Snapshots of the world on a day of rage: May 1 rioters clash with police as protests break out again

[Joe Shlabotnik]

Source: Daily Mail

Workers hit by lower living standards staged May Day protests across the world today hoping to persuade their governments to ease austerity measures, boost growth and improve employment conditions.

In Turkey, riot police in Istanbul fired water cannons and tear gas to disperse tens of thousands of demonstrators, some of whom threw stones at security forces as they tried to breach barricades to reach the city's main square.

The city's governor, Huseyin Avni Mutlu, said 22 police officers and three civilians were wounded in the clashes.

Roughly half of Istanbul's 40,000-strong police force was drafted in to the centre of the city to block access to Taksim Square, earlier placed off limits by authorities to a march organised by trade unions.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2317710/May-Day-rioters-clash-police-protests-break-worldwide-austerity-measures-poor-working-conditions.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

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Pic Heavy

[Comrade Grumpy]

1. Here? Not so much. We're too busy watching reality TV.

[Joe Shlabotnik]

2. +1 for the most part.

There are some actions planned here. Montreal will have a big one tonight almost guaranteeing 100's of arrests, ( http://www.democraticunderground.com/12527305 )

But ya, the Europeans in particular got their shit together.

[dixiegrrrrl]

3. The long and ongoing protests in Greece and Spain

were covered very well by last Friday's edition of Vice tv magazine, which airs after REal Time on HBO.
Those of us who have read our history will see very obvious parallels to 1930's Europe and how dictatorial governments followed.

[Joe Shlabotnik]

4. I didn't see it,

But yes, in a vacuum of leadership, amidst strife and fear; fascism, racism, and anti-immigrant sentiment always rise to the fore also. The current Greek government does not see the Golden Dawn as a threat, but rather as useful idiots.

The parallels I see are more like world pre-WW1 unrest. I think we are approaching a do over.

[dixiegrrrrl]

5. Watching the world wide May Day marches and protests today

shows that a LOT of people are all on the same page.
The 100th monkey, perhaps.
I am starting to feel hopeful there is a change on the distant horizon.

[Selatius]

6. People generally forget the lessons learned by their grandparents.

The current generation of leaders forgot the lessons learned by their grandparents during the run-up and the fall-out of the 1929 stock market crash. I think the most telling indication of that was the repeal of the Depression-era Glass-Steagall Act, an anti-trust measure aimed at preventing consolidation between investment banks and commercial banks.

[Joe Shlabotnik]

7. Excellent point.

And I'd go farther to suggest that we are educated to avoid 'inconvenient' points in history, when we're in school, and culturally we are trained to be ignorant and 'hopeful', 'positive', 'forward thinking' and patriotic. I never learned anything in school about "labour history" (for reference I'm 41)

My Grandparents were born in the early 1920's in Russia and the Ukraine, and saw first hand famine, Stalinism, Nazism, and being displaced peoples after WW2. When they came here and got unionized jobs at GM they thought they were in heaven. But in reality a previous generation of (often eastern Europeans) fought hard for those rights. My Parents (boomers and also GM workers) took it all for granted, some even voted in those who would disassemble the collective gains.

[Selatius]

8. As an aside, I never understood union workers who voted Republican or sided with management.

I worked with one or two of that type when I was employed at Disney World in Orlando. The workers are represented by a union, well, a portion of them; the state is a right-to-work cesspool. Disney may be family-oriented, but they're just as cold as any blue chip company interested in profits above all else.

I figured the one I was talking with about why he was Republican only was in the union just for the benefits and little else, a "I've got mine and fuck everyone else" mentality, very little stuck out that would indicate class consciousness or any notion of worker solidarity. I never pushed the issue further.

I'm very left-wing; I believe in the New Deal and wished we had a New Deal Congress and a Franklin Roosevelt in the White House. Sadly, most of my generation doesn't seem to swing that far left. Sure, they're socially liberal for the most part, but they're not really left-wing, maybe because they believe the propaganda that one day they, too, will become rich and powerful and have to pay taxes.

[Joe Shlabotnik]

9. Many are socially liberal,

But fall prey to the "I got mine" mentality. (being Canadian) I remember many people who thought that 'free trade' somehow = duty free trips across the boarder.

[Blue_Tires]

35. agreed...

[joshcryer]

13. Not so much? Are you serious?

San Fransisco:



Los Angeles:





Chicago:



More here: http://photos.denverpost.com/2013/05/01/photos-immigration-reform-rallies-across-the-us/

The US has a long and bright history of May Day protests and celebrations (note: link is to me debunking someone else perpetuating this May Day isn't American meme which is objectively false).

[davidthegnome]

19. Thanks!

Thank you for sharing these photos. It helps right now, as depressed and frustrated as I am, to know that there are some people trying to do something positive. I wish I could join them - but, no time, no money for gas, and a job I desperately need to hold on to. I'm with them in spirit... for whatever that's worth.

[Scootaloo]

28. Lucky...

Here in Seattle, our May Day is fast becoming a tourist destination for trashcan-tossing imbeciles and roidraging cops.

[joshcryer]

29. Aww.

Posters in this thread appear to be celebrating direct action.

But those poor Seattlites... can't handle a few garbage cans being knocked over or windows broken.

[Earth_First]

18. Certainly you aren't paying much attention...

There were many actions planned across the country yesterday.

Granted they recieved little media attention, however if that is your gauge of success, please dig a little deeper...

[joshcryer]

22. Yeah, the US media is absolutely shameful.

Fucking bullshit that the American tradition of May Day celebrations is ignored.

Note: the local news here did cover Las Vegas' protest. Harry Reid even showed up: http://www.ktnv.com/205714831.html

So it's pretty absurd to say that American's don't do it anymore.

[limpyhobbler]

10. There's some pretty frightening stuff in there. And some really hopeful stuff too.

I actually forgot it was May Day in that sense because I just started a new job and I'm all wrapped up in trying to pass the training classes. Very interesting stuff though.

[Lady Freedom Returns]

11. People are coming together.

People are becoming "Not Afraid" of their governments and upper echelon 1% anymore.

This is slowly spreading but soon will be seen in more places.

[Fire Walk With Me]

12. K&R!

[RainDog]

14. Comarades

My former father-in-law was a communist in Belgium (where this is not considered scary, as it is here) who worked for the printer's union.

When he was a kid, he had to hide from the Nazis.

The socialists and communists won the war in Europe against the fascists.

The U.S. imported fascists to the U.S. and allowed them to escape to live in Latin America and this is one huge reason that the U.S. has such backward economic policy.

The same forces in the U.S. that opposed FDR and wanted to undo the New Deal are the same forces that supported fascism. This includes members of the DuPont family, the Bush family, Henry Ford, etc.

So, if you want to know why labor has suffered so much in the U.S., it's because the fascists won the hearts and minds of the American worker with St. Ronnie Raygun, the fascists' friend.

[Joe Shlabotnik]

15. +1

The other half of my family were in the Dutch resistance. They literally machine gunned and grenaded Nazi's (and at 90 years old delight in telling yarns about it) They too came over here and became unionized GM workers..... but somehow became Conservatives.

Edit to add: he was arrested 3x by the Nazi's for "hooliganism", each time he walked. When the war was winding down he was awarded for capturing 5 Nazis.

[RainDog]

16. Well, the Belgians think the Dutch just go to extremes...

lol. but true of the "rivalry" between the two.

My ex father-in-law remained a communist until he passed away.

My ex husband is a professor here, but got his licentiate at the sliding-fee scaled Vrie Universiteit before coming to the U.S. for grad school, which is how we met.

His dad got very ill and if my ex had grown up in America, he would've been living out one of those Cabrini Green nightmares. In a nation with a strong social democracy, his family was not destroyed because of a health care problem.

His old advisor, who still lives and works in Belgium as a prof is also still a communist, too, tho his wife was a Catholic Party voter.

[RainDog]

17. oh, and just to add

my ex father-in-law always called me "comarade," even tho I've never been a communist. It was a term of affection, and that's how I always think of him, as well.

[joshcryer]

24. The US had as much if not bigger labor presence in the early 1900s.

The contributing factors to destroy labor were populists making labor a political process and the World Wars which were used to foster a kind of nationalist tendency. The red scares didn't help. This all happened decades before Regan.

[RainDog]

25. Oh, no doubt

And Pinkerton Men were there to bust the unions and all the rest. I would say the overarching kill factor for labor interests before WWII were politicians and their capitalist masters, and, sure, a little Huey Long here and there - and after WWII the red scare was very "useful" to paint unions as part of that.

Have you ever seen John Sayles' movie, Matewan? I love that movie (and interestingly, the musician Bonnie Prince Billy was in it as a kid.) Anyway, that movie makes me cry. One of my favorites, tho.

But I think the modern demise of labor goes back to Reagan and all those who voted for him and against their own economic interests - whether the person was part of a union or not, b/c unions have benefitted every working person.

[joshcryer]

26. IMO, Huey Long's redistributive proposals were really pro-labor.

Share Our Wealth would have destroyed capitalist oligarchies. It would've limited wealth to 300 times the average net worth (which would mean going on current networth of Americans, no one would have more than $30 million net worth). Even if the oligarchs and plutocrats got it increased (through politicking over the years) to $100 million it'd still have had a dramatic, overarching, brilliant effect on the country.

I think in that vein FDR wasn't populist enough because he refused to take it that far. And the NYT of the age even endorsed him because he wasn't seen as radicalizing labor: We believe that in a very fundamental way the President's re-election will provide insurance against radicalism of the sort which the United States has most to fear.

Reganomics and trickle down and neoliberal policies of course did hurt labor further, but it's inherently unstable, and unsustainable, so it'll collapse eventually, the people aren't going to stand for it. It's going to be a painful mess in the meantime though.

Haven't seen Matewan but it's definitely in my queue of things to watch now. I love me some Mary McDonnell. Thanks for the suggestion.

[RainDog]

27. Yeah, I've often heard FDR avoided open conflict in the US

and, if you look at what was happening early in the 20th c., I think there's truth in that. But I also think quite a few more per capita than now were already radicalized.

Ralph Ellison, in The Invisible Man, does an interesting take on unions and Af-Ams - and also had scenes that were taken from real life when people (neighbors) would stop those who came to evict people from their homes.

If you've never seen Sayles' movie, The Secret of Roan Inish - that's another one that makes me cry. Those two are my favorite films from him - but he used Mary McD in other work, like Passion Fish - not Roan Inish, tho.

Anyway, this song isn't from Matewan, but it makes me think of the movie every time I hear it, even tho it's a different sort of mining.

[socialist_n_TN]

20. Kick for solidarity..........

It's a shame that an originally American holiday is celebrated around the world and nearly forgotten where it originated. NOTHING was going on here in Nashville. And I didn't have time to try and put something together this year. Hopefully, next May Day, I will if no one else does.

[joshcryer]

23. I'm sorry nothing was happening there, but the protests were vibrant this year.

There was even some good old fashion direct action in Seattle (though of course haters will blame agent provocateurs).

Most Americans would not attribute "Loyalty Day" to May 1st so I think it's unfair to say May Day is "nearly forgotten" in the US.

edit: I do think it is a shame that a tradition started by anarchists is celebrated by statists though with even Putin's conservative party co-opting it. No one talks about that history because it is inconvenient.

[socialist_n_TN]

30. Well, I do think that May Day is coming back slowly to prominence in the USA...

More and more average folks seem to know a little something about it. MUCH more so than even 5 years ago. And they last couple of years, even here in the Buckle of the Bible Belt, there have been rallies and marches. But not this year and not in my workplace. Out of 25 or so people, I don't think ANYBODY knew about it. Until I started talking about it anyway. I kept saying Google Haymarket in Chicago. Hopefully, a few of them did.

You're right about May 1st though. It will become known again as a worker's day rather than "Loyalty" day. There's too much worldwide exposure as International Worker's Day in our interconnected world for "Loyalty" day to catch on. It's MUCH more likely that it will come back as a worker's day rather than some made up US thing.

I've never doubted the courage or militancy of anarchists and this WAS a day growing out of a demonstration and rally led by anarchists in Chicago. Props. But it wasn't JUST anarchists that were fighting for the 8 hour day at that time. Just like it's not only anarchists fighting for economic justice and democracy today.

As to the "violence" in Seattle, I've always thought it ironic in the extreme that burning the contents of a trash can or breaking a window, i.e., property damage, is considered "violence". Some folks have pretty delicate sensibilities if that's what they consider "violence".

[joshcryer]

31. I don't advocate for hooliganism or violence but I appreciate its purpose.

It's generally used by well intentioned activists as a distraction. Yes some hooligans do it for fun, and it's impossible to distinguish them (pull them aside and question them they might be able to pull out a BS class warfare answer). But because some do it for fun or to be assholes does not necessarily mean the entire group is wrong for doing it. If the police start tear gassing peaceful protesters because they're protesting without a permit (basic civil disobedience), as opposed to simply handling traffic and making sure no one is hurt, then I am not going to admonish people within those protesters for causing a ruckus to distract from the innocents. Those well intentioned people are risking felonies and jail time for doing something that wouldn't be necessary if only the police did their duty and simply protected the protesters and assured it went calmly.

[socialist_n_TN]

32. Yeah, it's funny, but I actually consider tear gas and truncheon.......

and rubber bullets to be ACTUAL violence. Burning a trash can or breaking a window ain't.

[joshcryer]

33. Completely agreed.

I'll go one further. Rocks and Molotov's I can agree are violent but can also be self defense if you have an army of well suited officers advancing with tear gas and rubber bullets. I am fascinated by those Occupy protesters who lobbed back incendiary tear gas canisters at the police. This is undeniably violent but it's self defense when you did nothing that warranted the police reaction. Removing the toxic chemicals (and physical burn threat) from innocent protesters is the proper, ethical, moral action to do (for us crazy activists).

Video of the event (interestingly it happened on May Day 2012! ):

That was likely a felony that could've put the tosser behind bars for years (incendiary tear gas canisters are almost impossible to pick up, so hopefully the tosser had protective clothing or didn't get injured).

In any event most critics of direct action (and that's what this is, direct action, civil disobedience) blame it on agents provocateurs. I agree that they exist and that in fact they probably are there acting the fool during the same time well intentioned activists are acting normal. I saw a kettling last year where several "Occupiers" were simply released then they went and talked to police (they didn't realize they were being filmed). Rats, agents provocateurs, who knows, but it was interesting to see. So I am not going to argue that they don't exist. I will, however, say, so what? Those who act on their own accord with the knowledge that maybe there are provocateurs, cannot, by definition, be themselves provoked into doing something! Because they know that they can be provoked it means that they can have their own agency and decide not to follow if others act (and, of course, this is why I gave up that kind of direct action a long long time ago; I don't like being suspicious of fellow human and as far as direct action is concerned it is only useful for publicity, which is really bad publicity, but it gets people thinking nevertheless, which is why I don't admonish it).

[socialist_n_TN]

34. Yep. I'm a big believer in self defense......

and not just personal self defense, but self defense for my class also.

As to the agent provocateur meme, I actually like it. It's a great way to turn the propaganda war back on the ruling class. OF COURSE not all rock and Molotov throwers are agents provocateurs, but some ARE so it's a great way to FRAME the debate for the general public. Misinformation is a tried and true tactic in a war, even if it's a class war.

[alp227]

21. Please use a better source than the right wing Daily Fail.

Our tabloid media is bad enough. We don't need any from abroad.

[Blue_Tires]

36. fwiw, it's more about the stellar photojournalism than the daily mail's take on the events...