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ONRA: 3/22/12

Agenda items:
1. Developing consciousness with regards to the phenomenon of social democracy
2. The crisis of theory, major. (What will society and economy look like?, etc)
3. The crisis of theory, minor. (What will organization look like?, etc)
4. Crisis of practice (Media information?, etc)

-This was our agenda, however we did regress and digress quite frequently.
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-With regards to organization, the following inquiry manifested, which said: Do we need a party or a network? etc

-Regarding economy, there were multiple proposals, ranging from a barter system to a gift economy.
-A pivotal inquiry that regarded the gift economy was: "How will people do certain work; will there be incentives?"

-Part of our ideological foundation entails a particular antithesis to the malady that is social democracy; there is a need to be specific and concrete, and elucidate the phenomenon of social democracy.

This is just a brief summary of the meeting.

Open Network of Revolutionary Activists: 3/8/12

This meeting was slightly out of orthodox, as the bulk of the meeting entailed empirical, anecdotal discussions. However, the meeting was very effective nevertheless.

Our Agenda was as follows:
- Comrade 1's adventures with a cooperative that they are involved in
- Comrade 2's recent political adventures
- Comrade 3's discourses with Frank in regards to Syndicalism, et al.
- Media theory discussion
- Discussion of meeting time, location, et cetera.
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- With regards to Frank, while he is a proponent of syndicalism in many regards, he also is seemingly diametrically opposed to it in much respect. Frank particularly likes solidarity networks, and their often cohesive politics. However, he is concerned about the way syndicalists tend to approach economic struggle, et al.

- With regards to Seattle Solidarity (which is a solidarity network), a certain dichotomy quickly manifested. This dichotomy dealt with political transparency (or lack thereof) and the practice to "avoid offending people". While we could acknowledge the rationalization behind Seattle Solidarity's practice of avoiding offending people, we invariably felt that the latter group needs to persist in political transparency instead.

- Social democracy was discussed. A lot of analogies and metaphors were applied toward the latter. It is sufficed to say that social democracy is a phenomenon, and a theoretical abstraction in many ways. There exists myriad ambiguity inherent in the term "social democracy". Incidentally, social democracy is akin to a virus; social democracy ideologues infect often genuinely anti-reformist and "pro-proletarian" groups, with the implicit propagation of the opportunist, bourgeois ideology of social democracy.

-Regarding groups that espouse "so-called" Marxism-Leninism, there is a particular pattern, it would seem, that exists among them. This pattern follows necessarily: The ISO, Socialist Alternative, et al, which are self-proclaimed Marxist-Leninists, often shun general assemblies, and opt for rallies, or speak-outs instead. ONRA members conjectured that Marxist-Leninst groups prefer rallies or speak outs, as they can literally hi-jack the former and latter with their bullhorns. In contrast, general assemblies are not set up to be hi-jacked, and M-L groups often feel out of their comfort zones when they're within a GA context.

- Concept of Mass Democracy was discussed, as well as the concept of substitutionalism, which is in conjunction with a dictatorship of an organization, as opposed to proletarian dictatorship.


Again, the meeting was especially unorthodox, but a meeting of much efficacy!

--- Damien Harris

Open Network of Revolutionary Activists meeting: 2/9/2012

Excuse the particular lateness of this reply: I had trouble with regards to accessing my blog. This post will be a quick synopsis of the meeting.

At this particular meeting, emphasis on the theoretical activity matrix (by Covey) was propagated. While its creator is of bourgeois kin, the matrix is undoubtedly an effective tool, and can be applied to many things.

In addition, we discussed local political groups, and their relationships with one another, as well as their dispositions and actions. To illustrate this, we spoke of the particularly abhorrent behavior of the ISO, in conjunction with their blatant attacks of the Black Orchid Collective, et al.

Moreover, the phenomenon of social democracy was interjected upon, and analyzed.

Finally, we touched on media theory, and what this actually looks like. 

Open Network of Revolutionary Activists (ONRA): First meeting - 01/26/2012

The meeting lasted for approximately 3 hours. A lot was discussed. ONRA is a provisional group with revolutionary, non-reformist aims. The meetings provide a platform for theoretical discussions, as well as tangible ways for organizing politically.

-Certain recurring themes of the meeting included talk surrounding Occupy general assemblies, and what the prudent method for decision making is. The latter entailed the methods of majority rule, consensus, and mixed form.

-Moreover, talk of the fortress model occurred, and what this entails exactly; what is the criteria for what the model is supposed to explain?

-The interpretations of class position was discussed.

-In order for there to be a successful and substantive movement, the very concept(s) of democracy must be realized and propagated.

-Political transparency: A pivotal system for deterring sectarianism.

-The methods for achieving an adequate revolutionary core was discussed.

-The methods for bringing more people of color in the Occupy movement were discussed

-Incidentally, the ISO as an anathema was discussed.