Hi all,
Well, just got in from work a while ago and flicked on the TV for news of
today's demo in London: one word....disappointing!
A summary, protesters gather in Parliament square. Now I've heard that there
are plans to dig up the streets and plant trees, flowers etc. What do they
in fact do but take up the turf in the already green centre of parliament
square and make a total mess, nothing of note planted as far as I could see
on the TV and they had a whole afternoon. Well what did they do..graffiti on
a statue of Churchill and the Cenotaph (a memorial to those who died in
wwI/wwII). The slogan on the cenotaph was okay.."Why glorify war?". Other
acts were the destruction of the McDonalds on Whitehall (who didn't see this
coming?) and the shop next door for unfathomable reasons. Also the protestors
disrupted the traditional Mayday worker activities (speeches etc.) at
Trafalgar square at which point police moved in and everything died down
after a few scuffles. This is what I gleaned from the news anyway.
Now my opinion is that most of this action was pointless: The TV news talks
of these acts of vandalism as being by anarchist protestors, well if they
call themselves anarchists they've obviously misunderstood anarchist
history. Maybe they could claim links to Malatesta's conception of
propaganda by deed but really the whole thing was a shambles. I would like
to have seen them actually break the tarmac of the road and plant flowers. I
would like to have seen them respect the Mayday speeches by workers groups
and respect their fellow men and women. I get tired of the media linking
anarchism to such mindlessness. Does such mindlessness recall Stirner's
individualism...freedom within the framework of respecting the rights of
others. Does it recall Proudon, Bakunin, Mutualism, Anarcho-communism..a
sense of community and living together, systems in which we can organise our
own lives and correct the social inbalance of our current systems.
By all means protest aginst
capitalism which whilst giving some of us a high standard of living gives it
to us at the expense of the lives of others, but let's see some focus.
Protesters of 30 years ago were more sophisticated and addressed their points
better. Have we lost direction? Protest is a valuable resource but
hooliganism is not. Interestingly the football match here at the weekend
with Stoke City against Cardiff descended into extreme violence, smashing of
buses etc. Pretty similar to watching these protestors smash up a
shop..there's not much difference really.
Anyway, thought you'd all like to know what's gone on. I am, as you can tell
a fan of alternative political thinking but I favour constructive methods.
For me the real proponents of anarchism in this country are those involved
in things like the Lets schemes where people trade skills instead of money
(these are active in many cities) e.g. You mend my roof. I make your dinner.
Building skills traded for cooking skills, the beginning of an
anarcho-communist outlook...perhaps?
BTW - If you think this is totally off topic, Fluxus has some links to radical
protest, offhand I can think of a link with Amsterdam Provos in method
firstly and secondly because one of the Provos in fact performed at a Fluxus
festival..unfortunately I forget his name. I only found this out at
Christmas during a tour round the Amsterdam Historical museum..maybe one of
the excellent Fluxus memories on this list can provide me with a name
because it escapes me at the moment. If we look at the Fluxus democratic
approach to creativity we can draw parallels with the positive goals of
anarchism...the idea of owning the means of production..look at the Fluxus
publishing program yet everything done in a way accesible to anyone. And
Something Else Press, a publisher voice but again controlled by members of
Fluxus...other artists were waiting for the mainstrema media to document
their activities Fluxus took on its own responsibilities, named itself, built
itself as a firm community concept..etc. etc. Now if Maciunas had only
bought that Island!
I don't want to go on too long. My real points are:that we should be in
control of our own lives and able to change things when we see injustice,
that actions for change should be focused unlike today's hooliganism, that
anarchism is not bomb-throwing but community building and a deep conception
of fairness for one's fellow man/woman. But I've probaly no need to tell you
all this.On this day that is traditionally for the workers it would be nice
to see a real focus on everyday life and its improvement, everyone deserves
happiness and opportunity.
cheers,
Sol.
