#democracy <333

[us-the-voices-and-more-voices-2]

me: *surprisingly active in governmental events and shit because they are free and anyone can attend if you ask*

also me: *talks with people, learns about things, goes to museums and stuff*

also also me: WHY THE FUCK HAVE I MET LIKE 7 DIFFERENT MINISTERS WHAT THE FUCK

Context: I am a anarchist in the way I hate all of my current governmental leaders in my country, I actually love democracy and shit lol.

[foursaints]

i love it when you disagree! tell the plebeians what’s what!

— mark antony to julius caesar shortly before crossing the rubicon 49 BC (colorized)

[fantastic-mr-corvid]

Cecio & his fathers family

Cecios' father is an old noble of Andoran, from a family who made the smart decision of backing the rebellion. Taking in his bastard son was a double edged move, on one hand, he's displaying the ideal that everyone is equal, while also displaying the pedigree & faith of their lineage by having an Aasimar son. 

His father mainly pulled this move because rumors were getting loud about how the family had not fully changed to the nation's new beliefs, and were merely paying lip service to them.

His family is made up of four, his father, the patriarch, a noble turned merchant, who does the bare minimum of lip service towards the current principles of Andoran. He's not particularly corrupt, and by the standards of the previous regime, would have been a gracious lord, but his lack of care towards what used to be the lower classes and particularly his bastard son is a stain on what would be an average merchant lord. 

The eldest son, a man who did his time in the eagle knights, and is now working his way up in the government, hoping to take over his fathers role as the one in council seat, a cold and distant man, one who failed to shed his noble air, and thus only has friends among the nobles, neutral or unpopular among most people.

The youngest son, a shirt chasing fool who is currently a squire for a suffering knight, but one can suppose that the coin makes up for it, he's completely unfit for command and will probably spend the rest of his life wasting his father's coin on cover ups and fine food and clothes

The deceased wife, Cecio's stepmother, a woman who was understandably uncomfortable with the proof of her husbands infidelity under her roof, but who took it out on the neglected child, orchestrating the stealing of his finances, leading to Celia needing to fund his training, all as his father neglected him.

The family enjoyed little change in conditions, as they used their power to gain a large share of the artifact and treasure seeking market, not to mention offering their troops to the eagle knights, meaning they have considerable power for a noble family. It seems the new family tradition is the eldest going into government, and the second eldest going into the eagle knights. 

It seems that Cecio will be the one in the eagle knights, as while all three have gone through knight training, the eldest has firmly gone into government, and the youngest is ill equipped to fight on a serious battlefield, let alone take command and rise to the position expected of him. 

So Cecio works his way up through the Eagle Knights, being sent with the knight he's a squire for to the World Wound, and Mendev. He quickly becomes a full knight, and is granted command over a small group of crusaders thanks to his diligent studying. 

He only enjoys command for a year or two, before he wakes up in Drezden on a stretcher. Only time will tell where he goes from there.

[conium-maculatum-rosacae]

If ao3 were a country, it would be classified very similarly to the us. A democratic constitutional federal republic

[mcytchildbracket]

round 2, quarter 2, match 2

info and propaganda under cut

Gregg

Nicknames: man bun, Grian egg

Smp: Hermiitcraft season 9

Parents: Grian

Propaganda:

Gregg is love Gregg is life

DID YOU SEE HOW HAPPY HE MADE G-MAN??? i rest my case

Richarlyson

Nicknames: Richas

Smp: Qsmp

Parents: Everyone; Cellbit, Felps, Pactw, Mikethelink, Quackity, Roier, and Bagi, mine, ect

Propaganda:

Currently the happiest little egg on the server and holds current server record for most parents (7 dads and 1 mom). He is always plotting to get more parents. His gender up for democratic vote between his original five dads but they never voted so he is simply just Richas <3. He's a very talented artist and has made a bunch of custom pixel art for the server! He's also possibly possessed by a ghost but let's not worry about that<333

He wants to have as much parents as he can do he can have a lot of inheritance. He is a really good artist. HE IS BRAZILIAN 🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷. He once said his parents could chose his gender, like democracy. He hides his sadness and don't want his parents worry for him. I miss this ovo cabeçudo safado 😔.

Look at him, he's got like 20 parents, 10 siblings, he's Brazilian, he's got a fucked up leg, look at him

he's so awesome and very funny. everyone immediately loves him. he plays more than literally anyone else on the server because he is always trying to hang out with all his parents. he cares so uch about them and they care so much back. genuinely fun to watch. epic character design the fandom seems to have made and all agreed on together. speaks portugese and english and spanish (possibly due to fanfiction, i hear, possibly LOL). he's got trauma and swag. he's simply a baby just the littlest guy on the server but he's everywhere and everyone loves him. i miss him so much WHERE IS HE???? come back where did he go... where did they all go... anyway RICHAS SWEEP LETS GOOOOOOOOOO

has multiple alters, amputee; uses a prosthesis, the egg with the most parents on the qsmp by far, 5/9 of his parents have gone missing/been kidnapped, adopted a sentient capybara, writes fanfictiom canonically, brazilian 🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷

[granolawriting]

hi can you please do a platonic anakin x reader where the reader is his age and a fellow jedi knight? i see a lot of platonic anakin x padawan but i think it would be interesting to see how his dynamic would be with someone his age. maybe comfort or something of them being equally supportive and protective of each other? <3

pairing: Platonic!Jedi reader x Jedi Anakin

Summary: The night you graduate to a Jedi knight, you're a bit more sad than anything else. The fears of the responsibilities of a Jedi loom over you, and you are afraid of losing yourself. That is, until Anakin finds you and reassures you that if nothing else, you will have each other.

Content warning: comfort!Anakin, implied star wars politics, struggle with identity, mutual comfort, you and anakin have been childhood best friends, reassurance and fluff

word count: 1k

A/N: this was such a cute thing to write <333! I love expanding Anakins character in my mind, and how I would see him do certian things. These are always such a treat to write. So sorry for the wait, but I hope you enjoy it! BTW... dont fact check me about the blue milk claims........

…

…

You sat awake within your dwellings, unable to properly sleep as the days ahead of you loom above you as a cloud of darkness is to tell even the kindest child that their times of peace come to a nearing end. The frown and pain painted upon the heart of a lost innocence, or moreso a graduation into adulthood is something that plagued your waking mind. 

To be a Jedi knight, is to put your life on the line in the name of the republic. Democracy. And it was your duty, as of today, to value the Jedi order more than your own individual life. 

What were you supposed to do with that information? You knew you were supposed to relish in this idea of becoming a knight, a selfless champion of peace that campaigned for justice and security, but part of you was unable to shake the danger that came with the title. The inevitable mortality that became evermore clear to you as you sat there staring at the lines within your palms, the creases defining you as uniquely you. A reminder to yourself that no matter how hard you trying to tell yourself otherwise, you are just one person. And that is terrifying in the wake of the enemies of the Jedi looming over your horizon. 

…

The hiss of a door reveals Anakin to stand behind its frame. 

Anankin, whom had just recently graduated to Jedi knight as well. You and him were younglings, padawans, and thereafter knights together following the life of a Jedi in a similar fold. You and him had been close all your life for that reason alone, always feeling as though no matter how foreign the environment, to find anakin within it's mix is to know you had a friend. An ally. 

“Hey, was expecting a bit more of a party in here given the big news today.” 

Anakin opens up with a casual smile, noticing the frown upon yours and immediately finding means to try and right it. He had always been a bit childish, it was in his nature, when talking just one on one he was prone to more silly urges of support. There had been many times where he’s needed to help you in the past, and many more where you’ve needed to do the same for him. You and him had a very special bond, one that consisted of mutual support and love, but above all respect. 

“I just don't know how I feel right now, Ani. I thought that becoming a Jedi knight would make me feel amazing. That I’d be throwing a huge party or something. But, honestly I'm just scared. Conflicted.” 

You take your eyes away from your hands and face them towards Anakins face as he walks closer to you, a sense of fear and sadness coats your every word as the phrase “becoming a Jedi knight” leaves your mouth with negative connotation for the first time. 

Anakin sits beside you, holding your open palm between both his hands. He flashes you a grin once more and says; 

“To be honest, that's partially why I came. I was a bit worried I somehow was not invited to the party. Was planning on crashing it a bit.” 

He laughs a bit, but then the smile falls to a more stern, serious demeanor as he continues. 

“But now that I hear what you’re saying, I understand. Do you remember how I was when I became a Knight? Honestly just a few months ago feels like so long. But, I didn't have any kind of party either. At least, any that I wanted. Even being the chosen one I never felt truly whole being a Jedi knight. They strip away a lot of self identification, as means for a greater cause. And that cause is liberating, sure, but it hurts to not know who you are outside of just being a Jedi. And I understand that more than you know.” 

Your eyes meet his with welled tears within them, you hadn't planned on talking to Anakin about how you felt, but you grew to realize within that moment that he was the one person who really understood you. He was an equal, not because he was just a Jedi knight, but because he was young still, and he was human. Just like you. 

“Hey, how about we make a pact.” 

You look at him with questioning eyes, and he urges you to let him continue. 

“You’re afraid of losing yourself, aren't you?” 

You nod your head in agreement. 

“And so am I.” 

A moment passes before he speaks again, 

“How about we make a promise to one another. To learn about each other. Individually, separate from the Jedi order, or any missions we may go on. To remind ourselves we are more than just what people tell us we have to be.” 

He smiles once more as he continues on with what he proposes; 

“Like, for example. Did you know I've never had blue milk?” 

A smile coats your face and brings you to a laugh at such an astonishing claim. 

“What? You lived on tatooinian for like, 10 years. That's like one of 4 things they have out there to drink.” 

“Nope. never drank it once. It kind of scared me as a kid, not sure why.” 

The two of you grow to laugh as time goes on, telling one another small details about their life, things that make each of you unique and special. 

As time grew on after the day you became a Jedi knight, any time you or he could, nights were spent with your best friend learning about him as he learned about you. And every night that was spent swapping stories about favorite genres of book or least favorite planet, you grew to feel unique and individually perceived, and slowly you felt loved. The Jedi didn't scare you anymore, because without them you would have never met Anakin. And he is sure to feel the same. 

[definitelynotstable]

I Like You Too [Gaz x fem!Reader]

AN: Hello! I missed Gaz and haven’t done much today so here, have this!

Synopsis: Movie night with the 141. You and Gaz are always the last to go to bed. Word Count: 1.2k Warnings: Price likes his whiskey. None otherwise! Gaz x fem!Reader and a bit of Soap x Ghost on the side <3 So much fluff and 141 family vibes <333

ੈ✩‧₊˚

Movie nights weren’t a new thing. In fact it was such an old tradition with such a convoluted history no one was quite sure whose idea it had been in the first place. All you knew was that – when on base – the 141 would crowd into the small lounge attached to the shared kitchen every Sunday night. Soap was usually the one to provide popcorn, his shelf always stocked; Ghost would find himself boiling the kettle and taking tea and coffee orders; you and Gaz always had the sweets, combining a variety from your individual stock piles and Price – Price would somehow find a way to sneak in some form of alcohol. The argument between you both was almost a tradition at this point:

“Fridays are for drinking!” You would snap, stealing his hip flask and wrinkling your nose as you took a sniff.

“Any day is for drinking.” Price would reply coyly, snatching it back.

And this would go back and forth till someone like Ghost would intervene, roughly wedging himself between you two on the ragged couch. Price and Ghost were given couch privileges because of their “bad backs” and Soap refused to let you sit on the ground because “a lass deserves better”. 

You weren’t complaining. Soap would plop himself down in front of Ghost and lean back until the Lieutenant had no choice but to begrudgingly let the man sit comfortably between his legs. Gaz did the same with you, a bowl of assorted sweets in his lap – you were far more compliant in letting him settle between your legs. 

“What’re we watchin’?” Price grumbles from your right, taking a swig from his hip-flask. You lean over Ghost to glare at him.

“Try not to sound too excited.” You scoff, attempting another swipe at his drink. Ghost catches your wrists easily and shoves you gently back to your side of the couch.

“Watch it, you two,” He growls and Soap lets out what can only be described as a giggle.

“I was thinking Princess Diaries?” Gaz says, turning around to look up at everyone, his cheek resting on your thigh.

“‘Princess Diaries?’” Price repeated back deadpan, “What are you, twelve?”

Gaz grins, a dangerous glint in his brown eyes, “Watch it Captain, I’m not above fighting for the cause.”

Ghost groans, resting his head on the back of the couch with a small thud. “I don’t care what it is, can we just pick something and hurry up?”

“It’s an important decision, Lt.” Soap says, moving his arms to sling over Ghosts thighs like they’re arm rests, “debate is essential to democracy.”

The man only raises a hand to pinch the bridge of his nose, “Fuckin’ hell.”

“Ok well I like the Princess Diaries,” you pipe up, resting your hand on Gaz’s shoulder – who turns around and offers you a sweet. “The movies are funny and sweet and an easy watch –“

–“It’s a goddamned series?!”

“We don’t have to watch all of them!” You reach over and manage to smack Price before Ghost intervenes. 

“Okay, hold on.” Soap interjects, “We cannae nae watch all of ‘em.”

You sigh, rubbing the space between your brows, “I suppose not. There are only two anyway.”

“Okay, how about this.” Gaz says, ever the mediator, “We watch the first one and if you don’t like it, we won’t watch the second. But, if I catch a single fuckin’ laugh come out your mouth Price, we watch ‘em both tonight.”

The Captain, sips at his whiskey, mulling it over. Finally, he twists the lid back on and leans over Ghost, his hand outstretched. 

“We have a deal, Sergeant.”

ੈ✩‧₊˚

He laughed. You suppose Gaz knew he would, the man was always scheming. You caught a low rumble from the Lieutenant next to you as well, Soap looking over his shoulder up at him, catching your eye with a grin. 

Two movies later and even the captain was rubbing his eyes; yawning. Soap pushed himself up, using Ghost’s legs as a support, stretching before offering the lieutenant a hand up. The man took it without question, and the two waved their goodbyes – Soap trailing after Ghost with a yawn. 

Price followed soon after, tossing the empty flask down beside you on the couch. “Better luck next time, Sergeant,” the captain winked, leaning down to fist-bump Gaz before following the two others down the hall. 

You stretch, joints popping as you sink back into the couch. “Why is it that we are the only two who ever clean up.”

Gaz chuckles, his head still resting on your thigh. “I think it’s the price we play for initiating thus each week.”

“We weren’t the ones to come up with this whole movie night thing,” you retort tiredly, eyelids heavy, “I can’t even remember who it was.”

“Neither,” Gaz gives your knee a pat and squeezes it gently, before clambering to his feet, “I’ve got it tonight, you rest –”

–“but,” you protest, attempting to lever yourself off the couch.

“Sweet heart.” Gaz looks at you with a challenging gaze, his hands on his hips, “You can barely keep your eyes open – trust me I can clean a few dishes.”

You hold his gaze defiantly for a few moments before relenting as your eyes flutter again; you slump into the couch and cross your arms. “Fine.”

Gaz smiles at your poor attempt to look grumpy, ruffling your hair with one hand, a bowl of sweets stacked into a bowl of popcorn kernels in the other. “Sleep, I’ll wake you when I’m done.

ੈ✩‧₊˚

He doesn’t wake you. You should’ve known. Instead, your eyes flutter open when his arms wrap behind your knees and back – pulling you against his chest. You shut your eyes quickly. This is nice. He doesn’t need to know you’re awake. He hums something softly under his breath as he comes to your door, pushing it open with his hip. He smells distantly of the cologne you got him for Christmas and dish-soap.

You can’t hold back the squeak that leaves you when he deposits you onto your bed. He chuckles under his breath, pulling your duvet up and over you.

“Sorry, sweetheart.”

You mumble something incoherent and he laughs again, kissing your forehead. You can’t help the smile that crosses your face. Subtly was never your strong suit. 

“I think I like you,” You whisper as he’s turning and reaching for the door.

“Hm?” He turns back towards you – did he hear that right? But you’re already asleep, softly snoring, cheek pressed into your fist as it clings to the blanket. He sighs, smile tugging at his lip as he watches you. You’ll both address it one day, this feeling that’s been bubbling up between the two of you. 

“I like you too,” he echoes softly, knowing you can’t hear him. He spares you one last glance and yet another fond smile before he lets the door click shut behind him. 

I like you too.

ੈ✩‧₊˚

Masterlist

[doodle-girl]

Alright so most of you lot voted for demon yuri™ but unfortunately tumblr sniped me with the mature content warning the SECOND I put that up as a pfp because they're homophobic like that (/j please don't kill me) so WE'RE RUNNING THIS AGAIN (+ a new one)

[ask-the-stchoir]

to the creator of this blog, did you write or read motion carried, democracy rocks! On ao3 because it talks about the kids being in comas and Mischa and possibly ocean getting adopted by Constance’s mom so

it seemed kind of incredibly similar to this blog so I was just wondering:333

//AAA i haven't actually!! Though i think i saw the ljnk from discord!! I'll try reading when i have time:D//

[benjamintycandy]

333 million people in the US and the only two viable presidential candidates are a genocidal Islamophobic asshole and a convicted felon who is also a genocidal Islamophobic (and pretty much every other phobic) asshole.

I love US democracy.

[jackredfieldwasmyjacob]

my great grandfather was born in 1903 and died in 1989 which means he lived through:

the rule of alfonso xiii (1901-1923)

the melilla war and the tragic week (1909)

the creation of the spanish protectorate in morocco (1912)

wwi (1914-1918)

the institution of the first national parks (picos de europa and oropesa) (1918)

the inauguration of the madrid metro (1919)

the dictatorship of primo de rivera (1923-1929)

the 'dictablanda' (soft dictatorship) of berenguer (1930)

the second spanish republic (1931-1936)

the spanish civil war (1936-1939)

the dictatorship of francisco franco (1939-1975)

wwii (1939-1945)

spain enters the un (1955)

the independence of morocco (1956)

the palomares incident (1966)

eta starts doing terrorist attacks (1968)

the carrero blanco assasination <333 (1973)

franco dies (1975)

the transition to democracy under king juan carlos i (1975-1981)

the failed coup of tejero (1981)

the statute of autonomy of castilla-la mancha (where he's from) (1982)

decriminalization of abortion (1985)

spain enters nato and what would be the eu (1986)

he died during felipe gonzález's presidency (there were elections in 1989 and he won, starting his third term that year)

[wulfhalls]

we used to be a democracy </333 (jk i voted for flowers in the attic 😌)

iskarieot nation tyranny era

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Michael de Adder

* * * *

Upcoming week in the Supreme Court

Something weird may be happening at the Supreme Court, which is in the last week of its October 2023 term. Justices should be hard at work putting finishing touches on their opinions. But Justice Alito was not at the Court on Thursday and Friday of last week. Hmm . . . . No explanation has been forthcoming from the Court despite media inquiries. See Samuel Alito’s Mysterious Absence From Supreme Court Raises Questions | The New Republic.

In any event, the Court should issue five major opinions this week. See The Hill, Supreme Court opinion season nears climax: 5 major decisions to come. The decisions expected this week include:

·  Trump's presidential immunity defense ·  Challenges by January 6 insurrectionists to obstruction of official proceeding charges ·  Whether courts should defer to federal agencies in interpreting federal laws ·  Challenges to the Biden administration’s contacts with social media companies about misinformation during the Coronavirus pandemic ·  Challenges to efforts by Texas and Florida to moderate social media content

Despite the blockbuster cases on the Court’s docket, the 2023-2024 term marked a historic low in productivity. During the October 2023 term (ending June 30, 2024), the Court heard only 62 cases—a low-water mark not previously seen since 1863. See Vox, (5/3/2024), Supreme Court justices are the most powerful, least busy people in Washington.

The obvious solution to the slowdown in the work at the Supreme Court is to increase its size. When the Supreme Court was established in 1789, Congress set the Court’s size at 6 justices for a nation of 4 million people in 13 states. Today, the US has a population 82 times larger than in 1789, or an 8,225% increase—333 million people. And yet, the size of the Court has increased by 3 justices between 1789 and the present. A much larger Court is a logical necessity. See WaPo (5/10/2021), We compared the Supreme Court with other democracies’ high courts. More justices would improve its work.

[Robert B. Hubbell Newsletter]

[aronarchy]

Anarchist Studies, Volume 14, Issue 1, pp. 84–91 2006

Research Note: Αναρχία—What did the Greeks actually say?

URI GORDON

Doctoral Candidate in Politics University of Oxford uri.gordon@mansf.ox.ac.uk

ABSTRACT

This article examines a range of uses to which the word “anarchy” and its derivations were put in ancient Greek sources. Perhaps not surprisingly, the majority of instances indicate that the negative application of the word as a synonym for confusion and disorder was prevalent from ancient times. However, there are also several eminently political uses, which are quite telling in their prefiguration of contemporary anarchist values—namely the Athenians’ reference to 404 BC as the “year of anarchy”; the uses of the word by Plato and Aristotle in their critiques of democracy; and the association of anarchy with the defiant actions of Antigone in the plays of Aeschylus and Sophocles.

The ancient Greek origin of the word “anarchy” is a matter of common knowledge, and it has become a predictable convention to mention it at the outset of almost any discussion of anarchism as a political movement in the modern era. At the same time, as far as I am aware, no one has ever looked at the actual functioning of the word in classical sources. Instead, anarchist and non-anarchist commentators alike have inevitably satisfied themselves with second-hand exercises in Greek etymology, removing the word from its discursive context and ignoring the complex array of meanings it had for ancient writers. What I propose here, then, is to give attention to the actual uses to which the word was put in classical Greek. As I think will become immediately clear, such an exercise is of more than a merely historical interest.

Greek political culture revolved around citizenship in the polis, the city-state form that dominated political organization in the Hellenic world form the archaic period (c.800 BC) to the strong-armed unification of Greece under Alexander the Great (356–323 BC). Due in part to the peninsula’s geographic conditions, which meant that many settlement-clusters developed in relative isolation, poleis bringing together hundreds of farming households were largely self-sufficient and enjoyed economic and political autonomy for centuries. The typical Greek polis was a complex hierarchical society, with chattel slavery in agricultural households serving as its economic base. Sharply separated from domestic life was the citizen body, in which a certain rough equality obtained among male property owners. Citizenship was not necessarily “democratic”—in Sparta, all soldiers/citizens belonged to an assembly that elected a ruling council, which had legislative authority and advised the King. But in whatever form, the ideal of citizenship in a united political community seems to have been universally accepted by all literate classes. The polis itself was a matter for collective pride and was valued beyond question as the hallmark of the superiority of Greek civilization to the lifestyles of surrounding “barbarian” tribes. (See the bibliography for some further reading on the history and character of Greek political societies.)

Given the pervasive currency of this worldview, it is perhaps not surprising that, as T. A. Sinclair notes, “there was no philosophy of anarchy in Greek political theory.”[1] There are some possible exceptions to this observation: there were Cynics such as Antisthenes (a pupil of Socrates, c.444–365 BC) and his own pupil Diogenes of Sinope (412–323 BC), who looked with disdain on conventional values, wealth and social status, and who would have seen government as opposed to a life in full accordance with nature. Unfortunately only small fragments of Cynic writings have survived, but their ideas are thought to have later influenced Zeno of Citium (333–264 BC), founder of Stoicism, “who distinctly opposed his conception of a free community without government to the state-utopia of Plato… repudiated the omnipotence of the state, its intervention and regimentation, and proclaimed the sovereignty of the moral law of the individual.”[2] However, the Cynics’ purism drove them to oppose any organised intervention in politics, making their “anarchism” philosophical at best. While the ease with which later developments in Stoicism were appropriated for the peace of mind of the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius (121–180 AD) shows that its anarchist resonances were neither obvious nor perennial. Finally, neither Cynics nor Stoics are known to have used the actual concept “anarchy.”

Surprisingly, the entire corpus of electronically surveyable literature in ancient Greek contains only 47 instances of the word “anarkhia” or its derivations.[3] Compared to 549 instances of “demokratia” and 422 of “oligarkhia” in the same database, the word does not seem to have occupied a significant place in the literary vocabulary of the time. Among these 47 instances, moreover, the majority of cases employ the word just as many non-anarchists might do today—as a catch-all synonym for confusion, disorder, tumult and license. Thus in the play Hecuba by Euripides (c.480–406 BC), the heroine, fearing for her daughter’s body, says that “the mob knows no restraint, and the unruliness [anarkhia] of sailors exceeds that of fire.”[4] Another playwright, Aeschylus (c.525–456 BC), has his Clytaemnestra (wife of king Agamemnon, who fought against Troy) recalling the warning that “the mob’s anarchic will [dêmothrous anarkhia] might overturn the Council.”[5] While the historian Thucydides (c.460–395 BC) attributes the military failures of the Syracusans in part to “the troops’ disorder [asyntakton anarkhian].”[6] The same type of usage is also found in the historical work of Herodotus (c.484–430 BC), as well as with later Greek-writing historians such as Diodorus Siculus (fl.50 AD) and Flavius Josephus (c.37–100 AD). We can thus see that, far from being a subsequent “corruption,” the negative and condemnatory connotations of the word anarchy have burdened it from earliest times.

Let us look, however, at other cases from ancient Greece in which the word anarchy is used in a more distinctly political sense. There is, for instance, the single occasion when a Hellenic population appears to have matter-of-factly used the word to refer to its own situation: the Athenian “year of anarchy,” 404 BC. This is something of a curiosity, since the circumstances of that year were anything but anarchic. As a matter of fact, Athens was at the time under the very strong rule of an oligarchy—The Thirty—installed by the Spartans following their victory in the second Peloponesian war of that same year. Moreover, there was literally an Archon in place, installed by the oligarchs, in the person of Pythodorus. However, according to the historian Xenophon (c.430–355 BC), the Athenians refused to apply here their custom of calling the year by that archon’s name, since he was elected during the oligarchy, and “preferred to speak of it as the year of ‘anarchy.’”[7] Despite its counter-intuitive appearance, this first popular application of the word anarchy is very telling. It resonates with a mass symbolic defiance, refusing the recognition that a ruler was supposed to receive in everyday language. It was this defiance which led to the restoration of democracy in Athens the following year.

Democracy, of course, was far from a positive ideal for the great political theorists of ancient Greece, Plato and Aristotle. And it was always in the context of discussing democracy that they made their rare uses of the word anarchy—making for the close association between the two concepts which would prevail well into the modern era.[8] The two philosophers’ famous mistrust of democracy, rooted in their contempt for popular power of any kind, was expressed in their arguments for democracy’s inherent vulnerability and its preponderance to deteriorate into tyranny. However, it should be noticed that what enabled Plato to present such arguments in the Republic was the complete detachment of his account of democracy from the realities of such systems of government, in Athens and elsewhere. Nowhere does his description reflect the constitution that sentenced his mentor Socrates to death, the structured, lawful and impeccably stratified Hellenic democracy. Instead, we find an account that comes very close to what we might intuitively call anarchy, though for Plato this is an entirely negative affair. In democracy, he says, there is no enforceable political authority or stability of the state, “no necessity… for you to govern… even if you have the capacity, or to be governed, unless you like, or to go to war when the rest go to war, or to be at peace when others are at peace, unless you are so disposed.”[9] This portrayal is what sets the ground for Plato’s account of such a state’s subsequent deterioration into tyranny. Democracy in his view makes for far too much equality. It loosens what Plato considered to be the natural hierarchy and authority obtaining between slave and master, man and woman, parent and child. His allegorical youngster’s soul, divided between an oligarchical self and a democratic self, is besieged by the corrupting and evil influence of the latter. Democracy causes the soul to “drink too deeply from the strong wine of freedom,” breeding desires whose false councils introduce “insolence and anarchy and waste and impudence hymning their praises and calling them by sweet names; insolence they term breeding, and anarchy liberty [anarkhian de eleutherian], and waste magnificence, and impudence courage.” So pervasive is the corruption that “anarchy finds a way into the private houses, and ends by getting among the animals and infecting them.”[10] In order to avoid the dangers of anarchy, Plato concludes that habits of dominance and obedience must be instilled deeply into the soul of the individual. “This task of ruling, and being ruled by, others must be practised in peace from earliest childhood; but anarchy must be utterly removed from the lives of all mankind, and of the beasts also that are subject to man.”[11]

It is important to note that, for Plato, anarchy is never a distinct class of political association. Since the concept is entirely subsumed into his discussion of democracy, it is not understood as requiring a separate theoretical category alongside oligarchy, tyranny, democracy, etc. Nevertheless, Plato’s account does supply us with an important understanding about anarchy that remains intact regardless of his crusade against it. This is that anarchy represents not merely the lack of government conceived as statelessness, but also the thorough erosion of rank in non-governmental spheres—between classes, age-groups and genders.

Aristotle’s association of anarchy with democracy is essentially identical to although his depiction thereof is never as colourful. The concept appears again as a form of democratic deterioration, but in keeping with Aristotle’s method it is appropriately situated in empirical observations rather than in metaphorical speculation. In democracies such as Thebes and Syracuse, we are told, the upper classes were motivated to stage a coup by their contempt for the prevailing “disorder and anarchy [ataxias kai anarkhias]” in the affairs of the state.[12] Also, in many cases the nobles will form factions with one another, and create them among the masses, “and so bring about a suspension of government [anarkhian].”[13] Alternately, in a tyranny Aristotle sees “democratic” features, namely “license among slaves” [anarkhia te doulôn] as well as among women and children. “A constitution of this sort,” he concludes, “will have a large number of supporters, as disorderly living [zên ataktôs] is pleasanter to the masses than sober living.”[14] Aristotle, like Plato, was not interested in delineating anarchy as a separate political form. However, unlike Plato, he is able to see anarchy as more than an abstractly corrupting influence, since its connection with democracy portrays it as desirable by the masses, and even as an implicit goal of popular insurrection.

The explicit connection of anarchy with a conscious human will appears only twice in classical Greek literature. This is perhaps the most intriguing example since, although penned by two different authors over a gap of several decades, they both refer to the same act by the same person. If we are looking for the first-ever anarchist, here she is:

Antigone: I at least will say something to the rulers of the Cadmeans: even if no one else is willing to share in burying him I will bury him alone and risk the peril of burying my own brother. Nor am I ashamed to act in defiant opposition [apiston tênd’anarkhian] to the rulers of the city. A thing to be held in awe is the common womb from which we were born, of a wretched mother and unfortunate father. Therefore, my soul, willingly share his evils, even though they are unwilling, and live in kindred spirit with the dead. No hollow-bellied wolves will tear his flesh, let no one “decree” that! Even though I am a woman, I will myself find the means to give him burial and a grave, carrying the earth in the fold of my linen robe. With my own hands I will cover him over—let no one “decree” it otherwise. Take heart, I will have the means to do it.[15]

In the person of Antigone, a long-standing inspiration to feminists, we also find a clear prefiguration of two of the most important concepts attached to anarchist practice in its contemporary idiom: disobedience and direct action. First, Antigone openly refuses to abide by the rulers’ decree to leave her brother Polyneices’ body unburied, as punishment for his participation in the attack on Thebes. She asserts that the bond of siblings born of a common womb stands above the authority of political powers, and rejects the legitimacy of any decree that transgresses this bond. While her appeal to values that stand above the law as a justification for her actions is by no means an exclusively anarchist refrain, and while on some interpretations these values are themselves grounded in a form of authority—the higher authority of the gods—it is the disobedient and insubordinate character of her action that she, in her own words, associates with anarchy. It should also be remembered that it was only in recent decades that the notion of justified, “civil” disobedience to the law acquired popular moral legitimacy. In earlier times, including those of the anarchist movement in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the distinction between contingent and wholesale (i.e. anarchist) rejection of political authority was not as clear as it is today.

Second, we find in Antigone’s speech a striking example of the concept of direct action. She has no intention of appealing to the authorities in order to convince them of the immorality or illegitimacy of their decree, but rather takes that illegitimacy as her starting point, and sets about to take matters into her own hands and create by herself the alternate reality that she desires. Aeschylus, we may also note, has his chorus openly endorse Antigone’s defiance at the close of the play. Whatever action the authorities might take against her, they say, “We, at all events, will go and bury him with her, following the funeral procession. For this grief is shared by all our race, and the city approves, as just, different things at different times.”[16]

Picking up the narrative in Antigone, Sophocles has the autocrat Creon warn his son Heimon (who is also Antigone’s lover) of the dangers of her intended action:

Creon: There is no evil worse than disobedience [anarkhias de meizon ouk estin kakon]. This destroys cities; this overturns homes; this breaks the ranks of allied spears into headlong rout. But the lives of men who prosper upright, of these obedience has saved the greatest part. Therefore we must defend those who respect order, and in no way can we let a woman defeat us.[17]

Again the translator has well chosen to reflect the disobedient core of anarchy, whereas Sophocles himself cleverly exposes here the ambiguity and half-heartedenss of all rulers’ moralistic declamations in defence of obedience and authority. Is the issue here really the potential damage to the collectivity of such an act of disobedience going unpunished? Or is it rather the danger that such an example of defiance would posit to the stability of power itself and, even more poignantly, to the principle of male supremacy?

To be sure, neither the classical Greek nor any other historical antecedents of the uses of the word anarchy should have any deciding influence on how we might understand the concept today. However, the foregoing analysis of the ancient literature does lead to two significant conclusions about the discourse surrounding the word. First, we can see that the negative connotations of anarchy with disorder and confusion have been widespread from the very beginning, as evident in the first citations I offered. This shows how deep-seated are the preconceptions which anarchists have had to deal with when re-articulating the word as a positive ideal. Second, we can see that despite these widespread connotations, some writers were capable of understanding anarchy as an eminently political concept—even if it had an entirely negative role in their writing. Moreover, these political formulations of anarchy already contain, in their most ancient form, the notions of social equality, popular resistance and disobedience to power which anarchists associate with their project to this day.

Acknowledgements: My thanks to Dimitrios Kyritsis and Juan Coderch for verifying Greek translations.

NOTES

Sinclair (1951:83).

Kropotkin (1910), Marshall (1992:68–71).

The figures here are taken from the comprehensive database of the Perseus Digital Library at Tufts University.

Euripides, Hecuba II.606–8.

Thucydides, The Peloponesian War, bk.6 ch.7 §4.

Aeschylus, Agamemnon, II.883–4.

Xenophon, Hellenica, bk.2 ch.3 §1.

Before Pierre Joseph Proudhon became the first to use the word in a positive sense in 1840, “anarchists” was a widespread pejorative for “democrats.” See Williams (1976:37–8).

Plato, Republic, bk.8.

Ibid.

Plato, Laws §942c. Note that here as in the previous citation, Plato seems to be hinting at a continuity between hierarchy among humans and the domesticated state of non-human animals, with anarchy corrupting both. One wonders whether our contemporary anarcho-primitivists would appreciate such a strange bedfellow…

Aristotle, Politics, bk.5 ch.3.

op.cit., bk.2 Ch.10.

op.cit., bk.6 ch.4.

Aeschylus, Seven Against Thebes, II.1032–1045. Dated at 467 BC, this also happens to be the earliest recorded use of the a-word.

Ibid., II.1074–1077.

Sophocles, Antigone, II.672–678.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Works cited

Aeschylus 1926. Aeschylus (trans. H. W. Smyth). Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press.

Aristotle 1932. Politics (trans. H. Rackham). Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press.

Euripides 1938. Hecuba (trans. E. P. Coleridge). New York, Random House.

Kropotkin, P. 1910. “Anarchism,” Encyclopaedia Britannica article.

Marshall, P. 1993. Demanding the Impossible: A history of anarchism. London, Fontana.

Plato 1901. Republic (trans. B. Jowett). New York, P. F. Collier.

Plato 1926. Laws (trans. R.G. Bury). New York, Putnam.

Sinclair, T. A. 1951. A History of Greek Political Thought. London, Routledge & Kegan Paul.

Sophocles 1891. Antigone (trans. R. Jebb). Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.

Thucydides 1910. The Peloponnesian War (trans. R. Crawley). London, Dent.

Williams, Raymond 1976. “Anarchism,” Keywords. London, Fontana.

Xenophon 1985. Hellenica (trans. C.L. Brownson). Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press.

2. Background on ancient Greek politics

Andrewes, A. 1971. Greek Society. Harmondsworth, Penguin.

Baslez, M. F. 1994. Histoire politique du monde grec antique. Paris, Nathan.

Brock, R. and S. Hodkinson (eds.) 2000. Alternatives to Athens: Varieties of political organization and community in ancient Greece. Oxford, Oxford University Press.

Meier, C. 1990. The Greek discovery of politics. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press.

Nielsen, T. H. (ed.) 2004. Once again: Studies in the ancient Greek Polis. Stuttgart, Franz Steiner.

Rhodes, P. (ed.) 2004. Athenian democracy. Edinburgh, Edinburgh University Press.

Sinclair, R. K. 1988. Democracy and participation in Athens. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.

Starr, Chester G. 1986. Individual and community: The rise of the polis. Oxford, Oxford University Press.

[mcytchildbracket]

Quarter 2, match 3

Info and propaganda under cut

Shroud

Nicknames: Smp: Dream smp/ BBH smp Parent: Tommyinnit Propaganda: The fandom turned him into Tommy’s kid. He exists because of us. We cannot let him down.

Richarlyson

Nicknames: Richas Smp: QSMP Parents: Everyone; Cellbit, Felps, Pactw, Mikethelink, Quackity, Roier, and Bagi, mine, ect Propaganda:

Currently the happiest little egg on the server and holds current server record for most parents (7 dads and 1 mom). He is always plotting to get more parents. His gender up for democratic vote between his original five dads but they never voted so he is simply just Richas <3. He's a very talented artist and has made a bunch of custom pixel art for the server! He's also possibly possessed by a ghost but let's not worry about that<333

He wants to have as much parents as he can do he can have a lot of inheritance. He is a really good artist. HE IS BRAZILIAN 🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷. He once said his parents could chose his gender, like democracy. He hides his sadness and don't want his parents worry for him. I miss this ovo cabeçudo safado 😔.

Look at him, he's got like 20 parents, 10 siblings, he's Brazilian, he's got a fucked up leg, look at him

he's so awesome and very funny. everyone immediately loves him. he plays more than literally anyone else on the server because he is always trying to hang out with all his parents. he cares so uch about them and they care so much back. genuinely fun to watch. epic character design the fandom seems to have made and all agreed on together. speaks portugese and english and spanish (possibly due to fanfiction, i hear, possibly LOL). he's got trauma and swag. he's simply a baby just the littlest guy on the server but he's everywhere and everyone loves him. i miss him so much WHERE IS HE???? come back where did he go... where did they all go... anyway RICHAS SWEEP LETS GOOOOOOOOOO

has multiple alters, amputee; uses a prosthesis, the egg with the most parents on the qsmp by far, 5/9 of his parents have gone missing/been kidnapped, adopted a sentient capybara, writes fanfictiom canonically, brazilian 🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷

[liesmyth]

berlusconi was a freemason...?

[this is re: this post by @fedtothenight]

It's not so much that he was a Freemason, which from what I understand is not THAT huge of a deal in other countries. It's that he was a member of a Lodge that was for all intents and purposes a criminal organisation. Behold

They also worked hard to support fascism elsewhere <333

So YEAH it may seem funny that one would put "freemason" among Berlu's long list of crimes but actually he rubbed shoulders with fascists in their rich people club of anti-labour criminals who help a bro get ahead and fuck with democracy while they're at it. Rest in piss Silvio <3