the conflict or expand it , to belong to ourselves in the action ( that is to say , that the link between our ideas and our actions , between what we think and what we do , is kept as tight as possible ), we do not only need impulse to act , the means to do it and to organize accordingly , we also need knowledge – which have to be continuously deepened and revisited – about the reality in which we are evolving , that is to say , about the world that surrounds us , and about the concrete possibilities to intervene in it . As one could have felt , the urgency to act is often a break put on this search of knowledge which should be anticipated . Hitting right now this order of things in a way that is in accordance with anarchist ideas , also requires to adopt a certain view . Organizing with a few to attack “ small ” objectives everywhere and all the time , that was a proposition that has been made , in acts , and also by the ( limited …) spreading of a text that , although written in the ‘ 80 and coming from the Italian context of that time , retains all its pertinence as it invites to go from the centre to the periphery , to attack the “ small terminals of a monstrous project of control and repression , of production and enrichment for the bosses of the world ” because “ from a small and inoffensive stream can spring , with the tributaries , the huge disgusting whirling river . If we cannot build a dam on this river because our forces are insufficient , may we then at least reduce the inflow of water , by cutting out a number of these small tributaries . And yes , that is a thing we can do . Not any repressive control , how dense it might be , could ever ensure each element of the whole productive project . Dissemination throughout the territory is one of the conditions of capitalist production . So then , this can becoming a starting point for a strategy of attack ”.
Hundreds of banks have been targeted , in some areas they even stopped repairing the ATM ’ s or the windows , hundreds of assurance companies , real estate agencies , shops , car dealerships , luxury hotels , bus and tram stations , tribunals and trade schools , food chains , unemployment agencies , temporary work offices , Autolib [ electrical cars for rent ], all these stuff and more things still . All of this is the most visible part of capitalism , it are the places of death of which we know concretely the enormous harm that these places ( and all the infrastructures that can be found everywhere else ) cause during our short and unique passage on this planet . In this sense , we were rejoiced that those things were getting attacked – it even reassured us . But if we are asking ourselves what capitalism is , what the conditions of its existence , of its perpetuation are , of its evermore totalitarian and intrusive growth , then we come to the idea that maybe we should also target capitalism there where it is evolving , in its most advanced part , or rather , where is is advancing , because it is also in this conquest that lies its strength and our misfortune . A ( maybe risky ) example : real estate agencies are being attacked , but today equally formidable new “ agents ” are coming into play ( AirBnB , but also other start-ups ) with a “ participatory ”, “ convivial ”, “ solidarity ” aspect that are justifying private property by creating new possibilities , saying that in the end , anybody can take advantage of the capitalist system . And the urban restructuring , the gentrification of areas isn ’ t only done by big groups of real estate promoters , investors and builders , but also thanks to many “ agents ” that prepare the terrain . Work offices and temporary work agencies are targeted , but since some time , many start-ups are developing that aim to replace or complement their roles . Also concerning control and repression : the research on this domain and the elaboration of new means is extremely decentralised . One of the paradoxes of this “ movement ” is therefore that although its starting point is the announcement of a new law aiming to make the labour market more flexible , few things have happened around this new “ world of work ”, of which many , many incubators of companies ( regrouping hundreds and soon thousands of start-ups ) have colonised Paris and who are also the new responsible of exploitation and domination . The interest of a “ cartography ” of power , of domination and of exploitation then joins the questionings concerning the possibilities that open up when disorder interferes with the order of the city .
« Paris , debout , soulève toi » ( Paris , stand up , rise up )
The trivialization of the superlative these last months to describe what is really happening ( I ’ m thinking about this new obsession of seeing an insurrection or the destitution ( sic ) of the government in the first riot or in the first battles with the cops during demonstrations ) doesn ’ t help us at all to think and favour the unleashing of an insurrection , quite on the contrary . If a bit of lucidity makes us say bitterly that seen our feeble capacities , anarchists are not able to launch an insurrection ( and which is very probably true in our context ), on the other hand concerning the fact of favouring it ( or more “ modestly ”, of favouring what could be a preliminary like a riot , or simply moments during which revolt expresses itself ), declining an invitation to concretely reflect on it can only bring us to miss occasions in the coming times . An episode comes to our mind . Some hours after the huge demonstration of the 14 th of June , a handful of people coming out of the metro warn another group already warmed up by the afternoon that controls are taking place in the metro . A few minutes later , the controllers were forced to flee under insults and throwing of cans , and even pursued in their retreat . And the vehicle they left alone on the spot was immediately targeted by the accomplice crowd , it got spray painted , damaged and finally put on fire . What would be needed for such elans bringing complicity and revolt together of to happen elsewhere and in a multitude of situations ?
If “ small actions ” are not enough on their own , they have the advantage of not needing big means and thereby keeping the risks of specialisation at a distance . A part from being a personal realisation of what each individual understand by “ struggling ”, they are also invitations
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