192. BAND PRAXIS - Punk and the Anarchist Squint
Band Praxis - Punk and the Anarchist Squint by DaN McKee (taken from The Anarchism and Punk Book Project’s Book 2 - DIY or Die: Do it Yourself, Do it Together & Punk Anarchism)
Read More185. THE TONE OF OUR OPPRESSION - On Why This Anarchist Votes
Read More“It is because I am an anarchist, that I will still be voting within a system I don’t believe in for whatever limited, but vital, changes I can bring within that system, to make life better for those it oppresses the most…“
165. JUSTICE FOR VICTIMS - Why I Wouldn't Want My Killer Jailed
Read More“One student was obviously unconvinced, and remained incredulous that I was advocating a world without punishment. The last question of the night saw them ask: “what would you want to happen then if someone right now, god forbid, ran to the stage and shot you dead? What would you want to happen to them?“
143. ARTIFICIALLY PRODUCED - Is using ChatGPT To Do Your Work Cheating?
Read More“The following essay for Philosophy Unleashed was produced by AI. ChatGPT to be precise. I asked it to attempt to write a Philosophy Unleashed post on the topic of the ethics of using ChatGPT to cheat in school work, and do it in the style of me as author. I will present the essay to you first, then show you how it came to be. As you read, ask yourself the question: if I hadn’t told you it was artificially generated, would you know that a human being didn’t write this? And if you know my work specifically, would you know that I hadn’t written it?“
126. EDUCATED ABOUT EDUCATION - Anarchist Pedagogies and Learning From My Students
Read More“If I had planned an ideal last lesson for you (an actual lesson aimed at teaching you something new) what would we be doing and how would we be doing it?“
- Character Flaws: An Anarchist Critique of Character Education in England's Secondary Schools -
DaN McKee’s new paper Character Flaws: An Anarchist Critique of Character Education in England’s Secondary Schools has been published in the latest ANARCHIST STUDIES journal. You can read it, open access, here: https://journals.lwbooks.co.uk/anarchiststudies/vol-29-issue-2/abstract-9445/
90. FREEDOM DAY - An Anarchist Account
Read More“Given that we do not yet live in an anarchy, and on July 19th we will still be living in the same exploitative capitalist system which limits so many of our options and choices, the end of these particular laws does not mean we are being given radical new freedom by our government. The only thing being given the green light here is capitalism, to resume its exploitation as usual at the continued expense of our wellbeing.“
85. WALKING IT OFF - Avoiding Atrophy and Learning How to Self-Govern
Read More“The anarchist thinker, Errico Malatesta, once suggested growing up with external authority imposed upon us was like learning to walk in leg braces. We don’t even realise the imposition that is dragging us down, and the limitations put upon our ability to walk, let alone run. We simply trudge as best we can in the belief that this restricted movement is the best propulsion possible because we know no better.“
- The Anarchism and Punk Book Project UPDATE -
There’s been a lovely write-up HERE about what we’re trying to achieve with the anarchism and punk book project that I’d love you to check out - and remember, there’s still time to chip in for the crowdfunding to help keep costs down, pay translators, etc… https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/the-anarchism-and-punk-book-project
- The Anarchism and Punk Book Project -
Hi all - I’m writing a chapter for an upcoming collection of books on Anarchism and Punk, coming out later this year on Active Distribution. In a bid to keep it both DIY and global we want to fund things like translation costs and contributor copies, as well as keep distribution costs low, through crowdfunding. If you’re able and interested in supporting the project - please check out the link: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/the-anarchism-and-punk-book-project
Many thanks for your support!
- DaN
74. COOPERATION IS GREATER THAN COMPETITION: Lessons in Anarchism and Mutual Aid from Professional Wrestling
Read More“By working together instead of against each other, as anarchists since Kropotkin have argued, everybody wins and the seemingly zero sum game is exposed for the capitalist con it always has been.“
70. TRUMP, UNFORTUNATELY, HAS NOT BEEN SILENCED - Thoughts on Freedom of Speech in the Digital Age
Read More“Good ideas grow, bad ideas shrink. As a consequence, good speech gets louder and bad speech soon gets drowned out. Not censorship, but developed understanding and evolution towards better ideas that, at a certain point, recognise certain voices as no longer worthy of being listened to. The fascists, the racists, the sexists, the homophobes, the conspiracy theorists - they have little to offer once we look beyond mere transgression and take the ideas seriously as speech. And so, rightly, they are discarded.“
49. AUTHENTIC DEMOCRACY & COVID 19: a Postscript on a Pandemic
Read More“Unfortunately for the world, though helpful to my book, far from illustrating the necessity of government, Covid-19 has served only to support the thesis defended within the pages of Authentic Democracy, proving even further how our current, flawed, political arrangements continue to fail us.“
- Commercial Break: NEW BOOK OUT NOW - →
My new book - Authentic Democracy: An Ethical Justification of Anarchism - is out now as an e-book on Amazon and out in paperback from May 11th. Pre-order now from the publisher, Tippermuir Books, or from Amazon.
Read More39. ANARCHISM AND COVID-19 - Does the need for government intervention undermine the anarchist argument?
Read More“Supporting the lockdown does not, therefore, undermine the anarchist argument, but, to the contrary, makes it even clearer how dangerous, infantilising, and corrupting such state-systems can be. “
36. COVID-19 AND PHILOSOPHY: Thinking Clearly In Times of Uncertainty
Read More“Doing the right thing only becomes hard when we have constructed a world which puts embedded obstacles in the way of doing so.”