File spoon-archives/anarchy-list.archive/anarchy-list_2000/anarchy-list.0001, message 453


Date: Sun, 23 Jan 2000 03:02:08 -0800
From: Joshua Houk <jlhouk-AT-uswest.net>
Subject: Eat your young


Cripes. I leave you kids alone for a few weeks and look what happens. 

kadd  <kadd-AT-dojo.tao.ca> scribbled:

> it's unfortunate that the Eugene group had the impact that they did. 
> now, even WE (the anarchist movement) can think of nothing else when 
> we hear about "anarchists" in Seattle.

Who you calling "WE", motherfucker?

I have no such problem thinking of something else when I hear about
"anarchists" (hmmm... innaresting use of quotes) in Seattle. If you have
such a problem, then, well, that's your problem.

> we don't think about the marching band (or anyhting that required
> even an ounce of creativity),

Joke's on you. The marching band was from Eugene.

> or those who were involved in anything other than property
> destruction.

Again, it's your problem. Others (who don't carry your baggage of
upholding the good name of anarchism) don't. 

> it's unfortunate that when we hear Sweeney talking about the property
> destruction in Seattle, and referring to anarchists, we aren't
> jumping up to point out that anarchists were involved in probably
> every aspect of the N30,

Looks like you missed some meetings there, pardn'r.

> and not just the use of the rest of the demonstrators as a shield for
> some glory parade of pre-pubescent angst (and i will openly OWN that
> statement).

I understand - after all, all the good statements were already taken.

> it's not that i necessarily condemn property destruction - i actually 
> think it's entirely warranted in many cases.  i just think the 
> Eugene kids are particularly adept at alienating people, and Seattle 
> was just the most visible example of that.

So, property destruction is okay, as long as it isn't done by anarchists
from Eugene?

> they get all the credit for "anarchism" at N30, while other
> manifestations of it might as well cease to exist.

Jealously is unbecoming of someone who wants to abolish property.

> meanwhile, when they finally get their "15 minutes of fame", they are
> clearly unprepared for it, and utter some of the most childish,
> immature, unsophisticated verbage that has ever been invoked in
> defense of anarchism (this includes Zerzan).  

I assume you're referring to the "60 Minutes II" segment and not the
Black Bloc Statement.

> it shouldn't surprise any of us that many who have been in this 
> movement for decades(even Utah Phillips expressed this sentiment, 
> last weekend) feel that Eugene set the anarchist movement back at 
> least 10 years.

What has your anarchist movement been doing for the past 10 years? I
mean besides going to Utah Phillips concerts?

> can we please stop patting them on the back?  yeah, i think their
> hearts were in the right place, but i think that if we want to make
> any claim to sophistication we need to acknowledge that there are
> very real problems with their actions (and not just in Seattle), and
> perhaps they are nuance-esque problems, but they're impacting us
> nonetheless.

I think you place way too much emphasis on "sophistication" (which
apparently means critiquing others for doing something that you don't
have the guts to do).

A problem with nuance? Pretty fuckin' picky, aren't ya?

> we're like the Jerry Springer show or something - the most dramatic,
> shocking, and gratuitous stories/actions (regardless of their impact
> or message) hold our attention without fail, and almost endlessly.  i > just don't get it, i guess. instead of being smarter than the
> establishment, we're trying to play Spy vs. Spy with them or
> something - it borders on machismo, like cops and robbers or some
> shit.  i'm really just sick of hearing about it.

Then *don't listen*! Duh.

> when Bill White started burning a flag in front of the White House
> during a CD action, thus drawing all the attention away from the
> action (perhaps even endangering the participants), activists nearly
> pummeled him for it.  when the Eugene kids do the exact same thing,
> we throw them a fucking party.

Exactly. Bill White's an asshole. The Eugene folks, however, have good
heads on their shoulders.

>  i really DON'T get it.           

It's true. You don't get it.

For instance, you seem to have a pathological bias against people
younger than you. Throughout this post, you've belittled folks using
remarkably inane ageist language: "pre-pubescent angst", "Eugene kids",
"childish, immature, unsophisticated verbiage". I'm so sorry that your
glory years passed you by, but there's no need to take that out on the
younger folks.

Why on earth are you so pissed off that a group of anarchists apart from
yourself are getting media attention? That's just the way the cookie
crumbles - so sad you missed out on the party. If you want so
desperately for the press to sit up and take notice of you, there's very
easy ways of doing so - and they don't necessarily involve broken
windows! Just use your claimed intellectual superiority and come up with
something.

Hell, I'm an anarchist, and I live in Seattle. I didn't break any
windows. I threw no rock. Am I pissed off at the folks who did? Not in
the least. I understand where they're coming from, and I unhesitatingly
support what they did. If there's anyone I'm pissed off at, it's people
like you - the cops of the "movement" who feel a need to officially
sanction what is acceptable and what is not acceptable, "non-violent"
folks like Geov Parrish - who said that he'd spit in John Zerzan's face,
and folks who overly obsess about their image. The anarchist movement is
not anorexic.

I'll deal with the rest of you folks later. :)

joshua h

   

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