Why is is it that there are people how still think nationalism is a way of bring people together across the globe? Or is it that they don't give a shit about other people, but somehow believe that their own national parasites will take better care of them than parasites from further afield? This illusion that nationalism is somehow a flag worth waving, has been responsible for countless years of bloodshed, savagery, and the needless killing of our brothers and sisters, who happen to be born on a different spot on the planet. All for the protection of the wealthy and powerful, who hold the reins that control the various repressive societies, we at present, live under. Those with this divisive "National Pride" delusion, should accept that it is only by pure chance that they were born in a particular patch of soil on this rather small planet, and it is only by co-operation, solidarity and mutual aid, in a border free world, that we can hope to improve the lives of all our people.
Patriotism.
No, I shall not die for the fluttering flag,
if truth be known, ’tis nothing but a multi-coloured rag
held aloft by some foolish hand
inciting worker and peasant to kill
on some green and wooded hill,
peasant and worker from some other land.
Nor shall I shed blood for the fluttering rag
that brings out fools to stand and brag
of brutal deeds painted grand,
deeds where rustic and craftsman lie so still
killed by my brothers' misguided hand.
No allegiance have I for the Nation
this man made autocratic creation
that divides my brothers in a world so small,
binds us to a country's cause, right or wrong,
bids us follow its drum, sing its song,
then sheds our blood in some border brawl.
No, I'll be no slave to flag or nation,
have no ear for power oration,
though its iron heel is on my breast,
my back feels its leather thong,
at patriotism's barracoon, I'll be no guest.
Note from Insurrection News: The following text is a translation of a leaflet that is being distributed by the comrades at Contra Madriz
along with a series of posters, pamphlets and stickers that denounce
all expressions of nationalism. The material will be distributed
throughout the territories currently ruled by the Spanish State. You can
read the original text in Spanish and download PDFs of the material HERE.
NO STATE WILL MAKE US FREE
No State, Spanish or Catalan, will give us any kind of freedom.
Because the reason of being for every State is to subject the exploited
and to guarantee the privileges of the ruling classes. The state
regulates exploitation via the law and is responsible for ensuring that
the oppressed never rise up against an order that exploits, humiliates,
evicts, steals, murders and creates misery throughout the length and
breadth of the planet.
No police, Mossos (Catalan police), Civil or National Guard protects us.
They are the shock force of the state that protects private property
and are responsible for repressing and persecuting those who do not
kneel and decide to fight against their rotten world. There are no good
police or bad police, all repressive bodies obey a very specific logic:
maintain order. Let’s not forget the actions of all police forces in
general strikes, demonstrations, neighborhood raids, racist controls,
surveillance of prisons, evictions and even as a force of foreign
occupation (remember the number of police officers deployed for
international missions). They obey and serve their masters.
Democracy, parliamentary institutions and politicians do not look after our interests, but their own interests.
No one but ourselves should look after our interests. Electing our
masters, voting, submitting to majorities and / or minorities, acting
within democratic frameworks…makes us complicit in our own domination
and establishes in us the spirit of delegation in officials. We put our
lives in their hands. Relying on politicians who only seek (as they all
do) to profit from our struggles and our feelings, while submitting us
or aspiring to submit us, makes us become a servile mass ready to
mobilize or demobilize according to their electoral interests and their
struggles for power.
No nationalism or flag should represent us. As the
oppressed and exploited we should understand that we have more in common
with the other oppressed and exploited than with an entrepreneur or
politician who was born in the same place as us. Nationalism and
patriotism are tools of power which infect and manipulate the oppressed
and make them dance to the tune of the oppressors and bond with our
class enemies and their constantly changing projects and needs. The
affection for the land in which we live or our language are taken away
to justify the creation of new states. Obviously, culture should be
something living, in constant evolution and free development between
individuals and communities. The state is the death of all free
development, building borders and sowing the seeds of racism and
xenophobia.
Under capitalism, the state and any form of authority, we will never be free.
Let us build a new world on the ruins of authoritarian and state
society. Let us build and fight for anarchy, as a constant struggle
against all forms of oppression and exploitation, in solidarity and
mutual support with our equals, no matter where they come from.
NO NATIONS! NO BORDERS!
(via Contra Madriz, translated by PDF)
