Portland, Saturday Morning

[madNbad]

It's 2 blocks of the city. That's it, that's all.

It's actually only four blocks, SW Jefferson on the south end, Madison, Main and Salmon is the northern boundary. East and west it extends from SW Second to SW Fourth. That Includes Terry Schrunk Plaza, Chapman and Lownsdale Square.

 

[madNbad]

After the 1st night of destruction our city council stated no one had the right to protest after dark. Curfew was at 06:30 PM. peaceful protests all day, no riots or destruction.

There were four nights of curfew, none of them very successful. The mayor and the city council have been hesitant to reinstate them. The reasoning being, why punish the entire city for the actions of a few in a confined area.

 

[markjwyatt]

If you want to know what's going on around this building I'd suggest this article by a local . . .


https://www.bellingcat.com/news/ame...ou-need-to-know-about-the-battle-of-portland/

Well documented article. Perhaps a bit biased, bit overall an honest series of statements of facts. I say it is a biased because at the very beginning he says

... As other local reporters have noted, it was the end result of more than six weeks of escalating state violence against largely nonviolent demonstrators...State and Federal law enforcement are at war with the people of Portland.

Then he describes the first night and ends up saying (and this is in the absence of police)

At a little before 11 p.m., several dozen protesters began to shatter the windows of the Justice Center. They entered the building, trashing the interior and lighting random fires inside. I watched all this happen from feet away, and it is my opinion that the destruction was unplanned, yet more or less inevitable — you could feel it in the mood of the crowd. The 3rd Precinct in Minneapolis had just burned: there was absolutely no way Portland wasn’t going to try to do the same thing.

I guess if you consider that normal, the police were "attacking" them. The author even admits this was wrong. He goes on to say that there was a pattern every night- basically people marching then instigators starting trouble.

But regardless he did give what appears to be an honest assessment of what happened multiple nights, the conflicts, police action, instigation, tearing down statues, etc. As I read the article, I came to a different conclusion, namely that Portland is somewhat out of control, and while it may be hard to determine who is peaceful and who is causing trouble, every night trouble comes.

I think @madNBad had it right,

The COVID shutdown has closed the bars and clubs, leaving thousands of bored young men and women, drawing hundreds downtown every night. Mostly, the crowds are orderly, loud, chanting, repeating the same annoying slogans for hours on end but nothing to incite any response. Almost on cue, a small number imbedded in the crowd start the evening ritual. Portland has a long and strong history of activism. The white supremacist are just as organized as the anti-fascist with both sides battling the other on a regular basis. What is driving this? Boredom, a bleak future of low wage jobs, out of reach housing costs, astronomical student debt and the view of a justice system that is out of balance.

 

[Ambro51]

There is a “coiled spring” feeling among many people that’s only getting worse. ......... ... .if everyone would just behave better.... as far as Riot Control and Presidents, Mr.Lincoln pulled troops straight after the battle of Gettysburg and had them on trains to NYC to very forceably suppress violent (and politically motivated) draft riots. The Army of the Potomac won.

 

[markjwyatt]

There is a “coiled spring” feeling among many people that’s only getting worse. ......... ... .if everyone would just behave better.... as far as Riot Control and Presidents, Mr.Lincoln pulled troops straight after the battle of Gettysburg and had them on trains to NYC to very forceably suppress violent (and politically motivated) draft riots. The Army of the Potomac won.

The Civil war is a very significant precedent. Some of the outcomes were very good (especially the abolition of slavery ultimately). But it basically laid out that we are a federation, not a confederation (like the EU). I.e., it is voluntary to join, but once you join, if you try and leave it will not be permitted.

I find it a little ironic that many of the protesters have a Marxist slant (not just Portland, but including BLM, etc. in general). This would indicate that they want a stronger federal government, but yet somehow the people are now at war with the federal government. It is as though they are at war with THIS federal government, but put into place a new one and make it stronger, and somehow it will stay good for perpetuity because our generation(s) implemented it. Maybe in Portland it is a more anarchist spirit that pervades, but I do not think that is so across the nation right now. It is also interesting that the left (whatever that is) seems to embrace Marxism for the USA and states rights simultaneously at times. Seems a bit bipolar.

 

[charjohncarter]

It's 2 blocks of the city. That's it, that's all.

Whew, that makes it so much better, now I feel happy. I'll tell that to my high school friend that owns property there.

 

[Evergreen States]

Anarchists - In popular use, one who seeks to overturn by violence all constituted forms and institutions of society and government, all law and order, and all rights of property, with no purpose of establishing any other system of order in the place of that destroyed; especially, such a person when actuated by mere lust of plunder.

It wouldn’t make much sense that anarchism as a political philosophy has been written about by its proponents for over two hundred years if all there was to it was destruction. Many anarchist philosophers concern themselves quite a bit with how human societies organize, and many advocate for decision making by direct democracy, where many functions of the nation state would be taken up by things such as local assemblies and labor unions, as well as cooperative ownership of workplaces and apartment buildings. This isn’t to say that all anarchists agree on everything: there are different schools of thought. Some are in favor of market economies (market anarchism, mutualism), others in favor of a pure gift economy (anarcho-communism). Some are in favor of democracy (social anarchism), others are skeptical of it (egoism, individualist anarchism). Some are even against the existence of modern cities and seek to return to hunter-gatherer societies (anarcho-primitivism) while others see cities in a much more positive light (libertarian municipalism, socialist transhumanism).

 

[robert blu]

@ madNbad: good series of photos of the quiet after the storm. Well done.