What are we fighting for?

Everything, literally

At the begging of the 2nd Iraq War I was 16 and about to march against the American Embassy. Oddly, the school managers were kind enough to let us go without an absence. Maybe two dozen of us young rebels left to attend the protest.

I felt curious, even enthusiastic; righteous and kinda proud of myself. While almost clueless on politics and in my proto-punk days. Also quite well read in history, at least for a teenager. Resisting imperialist advances and an unjust war made sense.

Approaching the embassy, things escalated quite fast. The cops gassed our makeshift student ‘bloc’ right next to us, and unprovoked at that. Everyone fled in panic. A friend grabbed me, maybe from the arm or the sleeve; we took the reverse way, almost or mostly running for several hundred meters.

Upon feeling safe we stopped. I was shaking whole with each cough from the worst shit I’ve ever experienced. Felt like even my balls might detach themselves. My eyes were fine though. It was the day I learned contact lenses provide decent tear gas protection. As long as you don’t rub your eyes and throw them away soon after.

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By my late teens and twenties most people around me were leftists and anarchists of different kinds and radical street cred scores. I was reading much on (geo)politics and more history, among other things, eventually mostly online. Plenty of easy to find interesting blogs and small sites back then.

Nothing seemed satisfying enough though and I never joined any political party or collective. Most ‘rebels’ seemed either too stubbornly naive, too selfishly motivated or both. Add a bit of decently informed cautiousness (or paranoia) on top.

That’s not to say I’ve been risk averse. I’ve been reckless too. There’s plenty of times I barely escaped getting beaten or arrested. Very often near or at the front; never ‘uniform’ clad or face-covered, rarely in some bloc. Never felt like fighting cops at a demo achieved anything. Wanted to witness, to understand. What are we fighting for, how and against whom.

Perhaps observing uglier modern legionary tactics also intrigued the military history nerd in me. They’re smarter - at least at top level - than most people give them credit for. Too many examples that I’ll skip, partly to keep this brief.

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The Greek financial crisis taught me much. Those days actions were centered outside of the Parliament. People would arrive there alone, with friends or in protest blocs, unless the state didn’t want us to. They would close all nearby train stations and vehicle access. Breaking crowds was easy for them, even by using unprovoked attacks. The media would then statesplain to the citizenry. In absence of militant anarchist youth [and/or undercover provocateur] attacks, imaginary offenses against the cops would do.

Usually though we were allowed to have our say. The Greek Communist Party (and others too, at times) would typically do their 20 minute routine pause in front of the parliament, then leave. This was often followed by the police assault. Other times they let us be, especially for the “movement of the indignants” during those days.

The Syntagma Square outside of the Parliament was supposedly split in two camps: The ‘Upper Square’, of the far right kind, waving Greek flags and insults against the MPs. The ‘Lower Square’ majority, organizing councils and plans of resistance.

In truth, the “far right” was a mix of different people, mostly not organized and largely not far right. The flags were usually rather few, but could appear many on TV and online due to flag-cart camera shenanigans. Had some interesting discussions there with a variety of people.

At the ‘Lower Square’, a mix of various leftists and democrat “idealists” were playing control and proselytize on a majority of observers. Nothing too special, besides, again, private discussions. A highlight was when in anticipation of some vote, a speaker announced that fascists are harassing people at a nearby square. Most anarchists departed to face the [eventually unconfirmed] threat and missed the vote. Not that it would have meant anything if they didn’t.

Besides much talk and often large attendance to the councils, and especially the protests, nothing of substance, say, a lengthy general strike was ever achieved. Eventually the big ‘winner’ was the treacherous center-left of Syriza and some smaller right wing equivalents. People herded back to desperate voting.

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Riots and demos at and around the Exarcheia Square had been wilder yet similarly inconsequential in the grand scheme. The neighborhood had a long standing tradition of defiance, by now mostly broken. By police brutality and infiltration, mafia and drug culture, anarcho-tourists and gentrification. Just a passing phase for most participants, a scarecrow or scapegoat for the televised.

Collectives - even when not controlled - were similarly ineffective; setting up parties, lives and sometimes material aid excluded. Unions and student organizations… let’s not get started.

Right wingers are often a funny breed. Against protests, unless it’s them for some ‘national emergency’ threatening GreeceTM. Then the ‘covid’ era left displayed similar traits. Silly times in some ways. Mirrors are just for dressing up.

Of all people, the farmers appear to hold some power. Their protests and occasional clashes with the cops seem to be the most effective. Though they rarely bother, in part divided by political parties at the local level.

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Overall, uniformed fragmentation and cultism on all sides. Paranoia on clear and suspect infiltration and false flags, at times too close to my experiences. And almost complete denial, increasingly so since mass surveillance and the ‘unifying’ rise of identity politics. Younger ‘rebels’ and those who sought to remain valid and popular followed head first.

It still surprises me that even after ‘covid’ level obviousness, most are either too silent or stuck with their old myths. But it also doesn’t surprise me. The weight of the world feels unprecedented, while sticking out too much in potentially threatening ways, especially organized at that, seems like a recipe for martyrdom. Doesn’t feel right to expect that from anyone, pointless as it seems.

I’d say let the ideal - your ideal - polity aside for now. Just more easily manipulable division. Can you trust ‘your leaders’? Are you somehow able to be one? We’re fighting for Everything, yet I can only rest my hopes in systemic failure. And a self educated populace, hopefully more so than it appears.