[lbo-talk] Why I Skip Anti-Globalization Protests

Alex Hogan alexmhogan at hotmail.com
Tue Oct 23 11:51:26 PDT 2007


I'm at my limit so after this flurry of blows I will return to my corner. > > The Utopian Anarchist Party was a fake group run by a lunatic along with > some of his friends. It was never anarchist or played any role in local > activism.

Yeah but one of the leaders of the UAP was one of the major organizers behind the "October Rebellion." Diversity and cross-pollination is great, but that's the problem with the Georgetown action-it was a one note show.


> > Oh right, I forget that this list is currently populated by "you punks, > get off my mind" types. It's pretty sad how some leftists give up on > their ideas and settle for armchair bashing of kids who are out there > trying to do something.

It reminds me of the end of the Life of Brian when the Judean People's Front sends their suicide squad to rescue Brian, which turns out to mean stabbing themselves to death in front of him. This ain't Kindergarden...you don't get points for effort. I would rather you do nothing than something counter productive.
> Guess what, Alex? When anti-capitalists throw bricks, the community gets > it too. We are part of communities. We all talked to people in our > communities who support our actions. Their most common complaint is that > we hold back too much and stick with tame protests. People love hearing > about yuppie chain stores getting bricked.

Sounds like bullshit to me. I used to know a Workers League member who was convinced that workers at GM he sold newspapers were concerned about the struggle against Pabloism and thought the AFL-CIO needed to call for a Labor Party right away. Didn't buy it from him either.


> > Anybody who attends *any* kind of protest should understand that there > is a significant risk of arrest. If you think that some protests are > "safer" than others, you are delusional. I've witnessed plenty of > incidents during "peaceful" protests where the cops attacked people in > an effort to bait them into reacting. Like the time during an ANSWER > march several years ago in DC when the cops were running their > motorcycles into groups of people marching.

That's true, but throwing bricks will increase the possibility that cops will mess with your demo. I could be hit by lighting at any moment, but standing out in the middle of field with steel rod during a storm will make more of a possibility.
> > Why do you have a problem with crusty punks? Is there some kind of dress > code for the revolution that I didn't get a memo about?

No, but organizers should be aware of what they look like and what it communicates to people outside their culture.
> > You know what, I'll take a smelly, travelling punk who knows how to > organize and who is a responsible person over any of the armchair > pundits here. In my experience, the grimiest, crustiest punks are the > ones who are the best organizers.

Organizing who and what? Members of their own subculture? An averge member of the Rainbow tribe is much more advanced than I am when it comes to organzing road trips to jam band concerts.


> > Do you bother to look at the pictures of our new infoshop that I shared > with the list. That space was put together by crusty punks who you'd > dismiss in a second.

You just made my point.
> .> . If you dismiss the property destruction at > Seattle, then you just don't get how that played an important role in > the overall success of Seattle.

You're right, I don't get it.
> > Chuck> ___________________________________> http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk
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