No matter how badly you think free trade diminishes the chances of developing-nation advancement, there is scarcely an argument to be made for preemptively assaulting police protecting G8 summit members, as happened in Rostock June 2. At some WTO and G8 meetings, members of anarchist and autonomen cells are set upon by police. That is not what took place in Rostock. Provocateurs were at fault for setting out to injure police.
Thankfully, members of all the peace and economic progressive groups protesting in Rostock came out with a unified denunciation of Black Bloc members on June 3. This is not simply an issue of squishy pacifists vs. youthful street fighters. Every now and then, a justification can be made for leaving pacifism behind and putting on the anarchist bandana. The problem is the nature of the provocateur. Just as the world told George Bush in March 2003, it is never OK to strike first unless your existence is truly threatened. Bush and Cheney went from "preemptive" to "preventive" war justifications, and the anarchists in Rostock seemed to be promoting preventive police battles.
There are too many folks on the left who have a confused attitude regarding the Black Bloc, both in a desire to attract youth and energy, and because Black Bloc members have a certain tough romanticism associated with black bandanas and a "never-back-down" attitude. When I was in Washington DC at an IMF summit in 2000, the crowd stood and cheered when Black Bloc members entered a rally. But when anarchists behave as though they are indeed victims of an "infantile disorder," they should be denounced as the morons they turned out to be in Rostock.
No comments:
Post a Comment