Wobblies, Black Panthers and Other Subversives of the 20th Century

I just finished watching the movie The Wobblies which I really enjoyed. One of the more ironic points that I noticed was the propaganda tactics used against the IWW and how these tactics have been repeated throughout the 20th century and still haunt us today.

I had to really think about the message and internal nature of the IWW to figure out what was so threatening to the status quo. It is hard to see it unless one looks at other organizations and movements that were hunted down and criminalize out of existence in the last 90 years. Two other organizations that came to mind was he Black Panthers and American Indian Movement (AIM).

Some would argue that the latter two were civil rights inspired where the IWW was a labor movement. I disagree, there were many civil rights issues in the IWW movement, including Free Speech, the Right to Assemble and demand for humane treatment both in the work place and living conditions.

What do, 5,000 Bisbee Arizona copper miners loaded into boxcars in the summer and hauled 170 miles to Columbus, New Mexico and dump in the desert and AIM have in common? I would say a whole lot! And what might Huey Newton and Bobby Seale have in common with Big Bill Haywood, Daniel De Leon, Eugene V. Debs and Mary Harris Jones "Mother Jones" other than being prosecuted, and vilified for their beliefs.

So what make these groups such a threat? The short list is this:

1. Non-centralized leadership that can not be cajoled into meeting the establishment half way.
2. Internal identity, where each member see the other members as an extension of him or herself.
3. Internal mutual aide structures, that allows the members to sustain themselves when they are in direct confrontation with authority.
4. Directly challenge the illusion that power comes from the top down and is granted by the benevolence of the establishment.

These are in my opinion the real threat to the established power and wealth structure around the world. In a time when it seems that there is no real leadership in our midst, I like to look back and find inspiration from these past bright points of leadership and try to figure out what did and can they teach us about ourselves?

Are we really so easy to scare into compliance or are we not at the end of our rope yet? Are we afraid of losing, and what do we convent so much that we can't see the shadows for what they really are and know that all we need to do is stand up and turn around to see the light of our own reality.

I would like to see some comments that address the issue of; what scares us into compliance or just indifference to when exposed to radical and non-establishment approved ideas?

I will start with an admission that I often fear that any revolution would only replace one establishment with a new one, faces may change but the goal for power and wealth would remain the same.

Where in the world is Idaho Blue?