March 26, 2003

• My sister Mandy's blog got me thinking, and here are the comments I made to her. (read her blog too, to really understand whats going on...)
  
  Mandy,
  
  I love you and I understand, you're far from the only working person who missed necessary hours and did not get paid. I don't think, though, that the cops saying that the $$$ they will charge the city for the demonstrations is really the demonstrators fault, at least not those who refrained from any form of violence or property damage. The $$$$ mainly comes from there having been waaaay more cops than were needed for peaceful protests. That said, I do understand that poor people missing work, and social services being cut, are hardly the right things to come out of a well intentioned peace action in a time when peace actions are so desperately needed.
  
  We need to be thinking a lot about this. Obviously we must continue to counter the war machine, as fiercely as ever, before they move on yet another country, waging their global war of terror. Right?
  
  But! We don't want to keep young people who just moved to a strange city away from their crappy but necessary $8/hr job, nor deprive already struggling city services of necessary funds.
  
  So what do we do! I suggest we redouble our dedication to non violence, and as much as our anger might make us want to do it, we truly avoid property destruction. This will pull the rug FUTHER out from under the cops ridiculous assertations of how much help they need, less police on the scene means less traffic and MUCH less money spent.
  
  OK.
  
  Moreover, I think we need to consider actions that have real consequence without causing difficulties for the communities we live in. JohnF has a point, but really, what do we serve by making life harder for the poorest of our own people.
  
  We have done an action here in SC, where we target the local military recruiting center. It has not blocked traffic, ever, or kept people from work (unless they work in the center itself)and it has been very peaceful, there was one day when people chose to get arrested, every other day it has just been a picket and a friendly offer to young persons considering enlisting to look at another point of view. Very successful action, could be adopted at Recruiting Centers all over with great results avoiding the impacts described above I suspect.
  
  Planned in the next few weeks are also some actions around the Lockheed Martin complex here in Bonny Doon. These will also avoid traffic snafus (there's no traffic there) and only inconveneince the people who work for LM, since its in the middle of nowhere. Of course there will be a police cost, but if, as I suspect, true non violence is used, they will have no excuse for that other than their own insecurity.
  
  I dont mean to go on and on, I am just trying to say that there is a way to protest as a citizen, and be a member of the community as well. Of course I do see that part of the point of the SF demos the first day or two was to STOP regular things from happening, but I think it may have been a bit of a classist plan, to assume people have the luxury to take the day off. Of course people in Baghdad have no luxury at all.
  
  Just some thoughts.
  
  lots of love from your big sis,
  
  Issy
  

  • 5:46 pm
  • 1 Comment