Homegrown Tomatoes v. Injustice

If you ride a bicycle, grow a garden, or enjoy your friends, you may already be an anarchist. D.I.Y. philosopher Chris Carlsson makes this point in a much more intelligent way in his new book Nowtopia, a cheerful, overeducated tribute to the radical good life. The gist is that capitalism is fucked, wage slavery is just that, and anything you do outside of the market economy makes you a big hero. In his words, fighting the Man involves "Creating immediate practical improvements in daily life," such as hanging out on the stoop with your buddies more often. He uses the words "convivial," "tinkering," and "scrap" a lot, and insists that your strongest desires and hardest-laughing moments make you one of "the protagonists of an autonomous techno-culture." He's got a gang of examples, from guerilla gardeners to the repurposed Alameda Naval Station, and yes, he loves the citizen outlaws of Burning Man.
Thu., April 24, 7 p.m., 2008