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anarchy - ani difranco & utah phillips lyrics

[intro]
i learned in korea that i would never again, in my life, abdicate to somebody else my right and my ability to decide who the enemy is

[verse]
got back from korea
i was so mad at what i’d seen and done
i wasn’t sure i could ever live in the country again
i got on the freight trains up in everett, north of seattle
and kind of cruised the country for two years
making up songs, but i was drunk most of the time so i forgot most of those
i’d heard that there was a house in salt lake city by the roper yards of the denver and rio grande western
there was a clothing barrel and free food
so i got off the train there
i was headed for salt lake anyway
and i found that house
right where they said it was
but most of all i found this wiry old man
sixty*nine years old
tougher than nails, heart of gold
fellow by the name of ammon hennacy
anybody know that name?
ammon hennacy?

one of dorothy day’s people, the catholic workers
during the thirties they started houses of hospitality all over the country
there are about eighty of them now
ammon hennacy was one of those
he’d come west to start this house i’d found
called the joe hill house of hospitality
ammon hennacy was a catholic anarchist pacifist draft*dodger in two world wars tax refuser vegetarian one man revolution in america
i think that about covers it
it was pure h*ll
first thing he did was he said
after he got to know me, he said
“you know you love the country
you love it. you come in and out on these trains
singing songs about different places and beautiful people
you know you love the country
you just can’t stand the government
get it straight.”
he quoted mark twain to me
“loyalty to the country always
loyalty to the government when it deserves it”
(get it straight)
(get it straight)
it was an essential distinction i had been neglecting
and then he had to reach out and grapple with the violence
but he did that with all the people around him
these second world war vets, you know
on medical disabilities and all drunked up
the house was filled with violence, which ammon, as a pacifist, dealt with
every moment and every day of his life
he said, “you’ve got to be a pacifist.”
i said, “why?”
he said, “it’ll save your life.”
and my behavior was very violent then
i said, “what is it?”
he said, “well i can’t give you a book by gandhi
you wouldn’t understand it
i can’t give you a list of rules that if you sign it, you’re a pacifist.”
he said, “you look at it like booze
you know, alcoholism will k!ll somebody
until they finally get the courage to sit in a circle of people like that
and put their hand up in the air and say
‘hi, my name’s utah and i’m an alcoholic’
and then you can begin to deal with the behavior, you see
and have the people define it for you whose lives you’ve destroyed.”
he said, “it’s the same with violence
you know, an alcoholic, they can be dry for twenty years
they’re never gonna sit in that circle and put their hand up and say
‘well, i’m not an alcoholic anymore,’
no, they’re still gonna put their hand up an say
‘hi, my name’s utah and i’m an alcoholic’
it’s the same with violence
you’ve gotta be able to put your hand in the air and acknowledge your capacity for violence
and then deal with the behavior
and have the people whose lives you’ve messed with define that behavior for you, you see
and it’s not gonna go away
you’re going to be dealing with it in every moment and every situation for the rest of your life.”
i said, “well ok, i’ll try that.”
and ammon said, “it’s not enough!”
i said, “oh.”
(i said, “oh.”)
(i said, “oh.”)
he said, “you were born a white man in mid*twentieth century industrial america
you came into the world armed to the t**th with an *rs*nal of weapons
the weapons of privilege
racial privilege, s*xual privilege, economic privilege
you wanna be a pacifist, it’s not just giving up guns and knives and clubs and fists and angry words
but giving up the weapons of privilege
and going into the world completely disarmed
try that.”
that old man’s been gone now twenty years and i’m still at it
but i figure if there’s a worthwhile struggle in my own life
that’s probably the one
think about it
i always wanted to write a song about that old man
he never wanted one about him, he was that way
but something mulched up from his thought
his anarchist thought
anarchist in the best sense of the word
so many times he stood up in front of federal district judge ritter, that old fart
and he’d be picked up for picketing illegally
and he never pled innocent or guilty
he pled anarchy
and ritter’d say, “what’s an anarchist, hennacy?”
and ammon’d say, “an anarchist is anybody who doesn’t need a cop to tell him what to do.”
kind of a fundamentalist anarchist, huh?
and rittre’d say, “but ammon, you broke the law, what about that?”
and ammon’d say, “aw, judge, your d*mn laws
the good people don’t need ’em and the bad people don’t obey ’em
so what use are they?”
(anarchy)
(anarchy)

well i lived there for eight years and i watched him
i mainly watched him
and i discovered, watching him, that anarchy is not a noun but an adjective
it describes the tension between moral autonomy and political authority
especially in the area of combinations
whether they’re gonna be voluntary or coercive
the most destructive coercive combinations are arrived at by force
like ammon said
“force is the weapon of the weak.”
(anarchy)
(think about it)
(anarchy)
(think about it)
(force is the weapon of the weak?)
(anybody know that name?
ammon hennacy?”)

- ani difranco utah phillips lyrics

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