I Am The Crowd.

 

       Mass protests started in Chile in October 2019, the public rage carried it forward to an insurrection, as banks, metro stations, police stations, petrol station etc. were torched, shops looted and set on fire. The states response was savage, brutal and persistent, at least 31 people died, thousands were injured and tens of thousands arrested. The new year saw a lull, but it appears that the people's anger is rising again, with protests increasing in regional cities including Valparaiso and Antofagasta. Also in Santiago Square, which was the focal point of last year’s protests saw another large demonstration.  

       The anger and the problems of the people have not been resolved, the fire still burns, and will continue to burn until the people find justice, freedom and peace, which can only be found outside the economic system of capitalism. 

The following from 325:

Letter to a Chilean about the current situation (IIIsytem of capitalism.and last)’ by Gustavo Rodriguez
—To Joaquín García Chanks and Marcelo Villarroel Sepúlveda, comrades and co-conspirators.
       “Let’s continue the assault on the existent with all means, undeterred by those who would silence us with weapons from the stockpile of reaction, be they the kick of the democratic jackboot, the empty chatter of opinion or the siren calls of the candy men of hope.” Jean Weir; Tame words from a wild heart.
     “Whomever is determined to carry out their action is not a brave person, they are simply someone who has clarified their ideas, who has realized the futility of striving to play the role assigned to them by Capital. They are aware, and attack with cold determination. And in doing so they realize themselves as a human being. They realize themselves in pleasure. The kingdom of death disappears before their eyes.” Alfredo Maria Bonanno; Selected Texts.
       “Let us put a stop to the conjuring tricks of dialectics. The exploited are not carriers of any positive project, be it even the classless society … Capital is their only community. They can only escape by destroying everything that makes them exploited.” At Daggers Drawn
      When history is written – with capital letters, the one that the victors have always written and will write – about the generalized insurrection in Chile at the end of the first decade of the 21st century, it will have to be read with extreme meticulousness, since it will be reflected in the supposed motivations of the “crisis” that produced the revolt.
      Once again, the economic analysis will prevail – with emphasis on “the obscenity of misery” that has caused that uncertain denomination they call “Neo-Liberalism” – and, the poor negotiating capacity of a superb government that failed to meet popular demands and chose for the continuity of a regime of corruption and impunity, a (constitutional) heir of one of the bloodiest fascist dictatorships in the Americas.
      However, nothing will be recorded of that anonymous power that shaped the anger of despair, of the nihilistic actions that transformed into a sweeping energy which disrupted normality whilst mercilessly attacking the reality that oppresses us.
      This power will be made invisible (at best) and / or, reduced to a mob of “anarchist and lumpen elements, in addition to groups allied to drug traffickers to unleash looting and vandalism”(1), and stifled in the peaceful condition of “Legitimate” protests and the transcendental importance of the new constitutional fetishes as a legal guarantor of “The needs of the People”.

Read the full article HERE: 

I Am The Crowd.

I am the crowd

I swim in the quagmire of poverty

its hooks, its barbs, tear at my flesh

rupture my dreams,

I hold my breath for centuries

hoping to break through, gasp pure air.

Through the murky mire

I see bright things, shiny things, sparkle

I see women in fine dresses, men in silk shirts.

I ask myself,

why do I swim in this cesspool?

I want the light and warmth of rectitude

to caress my labouring body,

seeds of my dreams to bloom

like wild flowers in a meadow.

One day, I will use my boundless strength

to haul this torn, battered being

out of the morass

onto the warm grassy bank,

when I do;

woe betide you, women in fine dresses

woe betide you mister in your fine silk shirt

should you ever try to get in my way,

for I am the strength of the world,

I am the crowd.

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111 Days, Still Going.

       Not a lot reported in our mainstream media of what is happening in Chile. This is to be expected, since the media is the propaganda mouthpiece of the state and the capitalist system. Whenever People rise up against the authority and corruption of the state and the capitalist system, the media looks the other way, it seeks out some popcorn and bubblegum incidents to try to hold your attention, for fear that you might side with the insurrection happening elsewhere.

    It must be getting harder for them to do so as in more and more places across the globe, people are taking to the streets in anger against this exploitative and destructive system that controls our lives.

    For a few years the UK media had Brexit to plaster all over the outlets, now they have coronavirus, punctuated with some celebrity crap and a few reports of sexual exploits of stars and politicians.

    However, the protests, the insurrection and the anger on the streets continues. More than a year in France and long spells of uprisings spreading across the planet. In Chile despite the silence from the Western media, the anger has not subsided. After 111 days, the people are still on the streets taking on the brutal attacks from the state, day in day out. The state's response is ever more vicious attacks, ever greater surveillance, ever more draconian laws, but still the people's anger only grows.

     The following from Enough is Enough:

111 days of social revolt.

THE INSISTENT INSURGENT SPARKS!
        During the weekend there were clashes between soccer fans and the police, like outside the National Stadium and in San Carlos de Apoquindo. In Quillota there were riots and smoking barricades. Bands, chants against the government, invasions on the playing field and fights with the guards and even with fans of the same clubs that disapproved of the protests.
         On Dignity Square on Saturday and Sunday masked people intercepted a bus throwing stones, on Sunday it went further and a bus was partially set on fire. All this in spite only a few people who took part in the protests during those days. There are also discussions between demonstrators to ask for money from the drivers passing through the zero zone.
        In the commune of Pudahuel the rage does not end and a public transport bus burned down, just like in La Pincoya.
       In Melipilla, on Saturday, an attempt at collective expropriation of a supermarket ends with four wounded people, one with a bullet in the groin and three with rifle impacts in their face, neck and arms.
       On Sunday, hundreds of cyclists arrived to protest outside the house of the judge who solved the case of the murder of “Neco”. The murderer was allowed to leave with a weekly signature.
      The government announces the installation of hundreds of facial-recognition cameras on the streets. In the summer festivals the fascist animator and boss behind the scenes “Kike” Morandé joins in, people threw stones against a humorist for being misogynistic and macho, forcing him to withdraw.
       On Monday, an ambush at Dignity Square. More than thirty masked people were arrested.
      On Monday and Tuesday, students protest against the PSU (University Selection Test) at its third day, disturbances and minor skirmishes are recorded off-site. They also protest inside several subway stations and panic takes hold of those in charge, who order them to close.
      Police train military, sailors and aviation agents in anti-riot tactics, the armed forces spend millions on implementation of social control.
      In Congress the constitutional accusation against Intendant Guevara (1) is rejected, some opposition senators are absent or abstaining. For lack of a quorum, the intendant (accused of domestic violence) goes unpunished for the thousands of injuries that resulted from the application of his “copamiento” tactic at Dignity Square.
      Serious incidents in the University of Chile’s Pre-Libertadores match, clashes between “barras bravas [soccer fans] and guards outside the National Stadium, in the gallery a cabin burns down while the game continues.
       Fans of the Südkurve (2) Zürich waving tissues in solidarity and memory of ‘Neco’ and Ariel. Masked people attack a Presbyterian church in Antofagasta.
       In another case of an attack by state mercenaries, a young hospitalized man denounces that at least six uniformed men struck him and left him with a punctured lung, this occurred in Puente Alto.
       On Wednesday night an individual gets out of his car and threatens members of “La primera línea” (3) with a gun. This happens right in front of the place where they murdered “Lambi”, when the individual left he fireds a shot. At dawn a group of unknown people set fire to three buses of the locomoção (4) collective in Recoleta.
        A 73-year-old threatens protestors with a gun from a bus , and is insulted by the driver and passengers.
        On Thursday dozens of floral arrangements give life and colour to Dignity Square. They are in honor of all those who were killed during the Revolt.
      One of the policemen of the group that murdered Alex Nuñez, admits that his colleagues have arranged to testify against him in the case. Alex was killed by cops in Maipu on October 20, 2019.

As you read this report, the president of Chile goes on vacation…

NOTHING IS OVER, EVERYTHING KEEPS GOING.

      Giannis Michailidis and Konstantina Athanasopoulou were arrested in Greece… This one goes for you too.

Read the full article HERE: 

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Mask Up.

 

      Most people now agree that we are facing unprecedented problems on this planet, and most can be traced back to human activity. Despite the obvious impending disaster, the controllers of the economic system responsible for this situation, still persist in their false and flawed mantra, "It's the only game in town".

     They will adjust and rearrange things as long as it doesn't alter their power, wealth and privileges, no matter the outcome for the rest of us. We are secondary, expendable, to their blind vision for our planet, blind to the fact that they die with us if this system continues.

     While states attempt to stop people wearing masks at protests, they continue to create situations where we will have to wear masks to walk our streets, as pollution poisons the air we breathe. We tolerate this crazy path at our peril, and to the detriment of our children's future.

     It is no longer  a matter of whither we should take what action we can to bring down this suicide mission of the corporate/financial out of control juggernaut, it is an obligation, so that we can give our grandchildren a future. It is also obvious that dialogue and running to a ballot box hasn't done any good  over numerous years. The beast has to be faced head on and destroyed root and branch by the mass of people taking direct action, the time for talking has long since past. Take your righteous anger onto the streets, create the change you wish to see, we change or we die. 

This from Anarchist News:

 One Way or Another, One Day We’ll All Wear Masks

       Wherever we are situated in this society, our future boils down to two options: accepting our fate and trying to reduce the harm to our bodies and the environment on a piecemeal basis—or actively resisting in order to interrupt the disaster and implement our own solutions. If there is anything that scientists, sociologists, military strategists, and day laborers all agree on, it is that we are headed for global collapse.
      Those who hold power seek to take advantage of hurricanes, forest fires, and pandemics to impose more and more invasive forms of control on us. Their responses to crises always prioritize protecting their own privileges and profits while they treat the rest of us as expendable. We can’t trust our survival to their expertise.
      If we resign ourselves to the future implied by catastrophic climate change, widespread pollution, and ecological collapse, sooner or later, the disaster will come for us. In some parts of the world, people are already forced to wear masks when they leave the house just to protect themselves from poisoned air, toxic waste, or infectious conditions.
      If we do not accept the destruction of our lives, our land, our food, and everything that connects us with each other and the biosphere as a whole, we have to fight to regain control over the conditions of our lives and the decisions that determine our survival. In a world of police, prisons, surveillance cameras, we will have to wear masks that conceal who we are so we can fight for what we really want.

Read the full article and poster HERE:

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk

Battling To Freedom.

 

       The people of Chile continue their struggle to be free from the control and corruption of this capitalist system of greed. Of course those with the wealth and power have a lot to lose, so they hit back with brutal savagery, the people struggle on despite the militarised police and all the other parts of the state apparatus being launched against them.  
Video from arrezafe.

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk

It's Time To Show Your Righteous Anger.

 

     I would say with confidence that our planet has never before seen such violent mass protests, with such prolonged intensity over such a wide area against the established authorities. This is something that we anarchists can take heart from, vast numbers of populations are taking to the streets not on single issues but simply against the established system, they are throwing off the yoke of authority, not asking for more favours from the powers that be.
     Chile, Ecuador, Bolivia, Haiti, France, Hong Kong, Lebanon, Sudan, Iraq, Iran, and other areas are seeing the people in their thousands and more on the streets, like I said, not asking for more crumbs, but trying to put an end to this brutal neo-liberal authoritarian nightmare that has held the world in its grip for so long. Now India has joined the fray, the country that carries that phony label of the largest democracy in the world. How long before others take to the streets and display their righteous anger, hatred and disgust of a system of enslavement, poverty, deprivation and wars?

 

      An article by Pankaj Mishra from Bloomberg Opinion:

      India has exploded into protests against a citizenship law that explicitly discriminates against its 200 million-strong Muslim population. Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist government has responded with police firing on demonstrators and assaults on university campuses. The global wildfire of street protests, from Sudan to Chile, Lebanon to Hong Kong, has finally reached the country whose 1.3 billion population is mostly below the age of 25. The social, political, and economic implications couldn’t be more serious.
       It was only last month that students on the campus of Hong Kong Polytechnic University were throwing petrol bombs at the police, and fielding, in turn, teargas, rubber bullets and water cannons.
      This violent resistance to an authoritarian state is novel to Hong Kong. The Umbrella Movement that in 2014 first expressed a mass sentiment for greater autonomy from Beijing was strikingly peaceful. The campaigners for democracy in Hong Kong today have also traveled very far away from the Chinese students who occupied Tiananmen Square in 1989, and to whom they have been wrongly compared.
       Those students back in 1989 were deeply respectful of their state: Photographs of student petitioners kneeling on the steps of the Great Hall of the People are no less eloquent than the iconic picture of a protester facing a tank. That acknowledgement of the state’s authority as ultimate arbiter is now rapidly disappearing, in not only Hong Kong, but also India and many other countries. It is being replaced by the conviction that the state has lost its legitimacy through cruel and malign actions.
      Today’s protesters, who are overwhelmingly young, are usefully compared to the French student demonstrators in Paris in 1968. The latter occupied places of work and study, streets and squares. They also met police crackdowns with makeshift barricades and Molotov cocktails.
      Like today’s protesters, the French students erupted into violence amid a global escalation of street-fighting; they claimed to reject an older generation’s values and outlook. And they, too, couldn't be simply classified as left-wing, right-wing or centrists. Indeed, the French radicals confused many people at the time because they loathed the French communist party almost as much as they did the parties of the right. The French communists, in turn, dismissed the protesting students as “anarchist.”
    This commonplace pejorative confuses anarchism with disorganization. It should be remembered that anarchist politics is one of the modern world’s oldest, if little remembered, political and intellectual traditions. Today, it best describes the radical new turn to protests worldwide. Anarchist politics began to emerge from the mid-19th century onward, originally in societies where ruthless autocrats were in power — France, Russia, Italy, Spain, even China — and where hopes of change through the ballot box seemed wholly unrealistic.
     The anarchists — one of whom assassinated U.S. President McKinley in 1901 — sought freedom from what they saw as increasingly exploitative modes of economic production. But, unlike socialist critics of industrial capitalism, they aimed most of their energies at liberation from what they saw as tyrannical forms of collective organization — namely, the state and its bureaucracy, which in their view could be communist as well as capitalist.
      As Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, the pioneering thinker of anarchism (and robust critic of Marx), put it, “To be GOVERNED is to be kept in sight, inspected, spied upon, directed, law-driven, numbered, enrolled, indoctrinated, preached at, controlled, estimated, valued, censured, commanded, by creatures who have neither the right, nor the wisdom, nor the virtue to do so.”
     For many anarchists, the state, the bureaucracy and security forces were the deepest affront to human dignity and liberty. They sought to achieve democratic freedoms by a drastic reduction in the power of the hydra-headed state, and a simultaneous intensification of the power of individuals from below through coordinated action.
       Democracy for the anarchists was not a distant goal, to be reached through vertically integrated political parties, impersonal institutions and long electoral processes. It was an existential experience, instantly available to individuals by jointly defying oppressive authority and hierarchy.
       They saw democracy as a permanent state of revolt against the over-centralized state and its representatives and enforcers, including bureaucrats and the police. Success in this endeavor was measured by the scale and intensity of the revolt, and the strength of solidarity achieved, rather than by any (always unlikely) concession from the despised authorities.
      This is also how protesters today seem to perceive democracy as they struggle, without much hope of any conventional victory, against governments that are as ideologically driven as they are ruthless. Let there be no doubt: More open and unresolvable conflicts between ordinary citizens and authorities are likely to become the global norm rather than the exception. Certainly, militant disaffection today is not only more extensive than it was in the late 1960s. It also connotes a deeper political breakdown.
     Negotiations and compromise between different pressure groups and interests that have defined political society for ages suddenly seem quaint. Old-style political parties and movements are in disarray; societies, more polarized than ever before; and the young have never faced a more uncertain future. As angry, leaderless individuals revolt against increasingly authoritarian states and bureaucracies from Santiago to New Delhi, anarchist politics seems an idea whose time has come.

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk

The Brutal Chilean State.

      Some images showing the brutal repression by the Chilean state against the population protesting against poverty, injustice and corruption. These mass protests in Chile have been going on for months, just one of the many countries where the population have taken their anger to the streets. See arrezafe for more details.

         On the repression that exists in Lo Hermida, Gonzalo Llancoa a doctor and a young villager talked with left Diario and counted the plight of constant police repression faced by and neighbors of Lo Hermida, and includes dozens injured with buckshot, people who are attacked by carabinieri in their own homes, fields and plazas violence against children, adolescents and people of the sector, among others.

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk

The Rapist Is You.

      It infects our world, it is an epidemic that needs to be stamped out, no country is immune from it, patriarchy, the virus spawned for the macho state model that at present rules the planet. Patriarchy is cloaked in the false legitimacy of tradition, culture and phony macho values, and where ever women stand up against this silent brutality, civilised men must stand with them. It is a vile problem for all of us who desire and struggle for a free and civilised world.

       It is wonderful and encouraging to see such unified and open opposition to this silent and all too often, accepted violence. Thanks Loam for the link:

Source: @Professorsblogg on Twitter. In front of the Chilean Court of Justice –and even in front of a police station– a most strong message delivered by female protesters on brutal state-repression, disappearance of detainees, police rapes and judges' complicity. Here translation by The Indicter Channel of the original (in Spanish) chant:

The rapist is you.

And our punishment

it's the violence you don't see.

Patriarchy is a judge

that judges us for being born.

And our punishment

it's the violence you see.

It's femicide,

impunity for the murderer.

It is the disappearances [of detainees].

It is the rape.

And the fault was not mine,

neither where I was,

nor the way I dressed.

And the fault was not mine,

neither where I was,

nor the way I dressed.

The rapist was you.

The rapist is you.

They are, the cops.

They are, the judges.

The state.

The President.

The oppressive state

is a macho rapist.

The oppressive state

is a macho rapist.

The rapist is you.

The rapist is you!

[Below, in quotes, a citation of the Carabineros (police force) anthem, shouted by the female demonstrators]:

"Sleep quiet innocent girl

without worrying about the bandit

that for your sweet and sinuous dream

watch the policeman who loves you "

The rapist is you.

The rapist is you!

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk