I have on my desk right now a copy of the new Rhode Island “homeland security” bill proposed by Governor Carcieri. It’s an 18 page document, and right on the first page, before talking about weapons of mass destruction or poisoning the water system or anything else that a rational person might consider “terrorism”, it says “any person who shall teach or advocate anarchy” will go to prison for ten years.
Let me make this clear.

I am an anarchist. This is an anarchist blog. Don’t be fooled by the pop-culture references and the fact that I maybe don’t fit whatever rock-throwing stereotype is the current popular view of anarchism. I am facing ten years in prison for writing if this bill passes, because I am not going to stop being an anarchist just because some dumbass politician wants to tell me what I’m allowed to believe.

In addition, my wife will go to prison for ten years because she runs an anarchist book club that reads the likes of Skirda and Berkman.

In addition, anyone who flies any flag other than the U.S. flag will also go to prison for ten years.

Technically, this headline is inaccurate, though. For reading this website there’s not a specific penalty. You’d only go to jail for reading the Rhode Island Anarchists site. Since that would be “associating” with an “organization [that] teach[es] and advocate[es] disbelief in or opposition to organized government.”

Welcome to the land of the free.

Of course, we’re not just going to roll over and let the government fuck us. We’re going to fight this the right way, the anarchist way. We’re not going to beg politicians to make the right decision. We’re not going to be content with yet another bullhorn-and-chanting rally. At this point, we’re the ones on the front lines, and we’re going to do things our way.

They want to make it illegal to teach anarchy? We’ll hold a teach-in and get 2,000 people to show up.

We’ll call every union who’s picket line we’ve walked (HERE, 1199, UNAP, Steelworkers, and SEIU I’m looking in your direction), we’ll call the Narragansetts who we stood in solidarity with over the smoke-shop showdown, we’ll call every anti-war activist who’s protests we’ve attended, every Democrat and Green I met as the coordinator for the Kucinich campaign, everyone we stood side by side with on the Living Wage and Rising Sun Mills campaigns. We’ll not only remind them that we’ve stood with them in their struggles, but that while we are on the front line of this fight for freedom, if we are allowed to fall, they’ll have their freedoms picked off one by one. We’ll get them all to show up, we’ll give lectures on the theories, history, and current practice of anarchy… and we’ll force the State to either give out 2,000 ten year sentences (which it can’t afford) or back the fuck down.

That’s how you fight with direct action. That’s how the IWW won similar “free speech fights” 100 years ago when government had similar laws against dissent.

Anything less is just begging for your freedom, which is yours by right.

And I’m through begging.

If you’d like to be involved, come to a meeting at the DARE office (340 Lockwood, Providence) on Tuesday at 6pm. When we get our teach-in planned, I’ll post more info here. Come and be part of fighting for freedom, or stay home and be part of oppression. You have to pick sides on this one. “Staying out of it” just means siding with the government.


Source: www.davidgrenier.com/000101.html
Link: www.davidgrenier.com/000101.html