Speaking freely? You mean typing like a scared chicken from your computer because you do not understand the concept of fucking solidarity, Slashbot. How about about fighting the government instead of cowering over the computer when they censor you? Maybe you can't grasp that concept, but who cares.
I pasted the following troll under a thread by the adequacy.org cocsucker known as perdida. Make sure to add this troll to your library, and go to the thread and make fun of perdida the karma whoring troll as well.
Load up on grits and bring your aunts They're fun to pour right down your pants Natalie is naked and turned to stone Oh no, OOG's gone, now I'm all alone
I like trolling, it's contagious Here we are now, moderate us You don't like caps, post aborted? ASCII art plans, they are thwarted! I got bitchslapped, I dissed Bojay I post flamebait every Troll Day Yeah!
First posting's what I do best And for this gift I feel blessed Commander T likes other men And always will until the end
VA's stock price, it's disastrous Hey, does timmy ride the short bus? All they post now: Lars and Napster Well, this sure ain't stuff that matters Raymond shoots ten who don't 'get it'? Read it Tuesday on ZDNet Yeah!
And I forgot Just why I post Oh yeah, I'm first, so now I can boast I'm not that lame, the filters are blind Can you imagine a -- oh, nevermind
I'm not rabid, like the zealots So they flamed me, they're just jealous Metamodding and IP bans Won't you use them on ol' sorehands? I don't want to beg for karma Don't hate patents, just your dogma I'm not insightful Not insightful
This is an old troll, originally concocted by Yu Suzuki.
Load up on grits and bring your aunts They're fun to pour right down your pants Natalie is naked and turned to stone Oh no, OOG's gone, now I'm all alone
I like trolling, it's contagious Here we are now, moderate us You don't like caps, post aborted? ASCII art plans, they are thwarted! I got bitchslapped, I dissed Bojay I post flamebait every Troll Day Yeah!
First posting's what I do best And for this gift I feel blessed Commander T likes other men And always will until the end
VA's stock price, it's disastrous Hey, does timmy ride the short bus? All they post now: Lars and Napster Well, this sure ain't stuff that matters Raymond shoots ten who don't 'get it'? Read it Tuesday on ZDNet Yeah!
And I forgot Just why I post Oh yeah, I'm first, so now I can boast I'm not that lame, the filters are blind Can you imagine a -- oh, nevermind
I'm not rabid, like the zealots So they flamed me, they're just jealous Metamodding and IP bans Won't you use them on ol' sorehands? I don't want to beg for karma Don't hate patents, just your dogma I'm not insightful Not insightful
Listen you dumb fucking Indians, India is a hole it will stay poor for a long time. The only reason India gets so much outsourcing is because it is so poor, and the labor is cheap. It has nothing to do with brainpower you proselytizing idiot.
Your right. India is not China. China has left India behind my freind. You do not see millions of Chinese people walking around barefoot like in piss poor India. The Chinese have left you behind Indian.
Progressive my ass! Indian politics is a vacuous hole. Everyone starts their own politicial party the second their is a disagreement in India. India will never be superpower anytime soon. You should look to the east, where China's economy has been growing for 7-10 percent a year for a long time and it has left you Indians(I can tell the parent poster is a dumb Indian) in the dust.
Trolls of the world unite Rise like Lions after slumber In unvanquishable number - Shake your chains to earth like dew Which in sleep had fallen on you - Ye are many - they are few Kill all moderators that connive against you!
We are plesed to inform you that, after careful consideration , we have accepted your troll into the Troll Library.
You show a masterful skill at trolling.
Thank you for your time and your contribution.
P.S. The write your representitives thing was genius! It always fools the idiots who believe in the sancitity of our politicial system. I look forward to more of your work.
A specter is haunting the modern world, the specter of crypto anarchy.
Computer technology is on the verge of providing the ability for individuals and groups to communicate and interact with each other in a totally anonymous manner. Two persons may exchange messages, conduct business, and negotiate electronic contracts without ever knowing the True Name, or legal identity, of the other. Interactions over networks will be untraceable, via extensive re-routing of encrypted packets and tamper-proof boxes which implement cryptographic protocols with nearly perfect assurance against any tampering. Reputations will be of central importance, far more important in dealings than even the credit ratings of today. These developments will alter completely the nature of government regulation, the ability to tax and control economic interactions, the ability to keep information secret, and will even alter the nature of trust and reputation.
The technology for this revolution--and it surely will be both a social and economic revolution--has existed in theory for the past decade. The methods are based upon public-key encryption, zero-knowledge interactive proof systems, and various software protocols for interaction, authentication, and verification. The focus has until now been on academic conferences in Europe and the U.S., conferences monitored closely by the National Security Agency. But only recently have computer networks and personal computers attained sufficient speed to make the ideas practically realizable. And the next ten years will bring enough additional speed to make the ideas economically feasible and essentially unstoppable. High-speed networks, ISDN, tamper-proof boxes, smart cards, satellites, Ku-band transmitters, multi-MIPS personal computers, and encryption chips now under development will be some of the enabling technologies.
The State will of course try to slow or halt the spread of this technology, citing national security concerns, use of the technology by drug dealers and tax evaders, and fears of societal disintegration. Many of these concerns will be valid; crypto anarchy will allow national secrets to be trade freely and will allow illicit and stolen materials to be traded. An anonymous computerized market will even make possible abhorrent markets for assassinations and extortion. Various criminal and foreign elements will be active users of CryptoNet. But this will not halt the spread of crypto anarchy.
Just as the technology of printing altered and reduced the power of medieval guilds and the social power structure, so too will cryptologic methods fundamentally alter the nature of corporations and of government interference in economic transactions. Combined with emerging information markets, crypto anarchy will create a liquid market for any and all material which can be put into words and pictures. And just as a seemingly minor invention like barbed wire made possible the fencing- off of vast ranches and farms, thus altering forever the concepts of land and property rights in the frontier West, so too will the seemingly minor discovery out of an arcane branch of mathematics come to be the wire clippers which dismantle the barbed wire around intellectual property.
Arise, you have nothing to lose but your barbed wire fences!
The pieces below are edited individual comments from the interesting Autopsy discussion list at aut-op-sy@lists.village.virginia.edu. They are deliberately anonymous. Following is a reply from a member of the Black Bloc and alongside our own view of the Black Bloc phenomenon.
The black bloc is not a very precise label. Talk of the multitude avoids political responsibility for actions and tactics that seem to lose political content but which have political consequences. Summit sieges are a less than bright idea, the very opposite of direct action. The "sieges" remain on a symbolic level whatever the degree of militancy. I hoped Genoa would turn away from abstract protests against world capital and towards direct action. But that would have meant that the most "militant" protesters removing themselves from centre stage and listening to other voices. What is evolving is an agenda that unites liberals and 'militants': "Serve the people!" "Act and decide on behalf of the people", "in the best interest of the people". What the black bloc or summit sieges have to do with an anarchist or social revolutionary perspective, escapes me.
The black bloc originated in the German autonomist movement in the 1980s. In Germany the autonomists often excluded the majority of workers as complicit in imperialist exploitation and oppression; they thought it more radical to build an anti-fascist core of resistance than build mass struggles. I thought that the black bloc was a good tactic despite its shortcomings. On the negative side, wearing a uniform must have had internal repercussions such as reinforcing conformity and militaristic tendencies. Externally the threatening appearance of a tight group of masked people helped keep up the divide between autonomists and other workers. In a situation where demos were often banned and attacked by cops and where it was necessary to physically disrupt groups of fascists a black bloc could add a lot to the defensive and offensive capabilities of a demo. Skip to Seattle 1999. In hindsight the window smashing black bloc was an important step in building a mass anti-capitalist movement. Many people who cou
Understanding that the black bloc is not a monolith but a variety of affinity groups who can adopt different tactics, I still think we should discuss the nature and politics of 'created confrontation' with the state in a demonstration setting. I am not suggesting we scrap the idea, but that we try to think about when it works and when it doesn't and try to raise the political level of those discussions. When do we decide to engage in direct confrontations with the police? Do we consider issues like the balance of forces, the intent of the demonstration, the presence of children, etc? I have seen people link up and promote fights in the worst possible situations (out-numbered, near the children in a march, etc.) I have also seen a lack of respect for the rest of the demonstration. Being in an 'autonomous' group does not mean we renounce respect for and responsibility for others. To act in a way which merely pleases us is no less individualistic and egotistical because there happen to be a group of us. This addiction to action, which is as bad as perpetual theorizing, tends to involve a refusal to raise political questions, a kind of hardcore anti-intellectualism. So how do we raise the political level? What kind of other political work is necessary? What about political activity at the point of production? How do we help draw political connections between the workplace, the neighborhood, and the demonstrations? One critical issue is the disjunction between working class communities of color and the very white (in the rich countries) anti-globalisation movement. Is there a point to attacking small shops, cars, etc? Why attack a car and encourage the cops to start on you when there is by no means any critical mass to offer protection against a large number of police? When is the right time to use violence at this point in the movement? Of course, we are right to use violence when attacked by the police. But random acts of violence seem futile. I don't want some white rich kid trashing some worki
My partner was at the underpass in Genoa when the white overalls march was attacked. There was already a riot going on, burnt-out cars in the road and black bloc-ers fighting with the police. Some white overalls were shouting for people to clear the way so that they could engage with the police but at that moment tear gas was fired and the police attacked with a level of violence, which was perhaps more than the white overall tactic, could handle. We've got to keep in mind how messy these things always are. She couldn't discern any split in the movement, from where she was it seemed very much that the different tactics blended into one. She's talked about how non-violent it was even in the midst of rioting, non-violent in the sense of co-operation and common purpose between protesters not non-violence towards the police. Afterwards when she'd got back she could make sense of it and see how the black bloc tactic had interfered with the white overalls. But then again all the different tactics are based on t
I'm part of a loosely affiliated international group of individuals known as the Black Bloc. We don't have a party platform, and you don't have to sign anything or go to any meetings to join us. We show up at all kinds of demonstrations, from actions to free Mumia Abu Jamal, to protests against the sanctions in Iraq, and at just about every meeting of international financial and political organizations from the WTO to the G8. Although most anarchists would never wear black bandanas over their faces or break windows at McDonalds, almost all of us are anarchists. Most folks I know who have used Black Bloc tactics have day jobs working for non-profits. Some are school teachers, labour organizers or students. Some don't have full-time jobs, but instead spend most of their time working for change in their communities. They start urban garden projects and bike libraries; they cook food for Food Not Bombs and other groups. These are thinking and caring folks who, if they did not have radical political and social
The Black Bloc is a fairly recent phenomenon, probably first seen in the U.S. in the early '90s and evolving out of protest tactics in Germany in the '80s. The Black Bloc may be in part a response to the large-scale repression of activist groups by the FBI during the '60s, '70s and '80s. It is impossible at this point to form a radical activist group without the fear of infiltration and disruption by the police and for some, taking militant direct action in the streets with very little planning and working only with small networks of friends are the only meaningful forms of protest available. Although there is no consensus among us on what we all believe, I think I can safely say that we have a few ideas in common.
The first is the basic anarchist philosophy that we do not need or want governments or laws to decide our actions. Instead, we imagine a society where there is true liberty for all, where work and play are shared by everyone and where those in need are taken care of by the voluntary and mutual aid of their communities. Beyond this vision of an ideal society, we believe that public space is for everyone. We have a right to go where we want, when we want and governments should not have the right to control our movements, especially in order to hold secret meetings of groups like the WTO, which make decisions that affect millions.
We believe that destroying the property of oppressive and exploitative corporations like The Gap is an acceptable and useful protest tactic. We believe that we have the right to defend ourselves when we are in physical danger from tear gas, batons, armored personnel carriers and other law enforcement technology. We reject the idea that police should be allowed to control our actions at all. Abuse by the police is not only endemic, it is inherent. We live in a society that is racist and homophobic and sexist and unless that is taken out of our society, it cannot be taken out of the cops who enforce the rules of our society. In an even larger view, we live in a society that has agreed to give some people the right to control what others do. This creates a power imbalance that cannot be remedied even with reforms of the police. It is not just that police abuse their power, we believe that the existence of police is an abuse of power. Most of us believe that if cops are in the way of where we want to go or
There have been hours of debate in both the mainstream and left-wing press about the Black Bloc. The mainstream media's current consensus is that the Black Bloc is bad and extremely dangerous. The progressive media's most common line is that the Black Bloc is bad, but at least there aren't many of us. Everyone seems to call Black Bloc protesters violent. Violence is a tricky concept. I'm not totally clear what actions are violent, and what are not. And when is a violent action considered self defense? I believe that using the word violent to describe breaking the window of a Nike store takes meaning away from the word. Nike makes shoes out of toxic chemicals in poor countries using exploitative labor practices. Then they sell the shoes for vastly inflated prices to poor black kids from the first world. In my view, this takes resources out of poor communities on both sides of the globe, increasing poverty and suffering. I think poverty and suffering could well be described as violent, or at least as cre
The biggest complaint that the left has expressed about the Black Bloc is that we make the rest of the protesters look bad. It is understandably frustrating for organizers who have spent months planning a demonstration when a group of scary looking young people get all of the news coverage by lighting things on fire. Yet what is missing in this critique is an acknowledgement that the corporate media never covers the real content of demonstrations. Militant demonstration and peaceful protest alike are rarely covered by the media at all. Although I too wish that the media would cover all styles of protest, or, more importantly, the underlying issues inspiring the protest, I'm also aware that militant tactics do get media attention. And I think that is a good thing.
I started my activist work during the Gulf War, and learned early that sheer numbers of people at demonstrations are rarely enough to bring the media out. During the war I spent weeks organizing demonstrations against the war. In one case, thousands showed up to demonstrate. But again and again, the newspapers and television ignored us. It was a major contrast the first time I saw someone break a window at a demonstration and suddenly we were all on the six o'clock news. The militant mood of anti-globalization protests in the last couple years has undeniably contributed to the level of attention that globalization is now getting in the media. And although the Black Bloc is not the only reason for this, I believe that George Bush II felt compelled to directly address the protesters at the G8 summit in Genoa because of the media coverage that our movement is finally getting. A second complaint that I have heard from non-Black Bloc protesters is that they don't like our masks. I've been yelled at by protest
Some of the critiques of the Black Bloc by the left come from our own acceptance of the values of our corrupt society. There is outcry when some kids move a dumpster into the street and light it on fire. Most people conclude the protesters are doing this to give themselves a thrill, and I can't deny that there is a thrilling rush of adrenaline each time I risk myself in this way. But how many of us forgive ourselves for occasionally buying a T-Shirt from The Gap, even though we know that our dollars are going directly to a corporation that violently exploits their workers? Why is occasional "shopping therapy" more acceptable than finding joy in an act of militant protest that may be limited in its usefulness? I would argue that even if Black Bloc protests only served to enrich the lives of those who do them, they are still better for the world than spending money at the multiplex, getting drunk or other culturally sanctioned forms of entertainment or relaxation.
I have my own criticisms of what I'm doing and of the efficacy of my protest tactics. Property destruction, spray painting and looking menacing on TV is clearly not enough to bring on a revolution. The Black Bloc won't change the world. I dislike the feeling of danger or at least the fear of danger at protests for those who do not want to be in danger -- particularly for the kids, pregnant women and older folks I see there. I really hate the annoying use of pseudo-military jargon like "communiqué" and "bloc" by my "comrades." But mostly I hate hearing myself and my friends trashed by every mainstream organizing group and in every left-wing rag. Although this is not true for everyone in the Black Bloc, I respect the strategies of most other left-wing groups. At demonstrations I attempt to use Black Bloc actions to protect non-violent protesters or to draw police attention away from them. When this is not possible, I try to just stay out of the way of other protesters. Despite my concerns, I think that Bl
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Trolldom is not a place, it is more of an ethnic identity. We trolls a small yet vocal slashdot minority that help this site to thrive. The American Jews run control the media, but trolls control Slashdot. Take that you fucking Jews.
Troll National Anthem
Trolls of the world unite Rise like Lions after slumber In unvanquishable number - Shake your chains to earth like dew Which in sleep had fallen on you - Ye are many - they are few Kill all moderators that connive against you!
Slashdot Mirror
Adequacy.org, where the idiots play!
Speaking freely? You mean typing like a scared chicken from your computer because you do not understand the concept of fucking solidarity, Slashbot. How about about fighting the government instead of cowering over the computer when they censor you? Maybe you can't grasp that concept, but who cares.
I pasted the following troll under a thread by the adequacy.org cocsucker known as perdida. Make sure to add this troll to your library, and go to the thread and make fun of perdida the karma whoring troll as well.
Load up on grits and bring your aunts
They're fun to pour right down your pants
Natalie is naked and turned to stone
Oh no, OOG's gone, now I'm all alone
Hello, hello, hello, Katz blows
Hello, hello, hello, Katz blows
I like trolling, it's contagious
Here we are now, moderate us
You don't like caps, post aborted?
ASCII art plans, they are thwarted!
I got bitchslapped, I dissed Bojay
I post flamebait every Troll Day
Yeah!
First posting's what I do best
And for this gift I feel blessed
Commander T likes other men
And always will until the end
Hello, hello, hello, Katz blows
Hello, hello, hello, Katz blows
VA's stock price, it's disastrous
Hey, does timmy ride the short bus?
All they post now: Lars and Napster
Well, this sure ain't stuff that matters
Raymond shoots ten who don't 'get it'?
Read it Tuesday on ZDNet
Yeah!
And I forgot
Just why I post
Oh yeah, I'm first, so now I can boast
I'm not that lame, the filters are blind
Can you imagine a -- oh, nevermind
I'm not rabid, like the zealots
So they flamed me, they're just jealous
Metamodding and IP bans
Won't you use them on ol' sorehands?
I don't want to beg for karma
Don't hate patents, just your dogma
I'm not insightful
Not insightful
This is an old troll, originally concocted by Yu Suzuki.
Load up on grits and bring your aunts
They're fun to pour right down your pants
Natalie is naked and turned to stone
Oh no, OOG's gone, now I'm all alone
Hello, hello, hello, Katz blows
Hello, hello, hello, Katz blows
I like trolling, it's contagious
Here we are now, moderate us
You don't like caps, post aborted?
ASCII art plans, they are thwarted!
I got bitchslapped, I dissed Bojay
I post flamebait every Troll Day
Yeah!
First posting's what I do best
And for this gift I feel blessed
Commander T likes other men
And always will until the end
Hello, hello, hello, Katz blows
Hello, hello, hello, Katz blows
VA's stock price, it's disastrous
Hey, does timmy ride the short bus?
All they post now: Lars and Napster
Well, this sure ain't stuff that matters
Raymond shoots ten who don't 'get it'?
Read it Tuesday on ZDNet
Yeah!
And I forgot
Just why I post
Oh yeah, I'm first, so now I can boast
I'm not that lame, the filters are blind
Can you imagine a -- oh, nevermind
I'm not rabid, like the zealots
So they flamed me, they're just jealous
Metamodding and IP bans
Won't you use them on ol' sorehands?
I don't want to beg for karma
Don't hate patents, just your dogma
I'm not insightful
Not insightful
But name a good use, for Freenet?
That is all he was asking you idiot!
Yeah and the fastest growing economy... China.
Listen you dumb fucking Indians, India is a hole it will stay poor for a long time. The only reason India gets so much outsourcing is because it is so poor, and the labor is cheap. It has nothing to do with brainpower you proselytizing idiot.
Your right. India is not China. China has left India behind my freind. You do not see millions of Chinese people walking around barefoot like in piss poor India. The Chinese have left you behind Indian.
Hail Emperor Mao!
Progressive my ass! Indian politics is a vacuous hole. Everyone starts their own politicial party the second their is a disagreement in India. India will never be superpower anytime soon. You should look to the east, where China's economy has been growing for 7-10 percent a year for a long time and it has left you Indians(I can tell the parent poster is a dumb Indian) in the dust.
Trolls of the world unite
Rise like Lions after slumber
In unvanquishable number -
Shake your chains to earth like dew
Which in sleep had fallen on you -
Ye are many - they are few
Kill all moderators that connive against you!
IRC is for people who have no life, to download lots of 0-day warez that they are not even gonna use.
Dear Troll,
We are plesed to inform you that, after careful consideration , we have accepted your troll into the Troll Library.
You show a masterful skill at trolling.
Thank you for your time and your contribution.
Dear Troll,
We are plesed to inform you that, after careful consideration , we have accepted your troll into the Troll Library.
You show a masterful skill at trolling.
Thank you for your time and your contribution.
Dear Troll,
We are plesed to inform you that, after careful consideration , we have accepted your troll into the Troll Library.
You show a masterful skill at trolling.
Thank you for your time and your contribution.
Dear Troll,
We are plesed to inform you that, after careful consideration , we have accepted your troll into the Troll Library.
You show a masterful skill at trolling.
Thank you for your time and your contribution.
Dear Troll,
We are plesed to inform you that, after careful consideration , we have accepted your troll into the Troll Library.
You show a masterful skill at trolling.
Thank you for your time and your contribution.
Dear Troll,
We are plesed to inform you that, after careful consideration , we have accepted your troll into the Troll Library.
You show a masterful skill at trolling.
Thank you for your time and your contribution.
Dear Troll,
We are plesed to inform you that, after careful consideration , we have accepted your troll into the Troll Library.
You show a masterful skill at trolling.
Thank you for your time and your contribution.
Dear Troll,
We are plesed to inform you that, after careful consideration , we have accepted your troll into the Troll Library.
You show a masterful skill at trolling.
Thank you for your time and your contribution.
P.S. The write your representitives thing was genius! It always fools the idiots who believe in the sancitity of our politicial system. I look forward to more of your work.
Dear Troll,
We are plesed to inform you that, after careful consideration , we have accepted your troll into the Troll Library.
You show a masterful skill at trolling.
Thank you for your time and your contribution.
A specter is haunting the modern world, the specter of crypto anarchy.
Computer technology is on the verge of providing the ability for individuals and groups to communicate and interact with each other in a totally anonymous manner. Two persons may exchange messages, conduct business, and negotiate electronic contracts without ever knowing the True Name, or legal identity, of the other. Interactions over networks will be untraceable, via extensive re-routing of encrypted packets and tamper-proof boxes which implement cryptographic protocols with nearly perfect assurance against any tampering. Reputations will be of central importance, far more important in dealings than even the credit ratings of today. These developments will alter completely the nature of government regulation, the ability to tax and control economic interactions, the ability to keep information secret, and will even alter the nature of trust and reputation.
The technology for this revolution--and it surely will be both a social and economic revolution--has existed in theory for the past decade. The methods are based upon public-key encryption, zero-knowledge interactive proof systems, and various software protocols for interaction, authentication, and verification. The focus has until now been on academic conferences in Europe and the U.S., conferences monitored closely by the National Security Agency. But only recently have computer networks and personal computers attained sufficient speed to make the ideas practically realizable. And the next ten years will bring enough additional speed to make the ideas economically feasible and essentially unstoppable. High-speed networks, ISDN, tamper-proof boxes, smart cards, satellites, Ku-band transmitters, multi-MIPS personal computers, and encryption chips now under development will be some of the enabling technologies.
The State will of course try to slow or halt the spread of this technology, citing national security concerns, use of the technology by drug dealers and tax evaders, and fears of societal disintegration. Many of these concerns will be valid; crypto anarchy will allow national secrets to be trade freely and will allow illicit and stolen materials to be traded. An anonymous computerized market will even make possible abhorrent markets for assassinations and extortion. Various criminal and foreign elements will be active users of CryptoNet. But this will not halt the spread of crypto anarchy.
Just as the technology of printing altered and reduced the power of medieval guilds and the social power structure, so too will cryptologic methods fundamentally alter the nature of corporations and of government interference in economic transactions. Combined with emerging information markets, crypto anarchy will create a liquid market for any and all material which can be put into words and pictures. And just as a seemingly minor invention like barbed wire made possible the fencing- off of vast ranches and farms, thus altering forever the concepts of land and property rights in the frontier West, so too will the seemingly minor discovery out of an arcane branch of mathematics come to be the wire clippers which dismantle the barbed wire around intellectual property.
Arise, you have nothing to lose but your barbed wire fences!
THE BLACK BLOC: FIGHTING BACK
The pieces below are edited individual comments from the
interesting Autopsy discussion list at
aut-op-sy@lists.village.virginia.edu. They are deliberately
anonymous. Following is a reply from a member of the Black
Bloc and alongside our own view of the Black Bloc
phenomenon.
The black bloc is not a very precise label. Talk of the multitude
avoids political responsibility for actions and tactics that seem
to lose political content but which have political consequences.
Summit sieges are a less than bright idea, the very opposite of
direct action. The "sieges" remain on a symbolic level
whatever the degree of militancy. I hoped Genoa would turn
away from abstract protests against world capital and towards
direct action. But that would have meant that the most "militant"
protesters removing themselves from centre stage and
listening to other voices. What is evolving is an agenda that
unites liberals and 'militants': "Serve the people!" "Act and
decide on behalf of the people", "in the best interest of the
people". What the black bloc or summit sieges have to do with
an anarchist or social revolutionary perspective, escapes me.
The black bloc originated in the German autonomist movement
in the 1980s. In Germany the autonomists often excluded the
majority of workers as complicit in imperialist exploitation and
oppression; they thought it more radical to build an anti-fascist
core of resistance than build mass struggles. I thought that the
black bloc was a good tactic despite its shortcomings. On the
negative side, wearing a uniform must have had internal
repercussions such as reinforcing conformity and militaristic
tendencies. Externally the threatening appearance of a tight
group of masked people helped keep up the divide between
autonomists and other workers. In a situation where demos
were often banned and attacked by cops and where it was
necessary to physically disrupt groups of fascists a black bloc
could add a lot to the defensive and offensive capabilities of a
demo. Skip to Seattle 1999. In hindsight the window smashing
black bloc was an important step in building a mass
anti-capitalist movement. Many people who cou
Understanding that the black bloc is not a monolith but a
variety of affinity groups who can adopt different tactics, I still
think we should discuss the nature and politics of 'created
confrontation' with the state in a demonstration setting. I am
not suggesting we scrap the idea, but that we try to think about
when it works and when it doesn't and try to raise the political
level of those discussions. When do we decide to engage in
direct confrontations with the police? Do we consider issues
like the balance of forces, the intent of the demonstration, the
presence of children, etc? I have seen people link up and
promote fights in the worst possible situations (out-numbered,
near the children in a march, etc.) I have also seen a lack of
respect for the rest of the demonstration. Being in an
'autonomous' group does not mean we renounce respect for
and responsibility for others. To act in a way which merely
pleases us is no less individualistic and egotistical because
there happen to be a group of us.
This addiction to action, which is as bad as perpetual
theorizing, tends to involve a refusal to raise political questions,
a kind of hardcore anti-intellectualism. So how do we raise the
political level? What kind of other political work is necessary?
What about political activity at the point of production? How do
we help draw political connections between the workplace, the
neighborhood, and the demonstrations? One critical issue is
the disjunction between working class communities of color
and the very white (in the rich countries) anti-globalisation
movement. Is there a point to attacking small shops, cars, etc?
Why attack a car and encourage the cops to start on you when
there is by no means any critical mass to offer protection
against a large number of police? When is the right time to use
violence at this point in the movement? Of course, we are right
to use violence when attacked by the police. But random acts
of violence seem futile. I don't want some white rich kid
trashing some worki
My partner was at the underpass in Genoa when the white
overalls march was attacked. There was already a riot going
on, burnt-out cars in the road and black bloc-ers fighting with
the police. Some white overalls were shouting for people to
clear the way so that they could engage with the police but at
that moment tear gas was fired and the police attacked with a
level of violence, which was perhaps more than the white
overall tactic, could handle. We've got to keep in mind how
messy these things always are. She couldn't discern any split
in the movement, from where she was it seemed very much
that the different tactics blended into one. She's talked about
how non-violent it was even in the midst of rioting, non-violent
in the sense of co-operation and common purpose between
protesters not non-violence towards the police. Afterwards
when she'd got back she could make sense of it and see how
the black bloc tactic had interfered with the white overalls. But
then again all the different tactics are based on t
I'm part of a loosely affiliated international group of individuals
known as the Black Bloc. We don't have a party platform, and
you don't have to sign anything or go to any meetings to join
us. We show up at all kinds of demonstrations, from actions to
free Mumia Abu Jamal, to protests against the sanctions in
Iraq, and at just about every meeting of international financial
and political organizations from the WTO to the G8. Although
most anarchists would never wear black bandanas over their
faces or break windows at McDonalds, almost all of us are
anarchists. Most folks I know who have used Black Bloc
tactics have day jobs working for non-profits. Some are school
teachers, labour organizers or students. Some don't have
full-time jobs, but instead spend most of their time working for
change in their communities. They start urban garden projects
and bike libraries; they cook food for Food Not Bombs and
other groups. These are thinking and caring folks who, if they
did not have radical political and social
The Black Bloc is a fairly recent phenomenon, probably
first seen in the U.S. in the early '90s and evolving out of
protest tactics in Germany in the '80s. The Black Bloc may be
in part a response to the large-scale repression of activist
groups by the FBI during the '60s, '70s and '80s. It is
impossible at this point to form a radical activist group without
the fear of infiltration and disruption by the police and for some,
taking militant direct action in the streets with very little planning
and working only with small networks of friends are the only
meaningful forms of protest available. Although there is no
consensus among us on what we all believe, I think I can
safely say that we have a few ideas in common.
The first is the basic anarchist philosophy that we do not
need or want governments or laws to decide our actions.
Instead, we imagine a society where there is true liberty for all,
where work and play are shared by everyone and where those
in need are taken care of by the voluntary and mutual aid of
their communities. Beyond this vision of an ideal society, we
believe that public space is for everyone. We have a right to go
where we want, when we want and governments should not
have the right to control our movements, especially in order to
hold secret meetings of groups like the WTO, which make
decisions that affect millions.
We believe that destroying the property of oppressive and
exploitative corporations like The Gap is an acceptable and
useful protest tactic. We believe that we have the right to
defend ourselves when we are in physical danger from tear
gas, batons, armored personnel carriers and other law
enforcement technology. We reject the idea that police should
be allowed to control our actions at all. Abuse by the police is
not only endemic, it is inherent. We live in a society that is
racist and homophobic and sexist and unless that is taken out
of our society, it cannot be taken out of the cops who enforce
the rules of our society. In an even larger view, we live in a
society that has agreed to give some people the right to control
what others do. This creates a power imbalance that cannot be
remedied even with reforms of the police. It is not just that
police abuse their power, we believe that the existence of
police is an abuse of power. Most of us believe that if cops are
in the way of where we want to go or
There have been hours of debate in both the mainstream
and left-wing press about the Black Bloc. The mainstream
media's current consensus is that the Black Bloc is bad and
extremely dangerous. The progressive media's most common
line is that the Black Bloc is bad, but at least there aren't many
of us. Everyone seems to call Black Bloc protesters violent.
Violence is a tricky concept. I'm not totally clear what actions
are violent, and what are not. And when is a violent action
considered self defense? I believe that using the word violent
to describe breaking the window of a Nike store takes meaning
away from the word. Nike makes shoes out of toxic chemicals
in poor countries using exploitative labor practices. Then they
sell the shoes for vastly inflated prices to poor black kids from
the first world. In my view, this takes resources out of poor
communities on both sides of the globe, increasing poverty and
suffering. I think poverty and suffering could well be described
as violent, or at least as cre
The biggest complaint that the left has expressed about
the Black Bloc is that we make the rest of the protesters look
bad. It is understandably frustrating for organizers who have
spent months planning a demonstration when a group of scary
looking young people get all of the news coverage by lighting
things on fire. Yet what is missing in this critique is an
acknowledgement that the corporate media never covers the
real content of demonstrations. Militant demonstration and
peaceful protest alike are rarely covered by the media at all.
Although I too wish that the media would cover all styles of
protest, or, more importantly, the underlying issues inspiring
the protest, I'm also aware that militant tactics do get media
attention. And I think that is a good thing.
I started my activist work during the Gulf War, and learned
early that sheer numbers of people at demonstrations are
rarely enough to bring the media out. During the war I spent
weeks organizing demonstrations against the war. In one case,
thousands showed up to demonstrate. But again and again, the
newspapers and television ignored us. It was a major contrast
the first time I saw someone break a window at a
demonstration and suddenly we were all on the six o'clock
news. The militant mood of anti-globalization protests in the last
couple years has undeniably contributed to the level of
attention that globalization is now getting in the media. And
although the Black Bloc is not the only reason for this, I believe
that George Bush II felt compelled to directly address the
protesters at the G8 summit in Genoa because of the media
coverage that our movement is finally getting. A second
complaint that I have heard from non-Black Bloc protesters is
that they don't like our masks. I've been yelled at by protest
Some of the critiques of the Black Bloc by the left come
from our own acceptance of the values of our corrupt society.
There is outcry when some kids move a dumpster into the
street and light it on fire. Most people conclude the protesters
are doing this to give themselves a thrill, and I can't deny that
there is a thrilling rush of adrenaline each time I risk myself in
this way. But how many of us forgive ourselves for occasionally
buying a T-Shirt from The Gap, even though we know that our
dollars are going directly to a corporation that violently exploits
their workers? Why is occasional "shopping therapy" more
acceptable than finding joy in an act of militant protest that may
be limited in its usefulness? I would argue that even if Black
Bloc protests only served to enrich the lives of those who do
them, they are still better for the world than spending money at
the multiplex, getting drunk or other culturally sanctioned forms
of entertainment or relaxation.
I have my own criticisms of what I'm doing and of the
efficacy of my protest tactics. Property destruction, spray
painting and looking menacing on TV is clearly not enough to
bring on a revolution. The Black Bloc won't change the world. I
dislike the feeling of danger or at least the fear of danger at
protests for those who do not want to be in danger --
particularly for the kids, pregnant women and older folks I see
there. I really hate the annoying use of pseudo-military jargon
like "communiqué" and "bloc" by my "comrades." But mostly I
hate hearing myself and my friends trashed by every
mainstream organizing group and in every left-wing rag.
Although this is not true for everyone in the Black Bloc, I
respect the strategies of most other left-wing groups. At
demonstrations I attempt to use Black Bloc actions to protect
non-violent protesters or to draw police attention away from
them. When this is not possible, I try to just stay out of the way
of other protesters. Despite my concerns, I think that Bl
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