Friday, August 12, 2011

Security Culture For Anarchists & Activists


Throughout history it has been deemed necessary by some to take illegal action for the purposes of defending life and liberty. Examples of groups and individuals carrying out such actions are myriad. A very short list would include the abolitionist John Brown, the writer Henry David Thoreau, Emma Goldman, the Mahatma Ghandhi, Dr. Martin Luther King, protesters at Tiananmen Square, members of the Earth Liberation Front, and an endless number of others. Very often, the actions taken by such individuals incur great personal risk. The following article may potentially help keep modern freedom fighters safe and free.
Other primers on security culture do already exist, but having another one accessible won't hurt, may serve as a reminder of some safety measures, and might include some aspects not covered elsewhere. This article will draw on the advice of similar articles as well as personal observations and experience. No particular action is suggested or defended, nor is any knowledge about any particular action desired or requested by the author. Defending an action in hindsight is not the same as wanting to know anything about an action beforehand. Informing those who don't want to know (or need to know) about any particular action can be seen as an attempt to compromise the action.