Recipes for Disaster: an anarchist cookbook

The agents of law enforcement are at the mercy of many factors at once. Their job, of course, is to enforce the laws on the books, protecting power and property and keeping human and financial resources flowing to the judicial industry and the prison-industrial complex. At the same time, to some extent, they are at the mercy of public opinion: the public, or at least the privileged sectors thereof, has to beUeve that tiiey are "doing their job," but not overdoing it. They are also limited by simple logistics: if fifty people run out of a supermarket at once without paying, a single police officer can only hope to arrest one or two at best. On top of all this, they are only human (and that's flattering them): they have fragUe egos to keep appeased, they can be slow on the uptake, their infrastructures are often badly organized and inefficient. It is possible to distract them, surprise them, even demoralize them.

Whenever you consider breaking the law, take into account all the factors that will

influence the police response. Legal and illegal are not immutable aspects of the cos-

r mos?they are as fluid as context itself: it's not against the law if you don't get caught, as

22 every schoolchild and corporate CEO knows. An unpermitted march that would result

in twenty arrests if attempted by twenty people can take place unobstructed if undertaken by two hundred; at the same time, twenty people with a plan and the certainty that It can be carried out can easily accomplish objectives that two hundred, less prepared, never could. Ultimately when it comes to direct action, the laws are immaterial: if what you are doing really is subversive, the authorities wiR attempt to stop you whether it is legal or not?if they can. Your numbers, your courage, your preparation and foresight, your commitment to supporting one another, above all your conviction that what you are doing is possible: these are your permits, your guarantees, and you need no others. When you participate in hazardous activities, it's important not to take things farther than you feel ready to go: if you get hurt or arrested or otherwise in trouble while engaging in a level of risk for which you are not emotionally prepared, the effects can be debilitating. Far better that you get started slowly and conservatively, building a sustainable involvement with direct action projects that can continue over a lifetime, than that you rush into an action with wild abandon, have a bad experience, and swear off all such activity. Pace yourself and always quit while you're ahead, so you can learn and develop your instincts at a safe rate. Believe it or not, there are people well into the prime of life who have fought all their Hves in the war against capitalism without ever getting caught. Let's challenge ourselves and the world, let's run risks and push limits, but let's do so consciously and carefully, as part of a long-term process, so the experiences we gain in doing so will not go to waste!

One day, when the conflict between people and power approaches its cHmax, every-thmg we do will be illegal; then, perhaps, courage and cooperation will win out over fear and tyranny, and we will break the law once and for aU. In the meantime, every instance of direct action, humble as it may be, is a microcosm of that decisive moment, and a potential seed from which it may grow.

'Biff what if I get caught?"

Motherfucker, you're already caught. Better ask yourself? what if you get free?

Preface 23

Nurturing a Direct Action Community

Preface 24

Although nothing Is ever so simple, let's postulate that there are four essential elements that must be present for a community to become conscious of its own power and get in the practice of using it deliberately. First, at least a handful of individuals must invest themselves in direct action, mutual aid, and revolutionary social change as life projects. It takes the full-time labor, consumption, and faith of millions to maintain the protection racket that enforces servility, scarcity, and alienation. Whenever even a few of us stop investing ourselves in perpetuating this system and instead apply our resources to create a space outside its dictates, wondrous things can happen.