1:45 PM yesterday
robotslave commented on Drug-Trafficking Organizations Continue to Intimidate Newspapers into Silence.
If the entire world were to legalize drugs tomorrow, it seems highly unlikely that the Mexican warlords would just shrug their shoulders, put away all their guns, and become peaceful tax-paying shopkeepers.
May 16
robotslave commented on US Military Grants Itself the Power to Police American Streets and "Quell" "Civil Disturbances".
Shorter:
Dr. Strangelove is in black and white, ergo it is a documentary.
Dr. Strangelove is in black and white, ergo it is a documentary.
May 15
robotslave commented on Occupy Offshoot Blockades Home to Save South Park Man From Eviction.
Does anyone know why SAFE chose Jeremy Griffin as the beneficiary of their apparently very selective largesse, rather than any of the other Seattle residents facing eviction in foreclosure proceedings?
I'm quite curious about the selection process; are there any local journalists who share my curiosity, or am I some kind of loony-tunes outlier here?
I'm quite curious about the selection process; are there any local journalists who share my curiosity, or am I some kind of loony-tunes outlier here?
May 15
robotslave commented on Black Bloc Community Service.
@37
You've previously covered events in public spaces produced solely for their theatrical effect, though without any implied threat to the society within which they take place. No-one has been interested in those events; you've had under ten comments per post when you've tried to push those stories.
Why is that? Do you really think the grubby unsophisticated peasants are to blame for this disinterest, or is there perhaps some other reason that the hoi-polloi take rather more interest in Direct Actions that convey an implied threat to the society we share?
You've previously covered events in public spaces produced solely for their theatrical effect, though without any implied threat to the society within which they take place. No-one has been interested in those events; you've had under ten comments per post when you've tried to push those stories.
Why is that? Do you really think the grubby unsophisticated peasants are to blame for this disinterest, or is there perhaps some other reason that the hoi-polloi take rather more interest in Direct Actions that convey an implied threat to the society we share?
May 15
robotslave commented on What Do You Think of the Riddick Trailer?.
Haven't seen the movies, but the Chronicles of Riddick was an improbably good video game.
I do like Mr. Diesel; even on-screen he always seems quite a bit more self-aware than you would assume if you'd only read reviews written by critics who have 'muscles are bad' hard-coded into their rating systems.
I do like Mr. Diesel; even on-screen he always seems quite a bit more self-aware than you would assume if you'd only read reviews written by critics who have 'muscles are bad' hard-coded into their rating systems.
May 13
robotslave commented on Black Bloc Community Service.
@17
Those small anarchist "zones of freedom" have been around for at least 150 years. There has already been quite a lot of time to see whether or not their organizational principles, when applied beyond the confines of shared-living houses or temporary protest settlements, can adequately address the problems that arise in large modern populations.
People do hurt each other, and people who have been hurt don't want to sit in a circle and talk about it, they want the one who hurt them punished, or prevented from hurting others, or both. And until prefigurist anarchism finds a way to bring those kinds of justice* inside the "zone of freedom," rather than deferring it to the external society, the boundaries of the zone are unlikely to budge.
* i.e., the kinds of justice other than "restorative."
Those small anarchist "zones of freedom" have been around for at least 150 years. There has already been quite a lot of time to see whether or not their organizational principles, when applied beyond the confines of shared-living houses or temporary protest settlements, can adequately address the problems that arise in large modern populations.
People do hurt each other, and people who have been hurt don't want to sit in a circle and talk about it, they want the one who hurt them punished, or prevented from hurting others, or both. And until prefigurist anarchism finds a way to bring those kinds of justice* inside the "zone of freedom," rather than deferring it to the external society, the boundaries of the zone are unlikely to budge.
* i.e., the kinds of justice other than "restorative."
May 13
robotslave commented on Black Bloc Community Service.
@14
I, too find it interesting that there simply aren't any examples of anarchism at a scale that might encompass at least two large groups of people who disagree strongly with each other, and might include individuals inclined to do so violently.
The problem with Graeber's strategy of prefigurative anarchist society is that it tends to do the easy work (how can people be nice to each other?) and daintily pushes the difficult problems (what should we do when people hurt each other?) outside the "zone of freedom" and into the surrounding "unfree" society, where those harder problems are actually addressed, albeit imperfectly.
I, too find it interesting that there simply aren't any examples of anarchism at a scale that might encompass at least two large groups of people who disagree strongly with each other, and might include individuals inclined to do so violently.
The problem with Graeber's strategy of prefigurative anarchist society is that it tends to do the easy work (how can people be nice to each other?) and daintily pushes the difficult problems (what should we do when people hurt each other?) outside the "zone of freedom" and into the surrounding "unfree" society, where those harder problems are actually addressed, albeit imperfectly.
May 13
robotslave commented on Black Bloc Community Service?.
@11
Anarchists do have rules, and they enforce those rules.
The "no snitches" rule is a very strict one these days, and even suspicion of violating it can get an anarchist shunned and ostracized by former comrades. And there's a rule so big that it's not often visible: that no decision affecting a group is permitted outside of consensus processes (e.g. general assembly).
In anarchist shared-living situations, there are firm (though not always explicit) rules about household economics, and the "open borders" philosophy tends to end rather decisively at the front door.
What the anarchist is opposed to, first and foremost, is hierarchy, which does not preclude rules; in fact, it can more accurately be said that this opposition necessitates rules.
Anarchists do have rules, and they enforce those rules.
The "no snitches" rule is a very strict one these days, and even suspicion of violating it can get an anarchist shunned and ostracized by former comrades. And there's a rule so big that it's not often visible: that no decision affecting a group is permitted outside of consensus processes (e.g. general assembly).
In anarchist shared-living situations, there are firm (though not always explicit) rules about household economics, and the "open borders" philosophy tends to end rather decisively at the front door.
What the anarchist is opposed to, first and foremost, is hierarchy, which does not preclude rules; in fact, it can more accurately be said that this opposition necessitates rules.
May 13
robotslave commented on Black Bloc Community Service?.
I agree that it would quite revealing to schedule both a cop-provoking vandal-march and an unlicensed gardening club at the same time. The dual event (and the inevitable refusal to do the guerrilla gardening without the traditional, militantly provocative march) would indeed help everyone understand just what this cold-war-era-Germany historical reenactment society "really stands for."
But a "medical clinic" held by masked (and thus de facto uncredentialed) "medics" whose medical training and experience might consist of nothing more than carrying milk around for hours in an uninsulated bottle, hoping for the chance to dump it into the eyes of someone who's been pepper sprayed?
No. God no. What-the-hell-are-you-thinking no.
Even if your goal is to delegitimize the present social-medical hierarchy, then for fuck's sake consider for just fifteen seconds how normal working people who don't already share your political outlook are going to perceive a pop-up clinic staffed by people in ninja costumes who refuse to give their names.
But a "medical clinic" held by masked (and thus de facto uncredentialed) "medics" whose medical training and experience might consist of nothing more than carrying milk around for hours in an uninsulated bottle, hoping for the chance to dump it into the eyes of someone who's been pepper sprayed?
No. God no. What-the-hell-are-you-thinking no.
Even if your goal is to delegitimize the present social-medical hierarchy, then for fuck's sake consider for just fifteen seconds how normal working people who don't already share your political outlook are going to perceive a pop-up clinic staffed by people in ninja costumes who refuse to give their names.
May 7
robotslave commented on Don't Watch this Video of Well Regulated Militia Being Shot to Death by the Police.
@49
If anyone involved in the May 1 anti-police demonstration wants a day in court, they can very, very easily obtain it.
As I'm sure you're well aware, there have been lots of suits brought against the SPD, and won, by people who felt the police wrongfully used force against them.
Your wonderful peaceful pepper-sprayed and firework-startled cop-antagonizing friends are all completely entitled to file suit against the SPD, if they so choose.
They can have their day in court, if they want it.
But is that what they want?
Or is that just what you want?
If anyone involved in the May 1 anti-police demonstration wants a day in court, they can very, very easily obtain it.
As I'm sure you're well aware, there have been lots of suits brought against the SPD, and won, by people who felt the police wrongfully used force against them.
Your wonderful peaceful pepper-sprayed and firework-startled cop-antagonizing friends are all completely entitled to file suit against the SPD, if they so choose.
They can have their day in court, if they want it.
But is that what they want?
Or is that just what you want?
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