Mer om "terrorisme" og globaliseringsbevegelsen. - Per
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Reclaim the Streets NYC - http://www.rtsnyc.org
Is Dancing Terrorism?
by PB Floyd
Slingshot
FBI brands Reclaim the Streets as "terrorists" - what the
fuck have they been smoking?!
In another sign that the growing anti-capitalist, anarchist,
anti-car movement is gaining effectiveness, the FBI recently
listed Reclaim the Streets amongst the "Threats of Terrorism
to the United States." In a May 10 statement before the
Senate Committees on Appropriations, Armed Services and
Select Committee on Intelligence, FBI director Louis Freeh
listed Reclaim the Streets as a "potential threat" to the
United States along with assorted terrorists from Egypt and
Lebanon.
The report reads in part: "Anarchists and extreme socialist
groups - many of which, such as the Workers' World Party,
Reclaim the Streets, and Carnival Against Capitalism - have
an international presence and, at times, also represent a
potential threat in the United States. For example,
anarchists, operating individually and in groups, caused
much of the damage during the 1999 World Trade Organization
ministerial meeting in Seattle."
The list also included "extreme fringes of animal rights,
environmental, anti-nuclear, and other political and social
movements" as well as the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) and
the Earth Liberation Front (ELF).
Getting included in such a list is always both a good and a
bad sign: it means we're doing something right and are
threatening the system, but it also vastly increases the
likelihood of infiltration, frame-ups based on planted
evidence, government-sponsored internal movement "splits,"
police use of deadly force, etc.
Reclaim the Streets is actually more of a tactic than a
movement or an organization. In 1996, activists in England
decided to hold the first RTS "street party" by holding a
day-time rave, complete with sound system, dancing, and
party games, all with a political spin in a busy
intersection. The party aimed to temporarily "reclaim" the
street from cars and point out how capitalism and car
culture deprive people of public space and opportunities for
public festivals.
The brilliant tactic rapidly caught on, and Reclaim the
Streets street parties are now regularly carried out all
over the globe. RTS goes beyond the limitations of the
traditional "march and rally" protest by building coalition
with the rave/dance/youth scene to create something that is
disruptive and public like a protest, but that is also
joyous, fun and beautiful like a party. Because it's fun and
crosses over with the counter-culture, it's a lot easier for
a street party to attract a large crowd.
A street party can effectively shut down a business
district, in a positive, militant yet non-threatening way.
Instead of handing out flyers about the world we want to
build, street parties permit a revolutionary society to be
conducted in the here and now, right on the street for all
to see. Any passer-by recognizes that dancing is a lot
better looking and more fun that smog-choked asphalt. The
asphalt is what capitalism is all about creating; a world of
enjoyment, art, music and social intercourse is what we're
all about creating.
So it is particularly ironic and interesting that the FBI
considers these dance-based parties as a "terrorist" threat.
Where is the terror? Where is the violence?
As far as we know, no RTS street party has ever (1)
exploded; (2) emitted poison gas; or (3) kidnapped anyone.
It is true that there has been flagrant (1) dancing; (2)
loud pulsing music; (3) flyers and banners; (4) public art;
(5) kissing. While you might say it is scary seeing the
weird guy with the spiky hair kissing the buff longshoreman
type out in public, it isn't exactly terrorism.
Maybe the terrorism is because auto traffic gets blocked. We
have noticed that a car bombing, like a street party, stops
traffic until the mess can get cleaned up. But we thought
the FBI only got involved when there was something seriously
illegal going on or people getting hurt.
After wracking our brains, we figured it must be the video
footage on Bay Area Reclaim the Streets' web page, which
shows a car getting flipped over during the first street
party held in the USA on May 16, 1998.
(<http://xinet.com/rts>http://xinet.com/rts
.) That street party was to protest the WTO, 18 months
before Seattle. Just for the FBI's benefit (you're reading
this because it has the newly "terrorist" word RTS in it,
right?) that car was donated to us by a friend to help us
block the street. We drove it into position in the middle of
the streets, let the air out of the tires, and flipped it.
It was just a prop. Kinda like art, ya know? We didn't flip
all the cars in Berkeley, as much as they might deserve it,
because, ya know, we're about having a good party, not
getting into fist fights with innocent people who happen to
park in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Anyway, humor aside, the FBI terrorist listing is troubling.
Getting branded a "terrorist" is usually a precursor to
getting your ass shot off or thrown into prison for life,
etc. What's next, Food Not Bombs on the "10 Most Wanted
List" for conspiracy to commit lunch?
At its heart, reclaiming the streets is radical and does
have the potential to over throw the "American Way Of Life."
What if instead of just having a street party once every
three months with a few hundred people, there were thousands
of autonomous cells everywhere organizing many street
parties around the world every single day? Picture millions
of people dropping out from capitalism living life for joy,
not for their bosses. Imagine people more interested in
partying in the streets (and disrupting business as usual)
than partying in some capitalist club. Instead of billions
of hours wasted on MTV in some suburb, what about billions
of hours wasted partying down on the interstate highway
while digging it up to plant crops, bringing the whole
capitalist, techno machine to its knees! (While, ironically,
listening to "techno" music!) I guess that's why the FBI is
watching.
-- Dan Clore mailto:clore@columbia-center.orgLord Weÿrdgliffe: <http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/9879/>http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/9879/ Necronomicon Page: <http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/9879/necpage.htm>http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/9879/necpage.htm News for Anarchists & Activists: <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/smygo>http://groups.yahoo.com/group/smygo
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