Skip to main content
  • Home
  • Calendar
  • About Us
  • Watch/Listen
  • FOIL Docs
  • Editorial Policy
  • Log in
  • Publish Article

Upcoming Events

No upcoming calendar events.

Hats off to Kropotkin!!

Primary tabs

  • View(active tab)
  • Devel
Submitted by Christopher Snyder on Mon, 2020-12-21 21:46
In the discourse of the libertarian left, there is a general aversion to what is called the "great man" theory of history, the interpretation of history in terms of the decisive actions of great leaders. You might say that there is an exception made for Kropotkin, the great white bearded Saint (as described by Oscar Wilde).
 
Born into privelege as the son of a minor landlord in Russia, Kropotkin would eventually assume the role of class traitor, moving over the course of a lifetime from the Tzar's court to the Tzar's prison. His memoirs of a revolutionist paint a picture of a modest man pushed to acts worthy of a Grecian hero by a simple insistence on the dignity of all people.
 
Kropotkin's influence was not contained within the boounds of politics, at a time when misreading of Darwin were stoking the fires of the eugenics movement, Kropotkin's Mutual Aid painted a more cooperative image of living systems and broadened the possibilities for human societies beyond the mindless drive for profit.
 
Kropotkin did not invent mutual aid, the type of society he outlined and advocated had been practiced by indigenous people's for millenia. His writings aided in translation these ideals into modern parlance to provide those fighting the harsh logic of social darwinism at a time when authoritarian and racist ideas were in ascendence. For this we say hats off to Kropotkin on his 178th birthday.
 

peter-kropotkin.jpg

Miscellaneous
Anarchism
  • Facebook logo
  • Google logo
  • identi.ca logo
  • Twitter logo
  • Digg logo
  • del.icio.us logo
  • Reddit logo
  • StumbleUpon logo
  • Yahoo logo
  • Log in or register to post comments

Search form

Local News

Hats off to Kropotkin!!
Agreement between the City of Rochester and the Rochester Police Locust Club, 2016 - 2019
Facebook Posts Lead to Federal Rioting Charges for Justice for Daniel Prude Protester
Youth Sports Leagues, Personnel Files, and Journalistic Peddling of Copaganda
Behind Those Giant Messages at the Protests
Singletary, La'Ron (2020 fired Chief of Police): personnel file; settlement
Mazzeo, Michael; personnel file
Justice For Daniel Prude - 12th night (Sept 13)
Justice for Daniel Prude: Activists achieve major gains, push for more
Local Rally in support of US Postal Service
'Agitators', Family Dollar, and a rip-off at half the price
Federal Consent Decree Ordering Racial Integration of RPD
Shooting Case Clearance in Rochester, NY Working Paper 2018-07
Importance of State Law in Police Reform
The Police Advisory Board and the CRB: an analysis
Keyoni Adams tells her story of police violence
Judge on gun case: no body-worn camera footage, no probable cause, case dismissed
This year's RCSD budget crisis can be traced back to the absurd process that "balanced" last year's budget
It’s not over for Benny Warr
Critique of a Yellowish Piece of "Journalistic" - Trash

Recent Comments

Media's Goebbels
Related
Related
USA as NAZI criminals
oops
PS
A message of Truth from Geral
Fyi
See related data...
War

Syndication

  • Feature Stories
  • Local News

Account Creation Policy Change

Rochester Indymedia is now requiring editor approval for account creation.

We came to this decision after we had repeated spam posted to our website that caused difficulty with the website's functioning.  We will still have open publishing and keep our site as nonrestrictive and accessible as possible.

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us.  As before, we will continue to be Rochester's grassroots news and education site.  Thank you for your continued support and remember, "Don't hate the media, be the media!"

Editorial Meeting Times / Locations

The Rochester Independent Media Center (R-IMC) is no longer meeting regularly.
We will set up meetings by necessity and appointment. Please contact us at rochesterindymedia@rocus.org.
Our home is still the Flying Squirrel Community Space at 285 Clarissa St. Occasionally, we hold meetings at RCTV located at 21 Gorham Street.

Global IMC Network

To be downloaded