[mobglob-discuss] Towards freedom: The G8 and beyond

[Macdonald Stainsby]

Actually David: It appears worse than that, simple lunatics that is. Check this
out (thanks to NEFAC for the mail)
This is the Neo-Nazi, wanna be militia group the National Alliance.

AGAN is their puppet front group. Further down this turgid (and eye-opening)
rant, they discuss exactly what happened at the fence and descibe their
participation.

As a friend recently put it well, if our movement wasn't in a near-crisis and at
a major turning point, this wouldn't matter. However, despite those who think
"we won" or whatever, with our movement in decline and on the defensive,
shitbags like this will try to be the leadership vacuum our increasingly
disoriented movement seems to have.
We need to have a larger policy on this, for all activities in Vancouver and
elsewhere. We also need to re-examine what our own orientation is vis-a-vis
allowing oppressive views (racist, sexist, etc) within our organising.

This is important and not to be taken lightly. I've only met one skinhead on a
personal level in my life: He went to my college, tried to recruit people there
and then gave up and went off and joined in the curb stomping murder of a Sikh
Caretaker.

Macdonald
---
Beyond Left and Right
by NA Canada . Monday July 08, 2002 at 08:47 PM

A report on recent National Alliance activity, including its presence at
the G8 demonstrations.

Beyond Left and Right

"One of the difficulties people have in trying to understand us, is that
they can't figure out quite how to categorize us. They are accustomed to
putting everything they encounter in life into little mental pigeon holes
labelled right-wing, left-wing, communist, racist, and so on, and once
they have done that, they think that they understand the thing. Now, the
trouble is, that we don't quite fit any of the customary pigeon holes, and
that is because the doctrine of the National Alliance, the truth for which
we stand, is not just a rehash of old and familiar ideas, but is really
something new for our people. Perhaps, the best way to approach an
understanding of the National Alliance is to start by getting rid of some
of the most troublesome pigeon holes all-together. That is, by pointing
out what we are not. We are not, as many people tend to assume at first,
either a conservative or a right-wing group, and I am not just trying to
be cute when I say that. I am not just trying to emphasis that we are a
special right-wing group, or a better right-wing group. In fact, our truth
has very little in common with most right-wing creeds."

These words were spoken by Dr. William Pierce in 1976. Over twenty-five
years later, many people are still suffering from misconceptions about
what the National Alliance is, and what we are trying to achieve. The
'mental pigeon holes,' labelled right-wing and left-wing, are just as
confining in 2002 as they were in 1976.

It is undeniable, that most National Alliance policies would traditionally
be labelled right-wing, just as it is undeniable that other aspects of our
worldview would traditionally be labelled left-wing. What brings life to
the National Alliance is not an allegiance to a particular end of the
ideological spectrum, but our all-encompassing allegiance to race and
revolution.

Others have recognized the importance of charting a new path, and
disassociating themselves from both stagnant conservatism and rootless
liberalism. Britain's intrepid Oswald Mosley stressed that National
Socialism, "combines the dynamic urge to change and progress
[traditionally associated with the left-wing] with the authority, the
discipline and the order [traditionally associated with the right-wing]
without which anything great cannot be achieved" Spanish philosopher and
revolutionary Jos Antonio Primo de Rivera expressed largely the same
sentiment when he stated, "All revolutions have hitherto been incomplete,
in that none of them have served both the idea of the Nation and the idea
of Social Justice at once. We combine those two things: the Nation and
Social Justice, and upon those two unshakable principles we are
categorically resolved to make our revolution."

The National Alliance in Canada has participated in two recruiting
campaigns during the first half of 2002, and a preliminary discussion of
the National Alliance's rejection, of both the traditional right and
traditional left, serves as a useful introduction to these campaigns.

Trouble in Harper Land

As reported in the Calgary Sun and lampooned in Frank magazine, the
National Alliance was embroiled in a controversy earlier this year,
surrounding both the alleged support of the 'Stephen Harper Leadership
Campaign' by National Alliance members, and the participation of National
Alliance members and supporters at a Canadian Alliance convention held
later in Edmonton.

Under pressure from the media, Stephen Harper quickly condemned the
National Alliance, and personally called for a purge of racists from his
party, even as National Alliance activists were rubbing shoulders with
delegates and distributing literature on the floor of their annual
convention.

While there is potential to radicalize some conservatives, and bring them
into the fold, it is a mistake to believe that since conservatives share
a number of our concerns, that they can be more easily recruited, or will
make better members, than someone coming from the traditional left.

While conservatives look back fondly on a less-complicated and cleaner
(both physically and spiritually) world, and often understand the racial
dimension to society's problems, they seem incapable of making the leap
from reformer to revolutionary. Conservatives tend to react, when
something unsettles their immediate surroundings, but have a hard time
proactively looking beyond their immediate surroundings to see the bigger
picture. Revolutions are unsettling affairs, and convincing a conservative
to risk his personal status and comfort, for the future collective
security and health of society is a challenge.

Efforts to recruit conservatives from within the Canadian Alliance may not
surprise many, but the active participation of National Alliance members
and supporters in recent demonstrations against the G8 Summit, might catch
others off-guard.

Welcome to the Police State

Following violent demonstrations in Seattle, Quebec City, and Genoa, the
establishment spared little expense in discouraging dissent and showing
force in Alberta. Hospitals may be running out of beds and factories
closing their doors, but the Canadian government still found 300 million
dollars of tax-payer's money to spend on security measures.

An overwhelming police presence in downtown Calgary, and a belligerent
municipal government, helped to create a climate of intimidation. Marketed
as the largest domestic security operation in post-war Canada, police
officers from as far away as Ontario patrolled virtual 'no-go' zones in
the city, as helicopters, jet fighters, and armoured personnel carriers
turned once-pristine Kananaskis into an armed camp.

Despite the over-reaction of the establishment, and the
smaller-than-expected crowds that it produced, the National Alliance did
enjoy some success in reaching out to established anti-globalists. One
group rashly announced its cooperation with the National Alliance as part
of a publicity campaign, only to be denounced as racists themselves in a
classic case of 'guilt by association.' The ensuing mix of paranoia and
sloppy research led to an amusing string of allegations and conspiracy
theories on websites as far away as Norway.

Some of the resulting fall-out was encouraging. One self-described
anarchist had this to say, upon listening to an American Dissident Voices
broadcast, "I scared myself listening to those broadcasts. I had prepared
myself for some pretty blatant racism, what I hadn't prepared myself for
was finding myself agreeing with some of what they said."

The march, the trampoline and George Bush

Billed as being one of the more radical demonstrations, the 'Show-down at
the Hoe-down,' was organized in opposition to corporate Calgary's official
welcome for G8 functionaries and media hacks. While National Alliance
members participated in a number of activities during the summit, the
'Show-down at the Hoe-down' is illustrative of how the week unfolded.

By the time I arrived, a crowd of several hundred, which would later swell
to two thousand, had gathered around the cenotaph at Memorial Park. After
listening to a couple of weak speeches plagued by acoustic problems, and
locating my comrades, the march got underway.

Without a permit to hold a rally or to march on city streets, two thousand
people blocked-off traffic and began to walk towards Macleod Trail in
defiance. Unmolested by the swarms of police officers who surrounded the
march on mountain bikes, the crowd blocked off one of Calgary's busiest
arteries for hours and held a comical street party.

Stereo speakers blasted music, people danced or sang, and a trampoline
appeared out of nowhere in the centre of the street, which earlier that
morning had been clogged with commuters. Others wrote political messages
or drew outlines of themselves in chalk on the pavement. The event reached
its surreal height, as egged on by the crowd, a figure in a George Bush
mask performed on the trampoline and posed for photos with protesters.

Not satisfied with a street party, part of the demonstration later broke
away from the party and continued marching, towards the Stampede Roundup
Centre, ostensible location of the corporate function. As the motley crowd
moved towards a possible confrontation with the police, many people began
to join in chanting, "This is what democracy looks like!" I looked around
me at the disorganized mob, without leaders, without direction, and agreed
whole-heartedly. "This is what democracy looks like!" Smiling at the irony
of the situation, National Alliance members added their voice to the
crowd, as several of the more militant demonstrators began to work their
way towards the metal fence, which separated the crowd from the police.
"This is what democracy looks like!" As the fence began to sway, however,
the chanting was quickly replaced by shrill calls for the militants to
back away from the fence, lest a night of trampolining and dancing be
tainted by direct action. "We need to vote," screamed one protester. "Yes,
a show of hands," another desperately agreed. Others, upset at the crowd's
timidity, tried to shout down those wanting to hide behind a last-minute
vote. In the end, the impression given to the media, and to the police,
was one of weakness and disorganization. This is precisely what democracy
looks like.

I was not the only one who found the lack of order bewildering. I was
encouraged to see other people in the crowd casting frustrated glances,
first in one direction and then in the other, as if looking for someone to
explain to them what was going on and why no one was in control. I engaged
one clearly dismayed protester in a conversation, which immediately turned
to the chaos around us. "Unless something radical changes, then this will
be the last demonstration I'll attend," he confided. "When are these
people going to realize," he continued, "that leadership and discipline
aren't things to fight against, but things to embrace?"

Keeping the door open

Many anti-globalists may never support the National Alliance, and a
minority within the anti-globalist movement would not be welcomed into our
ranks even if they were so inclined. These 'un-salvageables' include the
radical homosexuals, drunks, native-fetishists, and mental deficients,
that helped to alienate mainstream society from the demonstrations. In
reality, the demonstrations included countless real people, with real
concerns about globalism, the environment, and corporate greed. These
people have been abandoned, both by the political mainstream, and by the
radical left, which has failed to provide them with a realistic worldview
or long-term direction.

The National Alliance must be prepared to fill this political void, by
providing dissatisfied anti-globalists with a real revolutionary
alternative. Not only must the National Alliance continue to speak out
against globalism, and attempt to make further inroads into the
anti-globalist movement, but we must do a better job of marketing
ourselves to those within the anti-globalist camp who may be receptive to
our message.

There are particular challenges to recruiting from the traditional left,
which must first be understood and then overcome. Unlike conservatives,
who often accept the importance of race, yet not of revolution, much of
the left has abandoned any hope of reforming the system, yet does not
understand the importance of race. The challenge is to convince people
from the traditional left that race, rather than class or gender, is the
key component of the struggle.

The National Alliance in Canada accepts the challenge of recruiting from
both ends of the political spectrum, and looks forward to the next
opportunity to do so.