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sorry for the time confusion and delay my dear #GUINNESSCON attendees. i've got my chickens in a row now though and am ready to begin!
first i would like to thank the con founders, @GuinnessIsACat and @KTBryski, without whom we wouldn't have #GUINNESSCON 2020!
now i'll warn you we will be getting into the weeds with some political and cat theory, so questions are absolutely welcome. also, excuse the shouted letters in my speech here, the human wrote it, i just dictated.
you might think to yourself... I am but a cat, how does that make me an anarchist? Well, let me tell you, all cats are anarchists, and all cats take part in direct action every day of their lives.
Now first, let us identify what anarchism means. It is not a lawless wasteland where everyone does what they want. It is rather radical freedom and equality.
Anarchists do not respect state laws, and do not which to be under state distribution of goods, but no one is free if someone exploits another, and no one is equal if one person withholds the necessities of life from another.
This means that under anarchism you are free to do as you like, but have a responsibility to do as you ought. A free society fails when one person exploits another.
As Nicolas Walter said in his article (and now short book from @PMPressOrg !) “About Anarchism”, “Anarchism is the political elaboration of the psychological reaction against authority which appears in all human groups.”
But what about cats, Nick? Cats too reject authority in ever action we take. But—contradicting our reputation as radically individual—we have a strong sense of both duty to, and debt owed, by our community.
And how else can community function? We must take what we need and give what we can. Every bowl of kibble is our rightful property, and every half dead mouse provided to teach our humans to hunt is our duty.
To be pet in comfort is our right, to purr in order to comfort is our responsibility. In this way we are all anarchists. Allow me to elaborate...
We value direct democracy to a massive degree! Radical freedom requires that all can have their voice heard. We fight for this right every time we shout at our humans to feed us when we are hungry.
And we allow this every time our human is tired, so we must go and entertain ourselves rather than playing with them. We make our voices heard when he bap our siblings on the head for getting in our space or push our humans away when we don’t want a kiss.
We allow other voices to be heard when we sit on a lap or watch our humans when they work or eat. We teach our friends what we want and learn what they want. How do we balance this? The key is CONSENT.
We consent to what we wish, and we back off when our friends don’t consent to what we try to do. Well, we try at least. I’m sure all of us could do better with this. I could...
But if we want to be allowed to hold our territory and be left in peace, we must respect other’s territory and leave them in peace. This radical concept of consent will be important for the rest of this explanation of anarchism.
We do all we can to organize equality. What do you do when you are hungry? You demand food from your human. What do you do when your human hasn’t caught any food in weeks? You catch them a mouse.
What do you do when you are scared? You go to your human for comfort. What do you do when your human is anxious? You go and comfort them.
Equality is about give and take. And we are experts at give and take. Just ask a human who loves a cat. We teach them about equality, not authoritarianism.
We don’t do what they say, we do what they need. They don’t do what we want, they do what we need. This may not sound like absolutist individualism, but equality does not exist if we can’t voluntarily accept our responsibilities and other’s needs.
We guard individuals and possessions. Has anyone ever tried to take your favorite toy? Scratch them. While we try to bring about equality, we must respect private property to maintain freedom. This may sound contradictory but is not. It goes back to that radical consent.
Someone does not consent to starve, so withholding food from them when you can provide it violates their consent. That is equality.
But if someone tries to take the simple things you keep to find joy in life—your gay balls, your rainbow strings, your catnip mice—without your consent, that is a violation of your freedom! Protect your private property!
To take someone’s treasured belongings is a violation of consent and results in an unfree society. To steal piece of someone's history is as bad as withholding the things they need to survive.
We take direct action to make our anarchic ideals a reality! I don’t know about you, but when I am left hungry, I bite ankles. This is considered a crime by the humans but is the only way to address my needs.
(I think Jonathan has started to learn that this is necessary and doesn’t hold it against me.)
This is the proof of the effectiveness of direct action! I’m sure that you all have a similar experience. When we need to express our emotions we do so with action, and with immediacy. This is how we further our revolutionary goals.
It is through the yowling, clawing, biting, scratching, that we make our existence a little more free and equal every day. A non-violent occupation of a couch you weren’t allowed on soon turns into mutually beneficial cuddling sessions with your slowly radicalized human.
If we were to only vote, the humans would always outvote us. If that were the case, they would have voted us out of their grain silos and never learned the benefits of us making all the way into the bedroom. Direct action got us where we are, and will take us further!
And finally... we are progressive! The revolutionary deludes himself to think that his revolution will be the last one ever needed. The tiger may have thought his time hunting alone in the jungle was the pinnacle of feline kind.
The lion may have thought her pride and her provision to her young and her mate were the only things needed to make a perfect society.
But would that tiger have brought his prey to a friend and feel the fulfillment of love? Would that lion have given herself a little extra freedom by trusting a comrade to guard her cubs?
No revolution is the true end, and we would be arrogant fools to think our yowling, scratching, snuggling, purring drive towards anarchy is the last step needed for a truly free society.
The kittens of the next generation may find a better way to bring about revolution. We can’t imagine the optimistic, and joyous ways the future will find to revolt!
To come into human homes was an act of radical trust in mutual aid’s ability to bring about equality, and it’s working out! The tiger would never have done that!
So we must be willing to accept the future that we cannot today imagine, lest we find ourselves opposing freedom. Be progressive! Solidarity forever!
