This opinion piece rests on the belief that polite protests accomplish anything.

1) Political and business leaders do not care about polite protests, demonstrations, petitions, witty signs, etc.

2) Regular people across Canada do not care about polite protests, demonstrations, petitions, witty signs, etc.

If you are well-behaved (according to how the gov't, police etc. want you to behave) you do not reach any more people's hearts and minds, and you certainly do not change public policy, or threaten the power of the rich and powerful.

Case in point: try and see how many people even know about the G20 People's Summit that happened in Toronto the weekend before the G20. Almost no one even knows it happened. The media barely covered it. People always complain that the Black Bloc takes attention away from the 'good protestors,' but the media doesn't cover the well-behaved stuff anyway.

I was there amid the vandalism and burning cop cars, and there were literally thousands of people around me. Often when a window would shatter, the street would erupt in cheers - not from Black Bloc people, but all sorts of people. The point I'm making is that there may be people who are turned on to a polite protest, but I would attest to there also being a number of people turned onto a destructive protest.

 I said the exact same thing in response to this article:

http://toronto.mediacoop.ca/blog/dan-kellar/4021#comment-5190

but I doubt they'll allow it to be put up...

" You failed to mention whether your movement/members were the ones who organized the destruction/vandalism downtown. I remember seeing a story on CBC of a certain individual from that g8/g20 song saying that he thinks property damage is okay. If that is really what certain people believe, why hide your faces? You forgot to mention that the vandals, for the most part, left the peaceful protesters to take the beating. If you organized this than I don't understand what message you were trying to convey. You popularized the media, made a lot of people watching cheer for the police to fight back (although most changed their minds after seeing the violent police response), you attacked corporations that can replace all that you damaged without even putting a dent in their funds, and you justified the billion dollar security budget. Oh and the Ontario government had to pay for many of these shops to be repaired, the ones that were local businesses. There are much better things the provincial government should be spending money on, but we can't just leave these private business owners out in the cold.

Not vandalism for vandalism's sake, with the door wide open for police infiltration. I'm sorry to say, the Black Bloc got played by the cops and by Harper.

I completely agree with article and even the point about police provocateurs as an excuse. Unfortunately provocateurs do exist, this is a well know fact. And the police, as can be seen on all the videos circulating, just stood by and watched the mayhem, and only began their pogrom of brutality once the black block had changed out of their black clothes, and dispersed into the peaceful demonstration. This is simply a case of a bunch of anti-establishment minded people letting their emotions blind themselves to the fact that they are being used by the police. This has obviously become an effective police tactic.

People who use black block tactics are simple weekend and fair weather activists. I wouldn't even call them activists. People like this have simply jumped the gun, and assumed that voting, letter writing, lobbying, petitioning, calling your representatives, educating the public, demonstrating, and non-violent civil disobedience do nothing. I have been activists for almost twenty years, and I can tell you that you black block-heads are completely wrong, and that your actions will back-fire. I have effectively and non-violently succeeded, along with hundreds and thousands of others in the communities where I live, to essentially force our local governments to create local parks, green spaces, and to stop the building incinerators. The Canadian public can take the credit for pressuring our government to not join the U.S. in the war in Iraq after 9/11. You can't just sit on your asses all week, wine and bitch about how bad the government is, and then go and break some windows on a sunny Saturday afternoon. Activism that strives to create a more participatory society is hard, grueling work, it requires hours of research, letter writing, meeting with officials, spear heading boycotts, and the work does not end once everyone gets arrested.

I know people in their eighties who've been doing this since before you little shits were born. They are right pissed off, let me tell you. These are people who have not only sacrificed thousands of hour volunteering, capacity building, and writing to and meeting with officials, and attending public hearings, some of them have sacrificed their personal freedom participating in well organized *non-violent* civil disobedience. I'm not eighty years old, but I am one of these people, and I am personally offended that anyone would have the audacity to suggest that I've wasted my time and energy. No, never mind, I'm not offended, because I have seen the fruits of my labors. And they have been infinitely more plentiful then the rotten apples these "black block" heads have been picking. Defending democracy and freedom is hard work, it's a life long endeavor, and setting cop cars on fire isn't going to accomplish anything.

Nae, it will accomplish something very important indeed: the media has now portrayed all activists and protesters as what they call "thugs. We are now all perceived as thugs, sociopaths and charlatans. Come on, block-heads, just turn the god-damn TV on...oh yeah, you don't "believe" in watching TV. That's to bad, because you are correct in assuming the black block tactics got the most attention, but what you consistently fail to mention, is what kind of attention, and how non-activists and Canadians who generally don't get politically involved think about activists and protesters. I live in a typical Canadian suburb...and here's a generalization of what many average working class Canadians are saying here:
We must allow the police to suspend our rights in order to deal with this "black block" threat, and we should allow the police to do what ever it takes to get rid of these dangerous "activist" types.

So thank you, black block heads, thank you so much for helping to usher in the police state, which Canadians will voluntarily allow, all the while continuing the tradition of Canadian political apathy.

I completely agree with article and even the point about police provocateurs as an excuse. Unfortunately provocateurs do exist, this is a well know fact. And the police, as can be seen on all the videos circulating, just stood by and watched the mayhem, and only began their pogrom of brutality once the black block had changed out of their black clothes, and dispersed into the peaceful demonstration. This is simply a case of a bunch of anti-establishment minded people letting their emotions blind themselves to the fact that they are being used by the police. This has obviously become an effective police tactic.

People who use black block tactics are simple weekend and fair weather activists. I wouldn't even call them activists. People like this have simply jumped the gun, and assumed that voting, letter writing, lobbying, petitioning, calling your representatives, educating the public, demonstrating, and non-violent civil disobedience do nothing. I have been activists for almost twenty years, and I can tell you that you black block-heads are completely wrong, and that your actions will back-fire. I have effectively and non-violently succeeded, along with hundreds and thousands of others in the communities where I live, to essentially force our local governments to create local parks, green spaces, and to stop the building incinerators. The Canadian public can take the credit for pressuring our government to not join the U.S. in the war in Iraq after 9/11. You can't just sit on your asses all week, wine and bitch about how bad the government is, and then go and break some windows on a sunny Saturday afternoon. Activism that strives to create a more participatory society is hard, grueling work, it requires hours of research, letter writing, meeting with officials, spear heading boycotts, and the work does not end once everyone gets arrested.

I know people in their eighties who've been doing this since before you little shits were born. They are right pissed off, let me tell you. These are people who have not only sacrificed thousands of hour volunteering, capacity building, and writing to and meeting with officials, and attending public hearings, some of them have sacrificed their personal freedom participating in well organized *non-violent* civil disobedience. I'm not eighty years old, but I am one of these people, and I am personally offended that anyone would have the audacity to suggest that I've wasted my time and energy. No, never mind, I'm not offended, because I have seen the fruits of my labors. And they have been infinitely more plentiful then the rotten apples these "black block" heads have been picking. Defending democracy and freedom is hard work, it's a life long endeavor, and setting cop cars on fire isn't going to accomplish anything.

Nae, it will accomplish something very important indeed: the media has now portrayed all activists and protesters as what they call "thugs. We are now all perceived as thugs, sociopaths and charlatans. Come on, block-heads, just turn the god-damn TV on...oh yeah, you don't "believe" in watching TV. That's to bad, because you are correct in assuming the black block tactics got the most attention, but what you consistently fail to mention, is what kind of attention, and how non-activists and Canadians who generally don't get politically involved think about activists and protesters. I live in a typical Canadian suburb...and here's a generalization of what many average working class Canadians are saying here:
We must allow the police to suspend our rights in order to deal with this "black block" threat, and we should allow the police to do what ever it takes to get rid of these dangerous "activist" types.

So thank you, black block heads, thank you so much for helping to usher in the police state, which Canadians will voluntarily allow, all the while continuing the tradition of Canadian political apathy.

ok??

Great timing. If we can't debate because of "respect for a diversity of tactics" in the lead up to summits, we should at least be able to do so in the aftermath, especially when such tactics played into the hand of the police to incarcerate 1000 people most of whom had nothing to do with these tactics. And we can have these debates at the same time as we work to free political prisoners. Those crapping on labour for distancing themselves from property damage haven't noticed that unions make up almost half of the main endorsers of next saturday's rally for civil liberties in Toronto. 

And great article. Contrary to the negative responses

1) the state is not afraid of the black bloc, they infiltrate it (as SPP footage famously shows) and depend on it to justify their violence. Before the summit 70% of Canadians thought the $1 billion security was a waste of money, and afterwards 70% of Canadians agree with the police actions. Thanks Black Bloc. Being given free reign by the police (on orders not to arrest them) to vandalize over 25 blocks (creating more work for minimum wage workers to clean up in the morning), and having those actions plastered all over the corporate press, should make people ask which side their tactics are strengthening (hint: not ours).

2) a self-appointed minority who use individual action on behalf of the majority is not radical, it is conservative and elitist. It's not a debate of well-behaved vs violent, it's a debate of mass action vs the actions of a few. What worried Harper was that despite months of fear-mongering, a women's contingent denouncing his maternal health plan, joined striking Inco workers with the banner "corporate greed is terrorism" (so much for well-behaved labour) to lead more than 25,000 students, environmentalists, anti-war activists, and other social justice campaigners through the streets. These united mass movements won Medicare and abortion rights, kept Canadian troops out of Iraq, and are required to free political prisoners and fire Blair. And it's mass strikes that brought down apartheid are are resisting austerity in Greece, not a handful of infiltrated brick-throwers.

We need to continue building mass movements. All out July 10 to defend civil liberties.

...it was deliberately separated from the other marches so as not to disturb the other more 'family friendly' marches. this is common in convergences -green zones and red zones. it is not the fault of the black block or any other more aggressive activist that the police refuse to respect this differentiation and choose to attack the 'green' areas. 

If that's the case, why did they go back to the hated "protest pen" (SOAR's words) at Queen's Park to unmask and disperse among protestors who did not join them? While the TCM had assured people at Popular Summit planning meeting in the winter that the march would be "green", SOAR made it clear in May the deal was off. They were very open about their plan to use the march as a springboard and to split the march. Here's some of what they had to say. 

we will form an anti-colonial, anti-capitalist presence to walk in solidarity with the big People First march, before continuing on towards the fence to confront the police state and Toronto's corporate culture.

From an e-mail I received:

When the People First march turns back, we invite you all to continue on with us...

That doesn't sound like a "separate" action. If the events were indeed "separate", we could agree to disagree about the effectiveness of BB tactics. But they weren't and that was so obviously deliberate. At least be honest about how things shook down. That is the reason there is such a backlash from other activists. The whole thing reeked of dishonesty from the start. Please don't rewrite history to shift all responsibility away from the BB. 

The point of this rant is that in my view, the only way we're going to effect social change is by building mass movements. Yes they need to be militant. Yes they need to be more creative and explore new tactics. Yes some of the leadership has become stale and tired if not collaborationist at times. Yes we're running out of time as the world goes to hell in a handbasket. But let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater. That's a sure fire recipe for shrinking and only talking among ourselves. 

 This is an interesting discussion, and one worth having. 

I am not an absolute pacifist but I would be hard-pressed to consider any kind of violence worth-while. It would have to be thoughtful and mature and productive and that's not what I saw at the G20 on Saturday. 

There are so many unintended consequences to violence. In a setting like the G20, I am not too hurt by broken windows at Starbucks, but independent businesses got their windows smashed as well (Fran's on College for instance). Customers inside the businesses were terrified.  If you're concerned with changing hearts and mind- In the eyes of the regular person, a window-smashing movement has no validity. It seems like immature vandalism. A "collateral damage" justification?- it's the same logic you hear from people who wage wars. Of course, that was not violence like a war, but it's the same logic- full of hubris and void of humility and respect for others. It's a slippery slope. 

Yes, Harper was scared. He was threatened by the political fallout from all the money he was spending. After the pictures of vandalism on the news, that problem went away. No one is talking about fake lake anymore. He's not scared of 50 or 100 people rioting.  

I have a problem with trying to cause positive change through causing fear. It's a hard task, but anger has to be channel positively. I was inspired, for example, by the group of Tibetan protesters, many of them old ladies. They marched and held signs and yelled and you could feel their pain and you could see their dignity. It was touching. 

When non-violent people are written off as "asleep" it reminds me of evangelical church, where the leaders think they have all the answers and have no problem writing off people who think differently. So arrogant. 

just so you all know, you are not in private, having a conversation in your living room or at some party. anyone can read this. you might think you are being clever with those nasty little digs here and there and taking the hard line slam dunking that point right home,  but really, you are just coming off as rude and arrogant. --and i'm not just talking about swearing, it's the attitude of intolerance.

It might be interesting to remember that sometimes people who live outside of the world of political activism visit these sites because they are sick of listening to all the b.s. on the corporate news and heard of this thing called 'independant media' so they stop by to check it out. and this is what they find? abrasive, mean spirited people.

would you talk like this on a crowded bus? or in a classroom, or where you work, or at a dinner table? in front of your kids, or your grandparents?

you are not on the streets right now involved in some heated altercation. you are sitting in front of your computer, probably in a comfy chair maybe with your lovely cat or dog nearby. is this really the place to take out your frustrations? there's plenty of opportunities to vent your spleen with blogger or wordpress, this isn't a private blog site, it's a public news and communications service, it's supposed to facilitate dialogue.

so what is the point of being so mean? it makes it impossible to actually participate in or even read through the comments -because in order to sift through everything there is so much nastiness it's hardly worth the effort to get to the place where there is productive dialogue going on.

it really takes the charm out of open communication and public debate when so many people seem only interested in blowing their own horns and stonewalling anyone who disagrees or has other, perhaps, conflicting information.