///About--Where We Stand
To keep things simple and clear, we're providing a listing of where we stand on various issues. Bear in mind that this list is only an overview, not designed to be all-inclusive, and that it represents the positions of the project itself, not necessarily those of its individual members.
///Issues
Abortion - Energy/Environment - Guns - Immigration - Palestine/Israel - Same-Sex Marriage
Capitalism - Free Trade - Marxism - Party Politics - Unionism - War
Education - Free Speech - Health Care - Housing - Religion
Animal Welfare/Animal Rights - Drugs - Heterosexism/Homophobia/Queer Rights - Racism - Sexism - Sex Work
///Our Positions
Abortion - At Project Libr8, we see the ethical dillema concerning abortion as a clear case of the rights of a disputed person being weighed against the rights of a fully established and undisputed person. As such, we support the right of a woman to make her own choices regarding childbirth and whether or not to carry a pregnancy to term. Furthermore, we find that the opposition to a woman's right to choose is more often based in patriachal attempts to control and punish women than in any real concern for the welfare of a fetus, in spite of the claims of anti-choice advocates.
Energy/Environment - Project Libr8 considers environmentalism a class struggle issue, due to the fact that the scarcity caused by the destruction of resources will always hurt the working class first and foremost. Therefore, we consider sustainability to be a requirement for a free and equal society. While we support all efforts for a cleaner environment, we view food and energy production as matters of priority. We see the mechanisms of capitalism and the short-term profit motive acting as barriers to the development of sustainable energy resources and agriculture. We promote the development of smaller, localized alternatives to meet local resource needs and feel that the big business, one-size-fits-all model is both inefficient and wasteful, as well unstainable over the long term.
Guns - It is historically true that governments are less likely to become tyrannical when their subjects are largely armed, and we believe that this remains true today. We believe that this reason alone is sufficient to oppose the attempt at banning firearm ownership by regular people, especially when such restrictions do not extend to the government as well. In addition, while firearms are indeed dangerous, they are simply tools, and cannot be blamed for human death or injury any more than can cars or kitchen knives. Even dangerous as they are, firearms are safe when handled responsibly by trained individuals, and we support a widespread effort to ensure all gun owners have access to proper training. For better or worse, firearms are a technology that is here to stay, so we must make responsible and mature decisions when dealing with them.
Immigration - As it does not recognize the legitimacy of nations, Project Libr8 also does not recognize the legitimacy of national borders. We feel that, particularly in a situation wherein goods and services are permitted to freely travel across arbitrary national borders, human beings should be alloted the same freedom. We also feel that controversy surrounding illegal immigration is misplaced, placing blame on immigrants rather than on draconian immigration systems that routinely and arbitrarily deny average people entry, as well as the international economic policies that create situations of poverty in Latin America in the first place.
Palestine/Israel - As Project Libr8 does not recognize the legitimacy of national borders, we do not support nationalist movements in and of themselves, regardless of who is undertaking them. Additionally, it would be at least a distortion not to acknowledge that abuses and atrocities have been committed by all participants. Regardless, in the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, Project Libr8 stands in support of the Palestinian people. Given that the Israeli military is a nuclear power and backed by the United States, and that it practices collective punishment on all Palestinian people, most of whom are uninvolved in the fighting, for the actions of a few, there is a clear situation of one-sided oppression present. Though Project Libr8 does not support those militants who kill innocent Israelis, and recognizes the oppressive nature of doing so, we see the aggressive actions of the Israeli military as the primary force of oppression in the conflict.
Same-Sex Marriage - While many anarchist organizations view marriage as an unnecessary and even oppressive institution, and thus take little interest in the same-sex marriage battle, Project Libr8 supports legalized gay marriage. While we agree that, ultimately, government should have no say in religious or personal choices regarding relationships, we believe that the social advancement signified by same-sex marriage in the struggle for LGBT equality far outweighs any possible ideological contradictions.
Capitalism - We believe that capitalism is an inherently oppressive system that should be eliminated as a way of advancing human freedom and equality. The capitalist system creates class divisions between those who own capital (bosses, politicians) and those who do not, creating a power structure that gives a few control over the lives of many. The global capitalist system also serves to create and maintain gross poverty and political oppression in third-world nations in order to provide the affluence enjoyed by a few western nations. As we are concerned with global liberty and equality, Project Libr8 finds this situation unacceptible. This also extends to so-called "anarcho-capitalism" and other forms of libertarian capitalism, that the supporters of which claim will lead to all the benefits of traditional capitalism without any of the drawbacks but provide no convincing evidence for this.
Free Trade - As the capitalist economy has gone global in recent years, it has developed an emphasis on so-called "free trade" deals between major economic powers and less developed nations. These deals supposedly level the playing field by allowing the nations to trade as equals, but in reality have been shown to destroy the local economies of the less developed nations involved, funneling money away from them and into the coffers of the economically powerful countries. Project Libr8 stands firmly opposed to globalized "free trade" deals, and believes that they are a prime example of the lie of equality under a capitalist system.
Marxism - Speaking very broadly, there are two basic types of Marxism; libertarian and authoritarian. Libertarian Marxists hold the same basic end goal as anarchists; a stateless, classless, non-capitalist, egalitarian society. These Marxists differ from anarchists largely in terms of method, believing that society must go through a transition period of state socialism before the goal is achieved. In spite of this difference, we at Project Libr8 may often find common cause with libertarian Marxists, as are striving for broadly the same goals. We do not, however, accept nor find common cause with authoritarian Marxists, who adapt some of the principles of Marxism into a method for creating an oppressive party dictatorship, and indeed have a pronounced historical tendency toward killing anarchists. It is in the existence of authoritarian Marxists that we find what we consider the primary flaw of Marxist theory, as they have so far controlled or co-opted every attempted Marxist revolution around the world (Lenin/Stalin, Mao, etc).
Party Politics - Project Libr8 believes that party politics are basically geared toward serving bureaucrats, rulers, and politicians, rather than members of the community at large. Battling between mainstream parties distracts people from real issues by focusing on petty differences, and many activists effectively undermine their own ability to create any kind of social change by focusing on the struggle to get a certain candidate elected. We also see a fundamental contradiction between seeking equality for all and seeking political office, and the power it brings. As such, Project Libr8 will never align itself with or endorse any political party, including those which claim to be radical or even revolutionary in nature. We may, however, support individuals who are members of a political party, based on their particular actions. Project Libr8 does not actively encourage nor discourage people from voting in elections, as we neither believe that voting will bring about substantial positive social change, nor that not voting does anything to damage or weaken the system of party politics.
Unionism - The formation of workers' unions is a basic response to the injustices and rigid hierarchy present in most workplaces in a Capitalist system. It is a way for workers to band together and fight for their common good against bad conditions imposed by their bosses; as such, Project Libr8 stands firmly in support of union efforts and the labor movement as a whole. Unions are not a permanent fix, though; while they make conditions more tolerable for the workers, they ultimately do not work to bring about a more fundamental change in the system that causes those intolerable conditions, and are of course themselves susceptible to corruption and abuse. Therefore, though we stand with unions in their struggle for the workers, we must also look beyond the union model and seek ways to fight against the root cause of workplace oppression: the Capitalist system itself.
War - Though Project Libr8 is by no means a pacifist organization and recognizes the necessity of occasional violence in defense of liberty, we stand generally opposed to the wars undertaken by states against one another (or against non-state organizations). We believe that state wars are predominantly extensions of class struggle, as the government of each nation involved convinces its working class to fight and kill members of the working class of another nation, in spite of having no actual quarrel with them (as it is generally the government of the other nation that has perpetrated whatever wrongs supposedly caused the war). In this way, wars serve primarily as a distraction, giving the working class a convenient enemy to focus on while promoting blind patriotism, thus preventing people from focusing on the issues they face in their own country, as well as from the realization that the working classes of various countries have more in common with each other than they do with the governments of their own nation.
Education - We believe that high-quality education and access to knowledge materials should be denied to no person. While we support public education, we feel that the current industrial/assembly line model is less concerned with quality teaching and more concerned with desensitizing people to the realities of capitalist wage slavery. However, we largely value the contributions of teachers to their communities and recognize how grossly undervalued they are. We seek to create systems of public education which offer the same standards of high quality, flexible, and individually-tailored learning experiences to all people. For this reason, we support increased funding for education in the current political climate as we view lack of finances as the foremost obstacle to these goals.
Free Speech - The ability to freely express oneself is a vital component of a free society, and Project Libr8 believes very strongly in the human right to free speech. We do, however, recognize that this right cannot be absolute; there are instances wherein free expression is used to call for violence or perpetrate other forms of oppression upon marginalized groups. This abuse of the right to free expression cannot be tolerated, as it is directly opposed to the struggle for liberty and equality for all. The line between protected free speech and oppressive speech, however, is a fine and often blurry one, and certainly merits careful consideration in all cases of potential abuse.
Health Care - In our ideal society, all people would be afforded free health care in an environment that placed the needs of patients above any thought of profit. In leiu of this, however, we support the adoption of fully socialized medicine as the closest healthcare system to this that is achievable in a statist, capitalist society, and a vast improvement over the current profit-based system that places the interests of medical and insurance corporations above those of patients and even healthcare providers.
Housing - As decent housing is a basic human need, we believe that it is also a fundamental human right. Therefore, we reject the notion that it is just for an individual or organization to own and profit from another's necessary shelter. We view landlords as essentially oppressive in doing so, and believe that homelessness is a violation of an individual's human rights that can and must be rectified by the community.
Religion - Project Libr8 does not endorse nor support any religion, and stands officially opposed to the institutions of hierarchical, authoritarian religious systems - the church hierarchies themselves. However, we recognize that in order to have genuine liberty all people must be free to believe whatever they choose. We do not officially endorse atheism, as many anarchist organizations do, as we recognize that it is, in fact, a religion in its own right. Project Libr8 takes no position whatsoever on the subject of the existence of any sort of god or supernatural phenomena, and could best be described as agnostic and based in secularism.
Animal Welfare/Animal Rights - Project Libr8 supports the humane treatment of animals but does not engage in promoting the rights of animals as equals to human beings. We view the theories of anarchism as being confined to matters of interaction within human societies, and do not see any reason for the arbitrary application of anarchist principles to nonhuman animals but not other forms of life.
Drugs - Project Libr8 holds three basic tenants regarding drugs: that each individual should have the liberty to do with their own body what they choose, that the government holds no legitimacy in determining which drugs are "acceptable" and "unacceptable," and that the "war on drugs" is, in essence, an excuse to wage war against the poor and people of color, and something to be opposed and ended.
Heterosexism/Homophobia/Queer Rights - As an anarchist organization, Project Libr8 fully supports the rights of all people to live their lives in accordance with who they know themselves to be. This includes queer people (lesbian, gay, bisexual, asexual, transgender, etc.), who are oppressed because their existence is a threat to rigid patriarchal gender roles and power dynamics. We are dedicated to fighting the heteronormative and transphobic societal and political institutions which seek to enforce conformity and deny equality to same-sex relationships while illegitimizing gender transitions.
Racism - We believe that racism is one of the most common and dominant forms of social oppression in western culture today. While instances of overt racism may be less prevalent now than they have been at times in the past, the racist system of white privilege is essentially all-pervasive in our culture. As we believe that no one can be called truly free until all are free, Project Libr8 takes combatting the system of racism as one of our primary tasks. We believe that all people, of all ethnicities, must become engaged in the struggle against racism, though the lead role in that struggle should, and indeed must, come from people of color.
Sexism - While popular belief holds that sexism has largely been conquered in western society, Project Libr8 realizes that a few decades of activism cannot undo centuries of social development and conditioning. There is an undeniable body of evidence that sexism still plays a key role in western society, and is a very real problem and form of oppression in all societies. As such, continuing the work of feminism and striving for the elimination of enforced gender roles are necessary for the successful creation of a truly free and equal society.
Sex Work - Although it's difficult to say what shape (if any) sex work would take in a non-capitalist society, Project Libr8 supports the rights of individuals to currently engage in the sale and purchase of sexual services and rejects the common idea that sex work is inherently shameful. We recognize the dangers, pressures, and difficulties that sex workers face, but believe that the criminalizing of prostitution and the social stigmas attached to all sex work are to blame for these conditions, rather than the work itself. We believe that this is a feminist issue and that efforts to "rescue" sex workers from their careers, rather than working to make their careers safer and more respectful, are counterproductive and grounded in objectification.
