If you’re not participating in Black Bloc tactics and you are a grownup who’s educated about your cause, I’m not talking about you. In that case I doubt you’d be unwelcome at serious demos like the Women’s March, even if you do support the brain-dead and counter-productive version of militant action that resulted in arrests the day before.
It’s not about “good protesters” and “bad protesters,” it’s about effective protesters and counterproductive ones. Violent anarkiddies add zero value at best to mass demos, and I’m glad that serious protest organisers have finally learned that – it’ll certainly make it harder for Arizona to enforce this crappy law against the big protests.
It depends upon what your goals are. If you are gathering only to get attention and raise awareness, then yes, black bloc tactics are inappropriate. But if you are gathering as a direct action, to force the hand of The State, then it might be just what is needed.
For better or worse, over the 20th century, protest and demonstration have become synonymous with “organized complaining in public with signs”. Why convince people to be politically/situationally impotent? What that does is condition leaders of government and industry that their actions have no direct consequences from the people, meaning that the power is theirs to do as they choose.
In a society where it is almost exclusively the left who is targeted until they dilute their tactics to homeopathic levels, one important way forward is to break The State’s monopoly on violence, a monopoly which does not protect The People but rather the controlling interests of the hegemony. Bring down the police first, then protest.
Whoa. The way you speak about this is too harsh, don’t care how convinced you are. I was at the Women’s March and I’m fine with Black Bloc having a role in resistance. Plenty of people feel that way. After all, as @zikzak said, we’re on the same side! This is straightforward, I think - maybe to some extent you agree? But anyway, don’t get too hung up on issues of tactics.
Probably not, since most of the Colorado River Aquaduct water goes to SoCal, which is more droughty than Central and NoCal.
Though I really wish it were so, at least for a year or two. The eastern plains are in a very bad way, and the aquifers could really use the extra support to prevent another dust bowl.
