by Lester Macgurdy The history of all hitherto existing societies is the history of class struggles. -Karl Marx, Communist Manifesto The throng of 8,000-plus protesters that converged on Pioneer Square in downtown Portland in early October was a massive chimera knit together by the tyranny of a world full of governments (ours among them) comprising…
Category: Lester Macgurdy
Occupy Portland Members Shot While Sleeping
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by Lester Macgurdy In the early morning hours of the 21st of this month, two Occupy Portland participants and former Chapman and Lownsdale encampment residents were shot in an act of random violence while asleep under the Morrison bridge. Both men are reported to be in fair condition. The victims have been identified as Carter…
ILWU and EGT — The Victory That Wasn’t
by Lester Macgurdy “Immediately upon execution of this Agreement, the ILWU Entities shall immediately cease all action directed against EGT (including, but not limited to picketing and any other form of disruptive activity), its partners, members, and their affiliates and employees, and anyone doing business with them, and shall actively discourage any other person or…
Lessons Learned from Occupy Oakland: Tactical Response to “Kettling”
This website does not advocate or suggest any specific act. This essay was crafted and published as solely a piece of rhetoric, and it ought to be interpreted as nothing else. by Lester Macgurdy Kettling is the law enforcement tactic of herding protesters into a confined area so that the protesters cannot avoid arrest. This…
Anarchism
by Lester Macgurdy Since Karl Marx’ immense intelligence and noteworthy contributions to the field of Political Economy redefined the working man’s struggle against Capital and made him the pre-eminent anti-capitalist thinker in the 19th Century, anti-capitalist leftism, including Anarchism, has been marching to the beat of his drum. Obscured beneath Marx’s dialectic Materialism lay forgotten…
Google Changes Business Model to “Do Evil”
By Lester Macgurdy Point number six of Google’s stated philosophy is- “You can make money without doing evil.” This just begs the question: “What does Google define as evil?” Evil, if Google’s philosophy is to be the source of divine inspiration on the topic, is not to be defined as setting old people on fire…
How Does Non-Violence Work?
by Lester Macgurdy I’ve made a point to ask Cccupy Portland members this titular question and most of the time the person asked had no idea. On the other hand, regardless of what was usually a complete lack of understanding, a great reliance and support of non-violence was still professed. This is the “I know…
Scan This
by Lester Macgurdy I hate committee meetings. I always have the same recurring fantasy when stuck in another of these seemingly endless rant fests: a kindly infiltrator sneaks up behind me and pumps a round of double-aught buck into the back of my melon. I picture my head exploding like a piñata filled with raspberry…
The Creeping Death of an Elitist Notion
by Lester Macgurdy You don’t need to be wealthy to be elitist. In fact, you don’t even need two nickels to rub together. The 99% are just as prone to elitism as the 1%. Despite the wide economic chasm separating us, we’re all still endowed with the same psychological building blocks. What does every bullied…
How to Infiltrate and Destroy a Political Movement
by Lester MacGurdy When we think of infiltrating and destroying a movement, we assume that means attempting to bring about the immediate end of the movement. This is a naive perception of the actual mechanics of infiltrating and destroying a popular political movement of the people. Why would CIA, FBI, etc. want to destroy OWS?…
