|
|
|
|
|
|
|
San Francisco, April 26 -- The tenth annual anarchist book fair, attended by thousands of people, was a friendly venue for MIM's collecting petition signatures on our Ward Churchill campaign and distributing communist literature. Only a few people said anything negative about the attendance of a communist activist at an anarchist event, though no doubt others who refused our literature were thinking the same thing. To these people MIM responds that we do not see real anarchists as the enemy. Instead we consider communists the real anarchists. By this we mean that communists are fighting for a society without power of people over other people, essentially an anarchist society, but unlike the anarchists, we have a roadmap for how to get there that has been proven more effective than idealist anarchism.
Many anarchists have come to their political position out of an instinctively correct understanding of the need to eliminate power of groups of people over other groups of people. Seeing what is wrong in the world, real anarchists have a clear vision of what a better world would look like. And MIM agrees with this position. Where we differ is in the strategy to get to this ideal society. Among anarchists there are widely varying views about this, and certainly there are many anarchists who have not even thought this question through. But for MIM this is a fundamentally important question, and one that can only be answered from studying history and taking what has worked and building on it to make it work better.
At this book fair in particular, MIM was out there to build unity with the anarchists around the campaign to prosecute those who are violating Ward Churchill's civil rights by threatening his job because of anti-imperialist statements he made. Churchill was among the writers who spoke at the book fair during the day long event, and many people in attendance were familiar with his case. In total we collected 162 signatures, and handed out many more flyers and copies of MIM Notes. For some of the day we were aided by a self-described anarchist film maker who was there to film Churchill's talk and who proved to be a very effective petitioner, flagging down everyone who walked by and convincing them to sign the petition. His explanation about our call to prosecute University of Colorado DiStefano: "The best defense is a good offense."
A reporter with a mainstream newspaper stopped to sign the petition and then changed his mind, saying that as a reporter he should not sign the petition even though he hopes Churchill does not lose his job. MIM challenged him by pointing out that David Horowitz, a reactionary activist who has put a lot of work into building the witch hunt against Churchill, also claims to hope Churchill does not lose his job. This is not particularly meaningful from someone who is doing the work of those attacking Churchill, writing articles spreading lies and misinformation. Further, the whole idea that journalists are objective, and so should not sign petitions, is a bourgeois lie. All journalists bring some perspective to the table, and those who try to hide it are generally representing the capitalist line. We gave this reporter a copy of MIM Notes and encouraged him to educate himself on this issue.
In contrast we met some people working for bourgeois media who did not sign only because they feared their bosses might learn about it and fire them. But they pledged their support for the rally against Churchill and were excited to learn about other ways they could help the campaign. Fear of bourgeois reprisals is a fine reason to withhold a signature, as long as this comes with an understanding that everyone has a responsibility to take whatever actions they can to fight the imperialist system.