The Anarch Expat Manifesto
Jan 14, 2015 0:34:33 GMT -8
Barnaby Cuthbert, Mike Lohmann, and 2 more like this
Post by Valerie on Jan 14, 2015 0:34:33 GMT -8
Floating Lantern
Seattle's Anarch Free Press since 1986 • floatinglantern.bloodspot
Seattle's Anarch Free Press since 1986 • floatinglantern.bloodspot
The Anarch Expat Manifesto
by Valerie
originally published 1.13.15
by Valerie
originally published 1.13.15
Where It All Began
In a bit of a departure from a traditional manifesto, let this one begin with some history: not enough to pad my ego, as I’m not who’s on the line here, but enough to lend some weight to the knowledge I’m about to throw down.
When I left Los Angeles for Portland in the early ‘80s, it was was not an inherently risky move. Even in predominantly Anarch bloodlines where a childe’s politics are not heavily questioned by their sire, the urge to fly the coop is quite the natural thing. Off I went, into that wild dark yonder, filled with curiosity and a desire to learn more about my new and seemingly limitless potential for sticking it to the man. It was a wonderful experience in learning what being an Anarch meant from many different perspectives, which both impressed upon me some new ways of thinking and invigorated my efforts not to entertain some others. With crafting my skills, however, came the strange but insistent feeling that the city could not use me to my full potential.
So, a short time after that I packed it all up again and moved to Seattle. This move was definitely a more challenging one, as it left me willingly behind enemy lines, but admittedly in a less openly hostile environment than the city would become in later years. It would be some time before the Anarch Free Press of then became what we know as the Anarch Free Press now: a website with a name and presence instead of an informal collection of documents passed around via courier and fax machine. The idea of something like Bloodspot even being possible lay far beyond our understanding of both Kindred ingenuity and technological capacity. Without these lifelines I was, and we all were, alone. Needless to say: there were some damn hard lessons I sweated under for the next decade, in no small part due to having to pull a lot of my sisters & brothers out of the fire in ‘99. I was able to stick it out, but I have a higher tolerance for solitude than a lot of folks.
Where does all of this experience that I’ve just gone on about leave me here, today? I can now say definitively that being an Anarch in a Camarilla city is inherently valuable to the individual, to the movement, and to those that need our help. This is my call for you to join me.
The Lure of the Road
Given that there are many challenges along this path, which I will explain in their own time, what are the possible benefits? What is so important that I could call upon you to leave the safety and comfort of political righteousness behind and walk right into a Camarilla city instead? Since the foundation of the Free States, many Anarchs choose to cloister themselves up within Anarch holdings or limit their transportation exclusively to areas which remain under our influence. A conservative decision, for sure, but it’s one that keeps you whole.
However, it is not the decision that will take us across the legendary finish line of liberty for every Kindred that desires it.
If we truly wish to dismantle the repulsive Camarilla machine which grinds so many Kindred into dust, we must become very familiar with workings of that machine. It’s no longer enough to circle our wagons around like minds and wait to come out until someone says they agree with us. It’s not even enough to go in, guns blazing, and burn down the city to claim the ashes as our own. We need to organize, and we need to teach those who have had the dignity taken from them that they haven’t lost the tools to do so with us, just the will.
The Camarilla is weak against that which speaks truth to its power. Anarchs with a true desire to help those that need it most and the willingness to choose patience when possible: your skills are so important, and they are needed now more than ever.
Inter-Sect Politics
The road of the Anarch Expat is not easy. You will be needled about your politics by the majority of citizens in your new city that, paradoxically, will make it obvious that they consider their own reputation to be so sterling that they should not be seen speaking to you at all. These intercessions may begin gently and be sold to you as a generous attempt to guide you, a lost little sheep, towards the milky soft embrace of the Ivory Tower. You may be tempted with small favors over important court members, the promise of increased opportunities, skilled mentorship and more... if only you'd see the light.
Once these carrots fail, the stick comes into play. Offers of assistance, long staled by your indifference, will be withdrawn from the table as some symbolic gesture that even if you wanted their ‘help’ you wouldn't be getting it. More prominent members of the court will begin to snub you, and likely encourage those who they can exert a measure of control over to do the same. Political actions such as attempting to stick you with some sort of title or Camarilla standing may come into play here, as could public ridicule from the Harpy or members of your own clan.
Of course, you will resist, but if you're smart enough to keep your head cool you can use the opportunity to learn about the inner workings of their system. This is important for two reasons. First off, it gives you the ability to truly perceive their hypocrisy by learning their own rules, seeing who the system considers most important, and understanding the gears that pull the chain of public opinion. Secondly, it's a great way to firm up your own dedication to the Anarch cause: the more you know about the Camarilla the more you will realize that how fucked up you thought it was is small potatoes compared to how fucked up it actually is.
Doing Real Work
The social justice movement in America - and, by extension, Kindred social justice - has one really big problem. That problem is that it got its head wormed so far up its self-congratulatory ass that talking about how things need to change now passes for enacting change itself. White people who consider themselves allies to the black community pat themselves on the back for shunning acquaintances who don't think race impacts police brutality, instead of trying to explain to those acquaintances how and why it does. Women who choose not to shave their armpits consider themselves transcended beyond those wax and primp, spending their energy damning their ‘internalized misogyny’ instead of fighting their right to adorn themselves as they wish. We feel more qualified to save people from themselves than from the forces that they really could use some help with.
This same behavior is in some ways true of our own movement. There's a whole lot of self-professed Anarchs that don't seem too interested in going to where the oppression is and putting the squeeze on there, or even supporting those who are trying to do that. Instead, we choose to label our own squabbles within the movement as oppressive actions, blaming other cities or clans or gangs for holding us down. We choose to burn our evenings thinking about how to one-up each other instead of lifting up someone who's just starting out. We've forgotten how to do real work. Making an effort to improve the situation for Kindred in a Camarilla domain is the sort of gritty labor that makes a real difference.
Know Your Enemy
As mentioned previously, first-hand experience living in a Camarilla city is the absolute best way to know what you’re up against. The Cam’s reputation for disrespecting clanless Kindred may be well-known, but hearing court members easily extort a Caitiff for the favor of his Life because he sat on a table really brings the truth of that reputation into focus. You may have heard about what a Harpy does, but until you see one get an entire domain eating out of his palm through blatant lies and bullshit because they don’t know how to be sold anything else, you’re naive. Princes? I’ve heard some of the more righteously individualist members of our sect say they’re effectively the same as really cranky Barons. Watch one consider chopping a new arrival’s arms off to prove his loyalty to the Camarilla, and you may reconsider that allegory.
Anarchs in Camarilla domains provide valuable information not only to themselves, but to their allies in the cause. How does the court tolerate Anarchs, Independents or less populous clans? Is the praxis strong? Are political scandals things that you can get beneath the nails of, or are they puffed-up tabloid worries to entertain an otherwise bored populace? What’s the business environment like? Are there strong, credible mortal threats? The longer you remain in the city, the easier it becomes to get a good read on things which are of value to us all.
The Expat’s existence in a Camarilla city also serves as the most acceptable proof that despite political posturing, the Convention of Thorns remains a valid legal document outlining the many rights available to resident insurrectionists. In the face of vocal doubt, the Cam can take no action less than puffing up to appear more threatening... which is entirely expected, considering the fact that the sect conducts its entire operation on pageantry. This is about all the push-back you'll get in most cases. Know it’s coming, but don’t stick your head in the sand, because then you’ll miss the good stuff.
A Word on Proselytizing
While it may seem appealing to hit the ground running on quickly converting as many downtrodden Cam members as possible to our cause, I urge you to resist. There is some truth to the old saying that there’s no more fanatical believer than a convert, but what we need now isn’t just fanaticism, it’s knowledge. Getting a Cam childer who had the bite put on them recently to understand how the system they were brought into doesn’t respect their inherent liberty or act in their best interests is easy, because the system itself shows them every night. Getting them to see joining up with the Anarchs as anything but a quick way to get revenge on their sire is decidedly harder.
Don’t get discouraged, but don’t rush things. Make yourself available. Be unwavering in your ideals, but resist getting aggressive. If someone you could help starts asking questions of their own accord, especially about things that don’t just benefit their immediate situation, take those teaching moments and run with them.
I am not, in any way, suggesting that you shy away from calling out or acting against the injustices that come to your attention: that gets people thinking and gets things done. (It’s also woefully easy.) It’s a responsibility you bear as a member of this sect in a Camarilla stronghold to do so, because there’s no easier way to give up power than watching it get sucked into a vacuum of accepting heinous acts.
How To Make It Work
Simply put: this strategy has been added to our collective toolbox, and we must begin using it. Individuals or gangs which possess the skills necessary to thrive as changemakers in Camarilla-held cities are needed in those cities very sorely, and I encourage you all to act. If you don’t have those skills, don’t sweat it, you just don’t. That’s not a failing on your part any more than not knowing how to conduct a kidney transplant is on mine. We are a movement of unique individuals with common core goals, and the need for cooperation breeds strength among our ranks. Go, if you can, and if not, support those who do. Expatriating always leaves some weak spots in your field at first, and being able to dial back into allies through visits or the ‘net helps close those gaps.
The finer points of navigating the political minefield are something I won’t make a blanket statement on, as each city runs slightly differently. When in doubt, remember that our founding documents entitle you to ‘receive full entitlement to all rights and privileges belonging to all Camarilla Kindred’, but also that you are setting an example - not only to those who may seek to destroy you, but to those that aspire to share in your freedom.
My general advice regarding standing within the Camarilla and titles or positions is as follows: protecting the city you reside in is not a sectarian issue. There is only benefit in patrolling your home turf and handling non-political threats with competence. If you are given a title or responsibilities that directly oppose your ethics or Anarch ideals, conscientious objection gets the point across quite well and forces the jerk that appointed you in the first place to look even sillier when they’re forced to fire you from a job you aren’t doing. The Camarilla can call you whatever they want, but they will have a much more difficult time enforcing that you act in a public capacity to support their toxic goals.
Again, this is not easy, but it is worth it - if not for you and yours, then for those suffering beneath the weight of a machine that we can lift them out from under.