The 9 Principles of of the Yin Revolution, No Politics and Zenarchy<br>1. Pri...

Julian Bond - 2011-10-29 16:43:27+0000 - Updated: 2011-10-29 16:43:27+0000

The 9 Principles of of the Yin Revolution, No Politics and Zenarchy
1. Prisons breed crime
2. Ignorance is slavery
3. It ain't the landlord, it's the rent
4. Money is only a symbol
5. Absentee control of the workplace is the root of all oppression
6. Resist all forms of coercive authority
7. Liberation is for everybody
8. Robot untouchables exist
9. Effective communication is only possible between equals
(c) Kerry Thornley, Zenarchy, 1991

Much to think about in there. Especially for the #OWS movement.

ps. Kerry goes way off into tin foil hat territory with 8. I think there is a point there though in the way we allow vague "computer systems" to control our lives. As a programmer, I understand that software is always buggy and is almost always written by a human and so is imperfect. But in much of modern life "but the computer says" is a perfect get out clause.

46 Trinity Rd, Ware, Hertfordshire SG12 7

Julian Bond - 2011-10-29 16:58:34+0000

#9 is the Snafu principle of large organisations and bureaucracies. Managers never tell their staff the truth and deliberately keep them in the dark about what's really going on. Staff tell their managers what they think they want to hear rather than the truth. Pyramid structured organisations are virtually always in chaos because of this. Zenarchy tries to avoid this by using structures such as affinity groups, tribalism, town-meeting democracy. Contracts are enforced by community sanction not by right of position.

Shawn McIntosh - 2011-10-29 18:33:36+0000

Keep in mind that Kerry Thornley was one of the founders of Discordianism...

Julian Bond - 2011-10-29 18:34:56+0000 - Updated: 2011-10-29 18:36:13+0000

+Shawn McIntosh Indeed and my description of the pyramid structure SNAFU is very much RA Wilson's. All Hail Eris!

Julian Bond - 2011-10-29 18:42:18+0000

I'm not sure what prompted it, but I've just re-read Zenarchy after a gap of 15 years or so. I've been trying to find my copy of "Zen without Zen masters" and in the process turned up Hakim Bey's TAZ. That strand of late 20th century Zen, Anarchism and Guerilla Ontology resonates strongly with me. Probably due to reading the Illuminatus Trilogy at the age of 20 or so. Given this year's revolutions and protests perhaps the time for these ideas has come to form the intellectual backdrop and analysis for what's happening on the streets. There again, maybe I'm just an old hippy and that's a pipe dream.