Why & How to Confront the G20 in Pittsburgh

From Crimethinc

This September’s protests against the G20 summit in Pittsburgh offer a rare strategic opportunity to reassert anarchist struggle in the new era of economic recession, ecological collapse, and liberal government. We’ve prepared a summary of why these demonstrations are important, who is organizing them, what is planned, and how to get involved.

We’ve also designed a poster promoting the unpermitted mass march to downtown Pittsburgh scheduled for Thursday, September 24, which we predict will be the high point of the mobilization.

The recession has been acknowledged for a full year now; capitalism has been twisting the knife for centuries. As survival gets harder and the last illusions are dispelled, many people are looking around for alternatives. But few anarchists are presenting them, leaving the door open for fascists and other opportunists to capitalize on popular distress. It’s ironic that anarchist opposition to capitalist institutions—and anarchist emphasis on alternate lifestyles making the best of poverty—reached their peak a decade ago during a period of apparent prosperity, when they could be so much more persuasive today.

Since Obama’s election, some of us have waited impatiently for a chance to bring opposition to global capitalism back into the public eye. On September 24 and 25, the G20, twenty of the world’s most powerful governments, are convening in Pittsburgh, with the intention of presenting themselves as the ones who can solve the same crisis they have forced upon the rest of us. The summit will take place at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, supposedly “the world’s first and largest green convention center”; meanwhile, as if to dramatize the complicity between liberal governments, ecological devastation, and working class suffering, the International Coal Conference is scheduled to take place in Pittsburgh the preceding three days, September 21-23. This opportunity to connect the dots is being handed to anarchists on a platter—the question is whether we have the numbers, networks, and momentum to take advantage of it.

The G20 summit is calculated to cement the impression that Obama and his cronies run the only game in town when it comes to addressing economic and ecological crisis. It’s a media spectacle, but it has concrete effects: it enables the right wing to frame themselves as the opponents of the prevailing order, while isolating all who desire a different opposition. Effective anarchist resistance in Pittsburgh could shatter the illusion that Obama and his class represent the longings of the public for a better world, focusing attention on more radical responses to the present crises. It would show that anarchists are not simply the extremist fringe of the anti-Bush, anti-war movement, but that we have an entirely different program—perhaps the only hope for working and unemployed people, wild ecosystems, even life itself.

The Backstory on Anarchist Organizing in Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh has a rich history of anarchist activity, extending back well into the 19th century. More recently, the Pittsburgh Organizing Group [POG] has made a name for itself as a long-running explicitly anarchist organization. Since summer of 2002, POG has taken the lead in the anti-war and global justice movements, utilizing every tactic from unpermitted marches and lockdowns to community picnics, and participating in mass mobilizations from the 2002 anti-IMF “People’s Strike” to last summer’s protests against the Republican National Convention. POG also carries out regular trainings, puts on speaking engagements, and publishes the semiannual journal Steel City Revolt, which sets the bar extremely high for local publications. In short, POG is one of the few effective anarchist organizing bodies to persist from the so-called “anti-globalization” era through the anti-war era into the Obama age.

POG has joined with several other local Pittsburgh organizations to build a broad-based mobilization against the September summit, forming the Pittsburgh G20 Resistance Project. This coalition has joined other groups organizing against the G20 to craft the Pittsburgh Principles, a solidarity agreement modeled on the historic St. Paul Principles from the mobilization against the 2008 RNC.

Infrastructure

As in prior mass mobilizations, volunteers are organizing various forms of infrastructure to support protesters. A group is coordinating housing for out-of-town participants. There is a legal number to report harassment and arrests, and a legal support group has formed to support arrestees and counter state repression. There are also groups focusing on providing food, preparatory trainings, and medical care in the street.

Days of Action

The Three Rivers Climate Convergence is organizing actions against the International Coal Conference September 21-23.

Thursday, September 24

The main event on the first day of the G20 is an unpermitted mass march on the building housing the summit meetings. This march will include contingents focusing on workers, students, and climate issues, as well as various musical groups and other feeder marches. It is a space for a diversity of tactics manifesting opposition to global capitalism.

The march begins at 2:30 p.m. in Arsenal Park, at 40th Street & Penn Avenue, in Lawrenceville.

Out-of-town participants should study the terrain the march will pass through in advance.

Friday, September 25

Capitalism is not simply imposed by a few heads of state; it is a decentralized system perpetuated at every level of society. Accordingly, on the second day of the summit, actions will take place throughout Pittsburgh targeting institutions that perpetrate the daily oppression and devastation of the capitalist economy. The Pittsburgh G20 Resistance Project has prepared a menu of suitable locations for such actions. Pick a location, plan your action, and come to Pittsburgh!

The idea is that all the actions will conclude at 11:30 a.m. sharp, whether they last for four hours or four minutes up to that moment.

How To Get Involved

-Form an affinity group, discuss what you’re ready to do, make plans for Thursday and Friday together, and come to Pittsburgh September 21-26. Consider organizing a fundraiser in advance and a speaking event upon your arrival home, to draw on community support and spread awareness of why you are going.

-For more information about the mobilization: www.resistg20.org

-Visit the Pittsburgh G2O Resistance convergence center at 4374 Murray Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15217. It’s at the corner of Murray and Hazelwood in Greenfield.

-Fliers and posters are available promoting the mobilization.

Promotional Poster


We’ve prepared a poster [2.3 MB PDF] promoting the unpermitted mass march in downtown Pittsburgh scheduled for Thursday, September 24, which we predict will be the high point of the mobilization.

"but that we have an

"but that we have an entirely different program"

OK, and what exactly *IS* that program? Breaking shit? Having screaming matches/"evictions" at conferences that no one gave a shit about in the first place? Glorified charity in the form of food plucked out of the garbage? Riding bicycles more?

The world trembles.

Saying "alternative" is

Saying "alternative" is vague and loaded. There are many anarchist solutions to humanities diverse needs: economic, political, social, education, community, development and technology, economy, justice, media, sexual, ecological, medical... Each is a complex issue and the alternative suggestions are quite often practical, well researched, tested, and versatile. The underlying principals of any anarchist solution will be the most general response to the question of "alternatives": egalitarian organization, free federation, voluntary association, mutual aid, direct action, and distribution according to the communal/urban/agricultural organs of the concerned area. These basic principals are the hot items for debate in comparison with other social systems. But to talk specifics, we would need to compare the many different systems available for the respective issue. For example, we would not argue that a Libertarian system of education would be the primary solution to the problems of production and distribution among large urban populations, even though in combination with other practices and structure of such an anarchist population, it would factor into that specific problem.

The argument against the practicality, workability, or realism of anarchism is flawed anyway. There are plenty of systems that work... Even a religion like Scientology could be interpretated into a social theory and workably practiced. The real question is really what would working anarchism be like; it's effects, patterns, requirements from the population or the planet, and whether that would be better or worse than what's around now for what reasons. Plus, it's a question that ignores the fact that these underlying anarchist principals demand that people freely choose and practice Their solutions, not some preordained holy system. So you would need to ask particular persons what alternatives they would support to have any clue what those people would make of anarchy. And I wouldn't be an anarchist if I didn't think that such principals would found a vastly improved world. My reasons are plenty...

-Squee

The world is made up of real

The world is made up of real components, some holding power over others according to what relations are relevant. Riding bikes can solve certain problems, eating garbage can solve certain problems, sharing skills at a conference can do certain things. Are you trying to bash a decentralized DIY lifestyle?

"OK, and what exactly *IS* that program?" Finding your own authority, being able to break away from an oppressive authority, and being able to be your own authority against oppressive authority. "breaking shit" is just one manifestation of someones search for the autonomous authority. The G20 meeting (and the public's perception of it((which is a real component of the world))) is an authority to be resisted (symbolically and physically) because it is an authority that doesn't allow a person to choose whether or not it affects them.

We happen to live in a world where those three aspects of that "program" is in an emergent way and purposefully suppressed.

Is riding bikes and eating garbage not radical enough for you? Do you find it counterrevolutionary?
If riding bikes, eating garbage, sharing thievery skills, and learning/teaching theory is all a person does and considers themselves a revolutionary then yeah, that sucks. But the acts in themselves have become demonized in syndicalist and other idea adherents related with anarchism, which is bullshit.
It's almost becoming assumed that "lifestylists", "crimethinkers", or "inssurectionists" should stop putting time based resources in biking or garbage eating rather than doing more communal type actions.

Thank you for speaking out.

Thank you for speaking out. Those were all things that needed to be said. I'll add to your points and ask, how does one win an argument? How does one win the struggle? One side comes out feeling like they did some things that were pretty shitty, and the other side is resentful and embarrassed. Is that what we envision as our victory over Capitalism? To wage battle against they way the vast majority of society conducts their lives is a losing battle. If we shop lift enough, we will give cause to hire more cops, and a reason to fire check-out clerks and replace them with self-check stations. If we smash windows, we will help raise police riot squad budgets, increase the numbers of cameras watching our every move, and give validity to talk of "domestic terrorism," that is ushering in a new age of fascism in this country.

That said, there is an Anarchist way to engage ourselves in policy, an Anarchist perspective that should be included in every debate, and most importantly, organizations that expound upon the positive ideas that Anarchism wishes to make a reality. Rather than reacting to what we hate and ending up in prison or working our asses off to raise bail for people who do, why not focus on making the positive changes we envision happen?

These protests are always vindictive, juvenile, and a perfect example of striking when it's most expected-- a concept that any true guerrilla knows is a bullshit idea. Are you afraid of the positive potential you possess? Which is more scary to corporate Amerika, more of a threat to the status quo: getting maced and beaten by jack-booted thugs or creating a free place for people to exchange ideas, build friendships, and teach each other how to meet their own needs aside from commercialism? The battle for the real win is a battle of the mind and, as such, is far removed from the paradigm of the paramilitary jarhead.

I hope that you will save your travel and bail money and use them to plant a community garden or put a down payment on a community space. Fight war, not wars. Destroy power, not people.

Uh, this is a joke right..

Uh, this is a joke right.. Plant a garden? Is this an NGO ad or something? I can garden the 363 OTHER days of the year; when the rich and powerful gather in my friends' town, and they ask me to come help give the bastards a warm welcome, i'll be there. That s called being a good comrade.

This shit aint just about changing minds...I can change my neighbors minds, as they can change mine. But the dude who owns the land we live on aint goin to change HIS mind. There are those we can persuade, and there are those we must fight. Quoting crass doesnt change that.

It takes more patience than

It takes more patience than that. Our struggle will realistically take another 75 years if shit keeps going like it's going. There won't be any sort of lasting "revolution," especially one not fueled by anti-capitalists, until we have the trust, confidence, support, and understanding of the community.

We can't win a violent confrontation with the world's most potent police force and military, armed with all of our money they stole. The less than 5,000 of us that there are in the world just can't do it, especially if we engage with the enemy head to head.

Win over the communities first, gain popular support like the Zapatistas did. Make people cheer when they see a black flag, and we'll be getting somewhere. Average people hate anarchists, because they don't understand us. We're despised equally by Republicans and Democrats. Some Libertarians get us, but those are the ones that don't identify with the Libertarian Party. If we can help people meet their basic needs that the government can't, that's a start. Not as much fun as breaking windows and throwing molotov cocktails, but much, much more effective to the overall struggle.

The last thing we need is a

The last thing we need is a fucking program to replace the capitalist system with after it gets destroyed. Anarchy and chaos are good enough for me.

Is anyone else tired of the

Is anyone else tired of the constant spamming involving this event for the purpose of POG using it just as an opportunity to promote themselves? This group hardly does anything in actuality other than the constant number of press releases that they make. There is the occasional protest and workshop done just so they feel like they are actually doing something but that's the only purpose of those really.

I've heard nothing but good

I've heard nothing but good things about POG from people that have actually worked with them, so I'll take that information over an anonymous poster on an internet site any day.

Really? I feel like that is

Really? I feel like that is bull shit.

The VAST majority of people who get involved with POG leave because if they don't agree 100%, with a couple of cultish personalities in the group, they are isolated and ridiculed. The truth of the matter is, most anarchists in Pittsburgh have no involvement with POG and if it were not for this summit...they would probably never work with POG. That being said there are a couple of really cool people in POG that for some reason have not managed to break the fuck out of it.

The above poster is right, POG doesn't do shit anymore, and when they do...it is small, weak, and horribly innefective. Why? Because they have successfully alienated a large portion of the radical population of pittsburgh throughout the years.

The Organizing for the G20 is a prime example of POG trying to stack, and dominate other radicals in PGH. For example, that stupid ass write up they released BEFORE the first meeting of a large radical group opposing the G20 even took place. It wouldn't surprise me if some people in POG wanted to make sure there was a plan already in the works so that it would be incredibly difficult to organize outside of that. Also, look at their updates every week. Why is POG giving this update if they are not the ones organizing for the G20? Shouldn't this be the responsibility of the g20 resistance project? POG...trying to get famous, again.

Maybe after the next hunger strike there will be enough liberal support to get some real shit done...right?

Wrong.

I generally just skim the

I generally just skim the news on this site once or twice a week; it's all I've got time for. The comments and discussion on here, in my opinion, range from intelligent to outrageously absurd and disruptive. I've worked with activists in PGH from time to time over the years, organized in the same circles, etc and I felt the need to respond to a few of the folks posting on this article.

First of all, POG has been doing consistently accessible work in Pittsburgh for years. By "accessible", I mean actions that local Pittsburgh-ers can relate to and actually understand. As a result of this, they have positive relationships and connections to the local community. By "local community", I mean the community beyond those who dumpster dive and ride fixed gear bikes. Like any radical organization, there have been ups and downs. The important part is that POG is still around and maintaining a useful presence in the Pittsburgh community.

Some of you need to get your facts straight and give this reactionary, knee-jerk negativity a rest. The foundational organizing for the G20 events is being bottomlined by a collective called the "G20 Resistance Project". Perhaps you've visited their website? http://resistg20.org/

Yes, there are members of POG involved in the G20RP, but there are many other folks not affiliated with POG involved as well. It's my understanding that POG is releasing updates because several of their members are focusing on media work and outreach leading up to these events.

Maybe the next 5 negative-nancy posts you write will get some real shit done... right? Wrong. You need to chill out on this trollish, anonymous internet shit-talking. Some of us are organizing full-time for G20 events and infrastructure. That's how things get done... by a lot of hard work, networking, and burning the candle at both ends. Sitting at a computer and trashing the hard work other folks are putting in is about as counterproductive as it gets. In conclusion, I've got a question for you. What are you doing to make a difference? Are you even trying?

Who says we are not also

Who says we are not also people working full time against the g20? global capitalism? and anarcho-liberalism?

One person in this thread

One person in this thread seems really confused. POG is putting out regular updates because the PGRP is not doing so and people around the country ask for more info. If the PGRP wanted to take over that would be fine. The basic structure of the PGRP was suggested by another anarchist group in the city, not forced on anyone by POG. It's true that were the G20 not coming to Pittsburgh many people would not being working together. The fact they are is a sign of maturity on everyones part that people can put aside personal and political beefs temporarily in order to take advantage of opportunities to advance social resistance. Which is even more reason I don't understand the focus on mass and numbers by the person who says many radicals will not work with POG. If 10x as many people were in the group it wouldn't necessarily mean it was doing better work, the same goes for if turnout was greater at its events. A focus on numbers is often the wrong tool for evaluation. Everyone does not need to work together, support each other, or get along all the time. Go your own way. Do your own shit. Projects that do good work will get support because they are relevant to someone. There are no projects or groups in Pittsburgh that have the support or participation of anything approaching a majority of anarchists in the city. All of the current projects are hated and ignored by a significant portion of people, anarchists or otherwise.

As far as I can tell, these

As far as I can tell, these criticisms apply to most formal anarchist groups. I've complained as much as anyone, but these static organizations can be and are, useful for defensive purposes, like legal support and networking with other formal groups.

"As far as I can tell, these

"As far as I can tell, these criticisms apply to most formal anarchist groups. I've complained as much as anyone, but these static organizations can be and are, useful for defensive purposes, like legal support and networking with other formal groups."

if your talking about what i think your talking about you hit the nail on the head as far as i am concerned. i am probably among the most voiciferous critics of formal organizations prefering instead working from actual affinity in much the same way one makes friends except in this case in the name of shared goals (my goal is the cessation of institutional society in any form in favor of organic communities and sense of self after all). still, i know when something is or isn't useful. wombat and i were recently talking to each other about how a union is a lot like a lawyer, for example: the union is ultimately just trying to preserve its own interests, which aren't necessarily the same as those of us wage slaves (and even we don't share one unified interest, too many of us for that to be the case, far to many) but rather its own preservation as a representative body or at least the preservation, under worker control (in the most radical of cases) of industrial production which not all of us necessarily agree on (this is what i call self managed slavery, why would i want to soil my freedom with duty to a job and an abstraction, why would anyone? well, i guess some would, but not i!).

a lawyer, on the other hand, is obviously in it either for their own profit or for some nebulous concept, in very rare cases, of serving justice (much the same can be said of the pigs, for that matter: some are in it cause they have an authoritarian complex to lord it over others, some because they think they are warriors fighting evil).

still, in some cases when work is fucking me over bad enough i just may want to fall back on a union, even if i have no real loyalty, for a time and if i am about to be railroaded in court i am going to want to have as good a lawyer as i can rather than try to represent myself. these are my thoughts, not wombats per say, but i think this is where he was coming from, not sure.

So much of the frustration

So much of the frustration expressed towards formal anarchist organizations is a direct result of immersion in "the scene" (or movement as some would say). Lawyers don't expect you to go to go see their bands and would prefer that you don't hang out in the same bars that they do (if you could afford them), and even before de-industrialization the unions had largely abandoned their social/cultural functions, with exception of a big picnic or two every year.

Within the context of "the scene" it is easy for theoretical and practical differences and conceptions of organizing models to be taken personally.

here's a new video about the

here's a new video about the G-20 Summit resistance from a local perspective:

http://vimeo.com/6400341

please spread it widely if you are able.

You may want to look at your

You may want to look at your menu of suitable locations again. The last I knew, Bloomfield-Garfield Corporation and Lawrenceville United were both citizen-run neighborhood organizations.

I live in Pittsburgh. Keep in mind that Pittsburgh is an extremely blue collar town, and the people who live here really love their city. As in rabidly love it. If you really want to oppose capitalism and support the rights of the individual, this could be a receptive town. However if you take actions that hurt individuals or the city itself, the whole population will generally turn against you.

Some of the comments I've seen on other anarchist sites suggest that the goal of their G20 protests is less the promoting of anarchy and more the reveling in chaos and destruction. While I know there are people who believe that the social structure will only change if you tear it down, realistically speaking, in most cases the destruction will simply hurt individuals and turn them more forcefully toward a police-run state.

And if you do make the trip to Pittsburgh, take the time to enjoy the scenery (if there's anything left that they haven't boarded up). Usually it's a beautiful city of rivers and bridges and friendly people.

While, I understand your

While, I understand your point, there are competing interests, like voting. The logical breakdown of voting gets muddled in the display of shiny pretty things. Take the Presidency. The mystification and dehumanization of one person leads to bureaucratic response to needs of people. Any solutions have to be filtered by the elite as to not alienate their interests. The propaganda campaign to keep this machine running leads all the way down to collective participation of the average individual in nonsensical bullshit. One of the most nonsensical things is the job itself. We need jobs to maintain our own accountability with the economy and government at large. This isn't just stupid, but it rejects the role of the individual and places the definition of individuality in the hands of those who take it away. The President was well aware of the possibility of protests in Pittsburgh. He is hoping that Pittsburgh will buy into his scheme and reject the protesters ideas on the grounds that they are protesting. After all, to protest something you actually have to have a defined opposition. In which case, destruction and chaos, a more defined form of protest, becomes the bad guy. This "I love the City" stuff is exactly what the dickhead need. If the system has that much power that a person will pick the abstract notion of love of city over the dehumanization of people around the world, then they already won! Thus the only way to start is to destroy and chaotify.

Bloomfield-Garfield

Bloomfield-Garfield Corporation and Lawrenceville United are gentrifying, gatekeeper organizations which act as middlemen to siphon development funds and grant money into their own pockets as a form of tribute, and then put the needs of prospective investors and developers ahead of the existing residents. The BGC facade grant program is very telling about their "mission," 10 grand to fix up the front of your property to make it more attractive to developers, while the insides of the building would take thousands to get them up to code.
Lawrenceville United is also a racist vigilante organization, obsessed with restoring the kinds of provincial, working-class racism that Lawrenceville was know for 20 years ago, while bringing in gullible hipster capitalists to take out loans from them, restore a beat-up storefront and when they close, because we only need so many art galleries, your "citizen-run neighborhood organizations" trick someone into fixing up property they own, Tom Sawyer-style, which they turn around and sell to developers.

I don't think anyone intends to hurt individuals and the relationship between government and business has hurt the City since its incorporation. Remember, the G-20 is what has shut down Pittsburgh, not anarchists.

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