New Unconventional Action Paper

May 22, 2008 at 10:21 am · Filed under Read All About It, posted by b. traven

An Unconventional Action chapter has just published a new free paper, False Hope vs. Real Change, detailing the pitfalls of electoral politics and exploring alternatives grounded in direct action and community self-determination. We’ve made the PDF available:

False Hope vs. Real Change PDF [3.2 MB]

CrimethInc. Far East will be including copies of this paper in orders. To obtain copies in bulk for distribution, email falsehopeorrealchange08@riseup.net.

From the release announcement:

False Hope vs. Real Change: An Anti-Partisan (Beyond) Voting Guide to the 2008 Elections argues passionately for direct action in the face of war, environmental destruction, militarized borders, and the alienation of American life—while exposing how politicians profit from these crises even as they claim to offer solutions to them. Beyond merely telling people not to vote, this colorful, engaging eight-page newspaper offers concrete examples of how to participate directly in resisting oppression and creating alternatives to voting. By responding directly to many of the reasons why people who are disillusioned or cynical about politics continue to vote, the articles explore how our most empowering options for participation exist outside of the ballot boxes. The writers examine the possibilities of direct action, collectives, mutual aid, and anarchy, analyzing their potential as tools to move beyond the constraints of voting, party politics, capitalism, and government. Highly recommended as a tool for explaining anarchist critiques of elections and voting, and for building momentum towards the 2008 Republican and Democratic National Convention protests.

Jin-Rou said,

May 23, 2008 @ 9:09 pm

This looks very cool.

In the past, Crimethinc has also been accused of not being an instrument for real change. Of course, its unlikely that the most serious problems facing our world will be changed by voting, though some superficial differences can be seen between the candidates, some of which may affect us in small or significant ways while our culture of usury and capitalism continue their exploitation.

Im going to have to check this one out.

istifan said,

May 24, 2008 @ 7:46 pm

HI comRades

Does anyone know if there are any provisions for kids?
Maybe a kids part of the demonstration (safe from the pigs and far enough from the interventionist actions but not so far as to miss all the fun)?

If there is nothing, I am willing to start up something for all the friends with kids from infants -16? The older kids might want to get in the action but still thought this is a good elementary-middle school age way for us to be there but also keep the kids kool.

froseph said,

May 31, 2008 @ 11:39 am

Hey istifan,

On http://www.nornc.org, there is a blog entry titled “Addressing Community Concerns About the RNC”. One section says:

Safe spaces for children to come with parents to protest:

The various groups planning to resist the RNC recognize that the ability to engage in activities that may risk arrest and/or injury at the hands of the police is a privileged position. Therefore, the Welcoming Committee and other groups are looking to create an abundance of safe areas for children and families to resist the RNC in ways that maximize safety. The Welcoming Committee would especially like to work with people to help organize a specifically anti-authoritarian “family safer” area.

You could email the RNC Welcoming Commitee at rnc08(a)riseup.net to start collaborating.

b. traven said,

July 21, 2008 @ 11:40 pm

Unconventional Strategies version 2.0 Paper Now Available

After long hours in the unconventional editing epicenter, after even longer hours in the unconventional graphic design dungeon, a joint effort between multiple UA teams has finally finished. The third unconventional action newspaper, following ?Unconventional Strategies? and ?False Hope vs. Real Change,? is now available.

Unconventional Strategies 2.0 is a how-to guide for the disruption and subversion of this year?s electoral spectacle. It contains the most up-to-date strategy information, maps, schedules of events, contact information, and advice on plugging into the counter-convention infrastructure. We are especially proud of the new 7-sector map of downtown St. Paul, which makes use of likely RNC delegate bus routes and was assembled by a professional radical cartographer.

Because the conventions are less than 2 months away, UA publishing groups will not be using a professional printer to make a 15-30,000 print-run, as was done with previous papers. This one will have to be done the old-fashioned way, by printing them off the internet and copying it yourselves. The publication is laid out on doublesided 11×17 “tabloid” size sheets, to be folded over. Read-only and print versions of the paper can be found in the downloads section of http://www.unconventionalaction.org .

On a related note, several new beautiful posters have been added to this site, and an 11×17 version of the new St. Paul sector map should be up shortly. There are also still many bundles of the False Hope vs. Real Change paper available for free, which can be ordered at falsehopeorrealchange@riseup.net . With less of a focus on the conventions and more attention paid to the anarchist case against capitalism and electoral politics, this paper is be an excellent outreach tool for those unable to make it to the conventions.

Finally, while it is exciting to note that sectors 5, 6, and 1 of St. Paul have been claimed, the hot spots in sectors 3 and 4 are still lonely as can be. Any takers?

Unconventionally yours,
The sleepless publishing bureau of UA faction #632

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