-Caveat Lector-
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hi monty. here's a few of my thoughts on seattle from a participants
perspective, not that you asked for them. could you forward this to folks
on the encuentro list?
matt d
People need to be very cautious regarding their acceptance of the
corporate media's portrayal of events and reactions in Seattle. The idea
that a few anarchists, who engaged in property destruction, ruined the
anti-wto message of the demonstration is absolutely ridiculous. More than
that, it is the main idea that the corporate media wanted to disseminate -
and effectively did because people continue to spread it. It was not the
property destruction that distorted the message on November 30th, it was
the
corporate media's focus on the property destruction that did. Let's not
forget that, unlike Clinton's assertion that small 'mom and pop' stores
were
hit, those businesses that had their windows smashed were well-chosen
targets of multinational corporations as well as symbols of capitalism's
overarching tendancy to commodify all of our lives.
By portraying the 60,000 protesters as good-ole' americans (much like
Clinton did) in their taking of the streets to shut down the WTO
ministerial, while simultaneously holding to the story that 100 anarchists
proceeded to smash windows and paint the streets with grafitti thereby
ruining the day for everyone else, the mainstream media managed to divide
(in the general public's mind) one highly organized and cooperative group
of activists that agreed that the tactics to be used on N30 stretched
nearly
as far as the imagination could! There were 4 guidelines however: 1)we
will
use no violence, physical or verbal, towards any person 2)we will carry no
weapons 3)we will not bring or use any alcohol or illegal drugs 4) we will
not destroy property. Now obviously, not everyone willingly submitted
themselves to these. They were there to legitimate the majority of the
work
that was going on prior to N30 so that the establishment forces didn't have
any obvious reason to come down hard on organzing activists before the big
day. Interestingly, the 4th one was modified at a general meeting the day
before the 30th to 'property will not be destroyed provided it does not
obstruct the achievement of our goals' which were to shut down the WTO. I
am not trying to argue that the property destruction became legitimized
with
this statement - it didn't need to be O.K'd by anyone - rather, to show the
acceptance of tactics by the large group of activists that had assembled in
Seattle prior to the demonstration.
Having been in Seattle, in the tear gas-infested streets of modern-day
insurrectionary America, I can tell you that the unity and solidarity
expressed by all was immense. Anarchists supported people locked down in
civil disobedience by building barricades of street debris between them and
the cops, college students alerted protesters as to the new movements of
the riot cops at different intersections, longshoremen reinforced young
militants at conflict-ridden intersections, balancing the scales.
Throughout the day, the protesters worked as a united group delivering
global capitalism its deserving hard-hitting blow after hard-hitting blow.
Unfortunately, there were a number of extremely dogmatic passivists who
were
not content with just themselves sitting down to be brutalized by sadistic
cops. People who came to be dubbed the 'Peace Police' interfered
throughout
the day with protesters who were not only sick and tired of capitalism but
fed up with the cops true, brutalizing colors. The Peace Police physically
restrained and obstructed other activists from engaging not only in
property
damage, but in any form of activity that wasn't exactly what the cops
wanted. If people are going to begin laying claims of agents provocateurs,
they may want to analyze the role of the Peace Police, which managed to get
a number of anarchists and other militant protesters nicked by the cops.
Don't let the media's misinformation warp your intuition. The property
destruction and economic sabotage didn't ruin anything but the profits
slated for the capitalists' pockets - that alone is cause for celebration.
The corporate media has just proven to us once again that we cannot believe
them nor rely on them to put out information. Certainly, all those who
were
in the streets in Seattle know that along with ALL THE OTHER PROTESTERS
there, the anarchists were throwing the tear gas canisters away from
unprotected faces, rinsing burning eyes out with saline solution, locking
arms to block delegates, and most importantly, hitting the capitalists
where
it hurts the most. Anarchists just happened to be the marginalized group
that was singled out as a scapegoat on November 30th because the last thing
this system wants people to think is that the unrest and dissatisfaction
was
as widespread as it truly was. Don't let them create divides in the
international solidarity that was created this November 30th.
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