By Walter Bond
Please do not consider me a "Green Scare" defendant and please do not become scared to be "Green." Better yet, please do not be scared to be militant, or outspoken, or an activist for the legal aboveground or clandestine underground. Still better, don't give in to state-sanctioned fear.
Once you do, you're being reactive and that's what they're counting on. Also, you are giving the security forces of animal exploitation too much power. power they don't deserve!
Instead of concerning ourselves with how big and scary the FBI is or how ruthlessly they target activists, we should be concerned with flexing our own muscle and shutting down animal use and abuse wherever it occurs.
At times, I fear that the bulk of the animal liberation "movement" has really and truly forgotten that this is a selfless cause. Our aim is to stop animal objectification, whatever it may take.
And as a movement, we need to be empowering each other to act. not scaring the shit out of activists under any pretext. It's a fact that the ALF, ELF, and aggressive legal activists are in the crosshairs of the power structure - not just here, but globally. The only way that will change is by becoming ineffective welfarists that never rock the boat and are literally in cahoots with abusers or by not compromising the animals lives and keeping ourselves and our movement on the frontlines and in the trenches, kicking ass and taking names.
Or, I suppose you can also become one of the paranoia crowd and just throw the agent provocateur label at anyone that refuses to submit to fear. I hate repeating myself, but I guess I must. This is a War! I do not say that for the sake of drama or literary emhasis. One major flaw with many people within animal lib is the stuck-on-theoretical mindset. We see thses abuses to animals in vivisection, meat, dairy, and eggs, or fur and then we start filing it away as "what this means in a social context and what tactics have the most universal appeal to other humans" when we should be asking ourselves practical questions like "how can I start fighting these abusers?" Or, "where can I have the most impact against these cruelties?"
How can I save an animal today or strop these atrocities now? Even for just a few critters. Because that's the context we so often miss. It's about animal autonomy, not about how the government turns on the people that care about the animals. But while I'm on the subject, it's nothing new!
Those in power abuse that power to smash resistance to the status quo. It's as old as the hills. Every single movement for progressive change has faced a system that has turned on them with vengeance and often violence. Loook at the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense. A mere 43 years ago, there were 150 Panthers, political prisoners, locked up in the prison system.
Various police and feds were executing these brothers and sisters because they were demanding an end to institutionalized prison racism that was destroying their communities and they were not going to back down, no matter what!
Also, amongst their own people, they were at times blamed for their hard stance bringing down the heat and making it hard on everyone else. Predictable. Within our own movement, it's nothing new. Antivivisectionists were actually called "terrorists" over 100 years ago! Ronnie Lee, the founder of the Animal Liberation Front, was being called a "terrorist" in a court of law in 1982.
In the larger context, these persecutions, whether of the individual or the entire movement, are only a landmark on the road to success, the only time they are in vain is if we stop fighting!
And I will tell you this, we are only beginning the abolitionit movement for total animal liberation. How many more trials and tribulations will we endure before we will set the captives free. So don't be shocked of deterred because of what they do to me or any other political prisoner/POW. Of course, support us in our times of tribulation, but don't make our sacrifices in vain. Don't let this system use us to scare you! Speaking for myself, I knew what I was in for when I became an ALF operative.
Part of being an outlaw is accepting the consequences, or at least making peace with them before you ever act. A complete change in attitude is needed.
When our activists speak out and tell it how it is, the only repression they should face if from the enemies of our Mother Earth and our animal nations and, then, that should be seen as the breadth of our right to free speech. That is, you have the right to say what is happening, you have a right to say what the solutions are, you have a right to your own opinions and you have a right to fight against murder, torture, and slavery.
You have those rights because you assert them, not because a government agency tells you that you do! So what's the proper response to "the Green Scare"? How about "the Green Rage"? Yes, that's it!
Consider me a prisoner of war and a proponent of the Green Rage! It's not 9-1-1 anymore and this is not FOXNews - so no militant Earth rights activist or self-respecting anarchist should be defending or limiting their actions in accordance with government witch hunts. If you look at the communiques from the underground in the last 18 months, thousands of animals have been saved from death. The ALF was active in 32 countries and only 7 underground activists were caught (including myself) world wide! In the above ground in America, vivisectors and their associates are feeling the heat. From down South all the way to the west coast! It's time to bring back the good ol' days where solidarity was an action instead of a salutation. an idea that does not take the place of activism.
It's okay, the internet will still be there at the end of the day. after you've put your back into your beliefs. I promise!
And I'm sure millions of otherwise grown adults will still be arguing and gossiping on it like little anry children. They might even tear you down because you weren't around for ten hours to defend yourself. And who knows? After effecting real change, taking a real stand, or getting your face licked by an actual animal that's alive because of what you did, you may not even care what the arm chair generals and theoretical wizards were commenting on today.
Animal Liberation, Whatever it May Take!
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