08 Mar An Anarchist Primitivist for City Council? For a Better Environment, Yes.

I am not usually a political person, at least I don't think so. Some people would probably argue with that aspect of my personality but I maintain that I generally can't stand politics. That is, except for City Council races. I still feel like local politicians can make a difference, if they want to. Lately, I feel at least, our local council has bowed more to developers than to keeping our environment in Austin as unique as we like to think it is by not developing unnecessarily. This bothers me. I am actually really fed up with it. 

A friend of mine, John Duffy, shares my disdain for this development and "progressive" environmental approach that the city has taken lately. This is a sentiment shared by many of the residents of Austin and of members of the recently controversial Occupy Austin, of which both John and I have been active in. Shortly after the eviction of Occupy Austin from City Hall and the blatant disregard for citizen opinions in a few different matters relating to the environment by city employees, John made the decision to run for Council, got on the ballot and is competing against 6 other candidates for place 5 against Spellman. 

Duffy will be having a Cocktail Hour at the Highball on Monday to kick off his campaign. Come get to know John Duffy a bit better. An active member of Occupy Austin and Occupy Wall Street, John is running as an anarcho-primitivist. Concerning his political ideologies, Duffy states: "As a self identified anarchist, my candidacy is a contradiction of terms, and has cost me a lot of "street cred" with other anarchists. However, the contradiction really is just in terms, in language, at the end of the day I'm just a guy, and I'm willing to use whatever tactics necessary to highlight pressing issues."

Duffy is an avid Environmentalist, and has taken a radical stance on defending and protecting the Earth, starting right here in Ausitn and specifically with food. He raises his own chickens and has multiple hugelkulture bed gardens, where he grows more veggies than he knows what to do with. "My vision for Austin is grounded in my understanding of the world at large. This means that when I map out strategic near and long term plans for the city, I take into account the worsening conditions of the environment globally and locally, as well as the failing of economic systems globally and domestically. Therefore, my promise is not of hope, but an attempt at mitigation, at buffering Austin against inevitable decline as best as is possible."

Come get to know more about Duffy and join his campaign, this coming Monday at 6:00pm at the Highball. http://www.facebook.com/events/369087806444829/

Full transparancy: I have decided to volunteer as Duffy's Campaign Manager. What can I say, I am REALLY tired of seeing the environment take second place in a City that continues to claim nothing but sustainability. John is someone who I feel I could finally trust to not take developers money and be completely transparent with the City's processes and citizen input, as horizontal democracies are a core value for both of us.