G20 // Current

Why We're Winning

A curious property evident in the discussion of insurrection in the United States is that it gets more respect the further it occurs from home. Anarchists who would never dream of complaining that the Thessaloniki Food not Bombs is being neglected while its members amuse themselves burning banks, who could never conceive of suggesting that the Somali pirates stop seizing ships for ransom in order to start a bike repair collective, have no problem criticizing their own friends and comrades for shortchanging local projects to attend semi-annual mass mobilizations. This is a shame, because a look at the broader picture reveals that summit demos are taking an ongoing toll on the ruling class, even when they are tactically unsuccessful.

Just for starters, any city hosting a summit has to impose de facto martial law for the duration of the meetings. Miles-long steel security fences, bag searches on the subway, black helicopters in the sky, armor-clad riot cops on every corner, among other measures, make a mockery of the myth of "civil rights." By employing such repressive tactics just to keep a few summit delegates from being confronted by those they claim to be helping, authority reveals its true nature, undisguised by the usual lies and propaganda. People who claim that we should abandon summit protests because we can never replicate the WTO (World Trade Organization) riots in Seattle are missing this point. While it's true that the cops will never again allow themselves to be defeated on the street the way they were in Seattle, the things they have to do to win in the short term erode the perceived legitimacy of the entire ruling system in the medium term. If all they had to do was stop the protests they could just shoot the protesters. But since they must also maintain the illusion of freedom of assembly and freedom of speech, their problem is complicated immensely. They have no good options, so it's not a matter of whether we will win, only of how.

Their situation becomes all the worse when, after turning the host city into a militarized encampment for a week, the cops can't even stop a few kids in black from breaking windows. The resulting frustration often leads them to attack and arrest defenseless groups and individuals who have minimal connection to the protests, further compounding their problems when the videos hit Youtube. Then to justify their own brutality, the cops make an example of a handful of protest organizers by hitting them with ridiculously inflated charges, usually for actions that most people would consider perfectly innocuous. As an added bonus, the lawsuits generated by blatantly unconstitutional arrests and searches strain city budgets, consume prosecutors' time, and extend their PR nightmare. For authoritarians, the only thing worse than appearing brutal and repressive is appearing brutal and repressive and ineffectual. Cops, by their nature, will fall into this trap every time, as long as we show up and set it for them.
full article at link......A curious property evident in the discussion of insurrection in the United States is... more

animalia_libero
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animalia_libero
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Twitter Crackdown: Activist Arrested for Using Networking Site during G-20 Protest in Pittsburgh

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G-20 Photos: Pittsburghers welcome protesters

The local corporate media, as part of their role as hand-puppets and mouthpieces for law enforcement, have been making a point of finding and interviewing the local residents who somehow identify with the armed thugs and the Wall Street interests they protect. Whether it is out of fear, or some naive, misguided hope that kissing up to their oppressors will result in better treatment from them or make them eligible for some kind of discount from the corporate stores they somehow mistake for friends. Ambitious and cowardly people will always side with bullies. It is the submissive, cheer-leading behavior of these people who allow the Hitlers and Saddam Husseins of the world to seize and hold power.

While covering the protests against the G-20 summit, most of the Pittsburghers who I encountered were not shy about expressing their support and admiration for those participating in the demonstrations and were disappointed, but not surprised by the violent behavior of the law enforcement thugs whose day to-day mission is to terrorize and control low-income communities. The partnership between the local, centralized, corporate media and the local and global elites, intended to silence the opposition to the policies and presence of the G-20, was successful in discouraging out-of-town participation, but at the expense of their "outside agitator" theme. The protests against the G-20 were predominantly a local affair, while the heavily armed, violent, goon squads which were protecting the elites and advancing their agenda with violence were mostly from outside of the region, if not from outside of Pennsylvania.

Despite the Lawrenceville section of Pittsburgh's reputation for racism and vigilantism, the curious, picture taking residents whom I spoke with were overwhelmingly sympathetic to the People's Uprising and were distressed by the indiscriminate use of chemical weapons in their neighborhood. The local media also neglected to interview the young woman employed by one of the businesses whose dumpster was briefly rolled away, who at first could not understand why. She was under the mistaken impression that police were escorting the march, rather than attacking it. When the situation was clarified and it was suggested that the marchers were using dumpsters for self-defense, she sympathized with them

I was also unprepared for the number of University of Pittsburgh students who decided to participate in the September 25th march, after they had been gassed and beaten the night before. The University's insistence on remaining open for the duration of the summit and their decision to lock students out of their dormitories while police and military personnel attacked them will likely prove to be costly mistakes.The local corporate media, as part of their role as hand-puppets and mouthpieces for... more