The Nineties Called. They Want Their Poser-lution Back.
I recently got back from handing out anarchist literature at the NYC Tea Party. As a free market libertarian, I’ve been trying to get to a tax day protest for years. Now Santelli and Gingrich (yeah, he’s still around) are trying to rip me off (or more precisely, trying to steal discontent to gain political power). Not going to happen, guys. If you’re going to say revolution, I’m going to show you what it looks like. I gave out about 40 of the new Freedom in Chains flyers I made, and about 30 of the old Freedom in Chains bundled with de Cleyre’s Anarchism and American Traditions. I pitched them as “individualist literature” or “free market stuff.” If inquired further, I generally said they were about some ways we can take power back from the political system.
And that’s what my mission was about – people shouldn’t let professional politicians make their revolts for them. Instead, get together with people you trust, show them the score, and overthrow.
The rally itself was lamer than I expected. It began with a speaker thanking the NYC Parks Department and the NYPD for whatever it was we were supposed to be grateful for. The latter, by the way, had the rally orderly barricaded between a fence and metal barriers. More of a playtime tea party than a Boston Tea Party. I didn’t listen to the speakers closely. The Star Spangled Banner was sang, and chants of “U-S-A!” rang out at times (yeah, people seriously do that).
I made my way back through the crowd as some kind of self-styled “hip hop republican” was assuring listeners that the government “works for us” and we’re going to tell them what to do. It works for the professional crowd-pleasers, I guess. I should have talked more to the Campaign for Liberty and End the Fed folks who were hanging round the back, but I guess the general asshattery of the crowd in front dissuaded me from long talk.
I did get a video interview with a guy seeking young peoples’ opinions on the national debt for a documentary. I mentioned in the interview that I was an anarchist, unlike most of the attendees, and that I don’t really owe any debt because I didn’t ask for the projects the politicians borrowed for. However I didn’t plug the Alliance of the Libertarian Left while being filmed and I probably looked at the camera a little (so unprofessional).
But hey, we do what we can, right? The more people reading de Cleyre when they’re supposed to be listening to Gingrich the better, as I see things.
[UPDATE: Libertarian perspectives on other Tea Party rallies can be found at Knappster and Social Memory Complex. Also I changed "failed to restore liberty" to "failed to protect liberty" on the Freedom in Chains flyer today, because I like it better that way.]
April 16th, 2009 at 1:21 am
I was a bit put off by the ridiculous amount of republicanism going on, but I think the day was a success in the end.
It is great that we arrived for these things. Certainly I was the lone anarchist in attendance here in Hagerstown MD today, but I think I made an impact – mine was the only sign attacking the concept of taxation itself which the news station certainly seemed to be interested in. I believe I may have found some potential persons to infect with 3 shades of black as well.
I even managed to sneak some bureaucrash stickers in on folks
April 16th, 2009 at 11:00 am
Agreed. This was a good opportunity to present anarchist alternatives to canned, establishment-supporting “dissent.”
April 16th, 2009 at 7:47 pm
[...] Comrade Darian Worden chimes in with a perspective on the NYC rally. Apparently it was pretty lame and involved a bunch of flag waving bullshit including addresses from seedy politicians and plaudits for the NYPD. Fortunately for those in attendance Darian was able to distribute some suitably anarchist literature to show them a more principled way. He was also interviewed for a documentary. Hats off to Darian for making the trip, lets hope you helped influence some people. Here’s a quote (click the links for some good propaganda): Now Santelli and Gingrich (yeah, he’s still around) are trying to rip me off (or more precisely, trying to steal discontent to gain political power). Not going to happen, guys. If you’re going to say revolution, I’m going to show you what it looks like. I gave out about 40 of the new Freedom in Chains flyers I made, and about 30 of the old Freedom in Chains bundled with de Cleyre’s Anarchism and American Traditions. I pitched them as “individualist literature” or “free market stuff.” If inquired further, I generally said they were about some ways we can take power back from the political system. [...]
April 17th, 2009 at 11:02 am
Great job! I too attended the lame as hell Tea Party out here in Denver. And just like you I stood near the back and passed out over 60 market anarchist booklets I’ve put together. The titles included Roderick’s “Remembering Corporate Liberalism”, Gary North’s (I know he ain’t no anarchist) “Economic Fascism and the Bailout Economy” and Alfred G. Cuzan’s “Do We Ever Really Get Out of Anarchy”. I advertised them as “Free Literature!”. If anyone asked what they pertained to I just said “They are great explanations of the economic crisis.” Only a couple people rejected them after seeing the giant “A” on the front covers.
My wife made a market anarchist flag that we took to the event. A buddy and I arrived right when the “Pledge of Obedience” was being prayed. With our banner in hand we stormed to the front and started mocking The Prayer to the State. A bunch of old Republicans got upset and started chanting “A.C.O.R.N” at me and had me forcibly removed by a State Actor with a gun. I think Jason Talley got most of it on video!
All in all it was a great day!
April 17th, 2009 at 2:36 pm
thought you might enjoy this twitter feed
http://twitter.com/ourenemy
it’s from the point of view of the state
give it a follow if you like it
April 17th, 2009 at 7:44 pm
Nice work, TC. You certainly took a more confrontational approach than I did. The video is up here: http://motorhomediaries.com/anarcho-capitalist-confronts-leftists-at-denver-tea-party/
Just wondering, why do you refer to the playtime tea partyers as “leftists?” I wouldn’t really use “left” to describe their particular brand of statist idiocy.
April 17th, 2009 at 10:41 pm
I was there in NYC too; it was pretty lame. I was hanging out with the Campaign For Liberty folks passing out flyers promoting an audit the fed bill, what a bunch of reformist crap! But, there are kindred spirits in that movement and a Libertarian presence was helpful to counter the right-wing shills at the rally.
Boy, it would have been more fun to do something specifically anarchist though. Good thinking on your part.
April 17th, 2009 at 11:35 pm
Too bad I didn’t stay longer; maybe we would have met. I left a little before 8.
April 18th, 2009 at 12:00 am
Darin,
I view radical market anarchy as the ultimate left point on the political spectrum. I was trying to speak in terms these statist would understand. And by calling them “leftists” (which is their term for “statist”) I was trying to show that they are the ones who are eager to use the force of the State.
It sure is a shame that the State has devalued our language so much that “up” is “down” and “left” is “right”.
P.S. I’m usually not so hostile when “recruiting” market anarchists. But, I was in the Lion’s Den.
April 18th, 2009 at 9:02 pm
Lameness all around here in Chicago; I kind of expected as much.
For one thing, the turnout was probably around 4-5 thousand, despite the fact that it’s a huge city. Rick Santelli’s city. I saw about 15 non-white people in a town that’s mostly black with a significant Hispanic population. Normally I wouldn’t care, except taxes and the things they’re spent on constitute a pretty universal harm that should logically draw a pretty diverse crowd. I can’t help wondering if they thought this rally was just about bitter Republicans coming to protest a black Democrat POTUS who pretends to care about people’s general welfare and be slightly less of a national chauvinist border Nazi. I probably would have thought the same thing if I hadn’t known ahead of time.
Campaign for Liberty people were not as numerous as I thought they would be. There were a few Gadsden flags, way more American flags, and at least one of those black “POW-MIA” flags (wtf? Maybe he was protesting the taxes spent on Vietnam . . . psych). Some of the signs explicitly supported McCain and made it seem like things would be different if people had chosen the Republicans (excuse me, but where did the first bailout come from?), as well as lots of right-wing crap that had NOTHING to do with the protest, like “We Support Our Soldiers!” (Ya sure do . . . with taxes).
I mean, come on people, if there was ever a time for a flag burning it would be now.
The only entertaining part came when five Anonymous protesters showed up to advocate revoking the Church of Scientology’s tax-exempt status.
Then CNN showed up, and decided to interview the guy with a sign comparing Obama to Hitler, make some “unbiased observations” and leave. It was so bad I almost found myself taking the conservatives’ side.
The worst part of the day, though? Look who stole the team colors. (http://www.facebook.com/photo_search.php?page=2&oid=70771461904&aid=-1&auser=&view=all#/photo.php?pid=36140250&op=3&o=all&view=all&subj=70771461904&aid=-1&oid=70771461904&id=32814201)
I didn’t have any anarchist literature on me since I don’t have access to a printer that can produce booklets in a reasonable amount of time. So I formatted a quick three-fold pamphlet of Anthony Gregory’s “About Those Conservative Tax Protesters . . .” (http://www.lewrockwell.com/gregory/gregory185.html) and started handing them out. I thought it would be a less confrontational way of pointing out to conservatives (and the libs who see them as natural allies) how similar policies are across party lines. I think the title scared most of them off, because I couldn’t unload everything. So on my way home I just started slipping them into newspapers (especially the Onion) and leaving them on chairs and train seats. I think that since it takes a “pox on both their houses” approach, it should be just as persuasive to liberals.
Great job with what you guys did. TC, I knew you’d go the distance.