The revolution that worked ?

[brixtonscot]

From LUNARCHY: The carnival against capitalism – the joyful revolutionary overthrow – isn’t just about class. It’s equally about sex. If we track the cycle of the moon with a monthly insurrection, amplifying tidal periodicities in this way, then women all over the world start to tune in to one another’s rhythm. The average menstrual cycle is one moon – 29.5 days. Dance in the moonlight, and your cycle gets in step. Hunter-gatherer women know this well, marking time through the dance in their bodies. But of course Euroamerican patriarchs servicing capitalism 24/7 have forgotten this oldest of clocks.

Sound mad? Crazy? Lunatic? No revolution ever worked, right? Or could ever change human nature? Except the one revolution which did work – the revolution which made us human. We know that it worked because here we are today. Among all animals, only we humans have language, art, religion, symbolic culture. We possess these levels of organisation and awareness thanks to the way our unique species emerged in the evolutionary past.

Revolution which Worked

 

[Pickman's model]

From LUNARCHY: The carnival against capitalism – the joyful revolutionary overthrow – isn’t just about class. It’s equally about sex. If we track the cycle of the moon with a monthly insurrection, amplifying tidal periodicities in this way, then women all over the world start to tune in to one another’s rhythm. The average menstrual cycle is one moon – 29.5 days. Dance in the moonlight, and your cycle gets in step. Hunter-gatherer women know this well, marking time through the dance in their bodies. But of course Euroamerican patriarchs servicing capitalism 24/7 have forgotten this oldest of clocks.

Sound mad? Crazy? Lunatic? No revolution ever worked, right? Or could ever change human nature? Except the one revolution which did work – the revolution which made us human. We know that it worked because here we are today. Among all animals, only we humans have language, art, religion, symbolic culture. We possess these levels of organisation and awareness thanks to the way our unique species emerged in the evolutionary past.

Revolution which Worked

what's your take on this?

 

[The39thStep]

Doesn't this revolution exclude transgender women?

 

[kabbes]

Wut

 

[8ball]

Wut

I think there has been some confusing arising from the fact that 'revolution' can apply to both of the verbs 'revolt' and 'revolve'

 

[LDC]

This has the look of Chris Knight all over it....?

 

[8ball]

This has the look of Chris Knight all over it....?

Had a further poke round the site, which on the whole is either less barking than I expected, or I'm more barking than I thought I was.

 

[LDC]

Yeah, I just had a look. Looks like it might be a fellow traveler of Knight's from the Radical Anthropology Group that I think emerged from his teaching anthropology at the University of East London. He wrote Blood Relations and then a book on Chomsky iirc and started kicking about anarchist/activist street stuff in the mid to late '90s.

 

[brixtonscot]

what's your take on this?

If you're asking me , I dont know much about it , could seem a bit "wacky" - why I added ? to title - but possibly something to it.....and I thought it was intriguing enough to post and hear others views.
It is associated with Chris Kinight and Radical Anthropology Group , which I don't know so much about , but seem to cover some interesting stuff

 

[Pickman's model]

If you're asking me , I dont know much about it , could seem a bit "wacky" - why I added ? to title - but possibly something to it.....and I thought it was intriguing enough to post and hear others views.
It is associated with Chris Kinight and Radical Anthropology Group , which I don't know so much about , but seem to cover some interesting stuff

cheers!

 

[friendofdorothy]

From LUNARCHY: The carnival against capitalism – the joyful revolutionary overthrow – isn’t just about class. It’s equally about sex. If we track the cycle of the moon with a monthly insurrection, amplifying tidal periodicities in this way, then women all over the world start to tune in to one another’s rhythm. The average menstrual cycle is one moon – 29.5 days. Dance in the moonlight, and your cycle gets in step. Hunter-gatherer women know this well, marking time through the dance in their bodies. But of course Euroamerican patriarchs servicing capitalism 24/7 have forgotten this oldest of clocks.

Sound mad? Crazy? Lunatic? No revolution ever worked, right? Or could ever change human nature? Except the one revolution which did work – the revolution which made us human. We know that it worked because here we are today. Among all animals, only we humans have language, art, religion, symbolic culture. We possess these levels of organisation and awareness thanks to the way our unique species emerged in the evolutionary past.

Revolution which Worked

Not sure about the whole rule by the moon thing, some of that sounds like wishful thinking or poetic imagining.

I think the Radical Anthropology Group sound interesting. Their regular programme of talks sound fascinating. and their creative activism look fun too.

 

[Gramsci]

I do find the whole thing about lunar cycles etc not at all progressive. It looks like me to say humans are defined by their biology. But this is a left wing version. A New Age version.

I thought the whole thing about progress is that humans do not have to be defined by lunar cycles etc. Don't have to be defined by there historical biology. It made sense for our ancestors but potentially we have moved beyond that now.

How is this anarchist?

 

[Gramsci]

This second strategy gave us the first cosmetics – the earliest kinds of body art and symbolism. All women, whether they were pregnant, nursing or fertile, daubed themselves with blood red colours, using ochre and haematite pigments ground up and mixed with fats as sexual warpaint. In this display, the message of the women – as a group – to the men was: you're not going to separate us; you're not going to pick and choose; you're going to hunt for all of us. And NO sex till you do.

To be frank I find this reactionary not progressive.

 

[LDC]

This second strategy gave us the first cosmetics – the earliest kinds of body art and symbolism. All women, whether they were pregnant, nursing or fertile, daubed themselves with blood red colours, using ochre and haematite pigments ground up and mixed with fats as sexual warpaint. In this display, the message of the women – as a group – to the men was: you're not going to separate us; you're not going to pick and choose; you're going to hunt for all of us. And NO sex till you do.

To be frank I find this reactionary not progressive.

It's describing a theory of what happened though, not suggesting it as a model for now or the future.

 

[Baronage-Phase]

The gravity of the moon is what governs tides. The pull makes our oceans bulge.
I find it funny that we think the moon doesnt have an influence on us physically...considering up to 60% of the human adult body iswater. According to H.H. Mitchell, Journal of Biological Chemistry 158, the brain and heart are composed of 73% water, and the lungs are about 83% water. The skin contains 64% water, muscles and kidneys are 79%, and even the bones are watery: 31%.

 

[kabbes]

The gravity of the moon is what governs tides. The pull makes our oceans bulge.
I find it funny that we think the moon doesnt have an influence on us physically...considering up to 60% of the human adult body iswater. According to H.H. Mitchell, Journal of Biological Chemistry 158, the brain and heart are composed of 73% water, and the lungs are about 83% water. The skin contains 64% water, muscles and kidneys are 79%, and even the bones are watery: 31%.

There’s nothing magical about water though. The moon has an influence on tides because of the sheer scale of the masses involved, not because the sea is made from water.

 

[Gramsci]

It's describing a theory of what happened though, not suggesting it as a model for now or the future.

My reading of the website is that it is suggesting this as a model.

The website is called "Lunarchy"

The carnival against capitalism – the joyful revolutionary overthrow – isn’t just about class. It’s equally about sex. If we track the cycle of the moon with a monthly insurrection, amplifying tidal periodicities in this way, then women all over the world start to tune in to one another’s rhythm.

 

[Baronage-Phase]

There’s nothing magical about water though. The moon has an influence on tides because of the sheer scale of the masses involved, not because the sea is made from water.

Dp

 

[Baronage-Phase]

There’s nothing magical about water though. The moon has an influence on tides because of the sheer scale of the masses involved, not because the sea is made from water.

Well that was my point. Gravitational pull of the moon haa an effect on ocean...so why not on us?

 

[kabbes]

Well that was my point. Gravitational pull of the moon haa an effect on ocean...so why not on us?

Because we’re really, really tiny compared to an ocean. Unless you’re suggesting that an effect that makes the tiniest puff of air look like a raging tornado will somehow be meaningful?

 

[LDC]

My reading of the website is that it is suggesting this as a model.

The website is called "Lunarchy"

The carnival against capitalism – the joyful revolutionary overthrow – isn’t just about class. It’s equally about sex. If we track the cycle of the moon with a monthly insurrection, amplifying tidal periodicities in this way, then women all over the world start to tune in to one another’s rhythm.

Haven't looked at the website so much, was thinking of Knight's Blood Relations book itself. But yeah, that looks less than, erm... great.

 

[brixtonscot]

Are humans not part of nature ? And if so , can we not be effected by it ?

 

[8ball]

Are humans not part of nature ? And if so , can we not be effected by it ?

Being a little more clear about whatever you are trying to say might be helpful here.

 

[brixtonscot]

Being a little more clear about whatever you are trying to say might be helpful here.

I was replying to Gramsci....."I thought the whole thing about progress is that humans do not have to be defined by lunar cycles etc. Don't have to be defined by there historical biology. It made sense for our ancestors but potentially we have moved beyond that now."

- If we don't have to be defined by our historical biology , have we fully moved beyond it now ?

 

[teuchter]

Not sure about the whole rule by the moon thing, some of that sounds like wishful thinking or poetic imagining.

I think the Radical Anthropology Group sound interesting. Their regular programme of talks sound fascinating. and their creative activism look fun too.

I went to one of their talks... it was Chris Knight. It was interesting. And not as bonkers as at first sight. Now I can't entirely remember how the arguments went.

 

[eoin_k]

I can't take him seriously, since he continued to play at day-of-the-dead themed street theatre in the immediate aftermath of Ian Tomlinson's killing.

 

[TopCat]

I do find the whole thing about lunar cycles etc not at all progressive. It looks like me to say humans are defined by their biology. But this is a left wing version. A New Age version.

I thought the whole thing about progress is that humans do not have to be defined by lunar cycles etc. Don't have to be defined by there historical biology. It made sense for our ancestors but potentially we have moved beyond that now.

How is this anarchist?

Lots of opportunity to dress up? Some need this. Xx

 

[8ball]

I was replying to Gramsci....."I thought the whole thing about progress is that humans do not have to be defined by lunar cycles etc. Don't have to be defined by there historical biology. It made sense for our ancestors but potentially we have moved beyond that now."

- If we don't have to be defined by our historical biology , have we fully moved beyond it now ?

We seem to be pretty unavoidably embedded in our historical biology to me, though that's not the same as being 'defined' by it.
Tbf I might be misunderstanding what you mean by 'historical biology' here.

 

[elbows]

Because we’re really, really tiny compared to an ocean. Unless you’re suggesting that an effect that makes the tiniest puff of air look like a raging tornado will somehow be meaningful?

The moon spilt my pint.

(gravitational) pull the other one.

I will indulge the theories a little by reading some of them now, somehow from what others have said so far I dont really expect to find this stuff compelling to say the least.

 

[elbows]

Well, I read a big chunk of the site and there is some interesting stuff there I suppose, but I suspect better work on some of the interesting stuff has been done elsewhere.

For example, the Lunar economics page contains some interesting thoughts about 'protestant work ethic', but there is really no depth to it, its not even half-arsed to explore or challenge its own assertions.

However when they take various things and try to turn them into a plan for a new way of living, it descends instantly into useless shit. In my life I am often bored and frustrated by the 'its not practical/realistic' and other tired responses to radical ideas. But I really question how anyone can come up with the following and not instantly realise that its really not compatible with the complex world that we currently have to deal with.

So why is going on strike a solution? It’s a brilliant, extraordinarily simple solution. We who are in work just go on strike. It’s a general strike and it lasts for two whole weeks. We down tools at new moon and return to work at full. That makes the whole period of the moon’s waxing a holiday – time just for ourselves. But it also has another consequence, hugely beneficial. It means that when we do go back to work, there’s TWICE as much work to be done! That means TWICE as many of us need to be involved.

So instead of allowing one half of the world’s population to be permanently enslaved while the other is excluded from work, we establish a proper balance. Work is declared a legal activity only during waning moon.

Lunar Economics

Oh brilliant, remind me not to have a heart attack for 2 weeks every month. Also remind me to buy a new hat in preparation for the celebratory 'dance of the melting nuclear power stations'.

I dont even think they offer practical guides to making the core of their moon cycle thing work. Whats the largest number of women known to have gone in sync with their cycles, and could they also stay in sync with the moon?