mere propagandizing is prone to isolated,
ineffectual dogmatism, holding oneself apart from and above the masses with
whom one is supposedly concerned.
        7) Better than this is the affinity group.  The members of an
affinity group realize anarchist social relations here and now.  They form
a zone of free communal solidarity which acts as the seed-crystal for the
transformation of the social fabric as a whole.
        8) Only to the extent that the affinity group acts withing the
surrounding community, transforming it while at the same time being open to
its concerns, is it a vital force for positive change.  Affinity groups,
acting in the name of the people without being responsive or responsible to
them, can degenerate into terrorist factions which unwittingly (or
wittingly!) serve the State's will; or operate as "secret dictatorships"
which ensure that the people do what the affinity group "knows" to be in
their objective interest.
        9) The peril of the isolate affinity group is anarchist Leninism.
        10) Hierarchical control cannot tolerate the presence of free
alternatives.  It poses the threat of a good example.  The State and
capitalism will not fall on their own, but must be pushed.  So collective
anarchist action must build not only anarchist communities here and now,
but also organizations for defense against, and the overthrow of, these two
cold monsters.
        11) The defect of anarcho-syndicalism (anarchist labor unions) as a
means of bringing about the new world is that it tends to be at best merely
defensive.
        12) What is needed is a synthesis of anarcho-syndicalism and
community rooted affinity groups (but not in the fashion of the FAI and
CNT!).  The former, by attacking control where it lives, will give a
sheltering space wherein the seeds of the new society can be planted and
flourish.  And the anarchist communities thus arising will give the defense
groups, not merely an idea, but a concrete way of life to fight for.  Ron
[edited due to length] (from "Autonomy")

        [I really like these ideas, but I have to protest the tactic of
using force to topple the existing social order.  Where are all these
non-confrontational anarchist communities that have been stamped out by the
State?  I agree that self-defense is justified, but not the use of force to
transform society in the direction that we favor.  What gives us this
right, and why would we want to burden ourselves with this thankless task?
Are the workers flocking to our movement, seeking freedom from their
masters?  Let's challenge the powers-that-be to tolerate the presence of
free alternatives, and take things from there.  I also disagree about there
being no possibility of a transitional stage.  Nothing comes into being
whole and perfect.  Everything is always in transition.  Ed]

        ******

TAKING BACK OUR RIGHT TO STRIKE
        "Union members know the story all too well.  You've seen it happen
to workers at Eastern Air Lines, the New York Daily News, International
Paper, and Greyhound. Workers, as a last resort, go on strike over
legitimate grievances.  The company involved uses a loophole in the law to
bust the union by hiring non-union workers to replace striking workers -
forever....
        The basic U.S. labor law says you can't be fired for striking
[unless you're a public employee.  Ed].  The loophole was created when the
Supreme Court said right, you can't be fired, but you can be "permanently
replaced."  That's silly [that's outrageous!  Ed].  There's no difference
to the worker whose job is gone....
        The Workplace Fairness bill currently in Congress would guarantee
your right to return to your job after a strike.  Last year the House of
Representatives passed the bill, but the Senate failed to break the
Republican stranglehold that kept the bill from being voted on - just as
they did earlier this year with President Clinton's economic stimulus
plan....
        Contact your Senators and urge them to cosponsor S.55....[your
senator], U.S. Senate, Washington DC 20510."
Jack Curtis (from "Union Plus")

        ******

        Currently topping the list of things that piss me off is a local
television journalist, Stan Cramer, who does "Call For Action" reports -
consumer protection exposes of fraud, health hazards and the like.
Fearless, hard-hitting, investigative journalism it is, to be sure,
but...the odd thing is, it appears the rich and powerful are never a threat
to consumers; at least they never seem to be Cramer's targets.  When he
decided to go after unsanitary restaurants, he settled on five small,
independently owned establishments in the area - no billion-dollar
operations like certain fast-food chains we could mention.
        One recent series of stories was an expose of street beggars - that
corrupt cartel of ruthless wheelers and dealers who daily defraud innocent
citizens of sums amounting to fifty cents or more.  Stan "The Man" Cramer
is shocked, shocked, to discover that many of the homeless have given up
looking for work.  What, just because they don't have a telephone or
mailing address where employers could contact them, or facilities for
bathing before an interview, or decent clothes to wear?  Some people will
use any excuse!  What's more, Cramer charges that these beggars choose to
live on the streets even though there's plenty of space at the homeless
shelters.  I'm eagerly awaiting his series on why the shelters are so bad
that people would rather remain homeless - but I have a hunch I'll be
waiting a long time.
        Cramer's target the following week:  People Who Let Their Grass
Grow Too High.  Is no special interest too powerful for this fearless
crusader to confront?
        On the topic of religion...I'm only now starting to realize how my
upbringing has irrevocably shaped my life.  You can't read the Bible daily
and go to church thrice weekly for your first twenty years without a
lasting influence on your outlook.  Like it or not, my viewpoint is bound
to be Christian - and more specifically, Protestant and somewhat
fundamentalist.  If I become an Atheist, a Taoist, or a Satanist, I'll
still be a Christian Atheist, a Christian Taoist, a Christian Satanist.  As
things stand now, I'm a Christian Anarchist (but poles apart from Tolstoy).
        But I could have done worse than the Church of Christ denomination
I grew up in.  At the very least, I acquired:  good study habits; a disdain
for conforming to a corrupt society; a sense of individual responsibility
for my conduct and welfare; and, thanks to the C of C's tradition of lay
ministry, contempt for the notion of turning my life over to the "experts".
 If I'd grown up in a more liberal, mainstream religion, I might be less
individuated, more conformist than I am now [like Ed Stamm for instance!
Ed].  On the minus side, I was instilled with an arrogance (belonging to
the Elect) that still plagues me.  Even worse, I never learned to dance.
        By the way, I've been rereading the Pentateuch to get a better
sense of context for some long-familiar passages, and it strikes me that
the God of Moses is one anti-semitic deity.  I mean, he slaughters Jews
right and left - a plague here, poisoned food there, earthquakes,
snakes...usually because they've done something terrible like mention the
fact that they're about to die of starvation or thirst.  When it comes to
the paranoid style of leadership, the Lord could give lessons to Ross
Perot.
        The Dictionary Game is described by Douglas Hofstadter in
Metamagical Themas, but he's not the inventor; the game doubtless
originated with some nameless bureaucrat.  Here's how it's played:
        1) Take a common phrase, such as "Honesty is the
best policy."
        2) Replace each significant word in the phrase with its dictionary
definition.
        3) Repeat until total obscurity is obtained.
        For example, "Honesty is the best policy" becomes "Freedom from
deception is the most productive definite course or method of action
selected to guide and determine present and future decisions."
        If you play the dictionary game with that phrase, you get:  "The
quality or state of being free from the act of deceiving is the most
productive distinctly limited or immediately identifiable ordered series of
acts or proceedings or procedure or process for achieving a manner or
method of performance taken by preference from a number or group to guide
and fix conclusively or authoritatively now existing or progressing and
expected or yet to come acts or results of giving judgement."         Carl
Bettis
        
	******

        ....I'm in favor of a lot of prisoner support on a selective basis.
 The ones who knew what they were doing in rebellion against one or more
laws, are of our kind.  Prisoners (for crimes involving physical violence
against others) will be locked up by any society - anarchist, fascist or
whatever (unless these violent ones work for the government).
        Particularly with the "War against Drugs" there are now many
prisoners of an entreprenurial mind that need to know there are people like
us on the outside who find government actions (unjust and) deplorable.  If
they can ever get on their feet again, they should be allies.  Tad D.

        ******

        "I received a call at my second job..."This is Detective X of the
Sheriff's Office...we need you to come home.  We're serving you with a
search warrant."  I had been arrested several days earlier, as a piece of
computer equipment I had thought salvage was found to be stolen.  With the
property now retrieved, I thought that was the end of it, I would go to
court, and once I told my side of it, it would all be over.  Not so....  I
came home to discover several police vehicles, marked and unmarked, in
front of my home, and every piece of electronic equipment I had, computer
and not, strewn across the house.  I was taken into my own room to identify
my own computer, and found a police officer, not a sheriff, downloading my
hard drive into a Bernoulli box....  While I was being questioned, I saw
all my computer systems being carried out the door, including the BBS
(computer bulletin board system).  I was now under investigation, I was
told, but no one would tell me what my BBS had to do with that
investigation....  To date I am only charged with the initial
crime...nothing has come out of the confiscation of my BBS, or the software
on the board.  Yet still, my BBS is in police custody, for a matter being
investigated by the Sheriff's Office....  The search warrant itself is
interesting; fourteen specific items are being sought, none of which were
located in the home or in storage - yet there are eight general listings
which served to give enough latitude for everything else.  "Any and all
telephones with memory devices or speed dialers..."   "Computers, CPUs,
etc, together with peripheral equipment such as keyboards..."  "Any and all
computer or data processing software..."   "Records or documents in any
format relating to theft of telephone or communications services, or
unauthorized access to computer, electronic or voice mail systems..."  "Any
computer or data processing literature..."  "Proof of occupancy..."  "Any
confirmation or purchase order numbers reflecting use of credit cards or
credit services..."  "Neutralize and seize any degaussing equipment [what's
that? Ed]..."  Suffice to say, this is a massive fishing expedition.
        NO ONE IS SAFE.  Even if you are completely and totally innocent,
even if you have never even had so much as a parking ticket, your entire
computer system can be confiscated as "evidence" SIMPLY BECAUSE YOU HAVE
ONE.  If you have a computer, the assumption is that it is used for some
form of criminal activity....  Your system will be downloaded and searched
by the police.  Your private mail will be read; your programs will be
searched; any writing you do will be held against you."  Joe Sysop  (from
"Fido News" reprinted in "RSVP")

        [If you find yourself in a similar situation, tell the police you
want an attorney and find one immediately!  Don't make any comments about
the situation until you have talked to an attorney.  An excellent resource
is the American Civil Liberties Union's handbook "The Rights of Suspects"
by Oliver Rosengart.  Ed]

        ******

Dear Ed,  I appreciate your keeping me on the mailing list of your
meandering magazine, even though occasionally some of the contents make me
want to yell and break things.  For example, your response to Dick Martin
in the last issue really got my goat.  Please correct me if I am wrong, but
my understanding is that Dick is already living in a community, and the
projects he described are building on the work that has already been done
there.  He's not just dreaming & blowing hot air - the flour mill he
mentioned is already operational and the brick oven was being built when he
wrote.  Your response seemed to totally ignore what Dick and he friends
have already accomplished.  I know you wrote elsewhere that "(your)
personal opinion is that any attempt to transform society as a whole is
hopeless," but it also appeared to me that you can't even imagine making
any real changes in your own life.  Life in the "anarchist community" you
talk about doesn't sound any different to me than the life you've got
now....I'm not convinced that anything short of a radical transformation of
society is enough to ensure our survival for more than a few more decades.
If our goal is anything less than survival, then rather than printing our
little magazines and calling ourselves anarchists we might as well be
watching TV or collecting stamps.  Philatelically,  Boog, PO Box 1313,
Lawrence KS 66044.

        [I wrote "It sounds like you have many excellent projects in the
works, but I think your community could only be seriously considered as a
location for our neighborhood if (jobs are available)."  I can't see how
wanting a location that is accessible to more people is blowing hot air;
I'm just trying to be realistic.  The projects I've tried to get started
locally have failed because there were not enough people willing to get
involved, such as "The Gentle Anarchist" newsletter, the meeting-reading
space at the Love Garden, and revitalizing the labor union at KU.  It
doesn't work without enough activist participants.
        First you say don't question the idea of a community in an isolated
rural area, then you say anything less than a radical transformation of
society as a whole is worthless.  Which is it?  Ed]

[note:  In order to use the @ symbol in E-mail addresses, my worprocessing
program makes me leave a blank space on either side.  Omit the spaces when
using the addresses.  Ed]

        Ed,  ....First off, I'm glad you mentioned Practical Anarchy
Online.  I just started getting involved with that scene a bit....there is
a list service for anarchists on the Internet.  Just email to:
        <anarchy-list @ cwi.nl>
and say subscribe on the subject line....
        I'm moderating a conference on Taoism and related topics.  Right
now it's only a local conference on my host board, but we will eventually
petition to have it included on the Usenet network under the title alt.tao.
 Anyone with internet access who would be interested...should email me at
<mike.thain @ wbc.com>, to get on a list of people who will receive info
and updates when the forum is included on the internet.
        (Miekael Cardell) asked how I can live and eat and pay rent working
two days a week....I was working about 12 hours a day, two days a week.  My
schedule has been changed to three days a week, 8 hours a day.  Still it's
around 20 hours a week.  At around $5 an hour ($4.60 for 1st and 2nd shift,
$5.10 for 3rd shift and I work one 2nd shift and 2 3rd shifts), it comes
out, after taxes, to about $100 a week ($400/month).  Following is a list
of my expenses:
        Rent            $185
        Food              50 (estimate)
        Electric                  20
        Phone             20
        Loan Repayment  __80
                        $355 total expenses
Keep in mind this is a rough estimate.  I had to buy a mountain bike to get
around on so there is over $300 on my credit card.  Also I do spend some
money on books, alcohol (but not much), and other luxuries.  The loans are
from two years in college.  I'll be paying that for about 5 or 10 years I
think.  The rent, phone and electric are low because I share an apartment
with two roommates (but I have my own room).  At the end of (August) I'm
moving and I'll be paying about $20 less for rent.  As for food, my
girlfriend's parents giver her a bunch of food now and then, so I'm really
not buying all that much.  Even if I did buy all my own food it would be
around $100/month total, which would put me about dead even, fairly
tight....As for food, I'm a vegetarian, so I don't have any extremely high
priced foods.  I think it would double if I ate meat and chicken and stuff.
 It's all very simple.  I don't go blowing money at the bars every night
like most people I know....I also don't go out to eat often and I don't go
on expensive vacations.  And I don't have too much stress so I don't need a
vacation - life is a vacation.  Tell me what other expenses you would add
to the list and I'll tell you how I deal with them.  I think the biggest
difference between me and most people is that I don't have a car, thus no
car insurance, car payments, gasoline, maintenance, etc.  Oh by the way I
live in Kent, which is a college town, and far more expensive than most
places.  For a two bedroom apartment we pay about $500.
        About an "economy based on theft", that's not what I was saying,
but rather theft as part of the resistance.... You said, "No one is going
to produce anything if they know it will be stolen".  But I think I made it
clear that I was promoting theft from corporations, NOT individuals, so
individuals could produce all they want, and not have to fear.  And if
corporations stop pumping out their trash because they know we'll steal it,
who cares?  It'll leave more opportunities for individuals and small
businesses.  So I'm not advocating "everyone screwing over everyone", I'm
advocating everyone screwing over those who have gotten too powerful.  So
instead of creating chaos, this would act as a nice leveling mechanism,
making sure the rich get poorer and the poor get richer....(Remember Robin
Hood?)....who will complain except the 5% of the people who own 90% of the
wealth?  They are so out of it, they deserve to be leveled a bit....The
people with money own the government and media.  They screw us daily.  If
someone came up to you and held you up for, say, $10, we'd be talking
prison, but then someone screws EVERYONE for millions and billions, and we
write books about their success....So why not show the mugger a new way?
Convince him to rob the super-stinking rich, and leave all his comrades
alone?  But you're right that changing all of society is a waste of time,
but if a lot is good, then a little would be at least a little good, right?
        ....As for national health care, I don't care about the "national
debt" - that's just figures on paper.  I only pay taxes because I'm forced
to.  So if I can get some of that back in the form of free health care, I
don't care what it adds to the national debt.  Even if they saved as much
as it would take to provide health care for everyone their entire lives, it
wouldn't make a single dent in that debt....and I didn't spent one penny of
that debt.  Why should I care?  If the government was overthrown right now,
the only people who would lose out, as far as the debt goes, would be
foreign investors and people who actually believe government bonds are a
good idea.  And besides, the government could just decide to declare
bankruptcy and cancel all their own debts.  Who could argue with them?
They have the biggest military in the world.  So excuse me if I don't shed
a single tear for their financial blunders.  I just want to get a throat
culture now and then for less than $100.....
        As Thoreau said, "the wealth of one class is counterbalanced by the
indigence of another."  Was it really a race riot in L.A., cause it looked
more like a class riot.  The purpose of socialism is to end the class
system.  The main way to do this is to level the rich and raise the poor,
mostly financially.  If you collect money from everyone, then give it to
those who need it most, this accomplishes that purpose beautifully.  I
think it's a much better use of our tax money than things that DO make
money, like more and more cops to seize our assets on suspicion of drug
possession.  Gas and Beans, Mike Thain

        [As Carl Bettis pointed out, it's the consumers who pay for theft,
since the merchants just hike up the prices to cover their losses.  Look
what happened in L.A. - there was a short-term influx of goods into the
community, but many of the merchants decided not to reopen.  Some of the
smaller ones were just wiped out.  It's not very good to sell your labor
cheap, and buy the products back expensive, but it's better than not having
products to buy at all.  Lots of it is unnecessary stuff, but lots of it is
basic necessities which the residents will now have trouble getting access
to because of the exploits of their bolder neighbors.  Ed]

        ******

Dear Moderate Ed,  Sometimes a person has to scream into another's ear just
to get him to listen and to make him quit his dreamy monologue, yet I think
you should have also published the short letter I sent you the day after I
sent you the first one [apologizing for the harsh tone of the first
letter].
        ....stealing comes under many disguises.  The government steals
through taxation....Banks and bankers steal from both the common people and
from the government.  Many businessmen steal folks blind within the margins
of the law.  And, it comes to mind at this moment, a few folks steal the
time of others by being totally parochial hardheads [my thoughts also.
Ed].  Well, history has a myriad of instances where people rioted and
pocketed what they had in the past only seen from afar.  Mexico's history
is replete with such instances as is European history.  So why all the fuss
and moral crooning from you?  If you thought the L.A. riots weren't being
run in a manner appropriate to your ethical standards, then by gosh you
should've quickly gone and tried to direct them yourself
....I find it funny how some folks view stealing.  Julius Caesar in his
writings about his battles for Gaul writes about the booty, the ravages,
and the conquests that he did during his conquest of Gaul, yet he turns
around and has the gall to call many of the different and conquered peoples
bands of criminals and bandits.  I guess stealing is kind of like
terrorism; where one set of eyes calls it a justifiable military act while
another sent of eyes calls it pure and simple terrorism.  It must depend on
the eye balls....
        You shouldn't call or assume that the victims of the system (as you
called them) aren't willing to work.  Most do work and eek and eek and eek
a miserable livelihood; some even have two or three part-time jobs....Many
folks get tired of just eeking when they see others living it up through no
effort of their own (or at least that is what comes into their minds).
They turn on the stupid-tube and are bombarded with buy, buy, buy, and
things and places that they've never touched, seen, or been to....Do you
really think, Mr. Stamm, that people really want to live in decrepit
neighborhoods, or that they want to see their children grow up in them?  In
my books, the worst kind of stealing of all is the stealing of opportunity,
of a future, of hope.  And when these are stolen - beware!  People robbed
of the aforesaid are likely to cook and eat cornfed backwoods people alive.
        A person can't understand a riot until he/she has been in one, and
once he/she has been in one this person is hard put to explain it
truthfully.  If you don't believe this, then find out for yourself - create
one!  Moderately!
        Honestly, Jaime Enrique Baxter, #88410-012 F.C.I., 8901 S Wilmot
Rd, Tucson AZ 85706.

        [I didn't publish your second letter because I thought it was a
personal note.  To my eye balls, theft is theft, whether done by the
government or by a mob.  To say one is theft but the other is not is
politics.  Likewise with terrorism; it's wrong to kill non-combatants no
matter who does the killing.  If you want to see the rise of a fascist
government, the best possible environment is one of instability, terrorism,
widespread crime and rioting.  The majority will cry out for protection
from the underclass.  I think this is already quite advanced in the U.S.
        Unfortunately, I would have to say that if I was armed and found
myself in the middle of a riot, I couldn't stand by and watch people
getting beaten up and robbed.  I wouldn't have stood by and watched Rodney
King get beaten up either.
        I don't think anyone should work too hard or steal to get the
goodies that are dangled in front of us.  We need to show people there is
more to life than possessing things.  I do sympathize with people who riot
for basic necessities, but I honestly don't think that was the case for
most of the rioters in L.A.
        Cornfed backwoods people are armed and dangerous.  Do you think
Hitler got his concentration camp guards in Berlin?  Ed]

        ******

NO JUSTICE, NO PEACE, NO EXCUSE
        Since last April, much has been written in the left and anarchist
press about the acquittal of the cops who beat Rodney King and the
beatings, killings and stealing that followed shortly afterwards in Los
Angeles.  As could be expected, most of the leftist press either endorsed
or apologized for the violence committed by the residents of L.A., while
justly condemning that of the L.A. Police Dept.  What is more distressing,
but no less surprising, is the fact that some of the anarchist press, as
well, has either supported or been unwilling to criticize the beatings and
killings that took place in L.A. on the following days.
        During the "uprising" or "rebellion," as leftists and many
anarchists are fond of calling the events in L.A., people of many different
colors were beaten and/or killed, for no reason other than hatred, hatred
sometimes based on racist feelings, sometimes simply based on viciousness
and lack of respect for the lives and property of others.  Few of those
attacked were cops and none of them were politicians, judges, or even
jurors in the trial of the cops who beat King; they were primarily people
going about their own business who were unlucky enough to cross the path of
their attackers.  The businesses, homes and meeting places of many people,
again, people of various colors, were trashed, burned and stolen from,
including the Aquarian bookstore, the oldest black bookstore in the U.S.,
and the First AME Church, the oldest black congregation in L.A.  These were
not generally the businesses, homes or institutions of the wealthy, but the
small shops of neighborhood business people and the homes of poor people.
Is this what revolution means to the left in the U.S.?  Is this the kind of
society we wish to build?
        From June Jordan in "The Progressive," to the editor of "The
Libertarian Mutualist," to Barbara Smith and Phil Wilson in "Bay Community
News," to the anonymous anarchists who produced "L.A. Today," to the
writers in "The Revolutionary Worker," leftists and anarchists have
defended, and "understood," and explained, and excused this hatred and
violence.  They blame Reagan and Bush and racism and the courts and the
cops and the firefighters for the destruction and murder in L.A.  Not one
of them has said beating and killing other people who have not initiated or
planned to initiate violence against another person is wrong, regardless of
what happened in the courts earlier that day [except for that crank Ed
Stamm of course].  The writers of "L.A. Today" were blunt enough to label
the violence in L.A. as not only justified, but necessary, while the editor
of "The Libertarian Mutualist" was moved to "commend the brave perpetrators
of random violence for being right on target."  Neither have any of these
writers said burning down other people's homes and shops is wrong.  Ayofemi
Folayan, in "Sojourner," even implicitly blamed the fire department for the
fires in L.A., despite the fact that firefighters were being attacked when
they tried to do their job, instead of holding those who lit them
responsible.  They all apologize for (in the words of "Anti-Authoritarians
Anonymous") "the excesses committed by a population enraged beyond
measure," as if rage is an excuse for murder.
        When a man, frustrated by his job and life in general, beats his
girlfriend, do these people call on us to understand his rage?  When cops,
outraged by the refusal of one of their victims to obey their orders, beat
the shit out of him, are we expected to understand their rage?  No, of
course not.  In such circumstances, we are expected to hold these violent
individuals responsible for their actions and condemn them accordingly.
The events in L.A. were no different.  The haters there were no more
defensible than the cops who bashed Rodney King.
        The reason these writers were willing to defend the perpetrators of
the violence in L.A. is because they apply a double standard to people, a
racist and class-biased double standard.  They seem to postulate that,
because of institutional racism and economic inequality, black and/or poor
people are incapable of making the same moral choices that non-black and/or
non-poor people make, and are therefore not responsible for the violent
acts that some of them engage in.  On the other hand, many of these
leftists consider white people universally responsible for the actions of
some people who are white, and therefore, in their moral system, all white
people are fair targets for the "rage" of the "oppressed."  As someone
wrote in "L.A. Today," "We have to realize that the conditions people of
color suffer under in this country fully justify any act of resistance they
choose to take, even if it "takes out" a few of our kind ("our kind"
meaning whites, anti-racist and racists alike).  Some of the victims may be
good persons, activists, good friends or lovers, but we must be careful to
lay the blame where it belongs:  not on Black people but on the racist
white capitalist system itself.  In the blinding anger of insurrection
people don't stop to ask your class credentials or your opinions on racism;
if you're white you're a target.  This is to be expected.  Not fun, but
expected."  Note that they say that racist murder is "not fun."  They never
say it is "not good."
        Poor and/or black people, despite having fewer options in a number
of areas in their lives, due both to racism and restrictive laws, still are
capable of making choices about their actions, and are responsible for the
consequences of their decisions, just as other people are.  To think
otherwise is to infantilize black and/or poor people, to consider them less
fully human than other people.  Such thinking lays the basis for
paternalistic interventions in their lives by the state, ensuring their
continued dependence and poverty.
        Despite the fact that leftists blame the state and white people for
the violence and destruction in L.A., they turn to the state (run primarily
by white people) to remedy the situation, not by leaving people alone, but
by becoming more involved in people's lives.  They support government
housing, government jobs, welfare, government funded and regulated child
care, government funded drug "treatment," more black cops, and other
government centered programs and activities.  If racist government is the
problem, how can it be depended upon to change things to the benefit of
poor black people?....Encouraging people to rely on themselves instead of
the state can lead to self-sufficient, independent, and, hopefully, more
rebellious people; people who rebel against the real evils in society, the
government and its laws, courts, cops and the military, not their neighbors
and other non-coercive people.
        The events in L.A. pushed leftists and anarchists to show where
they stand, and, unfortunately, too many of them are standing on the wrong
side.  Leftists have been embracing government, racism, nationalism, murder
and destruction as the means to free society as least since 1917.
Historically, however, anarchists have talked of the need for consistency
of means and ends, i.e. only moral or ethical means can yield moral or
ethical results.  But the anarchists who produce "L.A. Today" and "The
Libertarian Mutualist" and those who share their views expect us to believe
that murder, assault and theft today will somehow lead to freedom and
anarchy in the future.  The experience of the authoritarian socialist
movement has put the lie to such ideas, but apparently many anarchists are
slow to learn.  Unless anarchists develop a critique of the welfare state,
abandon their leftist racism, and encourage people to rely on themselves
and assume responsibility for their lives, there will be little to
distinguish them from the rest of the authoritarian left, their
anti-statist posturing notwithstanding.  Only by encouraging libertarian
actions in the present can we have any hope of a libertarian future.
Boston Anarchist Drinking Brigade (from "Kick It Over")

	*****

        Mike Thain's letter in V5N1...does exemplify an old, recurring
problem within the anarchist movement, that of confusing anarchy with
crime.  The problem also appears in Mr. Baxter's letter, when he suggests
that anarchists should applaud, or at least sympathize with the L.A. riots,
and even with common criminals.  I have some thoughts and references which
may shed some light on this problem.
        First, get a copy of "Bourgeois Influences on Anarchism" by Luigi
Fabbri.  It's available from See Sharp Press, PO Box 6118, San Francisco CA
94101, for $1.50 + $0.75 postage and handling.  Fabbri wrote this pamphlet
sometime before WW I when the anarchist movement was still a serious threat
to the prevailing social order.  From the point of view of those who
identified with that order, from the point of view of those who could not
conceive of any other type of social order, anarchy represented the
destruction of all social order.  Anarchy was disorder, "chaos", violence,
and crime.  It is this view of anarchy - anarchy as nihilistic violence -
that was propagated through novels and the bourgeois press.  Consequently
some criminals and "rebellious" adolescents became attracted to the
anarchist movement.  Just like today.  But Fabbri makes it clear that the
majority of anarchists never took these people very seriously, as on p. 17,
where Fabbri relates the story of a member of the Neopolitan mafia who
delivered a toast at an anarchist gathering, raising his "cup to the union
of the three parties: camorra, anarchists, and socialists - against the
government!  The toast was received with uproarious laughter, as it's
commonly known that the camorra easily allies itself with the government
and against socialists and anarchists.  But this shows us how the mentality
of common criminals has come to accept as true anarchy that which is
circulated by papers on the take from the police."
        Second, anarchy is too often defined in negative terms, as
opposition to the state, making anyone who is at odds with the state,
including criminals, an "anarchist".  If we must define anarchy in negative
terms, we would be better off defining anarchy as opposition to power in
general, not just as opposition to state power.  The destruction of the
state would not rid us of all forms of power.  This is a point made very
well by the French philosopher Michel Foucault in "Power/Knowledge" (see
also "Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison").  Power in the old
regime (pre-revolutionary France) emanated from the body of the King.
Regicide was a truly revolutionary act, because by killing the King one
disrupted the entire political structure of French society from the top
down.  But in modern societies power is "capillary" or "microscopic".  It
operates horizontally from many points of origin instead of vertically from
a single center.  The power structures of the penal system are replicated
in the classroom, in the family, in army barracks, in hospitals, [in the
workplace], and in the church.  Power is everywhere, at all levels, and the
state is not necessarily its primary manifestation or cause, though of
course it is one manifestation of power.  The destruction of the state
would leave many other power structures intact.
        Even if all power did emanate from the state, it is unlikely that
crime would be an effective way to resist it.  On the contrary, crime
legitimizes an ever larger police and penal system.  And the most common
victims of crime are not government bureaucrats, politicians, or corporate
executives.  These people have the means to protect themselves.  The most
common victims of crime are the poor and the powerless, people whose lives
are worth very little to the state.  That's why Joel Rifkin could kill over
18 prostitutes.  That's why inner-city youth die everyday.  That's why
prisoners are beaten and raped.
        Crime divides people against one another by race, class, and
neighborhood.  Crime fosters a climate of suspicion and a cynical view of
human nature which is very much at odds with the spirit of love and
cooperation at the heart of anarchy.  Crime cheapens life and contributes
to a culture of violence which is very much consistent with the
militarization of the American economy.  Crime is not a progressive act.
        But not all prisoners are criminals.  The justice system is not so
just.  The penal system is even less just.  Very unequal penalties are
meted out for similar crimes.  The moral repugnance of a crime seems to
have little relation to the penalty.  A murderer might spend less time in
prison than a hippy drug dealer, and be better prepared to defend himself
in prison, while the hippy becomes a sex slave.  For this reason we should
not disregard someone just because they're in prison.  Mr. Baxter was right
to insist that we treat him as an individual, without pre-judging him, but
he should also understand why we would be suspicious, and should try to
give us reasons not to be.  Ed D'Angelo

        ******

        Creating an intentional anarchist community is a good fantasy to
keep alive.  It's a fun way of thinking through our utopian ideas.  The
first step to creating a real-life place is to create the image.
        But, y'know, we don't have to wait until we can get together on a
farm or near a tolerant small town.
There's a lot we can do right now wherever we live.
        In fact, it might be just as easy to become self-sufficient on a
network of city lots as on a rural farm, maybe easier.  Often, successful
communal farms rearrange the living units so that people can live alone, in
pairs, and as traditional families.  They gather regularly, but the daily
dynamics of a classic commune are more intrusive than we, the products of
mid-twentieth century North American culture, like in the long run.
        The difference between a communal farm and a city is that there are
a bunch of strangers and stuff between the members' living spaces.  This
isn't as big a deal as it might seem.  On every communal farm I've seen,
only a small percentage of the land was actually utilized.  The space is
great from a psychological point of view, but extra land can be an energy
drain if it has to be maintained.
        I think the idea is to extract ourselves from the prevailing
corrupt system and create our own life support systems with moral
guidelines.  The main chain is the money.  The more we earn and spend, the
more connected we are to the ugly beast.  Rent or mortgage payments are the
biggest expense for most of us, and they'll follow us to the new community.
 A car is another big one and it's easier to do without one in the city.
Food is an obvious necessity for self-sufficiency, and gardens do take
space.  However, vegetables and fruit are not the main grocery bill for
most of us, and we can grow a bunch on a small lot.  We all spend our money
on different things.  Some of it can be produced ourselves, some can't.  By
networking in our present areas, each of us could produce a product or
provide a service, and  trade it for other goods and services.  We could
take advantage of the economy of scale this way.  If each household could
produce everything, we would be stronger and more self-sufficient, but it's
not that easy, especially when our state-mandated educations have ignored
those skills.
        When an urban network becomes viable, a rural branch could be
established with good chances of success.  The lack of a place doesn't have
to stop us from putting our philosophies into practice.  The place will be
there when the group is ready for it.
        It's tempting to fantasize when we should be making progress, and
I'm as guilty as anyone about that.  If I made my own beer I'd remove a
considerable amount of financial support from various government agencies.
I could trade it for bread and who knows what all.
        I agree with Mike Thain's suggestion that we can influence society
as a whole by not withdrawing from it.  I don't think we can give up on the
rest of humanity.  That's where new anarchistic thinkers come from.  Very
few of us were raised by anarchistic parents, and our children don't always
take an anarchist's perspective when they grow up.  To escape and create
our own heaven on Earth, leaving the statist sinners to hang in their
hierarchy, seems too self-serving to me.  We're all in this together.
Les U. Knight, PO Box 86646, Portland OR 97286-0646.

        ******

        [The model I have in mind, as a beginning, is the ethnic
neighborhood.  Once we get enough like-minded people in the same location,
all kinds of projects become possible, like your beer-brewing idea.  I
think there will be a long period where most of us will be employed in the
mainstream economy, but we can gradually wean ourselves away from it.  We
could eventually buy a piece of rural land too, and subdivide it into lots,
which could be pooled, kept individually, or resold as people choose.  Far
from isolating ourselves, we would hopefully inspire others and attract
newcomers to our community.  Nothing sells like success.  There's the joke
I often tell, about the little old lady who required six Boy Scouts to get
her across the street.  She didn't want to go!  Ed]


        NEWSLETTER BUSINESS

FINANCIAL STATEMENT

-107.91         Balance (before V5N2)
=======

 -75.00         Printing (150 copies)
  -4.43         Sales Tax
 -10.14         International Postage (surface)
 -26.39         Domestic Postage (first class)

-223.87         Balance (after V5N2)
=======

 133.87         Donations (after V5N2)
                Many thanks to:  Lawrence Skinner,
Carl Bettis, Ed Stamm, Miranda E., Robert Casanas,
X (Tad D.? - found $5 on the floor), Erik Riese,
Ed D'Angelo, Ed N., Les U. Knight, Harry W., Gerald Higgins, Harry
Siitonen, Jaime E. Baxter, Dan Wilcox, Joe E. and Christian Garton.

   2.00         Paid advertisements

 -88.00         Balance (before V5N3)
=======


IMPORTANT NOTICE - SEARCH FOR NEW EDITOR
        Since we rotate the editorship of this newsletter annually, my last
issue as editor will be February 1994.  Anyone interested in being the new
editor should write to me and a new editor will be chosen at random from
among those who volunteer.  The drawing will be held in early January, and
announced in the February 1994 issue.  The following are very helpful to
would-be publisher/editors, but are not required: a computer; knowledge of
word-processing or desktop publishing; ability to type; large blocks of
free time; deep pockets; and friends to help you out with the work.  This
is really a lot of work for one person.  Previous editors have been bogged
down by it, so if there are any partners or small groups out there,
consider volunteering.
        I sent out postcards to readers we haven't heard from in a while,
asking them to get in touch and to possibly send in a donation if they were
still interested in receiving "MQ".  Those I didn't hear from did not
receive this issue, dropping circulation to about 80.

NO CURRENT ADDRESS
        The following readers had their copy of "MQ" returned as
undeliverable: Robert Adamson, Democracy Wall/Lee Yu See, Dina Fernandez,
Terry Schippers,     Third Millenium and Paul Wright.

SURFACE MAIL NO BARGAIN
        I thought I'd save some money, and I sent the August 1993 issue
surface mail to our overseas readers.  As of October 1, our reader in
Sweden had not received his copy, which was mailed in late July.  The issue
before that was sent airmail, and he got it in two days!  Airmail is worth
the money.  My apologies.

NOT PUBLISHED
        "What is posthumanism" by Daniel Ust, 321 Maple St #49, Perth Amboy
NJ 08861-4109, on enhancing the human body through the use of technology.
Write to Daniel for a copy.

        PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED

Autonomy, Box 163,      1340 W Irving Park Rd, Chicago IL 60613.
        Newsletter of Some Chicago Anarchists.
Bayou La Rose, PO Box 5464, Tacoma WA 98415-0464.
        Revolutionary anarchist tabloid.
Corre@, [don't use name of publication on envelope]
        N. Mendez, Casilla 25, Fac. Ingenieria, UCV,
        Ciudad Universitaria, Caracas 1040, VENEZUELA.
        Spanish language anarchist quarterly.
Crooked Roads, PO Box 32631, Kansas City MO 64111.
        Literary publication (final issue - V4N1).
Discussion Bulletin, PO Box 1564, Grand Rapids MI 49501.
        Independent forum of non-market, anti-statist,
        libertarian socialists.
EIDOS, PO Box 96, Boston MA 02137.  Sex tabloid.

The Firefly, PO Box 1077, Mission SD 57555.  Alternative
        newsletter.
FreeZine, PO Box 1465, Troy NY 12180.  "Social Alternatives
        for Everyone".
The General Assembly, c/o PO Box 40400, San Francisco CA
        94140.  Newsletter of the Education Workers
        Network (favor more radical labor unions).
Global Mail, Ashley Parker Owens, PO Box 597996, Chicago IL
        60659.  Mail art and zine listing.
Industrial Worker, 1095 Market St #204, San Francisco CA
        94103.  Tabloid of the IWW.
Jersey Anarchist, PO Box 8532, Haledon NJ 07508-8532.
        Revolutionary New Jersey anarchists' bulletin.
Kick It Over, PO Box 5811 Stn A, Toronto, Ontario, CANADA
        M5W 1P2.  Anarchist quarterly.
LUNO, 31960 SE Chin St, Boring OR 97009.
        Education reform and social commentary.
People's Culture, Box 5224, Kansas City, KS 66119.
        Progressive scholarly newsletter with local focus.
RSVP, c/o Tad Davies, 821 Highview Ave, Manhattan Beach CA
        90266.  An anti-authoritarian discussion bulletin
        with a philosophical tone.
SLAM, PO Box 4809, Alexandria VA 22303.  "Underground" music
        zine.
Union Plus, 376 Boylston St, Boston MA 02116.
        A publication of the AFL-CIO (on recycled paper!).
W.R.I. Newsletter, PO Box 806, Chino CA 91708.
        Musings of Robert Sagehorn on various scholarly
        topics, from a Libertarian perspective.
Yello Submarine, PO Box 81, Elmira NY 14902-0081.
        Populist, alternative and other strange reprints.

        ADVERTISEMENTS

ADVERTISE IN "MEANDER QUARTERLY"!
        Paid advertisements about 1/4 of a page (2" x 4") will be accepted
at the rate of $4.00 per issue.  Ads will appear together near the last
page.  This is a no-profit operation.  Some ads may appear free, as a
public service or on an exchange basis.  Circulation is about 80.

        ******

"I Was Robot" and "Free I Got" are now available on floppy disks.  $35.00
for one, $50.00 for both.  "Free I Got" as a book has been reduced to
$7.00.  Send to:  Little Free Press, 1011 6th Ave NE Apt 21, Little Falls
MN 56345.
FRANK IS ALIVE AND WELL!  If you want to contact him, send a sealed stamped
letter + $2 to Y.S., POB 81, Helmira NY 14902-0081.  Receive issue of Yello
Submarine + more info.

        ******

VIDEO OF SENIOR ANARCHISTS:  A 28 minute VHS video cassette summarizes the
life work and principles of six elders; Ruth Sheridan, Harry Siitonen, Jean
Pauline, Audrey Goodfriend, Mel Most, and Utah Phillips.  $27.50 to:  IWW
Lit, 1476 W Irving Park, Chicago IL 60613.  (from "Industrial Worker")
[Anyone want to kick in and share a copy?  Write Ed Stamm.]

        ******

FUEL CAFE: Java - Food - Subculture  (414) 374-FUEL
Opening soon at 818 E. Center, Milwaukee WI 53212

        ******

Every child a wanted child!     *    Temporary Workers Union
Protect your partner, protect   *    1095 Market St 216
yourself - wear a condom.       *    San Francisco CA 94112

        ******       _____________________________________

Postable poetry
broadsides 4 for
$1 with SASE.
Dan Wilcox
280 South Main Ave.
Albany NY 12208.

        ******

Affinity Group
of Moderate
Anarchists (AGMA)
PO Box 1402
Lawrence KS 66044

        ******

NOT THIS NAFTA!