Re: Re: genoa protests

>>>>> "sime" == sime young <iamsime-/[email protected]> writes:

  sime> --- Kendall Clark <kendall-4GNy1lrxftmrG/[email protected]> wrote:
  >> For me, the bigger issue is that the cops with their widespread
  >> brutality and thuggery *created the entire insane scene*; the
  >> reports of them clubbing and gassing innocent people are legion
  >> and undisputed. If that creates an environment in which *some*
  >> protesters feel they should fight back, I can't work up much
  >> condemnation of them.  Kendall
  sime> ******************** Indeed, there are two points I'd like to
  sime> raise to this part of your statement. First, in the
  sime> "alternative" media, and especially the internet-based
  sime> alt. media there have been masses of reports that have
  sime> provided deeper and less biased coverage of the G8 protests,
  sime> but sadly these reports will not reach "the masses".  Perhaps
  sime> those of us too old/too chicken to get involved at the sharp
  sime> end could work towards addressing this problem. After all,
  sime> there are some excellent writers out there...any ideas anyone?

I see that Bij probably has responded to this in detail re: some of
our MF plans re: DC, so I'll just say "yes, that's something we want
to help facilitate".

I am probably too fat, old, and snarky to be going to these protests,
but god help me if there isn't a wee bit o'street fighter left in me
too; if nothing else, it makes for *great* photos and stories.

  sime> Second, I'm not in favour of violence where it can be avoided,
  sime> but if you're going to seriously attck the capitalist system,
  sime> then it IS going to happen. 

Importantly it *is* going to happen that the police are going to crack
heads and occasionally shoot into crowds. That much is a certainty. My
claim all along has been that as we build a larger and larger *mass*
movement, their violence against us will be less and less useful and
our movement, then, will become itself more and more nonviolent.

The trick, of course, is keeping yourself (and the movement) alive
long enough to get to the tipping point, and doing so w/out hurting
recruitment. I know people like to wring hands piously and claim that
our violence hurts recruitment, and while I think that becomes more
and more true, I also know that I was radicalized precisely by the
determination I saw in Seattle, including the willingness to stand up
to the thugs and the targeted, politically justifiable use of property
damage as a form of nonviolent protest.

	We should not be amazed that the
  sime> cops will kill us. That is what they were invented for, to
  sime> protect the rich & powerful from us - the lowlife scum. If
  sime> this is a war, they will try to kill us. Its not the first
  sime> time anarchists/whatever have been killed by the cops, and it
  sime> won't be the last. sad, but true. We should try our very
  sime> hardest to gain the best knowledge we can on protection
  sime> techniques if we're going to get into these situations. Its
  sime> not a game, believe me, the cops are NOT playing games
  sime> here. Violence is a terrible thing, but sadly nearly all the
  sime> greatest victories have been achieved via violent struggle.
  sime> I'm getting a little pissed-off now, I'm going to stop
  sime> writing.

Yeah, so far this is nothing compared to, for example, the early trade
unionism in America; all these fat, corporate, bourgeois naysayers get
to work only 40, rather than 80, hours a week because of "violent
protesting thugs". 

Best,
Kendall Clark