[*BCM*] Seattle CM turns ugly

[Anne Wolfe]

I think you'll find that CM rides aren't about taking back the streets.  Or
anything else.  That's the joy of the leaderless anarchist movement, and one
of its biggest strengths and also its most collassal weakness.   The fact
that for you it is about taking something speaks volumes about you, but
should ideally say little about CM.  For example, the CM in Hungary is only
twice a year, but thousands and thousands of people turn out for peaceful
demonstrations.  That isn't about taking back the streets, and neither are
most CMs.  What you get out of it, well, that's rather up to you.

Whether or not you trust the press, it seems that both the pro-bike and
pro-car sides on this one seem to both be saying that both sides were
wrong.  Which is often the case.  Although the Stranger isn't exactly a
paper that will automatically go the pro-car route.  Mind you, I trust the
press' bias about as much as I trust yours in this matter, which is to say,
little.

Civil disobedience doesn't always work and I never said it does.  But when
it does, it does so inter alia for the reasons stated.

And yes, it is difficult to get people not to retaliate.  But if they see
the benefits, or at least the benefits outweigh the disadvantages, they can
retaliate in other ways, such as mobilising other people to come out and
have a larger, more peaceful CM.  That isn't going to happen here.  What's
going to happen here is that less peacefully inclined people will attend,
more thuggishly inclined people will attend, the police will start paying a
lot more attention, and whatever or nothing that CM opts to stand for at
that time will become more and more difficult, while the cars will go
unmolested.  That's a loss, by almost anyone's measure.



2008/7/28 john saylor <js0000 at gmail.com>

> hey
>
> On Mon, Jul 28, 2008 at 9:03 AM, Anne Wolfe <goannego at gmail.com> wrote:
> > If you want to enlighten people, generally antagonising them isn't the
> best
> > way to go.
>
> i don't think enlightenment was on anyone's mind. the CM rides are
> about *taking* back the streets [among other things].
>
> i don't have much faith in the press, so i am sure this is being
> played as 'cyclist mob'- after all, that will sell more papers than
> 'insane driver' [besides, car dealers pay more advertising dollars
> than bike shops] ...
>
> > Why did civil disobedience work?
>
> civil disobediance doesn't always work.
>
> as you [indirectly] point out- it is in the nature of humans to
> retaliate. when a bunch of their fellow cyclists get run over, the
> first reaction is to strike back.
>
> it takes very a special and disciplined [or extremely outgunned]
> population to use non-violent tactics. you are asking people to go
> against their nature [possible, but very difficult]. gandhi himself
> said satyagraha is the most difficult kinda resistance possible.
>
> --
> \js [ http://or8.net/~johns/ <http://or8.net/%7Ejohns/> ]
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-- 
Anne M. Wolfe, LL.M.
Mobile: ( 07805) 456901
"If Happy Fun Ball begins to smoke, get away immediately. Seek shelter and
cover head. Please do not taunt Happy Fun Ball."
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