> By Fred Sanderson
>
> Numerous coalitions and organizations have sprung up to do anti-war work in
> the Bay Area. Most of them have had similar politics, calling for an end to
> US military action, the defense of the Arab, Muslim, and immigrant
> communities from hate crimes and racist scapegoating, and defending civil
> liberties from government attack in the wake of the horrific acts of
> terrorism on September 11, 2001.
OK, so this is a long recounting of the type of bullshit that goes down in any group that is dominated by sectarian vanguardists.
Let's engage in some critical thinking here. How is this situation described in this article different than what we've seen in the successful anti-globliazation movement? Is it because the anti-globalization movement is really a network of networks and movements that doesn't try to pigeonhole everybody into "one big coalition?" Is it because the anti-globalization movements are more decentralized and don't offer fat juicy targets for the likes of the WWP and Socialist Action? Or could it be that the anti-glob movement has already incorporated democratic (yet imperfect) processes, methods and structures? Is it because sectarian groups were marginalized in the anti-globalization movements?
I'm kind of mystified that the folks who are resisting the war can't see this. There is a successful model to emulate. I suspect that what's really happening is that these sectarian vanguardist groups see in the anti-war movement an opportunity to impose their methods which had fallen into disfavor in the anti-capitalist movements.
One big anti-war coalition is just one big mistake. As most of us know, big organizations lend themselves to internal power struggles and external disruption. I attended a meeting tonight of the Mobilization for Global Justice here in Washington. I support what they do, but I affiliate with the Anti-Capitalist Convergence. The Mobe has developed strong principles based on nonviolence. The ACC is committed to "diversity of tactics." Instead of people in "one big coalition" arguing endlessly about these topics, folks now have two good options.
Unity in diversity. Let's have a network of movements.
Or take a clue from the Zapatistas...
<< Chuck0 >>
Infoshop.org -> http://www.infoshop.org/ Alternative Press Review -> http://www.altpr.org/ Practical Anarchy Online -> http://www.practicalanarchy.org/ Anarchy: AJODA -> http://www.anarchymag.org/ MutualAid.org -> http://www.mutualaid.org/ Factsheet 5 -> http://www.factsheet5.org/ AIM: AgentHelloKitty
Web publishing and services for your nonprofit: Bread and Roses Web Publishing http://www.breadandrosesweb.org/
INTERNATIONALISM IN PRACTICE
An American soldier in a hospital explained how he was wounded: He said, "I was told that the way to tell a hostile Vietnamese from a friendly Vietnamese was to shout ‘To hell with Ho Chi Minh!’ If he shoots, he’s unfriendly. So I saw this dude and yelled ‘To hell with Ho Chi Minh!’ and he yelled back, ‘To hell with President Johnson!’ We were shaking hands when a truck hit us."
(from 1,001 Ways to Beat the Draft, by Tuli Kupferburg).