As usual, CrimethInc. has responded with a stellar analysis of the recent g20 protests. Some highlights:

By standing proudly by militant action, we can help to legitimize structural opposition to capitalism; if we act ashamed or conciliatory, we enable our enemies to determine what counts as acceptable. Ironically, the only way to cease appearing “extremist” to the general public is to affirm the necessity of militant action until it is eventually normalized as a valid option.

I’ve been thinking a lot recently about what it means to “normalize” anarchism, which is something I deeply believe is necessary. But this doesn’t mean making ourselves cute and cuddly: it means saying “no, look, what we’re doing is normal, what with all the fighting against oppression and whatnot.”

Although we fear a serious wave of repression is on the way, the events of June 26 did a lot to dispel the illusion that our rulers are invincible.

This is not to say we should stop at summit rioting. If it is possible for anarchists outnumbered twenty to one to trash a shopping district and set a few police cars on fire, think how much more possible—and more important—it is to fight on the terrain of our everyday lives. Anti-summit rioting is a powerful symbolic gesture of refusal, signifying a willingness to go all the way—but it will be in vain unless we actually succeed in passing beyond gestures into material transformation.