Friday, November 20, 2009

Destroy all bullhorns//Attack all managers

"He recognized me, not because of my birth or my social function but because of my behavior." - Letters of Insurgents

Within the context of insurrection, it's not important how we look, or think, or even the things we say. The most important thing is what we do.

Having said that, I think the behavior of the Left within the last week of UC Strikes was absolutely disgusting. When I say 'student activist leader,' you say 'recuperation.' What essentially happened was the self-elected student leaders did more to police the struggle than any actual police did (minus the events that took place on Friday at UC Berkeley - I would say at that point the student leaders and the police were on par with each other). And this is, to understate the entire thing, a problem. The people with the bullhorns and megaphones that defused every situation are the douche bags that future students will be fighting against. The student politician-cops are the future Yudofs. Whose university? Not yours, assholes.

When we were in front of California Hall, and students were demanding to get inside and occupy the space, it was the left that took hold of the bullhorn and proceeded to direct everyone to sit down and "vote" on what to do next. Those that wanted to escalate conflict were accused of not showing solidarity with the rest of those present. The same woman that took over the bullhorn also stopped people from rushing Yudof's office when there was a spontaneous march then sit-in on Monday in Oakland. When we were in Berkeley City College calling for the occupation of everything, it was the left that told us to 'shut the fuck up' because we were going to 'alienate everyone from the movement.' Ironically this alienated those that are more radical from the movement. But I suppose the so-called leaders don't care too much about that, because hooligans are too hard to manage. Even more ironic than this, however, was on Friday when banners held by regular students read 'OCCUPY EVERYTHING.'

Calls for solidarity and struggle are not enough. Especially in the current social-economic situation that is plaguing the world. Simply yelling isn't going to accomplish shit. Space needs to be occupied, and the roles of education and the university within capital, and within a truly free society, need to be questioned (do we even need a particular space and time to learn? Shouldn't learning be a natural, fluid, and enjoyable process that is indistinguishable from the time we spend growing?). There needs to be a showing of solidarity between people wanting to employ different tactics in order to create a cohesive movement that is actually capable of fighting back. The struggle against those in power needs to extend beyond the university, to the workplace and to the home. To see this situation as merely a single issue is to be blind. The connections between capital and the economic crisis and the university to need to be made apparent. The role of the police needs to be seen for what it is: to protect the interests of the ruling class, at the expense of workers, students, and teachers.

The role of the left needs to be taken into account, too. Those that wish to manage are wanna-be celebrities. They feed on attention, and get off on control. Activism is management, and management is death. This is the time for students to take away control of the struggle from the rulers as well as those within the movement that want control.


Destroy all bullhorns//Attack all managers

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