WEBVTT - Part Two: Food Not Bombs, The Criminal Mutual Aid Conspiracy 0:00:00.320 --> 0:00:02.800 Hello, and welcome to Cool People, Did Cool Stuff or 0:00:02.960 --> 0:00:08.240 c p W D C C AS by for short, 0:00:09.400 --> 0:00:12.440 and by short I mean long because it takes at 0:00:12.520 --> 0:00:14.640 least as long to say the acronym as does say 0:00:14.680 --> 0:00:16.239 the title of the show. And one of my least 0:00:16.239 --> 0:00:18.079 favorite things is people who try to correct me and 0:00:18.079 --> 0:00:21.080 say that acronyms are only acronyms when they are pronounceable 0:00:21.120 --> 0:00:24.759 as words. So I'm Mark kill j your host and 0:00:24.880 --> 0:00:27.120 with me. Today is the one and only Andrew T. 0:00:27.560 --> 0:00:35.640 Andrew Good just gave dog two kills. Yeah, everything's gone 0:00:35.640 --> 0:00:38.400 great on this day. That is definitely a different day 0:00:38.400 --> 0:00:40.600 from last time, because we definitely don't just record both 0:00:40.600 --> 0:00:45.000 episodes back to back most of the time. We've also 0:00:45.040 --> 0:00:48.120 got our producer, Sophie. How are you doing? Sophie? Still 0:00:48.159 --> 0:00:51.680 doing well? Was doing well all those days ago when 0:00:51.680 --> 0:00:56.960 we report recorded part one? Still well now? Yeah. The 0:00:57.040 --> 0:01:01.000 days just fly by between recording part one important by bye, 0:01:01.080 --> 0:01:03.720 they do. Sometimes it just feels like I get up 0:01:03.720 --> 0:01:06.640 and get a glass of water, yeah, and then that's it. 0:01:09.280 --> 0:01:11.960 We also have our editor Ian who's not on the calm, 0:01:12.080 --> 0:01:13.880 but later we'll be listening to everything we say, just 0:01:13.920 --> 0:01:15.640 to twist our words around and make it sound like 0:01:15.680 --> 0:01:18.319 we said are saying things that we're not saying. Like 0:01:18.360 --> 0:01:20.640 I actually got the acronym correct at the beginning of 0:01:20.680 --> 0:01:23.120 this episode and then um Ian switched it around to 0:01:23.120 --> 0:01:26.080 be wrong. And our theme music was written by a 0:01:26.080 --> 0:01:27.760 woman and you can check out the rest of her 0:01:27.840 --> 0:01:31.520 music if you would like. So today we're talking about 0:01:31.520 --> 0:01:33.560 food up bombs, and we're talking abou mutual aid. And 0:01:33.640 --> 0:01:35.360 if you didn't listen to the first half of this episode, 0:01:35.440 --> 0:01:39.600 you are missing out on us pontificating about Catholic theology 0:01:39.640 --> 0:01:42.640 for a moment, and also about why were or at 0:01:42.680 --> 0:01:44.560 least why I'm not excited about people dressing up as 0:01:44.560 --> 0:01:49.480 homeless people. Yeah, I mean, it's just so like a 0:01:49.520 --> 0:01:54.440 classic of the genre. But yeah, you know, so the 0:01:54.480 --> 0:01:57.640 street theater kind of always has that element to it, 0:01:57.680 --> 0:02:01.280 I guess, just like, yeah, yeah, it's not a it's 0:02:01.320 --> 0:02:03.600 not a high art form, and that is both its 0:02:03.760 --> 0:02:09.720 advantage and disadvantage, both artistically and politically. Exactly. Yeah, So, 0:02:10.480 --> 0:02:13.839 where we last left our heroes, they're feeding people every week. 0:02:13.840 --> 0:02:16.200 They're collecting donations from all over the city and delivering 0:02:16.200 --> 0:02:19.360 free groceries everywhere because they think that people might need 0:02:19.400 --> 0:02:21.640 free groceries, and then they're taking what's left over and 0:02:21.639 --> 0:02:23.360 making a ton of free food and feeding people in 0:02:23.360 --> 0:02:25.799 the park. And this is just a a good thing 0:02:25.840 --> 0:02:28.880 to do. No notes, the city is less convinced that 0:02:28.919 --> 0:02:30.880 it's a good thing to do, or at least they 0:02:30.919 --> 0:02:33.480 don't like the other stuff that these same activists are doing, 0:02:34.120 --> 0:02:36.840 um like sticking their noses into every protest and action 0:02:36.880 --> 0:02:39.720 that they possibly can, writing every good fight that they 0:02:39.720 --> 0:02:43.240 come across. So so Keith mckenry, one of the founders 0:02:43.240 --> 0:02:45.240 of food nut Bombs, the main person who's written all 0:02:45.240 --> 0:02:49.440 this history. He who's actually really cool most of the time. Um, 0:02:49.480 --> 0:02:51.560 he doesn't like that he's getting harassed by the city, 0:02:51.960 --> 0:02:54.600 Like he's getting harassed a lot by the city. Apparently 0:02:54.680 --> 0:02:56.440 is being kind of threatened by the city. Don't totally 0:02:56.440 --> 0:02:59.639 know what that. I don't know exactly. So he fucks off. 0:02:59.680 --> 0:03:02.400 He sucked off to San Francisco, and Food Up Bombs 0:03:02.400 --> 0:03:06.200 Boston keeps going without him. In seven he starts Food 0:03:06.280 --> 0:03:09.640 up Bombs San Francisco, and not long after, some people 0:03:09.639 --> 0:03:11.680 in Long Beach, which I don't know if you all 0:03:11.760 --> 0:03:14.320 knew this, but Long Beach is not actually the name 0:03:14.360 --> 0:03:17.200 of a beach in l A. It turns out apparently 0:03:17.200 --> 0:03:22.720 it's its own city. M yeah, yeah, Andrew, did you 0:03:22.800 --> 0:03:27.840 know that Los Angeles resident? Uh? I think, I mean, 0:03:27.880 --> 0:03:30.840 I assume it is also a beach though, right, I 0:03:30.919 --> 0:03:34.600 don't know is Los Angeles an actual city or is 0:03:34.639 --> 0:03:40.560 it just a Hollywood fabrication? So uh yeah, definitely both. 0:03:41.920 --> 0:03:45.320 Is A is a ridiculous city as far as that goes? Yeah, 0:03:45.440 --> 0:03:49.880 completely agree? Okay, just does cool Zone media have an 0:03:49.880 --> 0:03:51.840 official stance on whether or not it's chill for me 0:03:51.880 --> 0:03:54.920 to spread conspiracy theories like l A is a real 0:03:55.000 --> 0:03:57.320 place and not just a Hollywood fabrication, because that's the 0:03:57.320 --> 0:04:01.880 conspiracy for Los Angeles is a real place with stage 0:04:01.960 --> 0:04:05.040 wink at the audience that they can't see if I'm 0:04:05.040 --> 0:04:08.720 describing it, you can't see ship. Yeah all right. So 0:04:08.840 --> 0:04:13.920 some people in Long Beach, legally distinct from Los Angeles 0:04:14.320 --> 0:04:17.720 started food not bombs, and they were nervous about stealing 0:04:17.720 --> 0:04:19.960 the name food nut bombs, so they started calling it 0:04:19.960 --> 0:04:21.920 bread knot bombs. But then they got in touch with 0:04:21.920 --> 0:04:23.760 food nat bombs and tun bombs, like, oh my god, 0:04:23.800 --> 0:04:26.839 we don't care that rules used food not bombs. Um, 0:04:26.960 --> 0:04:30.640 so they become Food Nut Bombs, and food Nut Bombs 0:04:30.640 --> 0:04:32.600 writes up a little how to Get Started zine and 0:04:32.600 --> 0:04:38.000 they start passing it around. There's thirty chapters. They had 0:04:38.000 --> 0:04:40.600 a conference and decided on the three basic principles that 0:04:40.640 --> 0:04:43.880 I mentioned at the beginning of Monday's episode, free veggy 0:04:43.920 --> 0:04:47.080 based food, autonomous groups, non violence, and then they put 0:04:47.120 --> 0:04:48.880 out the first edition of a book called food Nut 0:04:48.920 --> 0:04:52.719 Bombs that explains the whole thing very direct titlers. I 0:04:52.760 --> 0:04:57.240 appreciate a good direct title. So the group explodes in 0:04:57.240 --> 0:05:03.240 popularity after this. Two years later, people attended international gathering 0:05:03.279 --> 0:05:06.479 in San Francisco and the representing the US, Canada, Mexico, 0:05:06.520 --> 0:05:10.960 and various countries in Europe. And okay, my my theory 0:05:11.120 --> 0:05:13.200 is that the only downside of the popularity Food Not 0:05:13.279 --> 0:05:15.040 Bombs is that we had to go through as activists 0:05:15.080 --> 0:05:18.840 the whole generation of slogans with names that are like 0:05:18.920 --> 0:05:21.640 bikes not bombs, home's not jails, food not lawn, solidarity 0:05:21.680 --> 0:05:25.919 not charity, the something not something. I really appreciate that 0:05:26.000 --> 0:05:28.960 y'alls is um something and something like. I feel like 0:05:29.000 --> 0:05:35.240 that's a really positive development. Um Yeah, I wasn't around 0:05:35.320 --> 0:05:38.760 for the genesis of it. I have no idea how 0:05:38.800 --> 0:05:41.960 any of that care to be. But yeah, that is 0:05:41.960 --> 0:05:44.440 actually a good point. Yeah, I we were we were 0:05:44.480 --> 0:05:49.280 at a protest recently, and I because I hadn't been 0:05:49.320 --> 0:05:51.360 involved in the early days of it when it was 0:05:51.440 --> 0:05:56.680 mostly protest support. UM for Solidarity snacks mentioned last episode, 0:05:56.760 --> 0:06:01.480 which people can financially support, Yes, we need or the 0:06:02.400 --> 0:06:05.400 fund is getting we we only have a couple more 0:06:05.640 --> 0:06:09.040 Saturdays left unless we get more funds, which hopefully will 0:06:09.040 --> 0:06:12.720 come in. Um. But I didn't realize that the like 0:06:12.920 --> 0:06:15.960 cart that my friend used initially to start the whole 0:06:15.960 --> 0:06:19.599 thing is like it was like well known amongst people. 0:06:20.360 --> 0:06:23.240 Really people were like, oh, it's the car, we know you. 0:06:24.000 --> 0:06:29.280 It's the car. That's pretty amazing. Yeah. Um so yeah, 0:06:29.560 --> 0:06:33.720 something and something that is my that is my endorsement society. 0:06:33.960 --> 0:06:37.320 It's a new a new wrinkle on the on the format. 0:06:37.880 --> 0:06:40.200 We've progressed past the need for things not the other 0:06:40.240 --> 0:06:44.200 thing that said, all of those things that I named 0:06:44.240 --> 0:06:46.880 like homes not jail's homes, that jail's rules, and I 0:06:46.920 --> 0:06:48.680 actually almost did a whole thing about them, but I 0:06:48.720 --> 0:06:51.520 ran out of time. They're like people who well they 0:06:51.560 --> 0:06:54.880 do kind of what they say. They they open up squads. 0:06:55.000 --> 0:07:00.920 The organizations are great, it's often just the like just 0:07:00.960 --> 0:07:07.279 another pass at the copy usually yeah, yeah, totally, exactly. Yeah, 0:07:07.520 --> 0:07:11.040 that's the main issue. And so that's why I would 0:07:11.080 --> 0:07:14.560 like to propose a new something and something food and 0:07:14.680 --> 0:07:18.960 bombs for people who want to kill the Tsar of Russia. 0:07:19.040 --> 0:07:20.960 I mean, if you want to kill the Tsar of Russia, 0:07:21.720 --> 0:07:25.560 it has been proven empirically through trial and air, a 0:07:25.560 --> 0:07:28.840 lot of air, the most effective way to kill Tazar 0:07:28.880 --> 0:07:32.240 of Russia is with bombs. So just saying putting that 0:07:32.280 --> 0:07:36.360 out there, please don't actually do that and then say 0:07:36.480 --> 0:07:40.440 that I had anything to do with it, Okay, shut yeah, 0:07:40.560 --> 0:07:45.840 totally no fucking snitches and food and bombs, all right, 0:07:46.440 --> 0:07:49.239 So food not bombs. It's getting super popular with people 0:07:49.240 --> 0:07:53.080 who like to eat food. But there are people who 0:07:53.080 --> 0:07:55.400 hate fun and freedom and people having nice things like 0:07:55.480 --> 0:07:58.400 food who are waiting in the wings. And these people, 0:07:58.520 --> 0:08:03.600 of course, best known as the government and the cops. 0:08:03.640 --> 0:08:07.000 This conflict first arises in a serious way in in 0:08:07.080 --> 0:08:10.480 San Francisco. You've got this mayor. He's super progressive. His 0:08:10.560 --> 0:08:13.840 name's Art Agnos. He ran on how environmental and feminist 0:08:13.920 --> 0:08:18.720 and pro union and ship he was, Ah spoiler. Okay, 0:08:18.840 --> 0:08:22.280 So he comes in during an intense period of gentrification 0:08:22.280 --> 0:08:25.360 of San Francisco and it's starting to change it into 0:08:25.360 --> 0:08:28.520 the yuppie hell hole we all know and love today. 0:08:29.240 --> 0:08:31.960 He wants to solve the homelessness crisis, and he starts 0:08:32.000 --> 0:08:34.319 off with some decent ideas about how to solve the 0:08:34.320 --> 0:08:37.199 homelessness crisis. M He wants to build low income housing, 0:08:37.280 --> 0:08:41.439 which of course always gets complicated, but it's not inherently wrong. Um. 0:08:41.480 --> 0:08:45.000 He also makes sleeping bands, and then he revives a 0:08:45.120 --> 0:08:48.440 nineteenth century law against lying down in public place with 0:08:48.559 --> 0:08:51.920 camping gear. Because you know that the government is doing 0:08:51.960 --> 0:08:53.880 something good when they find a law that has not 0:08:53.960 --> 0:08:59.880 been enforced in a hundred years. Yeah, so you should 0:09:00.000 --> 0:09:03.240 look at the laws, the other laws from that year 0:09:03.440 --> 0:09:06.520 and just see what else totally like, if this is 0:09:06.520 --> 0:09:10.280 who you're in company with, yeah, it can't be. These 0:09:10.320 --> 0:09:14.480 were not good legislators at the time. Yeah. Like, and 0:09:14.520 --> 0:09:19.160 here's the law against the following racial oh wait yeah yeah, 0:09:19.240 --> 0:09:22.560 oh yeah, but that's not for a couple of years. Yeah. No, 0:09:22.600 --> 0:09:25.560 that's the sweet spot, that is the hey day of that. Yeah. 0:09:25.559 --> 0:09:27.880 I think San Francisco is like it started being all 0:09:27.920 --> 0:09:30.640 the like, um, like, Chinese folks don't come here in 0:09:30.679 --> 0:09:36.240 the late nineteenth century, I think, Yeah, and hooray America 0:09:36.280 --> 0:09:43.319 has a really cool history. Yeah, and present that's wild 0:09:44.000 --> 0:09:47.200 the other yeah go ahead, Oh no, they're just just 0:09:47.320 --> 0:09:51.120 recapping for my brain, all right. Yeah. The laws back, Yeah, 0:09:51.120 --> 0:09:53.800 the laws back, and he starts sending out cops to 0:09:54.000 --> 0:09:58.200 sweep parks full of homeless folks. Fuck art Agnos. Uh, 0:09:58.440 --> 0:10:01.600 he's not progressive, he claims it, and and everyone I 0:10:01.600 --> 0:10:03.960 think starts seeing him as basically like, oh, he's the 0:10:04.000 --> 0:10:06.640 classic democrat. He it's a bait and switch. He gets 0:10:06.640 --> 0:10:09.520 elected by progressives because of the elector the people who 0:10:09.600 --> 0:10:12.439 vote a manner progressives, and then he serves neoliberalism instead. 0:10:13.120 --> 0:10:17.560 Um and fount Bombs shows up on the scene around 0:10:17.600 --> 0:10:21.000 the time same time as art Agnos and food nut Bombs. 0:10:21.000 --> 0:10:23.439 At the beginning, they weren't even trying to be controversial. 0:10:23.720 --> 0:10:25.760 They actually applied for a permit and did all of 0:10:25.800 --> 0:10:28.520 the paperwork and all that stuff. But the local business 0:10:28.559 --> 0:10:31.760 owners were like, no, you can't have homeless people eating 0:10:31.760 --> 0:10:34.360 food in public. Um as if there's some other place 0:10:34.480 --> 0:10:38.360 for people who don't have houses to eat food uh, 0:10:38.400 --> 0:10:41.200 so they pressure the city, the city denies the permit, 0:10:41.800 --> 0:10:44.679 and food nut Bombs rolls over and accepts it and 0:10:44.960 --> 0:10:49.959 ends as an organization. And wait, no, they say fuck it, 0:10:50.520 --> 0:10:53.520 and they feed people food anyway, And they start to 0:10:53.559 --> 0:10:57.960 get arrested for it, like a lot, Like in the 0:10:57.960 --> 0:11:01.600 first few months, there's almost a hundred arrests. It becomes 0:11:01.600 --> 0:11:04.560 an assembly line. Someone lines up to get a free meal. 0:11:05.000 --> 0:11:07.240 Someone scoops food onto the plate of the person who's 0:11:07.240 --> 0:11:09.200 there for a free meal, and the cops arrests the 0:11:09.200 --> 0:11:11.920 person who serves the food. So the next server steps 0:11:11.960 --> 0:11:15.000 up and feeds the next person in line and gets arrested. 0:11:16.040 --> 0:11:18.920 And and they just do this right because they're not 0:11:18.920 --> 0:11:22.520 afraid of civilis obedience. There. They do what's right, not 0:11:22.720 --> 0:11:28.319 what's safe. You know. Yeah, it's also truly like you know, obviously, 0:11:28.440 --> 0:11:31.680 if you're fucking cop, you are the worst human being. 0:11:31.760 --> 0:11:35.320 But like it's hard to have it more like in 0:11:35.400 --> 0:11:38.120 your face, what a fun discussing piece of ship you 0:11:38.200 --> 0:11:42.960 are that day, I know. Yeah. And so the fight 0:11:43.080 --> 0:11:45.880 is about food, I guess kind of, but not really. 0:11:45.920 --> 0:11:47.960 It's it's about more than that. It's about who controls 0:11:47.960 --> 0:11:51.000 public space. Are the parks controlled by the government or 0:11:51.040 --> 0:11:52.760 are they controlled by the people who make use of 0:11:52.760 --> 0:11:55.360 the park. And the government, of course, tends to believe 0:11:55.400 --> 0:11:56.800 that they're the ones who get to control the park, 0:11:56.880 --> 0:11:58.920 but I would argue, if you've ever been to a park, 0:11:59.640 --> 0:12:01.520 you know that that's not the case. The politics of 0:12:01.559 --> 0:12:04.440 a park are remapped daily by the people who are there. 0:12:04.480 --> 0:12:06.440 Like there might not be a sign up that says 0:12:06.480 --> 0:12:10.360 don't skateboard on the basketball court, but like the basketball 0:12:10.360 --> 0:12:12.760 court most of the time is for basketball players and 0:12:12.840 --> 0:12:15.240 who have their own structures about who decides which courts 0:12:15.240 --> 0:12:18.440 are being used, and like, you know, it's it's I mean, 0:12:18.480 --> 0:12:21.720 parts are are beautiful because they are these informal organizational 0:12:21.760 --> 0:12:26.760 spots that happen daily all over the world. Um, I 0:12:26.760 --> 0:12:28.320 don't know, it's like one thing I miss about living 0:12:28.320 --> 0:12:32.719 in cities and yeah, or just like like the like 0:12:32.760 --> 0:12:36.480 the yeah, the politics of any like public place are 0:12:36.559 --> 0:12:40.920 like so interesting. Yeah, it's just like you can make 0:12:40.920 --> 0:12:44.160 all the rules you want, but those aren't the rules, 0:12:44.720 --> 0:12:48.959 yeah totally. And you know, and people who have no 0:12:49.040 --> 0:12:51.440 private space to return to, they're going to use public space, 0:12:51.840 --> 0:12:54.960 which makes sense, right, And I've never had to deal 0:12:54.960 --> 0:12:57.160 with homelessness. I used to be a traveling activist, but 0:12:57.200 --> 0:12:59.600 that was by by choice is very structurally different. But 0:12:59.640 --> 0:13:01.760 I remember at this one time I was taking a 0:13:01.880 --> 0:13:03.800 nap in a van and a parking lot and it 0:13:03.840 --> 0:13:06.559 was really hot, so I opened the doors and and 0:13:06.600 --> 0:13:09.079 I was just thinking about how like I could now 0:13:09.120 --> 0:13:10.920 get in trouble. It would be perfectly legal for me 0:13:10.960 --> 0:13:12.440 to park my van and get out of it and 0:13:12.520 --> 0:13:14.760 leave my van in this public space, but now that 0:13:14.800 --> 0:13:18.080 I'm sleeping in it, it's sketchy. But even more than that, 0:13:18.600 --> 0:13:21.360 it seems so weird to me that if I didn't 0:13:21.400 --> 0:13:24.199 have a car, I can't just set my stuff down 0:13:24.240 --> 0:13:27.160 in this public space that is meant for holding stuff, right, 0:13:27.280 --> 0:13:29.560 is a public spaceman for people to leave their car 0:13:30.000 --> 0:13:33.360 and walk away. And it just sort of like hits 0:13:33.440 --> 0:13:38.720 me the magic of a car used in a certain way. Yeah, 0:13:39.280 --> 0:13:41.880 And then even if you have a car, if you 0:13:41.880 --> 0:13:44.000 don't have a private space to then take it home 0:13:44.040 --> 0:13:48.439 too later, you're not usually not allowed to park it anywhere. Um, 0:13:48.480 --> 0:13:51.600 and it I don't know whatever. This isn't news to 0:13:51.600 --> 0:13:54.439 anyone probably that there's a lot of laws against homelessness 0:13:54.440 --> 0:13:56.439 that I wish I had the quote in front of me, 0:13:56.480 --> 0:13:59.040 but I don't. There's that quote about the law and 0:13:59.080 --> 0:14:05.640 it's it's it's awesome equality outlaws before and the rich 0:14:05.800 --> 0:14:13.480 from like pissing, Yeah, um law the laws like perfectly fair, 0:14:13.640 --> 0:14:16.400 like like no one is permitted to sleep under the 0:14:16.400 --> 0:14:20.440 bridge or something, Yeah exactly. Um. And and l A specifically, 0:14:20.440 --> 0:14:24.280 they've they've come out with all these like where they 0:14:24.320 --> 0:14:27.960 pretend like it's not trying to do that type laws 0:14:28.000 --> 0:14:31.479 where they're like like recently l A City council approved 0:14:31.520 --> 0:14:34.920 an ordinance where it's like bike repair on the street 0:14:35.080 --> 0:14:38.680 is now illegal, and and then they were like, well, 0:14:38.960 --> 0:14:41.040 what do you mean this has not this has nothing 0:14:41.040 --> 0:14:44.760 to do with you know, the un housed communities. Uh. 0:14:44.840 --> 0:14:48.400 And and you know anybody with that that reads it 0:14:48.480 --> 0:14:53.840 is like just be honest, Yeah, what are you? What 0:14:53.880 --> 0:14:56.920 do you what do you mean? And uh, you know, 0:14:56.960 --> 0:14:59.920 there's there's so many different things. It's like putting bolder 0:15:00.080 --> 0:15:03.480 or is under freeway under passes and things like that. 0:15:03.520 --> 0:15:06.720 They're like, oh no, it's to prevent and they make 0:15:06.800 --> 0:15:10.400 up some lights like yeah, I saw a bat there 0:15:10.480 --> 0:15:12.560 once and I don't want people to get rabies. So 0:15:12.760 --> 0:15:15.960 that's why there's a Boulder. It's like, just treat people 0:15:16.000 --> 0:15:21.560 with dignity, don't be so bastards. We'll just be gloves 0:15:21.600 --> 0:15:25.240 off and be like we want our clean city. Actually, 0:15:25.280 --> 0:15:30.200 don't do that either. Don't do That's always like like, 0:15:30.320 --> 0:15:34.880 oh I I prefer the open fascists like like sort 0:15:34.880 --> 0:15:39.040 of it's glib, but yeah, don't tempt them. Yeah, I know, 0:15:39.120 --> 0:15:42.320 I'm not looking forward to that stage. It's like always 0:15:42.360 --> 0:15:45.600 like like, oh, I just prefer what people are saying, 0:15:45.640 --> 0:15:48.440 what they really believe. It's like I promise you don't 0:15:50.160 --> 0:15:52.520 totally yeah, I know. I know. We were talking about 0:15:52.520 --> 0:15:56.920 like democrats that run with these liberal policies and it's like, oh, no, 0:15:57.000 --> 0:16:01.280 you're a Republican and like that sucks. But but having 0:16:01.320 --> 0:16:06.680 like the actual fascists run on fat like yeah, it's 0:16:06.720 --> 0:16:09.960 like like the like I prefer it at least I 0:16:10.000 --> 0:16:14.880 know where I stand. It's like knowledge of where you 0:16:15.560 --> 0:16:21.400 stand is like such a valueless thing. And also like right, 0:16:21.480 --> 0:16:24.680 like when everyone had to be quiet about slightly more 0:16:24.760 --> 0:16:27.640 quiet about the racism and ship, I think it made 0:16:27.720 --> 0:16:31.360 fewer young racists because if you can't pass it on 0:16:31.480 --> 0:16:35.600 is this continent, racism is a continuion. So like truly, 0:16:35.680 --> 0:16:38.400 it is like like that that is like the thing 0:16:38.480 --> 0:16:42.800 it's like for all like the you know, subconscious or 0:16:43.040 --> 0:16:48.080 or like quiet racism, Like it truly is better. It 0:16:48.240 --> 0:16:52.240 is just better better society where at least they have 0:16:52.320 --> 0:16:56.160 to experience some sort of shame or second guessing themselves. Um, 0:16:56.240 --> 0:16:59.200 I'm not saying it's good, but it's better than the alternative. 0:16:59.400 --> 0:17:06.360 It's certainly use that totally Okay. So yeah, so all 0:17:06.359 --> 0:17:08.879 these people are getting arrested because the city is real 0:17:08.960 --> 0:17:11.359 clear how they want to control space. They're like, we 0:17:11.440 --> 0:17:13.520 control the parks. There's actually all these quotes from different 0:17:13.520 --> 0:17:15.760 city council people that are like or you know, from 0:17:15.760 --> 0:17:18.119 the city government that's like and cops that are like, 0:17:18.359 --> 0:17:21.359 we control these parks, not these homeless people in these 0:17:21.400 --> 0:17:24.720 anarchists or like they're making a political statement. I mean 0:17:24.760 --> 0:17:27.240 it's like, yeah, of course, feeding people in a society 0:17:27.280 --> 0:17:29.399 where there's people going hungry and dying in the streets 0:17:29.440 --> 0:17:32.760 as a political statement like this shouldn't be happening is 0:17:32.800 --> 0:17:36.280 a political statement because the current political system isn't working. Um. 0:17:36.400 --> 0:17:40.760 Also like pathetic that that is the like, yeah, you're 0:17:40.760 --> 0:17:45.320 scared of political statements? Yeah, yeah, totally, So the civil 0:17:45.359 --> 0:17:48.200 disobedience works, and after a few months, the city sits 0:17:48.240 --> 0:17:51.080 down to negotiate with them and gives them a temporary permit. 0:17:51.480 --> 0:17:53.720 They have to like move a couple blocks over to 0:17:53.800 --> 0:17:55.919 like get out of Um I think they're in Golden 0:17:55.920 --> 0:17:58.320 Gate Park at this point. They have to go a 0:17:58.320 --> 0:18:01.160 few blocks away, so they're like less public eye. But 0:18:01.640 --> 0:18:03.920 they drop all the charges against all the orestes and 0:18:04.119 --> 0:18:08.639 and things are a little better. But these radical homeless people. 0:18:09.119 --> 0:18:11.200 The next year they set up an encampment outside of 0:18:11.240 --> 0:18:13.920 city Hall and they have the coolest slogan ever for 0:18:14.000 --> 0:18:17.119 this exact thing, which is, we're tired, we're hungry, we 0:18:17.200 --> 0:18:22.240 don't like the government. Um, just say what you fucking mean. 0:18:22.520 --> 0:18:24.480 I want our side to say what they fucking mean. 0:18:24.800 --> 0:18:28.720 You know, that's significantly better. Yeah, well, the problem is 0:18:29.680 --> 0:18:33.560 most of our side quote unquote our side, uh doesn't 0:18:33.600 --> 0:18:38.280 mean that. That's true. Yep, that's that's the dark side 0:18:38.280 --> 0:18:43.000 of things. Uh. Well, fudnut Bombs decides to go support 0:18:43.000 --> 0:18:46.760 that just to avoid lingering on that dark thought. Turn 0:18:46.840 --> 0:18:49.760 up Bombs. They decided to go support this, this homeless 0:18:49.800 --> 0:18:51.920 lead initiative. And I believe at this point a decent 0:18:52.000 --> 0:18:54.080 nu chunk of the Food Up Bombs organizers are homeless 0:18:54.080 --> 0:18:56.960 folks themselves. I'm not entirely certain about how all that works, 0:18:56.960 --> 0:19:01.560 but it's yeah, more complicated than people might initially think. Um, 0:19:01.640 --> 0:19:03.600 And they set up a twenty four hour super kitchen 0:19:03.640 --> 0:19:07.240 to feed the protest camp. And this and the fact 0:19:07.280 --> 0:19:11.080 that some of the organizers non violently occupy the mayor's office, 0:19:11.880 --> 0:19:15.040 gets the whole encampment swept by the ostensibly progressive mayor 0:19:15.119 --> 0:19:18.800 and Funup Bombs permit is revoked, and so Found up 0:19:18.800 --> 0:19:21.000 Bombs is like, all right, fuck it, And they go 0:19:21.040 --> 0:19:23.680 back to the park no longer a couple of blocks away, 0:19:23.800 --> 0:19:26.720 and they just, um, they're not gonna be swept out 0:19:26.760 --> 0:19:29.399 from public eye, and they're just gonna feed people. And 0:19:29.440 --> 0:19:31.720 over the next seven years, this this fight goes on 0:19:31.800 --> 0:19:36.439 for seven years, over two administrations. Over a thousand activists 0:19:37.080 --> 0:19:40.040 get sighted and or arrested for feeding people in the park. 0:19:40.480 --> 0:19:45.040 Nuns and priests joined them. At one point, my favorite 0:19:45.040 --> 0:19:48.040 was that lawyers of the National Lawyers Guild showed up. 0:19:48.320 --> 0:19:50.920 Shout out to the National Lawyers Guild, They're great. They 0:19:50.960 --> 0:19:53.520 decided to serve food and get arrested. The cops are like, 0:19:54.200 --> 0:19:57.600 now we're good. I just don't arrest the National Lawyers 0:19:57.680 --> 0:20:03.680 Guild because that's who there sleep, right of. I mean 0:20:03.680 --> 0:20:06.840 they used to be. I I was at the UM 0:20:06.920 --> 0:20:09.040 just for a part of it. I wasn't able to 0:20:09.080 --> 0:20:12.119 be around for like the most violent parts of the 0:20:13.960 --> 0:20:19.120 uh disgusting hopefully soon to be gone. City Council member 0:20:19.160 --> 0:20:24.960 Mitchell Ferrell ordered the LAPD to sweep Echo Park like 0:20:26.119 --> 0:20:28.720 um here and truly, I mean it was one of 0:20:28.720 --> 0:20:33.000 those like right like this this felt like a new thing. 0:20:33.040 --> 0:20:36.240 I'm not super experienced with stuff, but like the l 0:20:36.240 --> 0:20:39.280 A p D like first of all, like you know, 0:20:39.359 --> 0:20:43.720 performing acts of violence now with like everything recorded, but 0:20:43.880 --> 0:20:49.760 like actively going after journalists and the like the green 0:20:49.840 --> 0:20:55.200 hat National folks, targeting them in some truly fascist ship 0:20:55.280 --> 0:20:59.439 and then setting up a uh literal concentration camp at 0:20:59.440 --> 0:21:01.919 Echo Park. They fence it off and you could not 0:21:02.080 --> 0:21:04.520 You didn't. You weren't free to leave or enter. They're 0:21:04.520 --> 0:21:06.640 just going to concentrate all the people into one place 0:21:06.680 --> 0:21:12.240 so that they can be handled. It was concentration, Yeah, 0:21:12.280 --> 0:21:16.520 it was, it was. It was you know, it was 0:21:17.000 --> 0:21:22.240 so fucking disgusting. Yeah, it's unforgettable. Major media wouldn't even 0:21:22.280 --> 0:21:25.479 like really cover it because their cowards. But it's like 0:21:25.520 --> 0:21:27.639 it was being live streamed on Twitter and you're seeing 0:21:27.680 --> 0:21:32.640 it and you're like, yeah, this this is a concentration 0:21:32.680 --> 0:21:35.720 camp in the middle of Los Angeles being run by 0:21:35.720 --> 0:21:39.320 our by the l A p d by and by 0:21:39.520 --> 0:21:44.440 actual fascist MITCHO Ferrell. Yeah, if you're listening to this 0:21:44.720 --> 0:21:47.399 and you're an l A voter and there's or if 0:21:47.400 --> 0:21:50.000 you're not, actually there's any way to to contribute to 0:21:50.040 --> 0:21:53.680 the Ugo Soto Martinez campaign in any way to unsee 0:21:53.840 --> 0:21:59.000 open fascist MITCHO Ferrell. Please do that please. One of 0:21:59.040 --> 0:22:01.240 the things that I keep running when I was researching this. 0:22:01.520 --> 0:22:04.320 At one point I got really frustrated about halfway through 0:22:04.320 --> 0:22:07.000 writing all this, where I was like, it's also quaint. 0:22:07.240 --> 0:22:09.200 I know that they were fighting for really hard things 0:22:09.240 --> 0:22:12.400 and it was really hard, but I'm just like, oh 0:22:12.400 --> 0:22:15.240 my god, Like, just even what you're saying about, you know, 0:22:15.280 --> 0:22:18.119 the National Lawyers Guild actually gets arrested now right in 0:22:18.119 --> 0:22:22.160 the exact same situation, and just like, yeah, I'm really 0:22:22.200 --> 0:22:24.399 not trying to downplay the incredible amount of work that 0:22:24.600 --> 0:22:28.040 Punat bombs well, that still does and does now in 0:22:28.080 --> 0:22:31.040 this new context. So I'm really not trying to knock it, um, 0:22:31.200 --> 0:22:34.080 but it is it's it's hard to see how far 0:22:34.200 --> 0:22:37.879 we've not come in terms of the move towards it. Yeah, 0:22:38.080 --> 0:22:40.720 I mean I think it. It is also like like 0:22:41.440 --> 0:22:46.760 probably the at least some version of this activism. The 0:22:46.800 --> 0:22:48.280 stuff that I felt like I saw a lot in 0:22:48.280 --> 0:22:52.000 the nineties was a lot of people insulated by their 0:22:52.000 --> 0:22:55.480 whiteness from some of the worst things. And but that 0:22:55.640 --> 0:22:59.199 is like part of you know, it goes both ways too, 0:22:59.200 --> 0:23:01.600 because it is like of civil disobedience is like civil 0:23:01.600 --> 0:23:06.240 disobedience only works if you're oppressors have any kind of conscience, 0:23:06.840 --> 0:23:10.800 and like, yeah, it's just like cops have more of 0:23:10.840 --> 0:23:15.360