About two years ago a group of friends were talking about some ideas they’d all been incubating for a number of years. These ideas for Mark, Jennifer, Pamela, and Paul, and two others who weren’t present as we met eventually coalesced into the form of anarchism.
The like-thinking group of people talked about the idea of opening the Pitch Pipe Infoshop, but the idea didn’t quite materialize during that first wave of discussions.
Then, as they revived the conversations, held meetings and discussed philosophies, “it happened immediately,†with its grand opening held on July 31.
The four speak through agreement; as anarchists they work and communicate collectively. The term “collective†is used a lot; there’s the collective of housemates who live in the home, which has some crossover to the Infoshop collective. “Not all are in both.â€
I pose a general anarchy question from the standpoint of ignorance: my first and main experience with anarchy, maybe 25 years ago, was hearing on the news about the angry, violent punk anarchist mobs rebelling in England.
But the four before me are peace-loving, with some of them being involved in the Tacoma organization Food not Bombs. They commute by bikes and organize the fourth-Friday Critical Mass bike ride. The four in front of me are Tacoma anarchists, hoping to disseminate information that illuminates the ideas behind anarchism.
Pamela explains the concept by breaking down the word to its Greek roots, “An archy, not hierarchical. We don’t use authoritrianism.â€
She adds, “We don’t have a president at Infoshop. We do have rules, but everyone decides on them.â€
In terms of living daily as anarchists, the concept of “living within certain constraints†is repeated often. They obey laws, particularly those that involve common sense. Most have jobs. Paul explains, “One of the big challenges is trying to live differently; it seems like a lot of anarchists aren’t living differently. We’re paying rent, buying food. It’s difficult not to.â€
What they try to do differently is live critically, asking questions like, “What is this rule? Who is benefiting from it? What are the options?â€
Paul adds, “It’s not enough to live independent of the system, but to change the system.â€
The Infoshop will try to do just that at their space on 617 S. 17th St., free for the public use during regular hours Friday noon to 4 p.m. and Saturdays 4-7 p.m., as well as during special events like workshops, skill-building sessions, movie nights and more.
“We could potentially serve as a meeting space; we’re pretty much open to anything that serves the community,†says Mark.
Contact them by e-mail, or go to the Pitchpipe Infoshop MySpace page for more information. â€" Jessica Corey-Butler
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