Anarchist, Socialist, & Anti-Fascist Writings of David Van Deusen

275 Pages·2017·8.02 MB·English

by  David Van Deusen

Anarchist, Socialist, & Anti-Fascist Writings
of David Van Deusen 1995-2018
David Van Deusen
Contents
Author’sNote 7
OnTheseCollectedEssays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Prelude 10
AMosaicofStruggle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
ChapterI:AnarchistTheory 11
EmergenceofTheBlackBloc&TheMovementTowardsAnarchism(2001) . . . . . . 11
ChapterII:StreetBattles,ArmedDefense&Insurrection 31
EarlyBlackBlocClashes:NorthAmerica,1988-1999(2005) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
TwoThousandMarchAgainstDemocraticNationalConvention&InSupportofPolit-
icalPrisoners(1996) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
R2K:PhiladelphiaandTheRNC(2001) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
CommuniqueFromaWantedBlackBlocAnarchist(2000) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
N16:CincinnatiandTheTABD(2001) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
AgainstColumbusDay:AIMandTheBlackBlocinDenver(2001) . . . . . . . . . . . 43
TheBattleofYork-January12,2002(2005) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
AntifaInDC&TheBaltimore28(2005) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
TheWarMachineMustStop!(2005) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
WhenTheWarStarted(2005) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
ValleyForgeBattlefield:TheBlackBlocvs.Nazis(2005) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
GWBushInaugurationDayII:J20(2005) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
THELEFTISTCASEAGAINSTGUNCONTROLINVERMONT(2018) . . . . . . . . . 57
PIPEBOMBSFROMTHERIGHT–ANTIFAMANSTHEWALL(2018) . . . . . . . . . 60
ChapterIII:OrganizationWithinAnarchistFederations&LaborUnions 64
TowardsTheCreationOfRegionalNorthAmericanAnarchistFederations&TheAdop-
tion Of An Organizational Model From Which a Broad Based Strategy Can Be
CarriedOut(2001) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
BuildingUnionPowerinAOTYearOne:2015InReview(2016) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
BuildingUnionPowerinAOTYearTwo:2016InReview(2017) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
TheChallengeFacingVSEAandAProactiveResponse(2016) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
ChapterIV:WorkingClassPower 123
MountSnowExploitsWorkers:ThreatensLocalEconomy(1998) . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
OneWorker’sPerspectiveonTheSeptember11th2001Attacks:Observations&Warn-
ings(2001) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
MilitantUEStrikeatFairbanksScalesEndsinVictory(2002) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
2
Union+TownMeeting=Democracy(2003) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
MontpelierWorkersSeekCitywideLaborUnion!(2003) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
WORKEROWNED:TheChangingFaceofEmploymentinVermont(2006) . . . . . . 137
Labor’sFirstStrikeAgainsttheWar(2008) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
HealthcareIsAHumanRight:CallInSickMay1(2009) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
GreenEnergyandGoodJobsForVermonters-October(2011) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
PAIDSICKDAYSFORALLWORKERS!(2014) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
NORATS,NORACISTS:WHENWESTANDTOGETHERWEWIN!(2016) . . . . . . 157
AGatheringStormInWashington:AClassWarWeMustWin!(2016) . . . . . . . . . 158
LARGEST DEMONSTRATION IN VERMONT HISTORY: 20,000 March In Montpelier
AgainstTrump(2017) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
WHYWEFIGHTONTHISMAYDAY(2017) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
JusticeForSnowPlowDrivers(2018) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
ChapterV:TheStruggleOfTheFarmers 168
DairyFarmersofVermontSeekSustainableMilkPrice(2003) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
DairyFarmersofVermontUnited:FirstRoundOfNegotiationsWithMilkCo-opsCon-
clude(2003) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
FARMERS SEIZE MEANS OF PRODUCTION: Farmer Controlled Processing Plant
OpensInTheKingdom(2006) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
DownonTheFarm:InterviewWithVermontFarmOrganizerPeterSterling(2006) . . 174
ChapterVI:DirectDemocracy&TownMeeting 184
TOWNMEETINGDAY:SixTownsDemandBushBeImpeached!(2006) . . . . . . . . 184
VermontTownsCallsForBushImpeachment&EndToDeadlyWarInIraq(2007) . . 186
Brattleboro&MarlboroTownMeetingsCallForArrestOfU.S.PresidentBush&Vice
PresidentCheney(2008) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
EmpowerTownMeeting:AbolishTheVotingBooth(2014) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
InDefenseCabot’sTownMeeting:ParticipatoryDemocracyorConvenience?(2016) . 192
ChapterVII:Counter-Culture 196
GreenMountainCommunes:TheMakingofaPeoples’Vermont(2008) . . . . . . . . 196
ChapterVIII:TheAbenaki/NativeAmericans 204
PeopleoftheDawn:TheStruggleforAbenakiSovereigntyContinues(2003) . . . . . 204
NewDawnforAbenaki:OriginalVermontersRecognized(2006) . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
VermontSierraClubHelpsBuildAbenakiTribalForest(2012) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214
ChapterIX:Anti-Fascism 218
TheSiegeOfLewiston:AnInterviewWithLady,SoldierAgainstFascism(2005) . . . 218
WolfHuntInTheKingdom:MinutemenDrawRain&ProtesterstoDerbyLine(2006) 222
ChapterX:OnElections 228
Vermont2006Elections:SocialistSanderstoU.S.Senate(2006) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228
TheManWhoWouldBeKing:InterviewWithVermontProgressiveAnthonyPollina
(2007) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
3
DaveVanDeusen,CandidateforMoretownSelectBoard(2009) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246
VALLEY REPORTER QUESTIONS FOR SELECT BOARD CANDIDATE DAVE VAN
DEUSEN(2010) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248
ConcerningTheVoteForTheNextVTAFL-CIOPresident(2010) . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
DaveVanDeusenForVermontAFL-CIOMember-At-Large/ExecutiveCommittee(2011)254
VT2014ElectionAnalysisFromTheFringe(2014) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256
FarewellFromYourConstable(2015) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258
ChapterXI:OnTheRoad 261
AMERICANDREAMS-WESTERNGREYHOUND(1995) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261
Night Patrol With The Vermont National Guard: In The Shadow of Katrina and Iraq
(2005) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263
TheOtherCampaign:ZapatistasSeekUnitedLeft(2006) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268
TheFrenchConnection:AnInterviewWithXavierMassotOnTheGrowingUnrestIn
France(2006) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271
RESOLUTIONINSOLIDARITYWITHTHESTRUGGLEINROJAVA–GREENMOUN-
TAINCENTRALLABORCOUNCIL-AFL-CIO(2018) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276
TRUMP’SBETRAYALOFROJAVA–PARISCOMMUNEFALLSAGAIN?(2018) . . . . 279
ChapterXII:Coda/Sports&Politics 284
THERHYTHMOFBASEBALL-REFLECTIONSFROMACABIN(1999) . . . . . . . . 284
B-Hop’sClaimRacist?(2013) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286
Ali:ThePeoples’ChampIsGone(2016) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289
SPACEMAN:OfRoadkill&Governors(2016) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290
4
This book is dedicated to the Green Mountain Anarchist Collective (Vermont), the Ramblers
Motorcycle Family (Quebec), and the Peoples’ Defense Units (YPG) & their armed struggle to
establish a Free Territory in Rojava. I encourage all readers to support this struggle however
theycanandgiveconsiderationtobecomingavolunteerintheirinternationalarmedforces.
www.facebook.com
www.ypgrojava.org
AboutTheAuthor
David Van Deusen, pictured front right (along with union transportation workers & sup-
porters)marchedinhisfirstBlackBlocagainstBillClinton&the1996DemocraticNationalCon-
vention in Chicago, Illinois. He was an all-section wrester in his youth, played bass in the U.S.
Condemned,andlatertrainedinboxingandkarate.VanDeusenco-foundedtheGreenMountain
AnarchistCollectivein2000andisaformermemberofAnti-RacistAction.HeisaDistrictVice
PresidentandpastMember-At-LargeoftheVermontAFL-CIO,servedontheVermontCommis-
sion on Native American Affairs, and as Conservation Organizer for the Vermont Sierra Club.
DavidisamemberofAFSCMELocal2413andisalsoapastmemberoftheUnitedAutoWorkers
Local1981,TeamstersLocal1L,andUnitedElectricalWorkersLocal221.HeauthoredOnAnar-
chism: Dispatches From The Peoples’ Republic of Vermont, and co-authored The Black Bloc Papers
& Neither Washington Nor Stowe. In addition, he was elected to two terms on his local Select
Board (endorsed by the VT Progressive Party, VT Liberty Union Party & the AFL-CIO), three
termsasFirstConstable,andasMoretownChairofthe[social-democratic]VermontProgressive
Party Caucus. Van Deusen (who has traveled as far west as California, as for east as Budapest
Hungary,asfarnorthasQuebecCity,andasfarsouthasChiapasMexico)haslaboredasacon-
structionworker,farmhand,bartender,archaeologist,freelancejournalist,andasNewsEditorof
CatamountTavernNews.HeispresentlyaUnionRepforAFSCMEandaformerSeniorUnion
RepfortheVermontStateEmployees’Association(representingroadcrewworkers).VanDeusen
is a member of the Vermont Workers’ Center, and lives with his family (wife Angela, daughter
Freya, & son William) in rural Vermont (splitting his time between an off-grid log cabin in the
mountains&inanorthernvillage).VanDeusen,whohasalsoresidedinNewOrleansLouisiana
(birthplaceofjazz),JacksonvilleFlorida(birthplaceofLynyrdSkynyrd),WestNyackNewYork,
&SevilleSpain,ridesaUnionmadeHarleyDavidsonmotorcycle.
5
6
Author’s Note
On These Collected Essays
7
8
This book is a collection of essays I have written over the past two+ decades. A discerning
readerwillnotethatsomeofmymorefoundationalessayssuchasBlackBlocTacticsCommunique,
andNeitherWashingtonNorStowe(alongwithdozensofothers)donotappearhere.Theseessays
(some of which were co-authored with the Green Mountain Anarchist Collective) were (in my
opinion)centraltothepoliticalthemesIhavewrittenabout(andbeenengagedin)overtheyears
(especiallyfrom1999-2007).Theirabsenceisduetothefactthattheyhavebeenbroughttogether
in the book On Anarchism:Dispatches FromThe Peoples Republic of Vermont (AlgoraPublishing,
NYC, 2017). What is contained here are those essays that were excluded from that collection
(alongwithsomewhichhavebeenwrittenafteritspublication).Evenso,Itrustthatsomeofthe
wordsputonpageherewillbeofinteresttothereaderandtohistory.
-DavidVanDeusen,November5,2017
9
Prelude
A Mosaic of Struggle
Thecollectedworkswhichyouareholdingrepresenttwentyyearsofmylifeasawriter,theo-
rist,organizer,andrevolutionary.Mostoftheseessays,articles,proposals,reports,communiques,
and interviews (but not all) relate to Vermont as that has been my home (and the focus of my
work). The tone and form that each essay takes differs depending on the intended audience;
somebeing written for revolutionaries;others for leftistsgenerally; some exclusivelyfor union
members;andstillmoreforthepublic.Mostoftheseessayshavepreviouslybeenprintedinun-
dergroundnewspapers,andafewintheestablishmentpress.Takentogetherthiscollectedworks
willprovideawindowintothemultilayeredstruggleforradicalsocialchangeinruralVermont
andbeyond,asitunfoldedovertime.
A focused view into any specific social conflict would itself carry a certain interest to the
studentofpoliticalchange.ButwhenthesubjectisVermont(withinacontextoflibertarianso-
cialiststrugglebeyonditsborders),perhapsthisisespeciallyso.Thissparselypopulatedmoun-
tainousregionrepresentsanorthernfringeoftheAmericanEmpire.Beingonthisfringeithas
sustained a leftward and libertarian trajectory which often runs counter to the currents of the
United States. Demographically Vermont should be a solid pro-Republican, pro-capitalist state.
Instead it is home to the strongest leftist third party in the country (the Vermont Progressive
Party), has sent a socialist (Bernie Sanders) to represent it in the United States Senate, and has
avibrantsocialmovement.Hence,thestoryofstruggleinVermontisnotjustaprovincialtale;
ratheritisanexpansivelessonwaitingtobelearnedbythosewhowouldriskchange.Inputting
togetherthiscollectionitismyintenttoallowthereadertodrawsuchlessonsastheymayfind
fromourcommonsuccessandfailure.
The reader will also discern an interplay in the events and efforts the essays reflect between
theoryandaction;neitheractingasthedriveralone.Thisinterplayisnecessaryasthepoliticsof
social transformationcannotbe dogmatic.Ifthereisanabsolutepath towardsvictory,we,asa
people,havenotfoundit.Norhasanycultofpersonalitydeliveredmorethantheexpected.As
such,Iamloathtopaintanysingleapproachtofundamentalchangeasexclusivetoanother.Inall
likelihoodthereisnomapwithXmarkingthespotofsocialrevolution.Rathersocialrevolution
ismorelikelysomethingwewillstumbleuponlikeadrunkinthenight,andthenspendthenext
hundredyearstryingtodissectandcategorize.Andeventhen,wemayfindthatourconclusions
losemeaningwithoutalivingcontext.
Therefore,inthismeantimeweexperienceasourlives,thebestwecandoiswhatwecan:sub-
versiveart,clandestineoperations,militantstreetactions,buildingofcounter-institutions,union
organizing,andeventheoccasionalelectionshouldnotbeunderstoodasmutuallyexclusiveen-
deavors to an effective movement. Together they are a mosaic that gives depth to our noble if
quixoticadventureintoafutureyetunwritten.
-InSolidarity,DavidVanDeusen,CabotVermont,May1,2017
10