SOS 🆘

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Some notes on how to effectively organize in a decentralized manner. This is a big group, with a very broad general goal. People from different regions and in different situations may need to pursue different goals with methods of their own, however. Decentralized organization means effectively working together directly with those who agree with you in smaller sub-groups. Keep in mind that just because these sub-groups are separate doesn't mean they can't coordinate, though. One purpose of decentralization is to allow for people with differing views to organize without stepping on each other's toes. We all have a role to play, you need to find the one that best fits your views.

There are four major principles that can make for an effective sub-group:

Tactical unity: Everyone in your sub-group should be in agreement about what tactics you will be using and what tactics are acceptable. (e.g. Don't include "peace police" in your group if your intention is to cause a ruckus.) These tactics can evolve or change over time of course, the important thing is that everyone involved is on board with them. Small groups with agreed tactics and a commitment to carrying them out can be more effective than a large, less organized crowd. (But kept in mind that these smaller groups *can* work from within said crowd.)

Theoretical unity: Everyone in your sub-group should share the same goal. This should ideally be pretty specific, and can be anything from "feed the homeless" to "pressure the police in our local area" (or if you can, and everyone is in agreement, both). Like tactics, goals determine who the group members can cooperate with. If your goal is simply to feed the homeless, for example, your group can probably include sympathetic liberals, so long as they are committed to that. Similarly, this too is subject to change. You may start out simply feeding the homeless, but if a lot of people also want to pressure the police, yet others aren't interested, that's fine-- that group can split into two and the new group can organize around its own goals.

Collective responsibility: Success is everyone's responsibility. This means if someone screws up, you don't point fingers, you don't assign blame, you work together to fix it. Respect each other, and respect the decisions of the group. Additionally, people need to take breaks as well and everyone has different needs, energy levels, etc. in that regard. That's fine, others can fill in.

Federalism/autonomy: Basically, respect the independence and initiative of group members. Your group should not rely on any central authority to guide your decision making. Everyone gets a voice, and everyone involved in a project gets a vote on the nature of the project.

(These platformist organizational guidelines are based on the Organizational Platform of The Libertarian Communists (1926), which I will link below, along with another source for those interested in reading the theory.)

https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/dielo-truda-workers-cause-organisational-platform-of-the-libertarian-communists

http://libcom.org/thought/platformism-an-introduction

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