Horizontal Hostility

In this episode the hosts discuss post-leftism, an article by Alexander Reid Ross, and some drama around the recent discovery that Wolfi Landstreicher had published through a fascist-aligned publisher. What is the post-left? How widely should we cast that term? Are the clusterfucks often associated with it (Bob Black, Hakim Bey...) more characteristic than other figures or tendencies? Will defends many of his haters, arguing that the post-left provides critical and valuable insights that anarchists must integrate, the other hosts are skeptical. The hosts discuss the particular weaknesses of some flavors of post-leftism to fascist entryism, and the disappointing wagon-circling that has resulted from certain critiques, as well as the weaknessness of those critiques. Do anarchist norms against snitching or collaboration with fascists constitute a form of policing or "boycott politics"? Note that immediately after recording Wolfi released his account which people should also read.

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In this episode the hosts talk about ITS (Individuals Tending Towards Savagery), a nihilist anticiv or “ecoextremist” terrorist group in Mexico. The recent stabbings by a white supremacist of three people in Portland hangs over the episode as it was recorded in the early hours the day after. The hosts discuss ITS’ emergence from green anarchism, its deep divergences from anarchism, as well as what forces led to it and currently defend and propagandize for ITS. Are ITS’ communiques secretly attempts to persuade others or just performances to strengthen the psychology and narratives they’ve grown trapped in? How can the isolation of insurrectionary struggle can cause people to diverge from the movements they started out with? We discuss the motte and bailey and other fallacies beloved of ITS apologists. Meanwhile Sean occasionally pounds on a typewriter in the background from his cabin in the wilderness ruining the audio in an indiscriminant strike against technosociety.

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In this episode four of the five hosts use a recent interview where Slavoj Zizek discusses brain interface technology as a launching point to talk about the radical potentials, dangers, and philosophical implications of technology. Will and Vanc argue about how much responsibility rests on us as developers versus as consumers. To what degree are anarchists drawn to problematic technologies like Facebook or Twitter as a result of personal utility as opposed to social pressure? What’s the difference between the manipulative pressures of advertising and building interfaces that people can more quickly adapt to? And philosophically is “freedom” to be found in division or connection? Should the gap between us and the world be abolished? Ciarrai and Will both support greater connection but differ when it comes to organizational prescriptions in our present world between collectivism and individualism.

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Our second episode! The five hosts, now dispersed around the world, talk about how almost every ideological strand of anarchism became a self-parody in their responses to a couple folks filling potholes in Portland. We score easy laughs and praise the pothole-fillers for the greatest troll in a long time. Along the way we try to engage more seriously with the ethics of infrastructure and resistance, propaganda and spectacle, a world without work, whether anarchism is about goals, and the context of the Portland anarchist scene. The main takeaway however is that Will and Sean oppose poetry and Pax opposes their faces.

pothole, you pothole
do you reinforce the civ
help white people live

pothole, you pothole
do you want to cut my wage
coopt all the rage

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Horizontal Hostility’s inaugural episode. The five hosts gather in the same city and same room (with two spectators and occasional commentators) to talk about Riseup.net’s decision to turn over information regarding two users to the FBI and their justification. Basically Will demonstrates he’s spineless and weak on snitches by talking a lot to defend the value of Riseup’s infrastructure while everyone else disagrees and Pax actively whittles torture implements to use on snitches in Iranian prisons over the course of the episode. Possibly more nuanced conversation is had about the context of Riseup’s decision. Lots of shit is talked about the hacker community. Discussion gets a bit technical at places, but should still be followable.

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