Black Bloc - Introduction. To Debate Chris Hedges in NYC. What Does Our Reaction To Black Bloc Tactics Say About Us? Most people would argue that the use of violence for the protection of self, their loved ones, or those more vulnerable, is justified. Not as revenge, but as a necessary measure to combat a crime in progress. A desire for revenge may be understandable, and even acceptable to some, but that’s not the topic. The topic is defense. The defense of others and ourselves.
The immediate interference in an assailants ability to inflict harm, or end a life, as the result of their current actions. The state often uses a doctrine of preemptive measures to justify its violence. Defense is the issue. An argument over the definition of violence is often used to distract from the real issue. If your argument is simply that violence begets violence, you’re ignoring the fact that continued passivity has only encouraged increased violence.
There’s been a great deal of discussion about the ‘violence’ of Black Bloc tactics. These values are backwards. All photos by Ap? Black Bloc: The Cancer in Occupy. The Black Bloc anarchists, who have been active on the streets in Oakland and other cities, are the cancer of the Occupy movement. The presence of Black Bloc anarchists—so named because they dress in black, obscure their faces, move as a unified mass, seek physical confrontations with police and destroy property—is a gift from heaven to the security and surveillance state. The Occupy encampments in various cities were shut down precisely because they were nonviolent. They were shut down because the state realized the potential of their broad appeal even to those within the systems of power. They were shut down because they articulated a truth about our economic and political system that cut across political and cultural lines. And they were shut down because they were places mothers and fathers with strollers felt safe.
Click here to support news free of corporate influence by making a tax-deductible donation to Truthout. There is a word for this—“criminal.” Chris Hedges: Occupy’s ‘Black Bloc’ is ‘serving’ the 1 percent. By Stephen C. WebsterWednesday, February 8, 2012 14:22 EDT After publishing a scathing essay criticizing the tactics of some “Occupy” protesters, Pulitzer-winning journalist Chris Hedges appeared on Russia Today’s The Alyona Show to discuss what he sees as a “cancer” on the movement: the so-called “Black Bloc.”
The “Black Bloc” isn’t so much a sub-group as it is a tactic used by vandals to provide safety in numbers. The thinking is, if one is part of a large group that’s wearing all black, individuals who commit acts of mayhem are harder to pick out from the crowd. While black-clad anarchists have not been a staple feature of the “Occupy” protests, they have emerged in some of the more publicized confrontations, especially in Oakland, where they smashed private property, broke into buildings and sparked mass arrests.
“The prime mover behind wiping out the Occupy encampments was, of course, a Democratic administration,” Hedges said. “And that’s because they deeply fear this movement.