Note Of My Anarchist Ideology#

Purpose of the Note#

To share a personal perspective on anarchism and, perhaps, to formulate a new trend in anarchist thought based on personal experience and knowledge.

The Importance of Personal Anarchy#

Modern individuals increasingly strive for maximum autonomy from the state, corporations, and imposed institutions. This aspiration can be realized at various levels of daily life through practices aimed at reducing dependence on external structures. Such a pursuit of individual independence from the state and corporations can be termed personal or individual anarchism.

Key measures that can be undertaken within the framework of personal anarchism include:

  • Cultivating one’s own vegetables and fruits (gardening skills): This not only leads to independence in food matters but also offers a way to rethink one’s relationship with labor and nature.

  • Utilizing free software: This approach helps eliminate imposed restrictions and maintain control over personal information. For those with programming skills, developing or contributing to the development of personal software aligns with the DIY (Do It Yourself) approach.

  • Deploying personal servers and self-hosted solutions: This is a significant step toward digital independence and privacy.

  • Embracing the DIY approach: This enables individuals to reduce consumption, create necessary items independently, repair, and repurpose old ones. Such a method is not only beneficial but also unlocks personal potential; items made by one’s own hands will best reflect individual needs and the creator’s personality. A 3D printer can be an especially useful tool here, significantly expanding self-production capabilities. Moreover, 3D printing technologies allow individuals to equip themselves with tools and everyday items.

  • Acquiring skills in 3D modeling, soldering, and basic electronics: These are elements of digital self-sufficiency.

  • Using cryptocurrencies for decentralized trade and financial interactions: This eliminates the need for intermediaries from traditional financial structures.

  • Developing skills in digital and computer security: This includes mastering tools to bypass blockages and censorship.

  • Learning basic woodworking and tool-handling skills.

Collectivism as a Continuation of Personal Anarchy#

It’s essential for individuals to feel part of society or a social group. Therefore, one shouldn’t focus solely on individual autonomy. Even from a practical standpoint, collaborating with like-minded individuals can achieve much more than working alone.

Personal experiences of autonomy can and should be scaled to a collective level. This becomes the next step in the development of anarchist consciousness.

Principles of such unification may include:

  • Mutual assistance and shared learning.

  • Unity around common ideas and goals.

  • The principle of non-violence and rejection of coercion.

  • The possibility of freely leaving the community if its goals no longer align with a participant’s personal beliefs.

  • Horizontal self-organization without hierarchies and domination.

Attitude Toward Capitalist Structures#

Many of us work in companies with capitalist structures and don’t always have the opportunity to resign or directly oppose the system. In situations where we are a minority in a capitalist world, open struggle may prove ineffective. However, there’s an alternative path—being a “gray cardinal” within the system, a kind of virus subtly changing it from the inside.

Large corporations have long lost touch with the interests of their workers, turning into autonomous organisms functioning solely for their own survival and growth. In such a system, it’s permissible and justified to use corporate resources for personal purposes, resort to manipulation, and “parasitize” the structure—of course, with a clear moral constraint: such actions should not harm other workers who, like us, are exploited elements of this system. Empathy and Altruism as the Foundation of a Sustainable Collective

Forming a mature anarchist community is impossible without internal work on oneself. It’s important to develop altruism—the ability to act not only out of self-interest but also for the benefit of others. This doesn’t mean self-sacrifice or neglecting personal needs but rather expanding the sphere of care beyond the “self.” It can be understood as two separate consciousnesses: the egoistic and the collective, which can develop in parallel.

Equally important is the ability to empathize—the skill to understand another person’s motivation and put oneself in their place. This quality is critically necessary for life in horizontal communities where coercion and domination are absent. Only with mutual understanding and respect for each individual’s personal space is it possible to create a truly sustainable and autonomous anarchist cell.

Empathy helps to:

  • Avoid conflicts or resolve them non-violently.

  • Consider the diversity of perceptions and life situations of community members.

  • Make collective decisions without suppressing minorities.

Anarchism as a Strategy in the Existing World#

The modern world has long been divided and solidified in the form of states, many of which possess vast resources for self-defense, including security forces, information control, and economic levers. In such conditions, the idea of direct revolution often proves ineffective or even utopian. However, this doesn’t mean that anarchism should retreat—rather, it should adapt.

I see 21st-century anarchism not as open confrontation but as a strategy of parallel existence. Anarchist structures can be effectively integrated into the current reality, creating sustainable and autonomous forms of life within the existing system—based on the principle of “a country within a country.”

These can be:

  • Teams and startups operating on horizontal principles, developing technologies, social projects, or research initiatives without adhering to corporate hierarchies.

  • Groups building closed or semi-closed infrastructure—be it digital (local networks, self-hosted services), production (fab labs, workshops), or economic (cooperatives, exchange networks).

  • Cultural and ethnic communities existing autonomously within large states—such as Jewish or Chinese diasporas, which have preserved their internal infrastructure, traditions, and governance norms for centuries while residing within foreign states.

Interaction between such anarchist organizations can be realized through the exchange of resources and services. Trade relations and contracts can utilize blockchain technology.

Such an anarchist cell may be barely noticeable to an external observer but remains stable, self-sufficient, and capable of development. Its success lies in the ability to adapt, be flexible, create its environment without open confrontation, while maintaining internal independence and values.

In the long term, a network of such cells can become an alternative method of societal organization—from the bottom up, without violence and destruction, but through creation, mutual assistance, and the gradual displacement of centralized structures due to their own inefficiency.

Technology and Nature: Harmony, Not Contradiction#

Unlike anarcho-primitivists or proponents of green anarchism, I don’t view technology as an enemy or something inherently negative. On the contrary—technologies, when applied responsibly, can become powerful tools.

Humans remain part of nature and must remember this. Respect for nature should be combined with technological literacy and conscious consumption. We not only should avoid harming nature—we are obliged to replenish and support it, integrating into natural cycles rather than destroying them.