[lbo-talk] On vandalism and violence

SA s11131978 at gmail.com
Sat Nov 5 14:57:44 PDT 2011


On 11/5/2011 5:49 PM, Michael Smith wrote:


> It's sort of a weird question to ask, anyway -- as if big social
> upheavals like this should or could be guided by some kind of
> instrumental rationality. Any upheaval is going to attract
> window-breakers. Seen in that light, the appearance of window-breakers
> is a sign of the Occupiers' success. Whether in fact they help or
> hinder the movement isn't actually so easy to answer -- though the
> answer clearly seems so self-evident to so many of us. As a general
> principle of method I would suggest that anything which seems
> self-evident is almost certainly wrong, and certainly deserves a
> closer look.

That's right. Breaking windows, signing up with the Democratic Party - who's to say any of these tactics are bad ideas? Let's have some humility.

SA



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