Surviving Capitalism (Not) : Street Politics 101: the story behind the ‘maple spring’

We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Thursday, December 12, 2013

Street Politics 101: the story behind the ‘maple spring’

Click here to access article by the ROAR Collective from Reflections on a Revolution.

This brief article introduces a must-view 33:39m video which tells the story of militant tactics used against Quebec authorities by students and their supporters to win victories against tuition hikes and onerous legal actions taken by those authorities against activists. Militant tactics included fighting back against police, attacking police property, attacking corporate property, taking possession of public buildings and streets, all of which were illegal.

This report needs to be circulated all over the US to reach activists who have been cowed by liberals like Chris Hedges who, while using radical rhetoric, want you to limit your actions to completely non-threatening actions like candlelight marches. Isn't it a bit strange, don't you think, that such critics have not addressed the victories of the Quebec students who used precisely the militant tactics that such liberal critics condemn ("The cancer in Occupy")?