Re: Re: genoa protests

>>>>> "john" == John Smith <[email protected]> writes:

  john> The English Propaganda machine was hard at work trying to
  john> minimise the damage from the outset. The protesters were
  john> rioters and the poor police were only trying to protect
  john> property. First reports claimed the protester was hit by a
  john> rock and accidentally knocked down by a jeep.  These
  john> propagandists are amateurish.

These patterns of response are 1) clear, 2) predictable, and 3) very
consistent. I think we can turn this to our advantage during DC.

  john> Tony came out with his tired old " of course there are
  john> problems in the world, and of course blah blah blah, but we
  john> can only resolve them by dialogue bullshit. 

Blair is super annoying. He gives me instant headache any time I see
his misshapen head.

  john> Rolling out " The Mouth" Geldof and the gobshite Bono is a
  john> waste of time and air, instead face up to what has to be done
  john> and expect more death and destruction.

I read some stupid quotage of Bono's in the paper; he's a shite-eater.

However, unlike most "real" revolutionaries, I do not disdain real
reform as it often alleviates *real* suffering, and that's important
and not to be dismissed casually. Does it give the existing system
some air of legitimacy? Yes, probably, but we're not going away and
giving an illegitimate system a new air of legitimacy seems worth the
gains secured in real reform.

That is, short-term, that things keep going to shit in the streets is
the *only* pressure for reform I can see. All the "real"
revolutionaries disdain reform as counter-revolutionary, but that
seems horribly first-world-centric; what's annoying about them is that
they are often horribly first-world-centric while bashing others for
being so.

  john> Well done to the protesters in all forms and methods they
  john> used. In the absence of strong leaders to defend the rights of
  john> citizens,..............  violent protest is a legitimate tool
  john> as a catalyst for change. Mankind has always needed to bleed a
  john> little before the more malignant aspects of society can be
  john> controlled,........in this case the Big Three B`s.

Eh, as a way to bring about social change, I don't take a position
between violent and nonviolent protest. But I also cannot condemn too
strongly people in the streets who decide to defend themselves against
police brutality. If the wankers at the top need us to play this
little nonviolents-condemn-the-evil-violents in order to secure some
reform, I'm willing to pay that price too.

Wanting-revolution-but-enough-to-disdain-reform-ly yr's, Kendall