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Class War issue 80: Single Issue Politics?
"The civilisation and justice of bourgeois order comes out in its lurid light whenever the slaves and drudges of that order rise against their masters. Then this civilisation and justice stand forth as undisguised savagery and lawless revenge...The bourgeoisie of the whole world, which looks complacently upon wholesale massacre... is convulsed by horror at the destruction of brick and mortar."
So said some bloke - Karl Marx I think his name was - in relation to the four-month working class uprising of the Paris Commune in 1871, after which the French government sent in troops to murder half the population.
Well, MayDay 2000 may not have lasted four months, but it was one hell of a day for all of us striving to stir up a bit of revolutionary action in the streets of the world's greatest centre of international capitalism.
And you don't have to be a University professor to see the parallels between what old fuzzy beard said about the hypocrisy of the nineteenth century ruling class in France, and the bullshit that was splashed in the media after our latest day in the sun.
Blair, Straw and the rest of New Labour's toadies are happy to bomb innocent populations, starve millions of the world's poor through their global capitalist institutions such as the IMF and World Bank. Never mind the fact that we live worrying about what bills the postman is going to bring each morning and their main concern is keeping the wine chilled and whether to have canapés in Kensington or New York next summer. So what do they condemn in their blind hysteria? The trashing of a McDonalds and a green mohican on that old git Churchill!
And these are the smarmy fuckers who - in the same breath as saying we live in a free country - are right this moment pushing through the new "Anti-Terrorist" laws. These will criminalise huge sections of the population - anyone who even supports the idea of direct action in response to the pathetic sham of democracy we have at present.
But first - the day itself. As always, you had to be there! 5,000 protestors ranging from the guerrilla gardeners to punks to rastas, young and old against 10,000 of our best boys in blue - as usual the front line in upholding the ruling class and their corrupt, unaccountable financial system, which tries to keep us "in our place". It all started at Parliament Square at 11:30 in the grand tradition of all working class MayDay carnivals throughout history. Turning the social order on its head and up its own arse through freedom of action, drinking, dancing, music - not to mention a Maypole (well I suppose there had to be one crap element, at least we were spared the morris dancers!).
After a bit of ritual turf digging, things swung into action when some posh couple got their brand new Mercs smashed as they drove past (shame!). Those who live by flaunting their wealth must be prepared to die by it.
Then it was time to set off down Whitehall to Trafalgar Square. Someone had very kindly left a McDonalds store smack bang in the middle of the route for us - well we couldn't pass over an offer like that, now could we?
The first boots went flying in, then sticks, stones, bottles and anything else that came to hand - a little sweet revenge for the "mindless violence" these big corporate bastards have been inflicting on the poor and the environment across the world.
Within less than a minute the whole glass window had given way and people surged into the store to engage in a little bit of redistribution, handing out ready-made food, drinks and the odd cash till to the waiting crowd!
Contrary to press reports of 200 "thugs", there was action, support and encouragement from the majority of the march - who were enjoying the whole spectacle (as well as the free food!).
Then it was the turn of the Bureau de Change and the rip-off tacky London souvenir shop next door to receive some class justice. T-shirts, masks and other clothing (not to mention one or two cuddly toys!) were "appropriated" and tossed into the crowd before the riot cops arrived from a side street. This is what is known as the redistribution of wealth.
But the crowd's solidarity was too strong for them - all of the happy looters that the cops clattered into were rescued by others - working class heroes to a man and woman. No need to tell them who the enemy is - least of all the ex-miner who taunted the cops with "Remember Doncaster '84 (picket lines), do you? 'Cos we fucking do!!"
High on adrenaline, we charged up to Trafalgar Square, where another march - 3,000 strong - was about to converge. Unlucky for us - and bloody lucky for them - the cops got to block the other march off from the Square just in the nick of time.
If they'd been 2 minutes later, the Square would have been overflowing and the Met would have had a real battle on their hands. Their "leaders" were too chickenshit, people who talk it but are too scared to walk it.
Anyway, in the meantime the glorification of capitalist war that is the Cenotaph had been given a little colour, along with "Fat Tory Scum" Churchill - the bastard responsible for sending troops in to fire on striking miners and the partition of Ireland, to name but two of his many crimes - having been provided with a decent haircut at least.
Not only that, but a statue of another toff - Viscount Slim - had been given a spliff with the words "Fat Boy"!!
Let's be straight about this - this was no "muddle headed" protest, as the media would have us all believe - we know who the real enemy is and they were treated accordingly. The only problem is that not enough institutions of the global capitalist economy which creates uniformity were attacked this time - for example, banks, police stations, shopping malls and Burger King. You have to destroy to create!
Just as we recognise our class enemies like Blair, Straw and the London mayoral candidates who so eagerly crawled up the arse of Churchill while denouncing any form of anti-capitalism in the biggest PR job anyone's seen this side of the last McDonald's ad. Ken Livingstone would rather shake hands with the Queen than side with class anger. Red? Get to fuck!
How predictable that the lackeys of the global system - politicians and media - can't wait to try and discredit our movement. Well, tough luck suckers - "we are everywhere" and you can't control or intimidate us. Watch out scum - you'll be the next to go!
Their desperate hysteria only goes to show how much they see us as a genuine threat to the existing world order - the same world order that has sacrificed the jobs and communities of thousands of miners and car workers at Dagenham (to name just two examples), which the politicians are so powerless to stop (even if they could be bothered).
Indeed the only reason why the cops held back from demanding tougher policing measures on the demo is that they were maintaining the public facade of political independence - and instead waited for their lackeys the politicians to do their dirty work for them through the "Anti-Terrorist" Bill and their stooges in the media.
Witness the Daily Mail's interview with the new Commissioner of the Met, where the prat talks about resurrecting the Riot Act for future demonstrations. Well you can't fool us! You'll always be in the pay of the ruling class, and will be treated like the traitors you are.
So - in view of the growing tide throughout the world of anti-capitalism - both through protests and the rapidly dwindling number of people bothering to vote (less than one in three of the population) - together with the undoubted potential threat we pose to the ruling classes: which way forward?
Firstly there are important lessons to be learned from the MayDay Actions, in terms of how we organise ourselves and refuse to let the cops have the upper hand in any future confrontation in the capital (or elsewhere):
Marching and demonstrating in one high-profile place such as Downing Street or Trafalgar Square can certainly have its uses - but we should be prepared to choose other, more fluid, tactics at future events. It's sometimes too easy for the cops to hem us in and dictate where we go - so we must challenge this, by communicating with friends and colleagues and across various anti-capitalist organisations both before and during any Day of Action.
"We have the technology" - so let's use it!! The more mobile phones we can bring with us on Days of Action, the better. Just a couple of phones among 50 people is enough for us to split into smaller groups of friends and associates, with two people given responsibility for checking up on where other groups are in the city - whether reinforcements are needed, information on new targets to attack, etc. (It's best to have two phones per group in case one gets lost or the cops nick the owner.) We can be as fluid as we like - joining up in one part of town where there are no cops deployed, attacking the chosen target, and then separating again before the cops can arrive. This is the dawn of an exciting new form of radical action, and we should seize the opportunity! After all, the cops have radio communication - let's take them on and beat the bastards at their own game! Split into autonomous cells and attack the ruling class and their property.
It's time we made a stand against the bastards in the media (not to mention the undercover cops) who bring along their cameras to photograph and then incriminate us later. NO ONE WITH ANY BRAINS SHOULD BRING A CAMERA DOWN TO ANY FUTURE ACTIONS - OTHERWISE THEY SHOULD BE PREPARED TO FACE THE CONSEQUENCES.
And so - what of the "wider struggle"? Well you can't get much wider than the present anti-capitalist movement, and anti-WTO protests in particular. Witness the number of workers in all continents who are now co-ordinating similar Days of Action through the internet.
People across the globe are now more aware than ever of the horrors which the WTO inflicts - and this is why it's a useful focus for our actions.
So this is the ultimate single issue politics - it's here and now and it's got the establishment paranoid. they know their crappy thieving system can't hold out much longer with the mountains of debt and corruption built into it without something having to give. They will have to bring in increasingly severe laws to try and stop any criticism. But they cannot fool all of the people all of the time.
Things are definitely hotting up. With no one now harbouring any illusions about Tory Party Mark Two that is New Labour, mass disenchantment with the political system has taken place - so we are the ONLY alternative.
Our strength can only grow - but there's no time for complacency. Capitalism won't stop destroying our world and exploiting our people until we force it to. Resistance is fertile indeed!
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