FW: AUT: communique from participants in the property destruction

["bob brown" <vacirca@xxxxxxxxx>]

"solidarity means sharing the same risks" - Che
( la solidarita significa correre gli stessi rischi)

----------
From: Spoon Collective <spoons@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: aut-op-sy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: AUT: communique from participants in the property destruction in
seattle (fwd)
Date: Sun, Dec 5, 1999, 6:53 PM



From: jeff <jeff@xxxxxx>

remember: please read all of this communique before you pass judgement on
their actions, views, reasons, etc.

>N30 Black Bloc Communique
>by ACME Collective 10:48am Sat Dec 4 '99
>
>Source: http://www.indymedia.org
>Article: http://216.173.206.96/display.php3?article_id=508
>
>A communique from one section of the black bloc of N30 in Seattle
>
>On November 30, several groups of individuals in black bloc attacked various
>corporate targets in downtown Seattle. Among them were (to name just a few):
>
>Fidelity Investment (major investor in Occidental Petroleum, the bane of
>the U'wa tribe in Columbia) Bank of America, US Bancorp, Key Bank and
>Washington Mutual Bank (financial institutions key in the expansion of
>corporate repression) Old Navy, Banana Republic and the GAP (as Fisher
>family businesses, rapers of Northwest forest lands and sweatshop laborers)
>NikeTown and Levi's (whose overpriced products are made in sweatshops)
>McDonald's (slave-wage fast-food peddlers responsible for destruction of
>tropical rainforests for grazing land and slaughter of animals)
>Starbucks(peddlers of an addictive substance whose products are harvested at
>below-poverty wages by farmers who are forced to destroy their own forests
>in the process) Warner Bros. (media monopolists) Planet Hollywood (for being
>Planet Hollywood)
>
>This activity lasted for over 5 hours and involved the breaking of
>storefront windows and doors and defacing of facades. Slingshots, newspaper
>boxes, sledge hammers, mallets, crowbars and nail-pullers were used to
>strategically destroy corporate property and gain access (one of the three
>targeted Starbucks and Niketown were looted). Eggs filled with glass etching
>solution, paint-balls and spray-paint were also used.
>
>The black bloc was a loosely organized cluster of affinity groups and
>individuals who roamed around downtown, pulled this way by a vulnerable and
>significant storefront and that way by the sight of a police formation.
>Unlike the vast majority of activists who were pepper-sprayed, tear-gassed
>and shot at with rubber bullets on several occasions, most of our section of
>the black bloc escaped serious injury by remaining constantly in motion and
>avoiding engagement with the police. We buddied up, kept tight and watched
>each others' backs. Those attacked by federal thugs were un-arrested by
>quick-thinking and organized members of the black bloc. The sense of
>solidarity was awe-inspiring.
>
>THE PEACE POLICE
>
>Unfortunately, the presence and persistence of "peace police" was quite
>disturbing. On at least 6 separate occasions, so-called "non-violent"
>activists physically attacked individuals who targeted corporate property.
>Some even went so far as to stand in front of the Niketown super store and
>tackle and shove the black bloc away. Indeed, such self-described
>"peace-keepers" posed a much greater threat to individuals in the black bloc
>than the notoriously violent uniformed "peace-keepers" sanctioned by the
>state (undercover officers have even used the cover of the activist
>peace-keepers to ambush those who engage in corporate property destruction).
>
>
>RESPONSE TO THE BLACK BLOC
>
>Response to the black bloc has highlighted some of the contradictions and
>internal oppressions of the "nonviolent activist" community. Aside from the
>obvious hypocrisy of those who engaged in violence against black-clad and
>> >masked people (many of whom were harassed despite the fact that they
>never engaged in property destruction), there is the racism of privileged
>activists who can afford to ignore the violence perpetrated against the bulk
>of society and the natural world in the name of private property rights.
>Window-smashing has engaged and inspired many of the most oppressed members
>of Seattle's community more than any giant puppets or sea turtle costumes
>ever could (not to disparage the effectiveness of those tools in other
>communities).
>
>TEN MYTHS ABOUT THE BLACK BLOC
>
>Here's a little something to dispel the myths that have been circulating
>about the N30 black bloc:
>
>1. "They are all a bunch of Eugene anarchists." While a few may be
>anarchists from Eugene, we hail from all over the United States, including
>Seattle. In any case, most of us are familiar with local issues in Seattle
>(for instance, the recent occupation of downtown by some of the most
>nefarious of multinational retailers).
>
>2. "They are all followers of John Zerzan." A lot of rumors have been
>circulating that we are followers of John Zerzan, an anarcho-primitivist
>author from Eugene who advocates property destruction. While some of us may
>appreciate his writings and analyses, he is in no sense our leader,
>directly, indirectly, philosophically or otherwise.
>
>3. "The mass public squat is the headquarters of the anarchists who
>destroyed property on November 30th." In reality, most of the people in the
>"Autonomous Zone" squat are residents of Seattle who have spent most of
>their time since its opening on the 28th in the squat. While they may know
>of one-another, the two groups are not co-extensive and in no case could the
>squat be considered the headquarters of people who destroyed property.
>
>4. "They escalated situations on the 30th, leading to the tear-gassing of
>passive, non-violent protesters."  Note that
>tear-gassing, pepper-spraying and the shooting of rubber bullets all began
>before the black blocs (as far as we know) started engaging in property
>destruction. In addition, we must resist the tendency to establish a causal
>relationship between police repression and protest in any form, whether it
>involved property destruction or not. The police are charged with protecting
>the interests of the wealthy few and the blame for the violence cannot be
>placed upon those who protest those interests.
>
>5. Conversely: "They acted in response to the police repression." While this
>might be a more positive representation of the black bloc, it is
>nevertheless false. We refuse to be misconstrued as a purely reactionary
>force. While the logic of the black bloc may not make sense to some, it is
>in any case a pro-active logic.
>
>6. "They are a bunch of angry adolescent boys." Aside from the fact that it
>belies a disturbing ageism and sexism, it is false. Property destruction is
>not merely macho rabble-rousing or testosterone-laden angst release. Nor is
>it displaced and reactionary anger. It is strategically and specifically
>targeted direct action against corporate interests.
>
>7. "They just want to fight." This is pretty absurd, and it conveniently
>ignores the eagerness of "peace police" to fight us. Of all the groups
>engaging in direct action, the black bloc was perhaps the least interested
>in engaging the authorities and we certainly had no interest in fighting
>with other anti-WTO activists (despite some rather strong disagreements over
>tactics).
>
>8. "They are a chaotic, disorganized and opportunistic mob." While many of
>us could surely spend days arguing over what "chaotic" means, we
>werecertainly not disorganized. The organization may have been fluid and
>dynamic, but it was tight. As for the charge of opportunism, it would be
>hard to imagine who of the thousands in attendance _didn't_ take advantage
>of the opportunity created in Seattle to advance their agenda. The question
>becomes, then, whether or not we helped create that opportunity and most of
>us certainly did (which leads us to the next myth):
>
>9. "They don't know the issues" or "they aren't activists who've been
>working on this." While we may not be professional activists, we've all been
>working on this convergence in Seattle for months. Some of us did work in
>our home-towns and others came to Seattle months in advance to work on it.
>To be sure, we were responsible for many hundreds of people who came out on
>the streets on the 30th, only a very small minority of which had anything to
>do with the black bloc. Most of us have been studying the effects of the
>global economy, genetic engineering, resource extraction, transportation,
>labor practices, elimination of indigenous autonomy, animal rights and human
>rights and we've been doing activism on these issues for many years. We are
>neither ill-informed nor unexperienced.
>
>10. "Masked anarchists are anti-democratic and secretive because they hide
>their identities." Let's face it (with or without a mask)--we aren't living
>in a democracy right now. If this week has not made it plain enough, let us
>remind you--we are living in a police state. People tell us that if we
>really think that we're right, we wouldn't be hiding behind masks. "The
>truth will prevail" is the assertion. While this is a fine and noble goal,
>it does not jive with the present reality. Those who pose the greatest
>threat to the interests of Capital and State will be persecuted. Some
>pacifists would have us accept this persecution gleefully. Others would tell
>us that it is a worthy sacrifice. We are not so morose. Nor do we feel we
>have the privilege to accept persecution as a sacrifice: persecution to us
>is a daily inevitability and we treasure our few freedoms. To accept
>incarceration as a form of flattery betrays a large amount of "first world"
>privilege. We feel that an attack on private property is necessary if we are
>to rebuild a world which is useful, healthful and joyful for everyone. And
>this despite the fact that hypertrophied private property rights in this
>country translate into felony charges for any property destruction over
>$250.
>
>MOTIVATIONS OF THE BLACK BLOC
>
>The primary purpose of this communique is to diffuse some of the aura of
>mystery that surrounds the black bloc and make some of its motivations more
>transparent, since our masks cannot be.
>
>ON THE VIOLENCE OF PROPERTY
>
>We contend that property destruction is not a violent activity unless it
>destroys lives or causes pain in the process. By this definition, private
>property--especially corporate private property--is itself infinitely more
>violent than any action taken against it. Private property should be
>distinguished from personal property. The latter is based upon use while the
>former is based upon trade. The premise of personal property is that each of
>us has what s/he needs. The premise of private property is that each of us
>has something that someone else needs or wants.
>
>In a society based on private property rights, those who are able to accrue
>more of what others need or want have greater power. By extension, they
>wield greater control over what others perceive as needs and desires,usually
>in the interest of increasing profit to themselves. Advocates of "free
>trade" would like to see this process to its logical conclusion: anetwork of
>a few industry monopolists with ultimate control over the lives of the
>everyone else. Advocates of "fair trade" would like to see this process
>mitigated by government regulations meant to superficially impose basic
>humanitarian standards.
>
>As anarchists, we despise both positions. Private property--and
>capitalism,by extension--is intrinsically violent and repressive and cannot
>be reformed or mitigated. Whether the power of everyone is concentrated into
>the hands of a few corporate heads or diverted into a regulatory apparatus
>charged with mitigating the disasters of the latter, no one can be as free
>or as powerful as they could be in a non-hierarchical society. When we smash
>a window, we aim to destroy the thin veneer of legitimacy that surrounds
>private property rights. At the same time, we exorcise that set of violent
>and destructive social relationships which has been imbued in almost
>everything around us.
>
>By "destroying" private property, we convert its limited exchange value into
>an expanded use value. A storefront window becomes a vent to let some fresh
>air into the oppressive atmosphere of a retail outlet (at least until
>the police decide to tear-gas a nearby road blockade). A newspaper box
>becomes a tool for creating such vents or a small blockade for the
>reclamation of public space or an object to improve one's vantage point by
>standing on it. A dumpster becomes an obstruction to a phalanx of rioting
>cops and a source of heat and light. A building facade becomes a message
>board to record brainstorm ideas for a better world. After N30, many people
>will never see a shop window or a hammer the same way again. The potential
>uses of an entire cityscape have increased a thousand-fold. The number of
>broken windows pales in comparison to the number broken spells--spells cast
>by a corporate hegemony to lull us into forgetfulness of all the violence
>committed in the name of private property rights and of all the potential of
>a society without them. Broken windows can be boarded up (with yet more
>waste of our forests) and eventually replaced, but the shattering of
>assumptions will hopefully persist for some time to come.
>
>Against Capital and State,
>
>the ACME Collective
>
>"Peasant Revolt!"
>-------------
>Disclaimer: these observations and analyses represent only those of the ACME
>Collective and should not be construed to be representative of the rest of
>the black bloc on N30 or anyone else who engaged in riot or property
>destruction that day.
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