[Don't get out as much as I used to!]
I heard this chant for the first time in New York while watching the videos of the conga line snaking through the crowd at Zuccotti/Liberty Park before the police went on their riotous rampage on Saturday night.
The video above shows what may be the first time it was used in New York, on Wall Street, on December 13, 2011. It's great. A report from Chapel Hill from last November:
Sure seemed like it! And note well, the New Yorkers are far more enthusiastic when using this chant than are their European comrades.
When the police crossed the street towards the building, about fifty of us gathered in front of it, chanting “A—Anti—Anticapitalista!” The officers hesitated—what was this strange incantation?—and withdrew. That chant cast an enchantment, magically protecting the occupation.
Also check out The Story of Stuff if you haven't seen it.
Love the video . . .
ReplyDeleteWhat a concept!! For once, have an economic system that is truly in harmony with life and the planet. The Way. A cycle, recycle, circle, wheel, wheel of life, with eight spokes, the Noble Eightfold Path -- or some equivalent.
We have a finite planet, with finite resources. Duh, as the young kids used to say. But our current economic system must forever grow or die. Its "GOD" imperative. Waaaay beyond obvious that this is unsustainable -- and that's not even addressing the evilness and immorality of the system itself, its history of oppression, slavery, wars, theft, etc. Just from a purely cold-eyed, pragmatic, realistic POV, it can't be sustained -- and the only reason why it's been sustained for as long as it has is because of massive inequality baked into the pie and endless government bailouts. If everyone could fully participate in capitalist economies -- even to the extent of middle class Americans -- the earth would crash.
The ugly, inconvenient truth of it all is that if we manage to raise living standards around the world for all those in dire need, without at the same time dramatically reducing the consumption of the richest 20% . . . the earth will collapse. That 20% currently consumes 85% of the earth's resources. The video was exactly right about that. David Harvey brings in the geography of capitalism in the same way . . . and Graeber reminds us of European empires and its first corporations slaughtering millions for gold and other commodities.
Capitalists have continued that tradition, but with far better PR and full ownership of media and indoctrination centers.
(Looks like the kids singing that wonderful song haven't been absorbed by the Borg!)
It can't be sustained. Blood from a stone, etc. etc.
Anti-Capitalista!! Spread the word!!
I'm hearing the "A-Anti-Anticapitalista!" chant more and more, and people really seem to like that video, too.
ReplyDeleteThere are a few, of course, who are filled with anxiety over the "messaging" (this is related to the anxiety over the "messaging" of the May 1 General Strike, I'm sure.) It's... it's... Communist!!!1 Well, it could be, I guess. ;-)
I think mixing "The Story of Stuff" with the "Anticapitalista" chant is just great.
Young people really do seem to understand that the current economic path isn't just unsustainable, it's deadly. They want real, substantive change, not just for their own benefit, but on behalf of everyone.
The more it is denied, the louder the calls for, and the more certain the success of Revolution.
Like the Occupy people in Chapel Hill, I suspect they see the "A-Anti" chant as akin to a magical incantation -- besides, it's just fun!