White Plans

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 This article does not cite any references or sources. (May 2008)
Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

The White Plans were a series of proposals put forth by Provo, a Dutch counterculture movement in the mid-1960s. The proposals were discussed in the street magazine PROVO.

Contents

[edit] White Bicycle Plan - August, 1964

This plan proposed closing the center of Amsterdam to all car traffic. Instead, the city would provide 20,000 community bicycles to the public. This fleet was to be maintained by the police. In beginning, the Provos offered to paint any donated bicycles white, and begin the program that way.

[edit] White Chimney Plan - January, 1966

This proposal addressed air pollution, and proposed stricter regulation of toxic pollutants. They proposed a sliding tax penalty for polluters.

[edit] White Chicken Plan - March, 1966

In Amsterdam, a slang term for police was "blue chickens." The white chicken plan grew out of a rash of police brutality, and tendencies of the establishment to react violently to protest and nonviolent street theater. It proposed disarming police officers, and redefining their roles. The new officers would have a livelier uniform and be more of a social worker, in charge of distributing emergency medical supplies such as bandages, chicken drumsticks, and free contraceptives.

[edit] White Wives Plan - April, 1966

This plan proposed the founding of female health centers, primarily to address issues of sexual health. They were to be supported by public schools and provide advice on avoiding unwanted pregnancies (without "spoiling the act of love.")

[edit] White Housing Plan - May, 1966

This encouraged the State to be more involved in housing speculation, and regulate investor-based speculation more heavily. It proposed the legalization (and state-sponsoring) of squatting. In addition, the plan supported the protection of the city center from being overrun by commercial development.

[edit] White Corpse Plan - January, 1967

This came as a follow-up to the white bicycle plan (which was not fully realized – the city center was never closed to auto traffic). This stated that:

"Whenever the big green monster strikes anywhere in Amsterdam and someone is flattened against the merciless asphalt, the police (blue chickens) must trace the victim's outline on the ground with a piece of chalk. As soon as an ambulence has removed the sad remains, the murderer himself or herself, using a chisel and hammer, must hack out the silhouette of his victim one inch deep in the asphalt, under supervision of the police. Next he or she will fill the hollow with white mortar. Then perhaps, all the prospective murderers approaching the scene of the disaster will let up on the gas for just a moment".