This computer kills fascists: 7 (fwd)

[Chris Faatz <cfaatz@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 31 Jan 1996 11:20:38 -0500
From: tallpaul <tallpaul@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: cfaatz@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Cc: perim@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: This computer kills fascists: 7

Dear Fellow Workers and Friends,

Attached for your information is the internet Request for
Discussion (RFD) for a news group called "rec.music.white-power."
In my previous letter to you (Computer:6) I reported initial data
that the group was to be moderated; as the RFD shows, it is an
UN-moderated group. This makes it far less threatening but should
it be established it would still represent a stinging defeat for
anti-fascist forces on the net. (A copy of the RFD is attached
below.)

I also wanted to bring you up to date on a number of discussions
I've had with people on the issue of fighting the nazis in
cyberspace.

1) Do we "debate" nazis?

There is no broad consensus behind a single answer to this
question. Some believe that it is necessary to debate them, if
only to counter nazi propaganda. Others believe that the only
implement one uses in a debate is a baseball bat. (On a personal
level I line up with the "no debate" people, but that position
has far less meaning in cyberspace than elsewhere.)

Those of you who have examined the nazi "Big Six" groups on
Usenet see that a number of unaffiliated individuals are debating
the scum over issues like Holocaust Revisionism, evolution,
Scientific Racism, and so forth.

Cyberspace is certainly real. That is it exists as a phenomenon
independent of the human mind. The word "cyberspace" is merely a
convenient linguistic glyph for a collection of technology that
exists under specific historical conditions. In this sense
cyberspace cannot be separated from any other phenomenon in the
real world. There are, however, a large number of ways in which
cyberspace is a unique phenomenon. Because of this, I'll refer to
it "as if" it was somehow different.

There are no baseball bats in cyberspace, no physical force, no
guns, no formal state apparatus.

A debate might be defined as the acts where we agree to meet
others at a certain place and a certain time and disagreements
are expressed with words instead of bats.

By this definition, all conflict in cyberspace resembles more a
debate than anything else.

While there are those who state we should not debate fascists, I
do not know of any who state we should not counter fascist
propaganda. Due to the unique nature of cyberspace then, the
issue is not one of debate versus 'De Bat. Rather, the only
choice we are faced with is whether we will counter fascist
propaganda or abstain from challenging it.

Many of the issues raised by the fascists (even as smokescreens)
are issues to which non-activists contribute. This is especially
true on things like Holocaust Revisionism, genetics, etc. The
activist has no necessary advantage in these conflicts over the
well-informed non-activist. Indeed, sometimes the non-activists
who have chosen to specialize in countering fascist propaganda
may be more informed about the particular empirical data than the
activist.

2) What are the fascists doing in cyberspace?

The are three specific locations where we find fascists: their
sites on the World Wide Web, on the Internet Relay Chat (IRC)
channels, and on Usenet.

At present we are only able to intersect their activities on
Usenet in general and in the Nazi 6 groups in particular.

Major uses of Usenet are for recruiting and as a base for
destructive activity elsewhere on the net.

First, the nazis use the net to remain in contact with each
other. The global nature of the net and the apparent disruption
of time and space lets individual nazis otherwise geographically
isolated appear to "live" in areas of high fascist activity.

The same discontinuities of space and time allow us to radically
alter this appearance. The isolated nazi also "lives" in an area
of high anti-fascist activity, especially as we become more
active in our interventions on the nazi Big 6 groups.

Second, the nazis use the net to practice presenting their views
to a larger audience. Thusfar that larger audience in the Big 6
groups, at least, has also been routinely hostile to the
messages.

Third, the nazis use the Big 6, I believe, as a base for
organizing elsewhere on the net. (This issue has already been
discussed in previous posts to most of you in terms of hidden
identities, trolls, and excessive cross and multiple postings, so
I won't go into it here.)

Fourth, and I think the most dangerous, is their ability to use
their base to recruit among disaffected youth.

"Progressive" issues, deemed "with it" as readers of a.p.s.t.
realize, have had little positive effect on many young people.
Issues like nuclear and solar power, being nice to whales,
protesting fur, and cranky theories of diet and pseudo-science
have not addressed the concerns of working-class youth who see
little future for themselves under any type of existing
government. Nor have similar "with it" issues among, e.g., black
youth, over pseudo-nationalism, "unity behind unity," or simple
white-bashing put black youth in the forefront of overall youth
leadership in the USA.

All of these things have created fertile recruiting for nazis.
Luckily, the nazi organizers have not been particularly
successful like they once were in the 1910-1920 period.

Even the "alt.skinhead" group did not massively help their
recruitment since, to a certain extent, being a "skinhead" became
just another fashion statement. This is of scant concern to the
families of those killed by racist skins, those whose synagogues
were the target of nazi vandalism, or those terrorized on the
streets. But regardless of the amount of real terror by existing
racist skins, the situation can become worse, much worse, than it
already is.

That, I think, is the danger of letting "rec.music.white-power"
form. It will create an additional power base for the nazis on
the net and tend to attract additional youth to nazi propaganda
of the most virulent and demagogic forms.

We must organize to stop the formation of the group.

-- tallpaul

PS: This is the seventh in a series of brief notes to anti-
fascists around the world. If you have not received the first
six, please send me an e-message and I'll send them to you.

[BEGIN ATTACHMENT]

>From bb748@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Fri Jan  5 13:23:33 1996
Path: uunet!bounce-back
From: bb748@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Milton Kleim)
Newsgroups:
news.announce.newgroups,news.groups,alt.politics.nationalism.whi-
te,alt.politics.white-power,alt.skinheads
Subject: RFD: rec.music.white-power
Followup-To: news.groups
Date: 5 Jan 1996 18:23:29 -0000
Organization: .
Lines: 81
Sender: tale@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Approved: newgroups-request@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Message-ID: <820866207.1723@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
NNTP-Posting-Host: rodan.uu.net
Archive-Name: rec.music.white-power
Xref: uunet news.announce.newgroups:8082 news.groups:182054
alt.politics.nationalism.white:31346
alt.politics.white-power:37573 alt.skinheads:48292

                     REQUEST FOR DISCUSSION (RFD)

               unmoderated group rec.music.white-power

This is a formal Request for Discussion for the creation of the
unmoder- ated Usenet newsgroup rec.music.white-power.  This is
not a Call for Votes - do not vote now. To participate in the
discussion, follow the topic on news.groups.  Please do not
discuss the group creation in other groups - it will most
probably be off topic there.

RATIONALE: rec.music.white-power

There is no appropriate newsgroup for discussion of White Power
music, a phenomenon which is international in scope.

Persons who have an interest in this genre of music have no
appropriate venue on USENET in which to discuss this
controversial topic.  Other rec.music groups' topics are too
dissimilar, and many of their participants are in no way
receptive of posts about this heated topic.

Some discussion of White Power music occurs on alt.skinheads and
alt.politics.white-power, but is inappropriate there due to the
former's mostly lifestyle-oriented matters, and the latter's
largely political nature.

Interest in a rec.music.white-power group is indicated by
expressions on mailing lists, and in personal e-conversations
with this poster.

Rec.music.white-power will prevent the "intrusion" of fans into
other, more vaguely-defined, newsgroups, where they will not be
welcomed. Discussions would necessarily be free and open, due to
the topic's controversial nature.  This group should be
unmoderated because a moderator could exercise undue control over
one viewpoint's postings.

CHARTER: rec.music.white-power

All issues relating to the genre known as White Power music,
since its inception until the present, covering all languages and
nationalities of performers, and all themes of pieces.

rec.music.white-power is an unmoderated newsgroup for the
entertaining and enlightening discussion of revolutionary new
forms of rock, country, and other sub-genres having
racist/nationalist themes.  Both supporters and opponents will
find the group educational and intriguing.

Potential topics will relate to the origin, development, and
dissemination of White Power music; to the artistic composition
and performance of the music; and to the personal opinions and
perceptions of those who enjoy particular bands and performers,
and pieces.

END CHARTER.

PROCEDURE:

This RFD initiates a discussion period of at least 21 days.  If a
con- sensus on the charter and the name of the group is reached,
a Call for Votes (CFV) for the group will be issued.  Exact
voting conditions will be outlined in the CFV and the vote will
be conducted by a neutral third party.  The voting period will
last from 21 to 31 days and the group will pass if the YES votes
outnumber the NO votes by at least 100 votes and if at least
2/3rds of the votes are in favor of the new group.

For more detailed information about the procedure, see "How to
Create a New Usenet Newsgroup" in news.announce.newusers.  You
can also find information about the group creation at the UVV web
site at http://www.uvv.org/uvv/.

DISTRIBUTION:

This RFD is cross-posted to the following Usenet newsgroups:

news.announce.newgroups, news.groups,
alt.politics.nationalism.white, alt. politics.white-power,
alt.skinheads

--  "The fate of every last White man, woman, and child on this
planet lies squarely on the shoulders of us here today.  Out of
all the White racialist organizations in the Nation, the
[National] Alliance, and only the Alliance has the potential to
bring us to victory!"  -- Bob Mathews

[END INSERT]




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