Neighbor Democracy

This is a segment of an interview I did for a podcast. I talk with Patrick Farnsworth about the impact directly democratic decision-making in progressive schooling has in an individual’s social development, and the limitations and traumas that come with conventional education as it functions today. Episode #146 of Last Born In The Wilderness “The Progressive School: Self-Directed Learning, Democracy, & Play w/ Ian Campbell.” Listen to the full episode: http://bit.ly/LBWcampbell You can find Last Born In the Wilderness on all podcast streaming platforms. It really is one of the most intriguing and educational podcasts out there.

This is a clip taken from the Last Born In The Wilderness podcast, when host Patrick Farnsworth interviews John Halstead. Regardless of what you think of capitalism's past record, here is why it can no longer be sustained and why the sooner it is done away with, the better for all of us.

It has been almost four years since the voters of Denton, Texas won- and then lost it all. As the evidence grows that hydraulic fracturing-"fracking"-contributes to environmental and health catastrophes, and as these catastrophes hurtle us towards collapse, I use a tale from my own life to argue for total neighborhood autonomy and direct democracy. With these tools, we can form a bulwark against the offloading of environmental "externalities" onto communities by distanced politicians and corporate executives who have no real stake in them. To learn more about some of the growing models pointing the way towards stronger communal lives, check out these links: Rojava (Northern Syria): https://youtu.be/cDnenjIdnnE Autonomous Zapatista Territories (Southern Mexico): https://youtu.be/Ww46lxIc6-w Zone À Defendre (Rural France): https://youtu.be/InUtCdDQlCY Cherán (Mexico): https://youtu.be/SrPBdLiqMb0 The 48 Cantones (Guatemalan forests): https://vimeo.com/82865010 Freetown Christiania (Copenhagen, Denmark): https://youtu.be/0n6zGTx_uQo Cooperation Jackson (Jackson, Mississippi): https://cooperationjackson.org/ Mutual Aid Disaster Relief (United States): https://mutualaiddisasterrelief.org/ If you would like to help MAD Relief and Appalachian Medical Solidarity in the wake of Hurricane Florence with supplies, you can donate here: https://www.gofundme.com/mutual-aid-relief-supplic

*This is the audio version of a video originally made for Youtube: https://youtu.be/r8i4RAxLB-o* An excerpt from my previous video The Communes of Rojava: A Model In Societal Self-Direction (https://youtu.be/cDnenjIdnnE). This is the final excerpt I'll be releasing from this series, but be sure to go back to the original video and watch the call to action at the end. Where is the forefront of women's struggle for freedom? This question guided the creation of this video. The Middle East, and the Euphrates region particularly, has a long tradition of women's resistance against patriarchy that is often overlooked in the "Western world". Women were the first to tame plants, bringing on the agricultural revolution, and the advent of many rich cultures in settled society. In the Democratic Federation of Northern Syria (Rojava), women are reclaiming that legacy and cultural knowledge, telling these washed-over stories, and building a free life, refusing to wait for after the revolution to address their needs. Not only have the women of Rojava made remarkable strides in the struggle for freedom, I would argue that their movement, articulated through "Jineologî" (the science of women and free life) and their own self-organized structures, represents the most successful and far-reaching mass societal women's movement to date. For those of us struggling against patriarchy around the world today, we have so much to learn from the women of Rojava. If you've seen previous excerpts from my Communes of Rojava video, feel free to skip to 2:19 to get past the introduction. I. A Short Introduction to the Commune System: 0:00-2:18 II. Women's Committee: Backbone of the Revolution (the main presentation): 2:19-10:56

*This is the audio version of a video originally made for Youtube: https://youtu.be/d-TT4qAKM4w* An excerpt from my previous video The Communes of Rojava: A Model In Societal Self-Direction (https://youtu.be/cDnenjIdnnE). I'll be releasing several other excerpts over the coming days covering each committee of the commune system. Can students and teachers learn together as equals? Are students capable of directing their own learning without coercion, rewards or punishment? These questions guided the creation of this video. In the Democratic Federation of Northern Syria (Rojava), education is one of the most essential pillars of life, and there are a wide-range of places to learn, from more project-based schools to specialized academies to frequent self-organized workshops open to people of all ages on a wide variety of practical subjects in every neighborhood. The common theme uniting the community educational initiatives in Rojava is a diffusion of hierarchy between staff and students and room for flexibility and self-direction based on the learner's interest. Their seems to be a general self-image amongst the people of Rojava as "life-long learners. Rojava makes an excellent case study for those interested in self-directed learning, especially those of us in the West who often oversimplify or stereotype cultures in the Middle East. In building any self-directed society, a self-directed education paradigm is absolutely essential. Given the chance to build a society based on autonomy in all aspects in life, the exact opposite of life under Daesh (ISIS) and the state, the people of Rojava have embraced education as a means for preparation towards a free, communal life. If you've seen previous excerpts from my Communes of Rojava video, feel free to skip to 2:25 to get past the introduction. I. A Short Introduction to the Commune System: 0:00-2:25 II. Lifelong Learners: The Education Committees (the main presentation): 2:25-8:39

*This is an audio version of a video originally intended for Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Peyoc7-W0lc * An excerpt from my previous video The Communes of Rojava: A Model In Societal Self-Direction (https://youtu.be/cDnenjIdnnE). I'll be releasing several other excerpts over the coming days covering each committee of the commune system. Can an economy be run democratically? That is the question I explore in this video, using the directly democratic cooperatives controlled by the communes in the Democratic Federation of Northern Syria (Rojava) as a case study. As the global climate crisis heats up, economies under local control but linked together to meet people's needs on a large scale becomes direly necessary. Rojava's municipalized cooperatives lays the groundwork for just that, with its municipalized cooperatives, run through commune assemblies by the workers and the residents most affected by the work of the co-op. Much of the environmental crisis comes from those having the power to make decisions over communities that they never live in, pushing off environmental damage out of their sight. But a community that controls its economy through direct democracy of all residents is never going to vote to pollute their own neighborhood. It is that kind of economic autonomy that will be necessary to enhance our quality of life and prevent worsening climate catastrophe. If you've seen previous excerpts from my Communes of Rojava video, feel free to skip to 2:34 to get past the introduction. I. A Short Introduction to the Commune System: 0:00-2:29 II. Neighbor Economics: Cooperatives in Rojava (the main presentation): 2:34-9:53

*This is an audio version of a video originally intended for Youtube: https://youtu.be/Cc5i5Xau4xs* An excerpt from my previous video The Communes of Rojava: A Model In Societal Self-Direction (https://youtu.be/cDnenjIdnnE). I'll be releasing several other excerpts over the coming days covering each committee of the commune system. In this video, I explore the question "Do we need courts and punishment in order to find justice?" by using the way people in Rojava/DFNS hold each other accountable to the norms they create together as a case study. Rojava gives us some insight into what kind of community efforts it would take to create an alternative to the mass incarceration and backlogged, dehumanizing court system that we have in America. They approach the idea of justice in a fundamentally different way, with the goal not being punishment, but to first meet the needs of the person(s) who was harmed, while also trying to understand what factors led someone to harm others in the first place and root those out. They are guided by the question, “How can we eliminate the conditions causing this person to harm?” instead of “How can we now harm this person who harmed others?” Justice is handled through decentralized community intervention with a restorative focus. If you've seen previous excerpts from my Communes of Rojava video, feel free to skip to 2:29 to get past the introduction. I. A Short Introduction to the Commune System: 0:00-2:29 II. Justice Beyond Courts: The Conciliation Committees (the main presentation): 2:29-7:46

*This is a audio version of a video originally made for Youtube: https://youtu.be/ojXxz1u1R4c* An excerpt from my previous video The Communes of Rojava: A Model In Societal Self-Direction (https://youtu.be/cDnenjIdnnE). I'll be releasing several other excerpts over the coming days covering each committee of the commune system. I try to provide insight into the question "Do we need police in order to be safe as a community?" by using the way people in Rojava/DFNS have come together to protect themselves as a case study. I look at the defense committees prevalent in many Rojavan communes as the outlines of a practical alternative to the police. The community defense members in the communes (HPC and HPC-Jin) are all: 1. Elected and from the community 2. Recallable 3. Mandated (only allowed to act as directly told by the commune members) 4. Enforcing norms that every commune member gets a democratic say on instead of rigid laws given from above 4. Rotating and dispersed to as many people as possible to prevent abuse of power and make community safety a collective responsibility 5. Undergo regular criticism and self-criticism sessions in front of the whole community This I argue makes them completely different from police, and a model I hope is incubated more to eventually replace the Asayish (regular security forces/police). I. A Short Introduction to the Commune System of the Democratic Federation of Northern Syria 0:00-2:43 II. The Communal Defense Committee: An Alternative to Police 2:43-6:04

*This is the audio version of a Youtube video: https://youtu.be/cDnenjIdnnE* An in-depth look into the inner workings of the commune system of Rojava and how they work in practice; I also call for people to form communes throughout North America and the world. 0:00-2:50 Defining The Commune 2:51-5:53 Defense Committee 5:54-11:09 Health Committee 11:10-15:29 Peace and Consensus Committee 15:30-23:40 Economic Committee 23:41-29:21 Education Committee 29:22-37:40 Women’s Committee 37:41-42:56 A Call for Communes Everywhere! Lots of self-criticism on this one: First, I should have mentioned that Rojava is a term no longer officially used their because it is rooted in the Kurdish struggle and is Kurd-centric as a name, but the society is being built as explicitly multi-ethnic so is now called the Democratic Federation of Northern Syria to reflect this diversity. I used the former term because, sadly, it is the word most people know. Also, my knowledge of Kurdish instrumental music is limited, so I used a couple of songs twice. This video is far too long. I will probably cut it up and release it in parts, showing each committee in a separate video. I also need a microphone. This took 20+ hours to edit and it still is sub-par as far as video and audio quality go. Criticism accepted and encouraged! The Internal System of the Communes In Rojava: https://mesopotamia.coop/the-internal-system-of-the-communes-in-rojava/ The Co-operative Contract of the Democratic Federation of Northern Syria: https://mesopotamia.coop/the-co-operative-contract-of-the-democratic-federation-of-northern-syria/

*This is an audio version of a Youtube video: https://youtu.be/Ww46lxIc6-w* "The experiment of the Zapatistas to build 'a world where many worlds fit' is an ongoing process, but in a few short decades they have already realized many of the [left] libertarian dreams of Ricardo Flores Magón." Based off an essay written for my Mexican history class. Full transcript with sources: https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/ian-campbell-to-those-who-work-it-ricardo-flores-magon-and-the-ezln Self-Criticism: Once again, the video is a bit too long. I also didn't take enough time to find good Zapatista instrumental music, so I ended up looping the same song throughout the video. Some really cool Zapatista music can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1NFIbjWRbI