It's been one of the fundamental problems, particularly for anti-authoritarian leftist groups, to move beyond the soiled ground of terminology. If you were to actually read the political tenants of anarchism, I'd very closely align with it, but if you around calling yourself that, the public at large has a media-constructed image of people in masks breaking shit and would immediately classify me as deranged.

I think this is partly because the mainstream public political lexicon does not allow for anything other than "right" or "left". The degradation of the notion of nuance or splits within these supposed camps is washed over in a tide of easy-to-read soundbites.

The libertarian capitalist movement has had a fair bit more success than the libertarian socialist one at clearly defining themselves, perhaps because the capitalist nature of right wing anti-authoritarianism blends very easily with our current corporatist economic/social structure.

Anarchists have never had it that easy, as they do not propose easy answers or quick solutions, which we have all been conditioned to expect and demand. They call for a reprioritisation of social goals, a reworking of the social structure and the elimination of heirachy. More than this, and most crucially, they call for the slow rehabilitation of the human being as a social creature. The promotion of rational individualism as opposed to selfish individualism. This is not something that would or will happen overnight and the conditions for revolution seem as far away as ever, but still... we keep going.

It should be the mantra for all actions: decentralise, decentralise, decentralise. Don't keep all of your stuff in one place and do NOT have only one convergence space. Pre-arrange meeting zones where none of you have anything which can be constituted "criminal". Don't make your stuff visible until the actual protest.

And FILM EVERYTHING. Record, record, record. The internet is the greatest boon to the anarchist community EVER. Viral video is your friend. Communicate as much as possible. News networks love videos which show violence, no matter who is beating who, it sells well. Use that.

As always, expect moles because the government is deathly afraid of you and your terrifying notion that they aren't needed.

By the way, you may be suprised to hear if you only listen to MSM that anarchists and other grassroot groups actually were providing aid to civilians left stranded after Katrina. They were there after the first day, doing what they could. The fact that any of you even remotely have a problem with people self-organising and helping others just shows how far we've all sunk.

Firstly, you need to stop associating "anarchists" with chaotic, nihlistic psychopaths, this is something that has been so thouroghly drilled into the public's consciousness that if someone like me ever actually states my political stance, I'm immediately thought to be somebody who advocates wholesale murder. Take a history lesson and read up on what anarchists really believe, try and contextualise.

Secondly, the RNC Welcoming Committee may have had mole elements. That's hardly surprising, but look at their stated intentions. Nowhere did they say: "let's burn senators cars! let's beat people up!" Their stated goal was to make a mockery of the Republican Party and by extension all representative politics. Is that seriously something that deserves this kind of police action in your mind?

Whatever, you liberals will just go back to sleep as soon as this issue drops off the front page. The thought of actually taking responsibilty for yourself and others is too scary a notion.

Right.......

Anyone care to compare stats between how many people are hurt by anarchist protests compared to police/military actions? Do police have medics in their ranks who they keep to immediately care for anyone hurt by their actions? Fuck, how badly have people been hurt? The worst I've ever heard of is the woman who was accidentally struck by a brick during the G8 protests in Seattle, who was instantly taken care of by the street medics and never chose to press charges.

Let's keep things in perspective. Most anarchists are not dangerous. Most anarchists don't even go to these protests. They organise, communicate, invent, create and work, dilligently and collectively. They do not oppress, they do not exploit, they do not torture.

Fortunately, as with this action, the police have entirely jumped on the wrong thing. One of the key points of a lot of these actions is the development of networks between activists, the establishment of working organisations and a collective encouragement to keep up the good fight. That's something no amount of police raiding can stop. They lost before they even started.