Post by Modesto Anarcho on Feb 26, 2008 19:27:55 GMT -5
Trash the Rich: Criminalizing Dumpsterdiving and Poverty in Modesto
From Modesto Anarcho #6, out now! - By crudo
On any given night in Modesto, one can find many ordinary folks at a certain major chain store that specializes in upper priced organic, vegetarian, and specialty foods engaged not in buying anything, but instead digging through the trash. Some of those that frequent the dumpster buffet may live without homes, although many live in houses throughout the area. Many come in cars, some on bikes. Some come by themselves, but most arrive with their partners and families. Everyone though, comes for the food. When I meet people there, we talk and share stories. The food there is incredible. It is always amazing to walk away with food that was thrown out a few hours ago knowing that you could have paid too much money for it in the store. With this in mind, as we dig through the trash we also help each other grab various items, sometimes recalling that time we got a whole case of free wine or maybe that night we found a whole dumpster full of whipping cream! We trade items we don’t want for items we do. “Here is a package of hamburgers for that case of butter.” Many people I have met take the food back to their homes and give it out in their neighborhoods or to their friends. What the rich waste, the poor claim for themselves. Often we exchange tips on other spots where we can stock up on food. Once, someone stopped in a car when they saw that they knew a friend I was with and exclaimed, “You do this too?” Sometimes the workers were afraid of their bosses giving them nuts and tell us to scram. Sometimes they bag up some food and just give it to us. Lots of people depend on this single store being so wasteful that it throws food away almost every day. The good times however, may soon be coming to an abrupt end.
In January, after urging from the Modesto Police, organizations representing rich areas of Modesto (such as the La Loma Association, etc), and several city council members, the Modesto City Council in a 5-2 vote passed a new ordinance that would according to the Modesto Bee allow the police to slap dumpster divers “with a misdemeanor, issued a citation carrying a $500 fine, or both.” (1) Dumpster divers could also face up to 6 months in a jail cell just for looking through a trash can. It seems the system again has us right where it wants us, as it forces us into poverty and then seeks to criminalize us when we try and subvert that reality by appropriating (taking without paying) food. This reality of course, is not by accident, but by design, as the economy of the rich requires us to produce massive quantities of goods and commodities as workers, yet at the same time ends up throwing so much of them away when it can’t sell all of them. Capitalists (the people who own the means of existence and force us to work for them) need to make sure this surplus of thrown away goods is not used in any way by regular people. So, they lock these items away in the garbage, leaves them to rot, or smash them in compactors. Capitalism needs to create scarcity; it needs to keep things that we all need to survive locked up and under guard. In this way it can control what we have access to so we will be forced to work harder to earn wages and thus have money to buy things. It needs to do this because if there’s enough for everyone, why would we ever have to work so we could get money to pay for anything? If people squat homes and take over buildings - why would anyone ever pay rent? If people appropriate and grow their own food - why would anyone ever pay for it? We can see this reality very clearly in the steady stream of economic refugees that pour into the United States from Mexico and other Central American countries. Thanks to “free-trade” agreements like NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) big businesses and governments have forced people off of their lands or put them out of work. This pressure forces many working people to seek work in the United States. Without being divorced from a way of making a living; divorced from a way of getting their basic needs met, why would anyone want to come to the US to work in near slave like conditions (and face a hostile journey and ongoing racism) picking and growing food or any of the other jobs many migrants are forced to take? Without taking the means of life from us, without divorcing us from the means to feed, house, and take care of ourselves, without protecting that system through violence (the police, the prisons, the legal system, etc), the rich have nothing, and they know it. Thus, the bosses of this economy try and control our access to land, to resources, to how we are able to spend our time, and even how we go about our very lives. Now in Modesto, they’re even doing it with trash.
But, many of the upper crust of this valley do not enjoy seeing the effects that their society has on the rest of us. They don’t like looking out their posh windows in downtown Modesto and seeing the homeless walk by with their shopping carts, the squatters taking over an abandoned building next door, or the hungry dumpster diver getting a few-hour-old pizza right out of the trash. Make no mistake, the dumpster diving ordinance is an attack on poor and working people who would take to the trash of the rich and corporations for the sake of gaining anything from building materials to a bite to eat. It is also a way for the police to intrude into yet another aspect of our lives for the sake of perpetuating and expanding their hold over our day to day affairs. Should we offer them anything else but contempt and resistance?
The Rich Get Organized
According to the Modesto Police and the Modesto Bee, one of the main promoters of the dumpster ordinance is the La Loma Association and various neighborhood watch organizations (people who often act as a citizen’s police department). The La Loma Association is an organization representing one of the highest income neighborhoods in Modesto and to many, represents where much of the ‘old money’ of Modesto calls home. Victorian style two story mansions dot the landscape of the La Loma area, which is located next to Dry Creek. Compare this area to working class districts of Modesto such as Airport, South Side, and West Side (and even many of the homes that fall just outside of the La Loma area), and it is painfully clear that the rich part of Modesto has found itself a home. However, in an ironic twist, many homeless people also call the La Loma area home, as many squat (occupy without renting) along the river in the patches of woods and hang out in Moose Park. Many homeless folks often make the trip from Modesto’s downtown to the Gospel Mission, one of two facilities that offer a place to sleep for the night. This of course creates tension between those who live in the nice houses and those without. According to the La Loma Association, they support the dumpster dive ban because it would "…keep the neighborhood we live in, in a condition that is acceptable to everyone." What they really mean is that they are in favor of a new legal means for the police to harass, imprison, and detain homeless or poor people who are passing through “their” neighborhood.
It is then no surprise that according to the Modesto Bee, the Modesto Police Chief sought out the support for the ordinance from the La Loma Association and various neighborhood watch groups, because of course, these groups have the same function and goal: the suppression of poor and working class people. This is not to say that some within the homeless “community” (a diverse group just like any) that occupies the downtown and La Loma area are not without fault. Many homeless, working class, and regular folks often complain about the ongoing racist and often Neo-Nazi graffiti and activity around the area often attributed to homeless crews or the continuous drug dealing and violence that are sometimes associated with homeless strongholds such as Tower Park. Some homeless people of color and local residents have been assaulted or had racial slurs hurled at them by homeless people who frequent the area. Or course, a dumpster diving ban won’t solve any of this, these are all problems that are caused by poverty, racism, and often the prison system. But of course, the police and groups like the La Loma Association aren’t interested in ending any of these things; they’re interested in seeing them continue in order to ensure their privileged position within society.
Manufacturing a Problem
Stopping identify theft has been touted as a reason for the criminalization of dumpster diving. According to the Modesto Bee, “Councilwoman Kristin Olsen supports the measure. Her husband, Rod, was a victim of identity theft after he said someone rifled through a commercial Dumpster and obtained financial information he left with a Modesto brokerage firm.” (2) The La Loma Association also pleaded for an end to dumpster diving because they too felt that their privilege could possibly be threatened by trash diggers. At meetings, some complained of tipped over trash cans and garbage thrown about, and somehow this all is supposedly the work of “dumpster divers.” Logic might instead point the finger at neighborhood dogs or recent storms, but of course to the La Loma Association the homeless are the major threat that stalks their gold platted streets. Clearly, to paraphrase one recent letter to the Modesto Bee, if the homeless of Modesto have been stealing people’s identities then they have little to show for it. Olsen, the La Loma Association, and the other cheerleaders for the dumpster dive ban, all contend that the ordinance would help fight identity theft and would give the police “another tool” to put a stop to such activity. What this “tool” means in reality however, is much different. This means that any person who looks like they have been “dumpster diving” (i.e. homeless) is suspect to a search of themselves and their limited property. The ordinance becomes another reason for police to intrude and harass us and possibly place us in prison. Thus, that package of bread you just picked up from behind the bagel shop now is cause for the police to search your entire personhood. Who knows what else they’ll find that they could use to throw you in prison or issue you a ticket to put more money in their pocket? A joint, a pirated DVD, a copy of this magazine…?
Furthermore, giving the police more power to fine, harass, detain, and imprison people looking through dumpsters is a piss poor way of stopping identity theft. As NAID (National Association for Information Destruction) wrote in regards to the new Modesto ordinance: “[Our] position on such laws is that they actually make things worse by giving people a false sense of security.” (3) In other words, the dumpster diving ban won’t do anything to stop identity theft. As a recent 60 Minutes report showed, hackers armed with only simple software can drive past any large retailer that is transmitting electronic information via credit cards and get into a person’s bank account, get their social security number, and obtain other information with the push of a few buttons. Corporations refuse to update their software because it would be costly. Also, banning dumpster diving will actually only lead to more crimes and theft between regular people, as many dumpster divers are unable or afraid to gain access to cans and bottles that they turn in to various local recycling plants for money. If people who can not find work are then denied access to the only means of generating income (can and bottle collecting) that they have, where is the only logical place to turn other than crime? We only hope that people will find new and inventive ways of subverting the system without having to turn to robbing, thieving, and stealing from other working class and exploited people. It is clear then, that the dumpster diving ban has realistically nothing to do with stopping identify theft, but everything to do with criminalizing a wide section of the population.
Furthermore, the Modesto Police were actually caught during a city council presentation presenting false evidence while making their case against dumpster diving. As the Modesto Bee wrote, “Officers mistakenly reported that four valley cities had adopted ordinances prohibiting people from foraging in waste containers. The Bee later found that the cities -- Ceres, Clovis , Oakdale and Tracy -- had ordinances against stealing recyclables or measures designed to protect franchise rights for garbage hauling companies. They did not ban Dumpster diving.” (4) In this classic pig move, when the police couldn’t find the information that they wanted, they simply manufactured it.
Tax the Poor, Legitimize the Pigs
Most people view acts by the police and city government such as the criminalization of dumpster diving to be simply “bad policy” or frame them only as a moral issue that is something that does not affect them. “It’s horrible what they’re doing to the homeless.” People often rarely understand the larger reasons why the rich and the police seek to criminalize further aspects of daily life and why the city government seeks to gain more and more revenues based upon the giving out of tickets, court fines, jail time, etc.
At the same time as the dumpster diving ordinance was working its way through the city council system, the city government was also looking at various other projects which would cost a lot of money. According to the Modesto Bee, the city approved “…the second half of the city budget, a $336 million plan that describes funding for 318 capital projects.” This work includes “$66,500 worth of work in designing an expansion of Pelandale Avenue .” In other words, more sprawl and work on the rich areas of town while homes go empty and streets in places like South Side Modesto don’t even have sidewalks. The city is also looking to put in a “$400,000 in redevelopment funds on the cameras and equipment that would enable the Police Department to monitor downtown.” (5) We can now see that the actions of the police and the city government are designed not only to extend the power of the State but also to increase a flow of revenue into the city for its own projects which will benefit anyone but working and oppressed people (i.e. more revenue through fines and tickets means more money for sprawl and surveillance). This complex is not simply limited to Modesto, however; for instance in Arizona the “…proposed state budget counts on the anticipated speeding fines [generated by new speed surveillance cameras] to help erase a projected revenue shortfall.” (6) These actions by the police and the State also work to further give them legitimacy. If we become used to surveillance cameras tracking our every move, being fined for digging through the trash, being sent to war, etc, then what else will we put up with? Soon, we will be unable to remember life as it was before the ever watching eye or the big pig stick invaded every part of our lives.
Our Dreams Won’t Fit into their Dumpsters
If we can begin to see the actions of the police and the city elites simply not as bad “policy” or bad “morally,” we can begin to make sense of their actions and see that they do have a logic within the framework of a larger system which wants to ensure that working and oppressed people have the least amount of control over their lives as possible. With a lack of any agency over how we want to live, labor, and associate with others, what choice will we have to continue to work, buy, and reproduce this hierarchal and alienating society based upon wage-slavery, violence, and boredom? Once we can understand this context, we can also understand how illogical it is that the institutions that most promote and protect this system (the police and city government themselves) are not going to have any role in changing things for the better. It’s silly to imagine that in some room in downtown Modesto only a handful of people on a “city council” will decide the fate for over 200,000 people in the city, but perhaps it is even more absurd for the rest of us to put all our hopes of change into these same people. If we continue to put faith in the democracy of the rich, our lives will only be as democratic as “our representatives” allow them to be. This of course, is no freedom at all.
While the recent dumpster dive ban should not surprise us, we should be prepared to respond to this attack with action. The imperative to fight back is needed now, as many city governments have stated publicly that they soon will be following Modesto’s lead and will consider implementing their own anti-dumpster diving ordinances. If we are going to fight this, first we must realize that in most cases the police will depend on calls from people complaining that a “dumpster dive” is in progress. Being that Modesto is the epitome of the Public Enemy song, “911 is a Joke,” many people will probably have nothing to worry about! Still, those looking to dumpster dive under the current police state restrictions should possibly look to be as quiet as possible, be on good terms with the locals, and also stay out of sight from the authorities and employees of a given business. Diving at night is the best time. Teams of divers can also provide lookouts incase pigs decide to roll through certain areas. Perhaps dumpster divers can also think about talking with nearby folks living in the area, explaining the situation and asking them not to call the police as they search for food. Those looking to find new ways of getting free food perhaps can look to appropriating food from work, gleaning fruit trees, starting community gardens in vacant lots, or perhaps finding new forms of liberating items from stores. What is important for people is that they try and move these actions away from just being based around individuals, but towards collective revolts against the current order. The more we resist with others, the more we get in return. The more people fighting, the harder it is for the pigs to stop us. In the end however, the greatest way to fight back against the dumpster dive ban is to fight and struggle for a society without police, prisons, and city councils, and also a society without the need to dig through the trash in order to get something to eat. In Modesto and across the globe, the rich have organized themselves with their governments and police in order to better launch an assault on people who are exploited and excluded from their system. We should learn from their example and offer them nothing but an uncompromising assault.
Notes:
1. Modesto Bee, Jan 13th. Jeff Jardine.
2. Modesto Bee, Jan 7th, Adam Ashton.
3. NAID website: www.naidonline.org/news/12-18-2007_2.html
4. Modesto Bee, Jan 23rd, Adam Ashton.
5. Modesto Bee, Jan 9th, Adam Ashton.
6. Paul Davenport, Associated Press, “Arizona budget banking on speeders.”
View entire MA #6 PDF at: www.indybay.org/uploads/2008/02/03/ma6.pdf
From Modesto Anarcho #6, out now! - By crudo
On any given night in Modesto, one can find many ordinary folks at a certain major chain store that specializes in upper priced organic, vegetarian, and specialty foods engaged not in buying anything, but instead digging through the trash. Some of those that frequent the dumpster buffet may live without homes, although many live in houses throughout the area. Many come in cars, some on bikes. Some come by themselves, but most arrive with their partners and families. Everyone though, comes for the food. When I meet people there, we talk and share stories. The food there is incredible. It is always amazing to walk away with food that was thrown out a few hours ago knowing that you could have paid too much money for it in the store. With this in mind, as we dig through the trash we also help each other grab various items, sometimes recalling that time we got a whole case of free wine or maybe that night we found a whole dumpster full of whipping cream! We trade items we don’t want for items we do. “Here is a package of hamburgers for that case of butter.” Many people I have met take the food back to their homes and give it out in their neighborhoods or to their friends. What the rich waste, the poor claim for themselves. Often we exchange tips on other spots where we can stock up on food. Once, someone stopped in a car when they saw that they knew a friend I was with and exclaimed, “You do this too?” Sometimes the workers were afraid of their bosses giving them nuts and tell us to scram. Sometimes they bag up some food and just give it to us. Lots of people depend on this single store being so wasteful that it throws food away almost every day. The good times however, may soon be coming to an abrupt end.
In January, after urging from the Modesto Police, organizations representing rich areas of Modesto (such as the La Loma Association, etc), and several city council members, the Modesto City Council in a 5-2 vote passed a new ordinance that would according to the Modesto Bee allow the police to slap dumpster divers “with a misdemeanor, issued a citation carrying a $500 fine, or both.” (1) Dumpster divers could also face up to 6 months in a jail cell just for looking through a trash can. It seems the system again has us right where it wants us, as it forces us into poverty and then seeks to criminalize us when we try and subvert that reality by appropriating (taking without paying) food. This reality of course, is not by accident, but by design, as the economy of the rich requires us to produce massive quantities of goods and commodities as workers, yet at the same time ends up throwing so much of them away when it can’t sell all of them. Capitalists (the people who own the means of existence and force us to work for them) need to make sure this surplus of thrown away goods is not used in any way by regular people. So, they lock these items away in the garbage, leaves them to rot, or smash them in compactors. Capitalism needs to create scarcity; it needs to keep things that we all need to survive locked up and under guard. In this way it can control what we have access to so we will be forced to work harder to earn wages and thus have money to buy things. It needs to do this because if there’s enough for everyone, why would we ever have to work so we could get money to pay for anything? If people squat homes and take over buildings - why would anyone ever pay rent? If people appropriate and grow their own food - why would anyone ever pay for it? We can see this reality very clearly in the steady stream of economic refugees that pour into the United States from Mexico and other Central American countries. Thanks to “free-trade” agreements like NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) big businesses and governments have forced people off of their lands or put them out of work. This pressure forces many working people to seek work in the United States. Without being divorced from a way of making a living; divorced from a way of getting their basic needs met, why would anyone want to come to the US to work in near slave like conditions (and face a hostile journey and ongoing racism) picking and growing food or any of the other jobs many migrants are forced to take? Without taking the means of life from us, without divorcing us from the means to feed, house, and take care of ourselves, without protecting that system through violence (the police, the prisons, the legal system, etc), the rich have nothing, and they know it. Thus, the bosses of this economy try and control our access to land, to resources, to how we are able to spend our time, and even how we go about our very lives. Now in Modesto, they’re even doing it with trash.
But, many of the upper crust of this valley do not enjoy seeing the effects that their society has on the rest of us. They don’t like looking out their posh windows in downtown Modesto and seeing the homeless walk by with their shopping carts, the squatters taking over an abandoned building next door, or the hungry dumpster diver getting a few-hour-old pizza right out of the trash. Make no mistake, the dumpster diving ordinance is an attack on poor and working people who would take to the trash of the rich and corporations for the sake of gaining anything from building materials to a bite to eat. It is also a way for the police to intrude into yet another aspect of our lives for the sake of perpetuating and expanding their hold over our day to day affairs. Should we offer them anything else but contempt and resistance?
The Rich Get Organized
According to the Modesto Police and the Modesto Bee, one of the main promoters of the dumpster ordinance is the La Loma Association and various neighborhood watch organizations (people who often act as a citizen’s police department). The La Loma Association is an organization representing one of the highest income neighborhoods in Modesto and to many, represents where much of the ‘old money’ of Modesto calls home. Victorian style two story mansions dot the landscape of the La Loma area, which is located next to Dry Creek. Compare this area to working class districts of Modesto such as Airport, South Side, and West Side (and even many of the homes that fall just outside of the La Loma area), and it is painfully clear that the rich part of Modesto has found itself a home. However, in an ironic twist, many homeless people also call the La Loma area home, as many squat (occupy without renting) along the river in the patches of woods and hang out in Moose Park. Many homeless folks often make the trip from Modesto’s downtown to the Gospel Mission, one of two facilities that offer a place to sleep for the night. This of course creates tension between those who live in the nice houses and those without. According to the La Loma Association, they support the dumpster dive ban because it would "…keep the neighborhood we live in, in a condition that is acceptable to everyone." What they really mean is that they are in favor of a new legal means for the police to harass, imprison, and detain homeless or poor people who are passing through “their” neighborhood.
It is then no surprise that according to the Modesto Bee, the Modesto Police Chief sought out the support for the ordinance from the La Loma Association and various neighborhood watch groups, because of course, these groups have the same function and goal: the suppression of poor and working class people. This is not to say that some within the homeless “community” (a diverse group just like any) that occupies the downtown and La Loma area are not without fault. Many homeless, working class, and regular folks often complain about the ongoing racist and often Neo-Nazi graffiti and activity around the area often attributed to homeless crews or the continuous drug dealing and violence that are sometimes associated with homeless strongholds such as Tower Park. Some homeless people of color and local residents have been assaulted or had racial slurs hurled at them by homeless people who frequent the area. Or course, a dumpster diving ban won’t solve any of this, these are all problems that are caused by poverty, racism, and often the prison system. But of course, the police and groups like the La Loma Association aren’t interested in ending any of these things; they’re interested in seeing them continue in order to ensure their privileged position within society.
Manufacturing a Problem
Stopping identify theft has been touted as a reason for the criminalization of dumpster diving. According to the Modesto Bee, “Councilwoman Kristin Olsen supports the measure. Her husband, Rod, was a victim of identity theft after he said someone rifled through a commercial Dumpster and obtained financial information he left with a Modesto brokerage firm.” (2) The La Loma Association also pleaded for an end to dumpster diving because they too felt that their privilege could possibly be threatened by trash diggers. At meetings, some complained of tipped over trash cans and garbage thrown about, and somehow this all is supposedly the work of “dumpster divers.” Logic might instead point the finger at neighborhood dogs or recent storms, but of course to the La Loma Association the homeless are the major threat that stalks their gold platted streets. Clearly, to paraphrase one recent letter to the Modesto Bee, if the homeless of Modesto have been stealing people’s identities then they have little to show for it. Olsen, the La Loma Association, and the other cheerleaders for the dumpster dive ban, all contend that the ordinance would help fight identity theft and would give the police “another tool” to put a stop to such activity. What this “tool” means in reality however, is much different. This means that any person who looks like they have been “dumpster diving” (i.e. homeless) is suspect to a search of themselves and their limited property. The ordinance becomes another reason for police to intrude and harass us and possibly place us in prison. Thus, that package of bread you just picked up from behind the bagel shop now is cause for the police to search your entire personhood. Who knows what else they’ll find that they could use to throw you in prison or issue you a ticket to put more money in their pocket? A joint, a pirated DVD, a copy of this magazine…?
Furthermore, giving the police more power to fine, harass, detain, and imprison people looking through dumpsters is a piss poor way of stopping identity theft. As NAID (National Association for Information Destruction) wrote in regards to the new Modesto ordinance: “[Our] position on such laws is that they actually make things worse by giving people a false sense of security.” (3) In other words, the dumpster diving ban won’t do anything to stop identity theft. As a recent 60 Minutes report showed, hackers armed with only simple software can drive past any large retailer that is transmitting electronic information via credit cards and get into a person’s bank account, get their social security number, and obtain other information with the push of a few buttons. Corporations refuse to update their software because it would be costly. Also, banning dumpster diving will actually only lead to more crimes and theft between regular people, as many dumpster divers are unable or afraid to gain access to cans and bottles that they turn in to various local recycling plants for money. If people who can not find work are then denied access to the only means of generating income (can and bottle collecting) that they have, where is the only logical place to turn other than crime? We only hope that people will find new and inventive ways of subverting the system without having to turn to robbing, thieving, and stealing from other working class and exploited people. It is clear then, that the dumpster diving ban has realistically nothing to do with stopping identify theft, but everything to do with criminalizing a wide section of the population.
Furthermore, the Modesto Police were actually caught during a city council presentation presenting false evidence while making their case against dumpster diving. As the Modesto Bee wrote, “Officers mistakenly reported that four valley cities had adopted ordinances prohibiting people from foraging in waste containers. The Bee later found that the cities -- Ceres, Clovis , Oakdale and Tracy -- had ordinances against stealing recyclables or measures designed to protect franchise rights for garbage hauling companies. They did not ban Dumpster diving.” (4) In this classic pig move, when the police couldn’t find the information that they wanted, they simply manufactured it.
Tax the Poor, Legitimize the Pigs
Most people view acts by the police and city government such as the criminalization of dumpster diving to be simply “bad policy” or frame them only as a moral issue that is something that does not affect them. “It’s horrible what they’re doing to the homeless.” People often rarely understand the larger reasons why the rich and the police seek to criminalize further aspects of daily life and why the city government seeks to gain more and more revenues based upon the giving out of tickets, court fines, jail time, etc.
At the same time as the dumpster diving ordinance was working its way through the city council system, the city government was also looking at various other projects which would cost a lot of money. According to the Modesto Bee, the city approved “…the second half of the city budget, a $336 million plan that describes funding for 318 capital projects.” This work includes “$66,500 worth of work in designing an expansion of Pelandale Avenue .” In other words, more sprawl and work on the rich areas of town while homes go empty and streets in places like South Side Modesto don’t even have sidewalks. The city is also looking to put in a “$400,000 in redevelopment funds on the cameras and equipment that would enable the Police Department to monitor downtown.” (5) We can now see that the actions of the police and the city government are designed not only to extend the power of the State but also to increase a flow of revenue into the city for its own projects which will benefit anyone but working and oppressed people (i.e. more revenue through fines and tickets means more money for sprawl and surveillance). This complex is not simply limited to Modesto, however; for instance in Arizona the “…proposed state budget counts on the anticipated speeding fines [generated by new speed surveillance cameras] to help erase a projected revenue shortfall.” (6) These actions by the police and the State also work to further give them legitimacy. If we become used to surveillance cameras tracking our every move, being fined for digging through the trash, being sent to war, etc, then what else will we put up with? Soon, we will be unable to remember life as it was before the ever watching eye or the big pig stick invaded every part of our lives.
Our Dreams Won’t Fit into their Dumpsters
If we can begin to see the actions of the police and the city elites simply not as bad “policy” or bad “morally,” we can begin to make sense of their actions and see that they do have a logic within the framework of a larger system which wants to ensure that working and oppressed people have the least amount of control over their lives as possible. With a lack of any agency over how we want to live, labor, and associate with others, what choice will we have to continue to work, buy, and reproduce this hierarchal and alienating society based upon wage-slavery, violence, and boredom? Once we can understand this context, we can also understand how illogical it is that the institutions that most promote and protect this system (the police and city government themselves) are not going to have any role in changing things for the better. It’s silly to imagine that in some room in downtown Modesto only a handful of people on a “city council” will decide the fate for over 200,000 people in the city, but perhaps it is even more absurd for the rest of us to put all our hopes of change into these same people. If we continue to put faith in the democracy of the rich, our lives will only be as democratic as “our representatives” allow them to be. This of course, is no freedom at all.
While the recent dumpster dive ban should not surprise us, we should be prepared to respond to this attack with action. The imperative to fight back is needed now, as many city governments have stated publicly that they soon will be following Modesto’s lead and will consider implementing their own anti-dumpster diving ordinances. If we are going to fight this, first we must realize that in most cases the police will depend on calls from people complaining that a “dumpster dive” is in progress. Being that Modesto is the epitome of the Public Enemy song, “911 is a Joke,” many people will probably have nothing to worry about! Still, those looking to dumpster dive under the current police state restrictions should possibly look to be as quiet as possible, be on good terms with the locals, and also stay out of sight from the authorities and employees of a given business. Diving at night is the best time. Teams of divers can also provide lookouts incase pigs decide to roll through certain areas. Perhaps dumpster divers can also think about talking with nearby folks living in the area, explaining the situation and asking them not to call the police as they search for food. Those looking to find new ways of getting free food perhaps can look to appropriating food from work, gleaning fruit trees, starting community gardens in vacant lots, or perhaps finding new forms of liberating items from stores. What is important for people is that they try and move these actions away from just being based around individuals, but towards collective revolts against the current order. The more we resist with others, the more we get in return. The more people fighting, the harder it is for the pigs to stop us. In the end however, the greatest way to fight back against the dumpster dive ban is to fight and struggle for a society without police, prisons, and city councils, and also a society without the need to dig through the trash in order to get something to eat. In Modesto and across the globe, the rich have organized themselves with their governments and police in order to better launch an assault on people who are exploited and excluded from their system. We should learn from their example and offer them nothing but an uncompromising assault.
Notes:
1. Modesto Bee, Jan 13th. Jeff Jardine.
2. Modesto Bee, Jan 7th, Adam Ashton.
3. NAID website: www.naidonline.org/news/12-18-2007_2.html
4. Modesto Bee, Jan 23rd, Adam Ashton.
5. Modesto Bee, Jan 9th, Adam Ashton.
6. Paul Davenport, Associated Press, “Arizona budget banking on speeders.”
View entire MA #6 PDF at: www.indybay.org/uploads/2008/02/03/ma6.pdf