Passive Protest

[abbielives!]

went to an anti-war rally the other day, it was so controlled it was pathetic.
the cops literally led the march, stopping at every street light, at the end all the protesters crowded into a cage, literally a fenced in area, and heard speeches from people like the mayor. I'm embarressed :blushing: to say I put up flyers for this event

my buddy and i got some strange looks for screaming "CLASS WAR" when everyone else was chanting peace.


seriously, why is the anti-war movement so passive?
I blame ANSWER and UFPJ, also pacifists

[RNK]

There's a whole slew of the left that would feel better about themselves if all "violent" protest against the state were wiped away and replaced with mindless droning speeches and feel-good meetings.

These people are known as sell-outs and really have no intention of changing anything other than the most immediate and in the end useless shit.

[KurtFF8]

But the problem with that is that the overwhelming majority agree with pacifism right now, so it would be quite hard to convince them to not accept cages and speeches.

[RNK]

Hard, maybe, but not impossible -- and only a weak-spined asshole would back down from truth because it's "hard".

[abbielives!]

which overwhelming majority? what you see in the capitalist press?

[Keyser]

I went to the anti-war demonstration in London and it was pretty much the same story this side of the Atlantic.

According to statistics, between 30,000 to 50,000 people turned out for the demonstration and it was a case of marching from on place to another with about two hours of speeches by individual representatives of social democracy, liberal bourgeois movements/issues and pacifists.

Not one speech underlined the class dynamics of imperialist wars and their place in capitalism, not one speech called for direct action to stop the war and not one speech called for people to make a complete break with the chief party of war and imperialism in Britain, the Labour Party.

Sadly the anti-war movement in Britain seems to be like a carbon copy of the US anti-war movement, reformist, social democratic, bourgeois led and impotent in stopping wars.

[Keyser]

But the problem with that is that the overwhelming majority agree with pacifism right now, so it would be quite hard to convince them to not accept cages and speeches.


Well there is one short way of responding to that sentiment.

Has the pacifist, reformist, social democratic methods used by the anti-war movement actually stopped any of the wars of US imperialism?

The answer is of course, no.

After five years of not achieving anything, the anti-war movement is a good example of why new methods are needed.

[abbielives!]

Sadly the anti-war movement in Britain seems to be like a carbon copy of the US anti-war movement, reformist, social democratic, bourgeois led and impotent in stopping wars.

That's too bad I figured people in Europe might have a stronger class consciousness.