reply to an ignorant Green
Autonome Forum
The following idiotic remarks recently appeared on alt.politics.greens:
>In article <1993Mar5.0...@uvm.edu> afo...@moose.uvm.edu (Autonome Forum) writes:
>>Arm The Spirit is an autonomist/anti-imperialist collective that disseminates
>>information about liberation struggles in advanced capitalist countries and
>>in the so-called "Third World". Our focus is on armed struggle and other forms
>>of militant resistance...
>> afo...@moose.uvm.edu
>"Liberation struggles?" "Militant resistance?" Don't we get enough
>euphemisms for *warfare* from the Right?
>"Arm The Spirit" must be completely ignorant of Green Values, which
>include "nonviolence." Green politics is the most significant
>development in the progressive movement in decades, and IMHO any
>"collective that disseminates information" which displays such profound
>ignorance cannot be very useful.
>I also question the sincerity and motives of anyone who posts to Usenet
>without giving their real name.
>I suspect "Arm The Spirit" is a pseudonym for the US Federal Bureau of
>Investigation, which has a history of trying to incite the naive to
>violence. They must think we Greens are stupid.
Although the man who posted those remarks blasts our anonymity, we shall
nonetheless resepct his. Let us call him Mr. White Green. We will make
this a political-flame, not a personal one.
We are deeply offended by the above statement, which was insulting,
ignorant, and irresponsible.
INSULTING: Insulting, not so much us, but to all those people who have
been either imprisoned or killed in the struggle for justice, both here
and abroad. Insulting to the 100+ political prisoners in US jails. Insulting
to the dozens of Kurds who are massacred every day in their, yes, "liberation"
struggle.
IGNORANT: If Mr. White Green had taken the time to find out more about Arm
The Spirit, he would have found out that we have been a valuable information
source in the anarchist/left-radical scene for almost two years now. But
Mr. White Green obviously is not involved in any serious political work, or
he would never have made such an ignorant remark, for he would either 1)
have known who we are, or 2) have known better than to make such an utterly
stupid and offensive claim. Even GREENS use Arm The Spirit. Several members
of the Left Green Network are subscribers, as are several Youth Greens. Have
you ever heard of these groups, Mr. White Green, which are part of your own
movement? (Although the latter have disbanded, after deciding that US Greens
were too white, middle-class, pro-capitalist, and not committed to direct
action).
IRRESPONSIBLE: Again, Mr. White Green has obviously had no exposure whatsoever
to real political work. This is evidenced by the fact of his stupid FBI
remark; such an ignorant remark would never be uttered by any self-respecting
activist. It is also irresponsbile for he either underestimates the FBI's
terrorist capabilites, or plays right into their plans at divisiveness.
No, Mr. White Green, we don't preach "non-violence". For one thing, we see
it as a white, middle-class luxury. But apart from that, our focus, as our
post stated, is "militant and armed resistance", although not simply this.
We do not 'advocate' anything, but we try to provide information and analyses
which no one else on the North American left provides. We will pass over your
self-evidently ridiculous claim about Greens being the "most significant
development in progressive politics this decade" or whatever. Come on; even
in Germany, Die Gruenen are a thing of the past. But even they still pay
lip service to real issues like political prisoners, and, yes, liberation
struggles.
Believe it or not, Mr. White Green, there are more important issues facing
the majority of the world's population than recycling programs in white
suburbs.
Arm The Spirit does not claim to speak for a majority of the left (especially
not the left in cyberspace!), but many people, certainly not all of them
fellow autonomist/anti-imperialists, at least welcome the fact that we provide
certain information (info on political prisoners, liberation struggles, etc.)
that is otherwise hard to come by. Such people are at least open minded and
seek out information. They refrain from arrogance and ignorance.
Yes, IGNORANCE. Why is it that left is so ignorant of issues like political
prisoners, native resistance, and liberation struggles like the ones in
Kurdistan and elsewhere? Partly it is because it is difficult to find
information on such struggles; hence the need for ATS. But why is it that
so-called progressives like Mr. White Green, when presented with such
"new" themes, immediately think that it's all an FBI plot? How depressing
that such ignorance could exist on the left. What an eye-opener for us.
Wake up, Mr. White Green: there ARE political prisoners in the USA, there
have been armed resistance movements in Europe and North America in
recent history, and THERE ARE real life-and-death liberation struggles
still being waged in the Third World, despite the collapse of real-
exisitng "socialism". Hey, Mr. White Green, you can't know all there is
to know if you just watch the NBC nightly news.
The worst thing about Mr. White Greens' post, besides its political
iresponsibility, was just the embarassing degree of ignorance and inhumanity
it displayed. If we are to judge from you, Mr. White Green, then, yes,
we do think "all Greens are stupid". You know NOTHING of contemporary
politics, either here or abroad; you know NOTHING of the North American
left; indeed, you apparently know NOTHING of your own movement, the Greens,
for you don't even seem to realize what movements the German Greens arose
from in the late '70s.
We would like an apology from Mr. White Green, not for our sake (for we
are impervious to flames!), but rather for all those activists who have
been either jailed or killed here in their struggle, and particularly
for all comrades in the Third World, whose (oh my!) "liberation struggles"
are obviously misguided since they are violent. Oh, shame on you, you
black South Africans! Shame on you, you Kurdish people! Why not have a
sit-in? Maybe then you won't be shot, bombed, tortured...If only we
could all be male! If only we could all be white! If only we could all
follow the wisdom of Western intellectuals! They know better! - Such
an attitude, Mr. White Green, is really reprehensible. We can forgive
your ignorance, for perhaps you just spoke out too soon without
knowing better; we can overlook your insults, for arrogance is a character
flaw, but one which can be rectified; but your political irresponsibility
is another matter. Before you make ignorant remarks, make sure you do not end
up looking like a fool - as you did in your case. Those with no political
experience or knowledge should not go out on a limb as you did.
In conclusion: we expect there to be political divisions on the left.
Disagreements - however heated - are to be expected. But ignorance and
irresponsibility and arrogance are things we can all do without. If you
want to (try) differ with us on a political level, then go right ahead. We
may be in serious disagreement, but at least then it would be political. But
you seem incapable of politics; you, at best, can muster an arrogant stance
of white, middle-class, Western arrogance...with a big helping of political
ignorance and lack of information in addition.
Sincerely,
an ex-Green who got a clue
Autonome Forum
afo...@moose.uvm.edu
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