Joe R. Golowka Anarchist FAQ - http://www.infoshop.org/faq
"The Republican Convention is in Philadelphia, yeah! ... Otherwise known as the Million-White-Man March." - Jay Leno ----- Original Message ----- From: "radman" <resist at best.com> To: <Recipient list suppressed> Sent: Wednesday, August 09, 2000 12:43 AM Subject: HOW TO BEAT CORPORATE POWER
> From: ChretienTodd at aol.com
> Date: Tue, 8 Aug 2000 13:19:33 EDT
> Subject: [D2kdiscuss] How to Beat Corporate Power
>
> HOW TO BEAT CORPORATE POWER
>
> After reading dozens of post Philadelphia emails posted to the D2K lists
and
> talking to activists who were in Philadelphia, one this is clear: The
> Kensington Welfare Rights March was the most successful direct action of
the
> whole week.
>
> Why? It was multi-racial. It involved working class Philadelphian
families.
> The march strengthened the fight against the central pillar of the
GoreBush
> attack on workers: "welfare reform." The size of the march (around
3,000),
> and the unions' determination to defy the police ban on their rights to
> assemble, forced the cops to back down and retreat. In many ways, it was
a
> model of where our movement needs to go.
>
> NOT BY SEATTLE ALONE
>
> Other recent successful direct actions: this spring, 12,000 janitors in
LA
> blockaded buildings and streets during their victorious strike; 5,000
> protestors trespassed on military property at the School of the Americas
in
> Georgia last November; 50,000 Black and white people marched in South
> Carolina to successfully demand the Confederate Flag be removed from the
roof
> of the capitol building this spring. It goes without saying that the mass
> direct actions in Seattle and DC also proved very effective, although in
> different ways (Seattle shut down the WTO conference, DC did not shut down
> the IMF, but did bring attention to it).
>
> SIZE DOES MATTER: OK TO START SMALL, BUT GROW!
>
> My point is NOT to counterpose smaller direct actions to bigger ones. Or
to
> say that you can't do anything unless you've got thousands of people.
I've
> been arrested a dozen times, at actions involving from 10 to 1,000 people.
> Rather, we should see direct action as a tactic and not a principle. Our
> guiding principle in all tactical questions should be: will a particular
> tactic build the movement broader, involve more workers and students, make
it
> more multi-racial? OR will it limit those who can participate to a small
> hard-core.
>
> Sometimes a small direct action can start a mass movement: In Greensboro,
> N.C. in Februrary, 1960, four Black students began the lunch counter
sit-ins
> to desegregate the South - thousands rushed to join them in the next few
> months. Correct tactic.
>
> Last spring, USAS students held small sit-ins at a half dozen schools -
since
> then, millions have learned about sweatshops and UNITE (the garment
workers
> union) and the Steelworkers Union have built an alliance with students for
> the first time in decades. Correct tactic.
>
> A minority of activists (including, but not encompassing all) anarchists,
> decide to trash parts of Philadelphia in order to confront the police
state.
> Incorrect tactic.
>
> WHY? What was the point? If it was to tie up Philly, then they should
have
> gone to the transit unions and learned how they struck two years ago and
shut
> down ALL the trains, buses and subways in Philly. If it was to defeat the
> police, well, honestly the police easily won the street war (how many cops
> are in jail?). If it was to "galvanize the masses into action," then
> "trashing" merely gave the police and politicians a means to intimidate
the
> hundreds of thousands of workers and poor in Philadelphia who sympathized
> with the Kensington Welfare Rights March.
>
> CONFRONTING THE POLICE
>
> I am all for confronting the police in certain situations. When thousands
of
> Black and white dockers in South Carolina fought hand to hand with state
> troopers to stop the unloading of a scab ship 6 months ago, they were
right
> to do it. When UPS workers stood their ground in Massachusetts in 1997
> against police attacks, they were right to do it. When hundreds of
thousands
> took to the streets to protest the Rodney King beating in 1992, they were
> right to do it. When thousands of peaceful protestors in Seattle and DC
> braved pepper spray, plastic bullets and beatings to keep control of the
> streets, they were right to do it. When the Kensington Welfare Rights
Union
> defied the police and marched into the streets to protest welfare reform
they
> were right to do it.
>
> What unites all these situations? In each situation, confronting the
police
> was a tactical necessity to achieve the goals decided upon by the people
in
> action. Confrontation with the cops was not the goal, or a tactic which
> would somehow inspire others to join in. Rather, it was necessary to win.
>
> COPS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR VIOLENCE
>
> It goes without saying that the police are the real source of violence.
The
> symbolic acts of property destruction employed by a handful of anarchists
are
> a protest (even if ineffective) against the tremendous brutality of the
> police and the system. The cops are the criminals. We should all demand
the
> unconditional release of protestors ("violent" or not) from Philadelphia's
> jails.
>
> AVERAGE AMERICANS: PART OF THE PROBLEM OR REBELS WITH A CAUSE
>
> Our movement is not isolated. Behind the tens of thousands who've
> participated so far in Seattle, DC, Philly and (soon to be) LA, stand tens
of
> millions of American workers, students and poor. We should not sell
> ourselves or those millions short. Tens of thousands (no matter how
militant
> they are) have no chance at all to beat corporate power. There are a
million
> cops in the US today. Our only chance is to organize MILLIONS. Tens of
> Millions. Millions to protest, millions to strike, millions to win.
>
> How will we get millions in our movement?
>
> *45 million without health care.
> *2 million in prison - 50% people of color (50 million with a close
relative
> in prison).
> *UNIONS have 16 million members
> *Public education collapsing = one million teachers, several million high
> school students
> *Public universities under attack = 10 million college students
> *If only 5% vote for Nader, that's 3 or 4 MILLION potential activists
>
> Our movement does not lack an audience. We must set our goals higher. We
> must organize millions in unions, neighborhoods, in schools. OR we will
lose.
>
> WHY THE WORKING CLASS?
>
> 80% of people in the U.S. are workers (steelworkers, teachers, temps,
> truckers, nurses, hotel workers, etc). Overwhelmingly students become
> workers after they graduate (or don't graduate). So, we're the large
> majority.
>
> BUT MORE. Since capitalism relies on us to do all the work, we have
> tremendous power to shut it down. By far the most effective direct
actions
> are strikes. They can shut down GM, the transportation system, schools,
> factories, trade, etc. As the great German revolutionary Rosa Luxemburg
used
> to say, "Where the chains of capitalism are forged, there they must be
> broken." This not to say that other direct actions or marches or protests
> can't be effective. Clearly they can - look at the gains that have been
made
> since Seattle! But if our movement doesn't get to the point where workers
> are taking the corporations down from the inside, we simply won't have the
> power to win.
>
> THE FUTURE
>
> Our movement has the chance to do what did not happen in the 1960's: weld
> together the fight for racial justice, sexual equality, environmental
justice
> and workers rights into one giant battle to transform the system from one
> based on profit (capitalism) to one based on human need (socialism). If
this
> isn't our goal, then we don't even have a chance to win it. And if it is
our
> goal, then we need to raise our sights and understand that our goal in LA
is
> NOT to prove that WE are the movement. Rather it is to show the MILLIONS
of
> working class Los Angelenos that THEY are the future. Everything we do
> should be geared towards that.
>
> NADER
>
> Ralph Nader's run for president will bring millions into politics and give
> them a way to express their hatred of corporate power. His campaign will
> explode after Labor Day. My guess is that a majority of the protestors in
LA
> will vote for him in November. His campaign will not detract from our
> struggle, but will give it a huge new potential audience. During the RNC,
> Nader spoke at a health care march and even snuck into the Republican
> Convention to denounce them from the floor (before being thrown out). As
of
> now, he is not scheduled to appear in LA during the DNC, we should make it
> known that he would be welcome.
>
> HUMAN NEED, NOT CORPORATE GREED
>
> The mass march on Monday August 14 will be a great success. Thousands
will
> show the Democrats that we mean business (pardon the pun). It will be a
> tremendous display of unity and determination. There are also important
> direct actions planned throughout the week, like a youth march, protests
> against sweatshops and prisons and a march to defend the U'WA. (check out
> www.d2kla.org for details)
>
> We also have a huge opportunity to create closer unity between street
> activists and the labor movement. Hotel workers are protesting Sunday
> afternoon at 4pm in Santa Monica at a hotel owned by a Gore supporter. We
> should go to support them. Then on Tuesday at 4pm teachers and public
> employees will be marching to demand decent contracts. These protests
will
> undoubtedly be the most multi-racial of the week and involve the most
people
> from LA itself.
>
> Our movement's correct tactic is to get out and support these local
workers
> with everything we've got. There struggle is our struggle. Together we
are
> the future.
>
> In Solidarity,
> Todd Chretien
> International Socialist Organization
>
>