FeedAll Empires Must Fall
Update:Anarchist Action has released a communique regarding the event documented in this video.
The difference between an anarchist approach to organizing a march and typical authoritarian leftist and liberal methods is that the latter seeks to control the actions of the participants, often squashing attempts at direct action. Authoritarian leftist and liberal groups favor routine, symbolic protests and beg for reforms from the ruling class. This does little in terms of actual resistance to the war or to whatever social condition is being opposed. An anarchist approach rejects all forms of authority and therefore does not set protest laws or try to keep people within boundaries- we believe in freedom and when we take to the streets that is the atmosphere we want. Anarchist Action does not coordinate, plan or participate in direct action, economic sabotage, or any other similar actions, we simply organize a protest space in which people may autonomously enact a diversity oftactics, and express their resistance in whatever way they choose.
This is a first-person account of the protest that occured in San Francisco on the evening of July 8th, 2005. This protest recieved an exceptional amount of attention due to the injury of a police officer during a scuffle towards the end of the protest. This video makes use of all natural sound.
SF Gate story on the attacked officer.
Actually, the original protest model used in the Civil Right’s movement of the early 1960’s encouraged direct action, such as sit-ins, registering people to vote, as well as school integration and marches. The reason they were so successful was that they did extensively train their protest volunteers to non-violently resist violence. In peaceful resistance to extreme police brutality the entire country could see that the “bad guys” were the cops and the sheriffs being directed by racist public officials such as Governor Wallace. When protests become violent, even if it violence against buildings and not against people, it escalastes the potential level of violence and when the general public sees that, it doesn’t see a clear right and wrong, y and is less likely to truly mobilize enough people and public opinion to create change.
Unfortunatly, the media today is so biased against these actions, and anarchists in particular (their anti-capitalist notions that is), that any violence which was shown to viewers would be blamed on “protesters” or the “black bloc,” regardles of whether police attacks were unprovoked or not; thus a similar approach will not work in our times. This is one reason I find mass demos to no longer be the most effective action possible (perhaps no longer at all effective, or even counter to progress).
This tactic of “Anarchy” is not really intelligent, in that it does not make use of intelligently planned activity directed toward a specific purpose.
I agree with Liz that the Civil Rights movement was successful because they had a peaceful purpose and very specifically directed aims and activities.
A gang war is full of freedom and anarchy and no “laws”. Similarly, a favorite tactic of governments is to introduce “agents provocateurs” in an otherwise peaceful protest, to create the images of an angry, violent mob in the media and prevent any public sympathy from occurring. Any activity created by the
“Anarchist Action” group is ripe for this kind of problem, and therefor self-defeating.
Intelligence is what makes things work, not “freedom”. Getting rid of laws for freedom is like bashing down your house to experience the freedom of the elements. It may be fun and idealistic at first, but very cold, wet and miserable in the end.
What the fuck is the point of all this? Quit pretending like you guys are trying to achieve some sort of change in the system. You do it for the rush, for the thrill. It’s immature, and you should all be embarassed.
What’s the point of blocking traffic? Just to annoy people? The whole left-anarchist message consists of–nothing. Nothing at all. You guys have nothing to say. Go home. Quit bothering people.
I love it when one of the “protestors” is shouting “your career is over, you’re going to jail for police brutality” with obvious glee. Gee, you would think someone against all authority would be opposed to prison systems… apparently not for anyone they see as the enemy.
I also think it’s really funny that comments on this site have to be moderated. Oh, the irony, it’s killing me…
Are you that foolish as to identify the social philosophy of anarchism with the dictionary definition of the word anarchy? Clearly you know very little about that which you speak; perhaps this short introduction may be of some assistance: http://www.infoshop.org/faq/intro.html . Though I suppose you find no reason for return following your act of vandalism. As for a gang war, if you cannot see the many rules which govern its actions, rules of the system which create the circumstances under which it is born into places, rules of class and status and action, you have not much for a sociological understanding.
As for intelligence, it would appear you do, or wish to, associate much of its manifestation with organization; in this your ignorance of anarchism is revealed, as the philosophy of anarchism, or social-libertarianism, and so forth, is very much concerned with organization, despite the misrepresentations and ignorance of those who wish it harm. Indeed, organization is at the core of anarchism, and proceeds its success. However, this is an organization based on freedom and voluntary, mutual association; not organization based on authority through force as you would seem to prefer.
‘Intelligence is what makes things work, not “freedom”.’
Truly the phrase of a(n) (latent?) authoritarian. Even the quotes around freedom, to dispute its existence. Trust me friend, though it may allude you, I have held the hand of freedom, and it is very real.
“I agree with Liz that the Civil Rights movement was successful because they had a peaceful purpose and very specifically directed aims and activities.”
I should also add that the vast majority, perhaps all, of contemporary influential anarchist organizations are vocally committed to non-violence, and condemn violent acts. (property destruction is here excluded, as the economic damage wrought by the mentioned movements was as well). It is true as well that most have very directed aims; it is the means to such aims which are not “very specifically directed” as anarchists have no wish nor means(in conception) to enact coercion in such a way.
Justin, in regards to comment moderation… I have no intention to have a website that moderates all comments, but I am using Wordpress Spam filters as I receive about 100 comment spam entries a day and this seems to be the best approach.
Assuming you aren’t trying to sell me something unrelated IE spam, your comment will be approved.
Justin Speers, ladies and gentlemen, creator of the site “Who Cares?
The apathetic, pessimistic guide to politics & society in America.”
And honestly, I am curious as to what that irony is? Surely less than that of the use of computer parts manufactured in horrid conditions, state provide utlities, etc etc etc. We do not appease to the notion of purity, rigidity and non-empathy, as your fanatics of preference may.
Also, are all of the protestors in that video self-identified anarchists? I was under the impression that most participants at these demonstrations are liberal/democrat types, who fully support the prison system, capitalism, etc. But it appears Mr. Speers has the inside scoop.
LoL! Go ahead and start a war, my rifles and guns are just waiting to take out some anarchist scum!!!
:lol::lol:
I don’t know….I really can’t defend the cops but it seems like causing these disturbances doesn’t really solve anything, either. After all, the anarchists kids can just go back to their white, middle-class neighborhoods after the “action” or have their wealthy parents bail them out when they get arrested. By and large, I’m fairly right about the latter comment. I don’t see too many anarchists that look like they’ve even worked a day in their lives….mostly just white kids with trendy ripped clothes and an attitude.
Having said all this, I still think the cops are basically sadistic thugs who aren’t there to protect citizens but to enforce the status quo for the rich. So, all in all…it’s as if the cops are there to mediate between the wealthy parents and the bratty kids…
To be fair I watched the video above. I am against the war. I think possession of power makes someone suspect by default. But you guys? You’re just whiny little assholes who don’t want to be responsible for anything. I don’t believe you REALLY care about the war. It looks to me like you ultimately want government to fall so that you don’t have to actually work for a living. If you are so against government then act like it. Stay off the streets and sidewalks; the government built those with dirty tax dollars. Drop out of school; the government funds and directs it. Don’t buy ANYTHING; you’ll have to pay taxes and would also be accepting governemtn help in other ways, like through food safety regulations, the use of government funded highways to transport the goods, acceptance of the use of farm subsidies, etc. Don’t bother taking any medication next time you are ill since most of it was developed with siginificant aid from the government. Oh, and don’t expect the nasty government soldiers to protect you in the event someone like oohhh, North Korea decides to nuke San Francisco. If you REALLY believe in anarchy, you cannot do any of these things and more. Otherwise you’re just a hypocrite.
I suppose I should express this by protesting you. And, if my form of protest happened to be breaking into your home and destroying everything, well by your own definition, that would have to be okay with you.
Grow up. Accept some responsibility for being a part of the human race.
Wow ManWithBrain, you sound almost as if you’re the “liberal” answer to Bill O’Reilly. First off, many of the people who I know that are actively involved in anarchist organizing do have jobs, and although many of us came from a fairly privileged life-style, one can not change where one comes from.
So this begs the question, why do anti-capitalist anarchists have jobs? As long as we live in a capitalist system, that uses money as an exchange, it’s probably the most sensible approach. Some of us have had the opportunity to work at non-profits or as educators which some of us feel is a better approach.
There are no laws to what an anarchist must do, it is a political philosophy; a system of government based on mutual respect and cooperation.
Clearly the police were too aggressive, and although that is pretty common, it still is not right. However, the actions on this video were not right either. How do you know that some of the drivers on that street weren’t, for example, emergency department nurses on their way to work? Or volunteers on their way to a homeless shelter? If you goal is to make the world a better place, perhaps you should reconsider your tactics. If your goal is simply to cause chaos, well, although I can relate to the pure fun of it, you gotta be prepared for the occasional ass-kicking.
I am outside the political spectrum on this one, and as such I feel the need to introduce my perspective (of course I’m not dictating what anarchists believe, for obvious reasons).
The “government” isn’t some supernatural force that makes roads appear, makes hospitals exist, and makes food safe to eat. People do, or rather overwhelmingly the working class does. I hope you are not arguing that before capitalism was invented people didn’t eat nor build anything, because that would be silly.
“You’re just whiny little assholes who don’t want to be responsible for anything.” Maybe it’s a lack of imagination, but I’m still trying to figure this one out. Look, if anarchists don’t want the state to get involved in their lives, wouldn’t that imply that they would be responsible for everything?
I imagine being a police officer, gun or no, is scary. a bunch of protesters get in your face (which i bet they did) you get scared, gun or no. And if some protester hits you (a masked protester), whats going to happen next? another hit? Those officers were trying to protect the property, and the drivers. What if a car hit a protester? or someone not involved at all? It’s easy to say the cops are nasty pigs that hit all the minorities. I’m sure some are. But some are just trying to protect themselves, and others from getting hurt. And with protesters in your face, just waiting to jump on an officer for police brutality… what can they do? If a person jumps on an officer from behind for telling people to GET OUT OF THE STREET SOMEONE COULD GET HURT, YOU’RE DESTROYING THINGS THAT DON’T BELONG TO YOU they’re fighting the system! fuck yay! If cops start getting threatened and then act (by arresting people)… they’re fucking fascists. People need those streets. Those windows, those trashcans and newspaper containers, and mailboxes and what-have-you… they belong to people. people who did nothing, except work in the system. work in the system that the anarchists work in as well.
Considering the comments in the video… (”fuck the war man” sums it up nicely) This didn’t look like an intelligent protest. “Fuck the war”… That’s not a thoughtful critique. Someone was asking intelligent questions, and the answers these protesters were coming up with… were garbage, they made the protesters look like stupid rich white kids. It looks like they had nothing more to say. they just wanted to play pretend.
war sucks, killing people sucks, stop it you bad bad government.
i was really disapointed. there are worthwhile protests (anarchist or no). and there are things like this. i think all thinking men and women should take steps to inform and educate others on the reality of this war, and protest its validity. The lies told to initiate it. But the men and women in that video just didn’t seem to be thinking at all.
these people were no weather underground.
stupid white people with too much free time. get the fuck out of my neighborhood. vandalize your own homes and call it freedom of expression. cut lines in your own skin and call it radical action.
sell your back issues of adbuster magazines on craigslist.
fight the power – you little anarcho-trust fund motherfuckers.
march 31st huh?
three days ago, i was wondering will the world ever get along. clearly violence will not gain public support, but if we are not going to be violent just to trick the masses, then we might as well be violent, because we mustn’t live a lie. First we must help ourselvs/mentally-empower ourselves, then we can save the community; and so on we and the community can save the town. the town can save the city. the city can save the county. the county can save the province/state. the province/state can save the country from oppression. one free nation cannot exist without oppression alone in this world, because if the rest of the world is not free/mentally-empowered/educated with open eyes, then the world will try to oppress the free nation continually.
KNOWLEDGE is the best weapon we can use aggainst tyranny/oppressors/authoritarians/biggots/you name it. and before we go out to save the world, we better make sure we save ourselves first. work from the center; and spread with enlightened knowledge. ultimately, we are each other. we may not be the elitists that feed off of evil, but for the most of us living beings, we all want shelter, need food, and love/respect.
This video fustrates me. I don’t know if the guy at the end was telling the truth after being pushed by an officer “i’m fed motherfucker”. But if thats the case im more upset with the people who were involved with the demonstration. If you are an organized group and you see provocateur you fucking call them out. You call them a fed and you get rid of them. You get people to follow them and watch them if they refuse to leave.
I’m sick and tired of these situations turning into violence. There is no reason for it and it is always because of a few provocateur’s that cause the entire situation to spiral down into a shit storm.
So fuck the provocateur’s, and fuck the feds who infest these groups who have a right to a peaceful protest. And fuck everyone who went to this and allowed these few to fuck it for the rest.. So basically fuck everyone
dude,
first of all they were in an unscheduled, and unpermitted march through the streets for crying out loud…
second of all they were vandalizing property of innocent people and shouting profanities
by the time the cops got there it was just in the nick of time as I see it.
what were the points they believed in? what ideas were they trying to raise? Oh we didnt really get to hear those things cause they werent there to tell us that, just make some unlegible signs and trash shit…
totally stupid, you deserve whatever the cops did…
[...] Background: –Josh Wolf attended an Anarchist protest last July in San Francisco. He published a video on his blog that got picked up by the local media since a police man was injured during the protest. –He sent these TV stations a bill (and was paid) for using his video without his permission. Local authorities dropped their case that attempted to get Josh’s raw tapes. –Since there was also an attempt to set a SF police car on fire, the Federal Government says it has a right to see Josh’s tapes because Federal money is used for local police equipment. Josh denies any coverage of the incident and refuses to hand over the raw video tapes citing his rights as a journalist. –Josh’s lawyer offers to let the judge privately scan the tapes for evidence of the attempted burning of a police car. The judge refuses. –The Federal Judge throws Josh in jail for contempt where Josh will remain till July 2007, or hands over the tapes and testifies in front of a Grand Jury. [...]
[...] Aujourd’hui, n’importe qui peut s’acheter une caméra, se mettre à filmer et diffuser ce dont son objectif est témoin sur Internet. Un peu journaliste, beaucoup blogueur et notoirement engagé, c’est ce qu’a fait Josh Wolf (voir mon billet précédent), en juillet 2005, diffusant cette vidéo d’une manifestation violente sur son blogue intitulé La révolution sera télévisée. Outre le fait qu’il travaille pour une petite télévision communautaire sans grand pouvoir, le jeune journaliste-blogueur californien ne cache nullement ses opinions anarchistes. La justice, à qui il a refusé de donner son reportage intégral, l’a renvoyé la semaine dernière en prison et il devra y rester jusqu’à ce que sa cause passe en appel, au début de l’été 2006. [...]
I felt good about this post. It confirmed for me some of the things I’ve been thinking about.
Wow, such nice words work and car. Care to post any follow-up comments on your exact thoughts about the SF protest? Oh wait, you can’t. You’re BOTS! Apparently the spam filter was on vacation for this thread when car and work posted their lip-service. Check their links out! 8^D> Their websites look like someone with an IQ of 55, a mouthful of Zoloft, and FrontPage cobbled a webpage together with a generic picture at the top.
Geez…
Ok. The video showing what occured in SF on 8 Jul 2005 is nearly devoid of any intelligent discourse in response to the question posed by a journalist, regarding the bombing in London. The predominant response mantra seemed to be “it’s fucked up”. Is that really all they could say? One would expect the socially conscious anarchists to be at least marginally informed and have a strong, logically founded opinion on what transpired in London. One woman actually put forth an intelligent response, stating that there are better ways to achieve justice than blowing things up (which, ironically, is exactly what we’re doing in Iraq), yet they (the bombers) had the right idea.
No, you can’t affect change by stooping to the level of senseless violence, which only hurts your cause in the end. Violence is only necessary as a last resort, or as personal defence. They did not have the right idea. They are examples of a lack of a more intelligent and rational approach to things.
The rest of the march was completely unintelligible. What was the point of the random stupidity, such as moving newspaper bins from one point to the middle of the street? WTF?? Does that say anything to anyone, other than “whee, look at me! I’m dragging newsbins into the middle of the street! I’m a REAL ANARCHIST(tm)!!” Sure, it may be fun and possibly a real adrenaline rush, but you’re supposed to be representing a sociological cause, not illogical kids with nothing better to do with their time.
However, I fully support the statement “fuck the police state”! Given the definition, it would appear that we are indeed living in a police state, if only an embryonic one. The cops (i.e. “trained” alpha-male gorillas (in mentality only; I am not making a racist remark)) would rather use weapons and brute force than responsible, civilized discourse to handle disputes, which is painfully obvious in the film.
However, it would be irresponsible for me to disregard the protestor’s violent actions toward the trained gorilla in light of this post. He might not have had much of a choice given the circumstances (the mouth-breathing cops tend not to respond to reason very well); at least the protestor was just acting out of a moral duty to help the other innocent protestor. This does not excuse the violent act, it simply points out the lengths that we must go to in order to show our humanity sometimes.
Personally, this march seemed to be a fluke; it didn’t really accomplish anything except setting into motion a chain of events that would ultimately lead to the incarceration of the ballsy and intelligent journalist who began this site, Josh Wolf.
Anarchy’s principle is self defeating, because to be truly free of all law and restraint directly violates other people’s right to be free of law and constraints. When you damage property, you violate that person’s freedom to have property. When you obstruct transportation you violate people’s freedom to go wherever they want to go. When you stand outside people’s windows shouting, you violate those persons right to sit there in silence and enjoy a book or something.
Pure freedom to do whatever you want to do cannot exist, because you do not exist in a vacuum. You have an environment, people living in that environment, and their rights and freedoms to consider.
in Germany and then in the United States
[...] engagé, c’est ce qu’a fait Josh Wolf (voir billet précédent) en diffusant cette vidéo d’une manifestation violente sur son blogue intitulé La révolution sera télévisée. Le [...]
[...] [...]
i don’t understand what u think you are achieving. what makes u think anarchy is better? when rome fell there was total anarchy, annd what happened? gangs of thugs set fire to all the lands raped, and killed the weak and those who couldn’t defend themselves so they could achieve unlimited power. what makes you think this wouldn’t happen again, because everyone is enlightened and we have morals? i don’t think so. there are people being murdered in holocausts in darfur and violent riots happening in iran because of “thugs” that want power. democracy was created by man to protect the weak and defend their rights, it is one of the greatest things to ever be created by man. and you foolish people think that the human race is pure enough to not have government? you people are the opposite of enlightened your no better than the barbarians who unjustly killed whoever they pleased. you people sicken me
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