{"article":{"id":2548,"heading":"D2K VICTORY! What Next?","author":"Todd Chretien","created":"2000-08-19 15:53:58","modified":"2005-08-15 00:24:19","last_modified":"Mon, 15 Aug 2005 07:24:19","article":"

Brothers and Sisters (please post for discussion),

Last night in the streets of Los Angeles our movement won a tremendous victory. 4,000 people took the streets and marched from the DNC about 4 miles to the Twin Towers LA jail, the modern Bastille. We drove a sound truck up to the gates of the prison and sent in a mass message of solidarity with the thousands of ordinary prisoners, as well as the 150 demonstrators being held there on ridiculous, unconstitutional charges.

Why was this march so important? First, because it capped off an incredible week of protests:

Sunday: 3,000 - 4,000 marched for Mumia, 1,000 marched against the GAP

Monday: 2,000 marched for the U'wa, 3,000-4,000 marched on the Tour of Corporate Shame AND 15,000-20,000 marched to demand Human Need NOT Corporate Greed.

Tuesday: 3,000 LA Teachers and 2,500 SEIU city workers marched to demand decent contracts and raised the threats of strikes, 42 campuses met in the Convergence Center and organized to launch a massive fall campaign for Nader and Medea.

Wednesday: 3,000 marched against the criminal justice system

Thursday: 5,000-7,000 marched for an end to sweatshops and to demand amnesty for undocumented workers, 4,000-5,000 participated in the final rally at Staples with Spearhead and Michael Franti, and 4,000 took the streets to march to the prison.

All tolled, 30,000-40,000 people took part in the D2K protests one way or another.

Second, the final march re-affirmed our rights to free speech and freedom to assemble and march, rights that the LAPD did everything it could to destroy by provaction, assault, rubber bullets, batons and pepperspray. Our final march represents a tremendous political blow to the policital power of the LAPD and will inspire the movement against police brutality.

Third, the fact that the final day passed with no arrests means that we did not permit the cops to create the story for our movement. Our message came across loud and clear: Sweatshops, the INS, police brutality, the prison industrial complex, the attacks on unions, the destruction of the envirmonment, etc. are all part of one system. The Democratic Party's job is to defend that system by any means necessary (be it cooptation and taking credit for small reforms or be it by war and mass police repression). We have learned that the sysem must be changed and the Democrats are an obstacle that must be overcome if we are to change it, that's why we were in LA.

Now what are the lessons?

1\/ Size matters. Our numbers are growing and the rich and powerful are afraid of that. Cops ten thousand people in the street, but they can deal. They cannot deal with millions.

2\/ Class matters. All week long, the demonstrations were overwhelmingly young and working class. While relatively small parts of the AFL-CIO officially endorsed the D2K, tens of thousands of workers marched during the week. From the sweatshop workers to the teachers to the city workers and the thousands more who came as individuals, the movement is making serious inroads to the working class.

Why is this important? First, the working class is the overwhelming majority of the population. Second, the union have tremendous political power which our movement needs. Third, and most important, real power in this society rests in the ability of workers to shut down the economy throught strike action. The fact that workers are marching in the streets means that they can take those lessons to help strengthen their organizations at work.

3\/ Politics Matter. Up til now, debates over politics and tactics in our movement have been all too absent. Our great victory in LA means we have to start learning and discussing what works and what doesn't work. We've learned in the streets that some ideas work and some ideas do not work. Here are the key debates:

What's our goal? To remain as a small, militant minority? OR build a movement of millions? I believe it has to be millions. Why? First, we can not win as a minority, the corporations and politicians will not voluntarily give up power, it will have to be taken from them. They have the money, the guns, the media. All we have is our numbers. It has to be our millions against their power, or their power will defeat us (no matter how angry we are).

How do we reach our goal? Their are some who say, \"Whatever anyone wants to do is cool. It's all good.\" I disagree. Last night, at the march to Twin Towers, I helped organize a march marshal team of 80-100 people whose job it was to keep the front of the march together and keep it slow enough that the back didn't lag and get split by the cops. The cops would have loved to turn our final night into a melee and destroy what everyone had worked so hard to accomplish all week. The mass march was peaceful (we took a vote at the mass rally that it would be that way). This was key because if we had suffered arrests, there were many people who may well have been deported or locked away on three strikes charges. We used the same tactics, and many of the same marshals, as we did during the immigrants rights march earlier in the day. Moreover, it was the right thing to do. An orderly marched showed that our movement has a clear political purpose. Millions of people saw it on TV or will read about it and think, \"They are serious. The media has lied about them being yahoos. I hate the system too, and I want to get involved.\"

On the other hand, the Black Block (really a tiny minority of about 60), pushed their way to the front of the march, trampling people as they went; including sweatshop workers - note that Black Block didn't bother to show up to that march - , youths of color, socialists, even some anarchists, and regular people who wanted to have an orderly march. They elbowed shoved aside the march marshals who were linking arms in front to keep the march evenly paced and orderly. When the marshals decided that the only way to confront the violence of the Black Black against the march would have been to fight, we made a tactical decision to let them through because we didn't want to give the cops the excuse they were looking for. Some people joined them, but the vast majority did not.

What was the Black Block's purpose? They yelled, \"Don't police yourselves. You are acting like cops!\" Then they ran ahead a little ways and waved their flag. They yelled all sorts of things about \"resisting the f**king police state, etc\", but the only people they actually physically contronted were the marchers. When an African American marshal whose brother was murdered by the cops in the Twin Towers took the bullhorn to appeal to Black Block not to break up the solidarity of the march, they called him a dictator. Later, after we successfully negociated our departure from the rally in front of the jail, the Black Block sat down in front of the sound truck. This forced several hundred of us to stay behind for several minutes while we re-routed the truck, putting us all in danger in the presence of 3,000 angry cops (when most of the march had already left.)

They Black Block called us cowards and cops and all sorts of other names, but at the end of the day, they didn't put their money where their (actually quite filthy) mouths were and stick it out at the jail. They tagged along and went home. No doubt to rail about the \"f**king marshals.\" I say, if they want to fight the cops while our movement is in its infancy, go do it someplace else. If they believe that they have the right as a tiny minority to decide that they will put undocumented workers and the rest of us at unnecessary increased danger so they can wave their flag and pose in front of the cameras in their masks, then I say we have the right to prevent them from doing so.

Let's be clear. This is a debate in the movement. When the press tries to sew divisions so that the cops get off the hook, we should all say, \"The violence comes from the police. They have guns. We are peaceful.\"



Our movement needs to reach millions. Ralph Nader and Medea Benjamin's campaign will help us do that. If Nader gets 5 million votes, that means our movement can have 5 million activists. The campaigns won't be the only thing going on this fall, but they certainly will be the most important in the minds of the the workers and students who hate corporate greed. We as a movement have to get involved in that campaign and build it with all our heart and sole. Not because it's an end in itself, but because its a massive opportunity to reshape the left in the US and give us the experience, numbers, organizations we need to go forward.

The ISO believes that the future of the movement lies with millions of workers and students. Our tactics and strategies have to be designed to build that kind of movement. We are tremendously hopeful that the experiences we're all having in the streets together will help us learn how to do this. We also believe that debate in the movement is necessary and healthy. The D2K week showed that we have the potential to change the world.

I was moved to tears on many occasions as I watched people crossing boundaries put up by the system: between students and workers, activists and new people, people of all races, young and old. As inspired as I am about our chances, I am just as determined to argue for the ideas that can help us win. The movement has to grow up. The \"anything goes\" attitude we've had up til now was part of our adolescence. It was healthy then, it is an impediment now. Everyone has the responsibility to think about what will work and what will not work, and to create an atmosphere in the movement where political debate is encouraged be you an socialist an evnironmentalist an anarchist or a liberal.

The next step is the Nader\/Medea campaign. There are millions of workers and students for us to reach. History does not give the left many opportunities as good as the one we have in the next three months. Carpe Diem!

In Solidarity,

Todd Chretien

International Socialist Organization<\/p>\n","contact":"chretientodd@aol.com","link":"","address":"433 37th Street Oakland, CA 94609","phone":"510-333-4604","parent_id":0,"mime_type":"text\/plain","summary":"Next Steps. Debates on street tactics","numcomment":19,"fileurl":"\/uploads\/2000\/08\/d2k_victor.txt","filesize":"10.0 kibibytes","article_url":"\/news\/2000\/08\/2548.php"},"attachments":[],"comments":[{"id":2557,"heading":"What's with the ISO?","article":"I have to say, I thought you wrote a really good article until you started demonizing another part of the demonstrators - the Black Bloc. It's a tactical question, and instead of discussing with the Bloc, or trying to find out why it's done, you instead attack them blatantly and openly, accusing them of putting you at danger. Cooperating with the police, as you obviously did, and orchestrating arrests so the media can film you as many protestors did this week does not work and that is what is dangerous. Nonviolent protest has its place, but when the cops beat you down and shoot you for being peaceful, how can you not react? The ISO always talks a good talk, but I've never seen them walk the walk, so I wasn't too surprised to find out it was an ISO member who wrote this piece denouncing an important part of the demonstration, a part that has been embraced by many in the protest movement. ","author":"Tactics","parent_id":2548,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2000-08-19 16:10:24","modified":"2000-08-19 16:22:50","fileurl":""},{"id":2579,"heading":"Anti-Anarchist Crap from the ISO","article":"It looks like the success and media attention that the anarchist movement has been receiving has gotten under the ISO's skin. At least we aren't under any pretension that we're going to lead this \"movement\" like the ISO wants to. It seems that they haven't learned anything from history, nor do they understand that the post-Seattle is a rejection of their tired authoritarian politics. If the \"movement\" wants to have any long term success, it should steer clear of these would-be leaders, who either want to set the agenda, or recruit people into their party cults. This movement is successful because it is egalitarian, non-hierarchical, tolerant of diversity, and leaderless, all things that are incompatible with Todd's real agenda.\r\n\r\nIt should come as no surprise to anybody who knows anything about the ISO that Todd volunteered to organize several hundred parade marshalls. This isn't surprising, given the ISO's practice of policing their members and terrorizing them into group obedience. That's what parade marshalsl are all about: controlling other activists. They don't trust the democratic impulses of the rank-and-file activists in the parade, so they set up a system of cops to make sure that nobody does anything that the cops don't like. That an ISO member would gravitate to this kind of volunteer \"duty\" is predictable if you know anything about their organization.\r\n\r\nAnarchists are interested in working with other activists, not in leading them, or getting them to join some stupid party. Todd insults the thousands of anarchists who are involved in this movement, by stereotyping all anarchists as violent black bloc thugs. Most of the anarchists involved in this movement DON'T even march with the black blocs.\r\n\r\nAnarchists do much more in this movement beyond confronting the police. An anarchist probably cooked that dinner that you ate at the Convergence Center. An anarchist probably strung the wires for that computer you used at the IMC. Anarchists made those puppets. That person at the information center was probably an anarchist. That medic that tended your bruise may have been an anarchist.\r\n\r\nHey ISO, how were your newspaper sales?\r\n\r\nChuck0","author":"Chuck","parent_id":2548,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2000-08-19 17:03:10","modified":"2000-08-19 17:19:39","fileurl":""},{"id":2581,"heading":"The ISO...","article":"Well, the article started off well... and quickly went down hill. I wasn't in LA, so I can't comment on any particular march or demonstration. But I can comment on the ISO, generally.\r\n\r\nThey are an authoritarian cult. They want to lead us to that glorious Trotskyist revolution, takes down the old path that Lenin tread with predictable results. What's going on in the U.S. with the ISO is they are desperately afraid that they are insignificant. They dug themselves into college campuses, just as all the other commie party people were going out into the workforce to meet \"the real proletariat\". They are opportunists latching on to what ever struggle comes along that looks like they can use it to sell more papers and recruit more members. Typical authoritarian leftist parasites. Atleast as long as they don't ever get the power they so hunger for, they are at best an annoyance. \r\n\r\nThe ISO is getting ready to explode and split, as Trots are always doing. The U.S. ISO is having lots of disagreements with the U.K. Socialist Worker's Party (SWP), their parent organization in control of their International. It seems that the SWP was greatly disappointed that the ISO missed the boat on the anti-globalization struggle (not that the SWP was doing shit with June 18th or May Day in the UK). \r\nThe ISO has tried to play catch up, but can't seem to sieze control of any of the protests groups, where they were caught off guard by the anti-WTO protests, they tried to sink their hooks into the anti-World Bank\/IMF protests but couldn't take control there because of the strong anarchist impluse.\r\n\r\nIt's all in their internal documents... they desperately want to recruit the anti-capitalist demonstrators. However, recruiting anarchists has been hopeless for them, and the direct action folks influenced they are by democracy , autonomy and consensual decision making ... haven't become seduced by the party. Their target for A16 was to take over the kind hearted folks with People & Planet & World Development Movement and Jubilee 2000. Check out their March 2000 ISO internal discussion bulletin (http:\/\/www.angelfire.com\/journal\/iso\/idb.html)\r\n\r\nNot only is the ISO getting ready to split from the SWP, but the ISO itself looks like it's going to split.\r\n\r\nIt's a typical trotskyist party, ending with the same fate of all trot parties. \r\n\r\nAnyway, follow the link below for \"What You Should Know About the ISO\"\r\n\r\n\r\n","author":"isohellno","parent_id":2548,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2000-08-19 17:09:10","modified":"2000-08-19 17:21:28","fileurl":""},{"id":2595,"heading":"Solidarity, and the Black Bloc","article":"Solidarity will be no easy task as the movement grows. The reason that corporate control is so easy for the corporations to maintain is because they have the universal constant: money. One person may want abortion abolished, another may want to outlaw pro-life demonstrations, but both need and want more money.\r\n\r\nAll we've got are ideas and convictions. That's tough, because we can disagree so quickly.\r\n\r\nThe Black Bloc is getting demonized, I agree. Before the WTO protest in November, I was a totally non-political consumer. I'm your audience, I'm the ones you're trying to convert to the cause. You got me, I'm in now. I believe that corporate control really does need to be abolished however we can do it. \r\n\r\nAs a former outsider, with only these last few months to educate myself, I can express my views here about the Black Bloc as a newcomer does. This is what I think any person who takes an interest will see, this is the perspective of an uneducated outsider just starting to learn:\r\n\r\n1. The Black Bloc are the only ones not dressed in earthy\/punky clothes and holding up signs at the protests. They're the ones wearing all black and concealing their faces. They look tough, but scary. I can't decide if I want to join them, or make sure I don't park my car near them.\r\n\r\n2. They get blamed for everything. Either the black bloc is the most stupidly violent group in the movement, or the police enjoy pegging every single incident on them to start a fight.\r\n\r\n3. They never get arrested. I've *seen* the footage of people all in black hitting cops, but I've never seen them get arrested. If this is a concious bit of intelligence on their side, or a police plan to keep a violent element on the streets as an excuse to strike, I couldn't say.\r\n\r\n4. The message of anarchy is not getting out. I've seen anarchists light fires, spray paint windows, wave flags, but I didn't know what they were about without some serious web crawling. Looking at a protest picture, I can tell you that the KWRU wants houses, the Greens want Nader in the debates, and alot of people want Mumia free. But just working from photos, I'd think that the Black Bloc wants to hang flags upside down and break stuff. \r\n\r\n5. Other groups and the Black Bloc have a hard time getting along. From John Seller's (in)famous remarks about \"knowing who was causing\" the violence in Philly, through this bit from an ISO member, I see other groups getting mad at the Black Bloc. I hear a report that they forced to the front of a march for the photo op and shamed those marching to stop policing themselves, and I'm afraid it rings true with everything I've heard about them. My first response isn't \"that's bullshit\", it's \"not again\". \r\n\r\nPlease, anarchists, speak out and get your message out. Is your goal to beat up police and smash windows? If so, do you feel that conveys the message of Anarchy, which is to my best inspection \"cooperation and brotherhood is the best way to be, any sort of state will only end in tyranny?\" All people like myself are seeing are black-clad bullies who are giving everyone else a bad name, and I know that can't be true. Please, prove your real goals so that we can all work out our differences and move together with the kind of unity I've read about in Anarchist writing.\r\n\r\n","author":"TheNewOhioGreen","parent_id":2548,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2000-08-19 17:42:31","modified":"2000-08-19 20:14:52","fileurl":""},{"id":2600,"heading":"Fuck The ISO","article":"More bandwagon jumping from the ISO. When will you get over yourtired statists ideas from marshalling a crowd for \"their safety\" to whining about lost photo ops. The ISO are more commies jumping on a diverse movement to make it their own and sell papers. Thanks for trying to leads us oh great savior of the masses!","author":"an @","parent_id":2548,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2000-08-19 17:53:26","modified":"2000-08-19 18:05:30","fileurl":""},{"id":2607,"heading":"Fuck The ISO","article":"More bandwagon jumping from the ISO. When will you get over yourtired statists ideas from marshalling a crowd for \"their safety\" to whining about lost photo ops. The ISO are more commies jumping on a diverse movement to make it their own and sell papers. Thanks for trying to leads us oh great savior of the masses!","author":"an @","parent_id":2548,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2000-08-19 18:18:32","modified":"2000-08-19 18:31:19","fileurl":""},{"id":2608,"heading":"Re: Solidarity, and the Black Bloc","article":"Dear Ohio Green. If you have questions about the black bloc, check out the page I've put up about them. Black blocs vary in flavor from protest to protest. Most of them are so peaceful that you'd feel quite safe in them. The one in L.A. apparently did some creative things and they had some scuffles with the cops. For the most part, it seems like they didn't take the bait that the LAPD left for them. Their anger at the cops is quite understandable, especially given the harassment that activists in L.A. have been getting all week. It gets to the point that you can no longer take getting pushed around by authority, so you stand up for your rights. Standing up for your rights isn't always pretty. Sometimes it obscures the message that you want to get out. But if the cops are in the business of making pre-emptive arrests, shutting down your meeting spaces, and so on, sometimes asserting your rights takes precedence over other politicla goals.\r\n\r\nThe anarchists are not having a problem getting our message out to the public right now. The corporate media is very interested in anarchism right now. But the nice thing about last week was that many groups got their messages out to the public. There is really no reason for anybody to say that some other group is hogging the spotlight. I've read dozens of articles in the corporate media last week and have seen plenty of evidence that everybody's messages are getting out.\r\n\r\nGood job everybody!","author":"Chuck0","parent_id":2548,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2000-08-19 18:21:03","modified":"2000-08-19 18:34:26","fileurl":""},{"id":2614,"heading":"Thanks New Ohio Green, answering questions","article":"Thanks for your reasonable comments, New Ohio Green. You're really trying to understand what's going on, and don't seem to have an agenda besides trying to make things better. \r\nAs you freely admit, you weren't involved the movement before the anti-WTO protests in Seattle, and that we got your attention and brought you to the struggle. Whether it was some smashed glass, police repression, bueatiful puppets, 60,000 marching, the ILWU shutdown of the ports, the IFG's teach-ins, the Indy Media Center... you decided to get involved. At the very least, it seems that the Black Bloc didn't alienate you into passivity.\r\n\r\nAs you point out yourself, the Black Bloc is tough and scary looking. You don't know whether to be afraid, or to join us. The Bloc's goal is not to get arrested, we don't orchestrate symbolic arrests. We think they are privileged and lame, and completely ineffective based on the current corporate media's take on them... the only people who should do them are those who protest out of a sense of spiritual duty. The Bloc \"unarrests\" folks. We know that when the cops get their hands on us, they like nothing better to initimidate and beat us. That all being said, the Black Bloc takes beatings in the streets, and we take arrests (we are prepared for them, we'd just rather avoid them) and we take beatings after being arrested. The media chooses not to cover the black bloc getting arrested, but the IMC covers it... there were lots of preemptive black bloc arrests for May Day in NYC. \r\n\r\nSome of the tactics of the black bloc evolve because of police brutality and suppression. The government no longer tolerates civil disobedience, independent media and protest. The rights to speak, assemble, speedy trial and freedom from searches and seziures have all ben undermined by the war on drugs and the militarization of our police force. And, that arsenal has been turned against political dissenters. In the government's eyes, if you rebel... you might as well be an anarchist.\r\n\r\nOur goal isn't to fight the police. That happens when the police attack, we do defend ourselves. \r\nIf the police behaved themselves, the bloc doesn't fight them. We are confronentational, but we've found that's the best way to protect ourselves. There have been many black blocks where there have been no violence (not even from the cops). It doesn't seem to matter what the protest is, or the number of cops or blockers or protestors... however the cops always spring the violence. That is atleast one reason for us to seriously consider how viable a tactic it is.\r\n\r\nThe Black Bloc does carry signs too... not just black, black and green and black and red flags. We have some bueatiful banners as well. We issue statements, we pass them out at the demonstration, we issue them as press releases to the press (we know they get them, they quote them out of context). \r\nThat the corporate media avoids the black bloc's message is much the same way the avoid everyone else. Folks like the KWRU (which wants more than houses) and the Greens are largely almost single issue affairs with partial solutions. Anarchists are offering a complete holistic system... a total change in our social relationships... and end of government and capitalism. Try and sum that up in a sound bite. We've got books, pamphlets, newspapers, websites, broadsides, radio shows, videos, music... we are reaching out in every media we can get our hands on.\r\n\r\nAll that being said, we wouldn't be having this conversation if it wasn't for the Black Bloc. Most anarchists are mostly engaged in \"practical anarchism\" , building unions, saving the environment, fighting institutiionalized racism, feeding the hungry. All the unglamorous stuff that the corporate media ignores. However, the anarchist movement has crashed through decades of marginalization with a couple of well placed bricks. It convinced you, a non-political to wake up and get involved with the struggle for global justice, to crawl the web to find out what these anarchists were about and to engage us in dialogue. This is happening over and over again, and many people are finding alot of things in anarchism that they agree with. They all don't become anarchists, and rarely ever join a black bloc (most anarchists don't participate in black blocs either) but they do take aspects of it they like... maybe they bring rank and file democracy to the AFL-CIO union, or use direct action to stop a stadium from being built in their neighboorhood. We are happy with that. We don't want everyone to join the \"official anarchist organizations\". Rather we encourage folks to do-it-yourself. We're not a vanguard party , we don't want to sieze political power... but we do want to make space for everyone to smash capital and the state. People can only free themselves. \r\n\r\nThat's why we believe in autonomy, and that groups should be able to do their own thing. We respect the rights of the minority and the individual. It's not us who is calling for marshalls, or for turning fellow activists over to the cops, or for censorship, or for everyone to follow our orders (like the ISO). \r\nSolidarity is mutual aid. We respect those who want to do CD, and those who just want to march, and those who want to spray paint. It's others who want to use physical violence against human beings for their own political objectives. \r\n\r\nBlaming the black bloc for police brutality is unfair. At best, property destruction gives cops a pretext for repression, but we've seen they need no such pretext. Even when demonstrations (a week of them) is largely free of civil disobedience and property destruction... the cops still attack demonstrators, the corporate media still demonizes and marginalizes.\r\n\r\nThere is one thing we do know, the cops will not seriously attack a 1000 black clothed, masked angry demonstrators. It's the same way the cops won't seriously attack a 1000 angry striking construction workers these days. Ofcourse, there will come a time when they will attack, if not them... the national guard, if not them the regular army. Let's hope that in the end, the military decides that it doesn't want to shoot it's family, friends and neighboors for the power of a few old, rich, white men. \r\n\r\nWe will not go quietly into the night.\r\n\r\nLargely, the black bloc is more a tactical discussion than even a political one. And, you won't be suprised that anarchists are for and against it. Ask two anarchists how they feel about something, and you'll get three opinions.\r\n\r\nWe'd rather hope that more people took control of their lives through self organization of resistacne to bosses, landlords, bureacrats and prejudice... than mask up. \r\n\r\nFuture reading for you...\r\n\r\nBlack Blocs for Dummies (short and to the point)\r\nhttp:\/\/www.infoshop.org\/blackbloc.html\r\n\r\n(Working)Start of Critique of Black Bloc Technique (this is from someone very much like you NOG, who engaged some of the black bloc in discussion about the tactic, with lots of reference material.)\r\nhttp:\/\/as220.org\/jb\/politics\/black_bloc.html\r\n\r\nFinally, for an exhaustive account of what some anarchists think anarchism is... there is no better source online than \"An Anarchist FAQ\"\r\nhttp:\/\/www.infoshop.org\/faq\/\r\n\r\nThere are anarchists in Ohio, by the way. In Cinninati, Columbus, Cleveland, Akron... really all over. Alot of them are involved with the Industrial Workers of the World or Anti-Racist Action, though you'll find them in all kinds of organizations.","author":"black blocker","parent_id":2548,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2000-08-19 18:31:46","modified":"2000-08-19 18:44:49","fileurl":""},{"id":2650,"heading":"ISO Is a Stalinist Cult","article":"The ISO hates anarchists. They seek absolute control over the working class to impliment a stalinistic system of trotskyism. (They claim to be against Stalin but in practice what they want is no different.)\r\n\r\nAnarchists want freedom for the working class, not slavery. It's no surprise that the ISO is attacking the black block anarchists.\r\n\r\nSee this web site:\r\n\r\nA People's Libertarian Index<\/A>","author":"JAH","parent_id":2548,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2000-08-19 19:28:00","modified":"2000-08-19 19:40:03","fileurl":""},{"id":2673,"heading":"LA ISO anaecdote","article":"On monday as I approach Pershing square I passed a large crowd of people with red head bands on huddledi n discussion Curious, I leaned in to hear.\r\n\r\nThey were discussing their strategy for selling newspapers that day.\r\n\r\nEnough said.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nWonderful posts on the Black Bloc above, btw.","author":"sarin","parent_id":2548,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2000-08-19 20:46:45","modified":"2000-08-19 20:59:15","fileurl":""},{"id":2732,"heading":"Anarchist Self-Marginalization","article":"As usual a small group of anarchists are marginalizing all anarchists\r\nwith their dumb tactics. Too bad they are doing such a good job at\r\nmaking ISO members look good!!!","author":"SMART anarchist","parent_id":2548,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2000-08-19 23:24:23","modified":"2000-08-21 07:24:15","fileurl":""},{"id":2763,"heading":"ISO- counter-revolutionaries with power trip","article":"In Philadelphia, while me and a number of anarchist comrades were defending a blockade and being arrested, the ISO just stood in the grass holding up signs and yelling alot. When encouraged to come into the road and help out, they looked the other way.\r\nOne of my brother's friends was actually an ISO member for a small amount of time. Eventually, the ISO leaders found out she was a member of some sort of feminist action group, and they said she either had to choose between that or the ISO. The correct choice was obvious. \r\nThe ISO is frustrated because no one notices it. It is a tiny authoritarian group of mainly college kids who hand out papers full of militant rhetoric and no substance. Meanwhile, the anarchists, while a controversial subject, have clearly shown themselves to be an important factor of the anti-globalization movement. It would be hard to say as much even of Communists in general. When I go to rallies, it seems I end up with my arms full of Communist propaganada without ever actually seeing Communists. Looks to me like a a few kids got alot of time (and money) on their hands. -Ryan ","author":"Ryan McCarthy","parent_id":2548,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2000-08-20 01:58:34","modified":"2000-08-20 02:12:07","fileurl":""},{"id":2785,"heading":"a chicken in every pot","article":"A chicken in every pot! An icepick in every Trot!\r\nThe only good thing that Stalin did was stick an icepick in Trotsky's head.","author":"N. Makhno","parent_id":2548,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2000-08-20 02:56:42","modified":"2000-08-20 03:09:35","fileurl":""},{"id":2919,"heading":"What Anarchists wants","article":"Dear Comrades !\r\n\r\nI`m writing from gerrrr-money (so please respekt that my english is not perfect!)\r\nSince a couple of years I'm organised as an anarchist & anarchosyndikalist. In all these years (and before)\r\nIsaw the so called black block. Sometimes I Joined the block (specialy on anti-fascist actions).\r\nI can tell you that the block looks very tough (and he is - if necessary). But it is not a brainless, pure violent \"mass\". Lot's of the people in the block are realy revolutionaries. They try to connect different strugles (classwar, feminism, \u00f6cologie, ...). They are organised in an non-hierachical way, they don't have any leaders, they love and rage agianst the maschine.\r\nYea - sometimes they are lifestyleists aund their \"revolution\" is just an attitude.\r\nBut you will find such people in any organisations.\r\n\r\nWhat does Anarchist wants?\r\nAnarchist wants to live in a society of equals, in wich the wage system, the patriachy, rasism, fascism, ageism, ... is abolished.\r\nAnarchists want to live in a society without bosses or chefs were everyone is able to do what they like, so long as they don't prevent others from doing the same.\r\n\r\nSure - this is what more or less \"all\" so called leftists say to you.\r\nBut anarchist are not only wishing\/dreaming about this society - they organise themselves in groups, working internal like the \"new society\" !\r\nThats not easy ('cause we all grown up in this capitalistic, rasicist, patriachy, ... system) - but with our willnes, hope and social and intelectual intelligence we (wil)l do it.\r\n\r\nSo - this for tody\r\n\r\nAnarchism=Freedom+Sozialism","author":"B.Traven","parent_id":2548,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2000-08-20 17:43:40","modified":"2013-11-10 23:35:51","fileurl":""},{"id":3024,"heading":"Down with the ISO","article":"I think anarchists are doing their best. There\r\nare many types of anarchists: eco-anarchists, anarcho-syndicalists, and anarcho-communists are the most popular types. Anarcho-syndicalists have a high level of organization but they are not authoritarian like the ISO and other Leninist cults. It's a good idea for socialists\/communists to check out the anarchist movement and consider switching over to it!","author":"JAH","parent_id":2548,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2000-08-21 08:36:21","modified":"2000-08-21 09:03:08","fileurl":""},{"id":3072,"heading":"ISO wants to lead YOU but where TO","article":"The ISO's attack on the Black Block only\r\nmakes any sense because of the lack of\r\nan anarchist organisation in the USA. This\r\nallows the ISO to pose as the 'sensible'\r\ntypes when in reality they are only\r\ninvolved in this struggle like all others\r\nto recruit a few more paper selling drones.\r\nIf you don't belive that read their internal\r\nrows with the leadership of their British\r\ngroup at\r\nhttp:\/\/www.angelfire.com\/journal\/iso\/idb.html\r\n\r\nThe problem is that because there is no\r\norganised anarchist presence beyond the\r\nBlack Block (which has a cetain useful role)\r\nthen the ISO have been left a big gap into\r\nwhich to slot themsleves. That is as\r\nthe people who want to mobilise the\r\ngreatest numbers against capitalism (rather\r\nthen simply for reform). In reality this work\r\nis also been done by lots of invisable\r\nanarchists, they need to organise and\r\nget themselves a voice.","author":"Andy","parent_id":2548,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2000-08-22 06:23:31","modified":"2000-08-22 06:38:03","fileurl":""},{"id":3381,"heading":"ISO Thuggery","article":"Protest ISO Thuggery!\r\n\r\nThe International Socialist Organization (ISO) summer school from June 8 to 11\r\nin Chicago saw the ISO leadership resort to thuggery against supporters of the\r\nLeague for the Revolutionary Party (LRP) in order to end a debate over their\r\nopportunist political views. \r\n\r\nLRPer Attacked by ISO\r\n\r\nAt the conference we opposed the ISO\u2019s arguments for considering supporting\r\nbourgeois politician Ralph Nader in the presidential elections, as well as their\r\ncapitulatory positions on other essential questions. What should have been a\r\npolitically sharp but civil discussion instead culminated in an outright assault on\r\nSaturday evening, June 10. \r\n\r\nThe LRPers had already been forced to leave the hotel because of the ISO\u2019s\r\nthreat to call security on us. The ostensible issue was their objection to our\r\nattempt to distribute Marxist literature in the hotel -- even though the ISO\u2019s paper\r\nwas being sold freely all over the place. They claimed they had made an\r\nagreement with the hotel that only they could sell material! The real reason, of\r\ncourse, was the political cowardice of the ISO based on their inability to defend\r\ntheir politics against opponents in any other manner. As opposed to championing\r\ndemocratic debate in the movement, the ISO has a long history of resorting to\r\nsecurity guards, cops and their own sectarian thuggery to avoid political debate.\r\n(See \"ISO Polices the Left,\" Proletarian Revolution No. 49). \r\n\r\nOutside, a well-known LRP comrade (in fact a former ISOer; see \"Surviving the\r\nISO,\" PR No. 59) continued a conversation with a conference attendee, while\r\nother comrades were distributing leaflets to attendees coming out of the hotel. At\r\nabout 10:15 p.m. an ISOer from the D.C. branch assaulted our comrade, by\r\nwrapping his arm around our comrade\u2019s neck and dragging him down the\r\nsidewalk. A number of onlookers protested, including three other LRPers. About\r\n10 ISOers were also near enough to witness this attack, and to their credit a few\r\ndid protest. At this point, ISO leader Lee Sustar came over with a group of\r\nISOers. As we demanded to know what gives them the right to act as if they own\r\nthe public sidewalk, physically attack other leftists, employ Stalinist methods and\r\nthreaten to use hotel security to cover their own political cowardice, the same\r\nD.C. ISOer tried to intimidate a female comrade of the LRP. \r\n\r\nIn protest, one conference participant shouted at Sustar, \"As a member of the\r\nISO, I demand to know why this is happening!\" Sustar responded with the official\r\nexcuse: supposedly literature distributions are against hotel policy, with the\r\nexception of the ISO. (As if hotel security had shown any interest in scanning the\r\nmaterial being distributed!) \r\n\r\nAnother attendee at the conference stood up and asked Sustar what gave the\r\nISO the right to violently disrupt his conversation with us, and demanded that they\r\nanswer the political questions about the differences between the LRP and the\r\nISO. The only responses amounted to continual repetition of the crap about hotel\r\npolicy and slanders that the LRP \"doesn\u2019t do anything.\" \r\n\r\nThroughout all of this, the ISO thugs couldn\u2019t help see the myriad of cops\r\ndirecting traffic and patrolling across the street. (The high profile of cops was due\r\nto the tremendous congestion of traffic around the Chicago Blues Festival\r\nnearby.) In this situation it was fortunate that no police ever showed up. In large\r\npart it was due to the good sense of the LRPers who decided to leave rather than\r\nrisk the appearance of escalating a fight whereby cops would be handed a pretext\r\nto butt in. \r\n\r\nAn Appeal for Protest\r\n\r\nThere was a positive aspect to our experience of the conference. Above all was\r\nthe fact that we did meet people who were seriously searching for revolutionary\r\npolitics. As well, some of the ISOers witnessed the assault and did question what\r\nthe hell was going on, regardless of their political differences with us. We appeal\r\nto such witnesses to get in touch with the LRP Central Office and to take\r\nindependent means to register their protest (we can be reached at 212-330-9017\r\nor by e-mail at lrpnyc@earthlink.net). \r\n\r\nAs well, we appeal to all other participants in the left and workers\u2019 movement to\r\njoin us in protesting the dangerous policy of the ISO. For this is a policy which\r\nnot only threatens the LRP but could, if allowed to continue unabated, invite\r\nsecurity and police intervention against any of us, including the ISO itself. In fact,\r\nanyone in the International Socialist Tendency who would ever plan to raise\r\nimportant differences within the group, would be in danger of such an assault --\r\nor worse. \r\n\r\nWhere is the ISO \"Opposition\"?\r\n\r\nThe ISO summer school took place following a public dispute between the British\r\nSWP and the American group, following the death of the leader and theoretical\r\nguru of the International Socialist Tendency, Tony Cliff. It was clear that one of\r\nthe intentions of the ISO leadership was to suppress any discussion of the\r\n[important] questions raised by the dispute between the British and American\r\ngroups, as well as other international oppositions that are surfacing. \r\n\r\nThe school also took place following weeks of internet postings by what claim to\r\nbe in part a minority faction within the ISO, the so-called Sverdlov group. But to\r\ntheir profound discredit, the Sverdlov \"opposition\" never had the courage to rear\r\ntheir head at the conference at all. \r\n\r\nOpportunist Politics and Sectarian Thuggery\r\n\r\nThe only revolutionary politics at the conference -- and the only fundamental\r\nproblem for the ISO -- was what was put forward by the LRP comrades in\r\nattendance. A key principle of Marxism fought for by Lenin and Trotsky is the\r\nabsolute political and organizational independence of the working class from\r\nbourgeois parties. For revolutionary minded workers and youth, we would hope\r\nthat the ISO\u2019s right turn toward encouraging a vote for Nader would suggest that\r\nthey take a deeper look at the politics of the ISO. We would also hope that the\r\nISO\u2019s refusal to deal openly and honestly with the questions raised by the dispute\r\nwithin the International Socialist Tendency internationally would raise the question\r\nof what exactly the ISO\u2019s claim to internationalism means. We encourage all to\r\nread our upcoming article on the ISO, covering both recent matters of the\r\ninternational dispute as well as underlying theoretical questions. This piece will be\r\navailable on our website shortly. \r\n\r\n\r\nNewly available pamphlet, limited time offer:\r\n\r\n LRP vs. ISO: Authentic Working Class Trotskyism vs. Middle\r\n Class Opportunism\r\n\r\nIncludes the following past articles from Proletarian Revolution: \r\n\r\n New Twists on Old Theories of the USSR (Winter 1986) \r\n Women and the Family: The Ties That Bind (Summer 1989) \r\n ISO Polices the Left (Summer 1995) \r\n ISO's Right Turn to Labor (Spring 1996) \r\n Australia: Wharfies Betrayed (Summer\/Fall 1998) \r\n Chicago Moratorium Debate: Abolish Capitalism's Racist Death\r\n Penalty! & Surviving the ISO (Summer 1999) \r\n\r\n$2, with a free copy of The Unresolved Contradictions of Tony Cliff.\r\nComplete list of articles on the IS Tendency is available upon request. ","author":"LRP attacked by ISO","parent_id":2548,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2000-08-26 14:52:55","modified":"2013-11-10 23:36:36","fileurl":""},{"id":3405,"heading":"REAL Solidarity","article":"The difference between REAL solidarity and socialist solidarity is when someone doesn't obey the socialists, THEY'RE the ones breaking solidarity! Funny, isn't it?\r\n\r\nYou better wake up, Todd (and al other commies). No matter that you think Marx was omniscient -- this AIN'T just your movement! WOO!","author":"Madmax","parent_id":2548,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2000-08-27 03:35:45","modified":"2000-08-27 03:54:12","fileurl":""},{"id":3514,"heading":"Redbaiting the ISO","article":"I've read allot of comments about how the black block and the anarchists get demonized, which in the mainstream press is certainly true. But a quick look at the posts reveal a differrent target of abuse: The ISO. The level of red-baiting in this new movement is amazing. \"Stalinist cult\" \"oppressive policing\" \"tired leninist cult\" \"paper selling drones\" Mischaracterizations aside, it is worth stating that most of this name calling is the only response available when you have no decent arguments to make, no political viewpoints, and no stategy for making actual REAL societal change. Now I dont believe for one minute that the people making those statements are serious anarchists. I started as an anarchist and embraced anarchist ideas for many years, and know that real anarchists dont waste their time in sectarian squabbles that weaken an already delicate mix of ideas, strategies, political viewpoints and people. As for the ISO yes I am a member. As for it's \"authoritarian nature\" I'll have the world know that we constantly debate everything, including the tactics that our elected (and accountable) leadership employes. \r\n\r\nOne last thing. Consensus politics is from my point of view a handicap to this movement. I have taken part in many \"consenses group actions and I am not impressed. Everyone from Greens to Anarchists are dewey eyed from a process that is strangly anti-democratic and extremely inefficient. When no voting takes place, when a minority is able to dictate the decisions of the majority, when personalites and individual \"feelings\" supplant majority ule this is middle class mentality at its finest.","author":"Tim","parent_id":2548,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2000-08-30 07:14:27","modified":"2000-12-19 20:32:52","fileurl":""}]}