Forwarded from Revolutionary Toolbox
In_Defense_of_Looting_A_Riotous_History_of_Uncivil_Action_by_Vicky.pdf
1.3 MB
In Defense of Looting: A Riotous History of Uncivil Action
by Vicky Osterweil
1st Ed., Published August 2020
"OF THE MANY FORMS OF POLITICAL ACTION IN TWENTY-FIRST century America, it's hard to think of any less popular than rioting and looting. Voting and electioneering are widely respected as the baseline of political action; petitioning and lobbying elected representatives are not far behind. Labor action, despite four decades of propaganda and federal action against it, still has strong support in many quarters. Community organizing is at least theoretically the founding principle for thousands of nonprofits across the country[..]
But rioting and looting have few defenders [...] Looting rejects the legitimacy of ownership rights and property, the moral injunction to work for a living, and the "justice" of law and order. Looting reveals all these for what they are: not natural facts, but social constructs benefiting a few at the expense of the many[...]"
#history #informational #sabotage #document #book
by Vicky Osterweil
1st Ed., Published August 2020
"OF THE MANY FORMS OF POLITICAL ACTION IN TWENTY-FIRST century America, it's hard to think of any less popular than rioting and looting. Voting and electioneering are widely respected as the baseline of political action; petitioning and lobbying elected representatives are not far behind. Labor action, despite four decades of propaganda and federal action against it, still has strong support in many quarters. Community organizing is at least theoretically the founding principle for thousands of nonprofits across the country[..]
But rioting and looting have few defenders [...] Looting rejects the legitimacy of ownership rights and property, the moral injunction to work for a living, and the "justice" of law and order. Looting reveals all these for what they are: not natural facts, but social constructs benefiting a few at the expense of the many[...]"
#history #informational #sabotage #document #book
Forwarded from Revolutionary Toolbox
Reflections from a Hong Kong Comrade
by castor
"hey all, i wanted to share some reflections that a comrade in hong kong shared recently about how their movement has reacted to massive repression. i'm not sure if all of it will resonate here but some of it might.
recently, thousands of activists have been put on trial with many receiving long jail sentences. according to my comrade, the result in the scene is that many people are struggling with feelings of guilt and shame as they aren't able to do anything about it:
> "during the movement people felt as though their lives had meaning, they could devote their lives to being on the street or devoting infrastructural support or other forms of assistance to what was going on in the streets
> and now they are compelled to go back to work or whatever it was they were doing before the uprising, while more and more people are being arrested and sentenced, the shame comes from this kind of self-loathing
> and in turn they lash out at everybody else for doing the same, returning to some kind of coercive 'normality' and isolation and accepting what they are compelled to accept
> so it culminates in violent and caustic recrimination and accusation online of each other being sellouts and cowards etc"
they said that they feel luckier than most people because they have projects with comrades that they can fall back on, but overall the receding wave of struggle has increased everyone's feeling of isolation and diminished their sense of purpose. finding a way out of this cycle has been hard for many people because for many, finding ways to transform frontline militancy into a different sort of work has felt like giving up:
> "so right now in hk what we have to work out is how to build, how to dwell and how to survive this trauma together, which would first of all require having to give up the ghost of the cycle of combat last year on the streets and work to transform the militancy on the frontlines into something that can shape our lives, sounds wonderful but it seems incredibly difficult in a climate where all mention of joy, camaraderie and living on/leaving behind these feelings of shame, guilt and ressentiment are rejected and denounced as being forms of 'forgetting' the irreparable casualties of war sustained over the last year"
anyway, this has definitely made me reflect on how i might better metabolize the feelings i've been feeling since last summer and hopefully transform them into something productive"
See also: Preventing Burnout
#HK #discussion #history #selfcare #mutualaid
by castor
"hey all, i wanted to share some reflections that a comrade in hong kong shared recently about how their movement has reacted to massive repression. i'm not sure if all of it will resonate here but some of it might.
recently, thousands of activists have been put on trial with many receiving long jail sentences. according to my comrade, the result in the scene is that many people are struggling with feelings of guilt and shame as they aren't able to do anything about it:
> "during the movement people felt as though their lives had meaning, they could devote their lives to being on the street or devoting infrastructural support or other forms of assistance to what was going on in the streets
> and now they are compelled to go back to work or whatever it was they were doing before the uprising, while more and more people are being arrested and sentenced, the shame comes from this kind of self-loathing
> and in turn they lash out at everybody else for doing the same, returning to some kind of coercive 'normality' and isolation and accepting what they are compelled to accept
> so it culminates in violent and caustic recrimination and accusation online of each other being sellouts and cowards etc"
they said that they feel luckier than most people because they have projects with comrades that they can fall back on, but overall the receding wave of struggle has increased everyone's feeling of isolation and diminished their sense of purpose. finding a way out of this cycle has been hard for many people because for many, finding ways to transform frontline militancy into a different sort of work has felt like giving up:
> "so right now in hk what we have to work out is how to build, how to dwell and how to survive this trauma together, which would first of all require having to give up the ghost of the cycle of combat last year on the streets and work to transform the militancy on the frontlines into something that can shape our lives, sounds wonderful but it seems incredibly difficult in a climate where all mention of joy, camaraderie and living on/leaving behind these feelings of shame, guilt and ressentiment are rejected and denounced as being forms of 'forgetting' the irreparable casualties of war sustained over the last year"
anyway, this has definitely made me reflect on how i might better metabolize the feelings i've been feeling since last summer and hopefully transform them into something productive"
See also: Preventing Burnout
#HK #discussion #history #selfcare #mutualaid
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Revolutionary Toolbox Redux
Preventing Burnout - Keeping the Movement Alive
burnout is the experience of physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion often caused by longterm involvement in emotionally demanding situations.
in a 2015 study it was observed that roughly half of activistsβ¦
burnout is the experience of physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion often caused by longterm involvement in emotionally demanding situations.
in a 2015 study it was observed that roughly half of activistsβ¦
Forwarded from Revolutionary Toolbox
Forwarded from Big Boss
TW/State Sanctioned Violence
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/video-shows-texas-officer-fatally-shoot-man-front-his-girlfriend-n1265696
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/video-shows-texas-officer-fatally-shoot-man-front-his-girlfriend-n1265696
NBC News
Video shows Texas officer fatally shoot man in front of his girlfriend and child
Video released by the Austin Police Department shows Alex Gonzales being shot multiple times by an officer after a "road rage incident" on Jan. 5.
Forwarded from CrimethInc. Ex-Workers Collective
In 1886, the anarchists Albert and Lucy Parsons led 80,000 people through Chicago in the first modern May Day Parade: βEight-hour day with no cut in pay!β
350,000 workers around the US went on strike at 1200 factoriesβ70,000 in Chicago, 45,000 in New York, 32,000 in Cincinnati.
On May 3, 1886, police shot into a labor protest in Chicago, killing two.
On May 4, police attacked another rally, someone threw a bombβand the rest is history.
This is why laborers have rightsβnot the benevolence of bosses and politicians.
Learn more:
https://cwc.im/maydayhistory
350,000 workers around the US went on strike at 1200 factoriesβ70,000 in Chicago, 45,000 in New York, 32,000 in Cincinnati.
On May 3, 1886, police shot into a labor protest in Chicago, killing two.
On May 4, police attacked another rally, someone threw a bombβand the rest is history.
This is why laborers have rightsβnot the benevolence of bosses and politicians.
Learn more:
https://cwc.im/maydayhistory
Forwarded from Seditionist Distribution
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[Pasto, Columbia]
The statue of Antonio NariΓ±o is torn down today. Happy Mayday.
The statue of Antonio NariΓ±o is torn down today. Happy Mayday.
We know why they didnβt turn on the cameras. Abolish the police. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/police-fired-24-shots-handcuffed-man-why-didn-t-they-n1264887
NBC News
Police fired 24 shots at a handcuffed man. Why didnβt they turn on their body cameras?
The case of Ariane McCree illustrates the patchwork nature of police body camera policies around the country.