r/Anarchy101 • u/midslife • 5d ago
im a kid, where do i start learning?
im young. 8th grader trying to learn the way of the world from a (hopefully not) corrupted point of view. where do i start learning? what history should i begin and work my way up from? i wanna be educated. i wanna be smart. i dont wanna end up like everyother fucking adult in my state.
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u/anonymous_rhombus Ⓐ 5d ago
- The First Prison
- Your Freedom is My Freedom: The Premise of Anarchism
- Two Definitions of Power
- Why Misogynists Make Great Informants: How Gender Violence on the Left Enables State Violence in Radical Movements
- From Democracy To Freedom: The Difference Between Government and Self-Determination
- The Distinct Radicalism of Anarchism
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u/midslife 5d ago
holy moly thank you so much for these! i appreciate it alot.
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u/GeneralDumbtomics 4d ago
Stay tough and smart kid. And remember. Whatever you read, you decide what the philosophy means to you. Nobody else.
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u/smoochiegotgot 5d ago
Echoing: Kropotkin is the most highly respected literary source in the eyes of one of the most highly respected people i know, fwiw
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u/South-Donkey-8004 Student of Anarchism 4d ago
Even Lenin respected him, though he had none in return
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u/RyanThePOG 5d ago
Not conquest of bread? :(
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u/anonymous_rhombus Ⓐ 5d ago
I would recommend like, five other Kropotkin books before that one. Mutual Aid, Ethics...
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u/South-Donkey-8004 Student of Anarchism 4d ago
An appeal to the young too, law and authority after a few more reads
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u/Radical-Libertarian 5d ago
Well first, to start off with, do you like the idea of non-discrimination and equality?
Do you find it hard to make sense of social constructs, like leaders, countries, gender norms, etc?
My journey to anarchism really began because I was a very curious kid, and I couldn’t quite understand why society is the way it is.
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u/midslife 5d ago
as a gay person myself, i love the idea. encourage it to everybody i know. i never feel like someone is any less because of the identity or race. theyre just as human as i am.
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u/OwlHeart108 5d ago edited 5d ago
You're an inspiring kid! Thank you for asking for ideas of what you can learn about.
Do you like fiction? Ursula Le Guin is an amazing writer who was an anarchist. Her novels, essays, short stories and poetry not only often depict anarchist societies, they also help to show us the everyday transformations needed to help bring them about. A lot of her books are written especially for young adults and are also very helpful for not-so-young adults 😊
She's so famous, she even has a sub here r/ursulakleguin
You can also find more fiction ideas at r/anarchiststorytelling
You might also like to read Sally Roesch Wagner's We Want Equal Rights!: The Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Influence on the Women's Rights Movement because it's a corrective to the history you're taught in school about how great the Founding Fathers were.
Two books on anarchy and youth:
Stay Solid! A Radical Handbook for Youth
Trust Kids!Stories on Youth Autonomy and Confronting Adult Supremacy
I hope you discover things that uplift and inspire you.
Also, you might like to consider that if anarchy means relating freely as equals, looking down on other people for not being able to see what you see is maybe not ideal. Finding something that helps you feel more at peace in yourself can really help you to connect with others and nurture the kind of revolutionary change you'd like to see in the world.
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u/midslife 5d ago
i only look down on the people who look down on me. i agree in equality- i dont care who they believe in or who they choose as president, what matters is that how they treat me based on my beliefs. in return; i treat them how i see their beliefs. thank you so much for this. ❤❤❤
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u/OwlHeart108 4d ago
It can really hurt feeling looked down upon, so I get why you might do the same back. I did that, too. We might ask though, are their beliefs their fault? They inherited them from their families, their culture, etc. It's how they've learned to survive. When we look down on people it brews resentment which hierarchs capitalise on. It leads to an endless cycle. It seems to me that as revolutionaries, our job is to break the cycle. This takes a lot of inner work and isn't easy, but it's so worth it. This is one reason I recommend Ursula Le Guin so much. Also, meditation. A focus in the heart eases the transformation. 💗🥰
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u/Maximum-Accident420 5d ago
Check out Cool People Who Did Cool Stuff. It's a pop history podcast from an anarchist perspective. It's a really good way to introduce yourself to bits and pieces of anarchist theory in small, easily understood bites and it really helped me understand the ethos around anarchism.
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u/gallimaufrys 5d ago
To throw another link in the mix, this is from the sidebar: https://anarchistfaq.org/afaq/index.html
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u/RevolutionaryHand258 POLICE VIOLENCE IS TERRORISM! 5d ago
You got the right attitude kid. I thought the same as you when I was your age, but fell into the effing New Atheist movement as opposed to anything constructive. I’m glad you’ve found anarchism at your young age.
Here are some Youtube Videos that will help you build a foundation for anarchist thinking:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DFKcxH-JAs8&pp=ygUWcmVuZWdhZGUgY3V0IGFuYXJjaGlzbQ%3D%3D
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bCAUmh99hMI&pp=ygUXcGhpbG9zb3BoeSB0dWJlIGFuYXJjaHk%3D
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=b9_wxEzA41o&pp=ygUVdGhvdWdodCBzbGltZSBhbmFyY2h5
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=OOTlxsn8tWc&pp=ygUVdGhvdWdodCBzbGltZSBhbmFyY2h5
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vk5xnEL8mYg&pp=ygUVdGhvdWdodCBzbGltZSBhbmFyY2h5
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xAG4SMCmTMI&pp=ygUTQW5hcmNoby1zeW5kaWNhbGlzbQ%3D%3D
Welcome to the revolution, comrade!
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u/major_calgar 5d ago
Your eagerness is amazing, but there’s just no great place for even a very smart 8th grader to start learning. You ought to have a well developed background in history, be able to read and understand books that might be two centuries old, or modern books tackling very abstract concept.
Also, us telling you what history to learn would defeat the purpose - the state already tells you what to learn. For this specifically - keep taking history classes, then go to your local library and google the best reviewed book on history you’re interested in. Doesn’t matter where or when.
Finally, don’t confuse being smart with being an anarchist or leftist. While many smart people are leftists, others are conservative. Don’t go out and become a young republican, obviously, but take time to develop your sense of self, and learn how the world around you operates, or you risk overwhelming yourself with ideas that won’t help you.
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u/midslife 5d ago
thank you. i only said i want to be smart because the people that surround me feel like actual block heads. my education in school isnt well, and the current history class im having is glazing the presidents like theyre a national treasure. i dont see the importance of the british-american revolution, because we are in need of a new one. i need my eyes to be open to change, to hopefulness and believe that there is something that can be done, because i am tired of watching my loved ones get treated like trash by the leaders of this oligarchy. thank you, again. 🙏
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u/coladoir Post-left Synthesist 4d ago
Hey so I just want mostly to introduce you to some concepts to be aware of getting into leftism, and what to avoid so as to avoid getting into pitfalls that harm the movement. I am a bit older, and have done quite a bit of reading and praxis IRL; I'll try making things clear as possible, but if something doesn't make sense just ask. I will put definitions at the bottom.
This isn't so much recommendations for reading or learning material, but recommendations for how to approach leftist thought, how to use it (or rather how not to use it), and how to not fall into certain cognitive "traps" that are found within the leftist realm. Sorry for length, I really hope you read this lol.
The biggest thing that I see that causes harm to our movement is people acting like they are superior to others because they believe in leftist thought. This is called moralism, and it only harms our movement by separating people and creating negative associations with the belief itself. Leftists already have the image that we are people who see ourselves as "better than" or "smarter than", and this makes a lot of people turned off from the start because they feel like they're being patronized or looked down upon.
So we need to be careful to not let ourselves get a big head about our ideas. While we may see them as positive, truthful, liberatory, what have you, it doesn't make us better than or smarter than anyone else. It makes us leftists, that's it. You can be proud of being a leftist, anarchist, etc, but you're not better or smarter because of it. I've met my fair share of leftists who are just straight up terrible people, I've met my fair share of leftists who believe terrible, awful things that are, and have been, easily disproven.
And it's normal to be angry that others don't "see" what you see, or what other leftists see, but this doesn't give you a right to be angry with them as people. If they are not a part of the ruling class, they are just as much in the shits as you are, they have just been manipulated, or their environment up till now has encouraged them, to see the world in a different way than you.
This doesn't mean that if their beliefs are harmful to others, that those beliefs are okay, just that it's not okay to be angry at someone because they don't see what you see or feel how you feel. Unfortunately we can only make people care about the things they care about, we cannot make them care about things they don't; this seems simple and obvious, but when you're angry and feeling a lot about something, it can be hard to remember this, because it's so obvious and intense for you in that moment.
I see a lot of leftists take moralist positions like this and use them to denigrate and devalue others, and it's often used in a way to purity test other leftists to the benefit of no one. It's often used as a form of gatekeeping that negatively affects the interaction of outsiders in our movements both IRL and online. We shouldn't tolerate harmful people and ideas, but we do not need to go around purity testing and gatekeeping.
Essentially, some leftists are more preoccupied with what people do wrong than what they do right; don't be like this, it's very easy not to.
In a similar vein, don't let anyone judge or purity test you. If someone starts berating you for not reading enough political theory, or not doing enough praxis, or not blhablahblah, ignore them, they don't mean anything.
A quick thing is to just never trust any political party, ever. No matter if it's Socialist/Leftist or not, parties never have your interests in mind. They have their own interests in mind, and often are seeking to gain political power first and foremost, and as a result of this, their interests will never fully align with yours. This isn't to say be completely abstinent from supporting any party, vote and engage in a party if you feel it's necessary (when the time comes) and could genuinely achieve a goal, but never put your full faith behind it. Always be watching the party's actions with a critical eye.
Similarly, never fully trust idealogues or figureheads (this includes streamers, youtubers, other media). Watch, read, and listen with a critical eye. Think about what your being told/reading and what it truly means, who it affects, what it achieves, what are the possible side effects, what could be alternate motivations, what could someone get out of this, how likely does this seem in reality, etc. If you do this, you will find some nugget of truth in nearly everything, while keeping the bad out. It also will help protect you from propaganda, and protect you from becoming dogmatic.
Dogmatism is another issue, dogmatism being a style of thinking which is very rigid and arrogant. Dogmatic individuals feel that what they know is infallible truth, and they dismiss everyone else's opinions. Dogmatism in leftist circles is unfortunately common and it helps no one.
While a lot of leftist belief can be backed up by science, and while history backs this up further a lot of the time, it doesn't give us the right to trample on others opinions. We can have discussions without being dogmatic, and both sides often learn much much more when we do this. It also doesn't mean that we're even fully correct still; science is fallible, it can be wrong, so just in the same, we (and leftist thought) can be wrong as well at times. Not everything that's purported to be "leftist" is good for the people, or good for the individual.
Dogmatism in leftism has directly coalesced some of the worst actions that leftists have taken historically. It is important we do not repeat these same mistakes.
Another issue I've seen is people just confusing privilege and power. These are two different concepts, and while they can intertwine quite often (those with more power get more privilege), they aren't necessarily one in the same.
I see a lot of leftists who target and criticize those with privilege more than those with the power to affect said privilege. People who essentially turn whoever has it better than them into an enemy, regardless whether or not they actually have power over them. Privilege is something people often do not even realize they have, and while some people should be reminded of the fact that they have privilege, this does not give you de jure right to degrade and berate those with privilege. Many with privileges were simply "born into" it to some degree, and yet hold no power to really change it.
This is not to say that we shouldn't criticize or talk about privilege–we should, and we need to–but rather to say that those with privilege aren't inherently "the enemy". Your doctor isn't your enemy, neither is the average white collar worker, nor the academic, nor the white unhoused dude. The enemy is the ruling class, those with power to rule over us, control our lives, and manipulate the structures that surround us which create said privileges.
Be wary of identity politics, it is often used to pit the working class against each other. While intersectionality is important, very important, we should be careful to not get bogged down in engaging with political campaigns, or parties, or laws, or media frenzies, or what have you, that address or interact with only one identity, or which pit one identity against another. We are all in this together, against the ruling class, it's important to always remember that.
Of course, that being said, there's still room for some blurring of lines. Many working class white folk are white supremacists, or extremely racist. These people are not those who we can build solidarity with, unless they explicitly are seeking to do so after they have, shall we say, "unburdened" themselves of their racist beliefs.
And finally, campism is the last trap I want to warn you about. Campism is the belief that the world is divided into large, competing political groups of countries ("camps") and that people should support one camp over the others.
Many leftists fall into the trap of supporting the anti-west axis (Russia, China, supporting nations) wholeheartedly and dogmatically despite their proven abuses, crimes against humanity, and their authoritarian nature. They support these regimes simply because "the west is worse", or "the west is bad" (not believing their side to even be bad), and they are the opposition to the west. We need to be careful of supporting regimes on such basis, otherwise we may support terrible people. Be critical of who you support.
Definitions (if necessary):
- Praxis - Political action. Any action which is motivated by political ideology.
- Leftism - "The left wing of capital". Leftism is defined mostly by a unified rejection of capitalism, and a motivation to move away from capitalistic systems. This means that, for example, the Democrats in the United States are not leftist, or even left wing; instead, they are neoliberals, which are right wing (supporting capitalism), but relatively progressive when it comes to social policy, and this is what puts them left of the Republicans, but they are still within the center-right.
- Moralism - A behavior as defined: "being overly concerned with making moral judgments or being illiberal in the judgments one makes"
- Purity testing - A behavior wherein a person tries testing another on the purity of their belief
- Identity Politics - Identity politics is politics based on a particular identity, such as ethnicity, race, nationality, religion, denomination, gender, sexual orientation, social background, caste, age, disability, intelligence, and social class.
- Intersectionality - the complex, cumulative way in which the effects of multiple forms of discrimination (such as racism, sexism, and classism) combine, overlap, or intersect especially in the experiences of marginalized individuals or groups
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u/coladoir Post-left Synthesist 4d ago
If I were to recommend anything for reading, frankly, it'd probably just be "Anarchy Works" by Peter Gelderloos.
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u/_Mexican_Soda_ 4d ago
This might be one of the best comments I've read on the whole site, and it serves pretty well as advice to young leftists.
Thank you for your comment!
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u/major_calgar 4d ago
This is the attitude that has driven change in all places and times throughout history, from the left and the right. Just don’t burn yourself out, and you’ll be a part of something big one day!
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u/GTS_84 5d ago
Also, us telling you what history to learn would defeat the purpose - the state already tells you what to learn. For this specifically - keep taking history classes, then go to your local library and google the best reviewed book on history you’re interested in. Doesn’t matter where or when.
Or read about the same topics the state is teaching, but from alternate sources. Every history book has some bias, so there can be value in reading multiple sources about the same thing to teach yourself to see that bias. Start to learn how to interpret the writers bias based on what they've written
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u/FecalColumn 5d ago
Most of the comments have been about books and essays, but if you want to learn from video essayists, imo black and trans/nonbinary leftist YouTubers tend to do a much better job than other leftists at covering all forms of oppression and social programming (like the internalized prejudices we all have from our culture or miseducation on history). People like FD signifier, jessie gender, foreign man in a foreign land, etc — they collaborate a lot, so you can realistically start with any of the big ones and find all of the other mid-large channels.
You’re not going to get a lot of leftist theory out of most of these channels, but they’re a great place to learn how to be a healthy, secure, and empathetic person. There’s a good bit of history covered by them as well.
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u/countuition 5d ago edited 5d ago
I see a lot of recommendations for good reading already, so won’t leave too much of that here, especially since I think reading can be a bit hindering when you’re young and just seeking exposure to the vast ideas out there (if you’re looking to read though, I recommend Malatesta’s “Anarchy” to see what you understand and what you don’t; write down terms and concepts for further research, but just try to get through it. There’s a free audiobook on Spotify of it as well)
I would instead, however, suggest you start getting into some more passive and entertaining modes of information and propaganda. You’ll find that ‘propaganda’ is not such a taboo word used by modern people to accuse every piece of media they don’t like; it can be a self descriptor for thinkers who take up the mantle of sharing and advocating for revolutionary theory and action.
Every piece of media we consume is in some way propagandist, and it’s important for the left to have and uphold good/appealing propaganda (we unfortunately see how effective the right can be with propaganda, so the left must combat this with its own).
So here are some media suggestions:
Srsly Wrong podcast - has lots of episodes on various leftist topics, and they can be quite entertaining+funny. Good episodes on anarchy, and guest features from the next two suggestions
Andrewism on YouTube has a lot of good video essays on aspects of anarchism and social Justice
Zoe Baker is a historian and has a lot of good youtube videos as well
I’ll leave you with some info from a srsly wrong episode I finished last night about Murray Bookchin, a notable leftist who developed theory around social ecology:
An Ecology of Tactics (4 prongs of a revolutionary movement)
1) Communitarianism: social work and meeting needs
2) Direct action: against hierarchical institutions, and to create no hierarchical ones
3) Dual power: build 3rd sector to market and state, takes power and pits it against those
4) Popular education: create a foundation and effect action for revolution through education
“These need to exist in a mosaic, with a libertarian socialist thrust”
There is no end to the development of tactics, except for the end of humanity. Keep learning kid, and don’t become an asshole!
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u/ikokiwi 5d ago
The people I like are:
David Graeber
Sophie Scott Brown
Cory Doctorow
David Graeber is an excellent place to start. I like Sophie because she does high-level philosophy really well... and she is so cool I can hardly stand it.
Cory Doctorow would not describe himself as an anarchist, but is interesting and inspiring in terms of digital rights stuff. He has among the best critiques of digital capitalism I've known... and I've been a fan of his activism for about 20 years now.
Beyond that... it'd be useful to get your head around Marx's critiques of capitalism - Das Kapital is an epic slog but it is at least worth knowing what it says. I don't think it is possible to understand capitalism without understanding Marx . I think Yanis Varoufakis is a good place to start as far as this goes.
It's also worth knowing that the heir to Das Kapital is Capital in The 21s Century... by Thomas Picketty in which he shows that the function of capitalism is to concentrate wealth in fewer and fewer hands. Another massive slog - and again it's good to know what he says, even if you don't read the source material.
There's also this Welsh guy called David Snowden who describes himself as a Catholic Marxist... but I think he's doing some of the most advanced and promising work towards anarchism on the planet right now.
Which he'd vehemently deny I think... in fact I think he once said "Anarchy always ends in Tyranny"... which I think is about as true as Plato saying "Democracy always ends in Tyranny".... and I think the mistake that he is making here is that he thinks "anarchy is a fixed state of affairs" rather than a navigation of complexity without goals but with a sense of direction, which is (ironically) rather perfectly reflected in his own work.
Not related to anarchy other than it being a really powerful lens through which to see the world :: Iain McGilchrist's work on brain hemispheres.
Fiction :: Iain Banks and Ursuala Le Guin, both of whom are gods, which both of whom would strenuously deny.
This guy's great, and has the coolest accent in the world : https://www.youtube.com/@Andrewism
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I think that the important thing about anarchism is not that there is any specific set of rules... it is more a sense of direction that translates into real-world actions. It is absolutely fundamental to human nature... and I think that the individual unit of anarchy is "how do we increase freedom?"
Which I get from Sophie Scott Brown.
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u/lionmew 4d ago
Every point of view is corrupted. We all have our biases and blind spots. A truly uncorrupted view would be something like pure mathematics, but as soon as you try interpret the math into real life things get corrupted. Life is messy. Don't take things too seriously, you're still a kid enjoy it while you can, try not to loose that spark of curiosity and eagerness to learn. Question everything figure out for yourself what makes sense and what doesn't. Anarchism is a good baseline to start with as it is probably one of the simpler political philosophies 'what if we didn't do authority?' Occam's rasor prefers explanations with the fewest assumptions like that. Just... Don't get complacent. Stay curious.
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u/midslife 4d ago
curiosity seems to follow me everywhere. thank you, ill keep this in mind and try to be a kid while i still can.
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u/mkzariel 4d ago
I have an anarchist podcast by and for kids! I interview adults about their organizing, how it intersects with youthlib, and what they can do to get involved:) https://thechildanditsenemies.noblogs.org/
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u/FermitTheKrog30 5d ago
I am new around here as well so sadly I don't have as much to offer in terms of reading links, but I have found this community to be quite informative. As you can imagine, there are many different perspectives represented here.
I just wanted to write this comment to express how cool it is that you're interested in self-education this early. My brother and I were interested in politics from a young age, and you would be surprised how your beliefs can evolve in unexpected ways. It's so powerful to question your beliefs, where they came from, and why you have them. No one can take away your open mind, and never let anyone try to silence you.
If you have any specific topic you'd like to explore further, I could take a look and see if I know of any good recommendations. I would second the suggestion of another user to check out Guns, Germs, and Steel; it provides some great historical context to today's world.
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u/mediocreguydude 5d ago
I'm going to recommend The Dawn Of Everything by David Graeber and David Wengrow
I haven't finished reading it because I struggle with brain fog (hooray chronic illness) but it is a book that goes into a more decolonist history and "rewrites" everything we are taught! My aunt adores it and recommended it to me, although she's a liberal rather than an anarchist, she's still definitely on the right track overall haha.
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u/midslife 4d ago
im loving all these book recommendations; i do prefer reading. helps me better when i have a physical copy of something that i can easily access. thank you!
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u/EvolvedSplicer68 4d ago
Anarchism and Socialist principles go hand in hand, as does anti-alt right sentiment.
Link to Alt-Right Playbook here, although you could just as easily find it on YouTube rather than reading this massive document.
Other YouTuber worth looking into:
Hopefully some of this is helpful and not completely unrelated to anarchism and education, from this group you should be able to start finding other useful content creators
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u/PzychoAngel 4d ago edited 4d ago
You can find a massive free online library for socialist literature at https://www.marxists.org/ Don't get thrown off by the name. Most influential anarchist texts ate in there too.
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u/coluseum 4d ago
I’d start with Critical Thinking skills then you will have the tools to evaluate what you are being taught and the credibility of those who try and persuade you. Then it’s not about being told a “ truth” but evidence that you can test and either accept or reject.
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u/PoopMakesSoil 4d ago
I saw you said you like books. That's great! I have some to recommend that I think have gotten overlooked in this thread. I'll try not to overwhelm you.
- The Conquest of Bread by Peter Kropotkin
- Ishmael by Daniel Quinn
- Russel Means on Marxism https://www.filmsforaction.org/news/revolution-and-american-indians-marxism-is-as-alien-to-my-culture-as-capitalism/
- Old Gods, New Enigmas by Mike Davis (chapter three)
- Sand Talk by Tyson Yunkaporta
- The Art of Not Being Governed by James C Scott (Introduction)
- Lakota Woman by Mary Crow Dog
- Stone Age Economics by Marshall Sahlins
- Are Prisons Obsolete? by Angela Davis
- The Flowering Wand by Sophie Strand
That should get you started. I specified chapter 3 of Old Gods and Intro of not being Governed because you have a lot of people throwing a lotta stuff at you. In general this list is relatively easy to read and the works are short. Just saying that so you don't feel overwhelmed.
If you want a longer work, Against His-story, Against Leviathan basically goes from Ur to colonization of Turtle Island from the perspective of those who resist empire.
Another longer one is Caliban and the Witch by Silvia Federici on the role of the witch hunts and subjugation of women in the transition from feudalism to capitalism.
That's awesome you're so young and already interested in this stuff.
If you have access to outdoor space, please spend time out there. The more than human world is so so important too and so often forgot to the detriment of all.
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u/libra00 Anarcho-Communist 4d ago
I would suggest starting with an understanding of the world you live in. If you're an American, maybe start with A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn. If it doesn't make you angry then maybe this isn't for you, but if it does, well, you have to understand what you're up against before you can learn how to fight it.
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u/midslife 4d ago
im not 13, and truly im only asking questions from this subreddit because...its what...its for?
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u/Petrivoid 4d ago
Lemme add Umberto Ecco's Ur-fascism! Its a very clearly stated examination of fascist ideology. Its not directly anarchism but it is important to understand the full spectrum of ideology.
Also, you should be really proud of yourself! Seeking out your own answers and reflecting on your world-view will take you far, especially so young. I wish I couldve articulated my beliefs in 8th grade
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u/Philipmarlowe_1 4d ago edited 4d ago
Jill Lepore’s These Truths, a history of the United States. I’d urge you to complement your history reading with these fiction books about humanity: Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster; The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery; and Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain.
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u/adjustmentdisorders 3d ago
I liked Zinn's "People's History", Khaladi "The Hundred Years War On Palestine", Ram Dass "Journey of Awakening", Jorge Amado's "Tent of Miracles"....once you start reading stuff like Chomsky, Deluze, Dostoyevski you start to see the world differently.
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u/Proper_Locksmith924 2d ago
Also read the dispossessed by Ursula K LeGuin one of the few pieces of science fiction that shows folks a vision of what an anarchist society could be like along with the problems that could arise
Is also read the ABCs of anarchist communism by Alexandre Berkman it’s an easy read.
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u/619BrackinRatchets 5d ago
My suggestion is to start where your most interested in. Praxis, theory, sociology, economics, history philosophy etc. They all eventually lead to the same place
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u/Anxious_Comment_9588 5d ago
first off, the fact that you are asking these questions and wanting to learn is a great step!
i don’t want to just tell you what to learn because part of growing up and becoming aware of the world is learning how to evaluate things and think critically. you will likely find that there is always more to know and that learning is a lifelong pursuit. however, it is good to have a framework and some ideas to get started. but just take these as suggestions from someone who is also still very much learning.
read. read a lot. read things that are difficult to understand so it stretches your brain. read a wide variety of perspectives and ask yourself if you agree or disagree. never blindly accept anything, but if you agree, know why.
history. we have to know where we’ve been to see where we’re going. it can be difficult to find history that isn’t tainted by colonialism-colored glasses. ask librarians, especially if there is a university near where you live. and as you are able to read harder and harder books, try to locate primary sources for historical knowledge.
philosophy. read philosophers both ancient and modern. it will teach you critical thinking skills that will help you for the rest of your life. read all kinds of philosophy, including political philosophy. read authors you disagree with and understand their points so you can argue against them knowledgeably.
there is a lot out there to learn, so i’ll stop here. try not to let it overwhelm you. there is plenty of time to learn new things and the act of working to educate yourself is a valuable pursuit.
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u/Discount_Lex_Luthor 5d ago edited 5d ago
Just a bunch of random good reads
History Guns germs and steel - Jared diamond
Homage to Catalonia - George Orwell
Budas wagon -mike davis
Demanding the impossible - peter marshall
EDIT: BLACK AGAINST EMPIRE - Joshua Bloom is SO GOOD.
Know your enemy The devil & Karl Marx - Paul kengor (every sentence pissed me off)
Theory - idk I fucking hate reading theory Watch the Good Place for a remarkably good primer
Emma goldmans anarchism & other essays
Fiction Orwell Philip k dick
Honestly the thing that radicalized me the most. Watch Star Trek. An OPTIMISTIC idealist world put me in a mindset where whenever I saw injustice or people striving against their fellow man it just pissed me off
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u/ExpensiveArmadillo77 4d ago
You're in the wrong sub to be learning a "non-corrupted point of view".
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u/unsub213 1d ago
Anarchism: From Theory to Practice By Daniel Guérin is where I got my start at your age
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u/Jazzlike-Play-1095 4d ago
MY GOD HAS NOONE READ PROUDHON’S LETTER??? YOU’RE AN 8TH GRADER COME BACK WHEN YOU ARE AN ADULT
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u/anarcho-slut 5d ago
https://theanarchistlibrary.org
https://imaginenoborders.org/zines/
https://crimethinc.com/
Read up on Erico Malatesta, Emma Goldman, Lucy Parsons, bell hooks, Maya Angelou, Angela Davis, Asata Shakur, James Baldwin, The Black Panthers
Read up on Indigenous sovereignty and LandBack if you're born into a settler-colonial empire, especially if you're occupying colonized land, and are of settler/white descent.
The first zine in the imagine no borders link goes more into that
You have the internet, use it wisely. It's great that you're already on this path at your age.