Photo of anarchist prisoners Jeff 'Free

Divided and Conquered?
by Jeffrey Luers
#13797671
OSP
2605 State Street
Salem, OR 97310

For decades, people in this country have struggled and
fought against imperialism, colonialism, racism, sexism and
countless other forms of oppression. Each one of these struggles
has failed. Why? Because all of these struggles have allowed
themselves to be divided, not only division amongst their ranks,
but separated by their causes.
The truth is that all of our struggles are interconnected.
On a deeper level all of us know this. Often we talk of community,
mutual aid and solidarity. Yet where have these ideas manifested
themselves?
I am not talking about the mass protests or direct action
camps. I am talking about our everyday lives. We have to live the
revolution.
All to often we allow ourselves to be divided into cliques.
We can get so caught up in our own ideals that we may become
unwilling to work with others who do not share the same ideological
purity. At that point it becomes impossible to express ideas out of
your own circle, and even harder to work with others for a greater
good.
It would seem that we have dedicated more time to rhetoric
and debating ideology; more time is spent arguing: reds against
greens, anarchists against socialists, pacifists against militants.
Struggles are condemned as single issues, others are deemed as more
important. And the “all important” struggle of smashing the state,
because of course, once we do that everything else will just
naturally follow.
Every time I read one of our publications, whatever
struggle it deals with, I find a common theme; people slugging off
others who could be allies.
While we are so occupied arguing amongst ourselves about
whose idea of the perfect world is better, the real world, the one
we all live in is going to shit.
We think we have all the answers, if only people would do
it our way, or my way, or your way. We are so caught up in
attitudes of superiority that we fail to realize we are losing.
People we know and love are going hungry. People we care
about are committing suicide and overdosing. People we know are
being raped, beaten and abused. It is all around us, in every city,
every town, every community. And we go right on writing our
articles, putting out our zines, slugging people off and talking
about the revolution.
What are we fighting for? Is there a goal? Because
apparently we are not fighting for each other, for our community –
because it does not exist. Maybe we are fighting to protect the
earth, but that must not be it either because we all still use
electricity from dams, drive cars, and dumpster or buy food.
We know there are alternatives, we talk about them all the
time. Yet we never work together to create them.
The ideal world does not exist. Not everyone is going to be
an anarchist. Not everyone is going to be a vegan. And it is going
to take a long long time to phase out mass production, pollution
and become completely sustainable. That is just reality. We can’t
create the perfect world, but there is no reason why we can’t work
together to make the one we live in better.
We have to use every tool in the toolbox. If that means we
gotta work with the unions to accomplish something we do it. If we
have to work with the church to feed hungry children we do it. If
we have to vote to change something we do it. If we have to take
direct action to stop something we do it.
Because if we don’t do it no one else will and 15 years
from now you can read in Green Anarchy, The Earth First! Journal,
Clamour Magazine (or whatever the fuck you read) how activists are
fighting for the last acre of old growth, how the indigenous
nations of the world have lost all their land, how 1 in 4 are in
prison or under supervision. You will be able to read how we lost
every single battle because we were to stubborn, to egotistical or
to ideologically pure to work together.
We have a choice, we can shoot for the stars and accept
nothing less or we can aim for the stars and take every step that
gets us closer.
I would compromise almost anything if it meant we could
actually change the world and not just talk about it.