WHAT WILL COME AND WHAT TO DO?
What will come: When this third bubble bursts and we inevitably slide into a worldwide depression, with the obvious followup of austerity, there will be mass unrest, and probably mostly unorganized rebellions in all cities here and there. Days near, or months apart. You can’t predict the sparks. 1) Many unarmed and peaceful demonstrators will be shot. And it will be on video. Which will rightly so enrage many other people who will then join the next day, and more will get shot. American politicians and police are not use to any disturbance lasting more than a day. This will greatly distress them, and they will act with increased force and murder. Remember all politicians and members of security forces in the USA have not had to actually negotiate with any large people power in 50 to 80 years depending on how you look at the forces, and the actual power of the ‘people threat’. In that length of time, the government has NEVER had to back down, except to re group. 2) Many homes will be raided. If any civil disturbance is too ongoing and frustrating for our burgeoning police state, people will be swept up while the attack on civil action, direct, or simple demonstration is on going. Thousands? Or just ten or so? We could expect also, a large side sweep of latinos, illegal or not, as happened way back in LA in the 90’s. In these times of lawlessness committed by the state, we can expect every arm of it to act in the cover of confusion and serious distress. Any legal aid group will immediately be overwhelmed as they will be expected only to cover the demonstrations and or participants in direct action. The added ‘police state’ sweeps of non-participants will come as a surprise. And also potentially add a divide between working class ‘instigators’ and working class latinos and blacks that were sympathetic but not involved. As in ‘we caused entire families to get swept up and taken away’. 3) Sound cannons, infra red cannons will be used. Most Americans will become completely frozen in place by such a wrong and illegal attack. Even the angriest of working class may go home and cower in fear. While others will react in rage, and thus increase the military mindset of ‘justification’ of more of the same. Looting even in small areas, also ‘justifies’ shoot to kill orders in many American minds, no matter how many unarmed victims are shot. A city will easily be lockdowned since so many disparate and uncoordinated forces were unprepared for a predictable violent response, and the coming predictable agent provocateur set up with fire bombs and such. Revisit how coordinated the lockdown of the entire city of Boston was done and how fast, after real terrorist attacks, and how occupy crackdowns happened coordinated and against popular opinion. 4) Workplaces with names on the government’s database will be visited. People will lose their jobs. Neighbors will be enlisted to watch and fabricate stories. Ex-Felons, or people threatened with a felony with lie to get off. 5) Conspiracy round ups will happen after and before the shutdown and defeat. Anyone that is accused of attacking the state, planning on disrupting commerce, or encouraging violence will be looped in and incarcerated indefinitely under patriot act laws, and espionage laws, such as that Obama has used against whistleblowers. 6) In ongoing civil or submetro disturbances, riots, or just constant demonstrations: communications systems will be shut down. No phones will work. Without alternate means, people will be crippled mentally and stay home. 7) Security forces will limit water and food to cordoned off areas, allowing only those who get through checkpoints to get help. This will happen after just a two day long riot. We can look at Katrina also for how long government response can take, if the victims are deemed not worth it. WHAT TO DO THEN WITH THIS FUTURE? I suggest non violent direct action as a complete necessity. Even after violent attacks by the militarized police forces. In every city with a population over 50,000 there has been a massive militarization of police forces. Many larger cities are armed with sound cannons (already used in Philly and other places) and those, so far as I know, unused heat ray machines. I don’t say this as a pacifist, I am not, nor do I say it as a necessary tactic to keep liberal democrats on our side. As we have known, or should have long ago, the democrats will just as likely mow with bullets an unstoppable civic take over as quickly as any republicans. The entire party since Clinton is awash in evil and vicious harder-on-crime history. I don’t say it as a person who believes in the sanctity of private property either. Though, please lets separate a working/middle class person’s home, farm and small business, from bank buildings, real estate buildings, million dollar condo complexes etc. Anarchists always have from the day Proudhon said ‘property is theft’. I think anarchists now know and agree he meant the ‘rentier class’ as the enemy, and capitalist ownership of all production as the enemy…while actually believing in small private farm, home and small businesses are not the enemy. I also don’t demand it because I am against self defense by organized groups of people. And that’s all I say about that. How we look to the outside world, how the sub metro and rural sectors of our society view our actions is important. This is why we must operate under the principals of direct democracy, and only with representative democracy that demands each representative immediately subject to recall, and only allowed to make ‘deals’ that were beforehand approved by us. Our image will of course be twisted and shaped in the corporate media. But how we present ourselves in other avenues is very important. NOTE: I urge everyone to read AK press’ Life During Wartime: Resisting Counterinsurgency. This is an up to date book of essays from a great variety of people. Also read up on the internet on the SHAC conspiracy case, the setup of the three Cleveland youngsters that ‘were going to blow up a bridge in Cleveland’, and the set up by the snitch of three young guys for non existent bombings around the 2008 Republican convention. Also if you have the time, notice how people had warned about this snitch (especially women) way beforehand including his ‘work’ at commonground in New Orleans. Listen to the women!!! HOW TO ORGANIZE? Pretty much an international solution already happening and has been going on since the 80’s : bottom up anarchist direct democracy with extreme concentration on your area’s food workers/campesinos, and white collar allies in the government and corporations. As happened so quickly with great people in all the occupies, the rank and file of all unions must be allies, while their leaders kept at arms length. A horizontal way of organizing from farm to urban civic society. Thankfully for 30 years, most of the world is not following a maoist or troskyist vertical form or organization. And though we don’t see black and red flags flying all over the world, it is obvious to most participants and us ‘western’ participants and observers, the trajectory is now towards workers’ management of economics, politics and resources: socialism from bottom up….participatory bottom up….yep that’s anarchism, or libertarian socialism. Same thing in my book Don’t bother arguing. The world says so too. There doesn’t need to be an anarchist pronouncement by participants in social movements or takeovers. Our beliefs exist and are evidently ‘natural’ as all great anarchist writers pointed out and predicted. So what do I suggest in the USA as a concrete plan? Without playing 8 ball with examples and watergun in the clown’s face for the big stuffed prize? (trying to keep your attention with dada metaphors). THE ORGANIZATION By all means rename it. But lets stick to more generic terms ok? Lets not imitate the state and the Pentagon with weighty acronyms. People are just a lot smarter everywhere and a lot more astute these days then people typing on the internet give them credit for. And from my experience, lacking as it is, regular people in the USA , start rolling their eyes when you have a full sentence as an organization. People in the USA’s cities have had much contact with tired Trotskyite and NGO type one issue organizations….that well….have put up a wall in our consciousness. Person gets a handbill, or email note, or a newspaper, that says join THE ORGANIZATION and there in a few simple paragraphs: explains what it stands for, means to achieve and rules of membership. Something like this: THE ORGANIZATION seeks to build a mass bottom up life long society of working class and middle class people that will fight for a new participatory society economically and politically. We aim to build the basis for a better future, one that is managed by those who produce, and in sustainable economic ways to repair the planet. Meanwhile, we will create mass mutual aid cooperatives to assist all members in any type of need possible. We will do this by bottom up direct democracy only, and not align with any political party. And with strength we must affiliate with like minded organizations internationally Direct actions should include: permanent occupation of empty housing for workers, worker management of abandoned industry, and distribution of farmland to those who will live on it and nuture it. THE ORGANIZATION opposes all militarism of our government and demands all military personal to return home and be employed in well paid useful occupations. I started to add more; see?. Stop. No need to add more tags. You have direct democracy and all kinds of granted ideas of socialism and anarchism there. Enough. Direct democracy is non existent, if certain minorities, ( in the literal term not the USA color term) within each affinity group, or council, are not being heard. Why add more slogans? Don’t you think that is what is turning people away? (if many people even come to this site, this paragraph alone will probably, and wrongly get the most negative comments by purists). If the very basis of a peoples’ councils type organization is direct democracy and participatory economics….what else needs to be added? Do you have no faith in face to face democracy? No exaggeration to say the darkest times for us in western democracies is around the corner. As dark as the rise of totalitarian ‘marxism’ in the USSR coupled with the rise of European fascism: but this time, we don’t have the bottom up militant organizations, with their safe haven union/ethnic radical society halls, with their mass newspapers, and in many countries….. with their power. We have very little time to build even that which people will search for in great times of despair. We have very little time. Think of these coming days, please I beg you, of the last days we may see the light of a chance of building resistance that can then fight the storm, and perhaps beat it back for a real future. |
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