Yep, that one’s free.
Good buildin.
There’s lots to be done, and convos like these are very important.
Jeah!

Good luck with ya tunes, man.

The Abolition of Work: http://deoxy.org/endwork.htm

“I urge you not to fall into the same trap of dualism by just saying that work is the problem.”

Opposition to work isn’t a form of dualism. There’s a clear distinction between self-productivity (or ‘self-activity’, if you prefer that) and alienated labor. By dualism I meant the form of dualism similar to the notion of a split between ‘body’ and ‘mind’; that somehow, those two things are separate or can be separate. Theory and praxis are inseparable. There’s no such thing as too much theory or too much practice if they’re in tune with each other. As long as any form of economy and it’s accompanying institutions exist, alienated labor will exist. Human productivity should not be in service to something outside of their own autonomy. Even leftist/socialist notions of maintaining alienated labor in service to the ‘Common Good’ is crap. If you’re not enjoying it and/or seeing it’s results benefit you in a direct and personal way, then it isn’t self-productive.

There’s clearly not some form of ‘scale’ or ‘spectrum’ that one can place both alienated activity (work is just one form; perhaps the predominant form) and self-activity (self-determined and autonomous activity) on. To me, this is a matter of either/or. I’m not going to settle for transitional revolution or other pseudo-’withering state’ ideas.

Your statement about consciousness shares a distinct Marxist genealogy. I’m not calling you a Marxist though. The idea of spreading pro-revolutionary consciousness (‘class consciousness’) is something that is very prevalent among radical milieus of all sorts, and I don’t find it agreeable. It implies that those who hold pro-revolutionary consciousness are specialized conduits of revolutionary change and that only through their efforts can the dispossessed transform into an agent of revolution (a subject that has the ability to destroy/overthrow the social order). That only affirms the separation that I mentioned previously. It’s a very ambiguous and vague idea that is open to manipulation and abuse (e.g. vanguardism, activism, etc).

Define solution. Almost every time I hear an activist and/or leftist say that, it implies some form of program and/or institutional reformation. What do you want me to suggest as a solution to our problem (and I’m sure the things we recognize as problems are very different from each other)? Most of the ‘solutions’ I hear people ranting about aren’t even solutions at all. I’m not going to step onto a stage in front of the entire human species and say, “ok, this is what we have to do…”. This isn’t a matter of going down a laundry list of political issues and solving them one by one; this is a matter of reclaiming my means of existence. Revolution has to encompass the entirety, the totality, of social relations, because that’s what we’re opposing, specific forms of social relations. I suppose it will come down to forming new relations between people that are completely opposed to our current social relations. A form of nihilism, if you will.

“However, I think it is the time for Re-construction.”

Can’t plot the crop until you’ve burned the field. Can’t live in a desired state of existence until you’ve done away with the one that you oppose. You’re creating a dichotomy between creation and destruction; a false dichotomy. “Building the new world in the shell of the old” is a leftist myth. I don’t want to take the reigns of the current institutions and use them to build my world; I want to do away with institutions all together.

On many things, we’re just going to have to agree to disagree for now. I’m a very different breed of pro-revolutionary than you are. This isn’t to say we’re enemies, but it is to say that in some cases, we’re opposed to each other. I think we’ve carried this conversation as far as it can go for now. Haha…I’m already spending too much time on the internet; I gotta do laundry and pick up some coffee from Dunkin Donuts.

I’ll catch you later, dude. Peace.