As we get closer to the G20 summit in Pittsburgh, we should be prepared for a few things to happen. When they do happen, we should try to understand what and why it is occurring and try not to get too upset.
One of the things that is sure to happen is demonstrations. Signs will claim that the G20 is responsible for everything from the economy to global warming. Certainly the G20 is responsible for some of the ills of our society but look for the fevered pitch to touch us more directly.
Groups of all kinds are planning and cooperating in their effort to bring their message to the front during the time that the G20 is in town. Some of those planning demonstrations are anarchists. They are people who generally don’t believe in organized anything. However, they are organizing a protest against the G20, go figure! Anarchists are not new, they have been around for a couple of hundred years. We in Pittsburgh should understand anarchists more so than others, but I’m sure we don’t.
Our history has been linked to anarchists for more than 100 years. Back in the 1800’s, after the Civil War, our state and specifically our region, was involved in the labor movement because of the steel mills and coal mines. In 1892 during a steel strike at Carnegie Steel in Homestead the plant manager Henry Clay Frick was shot in an assassination attempt.
If we remember this bit of history from our region we probably think that the shooting was a part of the labor unrest, but it wasn’t. The attempted assassination of Frick was an act of an anarchist taking advantage of the strike and lockout with the company and union members. The anarchist, Alexander Berkman, was carrying out a “propaganda of deed” or inspiring workers into action by his act.
The union did not benefit from the assassination attempt as support for the strike waned and eventually the strike ended. The union became less powerful and eventually was taken over by the United Steel Workers about 30 years later. What is important is the idea of the “propaganda of deed.” The idea of carrying out an act of violence to inspire others is dangerous and we have to be looking at that possibility in the next month.
When you are watching the news and you see demonstrators acting in a violent manner think about the anarchists’goal to cause someone else to act because of their action or “propaganda of deed.” Watch the names of organizations that present themselves for demonstrations. Pay attention to what the groups are doing and see if you can figure out who is practicing “propaganda of deed.”
