Marathon Pundit: Adbusters fawns over Black Bloc anarchists within Occupy

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Adbusters fawns over Black Bloc anarchists within Occupy

Black Bloc at Chicago's May Day march

Adbusters came up with the original idea of Occupy Wall Street.

Now the anti-capitalist group group has fallen in love the the violent Black Bloc anarchists who are becoming the face of the Occupy movement.

From a May 7 Adbusters blog post about May Day rallies.

On websites and forums, anarchists are rejoicing the spectacular showing of Black Bloc. "American anarchists haven't experienced this much positive public attention since the euphoria and aftermath of N30 in Seattle," writes one commentator. For many, the Black Bloc represents a tactical innovation that suggests the future of Occupy. "Occupy is dead, long live the Black Bloc," writes another. An anarchist in New Orleans described how the status quo was unprepared for their tactics: "The Anti-Capitalism march caught the police off-guard and has the media dumb-founded. A full 24-hours later the Times Picayune has said nothing about the Anti-Capitalist March, only making mention of the permitted march that happened earlier in the day."

In Oakland, the Black Bloc, which made up a large portion of the May Day General Strike, displayed a coordinated tactical philosophy – including the de-arresting of comrades, throwing eggs filled with paint, using homemade smoke-creating incendiaries to confuse police, and the rejection of media – that suggests prior planning, ongoing innovation and increasing sophistication. And Black Bloc tactics are just one aspect of the overall rejuvenation of anarchism that is happening right now including the increase of infoshops (there are two near Occupy Oakland: The Holdout and The Longhaul); the creation of bottom-up solidarity networks to replace top-down unions; providing free food on the model of Food Not Bombs; offering a compelling DIY aesthetic.

Anarchist occupiers are energized and their visceral tactics are attracting members. Now, the power of the Black Bloc is growing within Occupy and pushing the movement in unexpected directions.