The Anti-Capitalist Meetup was begun in July with a goal of providing a regular place to spread the good news that the end of Capitalism was a goal both desirable and attainable. At first, there was some debate over the confrontational tone of the name and some shock at seeing ideas expressed at DailyKos that advocated radical change rather than incremental reform. This was balanced by enthusiasm from some whose hearts were gladdened to see the discussion widened at Big Orange. Thanks to the dedicated work of a number of diarists who produced well written, thoroughly researched and thought-provoking diaries, the series has survived and grown, appearing from time to time on the coveted Rec List.
At its core, the Anti-Capitalist message is a critique of who decides in a Capitalist society. We fundamentally object to the fact that Capitalism puts the power of making decisions that affect us all in the hands of a few obscenely wealthy individuals and those who answer to them. Watching the power of Capital accumulation infect the political, cultural and even natural worlds as well as the economic, we Anti-Capitalists cry out from the wilderness that we must wrest the power to decide back from the Capitalists or risk the survival of humanity.
Since the thrust of our argument is essentially democratic, we feel that it is time for the Anti-Capitalist Meetup itself to model democratic behaviors more effectively, especially as the DK4 groups are being formed. Rather than the ad hoc and personal nature of the organization that existed from the time of its founding, the Anti-Capitalist Meetup has adopted a new structure based on some basic anti-authoritarian principles. We begin with a committee structure consisting of ActivistGuy, GoinSouth, Lams712, NYBritExpat and QuillMike, with more expected to be added as we go along. Once the Anti-Capitalist Meetup has been established as a new DK4 group, active participation in committee work will rotate. For example, ActivistGuy, Lams712 and GoinSouth might meet and make decisions for March, while Lams712, NYBritExpat and QuillMike might handle duties for April.
The decision-making process itself will be accomplished by means of consensus rather than majority rule. When something is proposed, committee participants can respond in the affirmative, with a stand aside or with a blocking concern that acts like a veto. This may require us to spend more time in discussion in order to reach consensus, but it respects the rights of minority positions.
The committee has already met once and decided to make a special effort to include action-oriented diaries that link theory and praxis and to broaden our emphasis beyond an American-Euro centric focus by increasing the number of diaires like earlier A-C Meetup diaries about developments in Venezuela.
One of the marks of our success is that the Anti-Capitalist Meetup series has already given birth to a new series. Cassiodorus, one of the original founders of the A-C Meetup, has already begun a Postcapitalism group on DK4 that will explore life after Capitalism and futurism. We hope to see even more new series inspired and encouraged by our work at the A-C Meetup.
So this week, Anti-Capitalist Meetup readers will not need to digest the the complexities of neo-Malthusianism or Michael Albert's Parecon conception or contemplate how different life is in Justina's Venezuela or wonder what would have happened had Red Vienna or Black and Red Barcelona survived. We wanted to take this space to explain clearly and openly what we were doing in anticipation of a new DK4 environment, and to invite you to critique, congratulate and advise in the comments.
In closing, we thank our readers who have brought us this far, and especially those who organized, invited, wrote and commented during our first six months.