Another Pynchon theme manifesting again in the real world.

[Joseph Tracy]

I hear what you are saying, Anarchy seems llike a crazy goal. I hear a difference between anarchy and anarchism. Anarchy is more frequently used to describe a disorderly state than to describe a community without rulers. Old growth forests have no rulers but they are rarely seen as anarchy. 

As far as human societies or times with no clear rulers or where power is shared equally, it actually happens a lot, but mostly on a local level. There are neighborhoods, towns, urban and rural communities where harmony is stronger than tyranny, anyone can have a say if they are respectful to others, and people cooperate to solve problems  and make their community sustainable.. Often in these places there are obvious leaders , but they are leaders because they are respected and generous , not because they domineer in a hierarchical power structure.  

The issue of sustainability seems to me to go to the heart of all failed systems. Is capitalism sustainable? Is fossil fuel based technology sustainable? Is the rule of 51% sustainable? Oligarchy has endured for a long time but is it sustainable?  Is american empire sustainable. 

The anarchist golf game may have seemed silly to you but it reminded me of good times with crazy friends being goofy. Mardis Gras looks silly to some but I can tell that for you it allows powerful self-liberation.  Most people have times in life of liberating rituals of rule -breaking and mockery of sacred cows. The discussions that take place in the golf game are really funny and actually rather subtle and intellectually lively.  
When it came time to do something   at Yzles-Bains the anarchists at the center of the story ended up with the unlikely focus of song-gathering in Thrace looking for remnants of neo-Pythagoreans identifiable because they favor the Phrygian musical mode.  We can’t entirely tell if it is a cover story or simply a wacky pursuit that opens doors of synchronicity and puts our merry band in the right place to see hope in the midst of horror and discover their unexpected inner strength and heroism. Part of the goal is to show readers more aspects of how the battle lines of a world war were in place  before it began . For Reef, Cyprian and Yashmeen this gathering leads them toward a period of profound transformation. To me the point is that each person is very limited in what they can do, but there are avenues that emerge from friendship and bold exploration that can effect powerful change.  


> On Sep 4, 2017, at 5:35 PM, David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> I only push this because Pynchon does, and it needs context.  For P, Anarchy goes back to GRs Zone, a place of crazy freedom in wake of total collapse, which can't be sustained.  It is not a model of sustained living, despite AGD's silly golf game.  It is a very short-lived thing.
> 
> David Morris
> 
> On Mon, Sep 4, 2017 at 4:16 PM David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com> wrote:
> So your anarchism jag isn't a real proscription.  It is a plaything.  A Pynchon fanboy thing.
> 
> David Morris
> 
> On Mon, Sep 4, 2017 at 3:57 PM Mark Kohut <mark.kohut at gmail.com> wrote:
> Anarchism as I wrote about it here is working with whatever, jumping in spontaneously before or with  FEMA HELP and FEMA is goddam necessary OR ELSE. ...More incalculable deaths and reams of suffering and hurt. 
> 
> I wrote " part" of....not as a guiding political philosophy, like libertarianism, which is  perhaps the exact opposite of helping ANYONE but oneself. ...anarchism allows selflessness. 
> 
> I just read a decent piece about the horrible tornado in Kansas, killing more than Harvey has, and the gist was FEMA was invaluable for money (paid 90% of clean-up cost) and worked best when "spontaneous groups" --like churches-- local leaders and Orgs were the go-to ones for advice and disbursement. 
> 
> And I'm a big Govt " liberal" myself. Who loves selfless helping and dancing. Esp in musicals. 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone
> 
> On Sep 4, 2017, at 1:59 PM, David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
>> Anarchism is akin to Libertarianism: freedumb from guvmint!
>> 
>> Imagine a world in Houston without FEMA!  Such a dream!
>> 
>> And no interstate highways!  And no EPA!  And no Medicare or Social Security!
>> 
>> You may sat I'm a dreamer, but they're about to be deported.
>> 
>> David Morris
>> 
>> On Mon, Sep 4, 2017 at 11:48 AM Mark Kohut <mark.kohut at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Anarchism. Pervasive as we know (and been written about).
>> 
>> Anarchism, not as any kind of policy or new government notion but
>> precisely as getting shit done without government, outside of it. 
>> 
>> The natural way hundreds of thousands of simple citizens "self-organized"--
>> this is the key,-- like the deaf-mute dance under the bridge where everyone
>> dances together without bumping with no one having to direct the dancing--
>> like the search and rescue and help operation in Houston after Harvey. 
>> 
>> Since a guy named Prince wrote about the "spontaneous groupings" of volunteer
>> help after the Halifax explosion disaster , it has always been a part of every disaster 
>> since. They say. 
>> 
>> Spontaneous groupings = self-organizing= equal apolitical, non-violent anarchism in
>> the real world. 

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Pynchon-l / http://www.waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l