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Tech Wars In Meat Space

Posted by michael on from the less-lethal,-and-other-euphemisms dept.

Starfish writes: "Police and protesters are asking if new technologies used by both sides will turn street protests into bloodless, but also meaningless rituals. Real protest robots, phaser-like weapons, and other cool gadgets are discussed in this Village Voice article. Good heads up about the Ruckus Society's tech action camp in October."

3 of 151 comments (clear)

  1. Sometimes Slashdot depresses me... by m0nkyman · · Score: 3, Informative

    I just read the comments above, and the general tone surprised me. Once upon a time, slashdot readers would have talked about the tech, not talk about how dumb protesters are.

    In the past twenty years, I've watched the change as police have become more and more likely to clamp down on protests. The black bloc is a response to police violence, not the cause of it. As an original black bloc-er circa 1989, I know why we started fighting back. It was due to police being more and more likely to use force to put down democratic protests. We were defending ourselves. In Genoa, there were some pretty serious allegations that the 'black bloc' doing property damage to small businesses etc. were provocateurs. That tells me that they are getting worried about the effectiveness of the black bloc, and want to discredit the movement.

    Freedom is not easy folks. You have to be willing to fight for it.

    --
    ~ a low user id is no indication I have a clue what I'm talking about.
    1. Re:Sometimes Slashdot depresses me... by daviddennis · · Score: 3, Informative
      The reasons behind protests have changed, too. According to Michael Albert of Z Magazine, they are to scare elites out of their wits, so their policies will be changed.

      Through the escalation of the WTO protest response, you can see the elites are indeed scared, and with good reason. The above article is a coded incitement to violent protest, because only violence (in the view of the author) will frighten elites and effect change.

      Is it any wonder the cops react as they do?

      D

  2. Re:Meaningless ritual? Not if there's a camera aro by ozbird · · Score: 3, Informative

    Cameras are a two-edged sword. On the one hand, they allow protesters to get their message to a greater audience; OTOH, they attract the "rent-a-riot" types who don't seem to care what the protest is about so long as it's an excuse to indulge in mindless violence and vandalism. The latter does nothing to help the cause of the protest. From watching the media coverage of recent "anti-globalisation" protests, the general public wouldn't have had a clue about what the protest was about - all they saw was a bunch of "anarchists" trashing the place.

    Ghandi is frequently quoted in these parts as saying: "First they ignore you. Then they laugh at you. Then they fight you. Then you win." To keep this in context, it should also be noted that he also said: "Non-violence is the first article of my faith. It is the last article of my faith."