``But this time it was not sabotage that counted. Let’s all take a moment to remember that the police launched the tear gas at midnight. The black bloc did not set up tear gas canisters at 3PM to explode later in the day. If you blame the black bloc for police violence that happened nine hours later, I don’t know what I can do to help you.
What mattered instead was this `self-valorization,' a term closely tied to the establishment of `occupied self-managed social centers' in 1970s and 1980s Italy, when young radicals went beyond refusing work; they squatted in abandoned buildings and established cultural spaces, some of which still exist today. This was the autonomous productivity that the police came last night to suppress. A group of activists had occupied a building that used to house the Traveler’s Aid Society, a nonprofit that provides shelter and services to the homeless. Due to funding cuts the organization had lost its lease; the building was abandoned.''
http://viewpointmag.com/2011/11/03/notes-on-oakland-2011/
That settles my worries. Nevermind. And thanks for linking to the above. It is indeed an excellent description, i.e. it rings true.
``Not sure I buy this thesis, but if you want to read someone who was there....'' (Eric Beck)
The above is why. Being within the actions makes the sequence, roles, and participants intelligible like this description did.
CG