It is in the nature of rebellion that, for want of a better way of putting it, you never know when it will kick off. That seems to me to be a very satisfactory thing because it is at that moment, when both the state and the self proclaimed "left experts" are caught on the hop and before the movement can be crushed by the one or recuperated by the other, it is then that everything is possible.
How nice to see the loathsome Muslim Brotherhood caught napping in Egypt; and how amusing to watch the various left groups desperately trying to clamber over the tailboard of the student protest wagon in this country. When Paris erupted in '68 not only were the Trotskyist and Maoist groupscules left scratching their heads but so also were the anarchists, and yes the situationist too. That's nothing to be ashamed of. We are not supposed to be some kind of political clairvoyants and neither should we start to panic if people take to the streets without having read the relevant texts. During last years student protests I think that anarchists and other libertarians had exactly the right idea in getting involved, helping where possible and standing shoulder to shoulder with the kids. This was in stark contrast to some left groups who seemed quite oblivious to anything but setting up a trestle table and shifting the odd copy of their paper. Making my way through Trafalgar Square on one demo, I found one dear soul standing behind her table of literature in a full blizzard.
There is a time and a place for selling books and papers but the middle of a running battle is probably not it. On the run up to Christmas last year it was obvious that young people were very capable of standing up for themselves against the state and that being armed with a 101 interesting facts about Krondstadt, or mine or anyone else's ideas on how to proceed, would probably not have helped.
Well, I'm off into town now. Who knows what the day will hold. Good luck all.
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