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Communiqué from The One ‘R’ Posse! re: Recycle Bin Tip Over
After being lambasted in the corporate media and ruthlessly chastised by all factions in the Left, we stopped everything we were doing and retreated to re-evaluate and perfect our strategies. After a decade of intensive internal theoretical and strategic development, we finally returned, only to find our actions meeting the same merciless critique by our allies. On Feb 13, 2010 as part of the convergence against the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, the One ‘R’ Posse knocked over a recycle bin in solidarity with the Left, and to move forward our own cause of stopping the ‘recycling’ ruse consumers have been duped into by so called environmentalists who are decreasing their carbon footprint with one foot while just making another one with the other foot! The One 'R' Posse took into consideration that setting that cardboard dumpster on fire, while preventing the production of greenhouse gasses in transport and manufacturing only added to Global Warming by adding milligrams of smoke into the atmosphere. After being thrust into the global spotlight of criticism and a decade of internal reflection, we changed our tactic. We realized the world just wasn’t prepared for the radical reality of a dumpster fire. We needed to take action that makes sense under current social conditions. Littering was the solution we chose. City workers were thus employed to clean up the plastic bottles, creating jobs and showing solidarity with Union workers. At the same time Environmentalist NGO’s can rest easy that no carbon emissions were unnecessarily created. Workers and environmentalists are finally united over the same bin! |
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The current crowd of IAs' is
The current crowd of IAs' is most definitely not the same crowd that was the black bloc of Seattle. The IA crowd does nothing but rip apart everything that that movement built or stands for. If there is to be a divide, lets make it deep and wide and leave these fucking childish bad attitude assholes behind. I love fighting the cops and smashing windows, been doing it for years, but these kids need to have some fucking analysis
Agreed. I've been fucking
Agreed. I've been fucking shit up for years, have been in more black blocs than most people here know even existed, and love the smell of a good riot in the morning, but I'm not about to elevate a tactic (insurrection) that may or may not be useful depending on the circumstance to a total ideology (insurrectionism) that accepts no critique and refuses strategy.
so where did all your
so where did all your strategy and analysis get you, my friends? and why aren't you repping it today?
captcha: clenched it
Farther than your militant
Farther than your militant posturing will ever get you. And I've already stuck with this longer than any IA will, who will get burnt out in a couple years and go on to take a job at their daddy's company when it's no longer fun, just like the thrill-seekers in Crimethinc before them.
what posturing? you don't
what posturing? you don't know shit about me or my practice.
crimethinc is still here, printing out a fairly interesting publication and some damn good analysis as far as the north american movement goes.
many ia's have been around for at least a decade. i have. most of the folks i am closest to have.
and "ia" is a meaningless slur anyway. there are a wide range of ideas and practices going on. that's the great thing about anarchism generally, diversity. all your shit talk just makes you sound like a bitter old fart who is sad their day in the sun has passed. some ia's will fuck off, just like most of the movement that built whatever glory you're living off of from a decade ago. a lot of us are here to stay, so when you're done complaining about the kids on your lawn let's work on making some anarchy.
"many ia's have been around
"many ia's have been around for at least a decade. i have. most of the folks i am closest to have."
Yeah, and where did your insurrection get you?
into an ever widening circle
into an ever widening circle of friends, lovers and allies who support each other and are looking for more and more ways to pursue our attack against capital.
What a surprise, another
What a surprise, another lifestyle anarchist.
what a surprise, another
what a surprise, another meaningless slur. you never answered my question "where did all your strategy and analysis get you?"
And all you gave me was some
And all you gave me was some flowery rhetoric about your beautiful amazing life. Glad to know revolution is all about you getting off, and nothing about anyone else.
yes, you asked me where "my
yes, you asked me where "my insurrection" got me, so i responded about myself, although primarily relating to coming together with others and acting collectively, ie things "about anyone else." please try to keep up.
Oh, I'm keeping up. It's
Oh, I'm keeping up. It's not hard with a mental giant like yourself. Your only goal is self-gratification, I got it.
You know where strategy and analysis got me? I don't have to hang out with teenagers to find people who agree with me.
no, you clearly aren't.
no, you clearly aren't. getting together with other people and working to bring down capitalism while improving our own material conditions in the present is certainly gratifying, but not only for myself.
and if you're only looking for people to hang out with, aren't you the "lifestyle anarchist?" i'm happy to associate with anyone who's down, but given what i've already said it should be pretty clear my friends aren't teenagers. unless you think we got involved when we were six?
all i've learned so far is that your strategy and tactics turned you into a grumpy asshole. hardly inspiring.
Grumpy and an asshole, but
Grumpy and an asshole, but at least not an idiot. Try hanging out with only non-anarchists for a change. It's a lot more useful, and will probably show you how shit your politics are.
i don't recall saying i hang
i don't recall saying i hang out only with anarchists. the anarchists in my town are primarily college activisty types who care about bikes and food not bombs and things like that. most of my friends aren't anarchists at all, but we share a lot of ideas and are interested in pursuing similar goals. maybe you're not an idiot but you make far, far too many assumptions. maybe if you tried to just have a conversation instead of finding different approaches to insult other people, you'd learn something.
Ha ha. Friends, lovers,
Ha ha. Friends, lovers, allies; only a "lifestyle" anarchist would have those. Real anarchists like this miserable guy know that anarchy is only about self-sacrifice and identifying with oppressed people. Except that showing up at marches, organizing events, doing prisoner solidarity work, and holding meetings is also a "lifestyle." The only difference is what you get out of it, which is why people stuck in the miserable cycles of activism loath anyone who doesn't care about their pretentious self-proclaimed duties.
Now, if you'll excuse me I'm off to make my own life better and not give a shit about your lame revolution ;)
Who uses anarchism to find
Who uses anarchism to find friends? That's the worst idea ever, surrounding yourself with a bunch of yes-men who never challenge you.
I'll take my non-political "friends, lovers, allies" over a bunch of anarchists any day.
...and your revolution will
...and your revolution will never come until this dumb bickering stops. there is not a thing more wrong with Crimethinc then there is with NEFAC. I align with the latter end of the spectrum. There is nothing wrong with strategy and not a thing wrong with insurrection. This is a prime example of why we are seen as harmless and a joke. Criticize that statement as much as you like, it has no bearing on the fact that that is how we are seen, and will continue to stay that way until we quit acting like 6th grade cafeteria cliques.
thank you
thank you
"Agreed. I've been fucking
"Agreed. I've been fucking shit up for years, have been in more black blocs than most people here know even existed, and love the smell of a good riot in the morning, but I'm not about to elevate a tactic (insurrection) that may or may not be useful depending on the circumstance to a total ideology (insurrectionism) that accepts no critique and refuses strategy."
Tactics are actions taken or conceptualized in a moment of strategic advantage or recourse. You can't just employ an insurrection whenever you feel like it as if it's practical or convenient in any given conditions; it's the generalization of ungovernable consciousness in a region saturated with institutional authority - this is not something anarchists are capable of mustering or dictating. All of this is to say, anarchists, when it comes to their relation to the summary of their desires, social transformation, are both incapable of taking on the role of strategist (if they were then insurrection would be effectively rendered as a tactical maneuver) and - if they show any level of concern with compromising their principles (especially in moments where those principals are so abruptly brought to the fore, like insurrection) - should have an inability to take on that role anyway. We are both incapable of mobilizing an insurrection and we should be deterred from mobilizing one anyway since it would logically follow that a means of centralizing our ideology at the heart of the insurrection would be the most convenient and practical way of inducing such a fundamental change in the relations among the disaffected. The fact that anarchists are almost completely incapable of carrying out or participating in a single publicized action without being cannibalized by the dominance of the Left (e.g., the debates succeeding the March 4th actions being immediately subjected to the nationalist dogma of peripheral leftists) is enough to confirm the fact that anarchists are not in a position to conceptualize insurrection on the level you wish they could. You're a small thing speaking on enormous terms.
tl;dr
tl;dr
"Insurrectionary anarchism"
"Insurrectionary anarchism" isn't entirely about "fucking shit up." For fuck's sake READ. If you believe that people should be self-organizing in order to attack capitalist social relations and shit, as opposed to asking or demanding that the state or some other hierarchical entity give us shit, then you are "insurrectionary."
And, insurrectionism? Really?
""Insurrectionary anarchism"
""Insurrectionary anarchism" isn't entirely about "fucking shit up." For fuck's sake READ."
I have read insurrectionist's work. Why don't you tell that to IA's in North America, first and foremost?
"as opposed to asking or demanding that the state or some other hierarchical entity give us shit"
Asking of the state and demanding of the state are two very different things.
So let's get this
So let's get this straight:
"IA kids" are a fad, but they're also the same crowd as 10 years ago, and also childish, bad attitude assholes.
Hmm, i'm not sure if the "IA kids" are the ones with the lack of analysis.
No, IA is a new thing. 10
No, IA is a new thing. 10 years ago, it was just the curious george brigade denouncing meetings and getting kicked out for it.
IA is a fad. We'll always see insurrections, but the cult of IA will come and go.
Meanwhile at Stafford
Meanwhile at Stafford University...
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/03/ibm-stanford-organic-catalysts-plastic-pet-recycling-breakthrough.php
Stanford, even.
Stanford, even.
anarchistnews needs to stop
anarchistnews needs to stop posting satire, I'm afraid people will start taking it seriously.
what satire?
what satire?
Solidarity! The drive for
Solidarity!
The drive for wide-spread recycling was spurred by the disposable packaging industry in order to stop popular movements to outlaw single-use bottles and cans in favor of reusable bottles. This is recounted in Heather Rogers' Gone Tomorrow: The Hidden Life of Garbage (New York: The New Press 2005).
I quote:
"During the peak of 1970s environmentalism, many U.S. companies, fearing the tide had turned against them, lobbied state, local and national politicians for policies that favored recycling. They did this as a bulwark against adoption of more rigorous measures mandating reduction and reuse. Writing at the time, Environmental Action's Patricia Taylor observed that, in contrast to efforts that would curtail trash production, recycling had 'a frightening potential for institutionalizing waste generation.' Her assessment was right; recycling did allow for maintaining and further ingraining high levels of production, consumption, and waste, a key selling point for embattled manufacturers... [M]anufacturers of all kinds began to comprehend the valuable PR and marketing opportunities that could spring from recycling and green branding."
Thus, knocking over recycling bins breaks the spell of corporate PR and forces society to behold capitalism's waste stream in all its naked splendor.
People who think recycling
People who think recycling is somehow beyond criticism because it is such a revolutionary process should do more research into just how few plastics and materials produced today can actually be recycled. Except for a few simple types of plastics, many of the ones that get made and recycled are made of the cheapest consistency the company can come up with and cannot be magically re-purposed for new products (what a shame). Most of our recycling ends up in junk heaps when we export it to places like China and India.
Thinking that industry and materials like plastics are "recycle-able" or can somehow be conserved to the point that they can become acceptable is a smart business strategy to legitimize the production of the very material which we will never get rid of. Other than the small amount of plastic that has been incinerated most pieces of plastic ever created are still around and aren't going anywhere. Except maybe into the ocean where they break down and become more prevalent in vast parts of the Pacific than actual organic life (fish now come stuffed with it as well as wrapped in it). It's ok though, with recycling we can make just a little bit less of it, while accepting plastic production as a necessary evil. As long as we reuse...
Fuck recycling, they must laugh in the boardroom meetings when they research how stupid and impressionable people are to think that "oh because I threw my pop bottle in that bin instead of the other one the environment is going to be a little bit better off. I guess I should just keep buying these plastic wrapped products and never complain, because at least we are reusing. You know, being 'green.'"
It's the easiest way to silence dissent. Offer people two choices and say that one is a little bit better so that those who do it can be hypocritical about the options given them. My favorite scene from Seattle was seeing anarchists and kids from the area having fun burning garbage in the middle of the street and these clueless whiny liberals coming to harass them for not buying the official corporate line about how it is somehow "our" job to "reuse" their garbage.
Whiny liberal bitch: You guys are burning plastic? That's so not cool. This is not what the protest is about.
Anarchists: *laughter and then simply ignoring the wastes of space*
If recycling accomplished anything it would be illegal. Fuck the spectacle of "green industry" and naive people's belief that it could exist. "Let's reduce, reuse, and recycle unsustainability!"
Or let's quite accepting corporate band aids to environmental problems they cause. Production of plastic fucks the earth, production of reused plastic dick slaps us in the face for caring. It's a smart and simple strategy: just shift the responsibility to the consumer. It's the consumer's fault if they don't recycle like the company's slogan told them to. It definitely isn't the companies fault for producing a wasteful, unsustainable poison. The result is self-important people who become fascists about making meaningless choices. Pretending that their responsibility to recycle is actually important while the factories push out millions more units, knowing that people have been placated once again...
treehugger CAPTCHA: redefine
treehugger
CAPTCHA: redefine qualifications
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biodegradable_plastic
insurrection in my pants.
insurrection in my pants.
insurrection in my mind.
insurrection in my mind.
such a funny post, such a
such a funny post, such a headache of responses.
--ingrate
So maybe Insurrectionary
So maybe Insurrectionary Anarchism: violent disruption of "capitalist social relations" isn't going to be the tactic.
Maybe it will be more complicated. Maybe a whole host of tactics non-violent and violent will be used at everyone’s own discretion. Real True Activists who want solidarity and seek a better future should always respect a diversity of tactics in order to not isolate, marginalize and divide a constantly evolving movement. We need all tactics to apply the perfect amount of pressure needed to crack the system. If we have the same goals being the elimination of: environmental degradation, hierarchical domination, centralization of power, accumulation of wealth, wage slavery, nationalism, racism, sexism and homophobia and for a more rational, sane, logical society: communal, community run, collective, diplomatic, and consensus run coop, we can no longer embrace conformity to the rules of the state that have been established to perpetuate it self and oppress us with out simply sounding like misguided confused numbskulls or worse possibly cops trolling the internet!
Let us stay true to our principles and never veer off the road to success!
One thing all anarchists can agree on is that no revolutionary justice can be served in this society on capitalism own terms. Let the people with in the general civilian population determine how the government should be tortured by the people to eventual death.
Closing comments: Don't feel froggy. Have a beer! We love to dick around! :)>
Wait, lifestyle anarchists
Wait, lifestyle anarchists who are opposed to dumpster diving? This is shocking. And I can see how this is news!