I've moved into a squatted house in the suburbs of Sydney. There is one person in particular who lives there, he found it and 'opened' it. He is a musician who has been squatting for a few years and is a central figure in the local movement. There are about 6 other local punks who would otherwise be homeless who stay at the place on various couches and matresses. The upstairs area is pretty clean, the downstairs, where most people stay, is a bit more chaotic.
Next door is another squatted house, this one inhabited by 6 other people, plus a few travelers crashing in free space. The house I'm in has a decidedly punk feel to it, where as the house next door is mostly hippies and activist types. (reminds me of Eugene...)
Decision making takes an 'autonomous direct action' approach... my favourite. There aren't house meetings, or planning comittes or any similar beaurocracy. When people see something that needs doing, they do it. Cleaning the house, washing dishes, repairing the physical structure, whatever. No one gives orders and things still get done.
Last night, we cooked a huge vegan feast and had the first night of a (hopefully) long running community event: 'People's Kitchen'. Homebrew on tap, Against Me blaring on the sound system, two dozen local radicals gathered around emmense pots of curry, dahl, soup, rice, salad and a delicious homemade banana cake topped with vegan banana ice cream. We talked politics and joked about differences in cultures.
Some of the squatters look at squatting in itself as a revolutionary political action. By choosing to live this lifestyle, without working or paying for things, they deny their labor power to an economic system they see as based in inequality and oppression. By contributing nothing and taking everything they can, they hope to bleed the beast of capitalism dry.
Others look at squatting as a means to an end, a way to live free in their daily lives, without the drain on their time, intelligence and creativity that working for wages inevitably produces. With their time and mental energy free, they can devote themselves to various projects that they hope will create a better world.
There is a strong DIY ethic, most of the long term squatters have gained skills through their lifestyle for everyday living: rewiring elctricity, plumbing, carpentry, gardening, cooking, making/mending clothes... all for themselves and their community. They wouldn't think of selling their time for something as trivial as a paycheck, they are after bigger game: liberation.
- Fritz Misanthrope
- Hedonist. Adventurer, Artist, Photographer, Poet, Revolutionary.
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it's interesting to me that divide, as you put it so well: either the housing situation itself is the revolutionary/radical act, or it's a means to further revolutionary/radical action.
ReplyDeletei admit i personally lean strongly towards the latter (but you know that ;p), but that could just be because i feel personally frustrated by a lot of folks i know who consider living somewhere the be-all end-all of their radical actions. like the folks who move to eugene or SF and that's it -- they don't feel like they really need to do much since now they live in a "radical town". (how do i meet all these people? ugh)
is living somewhere a starting point or an action? is that distinction important?
i suppose for me i see living somewhere (a squat, a co-op, a warehouse, some other alternative space) as this baseline state, and that's just not enough for me. i want action above and beyond that. of course, creating real community with that kind of alternative space counts as an action in my book ;)
well that was incoherent.. anyway, gotta work on my truck some more (!@#@!).
keep updating us, red man.
i agree, living situation is only the first step...
ReplyDeletethanks for the comment, wasichu; it makes me feel like people actually read this.