These are dark days. As the COVID-19 crisis turns our world upside-down, the social isolation and atomization of capitalism has given way to full-blown social distancing. At a time when we most need to come together, we’re told that human contact can kill us. Alarm bells are flashing everywhere as the dead pile up, the economy burns, and more and more people’s mental health deteriorates. This is the most severe and far-reaching global crisis that most of us who are alive today have ever experienced. Its a terrifying, alienated, and stressful time. It’s also no time to give up. No time to turn on Netflix, bury our heads in the sand, and wait for things to pass. Certainly not for anarchists, or anyone who calls themselves a revolutionary.
In the midst of the current pandemic, it’s easy to forget that 2019 was a year of global uprisings on a scale not seen since 1968. The system is dying. Today we stand at the precipice of a massive restructuring of the global order. There will be no going back to the way things were. We can either fight for a future that we want to live in, or we can sit by and let the banks and the tech companies pick it for us. It’s important that we take the necessary steps to keep each other safe during this crisis. Of course. But it’s also important that we take the necessary steps to keep each other safe from what comes after. And that means getting organized.
Note: The interviews for this episode were filmed back in January, before the COVID-19 crisis. Some parts are in Spanish, so if No Hablas español, make sure you remember to turn on the subtitles by clicking ‘CC’.