Rolling Thunder

issue number one / summer two-thousand five / a broadcast from the CrimethInc. Workers’ Collective an anarchist journal of dangerous living

A fault line runs through every society, through every community, through every human heart. On one side is obedience; on the other, freedom. On one side is cowardice; on the other, compassion. On one side is despair; on the other, action. Sometimes the boundaries shift as gains are made or lost— but however things appear, that fault line is always there.

Most everything you can read nowadays is published from one side of this divide. This magazine hails from the other.

“Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit upon his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats.” –Henry Louis Mencken “ see you, and I know that my dreams are right, right a thousand times over, just Ias your dreams are. It is life The first step must be the secession of intelligent pioneers from this society. table of and reality that are wrong. I understand it only too well, your dislike of politics, your ONE ANARCHIST, ONE REVOLUTION despondence over the chatter Contents and antics of the parties and the press, your despair over the war, the one that has been and Opening Salvo the one that is to be, over all 2 Living Dangerously that people think, read, and 3 Invitation to Participate build today, over the music 4 Reader Survey they play, the celebrations they 5 Glossary of Terms hold, the education they carry Letters on. Whoever wants to live and 8 Live from Jail Following Georgia’s G8 Protests... enjoy his life today must not 9 ...and Rightfully Incensed about a Poster Design be like you and me. Whoever Brand News wants music instead of noise, joy instead of pleasure, soul instead 10 Demonstrating Resistance: Mass Action and Autonomous Action in the Election Year of gold, creative work instead Commentary of business, passion instead of 26 The Art of Politics insipidity, finds no home in this 29 Forget Terrorism: September 11 and the Hijacking of Reality trivial world of ours.” 31 Deschooling: Unlearning to Learn -Hermann Hesse, Steppenwolf 37 We Are All Survivors, We Are All Perpetrators: Redefining Consent Testimonials: Lifestyles of the Poor and Infamous 42 Report from the Field: Where Sugar Comes from, and What to Do about It 45 Now That’s an Occupation!: The Workplace as New Frontier of the Squatting Movement 51 What I Do for a Living: Memoirs of a Survivor of Molotov Cocktail Friendly Fire And from Our Overseas Correspondents… 58 International Report: France Old News 62 The Ghost of Propaganda Past: The Woman Rebel 63 Biography in Brief: George Francis Train, “The Great American Crank” 65 The Secret Lives of Cab Drivers: Nestor Makhno and Anarchy in the Ukraine Art Before anything else is possible, the revolutionary must win back her 71 Plan Colombia: Art and Narration from the Beehive Collective own life and psyche from the occupying powers of fear and despair, Uh, Fiction… and from the daily forms capitalism and hierarchy take: the wasted 80 The President and the Beggar time of employment, the deception of corporate media, the damage 81 Otto Poetry of abusive and controlling relationships, the isolation and passivity of 85 Featuring the Latest from R. Butcher, Author of Stone Hotel suburban routine. She must make of her existence a daring adventure, Believe It or Not, Games! a heroic journey away from all she has known and into the arms of those 87 The Village, the Latest Diversion Sweeping the Anarchist Community with whom she will be safe in the most dangerous undertakings. Recipes for Disaster 91 How to Fuck the Police: Organizing a Copwatch Program, Handling a Police Raid Revolution demands and creates a new kind of person, who acts and 96 Handbook for the Traveling Houseguest: Never Give Traveler Kids a Bad Name Again! develops outside the mass. Don’t follow or seek followers—find your Recipes for Dinner equals. Don’t just seek numbers—seek to multiply yourself. 98 Vegan French Toast, including a complementary eulogy More Obituaries 101 Andres Raya And there’s more! 103 Reviews, featuring Laura Kipnis’s Against Love 108 Comics Don’t Submit—contribute! Send us writing and artwork for pub- ourselves (after all, the home team always lication! That’s right, we want photo essays bats last) in the time-honored tradition of documenting the inflammatory graffiti that radical journalism. appears mysteriously in your neighborhood, Send us material for review! Send us your 1 Should this not be the case, you need only persuade a local library to order this publication, witty true stories of fighting the law and win- ‘zines, books, compact discs, websites, whatever take up a collection in your community to ning, on-the-spot reporting on and analysis it is you’re doing; we’ll toss them in a teeter- purchase a communal copy, or learn to do of life and resistance in any of these occupied ing pile of neglected review submissions, from without spurious representations of radical territories, excerpts from unpublishable nov- which we’ll occasionally seize an item at ran- activity in favor of real-life participation in it. els, the heart-rending poetry you wrote as a dom to exalt or ridicule, according to our fancy. precocious teenager, how-to tips on cutting- Hurry to get your releases in to us before our If you weren’t in Miami in November of out? Has anyone gotten word yet from the civilization, to be David against Goliath. We edge vegan recipes and scamming techniques, embittered reviewers finally start taking antide- 2003 to see it for yourself, no superlatives I folks in that other meeting? Listen, I heard are, in fact, a rebel alliance, come together crossword puzzles teeming with unfathom- pressants and lose their edge, so to speak. could string together would convey the dra- about something that might interest you . . . to contest the empire in all its power and ably obscure subcultural references, naked As per the old anarchist notion of free- ma in the air at the protesters’ convergence Dozens present bear facial and neck tattoos: excess; this is the great story of our time. polaroids of your ski-masked lover(s) pissing dom of association, we feel entitled not to center the day before the Free Trade Area of circled As, flaming hearts, grenades; this Some years ago, in childhood, I won- on police cars . . . if they’re up to scratch, we’ll run any submission we don’t care to—but the Americas ministerial. is not a single-issue reform campaign, but dered what had become of such great stories, print and distribute them so thoroughly you’ll that said, we do want this to serve as All the same, try to imagine it: night has full-scale tribal war. Many will snatch their what we had in place of the epic deeds and be guaranteed an F.B.I. file of your very own! an open forum for all adventurers, fallen, and a fierce wind is buffeting the vast few minutes of sleep on this concrete floor struggles of ages past I read about in books. Send us letters! Help out by identifying malcontents, and insurgents, and tarpaulin stretched high over the shadowy tonight with welfare-issue bags of liquid There must still be some among us who incorrect or disputed details in our writers’ that means we need you to use it lot outside, which is bustling with activ- pear for pillows, if they sleep at all. Every know no better than to believe the televi- accounts, or suggesting points of departure as one. Please, please don’t leave ity—knots of friends in heated discussion, few minutes another truck or van pulls up sion commercials that proclaim joining the for readers to learn more or get involved, or all the fun to us (and don’t throw tables at which grizzled volunteers serve free bearing five or ten more brave souls from up army to be the greatest adventure possible countering absurd arguments with cogent, me in that briar patch, either), or food to long lines of starving, sleep-deprived to two thousand miles away, come to give today, who don’t realize how beautiful and nuanced ones. We’ll respond with lengthy make us have to take any more protesters, generators droning noisily around whatever they have to offer in the struggle even glorious life can be when we cast off rebuttals or, worst case scenario, disavowals time out from our exploits to write a great trailer of supplies. Up on the roof, for a free world. fear and subservience and embark upon ad- of responsibility, reserving the final word for about them than we already do. hooded anarchists stand watch, smoldering A police helicopter swoops low overhead, ventures of our own outside the ranks1. eyes gazing out from behind black masks to its spotlight scouring the lot, harshly illumi- So, this magazine. Here we will chart scan the distance for signs of a feared preemp- nating us in the midst of our frenzied activi- what we experience and what we learn, as tive strike; at the gate, below, organizers with ties; we shiver, but most don’t try to rush out we set out to liberate ourselves, to live dan- two-way radios allow protesters to pass while of its path—being here at all means being gerously. Living dangerously means risking is a semiannual publication of the CrimethInc. glob- holding at bay two suspicious men in Guard- under scrutiny from every direction, means the consolation prizes we have for more Rolling Thunder al underground, an international conspiracy of reprehensible adventurists and ian Angels uniforms with video cameras. gambling that our enemies are so overloaded precious things, and tasting how much nefarious provocateurs determined to bring capitalism, hierarchy, and all the other Inside the building, there are tables with information that they won’t have time sweeter life is when not taken for granted; impediments to the total enjoyment of life to a sticky fucking end. You will find stacked to overflowing with radical litera- to read every pair of lips in every film se- it also means living in a way that is dan- no advertisements herein, because we don’t regard your readership as a commodity ture and practical information, a workshop quence or identify every face. On high poles gerous to everything that would smother to be sold to advertisers any more than we regard our creativity as a commodity to in which bicycles are being repaired, signs across the street, more cameras peer down— life, confronting and beating back death in be sold to you; alas, we failed to hijack a printing press for the production of this painted, and puppets manufactured, and not to mention the police cars cruising by, whatever guises it takes. The content of this issue, so you must pay for this magazine—that is, should you backwardly desire the an independent media center in which un- the informers who must be among us, the issue is admittedly biased in favor of explic- hideously bourgeois privilege of owning it1. The material within these pages has all affiliated reporters type ceaselessly while constant surveillance of email, cell phones, itly political disruption, but future issues been mercilessly pillaged from other sources, whether in luxurious acts of wholesale fielding phone calls; in the central space, movement through the city. Downtown, will give more space to subtler subversions; plagiarism or word by excruciating word; in the name of honor among thieves, we over a hundred activists of a wide range of a mere few blocks across the ghetto, thou- often the most important struggles take urge you to do the same, both with these contents and everything else on the face of ages, ethnicities, subcultures, and nation- sands upon thousands of fully armored riot place not in courtrooms but in bedrooms. the earth. alities sit in concentric circles, painstakingly police await us in military formations, tear Sometimes we change the course of history, making their way through an organizational gas rifles and water cannons and concussion sometimes we simply change our own lives; Join the barbarians at the gates— meeting, while around the fringes hushed grenades and stun guns and rubber bullets it is transformation itself, on whatever scale CrimethInc. Department of Anti-Social Services consultations take place: Did you get one at the ready. To be here is to face off against it occurs, that counts. P.O. Box 2133 of the graffiti kits those kids were passing the assembled might of an entire militaristic And it is upon us. Stay tuned for civil war. Greensboro, NC 27402 USA

1 Editor’s Note for the Disenchanted: Oh, don’t think I don’t see you scowling, even from here, [email protected] my dear disillusioned friends who also have staked everything on the revolution, and know www.crimethinc.com how hard this can be, how miserable and humiliating! And don’t think that I haven’t fought LING UNDER ROL TH desperately through my own share of difficulties and despair in the process of testing out on my own skin which of our dreams are possible and which impossible. But what would you do, Design Construction by the Paul PRINTED IN CANADA tell people to strangle their own longings, and try to make do in their absence? The sheer fact F. Maul Artists’ group with the that some of us have survived, and the stories we have to show for it, is enough to convince me heavy-lifting by the specialist that our romantic foolishness is sounder than what the resigned call common sense—and to CrimethInc. Sleepwalkers. set out to live another half-century that will put the finest exploits of my past decade to shame. Our other computer is a sunset. Page 4 Opening Salvo Rolling Thunder CrimethInc. Summer 2005 Opening Salvo Page 3 c. Enough money to get you 8. Your place of residence is through the turnstile at the secured by means of: Reader Survey subway, if only you could find a. A good relationship with the It sure can be hard to make sense of the talk of activists these days, with all another nickel in the couch neighbors Glossary the insider terminology they bandy about! We’re pleased to do our part to So we might learn how better to serve and d. You’re the infamous anar- b. So many residents with so remedy this problem by providing you, the unwashed initiate, with this handy protect you, our precious readership, our sacred chist kid with the trust fund few jobs between them that pocket guide to the latest in hip vocabulary. We’ll add additional installments whose existence is always someone with nothing to lose in future issues as necessary. cash cows ripe for the slaughter, we present this Of Terms alleged in hostile reviews and is always bound to be at home reader survey. Please immediately drop everything, rumors and awake The Bourgeoisie—People who get up revisionists of representative democracy, violently rip this page out of the magazine, scrawl e. “Uh, I read that book c. Deadbolts early in the morning cause war, fam- the political spectrum has only one your answers across it, and mail it back to any Evasion a couple years back, d. Alarm systems (specify ine, pollution, and genocide dimension, running from those on the “If you don’t tell us that you like us hitting and…” brand) Right who wish for state power to be you, we’ll have to go on hitting you— of the various CrimethInc. addresses out there. e. Security guards (specify Civilization—A crime against nature used to defend the economic and moral understand?” You’ll be paid in kind for your trouble. If you answered a. or b., please weight, height, and fitness) interests of property holders to those on “OK, OK, I’ve had enough! I like you hitting proceed to questions #s 6 through Convert—As a verb, it is used by basket- the Left—who desire the same thing, me—alright?” 1. Today’s radical publica- c. Insufficient guilt and re- 10. If you answered c., you’re off 9. The police in your area: ball coaches discussing how to turn a only in the name of “the people.” But “Well then, if you like it so much, we’ll go tions today don’t feature crimination among activists the hook, free to go back to figur- a. Respond promptly to all game situation around for the better, there are many other criteria that can be on hitting you…” enough: d. The widespread miscon- ing out how to get the alarm tags 911 calls and thus also by activists plotting to used to chart political differences—see a. Vicious infighting and invective ception that most people get off the shaving razors at K-mart. b. Respond promptly to 911 transform social conditions context by figure iv., for example, in which various b. Academic one-upsmanship involved with radical politics If you answered d., it’s about calls made from predominant- context (see also subvert); as a noun, political tendencies are plotted on a fig.i c. Tedious, irrelevant history because it is exciting and fun time you sent us a cut—seriously, ly white and/or middle class it describes something unspeakably two-dimensional plane that accounts d. Inflated crowd estimates and e. The CrimethInc. Ex-Work- should we suffer on your account neighborhoods obscene for both the degree to which power self-congratulatory rhetoric ers’ Collective, obviously without enjoying the benefits of c. Respond eventually to 911 is shared and the processes by which e. Promotion of pseudo-sub- bourgeois pigdom, too? If you calls made from predominant- Delayed Gratification—Tomorrow will decisions are made. For additional nu- versive cultural commodities 4. You have been involved in answered e., please go online or ly white and/or middle class use you the way you use today (see ances, one could add a third axis to this such as alternative internet radical activities and/or com- find a copy of the reunion issue neighborhoods also “after the revolution”) display—“good cheer,” for example, pornography and organic blah munities since: of Inside Front and read the d. Report immediately to the an important quality often overlooked blah blah a. Most of the members of emergency dispatch “All Traveler donut shop upon notification Dream—A crime against reality in political thinking and activity of all the I.W.W. were trainhopping Kids Purged From CrimethInc. of a 911 call stripes. (see figure iv.) 2. The most promising feature traveler kids Membership.” Education—(also, reeducation) see of today’s radical milieu is: b. You quit your job and dis- 10. You are likely to be gone figure i. Love—If you mean it, say it with bar- a. The phasing out of print covered the only ones who still 6. How do you sleep? at work: ricades! media in favor of internet- cared whether or not you got a. Like a baby—a Beverly Hills a. Whenever the temp office Economics—Communism didn’t work, based (“virtual”) outreach and anything to eat were Food Not baby, not a Palestinian or Iraqi calls you in capitalism doesn’t work—you work Mass Movement—There is safety in num- communication Bombs volunteers baby b. Every day from nine to five (so stop already!) bers—if you are a number b. Puppets c. Rumors of people actually b. In the employee bathroom c. Every day from nine to c. A powerful solidarity contesting authority (!!) in whenever the boss is distracted five, and business trips on the Family Values—All I learned to do at Mental Illness—see figure v. between rank-and-file workers Seattle, Prague, Quebec, and c. Better now that you’ve been weekend home was lie, all I learned to do at and revolutionary anarchists, Genoa peaked your interest prescribed antidepressants d. Every day from nine to five, school was cheat, all I learned to do at Moderation—The one cause for which “Hurrys up with those meatballs! Who’s the facilitated by cooperation d. You figured out that liberal d. Can’t sleep a wink, not even and fancy vacations on the work was steal the bourgeois man is prepared to kill boss around here, anyway?” between national union bureau- anti-war activism is ineffective with sedatives and all-night weekend and die crats and self-appointed repre- at stopping wars, but suspi- television e. Every day from six in the Hierarchical Power “What do you mean, dear? I thought Mr. —see figure ii. Gates was the boss.” sentatives of The Movement ciously effective at providing morning until midnight at one Molotov Cocktail—A martini made d. An irrepressible optimism a justification for feelings of 7. The majority of your of your three jobs Hope—Not all the dinosaurs became with too much vermouth and not “No, I’m the boss, too. Just the other day, that enables us to act decisively smug self-righteousness financial holdings are: extinct—some of them evolved into enough olives at the checkout counter at the grocery in the face of all odds e. About a minute ago when a. In a bank, so they can be Your address (street addresses store, I said ‘give me those cigarettes,’ birds and the clerk did, just like that.” you opened the cover of this loaned out to earth-destroying only, no post office boxes): Motherfucker—An epithet that goes 3. The number one obstacle magazine (there’s still time to corporations without you hav- ______Ideology—see figure iii. back to slave days. Back then, the “Did you have to pay for them?” to be overcome for full-scale put it down—but hurry!) ing to think about it ______man in power, the slave owner, was, social revolution to be pos- “Well, yeah—but you have to make some b. In stocks and bonds—you ______Indoctrination—Without verbs, slo- as likely as not, a rapist who took compromises if you want to be the boss.” sible in this society is: 5. Your income this year will don’t mind loaning out your gans are beyond contradiction: “war advantage of his position to sexually a. The dearth of education add up to approximately: money to earth-destroyers Thanks very much! Your coop- on terror,” “military intelligence,” assault slaves. If you were a slave, it about the Platform of the a. Enough money that your yourself eration is deeply appreciated. “information superhighway” was probable that he was raping your Anarchist Communists as it taxes will finance a couple c. In an envelope under the Expect to hear from us soon! mother on a regular basis—hence was proposed seven and a half cruise missiles for the U.S. mattress (if your place of Intransigence—I’ll make any compro- the term. To call someone in power decades ago military Bonus question fig.ii dwelling has more than one mise, except the ones I’m supposed to a motherfucker is to cast light on the b. The absence of membership b. Enough money to keep you bed, please specify which) for ten extra points genealogical ties that connect their organizations complete with on the highway, supporting d. Do college loans, utility Fill in the blanks: Humanity Invention—Mother of necessity current abuse of power with the his- dues, transparent processes, re- the oil industry whose interests bills, alimony payments, and won’t be free until the last ____ tory of power imbalance and abuse cruiting drives, and protracted are secured by those cruise credit card debt count as finan- is strangled with the guts of the Left Wing—According to the historical in this nation. This use of the term is meetings missiles cial holdings? last ____! Page 4 Opening Salvo Rolling Thunder CrimethInc. Summer 2005 Opening Salvo Page 5 not to be confused with the Moth- Pacifism—“…peace? Peace is what’s board and sitcom bustles with idealized erfuckers, short for the Up Against written on the diploma you get when portrayals of middle class characters, fig.v the Wall Motherfuckers, the self-pro- you arrive at the cemetery!” -Peter many accept the insane idea that middle fessed “street gang with an analysis” Tosh, introducing the song that class norms are “normal” and all others that fought for revolutionary libera- helped give rise to the saying “No Jus- are sub-normal. In fact, every sub-section tion in New York City at the end of tice, No Peace!” popularized during of a given culture is a subculture, just as the 1960’s. Pressed to come up with a the L.A. riots in 1992 and recently every variant of English is a dialect, just suitable moniker for their gang, they employed by Iraqis in anti-occupation as Puerto Rican immigrants don’t have presumably named themselves after demonstrations any more of an accent than the white the order police would shout at them newscasters on prime time television do. when a street battle or heist went Patriot—An individual willing to give Seeing any one cultural group as being awry: “Up against the wall, mother- up freedom without a fight (see the “mainstream,” or for that matter fuckers! “Patriot Act”) rejecting some other cultural group as fanatical or inconsequentially peripheral, Nihilism—To be a nihilist is to re- Power—We love power and hate is chauvinistic and superstitious at best. fig.iii nounce, willfully, freedom, happiness, authority tranquility and transgression alike; Symptomatic Treatment—The perpetu- to abandon, above all, the romantic Praxis—“Practice,” as often misspelled ation of injustice and misery by the ad- possibilities of an unknown fu- by intellectuals unfamiliar with it justment of their superficial aspects; e.g., ture—in fact, to do deliberately what therapy, antidepressants, dieting, charity, so many others do by rote. This seems Progress—The forest before us, the career counseling, getting more educa- unthinkable; but for most modern desert behind tion, going “back to the land,” electoral citizens, living lives without any great politics (see also “blame the victim”) stakes of suffering or success, nihilism Property Destruction—A kind of would be something to aspire to. therapy to loosen the unnatural hold Trotskyist—Being the most Trotsky, e.g. That is to say—in the suburbs, hell is certain inanimate objects have on the “Ralph is Trotsky, Noam is Trotskier, but overhead. popular imagination Howard is the Trotskyist of us all.”

Natural Capitalism—If capitalism were Prosperity—You can’t fool my grandfa- Utopia—A tool for the education of desire. natural, nature would issue its own ther—he just counts the bums Advertisements present a pristine utopia, banknotes in which grinning idiots find their Red Herring—An inconsequential hearts’ deepest yearnings entirely fulfilled Order—Government justifies itself on subject that distracts from the root of by household appliances and acne medi- the premise that order is a prereq- matters; e.g., George W. Bush, anti-por- cation, in order to promote gratuitous uisite for liberty, but in fact it’s the nography legislation, the Green Party consumption; therefore it is disingenu- other way around (see also Symptomatic Treatment) ous, to say the least, for critics to accuse anarchists of being utopian—when we Reform—Oh yeah, reform—I remem- speak of a world based on individual fig.iv ber that from reform school! liberty and mutual aid, we’re simply Centralization fostering other desires, so as to enable Regime Change—The details are nego- other activities… perhaps more sensible “You’re antagonistic to the idea of being robbed, CommunismSocialism tiable, so long as power stays in the activities, in fact. exploited, degraded, humiliated, or deceived. Misery hands of a regime (see also Reform, Red depresses you. Ignorance depresses you. Persecution Herring, Symptomatic Treatment) Veganism—Take a bite out of crime! depresses you. Violence depresses you. Slums Fascism Hierar ch y depress you. Greed depresses you. Crime depresses Revolution—War without enemies Writing on the Wall—In this day and age, you. Corruption depresses you. You know, it wouldn’t a certain kind of illiteracy is a prerequi- surprise me if you’re manic-depressive!” S.U.V.—(“Suburban Utility Vehicle”) a site for business as usual gated community on wheels (see also Syndicalism Capitalism Property Destruction)

E quality Libertarianism Subculture—A slur intended to cause vidual initiative, voluntary cooperation, and ples of autogestion. The closestEnglish term I those who hear or read it to conflate Word of the issue: doing-it-yourself in a cultural sense. Social could find is “autogenous,” one of the possible lack of access to media representa- Autogestion centers in squatted buildings, folk traditions definitions of which reads “used to describe Anarchy tion with marginality, extremism, and like anarcho-punk that are developed and pre- insects that do not require a meal of blood in Individualism insignificance. Middle class customs, This Spanish and Italian word has equivalents served without any institutional involvement, order to produce viable eggs”—which is not for example, are the idiosyncratic Decentralization in many other languages, with the unfortu- so-called “uncontrollable” or “extra-parlia- entirely unrelated, if you think about the do- province of a select minority, no nate exception of English. It basically means mentary resistance” groups outside party orga- it-yourself underground as one of the few cul- less so than punk, hobo, or trucker “giving birth to one’s own activities,” as in self- nization who plan and carry out direct action tural milieus in the West that can reproduce customs are; but because every bill- determination, but with emphasis on indi- to address social problems—these are exam- itself without exploiting others. Page 6 Opening Salvo Rolling Thunder CrimethInc. Summer 2005 Opening Salvo Page 7 transgender/queer activism. intentionally insulting or dismis- tuous activists (who are most rich lady. We are real, oppressed LETTERSThursday, June 17, 2004 convergence and then the RNC. be able to see sunlight again. heartening, to say the least, to I’ve never been a huge fan of sive of trans people (and others), likely not trans) comparing people, with dreams and hopes 9:03 pm In the beginning we were the Just please keep writing hear from people involved in such CrimethInc. I know and love but rather a naïve product of ig- us to perpetrators of domestic of our own, and your moral- Brunswick 15, but by tomorrow beautiful ‘zines and doing great an idealistic confrontation with most of the people who work norance and an extremely poorly violence. ism is not one bit helpful. You we will be six. We are constantly things. Please spread the word of the powers that be. We wrote back Dearest CrimethInc., with y’all—but the roman- thought-out analogy. The reason Do y’all understand that hor- may anticipate many others of struggling to get the media to fo- the injustice that is escalating in swiftly, but of course the authori- tic lifestyle politics hop a train for my previous rant was to give mones and surgery can be a like mind and experience to be cus attention on this case; four of Brunswick, Georgia as a result ties at the jail returned our letter When my comrades and I de- “drop out of” capitalist society you a context for my position, liberating experience for many writing you in anger and frus- the six of us are on hunger strike of the militarized occupation at as undeliverable. parted from our warm state on style just ain’t my thing. Emma so to speak. This bullshit flyer people? And get this, for all my tration if you continue distrib- until we attend the preliminary the orders of the G8. I hope we John Doe and friends, if you’re June fifth, I never thought that I Goldman once said, “it’s not my affects me and the trans folks fellow anti-capitalists out there, uting this flyer. hearing on June 24th. I am writ- are released soon so we can keep out there somewhere and this hum- would be wasting away in a jail revolution if I can’t dance to it.” I do activism with personally, it is sometimes a decision made ing this letter to you because I building and exploring. If you ble publication somehow crosses cell for this long. We came to Well, another anarchist I know and you need to know and un- within the context of an oppres- Solidarity Forever have been drawing inspiration would like to read statements your path—thank you. Thank this little town to protest the fas- also said, “it ain’t my revolution derstand why that is before you sive workplace where someone Neal from the CrimethInc. press since or see visuals of our last march, you for going to Savannah with cist policies of the G8 through if all we’re gonna do is dance.” print more and seriously piss off HAS TO PASS in order to keep Tranzmission I began to take interest in anar- you can check out Indymedia’s stars in your eyes, and for writing direct action, and received two Whatever. I find most of the slo- our tranny comrades. their job, feed their family, or P.O. Box 1874 chism. For instance, in order to page. We are writing journals, us this sweet letter that brought misdemeanor charges for non- ganizing overly romantic (per- I work with a transgender even avoid rape, assault, or mur- Asheville, NC 28802 get here, my friends and I gave poems, and letters and drawing us a little light in dark times of violently marching to the fences haps its purpose), often naïve, activist/direct action group der. Do you fucking get it? out copies of Harbinger as well as pictures for the ‘zine that we will our own. Are you still involved in of Sea Island, sitting in front of rooted in a middle-class perspec- in Asheville, NC called trans- Your bullshit poster here trivi- Tone aside, Neal is right to other materials and records that be compiling after our release. the struggle? Did you ever compile over three hundred riot police, tive on the appeal of poverty and mission. We do a lot of good alizes the experiences of my good chide those who conceived the we distribute at our infoshop in Thank you for reading this, and the ‘zine about your incarceration and asking to speak with those consumer asceticism. I suppose stuff—education, free litera- friends in struggle Zac, who spent poster for not even considering exchange for donations. The li- may you keep your heart first. that you were planning to? Write who are making the decisions taking a shot at that obnoxious ture, queering public spaces, the little money he had to get the way it would be perceived brary here is very, very limited, so us again now, with a more reli- that control over sixty million and fucked up evasion book is fundraising with punk/drag upper chest surgery, and Victo- outside homogeneous middle I am reading Huckleberry Finn, Friends forever, able return address than a jail if people—people who are op- probably cliché at this point. shows, demonstrations. A lot ria, who is going under the knife class circles. It has since been as of now. One of the rules of The Brunswick Six (Skunk, you are able, and we’ll send you a pressed and impoverished, who Anyway, I’m not writing to of our group is trans, and some next week out west. She might removed from circulation on the Glynn County Detention Center Whiskers, King Will, Baldy, letter and some new reading ma- never get the chance to live their rant to y’all or discuss anarchist isn’t. Some have had surgery, be scared shitless, but in need of grounds that, even if it was in- is that we may only get literature Last Jane Standing, and Dirt) terial—though if you ask me, you lives. Now, we go unnamed as theory. I merely wanted to relay some are on hormones, some the work-oriented and psycho- tended only as a critique of the from publishers, so I am asking We have no names, just num- can’t go wrong with Mark Twain. political prisoners who refuse my rage and anger at your lat- choose not to go that route at logical and social liberation the sexist, abusive “beauty” indus- you to send whatever you can, bers—no rights, just de- All the best, dear friends. to plead guilty to a charge that est propaganda. Now I like a all. One of the most important surgery can offer her. I find your try, people who already have to because we are in dire need. We mands—but the world is still seems so unfounded. We have lot of y’all’s art and posters—I guidelines we have for allies naïve poster analogous to asshole deal with the bigotry and vio- can all share whatever, and pass it in our hands Dear CrimethInc., been denied visitation rights think the one on [not] voting who want to be supportive is Christians screaming at women lence of our gender-normative on to other inmates. I would love from friends, family, media, and is well done and poignant. But not to challenge a trans per- entering an abortion clinic, society shouldn’t have to deal to help with the convergence, if John Doe G-0177 My name is Neal. Whoever group visits with the legal team, this latest bullshit on plastic sur- son’s decision to get treatment, who are trying to make a vital with the stress of feeling disre- I am free by then, so I could re- SO# 974360 is reading this probably knows not to mention medical special- gery (“Plastic surgery is self-im- surgery, whatever—it can be and extremely delicate decision. garded or attacked by radicals as turn the favor then. Let me know Cell E104 me, and vice versa. I’ve been ists. Everything we do here re- posed domestic violence,” with a an extremely confusing, diffi- Tranzmission would just like to well. Distributing provocative of anything I can do or of other 1812 Newcastle Street an organizer and activist in quires a request form, and we graphic picture of a person with cult, scary place to be in—we say—please keep your moralistic propaganda is always going to places I could write for literature. Brunswick, GA 31520 North Carolina now for many have been told that to get any- a bandaged face, super-imposed need love, support, friends, propaganda off our fucking bod- mean stepping on toes, but it’s We all sit around every night years. I do guerilla gardening, where with our trial we must upon an application for such allies, people who understand ies. Do you get it yet? important to be thoughtful in dreaming of when we will be free This letter arrived shortly after labor work, Earth First!-type give names. surgery) needs to be nipped in what it’s like to be forced into Not everyone going to get considering which toes to avoid and heading to the convergence, the G8 summit at Sea Island in shit, anti-war organizing, work A lot of us have made previous the bud. I’m bothering to write a gender box we don’t belong surgery is a fur-coat wearing, and which to stomp on. but most of all of when we will Georgia, June of 2004. It was against police brutality, and plans to go to the CrimethInc. y’all because I don’t think it was to. We don’t need presump- vain, insecure, beauty-obsessed

Page 8 Letters Rolling Thunder CrimethInc. Summer 2005 Letters Page 9 were correspondingly unprepared, and, just as significantly, the corporate media didn’t know better than to broadcast the news of the victory far and wide. When subsequent protests failed to succeed in actually halting summit meetings, decimating shopping dis- tricts, or receiving international news cover- age, this should not have come as a shock: the forces of repression were thoroughly pre- settings, people can pared for them, and capitalist media moguls join in without need had learned it was not in their best interest of special social con- to advertise anti-capitalist resistance as effec- nections. Thus, they tive and exciting. serve to create new connections between All the same, even without the element of people and communities, surprise, subsequent mass actions were effec- and to provide points of tive in some ways. They brought attention entry for atomized in- to anarchist ideas and resistance, enabled dividuals into a mass radicals to gain experience in militant tactics movement. Additionally, that were impossible in other contexts, and because so many people, continued to build momentum and connec- both intentional participants and chance tions in insurgent communities. witnesses, experience them firsthand, news about mass actions spreads easily through an analysis of the successes and failures of The chief strengths of mass actions are due word of mouth and other non-corporate to the opportunities accorded by the concen- channels. This makes it difficult for the cor- recent militant demonstrations tration of many radicals and activists in one porate media to ignore them entirely with- space. When a broad range of groups who out risking a loss of popular credibility. erywhere make in their directly accomplish their goals. Militant selves blue in the face on the subject, it is regularly employ different tactics to address daily lives. alking actics he The limitations of the mass action model T T : T demonstration tactics, on the other hand, possible that anarchists have not yet finished different issues come together, all can ben- also became clearer and clearer as the years Because each mass ac- ass ction odel may qualify as direct action to the extent to refining the lessons of Seattle regarding the efit from the ways their different approaches M A M passed after Seattle. Organizing events on tion demands so much which they circumvent liberal or police con- advantages of the mass action model and the complement one another; not only this, but versus the utonomous such a large scale, not to mention traveling from so many, organiz- A trol to make a point or create an atmosphere elements that must be in place for it to work. what they accomplish can easily be recog- to them from a great distance, demands a ers who seek to put on major demonstra- outside the dictates of the powers that be, The very fact that no mass action since Se- nized as a part of a broad-ranging program, Action Model lot of energy and resources, which must be tions must compete with one another for the but most anarchists who participate in them attle has been as successful should make it rather than a single-issue campaign. For rad- drawn from the same pool of energy and privilege of getting to stage one of the few would argue that their primary purpose is easier for us to evaluate what made it a suc- icals who are used to feeling like a powerless resources upon which ongoing and locally- that can happen in any given period; under In the past six years, the North American to bring closer the abolition of the hierar- cess, now that we have plenty of experience minority lost in a sea of apathy, the presence based projects depend. If a demonstration these conditions, it is easy for authoritarians anarchist movement has gone through all chies and institutions against which they are with actions that lacked those qualities. of many others of like minds can be in- results in mass arrests, as the less militant to seize the reigns, or sabotage the labors the stages of a turbulent love affair with staged, and viewed in this light they are gen- tensely empowering. In large groups, people civil-disobedience-oriented mass action of many with a few bad decisions. Because mass actions, including messy breakups and erally more symbolic than direct1. can inspire one another to find the courage attempted reconciliations. In the process, and sense of entitlement necessary to act in models are wont to, this can consume time, traveling great distances to events and risk- some anarchists have taken up with other This is not to say that they are never worth- ways they otherwise would not, and there money, and attention that might be more ing arrest is not feasible for people of many approaches to demonstration activism—in- while. Even if a demonstration doesn’t serve is no shortage of potential comrades with profitably applied to some constructive end; walks of life, the mass action model has been cluding, most notably, an emphasis on more to solve immediately the problem it is staged whom to collaborate. When great num- the same goes for the felony charges and ar- criticized as the domain of privileged activ- autonomous, decentralized actions. In this to address, it can contribute to this process What worked in Seattle and the mass dem- bers are present, radicals can plot large-scale duous court cases that can result from indi- ists; this does not necessarily undercut the review of the past year’s demonstrations, by spreading awareness, raising morale, ex- onstrations that followed it? When they were strategies and achieve ambitious goals, and vidual arrests at more militant actions. The possibility that it can achieve worthwhile we’ll discuss the strengths and weaknesses erting pressure on those opposed, and pro- effective, what exactly did they accomplish, the achievement of these goals serves to at- connections made at mass actions are more goals, but it does indicate certain limits to of both approaches, and analyze how these viding useful experience for participants. and how? tract future participants. So many beautiful often between spatially distant, culturally its effectiveness as outreach and as a partici- have played out in the streets. Not even a whole city of smashed windows people concentrated in one space can create homogenous communities than between patory form of resistance. could suffice to stop any one multinational First, it’s important to understand that, un- a temporary real-life example of an anarchist local, culturally dissimilar ones that could Finally, and most significantly in the post- In considering how to evaluate both mass corporation from wrecking the ecosystem like every mass action that followed it, the society, something practically unimaginable benefit from continuing to work together 9/11 era, the mass action model enables au- and autonomous actions, we should begin and exploiting workers; but if a broken win- protests in Seattle benefited from the ele- for those who grew up in the sterile, colo- outside the mass action format. It has been thorities to prepare extensively, making every by establishing what it is fair to expect of dow serves to focus attention on an issue ment of surprise. The powers that be had nized, hopeless environments of modern charged that, though they demand a lot of demonstration into a spectacle of their in- them. Most anarchists thoughtlessly describe and inspire others to mobilize themselves, it no idea what they were in for, the police day capitalism. organizing from those in the host city, mass timidating might. This gives the misleading them as direct action, but, technically speak- at least qualifies as highly effective indirect actions often drain more from local commu- The other really advantageous aspect of impression that people are powerless in the ing, demonstrations—even confrontational, action. 1 nities than they give to them. More insidi- Setting out to shut down a capitalist summit and suc- grip of an all-powerful government, when militant ones, in which police are forced ceeding in doing so may qualify as direct action in the mass actions is that they are accessible and ously, because the mass action model focuses out of neighborhoods, corporate property is The protests against the meeting of the most immediate sense, but an anti-capitalist movement participatory. Because they can incorporate on exceptional events that largely take place in fact the state must draw troops from far set afire, and bureaucratic summits are shut World Trade Organization in Seattle in No- that succeeded in shutting down summit after summit a wide range of tactics, they offer space for in well-known cities, it can foster the un- and wide to stage these shows of force. It is without bringing any closer the abolition of capitalist down—are not direct action. Making love, vember 1999 remain the most popular ex- participants of a wide range of capabili- healthy impression that history is deter- especially convenient for intelligence-gath- social relations would be a failure, not a success. Hence, ering departments to have so many radicals growing or stealing food, providing free ample of effective mass action in our time. such feats ultimately have their greatest value as dem- ties and comfort levels; and as they are an- mined at special occasions in Washington, child care—these are concrete actions that Though countless pundits have typed them- onstrations of what is possible. nounced openly and take place in public DC rather than in the decisions people ev- concentrated in one place, working on one Page 10 Brand News Rolling Thunder CrimethInc. Summer 2005 Brand News Page 11 project. Working publicly, in great numbers el is useful for those already involved in the of the many reasons most anarchists reject part of a broader strategy, enable us to make The results surprised everybody. Suddenly, ceded all the gains made by anarchists over and under constant surveillance, it is very direct action movement, it is rarely useful terrorism and other approaches that depend gains on other fronts as well; this author, for everyone had a working example of anti- the preceding years. Fears ran rampant that difficult for radicals to disseminate new tac- for helping others get involved or develop on the actions of a vanguard: for an action one, feels strongly that this can be the case. authoritarian, anti-capitalist resistance as a new anti-terror legislation and enforcement tical ideas without infiltrators and police ap- more experience. Without participatory, model to stand a chance of being useful in reference point. Anarchists, among other would be used to imprison and suppress prehending them. accessible forms of resistance, a movement the project of revolutionary struggle, it must radicals, came out of the woodwork, and the anarchist movement, a concern that has cannot be expected to grow. be possible for others to adopt and apply it Background: everyone was itching to have a go at repeat- since been shown to be unfounded3. Now Knowing these limitations all too well, but themselves—indeed, it must promote and ing that success. Because the Seattle protests that most activists did not believe that posi- not wishing to retire into inactivity, some The essential idea of autonomous ac- encourage this, it must seduce people into Direct Action at had not been a mere fluke but rather the tive revolutionary change could be around activists argue in favor of more decentral- tion—that individuals can organize their using it who might otherwise remain inac- Demonstrations from the culmination of a long period of growth and the corner, all the internal conflicts and ized, autonomous actions. Generally speak- own activity, without need of direction or tive. development, there was a root structure in burnout that had been building up over the ing, an autonomous action is an action on a superstructure—is also the essence of anar- 1990’s to 2004 place to sustain further such actions—the preceding years of constant action came to small enough scale that it can be organized chism. The problem here is that the essen- Finally, while mass actions by their very most notable being the protests against the the fore, and over the following months an- Watershed events like the afore- without coordination from a central body, tial challenge of spreading the autonomous nature involve and benefit from World Bank and International Monetary archist communities saw the worst infight- mentioned protests in Se- below the radar of the authorities. A classic action model is also the essential challenge Fund in Washington, D.C. the following ing in recent history. attle don’t just come out of modern day example of autonomous action of the anarchist revolution: most people are April, against the Democratic and Repub- nowhere. Throughout the is an attack on an army recruiting station, in not used to acting on their own—without lican National Conventions that summer, apparently quiet 1990’s, which its windows are broken and slogans direction, organization, and the energy and and against the Free Trade Area of the direct action groups like are spraypainted across its walls. Throughout sense of urgency that special events and Americas summit in Quebec in April 2001. this discussion, we will be addressing three large numbers of comrades provide, many And because each demonstration attracted basic kinds of autonomous action: actions find it difficult to cross over from hesita- new attention and additional participants to carried out by individuals or individual af- tion into action. Even for those who hope the anarchist movement, the root structure finity groups that take place entirely apart to act autonomously, mass actions provide quickly deepened and spread. The move- from mass actions; actions carried out by momentum, morale, crowd cover, legal sup- ment, focusing much of its energy on these In retrospect, it is possible to argue that individuals or affinity groups that coincide port, numbers, media attention, and many convergences and mass actions, rode a wave mainstream media attention was responsible with mass actions; and larger mobilizations, other important elements. Outside the mass that sometimes made it appear to be an un- for a significant part of the high morale and such as impromptu street marches, that are action model, we have to figure out how to stoppable historical force. sense of entitlement that enabled anarchists organized and initiated autonomously by do without these, or provide for them some to act so effectively in the period between small groups. other way. the Seattle demonstrations and the 9/11 at- tacks. Few if any in the anarchist milieu have The autonomous action model has many Focusing on autonomous actions is a stra- addressed this irony. In Western society, ev- advantages that mass actions lack: such ac- tegic retreat for radicals if it means dropping large-scale coordination, it eryone is raised to desire, however secretly, tions almost always benefit from the element out of the public eye. Merely material blows, is more difficult to coor- to be famous—to be on television – because of surprise, they require significantly less such as financial losses to corporations, will dinate effective decentral- what is on television is “real,” is important. infrastructure and preparation, and those not suffice to topple the powers that be, at ized actions. Clearly, as the past few Although at the time many anarchists in- who organize them can choose the time and least at this juncture in the struggle; the hur- years have shown, it’s not sufficient sisted they didn’t care whether or not they terrain of engagement, rather than simply ricanes that struck the southeastern USA for some lone maniac to issue a “call By summer of 2001, when great numbers of received coverage in the corporate media, reacting to the decisions of the authorities. in the summer of 2004 did literally tens of for autonomous actions” for them to take people participated in streetfighting at the it could be said that the simple knowledge Autonomous actions are perfect for those thousands of times the financial damage of place everywhere—or, and this might be Earth First! and G8 summit in Italy and planning was un- that they were “famous” as a movement if with limited resources who do not desire to all the direct actions carried out that year even worse news, if they have been taking Anti-Racist Action were act- derway for more protests against the IMF in not as individuals sustained their spirits and act in a high profile manner. They are prac- combined, without posing any threat to the place everywhere, it doesn’t seem to have ing on a smaller scale, building Washington, DC, some felt that the move- sense of urgency. When this attention was tical and efficient for striking small blows stability of the capitalist order. What is truly made any discernable difference. We need up experience and momentum, ment had reached the crest of that wave. withdrawn, morale plummeted immediate- and maintaining pressure on a broad range dangerous about anticapitalist resistance is a model for autonomous actions that actu- while previously apathetic milieus like the Many were exhausted from the demands of ly. The corporate media is unlikely to return of fronts, and provide an excellent learning not the actual effects of any given action, ally enables them to take place, and to be ef- punk rock scene and college activism were constant organizing, long-distance traveling, the spotlight to anarchist activity in the fore- opportunity for small groups who wish to but the danger that it might become con- fective when they do. In the discussion that politicized by lifestyle politics and the anti- and court cases; at least as many felt that the seeable future, and the motivation of anar- 2 build up experience together. tagious and spread ; and for this to be pos- follows, we’ll analyze the lessons of the past sweatshop campaign, respectively. Once anarchist movement was on the verge of a chists should not be dependent upon other’s sible, people have to hear about resistance, year’s attempts to develop such a model. Britain’s successes with the Reclaim the breakthrough that would change the nature representations of them in the first place. In choosing to focus on this model, how- and know how to join in. Too often, auton- Streets model demonstrated that mass anti- of resistance in North America. We’ll never Anarchists now must find ways to maintain ever, activists should also take into account omous actions that are prepared and carried In considering these issues, it’s important to capitalist action was still possible in the know whether or not the effectiveness of momentum and energy even through a total the ways in which its advantages are also out in secret depend entirely on the media emphasize that neither mass actions nor au- post-modern era, it was only a few months mass mobilizations had already reached its media blackout. limitations. It is easy to maintain secrecy in to publicize them. With the corporate media tonomous actions represent the only possi- before activists tried to do something simi- peak, for before the planned protests in DC preparing for an autonomous action, but it determined to limit coverage of direct action ble form of radical activity—they don’t, and lar in the USA at the meeting of the World could take place, hijackers flew airplanes As the anarchist movement struggled to is often correspondingly difficult to spread and independent media struggling to reach shouldn’t, represent even the primary one. Trade Organization. into the World Trade Center and the Pen- regain its footing throughout the year fol- word of it afterwards—let alone carry it out any audience beyond a few subcultural ghet- If a total moratorium on both could enable tagon, and the entire context changed. The lowing the 9/11 attacks, some tentative at- in a manner that offers those outside the im- tos, this can be a serious flaw. an accordingly greater focus on other activi- anarchist response to the new situation was, tempts were made to apply the mass action mediate circle of organizers the chance to ties such as the development of community for the most part, embarrassing: rather than model again, notably at the protests against join in. While the autonomous action mod- Even when they do attract attention, au- infrastructure and alliances, it might be for seizing the opportunity to emphasize that tonomous actions do not necessarily mobi- the best for the anarchist movement; some 3 This was probably more of an irrational emotional re- now even U.S. citizens were dying as a result 4 2 This is not to say that widely publicized but purely lize others. In the worst case, a direct action action than a miscalculation. To the extent that it was Another notable exception to this generalization oc- have argued in favor of just that. If we con- of their rulers’ foreign policies, many hesi- symbolic actions are sufficient to build a movement movement oriented around the autono- a judgment call, it indicates that activists overestimated curred during an otherwise placid liberal march in that can pose a threat to capitalism! To inspire others tinue to invest energy in demonstrations of either the ability of the government to identify and tated to speak out in fear that they would Washington, DC when a small group of anarchists mous actions of a dynamic few can degener- and attract future participants, militant actions must any kind, it should be because they can, as repress them or the threat the government perceived be attacked or seen as insensitive, and thus broke away, marched to the World Bank, charged into actually strike blows and accomplish immediate goals. ate into a sort of spectator sport. This is one them to pose. the building, and trashed it from the inside. Page 12 Brand News Rolling Thunder CrimethInc. Summer 2005 Brand News Page 13 the World Economic Forum in New York Things changed when the United States pigeonhole protesters as either law-abiding to actually feeling like one has struck blows along the lines of those before the war, lack- trouble to go to Georgia was invested in the City and then at the “People’s Strike” pro- attacked Iraq on March 20, 2003. On this union members or unruly anarchists, so as and made gains. ing the urgency and militancy of the actions “Fix Shit Up” campaign, in which anarchists tests against the IMF in DC a year after day, and over the months that followed it, to ignore the former and attack the latter. carried out during it. In April, there was an- provided volunteer labor supporting disad- the terrorist attacks. These were admirable countless cities were struck by demonstra- In the wake of what many felt to be a deba- other protest in Washington, DC against the vantaged families in the areas of police oc- efforts, and if nothing else they served to tions that went beyond the limits liberal These factors alone might not have spelled cle, some anarchists began to emphasize the IMF and World Bank; the extent to which cupation. The name of this venture, which give those seriously committed to demon- organizers try to impose. San Francisco was doom for the protests, but there were also importance of acting outside mass models it was a ritualized, placid affair revealed just could neither successfully solicit media cov- stration activism a way to stay involved, but entirely paralyzed; more importantly, radi- several strategic errors in the organizing. in smaller, more autonomous groups with how far anarchist attention had drifted from erage nor appeal to liberal sympathies nor they showed that for the most part the large cal communities appeared in more surpris- The plan organizers put forth, to attack the the element of surprise. Some had been pro- the formerly prioritized terrain of mass ac- inspire the punk rockers whose slogan it ref- numbers and high morale previously associ- ing locations such as Saint Louis, Missouri, fence surrounding the meetings, was exactly moting this idea for a long time; it had even tions opposing corporate globalization. It erenced, speaks volumes as to its long-term 5 ated with large mobilizations were no longer conceiving and carrying out their own dis- what the authorities expected —and while been tested to some extent in mass actions, was followed immediately by the March for effectiveness as an insurrectionary strategy. available. Older activists were demoralized, ruptive actions as the militant core of the the latter were thoroughly prepared for this such as at the People’s Strike in Washington, Women’s Lives, a rally in support of abor- When no actual blows can be struck against younger ones were unsure how to proceed, anti-war movement. A new generation of scenario, few activists arrived mentally or DC, September 2002, when the organizers tion rights that drew over a million people. the system that creates and enforces poverty, and people on the fringes of activism and activists, many of whom had not partici- physically equipped to undertake this. Even distributed a list of targets and intersections Although there were hundreds of anarchists anarchists should at least do what they can radical politics were too distracted by the pated in the post-Seattle phase of demon- worse, certain organizers cut an unbelievably and announced that actions would take present, if not more, the possibility that mil- to alleviate its effects—but many anarchists spectator sport of the so-called War on Ter- stration activism, gained experience during foolish deal with the labor unions—which, place throughout the city. Others, notably itant action of any kind might take place was are already doing this where they live, and ror to refocus on the struggle against capital- this time. it must be noted, were closely collaborating environmental and animal liberation activ- never broached. People of militant perspec- traveling long distances to do so has all ist globalization on other fronts. with the police—to the effect that no direct ists, had been acting in clandestine cells for tives were still coming together when liberal the disadvantages of traveling to carry out action would take place during the permit- decades. So it happened that, as the election organizers solicited their participation, but more militant actions without most of the When the Terror War shifted into a new ted union march on the afternoon of the year approached, the war in Iraq wore on, without a sense that it was feasible to orga- advantages. In every aspect, the G8 summit gear, demonstrations became popular again, primary day of demonstrations. Thanks to and political matters came back to the fore nize events on their own terms. was the nadir of the general slump through but anarchists were no longer in the fore- this agreement, the police were free simply of public attention, anarchists were preoccu- which mass action activism passed following front of the organizing. Liberal and authori- to maintain order during the union march, pied with the question of whether mass ac- 9/11, notwithstanding the renaissance dur- tarian groups attempted to appropriate all with little fear of having to divide their at- tions could ever be effective again, and what ing the Iraq war. the mystique radicals had recently given tention; then, as soon as the march was over, forms of decentralized action might be able mass action, while only taking on the su- As that phase of the war in Iraq died down, they steamrolled across the entire city, beat- to replace them. Some had called for widespread autonomous perficial aspects of the organizing models activists also slowed the pace of their activ- ing, gassing, shooting, and arresting every- actions around the country to coincide with that had made protests before 9/11 excit- ity, taking time to recover from such a de- one who remained, confident that everyone This impression was sealed by the G8 sum- the G8 summit. A little-known example of ing, participatory, and thus dangerous to manding period of organizing. Anarchists they attacked was acting outside the law and Direct Action in the mit in Georgia that June. The protests at the one such call was the “Insurrection Night” the established order. The first two major nationwide began to focus their attention therefore a safe target. The only way anar- G8 summit in Genoa, Italy in the summer proposal, which was circulated via email demonstrations to protest the impending on the Free Trade Area of the Americas min- chists could have turned the tables would Election Year of 2001 had been the high water mark of listservs. In incendiary language, it called war in Iraq, in DC on January 20 and then isterial that was to take place in Miami the have been by acting unexpectedly and en the anti-globalization movement: hundreds for people everywhere to carry out militant, The year 2004 was ushered in by a midnight worldwide on February 15, were dominated following November. Many believed that, masse outside the occupied district of Mi- of thousands of protesters had converged on confrontational direct actions the Saturday march in downtown Washington, DC, by liberal single-issue politics and models. thanks to the new momentum generated ami, but the initiative necessary for that the city, engaging in tactics of all kinds that night preceding the week of the G8 summit. commemorating the ten year anniversary of The protests in New York City on February in the anti-war movement, this could be kind of autonomous, covert organizing was had left entire financial districts in wreckage. The advantages of this approach over going to the Zapatista uprising in Chiapas, Mexico. 15 became a little more raucous when the the first really effective, exciting demonstra- painfully lacking. The consulta model, while Eager to avoid another such catastrophe, the Georgia to get tear-gassed and arrested in the More than one hundred masked anarchists police attempted to block the march and tion against capitalist globalization since it indicated an admirable commitment to powers that be picked a secluded island off middle of nowhere were obvious: it allowed bearing banners, torches, and percussion rank-and-file protesters fought back, but for September 11; some hoped this would be decentralized organizing, failed to provide the coast of Georgia to host the G8 meet- radicals to plan their actions in familiar, un- instruments took over a major thoroughfare the most part consciously radical militant the triumphant return of Seattle-style pro- intelligent strategic decisions, adequate se- ing in June of 2004, and set aside tens of guarded terrain and with the benefit of sur- for a full hour, leaving spraypaint and stencil tactics seemed a thing of the past at mass test activism. Consultas were held around curity for planning, or commitments on millions of dollars for security. Not only prise. On the night so designated, however, designs in their wake. This march appeared actions4. This was all the more disappoint- the country at which plans were hashed which participating groups actually followed the island itself but much of the coastline nothing happened—or if anything did, news as if out of nowhere in a crowded business ing in that the February 15 protests were out, posters were designed and distributed, through. These may all have been incidental around it was thoroughly militarized; as has of it was never circulated. If all it took to get district, on a night when the police depart- perhaps the most heavily attended protests groups disseminated calls for various forms failures, but each one cost dearly. become customary, the media ran a series of people to rise up and strike blows against the ment was so overextended that it took over in history; because militant activists had sur- of action. articles demonizing predicted anarchist pro- apparatus of control was to issue a call to ac- a half hour for even one patrol car to show rendered the mass action context, millions testors while emphasizing the invincibility tion, this revolution would have been over a up. There were no arrests. Clearly, some an- of people marching in the streets neither Unfortunately, Miami was a poorly cho- of the police and military forces that would long time ago; and even if such calls were to archists had learned the lessons of Miami, helped to sway the opinions of the masters sen playing field for this grudge match. It be waiting for them. work, it seems clear that the system can sur- without withdrawing from public actions of war nor to obstruct their preparations for was the most militarized police state North vive a burning dumpster here and there—the altogether. it—nor, for that matter, to build a move- America had ever seen: there were so many Demoralized by the Miami experience, problem is how to concentrate such blows, police, equipped with so much destructive most advocates of direct action assumed ment capable of disarming them. All the same, the first months of 2004 were and strike them in such a way that they give weaponry, that any kind of militant confron- from the outset that nothing would be pos- quiet ones for direct action. March 20th, the rise to wider uprisings. From this example, tation would have been doomed to failure. This is not to say nothing of value was ac- sible in Georgia. In retrospect, it was wise to anniversary of the declaration of war on Iraq, one can surmise that both calls for autono- The protestor turnout was bound to be lim- complished in Miami. People still came to- let the G8 summit pass rather than squan- saw largely peaceful mass demonstrations mous action and autonomous actions them- ited: the majority of potential participants gether and acted courageously, with all the dering the last optimism of the movement 5 Protestors had applied this tactic at the previous FTAA selves must proceed from an already thriving ministerial in Quebec City, and met with some success, were still distracted by the Iraq war, not benefits that entails, and the police state was on a doomed venture, though at the time this culture of resistance if they are to offer any as it was fairly new at the time. By the time of the min- thinking about corporate globalization, and revealed for what it was, at least to eyewit- 6 One person or group calling for others to act is little resignation seemed to be a troubling symp- results6—and neither, alone, are sufficient to better than a vanguard, and can be expected to meet isterial in Miami, however, fences had been attacked Miami was a great distance from most active nesses and through the few venues that ran tom of general cynicism. Many brushed off give rise to such a culture. If the G8 summit from Genoa to Cancun, and it was exactly what the communities. Consequently, there wasn’t a coverage of the events. But coming away with as much success as the various communist splin- mass actions as obsolete; in the end, there authorities were expecting. As a general rule of thumb, ter groups currently do. Calls for decentralized actions in Georgia was the nadir for mass action, the it’s a bad idea to try an approach that worked or almost wide range of diversity among the protes- from a protest with a martyr’s tale of po- work best when activists who are already organizing was only one protestor for every sixty-seven “Insurrection Night” prototype represents worked in a similar previous confrontation, assuming tors, which can otherwise temper police re- lice violence and abuse, or, at best, a story themselves call upon others in their networks to join security officers at the G8 summit. Much the weakest version of the autonomous ac- in, offering the opportunity to be part of an effort that your opponents are in as much of a position to learn pression: this made it easy for the police to of heroic narrow escapes, is a poor second of the energy of those few who did take the tion model. from the past as you are. already has participation and momentum in its favor. Page 14 Brand News Rolling Thunder CrimethInc. Summer 2005 Brand News Page 15 A few days after the proposed night of insur- tegration of autonomous action into a wider keep opposition to the pipeline visible, gave the general nature of the target and affinity National Convention. Regardless of theo- cally militant tone of their rhetoric was one rection, on the final day of the G8 summit, strategy for building radical communities those opposing it more bargaining power, groups formed to focus on different aspects retical matters such as whether anti-authori- of the most salient features of that mobi- activists in North Carolina shut down an and gaining widespread attention. and demonstrated an alternate model for of the action. The morning of the action, a tarians should focus on contesting the most lization. Although it turned out that not entire corporate business district with steel autonomous actions. caravan left the gathering; the bulk of the powerful political party or all political par- enough militants, and not militant enough cables, smoke bombs, and banners decry- Another example of effective autonomous participants did not know where they were ties, activists laying plans for mass actions ones at that, turned out to follow through ing the G8 and corporate power in general, action occurred a month later in Maine, fol- going until they were led onto the site. This must take into account practical questions on this threat, the media and police accom- causing a massive traffic jam in the center of lowing an Earth First! gathering, when ap- negated the risk of informers being present. the state. Local newspapers and television proximately 150 people converged on the such as how many people will actually show plished it themselves by spreading hysteria gave this more coverage than they gave the Governor’s Mansion to protest a proposed up. Perhaps if thousands of anarchists had in advance and clogging up the city in their This kind of organizing demands a careful bal- converged on Boston to show their opposi- attempts to defend it. After most of the ac- protests in Georgia against the G8 summit, liquid natural gas pipeline. First, a few activ- The Maine action was organized in secrecy ance of security and communication, for those tion to the false alternative represented by tions planned had been accomplished, the and local residents experienced it far more ists erected a thirty-foot tripod with a pro- by a small circle of people who nonetheless immediately. This took place only two days invited must learn enough about the action to the Democratic Party, it would have made police, still unnerved and always most likely tester locked atop it, blocking the driveway. managed to open it up to great numbers of be excited about participating and equipped an important point, but this was not to be. to go after defenseless sitting targets, mass- participants; in this regard, it possessed many arrested everyone present at a non-confron-

before a public outreach event, the “Really tational action in Pershing Park. This mass arrest, though somewhat inconvenient at Really Free Market,” in the state capital, at Once this was accomplished and all but the of the advantages of both the mass and au- which people gathered to share resources and police liaison and the woman on the tripod to do so effectively. This model requires a large As many learned in Miami, anarchists must the time, proved to be the most important tonomous action models. As the target was entertainment freely. As a result of the direct had escaped unseen, a small masked group number of people to place a high level of trust always devise strategies that take into ac- legacy of the action: it ensured international three hours’ drive distant from the gather- action that preceded it, the police and me- arrived and took advantage of the distraction in a few individuals; thus, it often works best count the number of participants an event media coverage for the protest, made the ing at which participants were recruited, dia both paid a great deal of attention to this occasioned by the tripod to dump hundreds in tight-knit or culturally homogeneous com- will draw and how much militancy can real- police look absurd, and ensnared the city and its identity was never openly revealed, event: the nightly news showed hundreds of of pounds of foul lobster guts across the munities. While it is not as accessible to broad istically be expected of them. in lawsuits that kept the demonstration in the action retained the element of surprise. people happily dancing, eating, and exchang- lawn. They disappeared as other protesters ranges of people as the mass action model, it the news for years afterwards and forced the ing gifts, while police helicopters circled showed up with food, games, and other fes- At the gathering, two preparatory meetings To get perspective on the protests at the is more participatory than other forms of au- police to be more hesitant to make arrests overhead and a hundred riot police waited tive forms of entertainment, further confus- were held at which organizers described Democratic National Convention, we can tonomous action, offering introductory roles during future protests. nearby. Thus, this combination of tactics re- ing the slowly responding authorities. Two for less experienced activists. compare and contrast them with the Peo- sulted in free publicity for the effectiveness of communiqués were delivered: one a serious 7 Seriously, where do they get this stuff? No anarchists ple’s Strike protests against the International covert action, the munificence of community one for the mainstream media, the other a have sprayed urine or acid on police officers in the The events in North Carolina and Maine Monetary Fund in DC September 2002, activism, and the heavy-handedness of the hilarious statement on behalf of the “lob- entire recorded history of the current anarchist move- were only two of several local actions in with which they shared many features. Both state. In contrast to the “Insurrection Night” ster liberation front” for activists and oth- ment, and yet every corporate newspaper has dutifully mid-2004; but for radical activists and well- protests were less attended than organizers prototype, this can be seen as an effective in- ers with a sense of humor. The event helped repeated these lies as gospel. behaved citizens alike, the central political hoped; both included calls for autonomous events of the summer were the Democratic action, as well as organizing for more cen- and Republican National Conventions. At tralized, accessible events; both took place By contrast, in Boston, the organizers—the “Bl(A)ck Tea Society”—were careful to dis- napshot from the inal ays of a to potential projectiles within flinging distance of the President. The these, the possibilities and limitations of the in cities that are known for having police S F D ’Observer went on to report that, not surprisingly, most of the food anarchist movement’s preoccupation with that show restraint during protests. At each tance themselves from violence, striving to Civilization went untouched. autonomous actions were tested. event, the main day of action featured a offset the media campaign of extreme misin- critical mass bicycle parade, a march, and formation about anarchists that had become 7 In April, 2004, during his reelection campaign, George W. Bush pre- This is what it was like to live in the last days of the Roman Em- decentralized actions around the periphery. typical by that time . Presumably, they hoped sided over a $2000-a-plate luncheon in Charlotte, North Carolina pire: the sycophants and psychotics are gathered at the feast, having Both protests were organized by explicitly that by doing so they could attract more that raised $1.5 million. Guests were served such culinary delights paid more for this meal than most can afford to spend on food in a anti-authoritarian groups that made media participants; unfortunately, as the prevailing as beef tenderloin with golden tomatoes on herb-encrusted baguette, year, only to be forced to sit absurdly before it as it goes cold. Their coverage an integral part of their strategy. sentiment in liberal circles was that getting but no eating utensils were provided; each menu read, “At the request stomachs growl, but each is restrained by a lifetime of bourgeois con- “anybody but Bush” elected president was of the White House, silverware will not accompany the table set- ditioning, not to mention disapproving scowls from the secret service The Democratic National Convention took The organizers of the People’s Strike had the first priority, participation in protests tings.” The conservative Charlotte Observer speculated that this was agents that line the walls. The hereditary ruler presides over the event, place in Boston at the end of July. It was not emphasized the confrontational character against the Democratic Party was bound to so “the tinkle of silver would not disrupt the President’s speech,” but a boy idiot yammering on endlessly and saying precisely the opposite heavily attended by radicals; many were sav- of their action, declaring explicitly that the be limited to radicals. The Boston organiz- it’s also possible that even the richest of the rich are not allowed access of what he means, while outside the gates—the storm gathers. ing their time and energy for the Republican city would be shut down; the unapologeti- ers were also kept on edge by a campaign of Page 16 Brand News Rolling Thunder CrimethInc. Summer 2005 Brand News Page 17 police and FBI intimidation, but this never the reassurance that somebody somewhere National Convention. Failing that, it would police from a violent crackdown such as the would have been a public relations debacle panned out into the raids and arrests they has actually invested energy in making sure have been more sensible to focus on more one in Miami the preceding year. The atten- for both the city government and the Re- feared. The fact that there were so few arrests something will happen. The Bl(A)ck Tea So- outreach and community-building, in which tion of the whole world was concentrated publican Party, and it would have shown in Boston indicates that, however intimidat- ciety attracted the necessary media attention; the Boston protests were already superior to on New York City, and while many liber- that anarchists could pose a real threat to the ing the police made certain to be before and they provided a text messaging communica- the People’s Strike. In trying to have it both als feared that a serious confrontation there imposed domestic peace that enables wars Unfortunately, what anarchists fail to during the event, they themselves hoped to tions system, though it proved vulnerable to ways by calling for militant action while nei- would undermine the chances of the Demo- overseas. Even if this had resulted in massive coordinate themselves will be coordinated avoid illegal raids and mass arrests that would police surveillance, resulting in a few arrests ther preparing it nor tricking the police into cratic Party’s presidential hopeful, countless numbers of arrests, it could have been worth by authoritarians, and so, while anarchist draw more attention to the protests. Had the after a botched attempt to assemble follow- making it unnecessary, the organizers played others longed for one. it—hundreds, if not more, of the anarchists labor was central to the infrastructure that organizers figured this out in advance, they ing the “Really Really Democratic Bazaar”; into the hands of the authorities, who hoped who went to New York ended up getting ar- enabled them, the character of most of the could have strategized accordingly. they seemed to have done little else to fa- to show that they could easily thwart anar- If all that wasn’t enough, there was a struggle rested, anyway. actions planned for New York was non-con- cilitate autonomous actions. This is not to chist attempts at disruption. This had nega- going on between the liberal organizers and frontational, even liberal. At the last min- Following the People’s Strike model, the disparage their organizing efforts—in addi- tive consequences for Boston locals as well the city police department as to whether the Alas, anarchists were so caught up in solv- ute, the organizers of the main march finally organizers in Boston distributed a list of tion to media and outreach work, they also as the anarchist movement. While the long- giant permitted march would be allowed to ing strategic problems from past actions accepted the conditions of the city, agree- targets throughout the city suitable for au- organized a convergence center, prepared term effects of the “People’s Strike” were that go to Central Park. This was the same situ- that they failed to apprehend these possibili- ing to march in circles rather than follow tonomous action. However, in preparing the legal infrastructure, and staged a variant on local police became more hesitant in dealing ation that had precipitated the street con- ties. While a heavier focus on autonomous through on the desires of the rank-and-file People’s Strike, the organizers had also co- the Really Really Free Market model that with crowds, the millions of dollars of fund- frontations during the anti-war protests in actions would have been the only hope of who wanted to go to Central Park with or vertly coordinated many actions, so as to be attracted thousands of participants. But if ing that the Boston police received to pre- New York a year and a half earlier; if the city enabling effective militant tactics at the without a permit; likewise, though anar- sure that something would happen—conse- autonomous action is to rival mass action as pare for the convention paid for an arsenal was unable to reach an agreement with the demonstrations in Miami and Boston, New chists and militants swelled the numbers of quently, there were freeways shut down by a model for militant activity, anarchists have of semi-lethal weapons—one of which was organizers in time, everyone knew that the York was a perfect setting for a large-scale, many other actions, these were largely or- burning tires, bank windows smashed, locks to learn that the “clap your hands if you used to kill a woman during a post-game march could turn violent. The leaders of the centrally organized strategy, and anarchists chestrated to avoid actually challenging the glued, and a major avenue barricaded by a believe in Tinkerbelle” approach, in which sports riot a few months later. liberal organizing coalition backed down on passed this chance up in favor of a focus on activities of the Republicans or the occupa- giant inflatable, though many of these ac- organizers call for decentralized actions and their demands on one occasion, only to be decentralized, autonomous actions. Perhaps tion of the city. tions went unnoticed by the media or other then cross their fingers and hope an army of forced by their grassroots membership to re- older activists were still shell-shocked from activists because they took place over such a maniacs will show up to plan and execute instate them. This conflict provided a perfect the protests at the Republican National To be fair, some anarchists, notably including broad area. In Boston, the organizers don’t them, does not produce results. opportunity for anarchist organizing. A na- Convention in 2000, at which a poorly many who had traveled from San Francisco seem to have been as proactive, and neither, tionwide call for a black bloc on the day of planned mass action had ended in a lot of and other parts of the West Coast, organized apparently, were many of the other activists The Democratic National Convention was the main permitted march would have tak- pointless, demoralizing arrests; perhaps it a day of direct action late in the protests, but who came to the protest—the most militant not an opportune setting for a doomsday en perfect advantage of this conflict, giving was just too difficult to coordinate actions they focused only on enabling symbolic tac- action of the event seems to have been an showdown with the forces of law and order, A month after the protests in Boston, the those frustrated with the city government centrally between groups from around the tics of civil disobedience. Worse, they made incident in which a dozen people turned and it’s important that a movement limited Republican National Convention was held and its liberal accomplices a rallying point. world in such an enormous and compli- exactly the same mistake that had been made over shelves in a Gap clothing store, leaving in numbers and experience not overextend in New York City. Unlike every other dem- Had the first major day of protests ended cated city; perhaps it really was the legacy in Miami and at the Republican National spraypaint in their wake. itself. Perhaps anarchists should have con- onstration since the invasion of Iraq, this in streetfighting, it would have changed the of Miami frightening anarchists out of using Convention four years earlier: they arranged centrated all their energy on accessible, non- was a historic opportunity for anarchists to entire character of the protests and perhaps their heads. Regardless, as the communiqué for their action not to coincide with any oth- Just as the “Insurrection Night” model confrontational approaches in Boston; it apply the mass action model effectively. All of opposition to the Bush regime in gen- delivered weeks before the demonstrations ers and to take place after most of the less rad- failed to yield results, simply distributing a certainly doesn’t pay to make empty threats the necessary pieces were in place: the local eral. The very last thing the police depart- by the NYC Anarchist Grapevine admitted, ical protesters had left the city, so the police list of targets is hardly sufficient to enable too many times. If effective militant action populace was furious with the Republicans ment of New York City wanted was to have there was no “Big Plan” for militant action had free hands to focus on repressing every- militant action to occur. If they hope to see of any kind was to happen there, given the for invading their city, and enthusiastically to use tear gas in the crowded streets of the in New York. one on the streets that night. This resulted in militant autonomous actions carried out to massive police presence and small numbers supportive of the protesters; radicals were most populated city in North America; this over one thousand arrests, without any con- the extent that mass actions have been in of protesters, it would have had to have coming by the thousands from all around the past, organizers must provide some of been decentralized and autonomous: twenty the country, hoping this would be the event the prerequisites that enable people to apply such actions as happened at the Gap, for ex- of a lifetime; and there was to be a wide th militant tactics in the latter context. These ample, could have caught the police by sur- range of people involved in the protests and Late Afternoon, January 20 , 2005, Washington, DC include crowd cover, communications and prise, generated media attention, and raised a great deal of media attention focused on scouting, media attention, and, above all, morale in anticipation of the Republican them, both of which would help deter the The riot police were already pouring out of their vehicles and suit- “So what are you saying, that we should just go until we all get 8 In another hilarious and ironic development, it turned were critical of this campaign on the grounds that it by shanghaiing vulnerable gentlemen and liquoring or ing up when we arrived at the reconvergence point. The anarchist arrested?” out that there was a theater group in New York for the was too soft on voting. Indeed, insofar as people con- doping them up to make them agreeable. On election march had been broken up before reaching any of the checkpoints protests under the moniker Greene Dragon Society. flate it with actual political participation, voting is day, these unfortunates would be frog-marched around surrounding the inaugural parade route, and we’d spent the fol- “Well, yeah.” Scrambling to give the impression that they were in con- extremely pernicious—as every text circulated by the to all the polling stations as fast as possible; once one lowing hour lost in the multitudes outside those checkpoints, try- trol of the situation, the FBI announced that it had infil- circuit was completed, their handlers would change Things hadn’t played out that way in the streets. Now we needed “Don’t (Just) Vote” campaign emphasized. That being ing to figure out where our friends were and how to reach a critical trated the “Green Dragon Group” over a year earlier and the case, these critics seem to have been raising a new their clothes, trim their mustaches, and run them to come up with a new strategy—and quick, before the spectacle mass again. We passed the police and crossed the street into the were abreast of all its nefarious plans; this could only and daring question: entirely apart from the dangerous around again. The faster the pace they kept, the more was over and it was too late to refuse our part in it. be to the misfortune of both the aforementioned lib- superstitions associated with it, can voting itself, taken votes they were worth, so it must have been a grueling assembling throng. eral group and the FBI, however, as the Greene Dragon in a vacuum, be harmful? process. (Nowadays, political gangs bypass such clumsy Prospects for this weren’t looking good. People were milling around Society doesn’t appear to have been anywhere near the methods and accomplish the same thing with adver- There were more militants concentrated here, but no clearer indi- puppet that went up in flames, nor to have had anything indecisively, conferring in small groups; there was a feeling of dejec- Your humble editor, anxiously concerned about such tising and voting machine fraud.) Poe was known for cation of what to do next. As far as any of us knew, now that the to do with its construction. A more likely story was cir- safety issues, has done quite a bit of research on this his stylish dressing, but when he was found—drunk, tion in the air. To one side, some activists were bickering about the initial march was over, no one had a backup plan. At a discussion culated by Starhawk of the pagan cluster, who was en- subject and has finally turned up some evidence that delirious, and in the process of dying of exhaustion, at a decisions made during the earlier march. Others—from the looks gaged in a spiral dance a block away when the dragon this may be the case, if only in extreme situations. A Baltimore bar that doubled as a polling station—he was the night before, when I’d broached the question of what we would of it, not the most experienced protesters present—had actually sat caught fire; she speculates that it was the energy released dissident account of the untimely death of Edgar Al- wearing a very cheap suit that didn’t seem to belong to do if the march failed to break through the checkpoint, one maniac from their ritual that triggered the conflagration. down in a circle to hold a formal collective discussion, which didn’t len Poe, advanced most recently in the amusing mis- him. It was an election day. So there you have it: voting, had coldly responded, “What’s with all this talk about backup plans cellany Why Americans Zigzag When They Eat, suggests horror of capitalist horrors, killed the greatest horror seem to be turning up any answers either. This, while riot police 9 and exit strategies? People are fucking dying in Iraq.” Some few anarchists, mostly of the persuasion given that the renowned author was killed by being voted to writer of all time—and might kill you, too, if you put were amassing across the street! Perhaps they wouldn’t arrest us all to hyper-radical rhetoric and little action to back it up, death. In those days, political gangs would rig elections too much stock in it. p Page 18 Brand News Rolling Thunder CrimethInc. Summer 2005 Brand News Page 19 crete objective being accomplished besides rying out an autonomous tion on the same theme During Chicago’s “Don’t Just Vote Week of the news coverage these attracted and the ha- action, while the other did attracted sixty people. Resistance,” which included several demon- rassment of some Republican delegates. exactly the opposite. The strations and other events, police tried and former of these groups was In Portland, Oregon, failed to prevent over one thousand people One of the most important lessons that can a militant contingent, ap- one thousand people from taking the streets in a massive unper- be drawn from the aforementioned action parently organized by word struggled with police mitted march. At another incident in Chica- is the importance of different kinds of ac- of mouth, that took part in to march through the go, a rock was thrown through the window tions taking place simultaneously. In Seattle, the main permitted march; this might streets. A “Don’t Just Vote, Take of a GOP office in which Republicans were Quebec, and Genoa, legal marches, civil be the first case on record of a black Action” march of two hundred gathered to watch election results, sending disobedience, and confrontational militant bloc going undercover by mixing with people in Tucson, Arizona was glass flying all over the room. Large rocks action all took place at once, and the divi- civilian protesters and leaving their faces un- attacked by police employing were also thrown through the windows of sion of the city into zones according to covered until the moment before the action. pepper bullets. A spontaneous march of the Republican headquarters in downtown level of risk made it possible for protesters When this group approached the point at almost two hundred people in downtown Buffalo, New York and a nearby army re- to pick the form of engagement with which which the march turned around to march Philadelphia blocked a major bridge to New cruiting center, and the local news station they were most comfortable. In the Repub- away from Central Park, right in front of the pants brought indi- Jersey; everyone escaped arrest except a re- received a letter claiming responsibility. lican National Conventions of both 2000 porter from a local television news station building hosting the convention center, an vidual plans of their own, The election provided a and 2004, as well as the FTAA protests in who was inexplicably attacked by police In Red Hook, New York, 250 Bard col- enormous green dragon puppet was set afire, there were many arrests matchless opportunity for Miami, organizers did exactly the opposite, while marchers chanted “We don’t need no lege students shut down an intersection in and streetfighting broke out; however, there and little more was accom- nationwide autonomous actions. Unlike senselessly endangering those committed to water, let the motherfucker burn!” In New the center of town for almost an hour until were not enough numbers or preparation plished than a few delegates any summit or local issue, it happened militant action and undercutting the effec- Orleans, a radical Day of the Dead march police forcibly dispersed them. In northern to maintain this. Within an hour, the po- being shouted at. everywhere at once, focusing public at- tiveness of the protests as a whole. The costs featuring a marching band, seventy-five skel- Los Angeles county, a group carried out lice had reestablished control and the march tention on a wide range of issues that could of this could have been offset had militants Whatever strategic miscalculations anar- etons, and an alter screamed and moaned its what they suggested might be the first ban- proceeded as before; only a few impressive be addressed on a variety of fronts. Among organized a major mass action themselves, chists may have made, it was still thrilling to way through the French Quarter to the riv- ner drop in their area, with a banner on the photographs of the fire remained, one of others, a nationwide campaign on the theme but none dared do so. be in New York with so many others deter- erfront, at which the alter was filled with re- “Don’t (Just) Vote” theme reading “Work- which ran in one especially poorly informed “Don’t (Just) Vote, Get Active” urged people mined to change the course of history. The membrances of deceased loved ones and then ers: Which Millionaire Will You Vote For?” tabloid with a caption describing it as the to take action on election day to demonstrate In the absence of a unified approach, the 8 Critical Mass bicycle parade, which took set afire as a naked attendant swam it out to In Vermillion, South Dakota, a town of only work of “the anarchist group ‘Black Box’.” all the possibilities for political engagement hundreds of different actions that took place place before most of the other events, of- sea; on the return route, participants dragged 10,000 residents, fifty people maintained a beyond the voting booth9. in New York never quite added up to the fered a moving illustration of just how many newspaper boxes and garbage cans into the presence outside a voting booth, stretching a The other notable militant effort that day was insurrection they could have. As a dem- people and how much energy were gathered streets and smashed the window of a stretch- volleyball net to bear a variety of signs, shar- a call for anarchists to intercept Republican The diversity and scope of the actions anar- onstration of the possibilities of localized together that week; to stand at a corner and SUV deemed too revolting to ignore. ing food, and inviting all with grudges of delegates on their way to their evening’s en- chists carried out around the election make autonomous action, New York was unparal- watch groups of thirty and forty surge con- their own against the system to join them. tertainment at several Broadway shows. How- it worth recounting some of them here. In leled, but it was also a missed opportunity stantly past for a full half hour was simply The same town was to host another such ever, because this call was promoted in such Washington, DC, fifteen polling stations in an era that provides few good chances to breathtaking. Most who went to New York demonstration two and a half months later venues as the New York Times, these actions were decorated the night before election day apply the mass action model. left with new energy and inspiration, which on the day of the Inauguration, attracting lacked the element of surprise, the most impor- with a stencil design fifteen feet long and four helped to catalyze further action as the elec- media coverage from as far away as San Di- Two groups did attempt to organize actions tant aspect of the autonomous action model. feet high reading “Our dreams will never fit tions drew near. ego, CA. on the day of the main march; ironically, Many anarchists showed up, but as there was in their ballot boxes.” In Baltimore, the fol- one applied the mass action model as if car- no strategy for mass action and few partici- lowing afternoon, a Reclaim the Streets ac-

right here, but the longer we dallied, the less likely it would be that ple, making the proposal. Everything just seemed to turn to mush: in molasses, and prepared to follow. We were already well down the No squad cars or baton-wielding officers blocked our path. Per- we could get past them to do anything. “Yeah, we could do that, or…” street, moving swiftly, once again appreciative of each other’s pres- haps as we had reentered the area they had not at first identified us I went from cluster to cluster of my friends—in each one, ideas Regrouping quickly, we decided—insanely, impetuously— ence and sure of our collective strength. as the anarchist menace against which they had mobilized police were being tossed around, but none seemed to be sticking. In my that we would just go, the ten of us, and try it, since we had to do It struck me that there was a lesson of sorts in what had just from the eastern half of the country. We arrived at the street running pessimistic frame of mind, it struck me as a microcosm of the anar- something. Ten people was a quixotic number with which to storm transpired, but before I could explore this thought further, we were parallel to the parade route, a scant block from the checkpoints. We chist milieu in general: every clique has a pet plan they’d like to see flatbed trucks and charge police checkpoints, but at this pointit swarming over the trucks, unloading the pallets. could see one ahead of us, a fence of towering black metal grate with put into action, but none is willing to do more than talk about how seemed like a quixotic attempt could only be an improvement on Could we really do this? In the full light of day, here we were, lines of bulky police behind it. great their plan is. what would happen otherwise. commandeering a full truckload of defensive materials in the most Now the police behind us were catching up, and we sighted a There was no sense in joining the marketplace of ideas. I returned We stepped out onto the street opposite the now thoroughly occupied zone of the capital city of the most powerful nation on larger force in armored vehicles approaching up the street on our left. to the friend I trusted most, the one with whom I’d shared so much prepared riot police and set off in the direction of the trucks. To our earth. Why hadn’t we done this during the larger march earlier in If we went straight for the checkpoint ahead, we would be surround- experience at other demonstrations. “Listen, nothing’s going to hap- surprise, a dozen more people trailed after us—curious what was the day? If we had been equipped then, we certainly could have ed. Instinctively, the crowd veered to the right, increasing speed; some pen unless somebody decides something and goes for it. I trust you to happening, perhaps, or just responding, sheeplike, to movement. gotten to the checkpoints, and history might have played out differ- threw down their pallets in the intersection as a makeshift barricade make the call for both of us. Just pick a plan, and count me in.” Another of my friends seized the chance. “Come on! This way! ently. We had passed construction sites, garbage heaps, and plenty of to slow our enemies’ pursuit. One of his friends had an idea—apparently, she’d seen a flatbed Join us!” he shouted, waving his arms. I put my riot whistle between my other opportunities to gather what we needed. Did we really want a A couple blocks more, and we arrived at another checkpoint, truck parked near the checkpoints, loaded with wooden pallets we teeth and blew series of blasts in a marching rhythm. revolution, or just a protest march? having somehow left our escort behind. Here, before the fence, we might be able to seize for our own uses. This seemed hard to believe, In a matter of seconds, the whole crowd poured off the corner It remained to be seen if we would be able to get to a checkpoint suddenly slowed to a stop, as the gravity of what we were doing but stranger things have happened. and into the street behind us. this time, either. There were police behind us, presumably on the streets hit us. We looked around at one other: there weren’t more than a So we had an idea, but how were we going to get people to Now something was happening, and the initiative was ours to either side of us, and in much greater numbers ahead. I kept close to few dozen of us, really, and we were scarcely equipped with hooded participate? My friends went around to a few other knots of peo- again! Behind, the riot police reoriented themselves, as if submerged my companions in the mass. We were moving swiftly, almost running. sweatshirts and bandannas, let alone the tools it would take to get

Page 20 Brand News Rolling Thunder CrimethInc. Summer 2005 Brand News Page 21 The day after the election, a march in down- out the nation. “They have a right to disagree,” being sworn in. At this particular inaugura- anarchists regrouped and succeeded in reach- Just when it seemed the day’s events were all of them were released without charges town Washington, DC on the theme “No he pleaded, “but to do it agreeably.” tion, the ongoing legacy of the mass arrests ing and charging a checkpoint, but lacked the over, the crowd leaving a packed show by after paying $50. Even factoring in the sub- Matter, Who Won, The System Is Rotten” of the People’s Strike a full two and a half numbers and equipment to break through. punk band Anti-Flag filled the street in a sequent backlash from those who always attracted one hundred people. Equipped The following night, yet another spontane- years earlier also served to tie the hands of surprise march of hundreds. Bearing torches, oppose confrontational tactics, as militant with a powerful sound system, it snaked ous march occurred in Washington, DC, the police. At the same time, Washington, Other problems afflicting the march drums, anarchist banners, spray-paint cans, actions go, this was a raging success. It re- through the streets, disruptive and rowdy, leaving spraypaint in its wake and meeting DC, being the nation’s capital, provides included an apparent loss of contact and shopping carts full of useful materials, ceived support from unusual quarters, too, evading police repression. In San Francisco, with enthusiasm from locals. From one side an excellent field for autonomous actions, with the scouting team and poor internal the throng marched through Adams including members of Anti-Flag, the repre- five thousand people marched against Bush; of the country to the other, by day and by which could only serve to heighten tensions, communication dynamics that led many to Morgan, an ethnic neighborhood suffering sentative of Iraq Veterans Against the War afterwards, a breakaway group built a bonfire night, militants were carrying out actions distract and confuse the police, and empha- accuse one participating group of hijacking rapid gentrification. The results surprised who had spoken at the show, and parents of out of US flags and an effigy of Bush, then that demonstrated the seriousness of their size popular discontent. the march. Aside from these, the fact that everyone, presumably including those who minors arrested in the alley. marched through the city pulling urban de- discontent and invited others to express the march did not succeed in its professed initiated the march. A vast banner reading bris and newspaper boxes into the street and their own. This was the autonomous action The massive anarchist march was wisely objective can be attributed to the hesitance “From DC to Iraq: With Occupation So this is where we leave our heroes, escap- smashing the windows of two banks. In San model, which had evolved over the preced- planned to coincide with the other protests of with which most participants approached it, Comes Resistance” was dropped from the ing from downtown Washington, DC in the Diego, fliers posted the preceding night on ing year, finally being used to effect in cir- the day, so as to benefit from the crowd cover as it was the first militant mass action of its top of a Starbucks coffeeshop, along with a middle of the night, helicopter spotlights UCSD campus reading “Where’s the Riot?” cumstances for which it was appropriate. they provided and the divided attention of the size since Miami. There were enough people great quantity of fireworks. Demonstrators flashing overhead and sirens wailing nearby. attracted one hundred people to an im- police. Hundreds of people participated in there to break through the police lines, had smashed the windows of several corporate Is this only a momentary anomaly in a world promptu forum as to what forms resistance the march, even though, as a result of some more of them been ready to put their all into outlets, including Citibank, Riggs Bank, of consolidated state control, or a precur- could take next. When the question “Who’s strange misunderstanding or internal conflict, it; next time, assured by that experience that McDonald’s, and KFC, as well as those of sor of things to come? Will they manage to willing to get arrested today?” was broached, it left the convergence point early, before many mass actions are indeed still possible in the a police substation and the windshield of find common cause with dissidents of other many raised their hands. would-be participants had even arrived. At the post-9/11 world, perhaps activists will arrive a police car following the demonstration; demographics, so a real, broad-based insur- Ironically, as the Inauguration approached previous inauguration, a black bloc had suc- better equipped and more psychologically police reports estimated the damage to rection will be possible? How can they hone in January of 2005, it was activists from New Two days later, in perhaps the most militant cessfully broken through one of the check- prepared. Speaking of equipment, it’s worth corporate and police property at $15,000. their tactics and strategies to fit the current York City that insisted protests be organized participatory action of the week, a surprise points surrounding the parade route, and the pointing out that the black bloc that broke Anarchist graffiti covered walls, and many political and social context? on the mass action model and called for a march of over one hundred people bearing organizers planned to repeat this feat and go through the checkpoint in 2000 used an pulled newspaper boxes and dumpsters massive anti-authoritarian march, while torches, drums, anarchist banners, and a two- on to block the route. This was the major tacti- appropriated industrial wheelbarrow to into the streets. Locals who witnessed the others called for autonomous actions. This headed effigy of Bush and Kerry took over cal error that prevented the march from being spearhead their charge, while the march at march were supportive and encouraging Conclusion: When to time, both were right, and it was only tac- downtown Raleigh, North Carolina, deco- really effective: a basic rule of thumb in plan- the 2004 inauguration had only a banner to an almost surprising degree, honking tical errors, not errors in strategy, that pre- Act en Masse, How to rating the streets with graffiti and destroying ning for an action is not to count on being able reinforced with PVC pipe. PVC pipe is car horns and cheering; a worker at a local vented the protests from shutting down the bank machines until it reached the state head- to repeat the past. Had the organizers prepared notoriously fragile, and has failed militant Ethiopian restaurant raised his fist and Act Independently spectacle. Presidential inaugurations provide quarters of the Republican Party. The windows a back-up plan, such as a way to maintain the marches several times now; the beginning shouted “Down with Bush! We have to shut a rare opportunity for centrally-organized of the building were smashed, its walls were coherence of the bloc if it could not penetrate convergence point was so free from police this city down!” From the events of the past few years, we covered in spraypaint, fireworks were set off anarchist mass actions: they can attract large police lines and a secondary target outside the control that participants could have brought can derive some basic lessons about both inside, and the effigy was set afire in the front numbers of anti-authoritarians, they offer immediate zone of police control, it would in massive wooden shields and other Massive numbers of befuddled riot police mass and autonomous actions. We had bet- yard. The following day, over fifty-eight major an obvious target, and the risk of arrests and not have been such a misfortune that the po- fortifications, which would have served arrived before the march could reach a ho- ter do so—if we don’t, the anarchist move- media outlets ran a story covering the event, in police brutality are forestalled by the pres- lice blocked the path of the march before it much better in the ensuing mêlée. Likewise, tel hosting an Inaugural Ball to which Bush ment may have to go through this learning which the state GOP chief of staff was quot- ence of diverse crowds and media and the arrived at a checkpoint. As it was, having no the march passed several construction sites had just paid a visit. Most participants dis- process all over again. ed as saying that campaign offices and party desire of the authorities to maintain the illu- backup plan, the march bogged down at this that less hesitant militants would have persed safely; approximately seventy were headquarters were being vandalized through- sion that everyone is pleased with the ruler point, and broke up; a smaller company of raided for materials. trapped in an alley and arrested, but almost

this fence down while protecting ourselves from the troops behind it. I exchanged a glance with my bosom companion, at my side to the I also heard that the truck we unloaded was stocked with grappling must do so here and now—but it’s another thing entirely to behave We were a shoddy bunch in a time that called for far fiercer forces. right. In an instant, it conveyed, “This is absurd. But fuck it, here we go.” hooks, too, with which we could more easily have assaulted the with our bodies as if this is the case. When we don our masks and At this moment, when, in our hesitation, it seemed like we all might “Yes. Here we go,” his eyes responded. fence had we taken them as well as the palettes. I find that easier raise our black flags, we seem to enter a tentative, imaginary world go no further, I heard a familiar voice behind me. “Ten! Nine! Eight!” An instant later, we were surging towards the checkpoint—and to believe. in which we don’t take responsibility for believing the things we’re It was the maniac from the night before, wearing a motor- then, before those of us behind the front line could see the object Why didn’t we arrive prepared for the work we came to do that doing are actually possible. cycle helmet, shouting at the top of his lungs with a cool certainty. of our charge, everything went black and our lungs seized up. The day? We could have given our opponents a run for their proverbial Clearly, as experience shows, it is possible for a few maniacs to There, his impetuousness had been a liability—but here, he was crowd heaved forward and broke against the line of police officers money, had we been ready—we simply would have needed protec- seize defensive materials, charge police lines, and change the course the only one who could muster the morale to imagine we would showering us with pepper spray, then fell back in choking disarray. tive gear and the conviction that we were really going to go for it. It of history a little bit—all this, without even getting arrested! It only actually do what we had come to do. “Seven! Six!” The fence shook, rattled, and was still. came out in conversation afterwards that some of my friends—some remains for us to do these things with the sense that they can be ef- This was obviously insane behavior. A few unarmed, skinny lu- I staggered back about fifty feet with the friends on either side of the most militant and capable among them, in fact—who had fective, that we can actually win—to take the goggles out of our bags natics could no more break through this fortification than a bundle of me, all of us blind and unable to breathe. There we paused and been at my side when we charged the checkpoint actually had gog- and put them on before the pepper spray comes out, for example. of flowers could flip a tank. “Five!” helped each other to regain use of our eyes and throats. A cynical gles and vinegar-soaked rags in their backpacks. Somehow they had People have done this before—in Quebec City, in Genoa, even in Our arms were linked tightly, binding us into lines. My friends television cameraman hurried up to capture this poignant moment; forgotten to put these on when it came time to charge the fence. Washington, DC. It’s not too much to ask of ourselves. and I were in the third of perhaps seven of these. Over the heads of I chased him off. We cleared out of the area before the police could Why do we sabotage ourselves like this? By and large, our own Next time, we’ll show up with both backup plans and motor- the taller people in front of me, I could just make out police, ready- secure it. Maybe they were under orders not to arrest us en masse hesitations seem to pose a much greater threat to our efforts than the cycle helmets, knowing just how real what we’re doing is and ready ing large pepper spray dispensers. “Four!” unless we did something really dangerous. assembled might of the police state. It’s as if, even when we join in to leave the world we’re familiar with once and for all. We won’t There was nothing else for it. If we didn’t do something now, I later heard that after our charge, they shut down all the check- the real-life activity of hard-core resistance, we find ourselves unable hesitate or falter. We’ll know just how lucky we are to get a chance it would just be embarrassing. By the final numbers, we were all points around the parade route. I’m not sure whether or not to be- to believe it is really happening. We know well enough in our heads to live and act outside the cages prepared for us, and we won’t count screaming: “Three! Two! One!” lieve it, or whether I dare believe it was because of our meager effort. that if we are to contest injustice and give dignity to our lives we on getting another one.

Page 22 Brand News Rolling Thunder CrimethInc. Summer 2005 Brand News Page 23 First of all, let’s address once and for all the can easily adopt for themselves. The demon- people are to apply them. Employing an old to know and trust one another, and stage as- action, even an extremely confrontational ready, our communities strong and closely question of whether mass actions are still strations against the Free Trade Area of the strategy in an entirely new context can be saults on the capitalist nightmare from un- one, but it also can endanger participants, linked, our courage and confidence in each effective in the post-9/11 era. The answer, Americas summit in Quebec City spread tremendously effective; this is something at expected directions. especially as collective planning is impossi- other tried and true. in the opinion of everyone involved in the from a few hundred militants to the popu- which the anarchist movement, being inter- ble. Hopefully, over the years to come, many development of this analysis, is a resound- lation of the entire city because the tactics nationally active and interconnected, should The preceding analysis offers three successful more activists will make use of and expand Were a reading list to accompany this analy- ing yes. The examples of the Republican employed—masking up, throwing back tear excel. Also, both organizers of massive prototypes for autonomous yet participato- on these prototypes, refining and combining sis, it would include “Hot Town, Summer National Convention and the recent Presi- gas canisters, blocking roads—were easy to events and individual participants in them ry action. The first is the model employed by them in the process. in the City: Anarchist Analysis of the 2004 dential Inauguration both indicate that it is apprehend and apply, and because locals should formulate backup plans for different the activists who carried out the G8 solidar- RNC Protests” by Alexander Trocchi, Crime- still possible to act en masse, according to were already angry about the police occu- scenarios, so they can turn any development ity action before the Really Really Free Mar- It may be some time before the next peri- thInc. International News Agent Provocateur, widely disseminated, publicly coordinated pying their city. This question determines to their advantage. ket in Raleigh, North Carolina, in which a od of intense struggle. While it sometimes and “FROM DC TO IRAQ: WITH OCCUPA- plans; we have only to be more judicious in whether a militant engagement ends up as small, clandestine group acts to augment the seemed during the months immediately TION COMES RESISTANCE—What hap- choosing when and how to do so. a vanguardist group slogging it out in a pri- The communities in which militant activ- efforts of an open, accessible group; this is preceding and following the election that pened in Adams Morgan on January 20; a vate war with the government or a general- ists develop must share basic skills such as perfect for carrying out complicated, high- the country was slipping towards civil war, report, analysis, and response to criticism,” Without at least occasional mass actions, ized popular insurrection. how to read a volatile situation, how to work risk plans, but offers little opportunity for the atmosphere now is somewhat more by the Circle A Brigade, both of which can anarchist communities risk losing the ability in affinity groups, and how and when to new people to be brought in and gain expe- subdued, as liberals lick their wounds and be located on the internet by means of www. to combine forces, not to mention the visibil- Fourth, militants in a mass action should disperse. Activists of all demographics and rience. The second is the model employed radicals adjust to the post-war, post-election google.com. Texts about the actions in Maine ity and influence that are critical to their pro- make sure their plans are intelligently coor- backgrounds must be encouraged to feel en- by the activists who conceived the protest at context. This is not necessarily a bad thing; and Raleigh, North Carolina can be found liferation. At the same time, anarchists must dinated with those of others. As described titled to participate in planning and carrying the Governor’s Mansion in Maine, in which the anarchist community is not yet ready for in issues of the Earth First! Journal and the pick the mass actions in which they invest above in the analysis of the protests at the out militant actions. In addition, when con- a core group takes advantage of a social set- an all-out war to the death with the rulers Asheville Global Report. themselves carefully; every time anarchists last two Republican National Conventions, ditions are not opportune for confrontation, ting to invite a larger number of people to of the world. Let’s make use of this interval call for a mass action, it should be a resound- it is almost always better for dissimilar ac- radicals must not pressure themselves to do help plan and participate in an action with- to put down firmer foundations and develop ing success, so people will feel safe investing tions to take place simultaneously rather anything rash, but rather save themselves for out revealing the most sensitive details of the new skills. When the next opportunities ar- themselves in participating in the next one. than consecutively. In a best case scenario, better opportunities. target; this is a less secure, more participa- rive to take on the powers that be, let’s be actions employing different tactics can be ar- tory model, offering roles for those not yet What elements make for a perfect mass ac- ranged to complement one another. Healthy During the lulls between mass actions, de- sure enough of themselves to organize their tion? First, and most obviously, a mass ac- relationships between activists partial to dif- centralized, autonomous actions can serve own major actions, but still limiting par- tion must be massively attended. The model ferent tactics facilitate this; these require a to keep activists’ skills sharp and to continue ticipation to an in-group. The third is the EVERY should therefore only be employed when lot of nurturing between actions, and a lot the struggle on other fronts. As they did model employed by the activists who in- great numbers of people can realistically be of patience when conflicts arise. during the 1990’s, small-scale local actions stigated the march in Adams Morgan after expected to show. Organizers should pro- can give activists the practice they need to be the Presidential Inauguration in Washing- Finally, organizers must take matters such comfortable acting in more challenging mass ENGAGEMENT mote far in advance, and seek to collaborate ton, DC, in which a participatory action is to this end with as wide a range of other as morale, momentum, and crowd dynam- action scenarios; they also connect activists initiated by a small group within a larger groups as possible; just as importantly, they ics seriously. Under some circumstances, all to one other, building experienced, danger- mass; this offers the greatest number the should be skilled in reading the zeitgeist, so it takes to turn a passive mass into a militant ous groups linked to broader communities. opportunity to witness or participate in an A VICTORY! they can pick the right occasions to call for force is for a few maniacs to step forward To this purpose, the best forms of autono- mass actions. and show what is possible; in other cases, an mous action are the ones that, rather than entire militant bloc can be intimidated into striking the most grievous material blows, Second, a mass action must be attended by inactivity by police bluffing. In learning what bring in new participants and build solidar- a wide range of people, and receive a lot of factors enable people to take action, organiz- ity between different circles so that militant media attention. When diverse crowds are ers can formulate strategies based on realistic activity may take place more widely. from an internet post following the Adams present and television cameras are running, expectations. police almost always hesitate to use extreme One of the most important challenges of the Morgan march on the day of the Inauguration force; when they choose to do so under those In planning a mass action, organizers should coming years, during which we can be sure circumstances, it costs them a lot, and can look back in recent history for similar prec- police repression of all forms of resistance I was with my younger sister and her boyfriend at the Punk Rock In response to all the criticism of the protest march that’s been even end up being a tactical victory for pro- edents from which they can determine what will continue and perhaps increase, will be Counter-Inaugural Ball and we all went there with full intention to voiced, I understand some critics’ concerns, but also disagree with testers. Organizers must nurture their ability to expect. At the same time, attempting to to develop ways to act socially and publicly participate in any revolutionary action that might take place that the negative views of this march. Defenses of the direct, militant to predict the factors that determine police repeat the past—especially when one’s ene- yet with the element of surprise. Without night. Imagine our enthusiasm when we learned of the march they action that night have already been written, so I’ll leave my opinion strategy: Will the police want to show their mies have learned from it—is almost always this capability, participatory militant action were organizing after the show. It was amazing. in agreement with those. I do, however, want to say that I believe control of the situation by making a lot of ar- a doomed venture. Organizers should con- will become impossible except once or twice we need the activist youth to be more involved in many tactics of rests, or will it be more important to them to sider, instead, the opportunities that have a year at mass actions, and it will be impos- Although the three of us got arrested and were (with many others) resistance. Militant action is one tactic that must be respected and avoid this and instead focus on bluffing and been missed before, and try to take advan- sible to spread militant tactics in our local victims of police misconduct created by Bush’s fascist police state, valued as an important part of this movement just as much as con- intimidation? What will police be expecting, tage of these. When employing a strategy for communities. To this end, we have to culti- we are grateful to have been a part of the movement that night and trolled protests. It’s been too easy for the oppressive powers that and how will they respond to the unexpect- the first time, it is important to be prepared vate sites of social interaction and channels have no regrets. be to turn their heads and continue doing as they wish, destroy- ed? How quickly can they apprehend new for the possibility that it will succeed as well of communication that are accessible to all ing anything in their path. Acts such as the Adams Morgan march, Out of all the negative things that day, almost entirely due to the information, and how concentrated will their as the possibility that it will fail. New strat- but the authorities: these can include local although criticized by some, can cause enough disruption to force power-crazed police, the most important positive aspect for us was attention be? egies generally work, and fail only because communities bonded by potlucks and other our cause to be heard. This is a time of urgency and not a time to the amazing feeling of unity amongst protestors… especially at the people lack the assurance to follow them face-to-face contact, cultural milieus such as follow quietly. Third, a mass action should have an objec- through completely; old strategies, on the politicized music scenes, and connections Adams Morgan march. I was deeply moved by the solidarity of the tive that is immediately comprehensible and other hand, usually fail because opponents between committed activists and formerly people and the courageous direct action taken by protestors that Blessed Be all the warriors on the streets that day with whom I attractive, and offer a strategy that people are all too ready for them, however ready apolitical social circles. In these, we can get night. It was an experience that will change my outlook and ap- marched proudly. proach within my own tactics of activism.

Page 24 Brand News Rolling Thunder CrimethInc. Summer 2005 Brand News Page 25 “I revolt, therefore we are.” cording to your own conscience. At best, the one thus edu- action, is always looked on with suspicion: if she is not an “But if we are, farewell revolt.” cated must persuade himself and others that, although it may agent provocateur, the argument goes, her enemies can cer- not seem to be the case, the vast majority of people want—or tainly use her as one. would want!—the same ends he does; at worst, and more of- ten, this education leaves all dissidents feeling powerless in the But only if she resolves “I myself, right here, right face of the deluded mass. In losing election after election and now” can she then make a common cause with the Art others that is not a space of mutual renunciation in campaign after campaign, the one who seeks to sway the ma- which all are free to control one another but not to jority learns how small and ineffectual he is, how little he can act for themselves. The dignity of acting for the sake accomplish—without even having to hazard the experiment of of abiding by one’s conscience, suspending all fear of acting himself! If you can’t beat them, join them, he inevitably of consequences, the joy that is sufficient unto itself, Politics is the artPolitics of detachment. Purportedly, it is at once separate from every other concludes, whether concession by concession or in one grand without need of tomorrows to return interest on the gesture of nihilistic capitulation. The most unlikely coalitions investment: only these can carry us into a world in sphere of activity and yet qualified to govern all of them. Politics begins where daily which our eyes will no longer be fixed constantly on form, and struggle to outmaneuver one another in the race to the hands of the clock. experience, individual interests, passion and poetry and camaraderie—in short, every- gobble up enough constituents to form a majority. Those who thing that makes human life meaningful, everything that can inform people as to how to cannot find a mass to join render themselves insignificant—for make decisions in their best interest—leave off. Nothing that truly matters—neither the what can one human being do, in the face of so many? waitress’s ennui nor the bureaucrat’s insomnia—can be addressed in the political arena, though decisions made in that arena have repercussions in every other. Politics isabstraction the art of So that power can most precisely be delegated to the professionals that represent constituencies, the individual characteristics and interests of broad swaths of people are their power to answer social problems, people give up the summarized in gross generalizations. People even rush to Politics is the art of ability to establish what the questions are in the first place: make abstractions of themselves—for the simpler the label, exclusion for one can only learn what one’s interests are in the course the more brute force can presumably be mustered behind it. Because politics must remain separate from actual human of making decisions oneself. Some reformers hawk pipe Widely divergent specific desires are lumped together and life, from everything that could give it teeth and a heartbeat, dreams of more participatory systems of representation, but reduced to their lowest common denominators in general the role of professionals in politics is indisputable—the most a world in which people act for themselves and thus need no platforms, and thus individuals are reduced to masses. Politi- that can be done, obviously, is to replace them from time to representatives—that is unthinkable. time. These professionals may be elected officials, or they cians represent people, and woe to those who refuse admin- may be more carefully disguised as “local activists” and “com- istration; abstractions represent demographics, and woe to munity organizers.” Either way, the systems they administer Politics is the art of those who defy classification! are far too complicated for anyone outside the political class mediation to comprehend; conversely, anyone who succeeds in learning Just as the Pope interprets the will of God, the scientist ex- the inner workings of these systems inevitably winds up as a plains the edicts of Mother Nature, and the professor passes Politics is the art of member of the political class himself. distraction on the lessons of History, the political professional medi- In a volatile society, it is a pressure valve, offering a con- ates between people and their own power, which thus comes structive activity for those whose dissent might otherwise Politics is the art of to appear disembodied and alien to them. Furthermore, in take destructive forms, so that their efforts to contest the sta- segregation representing people in the political arena, the politician be- tus quo only serve to recreate it. For the dissident, it is a wild It is the specialization that lies at the root of all specializa- comes qualified to represent them to themselves: whatever he goose chase that wastes all the energy and brilliant ideas he tion and division of labor in modern society: if decisions believes must be what they believe, whatever he does must has to offer, confining him to meaningless arguments with regarding society as a whole can only be made by a small be what they want—otherwise, how did he get into power? those who should be his comrades-in-arms, to dialogue with elite, what use is it for anyone else to understand or under- Similarly, the interactions between individuals outside the those with whom he cannot ever be dangerous, and to un- strictly political realm come to be mediated: when people dertakings that are as trivial as they are quixotic. take anything beyond playing his specific role in this society? Majority-Building in a Democracy Once people accept their lot as peons in the belly of a great relate to one another, it is not as unique beings, but as roles leviathan in whose actions they can have no say, they have within an established order. As in organized religion, where little incentive to seek to know or find common cause with there are no relationships between humans but only between Politics is the art of Politics is the art of the others that make up that leviathan. believers, so in politics it is not individuals who come to- deferment gether, but citizens, party members, ideologues. Between Its solutions are always around the corner, but never ar- calculation In politics, one no longer has friends, but allies; one no every person and every other, and between all persons and rive. As everyone knows, not least the politician, the prob- longer has relationships, but associations; one’s community the structure of the society they comprise, there are filters lems we face can only be solved collectively—and we will Politics is the art of becomes a pool from which to draw potential foot soldiers to that thwart all but a few standard forms of communication do so, all together, but tomorrow, when everyone is ready. representation be deployed and manipulated like chess pieces. It is necessary It rests on the premise of the inactivity of all but the po- and interaction. Politics thrives wherever the program of an In the meantime, each individual is asked to behave herself to know how things stand, to choose one’s investments care- litical class. If everyone acted for herself, it would be pure organization supplants the needs and wants of individuals. and wait, “just like everyone else” is doing—in short, to give fully, to weigh and measure every possibility—to assess every anarchy—besides, people aren’t used to thinking or acting up all her strengths and opportunities, to paralyze herself opportunity and categorize every individual and group, just for themselves nowadays, are they? Thus it happens that voluntarily so she can be represented, with all that entails. In as one’s enemies do. In strategically appraising what one has, people can only participate in the decisions that affect their Politics is the art of politics, the adventure of changing the world is transformed one gains everything but the readiness to lay it on the line lives from the sidelines, as spectators, cheering for one cham- assimilation into the tedium of waiting for it to change. Anyone who and risk losing it. pion or another, and picking those champions as arbitrarily Politics teaches you to think in terms of majorities, to judge wants to act immediately, despite the shortcomings of the as people make all inconsequential decisions. In delegating right and wrong according to public opinion rather than ac- current context and the limitations inherent in any specific Page 26 Commentary Rolling Thunder CrimethInc. Summer 2005 Commentary Page 27 Politics is repressionthe art of Politics is the art of Repression of anyone who does not accept the limita- FORGET accommodation tions of her social role, who wants to change things on the However radical the change one awaits, one must still sur- basis of her own desires. Repression of anyone who longs to vive somehow as one waits for the world to change, and in be done with passivity, deliberation, and delegation, and to surviving—as we all know—one makes compromises. Soon- set fire to those who insist upon them and nothing else. Re- er or later, the most intractable rebel must form some kind pression of anyone who does not want to let her precious TERRORISM of alliance with the powers that be: I won’t bother you, if self be supplanted by any organization or immobilized by Here’s one of those rare stories that gets the same overstatement—but let’s not deny that some of you don’t bother me. Common sense, a perennial partisan of any program. Repression of anyone who wants to have spin from both the corporate and the independent us who didn’t have such a relative felt a twinge survival, can always come up with good reasons for making unmediated relationships with others and feels that this is media: there was a brief window of time between of secret, perhaps subconscious jealousy of those oneself agreeable: there are some compromises that are not only possible through the tearing down of barriers, both November 1989 and September 2001 when the who did, who could speak with such anguish so bad, it turns out, and is not the first duty of the revolu- social and physical. Repression of anyone who does not most fundamental conflict in the world was be- and outrage about the one and only subject on tionary to live to fight another day? Always resigning oneself have a “we” on which to swear. Repression of anyone who tween power and people. Up until the Berlin wall 1 anyone’s mind. to settling for the lesser evil, little by little one accepts evil disrupts the precious compromises of those who wait pa- fell , it had been between capitalism In the same way that serial killers and serial itself as inescapable. Anyone who contrarily wants to have tiently. Repression of anyone who gives of herself without and communism; now, as dramas, disaster movies and real disasters com- nothing to do with evils at all must be an adventurist—or hope of compensation—of anyone who defends her com- everyone knows, The Hijacking of Realitymand attention, so did New York City: and ev- an aristocrat. panions with love and resoluteness—of anyone who refuses eryone outside the city was paralyzed, looking to accommodate herself to the consolation prizes offered it’s between terror- on from a distance, wondering what those who tried once and failed. Repression of anyone who ism and so-called democracy. would happen next as one does Politics is the art of neither wants to govern nor to control—of anyone who But for that brief, exhilarating period, the in a movie theater. We were cooption wants to live and act immediately, not tomorrow or the primary dichotomy in more and more people’s One of the most effective ways to divert desire for real all powerless, our sense of day after tomorrow—of anyone who wants to transform minds was between hierarchy and domination change into more politics-as-usual is to portray a political agency gone at the most life into a fascinating adventure. on the one hand and autonomy, liberty, and co- professional as subversive, or—better yet—to transform a operation on the other. urgent of times. Those of us who opposed corpo- subversive into a political professional. Not all politicians Everywhere across the planet, people were start- rate media and otherwise refused to be complicit campaign for office—some even campaign against it. Like- Politics is not ing to organize themselves, testing their hands at in our own passivity still stared at the screen with wise, certain philosophers make quite a comfortable living an art at all self-directed activities and pushing back when everyone else; those who did not have such an decrying the hands that feed them. Reality—they know state and corporate interests tried to interfere. As analysis watched and accepted the conclusions of this well, and this is all they know about it—is always more It is the opposite of art: it is summits of the economic elite were shut down, the talking heads as if they were their own. Later, complex than any single action could address. They strive to local collectives assembled, and global networks doing as they were told, they raised a flag that was develop a theory that accounts for the totality of social ills, the obliteration of creativity and of resistance linked up, it began to feel like the not their own, either. so they will be totally absolved of the responsibility to do future was up for grabs. But no one on either So-called “activists” were among the ones most anything about them. spontaneity, the reduction of side of the barricades had factored in the unset- paralyzed, comparatively speaking. Those who tled accounts U.S. foreign policy had wrought in had shared a sense that they could change the human relations to a network of interlocking the third world, and everything changed the day world now froze up as if hypnotized. This was Politics is the art of terrorists, directed by a former employee of the certainly convenient for the powers that be, who control . scripted the coverage and spin of the tragedy—but Once compromises have been made, once the social con- chains C.I.A., brought those chickens home to roost in New York City. why did this happen? tract has been signed, tear gas and plastic bullets are no Likewise, any which is to be worthy If you want to disable people, make them feel longer necessary to keep people in line. People will keep art Everyone knows the unutterable tragedy that occurred that morning, when thousands of insignificant. Feeling insignificant paralyzes; with- themselves in line, waiting at the mall and movie theater, sit- of the name—the of , out morale and momentum, all the power in the ting in traffic on the way to work, paying their rent and taxes art living human beings lost their lives in an act of cold- blooded violence. But another tragedy, a stranger, world—remember, that power is made up of the and obeying every rule and regulation—and if some starry- for example—must be the opposite of assembled powers of all individuals, it is not some eyed rebels will not, then their own fellow radicals will see to subtler one, compounded the first: the tragedy that occurs in this society when a large number scepter wielded from above—can only be applied it that they do, for nothing is more precious than the good : it must draw people accidentally, according to the dictates of the few name of radicalism. If anyone does something rash, others politics of people have the misfortune of losing their lives live on international television. whose sense of entitlement is reinforced by their hurry to deny that anyone of their persuasion would actu- , put them titles and television exposure. Feelings of insig- ally do such a thing, and to reeducate those from their own together in touch An interesting side effect of the events of Sep- tember 11 was that television news ratings shot nificance render insignificant; desperation to be ranks who might furtively approve. Nothing is more terrify- with their , “where the action is” replaces the ability to decide ing than the specter of a single human being who will not hidden strengths through the roof. Everyone was glued to the tele- vision: and all conversations, in every city, state, for oneself what the action should be. play along with the collective madness—for if such a thing enable them to do what they The underlying message of the news, the impli- is possible for one, what does that say about everyone else? think is and nation, were about New York City. Sudden- ly—because what one thinks about is one’s real- cation hammered deeper home with every replay Every unique, self-determined action is a spark that shoots of the towers collapsing, was that whatever we beyond the confines of both the status quo and abstract cri- right without fearing ity—New York City, and more specifically the attack and deaths, were the epicenter of reality, little people did, world history, and therefore real tiques thereof, threatening both, not to mention those who what the neighbors will think or calculating life, was out of our hands. The trivial little games uphold them. and the zones radiating outward from it were less and less real. The most a man in Iowa could hope activists and communities had been playing were what’s in it for them. for was to have a family member in the towers, irrelevant; no one would pay attention any longer, so he could be connected by blood to the things let alone join in. This was not necessarily true, of Page 28 Commentary Rolling Thunder that mattered. That, of course, is an insensitive CrimethInc. Summer 2005 Commentary Page 29 course. But it was news because it was on the news, and because in town. This isn’t natural—for the mass-manufactured alternatives it was news it made itself true2. to appear desirable, those television watchers have to have lost the Ironically, this displacement of meaning—this centering of intimate connections and ongoing projects that would have brought attention upon New York City as the global nucleus of meaning them together off their couches, just as the natives have to have had itself—was exactly what had outraged and baited the terrorists. their traditional lifeways destroyed by conquistadors. Disneyland But striking back at the heart of the empire with the same vio- is as fun as Des Moines is dull, lence they had learned from it, they simply fed the beast—for just as Michael Jordan is as rich A person who has a sense whether you suffer it or apply it, terrorism is the ultimate spec- as a Nike sweatshop worker is tator sport, and spectatorship can only consolidate power in the poor—these are not coincidenc- that her life is meaningful hands of the ones who direct the spotlight. es. Economic exploitation and and her destiny is in her Those towers were not just a locus of financial power, but even media domination are essential- hands is in fundamental more so of iconographic power—the most valuable currency in ly the same process, carried out this information age. How is that kind of power gathered and on different levels. ways more alive than a reproduced? In the same way financial capital is gathered and So in terms of the war for person who does not. In reproduced: moguls centralize and monopolize it by impoverish- sense of self that has gone on that sense, on September ing others of the sense that their life has meaning, thus forcing between us and mass media for 11, terrorists used air- them to buy in to their mass-produced meanings. For example: generations now, September people in small town America watch television instead of talking 11th, 2001 saw an act of su- planes to kill thousands with each other, just as indigenous peoples outside the U.S. seek perlative terrorism carried out of people, and politicians sweatshop employment, because it seems to be the only game against every one of us: not just and media used the event in the hijacking and crashing of the planes, but in the way the to kill a little bit of every- “Frankly, I never dreamed the World Trade Center event was used to hijack and one who survived. would get finished so quickly and without incident.” crash the budding sense that –comic from the June 3, 1972 issue of The New Yorker. we could determine reality for ourselves. This consolidated power in the hands of the U.S. government, among others, who used it to further paralyze and distract people by starting a series of contro- versial wars3. In a time when the hierarchical elite was anxious to come up with a new false dichotomy to distract everyone from the fundamental struggle between power and people, nothing could have been more opportune. The question, now—the ultimate question, on which all life hinges—is how we can once more reframe the terms of this conflict. It is not a question merely of peace versus war: the decade of “peace” that led up to the September 11 attacks was sufficiently bloody to persuade a generation of suicide bombers that it was worth dying to get revenge on the West, and a new peace under the current conditions would be even more treacherous. Nor can we cast this as a conflict between ideologies: we cannot afford to be armchair quarterbacks any longer, backing our favored teams or themes against others while bullets and bombs rain randomly into the stands. The ques- tion is—always is, no matter who is dying or killing, no matter what is said on television—what we can do ourselves, what we make of our lives, how each of us interacts with glob- al events in our daily decisions. Our opponents are those who would hinder our efforts and obscure this question for their own ends, who would rather rule over a world of passive spectators wracked by terror and war than take a place among equals acting to correct the injustices that provide justifications for politicians and terrorists alike. Everyone knows, if it were up to us there would be no more wars, no more exploitation, no more ter- rorism. It is up to us.

1 History is rife with ironic coincidences, not the least of which being that the Berlin wall fell on 11/9. 2 This shows how much we’ll have to learn about being able to ig- nore the media, if we are to build a sustainable liberation movement. 3 As Hitler said, if you want to keep soldiers from stopping to think for themselves, keep your armies marching—that goes for liberal protesters as well as army recruits. Page 30 Commentary Rolling Thunder CrimethInc. Summer 2005 Commentary Page 31 To speak of deschooling is to speak in favor of doing—self-directed, purposeful, meaningful mines, well subordinated civil servants to market actually requires. This traps them in out there are isolated in their principles things—and against education—learning cut off from active the government, well subordinated clerks debt for decades, forcing them to go on to not only from the system they refuse but to industry, and citizens who thought alike sell themselves wherever the economy will from their parents as well. For the sake of life and carried on under pressure of bribe and threat, greed about major issues. Thirty-three years af- have them—it’s a highly sophisticated form deschooling, we should work to rid our ter the fateful invention of the centralized of indentured servitude! Is there really no minds of the prejudices that would have and fear. It is to speak about people doing things, and doing learning institution, the US adopted the more “educational,” let alone worthwhile, us view those who drop out of educational them better, and the conditions under which this can be pos- Prussian style of schooling as its own. way to spend that much money? And would treatment as “failures” or “delinquents,” so many students, fresh out of college and strays who must be caught and brought sible; about some of the ways in which, given those conditions, desperate to live freely for once, immediate- back into the fold. When we hear these other people may be able to help us to do things better, and education as ly seek employment if they didn’t have such things about dropouts, we hear them crippling debts to pay off? from the point of view of the dogcatch- vice versa; and about the reasons why these conditions do not industry ers. Let us view dropouts instead as wise Compulsory education is still meet- refuseniks, conscientious objectors to a exist within compulsory, coercive, competitive schools or even ing our superpower society’s need to train stifling and dehumanizing process. Many citizens for subservience. In addition, edu- dropouts and so-called alternative learning institutions. students whose caretakers defined them as cation now prepares people for careers in deschoolers dropouts have since redefined themselves various industries that Fichte or Mann Most people born with a parent or two as successful escapees from a useless edu- couldn’t have imagined in their time. The find themselves in the smallest and most im- cational career. biggest surprise of all is that education has mediate socializing institution, a family. But In the USA, the vast majority of young itself become an industry. In a progressively to the government, this most basic institu- people who drop out before graduation are mechanized world, in which self-checkout tion is almost entirely undependable and Latino and Black. By the time they leave they at the grocery store and e-ticket computer unsurveillable. Schools and daycare systems, have been attacked in both soul and body. check-in at the airport are replacing the in complementary compulsory and volun- Understandably, they refuse further “care” very jobs that once kept citizens busily in- tary models, ensure that children absorb perform up to everyone’s expectations—real it can be seen as a self-administered treat- after suffering through intensive remedial tegrated into society, what can be done with mass values. Accordingly, a wide variety of performer and or imagined, including your own—you feel ment. But it is utter nonsense to say that programs that imply that they are unable to all the surplus workers except to postpone families, interested in self-governance for bad. You do not feel like a musician. You people need to be taught how to learn or succeed within the system or to make it into performance endlessly their entry into the workforce? any number of reasons, plan ahead to de- Your average student of music thinks of may feel like lying. You may dislike yourself how to think. We are born knowing how to society at large by any route approved of by It is said that today’s high school gradu- school. music as a thing to learn, not a thing to do. and feel guilty. You may resent your teacher do so. We are born with the inclination to their teachers. In schools that teach them ates can be sure that, if they are to have jobs In pop culture, these homeschooling and But despite academies and conservatories, and parents for putting you through all of it. play, and in doing so do not live a moment nothing about themselves, they have had to at all, they will perform tasks of which we nonschooling families are represented as methodologies and method books, pedago- You may feel all these things even more in- without learning. learn to fake almost anything. Many have cannot yet even conceive. In the limbo be- hippies or extremist freaks. We are told that gies and pedagogues and millions of rapped tensely if you were the one who wanted the come to see school as a world-wide soul- tween the known and the unknown, there many of them are rich and white. Rarely do knuckles, the active verb in relation to the lessons in the first place! Whatever you feel, the origins of shredder that junks the majority and hardens is education. Teachers and administra- we see information about homeschooling word music is still “to play.” You play mu- you certainly won’t feel very musical. an elite to govern the others. This is the self- compulsory tors can always be employed when other families from demographics that are mar- sic. You can also make music. Playing and Enforced regimens cannot protect young consciousness of the truant to which we all jobs are scarce, and those taught to believe ginalized by society. This may be because making are the essential elements of being people from the many failures and tragedies schooling may aspire. Let us remove the stigma current- th they won’t be ready to live life until they’ve poor people and people of color are almost a musician. Yet instead of playing and mak- adults have lived through. Music can only The structure of 20 century schooling ly attached to educational underconsumers. ing, the student practices or works on. If you be enjoyed on its own terms. Focus on per- in the United States was conceived in 1806, been properly prepared form a ready mass entirely ignored by the media. On the flip practice, you aren’t really doing it. You are formance initiates a complex of feelings: when Napoleon’s amateur soldiers beat the of consumers. Would-be employees spend side, it may also be because many of these always in preparation for when you’re really frustration at doing poorly, resentment that professional soldiers of Prussia at the battle progressively more and more time compet- families prefer to remain anonymous: many the going to do it. Well, when are you really go- it takes so much work to be “good,” confu- of Jena. When your business is selling sol- ing with one another for an upper hand, an Black parents fear that if school authorities ing to do it? At a lesson for your teacher? sion about music not being any fun at all. diers, losing a battle like that is serious. extra point, a longer list of credentials. This discover how readily and willingly they’ll re- misadventures of For an adjudicator in an exam or a judge in Ultimately, the student may resist practicing Almost immediately afterwards, a German is an effective way to divert attention from move their children from school, they will teachers in the a competition? For parents or friends? Once altogether. All this counters a more authen- philosopher named Fichte delivered his the impending doom of unemployment, design laws to force them to bring their kids you’ve really done it and your parent, teach- tic purpose of playing music: to be “a more famous “Address to the German Nation,” and a ready explanation for why some never back. Any homeschooler may view institu- temple of doom er, or judge lets you know whether you’ve well-rounded person,” to acquire another which became one of the most influential get the dream jobs they thought awaited tionalized education as a form of slavery. Most teachers are generous, intelligent, succeeded in making music or not, are you form of expression, for fun. Outside pres- documents in modern history. In effect, he them—they just didn’t study enough. Many Black homeschoolers have cause to creative people. Some are very talented or ever going to really do it again? sure of this sort is antithetical to learning told the Prussian people that the party was Once upon a time, only the rich and pow- fear the government will enact truancy laws, knowledgeable in their fields and would In a product-oriented society, perfor- and living. over, that the nation would have to shape up erful sent their children to school. In today’s like the fugitive slave laws, that will have a be great mentors or friends outside the mance (recording) and performer (persona) What most people call “education” entails through a new utopian institution of forced credit-based economy, in which everyone is more serious effect upon marginalized fami- constraints of school. Many have given up become the most important features of mu- the assumption that learning is an activity schooling in which everyone would learn to expected to be middle class and most must lies than upon more privileged ones. And chances to make lots of money because sic, crucial because they are so eminently separate from the rest of life, that is done take orders. live beyond their means to maintain this il- while it is impossible to gauge, it also may they believe in teaching even though it marketable. The only real music is the stuff best when one is not doing anything else Thus compulsory schooling arrived in lusion, the education industry has made a be true that, because of greater access to pays poorly. Especially if they are men, they that passes the ultimate test of commodifi- and best of all where nothing else is done— the world, at the end of a state bayonet. killing with a new form of protection racket. tools, time, and a feeling of being entitled to sometimes endure years of being hassled by cation. When you “perform” at a lesson or in learning places especially constructed for Modern forced schooling started in Prussia In order to be equipped for employment of bend rules, wealthier and whiter families are their families—“why don’t you find a real on request for relations and you haven’t been learning alone. Most use the term “educa- in 1819, with a clear vision of what cen- all but the worst kinds, people must pay more prevalent in the formal homeschool- career?” Many teachers are terrific people. practicing and doing the work you know tion” as if it referred to some kind of treat- tralized schools could deliver: obedient sol- thousands or tens of thousands to go to ing world. But the role they are forced to play in school you should have been doing and you fail to ment. Even “self-education” can reflect this: diers to the army, obedient workers to the schools that teach few of the skills the job Of course, many of the unschoolers keeps them from behaving as real people

Page 32 Commentary Rolling Thunder CrimethInc. Summer 2005 Commentary Page 33 in interactions with certain other real people, ticipation to the young. This will help reveal back to ask: Why? Why do my sneakers say that is to say, students. Their talent and en- rethinking for what it is age discrimination, which “Made in Pakistan”? Why are the sidewalks living cannot be ergy is drained by the task of constantly telling discipline, safety, mandates that young people be taught about in this part of town crumbling? Why are we institutionalized people what to do. As instructors, these good the world before they are allowed to learn supposed to go to school? When we enter an institution, whether people scrape their sides against concrete bar- certification, from it by participating in it. Check your motives as you interact with we do so willingly or by force, we often be- riers as they take the bureaucratic twists and public spaces, Let us learn to think again, and make those you assume yourself to know more lieve we can extract the good things it has to turns any school requires them to. This is the spaces that encourage it! Book culture de- than. The educator sometimes undertakes offer and leave the bad ones behind. “How- nature of the fundamental restraints of institu- child labor, and pends upon stable companions and spaces the education of the child with such zeal ever,” as one Lakota man famously said tional schooling. thinking itself in which they can come together, such as because a jealousy of the child’s purity lies about schooling, “at least when we went in When you have a knowledgeable, funny, or Let us rethink discipline. One of the worst coffee shops and periodicals for writers and at the base of his drive to make this other we knew we were Indians. We come out half wise teacher, listening to that person weave things about this sort of arbitrary authority is readers. Today both books and dialogue person more like himself. Likewise, he may red and half white.” Compromise with insti- stories and lectures can be delightful—as- the way it makes us lose our trust in the natu- itself are opposed by competing media. be spurred on by a resentment of the x-ray tutional influence is usually a fool’s bargain. suming, that is, that she feels “allowed” by the ral authority of people who know what they’re The screen dissolves the text. The picture glasses and bravery that aid children in call- If you are unwilling to institutionalize administration to be herself and say what she doing and could share their wisdom with us. and its caption triumph. Silent and sus- ing out incongruence and injustice. your mind and heart within the limitations truly knows and thinks. Unfortunately, this When they make you obey the cruel and un- tained attention is constantly interrupted Because children are all too often seen of school, consider also a rejection of hos- is seldom the case, since most education of- reasonable teacher, they steal your desire to by programmed noises. Specialized school not as individuals but as objects, as tofu pitals, classic love relationships, transporta- ficials have to worry about offending anyof learn from the kind and reasonable wise per- subjects and the school bells dividing them for soaking up whatever marinade they are tion norms, working jobs. Accompany your the parents who might not re-elect them, and son. When they tell you to be sure to pick up into regular fifty-minute intervals interrupt placed in, they have been used by people second look at schools with a second look therefore strive to keep their teachers as mute after yourselves in the cafeteria, they steal your the thoughts of any individual attempting with all sorts of motives as testing grounds at all things, all of the time. Let us not cede and mousy as possible. Nearly all those em- own natural sense of courtesy. Imagine a room to think critically inside the school. Our for a myriad of half-baked solutions to so- the responsibilities we have to one another ployed in a school live in fear of their superi- full of screaming people: truly, it is much easier ability to carry a sustained thought is un- cial problems. “Proper child rearing” tech- to institutions. More and more of us con- ors, because their superiors live in fear of their to allow them to quiet themselves than to forc- der attack from movies and TV, from the niques have been presented as the means sider it reasonable and virtuous to evade be- voting constituency. Therefore, all the interest- ibly quiet them. Today’s schools insist on the noise, speed, and information density that to end poverty, crime, urban violence, and ing diagnosed, cured, educated, socialized, ing ideas get censored down to the very lowest latter and thus strip people of the ability to be prevail. Institutions that cater to the lowest general disorder, among other scourges. informed, entertained, housed, married, common denominator. The teacher can’t say, quiet and attentive on their own. common denominator, that aim to prepare The child is taught proper social values, at- counseled, certified, promoted, or pro- “Wait a minute. What’s fueling this so-called Let us reconsider safety. Safety is always a students for the insane world that exists— titudes, and work habits to this end; but tected according to the needs instilled in us war on drugs?” because Johnny’s father, out- dominating concern for everyone hanging out these cannot do anything but smother the if she forgets or refuses her teaching, she by our professional guardians. In the USA, raged, might call the principal to protest that with especially young people. But the way to ability to think and feel freely. is shown that as an individual, she is the more and more people are finding that the “a teacher, of all people!” is encouraging drug promote safety is to help kids become stron- problem, not the social system responsible freedom to drop out of any of our modern use. Johnny’s father may in fact have serious ger, not weaker. Whether you are a parent or for both her lessons and the social prob- systems is sacred to them. doubts of his own about the war on drugs, but not, consider that responsibility encourages lems against which she is supposedly being he isn’t likely to accuse the administration of strength, while surveillance and control ensure trusting inoculated. brainwashing, either, lest others brand him an weakness. relationships with If we agree that children are good at unfit parent—and a big ship like the Educa- Let us not discriminate against the uncerti- learning, let our attitude and dealings with for dropouts with tional Curriculum isn’t easy to bring around. fied. If we must assess competence for a given one another and young people bear that out. Let us resist financial access to Some of the brightest and most radically task, let us assess it as directly as we can, and the young the temptation to become educators, to rub inclined people you could ever meet become not conflate competence with the length of We all have observed ongoing conser- the noses of the young in our greater expe- so-called higher either teachers or professors within this bu- time spent sitting in educational institutions. vative culture wars over “family values.” rience by unthinkingly adopting the roles education reaucratic mud. School is one of the few so- Those of us who have spent a lot of time in “Family values,” of course, are about kids: of teacher, helper, instructor. Let us trust Though many of us who are hooked on cially ascribed places for “free thinkers” to do those institutions can do our part to deflate precious, obedient, little spittin’ images of people to figure things out for themselves public institutions find ourselves needing their thing. Now that the soil has been poi- the value of educational currency by refus- upstanding agreeable citizens. People wary unless they specifically ask for our help. As and attempting to escape entirely from their soned and cemented over and almost all peo- ing to boast of our own “official” educational of change often fear that the young, the it turns out, they ask frequently. People grasp, you might find you have the inspi- ple randomly deposited into vehicles, offices, credentials. Strike these from your résumé; heart of the nuclear family, are potential whose curiosity has not been deadened by ration or delusion it takes to live creatively prisons, and hotels, to speak of friendship, god demand that others judge you by your actual disruptions. This suspicion is well-found- education are bubbling with questions. The within the belly of the beast. Truly, we all and godlessness, or joint suffering is to be an talents and accomplishments, as you would ed. Young people, as anyone who takes nature of the toxicity inherent in education find ourselves living in some chamber of academic dreamer. judge others. them seriously can attest, often demon- is precisely that so much of the teaching that belly some of the time, regardless of What would happen if, instead of becom- Let us frequent libraries, cooperatives, mu- strate an ability to draw attention to the that goes on is unwelcome. our life decisions. If you are a young person ing academics who train other would-be aca- seums, theatres, and other voluntary, less coer- political dimensions underlying everyday Furthermore, in support of not only whose parents have enough, and they ex- demics, we thoughtful folks sought out our cive community institutions. Where they are life—to the dubious pretences by which young people but all people, we would do pect you to go to college on their dollar and true peers and enacted our natural influence inaccessible, let us work to make them acces- authorities, often including parental au- well to nurture more accessible everyday earn the credentials to open doors locked to in more immediate ways? While opposing all sible. Let us create more spaces in our commu- thorities, establish themselves. Without places where knowledge and tools are not less privileged people, think of clever ways pleas for any new form of institutionalized ha- nities where young, old, and those in between censure, with the room to be confidently locked up in institutions or hoarded as to apply this privilege. Obtain the conven- ven, this writer for one dreams of niches, free can get together to pursue un-programmed inquisitive and direct, young ones can dis- closely guarded secrets. It’s easy enough to tional training to become an MD so as to spaces, and squatted social centers. She hopes activities of all sorts. Let us end the policy of cern the fundamentals of social relations by offer, without imposition, to share our skills do transitioning surgeries or electrolysis for for plotting tents for those who gather to take shunting young and old into separate institu- unearthing the root—that is, radical—de- with others. Take on an apprentice. Hang a low income transgendered people. Go to on a project or a specific thought together, tions “for their own good.” tails which betray the reality of those rela- shingle outside your home describing what law school so you can represent people in those who have met through common desire Let us spit on exploitative labor of all kinds, tions, reminding us of the hidden roots of you do. Let your friends and neighbors court who have refused institutionalization for self-governance and have renounced all in- not child labor, the prohibition of which cur- power on which authority rests in the USA. know that you are making such an offer to and been charged with crimes for it. Many a tegration into the “system.” rently denies many forms of meaningful par- Spying that loose edge, they may just pry it any serious and committed person. marginalized subculture would benefit from

Page 34 Commentary Rolling Thunder CrimethInc. Summer 2005 Commentary Page 35 being instituted in mod- ern society. Of course, learning itself is not made compulsory by law. In- stead, as is typical in con- sumer society, it is subtly enforced by other tricks such as making people believe that they are learning something from television programs, or compelling people to at- Last summer was full of adventures: cooking in outdoor kitch- couldn’t even remember the night before, I was in no position to tend employee trainings, ens, building tripods, planning actions, sleeping in treehouses in the 1 or getting people to pay dispute it . I spent the day terrified of myself, asking, “Could I be a middle of NYC. I traveled up the east coast, coming to a new city huge amounts of money sexual assaulter? I’m a survivor of sexual assault. How could I assault every week. In the process, I fell for my traveling partner’s partner. As in order to be taught how someone?” and, more importantly, agonizing: “I really care about a local organizer who had participated in several collective projects to have better sex, how to this person. I would never want to make him feel threatened.” that involved facilitated meetings and complex protocol, I’d thought be more sensitive, how Finally, after a very scary day inside my head, I got to talk with I already knew all there was to know about process; but now, deeply to know more about the him. He told me about what had happened the night before and immersed in the beginning of my first polyamory love triangle, I dis- vitamins they need, how said he did not consider it sexual assault. He said he had been an- covered it could extend to a whole new level. There were long conver- to play games, how to noyed with me, but that was the extent of it, and everything was sations to work out simple questions like who would sleep with whom breastfeed, and so on. okay between us. But everything was not okay. Even if what hap- each night, and ongoing efforts to keep each other aware of all our What could be if we pened wasn’t sexual assault, I had clearly made poor choices and feelings about every issue. It was often an arduous process, but conse- were to act as fresh wak- disregarded how he felt, mistakes I consider inexcusable. Perhaps I quently, I developed a very open and expressive relationship with my ing people every day? Step didn’t make him feel unsafe, but I am 5’2” and he is 6’2” and much new partner, and that felt healthy and good. out of bed to live every stronger than me. What if he had been drunkenly, persistently hit- At the beginning of a tumultuous time for my new triangle, the moment of our lives ac- ting on me all night, despite my discouragement? Would I have felt three of us and the others with whom we were traveling biked to a cording to our own self- unsafe? Should my disrespectful behavior be tolerated any more party in the city we were temporarily calling home. By the end of determination? Eating as because I am small and arguably less intimidating? the night, I couldn’t balance well enough to get back on my too-tall we’re hungry, knowing bike. I was drunk. Too drunk. Throughout the night, like many free or inexpensive access to the institutional than an assault on them, ask if their money how to track down answers, not fearing Defining sexual assault is difficult. As in all aspects of relation- others at the party, I flirted with and kissed lots of people. My new educational training of someone who can could be used to fund a project you have intimidation from superiors, holding no ships, there are few absolutes. Every relationship can only be defined partner was watching me, a little put off by my behavior. do some of the tricky things that are strictly in mind: for example, to cut a giant check contempt for the younger, experiencing no and mediated by the people that comprise it; what is comfortable At first, I had been hesitant and cautious about how ournew regulated in this society—helping fit some- to CrimethInc. to pay for the printing of anxiety or feelings of inferiority around the and safe for people in one relationship may not work for people relationship would affect my relations with my traveling partner; one for a prosthetic limb, to name another a brilliant book you are writing1. older, suffering rarely from boredom, rarely in another. Accordingly, it is up to the survivor alone to name an but earlier that day, I had decided that if we were going to try this example. looking to others for approval or critique, experience as being sexual assault or not. However, some actions relationship, I should open up and be really vulnerable with my But should you be interested in receiv- being better able to concentrate and carry are unacceptable, regardless of whether they are labeled sexual as- new romantic partner. I had decided that I was ready to sleep with ing such an education, beware. Like Frodo a sustained thought? This talk of “lifelong sault. As we struggle to develop relationships free of hierarchy and learning not him and had been excitedly awaiting the appropriate time to share and the ring, to put an institutional tool learning” and “learning needs” has thor- power, we must also develop a language with which to discuss all this decision with him. Towards the end of the night at the party I in your hand temporarily, even if with the to learn, not oughly polluted not only schools but our of the spaces—complicated and unclear as they may be—in kept approaching my partner and asking him to sleep with me when goal in mind of destroying its power, is to whole lives with the stench of education. which we act without respect for learning to learn we got back to the house that night. I was excited to tell him that risk falling victim to its allure and misguid- If we are to think seriously about de- Potent living consists, as it always did, of a others. I was ready to do something that he had been wanting. I think he ing principles. schooling our entire lives, we would do well patient and steadfast search for truth, and in just kept telling me that I was being a drunk, but as a drunk, I kept Also, consider other ways to use your to develop the habit of setting a question the unfolding of capacities that are good and insisting that I was sober enough to know what I wanted and that I access to higher education. Maybe you mark beside all discourse on people’s “edu- beautiful in themselves. It takes place in a wanted to fuck him. I was being persistent. I felt like he wasn’t being could take your folks’ money for school cational needs” and supposed need for a thoughtful shaping of our surroundings, in clear with me, but I think I was just too drunk to understand no. and channel it to another person for “preparation for life,” and reflect instead on conversation, in hospitality. Whoever loves The next day, I wasn’t thinking about that interaction; I didn’t really whom college is otherwise utterly inac- the historical context of these ideas. Let us such living will not sacrifice the present to remember it. I had come home and crashed out alone on my friend’s cessible, who does not wish to or cannot doubt not only the notion that schooling is an endlessly postponed future. empty bed, and we all spent the morning getting ready for a busy day as easily interact with the world without a desirable means, but also that education ahead. But that afternoon, his other partner, my traveling partner, proving credentials. Depending on the is a desirable end. The alternative to school- 1This suggestion of the author’s seems as good an Most of us grew up accused me of sexually assaulting him the night before. She told me relationship you have with your parents ing is not some other type of educational opportunity as any to put to rest one of the various fully immersed in this profit-driven culture, pernicious rumors about the publishing wing of the that I wouldn’t stop asking him to sleep with me even though he kept and what honesty means to you, con- agency, nor the integration of educational in which most public relationships—whether economic, politi- CrimethInc. ex-Workers’ Collective, namely that the saying no, that I kept hitting on him, and that I made him feel un- sider forging your diploma or building a opportunities into every aspect of life, but cal, or personal—follow a model of dominance and submission collective members who operate it are rich brats who safe. Perhaps her account of the situation was colored by the jealousies dummy college website to show your high ways of living that foster a different attitude draw on their bourgeois parents’ coffers to fund proj- in which one party leads and the other follows. Inundated with and insecurities that would later play out between us, but because I grades to your folks using an official-look- toward tools. ects. In fact, this is not so, though said brats have been media representations of these relationships, we unconsciously forced to borrow money from their relatives before to mimic those dynamics in our personal lives, developing “skills” ing internet password and fake student ID Educational function is already emigrat- keep books in circulation, and do encourage other brats 1 In retrospect, the most problematic aspect of this interaction was that she number. On the off chance that your par- ing from schools into other sites (on-the- to send them large quantities of their parents’ wealth, for acquiring power and protecting ourselves in our own relation- defined my partner’s experience for him. Regardless of a person’s motivations, it should they be middle or upper class, along with— ships. As radicals, we understand that the connections we have ents support your analysis or respect your job training, anyone?), and, increasingly, is never appropriate to call someone out as a sexual assaulter without the explicit please, and soon!—brilliant manuscripts. divergent viewpoints as something other other forms of compulsory learning are consent of the other person involved. with one another are fundamental to the revolutionary poten- Page 36 Commentary Rolling Thunder CrimethInc. Summer 2005 Commentary Page 37 tial of our actions. Consequently, we work to build self-reliant matter will be taken seriously and, hopefully, addressed by all who It also seems to be the case that, as much as the perpetrator/sur- a false division of the world between perpetrators and survivors, communities and develop emotionally sustaining relationships, hear about it. In this way, the labeling of the perpetrator can pick up vivor language is useful when dialogue is impossible, it can also halt when—just as with oppressors and those who are oppressed— by nurturing our ability to act and communicate honestly and where self-initiated dialogue leaves off. dialogue where it might otherwise be possible. This language creates most people experience both sides of the dichotomy at one time unlearning our destructive behaviors. This is difficult, and we of- categorizations of people rather than descriptions of their behavior, or another. Such a binary sets up one class of people as entirely in ten revert to old habits and make mistakes. As individuals and as reducing an individual to an action. As such, it tends to put people the right and one as entirely in the wrong, as if one always bears communities, we must create supportive, forgiving environments on the defensive, which often makes it harder for them to receive all accountability and the other has no responsibility or no way to in which we can embrace our own shortcomings and errors and criticism3. The definitive implications and accusatory tone of this make their relationships more consensual. In extreme cases, this is those of others in the spirit of a genuine desire to continue re- language can precipitate a situation in which, instead of focusing on indeed the case, but we also need to be able to address all the other constructing ourselves. We need to equip ourselves and our com- reconciling differing experiences of reality, people on opposing sides cases, in which both parties could stand to improve their commu- munities with the tools to deal with the personal conflicts and struggle to prove that their interpretation of reality is the “true” one. nication skills and sensitivity. complicated situations that inevitably arise as an integral part of Once this dynamic is in effect, the discussion is no longer about peo- We need a new way to conceptualize and communicate about the process of developing radical relationships. ple working through their problems and trying to understand and our interactions, one that takes into account all of our different To this end, we need a more extensive and sophisticated lan- However, beyond these specific situations, the perpetrator/sur- respect each other’s unique experiences, but an investigation about boundaries—sexual, romantic, and platonic—and the ways they guage with which to address violations of personal boundaries and vivor language has many limitations. There is a wide spectrum of “objective” reality in which all parties stand trial. No one should ever can be crossed. Practicing consent and respecting others’ bound- work out how these can be discouraged. The discussion about how interactions that are unhealthy and non-consensual, but the term be forced to defend what he or she feels, least of all someone who aries is important both in sexual relationships and in every other to cope with sexual assault within radical communities is constant- sexual assault describes only a narrow range of that spectrum2. has survived a violation of his or her boundaries. Regardless of “what aspect of our lives: in organizing together, in living collectively, in ly evolving, and fortunately, at least in some circles, it is finally Imagine if we could plot our interactions on a line from the most really happened,” a person’s experience is his or hers alone and de- planning direct actions securely. Non-hierarchical, consensual re- beginning to be carried on in the open. Much can be taken from consensual to the least. The ones that are completely consensual, in serves to be validated as such. To decide which reality is “the truth,” lationships are the substance of anarchy, and we need to prioritize this discussion and applied to the ways other types of conflicts are which no boundaries are crossed, would occupy a small space on we must give value to one person and not the other: this is validation seeking and promoting consent in all our interactions. addressed; but at the same time, there is much that needs to be one side, while those interactions labeled sexual assault would oc- on the scarcity model. When conflicts arise surrounding a question As every experience is unique, we should use language specific reworked. We would do well to reconsider the current language cupy a small space on the other; somewhere in the middle, between of sexual assault, communities are often forced to take sides, making to each one, rather than attempting to force all our experiences available for addressing these issues: what the terms mean, what these extremes, there would still be a whole range of interactions in the matter into a popularity contest; likewise, individuals can feel into abstract categories; we can do so by describing each individu- purposes they serve effectively, what their shortcomings are. which boundaries are crossed to varying extents. As it stands, the required to support one person at the other’s ex- ally: as a deliberate boundary violation, for example, or as language used specifically to describe sexual assault is not sufficient pense. a decision in which consent was ambiguous. We can do for describing those interactions that fall somewhere in the middle. much to break down the stigma and shame surrounding The language of perpetrator and survivor can also promote a false the issue of sexual assault by opening up dialogue about sense that sexual assault is the only form of boundary violation worth non-consensual interactions of all kinds. In developing addressing. Describing sexual assault and the survivors and perpetra- our communication skills about our abuse and abuser his- tors that experience sexual assault as distinct from other, presumably tories, our sexual histories, our desires, we can create the “normal,” experiences of sexuality misrepresents any experience not spaces to begin to talk about the grey areas of consent. We labeled sexual assault as free of coercion. On the contrary, in our au- need to foster a culture that takes into account the fact thoritarian society, domination infects everything, resulting in even that, despite how desperately we want to be good for the our most intimate and cherished relationships being tainted with people we love, we sometimes make mistakes, fail to be In our relationships, subtle—or sometimes not so subtle—unequal power dynamics. A truthful, and cross boundaries. We need to support both we often set boundaries and sometimes even ask each other for division between “sexual assault” and “everything else” lets everyone survivors and perpetrators: not to condone non-consen- consent. In most relationships, these boundaries are unspoken, as- off the hook who has not been labeled a sexual assaulter; it thus fo- sual actions, but because we all need to rid ourselves of sumed: I will not sit on my friend’s partner’s lap. I will only hug this cuses attention away from the ways we all can stand to improve our the ill effects of living in a hierarchical, capitalist soci- friend for hello and goodbye. In romantic relationships, we tend to relationships and our sensitivity to one another. ety, and to do so, we must work together. define these boundaries more explicitly with our partners:I will not To broach these questions is not to deny that there is have unprotected sex. It is not okay for my partner to kiss me in front such a thing as sexual assault, nor to defend it as accept- of my parents. In relationships of all kinds, from platonic to sexual, able behavior. On the contrary, it is to demand that we we can cross others’ boundaries and hurt them or make them un- If we could acknowledge that we live in a rape culture: a culture in which sexual comfortable. This happens frequently, especially in relationships in develop a way of addressing these situations that assault is pervasive, as are the forces and dynamics that promote it. which boundaries are only implicit. focused on promoting communication and understanding rather Sexual assault is a part of all of us who have grown up in this soci- Sexual assault is an intense manifestation of this violation of than establishing who is in the wrong, it might make it easier for ety; we cannot ignore it, or pretend that because we ourselves have boundaries. When a sexual assault occurs, the one who crosses the those who commit boundary violations to hear and learn from been assaulted or because we work to live anarchy in all aspects of boundary is labeled the perpetrator and the one whose boundary criticism and less stressful for those whose boundaries are crossed our lives that we are not capable of sexual assault. The only way to has been crossed is called the survivor, a more empowering term for One of the most problematic consequences of our lack of appropri- to address these instances. Whenever a person feels that his or her rid our lives of sexual assault is to open the issue up. This means we victim. This is forceful terminology, and it can be really useful for ate language is that people are often reluctant to address more subtle desires have not been respected, regardless of whether or not a must make it safe enough to come out as an assaulter, so that each of assisting the survivor in naming and processing an experience. Sim- or complicated experiences of boundary violations at all. The perpe- court of law would find there to be sufficient evidence to substan- us is able to address, openly, honestly, and without fear, everything ply having language with which to break the silence imposed by trator/survivor language is so serious that in less dramatic cases—for tiate charges of sexual assault, all those involved in the situation from the most minor acts of inconsideration to the most serious such a difficult experience can be a powerful thing. This language example, in situations that are not violent or physically forceful—the need to hold themselves accountable for the ways they have not boundary violations. We are all survivors; we are all perpetrators. is also useful for dealing with those who are unwilling to be held survivor may even wonder if what he or she is feeling legitimately communicated with or respected each other and work out how to accountable for their actions, who refuse to talk about and work constitutes a serious problem worth exploring and addressing. If a make sure it never happens again. through their issues. Being labeled a perpetrator of sexual assault person chooses not to use the language of sexual assault to describe a We also need a language that can account for situations in which carries a heavy weight; naming an act sexual assault means that the violation of his or her boundaries, does that mean it is not important? it is not clear who is the perpetrator and who is the survivor. Iden- 3 It is important for both the perpetrator and the survivor to deal with their Many people are understandably hesitant to accuse loved ones of sex- tifying one person as a perpetrator may not make sense if both or actions and experiences in supportive environments. If the survivor is unable or all of the people involved in the interaction both crossed another unwilling to work with the perpetrator, some manifestation of community still 2 …although it’s important to point out that these are interactions which many of ual assault or label them perpetrators because of the stigma attached to should. Sexual assault and other forms of unhealthy relationship dynamics are com- us are unfortunate enough to experience, and which often carry an impact on our lives these terms and the drama that often ensues when they are used. This person’s boundaries and had their own boundaries crossed. The lan- munity issues, and must be dealt with accordingly. Hopefully, all the individuals disproportionate to the frequency with which we experience them. should not mean that non-consensual interactions go unaddressed. guage we currently have available to describe these situations creates involved can receive support from a variety of sources. Page 38 Commentary Rolling Thunder CrimethInc. Summer 2005 Commentary Page 39 Before my summer travels, although I had spent a lot of time Some questions thinking about and working on making my relationships reflect my anarchist ideals, I had only recently learned the uses of the about consent. subcultural catchphrase “consent.” While becoming acquainted BE CAREFUL with this new term, I met a fabulous new friend. When we first met, we spent only a few intense days together, but the time Think about it! WITH EACH OTHER I shared with this new friend made that word, consent, more (from the awesome zine, see no speak no hear no) meaningful to me than any workshop or article ever could. They consider consent a fundamental part of all of their relationships, Have you ever talked about consent with your partners or and with them, I saw how consent could be enacted daily with friends? friends and lovers. Do you know people or have you been with people who define At first, it was strange that they checked in with me so fre- consent differently that you do? quently about all the little ways we were physical with one an- Have you ever been unsure about whether or not the person other. Throughout both our casual and intimate conversations, you were being sexual with wanted to be doing what you were they would ask for my permission before rubbing my shoulders, doing? Did you talk about it? Did you ignore it in hopes that it holding my hand, or resting their head on my lap. Other times, would change? Did you continue what you were doing because it they would touch me lightly, then ask, “Is this okay?” before pro- was pleasurable to you and you didn’t want to deal with what the ceeding. I began to think that they had a difficulty being physi- other person was experiencing? Did you continue because you cally close and consequently were especially conscientious about didn’t want to second guess the other person? How do you feel others’ personal space, but they always seemed comfortable with about the choices you made? the closeness I initiated—even when I forgot to ask for explicit Do you think it is the other person’s responsibility to say some- permission before touching them. They also didn’t seem offended thing if he or she isn’t into what you’re doing? or surprised that it was not easy for me to reciprocate the verbal Are you clear about your intentions? consent they offered me. I tried to be conscious of how we were Have you ever tried to talk someone into doing something interacting and to vocalize my desires before moving into their about which he or she showed hesitancy? space or touching them, but I’ve always had a hard time being How might someone express that what is happening is not okay? verbal. As I had only heard the word consent used in reference Do you only respond to verbal signs, or are you sensitive to to sexual relationships, I began to ponder their intentions. I kept other signs? thinking to myself, “Does my new friend have a crush on me? Do Do you think it is possible to misinterpret silence for consent? they want something more intimate than friendship?” Have you ever asked someone what kinds of signs you should However, as I got used to my friend’s style of establishing con- look for if he or she has a hard time verbalizing when something sent, I recognized that it was part of their personality and indica- feels wrong? tive of the way they tried to interact with everyone. As I realized Do you think consent can be erotic? this, my feelings about their questions changed. I stopped trying Do you check in as things progress, or do you assume the origi- to read into their questions to see if they indicated unspoken in- nal consent means everything is okay? terests, and started to appreciate that they were asking how I felt. Do you think about people’s abuse histories? I felt so respected. It made me feel how deeply my friend cared Do you ever get yourself into situations that give you an ex- about me that they wanted to know how I felt about everything, cuse for touching people you think would say no if you asked? and it made me feel comfortable with them very quickly. Examples might include dancing, getting drunk around them, Feedback and discussion are welcome: [email protected] falling asleep next to them. Do you make people feel they are not “fun” or “liberated” if they don’t want to try certain sexual things? Do you ever try to make bargains? (i.e., “If you let me ___, I’ll ___ for you.”) Have you ever used jealousy as a means of control? Do you think it’s okay to initiate something sexual with some- one who is asleep? How do you react if someone becomes uncomfortable with what you’re doing, or if he or she doesn’t want to do something? SO YOU CAN BE Do you get defensive? Do you feel guilty? Does the other person end up having to take care of you and reassure you, or are you able to step back and listen, to hear and support the other person and take responsibility for your actions? In telling your side of the story, do you attempt to change the DANGEROUS way the other person views a situation? Do you ever talk about sex and consent and abuse when you are not in bed? Page 40 Commentary Rolling Thunder TOGETHER Report from the Field: where sugar comes from This is the first in a series of eyewitness accounts, one of which will run in each issue, in which our subversive agents will infiltrate the internal workings of capitalist society (which, let’s face it, most of us have to occupy and even operate all too often anyway) in order to report on them, á la Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle, and offer insight into what might be done to destabilize them.

So here’s the deal. Every fall I work in but it’s also every bit as unnatural as Los vest season each one of the piles is bigger this beet sugar factory in western Minne- Angeles or Disneyland. than a football field, and up to thirty feet sota. A whole lot of the sugar that goes Every year in September the beet farmers tall. It’s one whole hell of a lot of beets. into all kinds of processed food comes start pulling their crops. They pull them out It’s good money. The farmers pull beets from sugar beets, and a whole lot of those of the ground with a combine, load them all day and night, unless it’s too hot, or too hours a day or somewhere sugar beets come from western Minne- onto a semi truck, and drive them down cold, or too wet. Seasonal workers—beet forty a week is time and d i f f e r e n t . ple who make sota. The county the factory is in is dead to the plant. It takes the plant until spring pilers—work twelve hours a day, every a half, and Sunday is dou- There used to be a flea- a kind of circuit flat, except for the Minnesota River valley, to process the whole harvest, so they have day, as long as the farmers are pulling. This ble time. If I live extremely bag motel down the road that would rent to together throughout and it contains exactly three things: corn, to store the beets outside in seven gigantic amounts to eighty-four hours frugally, I can make enough beet pilers, but they got shut down for copi- the year, piling beets in soybeans, and sugar beets as far as the eye piles, and they have to hire seasonal a week if the weather money there to fund my ac- ous code violations. Last year about forty of Minnesota, raking blueberries can see. It’s com- workers to run the machines that cooperates, and the tivities for the better part of us occupied an abandoned farm just past the in Maine, canning fish in Alaska, pletely rural, unload the trucks. By the overtime adds up the rest of the year. outskirts of town. It was sort of like a band and doing a variety of other things. It’s end of the har- quick. Any- The town is exactly like every of gypsies descending on a medieval vil- one way to make work, and life, a little thing over other agricultural town of its size. lage. I was a little worried that babies were less alienating and isolating. It can also e i g h t There is a bar, a diner, a hardware going to start turning up missing, and that suck pretty badly. The extreme drunken- store, two gas stations, a post office, the townspeople were going to come after us ness and perpetual drug abuse can get to be a library, and a police station. The faces with pitchforks. a bit much, and sleeping on a pile of straw behind the counters almost never change One year the weather was terrible. Nobody in a barn for six weeks without any running from year to year. The tallest building is the was working or getting paid, and nearly ev- water or electricity while working eighty- grain silo, and the town ends abruptly where eryone was camped out at the bar for days four hours a week in the freezing cold will the beet fields begin at the edge of the last on end, getting ferociously drunk and ter- really put you in the mood to not take any family’s yard. If you walk the railroad tracks rorizing the town. Eventually the law got shit from anyone. two miles east you’ll get to the factory. The involved. But the hell-raising proved to be a The work is really easy. A well-trained whole place is ordinary in every way, except surprisingly effective strategy. The next year orangutan could run a beet piler. You press that once a year it is crawling with beet pil- the company tried really hard to work us no the same buttons and pull the same levers ers. matter how bad the weather got, presumably over and over and over. It’s mostly just re- There are three kinds of people that pile just to keep us off the streets. ally loud and monotonous and cold. It’s also beets: The Locals, the Latinos, and The Kids. Another time the bartender went down to fairly dangerous. You have to keep an eye on Western Minnesota was stolen from its origi- the farm to hang out with us after work. She all the tweaked out truckers so they don’t run nal inhabitants in the nineteenth century, rolled up on a grim horde of beet pilers, sol- you over, and make sure not to fall in the and has been populated almost exclusively by emnly skinning and eating a puppy around machine. Somebody gets killed on a beet pile white people of Scandinavian heritage ever the camp fire. She was understandably hor- somewhere in Minnesota or North Dakota since. Recently, however, a lot of Hispanic rified by this, even after someone explained almost every year. folks have moved up there looking for work. that the puppy had not been murdered. It The inside of the factory is even crazier. There is a sizable Latino minority in both the had been killed accidentally by one of the There are unfathomable mazes of incompre- town and the factory. And then there are the larger dogs, and the person who was respon- hensible machines, catwalks and conveyor kids. It’s a strange phenomenon, but every sible for it had decided that this was the most belts to nowhere, and ancient engines caked fall the town is overrun with wild looking respectful way to deal with its death. She al- with a foot of beet pulp. There is the deafen- young people from Somewhere Else with ways seemed a little wary of us after that. ing racket of a thousand endlessly grinding dogs and facial tattoos who work beets be- Working beets really is a positive experi- gears, an entire floor which is always about cause the money’s good and they don’t ask ence in a lot of ways, though. There is a real a hundred and thirty degrees, and a place many questions. I am one of them. camaraderie and a kind of solidarity that can called The Pit where no supervisor will ever There really isn’t anywhere in town to ac- develop out of living and working and eating go. The whole place is completely inhuman, commodate all of us in any conventional and sleeping collectively with a group of peo- and there are no shortages of ways to hide, sense, so almost every year we end up staying ple under trying conditions. There are peo- get maimed, or die.

CrimethInc. Summer 2005 Testimonials Page 43 How One CrimethInc. Ex-Worker Renounced his Anti-Work Ways to Become a White Collar Worker, and Made Out Like a Bandit N o w T h a t ’ s a n O c c u p a t i o n ! The Workplace as the New Frontier of the Squatting Movement

behind the times in a of their lives inside that factory, and that a lot of ways. I have no doubt mountain of fossil fuels will be burned to that the next few years will see power it. You also have to accept that some more attempts to bust the union, doped up crust punk is probably going to and more of the downsizing, automation, poop in the beet pile. In my opinion it’s and outsourcing that have already decimated just not worth it. most of the decent paying industrial jobs in When I first started working at the plant I the rest of the country. The beet plant will swore I would never eat anything with beet ur story takes place a couple years we were dangerously close to being mistaken for normal be an interesting arena of struggle when this sugar in it again. Later I started thinking ago, in a small city perhaps not unlike hobos rather than the bloodthirsty anarchist revolution- I does inevitably happen. There is certainly the about where cane sugar must come from, or your own. Thanks to the extensive aries we actually were, the realization came to me: in my w o rk possibility there for profound alliances to be corn syrup, or any kind of processed food, and arguably excessive circulation of moment of weakness, I wanted to live somewhere. Pref- o u t s i d e born out of necessity amongst workers of a di- period. It all comes from some factory, some- CrimethInc. literature, along with the erably my hometown. I wanted a home, a room where I on the pilers verse set of racial and cultural backgrounds. where. It’s sobering to realize that the whole occasional salvo of a Bob Black essay, a small but thriv- could store my backpack of meager possessions. A place ingO community of jobless anarchists had developed to lay my head at night that wasn’t a bush. unless the weather is bad, but sometimes The beet harvest works pretty well for me, way that food is produced and distributed in I do work inside the factory. Here’s a story. and I keep going back, but I sure am glad to our civilization is completely deranged and in my hometown. However, all of us had—this is the his was the other problem dogging even the most One day I clock in and the bossman gives get the hell gone the minute I’m done. As destructive. The problem is a whole lot big- most polite way I can think of to put this—problems. Tproductive of unemployed anarchists: where to me a great big squeegee. He takes me to a soon as I get there it feels like I never left, ger than almost anyone cares to admit. ot dangerous problems, such as heroin usage. Not live. After all, sleeping in bushes can actually make one particular pipe deep in the bowels of the fac- and it only ever takes about a week or so be- There are a lot of good people—including Nhealth problems, such as malnutrition or horrible a less productive citizen, especially if said bushes are tory which has sprung an enormous leak and fore I start having dreams about beets again. myself—whose livelihoods are dependent on diseases—no one even had particularly bad acne. There nowhere near the library, anarchist infoshop, or useful is spraying massive amounts of half processed I can’t quite imagine how hard it must be to that factory, others like it, and on all sorts of was not much in the way of so-called cosmetic problems dumpsters. Now, a few of my unemployed anarchist syrup everywhere. “Mop up this juice,” he stomach working there every day for years on other messed up jobs. I wholeheartedly sup- such as balding among us, either, although body odor friends had solved this problem by living with their sig- says, and then leaves, never to be seen again. end. I do know that the company had to start port workers’ efforts to better their lot within tended to cause some difficulties when it came to interact- nificant others—a questionable practice at best, from a So for twelve hours the pipe runneth over, making full time workers clock in by scan- the confines of industrial capitalism, but I’ll ing with employed society. And contrary the claims of the feminist perspective. Woe unto me, anyway, for I had and I push the lake of juice—which never ning their retinas because so many people be honest, ultimately I’d like to see the beet Atkins Diet, it appeared that subsiding purely on bagels no romantic partner, and I felt abusing any one bed or gets any smaller—down a drain. The drain were scamming the timecards. plant wiped off the face of the fucking earth. I and other forms of high carbohydrate bread resulted in couch for too long was morally suspect, even if mutu- feeds into a sump pump, which then pumps Last year someone started writing “BDTF!” want to give the land a chance to recover, and one becoming moderately skinny but definitely not un- ally rapturous sex was involved. The closest thing I had right back into the pipe! While meditating everywhere. (Burn Down the Factory! Re- I want to be part of a society where that would dernourished, and even gave one a certain rebellious sex to a girlfriend or boyfriend was an individual who was on the unbelievable absurdity of this task member that Fifteen song?) It started turn- be possible. I know that’s not going to happen appeal like James Dean or Ben Reitman. Perhaps some- also unemployed and living in a rather precarious situa- I watched a couple of guys with a backhoe ing up on the pilers, in the factory, in town, without some truly revolutionary change. one should publish the “Dr. CrimethInc. Guide to Losing tion in an attic about an hour from my hometown. My spend half the day digging a big hole in the scrawled in the dust on the sides of cars in Sometimes I will be sitting up in the booth Weight Through Unemployment Diet” for our morbidly former gene pool of local anarcho-activists, given my ground, take lunch, and spend the rest of all manner of different handwriting styles. running the piler, looking through the clouds obese North American countrymen and women. disappearance under mysterious circumstances and my the day filling it back in. I started thinking Maybe it was just the kids who were doing of dust at the pillars of smoke and steam ris- ne problem plaguing the recently unemployed haggard appearance upon my return, seemed to think that maybe everyone there was doing that on it, but maybe not. ing out of the factory, and it will hit me right seemed to be the question of what to do with I had just escaped from the mental health asylum and some level: The welders cut slabs of steel in O Make no mistake about it: Sugar is evil. in the chest: two hundred years ago this was all the free time. While a few stalwarts used their new- judged me nearly beyond the pale of social contact, half, take lunch, and weld them back togeth- It’s addictive, it rots your teeth out, and tallgrass prairie, teeming with buffalo, and found free time to start small anti-capitalist enterprises much less sexual contact. Lacking a reasonable place er; the mechanics disassemble engines, take it’s largely responsible for an epidemic here I am like every other white person, try- such as literature distributions and t-shirt silk-screening to live, my most recent abode—my old car—having lunch, and put them back together; and the of diabetes amongst poor people in this ing to make a buck off of this land. I don’t centers, many of the younger generation that jumped been recently stolen and the anarchist collective house whole place is actually a giant meth lab or a country. The process by which it is pro- exactly feel guilty about it; I am trapped in on the anti-work bandwagon seemed to be convinced at which I’d once lived having just been bulldozed due loss leader for the Mafia. There’s the method duced wastes a staggering amount of water, this heartless economy just like so many oth- that they had nothing better to do than use what little to lack of rent-paying, I was truly at a loss. Some of my to the madness of production for you. is tremendously destructive environmen- ers, and I have to make some compromises money they could gather to drink themselves to death. I old friends were getting organized to buy their dream The factory is supposed to be owned co- tally, and is also just viscerally really gross. if I am going to have any resources to fight myself, perennial busybody that I am, had absolutely no collective house, at which rent would factor a few hun- operatively by the farmers, but the evil agri- You can’t have your cake and eat it, too. it with. If I am going to make those kinds of free time for this, engaged as I was in organizing dem- dred dollars—far more than I could ever afford. I felt business giant Cargill has its hands in the If you want that sugar you have to accept compromises, though, I do feel a very grave onstrations, inciting riots, and traveling extensively in even more desperate and deranged than I ever had be- management of it. There was a month-long that huge amounts of land will be used to responsibility to follow through on that com- my efforts to nudge along the collapse of global capital- fore. I had no money nor any conceivable way of earn- lockout last summer when the union over- grow the beets, that an enormous amount mitment to fight. I’m willing to bet that I’m ism. After about a year of fighting cops, being beaten ing any besides begging, and I was too proud to beg. whelmingly rejected a contract that would of pesticides and fertilizers will be used on not the only one who feels that way. up, eating bagels, hopping trains, eating bagels, posting uckily, a fellow crusty traveler suggested that I have left workers with fewer benefits and that land, that there will be a sacrifice zone on anarchist websites from godforsaken libraries, hop- try the roof of the local Hardees, a terrible fast higher health insurance costs. The lockout L somewhere on a totally denuded moon- P.S. Please let me take this opportunity to ping trains, fighting cops, and repeat ad infinitum, I was food restaurant only a few blocks from my previously was wildly unpopular, and was eventually scape piece of earth where the factory will assure the gentle reader that I played no part in dead tired. Perhaps I should be made of sterner stuff, but rented house. I climbed up the ladder and prompt- resolved, but the town and the factory are go, that some folks will spend the best years the puppy skinning. Thank you very much. when my trainhopping companion informed me that ly set up shop. For several days I was undisturbed as

Page 44 Testimonials Rolling Thunder CrimethInc. Summer 2005 Testimonials Page 45 the Hunchback of Hardees. However, the light in the Black. Perhaps they had it all wrong: perhaps it was not my boss, like the other upstanding citizens of the small gan. The last opened unto a closet that was virtually morning woke me up far too early for my liking, the really work and money that were wrong. Yes, it is labor liberal town in which this story takes place, liked to empty except for one weird table and a mostly empty temperature during the morning was unbearable, and and consumption that the capitalist machine going. But congratulate himself on his enlightened, vaguely left bookshelf. My heart brimmed with joy, and tears filled the Hardees employees swiftly became suspicious of being paid for doing minimal to no work while enjoying political views, he and those like him cast a blind my eyes. I had found my home. Better yet, I could my constant clambering on their roof and use of their the luxuries of an air-conditioned office, that was being eye towards the entirely African American near-slave lock the closet door from both the inside and outside, bathroom facilities. What was I to do? I needed a roof, a parasite, draining the system. In fact, in my laziness, labor force that had to wake up at ungodly hours in using the same key that opened the main computer lab at the least, and possibly stable access to a bathroom I was probably causing more damage in terms of lost the morning to pick up their trash and wash their door—which my boss had so foolishly given me. That and shower. But how? There were no abandoned build- funds, abused health care, and the like than most Black floors—in other words, to take care of things any self- very night, I loaded in the box of anarchist books I had ings to squat nearby, and I had no money with which Blocs managed to pull off! I could use the money to respecting human being should be able to manage for hidden at a friend’s house a year earlier and the back- to rent a house. The local tolerance for couch-surfing buy guns with which to begin nutty anarcho-survivalist themselves. The cleaning staff, for their part, rejoiced pack that contained the rest of my possessions, and was reaching an all time low given the explosion of the trainings, or pay for high-priced Mediterranean food at in not having any direct supervision, and would set up rolled out my sleeping bag. Now I could sleep safely willfully unemployed in my hometown. my favorite diner if I started to get soft. a sound system (okay, a jukebox, but they cranked it!) and soundly for as long as I wanted. When I woke up, that blasted funky soul anthems throughout the staid I merely had to listen carefully to the door to hear if hen the idea came upon me as a bolt out of the heav- hus began my one-man office takeover. First, I office building in the wee hours of the dawn. In fact, there was movement from one of my rarely-seen fellow ens. I would go boldly where no CrimethInc. agent went to a friend’s house, shaved, showered, and T T though I have to admit to being about as white as a employees, and, if so, not leave until they left. Other- had gone before, at least not since we had all departed on even briefly considered combing my hair. I sent a polite white boy can get (despite my anarchist pretensions of wise, I would have appeared out of the closet like some our quixotic quests together: I would get a job. At first e-mail to my boss telling him that I had spent an en- being “down with communities of color” and having kind of apparition and caused somebody to have a glance, this would spell Selling Out, at least to the less cre- joyable year with a completely fictional employer before attended some anti-racist trainings), I began to enjoy heart attack, or at least made myself seem suspicious. ative soul. Luckily, I had a twist: I would squat my office. I leaving for a completely fictional backpacking tour of funky soul music in a serious way. The cleaning staff could hear the angels singing in the background. Europe only to return to find my imaginary job gone. ood was easily taken care of, for the workplace con- would sing and shout along to it occasionally, and it re- veniently provided us employees with a refrigerator eing none too creative at the job placement office, Given my hard times, would he remember my previous F ally would make my evenings to hear people enjoying and microwave. I hid bagels and other dry foodstuffs I decided to apply again for my former pre-home- time of gainful employment with him and let his way- B themselves in that soulless office. I never heard my boss in my closet, saving the refrigerator for more perish- less job as staff computer programmer for a lab that ward sheep back into the fold? My boss responded that shout or sing from his office during the day; doubtless, able items. While other employees carefully labeled hosted experiments—no, not animal experiments, he would require a meeting the next day. I stepped back shouting and singing would have been noticed and their foodstuffs with their names, given the preponder- but human experiments, such as torturing humans by into his office. After a brief chat about the wonders of disapproved of by the powers that be. ance of food I had in the fridge and its rather startling making them listen to multiple tones, or read while be- opera and the great things I could do for him once he he Soul Cleaning Train Staff and I soon struck up rate of consumption, I decided to risk my food in the ing assaulted by very bright colored lights. Go figure, hired me, I was back on payroll. Even more importantly, an odd friendship of sorts. I would be in my com- name of keeping a low profile, leaving it all anony- it was for the good of science. For a less imaginative I had a copy of the office keys. The camel had its nose in T puter lab at some ridiculous hour, pondering my sleep- mous. Rehydrating bagels in the microwave, drinking person, it would have been a horrible job, involving the tent, and the rest of the body was on the way. ing options or writing some fiery anarchist manifesto, orange juice… I felt like the hero of some white-collar sedentary computer programming for near minimum t the end of the first day, I scoured the office looking they would barge in to take out the trash, I would Thoreau text on office self-sufficiency. wage. However, it had a host of invaluable perks. First, for places to sleep. There was a couch in the hallway A smile and mutter “Another late night at work…,” and there were no set working hours: I could work or not that was comfortable, yet too out in the open for full- s regards work, my boss thought I was the hardest we would give each other conspiratorial winks. Maybe work whenever I pleased, which left me free time to time eight hour sleeping. There were various open areas worker he had ever seen, despite my actual low I imagined the winks, but regardless, they never told A organize demonstrations, go to punk shows, even dis- in the office big enough for my sleeping bag, and while productivity. For even the most elementary of com- anyone on me. For my part, I kept my office space as appear mysteriously for weeks. Second, the boss, a the tile floor was forbiddingly cold at night, it could puter programming tasks, I would groan and moan: clean as possible, and tried to take my own trash out. highly-educated former Harvard professor, had little to be managed. I tried it for a night. Late that night, the “Oh, how long this is going to take me!” I’d complain, When we met in the halls, we talked about our love no idea what computer programming actually consist- door creaked open. In horror, I jumped out of the sleep- strategically overestimating the time by at least a fac- of soul music and how the world was headed straight ed of, and thus no idea how little or how much work I ing bag—luckily, I’d been sleeping in my clothes—and tor of ten. Then, I would surprise the boss with my towards apocalypse thanks to bastards like my boss and was doing. Third, I would have my own computer and pushed it beneath my desk. Thanks perhaps to divine amazing productivity by finishing the job “early.” other older white men in suits. unlimited printing access. Fourth, I would have an en- providence, the cleaner seemed to ignore me completely. Magically, one day of work could thus be transformed tire room mostly to myself, with nearby bathrooms, a Perhaps she was a silent co-conspirator? Or was running he sleeping situation seemed little better than the into a week, and since I routinely overestimated my roof, and even access to a gym that included showers. off vagrants not part of the job description? Trooftop, until I noticed two small doors on the far responsibilities as two weeks of work, I would even fin- side of my office. In office spaces, small distances can ish ahead of schedule! As he lacked other programming roblem solved. And think, with zero bills and an n fact, the cleaning staff was quite cool. They would somehow seem quite vast, and the other side of the of- help (or at least competent programming help—a few actual paycheck coming in, I could fund full-scale arrive at four or five in the morning and start work- P I fice seemed to be a no man’s land of strange doors. Un- other part-time employees would occasionally show anarchist resistance to the power of transnational capi- ing. Given the racist and sexist nature of white col- fortunately, the first was locked. The second opened to up, but I was the only proud full-time employee), I tal, while simultaneously having a place to live! For an lar industry, while all the employees and bosses were reveal a utility closet full of weird, forsaken computers soon had my boss on a leash. I was careful to leave instant, I nearly doubted the wisdom of CrimethInc. uniformly Anglo-Saxon males, the cleaners were uni- and their manuals, all made during the reign of Rea- things undocumented, and so he soon was dependent propaganda and even the almighty and all-seeing Bob formly forty-something-year-old black women. While

Page 46 Testimonials Rolling Thunder CrimethInc. Summer 2005 Testimonials Page 47 upon my expertise, having to personally ask me how to only imagine the effects on the average bourgeois office niche within the capitalist system as parasites, modern like looking for a something to put on your bread, get a certain doodad or thingy-bob to work. despot of the surprise apparition of a bearded, shirt- day silicon ticks on the back of the beast. and I took this mustard. And the mustard had this had transformed myself from the status of homeless less, unwashed madman hunched over his computer ot content to keep this privilege to ourselves, we name on it. And this dude walked in real pissed off Ivagabondage to invaluable employee, and signifi- keyboard, surrounded by a plethora of thesauri and Nset about sharing the wealth. The office space and told me it was his mustard and asked who the cantly bettered myself financially. All the same, I was dictionaries. One can only imagine what went through transformed itself into a bastion of anarchy as soon as hell I was and how I got in the building… I was like, still more than a little annoyed at being paid hourly, my boss’s head when he opened the door of the office the rest of employees left. When 5 p.m. rolled around, I’m a friend of (insert author’s real name here). And when it was clear that I deserved to be a salaried em- space to see this completely deranged stranger typing dreadlocked and mohawked local punks would come a- then… I don’t know, I just put the mustard back…” ployee… or at least be paid twice as much per hour as away on his computers. Stunned, my boss simply asked knocking at the office, wanting to hang out and surf the Damnation. I felt my house of cards collapsing, all I was. I began filling out my timesheet with a regular “Who are you?” Muttering something unintelligible, internet. Soon, as word spread about the autonomous due to the unnecessary use of mustard without prop- forty hours a week, then moved up to fifty. My boss my companion conscientiously saved his work, gath- office zone, I regularly had half a dozen visitors clamber- er security culture. never really read the timesheet carefully—it turned ered his books, waved at my boss, and fled down the ing around the office late at night, mostly just hanging was simultaneously furious and despondent. The out he would sign for anything. After I passed a cer- hallways and out of the office. Strangely enough, when out. Lost in my minimum-work euphoria and snug in Imustard owner, a middle-aged man in his thirties tain point in my burgeoning career, I even made him I woke up and snuck out of my closet around lunch, my hidden closet, I felt invincible. Still, even I began with no real prospects for upwards career mobility, was pre-sign the timesheets! I was no ordinary white-collar my boss did not ask me a single question. When my getting a bit worried occasionally. Punks would show sure to be irrationally upset about the kidnapped mus- worker, I was a badass gangster. And how could my co-conspirator informed me of the incident, I couldn’t up too early, sometimes even before 5 pm, and I would tard. Incidents like this destroy the fragile world of the boss complain? I was the first person in at work when help but laugh. Still, I felt I was dangerously close to have to shoo them away until a more socially accept- white-collar worker. Now that he had my name, he I walked in, and the last person he saw as he left to go being caught. able time. Since the office was naturally locked at five, would probably find out who I was and report me to home to his wife and kids. ll the same, who was I to let this one incident ruin they would have to knock on doors, sometimes being my boss. After all, non-employees were not even sup- ith things on the work front completely under Amy good nature? Indeed, just another few weeks spotted by other employees who were leaving. However, posed to be in the building. My boss might decide to Wmy control, I began inviting a few select friends had gone by when a friend of mine, the crust punk once the crowd was in, there was no stopping them, and inspect the lab… he might even discover my illegal to use the resources of my workplace. One friend of who told me about the roof of Hardees, stopped back the office would become one giant anarcho-punk party office squat! My head was spinning with the disas- mine, a shaggily bearded man bearing no small resem- in town. Being a kind-hearted soul, I let him in on complete with metal blaring from tiny computer speak- trous implications of this incident. What was I to do? blance to Ted Kaczynski, was in dire need of a com- my little scam at the office space. He was flabbergast- ers and everyone lounging around on the stools that I grabbed the anarcho-punks by the collar and gave puter on which to type up his latest manifesto on the ed, and frankly, a bit jealous. After all, I had constant spun them around in circles until they got sick. them the boot from my workplace. I tried to straighten madness of industrial civilization. Being a vagabond, internet radio, access to CD-burners, broadband in- ne thing your average anarcho-punk likes to up things in the lab and in my hiding closet, and then he had no such computer, and kept getting kicked out ternet, and air conditioned housing without supervi- Odo is eat. They especially like to eat when it is fled to a nearby friendly couch to contemplate my of the supposedly public libraries. As his co-author, I sion, not to mention free money in the bargain. In a someone else’s food. One tragic day, I was typing up doom. We had gone too far. felt a responsibility to help, and began to let him into bizarre turn of events, he asked if I could get him a one of my latest works of art, when a young friend of ure enough, the next morning I received an email the building as night fell, usually past nine when even job there. I dropped the question to my boss in one mine sporting a lip ring and a Dystopia t-shirt rushed Sfrom my boss demanding an appointment. Fearing the most hard-working of my fellow employees had of our semi-weekly meetings, and my boss told me of in and asked if there was any food. I told him I had for my life, I replied that I was sick for the day and left. Together with free reign over high-speed internet, some webpages he needed made. I confided to my boss some bread, and possibly something in the fridge. He could reschedule it the next day. I spent an entire day word processing programs, and unlimited printing and that I was an old-fashioned computer programmer, bounded off, followed by two other friends of mine evacuating my most important possessions from the office supplies, we spent night after night maniacally not a web master, but luckily I had a friend who was and my crust punk co-employee. Then, I heard some premises and attempting to figure out how the hell to typing, looking up synonyms and antonyms, finding an expert webmaster who would do the job for him. yelling from down by the fridge. Irritated that my explain the incidents of the previous day. However, no the perfect words to express our utter contempt and Delighted, my boss arranged a meeting with my crust solitude had been disturbed, I rose to get the door of quick and easy excuse would come to me, much less a disgust for the current geopolitical situation. As soon punk friend. After a bit of cleaning up, my friend was the lab and poke my head out to see what was going rational course of events that my boss would believe. as dawn broke, like vampires, we disappeared back into able to impress my boss as a competent web designer, on down the hall. Before I could even reach the door, In despair, I shuffled to meet with my boss the next my secret closet, locking the door and cackling at the and was hired on a part-time basis designing webpages. my large crusty friend bounded in, smirk on his face. day. He looked at me with stern eyes worthy of the bizarre situation we were in. Now, not only did I live in the closet, I had a room- “Man, I think we pissed him off.” I was flabbergasted. Pharaoh of Egypt. “You know what happened yester- mate. Later that very evening, he moved his backpack he manifesto was nearing completion one morn- Who had they pissed off? What the hell happened! My day?” I nodded, and quickly cut off any further repri- and sleeping bag into the closet, and we were set. We co-employee looked at me with a look of fear in his mand. “It won’t happen again. I just let two younger Ting when I decided to retire a bit early to the clos- had great times programming away, listening to vicious et, while my stalwart companion worked on crossing eyes, but he tried to crack a humorous grin. “Dude, it friends in and they made some mistakes. Don’t worry, metal bands over Internet Radio, doing as little work was just mustard.” it won’t happen again.” I repeated that like a mantra the last Ts and dotting the last Is of our latest verbal for maximum payment as we could get away with. The rampage. In the heat of his writing frenzy, my compan- slammed the door shut and got my young protégés to avoid the inevitable action. Surprisingly, Pharaoh’s webpage never seemed to get done exactly right, the heart began to soften. He looked at me and, with his ion would become so engaged in his task that he would computer programs always had one or two bugs (“it’s I to sit still for a second and tell me what had just take his shirt off and literally sweat out the various rhe- transpired. Everyone seemed to dodge my questions. quiet, highly cultivated New England accent, asked, not a bug, it’s a feature!”), and the money kept on flow- “Is everything okay? Are you going through personal torical problems he was valiantly confronting. One can ing in. What could I say? We had found a comfortable Finally, the large one admitted his crime, “Yeah, I was

Page 48 Testimonials Rolling Thunder CrimethInc. Summer 2005 Testimonials Page 49 problems?” Well, you could phrase it that way. Per- ondly, I sent my boss an email noting that, with sonal problems. You could also phrase it that I was a F“kind regards and regret,” I was going to move mad anti-capitalist revolutionary subverting the entire onto “greater opportunities elsewhere.” He and I had phenomenon of wage labor in order to seize both a one last meeting. He actually seemed quite sad to see place to live and funds for the day when I would cut off me go, and suggested that I use his name as a reference the head of my boss. Ah, better think of a more polite in further job applications. With misty eyes, I left his way of phrasing it. office, the office keys still jingling in my hands. Never ell, I am going through some hard times right leave the office keys behind. Always keep them—you Wnow. You know, ever since September 11th and never know when you might have to get back in. the stock market collapse everything has been more few short months later, I was the proud recipi- expensive, and both my own and my family’s saving A ent of a new job as a webmaster and teacher were“ in the tech stock market…” I paused despairing- of computer literacy courses—and, better yet, the ly. Still, my boss looked at me with an air of concern. keeper of a secret access code that gave me all-night “You know I can’t tolerate what happened yesterday. access to my new office space right off the main I’m sorry about your situation and your family, and street of town. While the closet space there was defi- you can work extra hours if needs be. Get some rest.” nitely not nearly as luxurious as it had been at my With that, I was left off the hook. previous abode, the place had a wonderful high-tech ough times were ahead at the office-squat. My free coffee machine. Tfriends were officially banned. The crust punk of- ne night, I slipped in with some fellow Crime- . . . or How I Came to Be a Victim ficemate soon made a fatal mistake as well. He got out OthInc. agents, and got wired on endless cups of of the closet one morning without listening properly coffee. Every sane person had left the office at 7 p.m., of Molotov Cocktail Friendly Fire for activity, interrupting a co-worker who had come and we had the place to ourselves: we were modern- in early that morning. Thinking that his gig was up, day gremlins and fairies seizing the means of produc- and Lived to Tell the Tale he didn’t even bother to meet with the boss and just tion while our enemies slept. In one room, the grizzled stopped all work on his never-concluded webpage. He and shirtless comrade told of above was finishing some mysteriously left, leaving finishing up the webpage in editing for our new paper, Hunter/Gatherer, sweating An eyewitness report on the anti-E.U. protests The Greek government, like those of many countries with un- my lap and the boss extremely confused. I still slept once again as he jumped deep into the heart of another in Salonika, Greece, summer of 2003—and more stable economies, loves pale-skinned bohemian tourists. Since I was in my hidden closet, and my presence continued to writing project. I began—in my very own office—in- than that, a testimonial of the amazing possibilities flying in only a few days before a giant protest that might cause remain hidden, yet I felt ill at ease, as if it were not my nocently typing up my notes for a new piece for In- of a life of active resistance. heightened bag-searching at the airport, and had reason to fear my home anymore. Formerly, though it had been a mere side Front, while sipping the complementary coffee. name would come up in some database of anarchists, I carefully ran- office, I had felt that it was yet my goddamn office, a Dreadlocks swinging, another friend sprawled back in People often ask me what I do for a living. I reply I spend much sacked my possessions. Nothing even possibly suspect was allowed personal fiefdom over which I reigned supreme. Now I the cushy chair of the Head Boss himself, getting up of my life fleeing cops and government agents across international in my bags except a black bandanna, carefully hidden in a black was under siege by the dark forces of respectability and occasionally to pace around and read aloud excerpts borders, and they usually don’t believe me. While Hollywood would sock. In an emergency, I could claim I was a mountain climber, as deserted by my allies. Inquisitive officemates watched from the fledging piece that was to become Fighting have us believe all secret agents work for some government or other, they often wear bandannas. my moves. I kept my closet locked at all times. My For Our Lives. Much to my relief, the Greek government smiled upon me and there are spread throughout the world secret agents like myself in 1 food had to be carefully labeled. Even my working- n the morning, as if by magic, the anarchists had the employ not of any government but of anarchy. Fleeing cops over waved me in without even a complimentary search . Maneuver- hours reports, which had previously been monuments Idisappeared from the office, leaving no trace. But international borders comes with the job description. ing around Greece was no easy task, given my complete inability to the power of exaggeration, were scaled back in an don’t assume that just because you don’t see us, we’re I had decided to protest the European Summit in Salonika, Greece to speak Greek or even read the language except for the few let- attempt to be less blatant about my abuse. The office not there! Leave soy milk and vegan cookies out for us, during the summer of 2003, and chose without proper ecological ters I remembered from basic math. I ended up scamming the had become a cold and unpleasantly well-lit place that dear office despots, if you don’t want to displease the foresight to take a cheap jet into Athens. While it would have been Greek train from Athens to Salonika with a shoeless Italian fellow lacked human warmth. I felt the winds a-changing. spirits—remember, we’re everywhere, laying our plots preferable to hitch-hike, I just didn’t have time in between missions. As I could no longer abuse my office with dignity, a while you sleep. 1 In this author’s experience, the United States is actually the worse place for air- After all, timing is everything, and showing up late to a battle with th change of space was beckoning. I moved all my stuff the cops is bad style. port searches, especially after the events on September 11 . I have been searched out to the closet of a sympathetic friend. A committed “randomly” every time there, despite having been arrested at a protest only once in A dirt-encrusted, ragged anarchist such as myself would only at- that country. Luckily, the minions of creeping fascism at the airport are completely office-squatter should know when to quit one gig and The author currently divides his time between a treetop tract suspicion at the airport. After spending a few dollars at the lo- incompetent. Once I by accident left a package of photos, which included photos of platform in a forest occupation and a lovely office closet go triumphantly forward unto the next promised land cal thrift shop for a pair of slacks and borrowing a large frilly white burning American flags and black-clad German anarchists fighting the cops, in my of free coffee and all-night printing. occupation overseas. Fuck the law, squat the world! pack. When this pack was searched, my heart dropped. Luckily, the cop took a look shirt from a friend, I was ready to go undercover as a ridiculous- only at the first few pictures of myself pretending to have sex with statues in public looking tourist. I found a razor and shaved the night before, since places in Amsterdam. When the representative of the Department of Homeland Se- beards are a universal sign of ill-repute in many civilized countries. curity gave me a strange stare as he began to search through my photos, I explained I My long hair, being associated with hippies and the female species was a “rock ‘n roller” and how those photos were “embarrassing, but we rock ‘n rollers are wild and crazy guys.” So he left the photos alone. He then saw a button on my in general, was put under control in a small pony tail. A mild-man- jacket that said “Extreme Noise Terror,” which really worried him. When I explained nered artist with a small ponytail and fluffy white-shirt—I was no it was a record label that in no way was connected to international terrorism, he let riot-prone madman, I was a bohemian tourist! me go with a smile. I was smiling too! Page 50 Testimonials Rolling Thunder CrimethInc. Summer 2005 Testimonials Page 51 thief. When I asked him where I should buy a ticket he told me black outfit to assuage the Greek anarchists that I indeed fitted clear visual grasp of what is going on around you. I ran towards the night wore on, my mind went to more immediate matters. I realized to “jump on.” My suspicions were confirmed when he grabbed the stylistic conventions of anarchism3. front, and soon was embroiled in a clash with baton-wielding Greek that I was lacking a gas mask, and begged anyone and everyone for my arm and made me walk briskly away whenever a conductor As I wandered about this anarchist utopia, a strange Greek man cops. The batons were barely used before tear gas was employed. The an extra gas mask. One anarchist, in a gesture of sympathy, handed made his appearance. After spending most of the night running handed me an ice-cream cone. Surprised, I asked him where he got cops threw stones (strange, but true!) and mammoth amounts of me a giant motorcycle helmet. While I originally regarded the gift through different parts of the train without rest, I finally arrived it and he pointed into a building. Running in, I saw a festive Santa tear gas onto us from their position in the hill. Since I do not own a as useless, seeing as it would prevent massive head wounds but not in Salonika. Disembarking the train, and still dressed in outra- Claus-like figure in a balaclava jump through the door, a huge bag pair of glasses and suffer from bad eyesight, I had foolishly worn one help me see or breathe, the giant helmet proved to be the key to my geous frills, I was accosted by local Greek communists. After hu- of liberated ice-cream with him, and throw the sugary treats to the contact into battle, and quickly removed it as soon as the tear gas hit success. When you are a six foot tall anarchist walking around the moring them for a while to discover their purpose and political hungry masses with gusto. The anarchists had discovered the univer- to avoid risking damage to my eye. The Greek cops countered with night before a protest with a huge black biker element, people know persuasion (“What do you mean there’s a protest in town? I’m in sity cafeteria. I enjoyed munching on free food, and within hours I a charge of their own, and, partially Salonika to visit the beach—but what do you think of the United had discovered a hardy band of European companions I had known blinded by tear gas and my lack of con- States and European Union?”), I realized I had fallen in with previously from other anti-war and anti-globalization protests. To- tacts, I saw the front lines around me the wrong company of Greeks. Slightly off the cuff, I mentioned gether, we formed an affinity group: myself, a crusty Belgian hobo, breaking away from those behind us. that I was trying to find the anarchists. With a look of shock a street-fighting Irish bloke, and his tough French lover. We thought Seeing little chance of regrouping and surprise, the communists warned me that all anarchists were up a few calls for regrouping, wrote the legal number on our bodies, safely with the rest of the anarchists, I actually government agents sent to disrupt their orderly protest. ran around acquiring water and some strange anti-tear gas mixture ran down another side road with about Luckily, out of the corner of my eye I spotted a gaggle of long- being made by the medics. We also spent a good deal of time trying two dozen others, including most of my haired Greeks in what appeared to be heavy metal t-shirts in the to find some of our Greek friends who we had organized with on affinity group. Greek police positioned distance. Following them carefully, always staying at least a block other occasions, in order to get the inside scoop on what was going in the hills above came running after us behind just in case they ended up being unfriendly, I came to on. Our plans were still fuzzy, but the basic goal was obvious: maxi- in hot pursuit. While almost blind, I what was self-evidently an occupied University building. I could mum damage to capital. could see the ground in front of me and tell it was “occupied,” for a giant black and red banner, visible for The Greek anarchists were divided into two main tactical camps: knew that my modus operandi should blocks, flew over the building proclaiming Aristotle University attack the cops or destroy the city. I only wished our tactical debates be to run constantly: sitting still would the headquarters of the Anti-Authoritarian Movement Salonika. were of such a nature in my hometown! Not surprisingly, the anar- result in either being pelted by tear gas I walked through the front door and, to my surprise, into a chists from Salonika felt that the locals of the city would be more on or tackled by a cop. Since I had no idea strange anarchist paradise, complete with free food, dancing, and their side if the cops were attacked and the police station burned to where I was going, I followed the few Molotov cocktail manufacturing. Apparently in Greece there is the ground, while the out-of-town anarchists felt it was simpler just fleeing anarchists in front of me. As a long tradition of revolt in the universities, and the anarchists to unleash havoc, letting the entire city be the target. usual, I trusted my instincts. When a and communists normally seize the University before large In between arguments and fisticuffs with each other, the anarchists split in our path presented to option to protests. By “seize” is meant that the anarchists announce to the managed to get a convoy of buses together to transport us all to the either take the high road on a hill above administrators of the university that they will either hand over hotel in Chalkidiki where the European Union was hiding from us. or to return to the main road, I stayed all the keys to the buildings to them and disband classes, or the They had been terrified of confronting us in Salonika, so they had on the high road; some erstwhile an- anarchists will take the buildings by force. The administration fled to a hotel resort in a small town a few hours away. Of course, archists who took the low road found consents, hoping to minimize the damage caused by the anarchist we followed them. The moment we arrived in Chalkidiki, the march themselves ambushed by cops who were waiting for them below. you are ready for business. The gifts started rolling in—a beautiful Pumping with adrenaline, we made it off the hills and back into the woman handed me a huge cop-beating stick disguised cleverly as a outskirts of the town of Chalkidiki, where the masses of civilians flag by means of the smallest strip of black and red cloth imaginable. and peaceful communists mulling around provided enough cover Once I had a giant black bicycle helmet on and a massive club to for us to blend back into the crowd. We could see the rest of the brandish, the rest of the anarchists could not help but look upon Black Bloc being engaged in a slow retreat to the beach by the cops. me with respect, and finally one gingerly gave me a gas mask on Deciding not to risk being stuck between the Greek police and the the condition that I promised to be on the front line. No problem. sea, I ran down to meet the Bloc and tried to convince them that This turn of events astonished my Irish friend, who never found a an orderly retreat to the buses might be the best idea, and given the giant black biker helmet, and so was left without any gear. My brave dynamics of the situation, that is exactly what happened. The Bloc Belgian friend refused on general principle any defensive prepara- managed an orderly retreat back to the buses without arrests, and tions except a bottle of the highly alcoholic Greek ouzo. We spent one by one got on. Still nearly blind, I swore that I would find a gas the rest of the day running to the medic space to get more of their mask before the second round of protests in Salonika the next day. anti-tear gas lotion, soaking our bandannas in vinegar, and generally takeover. Then the anarchists literally kick out the classes and straight towards the hotel began, and I wondered to myself what we The next afternoon, in hopes of vengeance, the anarchists decided steeling our nerves for the coming battle. As the time of the action administration, and for a period of time the university is a were going to do if we actually did managed to overcome the cops on a full-scale march into Salonika to confront the authorities. If approached, a very sensible late afternoon hour, I found myself with temporary autonomous zone, complete with beautiful graffiti, and storm the hotel—bring the disembodied heads of Blair and Ber- the cops were going to prevent us from demonstrating at the actual butterflies in my stomach, curiously similar to the feeling one has self-organized free (or nearly so) cafeterias, teach-ins, and giant sculoni out on stakes? EU Summit in Halniki, we would take our demands to the heart of before admitting to a crush. Although we had only had a few hours beer-guzzling rock concerts at night. In Greece, it is technically With the chant of the day being “We will avenge you Carlo the city. The hostile factions of “organized to attack cops” anarchists of sleep, energy was in the air, free feta cheese sandwiches was being illegal for cops to enter the Universities, thus making it the perfect Giuliani!”, the Greek anarchists carried out a full frontal assault and “burn the city down” anarchists caused continual frustrations in distributed, and our barbarian horde was preparing for war. base for anarchist resistance2. As I was regarded with suspicion upon the police, who had positioned themselves strategically up- planning, since they squatted separate buildings and had different The more organized anarchists started calling, occasionally through due to my white frilly shirt, I quickly switched to a more suave hill. Counterintuitive though it is, in a confusing situation often meetings. In a gesture of unity, representatives of the more organized megaphones, for people to assemble in front of the University. Per- the best, if not safest, place to be is the front lines, so you can get a anarchists came to their less organizers sisters and brothers and of- haps two or three hundred us did, black flags raised high. We formed 2 This is because the original CIA-backed dictatorship that ruled Greece was fered to march as a unified Bloc. Of course, no one paid much atten- an impromptu barricade around ourselves by linking our flag poles. overthrown as a result of unrest at the universities. Students occupied the National 3 Anarchists dressing in all black is more of a North American and West European tion, but that’s how things go the night before a demonstration. I moved towards the front, and, worried about our relative lack of Polytechnic University of Athens, broadcasting via clandestine radio a call for the style. The best Greek outfit was a sleeveless t-shirt that showed off their well-toned Speaking only garbled Greek mixed with such fine English phras- numbers, joined in beginning the march. We marched a block, took a people to rise up against the tyranny. In November 1973, the dictatorship sent in the cop-beating muscles. The most popular sleeveless t-shirt had a giant circle-A and es as “maximum destruction to capital!”, I did what I could to help turn, and within minutes saw a line of Greek cops, batons and shields military to slaughter the students. According to local legend, soldiers went back to what appeared to be some gun-toting peshmerga warrior in the middle. My lanky the Universities and left guilt-ridden notes on the bodies of the students begging for physique ruled out all wearing of sleeveless t-shirts, lest the cops not take me seriously in the dangerous situation. Ideological bickering should never get in in hand, waiting for us. Instead of forcing a confrontation, we simply forgiveness. The army revolted and the dictatorship fell. in the heat of combat. the way of direct action—you don’t see the cops bickering! As the turned down a side street, wisely placing the large banner and a few Page 52 Testimonials Rolling Thunder CrimethInc. Summer 2005 Testimonials Page 53 even larger club-wielding anarchists in front of the police to serve as a line of anarchists who were standing between the Molotov cocktail to go talk to the cops for us, so we could keep a safe distance and still We were all on the ground and the undercover cop summoned barricade and obscure their vision. As we turned down the street, we tossers and the police. The police massed their forces and, shields find out what was going on. The students reported back to us that several other cops to watch us. He had seen our Irish friend throw saw behind us a giant horde of hundreds of our black-clad comrades, raised, began to rush the lines. Luckily, we managed to swipe our heads of the University were going to authorize the cops entry into his stuff into the bush, and he kept questioning us regarding what who with proper anarchist lack of organization had apparently started clubs down on them, and held our positions. Slowly but surely we the University so they could begin busting heads. In this confusing we threw in the bush. We were honest—just a bandanna. The cops marching later than we had. All ideological and tactical bickering started making our way towards a city square, and it appeared that, situation, we felt the best thing to do was to hide somewhere safe must have thought we had Molotov cocktails stashed in the bushes, aside, both “cop-attacking organizational anarchists” and the “chaotic although weakened by excessive tear-gassing and beatings, we were and check on the situation periodically. We were walking down the and as they came out disappointed at only finding a bandanna, they city-destroying anarchists” joined forces into one raging Black Bloc. going to continue to the police station itself. In the constant bar- street when we saw a young black-clad man with classic metal hair were determined to cart us all off to jail. Luckily, various Greek legal The cops chose not to confront us, and we soon marched into what rage of tear gas I had basically been blinded, and another anarchist drinking a beer on a table outside a café—and with a twenty-four observers surrounded the police and, now that the cops knew they appeared to be a well-off corporate part of town. Within seconds, the replaced me in the line as I pulled out a bottle of tear gas ointment, pack near his feet! We asked if we could join him, and we all sat were being watched, they let us go. Enraged, our Belgian friend de- sound of breaking windows filled the air. With glee, every corporate removed my helmet, and yelled for help to flush my eyes. My French down at the small table to drink a beer and contemplate the events cided, slightly drunkenly, that it was time for a full frontal charge to window was broken, and Molotov cocktails were thrown inside, mak- friend had been keeping an eye on me and helped me flush my of the day. get back into the University. We attempted to dissuade him, but he ing a funeral pyre of every foul corporate establishment unfortunate eyes. Recovering, we began calling out our secret word for our affin- Which is when a line of cops suddenly marched around the cor- was determined to go right through the front gate of the University, enough to be in our path. An American fast food chain had foreseen ity group to regroup. We materialized out of the teeming, fighting ner. They marched right up to our table, and within a second we and if no one had the courage to follow him, he was going to go hordes, all beaten, bruised, and tear-gassed, were surrounded by cops. I cursed alcohol beneath my breath as himself. Always one to preserve my own skin against something I but together. Out of nowhere, I felt the crack the cops began questioning our newfound friend in Greek. I slowly judged simply irrational, after long deliberation we split the affin- of a baton upon my shoulder blades. pushed my backpack that contained my incriminating gas mask and ity group up and promised to regroup inside the University—if we A line of cops had just swooped in, shoot- club away from me, but the cops had noticed. They demanded to could make it, and the cops didn’t seize it. The romantic Irishman, ing pepper-spray everywhere. The front line search all of our bags. Within minutes, they had found my gas mask. hearing that his lover had crossed police lines looking for him, de- crumbled, and within an instant I yelled They removed it from the backpack and stomped on it with their cided to go in search of her, while the Belgian madman set out to for everyone to fall back. My Belgian friend boots, smashing it into bits within minutes. To my shock, they took launch his one-man dash through the police line. My newfound grabbed me and we moved backwards, and their clubs out and began pounding my shins as my friends looked Greek beer buddy and I decided to play it safe and scout the perim- when we looked up we were behind a line on in horror. I was sure I was doomed. I began claiming that I was eter in attempt to find a weak spot. of cops. Taking stock of the situation, we just a friendly peaceful media reporter from the “Social Forum,” After an hour of searching, we found a mysterious gravel road that guessed that the cops were too busy pepper- and began waving my American passport at them. They kept beat- looked like it might go into the University. As we started walking spraying the people in front of them to notice ing me, and I finally fell to my knees4. Then they regrouped into down it, we noticed several large Greek men, probably undercover us, so we ran as far from them as we could, a little line, yelled some obscenities at us in only to run into a colorful communist march. Greek, and marched onwards. I timidly looked Looking for cover from the cops, we dived up, shocked that I wasn’t in a Greek jail, and into their march, and the communists took unable to feel my legs. that they were going to suffer this fate, and had blocked their windows offense: several burly Greek men pulled us out, so as not to let our I managed to wobble to my feet and my with huge metallic wall. However, some well-prepared anarchists had violence disrupt their march. Cursing their treacherous nature, I de- beer-drinking Greek friend explained that the brought hammers and picks, and within minutes a hole had been cided against walking around dressed like an anarcho-stormtrooper: cops had been very angry at me when they made in the wall, and then one came up and smashed a hole in the I ducked behind a bush and took off my helmet and gas mask, tossed had discovered the gas mask, and as they had window that was visible through the hole. Another anarchist came my club, and took off my black overcoat to reveal my precious white not arrested me we should move before they and threw a few Molotov cocktails inside, and my eyes were blessed frilly shirt. Satisfied, I left the shrubbery looking more or less like the changed their minds. Throwing the rest of with the sight of cash registers in flames. communists, and jumped into their march. my incriminating gear over at high wall into Caught up in the moment, I attacked a corporate camping store, We noticed that in the madness of the last few minutes we had a church and noting the location, we starting and, after taking out its windows with my flag-cum-cop-beating lost our Irish comrade, probably when the cops attacked with pep- strolling innocently down a street. When we club, I left my affinity group to begin looting the store. Grabbing per-spray. Was he arrested? Hurt? On the other side of the line of saw cops in front of us, we moved to the other a black utility belt, I began going for the backpacks when I felt the cops? My personal take was that going after him was probably a lost side of the street. Suspicious, the cops ran across distinct sensation of heat about my legs. I looked down—my pants cause, and that we should stay together as the situation was degen- the street and forced us to the ground. Under were on fire! I was the victim of Molotov cocktail friendly fire!! erating rapidly and not in our favor. However, with true nobility intense questioning, we expressed nothing “Damn it, I’m in here—just wait a second!” I yelled, and did the my French comrade declared that she couldn’t live with herself if but the greatest confusion about the violence classic stop, drop, and roll—and the fire was out, although my pants she left her Irish lover behind, and that she was going after him. I at the protests (“This is nothing like protests were singed. I ran out of the store, and as soon as I was out it burst told her she was crazy, which she was. All the same, we agreed to where I’m from!”) and the behavior of the cops into flames behind me. The Greek anarchists apologized, saying that meet back up at the University, and she left us—and with admirable (“We’re just here for the Social Forum, why are they didn’t know I was in there. Apparently, the whole concept of courage, still dressed in full Black Bloc regalia, walked right back up you searching us?”). Apparently we managed looting just hasn’t occurred to Greek anarchists, who prefer to burn to the line of police… and right through them, back into the fray. I to keep our stories relatively coherent, because stores to the ground—a possibly healthier sentiment. With smiles have noticed that occasionally during protests doing things that are the cops eventually let us go with apologies for their aggressive be- cops, tailing us. Instead of running, we both agreed direct confron- and handshakes, we proceeded to attack the next store. completely and utterly insane results in the cops just ignoring your havior. As soon as we turned the corner, the process repeated itself. tation would be best. Before they surrounded us and asked us for In our two or three blocks of rampage, the Bloc had become very illogical actions. Finally, we made it to an intersection near the entrance of the Uni- our identification, we ran up to them and asked for directions to the loose, and the cops decided to attempt to come through the side We began attempting to maneuver around the police and sneak versity, where a large group of bystanders and anarchists had gath- University. Stunned, the men fumbled about at our brazen move and streets and attack us. Lines of cops appeared both in front and be- back to join the Bloc, figuring that the fight was still on. It soon ered. We saw our Irish friend. We ran to him and quickly explained told us we were going the wrong way. The men then turned around, hind us and began pelting us with tear gas canisters. The whole place became clear that the police clearly had the upper hand, as scattered that it would be in his best interest to drop all of his Black Bloc gear; convinced of our harmlessness. We waved good-bye and pretended to was transformed into war zone, with canisters whizzing through the Bloc affinity groups came running down alleys, screaming that the he immediately put his black bandanna in a bush. Within a seconds, walk away, and waited as soon as they left the horizon, and ran down air and anarchists running to the front lines to toss Molotov cocktails cops were closing in and they had barely escaped, that the Bloc was a bald and skinny man with a tie-die shirt flew up on a motorcycle, the gravel path… where we heard the sound of amazing Greek folk at the cops. While cops are usually good at maintaining a position scattered and that everyone should regroup at the University. This and yelled at all of us to fall on the ground. My Irish comrade de- 4 once they obtain it, they tend to flee in the face of a steady onslaught seemed to be a sensible idea, so we slowly made our way back. But manded to see his ID. Opening a ridiculous fanny-pack, the cop An Eastern European friend of mine has commented that often the police in Eastern European countries aren’t interested in actually arresting you, just making you of Molotov cocktails. Feeling responsible on account of the equip- as we got closer, it became clear that the cops had surrounded the pointed a handgun hidden inside his unfashionable accoutrement. prostrate yourself before them, so I should have just fallen to my knees as soon as the ment that had been so generously donated to me, I put myself in a University, not letting anyone in. We asked various Greek students “You want to see my ID?”, he raged, “this is my ID!” beating began.

Page 54 Testimonials Rolling Thunder CrimethInc. Summer 2005 Testimonials Page 55 music. We peered through a window—and there they were, Greek My next goal was to get to Istanbul, but in talking with a Turkish When we got to the train station, my Belgian friend, after consider- bags. An elderly woman from an Eastern European country gave protesters drunkenly partying! I walked through the front door into a anarchist I found out the next train didn’t leave till the early morning able soul-searching, decided to finally split the affinity group up -com them so much trouble that border security barely glanced at my bag. courtyard where several Greeks grabbed me by the arms and forced me of the following day. I decided to stay up all night in the University. pletely, as he was going to Belgrade. The over-the-top American hippies As they continued to hassle people, I strategically walked on over to to dance, stomping my feet about in rhythm, as wizened old men sang Eventually my brave French and Irish comrades appeared, reunited, from Maine and Eugene decided to go to what was going to be the the Turkish anarchist and whispered to her my problem. She told me in soulful voices of revolutions past and the fall of the U.S.-backed and bid farewell as they were returning to Eire. After all the sensible first Turkish Rainbow gathering, and our comic Greek friends hugged not to worry, and walked on over to two older men who were also dictatorship in Greece. “We drove the Persian Empire to the seas. We anarchists fled out of the University, it was just me and my Belgian us and left. Just as I was giving the Belgian the final goodbye hug, hanging out at the border. Soon she was talking to them in Turkish, drove the Ottoman Empire to the seas. We have driven the Nazis to comrade, sitting around the fire in the unlikely company of a Ukraini- out of the corner of my eye the humongous Greek sporting a grizzly and I could only grab snippets of the conversation. However, within the seas. We have driven our own dictators to the seas. We shall drive an anarchist who was, after a good deal of heroin use, swinging a large beard, appeared. My Belgian friend whispered in my ear, “I’m sure he’s minutes I clearly got their drift; using the Turkish anarchist as an the corporate man to the seas!” machete dangerously close to us. One anarchist, a hippie primitivist a cop… gotta run,” leaving me alone with one Turkish woman, two intermediary, they began quizzing me on my views towards Ameri- Despite the rousing rhetoric, we had found ourselves in the midst from Eugene, and a strange beatnik from Maine gave us company, American hippies, and of the extreme-left of the Communists. My Greek friend convinced along with three very drunk, if humorous, Greeks, who kept doing im- a probable undercover me that they weren’t that bad, and after helping ourselves to some personations of American stand-up comedians and reminding us that cop more than twice food they had left lying about, we inquired as to how to get to the “peace is the answer,” although “November 17th are still our heroes!”5 my size. I smiled and “anarchist” part of the University. The communists warned us that Then we smelled burning—someone had lit the University on fire! hugged the undercover while they had legally paid for their space at the University, the an- My Belgian friend pointed to the direction the scent of fire came cop, asking how he was archists had seized theirs, and thus the University officials were going from—and I saw a line of several dozen men, wearing motorcycle hel- doing, what his name to let the cops invade their space soon. However, they did point us to mets and armed with clubs, marching in lockstep at us. My instincts was, where he was from. the direction of a secret tunnel that led to that part of the University. were to run, but as I turned my head to the only escape route—there He said he was from La- Under the cover of darkness, we walked down a path, through what were another few dozen men in motorcycle helmets with clubs marching rissa and was taking the appeared to be an underground causeway—where two black-clad at us! We were clearly doomed. Who were these men, other anarchists? train back. He smiled at women were walking the other direction! Apparently they were going Cops? Undercover cops? Confused, I told everyone to just lay still and me, but this time with out, but they assured us we were on the right path. Our nervousness play drunk so that they wouldn’t notice us—this took some convinc- the hint of a threat. He ing for the heroin-addled Ukrainian, who quickly quizzed me on was determined to engage all of them in where I was from, what mortal combat with his machete. The two I was doing in town, and columns marched in front of us, and then so on. After telling him met—and we weren’t sure what was going I was from London and to happen next. It was reminiscent of the in town for the Social meetings of two gangs in Westside story— Forum, and giving his a it looked like there was going to be a fight. thoroughly false name, Instead, they marched through each other, he asked where I was go- formed one large square formation, turned ing. Athens, I told him, around, and looked straight at us. My heart another bald-faced lie. dropped. A huge Greek man, three times as He seemed confused. wide as me across, whispered in my ear that Why was I at the train he was terrified. Luckily, one of the more going to Istanbul? I re- together Greeks ran over to talk to them sponded to wish my before they proceeded to beat us silly. He American friends goodbye. Curiously, he never left to get the train to can imperialism, fascist Greek border guards, and, in an off-handed ran back, saying that they were Stalinists, Larissa—instead, he stood right next to me, waiting for the train to Is- manner, whether or not I was romantically involved with the Turk- angry that someone had set the University tanbul appear. Just as it rolled up, I jumped on board. He grabbed me ish anarchist, which caused both of us to blush a bit. Luckily, after on fire, and with consent of the police were by the shoulder—and I told him that I was just carrying some luggage vehemently declaring (and whispering, still being too close to the going to beat up any anarchist found still on board for my American friends, that I would be back out to talk Greek police for my comfort) my hatred of the policies of my Presi- roving the University. Luckily, my Greek to him in a second before catching my supposed train to Athens. He dent and the Greek undercover police, the men revealed they were friend explained that since we were all leaned over my shoulder, and whispered in my ear: “Were you with Turkish railworkers, and within minutes we were going to switch off allayed, we arrived in the middle of our Aristotle University, Salonika’s drunken pacifists, the Stalinists would let us live this time. the anarchist Black Bloc?” I looked at him, smiled, and lied through the Greek train and onto the Turkish train to go to Istanbul. own anarchist utopia. Within minutes my Greek friends were greeting As the night went on, more and more people passed out till finally it my teeth: “No, of course not, I’m a pacifist!” Then I went inside the After hours of nerve-wracking fear, the Greek guard finally hand- us with feta cheese sandwiches, asking us about our adventures during was just me and the humongous Greek guy. The Belgian was nervous train, dropped my backpack off with my confused Turkish comrade, ed me my passport back, and my only sentence was to pay an out- the day and our opinions about the action. They consistently berated on account of his extreme girth—undercover cops tend to be larger grabbed a change of clothes, ran into the bathroom, and hid. I nearly rageous fine to the Turkish government for the crime of being an themselves for their lack of success, although I attempted to remind than most anarchists—and warned me not to talk to him. As the sun swooned when the train started moving. My hippie friends, mistak- American entering Turkey. This fine is vengeance for the American them that engaging the cops in hand to hand combat and even burn- rose, a Turkish anarchist appeared who was also taking the bus to Is- ing me for the kindly pacifist I had been presenting myself as for the government’s recent fining of Turks who were visiting the states. ing down a few stores would count as a major victory in Britain, a fact tanbul. Scared that we might get picked up by vengeful cops, the local last twelve hours, thought I had lost my mind. However, as we ap- With a smile visible from beneath his handle-bar mustaches (appar- that did not console them. After much debate, they decided that the Greeks offered to escort us to the Train station, while the humongous proached the border between Greece and Turkey, I felt a foreboding ently a universal sign of train workers from Appalachia to Ankara), anarchist forces were too scattered to regroup and everyone should fellow who had stayed up all night with me decided to stay behind. sense of doom fall upon me. The Greek police or worse could be wait- a Turkish trainworker told us to jump in the engine cabin! The train evacuate the University, although the rumors of any cop invasion were Utterly exhausted, we went to the streets, where the Greeks grabbed ing for me at the border, and the undercover cop saw me getting on a started moving, and the railhands began regaling us with stories of simply outrageously false. My French comrade also found me, and us and threw us on a bus. One of them, who had earlier remarked one-way train to Istanbul. how the railroad union is the mightiest Communist union in Turkey, after a great hug inquired as to the fate of her Irish lover, who was still about that he did not personally throw Molotov cocktails, told me The train finally stopped, and the border between Greece and Tur- and how no capitalist Turk or fascist Greek could possibly stop this on the outside of the University—so she left looking for him. Love is that not paying on the bus was his way of fighting back. I agreed it was key was a completely militarized zone, with hordes of surly Greek train. Brewing herbal tea, they let me sit in one of the engineer’s seats. nothing if not irrational. Strangely enough, my suicidal Belgian com- perhaps, at least over the long run, also effective. soldiers guarding the world’s olive oil supply against a potential Smiling at my Turkish anarchist friend, peering out at the starkly rade also appeared, yet he has never explained to this day exactly how Turkish invasion. I slipped the border guards my passport and held beautiful landscape of the Bosporus rolling by in the twilight, at long he got through the lines of riot cops. 5 November 17th is an authoritarian terrorist group once quite active in Greece. my breath as the security guard started going through everyone’s last I drifted into the sleep of those that deserve their rest.

Page 56 Testimonials Rolling Thunder CrimethInc. Summer 2005 Testimonials Page 57 INTERNATIONAL REPORT: FRANCE Metrobus, the company that owns all We attacked them with spray-cans first, While the seeming ubiquity of the billboards, estimated the damage at and then we managed to build our own the spectacle would persuade us millions of Euros. What they did to stop tools4 to open them, snatch the poster that history is over for good, that the storm that seemed to get stronger and and spraypaint inside of them so that ev- that our destinies are sealed and we stronger every week was to sue the website ery time they would put a new poster we will live in this constant and static on which the rendezvous was set. Yet even would just have to open it, snatch the new after the website was down, people would poster and the graffiti would still be there. present forever, the stories we share set rendezvouses on Indymedia or in their in our underground networks of re- Other people would take posters at home, own collectives. Just as many people were détourne them in really creative ways, and sistance suggest something wholly involved, but now in smaller groups, even replace them. different. This is not meant to be an more invisible and unexpected. After every action, we would leave com- exhaustive French radical scene re- As we all know, the motherfuckers never muniqués for every newspaper and local port—what we’re interested in here hesitate to hit under the belt when they TV station. Soon they called us, and to is to share tactics and skills. Every- feel they’re losing the match. In January, our great surprise gave us some really good one wants to change the world, but they called back sixty-two people they had exposure without altering the content of often one doesn’t know where to given fines the previous months and sued our message. The “commando-terrorist” start; these are some points from them for one million euros. The trial isn’t aspects of our operation were made less in- which we’ve tried to start… over yet but it seems it should be more or timidating by the fact we called ourselves less OK for them as public opinion osten- the Moutons Moutardes (Mustard Sheep, sibly favors this spontaneous movement. it doesn’t make that much sense except we bout the Tactic opinion. These actions were not made by more debates, more ideas, more opportuni- Thanks to the incredible exposure, lots of could make a good play on word with the A 1 black-masked anarchists or boring leftists, ties—a town where history seems to start Adbusting : Paris Subway… huge benefit shows have already been or- mustard coming up our noses) and of- Beside the security that this tactic allowed, but by average people who wanted some to move again, where consensual helpless- ganized all over the country. Right now, For some years now, small groups have fered some really quixotic/stupid rhetoric the greatest point in my opinion was that fun. And when public opinion is favorable, ness has been undermined, where life can everyone continues with their “work,” but been waging war against advertising all over mixed with serious politics. We even made this decentralized approach pushed every chances are (in France, at any rate) the me- be touched and even grasped. in even more decentralized ways. You can’t the country; but in November of 2003, TV interviews in really stupid masks! It participant to be responsible for her actions dia will give it good exposure too. The media travel in trains without seeing altered bill- things took a totally different turn here. A was pretty cool when the sound guy told and above all to figure out by herself what did not censor our critique even when we I actually intended to write about many boards, and it feels good. call was made on the internet with a date us he was really down with us and wanted she wanted to write, what she wanted to op- broadened it to every aspect of everyday life more things happening in France: old Situ- and time; 300 people scattered throughout to know more. The first TV report we got pose. There was little room for ideology to and the world. ationists who became peasants in the 1970’s the Paris subway in groups of ten to thirty. ended with a clip from an interview with take that back. Of course, all leftists groups Where do we go from here? The biggest and came back in the forefront of radical 5 Each group would go into a train, snatch … nd All Over The Country a seventy year old woman: “They are right! tried to recuperate the actions, blaming accomplishment, in our opinion, was to cre- critique in 2001 by destroying GMO fields A 8 all advertising in it, then get out at every In life you have to have a good moan!” sexism in the ads or other details that would ate an event to which every radical or like- and laboratories , l’APPEL (“call”), an anon- station and détourne2 every billboard. These Simultaneously, adbusting happened in al- Eventually seven of us got caught by the water down this assault against commodity minded person could come and realize we ymous book that has been widely spread in massive, decentralized, and unexpected ac- most every big town in the country, but with police and spent thirteen hours in a really culture and “the spectacle” itself and make it could turn the town upside down in a cou- the radical, autonomous, anarchist, and tions offered a high level of security while a slightly different tactic, due to the absence cold jail cell. But we managed to avoid another limited criticism of the mere details ple of hours. In the process, we established squat scenes that starts to define the shape 9 at the same time permitting high visibility. of subways. In our town, we made flyers with huge legal troubles, and not pay the 5500 of our total alienation. But on the contrary, links that enable us to spread the assault to of the invisible guerrilla to come , Longo Communiqués were wheatpasted every- a place, date, and time and distributed them euros the lawyer demanded—as the judge, all the questions that inspired opposition to many other aspects of capitalism, way be- Maï, a 400 person fully-autonomous com- where inviting people to join the war. in infoshops, universities, radical movies, the coolest old man on earth, turned out advertising in the first place point the way yond the critique of advertising. Since then, munity, or how a handful of autonomous Three weeks later, at the second call, 700 punk shows, and even to the institutional- to be down too! For punishment, we only to questions about the global workings of Olfactory Assaults (massive stink bomb kids turned the European Social Forum into 6 7 10 people showed up and covered all the sub- ized capitalist-apologist leftist groups (those had to work one day with the workers of capitalist society itself . attacks), Free Public Transport actions , a riot with the liberals and succeeded in way network with paint, marker scrawl, and we mock and diss all the time, yes, even the company—just enough to befriend The terrain we chose for engagement of- University Paralysis (matches and glue in presenting a fireworks display for the pris- posters. The police could not control the them). In our rather small town we managed them, learn that our tactics didn’t actually fered great advantages, too. Although every- locks), Mass A.T.M. Sabotage (attacks on oners of Paris’s biggest jails, who showed situation—there were too many people, and to gather 60 people for one night. We had give them any more work (liberal critics of one has internalized advertising as a part of automatic teller machines), debates, squat- support by burning their sheets out of their everyone was going on and off trains all over stolen some bus maps, drew zones on them direct action take note!), and pick up a few everyday life, everyone is in some way or an- ting and other direct actions have caught windows when the usual spoilsports came to the town. Third call: one thousand people and distributed them to affinity groups. We more techniques. One of us actually got other bored with it, too, everyone knows ad- on, taken off, and transformed our environ- arrest everyone… but to cover all that would showed up, the police gave some fines (75 also tried to mix more experienced and con- away with a full uniform from the Decaux, vertisers are lying and only want to sell them ment. From a town where we always had the probably have taken a whole book. euros), but were totally helpless. All the me- fident people with neophytes, and sent the company responsible for the “lollipops.” things. So attacking this aspect of capitalism feeling nothing would nor could happen, For more information about what’s going least prepared groups to the safest areas. In did not alienate the average person; on the we’ve created a community where every ac- on in France, visit www.crimepensee.com or dia had to talk about it, and everyone started 3 to do it on their own, call or not. one month we fucked 1200 “lollipops .” contrary, it drew a really sympathetic public tion gathers more people, more questions, email [email protected].

CrimethInc. Summer 2005 Overseas Correspondents Page 59 have been applied over the past few years: Last Tuesday, a hooded gang managed to Appendix: Tearing Down the now there are cameras and armed security destroy the wall once again. Fifty hooded Walls at Nanterre University guards everywhere, not to mention pres- students attacked it with two forty-kilo sure on individuals viewed as political home-made battering rams and two sledge- For more than a year now, numerous threats. Last year, the hammers. This time, the security French universities have been the scenes of administration decid- guards tried to intervene, but assaults by anonymous groups. Cameras are ed to build a wall to students foiled them by gather- smashed by hooded gangs, graffiti covers the split the huge hall in ing around the deconstruction walls, the debates of leftist would-be lead- which students used team as a protective buffer, de- ers are sabotaged, door locks are glued, and, to hang out, so they spite the threats and violence most recently, a dean had his nose broken could only circulate, from the guards. Push came to during a demonstration. not mingle. The wall shove, chairs Nanterre University, the cradle of the immediately became started to fly upheavals of May ’68, has a long tradition a target for students’ anger. In April, as from the stu- of uncontrollable students. In response to hundreds of them gathered around the dents’ side of this ongoing threat to the imperial peace, wall to protest the policy of security and the lines, and devices to enforce pacification and control control, a black-masked crew armed a burly brawl with battering rams managed to destroy broke out that it completely. left five security The wall was then rebuilt. guards injured. This year, graffiti announced that the -stu As soon as the wall was destroyed, smoke dents were still a little angry: “Pacification of bombs filled the hall with smoke as the behaviors = massification of fears,” “citizen students fought their way out, leaving no = cop,” and even, “No to the assassination prisoners. Outside of the building, fire- of Audeoud,” Audeoud being the president works exploded in the sky in celebration of the University. For one month, an illegal of their escape. weekly banquet was held in front of the wall.

1 The term adbusting is used here only because we yours. If the tube doesn’t grip because it’s too tight, file “Sabotage is fun and free. Just do it and public transport lack an appropriate translation for the French term “an- it a bit and try again. The problem with this technique becomes fun and free for everyone too.” Every group can tipub.” The authors of this report would like us to note is that after 10 or 20 openings, the plastic is too used also wheatpaste posters with more explanations on every that they hold the eponymous magazine in dismayed and doesn’t grip anymore. So this is where the second bus stop. We’ve stressed doing really funny artwork so it disdain, on the grounds that the editors purport to sell option comes into play. Open one lollipop with a plas- doesn’t scare people too much. Within one hour, you can revolt in the form of shoes, to have invented an anti- tic tube, take away the piece you need to grip to open really have a HUGE impact. If you’ve established good logo logo, and to be attempting to destroy capitalism it and bring it back home. Then get the same size tube, relationships with the local media like we did, you can by becoming capitalists themselves. but in metal this time. Put the tube on the piece and even call them beforehand to let them know something 2 Détourne: To “make the invisible visible” by ap- give small hits with a hammer for like 10 minutes. is gonna happen. Send them a communiqué when you’re propriating existing media and adjusting them to make Slowly the metal tube will take the exact shape of the done, and hopefully you’ll have a coverage that might clear their implications. Example: covering up the logo piece. Once you’re done you have the perfect tool that bring even more people to join you next time. of a local Christian church on a billboard that reads “Is will open ALL lollipops really easily. This explanation 8 If you can read French, we really encourage you Your Life Working?” with paper that reads “Is Working might sound a little bit complex, but once you under- to read René Riesel books published by “Edition de Your Life? Break Free!” stand how the whole thing works you’ll realize it is ex- L’Encylcopédie des Nuisances,” a group whose ideas could 3 Lollipops: Dear editors, here in France we call those tremely simple. Most bigger billboards can be opened be defined as the perfect mix between those of the Situ- smaller underglass billboards by this name. I don’t know with pliers. ationist International and the Unabomber. Other great how to call them in English, but these are the ones in 5 Recuperate: Hijack a radical action that implies a authors from l’Encyclopédie des Nuisances are Jaime Sem- the pictures I sent along. Decaux, the company that wide-ranging critique to make it serve the ends of sin- prun (Apology of the Algerian Insurrection is translated into makes them, is expanding all over the world, so you gle-issue reformist political party control. English) and Baudouin de Bodinat. have probably seen them in the USA too. If there’s a 6 On that issue, when the reformists and capital- 9 Copies of APPEL are available for free through specific word for them, please change it. [Editor’s re- ism-conciliating leftists tried to water down the action Crimepensée, of course. sponse: My dear French friends, I have no idea what a a little bit too much, a really mysterious group burned 10 Contrary to some in the US, we can easily see that Lollipop is, and I doubt our domestic readers do, either, down some lollipops and declared: “We’re less affected by throughout French revolutionary history the “left wing” but that doesn’t make it easy to figure out how to adjust the sexism and stupidity in advertising than by the world has always fucked everything up by creating a concili- your description, so it will have to rest as is.] and the ideology it comes from and upholds. We don’t be- ation with capitalism that amounts to surrender. Every 4 Decaux, the company that owns almost every “lol- lieve that advertising could be acceptable if it wasn’t sexist. time radical demands have risen, the Left has managed lipop” in France, is spreading all over the world (you By only spraypainting and snatching posters, we condemn to recuperate them and re-present them as totally in- can check if your town has been colonized yet at www. ourselves to see them clean and effective again the next day. offensive demands for more control over the details of jcdecaux.com). During recent visits to Belgium, Spain, By burning them down, we send the direct and clear mes- our alienation. They pretend to be radical only in order and Holland, I could witness that our tool worked ev- sage that no conciliation can be made with such a society.” to re-route radical desires to the ends of their reaction- erywhere there too. So to open those lollipops by your- 7 Like in most towns, to validate your travel on pub- ary control. Recent events proved this axiom true once self you have two options… lic transport you have to put a card into a machine that again, when the left wing party showed up at this Euro- Get a 30 cm long and 16 mm in diameter plastic swallows it and prints the hour and date of validation. pean Social Forum—although they were governing the tube (you get that in any hardware shop). On the side In busses and subways there’s one of these machines at country for 14 years, and fucked us up all that time! at the bottom of every lollipop, you’ll find a small hole. every door. At a set time, small groups get in every bus Fortunately, some people managed to get them out of Put the tube in it, push and it should grip to a circular they find, and discreetly put chewing gum or a bolt or the demonstration by means of homemade toxic smoke cogged piece. Turn counter clockwise. The lollipop is peg with glue in every machine, and add a sticker reading grenades and glass bottles picked from the trash.

Page 60 Overseas Correspondents Rolling Thunder CrimethInc. Summer 2005 Overseas Correspondents Page 61 champion of any ‘ism.’” In its pages, one fered a kind of amnesia as to who it was that could find discussion of the plight ofim- fought to earn this right. Just as George W. The Ghost of poverished working women, biographies of Bush can disingenuously pay homage to the such pioneer feminists as Mary Woolstone- memory of Malcolm X, knowing full well scraft (sic), poetry in praise of direct action that had the two been active contemporane- Propaganda (including the use of explosives), news from ously he would have done everything in his the I.W.W., antiwar articles (one bearing the power to silence such a powerful black or- familiar title “Blood and Oil”), critiques of ganizer, consumers of the most reactionary Past: marriage and consumerism, and texts from walks of life can buy condoms or work eight Helen Keller—who is still well known for hour days without troubling themselves The Woman being blind and deaf, but less so for being with the thought that these typical features an outspoken critic of capitalism. The paper of everyday life were won by the blood and ran to seven issues before Sanger was forced sweat of maniacal radicals. Rebel to leave the United States to escape prosecu- Some of the stances taken in The Woman tion for publishing material prohibited un- Rebel have remained controversial. We can The Woman Rebel, a publication analo- der the Comstock laws. only hope to live to see the day when dy- gous to anarcha-feminist papers of the past Incidentally, The Woman Rebel was the namiting munitions factories provokes no twenty years, ran for a short period ninety venue in which the expression “birth con- more uproar than advising young women of years ago, just long enough to make one trol” was coined, and much of the repres- their family planning options. So that none lasting contribution to modern English— sion the paper suffered was due to its frank can write off our own politics as hysterical which we’ll get to in the next paragraph. The discussion of contraception. Issue after issue posturing without historical precedent, let editor, Margaret Sanger, took responsibility emphasized the right of women to have con- us reprint here a text on direct action from for most of the work surrounding its pro- trol over their own bodies, in a time when The Woman Rebel’s first issue, composed by duction and distribution, as many current mere discussion of this matter was forbidden. Voltairine de Cleyre. In this passage, she ’zine editors do, while soliciting “all rebel It’s interesting to note that while contracep- outlines the means by which striking work- women to contribute to its columns” and tion is now widely accepted as a bourgeois ers can ensure that they will be taken seri- insisting that the paper would not “be the human right, our society seems to have suf- ously by otherwise indifferent capitalists:

“ f it’s a telegraph strike it means cutting wires and poles and getting fake scabs to spoil the instruments. If it I is a steel rolling mill strike it means beating up the scabs, breaking the windows, setting the gauges wrong and ruining the expensive rollers together with tons and tons of material. If it’s a miners’ strike, it means destroy- ing tracks, bridges, and blowing up mills. If it is a garment workers’ strike it means having an unaccountable fire, getting a volley of stones through an apparently inaccessible window, or possibly a brickbat on the manufacturer’s own head. If it is a streetcar strike it means tracks torn up barricaded with the contents of ash carts and slop carts with overturned wagons or stolen fences; it means smashed or incinerated cars and turned switches. If it is a system federation strike it means “dead” engines, wild engines, derailed freights and stalled trains. If it is the building trades strike, it means dynamited structures. And always everywhere, all the time fights between strike- breakers and scabs against strikers and strike sympathizers, between People and Police.”

the most radical elements of his time. He French government after he joined in the Biography in Brief: led a life of extremism and adventure, never Marseilles Commune uprising; the reaction- missing an opportunity for action or provo- ary Verne left this out of the novel, deceitful- George Francis cation. ly recasting his protagonist as a conservative, Orphaned at four, Train initially rose to upstanding citizen. Train, fame and fortune by revolutionizing some An atheist from childhood, Train went branches of the transportation industry and on to become a vegetarian; he also funded single-handedly inventing others. Along the Susan B. Anthony’s feminist paper Revolu- “The Great way, he wrote and published some twenty- tion, declined presidency of a revolutionary five books and pamphlets, invented the per- republic offered him by Australian miners American forated stamp and the pencil with attached seeking independence from England, iden- eraser, and founded the city of Omaha, tified himself with the First International Crank” Nebraska. His voyage around the world in (the workers’ congress at which Marx and Renowned while living as America’s great- eighty days, taken in 1870, inspired Jules Bakunin struggled over the question of state est eccentric, George Francis Train (1829- Verne’s novel on that theme. Train nearly power and liberation), and went to jail for 1904), entrepreneur and inventor, also failed to make it within his chosen time lim- defending an advocate of free love against sympathized with and supported some of it, on account of being imprisoned by the the notorious Puritan book-burner Antho- CrimethInc. Summer 2005 Old News Page 63 Anarchy in the Ukraine! ny Comstock. He later boasted that he had penalty in a show trial following the explo- of millions who lived and acted in those tu- been imprisoned fifteen times without ever sion of a bomb in the midst of a company multuous times. We can learn easily enough having committed a crime. of police that was firing upon a crowd of ci- of his exploits because he happened to be a Train ran for president in 1872, then vilians. Despite his efforts lecturing on the millionaire, while the equally marvelous ad- declared himself a candidate for dictator, anarchists’ behalf, not to mention the fact ventures of less wealthy individuals always promising to establish a “pure autocracy of that there was no evidence connecting the go unheralded and unrecorded—unless they love.” Asked by a reporter if, as dictator, he defendants to the bombing, the city of Chi- infringe on the interests of millionaires, that would occupy the White House, he replied cago executed four of them (and would have is. In being amused and inspired by the story that he preferred to rule the universe from killed a fifth, too, had he not committed of his life, we can aspire to similarly fantastic the park bench he regarded as his headquar- suicide in advance)—and, to add insult to adventures of our own, without need of the ters. By that time he had finally succeeded in infamy, banned Train’s newspaper, The Psy- false grandeur of fame. These are bound to the arduous task of using up all his wealth, cho-Anarchist. come, anyway, in the course of our efforts and withdrew from public life for a period, In 1890, Train again circumnavigated the to create a world in which none are wealthy insisting he would only interact with chil- globe (“I go round the world every twenty and all are rich. dren and the squirrels with whom he shared years, to let it know I am still alive”). In -Much of this material was plagiarized from a piece the peanuts that were his principle food. 1902, two years before his death, he pub- in the excellent Haymarket Scrapbook, edited by He returned to the spotlight in 1887, lished his autobiography. Dave Roediger and Franklin Rosement, published when the purported leaders of the Chicago Train’s antics and adventures may seem in Chicago in 1986 and quite possibly languishing anarchist movement were facing the death without parallel, but he was only one out in the stacks of your local college library.

Lenin and Trotsky Discuss Their Good Friend Makhno

The Secret Lives of Cab Drivers: Nestor Makhno A true story for children

This is the true story of the youth of an obscure cab driver called Nestor Makhno, who grew up out in the countryside on the eastern edge of Europe . . . Page 64 Old News Rolling Thunder Nestor was born into poverty in the small called themselves communists and claimed sneaking over the border into his homeland. and seized the horses and guns of the land- town of Gulyai-Pole in the southern Ukraine, to represent the masses, seized control of the While he had been gone, other peasants had lords to arm the people. under the reign of the Russian czar. His fa- government; meanwhile, in the Ukraine, the formed clandestine groups, and begun to Soon they had assembled an army of their ther died before he was a year old. Like most process was more gradual and grass-roots: the fight the occupying troops by night. With own, a peasants’ army. True to anarchist ide- peasant children, he only attended a couple peasants’ unions and workers’ councils took his house burned down and his town pa- als, each brigade elected its own command- years of school before it was time for him to stock of all the land and property the aristo- trolled by foreign soldiers, Makhno joined ing officer, and each soldier designed his or start working in the fields; as soon as he was crats had, and redistributed it equally among one of these groups. her own uniform. Makhno became one of old enough, he got a job at a factory, too. the population. In both regions, the slogan Every few weeks they had to flee from one the generals in this volunteer army. Soon, Those were restless times in Russia and the was “all power to the soviets,” for “soviet” is town to the next, as the spies of the secret other insurgent peasant groups came to join Ukraine. A failed revolution had just taken the Russian word for workers’ collective. The police worked to track them down. Makh- them; one of these was led by Maria Nikifo- place, and in its wake the czar’s secret police landlords and bosses were not thrilled about no’s friends from the peasants’ unions, which rova, an anarchist guerrilla Makhno had long were cracking down on political dissent of this, but there was nothing they could do; had now been made illegal, hid them and fed looked up to. all kinds. Anarchism—the idea that govern- the police and armies that had protected them. As time went on, more and more peas- Together, these armies of peasants and ment is inherently oppressive, that human their property were gone. ants came to join them in the underground, anarchists returned to Gulyai-Pole, with the beings should organize their lives together Soon after the revolution up north, some and more and more German and Austrian intention of liberating it from the Germans as equals without domination or submis- Bolsheviks came south to the Ukraine, think- troops were sent to kill them. The insurgents and Austrians for good. The attacked it by sion—was popular in Russia, and young ing it was theirs now that they had taken the staged a raid on Gulyai-Pole, Makhno’s home night, and all the local peasants joined with Nestor’s friends were involved in an anar- place of the Russian government that had town, and forced the soldiers out of it; but them in driving out the occupying troops; chist group. The secret police discovered its ruled it. Makhno welcomed them, as they the next week, many more soldiers returned, but the next day more troops returned, and existence, and arrested many of them—they were revolutionaries like himself, but they and the rebels were driven into the forest. The the local peasants would not fight with them arrested Nestor as well, for good measure. made him suspicious. There were even ru- soldiers followed, and for days Makhno and by daylight, for if they were recognized they At age eighteen, he was sentenced to life in mors that they were outlawing all opposing his companions hurried through the woods, would be killed by the foreign army as soon prison, and sent away to a penitentiary far parties in Russia, just as the czar had. the sound of marching troops behind them. as it took over the town again. So Makhno to the north, in Moscow. During this whole time, Russia was also One evening, they heard the same sound and his friends were driven out of Gulyai- Makhno spent the next decade of his life at war with Austria and Germany—this was ahead, and realized they were surrounded. Pole until nightfall, when the locals came there, and contracted tuberculosis in the the first world war, and it was the pressure of They could not surrender to the German back to join them once more, and they were prison’s notoriously harsh living conditions. this war that had resulted in the czar’s demise. troops—they feared they would be killed— able to push back into the city. This hap- While he was there, he decided he might as The Bolsheviks were anxious to conclude this and they could not escape; Makhno pro- pened every day and night for five days, until well learn about the subversive ideas he’d been conflict, so they signed a peace treaty turning posed to the group that they try a surprise finally the occupying troops were exhausted accused of, and spent many hours studying the Ukraine over to these countries. Before attack. This seemed like suicide, but no one and retreated. anarchist literature under the tutelage of fel- the Ukrainians could have any say in it, the had a better idea to try. From Gulyai-Pole, the insurgents moved low prisoner Peter Arshinov, who was later to countryside was filled with Austrian and Ger- Most of the occupying troops were staying on to Ekaterinoslav, the biggest city in the fight at his side in the Ukraine. man troops. These put a puppet government in a nearby town; there were over six hundred area, where the most Austrian and German Then, in the spring of 1917 another revo- in place, and returned all the wealth and of them there, camped in the main square, troops were stationed. Makhno and his lution took place, and this one was success- land to the control of the former landlords and only one hundred peasants in Makhno’s friends were completely outnumbered, as ful—the czar was overthrown! The Russian and owners. Peasants who had been active in group. Makhno and a few others who were before, but once again he proposed a plan: nation was thrown into turmoil, and in this the unions were arrested or killed; Makhno’s quick and had not yet been wounded snuck at the beginning of the next day, when the chaos many prisoners were set free. Makhno home town of Gulyai-Pole was occupied by right into the heart of the town, and climbed train from the countryside entered the city was one of these prisoners, and he immedi- troops who burned down his mother’s house up on a rooftop. From there, they opened fire to take all the poor migrant laborers to their ately left Russia, going south to his home- and shot his crippled brother. on the army below. The soldiers didn’t know jobs, Makhno and the others rode in on it, land, the Ukraine. Makhno fled north, back to Moscow, where the shots were coming from, and pan- too, dressed as peasant workers, with their Up in Russia, the new government was where he’d been in prison, to see if the “revo- icked, assuming they were under attack from guns hidden under their clothes. Once again, an unsteady coalition of different groups, all lutionaries” there knew what was going on in a much larger force; they fled, unorganized, his plan succeeded, and the occupying forces vying for control; but down in the Ukraine the land they’d given up. He was given an au- and surrendered to the rest of the peasants, were taken by surprise, and surrendered! things hadn’t changed much yet. Makhno dience with a funny looking little bald man who were waiting for them at the edge of The first thing Makhno and his compan- was the only one to return to Gulyai-Pole called Lenin. Lenin assured Makhno that the town. Suddenly Makhno was a hero! ions did upon taking the city was go to the out of everyone who had been taken away Bolsheviks were concerned about the fate of The peasants killed the commanders of prison, set all the political prisoners free, and by the secret police, and he was welcomed the peasants in the Ukraine, and also asked the soldiers and took their uniforms, then burn it to the ground. They expected a coun- with great expectations: now that the czar him how the peasants there interpreted the set the rest free, telling them to go back terattack from the Austrians and Germans, had fallen, all the townspeople who had been slogan “all power to the soviets.” Makhno to their home countries and stop harass- but the world war had just ended with these conservative before looked to radicals such as replied that they took it literally: they as- ing Ukrainian peasants. Dressed in the nations in defeat, so they chose to pull their they presumed him to be for a sense of what sumed the revolution meant they would commanders’ uniforms, Makhno and his armies out of the Ukraine and cut their loss- was to come. Working from the books he have complete control of their lives. “Ah, you companions now traveled through the es. The Ukraine was free! had read in prison, Makhno began to orga- anarchists are so short-sighted,” said Lenin, countryside, presenting themselves to the Makhno and the other peasants got busy nize unions among the peasants, and to call mysteriously. “You think about the future, rich landlords as occupying generals. The now putting their anarchist ideas into ac- congresses among the workers so they could but you don’t understand how to be practical landlords treated them to great feasts, tion. They went from city to city, and in each get used to making decisions themselves. in the present.” thanking them for returning their wealth one they entered they announced that they Later that year, another revolution took Makhno concluded that the peasants in and power and crushing the peasants’ re- were not there to take political control, but place throughout Russia and the Ukraine. the occupied Ukraine would have to solve volt. At the end of each meal, Makhno and only to facilitate the passing of power and In Russia, a party called the Bolsheviks, who their own problems, and returned home, his friends revealed their true identities, resources from the hands of the government Page 66 Old News Rolling Thunder CrimethInc. Summer 2005 Old News Page 67 and the rich into the hands of the people. congress illegal, seeking to consolidate all front. The battle raged all day, and by sun- Now the final military struggle of Makh- New farming collectives, worker’s councils, power for their “revolutionary” government, down it looked like the peasants were finally no’s career began, between the Ukrainian community projects, and newspapers were and cut off all supplies to Makhno and his going to be defeated, when Makhno and his peasants and the Bolshevik forces that sought organized, and a great congress began to army. Then, they called a meeting of all the horsemen appeared on the other side of the to subjugate them once and for all. All the meet every few months at which the prob- anarchist officers; fearing treachery, Makhno battlefield, surprising the enemy generals in previous wars the Bolsheviks had been in- lems that could not be solved locally were resigned his post, and didn’t attend. This was their camp and scattering their guards. The volved in were over, so they were able to addressed. Police, prisons, and tax collectors fortunate, because the Bolsheviks arrested invading force broke up and fled, and the bring their armies from every corner of the were abolished, and replaced by cooperative and executed all his friends who did. The peasants took thousands of prisoners. Soviet Union to chase down Makhno and systems; peasants, free from the constant aristocrats’ armies seized this opportunity to Now Makhno and the survivors advanced the other insurgents. The anarchists hid in pressure of laboring for their landlords, were push through the front and into the Ukraine, back across the Ukraine, liberating the towns the villages, in disguise, gathering supplies able to focus on educating their children and and without the insurgent armies to stop and cities again, and opening and burning and volunteers, while huge Bolshevik armies enjoying life. They organized theaters and them, they drove the Bolshevik armies all the every prison. In one town, where the priest stomped across the countryside, looting and performing troupes; every night there were way back to Moscow. It looked like Russia had turned over all anarchist peasants to the even burning entire towns they suspected potluck feasts, followed by dancing and sing- and the Ukraine were going to return to the police of the occupying army, they took his of supporting the renegades. Over 200,000 ing. At the third Ukrainian anarchist con- hands of the landlords and czarists. robe and made it into a black flag to fly over peasants were killed, and just as many im- gress, delegates representing over two million The Ukraine was now occupied by the in- their forces. The army laying siege to Moscow prisoned or deported to Siberia; every non- people gathered. Makhno was able to relax, vaders, who reinstated the old landlords and was forced to retreat, as their line of supplies Bolshevik organization and newspaper was for a short period, and got married to the bosses once again, and again slaughtered all from the south was cut off. Peace returned outlawed and destroyed. With the help of daughter of a former police official, a tough the peasants and workers who had organized briefly to the Ukraine; a fifth Ukrainian an- the peasants, though, Makhno raised a new young woman who operated a machine gun in their absence. Makhno gathered another archist congress took place, and people tried army and began to confront the Bolshevik on the battlefield at his side. army of volunteers from the peasant refugees to get their lives back together. invaders. They took back Gulyai-Pole, and But the trouble was not over. In the south, and deserters from the retreating Bolshevik But the aristocrats regathered their forces took six thousand soldiers hostage; of these, the landlords and aristocrats who had lost army, and initiated another guerrilla war. He and staged one last great invasion. The Bol- two thousand joined Makhno’s army, glad to their privileges gathered with the remains of became famous for the tactics of surprise shevik armies were struggling again to resist be free of their communist oppressors, and their wealth, and hired an army of mercenar- his forces employed: once, for example, the this attack, so they approached Makhno, of- the other four thousand were freed to return ies to fight under one of the generals that had peasants in what appeared to be a wedding fering another peace treaty. No one in the to their homelands. But many of the ones served under the czar. Meanwhile, from the procession suddenly produced guns from Ukraine trusted the Bolsheviks anymore, but they set free were caught and killed or forced north, the Bolsheviks, who now controlled all beneath their clothes and shot down the oc- with the invaders attacking again they felt back into service by the next Bolshevik army, of Russia, wanted to have the Ukraine back cupying soldiers who had gathered to jeer at they had no choice but to cooperate with which drove the insurgents out of Gulyai- now that the German and Austrian forces them. Local peasants in every town would these so-called revolutionaries. Pole and back into the woods. were gone. Bolshevik forces showed up saying hide, feed, and inform the rebel forces; in Makhno stayed home in Gulyai-Pole for After this struggle had been going on for that the Ukraine was a part of Russia, and that times of need, the rebels could disappear into this military campaign; he had many injuries four months, a bullet struck Makhno, enter- its workers should be organized under direc- the fields, posing as peasant family members to recover from, and was still suffering from ing his thigh and exiting his stomach. In this tion from Moscow. For them, “soviet” power while the soldiers searched for them. Makh- the tuberculosis he’d developed in prison. He injured state, he still led every charge against meant the power of the government over all no’s forces were always faster than the Bolshe- wasn’t surprised to hear that his comrades the invaders, but he had to do so lying in a the workers it purported to represent. Rath- vik and aristocrat armies, because they could defeated the invading armies once again, wagon. A few days later, his army was cornered er than turning the land over to those who trade their tired horses for fresh ones in each but he was surprised when the Bolsheviks at the coast by a Bolshevik army, and everyone worked it, they built great factory farms and farming village. All the same, they were badly turned their cannons upon the peasants the with him was killed; he was the only survivor, set up party members as the new bosses, and outnumbered by the aristocrats’ armies, and very next day; naively, Makhno had believed smuggled away semiconscious in a peasant’s shipped the grain produced far away. Peasants had to retreat slowly before them. The aris- that the conflict between the anarchists and cart. All the same, he continued fighting for in Bolshevik-controlled territories began to tocrats split their forces in two, sending one communists came down to philosophical five more months, until his fellow insurgents revolt again, and often the armies sent to sup- army west after the Ukrainian anarchists and differences, when in actuality the Bolsheviks decided he needed to leave the country to get press these revolts mutinied and joined them. the other north to Moscow. wanted absolute power for themselves at any medical treatment for all his injuries. The tension was building between the peo- As Makhno’s group moved through the cost. The entire Ukrainian peasant army at He set out for the Romanian border, but ple of the Ukraine and the Bolsheviks; but countryside, more and more refugees joined the front was slaughtered, and Gulyai-Pole spies tipped off the Bolsheviks that he was before it could explode, the aristocrats, who them, until their army was accompanied by was surrounded by red Bolshevik troops clos- going there, and they sent an army to block had fled when the czar fell, attacked from the a wagon train of tens of thousands. Every day ing in to kill Makhno and his companions. the way. Fighting for days and nights on end, south with a great army funded by Western it was a struggle to stay ahead of the attackers; Thinking quickly, Makhno called his friends sometimes sneaking through the underbrush nations. Makhno and his comrades gathered Makhno was often wounded in skirmishes and neighbors together and gathered all the and other times forced to charge straight volunteers and formed a new army, and estab- with them, but seemed blessed with a good red cloth in their households. Soon, one of into enemy lines, he and his friends made lished a front blocking access to the Ukraine. luck that protected him from death. For four the Bolshevik brigades saw a troop approach- their way forward. In one of these engage- They arranged a peace treaty with the Bolshe- months, the peasants retreated through the ing them, bearing red flags and singing the ments, a bullet entered the back of his skull viks, on the grounds that both groups desired countryside, until they were trapped: the Russian communist anthem, the Internatio- and came out his cheek; it was back in the to protect the revolution, and held off the aris- aristocrats’ armies had encircled them, and nale; they assumed it was another brigade wagon for Makhno. Despite this, they made tocrats’ army for many months. there was no way out except to fight. returning victorious from the village, until it to the Romanian border, and escaped But the Bolsheviks, jealous of the indepen- Once again, Makhno proposed a plan. suddenly Makhno and his fellow peasants across the river from the pursuing armies. Of dence that thrived in parts of the Ukraine, He and the peasants with the fastest hors- pulled out the machine guns. The element of the tens of thousands who had fought at his had other plans. Once Makhno and his es crept out under cover of darkness, and surprise gave them enough of an advantage side, only eighty seven crossed into Romania friends had their hands full at the front, they shortly before dawn the rest of the insurgent to break through the lines and escape into with him, including his wife Halyna. All the declared the fourth Ukrainian anarchist armies attacked the invaders’ army from the the forest. friends he had begun the struggle with, al-

Page 68 Old News Rolling Thunder CrimethInc. Summer 2005 Old News Page 69 most all his family and all the citizens of Gu- his new role as a father, he was arrested again, lyai-Pole, were now dead. He had been shot and put in quarantine—this time for having Biographer’s and stabbed over twenty times, was covered tuberculosis. Polish anarchists helped him in scars, and still carried a bullet in his ankle, to escape, and the Makhno family hid out Postscript which surgery had failed to remove. in Poland until they finally crossed the bor- In Romania, the Ukrainians were put in der illegally into Germany. From there, they I’ve received a ride from an im- prison for months—they were, after all, il- moved to Paris, where Makhno lived the rest migrant cab driver or two myself. legal immigrants—and then exiled to Po- of his life in poverty. I wonder—could I have been the land, where they were also put in prison. He never succeeded in learning French passenger of the former com- Makhno’s tuberculosis, which had troubled well, or getting a decent job. He worked for a mander of the anarchist forces in him his whole adult life, was getting worse. little while as a cab driver, among other pro- Uganda? Could she have been the They were sent to trial, charged with being fessions. Doubtless, some French petty ac- woman who asked me for change enemies of the Polish state, but acquitted countant got a ride from him one night, and the other night? for lack of evidence. Makhno’s wife Halyna swore at his bad French: “These fucking im- had given birth to a daughter during their migrants, they can’t even learn our language, For that matter, what about incarceration, but before he could focus on they’re good for nothing.” the rest of us, the cab drivers and a graphic depiction courtesy cashiers who never got to have the adventures we long for, who of the Beehive Collective never get to prove ourselves at the things we’re really good at? In one of my former lives before I became an anarchist, I was a dishwasher. I roken up across the next few pages is a figurative depiction of make a pretty good anarchist, but “Plan Colombia,” the U.S. policy in the Andean Region of I was a terrible dishwasher. I think South America. This illustration is the outcome of many discus- constantly about my companions in sions regarding colonialism, militarism, and resource extraction that dishroom, fearing that some of that took place between the Beehive Collective and organizers in Ecuador, them are still there, wondering what B it will take for them to get out. Colombia, and the U.S. in the spring of 2002. The graphic portrays some of the ways in which the so-called “War on Drugs” and “War on Terrorism” How about the almost two mil- function as a smokescreen for the interests of multinational corporations lion people languishing in prison that connive to extract the rich biodiversity and natural resources of the in this country today—when will Amazon and her peoples. The picture illustrates this story in order to help the revolution come that gives them their lives back, and the the viewer experience the different aspects of an extremely intricate and chance to live for something that violent situation, and to give weight to the inspiring stories of hope, cour- matters? Could we find wars of lib- age and struggle of those who experience it more directly. eration of our own to fight in, to There are three “layers” to this image: first, THE NIGHTMARE OF PLAN take our communities back from COLOMBIA, on the surface. Being covered up by this madness is the sto- the forces that occupy them? Or are we to live our whole lives with ry of 500 YEARS OF RESISTANCE: the hope, struggle, and wisdom of the the dubious consolation that such people and critters of this bioregion. On the margins, cutting away, are THE things are simply not possible, that LEAFCUTTER ANTS, swarming the poster, hauling away chunks of the il- they have never happened? lustration to expose the powerful scene of bio- and cultural diversity that lies under the surface of this nightmare.

Text originally developed for the voiceover accompanying The Beehive Design Collective is based in Eastern Maine. All their work a contestoria utilized by a is anonymous and anti-copyright, for free use as popular education tools. barnstorming tour to teach children To obtain full-size copies of this design or other artwork and educational Ukrainian revolutionary history, summer of 2003. Although there is material, or to collaborate with them in other ways, contact them at: a dearth of evenhanded historical material available on Makhno and Beehive Design Collective his times, readers are encouraged to 3 Elm Street begin with Voline’s The Unknown Machias, ME 04654 Revolution and Peter Arshinov’s History of the Makhnovist 207-255-6737 Movement. [email protected] www.beehivecollective.org Page 70 Old News Rolling Thunder CrimethInc. Summer 2005 Art Page 71 THE W.A.S.P. NESTS that are economically forced into In order to convey not just the current situation of Plan Colom- cocaine production and traffick- bia, but also the larger historical context of colonialism in Latin ing, but not those that are truly America, the origin of this invasion is represented as a W.A.S.P. profiting from demand. (White Anglo Saxon Protestant) nest. In nature, paper wasp nests - Down in Texas, the oil baron are structured in tiers: multiple colonies drop out of one another, larvae, a close friend of the Bush each attached to the previous nest by a stem at its midpoint. Here, administration, will give you a this is illustrated with the United States nest dropping out of, but tax break… if your vehicle is big still connected to, the W.A.S.P. nest of Europe… enough. Thanks for driving! So let us begin our story at the top, where three leaves of the - Off in California, Larval Schwarzenegger’s Disneyfication of war ghosts of Columbus’ boats fall from a white branch. From a abroad keeps the American people mesmerized with its well-timed W.A.S.P. nest shaped like the European Union, the monarchy of Hollywood blockbusters. Spain is directing the migration of “ghost” colonists towards the Americas. Each of these W.A.S.P.s represents a different force in the push for colonization. THE SIX-LAYERED, MULTI-BILLION - Two Pilgrims have packed their bags, ready to move in… DOLLAR MILITARY SWARM - While a Missionary flies in clutching both the cross of the bible Swarms of metal-armored insects have been unleashed from this as well as the cross of Western medicine… nest onto South America, to carry out “Plan Colombia,” a multi- - As a Conquistador invades with a sword and blanket covered billion dollar military operation in the name of the “War on Drugs” in smallpox… that is now being opportunistically morphed into a “War against - And a Judge brings in the white Terrorism.” Here follows a description of the layered formation of man’s concept of time and the law… these operations… - His pal the General has doubled up - First to emerge from the nest are three praying mantis missionar- his arms with a sword and a musket to ies parachuting out of Utah into remote areas of the jungle. It’s no protect the new landowners… coincidence that they are bringing with them not only the cross of - And they’ve brought along the pope the bible, but the cross of Western medicine, as these two concepts to bless their mission with incense and are simultaneously pushed on indigenous communities. This cul- a crucified ant… tural push is not just a thing of the past: even now, when a corpora- - And lastly, the Slave Trader is tion seeks to extract resources from indigenous land, they first send clutching his load of stolen ants bound missionaries to establish “friendly contact.” in wooden stocks. - In the air high above all other aircraft in the scene are the ears Across the top of the W.A.S.P. nest shaped like the United States, of U.S. surveillance: a scorpion-like military airship, covered with written in a bar code font, is “Plan Colonia: 500 anos de terror- antennas, with one large, radar disk on its hind parts… these AWAK ismo.” This is a reference to a common graffiti slogan from the An- planes are used for “listening” by the Pentagon, and for communica- dean Region: “Plan Colombia = Plan Colonia.” This heading helps tion with smaller planes and helicopters below. to convey the intense irony of the US using the word terrorism as a - Out in this expanse of space is a web of surveillance satellites justification for war… and to remind North Americans of the un- scanning the scene from every angle. These satellites, which impart forgotten history of terrorism in the Americas that began with the the paranoid sensation that Big Brother/Uncle Sam is watching, imperialist push from Europe over 500 years ago. The larvae of these are a little known indicator of the extent of the high-tech invasion W.A.S.P.s, hungry with the voracious demands of North American of the fumigation operations. Thanks to co-ordination from a U.S. consumerism, are isolated in each of their state cells, mesmerized by military base in Florida and a contract with the U.S. corporation American flags on their televisions and computer screens. A few of DynCorp, satellites are being used to identify the actual chemical these larvae have become grotesquely overgrown: for instance… structure of the plants - In the Northwest is the Microsoft larvae, constantly thirsty for millions of the terrain in Co- of gallons of fresh water (see the Beehive’s FTAA poster for facts on the con- lombia down to four nections between water consumption and computer manufacturing.) meters. With the use - Next door in Montana, the land of cattle ranching, an enor- of Global Positioning mous McDonald’s larva is Systems (GPS), this clutching an “ALCA Meal” surveillance is suppos- as his happy meal. ALCA is edly used to guide the the Spanish acronym for the fumigation planes to Free Trade of the Americas: “pinpoint accuracy.” Area de Libre Comercio de (We heard that about las Americas. smart bombs too, - Over in Minnesota, Val- eh?) Given that these erie, the Mall of the Americas showers of chemicals, larvae, just went on a sweatshop shopping spree, “thanks to ALCA.” often dumped at high - Eastward to New York, a cocaine larva reminds us that the num- altitudes, rarely hit their supposed target of coca, many believe that ber one consumer of cocaine in the world is the United States, where this technology is being used in heat-searching of human forms for the racist and classist “war on drugs” is rigged to criminalize those covert military operations . . . Page 72 Art Rolling Thunder CrimethInc. Summer 2005 Art Page 73 - In formation below this, millions of campesinos and indigenous people from their homes. a squad of DH C-47 and Faint illustrations of the chemical structure of glyphosate sprinkle OV-10 Bronco planes create down from the clouds, stripping trees of their leaves, and trickling a “layer of protection” for the down into the groundwater and earth below. fumigations to take place. A swarm of mosquitoes has landed to extract the resources of The planes are being used to the area. Three petroleum mosqui- “secure” the area. The many toes—Occidental from the U.S., incidents in which whole British Petroleum from the U.K., villages, with their inhabit- and Repsol from Spain—have ants and farm animals pres- pierced the veins of the earth to ent, have been directly fumigated indicate clearly that this force is not pump out its blood. These three present for the safety of human beings in these areas. companies are the biggest players in A swarm of metal-plated Blackhawk wasp-copters are itching for a the consortium known as OCP that fight big enough to justify their multi-million dollar price tags. They is continuing to build a contentious hover in formation alongside the fumigation planes. pipeline in the Amazon Rainforest of Ecuador and Colombia. This, by no coincidence, is where the most THE LIE OF THE DRUGfWAR, intensive fumigations are taking THE HORRORS OF place. BIOWARFARE - In the trees, a mosquito scrapes Amidst the ghost trees and animals is seen the depopulated, de- a rubber tree to extract for the automotive industry… foliated, and devastated countryside, where the fumigations of Plan - As a Nestle mosquito is extracting cash crops like coffee and Colombia are taking place. On the left, you see a crop-duster with cocoa from the countryside. the Monsanto logo, and on the right, a duster with DynCorp’s. - Pharmaceutical mosquitoes are busily extracting genetic material These are the two U.S. corporations which are the major players in from plants to use in patented medicines. The patents make it illegal this military operation. Monsanto is the multinational which has de- for indigenous communities to continue using these plants in their veloped products such as Agent Orange, BT Corn, NutraSweet, and traditional medicines. holds the patent on “Terminator Technology.” DynCorp, a defense - A Coca-Cola mosquito is sucking up the water from a river full contractor based in Virginia, is a lesser-known actor in this foreign of fish skeletons that has been polluted by the fumigations. Coca- policy. It is a U.S. corporation that functions as a “private army”; as Cola is one of the major companies that have been privatizing water such, it is involved at every level of Plan Colombia, from coordina- throughout Latin America. Notice that the can only shows the word tion with satellites, to shipping chemicals and training pilots. coca, to remind the viewer that the big boom in the cocaine industry Monsanto’s products clearly illustrate the connection between happened with the introduction of cocaine in their products, and war and agricultural chemicals. Roundup Ultra, a broad-spectrum that they have been involved in the massacres of workers and orga- herbicide also known as glyphosate, is being used at many times its nizers ever since. normal strength, and with additives that make it more gel-like for Central to this situation is the the purpose of lingering longer on the plants. This chemical is being OCP (Oleoducto de Crudos sprayed to justify the war on drugs to the American people, but has Pesados) pipeline, the jugular had devastating effects on both the crops of subsistence farmers and vein of petroleum extraction in the rainforest habitat that hosts some of the most diverse species the Andean region. It is owned of plants and animals on earth. T-65 Turbo Thrush planes, being by a conglomerate of multina- flown by DynCorp pilots, release stripes of chemical clouds onto tional corporations, and has ruptured many times, causing irreparable damage to vital rain- forest habitat over the years. It has also been the target of in- surgent military groups who are angry at how little the impover- ished regions see of the money being made from the mineral wealth that is extracted and transported through this pipeline. As a blatant example of war for oil, the Bush administration has given 98 million dollars to create a special forces branch of the Colombian military to guard this pipeline. The paramilitary beetle in the foreground is rolling up a ball of ant parts to represent the ferocious massacres that are taking place. Like so many millions that must keep moving to escape this violence, a the landscape. In order to avoid being shot down by guerrillas and family of ants is being displaced from their homelands. As they run angry farmers, these planes release their chemicals at much higher from the massacre, a comrade ant beckons them to an entranceway altitudes than they are designed to be released. This makes for a very of the underground . . . inaccurate spraying process that has resulted in the displacement of

Page 74 Art Rolling Thunder CrimethInc. Summer 2005 Art Page 75 STORIES FROM THE ANT WORLD There they embark on a journey that takes them through a spiral tunnel where, thanks to the dismantling of the leafcutter ants, two coexisting realities are juxtaposed on opposite sides of a cross section of the earth. These two layers of the situation, shown simultane- ously, further convey the multi-faceted invasion of colonialism into every aspect of daily life and culture. ORGANIZING FOR KARAOKE VS. THE FIESTA EMPOWERMENT VS. TRAINING Their adventure begins in the karaoke bar… But first take a look FOR TORTURE at the opposite side of the world, where a traditional fiesta is raging. Next are the contrasts between two classrooms. A group of min- Fiestas have historically been used as a form of rebellion, a refusal ers learning about how to organize a union are having an animated to submit to genocide: an action taken by communities to come discussion. The teacher is distributing pamphlets while raising a together to create joy in the face of madness and war. At this fiesta, fist and showing them on the chalkboard how to link arms to do a five ants are singing, dancing, and holding hands as a musician plays blockade. On the desk is a bowl of the coca leaves that miners chew under a traditional party decoration and the moonlight. They have on the job to relieve the fatigue, hunger, and pain of their labor. one bottle of rum to share between them all. In contrast, there is a classroom at the School of the Americas in Back in that karaoke bar, there are only four ants, because a ma- Fort Benning, Georgia. The students, all sitting at attention, have chine has replaced the musician. Thanks to the anti-social influence on their backs the flags of some of the Latin American countries of homogenized culture, one of them is singing some commercial where SOA graduates have contributed major atrocities: Argentina, pop music while the others have their “fun” by pointing and laugh- Nicaragua, El Salvador, Chile, and Colombia. The teacher, an Army ing. They “party” under the disco ball; instead of passing around one ant from the United States, is simultaneously distributing diagrams bottle of rum, they all have their own individual bottles of beer. of weapons, while banging his fist on the table and showing them on the chalkboard how to remove arms for torture. Also on the board is the emblem of the new name that the SOA has recently chosen DOLLARIZATION VS. BARTERED for itself: “The Western Hemispheric Institute for Security Coopera- GOODS tion.” Sounds nice, doesn’t it? Their emblem includes the Maltese In the next scene, the ants’ economy has been dollarized with cross as a representation of “Columbus’ legacy of security coopera- U.S. currency. They now must trade dollars for corn and wool ant tion in the Americas.” Yikes! socks. On the opposite side, with both hands, they are bartering goods with each other that they produced themselves—in this case, a bushel of corn for a specially made wool ant hat.

GATHERING AROUND THE FIRE VS. TELEVISION AGRI-“CULTURE” VS. AGRI- Further down in the scenes on the “live” side of the Earth, an “BUSINESS” elder ant gesticulates wildly, telling stories of “La Violencia” to a The next scene depicts a small indigenous farm that uses ancient mesmerized group of youngsters gathered around a campfire, whose permaculture techniques. A square of four plots is surrounded by hair stands on end. a ring of local fruit-bearing trees to create a buffer zone that helps In the analogous scene on the side of colonization, the children to protect the crops from pests. They have planted beans, quinoa, are gathered around and mesmerized by the campfire on the televi- potatoes, and yucca, and are gathering them into baskets to bring sion instead. The elder ant is now reduced to changing the channel back to their families. for them instead of telling his own story. Back on the nightmare side is a scene on an industrial agri-busi- ness farm. The workers, whose traditional hats have been replaced by uniforms, are harvesting from massive rows of bananas, cocoa, MONOCULTURE VS. flowers, coffee, and sugar cane. Instead of loading baskets for their TRADITIONAL CORN own consumption, they are filling burlap sacks, each with a flag of This story of corn is a separate scene from the other agricultural the different countries to where these cash crops will be shipped. scene, because of the significance of corn as a cultural icon with at- tendant mythology. On the left, a farmer’s crop, planted in straight,

Page 76 Art Rolling Thunder CrimethInc. Summer 2005 Art Page 77 homogenous rows, is depicted as grenades with DNA strand tassels THE HEART OF THE EARTH to represent genetically engineered corn. The campesino is wearing In the center of the anthill is an anatomical heart that looks on one a backpack sprayer, as well as the cap he got for free at the Ag store side like a petroleum pumping station, alluding to the extraction of where he bought the chemicals. He is spraying weeds that are at- what some indigenous communities in the Andean Region consider tempting to run away to the other side of the story… to be the blood of the earth. On the side of hope, on the other hand, On the right, the heirloom, seed-saved corn is many different it is a living heart with a spiral colors and heights, and is fluttering with butterflies not endan- in the middle and the Kichwa gered by its pollen. A woman, still wearing her traditional hat, has word “pachakutik” written a child on her back instead of a sprayer. With a machete, she is below it. Pachakutik is an harvesting from her field the small plants that she knows how to indigenous word with many use for medicinal purposes. meanings. It often refers to the idea of time as a spiral with the beginning in the center and the future spiraling ever outward, in contrast to the western idea of time as a straight, continuous line. This perspective offers hope, as there is always a new layer covering up the previous one, and “what goes around comes around.” Surely this wise perspective can give context to current events in the North of the Americas, where there is ever-increasing irony in the U.S. calling for a “war on terrorism.” MAMA COCA VS. COCAINE This is the dead end of the spiral path that many of the ants have THE NIGHTMARE BROUGHT been forced to tread. Here, a coca bush has been split down the middle: on one side is leaves, and on the other they have turned into TO JUSTICE dollar bills. On the right is an ant that is brewing up a batch of coca At the bottom of the poster is a reclamation scene. The ants of the tea for a young ant that feels fatigued from altitude sickness. On the leafcutter resistance, streaming up and down the sides of the poster, left, an ant adds coca leaves to an extractor. It is important to note are carrying in the chunks of the nightmare that they have been busy that he is adding many different chemicals as well, as it is impossible dismantling. They are further breaking these pieces up with their to make cocaine purely from mamacoca. These chemicals, often in- tools, and taking them back cluding kerosene and formaldehyde, are imported almost entirely to the soil. This composting from the U.S. The young ant is packaging up the cocaine into a box of the nightmare, processing to be shipped back up to the origin of the demand: those resource it through the filter of the craving consumer larvae in the U.S. earth, will assure that what grows back in its place will not be just as destructive. LAYERS OF HISTORY IN THE With this new hope, they are SOIL replanting the countryside In addition to the scenes in the ant tunnels, the complexity of and bagging up contaminat- the situation is depicted in the different layers of soil underground. ed soil to clean up the many The first layer deep is a layer of the arms and compacted guns that oil spills that have resulted serve to pull communities apart. On the “live” side are various types from the pipeline. A team of of basket weaving, representations of community work that weaves leafcutters is dismantling the pipeline that spells out “Colombia” in people together. acknowledgement that many indigenous people consider the concept The second layer down are mass graves of ant skulls mixed with of “Colombia” to be itself a mass hallucination. The boundaries they protest signs to represent the massacres of those that have organized observe between each other often transcend the borders imposed on against the nightmare. Opposite this are sprouting seeds. The third them by those who have colonized their ancestral lands. The ants layer, the fabric of society, is camouflage on one side, contrasted work in tandem with an ally from the plant world: the Cat’s Claw with traditional woven fabric made in community on the other. vine, powerful enough to tear through concrete. Digging down to the last layers, on the side of monoculture one The ant world has much to teach us. A popular saying in Latin finds a landfill of discarded bottles, cans, and trash, while opposite America is that revolution is “el trabajo de las hormigas”—the work this are vessels that are decomposing back into earth. of the ants. Their existence is a reminder of how small and inconse- quential we may feel in the face of adversity, beneath the immense weight of the work necessary to transform it. Yet they are also a potent symbol of the constant and seemingly insignificant efforts all around us that work powerfully in concert to break the spell of nightmare.

Page 78 Art Rolling Thunder CrimethInc. Summer 2005 Art Page 79 a A President (in disguise, buts thronged with guards): …but tell me, what do you think of the President?

Beggar (casually): There is no President—only some who believe there is one, and at least one lunatic who believes it is he. He thinks the whole world revolves around him, but there are far more important people—me, for example, or even you.

President (insulted): And what’s so important about you? What exactly do you contribute to society? O O Beggar (imperturbable): Let everyone do what he enjoys and give away what he doesn’t The cans in Jerome’s backpack rustled sive or intimidating, though his I think that I shall never see need, and all will have plenty. and clanked as we came to a stop beneath obvious intellect was probably the billboard. I shifted the milk crate from off-putting by itself. A billboard lovely as a tree. President: Oh yes? If everyone were a Beggar, what then? my left hand to my TTright and stared up at I never would have met Jerome the bottom of the brown metal ladder, easily if a few friends of mine, members Perhaps, unless the Beggar: And if everyone were a President? What then? twelve feet out of reach. It wasn’t the bot- of the cell, hadn’t already trusted tom rung that bothered me, though—it was me enough to bring me into their billboards fall, President (incensed): That’s not the same thing! [triumphant laughter from the top, a hundred feet up in the black sky. circle. All of them, including Je- the Beggar] Besides, there are ordinances against begging here. I could hear the bitter wind singing shrilly rome, were quite paranoid about I’ll never see a tree at all. through the structure far above—I couldn’t their activities, and at first I was —Ogden Nash Beggar: I’m well aware that what you consider duty would have you jail me, Diogenes, tell if it was an invitation or a warning. amused by all the cloak-and-dagger preten- Jesus of Nazareth, Saint Francis of Assisi… “You ever wonder why they don’t just fall sion. Once they felt comfortable enough to first time out, arguing that he was best suited over?” I said in a low voice, the same voice openly discuss their more ambitious plans for that job as the most experienced “writer” President: Yet we all must obey the laws of our nation. that Jerome and I had used since we parked around me—and once I realized who Je- in the cell. There was no argument. Beggar (animated): No, only of nature, and that is too many already! It is bad enough to be behind the nearby department store and rome was—then I completely understood The car ride from my apartment to the de- born without wings; to be denied the free use of one’s hands and feet is simply intolerable. hopped a few fences. “That big billboard, their desire for secrecy. One day, around the partment store parking lot was filled mostly propped up on a narrow metal pipe? The same time that I stopped noticing that the with Jerome’s music: fast-paced metal that President: My friend, you live in a democracy—the laws that govern you are wind oughta just blow it over.” apartment in which we met smelled of cat careened from savagely heavy to curiously Jamie Miller, P.O. Box 4964, Louisville, KY 40204-0964 Box P.O. Miller, Jamie made by a State that is nothing more than the will of the people themselves. “It’s solid metal, dude. The pole goes piss and garlic, I found that I was no longer melodic and back again. He spoke only when down into the ground, through that thick playing along with their “security culture,” switching CDs or punching equalizer but- Beggar (sardonically): Oho, the will of the people! Once the State proclaimed itself the concrete base.” Jerome’s voice was that of a but actually a serious part of it. tons on his shimmering stereo, little silence- representative of God’s will among us, now it calls itself the representative of our own teacher impatient with his student. Known I imagined that the few people who found filling sentences like “You’ll like this track” or will. I suppose lies must be replaced from time to time, when they become rusty! Two only by OTTO, his vandal’s pseudonym, he out that Jerome was OTTO felt a bit of sur- “Check out the lyrics to this one.” Sometimes hundred years ago, Beggars were beaten by the will of God—now we are jailed by our was infamous throughout the region—hat- prise, awe and maybe some disappointment— he’d mention how he first discovered a par- own will? At least we have made progress in wit! “Now I lock myself in prison”—“now I ed by billboard advertisers, sought in vain like you might upon meeting a controversial ticular band or say that he’d seen them play pay myself minimum wage”! We Beggars are not so mad as to conflate ourselves with our by police, admired by graffiti artists, and re- late-night radio host for the first time. When live a few times. I don’t remember him ask- vered by anarchist groups. he wore his bleach-white college cap, oxford ing me if I liked listening to metal or not. I masters. Are you? I had met Jerome through one such group, shirt, dark sweater and khakis—what he called thought, here I am sitting next to OTTO in President: And who would you have maintain order, if not your government? a small cell devoted mostly to animal rights his “undercover gear”—he looked like a per- his car, listening to his favorite metal bands, activism. The cell was targeting the phar- son who scorned double-parkers and welfare and though I enjoyed the idea of hanging out Beggar: Governments are only necessary where there is disorder to be maintained. Left maceutical company Eli Lilly primarily for cheats, and not at all like an accomplished with such an infamous criminal, the reality of to ourselves, Beggars are quite capable of maintaining order on our own. I daresay the their animal experimentation, but also be- vandal. it was so far less than thrilling. same is true of all. cause of their role in “creating a benumbed Jerome was strictly into direct action, We could see our target from the express- Prozac nation,” as one of the cell’s typically though he did a good job of concealing his way: a well-lit billboard featuring part of an President: A world without governments? But that is utopian, an impossible overwrought press releases read. distaste for theory and rhetoric. When the African-American woman’s face in the lower ideal. When I first saw Jerome at one of their college students in the cell volunteered to left-hand corner. The woman was laughing— meetings he almost seemed like a comi- compose a manifesto, Jerome had no objec- guffawing, really—and glancing out at the Beggar: Perfect health, too, is an abstraction, an ideal—but I still fight off infections cal figure: a squat, bald guy with thick- tions, but when it came time to plan what expressway with her head angled backwards, when I get them! [feigns as if to take a sudden swing at the President; the President framed glasses, clad in an oversized black they called “night work,” Jerome participat- as if she had just told a great joke and wanted flinches, then quickly reasserts an exaggerated composure] Besides, if there is to be hoodie and baggy, olive-drab cargo pants. ed in every aspect of the planning. to let you in on it. In the upper right corner imbalance, it’s better to be among the have-nots; at least then one sleeps better at night. He looked like a refugee from an MTV For this particular action against Eli Lilly, was the word “irritability” in giant sans-serif [looks deep into the President’s eyes, as the latter’s guards step forward to surround him] mosh-pit casting call. That impression was about half of the cell members were driv- letters. The first five letters were crossed out We only have to be lucky once; you have to be lucky all the time. dispelled when he spoke for the first time, ing to Indianapolis to target the corporate with a big X, and beneath that the board outlining his objections to an unusually headquarters. The rest of us separated into advised, “Think it’s PMS? Think again,” in a outlandish call for action proposed by an- three pairs, each of which was tasked with nice italic serif font. It was an ad for a new b B other member of the cell. He was brusque, targeting a particular billboard. Jerome had medication called Sarafem, targeted at wom- s articulate and firm without being aggres- actually volunteered to take me along for my en experiencing premenstrual depression. Page 80 Fiction Rolling Thunder CrimethInc. Summer 2005 Fiction Page 81 The billboard had seemed large but not of-factly. I’m not sure if he noticed my expres- “Jerome!” I gasped, but he was already rung—I had lost count, but it could have the roll, tearing it with his teeth. He pressed intimidating from that distance, but here, sion of surprise. “I’ll come behind you with the grabbing my hips and steadying me so my been rung number ninety or rung number the tape against the light first, then wrapped gazing up at it in a fenced-in field of weeds gear—” he jerked a thumb over his shoulder, feet could find purchase. He shoved me up- nine hundred—and I felt like they could it around the sides of the billboard. He tore behind a department store at around three in indicating his backpack—“and once you get to wards as best as he could, too short to actu- never uncurl, and if they did then they’d off another long strip and applied it, then the morning, it seemed oppressive and vast. the top, stay on the back platform, OK?” ally get me where I needed to be but sturdy never be able to wrap themselves around a one more, until he was satisfied. He nod- It was quite cold and all we could hear was “How am I going to reach the ladder?” enough to stabilize me. rung again and I would surely plummet to ded and I took my hand away. The flashlight the Doppler whine of passing cars and the “I’m gonna boost you up onto this box. I managed to clamber up a few rungs my death. held; the spotlights stayed off. occasional 18-wheeler downshifting on the Use the power cables to steady yourself, then before I realized how short of breath and I was composing the next day’s headlines “Now that the lights are off, your job is to unseen off-ramp near the store. grab the ladder and you’re set. I’ve done it a freaked out I was. I felt stupid and burden- (which was worse, STUDENT PLUM- “Ready to do this?” Jerome muttered. It million times, it’s no problem.” some, like a kid who knows his older brother METS TO DEATH or STUDENT wasn’t really a question. I considered this. I could have backed out, is only just barely putting up with the in- FOUND FROZEN TO BILLBOARD “How are we gonna reach the ladder?” if I’d wanted to, but I felt obligated to com- competence of his younger sibling. Jerome LADDER?) when I felt Jerome smacking “We’ll climb up on the base, then get up plete the task. I wanted to get this message was right below me, having already pulled my right heel. on that electric box near the ladder. From up on the billboard as much as everyone else his whole compact bulk up onto the ladder. “Hurry the fuck up,” he shouted over the there we oughta be able to reach the ladder.” in the cell did, and I couldn’t exactly expect He tapped my foot and said “Let’s go, it’s a shrieking wind, “we don’t have all fucking The base was a squat concrete cylinder them to do it while I sat shivering on the side- long climb.” night! Look up, not down, fool!” about six feet high and four feet wide. Je- lines. Also, I had to admit, I got a kick out I made the mistake of looking up. It was I had just been chastised by the one and rome took the milk crate from my hands and of going out on a mission with a guy like Je- indeed a long climb. I couldn’t even begin to only OTTO, and he had raised his voice placed it at the bottom of the base, then used rome. It was something like being starstruck, guess at the number of chilly, ragged rungs to do it. That was enough to get me go- it as a step so he could haul his squat body and since I scorned the cult of celebrity I was I’d have to grip one by one on the way up. ing. Somehow I managed to issue the right up. I followed, not really needing the milk ashamed to discover this within myself. It was literally too late to back down at this commands to my frozen claws: Loosen, crate but using it anyway. If I was really blown away by his celeb- point, though. I took a deep breath and raise up, clamp next rung. Step up. Loosen We leaned back against the billboard’s metal rity status, I reasoned to myself, then I’d be raised my right arm up two rungs, then my claws, repeat until end of ladder. pole and looked down at our toes hanging off too intimidated to go along with this. I’d be right leg, and pulled myself up; then my left The ladder ended in a rusty, man-sized, the edge of the concrete. The lip of the base standing off to the side, staring in admira- arm and left leg followed, and I was climb- three-sided box behind the billboard itself. was just under a foot wide. Jerome edged tion. He’s just a regular person like me, so I ing the ladder. I managed to pull myself up and over to around the pole until he reached the utility should treat him that way. I tried to focus on the thing that was ul- one side, though I was almost blinded by box bolted adjacent to the foot of the ladder. I “Sounds good to me,” I said. “Here I come.” timately holding me aloft—not the ladder, the glare of the fixed spotlights shining just pivoted on my left foot, being careful with my I scooted around the narrow ledge of the but the wide pole to which it was bolted. It below the massive Eli Lilly advertisement. balance and weight, so I could hug the metal base until I was next to Jerome and the utility was a nice steady reference to stare at while I Attached to the rusty cage was a narrow pole and watch what Jerome was doing. box. Without meeting my eyes—maybe he did moved up, one hand and foot at a time, over metal walkway with thin rails, as long as He gazed at the foot of the ladder for a sense that I was sort of in awe of him, and may- and over again. the whole board, and there I planted my- moment, then reached out and touched the be it made him uncomfortable—he bent his Below me, Jerome murmured something self, still shivering, to watch Jerome unpack top of the utility box. It was about eighteen knees a bit and cupped his hands low between indistinct, but the wind carried his words his bag and begin his work. watch for cops,” he said, gracefully stepping or twenty inches long, as tall as my arm from his thighs. I grabbed one of the cables with one away. I stopped and said “What?” in that He pulled out a roll of duct tape and a around me on the narrow platform. “Their top to bottom, and around five or six inches hand and put my foot in Jerome’s hands. This same low, discreet voice we’d been using all tiny flashlight, then carefully stepped around lights probably won’t be on, so you’ll have to wide from front to back. Two thick cables is it, I thought, and then before I could scare night long. He mumbled again and I told me to examine the edges of the billboard. I look for markings.” came out of collared holes in the top and myself with the idea of failure I hauled myself him I couldn’t hear him but he kept on mut- heard a quiet exclamation of discovery. He picked up his backpack, pulled out a went straight up the pole, carrying juice to up with Jerome shoving me from below. tering. I looked down at him to say some- “What’s going on?” I asked. pair of binoculars, handed them to me, then the billboard lights, which were still on. The ladder didn’t seem so far away once I was thing polite but urgent like “Jerome, I’m He turned on the flashlight and pointed it at heaved one padded strap to his shoulder and “Are we gonna work with the lights on?” standing on top of the utility box. I leaned to sorry, I still can’t hear you,” but my tongue a small panel on the side of the billboard. Im- made his way around to the front of the bill- I asked. I wondered if he was going to break the side a little and grabbed the ladder’s fourth froze in my mouth when I saw just how far mediately the spotlights died and I blinked to board. Almost immediately I heard the un- open the box and pull a switch. rung with both hands. The coldness of the met- up in the air we were. clear the lingering harshness from my vision. mistakable ratta-ratta sound of spraypaint “No. There’s a light-sensitive trigger up al wasn’t a surprise, but the rough surface was. The ground seemed as far away as it does “This is a solar trigger,” Jerome explained. cans being shaken. there that we’ll take care of. You’ll see.” The paint was chipped or peeling everywhere, from a plane. The ladder started shaking and “When the sun rises in the morning it cuts I laid down flat on the cold, rough walk- He peered at the box and its cables for and the center of the rung actually seemed to be my brain shrieked Earthquake! but it only off the spotlights. I need you to hold this way and peered down at the department another silent moment. “OK. Are you any without any paint whatsoever—probably from took me a few seconds to realize that it was flashlight in place while I tape it down.” store parking lot far below. The cars seemed good at pull-ups?” years of billboard workers’ sneakers grinding just my body trembling with fear. It’s not I grabbed the tiny rail and the steel frame tiny but their makes and models were easily Because of the whistling wind overhead, I away during ascent and descent. often that we modern, civilized Americans of the billboard, braced my feet, and care- distinguishable in the stark glare of the tall thought he asked if I was “any good with bul- “Now kick your feet up there and get on are placed in a position where the strength fully hauled myself up to a hunched standing light poles sprouting regularly throughout lets,” and for a few unreal seconds I thought the the bottom rung,” Jerome said. He sounded of our hands is the only thing keeping us position. Despite the whistling wind which the lot. With the binoculars, I could tell if a cell had decided to initiate me into some kind like someone’s dad patiently explaining the alive, I thought, and as soon as I did my threatened to blow my wool cap off my head, particular car had whitewall tires or not, so I of anarchist assassination program—maybe I mechanics of bicycle-riding. hands felt more tired than they had ever the billboard was rock-steady, yet I still felt figured I wouldn’t have any problem notic- was going to learn sniper techniques up there I pushed off with my feet—and dangled been, more than after the three-hour writ- like a green sailor trying to get his sea legs. ing a white Crown Victoria with a big cop on that billboard. Then I figured it out. against the ladder uselessly. I was asking my ten exams that my freshman English pro- I staggered over to Jerome’s position at the logo on the side. “No, there’s no way I can pull myself up legs to cooperate but they just weren’t paying fessor had been famous for, more than they end of the billboard. He laid the flashlight Jerome seemed to have a certain way of onto that ladder,” I said with more than a little any attention. Instead of folding up and to had after washing all of the dishes from my flat on the small solar panel so that its light working: rattle the can, spray a little, then relief. Abort mission, I thought, the new guy each side so that my feet could hook onto the sister’s wedding reception, more than after formed a small parabola on the dark surface. repeat. Ratta-ratta-psssss, ratta-ratta-psssss. doesn’t have the upper body strength for it. ladder’s bottom rung, my legs just flopped an entire day’s worth of piano practice. My I held the bulbous end of the light in place I knew he was a perfectionist when it came “Then you’re going first,” Jerome said matter- around below me. fingers were curled into claws around that as Jerome yanked a few feet of duct tape off to legibility and style so I had tried to get as

Page 82 Fiction Rolling Thunder CrimethInc. Summer 2005 Fiction Page 83 comfortable as possible on the metal walkway, right open hand almost in my face. I reached the saying. It came to me when I saw a po- figuring that we’d be here for a little while. up and smacked it, grinning like an idiot. lice car whizz past us in the opposite direc- poems by nobody He surprised me by walking back around “You totally froze up going up that ladder, tion: criminals always return to the scene of the to my side of billboard about fifteen minutes man,” he continued, becoming uncharacter- crime, and that’s how they get caught. later. I felt his footsteps through the steel istically expansive. “I thought I was gonna “Shouldn’t we be avoiding the scene of the structure before I saw him come around the have to climb over you, do the job, climb crime?” I asked Jerome, who laughed. I felt corner. I was ready for him to say something back down and then call out the hook and silly and small again—the student humbled ok so far like “Forget it, I dropped my cans” or “I saw ladder truck, you know?” once more. a cop, let’s go,” but instead he said “I’m done. He laughed at my shocked look. “Just kid- “Dude, it’s almost rush hour. Look around. sitting on the curb Let’s get out of here.” ding, just kidding! You were fine for a virgin. There are hundreds of cars on the expressway. feet in the gutter I stood up and handed him the binoculars. You went down that ladder pretty damn fast, We don’t stand out at all. If we headed back smoking, “Aren’t we going to get the flashlight?” didn’t you? Fuckin’ A you did! Goddamn, to that parking lot and whipped out a cam- alone, “If we turn it off and take it with us, the I gotta hear some metal. How about some era and started congratulating ourselves, then listening to music through spotlights will come back on, and then every- Harakiri? They’re from Indy. I wonder how we might look suspicious. We’re cool, man. tiny headphones, one riding by on the expressway will see that the Indy operation went? I hope those kids Trust me.” one-thirty in the morning we just fucked up this billboard. Come on, pulled it off. Dude, we gotta go to Denny’s. Jerome tapped his fingers on the steering an unusual fog all around let’s go, dude.” I always go to Denny’s after some successful wheel and I rubbed the corduroy covering staring at the fluorescents “You going first this time?” night work.” my thighs. We were impatient to see the bill- across the way at the gas station. “You wanna go first?” He chattered like that for the rest of the board. Almost there, I thought, just around early spring “Sure.” I wasn’t sure if volunteering to be night and I was barely able to get a word in. this bend, and— i look at my bare feet the first down would redeem me in his eyes, Some of his metalhead friends were at Den- “Ha! Woo hoo!” Jerome boomed, filling they don’t look like the feet i would wake up first but it was worth a shot. ny’s, so Jerome spent most of his time talking the car with his voice. “There it is, dude! That of a young man always and Going down turned out to be a lot easier to them. I felt sort of left out for a while. looks great!” anymore watch her sleeping than going up. I didn’t have to swing my Once our food came, though, Jerome was There it was, on the left side of the express- but they never did creaky arms up over my head. I was cooper- fixed in his seat, alternately taking bites of a way, looming over the department store and really ating with gravity instead of fighting it. I felt double stack of pancakes and a pile of hash its no-longer-empty parking lot. The Afri- look out the window at early spring safe moving slowly towards the earth, as if browns covered in Tabasco sauce. can-American woman was still laughing at and they seem ok it was quiet the solid ground beneath me would be more Despite having ordered twice as much food something, and the upper right of the board ok to still be with me with her forgiving if I hit it while coming back down. as I did, Jerome finished first and was bid- still said “irritability” and “Think it’s PMS? ok so far they seem to say there The bottom of the ladder rose to meet me ding farewell to his buddies when I ate my Think again,” but below that text were mas- we’re in it together. faster than I expected. I let my legs dangle last bite. We paid our bills and walked out to sive black letters in a style all their own: again, swung them over to the utility box the car. The sky, so dark just a few hours ago, “ITS NOT PMS, ITS RACISM AND SEX- she would wake not enough and successfully lowered myself down to the was now pale gray and pink. ISM. FUCK ELI LILLY! STOP ANIMAL stretch out her arms concrete base of the pole. I leapt down and Jerome clapped me on the shoulder. ABUSE!” scrunch her face if i sat across from her picked up the milk crate. Jerome dropped to “Come on, dude, let’s go see our handiwork.” Below that was a tall jumble of curves and winter in olympia moan across the table the ground beside me, landing on his feet in The adage criminals always return to the scene lines, unintelligible to the untrained eye. I press up against me again a crouch like a tomcat’s. of the crime popped into my head right away. could distinguish the two O’s and two T’s, after the film sigh i would reach out In the car Jerome finally smiled. “We did it, As we left Denny’s and got on the express- though, despite the stylized capital A’s in- at the capitol an eyes-still-closed smile touch her dude! Fuckin’ A!” he shouted, throwing his up- way, I tried to remember the second part of scribed within each circles: OTTO. walking we would talk face in the rain slow, weak-fingered talk a few blocks my thumb to my restaurant some mornings lightly resting on “Hey Stella, I love graffiti and fucking where they know she rushed downstairs her cheek bone me shit up in general, but have you noticed and returned my fingers grazing the ordering the usual with a beaten, discarded how much of this magazine is just underside of her jaw pouring the tea grapefruit soft and solid about boys and their exploits?” holding the small cup and peeled it i would look at her tight and warm while we sat together and and i would cry “Yeah, that’s fucked! Let’s find their between my hands watched through the open window and not stop wet hair office and burn it to the ground!” early spring sun and clouds cold sticky skin it is a lie and i think this a mending heart she would put a section every time “Myself, I’m going to give them the benefit a sip of tea into my hand and before i see her again of the doubt: I’m going to send them articles warmth i would eat it i never do it about some of the bad-ass direct action we from the gut out we spat the seeds out i keep trying everything else waiting for the do, along with an analysis of why machismo the window and it fails spring roll it was going to end and is still so prevalent in anarchist communities, to arrive we ate our early spring i still don’t know what to do and if they don’t print them, then I’m going winter grapefruits when love is not enough to burn their office to the ground.” in olympia anyway

Page 84 Fiction Rolling Thunder CrimethInc. Summer 2005 Poetry Page 85 poems by raegan butcher taking care of the cat THE he had a girlfriend and the girlfriend had this cat it was very old she’d had it a long time and had grown quite attached to it one day the cat got sick the last man on earth so she asked him A parlorVILLAGE game in the form of a psychodrama, courtesy of the Curious George Brigade ([email protected]) just heard that if he would take care of it the destruction while she was at work The Village is an excellent way for a room of acquaintances to get to know each other better of the Amazon Rain forest he said he would and have a raucous accusation-slinging, alliance-forming time in the bargain. Incidentally, it has jumped 40% and later that day also provides rigorous training in deceiving, recognizing deception in others, remaining calm it makes me short of breath after she had left during cross-examinations, persuading your comrades of an important truth when they have just to think about it for work reason to believe you are lying, and many other skills that come in handy for those doing both he took the cat organizing and undercover work. Soylent Green is on it’s way into the backyard This game is still in the early stages of its development. Please feel free to experiment with the and shot it thru the head rules and format, and report your findings to us. Happy bickering, dissembling, and mauling! i’m the last man on earth with a .22 alone in my room when she returned from work To Play with nothing but the music she asked him about the cat To play, you need at least nine people, one of whom will be the host. The host begins by of the dead she said, “what did the vet say?” randomly distributing identity cards to the other players, who should not let each other know to keep me company “the vet?” he asked what cards they have received. These cards will identify the players as Peasants, Witches, “yes,” she said “i asked you Elders, Hunters, Children, or Werewolves. There should be one card for each of these roles, this is just the way to take care of the cat—you took with the exception of the Peasant role: there should be as many Peasant cards as you have extra i like it it to the vet, right?” players. For example, if ten people including the host are playing, you should distribute four he nodded, slowly Peasant cards. In a pinch, as few as eight people can play, if you leave out the Child card. thinking, oh shit, is that what Players should sit in a circle, insofar as this is possible, so all can have a good view of each she meant? other to watch for psychological cues. The host occupies a central position so he or she can “well,” she demanded, “what did the officiate throughout the playing and address players by night without it being clear to other vet say?” freedom of the working class players who is being addressed. he looked at her and tried If you so desire, you can photocopy the illustrations accompanying this text and make them to project a sense of grim seriousness all it takes to cheer me up jubilant desolation into identity cards. You can also design your own such cards, or just scrawl the names of the then took a deep breath and said, is a pocketful of money. different roles on scraps of the napkin you found in the jail cell in which you are playing. “the vet said there was nothing he could do.” it certainly helps the clichés are true “what?” when i’m feeling smashed by the forces. you can’t run away from yourself “i had him put the cat to sleep.” it’s a nice feeling it’s too bad Premise “you did?” to be off on a friday if you want to The Village is essentially a role-playing game: the players take the “i didn’t want the cat to suffer.” with the weekend roles of citizens in a village that has been infiltrated by a Werewolf. “you didn’t?” ahead The catch is that no player can be sure what role any other player is “no, and i didn’t want you to have a fresh paycheck in my wallet; actually playing: thus, the heart of the game is the psychological chal- to make the decision because it almost makes the murdering lenge of deciphering the motives and activities of the others while General Rules i know how much the cat meant to you.” of my hours the enemy keeping your own to yourself. Most of the game is spent in guarded It generally works best to play with only three silver bullets for she stepped forward during the rest discussions and heated arguments over Werewolf-catching tactics, the gun, unless there are twelve or more players, in which case threw her arms around his neck of the week the horror. to look into punctuated by exchanges of accusations and denials about who the four bullets is a better number. and gave him a deep kiss worthwhile. the mirror and see my father’s face. Werewolf is. The host is neutral and the final judge on all rules and proce- “you’re the sweetest, most compassionate almost, but not quite; to look down at my hands and see It is the goal of the villagers to kill the Werewolf with a silver bullet. dures. Dead players should remain silent and not influence the man in the world.” this is the pitiful freedom my father’s hands. the hands of the If the Werewolf is shot with a silver bullet, the villagers win. If the vil- game—the dead don’t speak! No player may look at another’s and he thought to himself, of the working class: enemy, of the man i don’t want lagers run out of silver bullets without killing the Werewolf, or if the card, or show another player their card until they are killed. A don’t i know it 48 hrs to do what the hell you want. to be. Hunter and all the Peasants are killed, the Werewolf—or Werewolf player should not mouth information or otherwise communicate team, depending on how badly things have degenerated—wins. during the night.

Page 86 Poetry Rolling Thunder CrimethInc. Summer 2005 Games Page 87 Second Night, and Additional Elder Rules Days and Nights Each night, excepting the first one, the Elder gets a clue. The host picks a question and On the second night, everyone again announces it to the entire sleeping village. The host will indicate the answer to his or her own closes their eyes, and the host addresses the question with a nod or shake of the head, which only the Elder, being the only player with players in the same order he or she did the open eyes at that juncture, will see. first night. The differences are that, from the In a case in which there are two Werewolves, the Elder must indicate which Werewolf he second night on, the Elder receives clues, the or she is requesting a clue about by holding up one or two fingers before hearing the ques- Hunter—or the sheriff, if the Hunter has tion. been killed and the villagers have been able Like all players but the Hunter and the Peasants, the Elder can be elected sheriff, but can- to agree on a replacement—has the choice not fire the gun. This means that if the Elder is elected, when it is the time of night when the of killing another player, and the Child can sheriff is called on to decide who if anyone to shoot, the Elder can only decide not to shoot ask silent questions of the host about the anyone. Werewolf’s identity, if a player on either side of him or her has been killed by the Were- Elder clues could include: wolf. Is the Werewolf male? On the second day, the host announces Is the Elder sitting next to the Hunter? who has been killed by the Werewolf, and Is the Werewolf sitting next to the Elder? who, if anyone, has been killed by the Is the Werewolf wearing a sweatshirt/facially tattooed/etc., according to the demographics Hunter or sheriff. The villagers can tell the of the players—it helps to pick a characteristic that describes about half the players. difference between the two murders, as one has been committed with a silver bullet and First Night open their eyes and stop making noise—and the other with fangs and claws. Again, the After each player is aware of his or her se- describes the death of the unfortunate victim villagers must agree on a mandate for who cret identity, the host announces that the first of the Werewolf. In death, a player’s identity their Hunter should kill. If the Hunter has Child Rules night has fallen in the village. During each is revealed to the others. been killed, the village must elect a sheriff. If the Child’s parents—the players sitting to the left or the right of the Child—are killed night period, the villagers all keep their eyes There follows a town meeting at which the On the third night, and then again on by a Werewolf, the child’s ability to “peek” is activated. The reasoning here is that, as the closed while gently tapping their hands and villagers discuss what is happening, specu- the sixth night, a full moon rises. On a full Child was in the house during the attack, he or she may have gotten a glance at the Were- feet for atmosphere. The host addresses each late wildly as to the Werewolf’s identity, and moon night, the Werewolf has two options, wolf. When addressed by the host the night following his or her parent’s death, the Child is of those playing a special role in the village, try to force each other to reveal their identi- and must indicate to the host which he or allowed to point at any player to ask the host if that person is the Werewolf. The host nods without giving away who is who, in this or- ties. Such characters as the Witch, the Elder, she chooses. If he or she holds up one finger, yes if the person selected is the Werewolf responsible for the parent’s death. If two Were- der: and the Child will usually want to keep their she can turn another player into a second wolves together were responsible for the parent’s death, the child can learn about either one’s “Child—wake up.” The player who re- identities a secret so the Werewolf doesn’t Werewolf. If he or she holds up two fingers, identity as a Werewolf. If the Child’s parent was killed by a single Werewolf, the Child can- ceived the Child card opens his or her eyes, come after them; at the same time, they may he or she can attempt to kill two players. not be told the identity of the Werewolf that was transformed afterwards. makes eye contact with the host, then closes wish to attempt to convey somehow what When there are two Werewolves, each The Child can be elected sheriff, but cannot fire the gun. them again. Later in the game, the Child they learn. The psychological and emotional night they must agree by means of sign lan- may get the chance to silently ask the host dramas that play out during this phase are guage whom they will kill. The two can still a question about the identity of the Were- the heart and soul of the game. only kill one player per night, at least until wolf. If the Hunter was not the first victim, the the second full moon. “Elder—wake up.” The Elder does the villagers now take a majority vote to give the same thing as the Child did. Later in the Hunter—even though his or her identity is game, the Elder will receive clues from not known—a mandate to shoot someone the host at this stage in the passing of the during the following night. If a majority of night. the villagers vote for one player to be killed, Variations and Field Notes “Witch—wake up. Who do you want to the Hunter has a mandate: the Hunter must Your skills in negotiating with others and protect tonight?” The Witch opens his or her shoot the person thus selected, or not shoot assessing their sincerity will be honed to a eyes and points to a player to be protected, anyone at all. If the villagers do not give the razor’s edge through successive games of The Witch Rules as described below, then returns to “sleep.” Hunter a mandate, it is the Hunter’s choice: Village. You and your friends may acquire a The Witch can protect a person every night by pointing to him or her while everyone else “Werewolf—wake up. Who do you want he or she can kill any one of the players, or sense of what kinds of proposals are “wolf sleeps. The Witch can also choose to protect himself or herself. The Witch cannot choose the to kill tonight?” The Werewolf opens his or not kill anybody that turn. talk,” and then use this to reverse-psycholo- same person two nights in a row—he or she can pick the same person twice, just not in a her eyes, points to the player to be killed, If the Hunter was killed on the first night, gize one another. You’ll notice how people row. then returns to “sleep.” then the villagers vote for a sheriff, who takes who know each other well can make use of The person protected by the Witch is safe from all forms of Werewolf attack: he or she can “Hunter—wake up.” The Hunter does as over the Hunter’s weapons and role—see this in games, both to establish needed trust neither be killed nor turned into a Werewolf during the full moon. The Witch cannot protect the others called on before did. He or she “Sheriff Rules.” and to trick one another. You may develop from silver bullets, however. will not have the choice to kill or not kill If the players are taking too long to come long term strategies that extend over a series The Witch can be elected sheriff, but cannot fire the gun. another player until the following night. to conclude their discussions on any given of games by which to teach your playmates day, the host can hurry them along by an- how to read and interpret your actions and First Day nouncing that the sun is going down. then, when the time is ripe, outwit them. Add additional characters or roles as you After the first night, the host announces wish—some possibilities include the Village that day has broken—i.e., all the players can Idiot and the Owl. Page 88 Games Rolling Thunder CrimethInc. Summer 2005 Games Page 89 Werewolf Rules How to Fuck the Police The Werewolf, like all players but the Hunter and Peasants, can be elected sheriff, but cannot fire the gun. The same goes for the second Werewolf, should a player be transformed: even if the player could operate the gun before, he or she will no longer be able to. “A poor man needs the police Your group will be more effective if it is camera can also be useful, as can a cell If, on the night of the full moon, the Werewolf chooses to transform another player, the like he needs a hole in his head.” well organized. phone or an audio recording device. host asks all players to hold out their hands. The host then goes around the circle and quietly –Amadou Diallo For a variety of reasons, it makes the Copwatching is generally safest and touches the hand of the player indicated by the first Werewolf. The player thus selected most sense for people to do copwatch pa- easiest if you make sure to follow the letter then opens his or her eyes and makes eye contact with the first Werewolf: the two are now On the Streets: Organizing trols in their own neighborhoods. If it is of the law. There should be no drugs, alco- partners. If the player had been a Child, Witch, or Elder before being transformed, they do a Copwatch Program important that you patrol another neigh- hol, or illegal weapons on your person or not retain their special abilities. If the player had been the Hunter, than the gun and remain- borhood, make an effort to become famil- in your system. Be careful not to jaywalk. ing silver bullets show up in the town square the next morning and an election is held for the Copwatch groups seek to contest or at iar with it: get to know locals, and make This author has friends who have done a role of sheriff. least limit police repression by directly sure you understand local issues and con- perfect copwatch, then jaywalked almost The host continues to act as if the second Werewolf still is a regular player: the host will monitoring police officers. Copwatch vol- text. Canvas from door to door if neces- immediately after leaving the scene, re- continue to announce Elder clues, ask the Witch to protect someone, and ask the Child to unteers patrol the streets, observing po- sary, introducing yourself and your group ceiving a $50 ticket for their efforts. If you open his or her eyes. Only in the case of the Hunter does it become obvious to the whole lice and recording their interactions with and announcing your inten- village that the Hunter has now become a second Werewolf. civilians. They often concentrate on areas tions and motivations. Be open There can never be more than two Werewolves in a game. If a second full moon falls with of high police activity or to which known to input from locals; they are two Werewolves alive, the two Werewolves must attempt to kill two people. If, however, one trouble-making cops are assigned. Cop- the ones who will experience of the Werewolves has been killed by that juncture, then the remaining Werewolf can choose watch groups also advise people of their the bulk of the repercussions to transform a third player into a Werewolf. rights and listen to their stories, and oth- from everything that happens erwise endeavor to undermine and thwart in their neighborhood. Come the police state. through on your commitments: Most radicals, not to mention many don’t just show up out of no- others, realize that the idea of policing where doing a copwatch pro- Sheriff Rules itself needs to be completely rethought. gram for a little while and then Once the Hunter has been killed, the gun and its silver bullets appear in the town square. In the meantime, people have to be pro- disappear, stick around until lo- cals know who you are and that The players must elect one of their number sheriff; the sheriff will take over the Hunter’s role. tected from the brutality they face daily at they can count on you. The vote is generally decided by a simple majority, although anarchist players with a critique the hands of the police. When the cops are particular- of democratic voting processes may desire to explore other options. Get a Group Together ly brutal or kill someone, raise Any player can be elected sheriff and get the gun and silver bullets; however, only Peasants a ruckus about it. Put pressure can fire the gun. A Werewolf, second Werewolf, Witch, Child, or Elder cannot fire the gun. on them and keep it on. Ap- The sheriff is free to shoot anyone he or she chooses, no matter whom he or she promised Form a group. Put out calls for one ev- erywhere, even on the bulletin boards of proach the survivors and follow to kill. A sheriff is also permitted not to fire, if he or she so chooses, though this will likely their lead as to how to handle arouse suspicion. church groups and local grocers, not just in the activist community. Approach your things. Offer to organize pro- After every day’s town meeting, there is a new election for sheriff, even if the last sheriff is are driving, make sure that you and all of neighbors—the best neighborhood watch tests or benefit events, screenprint shirts, still alive. If a mandate cannot be reached that day—i.e., there is no majority reached in the your passengers have on seat belts. Resist includes a copwatch. or play media liaison for them. If they’re unnecessary horn honking or loud music voting—there is no sheriff for that day, much to the Werewolf’s good fortune. Educate people in your community into it, hold demonstrations, spray paint as you drive away—violations of noise pol- and other communities, especially tar- the names of the victims and murderers lution laws and ordinances can be used as geted ones, about their legal rights, and everywhere, smash out the windows of excuses to detain and arrest you. If you are about how to carry out a copwatch. Hold the offending police station. not following the very letter of the law, you classes everywhere in your city, at acces- Agitate for laws and regulations that may end up doing more harm than good sible places and times. These can be for- enforce stricter controls on police. Try to and could get yourself arrested. Don’t give mal events, or informal teach-ins outside get the worst police officers fired. If your them any excuse to bust you. a movie theater or between performers at community has a Citizen Review Board, Copwatching is best done with two a show. make an effort to give it teeth. Police re- or three others—you are less likely to Hold regular, accessible, well-adver- view boards should be elected by district, be arrested in a group. One cool-headed tised meetings—don’t depend on the in- not appointed. They must be empowered person can take the role of speaking to of- ternet for all or even most of your com- to impose punishments and fire officers. ficers, getting their names, ranks, badge munications. Many of those who need People from communities that are numbers, district designations, squad car copwatch most are unlikely to have easy terrorized will often be understandably numbers, license numbers, and general or regular computer access. Decide as a afraid to stand up for themselves. A cop- descriptions, thus making them aware of group what your goals are and how you watch program can be the first step to- your being there as observers. The others will go about achieving them. wards solidarity with each other. should hang back, recording every detail Find hotspots where police repression of the encounter, being careful not to in- frequently takes place. Look for them How to Copwatch terfere, provoke, or draw attention. If you in the police blotter in your local paper, have the numbers, one person can pose as or ask around in neighborhoods, or ap- To copwatch effectively, all you need is an individual onlooker with no connection proach lawyers who do a lot of street work your eyes and ears, and some means of to the rest of the group. Decide on your and request advice. recording incidents. A small notebook roles before the encounter, if possible. Establish patrols, and have them report and pen or pencil are the most useful on their observations on a regular basis. and least conspicuous. A camera or video Page 90 Games Rolling Thunder CrimethInc. Summer 2005 Recipes for Disaster Page 91 Presumably, you are there to defuse offered by the police—people have been a bystander or your compatriot. These in- Be prepared to follow through on your twenty feet from the incident that you are they also don’t want any heat to come the situation, not escalate it. Don’t goad let go by officers after copwatch members clude the right to remain silent, the right work. If you couldn’t get an arrestee’s watching; try to phone someone and let back on them. This is why we often don’t the police into arresting people as a way observed them being denied medical at- to speak to an attorney, the right to refuse name and you feel that the situation was him or her know what’s happening. As see warrants used in activist raids: there of getting back at you because of your at- tention, even though the injuries had a search of your person, personal items, bad enough to warrant further investiga- always, take complete notes and, if pos- simply isn’t the probable cause. If they titude. Reign in the hostility you feel to- been not caused by the police. or car. tion or that the abuse will continue after sible, photos, audio, or videotape of the can’t get a warrant, the police may try wards them—be polite but firm. Remem- If you feel it is warranted, you can call Stick around until the police have moved the arrest, go to the station to which he incident. If you take photos, make sure to use other pretexts to get in: fire code ber, police are dangerous. Walk, don’t run, 911 and report that someone is being on. The Rodney King beating began with or she has been taken. Loudly and firmly that they are taken at the last possible violations, health violations, looking for and avoid quick or sudden movements injured. Wait until the end of your state- what seemed to be a routine traffic stop. ask what condition the arrestee is in and moment, to ensure the safety of you and people who have warrants out for their around them. ment to note that it is the police doing Make use of every opportunity to have demand to know the charges he or she your camera. Be especially careful leav- arrest. Educate yourself on local laws and At the same time, don’t be so easily so, but don’t leave that out, and stick to educational conversations. Speak to on- has received; explain what you saw during ing the area. municipal code. If the police come by intimidated that you cannot accomplish the facts. As all 911 calls are recorded and lookers about their rights, about what citi- the arrest, and ask to make a complaint when there is someone inside who has a your task. Police officers who feel threat- are relatively hard for the justice system zens can do about police brutality, about against the officers. This makes the police In Private and Community Spaces: warrant, it may be best for that person to ened by your concern about the victims to “lose,” they can provide useful docu- community alternatives to policing. When aware that people are concerned and will Handling a Police Raid go outside so the police cannot use this as of their repression may well threaten mentation for legal proceedings. You can answering questions about legal matters, follow through; it may stop a back room a justification for entering the building. you, shouting “Move on!” and puffing also call a friend’s or your own answering don’t be afraid to say, “I don’t know.” This beating. If police knock on your door, do not If your space may be raided, decide in themselves up like territorial frogs. In the machine and record what is happening is always better then giving out wrong in- Be careful leaving the area after a cop- invite them inside; step course of your interactions with them, as it happens, assuming the tape is long formation. watch. Police have been known to follow, outside and close the door you’ll develop a sense of what to expect enough. The sound quality may not be as Collect statements from other witness- ticket, target, or beat copwatchers a few before speaking to them, from them and an instinct for exactly how good as an on-site recording device would es if you can. Many will not want to get in- blocks from the site at which they were locking it behind you if seriously to take their threats. provide, but the police cannot confiscate volved. Try to persuade and educate them observed. Don’t let down your guard. need be. If there are other Carry cards detailing legal rights, flyers the tape; this method can be particularly otherwise, and get statements from them Report on what you have seen to your people in the house, make with information about local copwatch useful if everyone present is getting ar- even when you can’t get their names. group, to whatever citizen review boards them aware that the police programs, and other information with rested. If you get arrested and the police Keep the information you have gath- your area has, however ineffective, and are present. Don’t address you to give to people subject to arrest or don’t take your cell phone immediately, ered from your copwatching. If your to your community at large. Talk to city other people in the house harassment. Inform people about their call a talk show or progressive radio sta- copwatch group does not keep records, council members about police conduct, by name; let them decide rights, and of any numbers, local services, tion from the back of the police vehicle. keep track of it yourself. It can be useful and show them your evidence. Tell them how they want to identify or internet sites by means of which they If you witness someone else being ar- to submit copies of your records to gov- you want hearings and policy changes. Get themselves. After saying can contact a lawyer or learn how and rested, try to give the arrestee a way to ernment agencies, so they will have them your information to the National Lawyers clearly “I do not consent where to file a complaint. Citizen com- contact you, and vice versa. This is not documented and on file. Do not edit any Guild and or the ACLU. Tell community to this search,” stand aside plaint review boards are often virtually to say you should give your name or get videotapes you shoot, as this can render and church groups. Write up reports and and maintain silence. Do useless as a way of dealing with police their name in front of police. Give your them useless as evidence in court. spread them through local independent not answer any questions. brutality, but they can be useful for docu- name and contact information only if you If possible, carry with you the text of media outlets, both websites and papers. If you are arrested or menting incidents. Be aware of local laws are comfortable with the police getting it, the laws most commonly used to justify If your copwatch group is ready, you detained in the course of and limitations—for example, in some unless there is another way. harassment. In addition to being famil- could establish a copwatch hotline, a a raid, do not resist unless cities, in order to be able to file a lawsuit If you are comfortable doing an asser- iar with and ready to cite local laws, it phone number people can call to report it is absolutely imperative against the city, you must send a letter to tive copwatch, introduce yourself when can help to learn local police regulations, the activities of police officers; you could that you escape and there is the mayor announcing your intention to you approach the scene and explain that though it is often difficult to obtain copies even have a response team ready to fol- a high likelihood that you will be able to do advance how you will handle this. Except sue the district within six months of the you are there doing a copwatch. Ask po- of these. During your encounters with po- low up calls. You could also start your so; instead, calmly ask on what basis you in a few specific cases—for example, if incident in question. In such a case, you lice why they are detaining or arresting lice, be forceful rather than tentative, but own local copwatch paper or website, are being held. Don’t volunteer any infor- you are engaged in a political squatting should emphasize to people who have people, but don’t ask arrestees for their remain polite. reporting on your observations, the con- mation or answer any questions except action with widespread community sup- suffered police brutality that they should names directly, as they might not wish In extreme cases, police will smash or duct of local police, and the struggle in when you are asked to identify yourself. port, and you intend to resist eviction by keep their options open: “You don’t have the police to have it. If arrestees say their confiscate and “lose” your equipment to your community to survive and thwart No matter what they tell you, speaking to militant means—it will make the most to follow through with it, but you should names and addresses to the police loud keep you from having evidence against police repression. the police can never accomplish anything sense to cooperate carefully with the po- secure your right to sue if the incident enough for you to hear, write them down. them. If it seems like this might happen, except making things worse for you and lice, and then take revenge later by legal was severe enough for you even to think If the justification for the stop seems to a member of your group should swiftly Copwatching Alone those you care about. If you have a lawyer, or extra-legal means. Determine with ev- about doing so.” be vague, ask officers to name the section leave the area with the evidence that has upon interrogation—whether formal or eryone involved what image you will try to When observing police officers’ inter- of the law they are enforcing. Officers will been gathered so far. Don’t copwatch alone if there are other informal, whether by federal agents or lo- project—“nonviolent peace activists suf- actions with civilians, try to get as much lie and make mistakes—if you know the Be prepared to be arrested. Though options. You should not ignore those in cal officers—simply present your lawyer’s fering unjust police harassment,” for ex- information as you can. Make note of the code do better or have a copy of it with copwatch is not illegal, police will trump exceptional danger just because you are card and state, “You can speak with my ample—and maintain it from the begin- day, time, and exact location of the inci- you, speak up. Don’t approach or speak up charges. Carry ID and at least $50 if alone, but be aware that lone copwatch- lawyer.” If you don’t have a lawyer, as- ning of the process through the follow-up dent; the officer’s name, badge number, to the arrestee directly while he or she is you want to be able to get out of jail swiftly ing entails taking extra risk. If you have sert and maintain that you will seek legal media and court campaigns. Hold discus- district, and physical description; where being detained; if you do, you risk being and easily. been convicted of felonies, have a lengthy counsel before answering questions. sions in advance, so everyone who may arrestees are being taken; the names, ad- arrested. Sometimes you’ll have to do just Know what you will and will not do in arrest record, or are not a citizen, you If the police say they have a warrant, be affected by a police raid knows what dresses, and telephone numbers of any that, but know what you’re getting into. extreme situations. Consider in advance should probably not copwatch alone un- ask to see it but do not at that point resist to expect, how to conduct themselves, and witnesses; and vehicle or license numbers If a detainee is let go or ticketed, make what risks you are willing to take and less the circumstances are really excep- the search. A warrant is simply a piece of what their role will be in your response. for any police vehicles involved in the in- use of the opportunity to give your flyers what charges you are prepared to receive tional. Be less assertive in engaging the paper signed by a judge; it should have an Make sure everyone is comfortable with cident. Use cameras or other recording and rights cards to them. If a detainee is in order to intervene if someone is being police or the individual being detained or address and some terms of the search. It the decisions made and understands each devices to document the event from be- arrested, you can fold a card in half and beaten, injured, or killed by the police. arrested than you would be if you were in is not valid without a judge’s signature. In other’s needs. ginning to end. Take down complete de- ask the officer to give it to him or her—fat Decide this ahead of time and talk about a group. Police officers are much more most cases, the police cannot enter your Sometimes a police raid will come as scriptions of police actions and any result- chance, but miracles happen. You can’t it within your group, so all of you know likely to arrest or assault you if there are residence legally without a warrant. To get a surprise. Other times, especially if they ing injuries. If there are injuries of any speak to an arrestee directly without risk- what to expect from one another. If you no other witnesses present. a warrant, they must have probable cause are planning a raid on a larger scale, such sort, even preexisting ones, be sure to de- ing trouble, but you can loudly talk about copwatch in some areas, you will eventu- Be especially careful to obey the let- and a judge must sign his or her name as at an infoshop, activist house, or con- tail what medical attention was or was not what rights people have with the police or ally find yourself in this situation. ter of the law. If possible, remain at least validating this; judges can be sneaky, but vergence space during a mass mobiliza- Page 92 Recipes for Disaster Rolling Thunder CrimethInc. Summer 2005 Recipes for Disaster Page 93 tion, you may be able to see it coming. nobody has any illegal drugs or parapher- scenario, this can even transform the are other spaces to which activities can be We met as a collective and resolved to every nearby intersection and decided to Stay aware: if they are escalating their nalia, recognizably stolen items, or other raid into a positive, community-building shifted. Establish a place to get back to- act preemptively in order to minimize any attempt to leave. As soon as we began surveillance of your building or your ac- material which authorities could use event. Have local media ready to come: gether after the raid or ways to reestablish possible harm we would suffer and, if pos- driving, we were pulled over for the most tivities, this may culminate in a raid. This against you. Police officers will routinely don’t miss the chance to have the local contact with one another and make sure sible, humiliate and expose the police. We minute of traffic violations. We called surveillance may take the form of infiltra- confiscate such standard household items alternative or pirate radio station report that everyone is accounted for. started by compiling a phone tree of our back to the space, where police were al- tion by undercover agents, who may be as paint thinner and PVC pipe and claim live from your raid, or to get sympathetic When bringing suit against the city friends and supporters in the community, ready knocking on the door. We set in mo- easy to recognize as such—on account of the possessors were using them to make coverage in the alternative press. Plan in over a raid, work out the local chain of as well as a list of local media contacts. tion our well-planned phone tree, calling poor acting, suspicious questions, or sud- bombs. Such ludicrous charges will not advance what spin you want to give the command and sue as high in the hier- Drawing on the precedents established our lawyers, leaving reports on answer- denly getting involved right before an ac- generally stand up in court, but they can story, so the police play into your hands. archy as you can. Those who hold power by the numerous police invasions of au- ing machines, and informing scores of tion—or very difficult to detect. enable the police to denounce your group Compose a press release ahead of time will attempt to portray any misconduct as tonomous spaces that summer, we took friends that we were in trouble. It turned to the public; they and have it ready to go out. the anomalous incompetence of individu- a number of precautions, such as remov- out that the police had used supposed can also paralyze If you fear a police raid is possible or al underlings; your job is to show that the ing items that had justified earlier absurd fire code violations to get into the house, individuals, pre- imminent, keep a video camera charged raid was orchestrated from on high and charges against revolutionaries: for ex- because it is standard practice in our city venting them from and equipped with a blank tape, ready that the people at the top of the pyramid ample, we removed all kitchen knives and for housing inspectors to be “protected” participating in se- for use in documenting police conduct. are to blame, if not the system itself. Get Vitamin C pills, since cooking utensils by police. Each cop and each inspector rious actions until You can also hide secret cameras on the the best lawyer you can—the American and supplements had been considered were followed everywhere by comrades their court cases premises; these may prove especially im- Civil Liberties Union is generally a bet- weapons and drugs in other raids. We from our ranks who documented every- are finished. portant if the police break their own laws ter resource than the National Lawyers’ also cleaned the space and planted new thing. The police went through our book th Knives, spray in the course of invading your space. Get Guild when it comes to violations of 4 flowers around the house, hoping this selection, our kitchen, our desks, our paint, gasoline, an- every single badge number and license Amendment rights regarding search and would make the police look even more basement, our storage areas, even our st archist literature, plate, and record every movement and seizure and 1 Amendment rights regard- ridiculous should they choose intrude on bathroom, not to mention the personal bottles of urine, action of each individual police officer; in ing freedom of speech. If you don’t own our space. We stockpiled photo and video belongings of those living upstairs. They and other similarly court, it will be very much to your advan- the space that was raided, make sure you cameras, tape recorders, note pads, and searched our whole house and the squat- dangerous articles tage if you can prove that, for example, have the cooperation of the landlords: em- other recording devices, and spread them ted house next door. They towed our cars, will all be needless a police officer who claims he remained phasize that they too can get something throughout the house, both openly and on the ridiculous pretension that they liabilities when the outside during the raid was actually up- out of the proceedings. Keep the media covertly. We made sure that at least one were parked three inches too far from the police show up, stairs knocking over bookshelves and informed throughout the affair, and keep of the collective members was downstairs curb! In the end, they didn’t use violence unless you’re ac- breaking things. Your camera people the pressure on. at all times, and that our door was always or arrests; they just hoped to scare us and tually planning to should be levelheaded; even if things are locked—though this was particularly dif- reveal our supposedly violent machina- fight them off with heating up, it may be more important in Account ficult, with so many people coming in tions to the public. the stuff. Be con- the long run for them to record events as and out. People who could not risk arrest The phone tree, however, paid off. The scious of what can they unfold, calmly and consistently, than As we were organizing a convergence stayed at other locations. local media as well as a slam poetry group If you are involved in any kind of activ- be seen even when your doors are shut to get involved. against a particularly ridiculous meet- Everyone who spent time in the space showed up immediately, along with about ity that demands security, your collective and locked; the police can use items “in Once you’ve got documentation, keep ing of politicians, it became evident that was briefed on the situation and devel- fifty of our friends. In conjunction with should decide ahead of time how careful plain view” to look further, even without track of it. Don’t edit or adjust it in any our city’s Red Squad had its eyes on us. oped an understanding of the collective’s the drumming and the constant flash of to be in working with others who desire a warrant. In extreme cases, the courts way. Be able to prove that your footage has We continued our work, though we real- rights. In a move that later proved to be still cameras, the slam poets created an to get involved in your group and in ac- have declared it permissible for the police been in your “line of possession” from the ized that, under the circumstances, we of some importance, we painted the door atmosphere of festive defiance and cre- tions you plan. Do you need to have a to enter a home to investigate further af- time you recorded it to the time it appears lacked the numbers to go forward with with some “house rules,” including bans atively informed the media and curious vouching system to protect against loose- ter seeing something suspicious through in court; this means you should be able our original plans of turning the city into on weapons, animal products, and sub- passers-by about just how fucked up this lipped liberals and undercover cops? Or a window. Be careful to follow the very let- to document everywhere it has been, and our playground. We narrowed our focus stances. This has since been used in both situation was. While normally hostile to do you want to work with large numbers ter of the law: police who can find nothing show that it has been in the care of good, and message, deciding our best bet would the media and in legal decisions as a fur- radicals, the local corporate media could of people to such an extent that it makes else to use against you may ticket you for law-abiding citizens the whole time—and be to embrace the image of pacifist peace ther embarrassment to the police. We also not resist covering the obvious foolish- more sense to leave things wide open? parking more than ten inches from the as few of these as possible. To this end, activists: this would give us an advantage prepared a press release, leaving only a ness of the police, who wandered about Some collectives decide not to take on curb, for example. it can be wise to leave your material with should the defenders of Power attempt a few blank spaces for the details of the ex- the property en masse with bomb-sniff- last-minute stragglers right before an ac- Have a phone tree in place, to be acti- someone’s conservative parents or respon- smear campaign against us. Having es- pected raid, and left it with an uninvolved ing dogs while obviously earnest and tion: police infiltrators usually show up vated in the case of a raid: there should sible sister-in-law; this can also be a way tablished this strategy, we decided that family member in case the raid was ac- non-violent activists explained how the late, because there isn’t enough funding be a couple numbers you can call to reach to make sure it is not seized in a second- the weekend would go ahead as planned, companied by numerous arrests. events of the evening were—can you be- to put them in earlier. people who can instantly call others, and ary raid. Keep an organized journal, with with a festive street march and demon- Busy as we were with organizing lieve it?—causing them to “lose faith in If you are on good terms with groups so on, until a large number of people have times and dates and signatures, detailing strations outside the hotel where the poli- against the meetings, we were still able to this society.” that are in dialogue with the authorities, been informed. It is important that there all your observations from the time you ticians were meeting. keep our space open for concerts and oth- Thanks to the thoroughness of our they may be able to tip you off when a raid is always at least one person off-site who first begin to fear a raid might take place. As the dates for the actions approached, er events. Two nights before the planned preparations, we were able to upstage law is nigh; likewise, locals familiar with the knows what to do if he or she is the only After one occurs, compile written narra- we saw a steady increase in police traffic protests began, the police arrived during enforcement prior to the main event of workings of the local police force might person not arrested. tives, with signatures, from all witnesses around our collective space, which was one of these shows, an apolitical folk per- the protests themselves; this coup gave be able to provide useful insights. For a Don’t leave phone lists or similar infor- and participants, while the events are still serving as a meeting and organizing point formance. The raid caused quite a bit of us much-needed attention and credibility. serious raid, the police will establish a mation accessible to the police; there’s no fresh in everyone’s minds. for the demonstrations. On multiple occa- alarm for the artists and visitors! At that Additionally, afterwards we were able to staging area a couple blocks from the lo- sense in doing their intelligence work for If you’re in the middle of organizing sions, we experienced the unique pleasure time, some of us were leaving to work succeed in suing the city for tens of thou- cation, which may give away their plans at them. If those informed by the phone tree an action or campaign from the space that of visits from undercover cops. Keeping on the pirate ship puppets—described as sands of dollars. This enabled us to fund the last minute if nothing else has. converge immediately upon the space be- may be raided, make sure it won’t be crip- tabs on liberal organizers we knew main- “anarchist body armor” in police reports many new subversive projects, which the In preparing for a potential raid, be ing raided, this will force the police to pled by a raid. Keep important materials tained ties with the police, we received ad- to the media—that we were planning to forces of order are even less equipped conscious of what you have on the prem- restrain themselves, and show them and elsewhere, make sure that all the people ditional clues that we were facing impend- use for street theater. As we were loading to deal with in the aftermath of their ill- ises and what can be found nearby in the community at large that this is an is- in pivotal organizing positions are never ing state repression, which was likely to the ships into a pickup truck, we noticed thought-out raid. dumpsters and adjacent lots. Make sure sue many take seriously; in a best case in the space all at once, see to it that there take the form of a raid on our space. that police vehicles were assembling at Page 94 Recipes for Disaster Rolling Thunder CrimethInc. Summer 2005 Recipes for Disaster Page 95 local college; go out to the dumpsters communication networks in times of enough to make out with a bunch of Handbook for the and bring back your bounty, making increased surveillance of mail, email, people, break some hearts, upset a few sure to dispose of all your hosts don’t and telephone conversations. You can couples who didn’t see it coming, and want yourself. Go ruffle some feathers take secret messages between people, ring up an expensive long distance Traveling Houseguest out there in the city—but if you run along with news and reminders. If you phone bill. into an authority while doing so, don’t see something wonderful happening One meat-free house was filled with immediately go running back to your in Houston, be sure to pass it along the stench of a rodent being boiled hosts’ house where you could wrap to the people you know in Gainesville over the stove for hours when for a So, you’re sick of your town and your path, not to mention a string of dinner together, go to bed early, turn them up in it too. who could build on it and make it their houseguest decided to part the dead headed out into the world. You expect free motels, houses to stay at, a (barely) lights out as they leave the room, share own. Be a carrier pigeon that brings animal’s skin from its muscle and to find a trail of places to stay easily overground railroad. Occupants therein the groceries, leave shoes at the door? House Presents inspiration, tales of tragedies and bones. enough by means of notes with have likely had bodies clad like yours Take your cues from them… believe me, victories to live by, folklore and plans One houseguest carried strep throat addresses, scribbled phone numbers shelter with them dozens and dozens they’re there to be taken. Yes, you should bring one. Put from one battlefield to another. from house A to every member of house of friends of friends, sister houses, and of times before, and will not demand Sleep neat and be tidy. Stuff your some thought into the gift. What do B by forgetting to wash up while sick. rumors of after-show living rooms for any rationale for your travels. Having sleeping bag into its sack in the morning, your hosts do with their leisure time? Horrors to Avoid One house got wrapped up in some roll up your extra socks, bundle up your Garden, cook, read? Try to match your police drama when a guest shoplifted things and put them into the closet or gift to their interests—unless, of course, One house got evicted after a guest’s some running shoes from a nearby corner. Bring your own toothbrush, these are watching TV and drinking dog companion rushed the neighbor’s mall and got chased all the way back sweep up your messes. heavily. In that case, feel free to present cat, maimed it, killed it, then began to “home.” Be helpful. Offer to run an errand, them with something different that you bark incessantly. The landlords were One houseguest decided to abide by babysit for an hour, clean the toilet, pick particularly enjoy and could pass on to called, and this final straw broke the this list of guidelines so obsessively that up the day old bread from the bakery, them: sock tag, curiosity about a nearby camel’s back. he had so little fun adventuring that he fix the broken bicycles, repair the drips landmark, wacky cake baking—at least One houseguest stayed in town long never left town again. the landlord never does, sew the tear that way you won’t be politely bored in the sofa created by the last guest, do the whole time! If you don’t know your all the dishes—not just the ones you hosts’ interests, arrive with food and create. As a traveler you probably have the ability to prepare it, and plan to greater flexibility with your time than leave something small but singularly your hosts do. Consider what they do appropriate with your thank you note all day. Does it interest you? Should as you leave. Don’t worry about it. they need help, offer to tag along. You A creative memento will receive the can help make packages for a program highest marks. Is the house lacking that sends books to prisoners, or assist hot-pads? Sew one from freebox scraps in promoting a fundraiser for local with their house name or motto on it projects. You could cook for a secret and rest in their hearts forever. Collect café, help set up for a show, hang up street sweeper bristles and weave them posters, be a supporter at somebody’s into an ornament to hang from a tree court hearing, or spread word for any branch at the house entry. number of important events. The Girl Whatever you do, don’t just leave Scout vows to always leave her space them with more junk to deal with long better than she found it; consider that after you leave. It’s got to be useful sleeping. It’ll be a snap. You’ll carry little followed the string of would-be motels old-fashioned but ever-applicable motto or special or at least be a thoughtful and expect little, meet sparkle-eyed new themselves before, they know better as you drop in on the communities reference to an experience you had punk friends, solve problems with great than to turn you away at the door. You’re you encounter in your travels. You are among them. The opposite of house adventurous yield, take in conferences in. But that many just like you have the migrant worker of revolutionary presents are the leftover dumpstered and gatherings here and there, and come before can also mean that you’re projects everywhere! items and foodstuffs that some unwise suck the very nipple of romance itself, out. Many of your predecessors have left Be self-reliant. If the house hosting guests leave to sit collecting dust or you vagabond hobo you. a stinky wake behind them that solicits you has a standing weekly house dinner rotting in the kitchens of frustrated The prospects are bright, indeed. a requisite groan the minute the word or house problem to work out, assure hosts. Your calendar is clear, you have enough houseguest is spoken. You, aspiring them that you have a good book, would time and wits to get all over the damn wonderful houseguest, are there to love to take a walk, were hoping to get a place and back, your immunity is dodge the groan from the moment letter off, and will look for them another The Traveling Punk as Carrier high, you’re innovative in a pinch. You you arrive. You, aspiring wonderful time. It’s generally a good idea to find Pigeon have the trains, your thumb, scams in houseguest, are an asset-in-training to places to be most of the day other than mind, counterfeit coupons, and punk punk houses everywhere. the house, so as not to wear on anybody’s Mention where you’re heading next connections to boot. nerves. Find a public library, free to the people hosting you. Perhaps However, one thing works both for House Manners museum, or basketball court; rest in the you could transport a bundle between and against you: many just like you have park; look into community-sponsored friends who live in different cities. One come before. Insofar as that is true, Be observant. The rule of thumb is events, fairs, and presentations; find especially unique thing about a nomadic there is traveling punk protocol to light to follow your hosts’ lead. Do they eat out what talks are happening at the subculture is that we can depend on our old-fashioned word-of-mouth Page 96 Recipes for Disaster Rolling Thunder CrimethInc. Summer 2005 Recipes for Disaster Page 97 Recipes for Dinner: Vegan French Toast

Blend or whisk together two cups of soymilk, one tablespoon of margarine, five or six ounces of silken tofu, one teaspoon each of vanilla and cinnamon, two shakes allspice, and half a

I met E--- in a Chicago apartment at a small party following a I didn’t return with her to her apartment that night; I was in plates as we hashed out the centerfold of our next propaganda paper desperately that I had some idea where to start to make up to E--- show. I was mute, as my band had just played and I was suffering a long-running love relationship that was tumultuous enough al- and fought off the inebriated bores who didn’t understand why we and the others I loved all the injustices of the heartbreaking world, from serious vocal damage, and she was no more outgoing than ready. She departed reluctantly just before dawn, and I lay down to weren’t drinking with them. not least the ones I was responsible for. me, despite being on her home turf; we were the two people sit- get a couple hours of sleep before my band left for the next show. Privately, things were more complicated. Owing to her medical At the end of the week, we all went to Washington, D.C. togeth- ting silently against opposite walls on either side of the chatting, That was the end of the honeymoon phase; things between us would condition, E--- had trouble with little things like climbing stairs, er; among other things, we were to assist in operating a pirate radio jesting crowd. never again be so simple. but didn’t feel comfortable enough to say out loud what she was station through the events. M--- brought along his friend T--, a per- By the end of the night, everyone else was at home or asleep, and Two months later, she came to join me at my friend M---’s place struggling with; I often played intermediary between her and oth- formance artist who, having never been to the capital city before, we were pressed together in the stairwell, alternately kissing and in Pittsburgh. It was the week before Bush’s inauguration—the sec- ers, trying to help her avoid or escape uncomfortable situations decided to experience the entire inauguration and attendant protests recounting segments of our life stories in excited whispers. I had ond Bush’s first inauguration, to be precise, as I’m sure the citizens that were invisible to others. More complicated still were the dy- blindfolded. This occasioned hilarious conversations in which E--- lost my voice entirely for eleven days straight the previous year, of the Roman Empire had to be in their day—and she generously set namics between us: we were still attracted to each other, but I was and I imagined the strategic possibilities of a Blind Bloc, which the and had thought it gone forever; she had experienced something aside the time to teach us what she knew about screenprinting and also still involved with someone else, deep in denial of what I was police would be afraid to attack for fear of bad publicity. similar, having gone blind for some months as a child—although other forms of do-it-yourself art, so we could show up with plenty of feeling and doing, and this couldn’t have been easy for her. We The inauguration protests came and went in a flurry of black an operation had eventually restored her eyesight, she still had to subversive material to share with the dissatisfied masses. were both sleeping in the living room, I on the couch and E--- in bandanas, liberal signs about electoral fraud, and light midwinter gather her courage in the morning before opening her eyes for the We spent each day in a delirium of experimentation and inven- her sleeping bag on the floor; at night, after everyone else had drizzle. Flushed with excitement after an invigorating day of flier first time. I was on tour with a punk rock band, and had already tion. We ransacked the library, pouring through the rare book col- gone to sleep, she and I would talk, and I would end up on the distribution and illegal broadcasting, E--- and I drove with a full seen much of the world that way; she, too, had traveled the world, lection for formulas and formats we could appropriate. We stole floor with her, our bodies entangled. Then, as indecisive and in- vehicle of maniacs to a small party at an apartment hosting friends running away as a teenager to hop trains, squat empty buildings, all the priority mail stickers from every post office in Pittsburgh, considerate boys have since time immemorial, I would get up and of hers. and perform fire tricks with an anarchist circus in New Orleans spread them out on the floor of M---’s studio, and used bargain- go to sleep on the couch, as if nothing had happened. If I regret For the first time in the days I’d spent with her, E--- spent the and on street corners in Key West—hence the tattoos, piercings, priced mis-mixed housepaint to paint them white; as they dried, we anything from that period of my life, it is that I didn’t stay with her evening drinking. By the end of it, she was thoroughly drunk and in and worn black coveralls. I hoped to put my art at the service of stenciled designs on them, then stamped slogans across them with on the floor those nights; it wouldn’t have been any more disloyal bad condition. On the trip back, she lay prone and semiconscious revolution; she was doing so herself, screenprinting radical post- a stamper improvised out of wire and shoelace and dipped in mis- than what I was doing already. Non-monogamy has since taught in the back seat of her van; as she was the only one who knew the ers, welding metal fortifications onto bicycles for street protests, mixed black housepaint. We stayed up all night in Kinko’s, taking me and many others a lot about how to handle such situations, but route, she called out the turns to us as we came upon them, her eyes designing a calendar to be sold as a benefit for friends who had turns distracting the seemingly drug-addled night shift employee nothing can wipe away mistakes already made. closed and her voice slurred, and thus guided us back to the house been arrested at a recent demonstration. I was an anarchist war- while ripping off as many photocopied pamphlets and posters as we Holding E--- in my arms, I could feel the dents in her ribcage at which we were to sleep. This she did flawlessly, despite not even rior, aspiring to bring about the downfall of capitalism; she kept could fit in E---’s van. We built a screenprinting apparatus, went to from the time skinheads had found her and her friends sleeping in being able to control her bodily functions; as a train-riding hobo, her scalp shaved from her forehead to the crest of her skull and another Kinko’s and stole all their posterboard, and screenprinted an abandoned building and assaulted them. I have a particularly her acute sense of direction was a point of pride. wore blonde dreadlocks behind that, as the women warriors of the hundreds of huge multi-color posters decrying George W. Bush as a vivid memory of one night when, immediately after we made love, When we arrived at our destination, the others went inside, while Native American tribe she counted among her ancestors did. I was murderer1, one of which later occasioned an FBI visit to the dorm she had to get up and pace up and down the room for half an I helped her out of the van. Leaning with her head against the van, terrified of death, as there was so much I still longed to do; she room of a student who had hung it on her wall. E--- took M--- hour to work off the adrenaline from the pain that came with her vomiting in waves, mortified to be in this condition with me, she was living with two different terminal illnesses and a host of other and me to a party, an affair far outside our usual social regimen; medical problems. I lay there, naked and shuddering on a floor far tearfully insisted that I must hate her and that I should leave; steady- medical problems, and had made her peace with the idea that the we barricaded ourselves behind the refreshments table, gorging our- from home, having just been unfaithful to my partner, overcome ing her, searching for the words I needed, I insisted in return that I end might come at any moment. selves and excitedly scrawling crazy diagrams on the backs of paper by how interconnected desire and tragedy seemed to be, wishing cared about her and wanted to be there. She confessed that, fearing

Page 98 Recipes for Dinner Rolling Thunder CrimethInc. Summer 2005 Recipes for Dinner Page 99 1 At the time, these were a reference to his tenure as governor of Texas, during which 152 prisoners had been put to death. In view of the incalculable loss of life that has taken place under his reign since then, these posters, in which the former governor is depicted in the act of pulling the rope at a lynching, now seem like a throwback to a more innocent time. 2 Stay tuned for the sheet music for the blues traditional “On Bread Alone,” appearing next issue. forAndres Raya

On January 9, 2005, outside a Ceres, CA liquor store, Andres Raya ambushed the po- lice. Raya had earlier fired into the air, hid his assault rifle, and rushed into the store requesting police assistance. Raya shot and killed arriving Ceres police Sgt. Howard Ste- venson, and seriously wounded officer Sam Ryno. Raya then fled. He died later follow- teaspoon of sweetener. Dip the bread in it, then cook it in a frying pan, preferably of cast iron. ing a cop stakeout and another confronta- tion, in which he was shot eighteen times. M--- and I would think less of her if we knew she was an alcoholic, she rushed headlong into life, cheating the illnesses that waited to Raya was nineteen years old. He had she had forcefully restrained herself from drinking during the week claim her by reaching death ahead of them in the course of sucking spent seven months of 2004 as a Marine she spent with us; now her tolerance was lower, and she had mis- the marrow out of every day of her existence. with the 1st Intelligence Battalion, as- judged her limits. Privately cursing a cosmos that would torment its I was in love with E---, not in the way that bourgeois couples signed to Iraq. While there, Raya earned most precious creatures into pursuing oblivion and self-destruction, describe themselves as being in love when they mean they’ve found three medals and a ribbon for his service. I continued wiping her face with my bandana, and struggled unsuc- a mutually beneficial investment, but simply thrilled to bear wit- Raya was on family leave in California, set cessfully to reassure her. ness to the extraordinary human being she was, the jagged edges to depart again for duty. After this, she and I only saw each other once more, when she no less than the shining core. I consider myself honored to have One account of Raya’s attack on the cops passed through my home state just long enough to help me pick been privy to a few of the difficult aspects of her life as well as some gives the gunman’s words to a local resident up a van-load of magazines from a printer. I went to Europe for six of the heroic ones. The true stories of brave and beautiful people as he ran from police: “Don’t worry, you’re a months, and she moved to another city and joined a long-standing like her never get to be told, not even in eulogies, because they civilian. You won’t get hurt.” anarchist collective. Near the end of my trip, we exchanged emails. give away too much about the living, and because they aren’t clean, The Ceres police have denied that the ac- She confided that she had waited so long to contact me because she aren’t perfect like the fairytale lives we all feel we are supposed to tion had any connection to Iraq. They ignore was afraid that I was angry with her. I assured her that, on the con- have. None of us alive today are living those spotless fairytales, ei- eyewitness testimony. Gangs, drugs and rap trary, I was eager to reestablish contact with her, that I wanted to be ther; perhaps we can’t be forthcoming about the aspects of our lives music are instead put forward as probable a part of her life for a long time to come. We began to make ambi- that are of interest to the repressive authorities, but we would do causes. According to autopsy reports, Raya tious plans together: we would travel to see each other again when I well to be open about our so-called imperfections, our mistakes and had cocaine in his system. It is hard to know returned to the U.S.A., we would screenprint a new line of posters shame and suffering, while we are still alive and can help each other whether to trust these reports—authori- According to the newspapers, Raya and The cops always symbolize raw, naked together, we would start an anarchist circus and tour the country of- weather them. ties have every reason to skew them. Few some accomplices broke into a local school power against impoverished communities. fering wild performances and educational workshops… in Raya’s community believe that he was a on December 28. Video footage from the Perhaps Raya saw connections between his The day I got off the airplane from Europe, I received the news that What does this have to do with recipes? One of the many won- gangster, even if he may have had friends in burglary allegedly showed Raya smoking pot, military role in Iraq and the role of police in she and one of her friends had been killed in a car accident the night derful things I learned from E--- was how to prepare really excel- gangs. No amount of empty talk from our flashing gang signs and tearing up U.S. flags cities in the U.S.A. In America, cops fill up before while driving back from an adventure in Hawaii. A postcard lent vegan french toast. She emailed me the recipe she had used in rulers can cover up the essential truths. An- to leave a “Fuck Bush” message on the floor. prisons that are no better than Abu Ghraib. in her handwriting waited in my room, mailed a few days earlier: in Pittsburgh to cook the bread M--- and I had dumpstered, and I use dres Raya did not want any more medals. He Despite the “gang” nonsense in the news, In both Iraq and the U.S.A., patrols target glowing language, she described her time on the islands as an earthly it to this day to impress friends. It’s especially useful for people in my wanted nothing more to do with US society. there’s only one thing to say about the school whole communities, because everyone there paradise of squatting, sunbathing, and food gathering. I found bit- walk of life, as bread is so much easier to acquire outside the capitalist He fought in the way he knew how to, as a incident: in a sick society, such rebellion is could potentially be an insurgent. Most tersweet consolation in imagining that, after such a difficult life, she economy than anything else is that it’s sometimes possible to imagine soldier. Raya’s final enemy was Uncle Sam. healthy. Raya clearly understood that school, folk have every reason to refuse poverty and had spent her last days in uncomplicated bliss. our enemies are trying to kill us with it2. A good french toast recipe Andres Raya may not have been a hero, work, poverty, and war are all part of the brutality. They’re right to cast off the roles E--- lived and died like a firecracker in a world constructed to can make all those loaves of stiffening gluten into a potential treasure but he was not a villain either. He was a same problem. Between his time in Iraq, and they’ve been taught. The cops exist to pre- smother every spark. Knowing death to be at her heels, she kept trove of culinary delight. As to how you’re supposed to gather soy Chicano working class teen who acted as he his upcoming military assignment in Japan, vent resistance. When police are attacked, ahead of it, living like there really was no tomorrow. Others, fearing milk, silken tofu, vanilla, and all the other fancy ingredients it calls could. He was a Marine who went to war Raya realized that there was something terri- that makes sense. death and captivity, institutionalize those things in their lives through for, I can’t help you there—but you’re resourceful, aren’t you? E--- against America. He played his role in soci- bly wrong about the system worldwide. After Raya must have known that he was killing their attempts to escape them; knowing she had no hope of escape, certainly didn’t have any trouble harvesting them. ety, and then he tried to break out. attacking a school, Raya targeted the police. himself when he struck out. He was furious, Page 100 Recipes for Dinner Rolling Thunder CrimethInc. Summer 2005 Obituaries Page 101 Against Reviews ove: A Polemic L& ...and All of Us cstasy nlimited: E UOn Sex, Capital, Gender, and Aesthetics two books by Laura Kipnis Against Love is the recently published But what solution does she propose, you actually quite surprising that Kipnis doesn’t full-length work that grew from the same ask? Throughout the book, Kipnis focuses address polyamory or other alternatives to seed as the article on adultery in the third on adultery as the opposition to monoga- monogamy monoculture here; sure, it’s silly Harbinger some years back. In this work, mous fidelity, neglecting the possibility of to waste time speculating about life after Kipnis fixes a merciless eye on the miser- opting out of traditional coupledom alto- the revolution when there’s a struggle to be ies that transpire in monogamous relation- gether. One might think a book purport- fought here and now, but an intrinsic part not ignorant. Raya’s despair wasn’t unusual. Here follows a report from a curse a lot and called all the members of Ra- ships, not resting until every public secret ing to be Against Love would do more than of that struggle is crossing the line out of op- From U.S. police getting away with mur- ya’s family and community gang members. of married life and its equivalents is laid explain why some flee from love into, as pression into relationships free of coercion der—like the nearby Modesto police killing member of the DAAA Collec- He also identified himself as a friend of the bare. She then applies political and eco- Kipnis herself admits, more love: it might and deception. Kipnis might argue that of Sammy Galvan in August 2004—to the tive in Modesto, CA on their police officer who died, and as a former city nomic analyses to this social subject, works critique the ways we rely upon our relations most of today’s non-monogamous relation- massacre in Fallujah, it’s hard to know how experiences distributing a fli- council member of Ceres. The collective out all the implications of the ways infidel- with others to give meaning to our lives, ships are plagued by the same dynamics that to react to this catastrophic society. We lead members were very calm, and tried to get ity scandals play out in the public sphere, for example. For my part, as an advocate have made monogamy insufferable, and are tragic lives at school, work, and home, be- er version of the above eulogy: across to the man that the flier was not in and comes up with a critique of bondage therefore just as objectionable (I imagine cause there doesn’t seem to be any other way. Last Friday we headed down town for an- praise of Raya’s actions, per se, but rather a and repression that extends from board- she’d make a clever analogy to the effect that We put up with everyday humiliation, even archist café, an activity that involves about critical consideration of the reasons behind room to bedroom and back again. Exist- these are to marriages what “real existing as it takes its toll on us. Andres Raya did not twenty or so feet of literature, food of some his actions. The man stayed around for a ing in a society in which love is touted as socialism” was to capitalism)—and I could accept the disaster of our lives. He struggled, sort, and now films. We made copies of the while, and then left. A minute or so later, the one remaining bastion of pleasure and be persuaded to agree with her. But if we’re killed, and died. Andy Raya flier in two sizes. he stormed back, grabbed the larger poster escape, but in which “good relationships talking about full-scale social revolution— The tributes to Sgt. Stevenson disgust Almost immediately a young woman fliers, and went for the smaller ones. Some take work” and an enormous industry has and Kipnis drops hints left and right that us. Cops never deserve our tears. As long came up to us with her friends; she took the people tried to stop him, but he managed grown up around medicating, counseling, she is—then extolling mere isolated rebel- as police terrorize communities—that is, as flier and almost started crying. She told us to grab the fliers and then proceeded to rip and indoctrinating the industrious yet still lions is not enough. We have to talk about long as police exist—cop funerals should that she was Andy’s cousin, and thanked us them up and throw them away. He then joyless inmates of what Kipnis terms “do- what we’re fighting for. be spat upon. We are saddened that Raya over and over again for putting the flier out. called the police. mestic gulags,” we suffer the contradictions Quibbling aside (for that matter, are we is no longer around, though. We hate soci- We then talked a bit about the repression of The police got there, and he tried to make of capitalism in our relationships with each going to use biodiesel or vegetable oil after ety with the same intensity he did. Unlike youth and people in Ceres, and the cover- a weak case that we were passing out flyers other as much as our relationships with the revolution?), I recommend this book as the gunman, however, we do not see our age police harassment had been getting in about Raya. Okay. The police, frankly not the market economy. Taking the struggle one of the most important radical texts to be refusal of society to be suicide. What would local newspapers—on the front page in the really caring that much, and also knowing for liberation seriously enough to wage it published in the past couple years—yes, over have happened if Raya met more who were Spanish speaking press. We then gave her a that the man was in the wrong, told the man on every front, Kipnis takes up for cheat- and above anything by Noam Chomsky or like him? Could we not have come up with copy of our outreach flier, and traded phone to go home, and then left. ing, arguing that this indefensible behavior Howard Zinn, since it challenges us on is- a plan? We can all say “no” when ordered numbers for future collaboration. Some of Raya’s friends were in fact next is actually an attempt, albeit a confused sues we all grapple with directly, rather than to eat shit. We can fight back in ambitious I then took off to go visit my dad in the to the man during the whole ordeal, and one, to explore lives forbidden to us by the merely informing us about matters distant ways, and with all our strength. Let’s get hospital, but this is what I got from the were very upset by his words and actions. senseless injunctions of our culture. This is in space or time. If you enjoy it, I suggest together, not just lash out one by one. Re- others who remained. A man and his wife They were on the verge of physical con- exactly the kind of radical literature I get you go to a library and check out an earlier spect to Ceres taggers, who write better approached the table and saw the flier. Ac- frontation, and even got on the phone to excited about: assaulting institutions so fa- book of hers, Ecstasy Unlimited, a collection than every journalist. RIP Andy—Fuck the cording to other collective members, the call more friends. miliar as to be practically invisible and thus (and sometime practicer, if an embattled of essays and film scripts in which, foreshad- police—Let’s start to live. man was a little drunk. He only read a Anyway, a interesting response. Thanks unassailable, it manages to be insightful one) of non-monogamous relationships and owing her more recent work, she endeavors couple sentences of the flier, then started to Social War for making the flier—it has and inciting at the same time; the author’s a former adulterer of no small notoriety, I to frame what I would describe as an extra- screaming about how we were supporting a helped us to make further connections for lyrical brilliance and biting wit are icing on have to say I regard adultery as monogamy’s activist radicalism: a resistance that is not the an already fortifying cake. problematically loyal opposition. I think it’s specialty of a protester vanguard or intellec- comments: [email protected] gang member and cop killer. He went on to future organizing. Page 102 Obituaries Rolling Thunder CrimethInc. Summer 2005 Reviews Page 103 tual class, but instead proceeds from the yond questions of censorship and obscenity: if journal is absolutely essential. If anyone else you can read about a famous prison break, these lads had had cruel and damag- subversive desires present throughout all Hustler uses the sexist medium of pornogra- is publishing material this refined, uncom- or humorous stories of animals outwitting ing things happen to them, and now Reviews levels of society. phy to mount attacks on bourgeois proprieties promising, and comprehensive, it’s news to humans, or any of the various crazed letters they were blotting them out, escap- Kipnis argues that these desires must in- and capitalist power, how are class conscious me! The first one hundred pages (!) are dedi- to the editor. On top of all this, there are ing. They had abandoned for a while form our participation in social struggles. feminists to negotiate their allegiances? cated to an exhaustive analysis of the past extensive reviews of a variety of other radical their cumbersome personalities, as if Discussing so-called “mainstream” backlash The final piece in the book is her screen- and present of anti-authoritarian environ- papers and books. they were shedding a garment that against feminist politics, she cites a consum- play “Marx: the Video—A Politics of Re- mental activism in the U.K. and the world One can only hope that some equally for- was too restrictive, and assuming er study which analysts found that a major- volting Bodies.” The central metaphor of around it, coupled with an all-encompassing midable journal will appear to fill the vacu- another that enabled them to walk ity of housewives preferred roach spray over the film is Marx’s struggle with illness— proposal of future strategy. The sheer arro- um Do or Die leaves behind it—and that the more at ease, to live a freer inner life roach poison “because it allowed them to carbuncles, to be precise, a “proletarian dis- gance of such an undertaking is inspiring, adjacent vacuums in other strains of radical under the tyranny of rules, relieved participate in the kill” and “a lot of their ease” afflicting a dropout from the middle and while not everyone will agree with their thinking and organizing, as yet unfilled, will of the dead weight of responsibil- feelings about roaches turned out to be simi- class—as a physical manifestation of the emphases (they pass over workplace organiz- be seen to as well. In the meantime, though ity. In this return to the warmth of lar to their feelings about the men in their struggle between capital and worker, pres- ing and so on to concentrate on protecting this final issue is by now almost certainly out the herd, to animal life, there was a lives”; here, Kipnis argues, barely concealed ent and future, death and life: “like a body threatened ecosystems, nurturing counter- of print, look for it in the collections of your sense of relief at casting off a burden, beneath the pretense of suburban sanitation, trying to turn itself into another body.” cultures that can survive industrial collapse, radical friends and local infoshops. a lightening of the chest.” is a furious rage that should be playing out in Here, again, we have the grand themes of and solidarity with those in resistance out- Do or Die c/o Prior House, 6 Tilbury Place, social upheaval, not consumer sublimation. history playing out on an intimate level, side the West) it’s great to see somebody Brighton BN2 2GY, England (www.eco-ac- Only moments away from my own depar- Why are many of these women so alienated one of Kipnis’s fortes. A suffering Marx fac- thinking in terms of the big picture. tion.org/dod, [email protected]) ture, I felt a little resonance with this writ- work, Eberhardt discusses many of the di- by the existing feminist movement that they es the end with humorous rancor: “At any And that’s only the tip of the iceberg. ing, this talk of travel and the casting off of lemmas that she faced herself while writ- decline to participate in it at all? And what rate, I hope the bourgeoisie will remember Proceeding on, we encounter an interview old weights. I decided to steal the book. ing the novel: love versus lust, individual would it take to foment a new movement my carbuncles all the rest of their lives.” with infamous animal rights saboteur Rod Later, I recognized the author, whose emancipation versus the dogma of collec- that could deliver on their desires? The film itself ends with an exhortation: Coronado, a discussion of the pros and cons name had sounded vaguely familiar but tive revolution, university study versus Kipnis explores this subject further in “Sometimes the lines in the conflict over of different approaches to creating autono- elusive; it was Isabelle Eberhardt! I’d heard the study of life experience. It is a rough, her screenplay “A Man’s Woman,” a takeoff power are clear: sides can be taken, social mous social spaces, and a primer on herbal stories of her, the legendary nomad who very flawed novel, with an unrefined, un- on the life of Phyllis Schlafly, a reactionary revolutions enacted. Other times, they are healing. In well-researched extensively-foot- traveled through North Africa disguised finished feel. The tone is warm and con- conservative woman who, ironically, rose to less so; confused in such moments, we can noted (yet not boring) expositions, the read- as a young Arab man, joining up with templative, with a distinctly Russian style; national prominence on the platform that begin by interrogating ourselves.” er can learn about the history of Morocco’s mysterious Sufi sects and wreaking havoc perhaps Eberhardt drew influence from women should stay out of public life and For my part, I’ll post below in grey the occupation of the Western Sahara, the recent across the Algerian Sahara, shocking the the tradition of Tolstoy and Dostoevsky. power. Given that as long as hierarchies ex- conclusion to “Ecstasy Unlimited,” the film anti-authoritarian insurrection in Algeria, tame French settlers with her libertine For me, the book was a guide, a map ist, there are always going to be people ready script from which her book derives its title, a and current revolts and repression in Colom- way of life. Isabelle Eberhardt—who re- through the world of adventure, a volume to compromise themselves (and others!) to summary of her account of modern sexuality bia, Bolivia, Guatemala, Ecuador, Surinam, mains the only European woman to have I could consult for advice during my own be what Malcolm X would have called house that is characteristic of her total approach. and more. In addition to the environmental ever witnessed the ritual “fantasia,” who travels. The words derive their power from niggers, it’s worth asking what forces compel focus, there’s an insurrectionist slant here, fought and killed with a dagger an officer the experience of Isabelle’s life. Her pas- people to transform their own yearnings for as evidenced by “Without a Trace,” a piece of the French colonial police in the up- sionate and relentless search for answers in liberation into tools of repression, and how Do or Die—Voices glorifying anonymous, decentralized revolt, rising at Bone, who survived assassination a world that only offers excuses truly shines these forces might be offset. from the Ecological and of course the introductory piece entitled Vagabond and conspiracy to die at the age of 27 in a through the character of Dimitri Orscha- Kipnis is never one to avoid a controversial “Insurrectionary Anarchy”; I can’t say I’m flash flood in the desert outside of the Ain now and continues today to push me on to- topic or confrontational conclusion. In one Resistance, Issue 10 convinced that secret acts of sabotage alone Isabelle Eberhardt Sefra military base in Morocco. wards the horizon, towards worlds of which of these essays, she sets aside her feminism to will be enough to change the world, but I She was born in Geneva in 1877, the I have not even dreamed. While packing up consider what she finds to be a powerful sub- As radical publications go, this 382-page agree that putting organization before ac- “What I long for is the freedom daughter of Russian exiles. During her for my own Drift, I decisively left out the text of militant class consciousness in, of all blowout final issue of England’s long-run- tivity means confounding means and ends. of going about alone…” life, she published scores of articles and Lets Go! travel guide, throwing in Isabelle publications, Hustler magazine. This goes be- ning premier eco-anarchist/direct action If you want a break from the serious stuff, -Isabelle Eberhardt, Vagabond short stories in various European and Af- Eberhardt’s “Vagabond” instead. After all, rican journals, which were collected post- when there’s limited space, we’ve got to keep Sitting on the couch in the living room at humously into books and published along our priorities straight, right? the punk house on Cedar Street, I thumbed with her diaries. Her only novel, Timar- Vagabond and all of Eberhardt’s other through a few paperbacks on the coffee deur (“Vagabond”), remained unfinished at writings are recommended for anyone who table. There were some interesting titles in the time of her sudden death. In 1922, a is interested in the things life has to offer Our sexuality is not repressed, it is produced, and in It is ironic when we believe our “liberation” is in the the pile, but the third from the bottom, friend of Isabelle, Victor Barrucand, pub- beyond what Ronald McDonald and his forms custom-made to our social order. balance. especially, caught my eye. Vagabond, it was lished Timardeur with an ending he pieced army of burger servants can provide. Rec- The paths to pleasure are frequently not pretty, but Instead, we could say of sex what was once said of titled. Flipping through, I read a few lines: together from some of Isabelle’s papers. It ommended for fans of Dostoevsky and Alexander Supertramp, it is a tale of raw they are our pleasures. Instead of denying them or glo- religion: that our pleasure is the sigh of the oppressed wasn’t until 1988 that the novel made its adventure, a meditation on the price an an- rifying them, we can try to understand them. creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of “He listened vaguely to the cha- first appearance in English, translated from otic Babel of conversation going on archist must often pay for freedom. It is a Our sexuality is produced in the form of a commodity; soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people. the French by Annette Kobak. around him, deep voices joking in Vagabond is the story of Dimitri Orscha- testament to what is possible, if we have the our fantasies are repackaged and sold to us as products To do away with the illusion that we have chosen different languages, arguments inside now, a Russian anarchist who gives up his courage to follow our hearts, be they frozen in porn stores; our desire has the grammar of consumer these pleasures is to demand new choices. the frail tents buffeted by the wind. life as a student in Saint Petersburg and or enflamed, focused or confused, so long as capitalism, and those sexual forms will exist as long as The call to abandon illusions about a condition is a His place was here now. He would travels south, as a migrant worker and they are free. those social forms exist. call to abandon all conditions that require illusions. curl up here, make a niche for him- vagabond, through Europe and eventu- To critique our mode of sexuality is to criticize the self amongst these companions, each ally to Africa, where he joins the Foreign -Jon Sarrows, Stockholm mode of social organization that produces it. of whom had his own secret past. All Legion. In this highly autobiographical Page 104 Reviews Rolling Thunder CrimethInc. Summer 2005 Reviews Page 105 The Foundation: Lies of transcendence, and went their separate The Foundation was a refuge for outlaws ways. The story is bittersweet and beautiful and renegades, a sanctuary for the law- and Half Truths in much the same way that Tortilla Flat by less and ungovernable, and an asylum for John Steinbeck is, and that is no small com- sinners, outcasts, and pariahs of every de- I cannot be expected to pen an objective pliment in my book. scription. It was a den of thieves and urban review of this zine. It is about a house I used It’s worth noting that, on a purely visual pirates, home to an ever-expanding cast of to live in a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far and tactile level, the zine is superbly done. ex-convicts, known felons, middle-aged away. There is something comforting and a It is thick and fat and feels nice to hold, vagrants, abused runaways, recovering ad- little unhealthy about seeing pieces of your is full of evocative color pictures, and is dicts, hopeless drunks, sensitive activists, life set down in print, and I am not sure how handwritten in neat and legible script. Also, and homicidal maniacs. I learned more relevant these stories would be to me if I had the author shows real skill and style in ar- about direct action and mutual aid there not been so intimately involved. With all of ranging a whole lot of vignettes to trace the than I ever would have from a thousand that being said, though, I am really glad that arc of the big picture. It’s no fault of her protests and pamphlets. It means a lot to this zine exists, and I recommend it highly. own, but it’s also worth mentioning that me that someone finally took the time to Lies and Half Truths tells the tale of the the writer simply wasn’t around for some write about it. Toward the end she says, rise and spectacular fall of The Foundation, of the most inspiring and positive things accurately, that “everyone who ever went a squat cinderblock hovel floating in a sea that happened out at that place, especially out there turned feral.” I’ll take that as a of kudzu on top of an abandoned landfill in the beginning. I do wish that some more kind of victory. It can be easy to lose my- on the eastern outskirts of a certain shithole of those stories could have found their way self in regret and nostalgia while reading Guardia Negra losing anything in the mud. I have to admit modern day witches’ sabbats and anarchist southern city. It is the dare I say archetypi- into this collection, since they make the ul- this beautiful little zine about me and my that, despite actually being a fan of old Blitz, convergences. The second, a work in several cal story of some people (and other ani- timate demise of the house that much more friends, but if there’s one thing I know it is “Adrenalina!” CD that one song “Victims” by The Strike, and, movements fully ten minutes long, evokes mals) who came together for a time, loved compelling. Her account unavoidably re- that the Foundation was a part of a subver- of course, “Freedom” by Last Resort, not to and the turbulence of social struggles such and cared for each other, did some glori- flects one perspective on what was a compli- sive current of which the last has not been If you have been keeping your alter ego as mention some Prince Buster, I’m responding as the recent one in Argentina through mes- ous deeds, failed and betrayed each other, cated and multi-faceted set of experiences heard, and that the final chapter is yet to a Red/Anarchist Skinhead with a penchant to this more as a cultural curiosity piece than merizing musical dynamics, and further ex- did some truly awful shit, attained a kind for a whole lot of people. be written. for vengeful internationalist Oi and Ska as an artistic masterwork; but that’s not to plores this lyrical theme in the liner notes. in the closet, this is the somewhat rough- say there’s nothing to recommend this. -b That a member of more of this band has edged answer to your prayers. From the epic Fire and Flames, P.O. Box 24, Boston, MA been to Argentina, and on the front lines glam intro to coarse streetpunk singalongs 02133 (www.fireflames.com) of the struggle in Europe as well, is evident to 1970’s-style Ska, it’s all here. Think saxo- from the soulful performance as well as the phones á la The Specials, or nasal lead guitar content here. The final song, named “The throughout the entire song to complement HK/Pledge Alliance End of the Epidemic” in a reference to their the tuneful strains of Oi-boy yelling and influence Diamanda Galas, applies a more gang backing vocals. And the lyrics—talk split CD rock sensibility in contrast to the metallic Crimson Spectre CD avoid addressing it. There is a dishearten- entirely. I, for one, certainly do not intend about over the top! “Skinheads, not like aesthetic of the others; it concludes: “FIRES ing Marxist/Leninist slant to every aspect to take the hammer and sickle up out of the rest—red and black is our flag… with This is a lovely example of a fully-real- WILL BREAK OUT. FIRES WILL BREAK The Crimson Spectre manage to pull off a of this project that I cannot let pass with- the museum when they have had, to put black helmets and ski masks, the bourgeoi- ized opus of passionate hardcore punk, and OUT. FIRES WILL BREAK OUT.” real coup by appropriating the ghoulish aes- out comment. I can understand. I grew it very mildly, such a questionable track sie we’ll terrorize” “Let us follow the spirit worth the attention of anyone moved by HK took a while to click for me, fixated thetic of bands like The Misfits, and employ- up in trailers and pickup trucks, too. I’ve record in terms of their effect on the mate- of Nechaev—with knives and bombs there that music and culture. I’ll go further than as I was with the Pledge Alliance songs, but ing it, in their own words, to “draw attention stood at the end of any number of convey- rial conditions of poor people’s lives. will be no truce; in order to destroy all your that—as far as I’m concerned, this is a clas- now that they’ve connected, I’m thrilled to this collective political nightmare, and to or belts, and I’ve seen the inside of more All of that being said, I really do like this emblems, I’ll kill with no problem… pro- sic, that should not be forgotten by the punk about them, too. Their songs alternate be- articulate it in a highly stylized and acces- than one day labor office. I know how CD. The Crimson Spectre are, in practice letarian vengeance will be felt the whole scene for a long time. The packaging itself tween repetitive staccato attacks and grooves sible form.” This is a brilliant concept, and it oblivious the anarchist movement of to- if not on principle, giving a reality check to earth through.” There’s even a song about establishes this, as to every song is devoted with which they establish a hypnotic rhythm. works. The lyrics are particularly strong, and day can be sometimes to the needs of peo- an essentially anti-authoritarian countercul- their favorite football club, for Kropotkin’s a separate lyric sheet with artwork, transla- The genealogy of their abrasive discord and occasionally hit the nail so squarely on the ple who have to work for a living, and that ture, and that’s important. They deserve to sake! To their credit, the content also shows tions of the lyrics in three languages, and an shrieking vocals goes back to Acme, if any- head that they beg to be scratched onto the it can seem like just another playground be commended for finding an original way some political development, covering Latin explanatory essay on a fold-in sheet. one reading this remembers that 7”, but walls of Waffle Houses and Greyhound ter- for privileged and ungrateful white kids. to draw attention to the “horrors of war, hor- American resistance (including the dictator- From the first haunting guitar note, their songwriting focuses on extensive ex- minals everywhere. These songs are set into a But none of that changes the fact that I rors of occupation,” and the “horrors of pov- ship in Argentina), anti-imperialist interna- Pledge Alliance flaunts everything I trea- ploration of themes rather than blitzkrieg hard foundation of poverty, frustration, and also believe that if we have any hope of erty,” as they put it, and for giving a shout tionalism, and anarcho-syndicalism; it’s just sure in the best hardcore punk: fiery, force- assaults. I have to say I was surprised by the loss—and I appreciate that. The music is suc- extricating ourselves from the mess that out to Greensboro, NC. When the singer that, as has sometimes been the case with ful delivery, flawlessly constructed songs, an white-boy funk intro to their last song, but a cinct and well executed, and the guitar solos we are in it will be in spite of the authori- screams “OUR DAY WILL COME!” at the enthusiastic revolutionaries, it’s hard to atmosphere of epic drama, and uncompro- healthy musical diversity is important to any are convincing. The booklet even includes a tarian legacy that Lenin and his would-be end of “The Ghosts of Long Kesh,” I fucking tell exactly where the thrill-seeking blood- misingly revolutionary content. The musi- band. Unlike Pledge Alliance, they haven’t hopefully prophetic picture of skeletons impal- successors have left us with, not because believe it, and I know he’s not just talking lust leaves off and the cool-headed political cal themes are as compelling and eternal as yet broken up as of this writing, so we may ing the severed heads of George Bush, Donald of it. The basic critique of communism by about the Irish. I just hope that come the analysis and strategy in the service of justice Beethoven would have written, the arrange- get to see where they’re going with it. Rumsfeld, and various other businessmen on anarchists—that capital and the state are day we end up playing for the same team. and compassion kick in. Most everything is ments in which they are developed build Collectif Maldoror, Champrevault, 58170 guitar necks in a graveyard. YEAH! inextricably linked—has remained con- P.O. BOX 10093 Greensboro, NC 27404 in Spanish, with some English translations. and build the intensity like the stoking of Luzy, France ([email protected]) I want to be able to wholeheartedly en- sistent, and unanswered, since the days [email protected] The production is a little rough around the a fire, the deep roaring vocals and inciner- Impure Muzik, 19, Faubourg Tarragnoz, dorse this band, not the least because I of the First International. If anarchism as CD available from The Magic Bullet Record edges in a way that doesn’t flatter the music ating guitars offer a perfect vessel for this 25000 Besancon, France (www.impuremuzik. happen to know and deeply respect some it stands now is often missing a working Co., 17 Argyle Hills Rd., Fredericksburg, VA the way the terrible production of old did rage and longing. The first song is a timeless com) of its members, but there is one problem class perspective then we who can do so 22405 the classics of Oi, but I wouldn’t say the anthem to gatherings outside the domina- here, and it would be two-faced of me to need to inform it with one, not abandon it www.magicbulletrecords.com singing or playing is slick enough that it’s tion of power, an invocation of wildness for Page 106 Reviews Rolling Thunder CrimethInc. Summer 2005 Reviews Page 107 Page 108 Comics Rolling Thunder CrimethInc. Summer 2005 Comics Page 109 Page 110 Comics Rolling Thunder CrimethInc. Summer 2005 Comics Page 111 how can you resist Recipes for Disaster: An Anarchist Cookbook—$12 For ten long years, our operatives have honed their skills, testing their wits and mettle against the global capitalist empire, the most formidable adversary in the history of life on earth. We have learned how to redecorate the walls of cities occupied by armies of riot police, to transform random groups of damaged, isolated individuals into loving communities capable of supporting one another through the most severe bouts of repression and depression, to shut down corporate summits and franchises armed with little more than plastic piping or eyedroppers of glue. Now, BEHINDWe want the things you OUR want, but today, MASKS not tomorrow. We thinkWE the things ARE you think, YOU but we act we’ve compiled many of the techniques that made these feats possible into a 624-page handbook on them, too. We run the same risks you run, but we’ll be damned if we’ll run them for nothing. entitled Recipes for Disaster. The sixty-two recipes run the gamut from Affinity Groups to Wheatpasting, stopping along the way at topics as disparate as Hitchhiking, Sabotage, and Supporting Survivors of Domestic Violence. Each recipe is illustrated as necessary with photographs, technical diagrams, and firsthand accounts. Countless individuals and collectives have contributed to the testing, composing, and editing, in order to put the most useful and comprehensive manual in the hands of revolutionaries everywhere. Recipes for Disaster has not yet been banned by the U.S. government; it is currently available from us for no more than the costs of printing and transportation. We hope this book will help those working to transform both their own lives and the world at large, but the rest is up to you.

Days of War, Nights of Love: Crimethink for Beginners— Your ticket to a world free of charge: the famous invitation to the adventure of overthrowing capitalism, hierarchy, and everything else, by turns wild-eyed, romantic, and prophetic. $8 Evasion—The controversial chronicle of one boy’s saga of willful unemployment, crime, and adventure. $6 Off the Map—A punk rock vision quest in the form of a travel narrative, being the adventures of two women squatting, hitchhiking, and dreaming their way across Europe. $3 We cover our faces Stone Hotel—These are Raegan Butcher’s poems from prison: straightforward, harrowing, and sometimes uplifting. $10 to uncover ourselves. Zegota 7”—Two brand new songs from the long-running flagship band of eclectic and idealistic hardcore punk: an unabashed street protest anthem entitled “Anarchist Cheerleader We discovered that we had been holding our true Song,” and a spine-tingling cover of the traditional spiritual “Sinner Man” á la Nina Simone. selves at arm’s length our whole lives, each of us $4.50 afraid no one else had one. We had smuggled these unlived through a bitter world, cherishing them as 38 songs and 80 pages Umlaut “Total Disfuckingcography” CD— the might-have-beens of another, impossible world. of depraved terrorist punk rock and propaganda from the most Finnish band of all time. If Though we shuddered dutifully at the televised Steppenwolf put the “high” in “highway,” Umlaut puts the “highway” in “highwaymen.” $9 specters of masked criminals and villains, our public The Spectacle “Rope or Guillotine” CD—Drawing on the legacies of lives were themselves the masks of prisoners who such bands as Catharsis, His Hero Is Gone, early Gehenna, and Godspeed, You Black Emperor!, never dared act as if no one was watching. these Norwegians are possibly the best band in the world playing hardcore today. $10 Donning masks, we realized we had been keeping Zegota “Reclaim!” CD—The third wide-ranging full-length album from these the wrong things secret. We had been acting in the expatriate artistic geniuses. $8 open, and only in the ways we were permitted to act openly, while hiding our desires. We should have Face Down In Shit “Passing Times” CD—These tortured maniacs been proclaiming our desires openly, so as to find twist the punk and stoner rock traditions into something somehow at once ugly and beautiful. $10 each other, and laying secret plans. Countdown to Putsch “Interventions in Hegemony” double CD—C-to-P draws on punk rock, free jazz, and radical theater to create one of the most daring experimental works to come out of the do-it-yourself milieu. $10 Blacken the Skies CD—This was Stef’s band between Catharsis and Requiem;

Postage included. CrimethInc. Far East, P.O. Box 1963, Olympia, WA 98507 USA (www.crimethinc.com) WA 1963, Olympia, Box P.O. East, Far included. CrimethInc. Postage imagine early Zegota, if they were a d-beat crust band. $9 PUNCH COPS IN THE FACE . . . and get away with it!

To say police abuse their authority is redundant— as everyone who’s ever been on the other side of a badge knows, the only authority of the police rests on the abuse they can threaten and inflict. Police brutality is not an aberration from the norm, but normal life in this society taken to its logical conclusion. Wealthy executives, warmonger politicians, and others who benefit from inequality and oppression claim that law and order must be established for peace and freedom to be possible, but in fact it’s the other way around: crime and violence can only intensify as long as our so- called protectors enforce the social imbalances that give rise to them. Fortunately, there’s now a cure for this social disease. We anarchists, believing that our own communities can govern themselves better than any armored occupying army could, have spent long years perfecting methods for resisting their encroachments upon our lives. These tactics are now ready for general use.

If you treasure liberty—if you hunger for justice—if you crave revenge . . . JOIN THE ANARCHISTS w w w . c r i m e t h i n c . c o m w w w . i n f o s h o p . o r g