Cynosuralism is one of my own interpretations of libertarian political philosophy. I had originally named it as “Sociocratic Confederalism” as it is heavily inspired by Democratic Confederalism, Communalism, Libertarian Municipalism, and Social Ecology, all of which are interconnected amongst themselves.

It is also influenced by communitarianism, autarchism, mutualism, and many more philosophical, political as well as non-sectarian concepts such as the concept of the “ecovillage” intentional community.

Introduction to Cynosuralism

Ideology

Overview

Cynosuralism, a nuanced political philosophical, emerges as a beacon of hope amidst the tumultuous currents of contemporary governance paradigms. Rooted in principles of autonomy, decentralization, sustainability, and sociocratic self-organization, Cynosuralism envisions a transformative societal framework where communities govern themselves in confederated harmony, fostering a culture of virtuous liberty and collective prosperity.

At its core, Cynosuralism represents a departure from traditional top-down governance structures, offering a dynamic alternative that empowers local communities to chart their own destinies. Inspired by the rich tapestry of anarchist ideals, communalist principles, mutualist thought, and pacifist approach, Cynosuralism advocates for a bottom-up approach to governance, where decision-making authority is vested in the hands of those most directly affected by the outcomes.

Sociocracy

Sociocracy, characterized by inclusive and transparent decision-making processes, lies at the heart of Cynosuralist governance. Drawing upon the wisdom of sociocratic principles, Cynosuralism endeavors to cultivate a culture of consent-based decision-making, ensuring that the voices of all community members are heard and respected.

Decentralization

Decentralization serves as another cornerstone of Cynosuralist philosophy, challenging the hegemony of centralized power structures in favor of a more distributed model of governance. By dispersing authority across multiple levels of organization, Cynosuralism seeks to mitigate the risks of tyranny and foster greater grassroots participation in decision-making processes.

Autonomy

Central to the ethos of Cynosuralism is the concept of autonomy, wherein communities retain sovereignty over their affairs, free from external coercion or domination. This autonomy is not merely symbolic but is enshrined in the fabric of the confederal system, where each community is granted the freedom to determine its own path while engaging in cooperative endeavors with others.

Sustainability

Sustainability in Cynosuralism underscores the imperative of ecological balance and resource stewardship within intentional communities. Embracing sustainability entails adopting practices that minimize environmental impact, promote renewable energy sources, and prioritize conservation efforts. By integrating sustainability into its ethos, Cynosuralism aims to ensure the long-term viability of communities while safeguarding the natural world for future generations.

Posthumanitarianism

Cynosuralism places a strong emphasis on posthumanitarianism, extending ethical considerations beyond human welfare to encompass the well-being and of all sentient beings, including animals and ecosystems. This philosophy aligns with the cardinal principle of sustainability, as it acknowledges the interconnectedness of life and advocates for compassionate and sustainable actions that promote the flourishing of all beings and the preservation of the environment. By prioritizing the flourishing of all beings and promoting sustainable practices, cynosuralism advances the creation of a harmonious and equitable society where individuals can thrive in harmony with one another and the natural world.

Conditional Pacifism & Principle of Proportionality

Conditional pacifism alongside the principle of proportionality stands as a fundamental tenet of Cynosuralist ideology, underscoring the philosophy's commitment to resolving conflicts through non-violent means. By advocating for this nuanced approach to pacifism, Cynosuralism acknowledges the complexities of real-world conflicts while emphasizing the importance of proportionality and restraint in response to aggression. This principle aligns with Cynosuralism's overarching goal of fostering harmony and cooperation within communities, promoting social justice, and safeguarding individual freedoms.

Free and Open Organization

The Free and Open Organization - a confederated polity, emerges as the structural embodiment of Cynosuralist ideals, providing a framework for cooperative interaction among autonomous communities. Through confederal councils and assemblies, intentional communities come together to address common challenges, share resources, and coordinate collective action, while safeguarding the sovereignty of individual entities.

Common Ownership & Cooperative Economics

In terms of economy, Cynosuralism advocates for common ownership and cooperative economics as complementary to its cardinal principles. Cynosuralism emphasizes autonomy, decentralization, sociocracy, and sustainability, all of which align closely with the principles of common ownership and cooperative economics.

Autonomy and decentralization are upheld through common ownership, as communities collectively manage and govern their resources without external interference. Sociocracy is facilitated by the democratic decision-making processes inherent in cooperative enterprises, where members have an equal say in the management and direction of the organization. Sustainability is promoted through the stewardship of resources by the community, ensuring their equitable distribution and responsible use for the benefit of both current and future generations.

Imperfectionism & Pragmatism

While Cynosuralism accepts peaceful coexistence with the state, it must respect the self-government of local communities and refrain from assimilation efforts or intervention in key issues. However, this coexistence does not mean acceptance of the classic state structure with its despotic attitude of power.

Cynosuralism advocates for a transformation in the role of the state, envisioning it as a more modest political institution with limited sovereign rights. In this reimagined framework, the state primarily focuses on ensuring internal security and providing essential social services. This shift aims to reduce the state's dominance over societal affairs and create more space for individual autonomy and community self-governance. Guarantees for healthcare, education in native languages and cultures, and protection of individual freedoms and rights are integral to this process, emphasizing the state's responsibility towards the well-being and empowerment of its citizens.

Virtuous Liberty

At the heart of Cynosuralism lies the pursuit of virtuous liberty, a concept akin to the philosophical notion of Eudaimonia, wherein individuals are free to pursue their flourishing in harmony with ethical principles and the common good. By prioritizing the well-being and autonomy of individuals within the broader context of community welfare, Cynosuralism seeks to forge a path towards a more just, equitable, and sustainable society.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Cynosuralism or Sociocratic Confederalism is a system of self-organization of intentional communities based on cardinal principles of sociocracy, decentralization, autonomy and sustainability in the form of a confederated polity, referred to as a “free and open organization”. The ideology serves to guide its constituent communities and their residents in the pursuit of virtuous liberty.

Symbolism & Etymology

The symbolism and etymology of cynosuralism are deeply intertwined. The term is derived from root word "cynosure," which originates from the Greek word "κυνόσουρα" (kynosoura), referring to the constellation Ursa Minor, specifically the North Star, Polaris. In ancient navigation, the North Star served as a reliable point of reference for sailors, guiding them safely through their journeys. Metaphorically, it came to represent a guiding principle or focal point that provides direction and stability.

In the context of cynosuralism, the '✦' symbol serves as a modern representation of the cynosure. The symbol visually encapsulates both a compass and a star. It serves as a guiding star, embodying the principles and values of the ideology, akin to how the North Star guided sailors. Each point of the star symbolizes cardinal principles of cynosuralism, including sociocracy, decentralization, autonomy and sustainability.

Therefore, the term "cynosuralism" itself draws from the concept of the cynosure symbol, representing a guiding ideology that aims to steer society towards a more just, equitable, and sustainable future. Like the North Star, it serves as a beacon of hope and direction, guiding individuals and communities towards virtuous liberty and ethical governance.

If you've made it this far, thank you for reading. I do want to state that a large part of the above text was made using Generative AI as I am not the best at articulating my thoughts. The results were more much eloquent and fancy than I would have liked them to be. I do have my own version but it's much more elaborate than necessary and also repetitive at times. I can share that if someone is interested.

In our time, political speech and writing are largely the defence of the indefensible. Things like the continuance of British rule in India, the Russian purges and deportations, the dropping of the atom bombs on Japan, can indeed be defended, but only by arguments which are too brutal for most people to face, and which do not square with the professed aims of political parties. Thus political language has to consist largely of euphemism, question-begging and sheer cloudy vagueness. Defenceless villages are bombarded from the air, the inhabitants driven out into the countryside, the cattle machine-gunned, the huts set on fire with incendiary bullets: this is called pacification. Millions of peasants are robbed of their farms and sent trudging along the roads with no more than they can carry: this is called transfer of population or rectification of frontiers. People are imprisoned for years without trial, or shot in the back of the neck or sent to die of scurvy in Arctic lumber camps: this is called elimination of unreliable elements. Such phraseology is needed if one wants to name things without calling up mental pictures of them.

This evergreen essay comes to mind with the latest statements from the state department:

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Tuesday became the latest Biden administration official to deny that Israel's six-month bombardment, invasion, and siege of Gaza constitute a genocide

Obviously this man was an important anarchist thinker, but I think this is particularly relevant to anarchism right now in a US election year where this conversation will come up ad nauseum.

He stops short of decrying electoralism in general here, but makes the point that the milquetoast emptiness of the US liberals enables a rightward slide. What he says is short and to the point and avoids getting bogged down in wider issues. He acknowledges that "at least they're not nazis" is an appeal of the liberals, but points out that is the only appeal.

I just think this is a good thing to have if you don't want to type out this argument every time you see it, to point out that this has been happening for a very long time, and to hear a voice of sanity when every single liberal is yelling at you to stop criticising poor Joe or else we'll get the fascists again.

Leftwing activism of recent decades exhibits an anarchist turn evident in quantitative indicators like mentions of anarchists in news reports and by activists adopting anarchist modes of organization, tactics, and social goals-whether or not they claim that label. The authors of this Element argue that the very crises that generated radical mobilizations since the turn of the millennium have both led activists to reject other strategies for social transformation and to see anarchist practices as appropriate to the challenges of our time. This turn is clearly apparent in the Americas and Europe, and has reverberations on an even broader transnational, perhaps global, scale. This suggests the need for research on social movements to consider anarchists and other marginalized radical traditions more fully, not just as objects of study, but as important sources of theory.

First of all, the publication's website counts every time you view a page as a new article being read, so if you view the original and not the archived version you'll just get locked out after refreshing it three times.

Don't bother with the first half imo, it's a useless faff, but the consciousness portion onwards is worthwhile: worker cooperatives being a marginal addition to a capitalist economy where many people are suffering, lack of participation in lower councils even among the Kurds (non-Kurdish groups apparently participate mostly only in name), asayish not becoming obsolete but ossifying into a police force, a war on the "state mentality" of the people. Nothing groundbreaking but updates are always welcome. The author will post a long series. I have my thoughts, what do you guys think?

Leftwing activism of recent decades exhibits an anarchist turn evident in quantitative indicators like mentions of anarchists in news reports and by activists adopting anarchist modes of organization, tactics, and social goals-whether or not they claim that label. The authors of this Element argue that the very crises that generated radical mobilizations since the turn of the millennium have both led activists to reject other strategies for social transformation and to see anarchist practices as appropriate to the challenges of our time. This turn is clearly apparent in the Americas and Europe, and has reverberations on an even broader transnational, perhaps global, scale. This suggests the need for research on social movements to consider anarchists and other marginalized radical traditions more fully, not just as objects of study, but as important sources of theory.

Alternative link

It seems like so much of social ecology is centered around Bookchin. His ideas are certainly useful, and I don't have anything major to take issue with him for. But he is still one guy, and it's pretty inconsistent with a movement growing from anarchism to uphold individual people as heroes. He's also a cis white man from Vermont.

I'd like to know a lot more about the theory, history, actions, etc. of social ecologists in the Global South. I know about Öcalan and Rojava, and their revolutionary implementation of social ecology in the Kurdish context. Modibo Kadalie was from coastal Georgia, but was involved with a lot of Pan-African organizing that included people from the Caribbean, the African continent, etc. And the EZLN, while not explicitly social ecologist, is a closely related movement greatly benefitting Indigenous people in Chiapas. Many indigenous theories like buen vivir and ubuntu are also being put into practice with great success in the regions they come from. And the social ecologist YouTuber Andrewism is from Trinidad.

If anyone else knows about other social ecology or social ecology-adjacent movements in the Global South, please mention them. There's so much more to social ecology than a white person from Vermont. We should be shifting our discourse to reflect that.

While it would be easy to dismiss this as CrimethInc [hereforth the Outlet] cautiously mitigating any potential liability if self-immolation generalizes, the rejection of the framework of martyrdom demands attention. The question is not whether Aaron qualifies as a shahid within the Palestinian context, although demonstrators in Yemen have proclaimed Aaron a “martyr of humanity” and an argument can be made for him having become an anarchist martyr in the lineage of Louis Lingg, Avalon, and Mikhail Vasilievich Zhlobitsky. The bigger issue: the Outlet’s assertion that an individual’s death, particularly in the context of the US, is the “worst of all possible certainties” reveals a deep disconnect with the context of this entire decolonial struggle. In the days following October 7th, anti-colonial anarchist thinkers such as Zoé Samudzi argued that the figure of the martyr marked a fundamental contradiction for the secular left’s ability to fully comprehend and act in solidarity with the Palestinian resistance. The martyrs constitute a force in the present for all who live and continue to struggle. Aaron framed his self-immolation as “not that extreme” compared to the ascension to martyrdom of tens of thousands in Gaza. By implying that Aaron’s choice was too extreme, the Outlet dishonors the reality of the struggle within Palestine and undercuts the potential of Aaron’s sacrifice.

We Do Not Paint Our Hopes

In the manifesto of the anarchism movement, moving towards freedom and freedom from authoritarian systems, both in the economic system and in the political system, is one of the pillars of the anarchists’ utopia. It is attention to this ideal that gathers liberators to work for a single goal and save people from the prison of capitalism and give them the ability to create freedom and decide for their own lives. The effects of the anti-capitalist and anti-apartheid struggle in Palestine today are exactly the same effects that anarchism has depicted for us. If the people of the world want to understand the meaning of apartheid and oppressive government, they should look at the behavior of the fake government of the Zionist regime against the Palestinian people. Without understanding this 75-year-old cruelty and racism, you cannot claim to understand the meaning of apartheid because only people who have experienced it themselves will understand the bitter taste. With all the similarities between the Palestinian anarchism movement and the international anarchism movement, we have to point out the differences as well. Of course, these differences do not mean the weakness of international and global anarchism and are only differences that have had an effect on the paradigm of the Palestinian movement due to cultural and geographical requirements. A clear example of this difference is that the FAUDA movement never seeks to paint an ideal image on a board and put it on the historical walls of Palestine. An ideal image of the future, no matter how elegant it is and in compliance with all artistic principles, but in reality it is only an image.

What are we going to do with a pile of images from our utopia? Actors usually install their paintings and pictures in the best part of their house. Although there are many old pictures among them, there are also paintings that do not show the past and the present, but represent a picture of a vague future. What does anarchism decide for the vague picture of the future? Should Palestinian anarchism carry a lot of images of the past and present on its shoulders and look for a suitable place to install them in the old streets and alleys of Quds and Nablus or Acre and Gaza? So, what is the difference between a revolutionary and a painter? Ask yourself this question every day. Perhaps you can find the answer to this question in the crowded cemeteries of Palestine, which are full of young people. Move, move, move. This is the only reason why your anarchist and revolutionary friends are fighting fearlessly in Palestine. Palestinian anarchism does not allow young people to dream of vague paintings, but teaches them from the first day how to move, how to wake others up from slumber, how to be a perfect example of the struggle against apartheid and how to create epics. We leave the depiction of this saga and the narrative of the historical struggle of Palestinian youth against the oppressive Zionist regime to others. This important task, this depiction, is the responsibility of the friends who shed tears for Palestine outside of Palestine and want to do something and have a share in this struggle. Palestinian youth have no right to sit and dream in this full-scale war. They should rise up, fight and not think about anything else until the complete destruction of the invaders and taking back their land.

Capitalism’s grow-or-die imperative stands radically at odds with ecology’s imperative of interdependence and limit. The two imperatives can no longer coexist with each other; nor can any society founded on the myth that they can be reconciled hope to survive. Either we will establish an ecological society or society will go under for everyone, irrespective of his or her status.

/s for anyone that doesn't get it.