Mining Empires & Blockades
Ray O’Shannassy & Rose A.
“A standing army and police are the chief instruments of state power” - Lenin
Today’s events were a rude awakening for many young people who came out to protest the worst climate vandals on the planet, and were treated to beating for their trouble. On the 29th of October, the first day of the International Mining and Resources Conference (IMARC), began with an attempt by protestors to blockade the entrances to the conference venue. Despite protestor use of non-violent methods, the police were ready from the get go to protect the interests of the rich with violence.
From the moment I arrived on the scene, the police were intimidating and confrontational, using pepper spray and horses to push through protesters, in the process trampling someone so badly they were hospitalised. Despite never acting in a non-peaceful manner, I was repeatedly thrown around like a ragdoll by cops between horses, resulting in a minor face injury. The cruel use of horses to shove about protesters not only put myself but many others in harm’s way.
“Today’s event is one among many that shows that when private property is challenged, the façade of democracy and human rights quickly falls away to reveal the savage barbarism of capitalist state power”
Not content with roughing up protestors and sending a message to the public that they better stay silent if they know what’s good for them, police actively attempted to censor protestors, prevent them from organising and hid their identities to potentially avoid public shaming. From the get go, protestors with megaphones were singled out of crowds and arrested, likely to prevent them from organising resistance. I was personally confronted by a police officer who had removed his name badge. When called out, he refused to reply. It is a well-known tactic among police officers, to remove name badges before protests so they can lay into protests with impunity.
Today’s event is one among many that shows that when private property is challenged, the façade of democracy and human rights quickly falls away to reveal the savage barbarism of capitalist state power. That is ultimately what the point of a capitalist police force is - to protect these multinational vampires at any cost. This is a sentiment I know for many reasons is clear to me, but ultimately because I come from the working class.
“The behaviour of the puppets of the ruling class has not changed for millennia, yet this fact has flown over the heads of “middle class” rebels”
Protesters from “Extinction Rebellion”, who praise the police and instead of protecting their membership from persecution – they request to be arrested. Environmental organisations like the Greens and XR, true to their class character, always profess the tactics of “non-violence” and “peaceful demonstrations”. They either welcome being taken into police custody or “rebel” by seeking permission from the police to protest to begin with. Their trademark traffic blockades generally attract a muted police response yet when it came to multinational mining companies, the police came in full force. They did not speak with organisers or a police liaison; they did not even allow anyone to speak with a megaphone and would pounce on any individual using one.
“The IMARC blockaders come from many different groups: first nations people, unionists, environmental activists and many of our own members”
Both of these groups have now learnt a lesson us communists have known for decades: the apparatus of the capitalist state that violently enforces capitalist law can never be our allies and have to be met by organised and militant physical defence. For decades the police have hounded everyone who didn’t have a penny in their pocket, whatever their class background. When the working class demanded their rights and went on strike, they were bashed and even shot at. When the ruling class wanted land from the indigenous nations of Australia, they brutally enforced those wishes, murdering and imprisoning tens of thousands. In Chile at the moment, there are hundreds now missing and many being shot in the streets for protesting, no different from the days of the fascist dictatorship of Pinochet. The behaviour of the puppets of the ruling class has not changed for millennia, yet this fact has flown over the heads of “middle class” rebels.
The IMARC blockaders come from many different groups: first nations people, unionists, environmental activists and many of our own members. Many may view this as different groups with different interests, but at its core it is one cause based on one issue. For example, indigenous people stress the protection of the land in all its forms against the physical destruction caused by mining and climate change. The blame for this destruction doesn’t merely lie with Rio Tinto, nor with politicians in general but instead with the capitalist economic system which relies on exponential growth to survive. The rapacious exploitation of the earth for resources that could otherwise be replaced by environmentally sustainable methods continues because of the economic interests of the global upper class. The colonialism that slithered its tentacles around, and choked the independence from millions was a direct result of capitalism’s need for land and resources.
“The exploitation of the earth for resources that could be replaced by environmentally sustainable methods, but continues because of the economic interests of the global upper class”