Those that destroy property at protests do it because they recognize that the only language capitalism speaks is profit. Protest songs or banners mean nothing to the leaders of capitalism, only the price tag of suppressing protests and fixing the damage registers on their radar. Only when public resistance to their policies becomes so expense that it isn’t worth it do they change their deadly policies. That is what activists mean when they say capitalism values property more than people and that is why activists target property.
mentalisttraceur: Actually I strongly suspect most people who destroy property during protests do it due to poorly controlled and often mis-aimed rage.
Actual activists: *write blogs, zines, websites, comics, pamflets and books about the reasons for property destruction as a specific means of protest.*
You: “Seriously considering this is hard. I’m gonna stick to thinking it’s all uncontrolled emotions so I can feel superior.”
See also: The Myth of the Mindless Activist
And even if commenter was right, have you thought about why that rage exists, and why property destruction is the chosen outlet for it?
Maybe if the legal system was easier to change and the people in charge were more easily held accountable, protests songs and banners would work better. Or if people voted at more local elections for politicians who aligned with their stances, maybe a governmental trickle up effect would work
@queeranarchism are there any books that go into the reasons behind property damage as a protest medium that you could link or name? I’d like to learn more about this
Sure!
I would hope though that they would target big chain stores/property rather than small personally owned businesses? I don’t know the stats so I can’t say if they do or not but that would be my main concern. Because smashing someone’s small bookstore is very different than say Walmart.
I wrote this on the topic around the time of the G20:
Another thing that really bothers me about the conversations around ‘riots’ is the amount of people who have a binary image of ‘big capitalist store’ versus the romantized ‘honest local store’ and think they can tell the difference from a photo.
A lot of local stores feel the need to compete with the big stores and treat their employees like shit. There are so many ‘local’ stores out there exploiting teenagers and undocumented people, paying them less than minimum wage, pushing them to work without breaks and to unpaid overtime. And local activists often know exactly who the worst bastards in town are.
When I was young I worked at a cute little local bakery that exploited a hand full of underage workers, denying us basic workers rights and minimum wage and exposing us to constant emotional abuse. We worked long shifts on ovens placed much to close together without proper protective gear and we burned ourselves almost every day. We were given minimal time and no proper supplies to treat burns. I once burned myself very badly and dropped the bread I was holding and the boss made me sit through a ten minute shouting before I could treat my burn. I still have clear scars from that work after many years.
So if the riot ever comes to that town, you can bet I’ll be right in front leading the charge to burn that cute little local bakery.
QueerAnarchism 