William S. Burroughs vs. George Edgerly Harris III on how to handle the police

By Jack Brummet, Protest and Civil Disobedience Ed.

Point

Photographing an anti-war protest on October 21, 1967, Bernie Boston captured this famous image. As the National Guard closed in on a group of protesters, George Edgerly Harris III (later known as gay activist and theater leader Hibiscus) walked up and and started placing carnations in their gun barrels. 

Counterpoint

William Burroughs, on seeing the photograph above, said "The people in power will not disappear voluntarily, giving flowers to the cops just isn't going to work. This thinking is fostered by the establishment; they like nothing better than love and nonviolence. The only way I like to see cops given flowers is in a flower pot from a high window."

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