Time To Stop The Real Criminals, The Real Perpetrators Of Violence.

 

      A moving letter from a Hambach Forest protector, it may be personal, but they speak for all of us who see the injustice, the stupid suicidal actions, the greed driven desires, of this insane economical system that is plundering the Earth's resources at an ever increasing unsustainable rate. It rightly asks, "Who are the criminals?" "Who is inflicting the violence?". Though to those with eyes, the answers are obvious, it is the bastard twins, the corporate conglomerates, and their powerful henchmen the various states. While we, the ordinary, the many, seek a future for our kids and grandkids, the state/corporate juggernaut crashes on, its only aim, power and wealth for the few, as it destroys all our futures.

Visit  https://hambachforest.org/ for more information.

 

From Contra Info,  source: abcrhineland.blackblogs.org

     You lock us up and punish us, because we think and act independently, and decide ourselves, what is right and what isn’t. This is what makes us human: Ethics, autonomy, independence, empathy, thoughts about justice for the future, our unity of body, soul, and spirit.

       With all of these abilities come a very special responsibility, and you want that I throw this responsibility to the site, and act ruthlessly and egoistic? You want that I close my eyes and ears? An empty case, a robot, that only follows orders? This I can’t do.

      How can you demand, that I deny my humanity, or subordinate myself to the profit-motive of a single company, or power-hungry politicians? How can you demand, that I should act as if tomorrow didn’t matter, even though everything in our system is based on a future?

       Otherwise, what is insurance, wills, or pensions? We are humans, and we know what “future” is.

        So how can you demand of me, to take part in the destruction of the livelihoods of ourselves and our children, to destroy my own future?

       I haven’t always known this, but we need the forest so much. In regions far from the coast, no forest means too little rain. Without rain no agriculture, without agriculture there is too little food. And we can’t eat or drink lignite-coal. You don’t want this to be true, for you it is only trees. You will first understand this, once it is too late.

       You are telling me, that what I am doing is good, but that it is the wrong methods. That they are too extreme. Hmm. How extreme is this eviction then? As I was driven away from the forest, I could see the long line of police-cars, machines, eviction-tanks, etc. again. And I knew that it was just a fraction of these, that were inside the forest.

I almost had to laugh, that’s how ridiculous it was. Because I knew that we are winning, no matter how it ends.

      For you have nothing to fight for. You call us extreme, because we are different, because we are consistent, because we defend what we believe in. Because we can’t stop, otherwise we would betray ourselves. We were sitting in the lock-on, could barely move. Could barely turn. We could only look at each other, share words of courage and consolation. You came from all sides, slashed the roof over our heads, cut down the walls behind us. You have torn our lives apart. And then you accuse us of violence?

      Sometimes in the mornings I said thanks to Kontiki. For a wonderful restful night, for waking up in the right place, for the great feeling of safety and satisfaction, that it has given me. I never knew: am I speaking with the tree-house or with the tree? It was a creature. A creature that carried something we built, a creature with which we lived together, dreamed together. We were so anxious for the trees, when it wasn’t raining. We thought, at some point they will just fall to the ground, powerless. They were turning yellow, but they are so strong. They had to go through so much. It is an injustice to pump out ground-water, it is such a huge injustice!

       You were laughing, as we were screaming in panic, that you were bringing the life of our friend on the Skypod in danger. We were screaming and screaming, and you cut the rope. Only the friction held it up. Who is committing the crimes?

     We are making you afraid, because we don’t fit inside your schemes, because what we are fighting for isn’t power or money, but the love of life itself, the wild urge for freedom, and the rage towards those who want to take all of this away. If I give you my identity,

     I will be get out of here. So probably a lot of you will say, it is my own fault that I am sitting here. But my identity isn’t something written on a piece of paper. My identity is that which makes me human, my essence, my soul, all that I have learned in this forest, all that the people there have showed me. All of that, which I would lose, if I told you who I am. To reduce myself to these few words. I will not use the unjust privilege of a German passport. I will stay in solidarity with those, who because of repression cannot give their identity. I am a human and I fight for the preservation of this earth. Everything else is irrelevant.

Winter

Visit ann arky's home at radicalglasgow.me.uk 

Forest Protectors Call For Solidarity.

        As the struggle intensifies, the Hambach Forest protectors are calling for a massive show of solidarity on September 30th. This is just one part of the struggle for that better and sustainable world that we all desire. The forest destroyers are at work across the globe, they are international conglomerates backed up by state power. Only by the combined power of the ordinary people can they be defeated. Their desire is for increased profit, power and control for the few, and to hell with the many and the planet. Our solidarity is the winning weapon we possess.  

 

Originally published by Ende Gelaende. 

         Dear climate activists, forest protectors, environmental, anti-coal, anti-nuclear, anti-racists groups and local Ende Gelände groups!
           For Sunday 30.9.2018 Ende Gelände is calling for a big, decentralised day of action under the slogan „Hambi stays! Coal phase out now!“ We do not want a coal phase-out by 2038 nor 2030, rather we want to get out of coal immediately. We need to get out of this globally devastating dirty energy that has no future.
        RWE, the utility responsible for lignite mining in the area, and the provincial government of North Rhine Westphalia are harming the climate and the future for short term profit – this is resulting in the destruction of the ancient forest Hambacher Forst and the ruthless eviction of the tree houses.
         For the decentralised day of action on the 30.09. we are calling on people in many different cities in Germany and Europe to march for an immediate coal phase out and for the protection of the Hambacher Forst!
       On the same day there will be a traditional forest walk – a weekly demonstration which is slowly but surely turning into a massive demonstration against the eviction and the upcoming cutting season. For updates about the forest walk in Hambacher forest on September 30, see the Facebook event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/744218195930655/, For the coming months, there is also a permanent climate camp nearby in Manheim (not Mannheim) where you can pitch your tent if you want to come earlier or stay later.
         Most importantly: organise marches and creative solidarity actions in your cities!
          Be loud, be visible and say „Hambi stays! Coal phase out now!“
        If you create a Facebook event or Tweets, please share your stories and pictures and let our press and social media gang know, so we can help spread word: presse@ende-gelaende.org (PGP-Key), socialmedia@ende-gelaende.org

 

Visit ann arky's home at radicalglasgow.me.uk

Friday Night Is Slinky Kinky Night.

         You can always rely on Glasgow to come up with great entertainment, in all shapes and sizes, for all tastes and inclinations. There is now a regular feature popping up in Glasgow which is fun and music, it's Glasgow's own Slinky Kinky.

       This week sees the 5th Slinky Kinky event, and each one goes from strength to strength. So if you're into their kind of music, or you would like to give it a try, for the fun and company, pop along this Friday evening to Mohair, 73-77 Trongate Glasgow, G1 5HB
Pay them a visit on Facebook:
 https://www.facebook.com/Slinky-Kinky-953820534784905/

Details:
Friday, September 28th.
8pm till late,
Mohair, 
73-77 Trongate, 
Glasgow, G1 5BH.

Visit ann arky's home at radicalglasgow.me.uk 

Spread "Thi Wurd".

      Calling all you poets, writers, wordsmiths, and lovers of such, there is a great night coming up soon. It is the launch of the 3rd issue of the magazine "Thi Wurd", Spirit of Revolt is delighted to be able to have a stall at this event. Do come along and support all those involved in creating this great event in our city centre.

        This message from one of the organisers:

Hi Everybody,
        Just a message to let you know that thi wurd issue 3 is being launched at The Old Hairdressers, Renfield Lane, G2 5AR, 6.30pm till late, on October 3rd, 2018, entry £2. The magazine is 125 pages long and features a lengthy interview with James Kelman as well as the opening chapter of Kelman's forthcoming novel. It also features a new story by Janice Galloway as well as other fiction, essays and illustrations. On the night of the launch James Kelman will be reading from his work, and there should be time for a live interview with him. In addition, several other writers will be reading. There will be music played and a bar. Everyone is welcome. Please alert friends, writers, readers, Kelman fans, etc. This will be a unique literary event and the more people we can get the word to (or thi wurd) the better.
      Help with promotion would be greatly appreciated, so if anyone can spread the details of the night on Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, websites, etc, it'd be a great help.
       I'm not personally on social media but I've decided to ask someone to reactivate thi wurd twitter (after it was barely employed and has been dormant for quite a while). Further details of the evening will appear in tweets in the lead-up to the event, so please follow us if you can and please retweet @thiwurd.
      Hopefully see you there. It should be an excellent night.

Cheers Alan

So, Details to remember:
      Thi Wurd.
      6:30pm, Wednesday, October 3rd.,
      The Old Hairdressers,
      Renfield Lane,
      Glasgow, G2 5AR. 

Visit ann arky's home at radicalglasgow.me.uk

A Sunday Walk In The Forest--Accompanied By 4,000 Cops.

 

     More on the Hambach forest protectors, the struggle continues with thousands of supporters turning up for a Sunday walk in the forest. The walk went ahead despite a police ban, and more barricades were built. 

This from Enough Is Enough:

      Hambacher Forest, September 23: On Saturday the cops banned the weekly Sunday forest walk and announced that they only allowed a stationary gathering. Thousands went into the forest in an act of mass cicil disobedience. The cops lost control for hours.
       When we ( a team of 2 persons today, I was one of them) arrived the cops had installed a checkpoint at the opposite of the permanent vigil (video in Tweet below). More and more people arrived and it was pretty clear to us the cops would not be able to check all people. The road was to small and the open fields at both sides of the road were too difficult to control. On Saturday cops damaged one of our camera’s at a checkpoint, so we were even less enthusiatic about checkpoints as we normally are. But often it’s not that difficult to pass on alternative routes without being checked.
          The stationary gathering was scheduled to start at 11:30, but more and more people crossed the fields to avoid being checked and to get into the forest (Image below. Image by @infozentrale).

      We were among the first ones that arrived in Hambacher forest and at that moment the army of 4000 cops were still controlling the forest. They checked us 2 times in the forest but didn’t stop us.
       We didn’t visit the memorial for Steffen in Beechtown until Sunday and we felt that we had to go there first. At the memorial is was very quiet. Some tears, sorrow-stricken faces. Personally I had a mixture of feelings.. Still shocked, grieve and rage. Speechless…
      We left Beechtown and went to Cosytown. Some of the tree houses were evicted in the past weeks, but not all. Soon people started to build barricades to protect one of the two tree houses that was not evicted until now. More and more people came and more and more barricades were build. A few police vans arrived, but retreated again after a few minutes. To much determined people.
       Many many people were building barricades everywhere around us. After the cops retreated, more and more barricades were build on the road between Beechtown and Cosytown. NRW state minister of interior, Herbert Reul, told German media several times that the eviction stop is temporarily, exploiting Steffen’s death by saying that he is even more convinced that the tree houses have to be evicted “because they are to dangerous”. Last night RWE’s (Reul) puppet even told WDR media that the eviction has nothing to do with uprooting Hamacher forest.
     We decided to go to Lorien. During our walk to Lorien we saw small groups of riot cops standing around. It looked pretty planless what the cops were doing. Around the small treehouse village people were digging trenches and improving barricades.
      We walked through the forest again, saw new tree houses and barricades on two sides of police vans. That explained why the cops acted planless for hours: Many of them were trapped between barricades.
      As an armored vehicle came into the forest, people climbed on the armored vehicle and were dancing on it. The armored vehicle retreated again. We passed the cops that were trapped between the barricades, a female cop complained to her colleagues: “They can’t let us stand in the rain for hours and hours, we will all get sick.” When we passed the last barricade we noticed that even the police vans that were not trapped had problems with the rain. The forest road had turned into mud and we saw 4 cops that had to push their van.
      At T-Town the cops started to remove barricades (Video in Tweet below). But they stopped and headed to Beechtown/Cosytown, where the cops had lost control for hours. The cops were desperate and even started to confiscate canvas to protect people from the rain. The pouring rain didn’t stop and in the afternoon the wind was getting stronger. Hard conditions for everybody.
      We went back to the road between Beechtown and Cosytown. Soon the cops started to reinforce and attacked people with pepper spray. The cops also came to the memorial for Steffen at Beechtown. In full riot gear. No respect.
      More and more cops arrived, they had to walk though the forest, because their vans were still trapped between barricades. After we left the area two groups were kettled at Cosytown and cops started to remove barricades.
     We walked through the forest and saw new barricades everywhere. People didn’t only defy the ban against the forest walk, there was spontaneous mass civil disobedience in Hambacher forest. We saw people building barricades, who probably did nothing like that before in their life. We saw cops loosing control for hours that didn’t know how to respond for a long time.
       The fight against uprooting the Hambacher forest is far from over. The determination of so many people was impressive and when Reul gives a green light to continue with the evictions, he will only make people even more angry.
Hambi will stay!    Written by riot turtle

More photos, tweets and videos HERE:

Visit ann arky's home at radicalglasgow.me.uk

They Weave A Poisonous Web.

        The state makes the rules under which we are meant to be servile, when that servility doesn't happen, they simply change the rules. Legislation enacted via the state's protective wing, the judiciary, will be woven in whatever pattern is seen to safeguard their power and privileges. Under the state system, justice, is woven as a straight-jacket, to restrict and repress all and any action that is seen as a threat  to the continuing exploiting of the people, it is meant to eliminate any active resistance against their plundered wealth, their hold on power, and their unearned privileges. They will create the "justice" that cements their position of injustice and inequality. The more they criminalise the population the more the people will see that the state has to go.

This from Contra Info:     

Hambach Forest: 
Two anarchists, evicted from the Hambach Forest, imprisoned

        For two weeks RWE, with the assistance of a large police-deployment from all over the country, has been evicting the Hambach Forest-occupation, near the city of Cologne. Since Sunday 9/16 further two people are in custody jail. This means that all in all five activists are imprisoned in custody jail.

       The police arrested the two anarchists on Saturday. They are not officially known by the police. They allegedly locked-on together in a tree-house, in the occupation “The North”. The state prosecutor and the judge are accusing them both of “Strong case of resistance towards enforcement officials (Vollstreckungsbeamte)”, §113 Abs. 2 StGB.

      The imprisoned activist Winter, became an internet-sensation, as a moving speech directly after the arrested was shared on social media. “They are probably thinking that they have won, but they can’t win, because they need the forest just as much as we do. They also can’t win the fight, because so many people out there stand behind us. And they just don’t understand, that we don’t fight for just us, but for all of us,” said Winter at the arrest.

      Landing in custody jail on the background of these allegations, is only possible through the law-change of the “Penal code (StGB)” from the end of May 2017, where the minimum sentence for “Resistance against enforcement officials” was raised to 6 months. Furthermore, there was the decision by the Higher Regional Stuttgart, in the context of the “Stuttgart 21 Protests”, in which locking-on “in anticipation of police-deployment” was valued as equal to “violent resistance”. Both of these are sharpenings of the law, that particularly are directed towards leftist activists.

       For three days the accused were not given the possibilty of contact with their lawyer – also in front of the judge & magistrate. Jazzy said, that she throughout the days clearly had demanded to see her lawyer, and stuck to her right to legal defense. In her speech, Winter talked about not identifying yourself: “They will never understand, how it is to live with people, for whom it doesn’t matter what your name is.”

       The Anarchist Black Cross, in its role as prisoner-support, gives the advice: “No person must assist in their own legal prosecution. On this question we point to §136 StPO, which gives the elementary right not to give your identity, even though this is often misused or forgotten in trials. We are asking all people close to the imprisoned people, to accept and support the wish of Winter.”

More information about the Hambacher Forst prisoners under: abcrhineland.blackblogs.org

Visit ann arky's home at radicalglasgow.me.uk

The Only Home We Have.

        Regarding the previous post and the comment made by Loam, I have to answer it this way, as at the moment I don't seem to be able to comment or reply to comments on my own blog, Ah the wonders of the internet. 

      Thanks for the comment Loam,  I agree wholeheartedly, the title was more of trying to grab attention, to the fact that we all need to play our part to save where we live, for our sake. (I suppose I could have put it better.) There is no doubt that this little rock will continue to spin, the sun will continue to rise and set, many, many centuries after we have decimated its ecology and disappeared from history. We all need to play our part in trying to preserve the only home we have. We should do well to remember, "Spaceship Earth has no escape capsule".

     Now two wee poems that I hope, put my position more clearly.

Tomorrow’s World!

See the fat cat’s grinning smile

as Corporate Capitalism runs amok,

Chasing profit as it goes

firing millions of ordinary folk.

Raping and polluting land after land,

starting bloody wars.

Toxic waste, sweat shop wages

and oil covered sea shores.

Where have all the flowers gone

beneath this ozone free sky?

To join the birds, to join the fox

on yonder plutonium field to die.

Mercury fish, strontium lamb

trees that never show a leaf,

radio active beaches, toxic streams

good lean BSE-antibiotic beef.

In a world of epidemic, plague and famine

it’s bottled water and chemical food.

Of course, it’s all tested on rats and mice

so you know its got to be good.

Beneath a sky that’s always black,

hurricane winds and endless drought,

its oxygen masks for the toxic air,

corporate profit’s what its all about.

Grand Plans

In this world where we serve oblivion

with a blind pride and sure conviction

creating plans to land a man on Mars

grandiose schemes to conquer the stars

eyes on horizons ever further afield

believing, to us the universe will yield.

Yet here on Earth we fail to see

a chaotic world of human debris,

our magnificent results thus far

a planet dying from a human scar,

oblivious that our plans sublime

are mere litter scattered in space and time.

Visit ann arky's home at radicalglasgow.me.uk

Your Planet Needs You!!

      The following statement was issued from one of the Hambach Forest  protectors following the recent death of a Hambach Forest protector, during an ongoing brutal police eviction process. This long standing struggle deserves all the support and solidarity we can muster. There are no borders in the struggle to preserve the ecological diversity of the planet. When part of the planet is plundered and decimated to the point of elimination of vast swaths of our ecological heritage, we are committing ecological suicide, we all suffer, this generation, and the following generations.

      This from one person in the Hambach Forest, via Contra Info:

Statement from one person in the forest

        Throughout a history of relentless and brutal police interventions, those occupying Hambacher Wald in opposition to RWE’s ecological devastation and structural violence, have been forced to seek recourse in even more inventive methods of non-violent resistance, often putting their own safety at risk.
      Over the years many of us have been physically violated, persecuted and put in jail for defending life in Hambacher Wald and beyond. Incessantly the police has chased us down – in this fatal instance in a tragically literal sense.
        Even if no direct causation can be established between police activities and Stefan’s lethal fall, throughout the current police operation a series of life-threatening interventions have been observed, such as the cutting of traverserses with people in them and – Germany, what?! – the emission of carbon monoxide in a subterranean chamber.
How many more broken bones do we need, how many more fatalities, until we will collectively open our eyes to the reality of police violence, to the role of the police in perpetuating mass-destructive corporations structural violence and to the police’s institutional function of protecting the interests of the wealthy to the detriment of the oppressed?      The sudden death of Stefan has not altered our initial motivations for being here. However shamelessly the police may proceed to evict the Hambacher Wald occupation, we shall not flinch, we shall not surrender – we are here, and if we must, we will come back. For the forest and for Stefan.

Visit ann arky's home at radicalglasgow.me.uk

Prison Island, UK.

       Looking at the policy of the British state regarding prisons, the impression one gets is that the UK population is the most criminal in Europe. The massive increase in the UK  prison population, up 82% in the last 30 years, puts England and Wales as the highest imprisonment rate in Western Europe, with Scotland coming in as the third. However it is the definition of criminality that sets the standard. In the UK, those in prison with mental health problems is as high as 80%, prison is the last place for such vulnerable people. A very high proportion of the remaining approximately 20%, are there because  of social and economic problems and injustices.

    Prisons are not there to take "bad" people out of society and reform them, but are there as instruments of repression, to protect the wealth and power of the cabal of corporate and land owning parasites that control the economic system.      The UK state is involved in a massive expansion of prison building, because they see the need to be more repressive to contain the anger and frustration of the ordinary people, they see that anger and frustration as a possible threat to their privileges and power. So it must be contained. More and more legislation, more and more ways of taking people of the street, of closing down opposition. More and more surveillance tracking your every move. More and more prisons to deposit those caught up in their all encompassing dragnet. While a prison stands, nobody is free, the prison shadow hangs over us all. 

This PDF from Prison Watch gives greater detail to the march of the UK repressive state.

Visit ann arky's home at radicalglasgow.me.uk

The Heavy Price Of The Better World.

       The struggle for that better world always comes with a heavy price tag, on too many occasions it comes with the ultimate price, life itself. A very sad piece of news from the Hambach Forest eviction.

This from Contra Info:

19.09.18
        “A friend who has accompanied us as a journalist for a long time in the forest, fell today from a suspension bridge over 20 meters high in Beechtown and died. At that time police and RWE tried to evict the tree house village. The SEK was in the process of arresting an activist near the suspension bridge. Our friend was apparently on the way there when he fell.
      We are deeply shaken. All our thoughts and desires are with him. Our  compassion goes to all the relatives, friends and people who feel concerned.
       We urge the police and RWE to leave the forest immediately and stop this dangerous operation. No further lives may be endangered.
What is needed now is a moment of rest.
       Even if this is difficult for you at the moment, just as it is difficult for us to give such a factual hint: We recommend, in order to protect all activists, do not give any statements, nor even make any testimonies at the police. The accident must and will be reappraised, but the police are not the place to do that. Their interest is to blame activists.”
       Update: The deceased was a photographer and longtime friend of the occupants and he was doing a report on the eviction of tree houses. He fell on his back from a height of about 20 meters, not having resisted his injuries. The police invasion is over for now.
More information: https://hambacherforst.org

Visit ann arky's home at radicalglasgow.me.uk

Anarchist Gems To Read On Line.

 

       Spirit of Revolt members are as always, little beavers, while the archivist sorts things out, others are diligently scanning documents/pamphlets/booklets, etc., then seeing they are loaded onto the website so that you, no matter where you live, can read, enjoy and learn.

    We have just added a list of pamphlets, etc., in the Charlie Baird Collection, T SOR-6, to our "read on line" feature. These are very interesting and informative works on various aspects of anarchism, from law to economics. So visit the Charlie Baird Collection, and just scroll down and drink in the info.

T SOR-6-7-1, Bolshevism Promises and Reality: An Appraisal of the Results of the Marxist Dictatorship over Russia. G. Maximov.

T SOR-6-7-4, Anarchism and Formal Organizations. Research Group One. No. 23.

T SOR-6-7-5, Selected Writings. Errico Malatesta.

T SOR-6-7-6, Anarchism & Law. Alexei Borovoi.

T SOR-6-7-7, Catechism of the Revolutionist. Sergei Nechayev.

T SOR-6-7-10, Anarchism: arguments for and against, Albert Meltzer

T SOR-6-7-13, Introduction to the Anarchist Communist Association.

T SOR-6-7-14, Anarchist Economics: an alternative for a world in crisis. Abraham Guillen.

Visit ann arky's home at radicalglasgow.me.uk
 

Workers Remember Your History, Ricardo Flores Magon.

  Farewell

We cannot break our chains with weak desire,

With whines and supplicating cries.

'Tis not by crawling meekly to the mire

The free-winged eagle learns to mount the skies.

The gladiator, victor in the fight,

On who the hard-contested laurels fall,

Goes not into the arena pale with fright

But steps forth fearless, defying all.

O victory, O victory, dear and fair,

Thou crownest him who does his best,

Who perishing, still unafraid to bear,

Goes down to dust, thy image in his breast.

Farewell, O comrades, I scorn life as a slave!

I begged no tyrant for my life, though sweet it was;

Though chained, I go unconquered to my grave,

Dying for my own birthright- - - -and the world's.

Ricardo Flores Magon.

      

       Written just before his death while incarcerated in the Federal prison, Leavenworth, Kansas. At the behest of the Mexican Government, the US Government seized him, its agents fiercely beat him and held him for years until his death.       

        In anarchism, we are very fortunate, we have a rich well of activists that we can be rightly proud of and can take inspiration from, individuals who filled our history with ideas and ideals. There is a valiant history we can delve into and come up richer in ideas and stronger in our principles. Thanks to those tireless people who dedicated their lives trying to create that better world for all, we have a path, and are not walking blind.

      We should always remember them and record their lives. The following is taken from Libcom, one of the many individuals, from whom we should take inspiration, Ricardo Flores Magon.

 

      A short biography of Ricardo Flores Magon, the Mexican anarchist who took part in the Mexican revolution and was imprisoned several times throughout his life.

Written by Alan MacSimóin
Edited by libcom 

 Ricardo Flores Magon
Born 1879 - Mexico, died November 22nd 1922 - Kansas, USA
       Inside modern Mexico the name of Ricardo Flores Magon is well known. But outside Mexico few have heard of him. Born to a poor family in 1873, he became a journalist on the opposition paper 'El Demócrata' after finishing school. In 1900, along with his brother Jesús, he founded "Regeneración', a radical paper opposed to the dictatorship of Porfirio Diaz.
      After release from a second prison sentence arising from his campaigning journalism, he moved across the border to the USA. Despite continual persecution and imprisonment by the U.S. authorities, at the instigation of the Mexican dictatorship - who had put a price of $20,000 on his head after he wouldn't be bought off with the offer of a place in the government. He would not be silenced.
     In 1905, Magon founded the Mexican Liberal Party (PLM), a reformist organisation opposed to the excesses of the regime, which organised two unsuccessful uprisings against Diaz in 1906 and 1908. During his early years of exile he became acquainted with the legendary anarchist Emma Goldman, and it was partly through her that he moved from reformism to become an anarchist.
      With the outbreak of the revolution of 1910, the revolution that he and the PLM more than any other group or person, had paved the way for, Magon devoted the rest of his life to the anarchist cause. Through the influence of his ideas, large areas of land were expropriated by the peasants and worked in common by them under the banner of 'Land and Liberty', the motto of the PLM. This motto was later adopted by Emiliano Zapata, whose legacy inspires the EZLN rebels of the 1994 Southern Mexican uprising whose struggle continues today.
       As the revolution began on November 20th 1910, Magon summed up the aims of PLM: 

"The Liberal Party works for the welfare of the poor classes of the Mexican people. It does not impose a candidate (in the presidential election), because it will be up to the will of the people to settle the question. Do the people want a master? Well let them elect one. All the Liberal Party desires is to effect a change in the mind of the toiling people so that every man and woman should know that no one has the right to exploit anybody."

      A fortnight later he explained the difference between the PLM and other opposition movements: 

        "Governments have to protect the right of property above all other rights. Do not expect then, that Madero will attack the right of property in favour of the working class. Open your eyes. Remember a phrase, simple and true and as truth indestructible, the emancipation of the workers must be the work of the workers themselves".

        By January, PLM forces were fighting in six of Mexico's states. Major towns, as well as rural areas, were liberated by anarchists. In March a peasant army led by Zapata, and influenced by the Magonistas of the PLM, rose up in Morelos. By now the nationalist opposition of Madero had turned some of its guns away from the troops of Diaz and begun to attack the anarchists of the PLM.
     In April, the PLM issued a manifesto to "the members of the party, to the anarchists of the world and the workers in general". Vast quantities were produced in Spanish and English to explain their attitude to the revolution:

      "The Mexican Liberal Party is not fighting to destroy the dictator Porfirio Diaz in order to put in his place a new tyrant. The PLM is taking part in the actual insurrection with the deliberate and firm purpose of expropriating the land and the means of production and handing them over to the people, that is, each and every one of the inhabitants of Mexico without distinction of sex. This act we consider essential to open the gates for the effective emancipation of the Mexican people."

       In massively illiterate Mexico, where many villages had only a handful of people able to read, the circulation of "Regeneración" had reached 27,000 a week. When Tijuana was liberated in May, most of Baja California came under PLM influence. They issued a manifesto "Take possession of the land...make a free and happy life without masters or tyrants".
      That month saw Madero sign a peace treaty with Diaz and take over as President of Mexico. Military attacks on the PLM increased, and towns were retaken by government troops. Prisoners were murdered by the new regime, sometimes after being made to dig their own graves. At a meeting in Los Angeles, Magon was asked to accept the treaty but replied "...until the land was distributed to the peasants and the instruments of production were in the hands of the workers, the liberals would never lay down their arms".
       Along with many leading PLM organisers, Magon was arrested (again) by the US authorities. The rebels were slandered as "bandits" and repression in both Mexico and the US reached new heights. Despite the setbacks caused by their relatively small size in a gigantic country, the attacks they suffered from the armies of two countries, and the terrible revenge exacted by the rich and their agents, new uprisings broke out in Senora, Durango and Coahuila.
      Such was the support for their ideas, that even the conservative British TUC felt obliged to invite Honore Jaxon, Treasurer and European representative of the PLM, to address their 1911 conference. One solidarity action especially worth mentioning was the 24-hour strike by two army units in Portugal protesting against the arrest of PLM militants by the US government.
         A new manifesto, emphasising their anarchism, was issued in September:

       "The same effort and the same sacrifices that are required to raise to power a governor - that is to say a tyrant - will achieve the expropriation of the fortunes the rich keep from you. It is for you, then, to choose. Either a new governor - that is to say a new yoke - or life redeeming expropriation and the abolition of all imposition, religious, political or any other kind".

       PLM and Zapatista rebellions continued until 1919, but their numbers and inadequate arms were not sufficient to defeat the state forces. However all was not in vain. In 1922 the anarchist CGT trade union was founded in Mexico city, and today the rebellion in the state of Chiapas can be seen as, partly at least, a continuation of Magon's struggle.
       During the years of struggle Magon opposed and fought successive so-called "revolutionary regimes," resisting both the old and new dictatorships with equal vigour. Imprisoned by the U.S. authorities in 1905, 1907, and 1912 he was finally sentenced to 20 years under the espionage laws in 1918. He died, apparently after suffering beatings, in Leavenworth Prison, Kansas, on November 22, 1922.
      When his body was brought back across the border, every town where the cortege stopped was decked out in the red and black flags of anarchism. In Mexico City, 10,000 working people escorted his body to Panteon Frances where it is buried. A flame had been lit that will not burn out until liberty becomes a living reality.

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Robbery With Violence.

 

     My few days escape was extremely pleasant, and it took the mind, momentarily, away from the manufactured, yet inevitable turmoil, inequality and horror of the capitalist system, even although it was still all around me. However, no matter where you hide you head, that capitalist nightmare is still there, biting at your backside. 

      Ten years since the so called "financial crisis", a euphemism for the gamblers vast loses, a period that seen the financial mafia demand that the various states reimburse them with what they had lost in their gambling frenzy. The public would have to pay for their greed driven gambling disaster. The plundering of the public purse would be politely know as "austerity". Ten years on and the gamblers are richer than ever, and the ordinary people are poorer than ever, and the mountain of debt that the financial Mafia ran up and was responsible for their plight, is now greater than ever. Considering the damage and misery inflicted on the ordinary people by this deliberate action, it is in fact robbery with violence.

     The financial Mafia is now merrily repeating its greed driven gambling frenzy, but with larger sums, while we the ordinary people continue our downward slide, thanks to the mountain of debt heaped on us by the mobsters of the financial world. So it is inevitable that another "financial crisis" is thundering along towards us. Do we accept a repeat of the last "solution", once again pile the debt into the public purse, while emptying the public coffers to reimburse the gamblers? Surely not, we must have learnt something from the last ten years.

      An extract from another interesting article from Roar Magazine by Jerome Roos.

      With inequality on the rise, global debt higher than ever and international tensions intensifying, the political backlash to the crash of 2008 has only just begun.

And:

       ------This new radical politics first showed its face in the global uprisings that rocked the established order from 2011 onwards. It has recently begun to consolidate itself in the form of vibrant grassroots movements, progressive political formations and explicitly socialist candidacies that collectively seek to challenge the untrammeled power and privileges of the “1 percent” from below.
        Even in the midst of the Syrian civil war, the bloodiest and most intractable conflict to have emerged in the shadow of the Great Recession, in a region so often deprived of hope for a better future, the struggle for democratic autonomy by the Kurds and their allies has demonstrated the concrete possibilities of a revolutionary political project in these tumultuous times.
      At this point, it is still far too early to tell whether this emerging anti-capitalist politics of the twenty-first century will be able to succeed in the face of a powerful nationalist backlash. But if the dramatic events since 2016 are anything to go by, the political fallout of the global financial crisis is only just getting started. The real confrontation, it seems, is yet to come.-------

It is well worth reading the full article HERE:

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See Yea.

        Off for a few days to visit a few of our favourite spots on the east coast, Arbroath, Dundee and St Andrews. So my wee rants will fall silent for a while.

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Mutual Aid Is A Natural Human Attribute.

 

 

          When it comes to the welfare of the people, time and time again, self organising, mutual aid and co-operation, comes out on top, well above and beyond any state run operation or corporate financed endeavour.

        The ravaging of Puerto Rico by hurricane Maria, left the people of Puerto Rico without electricity, among many other things. It has taken the state almost a year to get most of the country back on grid. In the meantime, anarchist mutual aid groups have sorted the problem for some of the smaller villages, months ahead of the state run operation. Whats more, the electric grid system installed by these groups belongs to the community. If only the majority would learn this lesson and act upon it, what a different world we would inhabit.

This from Anarchist News:

         In August, nearly one year after Hurricane Maria wrecked Puerto Rico’s electrical grid and plunged its 3.4 million residents into darkness, island officials heralded a milestone: The lights were back on. The state-owned electric company even tweeted a photo of a smiling family it said was the last to receive power.
          But Christine Nieves, an activist in Mariana, didn’t celebrate. She and her small mountain community near the southeastern coast had already restored electricity—on their own. Tired of waiting on the government’s halting repairs, she worked with a band of self-described “anarchistic organizers” from the mainland to install a small solar grid, one of more than a dozen like-minded efforts across Puerto Rico. By the time electric workers showed up, Mariana was two months ahead of them. (The Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority declined to comment for this article.)
        The power uprising over the second largest blackout in world history provides a window into the civic and political landscape in a place where government institutions, saddled by bankruptcy and a federally appointed management board, failed in devastating ways. It also underscores a sobering reality a year after Maria: Many Puerto Ricans are, to some extent, still on their own. For eight months after the storm, Mariana residents lived without stable means of lighting, refrigeration or laundry. “People were on the verge, psychologically and physically,” says Nieves.
         She and her partner established Proyecto de Apoyo Mutuo, or Project for Mutual Aid, to coordinate clean-up efforts, prepare meals and check on locals after the storm. The initiative attracted the attention of a mainland group called Mutual Aid Disaster Relief, whose founding members did disaster relief work in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina. To MADR co-founder Jimmy Dunson, Nieves’s efforts echoed his own group’s “anarchistic organizing”—revolution with more purpose than protest. MADR volunteers were already in Florida, helping in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma, when family and friends alerted them of the dire situation in Puerto Rico. They pooled their own money and solicited donations to purchase water purifiers, solar power equipment and plane tickets to the island.
          “It was quite surprising when they showed up to our operations, and they kept coming back,” says Nieves. Together, the two organizations distributed food and water and provided basic health care, setting up a key project: the installation of a solar-powered “micro-grid” in Mariana, a self-sustaining electric system owned and managed by the community.
           Working with local construction workers, electricians and even firefighters, volunteers overcame understaffed ports and destroyed roads to import a solar array, battery bank and storage container to protect all of the equipment from future storms. Total cost: $60,000, funded by donations. The grid now powers an abandoned school turned communal kitchen, a laundromat and an office, where residents can charge their electronics and tools. The system does not reach individual homes, but its modular design can be expanded or transported to where need is greatest.
          Twenty miles to the northwest, volunteers have installed a smaller system in Caguas, a city in the heart of the island. Despite police efforts to block them, locals seized a building and turned it into the Centro de Apoyo Mutuo, or Center for Mutual Aid. “There are over a dozen mutual aid centers all throughout Puerto Rico,” says Dunson, “and if the funding comes in, we will work with each and every one of them to set up similar photovoltaic systems.”
            While there’s been little proselytizing in Mariana, radical ideas are in the air. “What we have talked about is self-governance,” Nieves says, “and we’ve talked about self-organizing.” She uses the Spanish term autogestion, or self-management, which anarchists have advocated since the time of Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, the 19th-century French philosopher who was the first to describe himself as an anarchist. Is the movement supported by authorities? “That question assumes that local government and police are actually involved and active,” says Nieves with a laugh.
         Elsewhere on the island, law enforcement has pushed back. Dunson describes one incident from October: Arriving in several vehicles, including an armored car, police conducted a night-time raid on a church that MADR was using as its base of operations in Guaynabo, a municipality west of San Juan. According to Dunson, officers claimed they were acting on a call about kidnapping and questioned the volunteers at gunpoint, asking if they were building bombs, involved in “antifa” or advocated the overthrow of the U.S. government. After searching their belongings without consent, Dunson says, police evicted them from the church, threatening them with arrest if they returned. (Calls to the Puerto Rico Police Press Office went unanswered.)
            While Dunson acknowledges that authorities sometimes assisted MADR by providing volunteers with food, water and other supplies to distribute, he argues that government is nevertheless poorly suited for disaster relief. The state-owned electrical grid, for example, was allowed to fall into such disrepair that even after Maria passed, it suffered at least two more big outages following patchwork repairs.
             “The government has access to a vast quantity of money and supplies,” he says. “But even if everybody in that institution had the best of intentions, due to their top-down nature, they do not have the fluidity or flexibility that more grassroots initiatives have.” He cites reports of supplies rotting in government offices and accusations that both island agencies and federal authorities hoarded desperately needed construction materials.

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