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The point is not whether you have individual leaders issuing instructions. Quite the reverse\. The rebirth of BLM after the Floyd murder makes this issue all the more important. In part, this is because the larger an unmarshalled demonstration becomes the easier it is for right-wingers or police agents to shape what happens. We've seen it happen. More substantively, it's because it shows the potential for it to have an even greater impact with larger numbers. When the new wave of demonstrations started, the organizers decided to keep everything a secret. No call went out, not even at the last minute for people to show up a particular location and time. It was kept, as explained to me, "private information" so as to "catch the police by surprise." Later, there were several demonstrations called publicly by different groups, including the DSA. These are flip sides of the same coin. The point is to unite in a principled way the largest numbers we can, and to engage participants to get involved in organizing the next such action. Things have improved here and there, as they will with experience . . . But this is going to be a very uneven process. I'm terribly encouraged by the fact that Democrats haven't coaxed them into a political domesticity yet, as they did so easily with the bulk of Occupy. The pressure is going to increase and we can't be surprised if they do successfully blight these efforts. But the issue will survive as will the experience. I am fairly confident a President Biden will have less benefit of the doubt than Obama had, so it could be a terribly interesting administration. . . . But let's hold off on our Lenin analogies until we see what pulls into Finland Station. _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: https://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
