Buried deep in the annals of history we find the powerful revolutionary praxis of syndicalism. Originally a radical movement for trade unions; syndicalism pulled its principles from “Reflections on Violence,” by Georges Sorel. In this revolutionary text, Sorel explores violence and how it can help humanity save itself from the barbarism it finds itself stuck within. The influence of this text helped create the largest working class movement in France and around Europe in the early 20th century.

During the October Revolution in Russia when the bolsheviks seized power, it was the anarcho-syndicalist, armed with these teaching, who valiantly fought both the corrupt communist army of the bolsheviks and the imperialist white army of the West. In the 1920s the fascist vulgarize syndicalist teachings to give themselves powerful, personalized mythos, in which they anointed themselves with divine right to rule over all as emperors. As dangerous as this praxis may be, it also may hold the key to liberation from the tyranny of our time. If we are to take the teaching of syndicalism and imbue them into cyberspace, we may develop one of the most powerful modes of organization ever conceived: The Digital Federation.

Revolutionary Syndicalism

The profound power of Syndicalism arises out of the nihilistic tradition of taking the mantel of God for oneself. Those that are of the Syndicalist’s teachings seek spiritual meaning, and a bond with one’s own God for which they fight: themselves and their communities.

This is not some imaginary, castrated god found stapled up on sticks; pathetic and defiled, to be made an example of. Not a god of religions or institutions, but the God that lives inside of us and insists that we forge a better world. The is a personal spiritual meaning that can only be found inside of ourselves; a personal knowledge that our struggle is righteous and meaningful. In many ways syndicalism is the jihad of the working class, and the General Strike is the apocalypse of the ruling class. Sorel, who has been called ‘the most powerful socialist since Marx’ is widely unknown today. This is mostly because of the spectacular conclusion in which Sorel presents his theory of The General Strike:

“Syndicalism conceived the transmission of power not in terms of the replacement of one intellectual elite by another but as a process diffusing authority down into the workers’ own organizations. Those organizations, unlike a system of political democracy replete with Rousseauian baggage, provided a pattern of genuine and effective representation. Most importantly, the violence employed by the proletariat in the course of the general strike bore no relationship to the ferocious and bloodthirsty acts of jealousy and revenge that characterized the massacres of The Reign of Terror.”

Sorel unapologetically embraced that we must understand violence as a tool that the state has monopolized for themselves to create the oppression we experience today. The Revolution can only be created through direct struggle against the illegal transgressions of the state unified with capitalism. It is only from demanding from ourselves, and our communities that we can build a true, and radical change that does not allow for the putrid slime of politicians and capitalists to keep a foothold in our systems of government.

A Breif History of Anarcho-Syndicalism

The power message of syndicalist can and is easily be vulgarized to serve national socialist, and their racist, authoritarian, ignorant perspectives. Fascism is the greatest form of government for the weakest and most sniveling cowards of democracy. This is what happened in Italy in 1924, Germany in 1932, and Spain in 1936 where the fascist seized power because of the cowardice of pathetic democratic governments that could not stand against them.

The fascist were able to come into power through this mystical perspective they carefully constructed with sinister propaganda that created the cult of the Great Leader. However, each of these seizure of power were valiantly resisted by the people on their own accords. The largest anarcho-syndicate ever created fought a long and bloody civil war with the fascist in Spain from 1936-39. The blasting cap of syndicalism finds its praxis in direct action, personal liberation, and knowledge that the revolution must be built and fought for. When Franco seized power in a coup in 1936, the CNT–the Spanish Anarcho-Syndicalist–rose to the occasion and heroically fought the fascist for three long and bloody years. Great citizens from around the globe answered the call of justice, and fought shoulder to shoulder with men and women of all nationalities, including 2,800 brave Americans. With the defeat of the CNT, and with the most powerful anarchist having been killed or jailed, anarchism moved underground to be forgotten for another age when the people would be ready to struggle again. That age is now upon us, and the spectre of anarchism has risen from its shallow grave to haunt the digital realm until its prophecy is realized.

The Digital Federation

The time is upon us to create the organizations that can lead a new way forward. We have the technology, and we have the will power–now we must organize. Over the coming years we will find one another in the streets, and on digital forums spread through cyberspace. We will organize from the shadows, and will strike out viciously from the night, only to abscond back into the digital sphere where we are Sovereign. Using the powerful ideology of revolutionary syndicalism we can create the digital-political organizations that shall allow for us to break the state, crush their capitalist allies, and build a new way forward. We openly declare that our ends can be attained only by the subversive overthrow of all existing social conditions through the empowerment of all people within the digital sphere. Let the ruling classes tremble at the revolutionary power of bitcoin, the personal empowerment of privacy through crypto, and the auto-didactic nature of the internet itself. There is nothing to left to lose but our chains, and there is a whole world to liberate.

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Next: The Reappropriation of Our Economic System