Pepper gas makes me sneeze...

There is a key component to political activism, one that all of my direct action experiences have lacked, and that is the potential to go completely bat-shit crazy.

In the run-up to the Iraq war, myself and 200,000 "focus group" members marched on Washington D.C. It was icy-cold, we had driven all night, and after listening to speeches on the mall, we took a long walk through the city toward the Navy yard. I knew I was there to oppose the coming war, but I remember saying to a friend:

"If we have all these people, and we really want to prevent this war, why don't we take over and occupy the White House and the Capitol Building. It'll at least be warmer."

So much for that plan. It's a lucky thing we were wrong and the war was a success.

Last May, I participated in an Istanbullu leftist right-of-passage, marching on Taksim Square to commemorate the victims of the 1 Mayis, 1977, state-authorized massacre there. About 20,000 protestors came out this year, in various parts of the city. Ultimately, we weren't much of a match for the 30,000 police and 2,000 jandarme, who had a busy day, and began raiding buildings and making arrests before dawn.

My friends and I got into Taksim on our good looks and charm, talking our way past a few cops by playing the "English teacher" card. I participated in one clash with police, which was a lot of running away from pepper grenades and water cannons, and after that I spent part of the day wandering the neighborhood observing smaller clashes, as the police demostrated their complete control of the situation. So thorough in their control were they, that at one point they beat and arrested some tourists. Me, I mostly just drank coffee in a leftist cafe, filled with other leftists hiding from an almost certain ass-kicking.

Walking home that day, my nose began to sting a little, like I'd just eaten something spicy. As a fit of sneezing set in, I realized I would probably never be much of a revolutionary. Sneezing like a baby panda doesn't exactly inspire fear.

Because these experiences were both unfulfilling and unsuccessful, I have the utmost respect for what Greek anarchists are doing to their country. In response to the slaying of a teenager by police, Greek leftists and youths have asserted their destructive potential. What better way to let your government know it has screwed up, than to burn it to the ground.

It has certainly gotten the attention of the powers-that-be.

I don't want this to be a treatise on government, or I would explain my reasoned argument for my support (I've even decided to start learning modern Greek!). I think it is sufficient to say that property destruction, interruption of infrastructure, and the shock-and-awe value of such tactics, is what state authorities respond to and how reform is provoked. Certainly, there are other methods, but those I listed above should have remained on the table before the Iraq war began, and they could make a valuable point here in Turkey as well.

In the last year, Turkish police violence has risen dramatically, detainees have been tortured or killed, and such behavior from police has become the rule, rather than the exception.

It's an old platitude, but one that appears tried and true:

No justice, no peace.