#anarchism

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queeranarchism:

alianoralacanta:

queeranarchism:

climatecalling:

queeranarchism:

mystic-mongrel:

ofdreamsandmagic:

queeranarchism:

hater-of-terfs:

A 10,000 person protest could flip and torch a few cop cars, but 100 people acting independently could cut the valve stems on 100 different cop cars and render them unusable and unrepairable

A 10,000 person protest could smash some windows of businesses and offices, but 100 people could superglue 100 buildings’ locks shut overnight

A 10,000 person protest could loot a few stores, but 100 people skillfully and persistently shoplifting could liberate just as much over time

1,000 people could blockade the construction of an oil pipeline, but it only takes 1 to turn the emergency shutoff valve on an existing one

100 people could camp in treehouses and prevent a clearcutting, but it only takes 1 to spike a few trees to drastically slow them down or even destroy their equipment

I’m not saying that mass actions aren’t important - no doubt, they accomplish things that couldn’t be done otherwise - but be aware of what can get done independently when those protests aren’t coming together. Get creative, stay active, direct action gets the good

Sooooo true. I don’t recommend doing a lot on your own with no buddy and no support system, but two people who are determined to fuck shit up? Now there’s power. Three or more people? Now that’s an incredibly force.

There have been cases where thousands of people in an antifascist protest could not prevent the nazis from also showing their faces and doing their little march, but one affinity group figuring out which pre-meet location the nazis used and fucking up all their cars did just that. 

There have been cases where thousands of protesters, hashtags and signatures could not prevent a deportation but one person faking a seizure on the flight before take off could, and it saved that refugees’ life.

And I could go on. Direct action is magic.

This is something that has proven to happen and be effective, especially if you mix both. Environmental activists have staged protests in one location to distract media and law enforcement but sent a small team of 1-5 people to shut off pipelines at a different location. Obvs they do end up getting caught and arrested, but it def slows things down/causes more damage than anything a large protest can accomplish

An example: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/13/magazine/afraid-climate-change-prison-valve-turners-global-warming.html

You see, here’s the hard part: This shit is still people in scenic effing nowhere are incapable of doing.


Living in a city is an absolute privilege. Why is that the biggest thing so many people don’t get?

Heya, small town anarchist here!

Are you claiming small towns and rural areas do not have.. *checks notes*… cop cars, shops, pipelines and trees? Like, several of these actions are only possible in effing nowhere because that’s where the pipelines and the coal mines and the forests are.

Sure, I can’t mobilize 100 people in my small town, but this shit also applies when it’s only you and 1 buddy. And yes, I know the challenges of doing something in secret in a place where everyone knows everyone. You need to put in significantly more effort in not being seen at all.

But to pretend that the list above doesn’t have many many things rural activists can do with a little bit of preparation is bullshit.

Sorry, but this list of possible actions comes off as a bit too casual. There are reasons to engage in actions that can result in serious jail time and many brave activists have done so. But only after very serious consideration of the usefulness of the action, and of the possible consequences. Tree spiking, for instance is against federal law (therefore carries substantial penalties) and was renounced by Earth First back in the 90s for being too dangerous, after a worker was severely injured by a tree spike. Some of the actions mentioned here, like disabling police cars, don’t have a clear purpose. How would that contribute to the cause against police abuses? When cars are publicly damaged as part of a mass protest it’s a manifestation of the strong emotional reaction to an injustice. But a calculated, quietly done damage does not have the same message. Neither does shoplifting. Especially if it’s done secretly, how would it send a message at all?

I’m going to skip the tree spiking claim because hater-of-terfs has addressed that like a dozen times already, including in the notes of this post.

As for serious jail time: yeah, nobody is disputing that. All the ‘10.000′ people actions also risk serious jail time, so this isn’t about going riskier but about impact and which actions are worth the risk. In many cases, smaller, secret actions present less chances of getting caught and therefore less risk.

The point of impact seems to be where our approaches differ. You seem very focused on ‘sending a message’, and that is possible when you’re doing small secret actions. You can do something in secret and then send a very public anonymous message declaring why you did the thing. You can also time those actions around bigger events to amplify the message.

But many of these examples focus more on the direct result of the action. Cop cars that aren’t operational mean less cops can get around to abuse people and more hours and budget gets tied up in dealing with damaged cars. Shoplifting means people have food and other stuff that they need. The purpose of these things is to have an immediate practical impact. The message they could potentially send is secondary.

Finally: I do not think we need to be solemn and serious every time we talk about risky actions. We can talk about these things with glee.

Often, being in the middle of nowhere, having fewer resources or being in a position where less risk can be carried requires getting more creative about what protest action is done.

Absolutely true.
At the same time, there are opportunities to be exploited. For example, there may be significantly fewer cops around, a smaller action might make a bigger impact in the local news because so little else is going on, there may be targets nearby that can not be found in cities, and allies may be found that you would not expect. Like, maybe that local farmer has never been an environmentalist but doesn’t want a pipeline in his backyard either.

All this will vary from place to place, so it requires local knowledge and creativity to see what works best where you are.

Sometimes the ideas you come up with will not be considered activism by city punks. An example that comes to mind is local woman who started a sewing and knitting circle and invited local women and women from the nearby refugee center to come together and share snacks and crafts. Which created bonds of friendship where previously there had been tension and xenophobia. Which later transformed into material aid and political action.

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