16 Beavers try to figure out the Spirit of Revolution

So, I finally attended an event at 16 Beaver. When I was in Berlin, 16 Beaver seemed to be a strong force in NYC, but from within I had no idea. It can be very hard to judge what is interesting from within the mix of the city.
In the financial district, 16 Beaver feels like an island. I think that this is a great haven for ideas and solid attempts at big grass roots projects.
This evenings discussion was about anarchy and feminism. This was an ambitious subject to approach and it was done so through Eve, an active anarchist in the 60's and 70's in NYC. With many side tracks, the discussion focused on a common denominator desire for change. 4 different people who were active in the early anarchist movement attended and gave different perspectives on the fundamentals of 60's revolutionary thought. I enjoyed Ben Morea's deliberate and sensitive reflections describing his struggles as an anarchist. His first statement was that as anarchists, his group had sought out a revolutionary spirit in every part of living that relied on spirituality and violence to feed and maintain the vision and mobility. He connected all aspects of his experience of the anarchist culture: lsd, violence, disorganized religion, 'voting with your feet', proactivity, etc etc to create a sense of the all encompassing nature of anarchy as it was. I liked hearing about the ideas of interpersonal creativity that bravely re-manages the division of labor within a culture. Ben talked about the deterioration of gender roles in relationships and how he wanted to erase the dependence on those identities within male/female interactions.
Eve mentioned her lack of historical knowledge, and I thought it was brave and lazy at the same time. I am always concerned with what seems to be an obsession with knowledge and a fear of opinion. Eve proposed that one doesnt need to read the nyt to know he/she is being oppressed. I agree and think it is vital to be very present in all of ones experiences. Sometimes that means that you don't know whats going on in the Middle East. I think that is healthy sometimes.
While we were on the topic of genders, Eve mentioned gave this formula:
masculine=live truth
feminine=seek truth
A man in the group brought up the Marxist division of labor which necessitates a society's division into roles that must be played correctly for the society to function. He also brought up his distaste with psychoanalytical terminology mixed with politics.
The most interesting question that was raised by several individuals was the connection between anarchy and spiritualism. The interconnectedness of the two was referred to often but never explained.
The whole experience was not terribly progressive but incredibly promising and fun. I was inspired to be around all these different people who were trying to dream about how to live better and who were going to great lengths to figure it out. For the first time in a while I felt like I fit in somewhere.