I wrote to Eat The State Last year in Response to the Namo Collective's call for "more action." You can find the Namo article here

My response:

More than Disruption: A Reply to the Namo Collective

The Namo Collective's recent diatribe on what is and what is not "effective action" sent curious vibrations up my young spine. Their obvious frustration with activists' limp response to the atrocities of the most recent Iraq war seeps through their attempt to remain calm. Indeed, their dissatisfaction serves to cloud their otherwise bright call for more "effective" action. While I agree that anti-Bush bumper stickers do little more than make people feel better about themselves, their sweeping call to "abandon all hope that marches, political theater, potlucks, education, lobbying, e-petitions, and campaigning are useful" is a bit short sighted. However, the thing that is so goddamn frustrating is that the Namo sentiment is not uncommon among the bright minds of many activist communities. We're tired of sitting on our hands while hot-headed men around the world march us forward into flames, at least I am. Regardless, I feel the need to respond to Namo's statement.

First, what the collective has got right. Their understanding of the fine line between powerful and powerless protest should be applauded. There should be little doubt that protest-with-permits is something of an insulting oxymoron. Anything bearing the stamp of the swollen white Bastards wielding the Big Stick is pointless. I was even happier to see them call out yard-sign-and-bumper-sticker activists. The "No Iraq War" placard in the back of a gleaming Audi on its way to buy a five dollar cup of coffee isn't helping anything and there is a real danger in believing it is. Finally, Namo's stance on Bush-bashing is a welcome position; they should dispatch operatives to every coffee shop west of the Continental Divide. I sincerely hope that we vibrating and furious few will be more willing to speak out to those who seek to pin all this shit on one administration. The vicious and dreadful situation we find ourselves in is far more complicated; we've been heading this way for decades and targeting Bush only serves to absolve any blame that might be aimed at inept responses to American imperialism over the past twenty-five years.

The supremely complex nature of this mindfuck of a precipice on which we stand is also at the root of what Namo has gotten wrong. First, by focusing on the Iraq war, they prevent any understanding of the war as only a symptom of a much larger and terminal illness. The Iraq war is a distraction; we cannot focus on "ending the war." Not only would the country immediately devolve into a vicious civil war but all the greedy and bloodthirsty fingers that pried their way into that country would simply find something else to devour; cutting off the hands of the beast will not kill the head.

This is why I take issue with the Namo collective's damnation of all "marches, political theater, potlucks, education, lobbying, e-petitions, and campaigning." As I said above, there is certainly room for improvement, but the collective's demand that all activists focus on disruptive strategies seems to ignore the possibility that they might actually succeed. What do you expect to happen? Because this war is only one piece of the dreadful Puzzle, you must be prepared to tackle every aspect of contemporary American society. If you succeed in dethroning the warmongers, what, exactly, do you plan to do? History has shown us that leaving post-victory plans for post-victory times opens the dangerous possibility that the victors will only fall back upon the system they just crushed. If we hope to truly build a better world, we had better plan ahead.

Here lies the validity of potlucks, education and other forms of community building that the Namo collective seems tired of. While serious, disruptive and possibly violent action will have its time, we must be prepared to win. If we hope to create lasting change we must develop a strong and diverse subculture, a counter-society if you will. The creation of the social foundations vital to a counter-society will only come through the more inwardly focused activities that seem to have been lumped into the Namo Collective's list-of-the-damned.

To be sure, this is a delicate and complex issue and I don't presume to have a master plan. Indeed, a master plan would be counter-productive and dictatorial. However, only through progressive, creative and constructive dialogue within our communities can we actually develop the necessary social, economic and political foundations for a future which is truly different from the past.

--Colin Ruggero

This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License.