Bonsai and the Art of Community Organizing

Funny the lessons we can learn from things when we take a break

So I took a bit of a break from being out and about as my mental health had deteriorated to nothing and I found I wasn’t of use or value to anyone in that state. Turns out, sometimes recharging your batteries and focusing on other projects can have positive impacts on the thing you had to quit for a moment.

I tend to have a new hobby every couple of months. I enjoy learning new things and putting them to practice until I feel like I’m pretty good at it and then I move on to something else. My latest endeavor is Bonsai: the art of growing tiny trees. I’ve watched a few hundred hours of youtube videos, read some books, bought some tools, and have grown or harvested some plants. I have at this time gotten a pretty good little setup going. The thing is, with Bonsai, it is an exceptionally long process. To get a tree from sapling to show-stopper, can take 5-45 years depending on the type of tree and the conditions and effort put it. There isn’t a quick way to cheat yourself into a finished product early. Even with styles like Yamadori, which is using trees that are older and have been growing in nature to get a jump start on, you still have a lot of waiting to do. There are small adjustments to be made, then waiting, then more adjustments, then … more waiting. Even with a tree that’s 3-5 years old, you still will have 3-5 years of work and investment ahead of you.

As I noticed following a zoom call with one of the national orgs I work with, the same goes for trying to move the needle on any number of things: Political Education, Community Organizing, Community Defense, etc. Each of those projects requires both a lot of work, and well, a lot of waiting. Things don’t just pop into fruition and there is no way in which you can easily cheat into a finished project or organization. You can’t revolutionize community-based political education in a year. You can’t end homelessness in a weekend. And much like with some of the Bonsai trees, no matter what you do or don’t do, some things just don’t root well or take hold in a way in which they will survive.

I spoke with a fellow organizer who relayed some frustrations about rebuilding a coalition styled org from the 70s and that they spent a lot of money and worked really hard, but it wasn’t moving fast enough. The problem being that the people involved are overwhelmingly interested in being connected to the group, but don’t have any kind of project or plan to work on so there isn’t any urgency. The urgency and effort is being spent locally on things their individual orgs already were doing. The second issue is that large scale networks of organizations can be a great tool for solidarity and fund raising occasionally, but don’t have any “oomph” when it comes to solving day to day problems without having to try and work the electoralist angle.

It is becoming increasingly clear as time moves forward, that that angle, is one that just isn’t worth viewing anything from and has such little value to building a better future that almost everyone left of the DSA has given up on it as a worthwhile pathway. It could be argued that, like a Japanese Maple, it is going to take a very long time to get the results you want, but those will be nearly perfect once achieved. But I would counter with, we HAVE been at that for a long time, and as I mentioned earlier, sometimes, you get a plant that simply struggles to take root, and dies. Electoralism unfortunately has a terrible case of root rot.

Anarchism and Communalism however, have the capacity for strong roots, and to build truly magnificent things, if we can be both patient, and consistently hard working. Recognizing that long term problems will require long term solutions, helps to frame things in a way that prevents burnout. Realizing it’s ok to take small breaks and recollect and refocus to ensure your organization or group is still on the right path and are working effectively is not only a good idea, but necessary to continue the fight towards total liberation.

Like trees, we must continue to grow as best we can regardless of the circumstances around us and we should be willing to prune those things from our orgs that either don’t line up with the end goals, or which actively move in a different direction than we want. It’s the beauty of free association in action.

That all being said, we currently have about $100 in the solidarity fund, which I will be putting towards a local group who has taken up making portable heaters for the houseless community here in New Mexico. I plan to get the truck I got last year fixed up and outfitted such that it can become a mobile mutual aid machine for those in the greater Albuquerque area. I’m hoping that by the end of the summer I will be able to drive around town and help those who need it with establishing gardens, tiny lending libraries, and other such small but vital acts of community organizing. Knowing that in the next 10-15 years, we should hopefully see an educated, and well fed city full of people willing to help their neighbors and push back against the state.

Till next time.

-D