Craig FitzGerald NATA interviewed by Dutch Zine Green Nationalist

From Green Nationalist

Can you please introduce yourselves for our Dutch readers?

My name is Craig FitzGerald, I am a spokesperson and co-founder of the National Anarchist Tribal Alliance of New York (NATA-NY).

How and against which back round NATA was founded?

NATA was founded in late 2010.  We organized as an alliance of anarchists of all hyphenations, along with libertarians and nationalists disenchanted by elections and political parties. Over fifteen years of on-and-off involvement with the anarchist movement in the NYC area left me very disillusioned. This was due mainly to constant infighting, denunciation of those who dissent or disagree, and a tendency to embrace leftwing and statist pet causes.  NATA was formed as an alternative to an anarchist movement that had become stale, reactionary, dogmatic and even statist.

You call yourselves NA what exactly is National Anarchism?

The “nation” in National Anarchism (NA) does not refer to a government, state, or arbitrary borders. The word nation comes from the Latin Natiowhich literally translates as "that which has been born." NA is essentially Pan Anarchism or anarcho-pluralism.   Anarchism in general can never be a one-size-fits-all label that means the same thing to everyone; the philosophy’s very nature requires heterogeneity.  Unlike the dogmatic, utopian, universal egalitarianism of many anarchists, NA is a realistic and pragmatic approach to the differences in opinion among anarchists.  I believe that NA has the potential to be a large umbrella under which numerous groups could identify; it can philosophically unite diverse hyphenated anarchists with one another, and with other anti-statist groups. This is because the people/community are the nation, not the state.

What would a National anarchist society look like?

A National Anarchist society would be extremely diverse,  seeing that the very nature and essence of NA is that each community has every right to self-determination.  This could manifest as a planned communist economy, a laissez-faire free market, a religious or racially separatist enclave, an environmentalist eco-tribe, or anything else. 

What are your most important source of inspiration?

My wife Jamie and other members of NATA are my greatest source of inspiration. That being said, I find great inspiration in the writing and work of Josiah Warren, Henry David Thoreau, Max Stirner, Benjamin Tucker, Gustav Lauder, Friedrich Nietzsche, Ricardo Flores Magon, Karl Hess, Richard Hunt, Ashanti Alston, Hakim Bey, the EZLN and many others.

How do you put your ideas into practice? What kind of activism are you engaged in & what kind of projects did you realize?

  

NATA and I are involved with a wide range of activities including homesteading, permaculture and organic farming, urban gardening, beekeeping, community organizing, intentional communities, alternative currencies, etc.  NATA has been involved with a variety of movements.  We support gun rights, antiwar efforts, 911 truth, an end to the Federal Reserve, Cannabis legalization, and Occupy Wall Street (OWS), among other movements. We have hosted film screenings, poetry readings and lectures, and provided much needed supplies to NYC’s homeless.

 and confronted “antifa” on multiple occasions.

How are your relations with the anarchist and nationalist scenes in general? 

 Do you cooperate with any other organizations, collectives or political parties/movements?

Despite opposition by some so-called “anarchists,” NATA has many allies in the greater anarchist and OWS movements. Those who have open minds and do not blindly believe the smear campaign “antifa” has levied against us continue to work with and support NATA. We also have many allies amongst populist/libertarian nationalists. Whether anarchist or nationalist, left or right, we put our differences aside and focus on working together on what we do agree upon: local autonomy and individual autarchy. NATA’s members continue to collaborate with groups as diverse as We Are Change, Occupy Wall Street, Earth First, the Libertarian Party and others.

Does Ecology have a role in your opinions, and so how?

Ecology absolutely has a role in NATA’s outlook.  We try as much as possible to be involved with and promote a culture of small scale  organic family farms and intentional communities.  Because the natural environment plays such a central role in all of our lives, it should be a local focus for moving forward in a decentralized world.  If individual communities can learn how to ecologically protect and nurture their land, the earth will benefit much more than if people continue to rely on governments and large NGO’s to “save” or “protect” the environment, especially when these institutions are in league with polluting corporations.  Not only that, but we need food to live, and our sustenance comes from the land.  We should not only be working the land to survive, but also to reestablish the harmonious relationship humanity used to have with the earth.

Can you tell us about the current situation in your country?

The experiment in American federal republicanism has failed and the U.S. has become the empire she unified to fight against.  The only ones who benefit are a plutocratic oligarchy. I won’t go into depth about the power elite’s exploitation of the people, whether political, corporate, etc.  The U.S. can be considered “the belly of the beast” in many ways, but it is also the birthplace of a lot of real resistance.  In my experience a lot of people are waking up to the reality that this country is not what it should be, and are asking themselves what they can do to make a difference.  I have seen a wide variety of people decide to get involved with activist movements, even when they previously had negative or indifferent opinions of such groups.

What are your views on Sub/counter cultures?

Any culture can be a sub/counter culture depending on what the dominant culture is.  It really about context—what is and is not status quo.  As a person who grew up as a part of various NYC subcultures, I can see their worth.  This is mostly because subcultures tend to form small, close-knit social groups, which is in line with NATA’s tribal anarchism.  Also, sub/counter culture can attack the system in a more subtle and indirect way, by building something free from the ground up.

Last comments to Dutch readers?

Please consider secession (from the UN, the EU, NATO, and even the Netherlands) as a practical means of achieving your goals and dismantling the global Anglo American Zionist Empire.