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THE 

Black- Clad Messenger 

ACTUALIZING INDUSTRIAL COLLAPSE! #8 

Open to those who want to hasten the disappearance of this whole stinking order. 

Everyone who is fed up with the masochism of trying to reform a fundamentally destructive 
techno-totality. Everyone who wants to live, to breath, to banish the cancer of divided, deformed 
existence. 

Liberalism and Leftism are dying. The specter of anarchy is the inspiring alternative to the 
tired, failed forms of pseudo-opposition. Action is ongoing. Let us hear from you. 

When all the people have gone home and the lights 
are out.... beware we are there! You can't lock us 
out, you can't see us. But if you're worried about us 
you have good reason! 




Attack Fiercely and Frequently 

The dreaded "millennium bug" 
did not even cause our masters to 
scratch, so much as stumble. But the 
threat of "Y2K" system's failures 
showed us that power is susceptible 
to intense damage, and that if hit 
fiercely and frequently, that it can fall. 
The Earth Liberation Front (ELF) 
closed out 1999 with a fine example 
of what we are all capable of doing, 
when they burned down the 
Boise-Cascade Headquarters causing 
$1 million in damages. Such arsons 
light up the skies as well as our 
hopes and dreams of insurrection, 
and eventual revolution against this 
world. 

And now, more than ever 
before, action is needed. The easy 
flow of this society into the next 
millennium guarantees a rougher 
end. Fredy Perlman might say, "The 
beast has nearly consumed all of 
its entails". All life is being 
devoured, and justified, in the name 
of progress. And with nothing left to 
consume.... it's collapse would be 
inevitable. 

However, revolt against the 
structures of power is inevitable as 
well. Covert actions such as those 
taken by the ELF and events such as 
the Anti-WTO protest which trashed 
corporate outlets in downtown 
Seattle are the fuel that we need for 
insurrection. 

Remember, we owe it to the 
people of the Third World, the tribal 
people's, and the animal species 
being decimated to take action 
aqainst industrialism. 

^DEAT H METAL MILITIA DISTR( 

[music, zines. books on ECOLOGY. CLASS! 

*WAR. ANARCHISM, ANIMAL AND YOUTH I" 
ILIBERATION, ATHEISM, FEMINISM. BIKESJ 
^REPRESSED HISTORY. NON- VIOLENT r - 
:DIRECT ACTION AND DLY. GUIDES.! 

VfcEND STAMPOi 

ffo BOX 17838. CU^lWATCfcFL 33762) 

"^w^ VJri 



A Y2K DIARY 



2- 



Friday morning. December 31. 1999 

It's a wierd feeling to wake up and say, 
"Civilization may collapse today". Although my 
heart is set on it, I've pushed it to the back of my 
mind. At the front of my mind, however, is the 
thought of beautiful chaotic eruptions across the 
world; riots, power failures, lost computer data, 
the halting of major industries and technological 
systems. Rebels have been trying to induce this 
kind of chaos since the beginnings of 
domination, and now the beast will ripen itself 
for slaughter with just a tic of second-hand on a 
clock. What joy! 

12:00 Midnight January 1. 2000 

(yelling at the television) 

It's still here! And without the least 
resistance to mark the occasion. Instead we see 
the anti-climatic "ball dropping" and bright , 
artificial lights. There has to be rioting or some 
power failures?! Or maybe we have to wait til 
Monday morning. Yea.... 

...Three Beers Later... 

Perhaps I was naive... or maybe just a 
romantic, a dreamer... But this dream can and 
must come true. Civilization can and will 
collapse. We know it's weaknesses and it's 
strengths and we can stab it right in it's heart, by 
attacking the infrastructures, such as 
information technology. We can put it in total 
disarray, with the Y2K bug as our inspiration. 



HUNGRY AND 
SICK OF WORK? 




BAT THE RICH! 



EUGENE ANARCHISTS for Torrey 



A faction of the Eugene Anarchist scene 
has decided to endorse Jim Torrey as our 
candidate for this year's mayoral race. People 
will wonder how an anti-authoritarian group 
could endorse any candidate for a government 
position. We'll, we believe that Jim Torrey has 
been very influential in turning Eugene into a 
"hotbed" of Anarchy. We look at his vital role in 
the June 1st Treecutting/Torture and his ability 
to get gross polluters and dicscriminating 
corporations like Hyundai to move to our town, 
as prime examples of his 

Conservative/Corporate agenda, thus creating 
the inevitable and beautiful Anarchist backlash. 
Although none of us are foolish enough to buy 
into the scam of Democracy, and of course do 
not plan on voting, we encourage others, who 
still believe in the system, to at least vote for the 
greater of two evils. If not for pure comedy, at 
least to make it clear to all what type of Fascist 
system we live under. Often more liberal 
candidates muddy the waters with reform tactics 
which offer no real solutions to our problems, 
while promoting a corporate agenda. 

LETS KEEP EUGENE AN EXPORTER OF 
ANARCHISTS, RE-ELECT JIM TORREY! A 
VOTE FOR TORREY IS A VOTE FOR 
INEVITABLE ANARCHY! 

TORY ['tor-e] 1: a member of a chiefly 18th 
Century British Party upholding the established 
church and traditional political structure. 2: an 
American supporter of the British during the 
American Revolution. 3: an extreme 
conservative. 

- Funk and Wagnalls Dictionary 

*The campaign kicked off it's year on Friday, 
December 17th, at City Hall, with much 
enthusiasm! The EPD was obviously supportive 
of the campaign, as seen by the numbers in 
attendance at the event. Could there be new 
alliances forming in support of our 
"all-consuming" mayor, Jim Torrey. Stay tuned, 
we don't have a clue what's up next! 

Dismantling the Bridge to 
the Twenty-first Century 

It is with great pride that we are pleased 
to announce our endorsement for the Great 
Mayoral campaign of 2000. 

Eugene Anarchists for Torrey (EAT) 
have spent months discussing and deliberating 
about who would be most worthy to wear the 



coveted crown of our endorsement. In the end, it 
was unanimous (if not obvious). There is only 
one man capable of furthering the goals of total 
liberation and free association of the oppressive 
facade of electoral politics: JIM TORREY!!! 

Despite all the tireless work and 
endless hours that Anarchists in Eugene have 
spent to actualize freedom and autonomy, one 
man has consistently gone out of his way to fan 
the flames of the long awaited Social 
Revolution: JIM TORREY!!! This guy really 
wants to smash the state. 

Whether sitting safely in a limousine, 
presiding over the destruction of "public 
property" at the infamous June First tree-cutting, 
pepper spray jamboree, or facilitating the arrival 
of racist, sexist, multi-national corporations who 
abuse workers and poison our water, Jim has 
played a vital role in the growth of open 
opposition to authority! 

Who can forget blunt tyranny exercised 
in heated city council meetings as Jim Torrey, 
with that memorable red face that makes him 
look so cute, slammed his gavel over and over 
in order to assume control and shut out public 
debate? Why, Jim has almost single-handedly 
inspired more cynicism in voters than anyone. 
The lie of benevolent government has been 
exposed! WHOOPEE!!! 

More recently, let us remember when 
our beloved mayor shared with us his vision of 
sustainable community and self-empowerment 
at the Valley River Center Mall. While reading 
stories to the next generation of consumers, Jim 
created a Blessed Trinity with that loveable 
symbol of holiday greed, Santa Clause, and that 
rascally corporate clown, Ronald McDonald. 

Jim's paranoid, reactionary, and 
prejudiced remarks concerning the Anarchist 
community have been a source of hours of 
gentle laughter for many of us that will stay with 
us in our hearts for years to come. 

While we dream of a day when we have 
no masters, tyrants, bosses (or mayors) or their 
merciless defenders of wealth,.... a day when we 
can wake up on election morning and realize 
that absolutely nobody voted and our 
government is universally recognized as 
illegitimate, until then if we are to be ruled by 
someone (or something), let him be the greater 
of two evils! FOUR MORE YEARS! 

For more information to get involved in 
the campaign, contact: Mayor James D. Torrey 
City Hall 777 Pearl St. Room 105 Eugene, OR 
97401 #(541) 682-5010 E-mail: jim.d.torrey. 
@ci.eugene.or.us 



Federal Government 
wants Local Government 
to Control your Mind 

"The heroes are the night itself with 
kerchief and kerosene and lightened 
match and the voice of rage like 
thunder in the blackness." 
- Eli Yates 
The government has worked 
hard to make obsession with 
non-violence the dominant thought 
about how to affect social change in 
America. Just one example of proof 
of this is the U.S. governments 1968 
National Advisory Report on 
Disorders and Terrorism. Amongst 
other things, the report advises that 
the power held by large groups to 
violently affect serious political 
change ("overthrow of the 
government" etc.) must be 
neutralized by "any means available" 
to the state through which it can "set 
the tone" of the 
violence/non-violence debate, 
"consolidate consensus" that violent 
social change is wrong and 
marginalize anyone who would 
advocate it. I'm not kidding. That is 
just one example of very explicite 
planning by the government to 
completely manipulate public opinion 
so as to maintain its control over 
people. That's exactly the same type 
of two-faced, moralistic exploitation 
the Church is famous for doing for 
most of history. They think that no 
one is paying attention, but if you go 
to the law library and look up "riot 
control", the frankness will shock 
you. Post-riot Seattle is a great 
example, where the Mayor of the city 
told the media point blank "It is you 
job to portray these people as neither 
heroes nor victims". Only the naive 



would ask who the hell he is to tell 
the media what sort of editorial slant 
it is their job to portray. That is how 
the State's power over society works. 
That is how many people came to 
have the opinions that they have 
about tactics for social change. Were 
the President's own repeated praises 
for non-violent protests and absolute 
condemnation of destruction on 
National Television not utter 
propaganda? He and his cohorts 
were practically begging people to 
picket in the streets, just please, 
please don't go beyond that! 



V 



The Cascadia Rising Free Skool is 
looking for individuals willing to share 
their knowledge and skill with others in 
our community, for free, of course. A 
new Free Skool schedule is in the 
works, so if you'd like to teach a class, or 
just get together with others for a 
discussion, call the Free Skool infoline 
#302-5020 and leave a message. 



Be sure to watch Simmeren' 
Stew, the new, radical public acces 
program, every Tuesday night at 
11:30 on channel 97. Or come watch 
it at Subversive Pillow Theatre every 
Sunday night at 7:30, upstairs in the 
Grower's Market building, 454 
Willamette. 

And now that Cascadia Alive! 
might actually be interesting, you 
should watch it every Wednesday 
night at 9:00. 



For a complete catalog of 
books, pamphlets and 'zines about 
radical environmentalism, anarchy, 
animal liberation, political prisoners, 
etc. Send one 33 cent stamp to: AAC 
PO Box 11331 Eugene, OR 97440 



America Prepares To 
Step-Up Death Squad 

Activities By Robert Thaxton 

This essay was reprinted from 
Rob the Rich: Jailhouse Writings 
of Political Prisoner Robert Lee 
Thaxton. Available from us. 2 for 
$1 

The U.S., like any tyrannical nation 
which feels threatened by its own citizens, 
resorts to the use of para-military terrorist 
organizations to do the dirty work of 
crushing dissent. Just in my lifetime, this 
has happened frequently. City, county, state 
and federal forces have armed, trained and 
supplied logistical support to dozens, if not 
hundreds, of death squads. In the '60's, a 
militia group called the Minutemen went 
around killing anti-Vietnam War protesters, 
unimpeded by law enforcement agencies. 
The federal witness protection program was 
used to shuttle rapists and murderers from 
one hot bed of dissent to another in order to 
terrorize the peace movement. Hired goons 
were cheap and easy to find in order to carry 
out terrorist attacks against American Indian 
Movement activists, supporters and their 
families. Gangsters were used to knock off 
Black Panthers. FBI informers were 
continually linked to the assassinations of 
civil rights activists and leaders. 

This tradition of using unofficial 
assets to wage war on dissidents in America 
found its greatest achievement in the 
bombing of the Murray federal building in 
Oklahoma city. As is typical of these 
operations, eyewitness accounts and other 
evidence of federal Compliance with the act 
were ignored once the patsies were offered 
up for sacrifice. This attack was used as 
justification to pass some of the most 
repressive legislation in American history - 
the federal anti-terrorist act. The few legal 
restraints the federal government were 
supposed to follow in gathering intelligence 
on its own citizens were lifted. "Terrorist" 
organizations such as Pastors for Peace, 
Concerned Clergy and Laity, Witness for 
Peace, the War Resister's League, the Sierra 
Club, and the Union of Concerned Scientists 



can expect even more infiltration, wiretaps 
and intimidation than they ever experienced 
under the Nixon, Reagan and Bush regimes. 

Just today (7/12), there was an article 
in Eugene's Register Guard about the FBI 
and "militias" announcing a new era of 
mutual support. The message for anyone 
with more than 25 years of political activism 
should be loud and clear. 

The governments and their overlords 
have had enough with citizen's initiatives, 
dissenters, activists and protesters. It's time 
to take off the veneer of democratic restraint 
and shed blood. And lots of it. 

From this day on, the forces of 
profit-at-all-costs will take fewer prisoners, 
since their law enforcement facade is not 
enough to keep the public pacified. Their 
new allies do not even have the authority to 
arrest people. Nor the will. 

Further Reading: 

The War at Home • Brian Glick 

The Prosperous Few and the Restless Many 
- Noam Chomsky 

Cointelpro Papers: Documents from the 
FBI's Secret Wars Against Domestic Dissent 
• Ward Churchill and Jim Vanderwall 

Please write to comrade Robert Thaxton: 
#12112716 O.S.P. 2505 State St. Salem. OR 
97310 

All mail sent to Rob must have a return address. 
All donations to Rob's legal defense should be 
sent to Anti-Authoritarians Anonymous PO Box 
1 1331 Eugene. OR 97440. All checks are to be 
made out to John Zerzan and can be received 
through the above (AAA) address. 

Letters should be sent seperately from literature 
and all literature must come directly from the 
publisher or bookstore. 'Zines, in this instance, 
should have the same address printed on the 
envelope as on the zine itself. 

No feit tipped pens can be used, or colored 
markers or crayons or anything fun like that. 
However, photocopies (color and b + w) can 
come in. Photocopied collages are especially 
welcomed. Smudged, smeared and stained 
letters will most likely be returned. So to be 
safe, use ball point pens only. 



5 



Earth Ni ght News 

Who Says that Cutting Down Trees is 
Always Bad? October was a busy month for 
anti-genetic engineering actions. At least three 
separate actions, including two attacks on 
mutant trees, took place. 

In Canada, two underground groups 
opposed to genetic engineering (GE) destroyed 
approximately 1,500 trees grown for GE 
research in two separate incidents in Vancouver 
and Saanich. British Columbia, on October 27 

and 31. 

Reclaim the Genes leveled 500 GE 
evergreen saplings at the Silvagen Inc. site in 
Vancouver near the University of British 
Columbia. The action occurred in conjuction 
with a US day of action against GE. "We 
Canucks wanted to put Canada on the map as 
inhospitable to the mad science of genetic 
engineering", said Gerrard Winstanley, 
spokesperson for Reclaim the Genes "Our 
action will serve as a message to the WTO that 
genetic engineering will not be tolerated in 

Canada' 

The Genetix GoDlins destroyed 1.000 
cedar. Douglas fir and assorted evergreen trees 
at Western Forest Products' (Westfor) Saanich 
Forestry Center on Halloween night (trick... or 
treat?) and charged Westfor with intending to 
replace temperate rainforests with genetically 
mutilated frankenforests 'The only way to 
intercept the release of biohazards into the 
environment is to derail this runaway 
'Frankenscience' now!" declared the group's 
communique. 

In the US, an underground group 
opposed to GE claimed responsibility for 
breaking windows at the Eau Claire, Wisconsin, 
Pioneer Hi-Bred facility on October 27 Seeds of 
Resistance charged Pioneer and other 
proponents of GE with deceiving the public and 
profiting off growing GE crops. 'Seeing their 
profits as a slap in the face of the Earth and all 
its occuoants. we took the liberty of paying them 
back', said the communique. "We. Seeds of 
Resistance smashed all the windows on one 
side of their disgusting building. Wisconsin is 
now another state that cannot hide from this 
growing resistance to GE culture". 

These actions are the thirteenth, 
fourteenth and fifteenth known nonviolent 
destruction of GE crops or other related 
property in North America this year and the first 
known attacks in Canada. Details of past 
anti-GE actions are available at www 
tao.ca/~ban/ar.htm 



Group Claims to have set £ 
fire at timber company 

By the Associated Press 

MONMOUTH - A radical environmentalist group. 
the Earth Liberation Front. claimed 
responsibility Thursday for a Christmas Day fire 
that destroyed a Boise Cascade timberlands 
management center 

An ELF communique sent to The 
Associated Press said the fire was started with 
four buckets of diesel fuel set alight by a kitchen 
timer delay. 

It contended that Boise Cascade has 
been active in deforestation practices in the 
Northwest. 

"Now Boise Cascade has teamed up 
with Maderas Condor, a Chilean company, to 
begin deforestation in Puerto Montt area of 

Chile" it said. 

There were no injuries in the fire that 
destroyed the 8.000-square foot building. The 
25 employees who worked there now are based 
at a mill office in nearby Independence, Boise 
Cascade spokesman Doug Bartels said. 

He said no damage estimate has been 

made. 

Bartels said the destroyed building was 
used largely for the management of Boise 
Cascade timber holdings m northwestern 

Oregon. 

The ELF, a part of the broader 
Liberation Collective, also has claimed 
responsibility for a S12 million fire at the Vail 
Resort in Colorado a year ago and one that 
burned US Forests Industries to the ground in 
Medford, also a year ago. 

"Let this be a lesson to all greedy 
multinational corporations who don't respect 
ecosystems. The elves are watching', the 
communique concluded. 

Bartels said the Boise Cascade fire was 
being investigated as possible arson. 

Disclaimer: The above article was reprinted 
from the Register Guard (12/31/99) and since 
it came from the corporate media, 
information in it is likely to be false. The 
statement that the ELF is part of a "broader 
Liberation Collective'*, referring to the 
activist info-center in Portland, OR, is 
particularly ludicrous and could be very 
detrimental to the good people of the Lib' 
Collective, whom already face regular 
harassment from the authorities 



PUBLISHER SCRAPS PUNS 
FOR UNABOMBER MEMOIR 

Updated 6:57 PM ET November 4, 1999 By 
Ellen Wulfhorst NEW YORK (Reuters). 

A New York publisher said Thursday it 
has canceled plans to publish the memoir of 
convicted Unabomber Theodore Kaczynski, 
saying the author proved uncooperative and 
refused to make changes needed in his 
manuscript. 

Although the memoir was already at the 
printer, recent letters from the imprisoned 
Kaczynskj caused Context Books to reconsider 
the project, said Context publisher Beau 
Friedlander. "The problems just kept growing", 
Friedlander said. "Eventually it became clear it 
would be impossible to come to terms with him". 

When asked to make changes to 
address concerns such as potential libel or 
copyright infringement, "Kaczynski was 
uncooperative and expressed himself in ways 
that made it impossible for the book to be 
published by Context, or anyone else", he said. 

When publication of the memoir was 
first announced in February, the publisher 
declared it would be an attempt to "set the 
record straight" about Kaczynski's mental 
condition. 

In 1998, Kaczynski pleaded guilty to 
federal charges stemming from a 17-year 
bombing campaign that killed three people and 
injured 23. He is serving a life sentence. 

However, just last week, a federal 
appeals court agreed to hear Kaczynski's bid for 
a fresh trial. The Harvard-University trained 
mathematician, who lived as a recluse in the 
Montana wilderness when he was arrested, has 
argued his plea was coerced and he should 
have been allowed to stop his lawyers from 
claiming he was mentally ill. 

Working with the small publishing house 
on his memoir, Kaczynski wrote more than 700 
pages of letters over the past several months, 
Friedlander said. 

"Up until recently I found him pretty 
affable", he said. "Bu the past few weeks have 
been diametrically opposed to the previous 
months". 

He compared Kaczynski's recent letters 
to "the thirteenth stroke of a clock, which calls 
not only itself into question but the twelve other 
chimes that proceeded if. 

"It's a shame it's not going to come out", 
he said. "Different people would have gotten 
different things from it, but it had the potential to 
be a useful document". 



Kaczynski, 55, is being held in a 7 
maximum security federal prison in Colorado. 
The FBI dubbed him the Unabomber because 
the early targets of bomb attacks were 
universities and airlines. 

He wrote a 35,000-word "Manifesto" that 
ran in the New York Times and Washington 
Post in 1995. 

Friedlander said the book did not deal 
with the bombings but recounted Kaczynski's 
life and relationships. 

In accordance with federal law, 
Kaczynski would not have received any 
compensation for the book.* 

CLONE THE UNABOMBER 

For a copy of Ted Kaczynski's "Manifesto", 
Industrial Society and Its Future, send $1 or 
three 33 cent stamps to: Anarchist Action 
Collectiv e PO Box 11703 Eugene. OR 97440 

Animal Liberation Front Strikes 

in Washington: In Bellingham, 
Washington, the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) 
carried out its third successful laboratory raid in 
the past six months. The latest target was the 
psychology labs at Western Washington 
University, which was the moming of October 
24. 

Vivisector Merle Prim was the target of 
this raid according to a communique received by 
the North American ALF Press Office. The 
communique also stated that "the entire 
contents of Prim's office... was piled on the floor 
and soaked in two gallons of muriatic acid. It 
continues, "The office of the animal "caretaker 
was devastated and all documents related to 
animal torture destroyed". 

More from the communique: "We 
entered the building after midnight, first 
destroying Prim's lifetime of research derived 
from torturing primates, and seizing crucial 
documents related to animal research. We then 
made our way to the animal labs in the 
basement, locating a set of keys in an unlocked 
office. We made our way through the animal 
rooms, entering 7 rooms and rescuing 3 rabbits 
and 28 rats from the hands of deranged 
vivisectors. Sadly we were unable to liberate 8 
rabbits due to electrode implants, but 
documented their horrendous condition on 
video. We also came across large lizards that 
were not able to be liberated". 

"The last time the ALF raided a 
Washington State lab was eight years ago in 
1991 when the Fur Animal Research Facility at 
WSU in Pullman was targeted", comments Dave 
Barbarash, ALF spokesperson. 



t 

The Interrogation Begins 

Once in a while various cops would come in the room and try to question me. I kept answering "no comment ". A lady cop kept 
asking me where my car was. They kept saying my car would get towed if it was left where it was and that they wanted to move it to 
a safe place for me. (For those who don't get it. they wanted to search my car.) Here are some of the things I remember them saying: 



Did you ever think about the people you ; 
are hurting? What about the workers 
who have nothing to do with this, and 
maybe even share your beliefs? 



We don't want to see you locked up. 
we want to give vou a chance here. 

l!lMHI)fi|])ll)I.W)J 

You're young. Do you really want^ 
to screw up the rest of your life? 

I have a kid your age. and I'd fU m 
hate to see him in trouble like 
this, so I wanna help you out. 

mmmmmf 

If you just give us some 
information, we can get 11 
you right out of here and i I 
this will be over. v * 



I You're not only facing these charges, but we've got all these other 

incidents that happened that we can pin on you. These are other 

:rimes that occurred where we picked you up (dropping reports in 

front of me). And we've got more from other locations. 



fmft. 



We're not out to 
get you, we're 
here to help 
vou out. 



d,7 • U 

c - What are your parents going to say? 



U' 



w 



V 






Just out of curiosity, how^ 
many people are in the group" 



I, 



A 



■rVtl 



7 



This is your only chance to help yourself. 



You'd better watch yourself down in the tombs. 
You'd better be real careful down there with those people. 
("'Tombs" are what they call central processing in NYC). 



Do you like the Yankees? (I was wearing a Yankees hat. My no comment What's this "no comment" stuff? 

response here got them real mad. For those who don't know, if direct You sound like a machine, 

questioning doesn't work, they ask inane stuff to try to get you talking Wh° programmed you. 
and slowly ease into the real questioning.) 

Some other guys had shown up to question us. Feds. I would suspect. They tried to be all friendly. They told me they didn't 
want to talk about this case at all. They just wanted to talk to me in general. They wanted to get to know me. and they wanted 
me to get to know them because they wanted to help me out. They asked whether I was in school and other such questions. 

After the older guy got his fill of "no comment", the younger guy took his turn, trying to be even friendlier. The older guy 
left the room, then came back in a minute later and said. "You know, you're being a real dick about this." He repeated this a 
bunch of times, occasionally thinking of even more inane questions to no avail. 



Hell No to the WTO - 
Kicking Corporate Ass in 
Seattle. 

Reprinted from the Earth First! Journal: 
PO Box 1415 Eugene, OR 97440 

It's the week before November 30, and all hell 
is breaking loose in Seattle. The Direct Action 
Network (DAN) office in the University Baptist 
Church is the center of the lower reaches, and I 
retreat to the madness of 60 screaming children 
in the child care center on the floor below to find 
some peace and quiet. A bail bonding company 
calls to inquire if DAN wants to make prior 
arrangements for mass arrests. Talk about the 
commodification of dissent. 

Every coffee shop in town is overrun by DAN 
and its meetings. The most promising rumor is 
that the coffee shop baristas will walk out on 
November 30, forcing caffeine-addled Seattle to 
stand still. I can easily count 45 subgroup 
gatherings. Everybody and their dog has an 
anti-WTO campaign going. 

Fifteen thousand copies of the Seattle Post 
Intelligencer have a mock cover section 
wrapped around them, announcing, "Boeing to 
Move Overseas". Stories inside give the satirical 
skinny on the WTO, hinting at the state of the 
world if the WTO succeeds: "Monsanto Patents 
Food Chain". 

November 27. It's three days until the big day, 
and there's another banner hang downtown. 
Seattle is saturated with banner hangs. Banners 
on the freeway overpasses, banners from the 
University's 100-foot flagpole, banners on 
downtown buildings, banners from cranes. 
Meanwhile, the Buy Nothing Day critical mass 
bike ride has progressed into the Washington 
Trade and Convention Center, and the cops are 
madly trying to shoo the circling bicycles out of 
the downstairs foyer. 

Police have circulated anti-riot measures 
memos to downtown. Advice includes hiding 
expensive merchandise and stockpiling 
plywood. 

November 28. Two days before. The Capitol 
Hill neighborhood procession with the giant 
puppet show heads downtown. Seeing the sea 
of colors and signs and people that have 
reclaimed this main drag is beautiful. N30 can 
only be better' Outside Old Navy we stop and 
chant while police lines form, "Don't fall into the 
GAP" an obscure reference to the Fisher 
family's use of sweatshop labor. There's a 



sound system mounted in a van, and someone 
on the top of the van is inciting the downtown 
shoppers. "If you care about justice, then join us 
in the streets. If you care about sweatshops, 
then join us in the streets". Even 
anarcho-syndicalists are moved... 

Briefly. For now we are outside the GAP 
building itself, and the van mounted marshals 
direct the crowd to "take two big steps back from 
the store so that the police can get in and do 
their work" N30 can only be worse. 

420 Denny, the DAN skills-sharing, workshop, 
training, meeting and welcome center, is 
complete madness. Today, there are so many 
people that you can't move about, harkening 
back to the site's former life as a hip-hop club. 
Every activist you've ever met is here. 

There are thousands of radicals here, and 
it's impossible to separate action from fiction. 
Without question, a huge abandoned building 
downtown is reclaimed by squatters (gutsy to 
take the building next to the police station). 
Tonight, my affinity group dines on wine and 
chocolate, courtesy of the WTO (fringe benefits 
of a press pass)! 

November 29. One day until N30. Like 
everyone, I am sick as a dog. Sleep deprivation, 
anxiety and a nasty flu have caught up with us. 

The Seattle newspaper headline, "WTO: 
Whose Idea Was This?", indicates the 
outrageous and undeservedly good media 
coverage we've been getting. I've never worked 
on a campaign with this much momentum, 
where coverage comes so easily. None of us 
have. None of us have ever done anything like 
this before. 

A "riot" breaks out at a downtown 
McDonald's. Jose Bove, the crazy French 
farmer who smuggled many pounds of 
Roquefort cheese to Seattle to protest the US' 
WTO-backed punitive tariffs, leads the charge. 
While the police form their orderly lines, 
black-clad anarchists have their way with 
McDonald's. The preposterousness of it, the 
ease with which the perpetrators get away, the 
slow police response, puts everyone on edge, 
giddy with excitement and fear. 

Meanwhile, a truly impossible and absolutely 
unending meeting has embroiled hundreds of 
people at 420. A "spokesperson" from each 
affinity group is outlining the pie-shaped wedge 
of downtown from which it has agreed to block 
WTO traffic. The meeting is totally public, and 
many experienced activists walk away shaking 
their heads. This will never work. 

The big day. November 30. The sensory 
overload of the last weeks explodes into chaos. 



i 



I first see a tripod, ringed by a circle of 30 
people joined by lockboxes. A small support 
crowd mills around. Around the corner another 
group of people is holding hands, circling an 
intersection. They won't even let activists 
through. Rather standard, but so far, so good. 

Friends tell me that some blockades are 
being gassed farther along. Without 
provocation, the police have busted out 
fire-extinguisher-sized cans of pepper spray and 
are hosing down people lying in the streets, 
locked to one another. But the lockdowns hold 
their gr.und, and once the spray has cleared 
the crowd grows in strength. They spray again, 
and the crowd grows. At one blockade, activists 
locked to one another and wearing gas masks 
are attacked by police. The riot cops lift the 
activists masks, pepper spray them at close 
range and force the masks back over their 
heads. Some of the lockdowns start convulsing, 
the line breaks. 

Tear gas is being used now. People emerge, 
retching, gasping. Delegates milling around the 
blockades, waiting for a chance to get into the 
convention center, are gassed too. A sheriff 
asks a friend standing on a dumpster to let him 
know when it looks like they will gas again 
because he and his deputies have been given 
neither gas masks nor warnings. Concussion 
bombs and flash bangs sound through the city, 
amping everyone's adrenaline. My lungs are on 
fire from the dissipated residue, my eyes are on 
fire from the direct dose of pepper spray. A boy 
next to me is screaming from the pain. 

A friend limps by, shows me a disgusting 
brown and purple welt from a rubber bullet. She 
tells me she's seen others shot in the face. The 
cops didn't like it when people started throwing 
tear gas canisters back. I run by a line of cop 
cars decorated with anarchy signs and disabled 
by flattened tires. 

At another blockade, farther from the chaos, a 
line of motorcycle cops insists that the 
lockdowns let them through. When the activists 
hold their ground, a motorcycle runs up onto the 
crotch of one of the lockdowns. The line breaks, 
the cycle runs through, trapping themselves on 
the other side. 

At a calmer intersection, I hear from a sound 
system that the WTO's opening meeting has 
been delayed. The auditorium of the Paramount, 
where the meetings were to have started by 
9:00 a.m. is almost empty. The trade delegates 
can't get through. Soon the opening is cancelled 
altogether. 

At 11:11 a Reclaim the Street party is 
supposed to start from Westlake center. 



Instead, a small posse of the black clad round 
the corner and finds a larger army of the 
anonymous. "Black block! Black block!" the cry 
goes up. Two hundred people move in chaotic 
formation through the streets; shoppers jump 
back; windows crash; buildings are redecorated. 
"Whose streets? Our streets!" The unprepared 
have only their bodies and the tools on the 
street: legs go through windows: newspaper 
boxes are hoisted and thrown. Someone 
motions for employees inside a target to step 
back; someone else runs up, does the job, and 
melts back into the sea of black. Anything not 
bolted to the concrete becomes a road block. 
Some people want to head straight toward the 
riot line, but others pull the crowd from direct 
confrontation. Two hundred people march down 
the street chanting, "Fuck shit up!" "No 
cameras!" In the middle of it all, a shopper 
stands, bag clutched in hand, not cowering from 
the crowd but paralyzed by curiosity. 

Word of the black block spreads like wildfire. 
Everyone knows these basic facts: black block, 
property destruction, tear gas, pepper spray, 
meeting delayed. An ambulance screams past, 
and the crowd parts to let it through. Cop with a 
heart attack. 

It's early afternoon, and we must stay for 
many hours to guarantee that the meeting 
cannot begin. Some activists are very angry 
about the black block. I see people wearing 
black attacked by "non-violent" protesters. A 
friend is grabbed by a pacifist activist and told 
she is under arrest. 

There are standoffs between police and 
activists all over the city - a lull in action. (Later 
we hear that the police have run out of tear gas. 
Under cover cops have to bring in more through 
the protester's barricades. An armored vehicle 
drives from police line to police line to resupply.) 
Today is the only November 30 of my life, and I 
feel compelled to see it all. 

By mid afternoon the giant labor march finally 
happens. Certain militant unions are said to be 
doing some of their own building enhancement. 
Many of the rank and file abandon the circular 
route away from downtown to swell our 
blockades. Thirty thousand people from the 
march have seen and felt first hand the rounds 
of tear gas, and are enraged. 

State of emergency has been declared. 
Everyone out of downtown by 7 p.m. The 
National Guard is being called in. The WTO has 
cancelled today's meetings. Victory tastes like 
tear gas. 

The black block regroups at Nike Town. Local 
kids, without masks, who have seen the riots on 



TV come to join in. Once the window is broken, 
looters jump in. Peace police surround the 
building and scream "Nonviolence!" until the 
real police arrive. White pacifist activists stop 
black kids from looting Nike. 

The police are using tear gas to clear the 
streets. They gas the crowd, run forward, gas 
the crowd, run forward, in this way reclaiming 
downtown for the forces of law and order. A 
smaller group of activists refuse to disperse. 
They start a bonfire in the streets; they use 
dumpsters as blockades. Some dumpsters are 
lit by the protesters; about half are set ablaze by 
the concussion bombs. A black citycouncilman 
trying to attend a WTO reception is brutally 
ripped from his car and interrogated by the riot 
police. Oops. As they retreat, the rioters block 
an intersection, barring traffic until they see a 
dump truck stalled by the line. They allow traffic 
through until the truck reaches the intersection 
and then claim it as a bunker. They're able to 
hold the police off behind the truck for quite a 
while now, until the cops get tear gas into the 
sewer system and it begins to pour out of the 
runoff holes. 

In the middle of the battle zone, a punk band 
has set up a sound system and is rocking out. 
The scene verges on post-apocalyptic. I rejoin 
my affinity group at the bar. Locals are crowded 
around the TV, watching the real time riot as it 
happens outside the door. It's "angry hour" all 
day today - $2.25 pints. 

State of Emergency is only supposed to 
extend throughout downtown, but the police 
have pushed the protesters out of downtown 
and are now invading Capitol Hill, Seattle's 
queer center. Residents and bystanders pore 
out of the bars and restaurants, disbelieving that 
an occupying force has descended on their 
neighborhood. A passive mass faces down the 
police line and is pointlessly gasses. The crowd 
regroups and is gassed again. And again. 
School kids decommission a city bus, chasing 
off the driver. Two junior high boys try to steal 
the bus for a joy ride but can't reach the pedals. 

This day does end. Sort of. 

Day two. Wednesday. 

A nearly seamless and sleepless continuation 
of day one. A crowd of a couple thousand strong 
tries to enter the "no protest zone" downtown to 
exercise its rights to free speech and free 
assembly. There are National Guard officers 
and riot cops on every corner. Some officers say 
they have been on duty for over 18 hours. 
Backpacks, briefcases and people attempting to 
enter the downtown core are searched. Some 
individuals are arrested for wearing "NO WTO" 



pins. Over 200 people are arrested en masse 
before they even reach the no-protest zone. 
Organizers, medics and people with radios are 
targeted. Gas masks are outlawed due to the 
"civil emergency". It is a felony to distribute 
them. Gas stations are instructed not to sell gas 
in containers. 

Toward evening, a large mass of people 
forms at the Pike Place Market, tourist central. 
Unwittingly, they've advanced into the area 
where Clinton's motorcade is. No amount of 
brutality is spared. The cops fire gas into the 
crowd indiscriminately, radicalizing every 
shopper, shop owner, tourist, and business 
person in the vicinity. People try to leave, but 
the crowd is run through a police gauntlet. Every 
exit is closed off by riot police; people move 
forward, but the cops keep gassing. 

Replay scene three. Riot cops move 
systematically through downtown, pushing 
people up Capitol Hill. Residents take to the 
streets, screaming, "This is my neighborhood. 
People live here". Standoffs ensue. The police 
retreat, establishing a one block perimeter 
around their own station. The crowd mills, 
advances, is gassed. Mills, advances, is 
gassed. Mills, retreats, is gasses. 

The Capitol Hill standoff displays par 
excellence the ignorant quirkiness of American 
politics. The crowd of drunks, activists, 
neighbors, and hooligans can agree on nothing. 
Fist fights break out, not between cops and 
crowd, but internally. Anarchists who pull 
dumpsters into the road to stop the police 
advance are peacenicked and nearly beaten by 
violent pacifists in the crowd. A Republican 
county councilman and his minions spend at 
least two hours trying to convince the mob to 
move back to the sidewalk so that he can make 
a political statement. In the end, just before the 
final gassing of the night, the crowd is able to 
agree on a message, and the eerie strain of 
Silent Night rises up to the heavens, 
accompanied by the percussion of flash bangs. 

420 has become a field hospital. An amazing 
staff of volunteer medics keeps the movement 
on its feet. Medics notice that the effects of the 
gas are vastly different than yesterday. They 
begin to research the possibility that the cops 
have used nerve gas. 

Word is filtering in about the hundreds of 
arrests this morning. Apparently they are 
refusing to get off the buses, creating a huge 
headache for the powers that be. Ultimately, 
cops pepper spray individuals on the buses to 
force them to move. 

Day three. Thursday. 



// 



A friend has made a necklace of the 
instruments of brutality. Rubber bullets in three 
different sizes, wooden bullets strained with 
blood, plastic tubes (they'll shoot anything!). 
The center piece is a head of a gas canister. 

A press conference in the morning transitions 
into a 2,000 strong march through town, 
stopping at various corporate crime scenes: 
Weyerhaeuser, Cargill, etc. The march stops at 
the King County Jail, where our compatriots are 
being held. 

After many hours of negotiations with the 
mayor and prosecutor, the DAN legal team wins 
the right to meet with the prisoners, to have 
activists in solitary moved back into the general 
population and those in need of medical 
treatment seen by doctors. 

A friend points out that not only have we 
succeeded in stopping days of WTO meetings, 
we've shut down commercial TV for several 
days. There is non-stop coverage of the streets 
in Seattle and much of the West Coast, and 
frequent bulletins elsewhere. 
Day four. Friday. 

As the meetings wind up, Seattle bids adieu 
to the whole trade mess. Sign boards in 
downtown read, "Bye WTO, It's Been a Riot". 

Toward evening three different actions have 
spontaneously formed. Hundreds of people are 
sitting down outside the Westin Hotel. A group 
of six to ten are sitting down in the middle of the 
no-protest zone as dusk descends, surrounded 
by 60 or more riot cops. Another crowd of 500 is 
sitting down outside the jail. Both the Westin 
group and the jail group have decided to hold 
consensus meetings on how to proceed. The 
cameras love it. 420 is overwhelmed with 
requests for blankets and food. The community 
steps in where organizers no longer can, 
delivering pizza, bringing cardboard and 
blankets. 

Around 9:30 word percolates that the WTO 
meetings have reached an impasse. The 
Caribbean and African delegations are refusing 
to consent to the agenda. We all hold our breath 
until the 1 1 o' clock news. The news announcer 
says, u A final candle light vigil against police 
brutality met on Capitol Hill tonight. They 
marched peacefully to the police station, where 
they left burning candles and boxes of donuts". 
Now the delegate from the Philippines is talking 
on the TV. The African trade delegation is 
addressing the crowd. They say what they've 
seen on the streets of Seattle inspired them to 
stand up to the bullying of the overdeveloped 
world. The talks have ended in failure. 
The world will never be the same. 



THE PEOPLE 
MUST BE UNITED 

Originally titled: WTO Protest 
Organizers: Don't Throw the Radicals 
Overboard. A group of activist 
intellectuals defend strategic damage to 
corporate property in Seattle and Eugene. 
Disclaimer: Nobody who writes for the 
BCM considers themselves a 'Leftist ' and 
we do not necessarily agree with the ideas 
expressed in this essay. 

"The People, United, Will Never Be Defeated", 
was one of the most commonly heard chants in 
the days of marches protesting the WTO summit 
in Seattle. However, one of the most striking 
elements of the WTO protests was the level of 
conflict between adherents of "nonviolent" 
protest method and those who preferred to more 
concretely express their feelings toward global 
capitalism. A tide of reaction has been swelling 
against the latter, with great arrogance on the 
part of the former. As a group of activist 
intellectuals, we feel the need to state our 
support for the group the media has been 
calling, only somewhat inaccurately, "the 
Anarchists from Eugene". 

We - the broad Left, anti-corporate, 
pro-livable world community - controlled the 
streets of downtown Seattle from 7 a.m. to 
roughly 7 p.m. on Tuesday Nov. 30. After that 
period - with Mayor Schell and Governor 
Locke's declarations of martial law and the 
violent offensive by local, county, state police 
and the National Guard - the streets were a 
warzone. But during that period, they were a 
liberated area. 

Inside that liberated area a spectrum of 
protest and resistance activities took place, 
many of which warmed our hearts. Violence 
against property, as we'll call the attacks of 
corporate chain stores, was one of the 
oonr-.ious strategies that was employed. These 
.-.ctivities began on the afternoon of Monday, 
Jov. 29, with the smashing of a window at 
McDonald's. The next day, Nov. 30, they started 
again shortly after 10 a.m. at the corner of 6th 
Ave. and Pike St., when police began shooting 
tear gas canisters into the crowd. Throughout 
the day activists, protecting their identities with 
hoods and kerchiefs, formed "black blocks'" to 
move en masse to attack unoccupied chain 
stores such as the Gap, Nike, Levi, Disney, and 



II 



Hi 



Dead 



Federal cops. 

state cops, county cops, and city 
cops all die in the line of duty. 
every year In 1996. lor example, 
one hundred sixteen cops died in 
die United States Fifty-six were 
shot to death, two were stabbed, 
one was beaten, and one was 
strangled. Thirty cops died in car 
accidents, eight more were struck 
by vehicles while on foot, four died 
in motorcycle accidents, two in 
plane crashes, and one cop was hit 
by a train. Six cops died in 
miscellaneous accidents, like 
falling, and five succumbed to job- 
related illnesses, like exposure to 
infectious diseases or hazardous 
materials. 

Since (he founding oi the 
United States more than 15.000 
cops have died while Just doing 
their job.' More -han S20 were 
federal cops. More than 350 were 
police chiefs. More than 3?0 
worked for prisons. More than 30 
were rrulttcrv con* 





Die lirst cop ever killed. 
Robert Forsyth. Jan I lth. 1794 



tCft 

The oldest cop ever killed. 
Dotson "Pop" Sutton. X0 wars old 



The deadliest day 

of the week for cops is Friday, and the deadliest two hours are from 
10pm to midnight. New York is the deadliest city for cops, with 540 
killed. California is the deadliest state for cops, with a grand total of 
1.255 killed The 70s was the deadliest decade for cops (2.215 dead 
cops), and 1974 was the single deadliest year for cops (271 dead cops*. 

One Saturday in 1917 the Milwaukee police were called to the 
discovery of a large pipe-bomb in a church basement. Officers safely 
removed the device and took it to police headquarters for inspection, 
where it was described as a piece of iron pipe a foot long and eight 
inches in diameter. Detectives were handling the device and jokins 
about it when it exploded. Ten cops, all detectives, were killed by "the 
bomb blast, as well as a woman who'd come to the station to file a 
robbery complaint. Five other detectives and one lieutenant were 
seriously injured and the police station was wrecked. That was 
November 24 m , the single deadliest day ever for cops. 

The bomb's makers were never apprehended and the case 
remains unsolved, but one historian believes it was the work of ihe 
Italian-bom anarchist Mario 3uda. probably revenge for an incident 
two months earlier when cops shot and killed two anarchists at a 
patriotic rally organized by the same Milwaukee church. 

Today, Cops continue to die, 

but that doesn't mean they're losing the War on Crime. Just look at the 
body count: people kill fewer than 160 cops in an average year, while 
cops lawfully kill more than 3.000 people Some cops may die. but 
many, many more cops kill. 

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the Bank of America. This is a key point that the 
media and President Clinton, among others are 
trying to obscure: The crowd did not attack 
"mom and pops stores", but the physical 
manifestations of "McDomination". 

Adherents to "nonviolent* protest methods 
preach against targeting corporate property. We 
feel giving private pro r arty a higher value than 
life is an uncritical acceptance of the dominant 
value system of American consumer society. As 
activists we feel that we need to debate these 
issues further amongst ourselves. The problem 
we are addressing immediately is that these 
"non-violent" activists used their numerical 
advantage to isolate and dominate practitioners 
to alternate protest philosophies: most visibly, 
the black block anarchists. 

As a spectrum of protest activities manifested 
themselves, scenes we witnessed included 
"non-violent" activists linking arms to protect the 
corporate theme store Nike Town from the 
aggressive acts of black block. Riot police soon 
replaced the "peace advocates" as if to say, 
"We'll take over now. You're only volunteering 
to protect property; we do it for a living". 
Elsewhere throughout the day "non-violent" 
activists demasked and on at least one occasion 
beat an individual who was acting against 
property. 

Many elements of the broad left, 
anti-corporate, pro-livable world community 
have been alarmingly willing to distance 
themselves from direct, non-compromising 
forms of protest. The World Trade Observer, a 
daily tabloid published by a network of 
mainstream environmental and fair trade 
organizations, which features the writing of 
prominent figures such as Ralph Nader and 
Normon Soloman, offers one example. In 
describing the previous days festivities in their 
Wednesday, December 1 st issue, they identified 
as a "troubling theme" the practice of "the police 
singling out peaceful demonstrators for gassing 
and beating. ..while ignoring black-clad 
hooligans breaking windows and spray 
painting". We witnessed other "non-violent" 
protesters criticizing the police, not for waging 
chemical warfare to cleanse the streets of 
protesters, but for failing to enter into the crowd 
and extract the practitioners of militant protest. 
The implication of these statements is that the 
crowd would have handed over some of its 
members to the police, if the police had only 
asked. We strongly urge progressive activists to 
reconsider this stance. 

There will undoubtedly be repercussions from 
the fact that we took control of a major city for 



12 hours as the leading administrative body of 
global capitalism met to brair.ctorm for the r.ext 
millennium. It is unfair, and irresponsible, to 
offer "the Anarchist's from Eugene" to the state 
as scapegoats. Without the support of the rest 
of the WTO protesters, the direct action 
practitioners are at great risk. Grand Juries 
have become common in the militant animal 
liberation and environmental movements: We 
should not think it a unsurprising development 
for their to be an inquisition exploring 
"conspiracy to riot" charges for the days of 
well-directed rage in Seattle. Gas-masks were 
declared illegal under Mayor Schell's martial 
law, and the donning of hoods is being explored 
by prosecutors in Eugene as a possible excuse 
ft sentence enhancement. The price of 
protecting one's self and one's identity from 
police violence is rising. As people who are 
interested in counteracting the ill effects of 
globalization and ensuring a livable new 
millennium, we need to consciously confront the 
criminalization of radical political philosophies. 

We feel that those who belittle and distance 
themselves from the actions of "the Anarchist's 
from Eugene" have either ignored or simply did 
not realize the level of contributions anarchists 
- black clad and otherwise - made toward 
bringing the November 30 Festival of 
Resistance into reality. These include the 
innovative and joyful protest methods of the 
Direct Action Network, a sustained 
consciousness-raising effort from Left Bank 
Books, alternative social structures offered by 
Food Not Bombs and Homes Not Jails, the 
anarchist hotline, housing networks and so on. 
It also should not go unsaid that developing a 
community able to produce several hundred 
predominantly white youths with middle-class 
backgrounds to take militant action against their 
real enemy, is no small feat. It has taken years 
of sowing and tending the seeds of awareness 
and resistance, and we, at least, appreciate that 
effort. 

If the Left activist community is to be united 
and strong, more communication and internal 
discussion around strategic issues is necessary. 

This article was co-signed bv Daniel 

Burton-Rose. (206) 324-8165. ex.1: Ward 

Churchill. (303) 492-5066: Robin Hahnel. (202) 

885-2712: rhahnel@american.edu: Kent Jewell. 

(206) 324-8165. ex. 3: George Katsiaficas. 

(617) 989^384: Christian Parenti. (415) 

626-4034: seapea@juno.com: and Robert 

Perkinson.(203) 772-1600: 

robert.perkinson@vale.edu. 



IS 



WHO NEEDS THE WTO? 



/t 



In ancient limes the word lyranr signified not simply a figure covert purpose of the WTO is to prepare the way for the 

of oppressive authority, noted for extreme cruelty and globalization of slave labor, 

injustice, but more precisely one who dared not appear in The WTO's function, therefore, is not simply to maintain 

public without bodyguards. The vast interlocking tyrannies of existing inequality but to expand it, indeed to globalize ■it— in 

our own time suggest that this strange period which flatters itself other words, to make an already intolerable situation infinitely 

as "postmodern" might perhaps more aptly be called neo- worse for everyone except billionaires. _ 

ancient, and in any case qualifies as an example olbarbaris.n a. For us, surrealists, the WTO represents everydung tafeon» 

its goriest. Courtesy of the "free enterprise" system, the U.S. has and disgusting in this world, and inspires only om £"*»"• 

creLd the most Von, bi.ly.lubbed tear-gassed. and ^^SKSESJ 

■^^KtWSVSL- o-ials, o^ufies the fearof poetry an^the : fear of human 

captains of industry, mobsters and religious potenu.es who freedom, and the fear of wild creatures «M«HHt *. 

sunound themselves with cops and more cops (public and/or broadcasts^ : fears, exacerbates *£**£*$£"* 

private), but also celebrities, stars of stage and screen, athletes, the Great Fear tha paralyzes "*£*»»*"""£££ 

talk-show hosts and hostesses, radio personalities, brokers, population today: the fear of being different, of being oneself, 

bankers, gamblers, gurus, and all manner of high-profile non- of W*£ a poIogetics-its "booms," 

entities. So inflated has the tyrants' network become in die past The w us srupio, °°™8. *;'''.* victories accords 

hundred years dial our whole society is now afflicted widi cops options, ^^J^^^cT^X^. 

evetywhere: in the street, of course and die workplace, on the takcom* No-1 Tmd ~ services ^ 

beach,audwl,ereveryoungpeoplea,.dpeopleocoorasemble futures, *£*£*£&, opmen." (i.e., covenngthe 

but also in schools, in libraries, a. concern and other places of ~' ^^ ^ ^ ^ „, sick . (W T0 rhetoric, 

entertainment. ,|, a t of its confederates— the WorldBank, the International 

These reflections came to mind as we read media reports like that ol : .0 oonieoera s hin|self _ couM serve as 

implying that, a. the World Trade Organization's highly publi- ^^J^^'f^ Sta*) 

cops,soldieraand P a,dmformersmaywellexceedmecombined Such o^ P ^ ag0> w . E . B . Du 

total of WTO conference attendees and protestors. "-urn ™ e ™f ' , , u ' a kcs of a „ en can bring: 

,,shou,dno,beoverlookedd,atu,eWTOi.e,fisakmdof tg£^££ZX^«to**"° l ™° 

cop. or radier a kind of tyrants' watchdog-a symbolic hype - Ftoaw otj p ^ WTQ can sign 

watchdog a. the portals of the new unproved P^cotaah *%£££ is no. a death sentence, Its reason for being 

multicultural, genetically modified, low-fat imperialism no agreem ^ (- 

Organized in 1995 with specifically an.,-labor motives in mind, s to "^< '^^ J ^ ^ old growm-indeed 

die WTO has also manifested from the start a total contempt for Wg^ • crimes of capiul _ a{0 , capital 

even die most basic ecological concerns, and an obsequious everything not serving 

eagerness to obey each and every command issued by die stage- cn ™. as % bureaucratic embod iment of Patriarchy, Capital, 

managers of commodity fetishism. »..*_ w'hiip Sunremacv Genocide, and Ecocide— in short, 

It is in fact die avowed aim of the WTO to help coordinate StaWm, W h. te S up «^^ ° ' ^bilism-the 

VS. capital's current scramble for Africa and Asia, as well as £** izauon of a^onns .fnta^r- d ^^ 

me restructuring of a freshly rebalkamzed Europe now conve- ™££n& ^^ t0 argue about here? Isn't it night- 

niendy dominated by the U.S.A.'s very own NATO More B die re reauy young 8 abom ination? 

generally,.heWTO's.askistooverseeU.S.capi.a>'swor.dw,de ^*XL^^^ t0 doSLtion and devasta- 

campaign to lower wages, destroy unions, restore swealshop Tha « rtswbote g jt? 

conditions, shield corporate polluters and wilderness-wreckers ''^^/n ™ ^ siraplei str.igh.forw.rd, reasonable 

facilitate the commercial annihilation of endangered species, and Mere, men, arc y 

above all keep the profits soaring. Another important but more demands. 

Abolish the WTO! 

Defend the Marvelous, by any means necessary! 

Free Mumia Abu-Jamal! 

The Surrealist Movement in the United States 

22 November 1999 
P.O. Box 6424, Evanston, IL 60204; E-mail: Beasley@mcs.com 



JOBS ARE JAILS! 



n 



By Ronnie Burk (reprinted from Slingshot Magazi 

On the morning of Dec. 6, 1999, 
marching with over four hundred people 
protesting the presence of WTO officials at 
Bank of America in downtown San Frnacisco, I 
found myself once again doing the cake walk 
with this city's bankrupt left. Following the 
tremendous earth-shattering explosion in 
Seattle, where some 500 kids rocked the 
multinational corporations to their foundations, 
exposing for all the world to see that US 
capitalism is no longer safe within its own 
borders, it was truly insulting to see the old 
guard in SF up to their usual theatrics. There 
were, of course, the innocuous hootnanny types 
singing god awful folk songs that always remind 
me of Christian tent revivals, the Birkenstock 
peaceniks, the sectarian lefties hawking their 
tired rags, but most unnerving were the 
self-promoting "spokespeople" laying claim to 
"The Battle of Seattle", all the while decrying the 
'violence". You can't have it both ways, folks. 
Had the black-hooded anarchists and animal 
liberationists not taken the initiative to trash the 
storefronts of corporate America, there would 
have been no news, no headlines, no electronic 
media reporting as to just how fed up a sector of 
the American population is with "business as 
usual", and consequently, no "Battle of Seattle". 
At a time when members of the emerging new 
generation have demonstrated their aversion to 
wage slavery by destroying the very edifices of 
bourgeois capitalism, the dried-up crusty rinds 
of what is left of the left were only able to recite 
their tired old litanies of "jobs not jails". 

So it was with a sense of humor that I 
started chanting "Jobs are Jails!", a turn of 
words that my young anarchist and animal rights 
friends found amusing, and also began 
chanting. The knee-jerk left found our message 
so offensive that Rebecca Solnit found it 
necessary to walk up \p me and accuse me of 
"elitism". That was a remark I found to be both 
racist and elitist, coming from a white woman in 
a black flannel suit who likes to brag she's 
studied art and aesthetics at the Sorbonne. 

"My dear", I informed her, "my mother 
was a campesina and worked in the fields as a 
child. I myself have done every shitty job in the 
universe, from washing dishes to picking up 
garbage, and let me tell you, jobs are jails!" Her 
comment seemed to encapsulate everything 
that is wrong with the left, afraid of revolt, 
hoping to legitimize itself by promoting bogus 
"pro-union" agendas, trying not to offend the 



ne: 3124 Shattuck Ave. Berkeley, CA 94705) 

tourists and Christmas shoppers, leashed in, 
muzzled, with blinders on, just where the union 
bosses, and their bosses, the corporate elite, 
want them. These [anarchists] don't want to sit 
at the table and talk - they want to turn the table 
upside down and pull the plug on high finance 
capitalism, and all I can say is that it's about 
time. 

Medea Benjamin (a true jack ass) of 
Global Exchange made quite a show of herself 
after the initial trashing of downtown Seattle. 
Decrying the violence, getting out brooms, 
aiding the police, such activists did us all a favor 
by showing their true interests. In their desire to 
sit at the table with representatives of the 
corporate establishment, they have sold out the 
very people we must support if we are serious 
about bringing on the real changes this planet 
so desperately needs to survive the next 
century. 

Whether it is Global Exchange, Mother 
Jones, the Sierra Club, the San Francisco AIDS 
Foundation, Pacifica Radio, or other despicable 
examples of the corporate left, one thing is clear 
- none of these organizations are interested in 
destroying the system, as they need to ensure 
their positions as "paid staff'. For those of you 
who are afraid of flying glass, who only see 
elitism in the cause of freedom, who insist now 
is not the time to bring down the system, who 
prefer to sing rather than riot in the streets while 
the children of Indonesia are denied bananas 
and rice and millions across this nation are 
denied the simple pleasure of having a place to 
live, I say, stand clear. We are entering a new 
era that demands new ways of strategy and 
subversion and the only thing limiting us is our 
own lack of imagination and daring. 

( DIDNTGOTO 
WORK TODAY... 



m 



.. I DON t THINK 



N30 Black Bloc Communique 



n 



On November 30, several groups of individuals in 
black bloc attacked various corporate targets in downtown 
Seattle. Among them were (to name just a few): 

Fidelity Investment (major investor in Occidental 
Petroleum, the bane of the U'wa tribe in Columbia), Bank of 
America, US BancoTp, Key Bank and Washington Mutual 
Bank (financial institutions key in the expansion of 
corporate repression), Old Navy, Banana Republic and the 
GAP (as Fisher family businesses, rapcrs of Northwest 
forest lands and sweatshop laborers), NikeTown and Levi's 
(whose overpriced products are made in sweatshops), 
McDonald's (slave-wage fast-food peddlers responsible for 
destruction of tropical rainforests for grazing land and 
slaughter of animals), Starbucks (peddlers of an addictive 
substance whose products are harvested at below-poverty 
wages by farmers who are forced to destroy their own forests 
in the process), Warner Bros, (media monopolists), Planet 
Hollywood (for being Planet Hollywood). 

This activity lasted for over 5 hours and involved 
the breaking of storefront windows and doors and defacing 
of facades. Slingshots, newspaper boxes, sledge hammers, 
mallets, crowbars and nail-pullers were used to 
strategically destroy corporate property and gain access 
(one of the three targeted Starbucks and Nikctown were 
looted). Eggs filled with glass etching solution, paint- 
balls and spraypaint were also used. 

The black bloc was a loosely organized cluster of 
affinity groups and individuals who roamed around 
downtown, pulled this way by a vulnerable and significant 
storefont and that way by the sight of a police formation. 
Unlike the vast majority of activists who were pepper- 
sprayed, tear-gassed and shot with rubber bullets on 
several occasions, most of our section of the black bloc 
escaped serious injury by remaining constantly in motion 
and avoiding engagement with the police. Wc buddied up, 
kept tight and watched each others' backs. Those attacked 
by federal thugs were unarrested by quick-thinking 
members of the black bloc. The sense of solidarity was awe- 
inspiring. 
The Peace Police 

Unfortunately, the presence and persistence of 
"peace police" was quite disturbing. On at least 6 separate 
occasions, so-called "nonviolent" activists physically 
attacked individuals who targeted corporate property. 
Some even went so far as to stand in front of the Niketown 
super store and tackle and shove the black bloc away. 
Indeed, such self-described "peace-keepers" posed a much 
greater threat to individuals in the black bloc than the 
notoriously violent uniformed "peace-keepers" sanctioned 
by the state (undercover officers have even used the cover of 
the activist peace-keepers to ambush those who engage in 
corporate property destruction). 
Response to the Black Bloc 

Response to the black bloc has highlighted some 
of the contradictions and internal oppressions of the 
"nonviolent activist" community. Aside from the obvious 
hypocrisy of those who engaged in violence against black- 
clad and' masked people (many of whom were harassed 
despite the fact that they never engaged in property 
destruction), there is the racism of privileged activists who 
can afford to ignore the violence perpetrated against the 
bulk of society and the natural world in the name of private 
property rights. Window-smashing has engaged and 
inspired many of the most oppressed members of Seattle s 



community more than any giant puppets or sea turtle 
costumes ever could (not to disparage the effectiveness of 
those tools in other communities). 
Ten Myths about the Black Bloc 

Here's a little something to dispel the myths that 
have been circulating about the N30 black bloc: 

1) "They are all a bunch of Eugene anarchists." While a few 
may be anarchists from Eugene, wc hail from all over the 
United States, including .Seattle. In any case, most of us are 
familiar with local issues in Seattle (for instance, the recent 
occupation of downtown by some of the most nefarious of 
multinational retailers). 

2) "They are all followers of John Zerzan." A lot of rumors 
have been circulating that we are followers of John Zerzan, 
an anarcho-primitivist author from Eugene who advocates 
property destruction. While some of us may appreciate his 
writings and analyses, he is in no sense our leader; directly, 
indirectly, philosophically or otherwise. 

3) "The mass public squat is the headquarters of the 
anarchists who destroyed property on November 30th." In 
reality, most of the people in the "Autonomous Zone" squat 
arc residents of Seattle who have spent most of their time, 
since its opening on the 28th, in the squat. While they may 
know one-another, the two groups are not co-extensive and 
in no case could the squat be considered the headquarters of 
people who destroyed property. 

4) "They escalated situations on the 30th, leading to the 
tear-gassing of passive, non-violent protesters." To answer 
this, we need only note that tear-gassing, pepper-spraying 
and' the shooting of rubber bullets all began before the 
black blocs (as far as we know) started engaging in 
property destruction. In addition, we must resist the 
tendency to establish a casual relationship between police 
repression and protest in any form, whether it involved 
property destruction or not. The police arc charged with 
protecting the interests of the wealthy few and the blame for 
the violence cannot be placed upon those who protest 
those interests. 

5) Conversclv: "They acted in response to the police 
repression." ' While' this might be a more positive 
representation of the black bloc, it is nevertheless false. We 
refuse to be misconstrued as a purely reactionary force. 
While the logic of the black bloc may not make sense to 
some, it is in any case a pro-active logic. 

6) "They are a bunch of angry adolescent boys." Aside from 
the fact' that it belies a disturbing ageism and sexism, it is 
false. Property destruction is not merely macho rabble- 
rousing or testosterone-laden angst release. Nor is it 
displaced and reactionary anger. It is strategically and 
specifically targeted direct action against corporate 

interests. 

7) They just want to fight." This is pretty absurd, and it 
conveniently ignores the eagerness of "peace police" to 
fight us. Of all the groups engaging in direct action, the 
black bloc was perhaps the least interested in engaging the 
authorities and we certainly had no interest in fighting 
with other anti-WTO activists (despite some rather strong 
disagreements over tactics). 

8) "They are a chaotic, disorganized and opportunistic 
mob." While many of us could surely spend days arguing 
over what "chaotic" means, we were certainly not 
disorganized. The organization may have been fluid and 
dynamic, but it was tight. As for the charge of opportunism, 
it would be hard to imagine who of the thousands in 



11 



attendance didn't take advantage of the opportunity created 
in Seattle to advance their agenda. The question becomes, 
then, whether or not we helped create that opportunity and 
most of us certainly did (which leads us to the next myth): 

9) "They don't know the issues" or "they aren't activists 
who've been working on this." While we may not be 
professional activists, we've all been working on this 
convergence in Seattle for months. Some of us did work in 
our hometowns and others came to Seattle months in 
advance to work on it To be sure, we were responsible for 
many hundreds of people who came out on the streets on the 
30th, only a very small minority of which had anything to 
do with the black bloc. Most of us have been studying the 
effects of the global economy, genetic engineering, resource 
extraction, transportation, labor practices, elimination of 
indigenous autonomy, animal rights and human rights and 
we've been doing activism on these issues for many years. 
We are neither ill-informed nor unexperienced. 

10) "Masked anarchists are anti -democratic and secretive 
because they hide their identities." Let's face it (with or 
without a mask)-we aren't living in a democracy right now 
If this week has not made it plain enough, let us remind 
you-wc are living in a police state. People tell us that if we 
really think that we're right, we wouldn't be hiding 
behind masks. "The truth will prevail" is the assertion. 
While this is a fine and noble goal, it does not jive with the 
present reality. Those of who pose the greatest threat to the 
interests of Capital and State will be persecuted. Some 
pacifists would have us accept this persecution gleefully. 
Others would tell us that it is a worthy sacrifice. We are 
not so morose. Nor do we feel we have the privilege to 
accept persecution as a sacrifice: persecution to us is a daily 
inevitability and we treasure our few freedoms. To accept 
incarceration as a form of flattery betrays a large amount of 
"first world" privilege. We feel that an attack on private 
property is necessary if we are to rebuild a world which is 
useful, healthful and joyful for everyone. And this despite 
the fact that hypertrophied private property rights in this 
country translate into felony charges for any property 
destruction over $250. 

Motivations of the Black Bloc 

The primary purpose of this communique is to 
diffuse some of the aura of mystery that surrounds the black 
bloc and make some of its motivations more transparent, 
since our masks cannot be. 
On the Violence of Property 

We contend that property destruction is not a 
violent activity unless it destroys lives or causes pain in 
the process. By this definition, private property-especially 
corporate private property-is itself infinitely more violent 
than any action taken against it. Private property should 
be distinguished from personal property. The latter is based 
upon use while the former is based on trade. The premise of 
personal property is that each of us has what s/he needs. 
The promise of private property is that each of us has 
something that someone else needs or wants. In a society 
based on private property rights, those who are able to 
accrue more of what others need or want have greater power. 
By extension, they wield greater control over what others 
perceive as needs and desires, usually in the interest of 
industry monopolists with ultimate control over the lives 
of everyone else. Advocates of "fair trade" would like to 
sec this process mitigated by government regulations meant 
to superficially impose basic humanitarian standards. As 



anarchists, we despise both positions. Private property- 
and capitalism, by extension-is intrinsically violent and 
repressive and cannot be reformed or mitigated. Whether 
the power of everyone is concentrated into the hands of a 
few corporate heads or diverted into a regulatory apparatus 
charged with mitigating the disasters of the latter, no one 
can be as free or as powerful as they could be in a non- 
hierarchical society. When we smash a window, we aim to 
destroy the thin veneer of legitimacy that surrounds private 
property rights. At the same time, we exorcise that set of 
violent and destructive social relationships which has been 
imbued in almost everything around us. By "destroying" 
private property, we convert its limited exchange value into 
an expanded use value. A storefront window becomes a 
vent to let some fresh air into the oppressive atmosphere of a 
retail outlet (at least until the police decide to tear-gas a 
nearby road blockade). A newspaper box becomes a tool for 
creating such vents or a small blockade for the reclamation 
of public space or an object to improve one's vantage point 
by standing on it. A dumpster becomes an obstruction to a 
phalanx of rioting cops and a source of heat and light A 
building facade becomes a message board to record 
brainstorm ideas for a better world. After N30, many people 
will never see a shop window or a hammer the same way 
again. The potential uses of an entire cityscape have 
increased a thousand-fold. The number of broken windows 
pales in comparison to the number of broken spells-spells 
cast by a corporate hegemony to lull us into forgetfulncss of 
all the violence committed in the name of private property 
rights and of all the potential of a society without them. 
Broken windows can be boarded up (with yet more waste of 
our forests) and eventually replaced, but the shattering of 
assumptions will hopefully persist for some time to come. 

Against Capital and State, 

the ACME Collective 

"Peasant Revolt!" 
@@@@Disclaimcr: these observations and analyses 
represent only those of the ACME Collective and should 
not be construed to be representative of the rest of the black 
bloc an N30 or anyone else who engaged in riot or property 
destruction that dav. 




More Myths 



The media likes to take little buzz-words 
and twist their meanings and create things that 
don't exist. Here are a few more myths 
surrounding anarchist's in Eugene. 

Black-Clad Messenger There is no 
group of anarchists that go by this name. This is 
the name of a Eugene-based anarchists 'zine. 

Black Army Faction: There hasn't been 
any BAF actions in over a year, so you'd have to 
agree that they don't really exist. 

Black Bloc: The Wall Street Journal said 
a black bloc Is a generic term for the most 
militant anarchist's". In reality, a black bloc is a 
group of anarchist's who go to a protest wearing 
all black who stick together to help each other 
accomplish what they need to without getting 
arrested. 

John Zerzan 'Leader 1 : While John 
Zerzan's books and writings have expanded 
some anarchist's critique of civilization and he is 
our comrade in the struggle, John hasn't been 
and isn't our leader, nor would he want to be. 
This problem of him being perceived as the 
leader is a result of many's ageism, their failure 
to see that young people can make their own 
decisions and act on their own. 

N30 International Reports 

Mexico City: Rocks and fireworks flew from a 
crowd of demonstrators in front of the U.S. 
Embassy, setting off a clash with riot police in 
Mexico City's famed Zona Rosa tourist district. 
The protest started with several hundred 
university students gathering in front of the 
embassy, shouting for the release of 
demonstrators arrested during the recent World 
Trade Organization meeting in Seattle and to 
demand the release of former Black Panther 
Mumia Abu Jamal. 

Manila, Bacolod and Lloilo 
Philippines: Some 8,000 people protested in 
front of the US Embassy chanting anti-WTO 
slogans. Thousands also protested against the 
1995 Mining Act which allows 100 percent 
foreign equity in local projects but has been 
challenged by thbespeople who say natural 
resources are their heritage and should not be 
exploited by companies. 

Euston Station, U.K.: A rally of nearly 
2,000 gathered at Euston station to protest the 



WTO and the Global economy. The rally later 
turned into a more militant protest when about 
500 people tried to block a main traffic artery. A 
police van was set on fire. 
Halifax, U.K.: A Nestle factory was occupied 
and a banner was displayed outside. 16 were 
arrested. 

Leeds, U.K.: In the Leeds city center, around 
50 protesters were faced by over 300 cops. In 
the face of these great odds, people stuck 
around handing out leaflets outside scummy 
businesses. 

Manchester, U.K.: lloyds Bank was 
occupied by 50 activists who then proceeded to 
block the street outside. 

France: 75,000 people in 80 different cities in 
France protest the dictatorship of the WTO. On 
Nov. 25, 5000 French farmers with their sheep, 
ducks, and goats, fiested on regional products 
under the Eiffel tower in protest of the impact of 
trade liberalization. 800 miners clashed with 
cops ransacking an office. 
Geneva, Switzerland: 27 people aided by 
many outside who were blocking traffic, 
occupied WTO headquarters. One group, 
posing as "visitors" occupied the stairs leading 
to Michael Moore's office with a banner reading 
"No Commerce, No Organization: 

Self -Management". 

Greece: Protesters clashed with riot police 
and destroyed corporate property throughout 
the day and night at demonstrations outside the 
U.S. Embassy. The protests were about a wide 
variety of issues including world trade. 
Brisbane, Australia: Activists protested 
outside the stock exchange. 
Milan, Italy: A group of "White Coveralls" 
occupied a McDonald's in Milan, locking 
themselves on the building facade, hanging 
enormous banners, denouncing capitalism and 
its effects, and distributing literature to amused 
passers by. A squatter band provided music. 
New Delhi, India: A group went to the U.S. 
Embassy to deliver more than 11,000 postcards 
protesting a dam in Maheshwar. They were 
arrested and held for two hours because of a 
regulation saying 10 people were too many to 
enter the embassy. 

ELSEWHERE: Other protests on November 
30 against the WTO, the U.S. and capitalism 
were conducted in: Iceland, Prague, Limerick, 
Ireland, Rome, Berlin, Amsterdam, New York, 
Padua, Italy, Cardiff, Wales, Bangor, Totnes, 
UK, Eugene, San Francisco and elsewhere. 



7-b 



Analysis 

Who's Violent? 

Let's talk about violence. Over the last 
few weeks, there has been much condemnation 
of 'violent protesters', coming from both the 
right and the left. On the right, of course, people 
are looking for any pretext to dismiss and 
marginalize the protesters. On the left, 
nonviolent protesters have been quick to 
publicly deplore downtown vandalism and to 
disassociate themselves from it. 

This is understandable, and marks an 
important distinction. The dozens of protesters 
who have engaged in property destruction are 
vastly outnumbered by the tens of thousands of 
peaceful demonstrators. At the same time, these 
denunciations serve to legitimize police violence 
as attempts to 'restore order". 

Some perspective: How many 
protesters have shot peoole with rubber bullets 9 
How many have gassed anyone 7 How many 
have wrestled people to the ground and beat 
them with clubs? 

Many anarchists believe property 
damage is a legitimate form of protest, but even 
the most militant among them draw a clear line 
between destroying property and harming 
people. They further distinguish between 
personal property and corporate property. Their 
actions have been targeted accordingly 

The police, on the other hand, have 
been indiscriminate in their assaults against 
protesters and bystanders alike. One example: 
A man was in a shoe store on Broadway 
Tuesday night (Nov. 30) with one shoe on and 
one shoe off. Police came in, said they were 
clearing the building, and ordered everyone to 
leave immediately. The partially shod man said 
he would not leave without both shoes on: the 
police demanded he leave right away: the man 
refused. The police then dragged him out, threw 
him down on the sidewalk, and pepper sprayed 
him. r 

This is just one story among hundreds. 
If we are going to condemn violence, let's be 
clear about who is doing what to whom, and 
keeps things in perspective 

- Lansing Scott 

BLIND SPOT www. indymedia. org 

Remember: * The ends justify the means. 
* Don't get caught! 




A 

WORLD 
TO WIN 



If you support the 

Zapatistas 

How can you condemn 

anarchists? 

The Zapatistas rose up in Mexico 
in 1994, using arms and violence , to 
protest neoliberal capitalism and the 
impoverishment of indigenous 

communities. People died, but their 
voice was heard around the world. Their 
continuing struggle for freedom and 
dignity has given anarchists and others 
worldwide inspiration and hope. If you 
can support the Zapatistas in their fight 
despite your aversion to violence and 
property destruction, then why can't you 
do the same for anarchists? We're 
fighting for many of the same ideals. 

SEATTLE 99 ALL THE TIME. 

One difference between liberals/ 
progressive and anarchists: 

Since progressives assume that anarchists 
are 'violent", they believe that anarchists 
deserve arrest, beatings, and incarceration. 
Anarchists, if they could, would stop the police 
from arresting anyone. 

Anarchists cannot trust progressives 
because of this crucial difference. It is hard to 
work together when those you are working with 
might turn you over to the police if they thought 
you were a 'violent thug'. 





is the end of 

ALIENATION 




OF SLAUGHTERS AND 
GOVERNMENTS 

Reprinted from the Italian anarchist 
paper One-Shot. It's a bit out of date 
being specific to the situation in 
Yugoslavia, but it is, I think, a good 
example of agitational writing. 

'Show me a place where men openly slaughter 
each other: I'll show you a government at the 
head of the slaughter*. - Anselme Bellegarigue 

We don't have bombs over our heads. 
We don't see the destroyed houses and 
villages We don't know the flight, the great 
roaming of the masses who flee misery, fear 
and death. We dont live in refugee camps 
surrounded by police. We are not at war 
ourselves. 

Here, if one has one's documents in 
good order, one is not expelled. Here, if one is 
neither immigrant or poor, the police don't shoot 
at one. Here, the contamination of the air, water 
and soil does not have the same velocity as a 
chemical bombardment; it proceeds without 
haste, throught the slow arm of profit. Here, the 
consenus of commodities has replaced the flags 
and the ethnic claims. It's different here 

Every day, the civilized watch the 
images which come from Albania, from 
Macedonia, from Serbia, from Kosovo. They 
watch, but they don't see. Those images are 
erased with all their blinding visibility, by all the 
daily obligations, by the commonplaces and by 
the incessant noise of the chattering of the 
media Thus, the civilized believe - without 
believing it - in 'humanitarian intervention' even 
when they are shown a tram of refugees 
bombed from the air by NATO. They don't even 
see this train. They have been told that to be 
against the armies of NATO means to side with 
those of Milosevic. And furthermore. Milosevic 
also agrees with this. They have been told that 
this latter is a dictator, to avoid admitting that a 
democratic state - for such is Serbia - could 
generate ethnic cleansing as necessary. It is 
necessary then that everyone choose the proper 
camp: nationalist annihilation or humanitarian 
bombing. Each believes that he or she trades in 
simple opinion ("I am in favor, you are against - 
long live democracy 1 ), but the bet in play is a 
world of corpses. 

The civilized don't imagine that between 
a domination disguised as the Fatherland and a 
domination disguised as Humanity, there is 
nothing to choose, if not to revolt against both. 



The civilized don't know that the war is the very 
mode of functioning in the world of authority, of 
the State and of money that it is from their 
peace that the war is born. 

But it is different here. 

Here, in total tranquility and with 
modesty, the conditions are prepared for down 
there. 



Nikos Maziotis Convicted The 

trial of 28-year-old anarchist Nikos Maziotis in 
Athens. Greece, started amid heavy security on 
July 5th. during a time when the Greek 
government has been facing increasing US 
pressure ■ to clamp down on anarchist 
"terrorism". 

Maziotis has taken full responsibility for 
planting a small bomb in the Greek Industry 
Ministry in Athens on Dec. 6, 1997, aimed only 
at damaging the building. While the US and 
NATO continue to admit no responsibility for 
massive casualties inflicted in this year's nearby 
bombing campaign in over Kosovo - including 
the deaths of thousands of Serb and Kosovar 
civilians - as well as the deliberate targeting of 
civilian infrastructure. 

With absolutely no irony intended, the 
Associated Press, reporting on Maziotis' trial, 
noted that the US government has a led 
demands that Greece take stronger measures 
against the arsonists and bombers that 
frequently hit foreign targets and other sites'. 

Addressing the court, Maziotis said he 
had planted the bomb in a show of solidarity 
with residents of several northern Greek villages 
who have been protesting the operation of a 
gold mine in the area by the Canadian-based 

TVX Gold Inc. 

With the exertion of immense US 
pressure, Greek leaders have been putting 
increased resources into the hunt for Europe's 
most elusive armed-struggle group, 'November 
17", which takes its name from the date in 1973 
when the fascist military junta ruling Greece - 
with the direct support of the US government - 
crushed a student uprising. 

Four Americans at the US Embassy 
have allegedly been killed by 'November 17" 



.Z. 




OUR LIVES WILL BE BETTER 
WHEN ALL THE RICH ARE 

— CLASS QWAR 




Birds Combat Civilization - By Lynn Ciive 

Although each essay from Against Civilization: Readings and Reflections will 
appear in the Black-Clad Messenger, you can order the entire book for $11 
from Uncivilized Books: PO Box 11 31 1 Eugene, OR 97440 

Humankind was truly not meant to fly, and birds keep trying to tell us so. As 
people and their flying machines continue to overpopulate the skies, not only do 
plane-to-plane collisions increase, but bird to plane collisions drastically increase as 
well, especially since new technology has created sleeker and quieter engmes which 
sneak up on birds and scarcely give them any warning of their approach. Needless 
to say, it is the buds which must attempt to change their natural flight patterns to 
avoid fatal collisions. 

Seagulls have become a particularly confounding nuisance to airport officials 
in Michigan. As their natural feeding grounds along the Great Lakes become more 
and more polluted, they drift inland. Wet runways peppered with worms and 
grasshoppers provide a perfect new feeding ground for seagulls. Cherry Capital 
Airport near Traverse City has reported large flocks of seagulls, as many as 150 at a 
time. 

Approximately 1,200 plane-bird collisions occur each year, causing $20-30 
million in damage. Such collisions prove fatal for birds, of course; however, they 
have also been responsible for many aircraft crashes fatal to human beings. 
Sixty-two people were killed in 1960 near Boston when a propeller-driven plane 
sucked in several starlings and lost power. 

Birds seem to be waging all-out war against the U.S. Air Force. In 1983, it 
reported 2,300 bird collisions; and 300 of these each caused more than S 1,000 in 
damage. This past summer in Great Britain, a U.S. Air Force crew was forced to 
bail out of their F- 111 jet when a 12-pound goose smashed into the protective 
covering on the nose of the jet. The jet, worth S30.9 million, is now quietly at rest 
on the bottom of the North Sea. 

So what does civilized man do to combat the situation 9 In Traverse City, 
airport employees run around the airfield chasing gulls away with "cracker shells" 
fired from shotguns. They play tapes on loudspeakers of the cries of wounded 
seagulls, and they're considering putting up hawk silhouettes to see if that might do 
the trick. Someone has invented something called the "chicken gun 11 or a "rooster 
booster" which hurls four-pound chicken carcasses into the windshields of aircraft 
at speeds over 500 mph to test their strength against bird collisions. These tests are 
presently taking place on Air Force jets. 

BASH (Bird Air Strike Hazard Team) was organized by the U.S. Air Force 
in 1975 after three F- ill jets were lost due to bird collisions. This team, made up of 
air force biologists, travels to U.S. bases around the world, targeting bird 



-7 ^ 



troublespots and trying to come up with innovative ideas (like the rooster booster) to 
deal with the problem. 

Modern industrial-technological civilizations are based on and geared to the 
destruction of the natural order. They pollute the air and feeding grounds of 
wildlife; they chase birds from the skies. They construct buildings like the 
Renaissance Center in Detroit with mirror-like reflective shells which confuse birds 
and cause mem to crash into them. 

As our buildings grow taller and as we fly higher and higher, as we 
overpopulate our skies with our deadly contrivances, we lose sight of our true and 
now former place on earth. We myopically look only at tomorrow. We can marvel 
at the exquisite beauty of a single bird through a pair of binoculars and then, with 
the same eye, turn and marvel at a newly constructed skyscraper or a supersonic jet 
- man's artifices which are responsible for the killing flocks of such birds. 

If anyone were to suggest to the BASH team mat the best way to stop 
bird-plane collisions would be to stop flying altogether, they would, of course, think 
you insane - or perhaps "'bird-brained". But what is so bad about bird brains If we 
acknowledge the message our bird cousins are sending us, maybe it isn't such a bad 
idea after all. 

In Fifth Estate, Summer 1985 



^ 





IRSmiifliii.MM. 1 !^ ** 

>**j* - *mizz — - — 



Contact Listings: 

Green Anarchist 
PO Box 11331 
Eugene, OR 97440 



Fifth Estate 

4632 Second Avenue 

Detroit, Michigan 48201 

No Compromise 

PO Box 5236 Old Bridge, NJ 08857 

Feral: A Journal Towards Wildness 
530 Divisadaro, Suite 321 
San Francisco, CA 94117 

Anarchy: A Journal of Desire Armed 
PO Box 1446 Columbia, MO 65205-1446 

Treeflesh 
PO Box 869 
Searsport, MA 04974 

Do or Die 

c/o Priory House, 6 Tilbury Place 

Brighton, East Sussex, BN2 2GY, UK 

Anarchist Black Cross Federation 
PO Box 40660 Portland, OR 97420 

Claustrophobia 
PO Box 1721 
Baltimore, MP 21203 

Be sure to check into the Cop Killa show 
Monday's 9-1 1PM & the Red Terror 
Anti-News Hour Monday's 7-9PM & John 
Zerzan's Anarchy Hour Wednesday's 9-10 
PM on Radio Free Cascadia 98.5 FM 

Also, come eat FREE food at FOOD NOT 
BOMBS Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 4:00 
in Scobert Park (Washington/Jefferson Park 
on rainy days). 

Come to Subversive Pillow Theatre every 
Sunday night at 7:30 PM upstairs in the 
Grower's Market Building, 454 Willamette. 
Every Sunday they show excellent films on 
direct action as well as the new radical 
public access show Simmeren' Stew. 





Nihilists Dictionary 

Division Of labor Di-vi-sion of la-bor 

n. 1. the breakdown into specific, 
circumscribed tasks for maximum efficiency 
of output which constitutes manufacture; 
cardinal aspect of production. 2. the 
fragmenting or reduction of human activity 
into separated toil that is the practical root of 
alienation; that basic specialization which 
makes civilization appear and develop. 

The relative wholeness of 
pre-civilized life was first and foremost an 
absence of the narrowing, confining 
separation of people into differentiated roles 
and functions. The foundation of our 
shrinkage of experience and powerlessness 
in the face of the reign of expertise, felt so 
acutely today, is the division of labor. It is 
hardly accidental that the key ideologues of 
civilization have striven mightily to valorize 
It. In Plato's Republic, for example, we are 
instructed that the origin of the state lies in 
the "natural" inequality of humanity that is 
embodied in the division of labor. Durkheim 
celebrated a fractionated, unequal world by 
divining that touchstone of "human 
solidarity", its essential moral value is - you 
guessed it. Before him, according to Franz 
Borkenau, it was a great increase in division 
of labor occurring around 1600 that 
introduced the abstract category of work, 
which may be said to underlie, in turn, the 
whole modem, Cartesian notion that our 
bodily existence is merely an object of our 
[abstract] consciousness. 

In the first sentence of The Wealth of 
Nations (1776), Adam Smith foresaw the 
essence of industrialism by determining that 
division of labor represents a qualitative 
increase in productivity. Twenty years later 
Schiller recognized that division of labor was 
producing a society in which its members 
were unable to develop their humanity. Marx 
could see both sides: "as a result of division 
of labor", the worker is "reduced to the 
condition of a machine". But decisive was 
Marx's worship of the fullness of production 
as essential to human liberation. The 
immiseration of humanity along the road of 
capital's development he saw as a necessary 
evil. 

Marxism cannot escape the 
determining imprint of this decision in favor 



of division of labor, and its major voices 
certainly reflect this acceptance. Lukacs, for 
instance, chose to ignore it, seeing only the 
"reifying effects of the dominant commodity 
form" in his attention to the problem of 
proletarian consciousness. E.P. Thompson 
realized that with the factory system, "the 
character-structure of the rebellious pre- 
industrial laborer or artisan was violently 
recast into that of the submissive individual 
worker". But he devoted amazingly little 
attention to division of labor, the central 
mechanism by which this transformation was 
achieved. Marcuse tried to conceptualize a 
civilization without repression, while amply 
demonstrating the incompatibility of the two. 
In bowing to the "naturalness" inherent in 
division of labor, he judged that the "rational 
exercise of authority" and the "advancement 
of the whole" depend on it - while a few 
pages later (in Eros and Civilization) 
granting that one's "labor becomes the more 
alien the more specialized the division of 
labor becomes". 

Ellul understood how "the sharp 
knife of specialization has passed like a 
razor into the living flesh", how division of 
labor causes the ignorance of a "closed 
universe" cutting off the subject from others 
and from nature. Similarly did Horkheimer 
sum up the debilitation: "thus, for all their 
activity individuals are becoming more 
passive; for all their power over nature they 
are becoming more powerless in relation to 
society and themselves". Along these lines, 
Focault emphasized productivity as the 
fundamental contemporary repression. 

But recent Marxian thought continues 
in the trap of having, ultimately, to elevate 
division of labor for the sake of 
technological progress. Braverman's in 
many ways excellent Labor and Monopoly 
Capital explores the degradation of work, but 
sees it as mainly a problem of loss of "will 
and ambition to wrest control of production 
from capitalist hands". And Schwabbe's 
Psychosocial Consequences of Natural and 
Alienated Labor is dedicated to the ending of 
all domination in production and projects a 
self-management of production. The reason, 
obviously, that he ignores division of labor is 
that it is inherent in production; he does not 
see that it is nonsense to speak of liberation 
and production in the same breath. 



CIVILIZATION IS COLLAPSING - 




LET'S GIVE IT A PUSH - 



The tendency of division of labor has 
always been the forced labor of the 
interchangeable cog in an increasingly 
autonomous, impervious to desire 
apparatus. The barbarism of modem times 
is still enslavement to technology, that is to 
say, to division of labor. "Specialization", 
wrote Giedion, "goes on without respite", 
and today more than ever can we see and 
feel the barren, de-eroticized world it has 
brought to us. Robinson Jeffers decided, "I 
don't think industrial civilization is worth the 
distortion of human nature, and the 
meanness and loss of contact with the earth, 
that it entails". 

Meanwhile, the continuing myths of 
the "neutrality" and "inevitability" of 
technological development are crucial to 
fitting everyone to the yoke of division of 
labor. Those who oppose domination while 
defending its core principle are the 
perpetuators of our captivity. Consider 
Guattari, that radical post-structuralist, who 
finds that desire and dreams are quite 
possible "even in a society with highly 
developed industry and highly developed 
public information services, etc." Our 
advanced French opponent of alienation 
scoffs at the naive who detect the "essential 
wickedness of industrial societies", but does 
offer the prescription that "the whole attitude 
of specialists needs questioning". Not the 
existence of specialists, of course, merely 
their "attitudes". 

To the question, "How much division 
of labor should we jettison?" returns, I 
believe, the answer, "How much wholeness 
for ourselves and t he planet d o we want?" 



Contact the BCM @ PO BOx 11331 Eugene, OR 97440 ^|