Direct Action Against the War Machine

Logan Marie Glitterbomb | @LGlitterbomb | Support this author on Patreon | May 27th,
2019

Bitcoin Pizza Day passed again recently and with it came the expected wave of
posts reminiscing about how far the world of cryptocurrency has come since
that fateful day when Florida Man sent 10,000 of his magical internet money
overseas all for a couple of pizzas. Of course, cryptocurrency has always been
touted as a way to navigate around the control of Wall Street, the banking
industry, and governments. In fact, many libertarians advocate it specifically
along with the agorist tactic of avoiding taxes. The idea is that by not paying
taxes one will “starve the state.”

This idea expands upon the much more symbolic protest of not paying war
taxes. Traditionally, war resisters would withhold a certain amount when paying
their taxes. This is calculated to be equal to the amount of their tax dollars
which would be spent on war. However, there is no guarantee that the rest of
the tax money a war resister continues to give to the state each year doesn’t
still go to fund the military-industrial-complex despite their symbolic protest. So
in that spirit, agorists such as Samuel Konkin and Karl Hess encouraged people
to stop paying taxes entirely.

With Memorial Day upon us, one can’t help but dwell a bit on the subject of war.
Organizing in direct action against foreign wars is difficult because the targets
we wish to stop are often not accessible. But campaigns like #DivestWallStreet,
which launched on Bitcoin Pizza Day 2019, allow for us to take direct action
against the war machine, by refusing to fund it. The campaign encourages
people to move at least $1 of fiat per day into their choice of cryptocurrency.
The goal is to aid individuals in a gradual transition away from fiat and into using
crypto as their primary currency without asking people to dive in all at once.
This allows individuals to become more educated as they make this transition.
Crypto debit cards, such as the one offered by Bitpay, can make using
cryptocurrency much more accessible for everyday life, while tools
like CoinPayments can allow individuals and merchants to accept over 100
different cryptocurrencies all from one account.

There are many other tools which can ease this transition. One of the best
communities for those new to the subject continues to be r/BitcoinBeginners.
But using cryptocurrency to avoid feeding the war machine with your taxes isn’t
the only form of direct action you can take. Protesting at recruitment centers or
weapons manufacturing facilities, pushing for the removal of campus recruiters,
locking down or sabotaging weapons plants or similar targets, hosting Memorial
Day anti-war marches, joining or aiding groups such as Veterans for
Peace and/or Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans Against the War, supporting
military whistleblowers such as Chelsea Manning, harassing your political
leaders when they vote for pro-war policies, and generally doing anything
possible to shift the Overton window of mainstream political discourse to an
anti-war perspective by hosting events and protests. Food Not Bombs is always
a good grassroots tool for doing outreach about anti-war issues. Serve food at
your local park and pass out flyers and infosheets on anti-war issues, along with
flyers for your next event or protest. Host a potluck movie night where everyone
watches an anti-war documentary and has a discussion about actions we can
take on an individual, local, state, national, or even international level.

So this Memorial Day, let’s honor those whose lives have been lost to the war
machine by bringing back the anti-war movement in full force. Let’s host those
potlucks, documentary showings, rallies, etc. Let’s confront our local military
supplier or recruitment effort. Let’s do whatever we can to make it known that
we do not support these wars and that we demand their immediate end.

This will not be an easy fight to dismantle the military-industrial-complex but it is

a necessary and life-saving fight that must be undertaken. There are forms of
direct action that can be undertaken at any level of comfort and risk one is
willing to take. It can be as simple as raising awareness via rallies and events or
engaging with politicians to taking on military recruiters and weapons
manufacturers directly — but whatever you do, do something. No matter what
form of direct action you take, it can always be partnered with the move to
#DivestWallStreet and the war machine by switching to cryptocurrency and
avoiding taxes. Together, let’s make this a Memorial Day to remember.