Recipes for Disaster: an anarchist cookbook

Local anarchists and partisans of Earth First! wanted to make an oifensive strike against a biotechnology company whose crimes had not been brought to public attention (in fact, the corporation had bribed the local town government). There was considerable discussion about what tactics to use?and there was a vdde variety of tactical differences, with some of us committed to non-violence and others being wild militant anarcho-primitivists! Being from small towns in an area not known for having lots of activists, we had to work together to allow everyone to participate at whatever level they found comfortable. The non-violent folks could have dropped a banner, or someone might have come at night and shredded the crops, but what could be done that would allow us to work together, be safe, damage this evil corporation, and provide a wake-up call such as our placid small towns had never seen before? What better than a bloc? Who says we need a major mobilization or a giant antiwar protest to use such tactics? We can have the excitement and the action of any global day of action any day of the week in our own hometowns. It's not like there's more state to smash in Washington DC, Genoa, or Seattle than there is in our ovm. neighborhoods. Not only that, but this time the cops wouldn't be ready for us.

Since we were going to combat biotechnology, it made more sense for us to dress in biohazard suits than in black: not only did they disguise us, but they got our message across by themselves. Bought in bulk, they cost less than three dollars each. The suits lacked face masks, so we made a quick trip down to the hospital for them. We started spreading news of the action to our friends byword of mouth, keeping our bloc limited to only those we trusted.

Account

Blocs, Black and Otherwise ^55

fSTOP:

BlOTECHKOLdi

EARTH FtRSri

? ?>(^-i-^'~.-:.^^ ..

nSmi

Blocs, Black and Otherwise 156

Committed folks drove in from out of town and set up a "base camp" for the action at a local farm, building banners, preparing flags, and writing fliers and media releases. The excitement was contagious: local puppeteers brought down a gargantuan puppet of an indigenous farmer, a local farmer wanted to dig up the front lawn of the biotechnology company to plant organic seeds. Work was spontaneously and naturally divided among teams. The media team made different pamphlets for different people?one for the corporate media, one for people driving by, even one for the employees working there to explain to them what was happening. As time progressed and more and more carloads of people drove down the dirt road to the farm, we realized that the action was going to be larger than we had anticipated.

We had picked our target in complete secrecy, and only a few people knew its name and location. If somehow word had leaked to the biotechnology company that we were planning something, our action would have been ruined. Unlike many blocs at protests, we didn't have a horde of protesters to serve as a distraction, so the main element in our favor was surprise. We told everyone else to trust us?it was going to be a biotechnology target somewhere nearby?and that we had scoped it out. Indeed, we had discovered that the entire complex, one of the main research centers for this biotechnology company, had only a few security guards!

This company had genetically engineered com to feature "traitor seeds," seeds modified to be dependent on their expensive pesticides. Farmers would purchase these cheap seeds, and then go into debt buying the pesticide, losing their land and livelihood. This destruction of small and indigenous farming and of biodiversity was leading to huge demonstrations in Brazil and India in which these crops were ripped from the ground and the seeds burnt, in public! These seeds were being designed right down the street? and no one even knew about it. The company was so smug they didn't even hire much

security. Everyone agreed that it was a worthy target, and everyone was happy with keeping the exact location secret until the day of action.