Time for us to take a retrospective look at the decade. In December 1999 things were looking up for libertarian politics. The upsurge of protests from the campaign against the Criminal Justice Act in 1994 had intertwined with more traditional anarchist strands to forge a genuine alternative to the perceived triumph of liberal democracy. The collapse of the Soviet Block had not only discredited Stalinism but undermined the 57 varieties of Leninism as well. New Labour had proved to be much the same as Old Tories. With Parliamentary and Authoritarian Socialism written off maybe people would fancy the libertarian kind.

What went wrong with Anti-Capitalism.
The power of the forces of reaction to recuperate opposition is well know but it reached new heights with anti-capitalism. Most shocking was not that the ruling class was able to convince the masses that capitalism was just one aspect of modern society rather than its ruling ideology but that this concept pervades deeply into the politically active radical scene. While the 90’s saw a gradual convergence of single issue campaigns into a united attack on capitalism as a whole the noughties have seen the opposite. A fracturing of campaigns many losing touch with the reality of class exploitation leading to a shopping list of oppressions competing  for activists.

The War Against Terror
No apologies for using the proper acronym because 9/11’s after effects dominated the decade and twated the revolutionary project good and proper. It is a coincidence that the last appearance of the WOMBLES as a padded block was at the DSEi arms fair on 9/11/2001 but very symbolic. The unwillingness of the movement to adopt collective self defence on demo’s ensured the success of kettling as a tactic and allowed the surveillance tactics of the Forward Intelligence Teams to first marginalise and then render powerless those willing to resist police

Defeat on the street
After the J18 Carnival against Capitalism in 1999 there was an inquiry into the policing of the event. Older readers will remember that after the Poll Tax riot of 1990 there was an inquiry and even older readers will remember that after the Brixton Riots there was an inquiry. So it comes as no surprise that after the G20 there have been all manner of inquiries. Unfortunately there is one big difference. All the previous inquiries were about why the cops got a kicking this time it’s the protestors whinging about police violence. Rioting is the icing on the cake of working class power. For those of us in the marzipan of the politically active proletariat the Noughties are an object lesson in how neglect of the stodgy cake of industrial and community organisation has led to the icing flaking off and the inspiration of the almond paste drying up.

Climate Confusion
Anarchists have been harping on about the environment since the days of Kropotkin. This decade has seen unprecedented interest in green issues and global warming in particular. Sadly rather than reinforcing the need to get rid of capitalism and replace it with something nicer we now have a growing authoritarian trend which is calling for state repression of the working class to advert climate change. We badly need to reforge the alliance between  libertarian politics and class consciousness if the planet is to be truly saved. What we need is the unity shown  in Doctor Who and the Green Death where ex miners and a hippy commune combine to defeat the dangerous pollution of global chemicals.

Green shoots, or Red and Black ones.
No prizes for guessing Freedom’s prescription for the next decade. The need for building a solid base of industrial and community organisation. Showing that class struggle is the solution to climate change not an alternative. Taking a professional approach to street action. Ensuring effective opposition to fascist and police violence.
Having an exciting paper to spread the word. All so simple but the simplest thing can be the most difficult.