HOME | IMC UK | Editorial Guidelines | Mission Statement | About Us | Contact | Help | Support Us

SouthCoast Indymedia

Preparing for anti-cuts protests on 26th of March – a personal rallying call

directyouranger | 15.02.2011 14:57 | Analysis | Social Struggles | Cambridge | South Coast

I'm an individual. I belong to and represent no organisation. I have no authority and don't want it. This is just commentary, suggestion, a discussion starter. I'm an individual who has been to many protests and have often been left questioning their effectiveness. We need effective protest right now and that's what this is about. It is also about taking things further than the TUC will want to take things in March.

First some basics. What do I mean by effective protest and why take things further than the TUC will take it? The major parties, in common with most Western countries, have in the last few decades given up on any social principles (if they had any) in favour of becoming more 'business-friendly' – ie. The only people they really represent is those who already have money. The Labour party is less openly nasty about it, but much of what the Tories are doing ('modernising' the NHS for example) are built on the 'reforms' of New Labour. Labour will not give back what the Tories are stealing. There is no organised force to make them do it, while the 'business community' is very organised in getting what they want. We have to understand that this is not about getting 'nicer' people into power, but about changing the power dynamics to force them to follow different rules.

What this means is that the purpose of protest should not be persuasion – or not persuading the government anyway. Persuading other people, yes, but the government? They understand power, not persuasion, and will justify whatever they are forced to do. Furthermore, trying to build a better world through lobbying for government policy changes is a losing proposition. You can make some temporary gains, but those who hold the reigns of power will always take them back in the long run - if you let them. That is why we are now gradually losing the welfare state and other things we thought we had forever. I think we need to understand that there is no fundamental decency or altruism we can count on within the political system to stop undermining our quality of life once they have gone so far. Humans might have those qualities but the machinery of government and the economy does not.

So 'protest' needs to be about (a) undermining the real power and perceived legitimacy of the government and (b) trying to build alternative and more democratic powers between ourselves that will enable us to challenge the government, or at least hold it in check. The second of these is a long term project and I won't say much about it here, except I wish it were happening more quickly.

The first also needs to be cranked up a gear, and I think we can do something about that more easily in the short term. Marching from A to B with the TUC does not undermine government power/legitimacy, but nor, frankly, does the kind of untargetted street demonstrations I have been involved in from the early 2000s 'anti-capitalist' demonstrations to the recent NCAFC-called demonstration in January 2011.

In particular I've noticed a tendency for people to call demonstrations, suggest that people can pick their own targets, and that 'all sorts of things will be happening', and then we go on the demonstration and everyone ends up either following 'the route' or wandering the streets in an untargetted way – which causes some minor disruption, but nowhere near as much as we could.

I want to suggest that people get together with their groups/friends, starting today, right now, and start planning to do their own thing for the March march. There seems to be too much assuming that other people will start doing some cool stuff and then you can join in. And mostly it doesn't happen. For individuals it is difficult to do anything about this, but if you are in any kind of group with a few people you trust, I want to ask you to stop assuming that other people will plan the cool actions, and to stop hoping it will happen 'spontaneously' on the day, and just start planning it yourself. If you are in a local anti-cuts group, or a university group, trade union branch or some other group, you have more power to take action than if you were were alone. It might be actions your group can take separate from a main march, it might be actions you can take embedded in a main march, it might be something you can get other people to join in with once you start (take a megaphone or sound system to rally people round you) but please start planning now. If not you, who else?

I think it's worth thinking about the targets a bit. There are symbolic/publicity targets, which will attract attention and make a point. But we have to really bother the government and their business friends if we are to have any chance of changing the power dynamics – so more interesting are disruptive targets, such as blocking major roads or transport hubs – because these cannot be ignored. And perhaps more interesting than these are economic targets, which is about hitting them where it really hurts: preventing the making of money, the money that isn't for us, because those who make it control the politicians who now want to reduce the tax 'burden' on businesses by eliminating our public services. This is an artificial division of targets of course – you can easily think of more types of targets – my division is just to help think about targets strategically.

So here are some examples of such targets, and if you like the targets, then work from this list for the March demo. Please plan something, or nothing will happen. This list isn't to tell people what to do, but it is a plea for a bit more planning so that we can do a bit better than aimlessly wandering the streets causing only minor disruption. Please do work from it as a starting point if you are searching for ideas yourself.

++BBC Television Centre in White City (symbolic/publicity) – for constantly repeating government propaganda that the cuts are necessary

++CBI - 'The Voice of Business', Centrepoint Tower, New Oxford St (symbolic/publicity)

++Lib Dem headquarters/offices, HQ at SW1P 3NB (symbolic if you think breaking the coalition a good interim goal)

++Elephant and Castle roundabout (disruptive)

++Euston Road, a major arterial road through central London (disruptive) – NB police will try to move you on if you stop in a road but walking along it seems to be more tolerated

++St Pancras International Station, a business-oriented transport hub (disruptive/economic)

++Topshop/Boots/Other high street tax dodgers (symbolic/economic)

++Supermarkets – tax dodgers and lobbyists of government, have smaller stores throughout central London (symbolic/economic)

++The City, but not weekends or bank holidays so not much point in March (but the major economic target for future protests) - particularly major Conservative Party funders like ++Bloomberg Tradebook Europe EC2A 1PQ.

Finally, we have to accept that the TUC isn't going to like what some of us do. History shows that as a bureacratic entity they have to protect both their 'respectability' and their money. So they can't push things further than the protest 'allowed' within the anti-protest laws instituted by the Conservatives and Labour. They couldn't support the General Strike in the 1930s and some of their number in the Stop the War Coalition could not take the anti-war movement further when it was clear that A to B marches weren't working. Their positions within legitimate and respectable structures forbid it. But, almost by definition, you cannot challenge the power of government while remaining respectable. We simply have to thank the TUC for their ability to mobilise many people, and then take things further when they will not.

In conclusion, I hope we will all start planning now for the March demonstration and the protests that will come after, and not assume that someone else will plan the actions. I hope we can create concrete plans with considered targets. If you are part of any organised group or just a group of friends you trust, I hope you'll start planning now – and may all your plans come to fruition.

directyouranger

Comments

Display the following 5 comments

  1. Info (Sort of) — not-televised
  2. Absolutely! — directyouranger
  3. good stuff — the anonny mouse
  4. A to B march and speeches...bullshit! — uptightcitizen
  5. Planning meeting with Resist26 and Dual Power — Resist26er

Publish

Publish your news

Do you need help with publishing?

-->

Kollektives

Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
London
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
Wales
World

Other UK IMCs
Bristol/South West
London
Northern Indymedia
Scotland

South Coast [navigation.actions2016]

South Coast [navigation.actions2015]

South Coast [navigation.actions2014]

NATO 2014

South Coast Actions 2013

G8 2013

South Coast Actions 2012

Workfare

South Coast Actions 2011

2011 Census Resistance
August Riots
Dale Farm
J30 Strike
Occupy Everywhere

South Coast Actions 2010

Flotilla to Gaza
Mayday 2010
Tar Sands

South Coast Actions 2009

COP15 Climate Summit 2009
G20 London Summit
Guantánamo
Indymedia Server Seizure
University Occupations for Gaza

South Coast Actions 2008

2008 Days Of Action For Autonomous Spaces
Campaign against Carmel-Agrexco
Climate Camp 2008
G8 Japan 2008
SHAC
Smash EDO
Stop Sequani Animal Testing
Stop the BNP's Red White and Blue festival

South Coast Actions 2007

Climate Camp 2007
DSEi 2007
G8 Germany 2007
Mayday 2007
No Border Camp 2007

South Coast Actions 2006

April 2006 No Borders Days of Action
Art and Activism Caravan 2006
Climate Camp 2006
Faslane
French CPE uprising 2006
G8 Russia 2006
Lebanon War 2006
March 18 Anti War Protest
Mayday 2006
Oaxaca Uprising
Refugee Week 2006
Rossport Solidarity
SOCPA
Transnational Day of Action Against Migration Controls
WSF 2006

South Coast Actions 2005

DSEi 2005
G8 2005
WTO Hong Kong 2005

South Coast Actions 2004

European Social Forum
FBI Server Seizure
May Day 2004
Venezuela

South Coast Actions 2003

Bush 2003
DSEi 2003
Evian G8
May Day 2003
No War F15
Saloniki Prisoner Support
Thessaloniki EU
WSIS 2003

IMCs


www.indymedia.org

Projects
print
radio
satellite tv
video

Africa

Europe
antwerpen
armenia
athens
austria
barcelona
belarus
belgium
belgrade
brussels
bulgaria
calabria
croatia
cyprus
emilia-romagna
estrecho / madiaq
galiza
germany
grenoble
hungary
ireland
istanbul
italy
la plana
liege
liguria
lille
linksunten
lombardia
madrid
malta
marseille
nantes
napoli
netherlands
northern england
nottingham imc
paris/île-de-france
patras
piemonte
poland
portugal
roma
romania
russia
sardegna
scotland
sverige
switzerland
torun
toscana
ukraine
united kingdom
valencia

Latin America
argentina
bolivia
chiapas
chile
chile sur
cmi brasil
cmi sucre
colombia
ecuador
mexico
peru
puerto rico
qollasuyu
rosario
santiago
tijuana
uruguay
valparaiso
venezuela

Oceania
aotearoa
brisbane
burma
darwin
jakarta
manila
melbourne
perth
qc
sydney

South Asia
india


United States
arizona
arkansas
asheville
atlanta
Austin
binghamton
boston
buffalo
chicago
cleveland
colorado
columbus
dc
hawaii
houston
hudson mohawk
kansas city
la
madison
maine
miami
michigan
milwaukee
minneapolis/st. paul
new hampshire
new jersey
new mexico
new orleans
north carolina
north texas
nyc
oklahoma
philadelphia
pittsburgh
portland
richmond
rochester
rogue valley
saint louis
san diego
san francisco
san francisco bay area
santa barbara
santa cruz, ca
sarasota
seattle
tampa bay
united states
urbana-champaign
vermont
western mass
worcester

West Asia
Armenia
Beirut
Israel
Palestine

Topics
biotech

Process
fbi/legal updates
mailing lists
process & imc docs
tech