May Day 2013. (The people pictured are not the authors of this post.)
  • AH
  • May Day 2013. (The people pictured are not the authors of this post.)

We asked the people at Tides of Flame, an anarchist newspaper, to explain the thinking behind today's protest against capitalism and the King County Juvenile Detention Center. In response, we received this op-ed.

Beginning with May Day 2012, anarchists have intentionally maintained a separation of time and place between the anti-capitalist marches and the annual El Comité immigrants’ rights march. But every year, many anarchists also attend the El Comité march because they wish to express genuine solidarity with those who are most exploited by (and vital to) U.S. capitalism.

Despite this, the self-appointed leader of the march, Juan Bocanegra, is convinced that anarchists are infiltrators determined to ruin “his” event. May Day is traditionally an anarchist holiday celebrating the Haymarket martyrs and all who have lost their lives in the long struggle against capitalism and the state. May Day does not belong to Bocanegra—it belongs to all who strive for freedom—and he is not justified in demeaning people who want to honor their dead as they see fit.

It is not our fault that the media is superficial and more concerned with broken glass than the plight of undocumented people. The recent protests and blockades at the Tacoma immigrant detention center are proof that militant direct action can bring results. So perhaps it is time for all of us to come together instead of being driven apart by our enemies. They are very good at dividing us, especially when we speak of freedom.

We are presented with falsehoods every time we listen to the reformers and politicians. Another example is King County Council member Larry Gossett. He insists that he wants to free the prisoners in the youth detention center while he helps design their new cages. The amount of cognitive dissonance necessary for him to get up in the morning is beyond our comprehension, but the man does have an uncanny ability to trick people into thinking that he wants a world without cages. Politicians like Gossett try to convince us they have no choice, that they are bound by law to build prisons, and that we are stupid and unreasonable for imagining a world without handcuffs and prison cells. But people have devised all sorts of ways to solve problems without resorting to the violence of courts and cages. You only have to look to find examples.

The march on the youth detention center on May 1st is one of the few moments where people who despise all cages (no matter how few or how luxurious) can stand together and show dinosaurs like Gossett that his days are numbered. We do not expect to win soon, but we know every prisoner wants us to win, and we will fight until we do.

The same logic applies to the anti-capitalist march. It is a time and a place where those who desire a world without coercive authority and capitalism can stand together and be free, if only for a moment, from the logic, laws, and relationships of capital. It is a deranged dictatorship that we live under, led not by any Hitler or Stalin but by the economy itself as it tramples over us in its ceaseless pursuit of profit.

If we can collectively create moments and zones where people become aware of another reality, a non-capitalist reality, then we have given people the opportunity to choose what reality they want to inhabit. Ideally we would seize buildings and land instead of the streets, but either way, those with badges and guns would try to stop us. If we ever want to be successful, we will have to figure out how to overcome them. The only way is to try.

We hope to see you on the streets.

Love,

A couple of anarchists who, of course, speak only for themselves