to be honest, as a non anarchist looking on, things like this make the anarchist movement look even more ridiclious than it already is
Big mouth gets striked again
I was there, so can explain what I saw happen.
A bunch of people from the 80s with black bomber jackets, apparently ex-CW and Womrades, along with some other guy, came and stood next to a table that we were drinking at and glared at us. They stood there talking to each other for about an hour. I walked past them and heard one of them say to another one "What is this all about, anyway?". It was pretty embarrassing. Apparently they were there to "do" Revol68, although they didn't "do" anything other than stand around looking like they wanted to hit someone.
The bar we were in got closed as loads of anarchists were refusing to take their hats off. Loads of other anarchists put hats on to stick it to the Man, meaning that the bar got shut (although apparently this direct action resulted in them eventually reopening). We decided to leave an go to another pub where we could still drink. People left, and finally there were only a few people left, being me, Jack and cantdocartwheels. As we left we walked past this group, and clearly, enraged at not being able to have "done" the person they had gone there to "do", they decided to go for another target- after all, if you go out looking to "do" someone, you don't want to go home unfulfilled. That would be stupid, nay, embarrassing. So, one of them blocked Jack's path and said "are you Jack?". Jack replied he was, then a paunchy middle aged guy hit him three times in the face, without warning. That was OK though, as he was wearing driving gloves that cushioned the blow.
We disentangled Jack and left the pub, after the paunchy middle aged guy screaming "I'll put your fucking body in a fridge!" at Jack. This was quite funny. And also even more embarrassing.
As we got outside, some random guy standing around- apparently an ex-Womrade- started flailing his fists around in a fairly uncoordinated way. Jack was able to use his minimal fighting skills to avoid getting hit, although another person we were with did get hit in this epileptic frenzy. The womrade said to me as I was attempting to pacify him, "Are you with libcom?" to which I replied "Yes", triggering the response, "Well this ain't over.
Not by a long shot".
WAR. The first volley was just a warning. What will happen next?
All in all, it was excruciatingly embarrassing to be associated with. Anyone else watching must have thought everyone involved was a right schoolyard prick. It reminded me almost exactly of things that happened at my school when I was 15. The men involved must have been in their thirties.
The upshot was that it was pretty funny. The downside is that jef costello got hit in the mouth while trying to restrain the flailer.
Positively, I ended up at a warehouse party that was probably one of the best nights I've been to in the last year.
This is my recollection of events.
gregg wrote:
is this a "my internet site is bigger than yours" thing?
No, whilst the British anarchist movement may be truly fucking pathetic it's yet to start getting into fights over who has the best website, although I think the fact that we are the best may have contributed to it.
Quote:
Bob Savage wrote:
Well with people like this on side, it's only a matter of months until the glorious revolution.
tallchris99 wrote
Quote:
Your right, lets dump the wealthy pointy headed students and move on.
tallchris99. Like you, I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed but tbh while much of the theoretical analysis that goes on in libcom land goes over my head, I've learnt alot from some of these "pointy headed student types" and that is quite humbling at times when I think that on average they are probably at least 10 years younger than me. What's with the "wealthy" bit too. Do you propose that anarchism is means tested? C'mon comrade are you part of what divides the anarchist community or are you part of the workable differences that makes anarchism stronger?
All the best.
gregg. 
tallchris99 wrote:
Bob Savage wrote:
Well with people like this on side, it's only a matter of months until the glorious revolution.Your right, lets dump the wealthy pointy headed students and move on.
Ahahaha. Bolshevik terrorist 
arf: i was shocked that someone might finally get revol, not that the anarchists are fighting amongst themselves, physically, about fuck all.
I don't paper over the cracks between the wealthy kids who have experienced no struggle, have no class passion and the rest. It will be interesting to see how much the venom on libcom gets toned down now given what happened. Or maybe some are too dense to learn and it will be gloriously repeated for ever and ever.
Was bound to happen wasn't it? Maybe those shit-stirrers on Libcom will now assess how they have managed to piss off an increasingly larger number of people and groups in the anarchist/libertarian movement.
raw
admin edit - locked, binned