We’d love to expand our photo gallery depicting these in action. If you see these stickers in use anywhere clever, please take a picture and email it to us, or better yet tweet it with the hashtag #votehere.

We gave away 1000 of these in a single day at last week’s Bay Area Anarchist Book Fair and we anticipate them going quickly. We’ll follow these up with a poster series in time for May Day.

Order the stickers here!

Lest we lose our edge, THE EXPERIMENTATION COMMITTEE has been hard at work on a new publication, VORTEXT, the contents of which HAVE NOTHING TO DO with the recent surge of social movements. Vortext explores speculative philosophy, nihilist performance art, black magic, and MAXIMUM FUCKING ULTRAISM, celebrating the nonfunctional, non-productive, and irrational. OUTLIERS TO THE FRONT!

Each copy features a lovingly letter-pressed cover and further printing STOLEN FROM OUR FUCKING ENEMIES. Proceeds from Vortext, HOWEVER SCANTY, will offset the legal expenses of the various contributing FELONY DEFENDANTS. We encourage readers to support the Asheville 11, surely among the most NONFUNCTIONAL, NON-PRODUCTIVE, AND IRRATIONAL anarchist defendants of recent years.

Vortext is to anarchist literature what ÜMLAÜT was to hardcore and the MARQUIS DE SADE was to political prisoners. Vortext is the perfect gift for every fugitive trying to figure out what Wittgenstein can tell her about FACING CONSPIRACY CHARGES. Vortext is NOT FOR EVERYONE and it’s probably NOT FOR YOU.

This first and possibly last issue includes, inter alia,

A Prelude • Midnight on September 11/In Praise of the Jumper
A Manifesto • Beware the Experimentation Committee
A Demand • Join the Experimentation Committee
A Libretto • Passionism, Consonance, TERRIBLE FREEDOM
A Communiqué + Recipe • “Wiccans” Claim Attack on the APD
A Play • The Anarchist Panel Discussion
A Lecture • All the Terrible Things We Do to Each Other
A Cenotaph • Self-Destruction
A Fable • The Magician and the Needle

A very limited number of copies are were available for order online. Paper copies have now sold out, watch for PDFs in coming weeks. Each comes with a copy of TERROR INCOGNITA—for a total of 148 pages of reading.

Why do liberals label nearly any form of direct action as violence? What do queer black blocs have in common in with Christian hardcore? Why are anarchists so hung up on breaking windows and fucking?

In three interlocking movements, TERROR INCOGNITA answers all of these questions and more, while overturning some of our deepest assumptions about desire, identity, strategy, and freedom.

“Consent, Seduction, Violence” asks if we can build our politics as well as our sexuality around a discourse of consent. Offering a new analysis of violence and nonviolence in the context of consensus reality, it recasts anarchist resistance as a form of seduction, rooted in invitation, transformation, and contagion.

“W(h)ither Queer?” provokes us to examine how anarchists use the term “queer,” and why this is significant. Assessing queer identity as a post-feminist signifier and an eroticizer of insurrection from the dance party to the black bloc, it challenges us to move beyond the safe spaces of identity into the terror of the unknown.

“Terror Incognita” concludes the triptych with a journey beyond the boundaries of civilization into terrorism, secrecy, and terrible freedom. Along paths as disparate as Islamic theology, surveillance technologies, and medieval mapmaking, it charts an anarchist cartography of subversive peripheries and unknown directions, illuminated by the erotic force of terror.

TERROR INCOGNITA abounds with sexy and shocking vignettes, articulate but controversial claims, strategic insights, and a steamy undercurrent of sex and violence. Incisive, fresh, provocative, with classy design by the Troletariat, Terror Incognita invites you to the edge of a cliff—it’s up to you to step off.

against consensus reality – for unreasoning rebellion
against fixed identity – for desertion and disruption
against every map – for every terrortory

A very limited number of copies are were available for order online. Paper copies have now sold out, watch for PDFs in coming weeks. Each comes with a copy of Vortext—for a total of 148 pages of reading.

These are available practically at cost; please order a pile of them to distribute in your neighborhood, school, or occupation or to decorate the walls of your city! Note that they have been added to the Poster Mix Kit as well.

In addition, we’ve prepared a new text for the back of the poster, Seven Myths about the Police. A full pdf of the print version is available here.

We’ve also yet again reprinted our Civilian’s Guide to Direct Action, which remains available in bulk as well. This paper offers a step-by-step overview of how to act directly to transform society, rather than bogging down in fruitless efforts to exert influence through bureaucratic channels.

Dear Occupiers [online viewing version]

Dear Occupiers [print version]: A two-sided flier intended to be folded down the middle, longways.

Dear Occupiers

A letter from anarchists

Support and solidarity! We’re inspired by the occupations on Wall Street and elsewhere around the country. Finally, people are taking to the streets again! The momentum around these actions has the potential to reinvigorate protest and resistance in this country. We hope these occupations will increase both in numbers and in substance, and we’ll do our best to contribute to that.

Why should you listen to us? In short, because we’ve been at this a long time already. We’ve spent decades struggling against capitalism, organizing occupations, and making decisions by consensus. If this new movement doesn’t learn from the mistakes of previous ones, we run the risk of repeating them. We’ve summarized some of our hard-won lessons here.

Occupation is nothing new. The land we stand on is already occupied territory. The United States was founded upon the extermination of indigenous peoples and the colonization of their land, not to mention centuries of slavery and exploitation. For a counter-occupation to be meaningful, it has to begin from this history. Better yet, it should embrace the history of resistance extending from indigenous self-defense and slave revolts through the various workers’ and anti-war movements right up to the recent anti-globalization movement.

The “99%” is not one social body, but many. Some occupiers have presented a narrative in which the “99%” is characterized as a homogenous mass. The faces intended to represent “ordinary people” often look suspiciously like the predominantly white, law-abiding middle-class citizens we’re used to seeing on television programs, even though such people make up a minority of the general population.

It’s a mistake to whitewash over our diversity. Not everyone is waking up to the injustices of capitalism for the first time now; some populations have been targeted by the power structure for years or generations. Middle-class workers who are just now losing their social standing can learn a lot from those who have been on the receiving end of injustice for much longer.

The problem isn’t just a few “bad apples.” The crisis is not the result of the selfishness of a few investment bankers; it is the inevitable consequence of an economic system that rewards cutthroat competition at every level of society. Capitalism is not a static way of life but a dynamic process that consumes everything, transforming the world into profit and wreckage. Now that everything has been fed into the fire, the system is collapsing, leaving even its former beneficiaries out in the cold. The answer is not to revert to some earlier stage of capitalism—to go back to the gold standard, for example; not only is that impossible, those earlier stages didn’t benefit the “99%” either. To get out of this mess, we’ll have to rediscover other ways of relating to each other and the world around us.

Police can’t be trusted. They may be “ordinary workers,” but their job is to protect the interests of the ruling class. As long as they remain employed as police, we can’t count on them, however friendly they might act. Occupiers who don’t know this already will learn it firsthand as soon as they threaten the imbalances of wealth and power our society is based on. Anyone who insists that the police exist to protect and serve the common people has probably lived a privileged life, and an obedient one.

Don’t fetishize obedience to the law. Laws serve to protect the privileges of the wealthy and powerful; obeying them is not necessarily morally right—it may even be immoral. Slavery was legal. The Nazis had laws too. We have to develop the strength of conscience to do what we know is best, regardless of the laws.

To have a diversity of participants, a movement must make space for a diversity of tactics. It’s controlling and self-important to think you know how everyone should act in pursuit of a better world. Denouncing others only equips the authorities to delegitimize, divide, and destroy the movement as a whole. Criticism and debate propel a movement forward, but power grabs cripple it. The goal should not be to compel everyone to adopt one set of tactics, but to discover how different approaches can be mutually beneficial.

Don’t assume those who break the law or confront police are agents provocateurs. A lot of people have good reason to be angry. Not everyone is resigned to legalistic pacifism; some people still remember how to stand up for themselves. Police violence isn’t just meant to provoke us, it’s meant to hurt and scare us into inaction. In this context, self-defense is essential.

Assuming that those at the front of clashes with the authorities are somehow in league with the authorities is not only illogical—it delegitimizes the spirit it takes to challenge the status quo, and dismisses the courage of those who are prepared to do so. This allegation is typical of privileged people who have been taught to trust the authorities and fear everyone who disobeys them.

No government—that is to say, no centralized power—will ever willingly put the needs of common people before the needs of the powerful. It’s naïve to hope for this. The center of gravity in this movement has to be our freedom and autonomy, and the mutual aid that can sustain those—not the desire for an “accountable” centralized power. No such thing has ever existed; even in 1789, the revolutionaries presided over a “democracy” with slaves, not to mention rich and poor.

That means the important thing is not just to make demands upon our rulers, but to build up the power to realize our demands ourselves. If we do this effectively, the powerful will have to take our demands seriously, if only in order to try to keep our attention and allegiance. We attain leverage by developing our own strength.

Likewise, countless past movements learned the hard way that establishing their own bureaucracy, however “democratic,” only undermined their original goals. We shouldn’t invest new leaders with authority, nor even new decision-making structures; we should find ways to defend and extend our freedom, while abolishing the inequalities that have been forced on us.

The occupations will thrive on the actions we take. We’re not just here to “speak truth to power”—when we only speak, the powerful turn a deaf ear to us. Let’s make space for autonomous initiatives and organize direct action that confronts the source of social inequalities and injustices.

Thanks for reading and scheming and acting. May your every dream come true.

Anarchist hip-hop duo Test Their Logik, fresh off G20 conspiracy charges and recently back from a coast-to-coast Canadian tour, are pleased to announce the release of their highly-anticipated debut album. Recorded, produced, and mixed by Illogik and mastered by Metalworks Studios (known for producing hip-hop acts such as Drake, DMX, and K-OS), “A” is uncompromising in both message and sound. Offering 11 new songs and 3 bonus tracks in just under an hour, it’s a lyrical explosion in the face of authority and oppression, a sonic boom in the ears of big brother, and a no-holds-barred escape into rebellion.

Ushering in a new era of subversive anti-authoritarian hip-hop, Test Their Logik delivers clear methodical rhymes alternating with rapid-fire lyrical assaults over dark bass- and synth-heavy beats. The album begins with a lyrical experiment never tried by even the most renowned lyricists: a full song only using words that start with the letter A. This title track sets the bar high for what comes next: everything from confrontation to reflection, to dancing, to imprisonment, and liberation.

Test Their Logik formed in the summer of 2009. They’ve toured extensively throughout North America, playing benefit shows for prisoners and grassroots projects and performing at anti-capitalist convergences including the protests against the Vancouver Olympics, the Toronto G20 summit, and the Cancún COP16 meeting. Their music has inspired revolutionaries around the world and been demonized by law enforcement agencies, corporate media outlets, and right-wing pundits. This is hip-hop as it should be: raw, forceful, polarizing, intelligent, and real.

The archive currently offers 19 posters and 2 pamphlets, with more to come. If you see any of these in action, feel free to send us photos at hello@crimethinc.com.

This ludicrous saga of faulty production has taken years from our lives, but sitting here, paging through a copy, makes it all worth it—we really love this book, and hope you do too. All backordered copies have been mailed out as of Saturday, to arrive in hands shortly. New orders will be shipped out immediately. Thanks to everyone for their patience and understanding.

For those who have defective copies from the initial run . . .

1) If you ordered your copy from our online store, you have two options, and have to choose one or the other:

Credit: Keep your copy of the book, and fix it permanently in about five minutes by following the instructions at the end of this post. If you choose to do this, you will receive a $5 credit off any future order from our online store. The credit never expires and can be used on any item, any time. To redeem the credit, simply put “$5 WORK CREDIT” in the order notes and be sure to use the same email address with your new order as you did with the initial order.

Exchange: If you would like to simply exchange your book with defective binding for one never touched by human hands, with pristine binding, throw your old copy in an envelope, send it via Medial Mail ($2.60 in postage) to CrimethInc. Work Exchange / PO Box 13998 / Salem OR 97309. We’ll send you back a new copy along with $3 cash to reimburse your shipping and packaging costs. Simple as pie.

2) If you received your copy from any other source, then you can exchange your book for a new, proper copy by following the Exchange instructions above.

A note on how to permanently fix your original copy of Work.

The below photo is all too familiar for those unlucky ones who received a defective copy. Luckily the fault is fairly easy to fix and will result in a permanent solution to the binding problem. Once the cover has become detached, simply apply some glue directly on top of, and right next to, the previous glue line, indicated in the below photo by the red arrow. Then, carefully aline the spine and fold the front cover back into its proper position clamping down long enough to ensure the glue adheres solidly to both surfaces. Voila! Perhaps the most difficult part is finding a suitable glue that is strong and flexible but not bulky. These folks have some advice on that front.

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Our newest book, entitled Work, addresses these questions and a great many more. To answer them, we had to revisit our previous analysis of employment and develop a more nuanced understanding of the economy. We spent months studying obscure history and comparing notes about how we experience exploitation in our daily lives, slowly hammering out a grand unified theory of 21st century capitalism.

In addition to distilling our findings in this book, we’ve also prepared a poster to diagram the system it describes. The poster is based on the classic illustration of the pyramid of the capitalist system published in the Industrial Worker in 1911. With the assistance of Packard Jennings, we’ve created a new version, much more detailed than the original and updated to account for all the transformations of the past one hundred years.

In combination, the book and poster explore the positions we occupy within this pyramid and the mechanics that maintain it. From the industrial revolution to the internet, from the colonization of the Americas to the explosion of the service sector and the stock market, from the 2008 financial crisis to the upheavals taking place right now, Work offers an overview of how capitalism functions in the 21st century and what we can do to get beyond it it.

CrimethInc. Far East will be tabling with these books and posters and a whole lot more at the Bay Area Anarchist Book Fair April 9 and 10; there will be a presentation about the book at 4 pm on April 10. The following weekend, Test Their Logik will host a release party for the book at the Toronto Anarchist Book Fair.

We chose these posters as a fundraiser because in contrast to our standard posters, which are designed for public wheatpasting and have to remain affordable to teenage vandals, oversize posters are a sort of luxury. We made them accordingly luxurious: they’re truly enormous (fully two feet by three feet), printed on durable, high-quality, recycled, matte-coated paper, and we mail them rolled up in a poly bag secured inside a poster tube to keep them in pristine condition. If you’re looking for a durable poster to put up in your classroom or kitchen, or if you simply want to help us keep going, feel free to order one. Even as a benefit, they’re still cheaper than anyone else would make them; and you can get a much cheaper price by ordering several, so perhaps they can serve to raise funds for your infoshop or literature distribution as well.

As foreshadowed in our “State of the Union Address,” we’re also increasing the prices of our books slightly. This will help us stay solvent so we can take on other printing projects rather than simply retreating to the obscurity of virtual publishing. A quick glance at our colleagues’ prices will confirm that our books are still more affordable than almost anyone else’s.

The flip side of the price increases is that later in 2011 we plan to debut free electronic versions of all our books, refined, adjusted, and enhanced to make the most of various digital formats. These will take us some time to prepare, however, so please be patient.

The first three of these are also available on our Guerilla Film Series DVD, along with five other video shorts; The Chicago Conspiracy is also available on DVD from the directors. We urge viewers to support the filmmakers who are sharing their work by buying their DVDs or donating to them: filmmaking is one of the most expensive mediums, and without financial support we can expect fewer and lower quality radical movies in the future, at precisely the time that more are needed.

Check out the Frequently Asked Questions page for more information, and enjoy these four finely-crafted documentary films.

During last June’s G20 protests, the Canadian government brought trumped up conspiracy charges against our friends Test Their Logik, accusing the hip hop duo of causing the riot that destroyed downtown with their hit video “Crash the Meeting.” The two were imprisoned, then forbidden contact upon release, as part of a massive campaign of repression that ultimately targeted over 1000 people.

In response, we released a collection of their material as a benefit for G20 defendants. Now that the prosecutors have admitted that their charges were groundless and dropped their no-contact injunction, Test Their Logik are back in action and coming harder than ever. Featuring a cameo by fan Glenn Beck of Fox News, their new video “Conspiracy Rap” sends a big fuck you to the ones who tried to stop them and offers a preview of their first official album, which we’ll be helping them release this May. Like “Crash The Meeting,” this video was produced by Anarkid, a self-taught multi-media warrior and VJ from Montreal bent on radicalizing the rave scene.

Test Their Logik will be touring extensively this spring to support the release of their new album, showing that resistance cannot be stopped by any amount of repression. Meanwhile, over a dozen people still face serious charges as part of the same conspiracy rap the Canadian government tried to pin on Test Their Logik; the Guelph Anarchist Black Cross has released this zine to publicize their situation, which we strongly encourage you to print out and distribute.

London
March 11th 8:30PM @ EVAC (757 Dundas St.)

Hamilton
March 12th 9PM @ Casbah (306 King St. west)

Brantford
March 13th 1PM @ Kanata (440 Mohawk Rd.)

Six Nations
March 14th 6PM @ Old Council House (4th line & Chiefswood)

Sudbury
March 17th 6PM @ Myths and Mirrors (corner of Frood & Shevchenko)

Sault Ste Marie
March 18th 8PM @ Foggy Notions (Corner of Queen & East)

Grassy Narrows
March 20th 5PM @ Multi-Purpose Complex

Winnipeg
March 21st (TBA)
holler@testtheirlogik.com

Winnipeg
March 22nd 8PM sharp @ Mondragon (91 Albert St.)

Brandon
March 23rd (TBA)

Regina
March 24th 8PM @ (The Club 2431 8th Avenue)

Calgary
March 26th 8PM @ The Soda (211 12 Ave SW)

Calgary
March 27th (TBA)
holler@testtheirlogik.com

Nelson
March 29th (310 Observatory st.)

Vancouver
March 31st (TBA/open)
holler@testtheirlogik.com

Nanaimo
April 1st (open)
holler@testtheirlogik.com

Denman Island
April 2nd

Victoria
April 3rd 6:30PM @ (Solstice Cafe, 529 Pandora)

Vancouver
april 4th 5PM @ (UBC) (night-time TBA)

Kamloops
April 6th (open)
holler@testtheirlogik.com

Prince George
April 7th, 5PM @ Northern Undergraduate Student Centre, UNBC

Edmonton
April 8th, 8PM @The ARTery (9535 Jasper Ave.)
for more info email Jess at outreach@apirg.org

Saskatoon
April 9th (TBA)
holler@testtheirlogik.com

Saskatoon
April 10th 8PM @ Lydia’s Pub, 650 Broadway Avenue

Saskatoon
April 11th (TBA)
holler@testtheirlogik.com

Winnipeg region
April 12 (open)
holler@testtheirlogik.com

Thunder Bay region
April 13 (open)
holler@testtheirlogik.com

North Bay region
April 14 (open)
holler@testtheirlogik.com

Toronto
April 16th 9PM @ (Anarchist Bookfair after-party! Venue TBA)

Download PDF : 864kb

To be clear, we’re not certain that capitalism is about to collapse. However, we’re convinced that it is doomed–such a volatile and destructive system cannot possibly last forever–and that it is entering a new phase of crisis. All the old peace treaties are coming to an end: unions have been outflanked by globalization, while the Fordist compromise of higher wages for obedient workforces has given way in the course of the transition to a service-based economy. These peace treaties were not simply ways to pacify resistance movements–they also served to perpetuate capitalism itself. Without the higher wages won by the old labor movement, for example, consumers can’t afford to keep rates of profit up for capitalists. Consequently, at the moment of its worldwide triumph, capitalism has run out of ways to expand, heralding a new period of instability. The next several years will surely be marked by more upheavals like the ones in Greece and Egypt; these may even reach the United States.

In that context, a poster like this is really an attempt to cast a spell, to convey a vote of no confidence in capitalism in hopes that it will be infectious. If capitalism is indeed entering a period of crisis, anarchists must not miss this opportunity to spread a vision of an alternative. It is precisely before the upheavals that we can do this most effectively: people’s idea of what is possible can change very quickly in the midst of turmoil, but their idea of what is desirable often changes much more slowly. If we miss this opportunity, we may see yet another phase of revolutionary struggles fought merely for “better democracy”–wasting an opportunity that will not come again for a generation. Therefore, we invite you to join us in covering the walls of North America with posters like this, and to brainstorm ways to escalate the conflict that point towards real liberation.

We’ve been working feverishly on further projects to this end, which we will unveil shortly.

For news from Wisconsin, try the burnt bookmobile website.

The LP has been released in Europe by the famous Polish punk label Nikt Nic Nie Wie along with Zaraza Productions and Scream Records; it will be available in the US shortly through Stickfigure distribution.

In addition, in February, From the Depths will tour the West Coast of the US with the amazing Austrian hardcore band Plague Mass, whose new LP we just helped release. Hurry out to see these bands—this is probably your last chance.

From the Depths/Plague Mass Tour February 2011

For more information about the shows or to offer assistance, please email booking@fromthedepths.info.

Friday, February 11 - San Luis Obispo, CA
Sat, February 12 – San Diego, CA (with Maladie)
Sun, February 13 – Tijuana, Mexico (with Maladie)
Mon, February 14 – Phoenix, AZ
Tues, February 15 – Tucson, AZ  
Wed, February 16 - Flagstaff, AZ
Thurs, February 17 – Riverside/LA, CA [help!]
Fri, February 18 – Santa Barbara, CA [help!]
Sat, February 20 – Berkeley, CA at Gilman Street
Mon, February 21 – Santa Cruz, CA 
Tues, February 22 – Reno, NV    
Wed, February 23 – Redding, CA  
Thurs, February 24 – Portland, OR  
Fri February 25 - Tacoma, WA (with Marrow)  
Sat February 26 – Seattle, WA (with Marrow) 
Tues, March 1 – Bellingham, WA 
Wed, March 2 – Olympia, WA  (with Marrow—Plague Mass only!)
Thurs, March 3 – Eugene, OR (Plague Mass only!)
Fri, March 4 – Arcata, CA (Plague Mass only!)
Sat, March 5 – San Francisco, CA (Plague Mass only!)

To order copies of the From the Depths/Next Victim split LP, contact:

Nikt Nic Nie Wie
PO Box 53
34-400 Nowy Targ
Poland
www.nnnw.pl
info@nnnw.pl

Zaraza Productions
zarazaproduction@wp.pl

Scream Records

Stickfigure distribution