Hey, Chuck, I agree with you. And so, apparently, does Klein. Here's the rest of the article, which was cut off at misleading place. (Eric Beck)
``...Before it signs on to anyone's ten-point plan, it deserves the chance to see if, out of its chaotic network of hubs and spokes, something new, something entirely its own, can emerge.''(Naomi Klein)
``I agree with you on the `keep up the drone & see what happens' part (what else can we do?), and so does Klein, but I don't think that the culture of `serial protests' that Klein speaks about is caused by the ethic of anarchism as a consciously held political philosophy, nor is it anything new in America...'' (Yoshie Furuhashi)
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Well good, I am glad the article wasn't a call for the new ten year plan for the Left. Surfing in cyberspace is okay for news, planning, and writing about it, but let's keep in mind the streets, ballot box, school and work are the primary location of engagement.
I don't want to pick at a point, but consider this: ``...I don't think that the culture of serial protests that Klein speaks about is caused by the ethic of anarchism as a consciously held political philosophy...''
What Carter-Bresson meant wasn't that he used anarchism as a plan, but as an opportunity, as a method of discovery. It's a little subtle, because he obviously went to particular places, with a good camera, lots of film, decades of skill, always armed for bear, so to speak. Or to use a jazz metaphor, you set up the piece, establish a foundation in the rhythm section, sketch out a melody giving it a few odd turns, that hint at possible directions, and see. After you do this enough times, something that is not yours, not known in advance, does evolve automatically. Later of course it is considered a well composed classic.
And I also agree that serial protests are not caused by a philosophy, and are a sign of a healthier political climate, even something of a return to a tradition. Whether these activities lead to more cohered form or not, in a sense, can not be made to matter. That is kind of the point and decentralization is not the point. But this isn't the same as making a virtue of necessity.
I suppose the poetics of now sounded too fancy, but that quote came at the end of his book after some hundred and fifty pages of development. And, Spanish has that emphatic quality where everything sounds like a pronouncement from god (maybe this was a childish impression while my ears were turning red at the sound of, `Nino, vengati aqui ... blah, blah, blah' something or other).
In any event, I sure hope that these moment to moment responses are global and each of them express the local, the unique configurations of a particular people and their history.
I was thinking last night about going to LA. I grew up there and was introduced to the cops early (domestic disputes). They have been totally pathological motherfuckers with a mean streak for at least fifty years. They scared me as a little kid and I hated them for it, and still do. So, I hope the folks in LA are well prepared. It could turn out to be nothing to worry about and then it could.
If I was on the planning committee I would try to get some of the unions involved, maybe the Hollywood set and rigging crews that might be working on putting up the convention and the teamsters. Certainly the hotel/restaurant service workers who will have to feed the jerks (urine cappacinos anyone?). The argument would be that Gore and demos pushed NFTA and Hollywood jobs and trucking went to Mexico and Canada, while sucking Mexican workers here to fill lesser paying non-union jobs, so the exploitation works to government/corporate advantage and worker disadvantage in both directions. And the other thing I would push would be traffic dislocation and chaos--excuse me that's traffic control and management. LA commuters are stone cold killers on a mission and they go crazy when you stall them (even though they spend most of their time, stewing at idle). See the cops will be planning to beat the brains out of well organized sit-ins, and run down intersection closing with motorcycle brigades, but work stoppages and freeway nightmares are much more difficult to deal with. As I remember, fascism in Los Angeles loves organization. For traffic control, you wouldn't have do a blockade, which sort of works up here in the Bay Area because of the bridges and smaller freeways. Just a few sacks of some mysterious white powder (asbestos-free gypsum) labeled `aviso' out of the back of a pick-up and a few truckers with engine trouble on the key interchanges would probably be enough to end civilization in Los Angeles as we know it.
Well, just a few happy thoughts to cheer you up. So what are the plans for the convention of the tide pool dwellers in Philly? Isn't that conflagration coming up in July?
Chuck Grimes