makes me go b"ANNA"'s
The latest news about FBI informant "Anna" has got me thinking about security and policies with in radical group workings. In order to build a revolutionary movement, security and codes of conduct have to be respected. It is apparent now more than ever that if we are not careful- we and a lot of people that we love and care about will be going to jail. In most groups that I have participated in I have noticed that there have been two problems with security. One is an opportunistic enforcement of security, for instance when there are personal problems in group functions or if someone wants to politically up someone. Not matter what instance, being opportunistic while enforcing group security is personal and petty and displays disrespect for the causes and groups we are working for. The second way that I have noticed people not be completely on their up and up with security is that because we are anti-authoritarians, we associate our beliefs in co-operation with not holding people accountable. It seems that we are putting our ideologies over reality and dogma over pragmatism.
I encourage people to read the CONINTELPRO papers to see that tactics that informants are willing to use to put people into a more relaxed environment. This will include drugs and sex. With that in mind, there should always be the guiding principle of: IF YOU WOULD NOT SAY IT TO THE POLICE, THEN DO NOT SAY IT AT ALL. There are better ways for us to trust, know, respect, and work with each other than talking about illegal or borderline illegal issues. The next is to think of better ways of talking to people (mainly newcomers) about security culture that are not alienating and that will help the newcomer know that there are systems of accountability, since we all want to live in a better world, we have to start being accountable. When newcomers know what is expected of them and if it is presented in a palatable manner, there should be very little problems. I believe that most of the people in the anarchist movement that have been around for a while are creative and smart enough to be welcoming and develop high membership in groups with low turnover while instilling good principles of security culture for new members.
After that, I think that it is vital to the health of any sustainable movement to actually develop standards of conduct in groups and actually hold people accountable when they stray from the standards set. For instance, I have worked in a group where one member had continually given out the personal information of group members over a period of time. It was made clear to this member before he entered the group and the entire time that he participated in this group that his behavior was unacceptable. However, this behavior has happened more than once, which is more than enough. This led to one of me making the decision to take a sabbatical from the group. What is the point of setting standards of security when people that breach them will never be held accountable? There is none. I see the possible benefits of not enforcing security to the fullest extent when a group is trying to maintain a high membership. However, when the group involves dangerous work where people can get hurt, there is no greater moment to put the security of all members above actual number membership.
Let’s get our shit together, so we can stop seeing our friends get arrested and go to jail.
Let’s get our shit together so we can stop losing members due to security breaches.
Let’s get our shit together so we can start to develop a movement where the principles of libertarian socialism are considered the new norm.
I encourage people to read the CONINTELPRO papers to see that tactics that informants are willing to use to put people into a more relaxed environment. This will include drugs and sex. With that in mind, there should always be the guiding principle of: IF YOU WOULD NOT SAY IT TO THE POLICE, THEN DO NOT SAY IT AT ALL. There are better ways for us to trust, know, respect, and work with each other than talking about illegal or borderline illegal issues. The next is to think of better ways of talking to people (mainly newcomers) about security culture that are not alienating and that will help the newcomer know that there are systems of accountability, since we all want to live in a better world, we have to start being accountable. When newcomers know what is expected of them and if it is presented in a palatable manner, there should be very little problems. I believe that most of the people in the anarchist movement that have been around for a while are creative and smart enough to be welcoming and develop high membership in groups with low turnover while instilling good principles of security culture for new members.
After that, I think that it is vital to the health of any sustainable movement to actually develop standards of conduct in groups and actually hold people accountable when they stray from the standards set. For instance, I have worked in a group where one member had continually given out the personal information of group members over a period of time. It was made clear to this member before he entered the group and the entire time that he participated in this group that his behavior was unacceptable. However, this behavior has happened more than once, which is more than enough. This led to one of me making the decision to take a sabbatical from the group. What is the point of setting standards of security when people that breach them will never be held accountable? There is none. I see the possible benefits of not enforcing security to the fullest extent when a group is trying to maintain a high membership. However, when the group involves dangerous work where people can get hurt, there is no greater moment to put the security of all members above actual number membership.
Let’s get our shit together, so we can stop seeing our friends get arrested and go to jail.
Let’s get our shit together so we can stop losing members due to security breaches.
Let’s get our shit together so we can start to develop a movement where the principles of libertarian socialism are considered the new norm.