Anarchists Want to Unite With Diverse WTO Protesters By Marshall Kirkpatrick, of Eugene Oregon's Anarchist Action Collective

The protest against the WTO took power back from multi-national rulers and put it in the hands of the people. Tens of thousands of protesters had a variety of different plans for how to get and how to use that power. The common thread, though, between picketing, blockades, dancing , lock downs and window smashing is that all of those tactics derailed the "business-as-usual" focus of the week and empowered the people to determine the nature of the event. Obviously, that is not justification enough for the use of any of those tactics; but it's important to recognize what they all achieved together and what the dominant statement of the protest was. Had that statement been managed perfectly by bureaucratic leaders of big labor and environmental organizations, it would have been nothing more than a plea to yet another managerial class to make this sick world sustain itself. Since other groups contributed energy to the event, its statement could not be molded by a few organizations.

I Love Trash : a reply to Michael Albert by Mark Laskey

Justification of trashing thus becomes a discussion of where power lies within the movement. For Albert, this power lies with the majority. He argues the Seattle trashing did not meet with widespread approval, and was therefore ineffective and unjustified. He goes on to accuse the trashers of "undemocratically violat[ing] the agenda of [the] massive demonstrations." In his posted responses to email on the subject, he portrays the trashing as 100 militants hijacking a demonstration of 70,000.

THE TYRANNY OF DEMOCRACY by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz

Medea Benjamin of Global Exchange, one of the organizations that formed the Direct Action Network, finally clarifies her position (along with a welcome apology for statements she made regarding calling the police on black bloc activists), and Oakland anarchist, Scott Fleming, responds, quite coherently and righteously. Only he is not really addressing the fundamental issue.

Anarchy creating a healthier reality By SHANE EDWARDS

WHEN THE SUN WENT down Dec. 4, after a week of conflict in the streets of Seattle, a candlelight vigil was held in downtown Eugene. About 40 people introduced themselves and shared their thoughts on one of the most powerful political demonstrations in American history. Although nearly everyone at the vigil was a self-proclaimed nonviolent activist, only one person expressed dissatisfaction with economic sabotage against corporate property or with radical anarchists. One by one, all the others voiced their desire for solidarity with everyone who was in Seattle, many thanking the anarchists for their contributions and dedication.

Mark Laskey replies to Albert's "On Trashing and Movement Building" by Mark Laskey

It is nice that Mr. Albert took the time to offer his own detailed critical analysis on the controversial topic of the more militant forms of direct action that took place in Seattle. It is also nice to see him refrain from much of the sensationalist arguements that many others have resorted to when they have dealt with this subjct. Overall, I agree with the purpose of this essay (namely, that we should always be able to step back and be critical of our actions), however, I have a few disagreements of not only the conclusions that he comes up with in this essay, but the entire context in which he places his arguement within.

Seattle - the highwater mark of our resistance by Chris Crass

The day had started early - 5:30am - my affinity group joined hundreds of people at the park to begin actions that truly felt historic. We were part of the Cowborg cluster - clusters of affinity groups had been formed to take specific actions to use non-violent direct action to shut down the WTO. The city had been divided up into 13 wedges - pieces of pie A-M and ours was Key lime. The Cowborg cluster was one of several clusters in our wedge alone. There were hundreds of affinity groups and dozens of clusters, organizing on such a scale that I had never before participated in, the excitment was intoxicating.

N30 Black Bloc Communique

Unfortunately, the presence and persistence of "peace police" was quite disturbing. On at least 6 separate occasions, so-called "non-violent" 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).

Linguistic Analysis of The Black Bloc Communique by Lyn Gerry

In an article posted to the Indymedia website, Ken McCarthy of Brasscheck asserted that the language employed in the above-mentioned communique proves that it is the work of agents provocateurs. Below, I have made an analysis of the communique to refute that assertion. I have done this in order to further a legitimate debate over tactics of resistance. Cointelpro type activity is alive and well in the US today, and one of its most pernicious features has been the tendency to jump to conclusions when one merely disagrees with a person or group. (This is not to say that cointelpro activities did not occur, however. Just that to dismiss the Black Bloc as provocateurs is to invalidate an entire tactical approach. We can't afford such an arbitrary approach. The opposition is playing hardball, and it will only get harder the more we reach out, the more successful and strong we become. The attempt will be made to split off parts of the movement from each other, isolate the "radicals" and co-opt the more "moderate" elements. This was done to great effect with the civil rights movement in the 60's, for example.

Anarchists and Corporate Media at the Battle of Seattle by Black Planet Books

The Anti-WTO demonstrations in Seattle, along with, to a much lesser extent, the Anti-Clinton demonstrations in Greece have raised the profile of anarchists in the United States to a level not seen in quite some time. Anarchists have struggled to make an impression upon larger segments of the public for more than the last decade. Events such as the Critical Mass bike rides and increasingly large numbers at public demonstrations, often as a "Black Block", have made the anarchists more difficult to ignore. When the police decided to riot in Seattle, the anarchists were ready to fight back.

Where have all the anarchists gone? by Peter Werbe

well, it's been confirmed. all the seattle trouble was caused by "self-proclaimed anarchists" breaking windows. what a crock. sure, the boys in black were out there breaking windows, but the seattle cops were out of control attacking non-violent demonstrators. they were inappropriately clad (looking like the cops in the movie "brazil"), inappropriately armed (armed personel carriers, stun grenades, rubber bullets, etc.) and used inappropriate tactics. they, not the anarchists, created the "violence."

Hey, Eugene punks, stay away from my revolution! by Geov Parrish

Hey, Eugene punks, stay away from my revolution.

I KNOW THE FOLKS who transformed a remarkable, peaceful show of power against the WTO into a media-characterized "riot." At least some of the vandals and looters who took advantage of the cover of the most significant mass direct action in Seattle history were from the group of Eugene anarchists I went down and interviewed last summer. Their spokesperson, anarchist author and theoretician John Zerzan, and I have kept in touch since then; we were to meet during the WTO. We didn't. If we had, I would have spit in his face. Consider this the written equivalent, and I hope he reads it.

Anarchy, Non/Violence and the Seattle Actions by Brian Dominick

One of the most contentious points likely to arise out of the past week's actions is older than the concept of world trade itself: the question of tactics in demonstration and direct action – in particular, violent vs. nonviolent.

The apparent duality presented by this question, as most people seem to look at it, is simply an illusion. Let's dive right in using Seattle as an example. I haven't been able to find a single note from a reliable source which has indicated protestors initiated any of the countless violent incidents reported on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Which is not to say no activist, anywhere in Seattle, engaged a police officer before s/he was engaged by the police; but in reality, the consistent and predominant explanation has been that police hungrily attacked protestors during countless incidents.

The world is not enoughBY THE ANARCHIST ACTION COLLECTIVE

TOO MUCH OF THE anti-World Trade Organization protest effort is being cast in a defensive, even backward orientation. Under the buzzword "globalization," we are told to "all pull together" against the unparalleled power of the transnational corporations.

An anarchist's manifesto BY MARSHALL KIRKPATRICK

IT PAINS ME TO REPEAT the same dull moments all day, every day. Working is currently defined as producing far more than we need so someone else can get rich. It traps my body in an insulating rut and empties my mind and soul. Inevitably, my imagination takes me to faraway places--to the factory chicken farm outside of town or the mono-cropped bean fields sprayed with carcinogens.