primary demands made by anarchists

Question

state briefly the primary demand made by anarchists.do think demand the impossible

Comments

i demand that people stop demanding demands of anarchists.

but seriously...

i have no demands. i have desires, inclinations, ideas, principles, ... even baggage. i can't find a demand anywhere. demands, unless i completely misunderstand the question, are nothing more than strongly worded pleas, made to authorities. kidnappers make demands... anarchists take action. even if that action is nothing more than avoiding the demands of authority.

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Having/making demands presumes there is someone else somewhere who has the power to deliver whatever you're demanding. Let those who believe that people who benefit from the status quo can be influenced to make friendlier policies make demands. Anarchists tend to prefer direct action. Oh, and filling potholes is NOT direct action.

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how is filling potholes on the roads you use not direct action? (direct action doesn't equal good action, right?)
though perhaps answering this on

http://anarchy101.org/281/describe-direct-action-definition-relate-anarchist-practice?show=281#q281

would be better threaded...

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"how is filling potholes on the roads you use not direct action? "

i second dot on that. i definitely get being bothered by the specific action being taken (especially if it seems to be perpetuating some aspect of human society that is seen as undesirable - i surely have no affinity with perpetuating urban lifestyles and car culture), but saying it is not direct action seems a bit dogmatic.

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Cuz they're doing it 1. not in their own neighborhoods; 2. in order to fulfill the (dys)function of the municipal authorities who rely on tax revenues to maintain the streets; and 3. it smells like a publicity stunt

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lawrence, you point out 3 solid critiques of their action, but none of those indicates that it is not direct action, best i can tell. if they are acting to directly impact their own lives, i'd call it direct action; even if that action happens to backfire or strengthen the state. direct action does not imply smart (to me) or strategic action, unfortunately.

your statement that the action is  " in order to fulfill the (dys)function of the municipal authorities... " sounds like an assumption, and a rather large one at that - unless you happen to know the individuals involved and their intentions. that same logic could be used to argue that my defending myself and/or my friends - rather than calling the state - against an aggressor is filling a function of the state/cops, no?

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i feel that for "direct action" it has to be simply something that you do  without any political baggage attached to it. The crap you do at your job is direct action, even if it doesn't fit into a general anarchist way of doing things. To say that filling potholes isn't direct action is giving the term "direct action" some sort of higher meaning.

Answer 1

to translate this question into terminology that makes sense to me, i will change "demands" into "principles" and i will assume that "do think demand the impossible" is not a reference to the peter marshall book https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demanding_the_Impossible

but is missing the word "you", and means to ask whether we think anarchists are asking too much (of whom? reality? ourselves? others?)...

My answer to the "too much" part of the question is a) yes, absolutely, and b) no, of course not.
why should we ask for less than we want?

And anarchist principles (as alluded to in the comments already) are varied, but i will say direct action, mutual aid, anti-capitalism, anti-institutionalized hierarchies (like the church). those are fairly classic.

if this doesn't answer your question -- do please let me know where i went astray.