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Writer of "The Anarchist Cookbook" Denounces it

Discussion in 'General political debates' started by ungovernable, Sep 16, 2010.

  1. ungovernable

    ungovernable Autonome Staff Member Uploader Admin Team Experienced member


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    I have recently been made aware of several websites that focus on The Anarchist Cookbook. As the author of the original publication some 30 plus years ago, it is appropriate for me to comment.

    The Anarchist Cookbook was written during 1968 and part of 1969 soon after I graduated from high school. At the time, I was 19 years old and the Vietnam War and the so-called "counter culture movement" were at their height. I was involved in the anti-war movement and attended numerous peace rallies and demonstrations. The book, in many respects, was a misguided product of my adolescent anger at the prospect of being drafted and sent to Vietnam to fight in a war that I did not believe in.

    I conducted the research for the manuscript on my own, primarily at the New York City Public Library. Most of the contents were gleaned from Military and Special Forces Manuals. I was not member of any radical group of either a left or right wing persuasion.
    [so what are we going to hold in our hands during our rallies? Oh, Cindy's new book will do just fine.]

    I submitted the manuscript directly to a number of publishers without the help or advice of an agent. Ultimately, it was accepted by Lyle Stuart Inc. and was published verbatim - without editing - in early 1970. Contrary to what is the normal custom, the copyright for the book was taken out in the name of the publisher rather than the author. I did not appreciate the significance of this at the time and would only come to understand it some years later when I requested that the book be taken out of print.

    The central idea to the book was that violence is an acceptable means to bring about political change. I no longer agree with this.

    Apparently in recent years, The Anarchist Cookbook has seen a number of 'copy cat' type publications, some with remarkably similar titles (Anarchist Cookbook II, III etc). I am not familiar with these publications and cannot comment upon them. I can say that the original Anarchist Cookbook has not been revised or updated in any way by me since it was first published.

    During the years that followed its publication, I went to university, married, became a father and a teacher of adolescents. These developments had a profound moral and spiritual effect on me. I found that I no longer agreed with what I had written earlier and I was becoming increasingly uncomfortable with the ideas that I had put my name to. In 1976 I became a confirmed Anglican Christian and shortly thereafter I wrote to Lyle Stuart Inc. explaining that I no longer held the views that were expressed in the book and requested that The Anarchist Cookbook be taken out of print. The response from the publisher was that the copyright was in his name and therefore such a decision was his to make - not the author's. In the early 1980's, the rights for the book were sold to another publisher. I have had no contact with that publisher (other than to request that the book be taken out of print) and I receive no royalties.

    Unfortunately, the book continues to be in print and with the advent of the Internet several websites dealing with it have emerged. I want to state categorically that I am not in agreement with the contents of The Anarchist Cookbook and I would be very pleased (and relieved) to see its publication discontinued. I consider it to be a misguided and potentially dangerous publication which should be taken out of print.

    William Powell

    From: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/ ... boingboing
    and http://www.boingboing.net/2010/09/15/10 ... e-ana.html
     

  2. Bentheanarchist

    Bentheanarchist Experienced Member Uploader Experienced member


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    The Anarchist Cookbook has nothing to do with Anarchism and it gives a bad name to Anarchists. Its books like that which makes people think Anarchists are terrorists. Fuck "The Anarchist Cookbook"!
     
    R-EVOLUTIONPUNK likes this.
  3. Mike Generic

    Mike Generic Experienced Member Uploader Experienced member Forum Member


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    I prefer the vegan cookbook "The REAL Anarchist Cookbook". I'll scan my copy and put it up here soonish.
     
  4. skulldrix

    skulldrix Experienced Member Experienced member Forum Member


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    I HAS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO WITH ANARCHY THOUGH
     
  5. horrorpunk666

    horrorpunk666 Member Forum Member


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    doesnt matter to much does it? people pick it up becasue it has a good titale, your not supposed to, but it is human anture to judge a book by its cover, if there were two books in a store, one of them was "english anarchism:the founders" and it had a picture of Ian Bone on the cover and the other was "fuck them! you can bring the system down!" and it had a picture of a kid with a mohawk kicking the crap of of a cop.. i think i have a pretty good guess at which would sell.. regardless of what was inside the books.

    marketing is everything, when i was younger i bought "to kill a mockingbird" expecting what the title would imply, same with books like "my teachers funeral"
     
  6. punkmar77

    punkmar77 Experienced Member Uploader Experienced member


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    Yes please....
     
  7. Spike one of many

    Spike one of many Experienced Member Uploader Experienced member Forum Member


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    Anarchist Cookbook?

    How reliable is it? I heard it was a bit dodgy.

    http://www.freeinfosociety.com/pdfs/misc/anarchistcookbook2000.pdf
     
  8. Sick Boy 77

    Sick Boy 77 Experienced Member Uploader Experienced member


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    Re: Anarchist Cookbook?

    There is another book out there called Steal This Book. It's a good read even though it was written in 1970. It tells you how to make different kind of bombs and how to survive with little to no money. It covers a lot of the different parts of the counter culture. It might have been directed towards hippies, but you have to remember it's 1970. More on it here en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steal_This_Book.

    I've never read the Anarchist Cookbook, but I've heard it's not what all the hype builds it up to be.
     
  9. Spike one of many

    Spike one of many Experienced Member Uploader Experienced member Forum Member


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    Re: Anarchist Cookbook?

    Lol that's the reason I asked about reliability. Not that I have anything of that nature planned.
     
  10. butcher

    butcher Experienced Member Uploader Experienced member Forum Member


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    Re: Anarchist Cookbook?

    The Cookbook is notoriously dodgy, yr likely to either kill yrself or be disappointed cos nothing happens with a number of the suggested devices.

    Hoffman's 'Steal This Book' is rather out of date, a lot of the scams suggested wouldn't work anymore. Besides, he's a fucking hippie.
     
  11. Spike one of many

    Spike one of many Experienced Member Uploader Experienced member Forum Member


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    Re: Anarchist Cookbook?

    :ecouteurs:
     
  12. THEBLACKNOVA

    THEBLACKNOVA Experienced Member Experienced member Forum Member


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    [video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJSMLRaPde8[/video]
     
  13. Spike one of many

    Spike one of many Experienced Member Uploader Experienced member Forum Member


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    It again goes to show how some decisions made, when caught up in the Zeitgeist (though understandable), can turn around and bite you in the arse; or, to use Ungov's signature quote: "The Frankenstein monster you created's turned against you, now you're hated"
    - ©ra$s™ (Reject Of Society)
     
  14. THEBLACKNOVA

    THEBLACKNOVA Experienced Member Experienced member Forum Member


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  15. xXZenyattaXx

    xXZenyattaXx Experienced Member Experienced member


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    Not saying I support the book ('cause a lot of it is stupid although still appealing to my sense of humor) but... I never quite understand why it is okay for the fucking State to kill virtually whomever they want in their quest to maintain power or whatever the fuck they wanna do, but the moment someone throws a water bottle it's a big fucking hoopla. I'm reminded of that scene with the Joker in the first Batman movie, and people who directed or whatever the fuck these movies are in fact shitheads I know. But... it still seems to me that a truckful of soldiers can get blown up, or an Iraqi woman can be raped by said soldiers, and everyone goes on the fuck with their daily stupid lives but the moment someone in black smashes a window to a fucking store and prevents people buying shit FOR A DAY then everyone's all like "OOOOHHH violent, eveeeeilll protesters!" and even the anarch-liberals say the same thing. So yeah... statements like that do little but cause me to roll my eyes because most often they come from a sense of priviledge hippie shit and not from the real world.... and if the fucking pigs come into your house without a fucking warrant with guns and you decide to defend your home with yer revolver well that's your business now isn't it?
     
  16. crass118

    crass118 New Member New Member


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  17. ANNIHILATING ANGEL

    ANNIHILATING ANGEL Member New Member


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    Earth first or some such put out a manual on monkey wrenching that was far more practical though no less illegal, it may still be found on the net if ur lucky. No bangs, no killing, just simple fucking up the machinery in a safe non hazardous manner. Not as testosterone fizzing as the fantasies in the cookbook but far more useful and way less lethal (however :ecouteurs: if you seriously want a bang, check out the freely available list of things that shouldn't be mixed, in your local highway/road safety code as it applies to the transportation of chemicals)
     
  18. NGNM1312

    NGNM1312 New Member New Member


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    Im currently reading the cook book and there is a lot of bull shit in it.
     
  19. The Hat

    The Hat Experienced Member Experienced member


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    I haven't read it in a while, but I think the original purpose of The Anarchist Cookbook was NOT to instruct people how to improvise weapons or make drugs, etc. but to educate people on how these things could be done so the average citizen could protect themselves from harm.

    Also I wouldn't advise anybody to try any of the recipes or techniques outlined in The Anarchist Cookbook as I have been reliably informed many are incomplete, and those that are verbatim are dangerous, and could kill somebody if something went wrong in the process.

    Also EVERYTHING in Steal This Book is out of date. Modified technology made sure of this decades ago.

    These books are good to have in one's library for educational purposes and historical references only. As the announcer on television always say, DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME!
     
  20. The Hat

    The Hat Experienced Member Experienced member


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    :lmao:
     
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