Propaganda by deed

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#1
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Kalashnikov_Blues
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Apr 29 2004 15:46
Propaganda by deed

This is a timely post, huh?

We're days away from MayDay, from theh anniversary of Haymarket and standing ones ground in a telephone exchange.

Thinking over our history, the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centruies was full of bombs bursting in air.

Where are the bombs now?

Will they come back?

Now we have riots, which I take nothing away from.

But where is the Angry Brigade? I'm pretty sure they aren't still sat next to me on the tube. But I know that I'm still angry.

Where are the Bonnot Gang and the BLA (I know they weren't Anarchists, not the point) raiding the banks to fund the revolution?

Where are Ravachol and Leon Czolgosz?

Is there even a place for this sort of action nowadays?

Is it plausible?

Should it be discussed on a public forum?

(hello coppers! grin )

#2
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Steve
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Apr 29 2004 15:57

Propaganda by deed was never a good idea. There wasn't actually that much of it and a lot of what was blamed on anarchists wasn't anarchist at all. A bit like the witch hunts.

Collective action is the way to achieve things, not some individual deciding that they know best.

#3
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Jacques Roux's picture
Jacques Roux
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Apr 29 2004 17:47

This seems to be a good time to post up my fav flier grin grin

Do Or Die did a remake of this flier and made it even cooler cos they took out a bunch of the AR shit and put in more work related struggle stuff but i cant find it online sad

#4
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censored
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Apr 29 2004 18:23

Ooh how edgy... neutral

That flyer's really great!

#5
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Jacques Roux's picture
Jacques Roux
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Apr 29 2004 18:30

Shut up ern.

#6
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censored
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Apr 29 2004 18:37

Where'd you get that pic from, its great!

#7
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Jacques Roux's picture
Jacques Roux
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Apr 29 2004 18:38

Oh but i think you know wink

Im loving the hip spelling too...

#8
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censored
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Apr 29 2004 18:40

Hoisted by mine own petard methinks. Cyberstalking....where does that stand in the Anarchronist FAQ?

wink

black bloc RESPEC'!

#9
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Jacques Roux's picture
Jacques Roux
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Apr 29 2004 18:47

Yes indeed...

Quote:
where does that stand in the Anarchronist FAQ?

Somewhere near the top i think.. usefull skills and all wink

Its a good looking website tho... never knew you were that way inclined... Wish someone had showed it to me while i was still at school!

#10
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censored
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Apr 29 2004 18:55

Dunno what you're on about chief.... confused

#11
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Kalashnikov_Blues
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Apr 29 2004 22:47

Rkn, are you implying that it might be to late or that you think the time in now?

Or that there is a place and someone should take up the torch?

Steve I know what you mean, its is rather presumptuous to assume you know whats best for the whole... but then isnt that what were doin when we stand up and demand a change for the "better"?

Or do you merely object to the violent aspect of it?

reclaiming funds from a bank without harming anyone isn't bad, is it?

Sure throwing a bomb into a crowded square isnt the wisest of ideas, but then the Angry Brigade seemed to go out of thier way to avoid hurting anyone, unlike our good buddy Teddy K.

And was/is the prodaganda the deed so much as the conversation that takes place afterwards about the deed?

We all know that nowadays that is not the case, the reasons for actions, be it demos or bombs are almost always down to "leftist nutters with too much time on thier hands"

So maybe the time has passed...

#12
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Augusto_Sandino
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Apr 30 2004 09:56

No one likes having the shit kicked through them by a dozen cops at once.

#13
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Kalashnikov_Blues
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Apr 30 2004 11:07

Really? eek

#14
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Augusto_Sandino
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Apr 30 2004 12:52

Oh ha dee ha ha Kalashnikov! embarrassed I mean thats what happens to everyone i see who attempts direct action, because theyre usually on their own. And i dont see very much heroism in broken ribs and internal bleeding. We need more solidarity at demonstrations!

#15
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Ceannairc
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May 5 2004 11:14

My opinions:

theres nothing wrong with reclaiming money from corrupt organisations or a bit of destruction or this:

http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/03/17/crime.suvs.reut/

as long as people aren't hurt. However, while it is not "wrong" and it is quite a lot of fun, I think it just fuels the flames of the anti-anarchist propaganda in the mainstream press and so long term it hurts our interests. For more:

http://www.geocities.com/ensightingthoughts/festo.html

(plug, plug, plug... wink )

#16
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AlexA
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May 5 2004 12:58

Ceannairc you going to respond to any of the comments on your "i can't believe it's not an @ manifesto" thread?

#17
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Kalashnikov_Blues
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May 6 2004 17:17

According to the ever trust worthy Metro, Greek Anarchists are responsible for the Cop Shop bombing.

However the BBC sez its "leftist extremists"

#18
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Ceannairc
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May 17 2004 22:04

that's alright, we're all the same anyway aren't we. Just a bunch of ignorant yobs trying to stir up trouble anywhere we can when we should really be maxing out our credit cards for a new car/suit/house/holiday.[/sarcasm]

#19
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shellls
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May 26 2004 22:44

Social movements across europe have been on an almost complete ceasefire for the last 20 years. The only groups still fighting are largely nationalist, as most of the leftist groups folded with the collapse of the cold war.

Italian police are putting a case against the prisoner Marco Camenisch.

The police declare that he is a mafia-style boss of an eco-anarchist insurrectionary armed struggle organisation, and are fabricating charges against him and other activists.

Propaganda by deed? just do it.

#20
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Spartacus
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May 28 2004 12:00

meant to post this a while ago, but forgot, but seeing as shellls has resurrected the thread...

what about the ELF in the us? that is pretty large scale propaganda by the deed. and augusto, i think generally what is meant by propaganda by the deed is clandestine direct action, as opposed to smashing a window on a demo.

i think the main reason there hasn't been much of this sort of thing in recent years is because the class struggle is at a relatively low ebb. when things start to heat up again on the resistance front, it is inevitable that some people will be disatisfied with action taken by large masses of people, and decide to blow up or shoot a few choice targets. whether it's effective or not depends on the strengths of the movement as a whole and the targets chosen, like most tactics i don't think you can generalise about it.

although really, shouldn't all anarchist action, apart from maybe propaganda, be "propaganda by the deed"? surely we organise in anarchist ways to show anarchism works, we try to resist in the hope others will join in, and so on. in which case there's always a place for it in the anarchist movement, otherwise we're no better than the hypocritical filth in any other political tendency.

#21
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Steve
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May 28 2004 13:12

Historically propaganda by deed has been done by individuals some of whom turned out not to be anarchists at all but were conveniently labelled as such.

Also historically this happened when the class struggle was at a low ebb not when working class resistance is high. It’s a short cut that doesn’t work. For any anarchist movement to make an impact it need to be embedded within the working class not just a few middle class intellectuals, dilettantes and bohemians. Taking a pot shot at the Queen/Tony Blair/whoever will get us no where.

When ‘propaganda by deed’ is done by a mass of people it becomes direct action.

#22
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shellls
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May 29 2004 11:34

The French government recently released a report talking about the possible rise of armed groups in the next few years, due to the failure of syndicalist unions in France to co-opt social frustration. They are scared by the militancy of sectors of the anti-globalisation movement, and their refusal to co-operate with, or find a position of accomodation within the state.

Some members of the 70's French armed group Action Directe are still in prison, at the moment there are 4 members who are in a critical condition, they are seriously ill, due to their conditions in jail. One person has lung cancer, another a brain tumour, one woman has had 2 heart attacks, the other person has a mental illness. They have spent 7 years in isolation. Last year the French state passed a law that suspends conviction of very ill people; the state passed this law a week after some comrades had died in prison, although in practice they remove you from prison 1 or 2 days before death. A prisoner organising against this law has been punished severely with 80 days isolation and punitive conditions. This has sparked a lot of rebellions and riots.

Recently a woman connected with an Action Directe bank robbery was arrested in Mexico. The robbery happened in 1980 and she had been on the run ever since. She faces life imprisonment.