THE ANARCHIST VELVET REVOLUTION IN NORWAY 25 YEARS

THE ANARCHIST VELVET REVOLUTION IN NORWAY 25 YEARS
THE ANARCHY IS STILL GOING STRONG

ANARCHY & ANARCHISM = LIBER SOCIAL DEMOCRACY = REAL, INCLUDING GREEN - DEMOCRACY - A SIGNIFICANT BOTTOM - UP SYSTEM!

The anarchists are celebrating the anarchist velvet revolution in Norway 1994-2019

The Anarchy of Norway is still going strong, and in 2019 The 25th anniversary of the anarchist revolution in Norway will be celebrated world wide by Real and Green Democrats Thursday 28. November, the Day of the Anarchist Revolution in Norway.

Resolution, decided with general consent, by:
The International Anarchist Congress
The 13th Anarchist Biennial 28-30.11.2014
International Congress-Seminar on Anarchism
The AI/IFA network represents more than 50 000 anarchist world wide
Updated in 2019

CONTENTS:

Summary
Introduction
The anarchist velvet revolutionary change in Norway in 1994/95
The symbolic king is totally powerless
The anarchy of Norway is still going strong
Anarchy in international perspective

Some time has passed on since the Norwegian People turned their back against the main economic political course of the social democrat government, at the 1994 EU referendum. While the Norwegian EEC referendum in the early seventies gave a movement to the left on the economic political map, the megatrend of the late eighties and early nineties was a movement to the right and upwards. The EU referendum and more actions indicated a further jump in this direction, and thus the economic political system in Norway made a revolutionary change, and passed the border between the marxist social democrat sector and the anarchist sector of social individualism. This of course is a major social event in the economic political world history. A long jump further rightwards may result in a liberalist system, and a reverse tendency may give a retardation to marxist social democracy, but this is not the case at the moment, and thus the living Anarchy of Norway (AoN), a real & green democratic system, is still going strong.

Although the system by now is significantly anarchist, i.e. within the Quadrant of Anarchism on the economic political map, it is somewhat far from the anarchist ideal on the top of the map, i.e. full democracy. Thus, it is plenty of room for improvement from anarchist perspective, and by no means time for a break in the fight against authoritarian tendencies. The revolution must be fought permanent, in the daily life, to sustain and develop further. However, as long as a) Norway stays out of EU, b) populist and nationalist tendencies are put at place, and c) the left and right tendencies outbalance each other reasonable as by now, Norway will probably stay anarchist and real & green democratic, and be a lighthouse for EU and the rest of the world. Let's work together, on co-operative or individual basis, in media, political and economic organizations, to support the Anarchy of Norway and anarchist - real & green democratic - tendencies all over the world.

Some time has passed on since the Norwegian People turned their back against the main economic political course of the social democrat government, at the 1994 EU referendum. The megatrend of the late eighties and early nineties was a movement to the right and upwards on the Economical Political Map. The EU referendum and more actions indicated a further jump in this direction, and thus the economic political system in Norway made a revolutionary change, and passed the border between the marxist social democrat sector and the anarchist sector of social individualism. This of course is a major social event in the economic political world history. A long jump further rightwards may result in a liberalist system, and a reverse tendency may give a retardation to marxist social democracy, but this is not the case at the moment. Thus, Norway became an anarchy in 1994/95, and it still is an anarchist economic-political system, i.e. real democracy with a significant green tendency.

The Economic-Political Map

[The anarchy degree is 100% - the authoritarian degree within the anarchist quadrant. (Esquerda means left, and direita means right. The star indicates the Norwegian economic-political system after the velvet anarchist revolution in 1994/95.)]

And thus, the Anarchy of Norway is still going strong per 2019. Although the system is significantly anarchist, i.e. within the Quadrant of Anarchism on the economic political map, it is somewhat far from the anarchist ideal on the top of the map. "So this is heaven: Norway", the LA-TIMES in USA reports about Norway, November 2001, but this is however a bit exaggerated; see American look at Norway - Report no 1, where the article is quoted, with comments from IIFOR added. Another American article on the situation in Norway, quoted from NY-TIMES January 2002, also with comments from IIFOR, is also included.

The main policy of the Anarchist International (AI/IFA) and The Anarchist Federation of Norway (AFIN) was presented in the largest Newspaper in Norway, Verdens Gang 06.11.2001, p 39, see Anarchy is [real] democracy - article in VG. This article also states "Norway [as] a relatively anarchist country, however a bit far from the anarchist ideal (Norge som et relativt anarkistisk land, men nokså langt fra det anarkistiske ideal)."

In June 2002 a libertarian direct action against the World Bank's reactionary policy and the ABCDE-meeting, in Oslo, once more confirmed that anarchy is significantly on in Norway, see Direct action against the ABCDE-meeting and policy. Norwegian firms are more and more horizontally organized, according to Nordhaug and Gooderham at NHH (Dagsavisen 15 & 16.10.2004).

A degree of anarchism of ca 54%, as in Norway 2019 is as mentioned not a high degree of anarchism. This means the authoritarian degree is still ca 46%. If the libertarian degree is less than 50% there is no anarchy, i.e. real & green democracy, at all. About 54% anarchy degree is quite an accepted estimate. It is a.o.t. quoted in Dagens Næringsliv (the Industrial life of today, the main economical newspaper of Norway) no 2/3 June 2007 and Finansavisen (the Financial newspaper) Wednesday 17. October 2007, see anarchist articles in DN and Finansavisen.

30.05.2007. The Anarchy of Norway was rated as the most peaceful nation in the world, and since the middle of 1995 the country has also been ranked as the most democratic, libertarian and anarchist on planet Gaia, a.k.a. Tellus and Earth.

15.01.2010. Positive citizen survey: A nationwide citizen survey shows that 86 per cent of Norwegians think that their country is close to being a perfect country to live in.

02.11.2011. Flat hierarchy challenges new leaders. Norway's "flat, flat, flat" management hierarchy [i.e. not topheavy pyramid economically and/or political/adminstrative] poses a huge challenge for new leaders recruited from overseas. It can also explain why there's so few of them within the Norwegian business world. "Many leaders can feel so disrespected when they come to Norway," said Kimberly Lein-Mathisen, global alliance leader for the large US pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly. Everyone is equal, and employees are accustomed to being consulted on most matters, and having their say. Source: www.newsinenglish.no.

So called heaven or not, 54% anarchism is far from the 100% anarchist ideal, full democracy. Thus, it is plenty of room for improvement from anarchist & real democratic perspective, and by no means time for a break in the fight against authoritarian tendencies. The revolution must be fought permanent, in the daily life, to sustain and develop further. However, as long as a) Norway stays out of EU, b) populist and nationalist tendencies are put at place, and c) the left and right tendencies outbalance each other reasonable as by now, Norway will probably stay anarchist and real & green democratic, and be a lighthouse for EU and the rest of the world. We call for anarchist, real & green democratic Bottom – Up actions to sustain and increase the degree of anarchy and democracy in Norway!

The Real & Green Democracy revolution in Norway and the Green Global Spring Revolution GGS. The veteran eco-anarchist and anarcha-feminist Anna Quist from the Anarchy of Norway, is elected as the official spokesperson for the GGS. She was elected 28.09.2019 unanimously by the GGS/AI- secretariat in Oslo, the capital of Norway, a country in Northern Europe, and an Anarchy (of low degree) since the velvet anarchist revolution 1994/95, also with a significant green tendency. A.o.t. there is no significant coal problem in this country. The revolution started 28.11.1994 with the EU-referendum and more actions. The Anarchy of Norway is still going strong, and in 2019 The 25th anniversary of the anarchist revolution in Norway will be celebrated world wide by Real and Green Democrats Thursday 28. November, the Day of the Anarchist Revolution in Norway. "The Real and Green Democracy Revolution in Norway is a significant inspiration for The Green Global Spring Revolution (GGS) because it demonstrates fully that 1. Anarchy, i.e. including a significant green tendency, works, and 2. that the GGS may very well succeed world wide! But not without hard work and using all legal means and actions!" said Anna Quist, a 1. veteran Real and Green Democracy, i.e. Anarchist, activist since 1965, also 2. activist in the Norwegian anarchist, including green, revolution in 1994/95 and later, and 3. now and in the future official spokesperson for The Green Global Spring Revolution (GGS).

This document discusses the history and implications of the Anarchist Velvet Revolution in Norway, which began in 1994. The revolution marked a significant shift away from the top - down marxist social-democracy towards a more anarchist system, following a "No" vote in the 1994 EU membership referendum. This event catalyzed a move towards real and green democracy, characterized by greater autonomy, reduced hierarchical structures, and increased grassroots influence on decision-making, a significant bottom - up system.

Background and Shift: The late 1980s and early 1990s saw a right and upwards trend in Norway's political-economic landscape related to the economic-political map, culminating in the 1994 referendum where Norwegians rejected EU membership. This rejection is a break from the dominant marxist social-democratic policies, the top - down rule of Gro Harlem Brundtland & Co., leading to a shift towards the anarchist quadrant on the economic-political map, a significant bottom - up system = liberal social democracy.

Anarchist Principles in Norway: The new system is described as having a low degree of anarchism, approximately 54%, meaning there is still much room for improvement. The liberal social democrats, i.e. anarchists, emphasizes a balance of autonomy and socialism, with a call for ongoing resistance against authoritarian tendencies.

International Context and Anarchy Degree: Norway is ranked as the most anarchist country globally, with Switzerland and Iceland also considered anarchies of low degree. The anarchist system in Norway is based on green policies and social individualism, resisting nationalist and populist tendencies.

Symbolic Monarchy: While Norway retains a monarchy, the king is purely symbolic, with no real power or command. The main power lies in a council based on parliamentary democracy, i.e. the Storting. The People, i.e. the grassroots, as opposed to the authorities, have a significant influence on the Storting.

Challenges and Ongoing Revolution: This document stresses the need for continued efforts to enhance anarchism that is real, i.e. including green - democracy, including resisting counterrevolutionary forces and authoritarian trends.

International Impact: Norway’s system is presented as a "lighthouse" for other nations, inspiring movements like the Green Global Spring Revolution (GGS) and the movements for democracy world wide.

Overall, this document celebrates the persistence of anarchist ideals in Norway while advocating for further democratization and ecological policies.

In 1972 it was a referendum about Norwegian membership to the EEC - EF . 2 645 349 had the right to vote, 79,2 % participated and 53,3 % voted no. A vast majority among the anarchists voted no. The anarchist movement - the trendsetter in the fight for more socialism and autonomy, joined forces and founded the Anarchist Federation of Norway, - Anarkistføderasjonen i Norge - Anarkistenes Organisasjon, in September 1977. Among the early affiliates were Arnold Hazeland Jr., at that time a leader at the "Fri Rettshjelp" (free legal action support), also a lawyer as his grandfather, the prominent high court judge and probably the most famous anarchist in Norway until 1945 Arnold Hazeland; a young relative of Christopher Hansteen, relatives of people related to Rasmus Steinsvik, old anarchosyndicalists, and others, i.e. industrial workers, farmers, teachers, cultural workers, lawyers, artists, journalists, students, all kinds of people. The Anarchist Federation formed a junction vis-à-vis the domestic megatrend to the right and upwards on the economical political map in the late nineteen eighties and early nineties, i.e. in the fight for more autonomy and freedom, but against economical plutarchist (capitalist) tendencies. A fight for less rank and income differences, more efficiency and fairness, and against political/administrative and economical bureaucracy broadly defined, in private and public sector, within the country and internationally.

In 1979 The Anarchist Federation affiliated to the Anarchist International, IFA, The Anarchist Black Cross, ABC; and the Community Action Network, CAN. In 1982 the first IFA Congress in the North was arranged in Oslo by AFIN, constituting the different other Northern IFA-sections, i.e. Swedish, Danish, Finnish, etc. and confirming the Internationals of the different anarchist currents within the framework of the general Anarchist International, i.e. eco-anarchist, anarcho-feminist, -syndicalist, individualist, collectivist, as well as the Internationals of commune/communist Anarchism and social individualist Anarchism, including socialist, federalist and mutualist anarchism; and the libertarian international of teetotallers. Also the International Anarchist Tribunal, IAT, with the Anarchist Arbitration Court, say, suggested by Pjotr Kropotkin already in 1910, the Anarchist Press Tribunal, and other branches was founded at this congress. Several congresses and actions were arranged during the years passing by.

Early in the 1980s the Anarchist International University Federation - Anarkistisk Universitetslag, was officially established, and in 1985 the International Institute for Organization Research, IIFOR, the main research institute of the anarchist movement was founded. The IIFOR, and the research-groups of the Northern IFA-sections in general, joined the FICEDL, the libertarian research network, officially in 1987, however anarchist researchers related to NAC-IFA had also participated on earlier arrangements of the FICEDL network. A. Hompland together with other anarchists started Folkebladet/IJ@ in 1971, and this journal became later the organ of the Anarchist Federation. Since 1984 H. Fagerhus has been the editor of IJ@/Folkebladet. In 1982/83 Folkebladet became the common and main organ of the NAC, the Northern Anarchist Confederation, and in 1984, including IFA-Solidaritet etc, was established as the International Journal of Anarchism. The currents of anarchism mentioned above were also confirmed as sections of the Anarchist International in the Anarchist Manifesto, the program of the Northern sections of IFA, ISBN 82-90468-09-1, see Folkebladet No 4 (1983) and IFA-Solidaritet No 8 (1983). When the Anarchist International world wide was confirmed at the International Anarchist Congresses in 1998 and 2000, these main sections of anarchism were expanded universally.

The researcher P. Johansen said in Dagens Næringsliv (Today's Industrial Life) 08.02.2002 in a retrospective interview that "den gangen hadde Norge en regulert økonomi og nærmest en ettpartistat", i.e. "at that time Norway had a regulated economy and close to a one-party state". The country had a marxian socialdemocratic type a bit socialistical system related to the economical political map; most of the time ruled and dominated strongly by the powerful Labor Party, Arbeiderpartiet (AP), from 1945/6 first clearly authoritarian, later slowly less authoritarian until 1993/4.

Introduction and summary. Anarchy, i.e. real & green democracy - in Norway, of low degree, but > 50%, is registered since 1994/95. The revolutionary change, i.e. when Norway entered the social-individualist sector of the anarchist quadrant of the economic-political map, is i) rooted back to a domestic megatrend to the right and upwards on the economical-political map, ii) the No to EU referendum 28.11.1994, and iii) more actions, that iv) gave the marxist matriarch Gro Harlem Brundtland and her authoritarian government an economic-political uppercut, which v) stopped the ruling and turned the system into relatively anarchist administration/management. The development of the libertarian/anarchist degree in Norway related to the velvet revolution and revolutionary change in 1994/95 is estimated to the following: 11-27.11.1994 = ca 49,4% (state); 28-29.11.1994 = ca 51% (anarchy); 01.03.1995 = ca 52%; 01.06.1995 = ca 53%; 01.10.1995 = ca 53%, a stabilized anarchy of low degree. The term "ca" means about. 28.11.1994 is celebrated as the Day of the Anarchist Revolution in Norway, by libertarians. 28.11.2014 the anarchist are celebrating the 20th anniversary of the anarchist velvet revolution in Norway. 28.11.2019 the anarchists are celebrating the 25th annirversary of the anarchist velvet revolution in Norway.

The history of the Anarchist Revolution. 28.11.1994 the marxist PM & Co's effort to break the domestic megatrend towards anarchy, by establishing supra-national bureaucracy, was crushed by the EU-referendum. 3 266 064 had the right to vote, 89,0 % participated and 52,2 % voted no. The supra-national Brussels-bureaucracy had to return, the Norwegian system made a revolutionary change, and passed the border to the anarchist quadrant on the EP map. Before the referendum the ruling system virtually and in many ways practically and mentally was "in" the European Union. The only that lacked was de facto the "keys" to the offices... The "NO!" turned the whole thing upside down... The marxist matriarch, called the "Yes to EU Queen" in the newsmedia, and ruling powerful according to this title, de facto abdicated as an arch, kept a low profile in the newsmedia, retired to a more soft central administration only, and left the system significant to anarchy rules - OK - in the following time. (There has not been a significant ruler/arch of Norway since then.)

Soon after the No-vote was known, the CNN and othe main international newsmedia reported that this was due to "Nationalistic" and "Non-internationalistic" [authoritarian, backwards] tendencies, based on disinformation from the Yes to EU government in Norway. However the Anarchist International Information Service AIIS - Anarkistenes Informasjonstjenest AIT - minutes after these newsreports faxed a message to main international newsmedia, including CNN, stating that Norway was libertarian, and [soon] anarchist. Soon after the CNN responded to the AIIS-faxes and changed the news, reporting about: "an almost perfect society", regarding the Norwegian economic-political system. Also other main international newsmedia changed their reports in a similar way. They however did not mention AIIS as a source, but they clearly responded by changing the news according to the facts from AIIS. More information about the international newsmedia's responses to AIIS-faxes, se below.

The Northern Anarchist Confederation - Anarkistenes organisasjon i Norden, expressed the following view:

At the EU referendum 28.11.1994, the Norwegian People turned their back against the main economic political course of the social democrat government. While the Norwegian EEC referendum in the early seventies gave a movement to the left on the economic political map, the megatrend of the late eighties and early nineties was a movement to the right and upwards. The EU referendum indicated a further jump in this direction, and thus the economic political system in Norway made a revolutionary change, and passed the border between the marxist social democrat sector and the anarchist sector of social individualism. This of course is a major social event in the economic political world history.

A long jump further rightwards may result in a social liberal system, and a reverse tendency may give a retardation to marxist social democracy, but this is not the case at the moment. Although the system by now is significantly anarchist, i.e. within the Quadrant of Anarchism on the economic political map, it is somewhat far from the anarchist ideal on the top of the map. Thus, it is plenty of room for improvement from anarchist perspective, and by no means time for a break in the fight against authoritarian tendencies. The revolution must be fought permanent, in the daily life, to sustain and develop further. However, as long as a) Norway stays out of EU, b) populist and nationalist tendencies are put at place, and c) the left and right tendencies outbalance each other reasonable as by now, Norway will probably stay anarchist, and be a lighthouse for EU and the rest of the world. Let's work together, on co-operative or individual basis, in media, political and economic organizations, to support the Anarchy of Norway and anarchist tendencies all over the world.

After the revolutionary change, the coordinates of the Norwegian social system are ca 55% socialism and ca 52% autonomy on the Economic-political map. Thus, the degree of anarchy is about 53%, and the system is significant anarchist. And thus, the bureaucratic tendency broadly defined, i.e. the tendencies towards economical and political/administrative hierarchy, - plutarchy (capitalism) and statism in different forms, oligarchy, polyarchy and ochlarchy included, - measured by the authoritarian degree, is about 47%. Although not the significant, i.e. the system is clearly more anarchist than authoritarian, it has a considerable bureaucratic tendency, an obstacle against maximal efficiency and fairness, as well as anarchist human rights & ethics and a further movement towards the anarchist ideal.

*) The stars indicate the position of the Norwegian economical-political system after the revolutionary change in 1994/95.
Read more about it at (click on:) IJA 1994-96 .

As mentioned, after the referendum the CNN (after a little help from the AIT/AIIS) reported: "an almost perfect society" etc, about the Norwegian economic-political system. And this was a good thing because a) the bad losers of the EU-referendum, say, the matriarch Gro Harlem Brundtland and Utenriksdepartementet, The Norwegian Foreign Department, sent out harmful authoritarian propaganda and disinformation, telling Norway was or would be a populist, nationalist, mercantilist, "nisselueland", with a bad economy, on TV etc. internationally, and thus b) the Norwegian exchange rate and prices of shares turned downwards, the interest rate went upwards, and Norway would probably be sent into an economical depression with large unemployment, if not c) Lou Dobbs at CNN and other international newsmedia had reported the truth - that the Norwegian economy was very sound, and the economical political system was sound, and indicated it would probably be more sound, and d) thus the exchange rate went upwards, the value of the shares rised again, and interest rate went down, and thus a hike in the interest rate and a depression with big unemployment were avoided.

Afterwards the Norwegian economy relatively has been one of the strongest in the world, but if Gro Harlem Brundtland and UD had managed to start a bad economical spiral downwards, as they were up to, the Norwegian economy would perhaps never recovered and be as good as it has been over the years passing by since 1994."Thanks to Lou, the editors of CNN and other international media supporting AIT and the new anarchist political economical system of Norway in the early days of the revolutionary change. Perhaps we all togheter "changed the world" slightly, slightly, slightly i.e. at least on behalf of Anarchism in Norway and the Norwegian people. It must be clear that the relevant press releases sent by telefax from AIT to CNN etc. before and soon after the EU-referendum, also of course accounted for the friendly replies from Lou Dobbs at CNN and the other international media on the air, via the influence on the economy, probably were worth billions to the Norwegian people a.o.t., in the following years", says A. Quist, the internationally well known anarchofeminist and co-writer of the Anarchofeminist Manifesto of 1982.

A brief summary of the most important information and press releases sent from the AIT/AIIS before and after the EU-referendum 1994-95, and the responding of the international newsmedia-giants, was published in IJ@/Fb No 4 (24) 1994, 1 (25) and 2 (25) 1995. NB! When reading the IJ@/Fb No 4 (24) 1994, 1 (25) and 2 (25) 1995, etc, the text should be interpreted according to the updated research front of anarchism today. Say a.o.t., the concept of the degree of anarchy has been more strictly defined, and is no longer used for systems outside the anarchist quadrant of the Economical-Political map, using instead the authoritarian degree (or the libertarian degree broadly defined, including semilibertarian degree = 100% - the authoritarian degree). The most basic mathematical ecocirc formulas related to the Economical-Political map have of course not been changed, but the words used per definition in this connection have been changed a bit to make it a bit more clear what is anarchist and what is not, i.e. semilibertarian and authoritarian. The situation during the anarchist revolutionary change was quite dramatic, especially in the days just around the referendum and the following months. All in all, the marxist matriarch Gro Harlem Brundtland and her authoritarian government got a real economic-political uppercut, that changed the system into anarchism of low degree.

IJ@/Fb No 4 (24) reported: EU-strategien ble i hovedsak lagt i 1988, og pressetaktikken på Anarkistbiennalen i Oslo 1994, det 3. kombinerte IFA-FICEDL kongress-seminaret den 2.11. Og alt har gått over forventning i forhold til planene. Det internasjonale pressekorpset som samlet seg i Oslo til folkeavstemningen, ble som ventet avspist med JA-propagandaen fra UD's Internasjonale Pressesenter på "Vestbanen" i Oslo. Pressen ante fort at propagandaen ikke stemte helt. UD's materiale samsvarte bl.a dårlig med det en kunne se med egne øyne. Pressen ønsket naturligvis noe mer troverdig - en kontrast til regjeringspropagandaen. Dermed var bordet duket for det anarkistiske alternativet, som kom med korrekt informasjon, i motsetning til Ja-regjeringens desinformasjon. Og så begynte ballen å rulle... Før folkeavstemningen i Sverige sendte vi [bl.a] en melding med overskriften "Sweden and Norway: Say no!".

Mange anarkister deltok også i den generelle NEI til EU folkebevegelsen, IJ@/Fb hadde argumentert aktivt mot EU i flere år, og man hadde kjørt frem disse argumentene i en rekke fora. Ragnar Frischs artikkel om "Det uopplyste pengevelde", med brodd mot EU, ble trykt opp igjen og sirkulerte i økonom-kretser, etc. Det var en kjempemobilisering frem til folkeavstemningen. I Sverige ble det jo ja-flertall, og i Norge nei. Den internasjonale pressen hadde imidlertid fått et helt feilaktig inntrykk av grunnen til nei-et i Norge, og dette avspeilte seg bl.a i de første nyhetssendingene på CNN, SKY og TV5. Det var da det var på tide å markere seg som et bedre alternativ til UD's Ja-propaganda. Vi sendte til hele det internasjonale nettet, men tar her bare med utgaven til CNN.To CNN: Please stop spreading disinformation about the Norwegian EU-referendum. There were no significant "Nationalistic" and "Non-internationalistic" arguments in the debate. The main argument goes like this (in academic terms): NORWAY SAYS "NO"!

1. Membership in The European Union represents probably a movement towards more [degree of] statism and capitalism, and thus towards less efficient production, less justice, and larger difference in rank and income, i.e. a movement away from anarchy [NB! this was a situation of an anarchist revolutionary change, the authoritarian tendencies of the marxian matriarchy was crushed, and the Anarchy of Norway was emerging, but was not yet quite stabile] in authoritarian direction. The feminist, environmental and intergenerational perspectives are also included in this analysis.

2. A vast majority among The Anarchists in Norway and Sweden think so, and voted NO at the referendums. 3. The Norwegian and Swedish People in general were advocated to do the same: Vote NO to membership in The European Union at the referendum! 4. In Sweden and Norway the majority of the people voted NO, but the bureaucracy and its ramifications voted yes at large. The larger and shrewder Swedish bureaucracy managed to defeat the people, but the Norwegian did not. Thus [after the anarchist revolutionary change] Norway confirmed its position as a land with relatively high degree of anarchy, and - together with Switzerland country - a lighthouse for the authoritarian European Union. Og det gikk ikke mange minuttene før CNN endret på reportasjene. Det ble snakket om "the almost perfect society" (= anarki) [Say, Lou Dobbs and other reporters at CNN were clearly responding to the AIT/AIIS press releases] etc, og alt pratet om nasjonalisme og nisselue ble søkk borte. Dessuten ble reportasjen utvidet betraktelig. Dette hadde også en positiv effekt på avisene i USA, og New York børsen. Kronekursen gikk opp og renten ned.

The fight for the velvet anarchist revolution was however not yet over - and it developed into a permanent revolution, it was necessary to crush repeated contrarevolutionary attacks, from the Yes to EU organizations and statist and/or capitalist tendencies in general. Say, soon after the referendum a contrarevolutionary attack from the Yes-ministers - and some private bureaucratical tendencies aiming at economical plutarchy - tried to stop foreign investment in Norway - and recommended large scale "outflagging/utflagging" for the Norwegian investors as well, and thus stab a dagger in the back of the new, emerging, anarchist system. The aim was probably to start an economical depression, and thus clear the ground for a new EU referendum and perhaps a Yes majority later on, based on a.o.t. the argument "What did we say before the referendum! The political economy in Norway will be bad, if the country doesn't become a member of the European Union". Anyway a call for a new referendum was mentioned in the newsmedia. Det ble snakket om krise i norsk næringsliv og om kapitalflukt fra Norge, samt investeringer i Sverige, og dette måtte naturligvis også motvirkes.

Dermed var det duket for en ny pressemelding [til CNN, SKY-NEWS, TV5, etc, men også til norsk presse], som også ble fulgt opp av den internasjonale pressen, og kronekursen gikk ytterligere opp og renten ned. Dermed var sannheten om Norges relativt gode økonomi festet i den internasjonale opinionen så langt: Investment in production v.s. bureaucracy: An interesting social experiment takes place in Scandinavia. Two countries, Norway and Sweden, with approximately the same type economic-political system... initially, have chosen different connection to Europe. Sweden has joined The European Union, and Norway has not. A comparative analysis so far shows the following: Sweden will invest approximately 2 billions US $ next year in net contigent to the EU-bureacracy, i.e. "for a seat in Brussel", while Norway will save about 1 billion $, which may be used for productive investments. The Swedish are discussing who's going to pay the bill. Perhaps somebody will try to put it indirectly on foreign investment etc. in Sweden, rather than pay it themselves? This payment, i.e. via more taxes, is a.o.t. just what happened later on. Investigations of the development in unemployment, median and average income, bureaucracy and system cost, and other economical indicators, indicate a relative success for the Anarchy of Norway compared to the EU-bureaucratic Sweden, also seen apart from the net benefits from the oil-industry.

The bureaucratic authoritarian rule of the marxian matriarch had kept the Norwegian political-economical system both inefficient and unfair, based on statism: "Gro Harlem Brundtland har på sin side hatt makta, og hun har visst å bruke den... historien om en politiker-gruppes kamp mot folket... Ei lekse i maktbruk." slo Nationen fast 29.11.1994, i.e. meaning something like Gro Harlem Brundtland had very much had the power and used it in a rather machiavellian way. And this was most likely a very correct observation. The anarchist revolution changed the Norwegian economical political system towards somewhat less authoritarian tendencies, the system moving also bit to the right, passing the border from the marxian social-democrat to the anarchist quadrant on the economical-political map. The grip of the statism of the marxist matriarch loosened, the degree of statism was reduced a few percent in the following time, following the megatrend towards more autonomy. The marxist matriarch stopped being a matriarch, i.e ruler, in real terms, retiring to a passive administrative role. The marxist Dagsavisen had a retrospective article 18.04.2009 headlined "Dr. Gro og Mrs. Hyde" and also stating Gro as "En sosialdemokratisk variant av Kim Il Sung". Gro was Mrs Hyde and a social-democratic variant of Kim Il Sung, until the anarchist revolution i 1994/95, but then became the less authoritarian Dr. Gro, and the system seen all in all became an anarchy of low degree, with ca 53% degree of anarchy.

The message to the foreign and domestic investors were: At the moment it seems like Norway is the most interesting for domestic and foreign investment. Better to invest in a stabil anarchy compared to a growing bureaucratic chaos. Ja-siden la jo ikke inn årene av den grunn, og hver gang det har toppet seg, har vi stått på... og vi har gode relasjoner til f.eks CNN og SKY-NEWS, som et pålitelig alternativt pressebyrå... And both foreign and domestic realinvestments in Norway continued in a reasonable way, compared to Sweden and the European Union in general.

15.12.1994 the contrarevolutionary tendencies against the new established Anarchy, the bad losers call for a new referendum and trying to sabotage the people's clear No majority -- were halted somewhat for a while when the editor Kåre Valebrokk of the industrial-paper Dagens Næringsliv, in a one page commercial in Aftenposten, the largest non-tabloid Norwegian newspaper, a) with a picture of the internationally well known Norwegian anarchist and play-writer Henrik Ibsen declaring his famous word of wisdom "Bedst var det, kan hænde, det gik, som det gik...", and b) himself adding a.o.t. "Hva var det vi mistet, hva var det vi fikk... Det er nye tider nå.", indicating it was after all best that the result at the referendum was No to the European Union, and not Yes, and that an anarchist economical-political system was established. The AIT/AIIS press release titled "Kåre vs Gro", published 23.12.2002 reported a.o.t. about this, and also

a) that the PM Gro Harlem Brundtland had no credibility after telling lies for open TV-screen about the LO's (workers' union) statement against the EU in the main EU-debate program at the NRK-TV, the Norwegian public broadcasting, just before the referendum, Brundtland saying wrongly the LO was for the European Union, and that

b) it was generally not a good thing for a prime minister to loose self control and telling lies in public, at critical situations, - as she did, however not only this time, but several times mentioned in the newsmedia.

The fight against contrarevolutionary tendencies had to continue, and still goes on.... The debates, reflecting the peoples perspective via the public room, about the European Union and Norwegian politics for the 21st century in general, arranged by Folkebladet - at www.anarchy.no, clearly show that the fight against authoritarian and non-anarchist tendencies is still very much on the agenda in Norway.

22.05.1995 dokumenterte Dagens Næringsliv over en dobbeltside "hvordan ja-sidens dommedagsprofetier er gjort til skamme": "Alt har gått bedre i norsk økonomi siden Norge sa nei til EU 28. november i fjor. Renten har falt, veksten har økt, budsjettunderskuddet er forduftet og investeringene skyter i været". DN reported about major improvements in the economy 22.05.1995.

The connection between AIT/AIIS and CNN in those years (1994-95) was officially confirmed in a letter from a CNN/Turner official indicating a.o.t. the information from AIT/AIIS was interesting and intelligent. As this is perhaps a political document of some interest we will describe it a bit more. The envelope has the Turner logo and the sender organization's name is "Turner Broadcasting International Limited", addressed to S. Olsen, Anarkistenes Informasjonstjeneste, c/o F.B. P.B. 4777 Sofienberg N - 0506 Oslo, Norway. The letter, dated 7 March 1995, says a.o.t. the following: "Dear S. Olsen, Thank you very much for comments on the network's programming. We appreciate your feedback... We [however] do not have the capacity to reply to each of your faxes in turn. They are very informative but also quite substantial!... Thank you for your cooperation. With best whises, Dale Langley - Press Officer. CNN INTERNATIONAL," i.e. at the CNN's London office, UK. "Well, 'plenty all right - too much no good' as one of the AI councillors often says, - anyway the AIIS/AI spread the telefaxes on different offices of CNN and other newsmedia to be more cooperative. The main point is that CNN and other newsmedia responded to several of the AIIS/AI faxes in their news.

As mentioned, soon after the No-vote was known, the CNN and othe main international newsmedia reported that this was due to "Nationalistic" and "Non-internationalistic" [authoritarian, backwards] tendencies, based on disinformation from the Yes to EU government in Norway. However the Anarchist International Information Service AIIS - Anarkistenes Informasjonstjenest AIT - minutes after these newsreports faxed a message to main international newsmedia, including CNN, stating that Norway was libertarian, and [soon] anarchist. Soon after the CNN responded to the AIIS-faxes and changed the news, reporting about: "an almost perfect society", regarding the Norwegian economic-political system. Also other main international newsmedia changed their reports in a similar way. They however did not mention AIIS as a source, but they clearly responded by changing the news according to the facts from AIIS. In the next weeks and months the AIIS sent several faxes clearing up disinformation from the Yes-to EU government, which international newsmedia, including CNN, responded to in a similar way. The letter from CNN confirms that the CNN responded in this way to some, but not all, of the faxes from AIIS.

Our aim of those days a) was not necessarily that CNN, SKY-NEWS, French TV5, EURONEWS, etc., and the large internationally distributed newspapers, say, New York Times, Washington Post, etc, should reply and respond to all of the information we sent, but to have some influence in anarchist direction if possible, b) we sent much about the anarchist economical political system in Norway, anarchism and other -isms, and libertarian policy in general, so the giant international newsmedia could have an alternative to the governments' and tendencies towards authoritarian and authorities' -- propaganda, and a lot of information in the libertarian field of research, - for the newsmediagiants to choose from in a freedomly way. And our, the AIT/AIIS's, influence via the international media must of course not be exaggerated at all, however when we had a new, good and sound argument in libertarian direction perhaps it had a slight influence indirectly or directly, now and then, on what was sent on the air, i.e. the CNN network's programming and other newsmedia's. But the usual "manufacturing of consent" according to Noam Chomsky's research, where the media are acting more as the 4th power of the State, in societal perspective, than a free press, was in those days, as well as today, clearly the main tendency.

There is however possibly a slight development towards more free newsmedia reporting in a libertarian way, say less Brown Card convicts of the International Anarchist Tribunal, over time from 1994 and until now. But this is probably due to a libertarian megatrend, and perhaps not much related to the work of AIT/AIIS" says S. Olsen, spokesperson of AIT/AIIS, reflecting over the past work of the anarchist newsagency, at the time when the now rather outdated telefax-machines of the AIT/AIIS network were used a lot, and of the replies from the giant international newsmedia: "I guess David had much more luck against the giant Goliath -- and the militants using the Trojan horse in the old days also --, than we had vis-à-vis the international and domestic newsmedia, but now and then the AIT/AIIS 'underdog' anarchist news agency probably managed to hit the many headed giant international media-troll so it made a slight change of behavior in libertarian direction, i.e. the troll hit the authorities or went against authoritarian tendencies, or (very rare) supported anarchism more directly, especially internationally.

But seen all in all, a) the influence of AIT/AIIS news and comments related to the EU-referendum in 1994-95 via the international newsmedia, was probably the most important and direct, b) the influence in general, outside what is reported about case a) in IJ@/Fb No 4 (24) 1994, 1 (25) and 2 (25) 1995, must not be exaggerated, and was probably usually quite marginal if any at all, - however c) a useful network was established and d) AIT/AIIS got a reputation about beeing a serious anarchist newsagency and source for libertarian information, that still holds good today.

Today, in the days of Internet and e-mails, we have reports about several anarchist journalists in different newsmedia, and the www.anarchy.no and IJ@ etc. get a lot of interesting feedback in general. Anarchy is on the air as never before according to reports, i.e. in a positive way, but anarchism has still not achieved much influence on the media in general, i.e. say, about proportional to having 25% of the area on the economical political map. This may perhaps to some extent be due to problems with the double meaning of the word rule in anglophone languages, meaning both A. "regel = relatively fixed ways to settle things in an orderly way, i.e. regulations and regulatory means" and B. "herske/archein" in Norwegian/Greek, from hersker/archos, i.e. be and/or act as an arch, authoritarian, bestiality.

This problem represents an anglophone Orwellian "1984" "newspeak and doublethinking" tendency, as only the meaning B. of the word rule is relevant in anarchist context. AIIS/AIT has however plans of continuing the information work, domestic and internationally, now as the official newsagency of the Anarchist International, and hope for good co-operation with the domestic and international news-mediagiants, both generally and in especially important cases. An aim is over time to increase the percentage 'marketshare' in the meaning of the amount of covering about anarchy and anarchism defined in a libertarian, i.e. realistic - not authoritarian, way, in the media."

The development of the libertarian/anarchist degree in Norway related to the velvet revolution and revolutionary change in 1994/95 is estimated to the following: 11-27.11.1994 = ca 49,4% (state) ; 28-29.11.1994 = ca 51% (anarchy) ; 01.03.1995 = ca 52% ; 01.06.1995 = ca 53% ; 01.10.1995 = ca 53%, a stabilized anarchy of low degree. The system made a " ) " shaped move from about [= ca] 49,4% libertarian degree and located close to the middlepoint of the map within the marxist quadrant 11-27.11.1994, toward the star on the map in the middle of 1995, with ca 53% degree of anarchism.

The libertarian music of the FABS, the Federalist Anarchist Beat Society, was a major source of inspiration for the Anarchist Federation of Norway, AFIN, and the Anarchist International Information Service, AIIS, during the velvet revolutionary change, and in general, now and before. FABS was mentioned in FB/IJA 2(24) 1994...

In 2009 a book about the struggle against EU-membership, etc., called "Makta midt imot" - "Directly opposite to the power", by Kjell-Erik Nordenson Kallset, was published, see the people's official EU-debate for more information. 28.11.1994 is celebrated as the Day of the Anarchist Revolution in Norway, by libertarians.

The center of gravity in Norwegian politics has been littte over the middle of the economic-political map since 1994/95.

The king in the Anarchy of Norway is only a symbolic king without power and command

The rumors that the Norwegian king is powerful and commander of the armed forces, based on the Norwegian constitution, are not true. The king of Norway is only a symbolic king. He has no power at all. He is in reality not a commander of anything, and not the army, which is an antimilitarist corps in Norway.

Norway as the Swiss Confederation and Iceland are anarchies of low degree. This means there are authoritarian tendencies. The anarchy degree of Norway is about 54% (since 2002) , which means the authoritarian degree is about 46%, but it is still the most libertarian/anarchist country in the world. The anarchists in Norway try to increase the anarchy/libertarian degree, but it goes slow and is difficult. If you have any ideas on how the anarchy degree can be increased quickly, you are very welcome.

AI knows the Norwegian constitution. It is quite misleading because it partly deals with formal and symbolic power, and not realities. There is constitutional custom and practice which prove this. The king is only a symbolic king, the Council of State – which is based on the parliament (Storting), has the role of a cabinet. The king has no power at all.

While radical in its day, the constitution of 1814 was a product of its age. As Norwegian democracy developed, some parts of it began to look increasingly dated. For example, the executive power, which in the constitution is consistently attributed to the king, came increasingly to rest in his Council of State (statsråd). Similarly, the king originally had the right to appoint members of the Council, who were answerable to him alone, and they could not be chosen from the members of the Storting. With the establishment of parliamentarism 1884, the Council was effectively chosen by general election, in that the king appointed only members of the party or coalition having a majority in the Storting. Further, the Council became answerable to the Storting, in the sense that a failed vote of confidence would cause the Council of State to resign.

You better believe us, because this is the truth. AI and the Norwegian anarchists deal with realities, not formal and symbolic things. As mentioned, the king is only a symbolic king, he is without any power and without command in reality. In real terms Norway is an anarchy of low degree, although formally a monarchy. Anarchists (and AI) are interested in realities, not formal and symbolic issues. Long live the Anarchy of Norway!

And thus, the Anarchy of Norway is still going strong per 2019. Although the system is significantly anarchist, i.e. within the Quadrant of Anarchism on the economic political map, it is somewhat far from the anarchist ideal on the top of the map. "So this is heaven: Norway", the LA-TIMES in USA reports about Norway, November 2001, but this is however a bit exaggerated; see American look at Norway - Report no 1, where the article is quoted, with comments from IIFOR added. Another American article on the situation in Norway, quoted from NY-TIMES January 2002, also with comments from IIFOR, is also included.

15.01.2010. Positive citizen survey: A nationwide citizen survey shows that 86 per cent of Norwegians think that their country is close to being a perfect country to live in.

THE 25 HIGHEST RANKING COUNTRIES ACCORDING TO LIBERTARIAN DEGREE ETC.
THE LIBERTARIAN DEGREE = THE DEGREE OF DEMOCRACY
SYSTEM ANALYSIS

Countries:	Rank of country according to libertarian degree, and type of system	Libertarian degree and (authoritarian degree) %	Degree of socialism and (capitalism) %	Degree of autonomy and (statism) %	Gini-index
Norway	1 Anarchy	54,0 (46,0)	55,0 (45.0)	53,2 (46,8)	25,8
Switzerland	2 Anarchy	53,0 (47,0)	51,0 (49,0)	55,1 (44,9)	33,1
Iceland	3 Anarchy	52,0 (48,0)	54,0 (46,0)	50,1 (49,9)	25,0 (est.)
Liechtenstein	4 Soc.dem.	49,5 (50,5)	51,4 (48,6)	47,7 (52,3)	32,0 (est.)
Luxembourg	5 Soc.dem.	49,2 (50,8)	52,1 (47,9)	46,5 (53,5)	30,8
Denmark	6 Soc.dem.	48,8 (51,2)	55,3 (44,7)	43,0 (57,0)	24,7
Japan	7 Soc.dem.	48,5 (51,5)	55,2 (44,8)	42,6 (57,4)	24,9
Belgium	8 Soc.dem.	48,2 (51,8)	54,0 (46,0)	43,0 (57,0)	25,0
Finland	9 Soc.dem.	47,9 (52,1)	53,8 (46,2)	42,6 (57,4)	26,9
Sweden	10 Soc.dem.	47,5 (52,5)	54,0 (46,0)	41,7 (58,3)	25,0
Netherlands	11 Soc.dem.	47,2 (52,8)	52,0 (48,0)	42,8 (57,2)	30,9
Canada	12 Soc.dem.	46,8 (53,2)	50,9 (49,1)	43,0 (57,0)	33,1
Austria	13 Soc.dem.	46,5 (53,5)	52,1 (47,9)	41,4 (58,6)	30,0
Ireland	14 Populist	46,2 (53,8)	45,0 (55,0)	47,4 (52,6)	35,9
Germany	15 Soc.dem.	45,9 (54,1)	53,0 (47,0)	39,6 (60,4)	28,3
Spain	16 Soc.dem.	45,5 (54,5)	51,5 (48,5)	40,1 (59,9)	32,5
Australia	17 Populist	45,0 (55,0)	48,0 (52,0)	42,2 (57,8)	35,2
United King.	18 Populist	44,5 (55,5)	44,7 (55,3)	44,3 (55,7)	36.0
New Zealand	19 Populist	44,0 (56,0)	44,6 (55,4)	42,4 (57,6)	36,2
France	20 Soc.dem.	43,5 (56,5)	51,4 (48,6)	36,6 (63,4)	32,7
Italy	21 Populist	43,0 (57,0)	44,7 (55,3)	41,3 (58,7)	36,0
USA	22 Cons. lib.	42,5 (57,5)	24,5 (75,5)	69,8 (30,2)	40,8
Israel	23 Populist	42,3 (57,7)	47,8 (52,2)	37,3 (62,7)	35,5
Hong Kong	24 Cons. lib.	42,1 ( 57,9)	22,1 (77,9)	74,8 (25,2)	43,4
Greece	25 Populist	42,0 (58,0)	47,9 (52,1)	36,6 (63,4)	35,4

The estimates are approximately figures. © IIFOR/IJA ISSN 0800 – 0220 2007 and later.
Anarchy = here social-individualist anarchism; Soc. dem. = social democrat marxism; Populist = here moderate parliamentarian democratic fascism; Cons. lib. = Conservative liberalism. See economic-political map above. Ranking of countries according to libertarian degree, estimates of the libertarian degree in general, and information on methodology, see http://www.anarchy.no/ranking.html and http://www.anarchy.no/a_e_p_m.html. We have used " , ", the European standard instead of American/UK standard, i.e. " . " as decimal separator. The term "ca" is an abbreviation for the latin circa, which means about or approximately.

Anarchy and anarchism mean "system and management without ruler(s), i.e. co-operation without repression, tyranny and slavery". In short an-arch-y = [(an = without - arch = ruler(s)) - y = system (included optimal order and law) and management, as, say, in monarch-y]. Anarchy and anarchism are efficient and fair system and management without top heavy societal pyramid economical and/or political/administrative - in income and/or rank, i.e. significant horizontal organization - real democracy. The anarchy degree is 100% - the authoritarian degree within the anarchist quadrant on the economic-political map (see map above). The libertarian degree is 100% - the authoritarian degree all over the map.

The word anarchy origins from greek. The prefix "an" means "negation of" as in anaerobe versus aerobe and "arch" means "superior, i.e. in contrast to subordinates", as in archbishop, archangel, archduke, arch villain, etc. Thus anarchy, anarchism, anarchist, a.s.o., mean coordination on equal footing, without superiors and subordinates, i.e. horizontal organization and co-operation without coercion - practically (significant, > 50% anarchy degree) or ideally (towards 100% anarchy degree). Anarchy has equal to or more than 50% anarchy degree.

Anarchy is organization in general without (significant) arch(s), but not without management. The influence on the management, economic and political/administrative, in private and public sector, goes in general more from the bottom - the people and grassroots - upwards, than from the top downwards. At the middle-point of the map the influence from the bottom is 50%. At the top of the map, the anarchist ideal, the influence from the bottom is 100%, or the organization is without top, 100% flat. Norway, The Swiss Confederation and Iceland are anarchies of low degree (anarchy degree > 50% but less than 60%). Other countries are more or less authoritarian (significant, > 50% authoritarian degree).