Always a Problem, Always a Solution

Like a Phoenix from the Ashes

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Last week, a catastrophic fire destroyed our mail-order space along with thousands of books and posters and many other things. It was a stunning blow. But in response, people around the world immediately mobilized to support us, raising tens of thousands of dollars for us and flooding us with messages of encouragement. We will be able to resume our activities shortly—and we owe it all to you. Here, we present a full update on the situation.

Footage of the fire.

No, none of us were injured in the fire, thank goodness. No, unfortunately, we did not have insurance of any kind, nor did the building owner. Yes, if you might ever be in a situation like ours, you should probably consider getting insurance. Yes, you’re absolutely right, it’s easier to afford insurance if you are a wealthy capitalist profiteer, not a scrappy band of volunteers who sell everything at break-even prices. No, the fire does not appear to have been an arson attack targeting us, though many online fascists have celebrated it as if it were. Yes, our spirit is unbroken—we remain as eager as ever. The most important elements in a project like ours are the determination of the participants and the goodwill of those we work with, and we are fortunate to have both of those in abundance.

All we ask in all the world is to be able to continue our chosen task—and you have made this possible for us. This is the most profound gift we could receive. It is humbling to be presented with so much care and support from so many people we admire and aspire to build solidarity with. You have conferred a tremendous responsibility upon us, and we will do everything in our power to deserve your faith in us.

As soon as we have succeeded in securing a new space, reprinting all the material we lost, and catching up on backlogged orders, we will look for new ways to resume fulfilling our mission to equip rebels in all walks of life with the information and ideas they need to thrive. We’ve been at this for over 25 years now, and we are ready to put in another quarter century. The struggle continues.

When the fire broke out, we were in the middle of raising the funds to reprint two of our older books—Days of War, Nights of Love, originally published in the year 2000, and the Contradictionary, published in 2013. Yesterday, we completed that fundraising process. To our surprise and gratitude, we raised more than twice what we had asked for in that campaign, as well, receiving preorders for roughly a thousand copies of each book.

As soon as we get those books back from the factory, we will send them out. That process should not be significantly delayed by this mishap. The original run of pins that we made for backers is now a shapeless lump of melted metal in the burnt-out, cordoned-off husk of what was once our mail-order space, but we have already gotten the wheels in motion to mint another round of them and they should be ready in time. As we have said for decades now, always a problem—always a solution.

Other Ways to Help Us

Some people have asked for other ways to help us besides financial assistance. Here are a few possibilities:

  • If you have access to a printer, print copies of the zines and posters available as PDFs in our online library and mail them to us. Failing that, just make them and distribute them yourself!
  • Likewise, if you are a designer, we often need help designing new print materials.
  • Send shipping supplies to our mailing address in Olympia: envelopes, bubble wrap, packing tape, and other office supplies. For best results, email us in advance to hammer out the details.
  • If anyone has the means to make stickers or other such materials, let us know!
  • We need help translating our texts. Any language you speak, we can host it on our site.
  • Contribute writing or reporting to the site.
  • Are you a web designer or programmer? Help us design and maintain and expand the site. You can work on any issue in our backlog to-do list. Email our tech desk for more information with questions.
  • We need another zoom recorder for our future audio projects.
  • Consider signing up at https://crimethinc.com/support to make a reoccurring monthly donation in order to help us sustain what we are doing in the future.
  • Above all, focus your energy and resources on your own long-term efforts to bring about revolutionary change. We don’t intend to represent anyone else’s aspirations for a better world, only to strive for collective freedom side by side with you. Inspire us with your own creative efforts!

Appendix I: Support Gallery

This is just a minute fraction of the messages that we saw on only one out of many different platforms on which people reached out. If you see a message here that you posted and you would prefer we not display it in this context, we’ll gladly remove it.

You can download the Catharsis album in question for free here, along with all the other music we have released over the years.

We were also pleased to see contemporary underground musicians supporting us:

Yes, someone donated $10,000 to the fundraiser. Yes, that surprised us, too. No, we don’t know who it was.

Our colleagues from It’s Going Down are currently in the midst of a fundraising effort of their own.

This is correct. We call for the abolition of the police, the state justice industry, and the prison-industrial complex. A fire is certainly not going to change our political aspirations. And just like the alleged “crime wave” that conservatives of all stripes have been referencing as they seek to counter abolitionist gains, we note that this fire occurred under the prevailing police state, not as a consequence of defunding police or fire departments.

Cops don’t keep us safe. We have to look out for each other.

A charming homage to our classic poster.

“CrimethInc. LLC” seems to be a figment of someone’s imagination.

The Jericho Movement—an organization for supporting political prisoners—calling on people to assist us is humbling indeed. Please, whatever you do with your resources, think first of those who are held captive by the state.

The same goes for the support we received from various chapters of the Anarchist Black Cross:

And the same goes for the support crew for anarchist prisoner Eric King:

…And the comrades who produce the Certain Days calendar:

But it’s especially moving to receive direct support from a long-term earth liberation prisoner:

We are deeply grateful to LBC for supporting us in memory of Aragorn!

We were overjoyed to see messages from around the world in German, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Dutch, Russian, Indonesian, even Turkish:

AK Press experienced a similar fire a few years ago. The comrades from AK Press reached out to us immediately with a profound gesture of support and care. We can’t thank them enough.

We have been fortunate to work with the people from Anarchist Agency repeatedly over the years and are very grateful for their efforts, quite apart from their support for us in this instance.

It’s an honor for us to be supported by chapters of the Youth Liberation Front!

Really, we can only blush.

Freedom press, no less!

Once more, thank you to everyone. See you on the streets.

Appendix II: Further Reading and Listening

POŽAR NI POGASIL OGNJA UPORA—An interview about the fire and related subjects on the Slovenian anarchist radio program ČRNA LUKNJA

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