FWD: ANTI-WTO: Don't throw the radicals overboard

[Randy Groves]

Point 1:

I in no way was trying to justify the actions of the police.

Point 2:

I think that history has shown that there is great effect in non-violent
civil disobedience.  My point is, we won't know how effective it could
have been, will we?  And all because of what I consider rotten apples.

-randy


On Fri, 17 Dec 1999, Rich Littleton wrote:

> 
> It would have been nice if there had been no property damage.
> 
> But there was.
> 
> Point 1:
> To me it is less significant that 2% of the demonstrators went out of
> control than that 2% of the cops went out of control.  I hold cops to a
> higher standard of lawful behavior.
> 
> Do we want to say "it's bad that the anarchists broke the law and so that
> justifies the police also breaking the law?"
> 
> Point 2:  The polite labor march (in which I participated) was good, but
> of little consequence.  Even Randy conceded that "shutting down" the WTO
> was significant.  It was not the destruction that shut it down;  it was
> (a) blocking intersections, (b) linking arms and physically preventing
> delegates from getting through, (c) holding unauthorized marches
> randomly in downtown and (c) "shutting down" downtown Seattle. 
> 
> All of those things are illegal. 
> 
> But those are what impacted the WTO.
> 
> I do agree that the destruction was both wrong and counterproductive, but
> mostly because it was counterproductive -- it gave an excuse for a lot of
> people to waste time on the property damage and ignore (a) the essence of
> the WTO's damage to people and ignore (b) the collapse of discipline
> among the police.
> 
> Rich
> 
> 
> 
> 

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