>>You seem to think that if only
>>present-day radicals had more balls, the empire would be quaking.
>>
>>Doug
>
>
> Is it me, or is Chuck inching towards a Weather position? Some of your
> posts, Chuck, suggest a Days of Rage approach, and we know how well that
> turned out.
No, please don't read me wrong. I am very frustrated and I am arguing for a more militant strategy, but I also believe that if more people got out there and just did more direct action that we'd be more effective in total.
I'm not the biggest fan of nonviolent civil disobedeince, but if more people who orient to this approach were more active, that would up the pressure overall. Remember that the direct action that shut down San Francisco after the war started mostly used tried and true nonviolent CD tactics. That action significantly disrupted things in S.F. and scared the shit out of the authorities. But this strategy wasn't used in other places.
And there are many things people can do without having to risk arrest, jail, or police harassment. Many projects need money and resources. People can help with outreach. And those of you who can research and write well are important. But I'm talking about intellectual work that results in books and articles in the left press, not academic post-modernist CV-building crap.
Lastly, the problem with the Days of Rage approach was that it was organized by leftist students who saw themselves as the vanguard of some imminent revolution. A Days of Rage approach that was organized on a more open, democratic basis would pose a serious threat to American Empire.
That's why the American state spent $8 million in Miami to contain the black bloc. ;-)
Chuck0