This book is an attempt to raise awareness of revolutionary green unionism and/or green syndicalist theory as well as how it can work in practice. I do not claim that it contains all of the answers. It may even include claims that could later prove to be erroneous. I also do not claim that the ideas I present here are either 100% consistent, nor are they necessarily “ideologically pure” (by ecological, socialist, libertarian, green syndicalist, or revolutionary standards—if absolute such purity exists, and I generally believe it does not).

It is an attempt to walk the talk and make the road by walking it, wherever it seems to want to go. Obviously the end goal is libertarian eco-socialism (though even that defies precise blueprints and specifications). The direction has been partly determined by struggles past (including the “Green Bans”, Lucas Plan, and Earth First! - IWW Local #1 in a green syndicalist context, but so much more from the general history libertarian socialist movements which are far too numerous to list here). It is informed, also, by multicultural and intersectional struggles for liberation from white settler colonialism, many of which do not fit comfortably into neatly delineated, and largely Eurocentric preconceived ideological boxes.

Introduction:

The third “No Kings”[1] protest is now behind us. Even before it occurred, and certainly after it, sectarian critics on the left have continued to denounce it. Here are some of the more frequently heard examples (in no particular order):

• The protests are controlled opposition;
• The protests “sheepdog” or funnel the attendees (back) into the Democratic Party establishment;
• The protests are purely performative;
• The protests have no clear objectives or demands;
• The protesters are predominantly “middle class” (i.e. bourgeois) “liberals”;
• The protesters will just return to “having brunch” once the protests are over;
• Nonviolence just a form of white privilege;
• The Protests just funnel demonstrators back into electoralism;
• Protests aren’t enough; more organized, militant action is needed;
• The protests are a start, but they’ll amount to nothing without real organizing.

In truth, such arguments are nothing new. I’ve been a militant, radical organizer for well over 32 years, and I speak from experience: such claims from sectarian leftist critics of them are as stale and hackneyed as the critics accuse the mass protests of being.

Why does this keep happening? While the sectarian critics will stubbornly and obstinately claim that the reason is because their criticisms are correct and “nobody listens to them”, or “the liberals keep co-opting them”, I’m convinced the critics are dead wrong, and are stuck in a codependent feedback loop which actually makes it harder for them to realize the goals they allegedly seek.

1. The Overly Liberal Use of the Word “Liberal”
2. “Controlled” Opposition or Stolen Thunder?
3. From Where are the Protesters Being “Funneled” or “Sheepdogged”?
4. The Sectarian Critics (as well as many Supporters) of Mass Protests Don’t Understand or Appreciate their Purpose and Function
5. Chasing the Unicorn of the Ideal Revolutionary Agent
6. Thy Doth Protest the Protests too Much
7. …Full of Sound and Fury, Signifying Nothing

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