> The Indymedia essay posted by SA I think is more relevant. I can't really
> say for sure, because I was home watching. For an acturate accessment you
> really need to be in street to grasp the situation.
Not sure I buy this thesis, but if you want to read someone who was there and who tries to make sense of the day, with the attendant hesitations and tentative hypotheses, instead of just slinging shit around Nicholas Roberts-style, I suggest Asad Haider's article. Here's the conclusion:
"We are at a moment when occupations are seriously considering an expansion of strategies. Everything in this movement points to the occupation of spaces that are in a state of disuse caused by foreclosure and budget cuts. The state is attempting to delude you into thinking that it uses violence to prevent destruction. Do not let them mislead you. Last night it used violence to prevent the production of a new space. And if you let it put the blame on Oakland, you will help it one day bring that violence against you. You will help them defend capital’s destruction, the further hollowing of the urban landscape and the expulsion of human bodies onto desolate streets.
I suggest refusing to blame Oakland, but simultaneously shelving property destruction as a tactic. The police didn’t care about it. The banks have money to repair their windows. What threatened the state was the creative restoration of the city. Imagine a strength that could force the state to retreat: a mass movement that walks out of work and occupies everything."
http://viewpointmag.com/2011/11/03/notes-on-oakland-2011/
As a side note, it's nice to see SA get his Keynesian lather up. Haven't seen him this animated about anything in awhile. You might wish his focus were on something other than regulation, but hey, energy's energy, man..