Hi everyone. Since I've yet to create an introduction post I thought now would be no better time!
My name is Damon Shaw, I live in the U.K. and I currently write for and help manage the The Conscious Resistance facebook page. So far as credentials I'm relatively new to the ideas of anarchism, so for the past few years I've taken a backseat in order to study its principles. I've never been much of a 'dive in headfirst' kind of guy, but more of an observer.
I was introduced to the true meaning of Anarchy when I first discovered Adam Kokesh's activism on YouTube. This led me to dig deeper in search of information that could help myself and others in the pursuit of freedom. For those of us who were indoctrinated into thinking of anarchism in terms of hooliganism, violence and destruction, you can imagine how flabbergasted I was to realise it in fact meant the complete opposite of these things. "How has this word become so tainted among the vast majority of us, and why?'' I repeatedly thought to myself, but as I gradually saw how the ideas of agorism, the non-aggression principle, self-ownership and voluntaryism could be seen as a threat to a State that relies upon a monopoly of force to survive, the answers began to dawn on me.
In search of more information I eventually discovered independent journalist and activist Derrick Broze of Activist Post and The Conscious Resistance Network. By this point I'd become somewhat familiar with anarchism and became convinced of how important it was to the way in which we migrate toward a more free world, but up until this point I'd never pondered how lack of introspection could have a counterproductive impact on my progression. I've always been conscious of how much of a deep thinker I am but the information Derrick and the TCRN team provided brought me closer to myself and to a new realisation: a deep thinker can see problems and solutions from many perspectives and angles but what we choose to think deeply about is another thing altogether - do I really have full control over what I want to think about? Is my ego playing the dictator of thought? Since this new discovery I've been devoting my time to self-reflection and healing my recently diagnosed PTSD. I've come to understand that before I can swim toward the deep end I must learn to keep myself afloat otherwise I could find myself wandering off-course.
Thanks for reading and much love to each and every one of you!
Beautifully written, brother. I saw Kokesh live back at a 2007 Ron Paul rally in the capital. You want to know why anarchy's definition has become so clouded? Because the state relies on it to be. Peace and good luck with your struggle and prospects for overcoming!
Thanks man!
You would of enjoyed it back in 80s when we had so much literature to read in the uk from magazines self made mostly.