• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

The Digital Dispatch

From NOEBIE.net

  • Home
  • About
  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • IG
  • YouTube
  • Kirtan
  • Tarot
  • Spirit

Anarchism

A Curse For Kings

Brian K. Noe · December 27, 2011 ·

A curse upon each king who leads his state,
No matter what his plea, to this foul game,
And may it end his wicked dynasty,
And may he die in exile and black shame.

If there is vengeance in the Heaven of Heavens,
What punishment could Heaven devise for these
Who fill the rivers of the world with dead,
And turn their murderers loose on all the seas!

Put back the clock of time a thousand years,
And make our Europe, once the world’s proud Queen,
A shrieking strumpet, furious fratricide,
Eater of entrails, wallowing obscene

In pits where millions foam and rave and bark,
Mad dogs and idiots, thrice drunk with strife;
While Science towers above;–a witch, red-winged:
Science we looked to for the light of life,

Curse me the men who make and sell iron ships
Who walk the floor in thought, that they may find
Each powder prompt, each steel with fearful edge,
Each deadliest device against mankind.

Curse me the sleek lords with their plumes and spurs,
May Heaven give their land to peasant spades,
Give them the brand of Cain, for their pride’s sake,
And felon’s stripes for medals and for braids.

Curse me the fiddling, twiddling diplomats,
Haggling here, plotting and hatching there,
Who make the kind world but their game of cards,
Till millions die at turning of a hair.

What punishment will Heaven devise for these
Who win by others’ sweat and hardihood,
Who make men into stinking vultures’ meat,
Saying to evil still “Be thou my good”?

Ah, he who starts a million souls toward death
Should burn in utmost hell a million years!
–Mothers of men go on the destined wrack
To give them life, with anguish and with tears:–

Are all those childbed sorrows sneered away?
Yea, fools laugh at the humble christenings,
And cradle-joys are mocked of the fat lords:
These mothers’ sons made dead men for the Kings!

All in the name of this or that grim flag,
No angel-flags in all the rag-array–
Banners the demons love, and all Hell sings
And plays wild harps. Those flags march forth to-day!

– Vachel Lindsay (1915)

Filed Under: Other Content Tagged With: Anarchism, Poems

Anarchism To The Rescue

Brian K. Noe · December 20, 2011 ·

When someone says the word “Anarchist” what images come to your mind? Are they cartoonish little guys in black fedoras and trench coats carrying bombs? Is the one “fact” you remember about Anarchists from your high school world history classes that one of them was “to blame for the First World War?”

Entire volumes have been written in an attempt to explain what Anarchism is, how it developed and why it may still be relevant today. At its center, though, is the longing for freedom and for solidarity within the working class.

Nathan Schneider has written an excellent essay for The Nation, exploring what Anarchist roots have brought to the Occupy movement.

At its core, anarchism isn’t simply a negative political philosophy, or an excuse for window-breaking, as most people tend to assume it is. Even while calling for an end to the rule of coercive states backed by military bases, prison industries and subjugation, anarchists and other autonomists try to build a culture in which people can take care of themselves and each other through healthy, sustainable communities.

Schneider outlines some of the limitations that these roots seem to have placed on the Occupy movement, and the frustrations that a stubborn commitment to consensus has caused for traditional political leaders and groups. He cautions us to recognize what the movement is not (and will never be), but also points to what it has already done. “They’ve reminded us that politics is not a matter of choosing among what we’re offered but of fighting for what we and others actually need‚ not to mention what we hope for.”

 

###

Read Nathan Scneider’s Essay: Thank You Anarchists [The Nation]

Learn More About Anarchism: AK Press

A Definitive History of Anarchism: Black Flame: The Revolutionary Class Politics of Anarchism and Syndicalism, Michael Schmidt and Lucien van der Walt

Filed Under: Commentary, Curated Links Tagged With: Anarchism, Books, Occupy, Politics

  • « Go to Previous Page
  • Page 1
  • Page 2

Primary Sidebar

FREE SPEECH PRACTICED HERE
Linking does not necessarily constitute endorsement.

Categories

  • Audio
  • Commentary
  • Curated Links
  • Essays
  • Events
  • Explaining Socialism to Kids
  • General
  • Interviews
  • Lest We Forget
  • Memes
  • Music
  • News
  • Notes From The Field
  • Other Content
  • Pictures
  • Podcasting
  • Poetry
  • Projects
  • Quotes
  • Reports
  • Resources
  • Video
  • What I'm Reading
NWU Logo
Member
National Writers Union

Copyright © 2025 · Daily Dish Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in