In the middle of a global pandemic–as if there never was a global crisis to humanity before–and on the verge of a global economic recession, the Indonesian police have released a statement that anarchists are planning looting on a national scale on 18th April, The Year of Corona. This idiotic and also a strategic statement falsely made by authority are a clear intention of seeking who to blame in this time of crisis while in the lower layer of Indonesian society many are already fed up with the conditions and looting is no longer a taboo subject. Anger is growing. But as media and the police tried to sensationalize the recent arrest of four anarchists accused of graffiti that said “It’s already a crisis, its time to burn” (see photo) they tried to manipulate the crisis and the incompetency of the state in responding to the situation by seeking a “public enemy” now named “the anarchists”. If we can just compare how the impact of some graffiti and the recent situation, the response of general middle class internet society and mostly also by activists, snitches, and cowards who are manipulated into focusing on a small group of anarchists in Tangerang, a few kilometers from Jakarta who were arrested for doing graffiti.
Who are these anarchists?
As false public rage grows towards the anarchists, the common narratives are “anarchists are provocateurs”, even some leftist activists go to the extent of wanting to cooperate with the state to crack down on the anarchists or labeling the action as stupid. And this is not something new. The activists, the middle class, who are so afraid of everything in this time of panic are easily manipulated, why? Other than their binary logic of thinking and their banalities of action, and of course illegalism to them means losing their illusion of safety. These same category of people undermined many anarchist projects during this time of crisis and pandemic such as giving out free food, creating shelter for the homeless, and other grassroots struggles, in which many of the so-called activists are sitting around and going with the “stay home” state scenario while the real public anger is burning and intensifying. The same anarchists who got arrested are active youngsters who run a co-op cafe, and are active in spreading counter-information, and the massive “a really-really free market” at a grassroots level. It is clear that the middle class and activist mentality mirrors the same idiotic scenario orchestrated by the state to make them a part of the society of control. This short update is also a fuck you note to every activist, and even some leftist anarchists who are blaming or accusing any direct action as being idiotic just because people ended up being arrested. It is also a fuck you note to the state that orchestrated this false scenario in blaming the anarchists. Maybe the anarchists will join the looting and it will most certainly happen! But dear state, you know so well that your structures are decomposing and we are going to help you rot. FUCK YOU.
Solidarity with the anarchists arrested in Tangerang!
The Individualist Circle
12/04/20