"Organization has its effects. It means that you discover that you're not alone. Others have the same thoughts that you do. You can reinforce your thoughts and learn more about what you think and believe. These are very informal movements, not like a membership organization, just a mood that involves interactions among people. It has a very noticeable effect."Noam Chomsky
Welcome, comrade!
More than likely, you know about this website because of Heatwave CAF pamphlets and you want a better understanding of our ideas, a more thorough knowledge about us as an organization. Though we have distributed the majority of them in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, if you live outside of this are and want to get involved, contact us. Who are we? What do we believe? How can you get involved if you want to? We have short answers and we have long answers--if time permits it, we invite you to read both and decide for yourself if our ideas fit in with what you think.
Who are the Heatwave CAF?
The Heatwave CAF is an organization for people who think they have no future. This includes a lot of people, and we want these people to discover they are not, as Chomsky said, alone. There are people that work at jobs they despise, yet they work at them because they have no other option. There are people who feel like they will never live a life better than their parents, and it scares them. There are people who are studying hard in schools so that they can get better jobs, but they are starting to have their doubts about what the job market holds for them. There are people who are considering turning to crime because it offers more money and more leisure time, despite the moral implications. There are people who are sick and tired of being lied to by politicians, businessmen, corporate analysts, press agents and television commercials. The Heatwave CAF knows these people very well, we are these people.
Further ReadingWhat are the beliefs of the Heatwave CAF?
In a simple phrase, communist-anarchism. Communist-anarchism, also called anarcho-communism or anarchist communism, is the belief that we should fight for the classless, stateless society that Piotr Kropotkin briefly described in his essay Anarchism. In Karl Marx's Communist Manifesto, he stated that, "the free development of each is the condition for the free development of all." Likewise, Kropotkin declared the principle of a productive, healthy community to be: "From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs." But what do these statements actually mean? They mean that communities (not nation-states) provide things that a person needs based on their contribution to the community (i.e. work). Also, the community respects the person's rights to pursue their own happiness so long as they do not harm anyone.
Marx described this as Communism, which would come after a period of scientific socialism led by the likes of Lenin and Castro. Marx described the state as being a tool of the rich (or ruling class) with which to manipulate the working people that uphold them; but he believed that the state could be reformed if led by representatives of working people until the state was abolished. Mikhail Bakunin theorized that a state led by representatives of the working class would lead to a "red bureaucracy" in which these representatives become the new ruling class and, as history has shown, become power-hungry dictators and bureaucrats. Because of this flaw in Marx's thinking, as well as the Communist movement's desire to follow this thinking, we cannot rightfully call ourselves Communists. We are not Communists because Communism has given state power to butchers like Josef Stalin and Mao Zedong; it has created totalitarian police states and manipulated the efforts of such revolutionaries as Nestor Mahkno and Buenaventura Durruti. Instead, we are Anarchists--if the state is a tool of the ruling class, if it protects their interests and upholds their authority, then the state must be abolished. However, the term "Anarchist" represents a wide variety of views, in order to be more specific about what we mean by "Anarchist," as well as to fuse together the positve aspects of both beliefs, we consider ourselves communist-anarchists.
These ideas are very general, and leave lots of room for criticism, as well as construction. This is no accident, and for a very interesting reason: A lot of groups have a platform on every conceivable plateau, understandably, it can be very isolating. By making the standards minimal, it is hoped that what you can do as an individual in your community will be maximized--instead of having to get people to agree with a lot of dogma, you have the flexibility to set up shop and build the rest based on what your community wants, not what "the group" expects of you. We don't want you to be condescended, you can think for yourself! One of the advantages of communist-anarchism is that it mixes easily with lots of issues--labor, ecology, anti-racism, feminism; and likewise the society we are aiming for is flexible in putting these issues to practice.
How does a person get involved with Heatwave CAF if they are interested?
We want a society where people are free to do what they want as long as it harms no one, and receive what they need by working minimal hours for their community. A society where people receive the full benefits of what their work creates, and where people's lives are not intruded upon by businessmen and the puppet governments that serve them. If you think, "isn't that the society we have now?" Perhaps you should question how realistic you are being. If you think, "that sounds so unrealistic, how could it ever work?" We invite you to read through an Anarchist FAQ webpage that gives a more detailed analysis of what we and many anarchists believe. If you think, "I want that, I want a world where I am free, and I don't have to spend my life at my job because everyone works, and most all areas of life are democratic, how do I move towards this world?" Then we ask you, "would you care to join us?"
The purpose of Heatwave CAF is not to dominate each individual. Max Stirner said that the purpose of a group should be to service each and every member, if a member does not feel the group is servicing them, but makes no mention of it, the group as a whole has degenerated into something else. Be vigilant in these regards; while it is important to get results, direct democratic principles should not be sacrificed to get them. Every member should have a voice if they want it--sometimes, the quiet people have the best ideas.
Heatwave P.O. Box 702272 Dallas, TX 75370
This site is hosted on the Proudhon Memorial Computer, check it out for more resources on anarchism.