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

[Garth Mullins]

Our movement must purge itself of neo-fascist groups like the National Alliance
front group or more soft racists, like those that hide within our ranks and try to
recruit
more quietly.

If we do not come out with a clear anti-fascist, anti-racist position on this - and
actually follow it up by ejecting people from marches, meetings, etc. than our
movement will have no credibility with anybody, and its limited diversity will
disappear.

In Vancouver, we have sat by while soft racists with organizational ties infiltrate
our ranks. This must end.

g

Macdonald Stainsby wrote:

> 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.
>
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