I’m an anthropologist, sometimes I occupy things & such.

I see anarchism as something you do not an identity...

...so don’t call me the anarchist anthropologist

Twitter was David’s public platform and tools for practicing a new language – clear and understandable for everyone, it was a space where he made friends and enemies.

Tweets 7,501 Replies 51,144 Retweets 24,559 Everything 83,204
Fri 8 May 2020 12:56

to anyone who says 1. we rewarded the right wing saboteurs in Labour for refusing to accept Corbyn as leader by giving them everything they wanted in the form of Starmer, but 2. the left is under a moral obligation not to behave in the way we just rewarded: Nope. We’re not.

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Mon 4 May 2020 11:59

I keep getting back to the poll last week that said only 9% of Brits want to go back to “normal” – but for 50 years not only our imaginations but our ability to talk to each other across class lines has been brutally attacked. How to undo this? 13/

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Mon 4 May 2020 11:57

how can the working classes recompose (to use the Post-Workerist terminology) around caring labour, what is the role of the communicative classes (if we can call them that) if they’re all confined to their houses? 12/

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Mon 4 May 2020 11:51

e.g., “we knew the administrators running hospitals etc were useless, but now we see them as murderers.” So all the pieces seem to be there for a revolutionary situation, except the normal role of intellectuals, providing a means of communication between struggles, is stymied 11/

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Mon 4 May 2020 11:49

and of course 3. they come home trained in the use of weapons so the political class can’t just entirely ignore their demands. This is being treated as analogous to a war mobilisation & there are some similarities, especially #2 applies & I keep hearing that 10/

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Mon 4 May 2020 11:44

in the UK, after World Wars, the left is swept into power. Why? Because working class people 1. suddenly have experience in socialist organisation & see it works, 2. since upper class people are automatically made officers, they have direct experience of what idiots they are, 9/

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Mon 4 May 2020 11:41

now of course those very people who had been rebelling or on the brink of it are the “first line workers” still on the job as the administrators who are their immediate class antagonists hide at home, & most of their potential allies are in lockdown 8/

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Mon 4 May 2020 11:28

that is, as productivity of the health, education, caring sectors decline owing to administrative bloat, digitisation encourages #bullshitization, more people are hired in these sectors under worse conditions, compensation, so all the strikes are teachers, nurses, care workers 7/

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Mon 4 May 2020 11:26

this time half the people involved didn’t even know about most of the others, or have any way to follow them closely (as the mainstream media largely ignored them). The other really significant movement was the #RevoltoftheCaringClasses (forgive the shameless branding attempt) 6/

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Mon 4 May 2020 11:24

Global Justice Movement had no top-down org but it had Indymedia, People’s Global Action, a host of planet-wide institutions to connect struggles; the 2011 movements at least shared ideas and people moved back and forth between them 5/

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Mon 4 May 2020 11:23

it’s perhaps not entirely shocking as it seems to happen every ten years. 1999-2001 was the height of the Alterglobalization movement, worldwide uprising, 2011 of course saw Arab Spring, Squares, OWS… So we were due. But each time, disturbingly, there’s less articulation 4/

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Mon 4 May 2020 11:21

2nd of all, there was an unprecedented wave of popular unrest over late 2019-e2020, much unreported, everywhere from Haiti to Hong Kong to the Gilets Jaunes to Sudan to… someone listed like 40 uprisings, non-violent or otherwise. This was extraordinary 3/

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Mon 4 May 2020 11:19

first of all, all economists agreed that some sort of economic blow-out was coming, based on unsupportable levels of personal debt & the normal workings of the business cycle. A crash was due & Central Banks were pumping money furiously to slow or soften it 2/

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Mon 4 May 2020 11:17

I think if I start writing something it will focus on what was shaping up before the pandemic, & how it might influence what will happen after. I mean, aside from obvious stuff like the breakneck destruction of the planet 1/

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Sun 3 May 2020 20:42

Fromm has a brilliant essay about “non-sexual necrophilia” – might be relevant here https://t.co/YonQatRoiu

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Sun 3 May 2020 15:05

It just seemed the absolute quintessence of political cynicism – turn everything, even the most deeply personal tragedy, into a chip to play to justify doing whatever you think realpolitik dictates – even if makes no logical sense. It haunts me somehow. It sums up the man. 3/

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Sun 3 May 2020 15:03

The American said “my best friend died to liberate Manbij!” Biden instantly replied “my son Beau died too!” before changing the subject. Hunh?? His son died of cancer. Death is always sad but what does that have to do with not wanting sacrifice to be in vain? 2/

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Sun 3 May 2020 14:59

Whenever I think of Biden, I can’t help recall when he was sent to the Mideast to ok Turk seizing Manbij, just liberated at great cost from ISIS by the YPG. An American volunteer with the YPG confronted him, pointing out he was effectively handing the city back to ISIS 1/

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Sun 3 May 2020 01:54

Nilofer Koc on how self-organising is the key to overcoming the pandemic #Rojava https://t.co/65kFxBwSDQ

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Fri 1 May 2020 15:39

hmm I’m hesitating. Normally I’m happy to talk to journalists, but BBC News isn’t journalism, they’re paid state propagandists who engaged in years of overt slander vs the opposition to give us a far right regime already responsible for thousands of deaths https://t.co/i3ciAHsZF4

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Thu 30 Apr 2020 23:41

when the Tories say #ProtectTheNHS in contrast, they mean “we de-funded anything related to health so rich people could have more private jets, so don’t go to see a doctor unless you’re pretty sure if you don’t, you’re definitely going to die.” https://t.co/JW2zV12sXx

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Thu 30 Apr 2020 12:22

Question of the day. What is the BS-to-actual-work ratio in your job (I’m assuming *some* actual work is involved.) Also, if you want to comment on how that has or hasn’t changed for those working from home that’s always interesting too #bullshitjobs

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Wed 29 Apr 2020 18:36

let’s see… US gov’t releases images of possible aliens, there’s a global pandemic, plagues of locusts in Africa, & a mile-wide asteroid barely missed the earth. Ever get the feeling we’re in a whole bunch of bad movies at once?

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Wed 29 Apr 2020 17:34

when the LP leadership election was happening, I warned of this over & over. And over. And over. I knew in a matter of months I’d been saying “I told you so” & would feel zero pleasure. HOW WAS THIS NOT OBVIOUS YOU MORONS???? (ie. .@paulmasonnews etc) https://t.co/DYF7sJlj6N

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Wed 29 Apr 2020 12:12

I’m up to writing the section of chap 11 about the Osage & suddenly realised “oh right all those books are at the office!” Which building is probably surrounded by heavily armed men in vac suits right now. I could shoot my way in but probably better to scratch around for pdfs.

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Tue 28 Apr 2020 11:45

I guess I should write an essay on boredom but 1) it would take time, 2) somebody probably already has, 3) it’d be kind of dull. 6/

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