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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (June 20, 2000)
Editor in chief: Jack Clifford Editorial Editors: Jeff Smith, Jonathan Allen Newsroom: (541)346-5511 Room 300, Erb Memorial Union P.O. Box 3159, Eugene, OR 97403 E-mail: ode@oregon.uoregon.edu Tuesday June 20,2000 Volume 102, Issue 1 Emerald Photo illustration by the Emerald Do you remember the Summer of Love? Well, wel come to the Summer of Fear, Eugene style. Civil protesters are afraid that their basic rights to as semble and peacefully demonstrate are being tram pled on. The anarchists — at least the small group within the larger congregation in town that continually pushes the envelope when it comes to protesting — are afraid that the police are not only out to torture them, but are keeping tabs on their person al movements as well. The police and city offi cials aren’t without fear. The police sense that protesters are out to truly harm them, with rally chants of “Kill the pigs!” as evidence to back up their claims. Business own ers are also watching their backs, scared by masked ma rauders terrorizing restau rants and banks, toting signs declaring “Kill the Yuppies” and “Rob the Rich, Arm the Poor.” And city officials are seemingly afraid to make any decisions that don’t please all parties, which of course is impossible. And some of us in the me dia are afraid, as well, but in a twisted way. As one Asso ciated Press reporter told an Emerald reporter at Sunday’s anarchist gathering in Wash ington-Jefferson Park, “If this doesn’t turn violent, then there’s no story.” Thanks pal, for making the rest of us sound ethical and responsi ble, in contrast to your fear of not being able to write about mayhem and bloodshed. How did we get to this point people? When did our Emerald City, historically known for its desire to hear all sides, become a “They said / They said” communi ty, a mumbo-jumbo of rheto ric? At what point did our strive for diversity turn into suspicion, and fear? Laying blame, or pinpoint ing the exact incident that caused problems, is like try ing to answer the age-old chicken-egg question. This past weekend, did the riots occur because of the anar chists’ tactics? Or were the anarchists’ tactics in re sponse to the police intimi dation and harassment? So who’s guilty? Realisti cally, it’s a combination of ac tions from all the groups in volved, though neither group is willing to admit to any wrongdoing on their part. Are the police non-toler ant? People walking down the streets, essentially caus ing little to no trouble — re ports are that just one win dow was broken over the four-day ordeal — certainly doesn’t warrant the response of a police saturation throughout the downtown area. Yet, is it any surprise that the police took action when the activists’ game of Red Rover stopped traffic in the street? No. But releasing a homeless man from the Lane County Jail and refusing him posses sion of his own shirt and coat, his only protection from the elements and in sects, is spiteful. The anarchists’ “Carnival Against Capital” at Washing ton-Jefferson Park caused lit tle fear to anyone who at tended. The heavy police presence just blocks away while the rally played out probably caused little fear to anyone passing the forces. City officials certainly weren’t afraid Sunday after noon in the light of day — several councilors were on hand at the rally — but what about when they return to their chambers? Will they have the bravery to make tough decisions? And what about Joe and Jane Citizens? Fear shouldn’t be a part of our vocabulary, yet approximately 45 Eugene residents — business own ers, protesters from all slices of life and just concerned cit izens — got up at a June 8 Po lice Commission public fo rum and expressed just that sentiment: fear. That’s wrong no matter how you look at it. We’re not so idealistic to think that the Summer of Love will ever re turn. But, we do want to see the Summer of Fear end be fore it really gets started. This editorial represents the view of the Emerald editorial board. Re sponses maye be sent to ode@or geon.uoregon.edu. Anarchistprotest gets us nowhere, so what’s the point? Oh, crap. Just as I was be ginning to peruse the pages of the Wall Street Journal to consider future investment plans I find out that the awe some mechanism of capital ism is about to be destroyed. And that end is starting in our very own hamlet of Eu gene because the beacons of wisdom that are our friendly local anarchists have kept their movement alive by tak ing to city streets and clash ing with police to enlighten the rest of us about the error of our ways. Termed as the “one-year anniversary of the insurrec tion that started it all,” by Steve Heslin, described by some as an anarchist leader — wrap your head around that one, if you can — the event was attended by about 300 people in the Washing ton-Jefferson Park and turned into a melee as police dispersed a small group that had broken off and was blocking several lo crusaders. To those who would argue that the crowd has no busi ness disrupting Udl SUtJtJlS. Of course, as per the Eugene usual, the protesters were the real victims. Victims of police brutality, victims of a harsh capitalistic system. Victims, too, I suppose, of a righteous cause they are but mere pawns in. We should all take a moment to realize what a great Commentary Bret Jacobson lire tor the rest ot us, I say this is just political speech in the nonviolent heritage of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Mohatma Gandhi. Never mind that little de tail that our pro testers throw rocks and bottles at police and dam age local business es and infrastruc ture. service me anar chists do for our community. They give police overtime to collect and they keep insur ance companies on their toes so they can pay out claims of shops damaged by the holy Also, I say forget that the necessarily unorgan ized group hasn’t put forth any realistic social alterna tive to that which they protest. It’s not important that their ideals, when they can be uncovered from a warped heap of conflicting rhetoric, would never work. Those are but minor points. After all, the main focus of our attention should be on the “Carnival Against Capi tal.” The Marxist leanings spouted by many anarchists as gospel should make us all examine how we get along with each other in society and how we treat even the least of our brethren. We don’t really need competi tion to innovate or financial incentive to motivate, do we? And it’s not like Marx was a capitalist. Oh, wait, he was. Well, we’ll just have to ig nore that fact for the time be ing so the enlightened, so cially conscious leftist wisdom makes sense. And we needn’t concern ourselves with examining the reason Western philoso phy elevates John Locke and Thomas Hobbes, two promi nent thinkers on why man creates society, but knows next to nothing about anar chist philosophers. It’s just a part of the capitalist machine that lies to hundreds of gen erations of western thinkers, that keeps the idea of total social anarchy from being manifested right away. I guess Silicon Valley and Wall Street had better get start ed looking for other jobs be cause Adam Smith’s “invisi ble hand” is about to get a slap on the wrist by a group of high Eugene thinkers. At least we won’t have to read that con founding Journal anymore. Bret Jacobson is a columnist for the Oregon Daily Emerald. His views do not necessarily represent those of the Emerald. He can be reached via e-mail at bjacobso@ Quoted "Anarchists are the only people who believe—asfaras I know—that people when given the chance, can live together peacefully.” —Steven Hesfin, speaking at the June 18 anarchist rally in Washing ton-Jefferson Park. “When laws are broken and people are endangered policies should be strict and if not fol lowed, swift action should betaken.” —Tom Simms, while addressing the Eugene Police Commission meet ing in a public fo rum on June 8. “Eugene appreci ates the good in tentions of its po lice and anarchists. We just wish they would play more basket ball." —Tom Atlee, car rying the above words on a home made sign at the rally in the park. “There are two types of people in this crowd; partici pants and oi> servers. One hun dred years from now, the partici pants will be he roes and the ob servers will still be losers.” —Unidentified male speaker, at the rally. “I’m tired of the vocal minority in fluencing deci sions. I want every one’s voice heard, even those who are not here tonight.” —Todd Young, a downtown busi ness owner, speak ing at the Police Commission public forum. “Maybe if we feed the anarchists, they won’t get so grouchy." —Katie Guske, who was serving free food at the ral ly from a Food Not Bombs set-up.
