A-Infos (en) US, Maryland, Media, Raising awareness against capitalism - Anarchist group holds conference in Frederick to highlight the pitfalls of the American way of life

A group of nearly 20 anarchists and progressives gathered at the C. Burr Artz Library in 
Frederick Saturday in an informal conference meant to educate the community about 
anti-capitalism and connecting local issues to international working class struggles.
Members of Unconventional Action Frederick — a chapter of a national network of anarchists 
who reject capitalism, party communism, patriarchy and representational politics — and 
Frederick Progressive Action Coalition, a local coalition of progressives, anarchists and 
anti-authoritarians, organized the Frederick Conference on Organized Resistance.
The conference centered on discussion-based workshops on topics such as environmental 
justice, anti-capitalism, neo-liberal economic policies, the financial crisis, and the 
World Bank and International Monetary Fund.

Dylan Petrohilos, a 20-year-old Frederick resident, organized the conference alongside 
fellow Unconventional Action member, Justin Whittaker.

Petrohilos and Whittaker led a discussion on environmental justice while members from 
several Washington, D.C. and Baltimore-based organizations, such as the Radical Reference 
and Global Justice Action, took over the afternoon's topics.


Petrohilos noted that the conference was a strong critique of capitalism and the 
hierarchies that govern the way Americans live. Rising poverty, home foreclosure rates, 
gentrification of urban areas and the oppression of the working class are problems that 
need solutions, he said.

"It is clear that capitalism isn't working for everyone. It's a big need to go forward and 
create an alternative to this system," Petrohilos said.

Petrohilos noted that he believes in a libertarian-socialist existence and an open, free 
society where people live autonomously and in an egalitarian manner.

What is needed is a social movement and not only relying on the political process to solve 
social problems, he added. More has to be done "than a few legislative changes," 
Petrohilos said.

In August, Unconventional Action Frederick had participated in protests and blockades 
against war, militarization and environmental degradation, with the intention of 
disrupting the Democratic and Republican National Conventions.

Before the conference began Saturday, Whittaker organized stacks of green and pink "zines" 
on a table in the library's Community Room. Zines are homemade booklets devoted to 
unconventional subjects like patriarchy, sexism and capitalism.

Lauren Kanne of Washington, D.C. said her goal in presenting at the conference was to go 
behind the moral, economic and political philosophies of neo-liberalism and give the group 
an understanding of the theory.

"Economic theory is not always well understood as it needs to be," she said.

Kanne said she is involved in Radical Reference, a collective Web site reference for 
volunteer library workers who believe in social justice and equality.
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