Brandon Darby Roundup and Commentary: Snitch for FBI Is Roundly Denounced

come on people, are we surprised? are we saddened? did he let us down? oh my god, did he betray the movement? no he played a part in an ongoing war of ideologies and resources, he played the part that he believes will make a difference in this world. he chose to be the cop in the cops and robbers game, he just forgot that the real robbers aren't kids train hoping or planning disruptions or putting themselves on the line for a better world, that the real robbers are his bankrollers, the federales.

did we set ourselves up? are we inexperienced? do we trust a little too much? is it easy for a snitchtavist to be really, really convincing with tough talk? Yes, yes, yes, yes! what does it say about our movement that we are confined to limited actions and 'situations' that can be contolled, actually are controlled by darby and his puppet masters? when we meet at large gatherings that are in fact parties for the ruling elites it can be assumed that they are in control, that for every hard working activist and organizer there is at least one paid informant, maybe not a rock star like darby, but you can assume that a group publically calling to shut down a gathering of the richest mother fuckers in this country is going to be riddled like swiss cheese with rats. (i know, no disrespect to the rat totem people).

the govt. has used lovers, people not even 'politically active' as some of their best informants, do some research, check out earth first! in arizona, the folks in prescott and what happened to them.

the goal of this, using someone like darby, someone who walked the walk and did the work, is to sew fear and distrust and to turn so many of you good and young fighters into paranoid old farts like me who walk around with tesla coils in our beannies.

don't let them do this to you, don't you ever fucking give up. we can't afford to lose this one...there's too much riding on it. we need to get smarter, learn from this...but learn the right lessons.

1. don't let them dictate the date or the time or the place or the nature of our actions.
2. don't let ourselves be tactic driven. don't be a fool for direct action, it's fun and fulfillilng at times, but it has definite limitations and is no substitute for building movements that are smart, flexible, asymmetric, decentralized, accountable and adaptable.
3. stop, stop, stop using tactics that worked in seattle, they won't work again until a political alliance like the one that came together in seattle can be refigured and that will take a long time, perhaps 30 years or so. it comes around once a generation and is created by people but usually fueled by larger historical currents that are way beyond our power to reproduce just because it's a good idea. plus they have figured out how to deal with those tactics.
4. don't ever let them know how radical you are, fit in as best you can. it's our priviledge that makes us think that we can wear a mask and try to fuck shit up without having a file started on us that will last the rest of our lives, and be, in effect, neutralized politically. so if you are meeting new kids who are inspired, create networks that don't stand out that don't draw too much attention to your true intent until you are strong enough to really, really take the streets.
5. out with macho baloney. those talking the loudest and longest about their 'plans'. don't trust them, especially if they are trying to get you to do something that you know in your gut is just plain not smart, i don't care how long you have known them and how much amazing work they have done, they are not that stong. even if they are true, they will cave when cornered and take you and others that you love down with them. espcially don't trust anyone who wants to talk a whole lot about actions, and then really, really wants you to talk about it too. and especially someone who wants to talk about the good old days, you know, the good old days.
6. put trust in the long haul. building counter-institutions, strategy that meets communities needs whether it be around housing, health care, collective security, food, education, trash pick up, etc...find out what people around you want, people who don't wear the same uniform as you, find out what they want/need and figure out how to provide that need and then watch, build and wait. we can't afford impatience or heros or martyrs. that's all a part of vanguard thinking, it's also a result of our alienation, the fact that most of us, not all, but a majority of us don't come from a collective cultural upbringing. you can't move at the front of the people, you have to march at the back.
7. super activists do not make revolutions. organization makes for radical social transformation. organization that is relevant to and effective in advancing the struggles of daily life.
8. molotov cocktails would not have shut down the RNC. now noone really knows if anyone actually had any of these or were planning to use them but it's a classic provocateur tactic at mass actions, to try and encourage the most 'radical' to engage in incendiary action that will be short lived, maybe destroy a police car and land the poor sod in jail for years. jail can be a good place to be radicalized and to think about effective organizational strategies, but there are better and more effective places to think about it.
9. you don't ever need to prove yourself to anyone. it's a great education to get beat up in the street by the police, it radicalizes, teaches us about our real relationship to state power and the lengths that the state will go to maintain order. but you don't ever need to prove yourself to anyone. you have a duty to your higher intelligence to fashion solutions to our collective global crisis that will be long lasting and effective. the time for 15 minutes of fame is long past. don't let yourself fall for that false heroism.
10. focusing on revenge towards people like darby is a waste of energy that should go towards creating organizational solutions. assume that darby is taken care of, in every sense of the word. he has made his bed and now has to lie in it. so put your energies towards forward thinking community building strategies. don't waste energy in trying to communicate with him or anyone else like him, don't try to understand him don't get sucked into that whirlpool. and if you are in a movement with someone who you don't really trust, do the same thing that you would do with someone that you really do trust, make sure they are working hard towards collective goals, so at least you get something out of them for all their efforts to snitch on you. that's the only real way to deal with the paranoia that will set in after a revelation like this.

there you go, 10 ways to effectively say fuck you to darby and his buddies downtown. 10 ways that will 10 or 20 years from now have some real profound impacts.

oh yeah, and darby is not ignorant of the history of the FBI and COINTELPRO, he's the next generation, the metrosexual version of the fuckers who killed fred hampton while he slept. he's touchy feely, he's ebby jeeby, he wants you to feel his pain, understand his decision, but don't think for a minute that this is not a part of his psyops, his psycological tactics to further divide, distract and redirect energy away from resistance. no he's still hard at work trying to see just how much more damage he can do to an already small and fractured and paranoid movement.