Say you wanna have a revolution?

Surfing the web the other day, the Redneck Stumbled upon an anarchist marxist  blog site that was actually readable, as in literate, enjoyable, and lacking the uh, earnest turgidity, that usually characterises these sites.   The Redneck has always had a soft spot for anarchists, marxists, and their relations.   The Redneck was a young man in the late 60's and early 70's when many of his peers were marching, protesting, and occupying the President's office of every institute of higher learning.  It was a fun time to be young.  Did the Redneck participate?  Sort of, but hampered by crippling commitment phobia, the Redneck never joined the Hippies, Yippies, Students for a Democratic Society, Communist Party, Black Panthers, Feminists (not being black or feminine was also a factor) or any of the other radical outfits of the day.  One of the Redneck's friends was a communist, he also coveted bourgeois sports cars, but this was not a problem for him ideologically, as the communist society he envisioned would provide a really nice Italian sports car for all  the young bucks that wanted one.  Utopia!

Nostalgia is not the only reason why the Redneck is so pleased to see that youth is once again flirting with radicalism.  There has been a long drought of angry youngsters in the USA and Canada since the 1960's.  All Generation X ever wanted was to be millionaires, live in tacky suburban McMansions, and wear stuff  displaying the corporate logos for  the stuff they own or covet, a generation of robot billboards for Nike and Tommy, little white i buds feeding subliminal messages from Michael Jackson and the Osmonds into their empty brains.  The old baby boomer radicals who are still living have long degenerated into senility, corporate fascism or right wing libertarianism.  No one was paying attention when the Capos of capitalism and their MBA consiglieres discovered yet again that it is easier to steal money than to earn it.  So, time for another revolution.  Workers of the world unite!  

Problem being, the oppressed working classes, as in those who actually toil and sweat for their daily bread, have never been big fans of the worker's paradise.  Possibly because workers who work know they will be toting them barges and lifting them bales no matter who is in charge.  Or maybe their minds have become dulled by cashing all those paychecks.  About the only thing that motivates the working working class to activism is unemployment, that would be the absence of work, in other words, they want to work and be oppressed.  Fortunately for radicalism, the saviors of workers are traditionally drawn from the 'lilies of the field' classes (they toil not, neither do they spin) .

Your typical young radical past and present, are of the angry young man persuasion;  whose anger stems from the grief experienced from having been cast out of a comfy nest into the cold cruel world, condemned to fight their way amongst  hoi and polloi, armed with nothing but an Honours degree in the Philosophy of Fine Arts.  Useful idiots in other words.   The problem is  that the international  communist movement is pretty much dead, what with the USSR imploding, the Chinese Communist party transforming itself into the world's biggest capitalist corporation, the Cubans waiting around for the Castros to die so they can become the next Costa Rica, and North Korean propaganda that is, ahem, not very inspirational.

This leaves the wannabe radical with limited choices, global warming is cooling down,  bombs are pretty much banned, Occupy has moved away without leaving a forwarding address,  PETA is for cat ladies, halting global trade will imperil the availability of new Apple products, and so on.  Leaving us with Anarchy.

Anarchy has always appealed, right from school days and 'teacher's dirty looks' days, but frankly, the Redneck has problems wrapping his mind around how such a thing would actually work in the real world.  He remembers what happened in Montreal when the cops went on strike, although he supposes that from some anarchy perspectives, it was good while it lasted.  But  hey! lets give it a shot, abolish property, cops, laws, taxes, money and golf.  Lets have some fun.