A Call to form an Arterial Bloc

Uploaded as part of the Anarchism in Australia project.

Author: “Pacifist Petal”
Originally Published: 25 October 2006
Obtained from: Melbourne Indymedia via Archive.org

A Call to form an Arterial Bloc
for the G20 protests in Melbourne, Australia
November 19-20

First meeting:
1.30pm, Sunday November 5
Victoria Park, Sydney (City Road side)
(UTS Tower building if it’s raining)
Bring a plate

This is what we want: lives worth living, lives of dignity and
autonomy and we want to work together against capitalism and the
state to achieve this. And we want to do it now. The only power we
have is each other, and this is more than enough. To this end we
want to work together in a bloc. To come together and form an
active, living community of struggle based on autonomy, solidarity
and democracy. We want a community that confronts and overcomes
all forms of social oppression. We want to develop collective power
and collective communication. Not to follow, not to lead, but to
work out how we can organise ourselves.

This is what we want: To confront the G20 more directly as it
meets- maybe taking our protest right to their meeting; or maybe
confronting capital another way. We want our disobedience and our
creation of other ways of living to be effective as we can make it.
We know that capitalism will deploy numerous forms of repression
and discipline to contain us, and we have no wish to be, or see
others, beaten and imprisoned. We have no time for violent macho
fantasy or delusions about Ghandi. Our bodies, our lives, our
desires are too precious to fuck with. We want to be smart, joyful
and defiant, not martyrs.

We believe that an effective bloc is made up of many people who
have many different skills and capacities. Sometimes the most
crucial skills (such as the ability to care) can get forgotten when
the focus is on more “exciting” things. But we all have something
to offer, and we are equals. None of us are heroes; together we can
help each other to be brave, happy and rebellious.

This isn’t a meeting to discuss the merits of direct action/radical
disobedience. We respect a diversity of tactics; we support, and
hope to work alongside, other groups taking action in whatever way
they see fit.

This is a meeting to organise how we see fit.

First meeting:
1.30pm, Sunday November 5
Victoria Park, Sydney (City Road side)
(UTS Tower building if it’s raining)
Bring a plate

email: arterialbloc at hush dot com
for more details or if you can’t make the meeting