International Student Movement

Hey folks,

i joined this site because i am dissatisfied with the levels of actions being taken in the U.S.A., and as i reside here i find it unacceptable, even suicidal, to do nothing. with this being said, i do not generally approve of internet-based social networking and communication via email, etc. This is due largely in part due to the vast resources the US government devotes to information-gathering over the web (the FBI seems to adore Facebook, for instance, as well as our own sites). [As a side note, i would love to see some hackers take on the US government head-on, as part of "Operation Payback," and other back-lashes to Assange's arrest and the corporate-owned means of gathering donations were cut-off from WikiLeaks.] and i don't know how it is in the EU, but surveillance-fetishistic "filth" (i like it more than "pig," popular here) society largely helps to induce a skepticism towards "above-ground" organizing in general; a true shame, in that the threat seems true, and it appears as a shame. another big reason: we all know "Americans" are often dumb and lazy as fuck (status quo-dependent, if that makes sense!). let's be honest. it kinda dampers the spirits, but the cliche holds for about two thirds of "us." exceptions are often found in the impoverished neighborhoods, amongst minorities, and muffled in the dead-air american suburbia, not at all as fierce as those of france, from what i hear.

i read on the mailing list another comrade from america mentioning the lack of solidified, realized movement (momentum) in the U.S. The activist spoke from their experience, saying that we are not yet prepared to concretely take part in an International Movement, except in word of solidarity. that being said, we would have to be blind to not see a surging awareness around these parts, however subtle (in the blur of mediatic oblivion; the "perpetual present," ripe with incessant technological renewal; consumerism), and however slightly to our side. Many here have, as i have heard happen in the EU, turned strongly to the "right." Most of these people are confused and out for their own selfish interests; the rest are too stupid to grasp the situation from outside the Dem-Rep paradigm, or Big-Small Govn., etc. (i.e. many Tea Baggers, etc).

we would be acting very counter to the direction of revolution if we were to just "sit back and watch the movement develop," like at least one "anarchist" in the UK suggested. i understand the idea of letting a spontaneous mass mobilization on a continental, even global, scale, triggered by austerity measures for the most part, "develop on it's own," when the tactics and strategies it utilized were as hopeful as a few glimpsed in the chaos of London and the UK, especially on the 9th, from what i hear. But we don't have such shining examples of "lumpen-proletariat" rage unleashed as has been glimpsed elsewhere. Also, the seemingly-endless images of students at the front lines, battling the police, are scarce in america (focused in northern california and nyc, for the most part) in the past two months. the most common exceptions are riots resulting from cops killing people. often starting, carrying through, and ending in poor areas. an example of greater interest, perhaps, would be the flashmobs of philadelphia back in 2009, largely black kids from poor areas ravaging rich areas, then disappearing as quickly as they assembled. ah, the delicacy of cell phones! and each time, the numbers grew, until the activity just seemed to stop. i was never able to find out an explanation, further contributing to my theory that most activity of a revolutionary, progressive nature comes spontaneously, and under similar anonymity disappears...

but i digress...

amerika has a rich history, even in fairly contemporary times, of many-layered, complex revolutionary movements. often times i think that the only conclusion i have come to in all my study of "social movements," and history at large, seems to be that things have a tendency to happen rapidly, when they do happen, in the form of "mutations." The alternative would be "extinction." due to the current global situation of ecological collapse, peak oil, and the dawn of the Globalized Fascist order (fascist, in Mussolini's definition), a mutation seems imminent. Or the alternative...

From the moment i saw the streets of greece in late december of 2008 across my computer screens, i knew this was the image of the future. what george jackson calls "the riot stage," but more developed then mere "rioting." jackson tells us to find our way through this, to the "commune-building stage," where the gun fighting was supposed to emerge (seeing as the State would then legitimately be threatened), and the corollary "Vanguard Army" (almost nonexistent, and extremely uncoordinated and compromised) would make itself known. but most of america would never make it in to the riot stage, and very few made it any further than rioting. by this i mean, the student movements failed to recognize that they were dealing with a terrifyingly reactionary public, and often failed to connect with the few radicalized workers of the time. jackson was saying that we need autonomy (communes), to re-take over and restore our communities, and fuel a protracted "People's War" against the U.S. government & co. While jackson was writing this the Black Panthers were already fair game for cops and FBI, CIA, etc. across the world to gun down. the reason the BPP failed was because the government gunned down their leaders and any soldiers who got in their way (and some that didn't), and most of the others were arrested. afterward, many others turned (often re-turning) to hard drugs and crime. as an example, huey p. newton, and the original C.R.I.P.s.
And yet others sold-out, fled, disappeared, etc.
why did this only spark minimal resistance from the people?
because of the prevalence of racism and respect for the State that illuminates the social body in fascist U.S.A.

but in greece we see that they are combining the "riot" and "commune" stages, which enables them to hold virtually endless assaults on the state and spectacular society at large. we can witness this to an extent in france as well, though from what i hear this is due in large part to poor immigrants living in the suburbs, often Arab in origin. i don't mean to say the white kids in france are as silent as those in america... no insults, really. but this brings me to the last point i want to mention in this first blog entry. From what i have been able to tell, the best thing the student protests have thus far managed to achieve is provide a generalized context of revolt: the idea behind May '68. since we have been witnessing this across the EU (with some exceptions...), and glimpses around the world (extensive in some areas, like Chiapas, 'indigenous' regions of Argentina, Chile. etc.), we can say it is safe to affirm the statement of our light in the dark, the Greek comrades: WE ARE AN IMAGE FROM THE FUTURE. but they didn't have to capitalize. they knew it was inevitable. the tiny group of ultra-wealthy assholes who attempt to manage the world (less than some .001% of the population, supposedly) will continue to erode everything they succeeded to the people after centuries of fighting, and in the period of two years, all to the back-drop of record-breaking corporate profits. here the enemy allows us to refute in public without being scorned their false promises of endless materialistic convenience, luxury, and progress. at this fracture point we will aim our arrows; for the realization of earth, life, and purpose.

the most promising aspect of generalized revolt can be conveyed as the emergence of sustained insurrection, guided by self-management, leading to the future we're fighting for. the most promising aspect of the current revolts are harnessed in the passion, the rage of the young, that burns like halos in their hearts and on their heads. particularly, we would say the poorest youths. increasingly, all youth are dispossessed, if not now, then already in the immediate future we witness as clearly as some saw this moment. indeed, life can be said to be "increasingly dispossessed." So, in contemporary Marxist terminology: "Life of the Earth, grow your gardens, your autonomous communities! and Wage total war on the globalized corporate-state understood as the 'integrated spectacular!'"

there is a spectre haunting europe: the spectacle of normalcy.

if revolt can be sustained indefinitely, maybe, just maybe, some more folks in america will start rising-up. ...

sometimes i feel like saying "cthulu help us"

for more of my ramblings, visit:
benperidol.livejournal.com

in arms,
heyzeus christo