> But as far as Seattle (and this applies even more to later protests) I think
> the vast number of activists are peaceful, disciplined fighters for
> justice-- and they have refused to restrain the small number of vandals and
> violence-freaks who give the police the excuse to arrest and beat the shit
> out of the rest. And if anything happens in New York that gives the NYPD
> the slightest excuse to take out the billy clubs, rubber bullets (or others
> ones), tear gas etc., the protests won't win the public relations fight.
Ahem, Nathan, the "violence-freaks" in Seattle came from the ranks of the "peaceful, disciplined fighters." After the cops fuck you over for too long, it's quite easy to start fighting back. The people who fought the cops in the late afternoon and at night came from the ranks of the regular protestors (and residents). Quebec City is another example of this, where the residents came out and threw stuff at the cops alongside the protestors.
Who gives a shit about winning the public relations fight? If we're winning that fight it's because we've done precisely the things that you liberals are scolding us about! Did you bother to read that article in Christianity Today? That's not the only religious article that I've seen lately that understands the importance of what the black bloc did in Seattle.
> Of course I want large demos-- I was just that down in DC, which was pretty
> mild compared to others, I had to watch black bloc folks trying to incite
> the police, who at the time were just sitting around doing nothing at the
> time. We had a pretty disciplined group running our corner, so they
> confronted them and stopped them from setting some cars on fire.
What are you talking about? Which demo was this? Setting cars on fire?
I've been in DC black blocs. In my opinion, they are too tame.
> The police are bastards enough all on their own; giving them justifications
> for it when there are plenty of ways to protest and get arrested is stupid
> strategy. I am all for militancy combined with discipline-- and I said that
> long before Sept 11. It just makes it more imperative now.
We seem to go over this again and again in the anti-globalization movement. There is this belief that if we simply behave ourselves, the cops will be nice to us. Hello! The cops don't need a pretext to club us. They fuck over working people every hour of every day. I agree that the cops aren't the enemy and I wish we'd spend more time attacking capitalism and the bosses, but the cops get in the way, ya know? Social change is not going to happen without taking some risks and turning over some apple carts.
Or as one minister put it in a sermon about the Seattle black bloc: driving the money changers from the temple.
> I hope Chuck is right that the ANSWER folks will be marginalized and a nice
> mocking street party a la RTS's statement would be perfect if executed well.
> And a change of pace in tactics is always good, since nothing fails like
> monotony Creative evolution of message and tactics is the best way to make
> the case.
I think the street party will go off very well and there will be lots of creative stuff. But don't be surprised if some edgy stuff happens. ;-)
ANSWER is not the answer. :-)
<< Chuck0 >>
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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).