Eclipsed from the headlines by the ongoing carnage, there is an active
civil resistance in Iraq that opposes the occupation, the torture regime
it protects, and the jihadi and Ba'athist 'resistance' alike.
Submitted by Bill Weinberg on Tue, 02/19/2008 - 21:37.
I dunno, man, seems to me you are the one who is living in a fantasy world. "Smash the State" hasn't been my fave slogan since I was around 20, but I can point to numerous concrete victories by anarchist-inspired movements just in my lifetime.
The Zapatistas have carved out a sustainable self-governing zone for themselves, put agrarian reform back on the agenda in Chiapas, and made indigenous rights a pressing issue throughout Mexico, resulting in a constitutional reform (if an insufficient one) as well as changes to several state constitutions. Many small municipalities now have the legal right to self-government in their own languages and according to their own traditions across Mexico—something that was unheard-of before the Zapatista uprising. Lots of land has been liberated from the cattle oligarchy in Chiapas, and the seizure of peasant lands for airports, golf courses, computer centers and the like has been effectively halted by Zapatista-inspired local insurrections elsewhere in Mexico. The democratic opening in Mexico is in large part owed to the Zapatistas, even if the free-market right has been its chief beneficiary (so far).
The Seattle protesters and the movement they inspired slowed (at least) the advancement of the WTO and effectively arrested other reactionary "globalization" initiatives, such as the Multilateral Agreements on Investment. The globalization elite have arguably (though perhaps not entirely—still no MAI!) recouped their losses since 9-11, but we'd be even further behind today if it hadn't been for the anti-globalization movement.
The 2003 Aymara uprising in Bolivia got that atrocious gas pipeline canceled. The piqueteros in Argentina have still got barrios and factories under their control ten years after the financial collapse that sparked their movement. The indigenous autonomy movement in Colombia continues to reclaim land from the oligarchy while asserting the right to non-involvement in the civil war.
Earth First!, with their tree-hugging campaign, got Northern California's Headwaters redwood forest saved from Pacific Lumber's chainsaws in the '90s.
The squatters here on the Lower East Side in the '80s got the Tompkins Square curfew rescinded for three years at least, and held back the wave of gentrification long enough for many of them to get the homes they carved out of abandoned housing stock through their own labor legally recognized. (In more recent years, a similar struggle has ensued to save community gardens, with varying degrees of success.)
Anarchists, radical ecologists and the like were at the forefront of the movements that brought down the East Bloc in in '89 (even if—as in Mexico—it has been pro-capitalist elites or outright reactionaries who have effectively exploited the political opening).
The anti-nuclear movement of the '70s and early '80s helped (along with unsound economics) to bring that industry's expansion to a complete and hopefully permanent halt.
And oh yeah, didn't the protest movement at home and the GI resistance in Vietnam have a little something to do with finally bringing that war to an end?
Running zine libraries may not be changing the world, but neither is voting for Democrats.
In contrast to your portrayal, the above-mentioned movements have been effective, largely untainted by apocalyptic nihilism, and for the most part working-class or subaltern in their composition.
Meanwhile, the "centrists" have offered us nothing but capitulation and regression. It was Clinton who got us into NAFTA and the WTO.
The inconvenient facts and unanswered questions surrounding the attacks are legion, but the endemic sloppiness of the self-styled "researchers" is delegitimizing the entire project of critiquing the "official version." The ostentatiously named "Truth movement" is not clearing the air, but muddying the water.
WW4 Report pamphlets
WAR AT THE CROSSROADS
An Historical Guide Through the Balkan Labyrinth
The Balkan region is intensely multicultural - a point of crossroads and clash for some of the world's major religions, cultural spheres, and economic systems. While there have been vicious wars in Balkan history, these have taken place in the context of manipulation by imperial powers and the self-serving local leaders who cater to them.
opensource technology and the people of Sundays Energy
another response...
I dunno, man, seems to me you are the one who is living in a fantasy world. "Smash the State" hasn't been my fave slogan since I was around 20, but I can point to numerous concrete victories by anarchist-inspired movements just in my lifetime.
The Zapatistas have carved out a sustainable self-governing zone for themselves, put agrarian reform back on the agenda in Chiapas, and made indigenous rights a pressing issue throughout Mexico, resulting in a constitutional reform (if an insufficient one) as well as changes to several state constitutions. Many small municipalities now have the legal right to self-government in their own languages and according to their own traditions across Mexico—something that was unheard-of before the Zapatista uprising. Lots of land has been liberated from the cattle oligarchy in Chiapas, and the seizure of peasant lands for airports, golf courses, computer centers and the like has been effectively halted by Zapatista-inspired local insurrections elsewhere in Mexico. The democratic opening in Mexico is in large part owed to the Zapatistas, even if the free-market right has been its chief beneficiary (so far).
The Seattle protesters and the movement they inspired slowed (at least) the advancement of the WTO and effectively arrested other reactionary "globalization" initiatives, such as the Multilateral Agreements on Investment. The globalization elite have arguably (though perhaps not entirely—still no MAI!) recouped their losses since 9-11, but we'd be even further behind today if it hadn't been for the anti-globalization movement.
The 2003 Aymara uprising in Bolivia got that atrocious gas pipeline canceled. The piqueteros in Argentina have still got barrios and factories under their control ten years after the financial collapse that sparked their movement. The indigenous autonomy movement in Colombia continues to reclaim land from the oligarchy while asserting the right to non-involvement in the civil war.
Earth First!, with their tree-hugging campaign, got Northern California's Headwaters redwood forest saved from Pacific Lumber's chainsaws in the '90s.
The squatters here on the Lower East Side in the '80s got the Tompkins Square curfew rescinded for three years at least, and held back the wave of gentrification long enough for many of them to get the homes they carved out of abandoned housing stock through their own labor legally recognized. (In more recent years, a similar struggle has ensued to save community gardens, with varying degrees of success.)
Anarchists, radical ecologists and the like were at the forefront of the movements that brought down the East Bloc in in '89 (even if—as in Mexico—it has been pro-capitalist elites or outright reactionaries who have effectively exploited the political opening).
The anti-nuclear movement of the '70s and early '80s helped (along with unsound economics) to bring that industry's expansion to a complete and hopefully permanent halt.
And oh yeah, didn't the protest movement at home and the GI resistance in Vietnam have a little something to do with finally bringing that war to an end?
Running zine libraries may not be changing the world, but neither is voting for Democrats.
In contrast to your portrayal, the above-mentioned movements have been effective, largely untainted by apocalyptic nihilism, and for the most part working-class or subaltern in their composition.
Meanwhile, the "centrists" have offered us nothing but capitulation and regression. It was Clinton who got us into NAFTA and the WTO.
I know which side my bread is buttered on.