Voices from Seattle

We offer you some hasty gleanings from the overwhelming volume of stuff from Seattle on our email. First, a Dec. 6 excerpt from Molly Ivins, columnist for the Star-Telegram, Austin, TX; <mollyivins@star-telegram.com>

Here's the situation: 35,000 people go to Seattle to raise crucial issues concerning the World Trade Organization, an outfit that (just for starters) affects everyone on the planet and operates in complete secrecy. Of those 35,000 people, fewer than 1,000 misbehave by trashing some local stores. How much more coverage do the 1,000 who misbehaved get than the 34,000 who didn't? (A) 35 times as much. (B) 34 times as much.(C) Virtually all the coverage.

You are correct: "C" is the answer. Do the other 34,000 people get any coverage? Yes--they are referred to as "some people concerned about turtles."

Human rights (especially slave labor and child labor), workers' rights (especially health, safety and living wages) and the natural environment of the planet on which all our lives depend are "some people concerned about turtles.

Meanwhile, the violent protesters are interviewed on national television, identify themselves as anarchists and explain to us all that owning property is wrong and that none of the Earth should be in private hands.

Question: Next time a group wants to draw attention to its concerns by getting lots of media coverage, do you think they will: (A) Peacefully rally, speak and march? (B) Smash a lot of windows in downtown stores?

Betty Zisk, political scientist at Boston University and a Quaker active in the Green Party, writes: "Most of us were able to glean a few positive facts about the protest over the WTO Meetings in Seattle, even if we had to search between the lines of the media coverage. We knew that 20,000 union workers marched in solidarity (with floats and bands) on Nov. 30 and that at least another 10-15,000 human rights and environmental activists joined in marching, debating, and nonviolent civil disobedience. Some of the union men from Lynn, MA (who paid their own way and rented warehouse space to assemble their float) complained to the Boston Globe that they feared their concerns about diluted labor and safety standards might have been lost in all the furor over acts of violence. I was fortunate to receive a handful of Emails that told more of the story the media denied us, several of them from Green Party activists. I want to share just a few of the empowering themes from their longer notes.

"My lasting impression from Seattle is that there is now a very strong, creative, and vibrant movement of young people in this country who are both knowledgeable about and deeply committed to opposing transnational corporate domination of the world's economy and resources. Not since the early seventies in Washington, DC and in Boston, have I personally experienced such a large and energetic (and energizing) popular uprising....

"What I will remember most from my first sojourn to the Pacific Northwest will be the young people on stilts and wearing wings, representing the monarch butterflies, and others wearing green shells to represent the sea turtles. They participated in a skit at the Central Seattle Community College, in which the butterflies, sea turtles, and their allies eventually defeated the representatives of the multinationals, wearing death masks. After the skit, a massive wave of humanity spilled into the streets and marched down Broadway, bringing traffic to a complete standstill. Saturday was an exceptionally beautiful day and most of the people were smiling broadly as we marched and chanted. It seemed as if we all suddenly became aware of the tremendous power which can be unleashed when broad masses of people take part in a collective effort to oppose injustice and corporate tyranny.

"The second impression I took home was a renewed appreciation for the political savvy of the American people. Everyone in Seattle seemed to be aware of the WTO and what it represents. Contrary to the commonly held belief that the American people as a whole are greedy and apolitical know-nothings, I experienced a highly politicized and knowledgeable local population. During a break in the action, I watched a cable TV call-in show discussing the WTO. Every caller expressed their full understanding of the issues, and almost every caller was opposed to granting this body veto authority over sovereign rules and regulations protecting workers' rights and the environment."

"While the most public distinction [on Nov. 30] was between the window-smashers and the rest, the distinction between those who did civil disobedience and the rest was [also] important. The huge labor march, and all those who joined them, made their point but specifically avoided confronting police lines. Civil disobedience activists had made plans to block access to WTO meetings for the delegates, and the CDers came from a broad range of groups and were peaceful. Many hotels were encircled by protesters with arms linked....

"Protests continued [on Dec.2], undaunted by the police overreaction the day before. With just a very few hours' notice, hundreds grew to a couple thousand at Seattle Central, and marched down to the waterfront where marches that had started elsewhere joined them. There were many speakers at the park, including Vandana Shive, Jim Hightower, Ralph Nader, union representatives, and French McDonald's smasher Jose Bove. The march then continued to the County Jail to demand the release of the Seattle 500 (actually over 600). Green City Council members were helping to negotiate their release. The County Jail was surrounded by protesters singing, dancing, and one of the common chants was 'This is what democracy looks like.'"

"The WTO has done what the sectarian Left has consistently failed to do in its entire history: unify diverse elements into a common purpose and objective, with a shared analysis. The significance of Seattle was that it now and only now makes possible a coherent critique of capitalism, a critique arising out of a focus on specific issues and a specific entity. The synthesis that will arise from Seattle will have no name like Left or Green, but will take on its own name and mission, without the leaden sectarian baggage that has (in many cases deliberately) kept very diverse forces apart."

The group learned a lot. We talked with lots of students, farmers from Japan, people from India, professors from Boston College, steelworkers from Ohio, environmentalists of various stripes, church activists, as well as anyone who happened to be seated next to us on a plane or in the airport, and the waitresses and cabbies that we met in Seattle. A year's worth of political discussion was compressed into six days: the role of the different movements, the role of the folks from other countries, the question of violence and civil disobedience, etc. Anyone who missed Seattle missed a great chance to build up their core of leaders and activists in their union or other group. Trade unionists in the US don't exist in a vacuum, and we see ourselves more clearly when we see ourselves in relationship to others.

The Kids Are Alright--and have much to teach us. The labor movement basically piggy-backed on the courage of the young environmentalists and anti-sweatshop and church activists.

Without the direct action, which disrupted the WTO, the labor march would have received a 90-second clip on the nightly news, with some voiceover like, "A bunch of inefficient union workers from the rustbelt marched for a return of the bad old days."

Then again, without the tens of thousands of union members, it would have been easier to write off the young protesters as flakes, people who aren't worried about basic issues like having to earn a living. I guess the ideal mix was summed up in the now-famous sign carried by one kid in the Tuesday march: "Teamsters and Turtles, Together at Last."

This is a period when on certain issues, massive, non-violent direct action is in order, as the demonstration in Seattle shows. Every member who went on our trip reports that support for the demonstrations, even with the disruptions, is overwhelming. And not just from other workers in the shop, but family and other friends, regardless of what they do for a living. "Since we came home, we're being treated like conquering heroes," marveled one of our group.

Perhaps the AFL-CIO was driven by policy advisors in Washington who didn't understand how angry people are about this issue.There were plenty of people in the labor movement pushing for the labor movement to join in the Direct Action--we lost.

In Seattle, we were, in a sense, bailed out by the kids. The Steelworkers--hats off to them--and Longshoremen (ILWU) did a great job, with the Longshoremen shutting down all West Coast ports! The Teamsters made a major effort to mobilize for Seattle as well.

The Fair-trade movement is an internationalist movement. Even some of the mainstream commentaries noted this. I was proud that the AFL-CIO rally had speakers from Mexico, South Africa, the Caribbean, China, France, etc. A Ford maquiladora worker got a huge response at the AFL-CIO rally when she shouted, "Long Live the Zapatistas!" It reminded me of a day in January of 1994, after our bitter defeat on the NAFTA vote, when a member of our local union's Legislative Committee came into the union hall, all pumped up. He had a newspaper story of the Chiapas rebellion, which had just broken out: "Man, these guys really hate NAFTA!"

Some union folks were pissed off about the anarchists breaking windows downtown, feeling that it was getting all the media coverage and our message was getting lost. I heard nothing but respect for the direct action folks....Perhaps most important, any focus on the alleged "violence" and "rioting" of the protesters takes the focus away from the corporations who are trashing continents, not a few plate-glass windows.

What's great is that for most of the demonstrators in Seattle, this was not a one-time thing. They are already organized, and have already been working on trade, labor, and environmental issues for years, and return to their organizations energized for more. At least for a moment, and I am hopeful that it will last, the "There Is No Alternative" (to quote Margaret Thatcher) crowd is back on their heels. And the "There Must Be An Alternative" crowd (our side) is on the offensive. The stereotypes of the "selfish generation" of young folks, and of the labor neanderthals, both took direct hits in Seattle.

So now back to work. Catch up on your union grievances, catch up on your schoolwork, catch up on your sleep. Then take advantage of the presidential elections, the debate over Most Favored Nation status for China, and whatever else comes along to broaden the coalition and deepen our roots.

[From a communique responding to assertions posed by critics of Black Bloc tactics.] "They escalated situations on the 30th, leading to the tear-gassing of passive, nonviolent protesters." To answer this, we need only note that tear-gassing, pepper-spraying and the shooting of rubber bullets all began before the black blocs (as far as we know) started engaging in property destruction. In addition, we must resist the tendency to establish a causal relationship between police repression and protest in any form, whether it involved property destruction or not. The police are charged with protecting the interests of the wealthy few and the blame for the violence cannot be placed upon those who protest those interests....

"Masked anarchists are anti-democratic and secretive because they hide their identities." Let's face it (with or without a mask)--we aren't living in a democracy right now. If this week has not made it plain enough, let us remind you--we are living in a police state. People tell us that if we really think that we're right, we wouldn't be hiding behind masks. "The truth will prevail" is the assertion. While this is a fine and noble goal, it does not jive with the present reality. Those who pose the greatest threat to the interests of Capital and State will be persecuted. Some pacifists would have us accept this persecution gleefully. Others would tell us that it is a worthy sacrifice. We are not so morose. Nor do we feel we have the privilege to accept persecution as a sacrifice: persecution to us is a daily inevitability and we treasure our few freedoms. To accept incarceration as a form of flattery betrays a large amount of "first world" privilege. We feel that an attack on private property is necessary if we are to rebuild a world which is useful, healthful and joyful for everyone....

By "destroying" private property, we convert its limited exchange value into an expanded use value. A storefront window becomes a vent to let some fresh air into the oppressive atmosphere of a retail outlet (at least until the police decide to tear-gas a nearby road blockade). A newspaper box becomes a tool for creating such vents or a small blockade for the reclamation of public space or an object to improve one's vantage point by standing on it. A dumpster becomes an obstruction to a phalanx of rioting cops and a source of heat and light. A building facade becomes a message board to record brainstorm ideas for a better world. After N30, many people will never see a shop window or a hammer the same way again. The potential uses of an entire cityscape have increased a thousand-fold. The number of broken windows pales in comparison to the number of broken spells--spells cast by a corporate hegemony to lull us into forgetfulness of all the violence committed in the name of private property rights and of all the potential of a society without them. Broken windows can be boarded up (with yet more waste of our forests) and eventually replaced, but the shattering of assumptions will hopefully persist for some time to come.

--Against Capital and State, the ACME Collective, "Peasant Revolt!"

"Let's take the property damage tactic. Let's say the effects of property damage are 1) it costs the elites money, 2) it empowers others to damage property, 3) it turns off the majority of the population, particularly towards anarchism. Now, what will that accomplish? Well, empowering people to damage property regularly, significantly, and wide-spread, is certainly a big cost. Possibly it could get big enough to [cause a] pull back from the WTO. On the other hand, you have also turned off the general public. Your revolution will never happen. Now let's take the nonviolence approach. The police attack anyway, and kick your ass just as much with pepper spray, tear gas, rubber bullets, concussion grenades, and everything else. People, instead of seeing this as a result of "bad apples," see that the system is working against the people. Many people become radicalized from it. The effects are to radicalize the general public. Now, you have raised social costs just as effectively, and so you can win reforms, but you have also brought people to revolutionary consciousness.

Now tell me: which route sounds like the reformist route, and which sounds like effective revolutionary strategy?"

When Eammon Hennessey would be hauled before Judge Ritter, "that old fart," for protesting, he would never plead guilty or innocent, he would plead anarchy.

"What's an anarchist, Eammon?" Judge Ritter would say.

"An anarchist is someone who doesn't need a cop to tell him what to do," says Eammon.

"But we need laws, Eammon," says the Judge.

"Judge, what good are your laws? The good people don't need them, and the bad people don't obey them."

[Story told by Utah Phillips on the Utah Phillips/Ani DiFranco album The Past Didn't Go Anywhere (Righteous Babe Records). Phillips met Hennessey when Hennessey ran the Joe Hill House of Hospitality in Salt Lake City, and describes him as a "Catholic, pacifist, anarchist, draft-dodger in two world wars, and one-man revolution."]