I saw a documentary on CBC called Pedal Power, about bike culture. They talked about free bike and communal bike programs that began with these Dutch Provos, 60's hippie anarchists who wanted to provoke the police with all sorts of crazy shit. They loves to fuck with the cops through non-violence in order to provoke a violent reaction. The Provos left free "white bikes" in Holland (the cops seized them, because bikes can't be left unlocked, so the Provos locked up the bikes and left the keys in the locks).
The white bike project is fundamental in understanding Burning Man's attitude towards "Bike theft"(known in BRC as "bike liberation", or "borrowing with no intention to return")
I tried to find some more info about these Provos. One cool way they fucked with the cops was to openly sell fake and real marijuana. The Provos exposed the police ignorance about pot, often arresting busloads of hippies for tea leaves and pencil shavings.
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