Activists and protestors are astounded and bemused by the so called cancelling of May Day
protests by a handfull of anarchist leaders, who claim not to have had sufficient support at "their meetings" to organise the protest. They do not call on people to go to the demo of the Labour movement, "that one is run by dinosaurs". Instead they want a picnic (seriously folks only a picnic)in St James park front of her majesty's palace.
protests by a handfull of anarchist leaders, who claim not to have had sufficient support at "their meetings" to organise the protest. They do not call on people to go to the demo of the Labour movement, "that one is run by dinosaurs". Instead they want a picnic (seriously folks only a picnic)in St James park front of her majesty's palace.
How absurd! At a time when the War in Iraq is turning into disaster,
scenes of torture by British and US soldiers are front page news,
and the US forces have lost control of major cities after carrying out
massacres. The misnamed May Day collective, probably two or three
anarchist leaders (i.e. ones who know how to use the internet and
bought a domain name) cancelled "their" demo, and in case any stragglers still want
to do something they are told, come for a picnic...
I vomit in your general direction!
Or was it "undercover police" who cancelled the demo through some members of
the "Collective?" God forbid, the police of course could not infiltrate the
cunning and clever operations of the anarchist activists.
Or is it really as mundane as we are told, no one turned up to the
organising meetings! Oh dear well then no issues to protest about are there.
Oh for a leadership that declares itself so! at least such a thing can be made
subject to scrutiny and control.
I for one who has been of May day demos long before the May Day (picnic) collective
appeared on the scene, don't think getting young kids heads cracked and encouraging kids to get themselves encircled by thousands of police is very revolutionary.
It could not have been better orchestrated if the police and Daily mail planned the
actions themselves.
How about realising that there is a labour movement, that ultimate (socialist) change will only come when we shift this to the left. So best to get involved there and yes join the demo on May Day.
The anarchist activist abandons the demo, Noam Chomsky votes for John Kerry, the Democrats, but those words sounded so radical, pass the cheese sandwiches please.
Oh thats a nice hat you've go there Giles, how about some music!
www.speakerscorner.net
If anyone wants to organise for the future, come down to Speakers Corner and try to get people from the street by convincing them, the potential is huge.
scenes of torture by British and US soldiers are front page news,
and the US forces have lost control of major cities after carrying out
massacres. The misnamed May Day collective, probably two or three
anarchist leaders (i.e. ones who know how to use the internet and
bought a domain name) cancelled "their" demo, and in case any stragglers still want
to do something they are told, come for a picnic...
I vomit in your general direction!
Or was it "undercover police" who cancelled the demo through some members of
the "Collective?" God forbid, the police of course could not infiltrate the
cunning and clever operations of the anarchist activists.
Or is it really as mundane as we are told, no one turned up to the
organising meetings! Oh dear well then no issues to protest about are there.
Oh for a leadership that declares itself so! at least such a thing can be made
subject to scrutiny and control.
I for one who has been of May day demos long before the May Day (picnic) collective
appeared on the scene, don't think getting young kids heads cracked and encouraging kids to get themselves encircled by thousands of police is very revolutionary.
It could not have been better orchestrated if the police and Daily mail planned the
actions themselves.
How about realising that there is a labour movement, that ultimate (socialist) change will only come when we shift this to the left. So best to get involved there and yes join the demo on May Day.
The anarchist activist abandons the demo, Noam Chomsky votes for John Kerry, the Democrats, but those words sounded so radical, pass the cheese sandwiches please.
Oh thats a nice hat you've go there Giles, how about some music!
www.speakerscorner.net
If anyone wants to organise for the future, come down to Speakers Corner and try to get people from the street by convincing them, the potential is huge.
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Hide the following 9 comments
hmmm
01.05.2004 11:51
well EXACTLY!!!
it had gotten formulaic.. a scripted confrontation....
better to call a pause, allow energy to flow in different directions (which it is doing btw with many more local events than hte last few years), then come back with something stronger...
Log Live Mayday!
...
ignorance is strength...
01.05.2004 15:06
ultimate (socialist) change will only come when we shift
this to the left. So best to get involved there and yes
join the demo on May Day."
How about realising that anarchists did call for an anarchist
bloc on the trade union march? Look at this link:
so, perhaps, it would be nice to get the facts before getting
on your soapbox and attacking anarchists for, well, doing what
you say they should be doing!
anarcho
Homepage:
http://www.anarchistfaq.org
Where were SWP/GR and the trade union bureaucrats last year?
01.05.2004 16:47
I was on last year's mayday protest, the illegal protest that is (the genuinely revolutionary part of the mayday protest), and the fact that we were not joined by groups like the SWP/GR and others meant that we did not have sufficent numbers to break out of the police cordon. Although I do not like the fact that no protest was organised this year, I think that a year's reflection was necessary for the anti-capitalist movement, given that those of us who are prepared to join illegal direct action protests on mayday were not joined by other groups who could have swelled the numbers protesting thus giving us the strength to more effectively challenge the forces of the state.
pissed off
spare us the slanders!!!
01.05.2004 17:03
the "Collective?"
Spare us the slanders please! The main reason the demo was called off this year IMO was the fact that the numbers protesting -on the illegal direct action protests- last year were not sufficient to ensure that we could break out of the police cordon. If groups such as the SWP/GR and the trade unions had joined us last year then perhaps we would have had the numbers to challenge the state more effectively.
Although I would have prefered a direct action protest to have taken place this year, a year's reflection for the anti-capitalist movement is necessary I think so we can decide how we can better prepare ourselves to outmanouvre the forces of the state in future mayday protests.
libertarian Marxist
DIY
01.05.2004 20:45
gardener
A reply
02.05.2004 00:08
though I for one saw very, very few
on the demo. (Guess maybe they didn't "dress
anarchistic"!) I specified the so
called May Day Collective.
Some comrades thought that the
previous demos with cracked heads and
encircled demonstrators only needed
support from others to "break the cordons"
of the police and "challenge the state"!
How exactly would this challenge the state?
They have lets not forget, capital, the banks
the army the police the prisons...need I continue..?
All these are supposed to be challenged by
breaking through police cordoins from Oxford Circus
into Regent Street, forgive me while I laugh!
Breaking the power of the state means winning the
mass of people, and them being engaged in wide struggles
for social change. How does confronting the police
do this?
Where is the wisdom, the strategy, the tactics
of mass agit-prop, capable of enlisting the support
of the masses? This does not in the least mean direct
confrontation with the police is required now.
It means scientifically, utilising the creative history of social
protest as a store of human cultural heritage, on which we can and
must draw to transform the present.
Such a culture rests hidden within, not only within the youth
but in the mass of working people. How to rouse, how to inspire,
how to connect to, be part of, and assist in the blossoming of this latent
revolutionary potential? That is the issue confronting those who
wish to see the development of a mass revolutionary force in this
world.
Heiko Khoo
e-mail:
heiko@khoo.org
Homepage:
http://www.speakerscorner.net
Damn Right
02.05.2004 14:16
Nelson
as if!
03.05.2004 16:47
recently, been hyjacked by upper-middle class types who think
smashing up a Starbucks is a revolutionary act."
Yes, May Day is about workers' solidarity. It's roots lie in
the state murder of 5 anarchist trade unionists who were framed
because they were at the head of the eight hour day strike
movement in Chicago.
May Day was born from anarchist struggle and ideas. Deal with it.
As for "upper-middle class types", well, I've yet to meet an
anarchist who was "upper-middle class". Not one, in over 15 years
in the movement. The anarchists I've meet are working class like
myself. The middle class people I've come across have been
Marxists, unsurprisingly enough.
anarcho
Homepage:
http://www.anarchistfaq.org
reply to Anarcho
03.05.2004 20:04
P.S Are you really trying to tell me that the idiots smashing up multi-nationals in London are furthering your cause? What they are displaying is an infantile disorder and impatience.
Nelson