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Days of War, Nights of Love : Crimethink For Beginners

Days of War, Nights of Love : Crimethink For Beginners

List Price: $9.95
Your Price: $9.95
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: STEAL THIS BOOK....well, sorta
Review: A friend lent this to me the other day, and it really has helped me. It just applies to your life no matter what it is you do. And anyone who says that its "brainwashing" -- no. Don't listen to them. If you want brainwashing, watch TV during prime-time, or listen to one of Dubbayah's speeches. It exposes Ameriaca and its gov't for what it is -- an enormus propaganda machine. As for the lady with her son, thats called "punk". Punks like anarchy -- its what they do. Am I a punk? No. I'm a geek, and a hippie. So, go to www.crimethinc.com for a cheeper price, and f**k amazon.com for their stupid, stupid greed, but buy from them anyway because of their unholy-ly low prices( <-- an example of propaganda). So, start the revolution. Peace.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: STEAL THIS BOOK....well, sorta
Review: A friend lent this to me the other day, and it really has helped me. It just applies to your life no matter what it is you do. And anyone who says that its "brainwashing" -- no. Don't listen to them. If you want brainwashing, watch TV during prime-time, or listen to one of Dubbayah's speeches. It exposes Ameriaca and its gov't for what it is -- an enormus propaganda machine. As for the lady with her son, thats called "punk". Punks like anarchy -- its what they do. Am I a punk? No. I'm a geek, and a hippie. So, go to www.crimethinc.com for a cheeper price, and f**k amazon.com for their stupid, stupid greed, but buy from them anyway because of their unholy-ly low prices( <-- an example of propaganda). So, start the revolution. Peace.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Crimethink on Amazon.com, the hypocrisy is beautiful.
Review: Before anything else is said, for those of you that just want a quick rundown of what the book is like, it's the best book on modern anarchism currently in existence. It's written and published by a mythical CrimethInc. (Ex)Workers' Collective, a group that even the most involved people have only limited understanding. This is the largest project that the CWC has released thus far, and is an excellent introduction to many of the ideas that people can sum up in the "Live Free Or Die" motto, and we mean it.
BUT that brings up a conflict for some of us. Should we market a product through a series of means that we oppose (corporate marketing, impersonal mailorder, and credit cards) hoping for wider distribution & visibility, or do we keep this products in our hands and distribute in the limited way that we are comfortable? A conflict every Avant-Garde artist, political columnists, and independent musician is forced to resolve. We choose to give you the option to purchase this in the same way that you probably buy many of your books, but understand that purchasing this book through amazon.com is an obvious contradiction to many of the themes throughout the book (Anti-Capitalism/Pro-Adventure) but any actions that fight against the status quo are going to be hypocritical by nature. May we take the focus away from that, and onto what else we can do.
...
But this choice is left up to your hands. This book is subtitled "Your Ticket To A World Free Of Charge", but this isn't like an airplane in which your cramp yourself in and try to pass the time of the flight. This is a ticket to the Underground Railroad, where ex-slaves travel and work with conspirators and sympathizers on their path to freedom. Join Us.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Flawed, yet fine critique of capitalism
Review: Days of War Nights of Love is the definitive account of contemporary anarchist thought, it also contains a good deal of Luddite thought. An extremely healthy anti police-state streak runs throughout the book and an outstanding chapter on political apostasy and hypocrisy is the highlight. The section expounding on the justifications for shoplifting is outstanding. Also of course Days of War Nights of Love contains accurate and well thought out views against industrial capitalism and the consumerist tendency in modern society.

However, Days of War Nights of Love is a flawed work for a few reasons. For one, it contains a steady dose of anti-communist red bashing that is worthy of Orwell - a relentless red basher who is praised in the bibliography. Given there has rarely, if ever, been a successful anarcho-syndicalist revolution, Days of War Nights of Love's characterization of the Russian revolution as a "botched counterfeit" is off base. Despite all its mistakes, the majority populace were much better off regarding a plenitude of life indicators than they were under the czars. Simply because a socialist society is imperfect does not mean that it is a botched counterfeit. Children no longer dying of malnutrition can attest to that. It often appears Days of War Nights of Love aims for an absolute uptopian society; for some it's this unattainable ideal that helps to retain a better-than-anything appeal.

Regarding the ideal anarchist society, Days of War Nights of Love states "no one can imagine what it would be like let alone how to achieve it, not even the anarchists themselves." The authors go on to state that their's is a wild dream that is going to work! In a stunning failure of anarchist society, Days of War Nights of Love cites D'Annunzio's short lived revolution, which was made up of music, wine, poetry and fireworks. Obviously it was swiftly defeated, virtually proving that many anarchists are in love with an unworkable ideal rather than a revolutionary society that can actually bring sustainable long-term substantive benefits to the masses, such as in Cuba and the former Soviet Union.

At one point Days of War Nights of Love remarks that all political activity must be joyous and exciting in itself. This reminds one of when Emma Goldman misguidedly opined that she wanted no part of a revolution in which she could not dance in the streets. Left out of this picture are the harsher realities a protest movement and a fledgling revolutionary society faces. One can be sure it is not joyous to be shot in the face with a rubber bullet by a fascist cop. And one can be relatively certain that a newly formed revolutionary state is going to have to form a centralized state power to defend itself against internal sabotage and subversion, and external attacks and encirclement. The Sandinista and Cuban revolutions would not have lasted two months if all they did was joyously dance in the streets. Moreover, the Soviet Union never would have been able to withstand the Nazi onslaught if it were not for central planning that produced tanks, steel and wheat. In addition, the Days of War Nights of Love crowd needs to understand that even in a post revolutionary society there is a good chance that there simply will not be enough creative work to go around for all those who consider themselves interesting and creative people.

Another passage that is off the mark involves their view of how it is in everyone's interest that we do away with capitalism and that everyone suffers from today's status quo including the rich; they admonish the reader not to be too jealous of the rich. This is a fairly juvenile position as it fails to consider the causal link between vast concentrations of wealth and widespread poverty. It also fails to comprehend that every revolutionary state has been vehemently opposed by the affluent ruling class. It is the former plutocrats who orchestrate the counterrevolutionary assassinations and village massacres. There is nothing jealous about pointing out the behavior of the owning class.

All this being said, despite its faults, Days of War Nights of Love should be read for its sound critique of modern industrial society in general and corporate capitalism in particular.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: READ THIS!!!!!!!!!!!
Review: Even if you disagree with 99% of this book, it is still an incredible read. Very thought-provoking.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: my favorite book
Review: I don't usually write reviews for books that I've read, but I had to make an exception for this one. It is, without exaggeration, the best book I have ever read. I've read it a few times, and each time it gets better and more applicable to my life.
To call this book a book about "anarchy" really shortchanges it. While it certainly weaves varying threads of anarchistic philosophy and history throughout the texts, this book is really about living your life as you see it fit to be lived. This book, I think, could best be described as an attempted manifesto for every COUNTERculture that ever existed.
And to boot, it's a really fun read. Some essays are short, some are long, some are written upside down, and there are various illustrations throughout. If you are into punk rock philosophy, or hate your boss, or are bored in church, buy and read this book. My only advice is to check it out at crimethinc.com. I think it is only like $8 there. Thanks.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Excellent book
Review: i found this book quite inspiring to read although hard to read in large increments(and im a voracious reader). It is a great intro to anarchist thought with a primitivist bent. although i disagree with some of it(for instance i feel that when the available evidence is reviewed objectively it is hard to argue against the conspiratorial view of history convincingly and that conspiracy is just government doing business as usual). i also recomend 'Ishmael' by Daniel Quinn, 'Rule By Secrecy' by Jim Marrs, and 'David's Toolkit' by Ragnar Benson.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Extremely Surprised!
Review: I half expected this book to be the immature ravings of malcontents, and while they are certainly malcontents, the writing is very mature and insightful. Another worry of mine when buying the book was that it would promote diffirent yet still sheep-iss attitudes, much like those that "rebel" and look like, listen to, and puppet the same things in their "cool" group. Yet this trap was not only avoided but clearly pointed out. What most inspired and impressed me was the spiritual depth of the book. Real spirituality, in the sense that the book brought out critical points and questions related to freedom, both as an internal quality and its external manifestation of how society as a whole can foster freedom and depth of questioning. The power of the book rests in it core and fundamental simplicity...And contrary to what your told, that is a compliment!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: The Handbook for Anarchists'...
Review: I would just like to say that this is an incredible book that is a pretty easy read. It's not to be read from cover to cover...it has lots of unconnected stories (and headlines) that keep it interesting. It also describes Anarchism in a way THAT MAKES SENSE. It's all about love, happiness, and the freedom to chooose. Well, and having sex in public places, and plagiarism, and...

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A good perspective, but don't get carried away
Review: It's funny to me that all other reviews for this book are either perfect 5's or perfect 1's. This book is a very liberal approach to world (or perhaps the USA in particular) and makes some fantastic arguments for socialist reform. The perspective is extreme, and doesn't spend much time arguing for any aspect of capitalism or law. I applaud the idealism in the book.

The book, however, fails to discuss any of the negative effects of socialist reform, and paints a very one-sided picture. While it's not the responsibility of every author to give both sides of an argument (especially when there are a billion arguments against socialist reform in every aspect of this country) the idealism can be misleading and leaves some very large holes in any sort of "master plan."


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