-Caveat Lector-
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No-WTO
one interesting thing thats happening in the ripple effect from seattle,
and the hype around the "Eugene Anarchists", is that a space has opened
that had previously been
closed, for the ideas behind anarchist organization and strategy to be
heard by the mainstream. this may not have immediate effects, or even
positive ones overall in the
short term, but i believe there's a reason why the mainstream
misunderstands anarchists, and the fact that some of what we believe is
making it to their ears (albeit
somewhat sensationalized) is an accomplishment with much potential for
fertilization.
the front page story chuck recently forwarded is one example of this,
although most of us here thought the statements she made were
incriminating and somewhat bizarre,
and word on the street is that she actually only said about half of what's
attributed to her.
60 Minutes interviewed eugene anarchists last week and will be airing this
tuesday on CBS (aka the ad agency of westinghouse and the
military-industrial complex)
for more anarchy in the corporate media check out the current issues of
Newsweek and Time.
crazy times. lets hope we dont start seeing circle A t-shirts at the Gap.
toward the next Global Riot,
annie
ps- heres an op/ed that made it in the local eugene corporate newspaper:
---------
December 10, 1999
Commentary: Anarchy creating a
healthier reality
By SHANE EDWARDS
WHEN THE SUN WENT down Dec. 4, after a week of
conflict in the streets of Seattle, a candlelight
vigil was
held in downtown Eugene. About 40 people introduced
themselves and shared their thoughts on one of the
most
powerful political demonstrations in American history.
Although nearly everyone at the vigil was a
self-proclaimed nonviolent activist, only one person
expressed dissatisfaction with economic sabotage
against
corporate property or with radical anarchists. One by
one, all the others voiced their desire for
solidarity with
everyone who was in Seattle, many thanking the
anarchists for their contributions and dedication.
The overriding sentiment was joy for the amazing power
amassed and taken by the people. The government's
divide and conquer tactics are not working.
The power that people took that week brought several
at
the vigil to tears; it changed our lives. Ask
yourself if
that's what you want life to be like or if you merely
want
to beg your masters to make life a little more
tolerable
for you. Is a steadier job and less guilt about the
rest of
the world's condition all you want?
As the protest in Seattle showed us, we can take a lot
more than that. The cowards aren't the people who don
masks and take real risks. The cowards are the beggars
who can't even link arms to block a meeting of people
who kill entire societies and rape the Earth. It
takes no
political sophistication to understand that.
The action in the street showed the same spirit as
all the
proactive alternatives to helplessness and
victimization
that anarchists and their allies offer their
communities.
We work to feed, clothe, teach, heal and protect
ourselves, instead of being at the mercy of
out-of-touch
professionals who cannot fill our needs. They can only
inhibit the growth of our self-reliance. They
invariably do
a shoddy job of filling our other needs because they
just
don't know or care as much as we do about our own
lives.
Most people agree that the closer the power is to the
people the better.
That's why so many people like local government and
local businesses better than globalization. With
enough
self-respect and creativity, we can take those values
all
the way to self-determination and intimacy with the
nature around us. Bill Clinton cannot solve our
problems
because Bill Clinton is our problem.
Anarchists and like-minded people around the world are
creating a healthier reality without help from rich,
powerful experts. When they came to Seattle they
joined
forces with oppressed and freedom-loving people there
to defend themselves and the Earth.
Protecting yourself is much healthier, more empowering
and ultimately safer than paying someone else to do
it for
you. When the last glimmers of the Earth and our souls
are hunted by enemies such as McDonald's and
Starbucks,
the promises from government and their police to
protect
us are a sick joke and a scam.
The extent to which anarchists from Eugene actually
contributed to property destruction in Seattle is not
known. It is, in fact, unknowable. Assertions, for
example, that 50 anarchists trashed the city and 25 of
them were from Eugene are fabricated, arbitrary,
dishonest and absurd.
Whatever part people from Eugene played in the fracas
was small in a demonstration of more than 60,000
people
and a week of around-the-clock street warfare. The
police were shooting tear gas at crowds of labor and
environmental protesters who refused to disperse and
took over key intersections as well as shooting tear
gas at
masked anarchists. Likewise, news footage clearly
showed that many people breaking windows, spray
painting and throwing things were unmasked, common
people liberating their desires and attacking a
system that
makes them miserable.
Conversations on the street proved that many different
people were willing to act aggressively in response to
issues such as environmental destruction, corporate
control and annoying police that no one can deny are
serious. (The issues are serious, that is, not the
police.
Seriousness requires thought, and police are paid not
to
think. They will admit that freely.)
The reality in the crowd was that whenever a brick
flew
through the air toward a multinational corporation,
huge
cheers of support drowned out the pacifists' chants to
stop.
Though there was no shortage of support that week for
direct action, it should go without saying that not
very
many of those supporters want to talk about it openly
in
the mass media for fear of government repression.
When the event was reported on, the people behaving
aggressively in the street were split up by the media
and
discounted in different ways. If they were poor and
black, then they were called gang members taking
advantage of the situation. If they were young, they
were called politically unsophisticated. Don't worry,
they
tell their audience, this very bad turn of events was
the
fault of very few people. No one who lent their
physical
presence to the mass in the street in either
tolerance or
support supposedly even existed.
Ask yourself a few times: If all but a tiny group were
compliant with authority, why were the police
attacking
thousands of people day and night for a week? If
Eugene's
anarchists joined in the destruction, it was in
solidarity
with many members of the working and lumpen classes in
Seattle. Even middle-aged, middle-class people came
out
at night and danced around the fires.
By far the most significant contributions to the
disruption
of the World Trade Organization that anarchists from
Eugene can be credited for were cultural and
political.
Anarchists from Eugene fed many of the protesters, and
they documented the events in brilliant video
documentaries. They were medics. They distributed
quality literature and engaged in discussions about
the
fundamental issues in defiance of the establishment's
portrayal of them as apolitical and brainless.
All of this work has been going on in Eugene for
years and
has helped radicalize the whole American culture of
resistance to a point where utilization of militant
tactics
came to Seattle from all around the country. Likewise,
Eugene's thriving anarchist community is a national
leader
and inspiration because of its huge number of healthy,
proactive alternatives to mainstream society.
Many people in Seattle were defending in their
rebellion
exactly the kind of creative, cooperative culture we
have helped create in Eugene against the global
agents of
homogenization and exploitation that threaten us all.
To portray a growing and well-rounded international
movement of good-hearted, capable people as a tiny,
unbalanced group of freaks in one town is the kind of
stupid, dirty trick that a power structure as rotten
as ours
can be expected to use in its defense as it breathes
its
last breaths.
For more information, including access to videos that
respect our perspective on the protests in Seattle,
contact Anarchist Action Collective, P.O. Box 11331,
Eugene, OR 97440.
Shane Edwards submitted this statement on behalf of
the
Anarchist Action Collective.
---
JOIN THE MOVEMENT TO PROTECT THE FABRIC OF LIFE
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P.O. Box 11703
Eugene, Oregon 97440
(541) 302-5020
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Laugh in the Face of the Global Economy
NOVEMBER 30, 1999-Global Day of Action
GLOB@L ACTION
http://flag.blackened.net/global
DIRECT ACTION MEDIA NETWORK
http://damn.tao.ca/
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