Autonomy: Definition and Meaning

The word "autonomy" is a combination of the words "autos" and "nomos", derived from the ancient Greek language, which literally means "own law". "Autonomy" is the designation for a certain way of thinking, in which independence and individual freedom on the basis of social justice and -equality as well as solidarity are the main principles. However this individual freedom is not meant in the way neoliberals underpin this (licentiousness of autonomous and selfresponsible people, that is to say torn apart from the people), but the opposite of it; individual freedom by collectivity!

Being-autonomous, means being undependent. To be undependent means meeting ones own needs, organizing and governing yourself in order to survive. It means self-sufficiency; one takes what one can use to survive and to accomplish certain political goals. Self-organisation is necessary to collectively retain independence and individual freedoms. For this, resistance is the only path towards freedom and thus is self-organisation absolutely necessary. Self-organisation is needed to achieve collective goals, such as social justice and -equality. Independence is what autonomy is all about. We don´t want to be dependend on some kind of State, Party, Union or leader (Führer). Autonomists think for themselves, decide for themselves and act by themselves! They don´t need anybody who offers "help" from above or tells them what to do, they solve their own problems. They rely on their own force and decisiveness and couldn't care less about the laws imposed by the establishment. Autonomists practice self-government, that is to say self-organisation.      

Therefore this leads to fundamental implications, if being-autonomous is seen as merely a means of action. Being-autonomous requires a certain ideological way of thinking, which can be put into practice in different ways.

Being-autonomous means act for yourself, think for yourself and act independent. (and don´t wait for instructions, commands from above, from somekind of leader, pope, chairman, tribune, Union or Party boss, in short any authority whatsoever!) Being-autonomous means being averse to any form of authority, means being aversive of any State authority. Autonomists don´t wait for improvements or changes from above (elections), they take matters into their own hands (therefore "Direct Action"- action from the grassroots, by the masses without intervention of selfproclaimed leaders and mediators of Unions or Political Parties). The masses don´t need leaders from outside, they are their own leader. The masses themselves are the vanguard.

This way (anti-authoritarian, anti-Statist, anti-hierarchic) of thinking logically leads toward methods of action. One example is the concept of "Direct Action" (action without intervention of any authority whatsoever) against the State, against the authority and bosses - by the masses themselves. (Some examples are the Cultural revolution 1966-1969, The Mai revolt of workers in Paris, the student uprise of 1968 and the 1969-movement in Italy.) Another example is the "black block", not only an expression of collective anonymity, but also of collective uniformity; We are all equal, we are one collective unity! No leaders, no followers, no bullshit! There are no leaders, we are all leaders. We are our own vanguard. By means of uniform garb this is stressed; We are all equal (egalitarism). There are no leaders. If there is any case of "leadership" at all, then this is collective leadership by the collective Black Block. The Black Block as collective leader - as collective vanguard (for example in the struggle against the cops). (Such a way of thinking does of course provide issues for discussion, also and above all within the anarchoscene).

Being-autonomous does absolutely and before all else mean the rejection of any authority and all that which is sanctioned by the authorities (uniformed or not). Being-autonomous means opposing any form of hierarchy or authoritarian structures (State, army, church, Party, Union). Only the masses themselves are "pure", revolutionary, so only the actions of the masses themselves can be considered "pure" and revolutionary, all the other must be rejectes as; 

1: Bureacratic 2: Reactionary 3: Bourgeois 4: Hierarchic. 

Being-autonomous means opposing any form of personality cult, only the masses are the true heroes. Averse to any Fuhrer worshipping (Hitler, Stalin, Kim il Sung, etc.). Averse of any chauvinism (political boundaries are not recognized!). "Autonomous" Hitlerists are just as much an impossibility as "Autonomous" Strasserists are.  

"He who is not afraid of death by a thousand cuts dares to unhorse the emperor" - Mao Zedong 

Recapitulatory:

1: No leadership (from outside or above) 2: True revolutionary action only comes forth from the masses themselves 3: The masses themselves are the vanguard (without intervention from outside) 

No leaders, no followers! No bull-shit! 

The masses are the vanguard, they are the leaders!

Pavlos, Manolis and Giorgos: Rest in Peace

In the light of the events end of september and last friday we cite comrade Kostas M. who was able to describe the tragic situation in Greece with striking words; 

"We are facing for the second time in less than two months, a murder in ideological and political background. Firstly was Pavlos Fyssas, a left musician, then two members of Golden Dawn (Manolis Kapelonis and Giorgos Fountoulis), with obvious motives of retaliation. We now watch two sides slipping in armed violence with the character of reckoning like thugs, both murders distract from the real problems, secondly they divide the whole society, reviving their old - but existent as it seems - splits into right and left, fascist and antifascist, which without doubt is manageable from the centers of power in Greece and their authorized representatives.

People once again are called upon to play its role, not knowing where all this comes from, choosing the most painful type of death. Which murder is the most heinous? With knife or gun? From one meter, or ten? Complexes or not? Alone or with an accessory?

This is a tottaly sick situation, indicative of rottenness caused from both sides, with the wounds to be added everyday on the body of society. Golden Dawn and far left people have pushed with their fights the whole society into a microcosmos of dissent. At the same time greek government gains in popularity because it guarrantees safety based on peoples fear. Capitalists move on with their plan and Greece is immersed into chaos and decay.

Fortunately, there are now several people (anarchists and nationalists) who wake up and see clearly suspicious of the things. All this turns against us in the end. Violence is not something "bad" itself. Politics are associated with violence. Must be. Because we face democratic violence every day. But violence has its worth and is a part of the game when it is used straight to the target and not to harm an innocent. Unfortunately, both sides, including mass media and governments, act like gangs, while people in Greece should have long finish with their domestic oppressors."

Autonomy: What does it mean?

Every human has to have the individual freedom to do whatever he/she wants within the community. Every human must be able to shape his/her life like he/she wants, without some authority (leader; chairman; union boss), the party or the State having something to say about it. A "State" would only be a representative of the people and can be used as an instrument by the community itself to achieve certain things which serve the interests of the community. It is not intended, in any case, that if something like a "State" is pursued, it will be the same as the current one. (A socialist councilrepublic is what autonomists want.)

Struggle against each form of authority in general, especially against the State, is central in the autonomist thought. The State is the embodiment of the terrorist dictatorship of financecapital with as goal preserving the capitalist modus of production. The State is also responsible for the implementation of cultural genocide, in the form of the destruction of the folkspirit and the alienation of the original culture, in order to create mindless, amorphous, consumption masses (consumptionzombies).

The existing power relations, embodied by the State, are the ones that exploit and oppress their own communities. Between the capitalist elite, which has the power, and the working masses, who make the everyday living possible, is such a big gap that resistance is essential. According to the autonomists nobody and nothing has the right to tell others what they should do. An autonomist has an exceptionally high self-awareness and sense of responsibility.

As mentioned before, independence and individual freedom can be reached through social justice and -equality, by collectivism and solidarity within the community. Collectivism means a revolution will have to take place in the area of relations of production and ownership, so that the community will get ownership of the means of production and not, like it is nowadays under capitalism, in hands of several individuals. The profit which is made using the means of production (land, work, capital, resources, machines, etc.), belongs fully to those who own them according to capitalism. That means that those who produce (the workers) the profit (surplus) get nothing in return for it. This in contradiction to the capitalist owner of the means of production, who, without the provision of (physical) labor, may see the suprlus (profit) of a product as his belongings. Autonomism is aimed against this reactionary philosophical conception. It advocates the collectivisation of the means of production, so that those who produce surplus can pick the fruits of their labour or that it goes to the community.  

Collectivism means also that they jointly undertake something to realize a common goal. Different individuals organize themselves to achieve collective common goals. In this sense autonomism does not oppose "property". Everybody has to get what he/she deserves. But if this in practice would mean, like today, that a small group owns everything and the great majority nothing, then property is the most decadent thing one can own. In times, like today, of a unprecedented economic crisis, rising mass unemployment worldwide, poverty and famine, the internal repression gets stronger. This because the owners want to protect and secure their private-property. This is the problem, because the working masses who do not own anything but produce everything bear the ruin the capitalist owners, who produce nothing but own everything, have caused. We could not have come up with a better example of social equality and -injustice.      

Solidarity means being there for the community. Solidarity is necessary within the community to serve the interest of all. It´s no shame to give up some "luxury", if this means someone else´s life can improve. This ofcourse doesn´t mean, in every respect, that those who do not contribute can benefit at the expense of the community! Only those who (can) contribute, can count on solidarity, because they fight the same struggle, namely the struggle for social justice and - equality. The struggle for social justice and - equality can´t be achieved without bringing solidarity into practice! Those who harm the interests of the society (speculators, stockbrokers, locusts, etc.), will be expelled from the community and will be seen as enemies of the community. No solidarity can be brought to practice about them! With bringing solidarity into practice we mean an active contribution in the struggle for social justice and - equality.  

in the political struggle one is autonomously and independently organized . That means, on your own way, by your own motives, with your own viewingpoints. Autonomists do not follow a prescribed doctrine, they immerse themselves independently in random issues and compose their own conclusions on the basis of own insights and by their own arguments. This shapes an independend political awareness in the individual, after which he/she, together with other individuals, can organize him-herself in a collective to fight for certain common interests.  

To bring this into practice we first need to analyse the society we are living in today, so that we can determine which means of action should serve which goals. Which form of resistance is best for a certain situation? Which goals should be achieved? To determine this, an internal discussion must be held. The individuals within the collective should know what to expect and they have to know who wants to go how far to achieve these goals. Everybody within the collective needs to have a say in this. Basisdemocracy, also known as "councildemocracy", is uncomparible with the bought "democracy" of capitalism. This "parliamentary democracy" (representative democracy [contra basisdemocracy]) has already sold the interests of the people to the capital. Needless to say the autonomists reject the leadership-principle (Führerprinzip), which propagates unconditional obedience and loyalty to a certain individual. This kind of thought is in total contrast to the principles of autonomism. Being autonomous means freedom in and through the collective, your neighbour in the community is nothing less than you, you're not above someone else, no leader tells you what to do and what not to do, even more important: YOU THINK FOR YOURSELF! And probably the most important : YOU ACT BY YOURSELF!  

Regarding the means of actions that need to be used, individuals and collectives (= groups of individuals) must determine for themselves how far they are willing to go to achieve certain goals. They must determine this by themselves through consultation and consensus.

 "The urge to destroy is also a creative urge. - Bakunin"

"Without destruction there can be no revolutionary building" - Mao Zedong

The State needs to be DESTROYED in its totality!