Have your cake, and eat it too

Today was the pan-Canadian day of action against Imperialist war, more specifically Afghanistan.

I attended in the city of Victoria, and it was a pretty good turn-out. It was refreshing to see people focus on Afghanistan for once, the "forgotten war.".

My only problem with this march was that the air of this march seemed to be even more reformist than usual. I mean, I'm no stranger to marching alongside Social Democrats and Liberals, but usually there is some sort of revolutionary presence at these events.

But this time, it was very different.

I was presented with a petition to sign, and told that I could cross off parts that I didn't agree with. This proved to be quite useful, as I found that I didn't agree with most of what was being presented to me. This petition, while calling for immediate removal of Canadian troops from Afghanistan, also had a favourable position on the Canadian military in general, advocated
"Peace Keeping", and continued to label the Afghan resistance "Taliban insurgents."
Needless to say, I signed the petition, but crossed out more than a few lines in the wording of it.
I do NOT agree with "peace keeping", and I support the Afghan peoples RIGHT to fight heroically against all occupiers of their nation.

I picked up a copy of the Trotskyist magazine "Socialist Worker" (printed by the international socialists), and low and behold, it was filled with flattery directed towards Jack Layton and the New Democratic Party of Canada! I mean, I expected this sort of thing from the NDP's token trots in Fightback, but it seems that other organizations masquerading as revolutionaries are now falling under the spell of social democracy as well.

I think what did it for me though, was when I witnessed protestors chatting casually with police forces who had been sent to monitor the demonstration!

This was the biggest outrage of all! The state police forces, the tool of the Canadian bourgeoisie
and suppressor of all things revolutionary, were not at all threatened by a mob of citizens calling for the immediate removal of the Canadian military from the quagmire of Afghanistan.

Why is that? While anti-war protesters in Montreal and Quebec city are faced with tear gas and riot police, we are faced with a handful of friendly bicycle cops, lightly armed and heavily outnumbered. Why is the state not acting with hostility to opposition to the war in Afghanistan?

If you talk to any of my comrades, especially the ones who lived through the seventies, they will tell you stories of police brutality, the likes of which would appall the modern demonstrator. Most of my Comrades have been arrested and beaten, cuffed and tear gassed, etc. My point is, cops are agents of the state; They are the enforcers of the state. Because of this, whenever the state has a problem, cops deal with it swiftly. To paraphrase Chairman Mao, if the state police forces are not trying to wipe you out, then you are no longer revolutionary; you have sunk to the level of the bourgeoisie.

In the eyes of the capitalist class, I think that protests such as this are a "necessary evil".
By allowing the populace to demonstrate in a superficial way, they give the masses a superficial outlet for their anti-war sentiments, and the war effort is therefore not threatened.
I wouldn't be surprised if these protests were not organized/controlled by the state itself.
If not, at least they are controlled by the most incompetent and reformist individuals in the left wing community.

Consider the following: At this demonstration,we marched to a Canadian armed forces recruitment building. We waited outside, for a little while, made a few speech's, and left.
This is exactly the way the reformists planned it; A revolutionary would have taken this protest and created a barricade around the recruitment center, blocking anyone from getting in and out, attracting media attention and bringing the anti-war fervor to the masses in a tangible way.
Of course, this revolutionary and everyone in his protest would have had their asses stomped by the state police for this action, but it would be worth it. Also, if the people who attended the demo knew that there was a possibility that they would be disobeying the police and might get hurt or arrested, most of these social democratic waverers would never have come in the first place. To these people, everything,even a social revolution, has to be comfy and over by supper time. Pathetic.

Demonstrations like this one help to propagate the idea that the Canadian state is "Democratic";
In actuality, these demonstrations are heavily regulated by the powers that be, and are a barely tolerated necessity by the Canadian bourgeoisie. I have seen Comrades thrown down and handcuffed right in front of me, for no apparent reason, so I know that the state is certainly NOT democratic!

The only good thing I got out of this entire protest, was meeting other revolutionary individuals, and collaborating with them. I go to these events now, not just for solidarity purposes, but to separate the revolutionary from the reformists, and to join with them. At least there are some out there who want revolution, rather than superficial reform.

Remember Kent State, comrades! The State is NOT democratic!