1 00:00:01,720 --> 00:00:06,600 Speaker 1: Cool Zone Media. Hello, and welcome to the cool people 2 00:00:06,640 --> 00:00:08,959 Speaker 1: who did cool stuff. You're a weekly reminder that we 3 00:00:09,039 --> 00:00:13,039 Speaker 1: come from an infinitely long legacy of rebels and freethinkers 4 00:00:13,039 --> 00:00:15,800 Speaker 1: who've stood up against the man made horrors that dominate 5 00:00:15,840 --> 00:00:19,560 Speaker 1: the world. That's the tagline, your weekly reminder that we 6 00:00:19,600 --> 00:00:21,480 Speaker 1: come from an infinitely long legacy of rebels and freethinkers 7 00:00:21,480 --> 00:00:23,080 Speaker 1: that stoo up against the man made horrors that dominate 8 00:00:23,079 --> 00:00:26,640 Speaker 1: the world. I'm your host, Margaret Kiljoy, and this week 9 00:00:26,760 --> 00:00:30,319 Speaker 1: is another solo episode. I like doing these sometimes because 10 00:00:30,360 --> 00:00:32,680 Speaker 1: it lets me be a little bit more free form 11 00:00:33,000 --> 00:00:37,320 Speaker 1: in how I like tell these stories. But I'm not 12 00:00:37,440 --> 00:00:41,879 Speaker 1: really doing this alone. Even though this is a solo episode. 13 00:00:42,040 --> 00:00:44,720 Speaker 1: Even though I'm the only voice you hear, this podcast 14 00:00:44,760 --> 00:00:47,479 Speaker 1: exists because of all the help I get, such as 15 00:00:47,520 --> 00:00:51,520 Speaker 1: from my producer Sophie and my audio engineer Eva hi Eva. 16 00:00:52,120 --> 00:00:54,240 Speaker 1: And the theme music was written for us by Unwoman. 17 00:00:55,600 --> 00:00:58,600 Speaker 1: For the past couple months, I've been focusing on movements 18 00:00:58,640 --> 00:01:02,400 Speaker 1: that fed into or were heart of the alter globalization 19 00:01:02,520 --> 00:01:06,479 Speaker 1: movement that challenged and changed the nature of economic power 20 00:01:07,280 --> 00:01:09,360 Speaker 1: in the world at the turn of the millennium. I've 21 00:01:09,400 --> 00:01:13,120 Speaker 1: talked a lot about exactly what this is, like, what 22 00:01:13,160 --> 00:01:18,080 Speaker 1: neoliberalism is, why people were against it, and how these 23 00:01:18,080 --> 00:01:23,440 Speaker 1: protests fundamentally changed the sort of neoliberal consensus, the idea 24 00:01:23,520 --> 00:01:27,280 Speaker 1: that every country would want to run along these lines 25 00:01:27,280 --> 00:01:30,360 Speaker 1: where predatory loans are used to strip those countries of 26 00:01:30,400 --> 00:01:34,880 Speaker 1: their natural resources and things like that. And we call 27 00:01:34,920 --> 00:01:38,399 Speaker 1: it the alter globalization movement. At the time, the media 28 00:01:38,440 --> 00:01:41,319 Speaker 1: called it the anti globalization movement, and frankly, so did 29 00:01:41,360 --> 00:01:46,120 Speaker 1: most of its participants. And that was always an awkward terminology, 30 00:01:46,400 --> 00:01:48,360 Speaker 1: and I've heard people give it a lot of different 31 00:01:48,960 --> 00:01:51,640 Speaker 1: ideas of a more accurate way to talk about it. 32 00:01:52,160 --> 00:01:55,080 Speaker 1: The long form version of it was that we were 33 00:01:55,120 --> 00:01:59,680 Speaker 1: the anti corporate globalization movement. We were anti the idea 34 00:01:59,880 --> 00:02:05,320 Speaker 1: of creating instead of internationalism that brings people together across nations, 35 00:02:06,400 --> 00:02:12,040 Speaker 1: this idea that only corporations can become international right, that 36 00:02:12,160 --> 00:02:15,359 Speaker 1: money can move freely across borders and not people. And 37 00:02:15,400 --> 00:02:18,840 Speaker 1: so people started conceptualizing it as the alter globalization movement 38 00:02:18,880 --> 00:02:22,919 Speaker 1: instead crime thing who will be citing heavily throughout today's 39 00:02:23,040 --> 00:02:26,519 Speaker 1: piece makes the argument that it was actually just the 40 00:02:26,560 --> 00:02:31,400 Speaker 1: anti capitalist movement. And it's funny to look back at 41 00:02:31,400 --> 00:02:34,840 Speaker 1: this like twenty five years later, because at the time 42 00:02:35,240 --> 00:02:38,639 Speaker 1: in the West, it was almost impossible to just bluntly 43 00:02:38,840 --> 00:02:42,480 Speaker 1: criticize capitalism. The shadow of the Cold War was still 44 00:02:42,800 --> 00:02:47,320 Speaker 1: very much upon us, right, and like the idea that 45 00:02:47,720 --> 00:02:50,720 Speaker 1: sort of a regular person in this country in the 46 00:02:50,800 --> 00:02:54,400 Speaker 1: United States would be critical of capitalism by that name 47 00:02:55,560 --> 00:02:58,840 Speaker 1: was sort of unheard of. And so I think that's 48 00:02:58,880 --> 00:03:01,760 Speaker 1: why it didn't get called just the anti capitalist movement, 49 00:03:01,960 --> 00:03:05,200 Speaker 1: because frankly, that is what it was. But I'll be 50 00:03:05,200 --> 00:03:08,240 Speaker 1: calling it the alter globalization movement herein because that's kind 51 00:03:08,280 --> 00:03:10,880 Speaker 1: of the one that people sort of picked to not 52 00:03:11,040 --> 00:03:15,280 Speaker 1: accidentally come across as like, well, for example, if someone 53 00:03:15,320 --> 00:03:17,720 Speaker 1: at the time talked about being anti globalization, we knew 54 00:03:17,760 --> 00:03:20,560 Speaker 1: what they meant. But if they talked about being anti globalism, 55 00:03:20,600 --> 00:03:23,600 Speaker 1: they're making anti Semitic dog whistles, and those are just 56 00:03:24,520 --> 00:03:28,080 Speaker 1: way too close to each other for anyone's comfort. Anyway, 57 00:03:29,400 --> 00:03:33,160 Speaker 1: the most famous single protest of the alter globalization movement 58 00:03:33,639 --> 00:03:37,040 Speaker 1: was its first protest. I mean, depending we're actually going 59 00:03:37,080 --> 00:03:40,440 Speaker 1: to talk about a proto protest today, but the first 60 00:03:40,440 --> 00:03:44,120 Speaker 1: big protest that people really knew about, at least in 61 00:03:44,160 --> 00:03:48,360 Speaker 1: the US, was the November nineteen ninety nine Battle of Seattle, 62 00:03:48,800 --> 00:03:51,720 Speaker 1: in which a loose coalition of scrappy activists from almost 63 00:03:51,800 --> 00:03:55,320 Speaker 1: every worthwhile social movement in the US and often the world, 64 00:03:55,920 --> 00:03:58,920 Speaker 1: came together to shut down the World Trade Organization's summit 65 00:03:59,000 --> 00:04:02,320 Speaker 1: in Seattle. And we did a whole two parter about 66 00:04:02,320 --> 00:04:04,720 Speaker 1: those protests, and we've covered some of the movements and 67 00:04:04,800 --> 00:04:07,520 Speaker 1: organizations that fed into those protests. We talk about the 68 00:04:07,560 --> 00:04:12,600 Speaker 1: easy ln the Zapatistas of Chiapas, Mexico, whose grassroots indigenous 69 00:04:12,640 --> 00:04:16,400 Speaker 1: democracy and embracive direct action really set the tone for 70 00:04:16,440 --> 00:04:18,840 Speaker 1: the protests in the modern era. We talked about how 71 00:04:18,880 --> 00:04:23,520 Speaker 1: they formed PGA People's Global Action, which was a coalition 72 00:04:23,640 --> 00:04:27,160 Speaker 1: of different grassroots groups throughout the world and especially from 73 00:04:27,240 --> 00:04:30,760 Speaker 1: the global self. That are the people who really called 74 00:04:30,920 --> 00:04:35,400 Speaker 1: for the alter globalization movement and really laid the framework 75 00:04:35,440 --> 00:04:38,479 Speaker 1: about how it would be a movement of movements, people 76 00:04:38,520 --> 00:04:40,919 Speaker 1: fighting for a world in which many worlds are possible, 77 00:04:41,320 --> 00:04:45,040 Speaker 1: making us decisions through bottom up and decentralized means. And 78 00:04:45,279 --> 00:04:47,960 Speaker 1: we can trace a lot of that very directly to 79 00:04:48,200 --> 00:04:54,240 Speaker 1: the Zapatistas of Chiapas and their infusion of indigenous ideas 80 00:04:54,279 --> 00:04:57,839 Speaker 1: of decision making into traditional leftism, so you can go 81 00:04:57,880 --> 00:05:00,000 Speaker 1: back and listen to that. We've also talked about stream 82 00:05:00,200 --> 00:05:03,520 Speaker 1: theater and the Black Bloc, about street medics and legal observers. 83 00:05:04,000 --> 00:05:06,240 Speaker 1: Last week we talked about indie media who was there 84 00:05:06,240 --> 00:05:09,160 Speaker 1: to make sure the story got out. But now we're 85 00:05:09,160 --> 00:05:12,800 Speaker 1: going to talk about what the movement did besides the 86 00:05:12,800 --> 00:05:16,520 Speaker 1: one big protest in Seattle. I think on some level, 87 00:05:16,800 --> 00:05:20,440 Speaker 1: I've been procrastinating by talking about all of these various 88 00:05:20,480 --> 00:05:23,600 Speaker 1: pieces of the story, because this story itself is one 89 00:05:23,640 --> 00:05:26,080 Speaker 1: of the main things I've wanted to talk about since 90 00:05:26,120 --> 00:05:28,960 Speaker 1: I started this show. I mean, it's the movement that 91 00:05:29,000 --> 00:05:32,360 Speaker 1: got me into radical politics, right, and so I want 92 00:05:32,360 --> 00:05:34,880 Speaker 1: to do it right and I probably won't, but you know, 93 00:05:35,080 --> 00:05:36,600 Speaker 1: I'm gonna do the best I can, and I'm gonna 94 00:05:36,600 --> 00:05:40,080 Speaker 1: give you my sources in the show notes. Although some 95 00:05:40,120 --> 00:05:42,880 Speaker 1: of the sources was I was there and they shot 96 00:05:42,880 --> 00:05:46,039 Speaker 1: at me with things and it was frustrating. I don't 97 00:05:46,040 --> 00:05:48,919 Speaker 1: want to do the stolen valor thing. However, I was 98 00:05:48,960 --> 00:05:52,400 Speaker 1: not at most of the earlier parts of this movement 99 00:05:52,480 --> 00:05:55,200 Speaker 1: and its protests. You'll be able to tell. I'll interject 100 00:05:55,200 --> 00:05:58,520 Speaker 1: myself into the story. I can't help it. It is 101 00:05:58,600 --> 00:06:02,560 Speaker 1: really important to understand the alter globalization movement as a 102 00:06:02,560 --> 00:06:06,159 Speaker 1: movement of movements and not as a single piece. Its 103 00:06:06,200 --> 00:06:11,080 Speaker 1: strength was its own ideological, strategic, and tactical pluralism. During 104 00:06:11,120 --> 00:06:13,799 Speaker 1: that movement, I spent plenty of time in huge spokes 105 00:06:13,839 --> 00:06:16,400 Speaker 1: council meetings where all sorts of different people worked through 106 00:06:16,400 --> 00:06:20,400 Speaker 1: their differences and figured out strategies that played to everyone's strengths. 107 00:06:21,400 --> 00:06:24,760 Speaker 1: Those meetings were sometimes endless, and they were sometimes fruitless, 108 00:06:25,040 --> 00:06:27,279 Speaker 1: and sometimes we had to stop because something was happening 109 00:06:27,320 --> 00:06:30,520 Speaker 1: with the police outside. But by and large they gave 110 00:06:30,600 --> 00:06:33,719 Speaker 1: us the solidarity and the understanding of one another that 111 00:06:33,800 --> 00:06:36,080 Speaker 1: we needed to go out and get in trouble together. 112 00:06:37,360 --> 00:06:41,119 Speaker 1: It was endless meetings and its resultant solidarity that meant 113 00:06:41,320 --> 00:06:44,000 Speaker 1: when I was arrested along seven hundred people in DC 114 00:06:44,320 --> 00:06:48,080 Speaker 1: and hogtied overnight in a gymnasium at a police training facility, 115 00:06:48,880 --> 00:06:52,200 Speaker 1: I and almost everyone else were eventually released without charges 116 00:06:52,560 --> 00:06:55,760 Speaker 1: because we refused to let them single people out. But 117 00:06:55,800 --> 00:06:59,120 Speaker 1: that's getting ahead of myself. The most visible part of 118 00:06:59,160 --> 00:07:03,479 Speaker 1: the alter globalisation movement were the summit protests. The forces 119 00:07:03,520 --> 00:07:06,039 Speaker 1: of capitalism would call for a big old summit of 120 00:07:06,080 --> 00:07:09,240 Speaker 1: the world leaders somewhere, and the movement of movements would 121 00:07:09,240 --> 00:07:12,720 Speaker 1: call for counter protests to shut those summits down or 122 00:07:12,760 --> 00:07:15,120 Speaker 1: at least raise the cost of doing business so high 123 00:07:15,200 --> 00:07:18,280 Speaker 1: that fewer cities wanted to host summits and more people 124 00:07:18,320 --> 00:07:21,200 Speaker 1: were aware of what capitalists were doing behind closed doors. 125 00:07:22,120 --> 00:07:25,720 Speaker 1: This was the era of summit hopping, a phrase often 126 00:07:25,760 --> 00:07:31,000 Speaker 1: thrown around pejoratively, basically people hopping from trade meeting summit 127 00:07:31,080 --> 00:07:34,320 Speaker 1: to trade meeting summit. People like myself would go from 128 00:07:34,360 --> 00:07:37,960 Speaker 1: protest to protest wherever we could, many of us hitchhiking 129 00:07:38,000 --> 00:07:42,600 Speaker 1: and riding freight trains, others organizing caravans. Folks would even 130 00:07:42,640 --> 00:07:45,120 Speaker 1: walk from city to city, sometimes as a way to 131 00:07:45,200 --> 00:07:48,200 Speaker 1: draw attention to what was happening. There was a whole 132 00:07:48,640 --> 00:07:51,760 Speaker 1: informal network of us, and I made friends in one 133 00:07:51,840 --> 00:07:54,120 Speaker 1: city I'd see a year later on the other side 134 00:07:54,160 --> 00:07:57,480 Speaker 1: of the country. Some people went from country to country too, 135 00:07:57,720 --> 00:08:01,200 Speaker 1: though personally I didn't have the resources for that. But 136 00:08:01,280 --> 00:08:06,440 Speaker 1: these summit protests themselves, they weren't the movement. I want 137 00:08:06,440 --> 00:08:08,760 Speaker 1: to quote a write up from Crime Think that the 138 00:08:08,800 --> 00:08:14,000 Speaker 1: summits were quote mushrooms emerging from a myceelial network. The 139 00:08:14,040 --> 00:08:18,240 Speaker 1: network itself was comprised of a variety of participatory, anti 140 00:08:18,280 --> 00:08:23,000 Speaker 1: colonial and countercultural spaces and movements spread all across the world. 141 00:08:23,600 --> 00:08:27,880 Speaker 1: Indigenous revolts like the e ZLN in Mexico, Occupation movements 142 00:08:27,920 --> 00:08:31,440 Speaker 1: like the Movemento Semptera, the Landless Workers movement which I'll 143 00:08:31,440 --> 00:08:35,280 Speaker 1: cover at some point, the MST it's often called, which 144 00:08:35,320 --> 00:08:39,199 Speaker 1: was in Brazil, back to the quote, and the network 145 00:08:39,240 --> 00:08:43,400 Speaker 1: of squatted social centers around Europe, movements of agricultural workers 146 00:08:43,400 --> 00:08:47,320 Speaker 1: from the Indian some continent to South Korea. Ecological movements 147 00:08:47,360 --> 00:08:50,960 Speaker 1: like Earth First, grassroots unions like the Industrial Workers of 148 00:08:50,960 --> 00:08:54,560 Speaker 1: the World, do it Yourself, underground music mail us like 149 00:08:54,600 --> 00:08:58,760 Speaker 1: the rave and punk scenes end quote. And it really 150 00:08:58,920 --> 00:09:01,720 Speaker 1: was all of those things and more. And when people 151 00:09:01,760 --> 00:09:04,600 Speaker 1: try and sum it up as one thing, they fail. 152 00:09:05,080 --> 00:09:09,120 Speaker 1: But do you know what can be summed up really quickly, ads, 153 00:09:09,520 --> 00:09:13,200 Speaker 1: they're very good at putting their pitch together tightly and 154 00:09:13,280 --> 00:09:17,679 Speaker 1: almost entertainingly to try to hold your attention, for example. 155 00:09:23,000 --> 00:09:26,960 Speaker 1: And we're back. So the Summit protests were the fruit 156 00:09:27,280 --> 00:09:29,520 Speaker 1: in the way that mushrooms are the fruit of my 157 00:09:29,640 --> 00:09:33,559 Speaker 1: celial networks, and the things that undergirded the movement the 158 00:09:33,640 --> 00:09:37,360 Speaker 1: individual organizations and movements that came together for this larger movement. 159 00:09:38,080 --> 00:09:40,160 Speaker 1: It's not a coincidence that so many of them were 160 00:09:40,200 --> 00:09:45,080 Speaker 1: about taking physical space and holding it autonomously. You've got 161 00:09:45,120 --> 00:09:48,240 Speaker 1: the Zapatistas that we've talked about extensively, right, and the 162 00:09:48,280 --> 00:09:51,440 Speaker 1: short version is that they took held and still hold 163 00:09:51,920 --> 00:09:54,160 Speaker 1: a lot of the jungle of the Mexican state of 164 00:09:54,240 --> 00:09:58,720 Speaker 1: Chiappas as autonomous territory despite officially being part of Mexico. 165 00:10:00,400 --> 00:10:02,160 Speaker 1: A lot of the movements that came out of Europe 166 00:10:02,240 --> 00:10:06,480 Speaker 1: were similarly oriented around physical space. We haven't talked about 167 00:10:06,520 --> 00:10:09,240 Speaker 1: it a ton yet, but the European parts of the 168 00:10:09,240 --> 00:10:13,240 Speaker 1: proto alt globalization movement they grew out of these autonomous 169 00:10:13,280 --> 00:10:16,480 Speaker 1: social centers that tried in their way to live outside 170 00:10:16,480 --> 00:10:19,320 Speaker 1: the logic of state and capitalism. We've talked a little 171 00:10:19,360 --> 00:10:21,400 Speaker 1: bit about this when we talked about a Narco Punk 172 00:10:21,400 --> 00:10:25,080 Speaker 1: and the episodes about Crass. We talked about how the 173 00:10:25,320 --> 00:10:29,960 Speaker 1: money that they made selling records opened the first anarchist 174 00:10:29,960 --> 00:10:34,320 Speaker 1: social center in London, and that in the seventies and 175 00:10:34,400 --> 00:10:40,200 Speaker 1: eighties there was this large autonomist movement. Anarchists and autonomists 176 00:10:40,400 --> 00:10:43,960 Speaker 1: worked to open all of these social centers and squats 177 00:10:43,960 --> 00:10:46,800 Speaker 1: and stuff all around mainland Europe. And if you want 178 00:10:46,840 --> 00:10:48,920 Speaker 1: to hear us talk about that, listen to our Black 179 00:10:48,960 --> 00:10:52,679 Speaker 1: Bloc episodes. And I'm using our well, I guess I 180 00:10:52,679 --> 00:10:55,320 Speaker 1: could include Sophie and my other producers. It's not the 181 00:10:55,400 --> 00:11:00,400 Speaker 1: royal we I'm referring to the entire court anyway. The 182 00:11:00,440 --> 00:11:04,760 Speaker 1: protests that the European anarchists and autonomous built up were 183 00:11:04,800 --> 00:11:09,760 Speaker 1: called things like Reclaim the Streets or the Carnival against Capitalism, 184 00:11:09,760 --> 00:11:12,280 Speaker 1: which we'll talk about in a minute, which were attempts 185 00:11:12,280 --> 00:11:15,880 Speaker 1: to basically retake public space away from capitalism and put 186 00:11:15,880 --> 00:11:18,440 Speaker 1: it back in the hands of people and to hold 187 00:11:18,440 --> 00:11:23,240 Speaker 1: that space autonomously. In the US, punks were coming out 188 00:11:23,280 --> 00:11:25,920 Speaker 1: of a movement that retook their own social scenes away 189 00:11:25,920 --> 00:11:28,600 Speaker 1: from the fascists who had infiltrated them. And it's not 190 00:11:28,720 --> 00:11:31,120 Speaker 1: quite as much about like the direct holding of space, 191 00:11:31,200 --> 00:11:33,560 Speaker 1: but basically there was this whole thing. You can listen 192 00:11:33,559 --> 00:11:37,160 Speaker 1: to our episode about the ar anti racist action to 193 00:11:37,200 --> 00:11:40,880 Speaker 1: hear about how countercultural folks and specifically punks in the 194 00:11:40,920 --> 00:11:43,880 Speaker 1: eighties and the US basically went into like a kind 195 00:11:43,880 --> 00:11:48,800 Speaker 1: of small scale war against fascists within countercultural spaces and 196 00:11:48,920 --> 00:11:52,880 Speaker 1: came out on top. And then also primarily in the US, 197 00:11:53,040 --> 00:11:56,120 Speaker 1: but also in England and some other places, Earth First 198 00:11:56,120 --> 00:11:59,439 Speaker 1: and environmentalists were used to setting up these forest occupations 199 00:11:59,480 --> 00:12:02,560 Speaker 1: and free states where they would shut down logging roads 200 00:12:02,640 --> 00:12:05,920 Speaker 1: for months or longer and live these free lives and 201 00:12:05,960 --> 00:12:10,200 Speaker 1: resistance to the ecological destruction demanded by capitalism. We've talked 202 00:12:10,200 --> 00:12:13,200 Speaker 1: about that a little bit. This isn't just the Table 203 00:12:13,200 --> 00:12:15,360 Speaker 1: of Contents episode where I talk about other episodes, but 204 00:12:15,360 --> 00:12:17,319 Speaker 1: we talked about that a little bit in I think 205 00:12:17,400 --> 00:12:20,360 Speaker 1: the Judy Barry episodes just about a woman who is 206 00:12:20,440 --> 00:12:25,040 Speaker 1: bombed by almost certainly the FBI for trying to organize 207 00:12:25,240 --> 00:12:28,600 Speaker 1: hippies and loggers on the same side and bringing labor 208 00:12:28,840 --> 00:12:33,960 Speaker 1: into environmentalism. The state or somebody sure couldn't handle that, 209 00:12:34,040 --> 00:12:38,040 Speaker 1: and they surecar bomber. So this is the spirit people 210 00:12:38,040 --> 00:12:41,200 Speaker 1: are bringing into the ultra globalization movement. They're coming from 211 00:12:41,280 --> 00:12:45,000 Speaker 1: movements that are like scrappier and smaller, but are like 212 00:12:45,320 --> 00:12:49,080 Speaker 1: living intensely and doing intense things and getting targeted with 213 00:12:49,200 --> 00:12:54,520 Speaker 1: violence for it, and are about taking up space. And 214 00:12:54,559 --> 00:12:57,440 Speaker 1: there's a very countercultural vibe to it. Whether it's hippies 215 00:12:57,480 --> 00:13:00,160 Speaker 1: or punks or all kinds of other types of folks. 216 00:13:00,520 --> 00:13:04,400 Speaker 1: It is a carnival air. A defining chant of the 217 00:13:04,440 --> 00:13:08,040 Speaker 1: time was whose streets are streets? About this idea that 218 00:13:08,080 --> 00:13:12,040 Speaker 1: we are going to take back this public space. It's 219 00:13:12,160 --> 00:13:16,360 Speaker 1: strange to look back on the sort of joy and carnivolishness, 220 00:13:16,960 --> 00:13:22,080 Speaker 1: carnivality of the alter Globalization movement. On one hand, this 221 00:13:22,240 --> 00:13:26,000 Speaker 1: like fun aspect was a powerful draw and it brought 222 00:13:26,080 --> 00:13:29,600 Speaker 1: a ton of people out, especially young people, into the movement. 223 00:13:30,480 --> 00:13:33,520 Speaker 1: Things were serious and maybe even dire, but people dressed 224 00:13:33,600 --> 00:13:36,400 Speaker 1: up like clowns and cheerleaders to out maneuver police and 225 00:13:36,440 --> 00:13:39,560 Speaker 1: try to shut cities down. We still haven't talked about 226 00:13:39,600 --> 00:13:43,360 Speaker 1: the whole radical cheerleader movement and these like clown blocks 227 00:13:43,400 --> 00:13:47,400 Speaker 1: of people pranking the police and it's cool. It's interesting. 228 00:13:48,200 --> 00:13:50,679 Speaker 1: I'm going to quote from crimethink again because frankly, I 229 00:13:50,720 --> 00:13:52,400 Speaker 1: think they have some of the best write ups about 230 00:13:52,440 --> 00:13:55,240 Speaker 1: this time and movement that I've found. Here is them 231 00:13:55,320 --> 00:13:58,360 Speaker 1: talking about to Reclaim the Streets. Protest in nineteen ninety 232 00:13:58,400 --> 00:14:01,280 Speaker 1: six in England is one of the movements that's the 233 00:14:01,320 --> 00:14:05,920 Speaker 1: proto alter globalization movement, and this is part of the 234 00:14:06,000 --> 00:14:08,959 Speaker 1: fight against the expansion of the roads system in England 235 00:14:09,040 --> 00:14:13,840 Speaker 1: that was destroying forests. Quote the sight of thousands of 236 00:14:13,840 --> 00:14:16,880 Speaker 1: people running onto an empty motorway shut off by large 237 00:14:16,920 --> 00:14:20,480 Speaker 1: tripods is an image that stays with you. Pulling out 238 00:14:20,520 --> 00:14:22,720 Speaker 1: of the quote for a second. Tripods in this context, 239 00:14:23,040 --> 00:14:26,000 Speaker 1: I mean like literal tripods, very large tripods. It'd be 240 00:14:26,040 --> 00:14:28,640 Speaker 1: like thirty feet tall that people lock themselves to the 241 00:14:28,640 --> 00:14:31,320 Speaker 1: top of and sometimes also the bottom of, making it 242 00:14:31,360 --> 00:14:33,680 Speaker 1: hard for the police to like move these tripods, and 243 00:14:33,720 --> 00:14:37,360 Speaker 1: therefore vehicles can't move through the area. Okay, back to 244 00:14:37,400 --> 00:14:43,280 Speaker 1: the quote, thirty foot pantomime dames glided through the party, 245 00:14:43,360 --> 00:14:47,920 Speaker 1: throwing confetti. Food stalls gave away free stew and sandwiches. 246 00:14:48,400 --> 00:14:52,600 Speaker 1: Graffiti artists added color to the tarmac. Poets ranted from 247 00:14:52,600 --> 00:14:57,560 Speaker 1: the railings, acoustic bands played, and strolling players performed. Some 248 00:14:57,720 --> 00:15:02,200 Speaker 1: seven thousand turned up the height of festivities. Beneath the 249 00:15:02,240 --> 00:15:06,480 Speaker 1: tall panto dame figures dressed in huge farthing Gale Marie 250 00:15:06,520 --> 00:15:10,640 Speaker 1: antoinette skirts. People were at work with jackhammers, hacking in 251 00:15:10,720 --> 00:15:13,560 Speaker 1: time to the techno to mask the sound from the 252 00:15:13,600 --> 00:15:17,200 Speaker 1: officers standing inches away, digging up the surface of the 253 00:15:17,280 --> 00:15:21,040 Speaker 1: Road until large craters littered the fast lane to plant 254 00:15:21,120 --> 00:15:26,200 Speaker 1: seedlings from the gardens smashed by the bulldozers at Claremont Road, 255 00:15:27,200 --> 00:15:29,560 Speaker 1: and so the image isn't clear. It's like literally, you know, 256 00:15:29,600 --> 00:15:32,920 Speaker 1: these giant people on hoop skirts, possibly built out of 257 00:15:32,920 --> 00:15:36,360 Speaker 1: the tripods, so it creates like kind of a tent underneath, 258 00:15:36,360 --> 00:15:39,040 Speaker 1: and people would go in with jackhammers and then jackhammer 259 00:15:39,040 --> 00:15:42,520 Speaker 1: in time to the techno. Just pretty fun. We don't 260 00:15:42,560 --> 00:15:46,320 Speaker 1: really do that festival thing anymore, at least nowhere that 261 00:15:46,400 --> 00:15:49,000 Speaker 1: I have been, not to the same degree. And part 262 00:15:49,040 --> 00:15:52,160 Speaker 1: of me thinks that we've lost something, but most of me, 263 00:15:52,480 --> 00:15:55,880 Speaker 1: honestly thinks we've kind of just adapted to the times. 264 00:15:56,640 --> 00:15:58,640 Speaker 1: I Am not going to sit on my rocking chair 265 00:15:58,640 --> 00:16:01,360 Speaker 1: on my porch. I did myself a rocking chair for 266 00:16:01,440 --> 00:16:04,640 Speaker 1: my birthday last year and say that the youth aren't 267 00:16:04,640 --> 00:16:09,520 Speaker 1: protesting right anymore, because the thing is, things are worse now. 268 00:16:10,760 --> 00:16:12,920 Speaker 1: The stakes were high at the time, but the stakes 269 00:16:12,920 --> 00:16:15,920 Speaker 1: were highest for the people in the global South, in 270 00:16:15,960 --> 00:16:19,840 Speaker 1: the countries that neoliberalism was stripping for resources. And while 271 00:16:19,880 --> 00:16:24,600 Speaker 1: alter globalization was a worldwide movement, most of its direct participants, 272 00:16:24,960 --> 00:16:28,000 Speaker 1: at least at these big summit protests that I'm describing 273 00:16:28,720 --> 00:16:31,960 Speaker 1: were in the colonial core where these summit meetings were happening, 274 00:16:32,440 --> 00:16:36,400 Speaker 1: the US, Canada, Europe. Some European and Western countries like 275 00:16:36,480 --> 00:16:40,880 Speaker 1: Greece suffered directly and extensively under neoliberal policies, but by 276 00:16:40,920 --> 00:16:43,480 Speaker 1: and large Western nations were the ones profiting off of 277 00:16:43,520 --> 00:16:47,440 Speaker 1: the exploitation, and things simply weren't as dire to many 278 00:16:47,480 --> 00:16:52,360 Speaker 1: of the movement's participants. But do you know what isn't dire. No, 279 00:16:52,520 --> 00:16:58,200 Speaker 1: what is dire is your need, your absolute burning need 280 00:16:58,880 --> 00:17:03,520 Speaker 1: to take advantage of the sweet, sweet deals offered to 281 00:17:03,520 --> 00:17:06,000 Speaker 1: you by the sponsors of this show. I say, as 282 00:17:06,040 --> 00:17:09,200 Speaker 1: if there's like ever deals, there's like almost never deals 283 00:17:09,200 --> 00:17:11,159 Speaker 1: in these ads. They're just ads. You can listen to 284 00:17:11,200 --> 00:17:13,280 Speaker 1: them or not. I don't care. Do whatever you want 285 00:17:17,760 --> 00:17:21,800 Speaker 1: and we're back. So myself, in the midst of all 286 00:17:21,800 --> 00:17:24,080 Speaker 1: of this, I was a middle class dropout. I joined 287 00:17:24,080 --> 00:17:27,360 Speaker 1: the movement because it felt like an ethical imperative and because, frankly, 288 00:17:27,960 --> 00:17:31,160 Speaker 1: it was more exciting than humdrum life in early Auts America. 289 00:17:32,960 --> 00:17:35,240 Speaker 1: A lot of the radical culture of the nineties, in 290 00:17:35,280 --> 00:17:38,800 Speaker 1: particular before nine to eleven, basically was built around the 291 00:17:38,840 --> 00:17:42,480 Speaker 1: idea that the problem with capitalism was that it was boring. 292 00:17:43,040 --> 00:17:46,160 Speaker 1: I'm oversimplifying things. People understood the way it was destroying 293 00:17:46,160 --> 00:17:47,879 Speaker 1: lives and all of these things, and people's lives were 294 00:17:47,880 --> 00:17:50,159 Speaker 1: being destroyed by it, but there was still this like, 295 00:17:50,760 --> 00:17:53,879 Speaker 1: aren't we all so bored? And a lot of the 296 00:17:53,920 --> 00:17:57,560 Speaker 1: participants in the alter globalization movement were throwing down because 297 00:17:57,560 --> 00:18:00,000 Speaker 1: fighting the cops on behalf of the developing world appears 298 00:18:00,200 --> 00:18:03,479 Speaker 1: to be an ethical and exciting way to live. And 299 00:18:03,520 --> 00:18:07,160 Speaker 1: that's just not our problem anymore. It's not what we're 300 00:18:07,200 --> 00:18:11,679 Speaker 1: dealing with. As much neoliberalism has transitioned to fascism and 301 00:18:11,800 --> 00:18:15,400 Speaker 1: more of the colonial core is also fucked, and more 302 00:18:15,440 --> 00:18:19,679 Speaker 1: of us are literally and less figuratively fighting for our lives, 303 00:18:20,320 --> 00:18:23,040 Speaker 1: not just fighting for our lives to have meaning and beauty, 304 00:18:23,080 --> 00:18:25,879 Speaker 1: but fighting for our lives to continue, fighting for the 305 00:18:25,960 --> 00:18:28,359 Speaker 1: ability for not just the next generation to live to 306 00:18:28,359 --> 00:18:33,119 Speaker 1: be old, but for ourselves as well. And again I 307 00:18:33,160 --> 00:18:38,120 Speaker 1: am oversimplifying here. There were absolutely people who were directly 308 00:18:38,400 --> 00:18:41,800 Speaker 1: fighting for their own lives and their families' lives during 309 00:18:41,840 --> 00:18:44,760 Speaker 1: the alter Globalization movement, and people died in that fight. 310 00:18:45,240 --> 00:18:47,680 Speaker 1: So I'm not trying to be like Ahaha, everything was 311 00:18:47,720 --> 00:18:50,040 Speaker 1: silly and lighthearted. It's something that I just like think 312 00:18:50,040 --> 00:18:54,399 Speaker 1: about a lot, right, because the thing that I've learned 313 00:18:54,440 --> 00:18:56,959 Speaker 1: over time is that things can always get worse, and 314 00:18:57,000 --> 00:19:01,000 Speaker 1: so things were really bad and now things are worse. 315 00:19:01,320 --> 00:19:03,719 Speaker 1: And so that's not to say that things weren't bad before, 316 00:19:04,560 --> 00:19:06,439 Speaker 1: just to say that things are worse now, and we're 317 00:19:06,440 --> 00:19:08,960 Speaker 1: going to have different attitudes about things. There's a real 318 00:19:09,040 --> 00:19:11,440 Speaker 1: beauty to when we manage a sort of carnival air, 319 00:19:11,840 --> 00:19:14,600 Speaker 1: and maybe that's something we should look to reclaim. But 320 00:19:14,640 --> 00:19:17,200 Speaker 1: I also understand why that's not the tone we've got 321 00:19:17,240 --> 00:19:21,800 Speaker 1: going on these days. That's all I'm saying. The specific 322 00:19:22,119 --> 00:19:24,359 Speaker 1: protest I'm going to talk about today before we talk 323 00:19:24,400 --> 00:19:26,960 Speaker 1: about a lot more of them, is I'm going to 324 00:19:27,040 --> 00:19:30,120 Speaker 1: use a proto alter globalization movement protest. It's not even 325 00:19:30,160 --> 00:19:32,520 Speaker 1: really proto. It's actually probably one of the first ones, 326 00:19:32,840 --> 00:19:35,440 Speaker 1: but it's like people talk about the movement kicking off 327 00:19:36,359 --> 00:19:38,440 Speaker 1: at the Battle of Seattle, and this is before then, 328 00:19:38,560 --> 00:19:41,639 Speaker 1: so therefore it's proto, and it has got the word 329 00:19:41,800 --> 00:19:46,280 Speaker 1: carnival right in its name. It also has anti capitalism 330 00:19:46,359 --> 00:19:49,560 Speaker 1: pretty directly said, and that's because it doesn't happen in 331 00:19:49,560 --> 00:19:54,119 Speaker 1: the US. It is the Carnival against Capitalism June eighteenth, 332 00:19:54,280 --> 00:19:59,320 Speaker 1: nineteen ninety nine, so before the Battle of Seattle. This 333 00:19:59,359 --> 00:20:02,359 Speaker 1: is when people shut down the financial district of London. 334 00:20:03,600 --> 00:20:06,000 Speaker 1: It gets called a carnival. It's in the name, as 335 00:20:06,000 --> 00:20:09,440 Speaker 1: we mentioned, but it's also a riot. A report back 336 00:20:09,480 --> 00:20:12,280 Speaker 1: a few days later on a list Serve put it bluntly, 337 00:20:13,000 --> 00:20:16,639 Speaker 1: quote the June eighteenth demo against the G eight summit 338 00:20:16,720 --> 00:20:20,080 Speaker 1: in the city of London was amazing. It was possibly 339 00:20:20,119 --> 00:20:22,840 Speaker 1: the best riot in London since the poll tax won. 340 00:20:23,240 --> 00:20:26,359 Speaker 1: The cops totally lost control of the situation and got 341 00:20:26,400 --> 00:20:31,400 Speaker 1: a good beating in Various businesses like McDonald's car show rooms, banks, 342 00:20:31,680 --> 00:20:35,920 Speaker 1: the Future Exchange were trashed. According to the press, four 343 00:20:35,960 --> 00:20:40,200 Speaker 1: cops were hospitalized. The city was also covered in anarchist graffiti. 344 00:20:40,560 --> 00:20:42,920 Speaker 1: Every time you were with a large mob, thinking this 345 00:20:42,960 --> 00:20:45,600 Speaker 1: is great, all these people, you turn the corner and 346 00:20:45,600 --> 00:20:49,679 Speaker 1: there be an even larger crowd there, creating mayhem. So 347 00:20:49,720 --> 00:20:53,000 Speaker 1: that's obviously an enthusiastic report about it being a riot. 348 00:20:53,280 --> 00:20:56,040 Speaker 1: What it doesn't mention is that another report I found 349 00:20:56,080 --> 00:20:58,080 Speaker 1: says that a total of six cops were hospitalized and 350 00:20:58,119 --> 00:21:01,800 Speaker 1: a total of forty protest were hospitalized. So it wasn't 351 00:21:01,840 --> 00:21:05,440 Speaker 1: just this like ha ha, we just won or I 352 00:21:05,440 --> 00:21:08,040 Speaker 1: don't know whatever. The story is always more complicated than 353 00:21:08,040 --> 00:21:10,760 Speaker 1: any one position on it, including my one position on it. 354 00:21:11,359 --> 00:21:15,280 Speaker 1: But having a carnival be a riot. The history of 355 00:21:15,320 --> 00:21:19,800 Speaker 1: carnivals and holidays and history, at least European history, is 356 00:21:19,840 --> 00:21:23,560 Speaker 1: the history of riots in public mayhem. In a strange way, 357 00:21:23,840 --> 00:21:26,320 Speaker 1: the crowd taking over the city and driving back the 358 00:21:26,359 --> 00:21:29,120 Speaker 1: cops is just about the most carnival thing you can do. 359 00:21:29,680 --> 00:21:34,840 Speaker 1: Historically speaking, the carnival against capitalism was time to happen 360 00:21:34,880 --> 00:21:37,399 Speaker 1: at the same time as the G eight, the Group 361 00:21:37,440 --> 00:21:40,520 Speaker 1: of Eight, which is basically an economic council of the 362 00:21:40,600 --> 00:21:43,600 Speaker 1: leaders of eight powerful wealthy nations. And it's not just 363 00:21:44,240 --> 00:21:46,919 Speaker 1: the eight richest nations, but rather the ones who are 364 00:21:46,960 --> 00:21:49,879 Speaker 1: willing to work together in this context, and specifically people 365 00:21:49,880 --> 00:21:53,399 Speaker 1: with like certain kinds of power. Russia was added to 366 00:21:53,440 --> 00:21:56,439 Speaker 1: the G eight nineteen ninety seven. I've always assumed it 367 00:21:56,600 --> 00:21:59,400 Speaker 1: wasn't because they were wealthy, because they weren't, but because 368 00:21:59,400 --> 00:22:02,800 Speaker 1: they had a nuclear stockpile. Later they did get kicked 369 00:22:02,800 --> 00:22:05,480 Speaker 1: out of the G eight in twenty fourteen when they 370 00:22:05,520 --> 00:22:09,800 Speaker 1: annex Crimea. So the Gaight gets together to plan how 371 00:22:09,840 --> 00:22:12,399 Speaker 1: the world is going to work economically, which is not 372 00:22:12,680 --> 00:22:15,960 Speaker 1: very democratic of them. So people protest the G eight 373 00:22:16,320 --> 00:22:18,480 Speaker 1: and I think that is a fair thing to do. 374 00:22:19,200 --> 00:22:21,320 Speaker 1: So the ga was meeting. I have read a couple 375 00:22:21,400 --> 00:22:24,399 Speaker 1: different reportbacks about where but I'm going to go with Birmingham, 376 00:22:24,440 --> 00:22:28,920 Speaker 1: England and forty different countries through protests at the same 377 00:22:29,040 --> 00:22:32,560 Speaker 1: time against the G eight organized by People's Global Action, 378 00:22:32,720 --> 00:22:34,920 Speaker 1: which was that network we were talking about that came 379 00:22:34,960 --> 00:22:38,680 Speaker 1: together from the Zapatistas. You can't just call for big 380 00:22:38,680 --> 00:22:42,120 Speaker 1: demonstration and expected to accomplish anything. You've got to do outreach. 381 00:22:42,160 --> 00:22:44,159 Speaker 1: You've got to talk to people about your goals and 382 00:22:44,200 --> 00:22:48,200 Speaker 1: your tactics. And so organizers of the carnival put together 383 00:22:48,240 --> 00:22:50,080 Speaker 1: a bunch of pamphlets and shit did a ton of 384 00:22:50,119 --> 00:22:52,760 Speaker 1: outreach and they talked about their goals and their hopes. 385 00:22:53,800 --> 00:22:57,520 Speaker 1: They also made one pamphlet called Squaring Up the Square Mile, 386 00:22:58,000 --> 00:23:00,240 Speaker 1: which was basically a map and description of all the 387 00:23:00,240 --> 00:23:03,560 Speaker 1: financial institutions in London and what they did with the 388 00:23:03,640 --> 00:23:06,760 Speaker 1: sort of inference that one could make that this is 389 00:23:06,760 --> 00:23:10,040 Speaker 1: a map of targets that you could go and disrupt. 390 00:23:11,880 --> 00:23:15,400 Speaker 1: When protesters met up in the morning, organizers handed out 391 00:23:15,400 --> 00:23:18,440 Speaker 1: four different colors of masks so that people could break 392 00:23:18,440 --> 00:23:22,000 Speaker 1: into four different marches. It is much easier for the 393 00:23:22,040 --> 00:23:25,000 Speaker 1: police to contain one big protest march than lots of 394 00:23:25,000 --> 00:23:28,720 Speaker 1: small ones, and then a fifth march sprung up spontaneously. 395 00:23:29,240 --> 00:23:32,040 Speaker 1: Hundreds of bicyclists formed a critical mass, as like a 396 00:23:32,200 --> 00:23:36,480 Speaker 1: sixth column, and critical mass was a popular style of 397 00:23:36,600 --> 00:23:39,480 Speaker 1: bike protest where you just get a lot of bicyclists together. 398 00:23:40,040 --> 00:23:43,119 Speaker 1: A lot of cities held regular critical mass protests to 399 00:23:43,240 --> 00:23:46,959 Speaker 1: choke up city streets in order to demand better bicycle infrastructure, 400 00:23:47,000 --> 00:23:50,080 Speaker 1: basically saying, like you say that, as bicyclists, we have 401 00:23:50,160 --> 00:23:53,720 Speaker 1: to use the road, Okay, we're going to use the road. 402 00:23:54,160 --> 00:23:56,280 Speaker 1: Oh what happens when we all use the road? Don't 403 00:23:56,280 --> 00:23:58,879 Speaker 1: you sure wish we had bike lanes? But the same 404 00:23:58,960 --> 00:24:03,960 Speaker 1: tactic could be used other demonstrations. The marches all came 405 00:24:04,000 --> 00:24:06,439 Speaker 1: together on the Futures Exchange, which I think is their 406 00:24:06,440 --> 00:24:08,640 Speaker 1: stock market. I just assume, and then forgot to look 407 00:24:08,640 --> 00:24:12,600 Speaker 1: it up. And there it got all carnival esque by 408 00:24:12,680 --> 00:24:16,040 Speaker 1: smashing surveillance cameras and opening fire hydrants and letting DJs 409 00:24:16,040 --> 00:24:20,320 Speaker 1: and punk bands perform. Most accounts I've read focus on 410 00:24:20,359 --> 00:24:23,879 Speaker 1: how the police attacked with tear gas and horse mounted cops, 411 00:24:23,960 --> 00:24:26,040 Speaker 1: and that one woman was run over by a police 412 00:24:26,119 --> 00:24:29,480 Speaker 1: van which broke her leg. The first hand account that 413 00:24:29,520 --> 00:24:32,880 Speaker 1: I read, though, cheered on how the protesters fought back 414 00:24:33,080 --> 00:24:36,200 Speaker 1: or maybe even initiated the violence. I honestly couldn't tell 415 00:24:36,240 --> 00:24:40,080 Speaker 1: you Hans Solo did he shoot first? I don't know. 416 00:24:40,960 --> 00:24:43,240 Speaker 1: This first hand account talks about how the brew crew 417 00:24:43,480 --> 00:24:47,520 Speaker 1: of drunk punks basically pelted the cops with beer bottles, 418 00:24:47,640 --> 00:24:49,479 Speaker 1: and that the police were forced to hide in their 419 00:24:49,560 --> 00:24:53,760 Speaker 1: vehicles while people danced atop the police fans and ripped 420 00:24:53,760 --> 00:24:57,480 Speaker 1: off the police bumpers and license plates. And after that 421 00:24:57,520 --> 00:25:00,920 Speaker 1: the police retreated, and theoretically it was in this retreat 422 00:25:01,040 --> 00:25:04,600 Speaker 1: that they ran over this person's leg. But I will 423 00:25:04,640 --> 00:25:06,800 Speaker 1: say that if you've ever seen the police retreat, it 424 00:25:06,920 --> 00:25:11,160 Speaker 1: is not something that you'll forget. According to one right 425 00:25:11,200 --> 00:25:14,440 Speaker 1: wing report I found, there were at least sixteen arrests, 426 00:25:14,680 --> 00:25:17,680 Speaker 1: and those arrests were called The people were called terrorists 427 00:25:17,720 --> 00:25:21,359 Speaker 1: by the Lord Mayor of London. As if London didn't 428 00:25:21,359 --> 00:25:23,480 Speaker 1: already sound like a fake place, they have a Lord mayor. 429 00:25:23,520 --> 00:25:27,600 Speaker 1: Apparently forty six people total were hospitalized from the fighting, 430 00:25:27,640 --> 00:25:34,040 Speaker 1: including six police officers. Then, after JA eighteen, as it's called, 431 00:25:34,480 --> 00:25:37,000 Speaker 1: processors at the time had this annoying habit of naming 432 00:25:37,040 --> 00:25:40,000 Speaker 1: protests a month initial and then a number like J 433 00:25:40,200 --> 00:25:43,159 Speaker 1: twenty and N thirty and shit like that, which not 434 00:25:43,200 --> 00:25:45,120 Speaker 1: only makes them hard to keep track of for people 435 00:25:45,160 --> 00:25:48,800 Speaker 1: who aren't in the in crowd because they're like nonsensical. 436 00:25:49,240 --> 00:25:51,639 Speaker 1: No one wants to remember a string of numbers and 437 00:25:51,720 --> 00:25:54,560 Speaker 1: letters as a way to actually remember what something means, 438 00:25:55,920 --> 00:26:00,520 Speaker 1: but also it makes them like grand, overly important events, 439 00:26:00,560 --> 00:26:02,520 Speaker 1: like almost like a bingo card, like oh were you 440 00:26:02,560 --> 00:26:05,600 Speaker 1: at J eighteen? Like oh, you weren't at A sixteen? 441 00:26:05,920 --> 00:26:08,879 Speaker 1: Like oh, I thought you were cool. This is me 442 00:26:08,960 --> 00:26:14,520 Speaker 1: being snotty about it. After Jay eighteen, you have N thirty. 443 00:26:14,840 --> 00:26:19,040 Speaker 1: November thirtieth, nineteen ninety nine the Battle of Seattle, which 444 00:26:19,040 --> 00:26:22,200 Speaker 1: again I've covered at length, but the short version is 445 00:26:22,240 --> 00:26:25,720 Speaker 1: that protesters converged in Seattle with puppets and lock boxes. 446 00:26:26,000 --> 00:26:28,600 Speaker 1: Lock Boxes are like things to lock yourself to to 447 00:26:28,600 --> 00:26:30,119 Speaker 1: make it harder for the police to move you. This 448 00:26:30,160 --> 00:26:32,520 Speaker 1: could be a barrel of cement with like a tube 449 00:26:32,520 --> 00:26:34,200 Speaker 1: in the middle that you can reach into and clip 450 00:26:34,240 --> 00:26:38,080 Speaker 1: onto something. It could be just like a steel tube 451 00:26:38,440 --> 00:26:40,840 Speaker 1: wrapped in duct tape, so it gums up the cutting 452 00:26:40,840 --> 00:26:42,720 Speaker 1: wheels of the tools that they try to use to 453 00:26:42,720 --> 00:26:44,480 Speaker 1: get you out. There's all kinds of ways that people 454 00:26:44,520 --> 00:26:47,480 Speaker 1: do this. People showed up in Seattle with puppets and 455 00:26:47,520 --> 00:26:51,320 Speaker 1: lock boxes and street medics and livestream video and masks, 456 00:26:51,359 --> 00:26:53,600 Speaker 1: and I want to reiterate puppets again, because there were 457 00:26:53,600 --> 00:26:56,960 Speaker 1: so many puppets. People converged and managed to shut down 458 00:26:57,000 --> 00:27:00,800 Speaker 1: the World Trade Organization meeting despite or because of an 459 00:27:00,800 --> 00:27:05,600 Speaker 1: intense police response. But people look to Seattle as the 460 00:27:05,680 --> 00:27:09,000 Speaker 1: high point, and that's a mistake. It was certainly the 461 00:27:09,000 --> 00:27:11,800 Speaker 1: most tactically effective demonstration of the movement as best as 462 00:27:11,840 --> 00:27:14,960 Speaker 1: I can tell, but that's because the police were caught 463 00:27:14,960 --> 00:27:17,720 Speaker 1: off guard. There were like four hundred cops trying to 464 00:27:17,720 --> 00:27:20,160 Speaker 1: deal with tens of thousands of protesters who were there 465 00:27:20,200 --> 00:27:25,400 Speaker 1: prepared for direct action these days, and pretty shortly after Seattle, 466 00:27:26,160 --> 00:27:29,919 Speaker 1: the state regularly marshals tens of thousands of police for 467 00:27:30,000 --> 00:27:35,520 Speaker 1: every major demonstration, and out maneuvering them or out fighting 468 00:27:35,560 --> 00:27:41,000 Speaker 1: them or whatever just looks really different. And we can't 469 00:27:41,040 --> 00:27:44,000 Speaker 1: expect the same things to work over and over again. 470 00:27:44,960 --> 00:27:47,520 Speaker 1: So the police got their shit together after that, but 471 00:27:47,560 --> 00:27:51,240 Speaker 1: people kept fighting, and even if we lost tactically a 472 00:27:51,240 --> 00:27:55,120 Speaker 1: bit more often some of the larger strategic goals, we 473 00:27:55,160 --> 00:27:57,680 Speaker 1: managed to win something that I talk about a lot 474 00:27:57,720 --> 00:28:01,360 Speaker 1: actually on a recent substack called revolutions are built on failure, 475 00:28:01,600 --> 00:28:06,280 Speaker 1: which is the idea that the way we win is 476 00:28:06,320 --> 00:28:09,960 Speaker 1: we fight more than them, and we want it more, 477 00:28:10,440 --> 00:28:16,040 Speaker 1: and often just by fighting, we win our strategic goals 478 00:28:16,080 --> 00:28:18,240 Speaker 1: even if we lose tactically in the streets. This isn't 479 00:28:18,240 --> 00:28:20,600 Speaker 1: to say we should just fight for the fun of 480 00:28:20,600 --> 00:28:23,280 Speaker 1: it and lose tactically or whatever. We should try to win, 481 00:28:23,760 --> 00:28:26,960 Speaker 1: but we just need to remember that our win conditions 482 00:28:26,960 --> 00:28:31,840 Speaker 1: are different than theirs. And how people kept fighting and 483 00:28:32,680 --> 00:28:36,240 Speaker 1: what they did at A sixteen and some other demonstrations 484 00:28:36,520 --> 00:28:40,560 Speaker 1: we are going to talk about on Wednesday, But in 485 00:28:40,600 --> 00:28:43,400 Speaker 1: the meantime, I don't know what the hell to plug. 486 00:28:43,760 --> 00:28:45,920 Speaker 1: I guess my substack, right. I wrote a recent essay 487 00:28:46,040 --> 00:28:48,959 Speaker 1: called Revolutions are Built on Failure, where I talk about 488 00:28:49,040 --> 00:28:53,560 Speaker 1: exactly this concept at greater length, And don't worry, you know, 489 00:28:53,680 --> 00:28:56,720 Speaker 1: I bringing the TV show and or into it also, 490 00:28:56,920 --> 00:28:58,880 Speaker 1: I guess while I'm plugging things like and Or. I 491 00:28:58,880 --> 00:29:00,320 Speaker 1: don't know when it's going to come out, but at 492 00:29:00,320 --> 00:29:05,800 Speaker 1: some point. There's another podcast called The Spectacle that's an 493 00:29:05,840 --> 00:29:10,880 Speaker 1: anarchistic view of pop culture specifically, I think the tagline 494 00:29:10,920 --> 00:29:13,800 Speaker 1: is a podcast for people who love movies and hate cops. 495 00:29:14,280 --> 00:29:17,480 Speaker 1: And I am on it with some other people in 496 00:29:17,520 --> 00:29:19,280 Speaker 1: the near future. I'm not the host of it, but 497 00:29:19,320 --> 00:29:22,680 Speaker 1: I'm guesting on it. I recorded earlier this week about 498 00:29:22,720 --> 00:29:25,800 Speaker 1: and Or season two, and so you can listen to 499 00:29:25,840 --> 00:29:27,680 Speaker 1: that at some point. But in the meantime, you can 500 00:29:27,680 --> 00:29:30,960 Speaker 1: listen to The Spectacle. It's a good show. You should 501 00:29:30,960 --> 00:29:35,440 Speaker 1: listen to it. All right, We'll see you all Wednesday. 502 00:29:36,640 --> 00:29:39,080 Speaker 1: Cool People Who Did Cool Stuff is a production of 503 00:29:39,120 --> 00:29:42,240 Speaker 1: wool Zone Media. A more podcasts and cool Zone Media. 504 00:29:42,400 --> 00:29:45,640 Speaker 1: Visit our website Goolezonemedia dot com, or check us out 505 00:29:45,720 --> 00:29:48,880 Speaker 1: on her radio app I'm a Podcast, or wherever you 506 00:29:48,920 --> 00:29:50,320 Speaker 1: get your podcasts.