11 ms·

“Anarchist Cookbook” author William Powell has died

92 points by miobrien 10y ago

Pica_soO 10y ago
Papa state said it first- those are dangerous thoughts, better not thought. Read something valuable, like Jules Verne, who would never educate you too make Nitro Glycerin. Or read a good comp-science book, instead of learning how to craft a virus. S/he who can engineer a building, can tear it down- deal with it. And by virtue of reading, anyone can do that- and this is only going to get worser. Any teenager tomorrow will be able to crisper up a plastic eating bacteria, turning any journalists notebook to black goo under there fingertips. If only those teenagers had some perspective, something to loose, some dream to be held hostage- you could actually prevent this. But doctoring at the symptoms- its so much easier. The other thing- that is almost work. To teach everyone how to craft a china masterpiece of art- that is a nightmare, to declare playing soccer illegal, that is doable. I wish there was a refund on wasted time on propaganda.
- toomuchtodo 10y ago
  This is a far more profound comment than I expected to find. Teaching knowledge is important, but teaching ethics and morals is even more so.
  - psykotic 10y ago
    I read the Jolly Roger's Cookbook (and many other BBS text files) as a teenager and used it to make thermite with my chemistry teacher in the 10th grade. And reading Phrack and old virus magazines like 40HEX did more to engender intellectual curiosity than any of my teachers and provided a solid foundation of low-level programming skills. I'm not sure how you'd weigh the net impact on the world of this kind of information being available, but my hunch is that it's overwhelmingly positive. I'm automatically suspicious of this deeply cynical view of human nature where everyone is so easily tempted to evil deeds if presented with forbidden knowledge and the merest opportunity.
    - rboyd 10y ago
      I'm with you. TAC was one of the first books I encountered that described out-of-the-box thinking, tool-building, and the hacker ethos of using a thing beyond its intended purpose (not to mention a healthy distrust of authority). I managed somehow to get through my teenage years without ever throwing a molotov cocktail at a LEO.
    - im3w1l 10y ago
      It's a numbers game. Let's say 99.9% are good people who would only use the knowledge for wholesome purposes. That still leaves 0.1% to do bad stuff. So if all kids knew how to make viruses, 0.1% of all of those kids would be a lot of virus writers. I'm not saying we should lock the knowledge up. More that your anecdote doesn't really change things.
      - sillysaurus3 10y ago
        But you made those numbers up.
        im3w1l 10y ago
        It doesn't really matter. The important point is that there is a percentage, not the exact value of it.
- acoye 10y ago
  > Jules Verne […] who would never educate you too make Nitro Glycerin. /S Haha also fulmicoton between other things. Love these books and the pragmatic approach to solve the problem at hand.
- TheAdamAndChe 10y ago
  > those are dangerous thoughts, better not thought... I disagree completely. America's government has been unable to evolve with a changing country. Partisanship is at its worst ever at a time when the quality of life for most people is declining. Now more than ever, people need to be learning how to resist an oppressive government, because like it or not, our government seems to be becoming an authoritative corporate oligarchy.
  - mehaveaccount 10y ago
    What oppression have you experienced under Trump?
Animats 10y ago
Kepler's Books in Menlo Park CA used to have a sign that they'd order any book you wanted, except one, "The Anarchists' Cookbook". On the other hand, I've seen copies of the book in the '60s nostalgia section of a bookstore near Ghirardelli Square. If you want that kind of info today, right-wing "prepper" and gun nut sites will have it. Amazon sells The U.S. Army Improvised Munitions Handbook, TM 31-210. It's not like this info is hard to get any more.
- ChefDenominator 10y ago
  I don't really understand the usage of the term "prepper" in relation to Anarchist Cookbook. I think of prepper as someone with an underground bunker with a large cache of vacuum-sealed stew and pickled eggs. If anything related to weapons, it's just the inventory and tools necessary to make reloads. Similar with "gun nut" sites - these usually have content covering the latest innovation in trigger mechanisms, what the right carbon content of the steel is, etc. Caricaturing people in the wrong way cannot serve any useful purpose.
  - watscheatcodes 10y ago
    Why would anyone publish this article, in the current state of things...? Those two words in conjunction completely circumvent any filtering Google does to discourage stumbling on that sort of thing, and it replaces the required familiarity with terminology needed to seek out such information, and minimizes the extensive active pursuit otherwise needed to come upon a collection of such nature; 6 months after his death.... Rediculous!!!
    - tonyedgecombe 10y ago
      I think you meant ridiculous.
      - watscheatcodes 10y ago
        Ha, indeed! 'Redic' is my default auto-correct :p
ue_ 10y ago
I wonder if this book gave people a skewed view of what anarchism is, or if it stemmed from the colloquial usage of 'anarchy', i.e mindless violence and chaotic lawlessness. Bakunin, Proudhon, Kropotkin and Bookchin have nicer books on anarchism in my opinion.
- michaelchisari 10y ago
  Reading recipes that don't work for things that go boom is always going to get more attention than dry, academic 19th century political philosophy.
- _delirium 10y ago
  His foreword to the book makes clear that he doesn't mean anarchist in the left-wing sense. If anything he sounds more like aspects of contemporary militia culture, a kind of patriotic American restorationism. An excerpt: If the real people of America, the silent majority, are going to survive, they must educate themselves. That is the purpose of this book. [...] If the people of the United States do not protect themselves against the fascists, capitalists, and communists, they will not be around much longer. [...] I do not particularly like any form of government but, if the majority of the people seem to think that they are incapable of governing themselves and want a government, then I think the principles the United States was born with are about the best there are. So now revolution comes to mean revitalization, bringing America back to where she was two hundred years ago. [...] I hope that, by the time the two hundredth anniversary of The First American Revolution rolls around, we will be able to look back at the sixties and early seventies as a dark era in the great history of a free nation.
- ferongr 10y ago
  That's what anarchy really devolves into.
  - krapp 10y ago
    I would argue that it likely devolves into statism, if "devolve" is the correct term. Not even most anarchists want "mindless violence and chaotic lawlessness," rather they simply want to opt out of certain laws and legal responsibilities.
watscheatcodes 10y ago
Are you aware of the extreme violence groups such as 'antifa' have been willing to take, with apparently little or no fear of the possible consequences? Do we live in the same world?
- WaxProlix 10y ago
  Can you post some examples of these groups' violence? In any of these situations, would less accessible knowledge have changed anything?
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
  - 69throwaway69 10y ago
    I'm talking about the people who beat those who voted for Trump unconscious, light others on fire, kidnap and torture mentally handicapped conservatives, and stream it online. People who attend and teach courses on how to stop free speech with violence, while encouraging wearing masks to avoid prosecution. People who are convinced that Trump is a Nazi and are willing to commit extreme acts of violence in response to prominent figures calling for white genocide. Each of those Riots costs business owners, city officials/law enforcement, medical staff, and the families of those who have been injured, dollar amounts ranging from 100,000 to 500,000 each. Remember when they did 200,000$ in damage to a single car dealership lot? That's when they had sticks and pepper spray.... I posted on a throwaway, because karma is literally not sustainable, I lost 5 years of karma since September, due to the election shenanigans.. I've already been doxxed and harassed on here for logical dissent from the mainstream, and what do you know, I've already been flagged and shadow-banned, after two comments...(watscheatcodes)
    - WaxProlix 10y ago
      Posting under throwaways starts you off looking like you're arguing in bad faith, so it's understandable. I'll be honest, you sound like a bit of an extremist. I've never heard anyone call for "white genocide", in fact the only time I've seen the term used is by neo-nazis; it's kind of a shibboleth. It's hard for me to justify responding rather than just reporting/downvoting and moving on, and that's probably what others are doing, too. So, stick away from hyperbole, use your main account, and maybe in the worst case, accept that your attempts at spin are losing in the marketplace of ideas. There's probably a reason that a lot of people dislike what you have to say, and it isn't necessarily ignorance or identity politics or a preference for white genocide or any of the other alt-right nonsense.
ninjakeyboard 10y ago
Just to be clear, this was in July. "The writer suffered a fatal heart attack while on holiday with his family in Nova Scotia on 11 July, at the age of 66."
neverminder 10y ago
I am surprised nobody has mentioned roguesci.org - the site from the days when the internet was relatively Wild West. That place was like Anarchist Cookbook x 100 - extensive detailed discussions, explanations, tutorials. People running the site got into some serious trouble, it was shut down in 2009, rumor has it by DOD. Some static mirrors still exist like https://parazite.nn.fi/roguesci https://parazite.nn.fi/roguesci although authenticity is unclear.

92 points by miobrien 10y ago

Papa state said it first- those are dangerous thoughts, better not thought. Read something valuable, like Jules Verne, who would never educate you too make Nitro Glycerin. Or read a good comp-science book, instead of learning how to craft a virus. S/he who can engineer a building, can tear it down- deal with it. And by virtue of reading, anyone can do that- and this is only going to get worser. Any teenager tomorrow will be able to crisper up a plastic eating bacteria, turning any journalists notebook to black goo under there fingertips. If only those teenagers had some perspective, something to loose, some dream to be held hostage- you could actually prevent this. But doctoring at the symptoms- its so much easier. The other thing- that is almost work. To teach everyone how to craft a china masterpiece of art- that is a nightmare, to declare playing soccer illegal, that is doable. I wish there was a refund on wasted time on propaganda.

toomuchtodo 10y ago
This is a far more profound comment than I expected to find. Teaching knowledge is important, but teaching ethics and morals is even more so.
- psykotic 10y ago
  I read the Jolly Roger's Cookbook (and many other BBS text files) as a teenager and used it to make thermite with my chemistry teacher in the 10th grade. And reading Phrack and old virus magazines like 40HEX did more to engender intellectual curiosity than any of my teachers and provided a solid foundation of low-level programming skills. I'm not sure how you'd weigh the net impact on the world of this kind of information being available, but my hunch is that it's overwhelmingly positive. I'm automatically suspicious of this deeply cynical view of human nature where everyone is so easily tempted to evil deeds if presented with forbidden knowledge and the merest opportunity.
  - rboyd 10y ago
    I'm with you. TAC was one of the first books I encountered that described out-of-the-box thinking, tool-building, and the hacker ethos of using a thing beyond its intended purpose (not to mention a healthy distrust of authority). I managed somehow to get through my teenage years without ever throwing a molotov cocktail at a LEO.
  - im3w1l 10y ago
    It's a numbers game. Let's say 99.9% are good people who would only use the knowledge for wholesome purposes. That still leaves 0.1% to do bad stuff. So if all kids knew how to make viruses, 0.1% of all of those kids would be a lot of virus writers. I'm not saying we should lock the knowledge up. More that your anecdote doesn't really change things.
    - sillysaurus3 10y ago
      But you made those numbers up.
      - im3w1l 10y ago
        It doesn't really matter. The important point is that there is a percentage, not the exact value of it.
acoye 10y ago
> Jules Verne […] who would never educate you too make Nitro Glycerin. /S Haha also fulmicoton between other things. Love these books and the pragmatic approach to solve the problem at hand.
TheAdamAndChe 10y ago
> those are dangerous thoughts, better not thought... I disagree completely. America's government has been unable to evolve with a changing country. Partisanship is at its worst ever at a time when the quality of life for most people is declining. Now more than ever, people need to be learning how to resist an oppressive government, because like it or not, our government seems to be becoming an authoritative corporate oligarchy.
- mehaveaccount 10y ago
  What oppression have you experienced under Trump?

Animats 10y ago

Kepler's Books in Menlo Park CA used to have a sign that they'd order any book you wanted, except one, "The Anarchists' Cookbook". On the other hand, I've seen copies of the book in the '60s nostalgia section of a bookstore near Ghirardelli Square. If you want that kind of info today, right-wing "prepper" and gun nut sites will have it. Amazon sells The U.S. Army Improvised Munitions Handbook, TM 31-210. It's not like this info is hard to get any more.

ChefDenominator 10y ago
I don't really understand the usage of the term "prepper" in relation to Anarchist Cookbook. I think of prepper as someone with an underground bunker with a large cache of vacuum-sealed stew and pickled eggs. If anything related to weapons, it's just the inventory and tools necessary to make reloads. Similar with "gun nut" sites - these usually have content covering the latest innovation in trigger mechanisms, what the right carbon content of the steel is, etc. Caricaturing people in the wrong way cannot serve any useful purpose.
- watscheatcodes 10y ago
  Why would anyone publish this article, in the current state of things...? Those two words in conjunction completely circumvent any filtering Google does to discourage stumbling on that sort of thing, and it replaces the required familiarity with terminology needed to seek out such information, and minimizes the extensive active pursuit otherwise needed to come upon a collection of such nature; 6 months after his death.... Rediculous!!!
  - tonyedgecombe 10y ago
    I think you meant ridiculous.
    - watscheatcodes 10y ago
      Ha, indeed! 'Redic' is my default auto-correct :p

ue_ 10y ago

I wonder if this book gave people a skewed view of what anarchism is, or if it stemmed from the colloquial usage of 'anarchy', i.e mindless violence and chaotic lawlessness. Bakunin, Proudhon, Kropotkin and Bookchin have nicer books on anarchism in my opinion.

michaelchisari 10y ago
Reading recipes that don't work for things that go boom is always going to get more attention than dry, academic 19th century political philosophy.
_delirium 10y ago
His foreword to the book makes clear that he doesn't mean anarchist in the left-wing sense. If anything he sounds more like aspects of contemporary militia culture, a kind of patriotic American restorationism. An excerpt: If the real people of America, the silent majority, are going to survive, they must educate themselves. That is the purpose of this book. [...] If the people of the United States do not protect themselves against the fascists, capitalists, and communists, they will not be around much longer. [...] I do not particularly like any form of government but, if the majority of the people seem to think that they are incapable of governing themselves and want a government, then I think the principles the United States was born with are about the best there are. So now revolution comes to mean revitalization, bringing America back to where she was two hundred years ago. [...] I hope that, by the time the two hundredth anniversary of The First American Revolution rolls around, we will be able to look back at the sixties and early seventies as a dark era in the great history of a free nation.
ferongr 10y ago
That's what anarchy really devolves into.
- krapp 10y ago
  I would argue that it likely devolves into statism, if "devolve" is the correct term. Not even most anarchists want "mindless violence and chaotic lawlessness," rather they simply want to opt out of certain laws and legal responsibilities.

watscheatcodes 10y ago

Are you aware of the extreme violence groups such as 'antifa' have been willing to take, with apparently little or no fear of the possible consequences? Do we live in the same world?

WaxProlix 10y ago
Can you post some examples of these groups' violence? In any of these situations, would less accessible knowledge have changed anything?
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- 69throwaway69 10y ago
  I'm talking about the people who beat those who voted for Trump unconscious, light others on fire, kidnap and torture mentally handicapped conservatives, and stream it online. People who attend and teach courses on how to stop free speech with violence, while encouraging wearing masks to avoid prosecution. People who are convinced that Trump is a Nazi and are willing to commit extreme acts of violence in response to prominent figures calling for white genocide. Each of those Riots costs business owners, city officials/law enforcement, medical staff, and the families of those who have been injured, dollar amounts ranging from 100,000 to 500,000 each. Remember when they did 200,000$ in damage to a single car dealership lot? That's when they had sticks and pepper spray.... I posted on a throwaway, because karma is literally not sustainable, I lost 5 years of karma since September, due to the election shenanigans.. I've already been doxxed and harassed on here for logical dissent from the mainstream, and what do you know, I've already been flagged and shadow-banned, after two comments...(watscheatcodes)
  - WaxProlix 10y ago
    Posting under throwaways starts you off looking like you're arguing in bad faith, so it's understandable. I'll be honest, you sound like a bit of an extremist. I've never heard anyone call for "white genocide", in fact the only time I've seen the term used is by neo-nazis; it's kind of a shibboleth. It's hard for me to justify responding rather than just reporting/downvoting and moving on, and that's probably what others are doing, too. So, stick away from hyperbole, use your main account, and maybe in the worst case, accept that your attempts at spin are losing in the marketplace of ideas. There's probably a reason that a lot of people dislike what you have to say, and it isn't necessarily ignorance or identity politics or a preference for white genocide or any of the other alt-right nonsense.

ninjakeyboard 10y ago

Just to be clear, this was in July. "The writer suffered a fatal heart attack while on holiday with his family in Nova Scotia on 11 July, at the age of 66."

neverminder 10y ago

I am surprised nobody has mentioned roguesci.org - the site from the days when the internet was relatively Wild West. That place was like Anarchist Cookbook x 100 - extensive detailed discussions, explanations, tutorials. People running the site got into some serious trouble, it was shut down in 2009, rumor has it by DOD. Some static mirrors still exist like https://parazite.nn.fi/roguesci https://parazite.nn.fi/roguesci although authenticity is unclear.