Olympic Log Day 2: Anarchists "fuck shit up"

Anarchy= a state of society without government or law
Anarchy does NOT = "fuck shit up"

I continue to be saddened by demonstrators who take things TOO far WITHOUT a coherent message. Anarchy comes from the assumption that law enforcement itself is an inherently violent act that produces criminals. It's premise is that, to identify "order" you have to construct "disorder"- and those who are produced as "disorderly" are the people who are most vulnerable (i.e. underhoused people, physical/mentally differently abled people etc). But let me get things straight- protestors who do this go WAY too far. Click here to see video too.

These black-masked protestors who broke the Hudson Bay Company's windows aim was to destroy property. (and see here) were purely destructive to a good movement. Now perhaps their message was anti-capitalism (HBC is appropriating indigenous land and art and using it to make corporatized profit). Or maybe it is a stand against general colonialism (holding the games on stolen land continues to destroy indigenous land and land rights and they are making an equivalent point of "see how you feel when I destroy a piece of property YOU value).

But how are we to KNOW their message when they go downtown, "fuck shit up" and then run away with NO contingency to continue the message or express the PURPOSE?

Again, I plead to activists: MAKE A COHERENT MESSAGE. I feel for you, I really do. It is really hard to fight the good fight. But as people attempting to fight for social justice we have to work EXTRA hard to make sure WE don't seem like the crazy ones. The "brainwash" that makes people unquestionably and uncritically pro-Olympic is a strong and emotional type of hegemony that isn't going to overturn simply by marching down the streets with a sign of your discontent. Activists have to be SMART. We have to produce subversive messages that are creative, hold attention and appeal to people.

Many people CRIED when the torch came across their town. Countless reports of people feeling incredibly emotional and "proud to be Canadian" reinforces the idea that colonial nationalisms are very deeply held. We need to be careful of how we produce a subversive message because becoming conscious of the fact that Canada is still a colonial country is really difficult to come to terms with. It VERY difficult to come to terms with discovering everything you have known, have been taught to believe in is a lie to uphold capitalism, colonialism and patriarchy. So give people a chance to understand and not just REACT to silly acts of protest that "fuck shit up" and whose only purpose is to "disrupt."



Photos from: shotinvancouver.com RECOMMEND this Post on Progressive Bloggers CLICK HERE!