Written by Andrew Parker   

‘The Information Age’, as the current era is termed, carries a degree of irony, as you’ll discover by the end of this article. Historically, the spread of information was once carried on the breath of those who sought to share it; on the waft of a piece of paper as we turned the page of a book, letter or newspaper. Information used to travel slowly and its power was never more than a delicate breeze. In the modern technological world information has become mechanised and it hits us like a hurricane. Through the radio, television, and Internet and all it’s devices: mobile phones, laptops, desktops and tablets, we are battered from all sides by a ferocious storm of information.

Truth is a precious commodity, for how can we truly know anything unless we know the truth? Truth used to be far more accessible, as information used to be far more condensed. In stark contrast, most information today is trivial, designed to influence our thoughts to think a certain way or to buy a certain product. It has become harder than ever before to find truth. In the blare of information the voice of truth is almost completely drowned out and we have to listen very, very hard to hear it. In reading this you will have navigated your way through the information storm. Here you will find yourself in the eye of the storm; you can rest and read what information I have found to be true.

It is true that we live in a world dominated by capitalism. The beneficiaries of this capitalist system preach and propagandise a consumer culture. We are constantly being told what to buy and how buying that product will improve our lives and make us happy. When I was a child I, like everyone else, was very much a product of my environment. Having something bought for me or, when I was old enough to work, buying something for myself, used to make me happy, for a while, but very soon I would need something else, something new, to quench the addiction to consume. We are after all consumer addicts churned out by this capitalist machine. But at the end of the day having lots of ‘stuff’ is just needless clutter. It is money spent on items we don’t really need and the only benefactors are the wealthy capitalists who perpetuate this consumer capitalist world. These wealthy capitalists constantly ply us with misinformation to misinform the truth seekers and to drown out the truth speakers. It has become increasingly difficult to get people’s attention in this world when being a consumer takes up so much of people’s time and attention.

Another example of misinformation is when we are told that growth is good and the more growth we have the better for all of us. Just the other day I was watching the news and heard Barack Obama declaring the need to free people from oppressive forces so that the oppressed may also facilitate growth. But this begs the question, why are people being oppressed in the first place? Is it because people are fighting for the planet’s finite resources – like oil, coal and water? Is it not so that a resource-rich aggressor will oppress a group of people so that they may steal the resources from that group of people and ultimately share the planet’s finite resources with less people? Surely this is the whole point of the game of empire waged by the resource-rich across the globe? Correct me if I’m wrong, but if we have this ever-increasing (infinite) growth and we consume more and more, with an ever-increasing population becoming ‘consumers’, won’t we quickly run out of our planet’s finite resources?

Our heads of state are lying to us (so what else is new!) They want there to be an oppressor (preferably themselves) and an oppressed. Sure, in a free market capitalist world it would be a benefit in the short-term to have every single individual as a consumer, but under such an economic model we would run out of resources at the quickest possible rate, leading to devastating wars as we tear ourselves to shreds in a fight to the death for resources needed to prolong our own survival – and just so we are on the same page, we are slowly making our way towards this apocalyptic conclusion right now! Add to that the level of protectionism that corporations call upon from the state in tariffs, so clearly it is not in anyone’s interests to have a free market capitalist world (anarcho-capitalism, libertarianism and plain old capitalism debunked!) Which is why the rulers of this world choose to hoard wealth and resources and oppress the vast majority of the human race with the central-planning powers of the state and international financial institutions, otherwise known as ‘the third way’. The rich prefer protectionism for them and free trade for unestablished international markets who cannot compete due to economics of scale. The rich apply elaborate tax avoidance schemes while the rest of us have our ‘real wage’ eroded year after year, pushing us ever closer to the poverty trapdoor. Some call this free market capitalism for the poor and socialism for the rich. In light of this there is clearly no longer an argument here: THE RICH DO NOT WANT FREE MARKET CAPITALISM! When they say they do they are lying to us to perpetuate the lie that is Capitalism.

We in the more affluent western nations are distracted and nullified by our rulers through the mainstream media to maintain this consumption model of society. But our silence makes us complicit in our own zombie consumer lifestyle and the suffering of the 90% of the planet’s population less fortunate than ourselves. I see the pain capitalism causes to people mentally and physically. I see the damage it causes to the ecosystem. I see how believing the wrong thing can cause us to act in the wrong way. There is a war on for our thoughts and beliefs and this is precisely why information is still so very precious, if not more precious than ever before.

Information is used to influence us to buy products to make the rich even richer. But information often comes to us from unknown sources with unknown interests and agendas. I would just like to add at this point that I have no agenda – no mean feat! I don’t write my thoughts for my own benefit, financial or otherwise. I feel that being part of the capitalist system makes me a part of the problem, which is why I am actively seeking solutions outside of this broken model, which I will share in greater detail in future articles. All I want is to feel that I have shared the truth with others and that we are using the truth to make the world a better place and in doing so helping us as one humanity to progress and evolve in harmony with the complex and precious ecosystems of the world.

Clearly, I’m not a consumer capitalist like so many others. I advocate Anarchy, ‘real’ Anarchy, not fake mainstream media Anarchy, which means the exact opposite. Anarchy doesn’t mean chaos. The word Anarchy arises from ancient Greek “An,” meaning without and “Archos” meaning rulers. In modern political philosophy Anarchy, or Anarchism (the ideology which aims to create Anarchy) is traced back, often, to Proudhon, and in particular his work “What is property?” – the origin of the still used anarchist slogan “Property is theft!” Just to clarify, personal property, like your house, car, phone and toothbrush, are yours to own and no one else has the right to take them away from you, or you from them. The wealth of the world – the land and its resources like oil, coal and fresh water, belong to all the world’s people and should be shared to each according to their need. So, no private hoarding of public goods whatsoever. It’s as simple as that! This type of Anarchy, indeed the only true Anarchy based on the values of freedom AND equality, is Anarcho-Communism. This may sound ominous, like something violent and inaccessible, but contrary to the belief that “Anarchy” is synonymous with “Disorder,” Anarchy = Order, not disorder. Anarchists generally advocate non-hierarchical, horizontal organization, typically through directly democratic structures. This means a highly organised and highly inclusive process of decision-making available for the first time since the inception of Capitalism and State protectionism in the neolithic period thousands of years ago. Imagine being an active member of society. Imagine the feeling of community and solidarity being able to implement what you need, making decisions that directly benefit you and your loved ones, your friends, neighbours and co-workers. But we needn't hypothesize...In 1936, Anarchists in the Spanish provinces of Catalonia and Aragon collectivised industry and agriculture, and established a working example of Anarchy, which proved that Anarchy could work in practice as well as in theory. This social experiment was so successful that it was quickly destroyed by Franco's Fascist Army and Stalin's Communist Militia.

To this day this is one of Humanity's best kept secrets. Few people know anything about Anarchy because it is a very real threat to the wealthy, those who depend upon this monetary system and it's intrinsic hierarchical structure to maintain control of wealth and resources, and even worse, to maintain control of you and me. To this end the wealthy have distorted the true meaning of the word Anarchy and kept it’s virtues hidden in the whirlwind of misinformation we are subjected to on a daily basis. Indeed, the irony of our era being known as ‘The Information Age’ is that it would be far more accurate to call it, ‘The Misinformation Age’.

It is our job to share truth wherever we find it. To this end please share this article far and wide. Thank you for reading. - Andrew Parker