I think people need to be more comfortable with illegalism and Iâm not kidding. Of course the more legal something is, the safer and easier it is to do, but the more people who disregard the law, the harder it is to enforce. There are plenty of laws on the books that people just ignore and are never or rarely policed.
Becoming more comfortable with little illegal activities makes you more comfortable with bigger more important illegal activities. Additionally, it is crucial to build a wall of silence. Nobody talks everybody walks.
People who give out food without a permit, hold a march without a permit, grow a garden without a permit, are more likely to be people you could turn to to work with on preventing an eviction, or keeping people out of cop hands, or helping your friend Jane get crucial healthcare when itâs not legal in your state.
Communities comfortable with these acts wonât call the cops, and then nobody knows that itâs happening.
People have got to shift from both the idea that lawful = good/ illegal = bad, and that the illegality of something means thatâs the end of it, and the only fight left is to make it legal again.
illegalism
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This is just a short excerpt for the about page.
This is so important- it's also important to remember at protests etc you do not have to follow police instructions- the police want to make their lives easy, in general.
To give a real life example of this, last year there were a number of protests outside hotels housing refugees, run by the far right. One of these was in Newquay. When we heard the Fash were gathering for a second time, a large resistance was organised between anti-fascists, unions and other locals.
I believe it was partly because trade union activists set our banner up where the police wanted the fascists to be able to protest, were able to protect the whole frontage of the hotel. This is not nothing- other hotels in the UK were burned or had missiles thrown at them, causing danger to those inside. It also meant that the refugees inside had a view of people who were supporting them, rather than having to see the fash. We waved to them, and made hearts with our hands to show our solidarity and love. I *hope* on some level that helped people who were fleeing war and trauma.
In other protests, I've marched when were told not to, I've blockaded places where the police definitely did not want us to be. I know people who've laid in roads to try to stop deportations.
We outnumber the cops, we outnumber the fash, laws only constrain us because we are conditioned to obey. In the UK there are increasing laws against protests and strikes and trade unions- but they can't arrest us all, they can't fire us all. There is strength in numbers.
Oh, and if you saw someone shoplifting- no you didn't.
