Inviting friends over for dinner; organizing a poker game; taking a hike with a loved one; tending a backyard garden; being a gracious guest; having an intense philosophical discussion (preferably with differing perspectives)... All of these are situations where voluntary association, direct action, mutual aid, and active solidarity were the norm.
Taking the streets of downtown San Francisco the day after the current Iraq war started and forcing the shutdown of the Financial District; staying out of the hands of the cops; pushing them out of some downtown intersections... This was a more recent example of confrontational anarchy. Others I have experienced included a torch-light march that should have ended with that bonfire in the street directly in front of the cop shop on Valencia; the time I was unarrested; witnessing the trashing of several police vehicles with no arrests; a Revolutionary First of May in Berlin...
The feelings of each are different, depending on who's there and what our particular affinities are. The feeling of taking - and keeping - the street in a reappropriation of public space is exhilarating, but fleeting, while a good dinner shared with friends warms my heart for much longer.
I hope Occupy Oakland brings together elements of all the best of these in one place... tomorrow awaits!
