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Title: Days of War, Nights of Love : Crimethink For Beginners by Paul F. Maul, Crimethinc Workers Collective, CrimethInc. Workers' Collective ISBN: 0-9709101-0-X Publisher: CrimethInc. Workers' Colelctive Pub. Date: 01 January, 2001 Format: Paperback List Price(USD): $9.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.11 (19 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: Flawed, yet fine critique of capitalism
Comment: Days of War Nights of Love is the definitive account of contemporary anarchist thought, it also contains a good deal of Luddite thought. An extremely healthy anti police-state streak runs throughout the book and an outstanding chapter on political apostasy and hypocrisy is the highlight. The section expounding on the justifications for shoplifting is outstanding. Also of course Days of War Nights of Love contains accurate and well thought out views against industrial capitalism and the consumerist tendency in modern society.
However, Days of War Nights of Love is a flawed work for a few reasons. For one, it contains a steady dose of anti-communist red bashing that is worthy of Orwell - a relentless red basher who is praised in the bibliography. Given there has rarely, if ever, been a successful anarcho-syndicalist revolution, Days of War Nights of Love's characterization of the Russian revolution as a "botched counterfeit" is off base. Despite all its mistakes, the majority populace were much better off regarding a plenitude of life indicators than they were under the czars. Simply because a socialist society is imperfect does not mean that it is a botched counterfeit. Children no longer dying of malnutrition can attest to that. It often appears Days of War Nights of Love aims for an absolute uptopian society; for some it's this unattainable ideal that helps to retain a better-than-anything appeal.
Regarding the ideal anarchist society, Days of War Nights of Love states "no one can imagine what it would be like let alone how to achieve it, not even the anarchists themselves." The authors go on to state that their's is a wild dream that is going to work! In a stunning failure of anarchist society, Days of War Nights of Love cites D'Annunzio's short lived revolution, which was made up of music, wine, poetry and fireworks. Obviously it was swiftly defeated, virtually proving that many anarchists are in love with an unworkable ideal rather than a revolutionary society that can actually bring sustainable long-term substantive benefits to the masses, such as in Cuba and the former Soviet Union.
At one point Days of War Nights of Love remarks that all political activity must be joyous and exciting in itself. This reminds one of when Emma Goldman misguidedly opined that she wanted no part of a revolution in which she could not dance in the streets. Left out of this picture are the harsher realities a protest movement and a fledgling revolutionary society faces. One can be sure it is not joyous to be shot in the face with a rubber bullet by a fascist cop. And one can be relatively certain that a newly formed revolutionary state is going to have to form a centralized state power to defend itself against internal sabotage and subversion, and external attacks and encirclement. The Sandinista and Cuban revolutions would not have lasted two months if all they did was joyously dance in the streets. Moreover, the Soviet Union never would have been able to withstand the Nazi onslaught if it were not for central planning that produced tanks, steel and wheat. In addition, the Days of War Nights of Love crowd needs to understand that even in a post revolutionary society there is a good chance that there simply will not be enough creative work to go around for all those who consider themselves interesting and creative people.
Another passage that is off the mark involves their view of how it is in everyone's interest that we do away with capitalism and that everyone suffers from today's status quo including the rich; they admonish the reader not to be too jealous of the rich. This is a fairly juvenile position as it fails to consider the causal link between vast concentrations of wealth and widespread poverty. It also fails to comprehend that every revolutionary state has been vehemently opposed by the affluent ruling class. It is the former plutocrats who orchestrate the counterrevolutionary assassinations and village massacres. There is nothing jealous about pointing out the behavior of the owning class.
All this being said, despite its faults, Days of War Nights of Love should be read for its sound critique of modern industrial society in general and corporate capitalism in particular.
Rating: 5
Summary: Crimethink on Amazon.com, the hypocrisy is beautiful.
Comment: Before anything else is said, for those of you that just want a quick rundown of what the book is like, it's the best book on modern anarchism currently in existence. It's written and published by a mythical CrimethInc. (Ex)Workers' Collective, a group that even the most involved people have only limited understanding. This is the largest project that the CWC has released thus far, and is an excellent introduction to many of the ideas that people can sum up in the "Live Free Or Die" motto, and we mean it.
BUT that brings up a conflict for some of us. Should we market a product through a series of means that we oppose (corporate marketing, impersonal mailorder, and credit cards) hoping for wider distribution & visibility, or do we keep this products in our hands and distribute in the limited way that we are comfortable? A conflict every Avant-Garde artist, political columnists, and independent musician is forced to resolve. We choose to give you the option to purchase this in the same way that you probably buy many of your books, but understand that purchasing this book through amazon.com is an obvious contradiction to many of the themes throughout the book (Anti-Capitalism/Pro-Adventure) but any actions that fight against the status quo are going to be hypocritical by nature. May we take the focus away from that, and onto what else we can do.
...
But this choice is left up to your hands. This book is subtitled "Your Ticket To A World Free Of Charge", but this isn't like an airplane in which your cramp yourself in and try to pass the time of the flight. This is a ticket to the Underground Railroad, where ex-slaves travel and work with conspirators and sympathizers on their path to freedom. Join Us.
Rating: 5
Summary: Extremely Surprised!
Comment: I half expected this book to be the immature ravings of malcontents, and while they are certainly malcontents, the writing is very mature and insightful. Another worry of mine when buying the book was that it would promote diffirent yet still sheep-iss attitudes, much like those that "rebel" and look like, listen to, and puppet the same things in their "cool" group. Yet this trap was not only avoided but clearly pointed out. What most inspired and impressed me was the spiritual depth of the book. Real spirituality, in the sense that the book brought out critical points and questions related to freedom, both as an internal quality and its external manifestation of how society as a whole can foster freedom and depth of questioning. The power of the book rests in it core and fundamental simplicity...And contrary to what your told, that is a compliment!
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Title: Evasion ISBN: 0970910118 Publisher: Crimethinc.Workers Collective Pub. Date: 01 August, 2001 List Price(USD): $7.95 |
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Title: Steal This Book by Abbie Hoffman ISBN: 156858217X Publisher: Four Walls Eight Windows Pub. Date: January, 2002 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: Stone Hotel: Poems from Prison by Raegan Butcher ISBN: 0970910126 Publisher: Crimethinc.Workers Collective Pub. Date: 01 February, 2003 List Price(USD): $9.95 |
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Title: Tearing Down the Streets: Adventures in Urban Anarchy by Jeff Ferrell ISBN: 0312233353 Publisher: Palgrave MacMillan Pub. Date: 01 December, 2001 List Price(USD): $39.95 |
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Title: The Revolution of Everyday Life by Raoul Vaneigem, Donald Nicholson-Smith ISBN: 0946061017 Publisher: Not Avail Pub. Date: 20 April, 2001 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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