Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Thursday, June 30, 2011

Black Bloc party

It was quick, it was ephemeral, it was — what was it exactly?

The "Black Block Party", thirty black-clad folk, gathered at King and Bay Friday at 5, to “mourn the loss of civil liberties" and remember the G20 debacle. The group aimed, as their press release said, "to commemorate the weekend that power came to town, and remind residents of Toronto of the tenuous nature of our democracy."

Organizers called it an “act of passive confrontation’’, but it was really just a kind of friendly hanging-out affair set against a rush-hour of pedestrians anxious to start their weekends.

No bandanas or police in sight — and activists freely offered up their motivations and intentions. Claudia Wittmann, a performance artist, told me “anarchists have been badly portrayed’’ and that she was happy to be here "symbolically putting my body in this place of power."

Onen musician there said she was wearing black not just to represent the black bloc tactic, but to signify, as well, the black- suited corporate uniform common in the business district. This corner, she pointed out, "holds special meaning because a police car was burned here a year ago." But I couldn’t exactly make out what her vantage point on this was.

One participant said he thought folks at Car-Free Kensington on Sunday might build a giant paper mache kettle — and another suggested it might be taken later that eve to Queen and Spadina. I got a little excited by this, but then again, no one was certain it would actually happen.

Then, poof, the little clutch of black vanished into thin air, leaving the corner to the rushing masses.

Origin
Source: Now 

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