Debt.

         While we struggle with the cost of capitalist greed, re-named, "cost of living crisis" have trouble paying bills, getting sufficient decent food to the table and can't afford to cook some of the food we buy, our lords and masters tasked, by default, with looking after our welfare, keep telling us to hold our nerve and other hypocritical platitudes, there's pie in the sky- - - - SOON! Our government can still find millions to prolong the war in Ukraine by supporting a dictator. Yes Zelensky with his motley crew is a dictator. There will be no Presidential elections until the end of the war, he has banned opposition political parties, arrested political opponents, banned all unfriendly media, and he shut down Orthodox churches, so what else can you call him.
       It seems that this is standard behaviour for the capitalist system, whether it is at home or abroad. Here at home our poverty is created and managed by the political ballerinas who follow the dictate of the higher echelons of the capitalist system, IMF (International Mankind Fuckers), World Bank (Wayward Bandits) and others of that ilk, we have no say in that, a dictatorship?.

Image courtesy of Bangladesh Info

 

 

       According to the latest research by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR). UK households are about to be savaged by yet another capitalist manoeuvre as a result of the Bank Rate rising to 5 per cent, by the end of 2023 more than a million households (4 per cent of all UK households) will run out of savings because of higher mortgage repayments, taking the total proportion of insolvent households to nearly 30 per cent (around 7.8 million), 

        The IMF does not only tie Western countries to its debt ridden policies, It traps any developing country in its debt web and demands control of how that country will manage its affairs, never to the advantage of the recipient country. 

         In the early months of the pandemic in 2020, the IMF offered to open up new windows for borrowing that they said would come without conditionalities. The G20 Debt Service Suspension Initiative and other such offers to pause debt payments suggested that the poorer nations would receive assistance to prevent total economic collapse and to gain access to vaccines. However, Oxfam found that thirteen of the fifteen IMF loan programmes during the second year of the pandemic (2021) required ‘new austerity measures such as taxes on food and fuel or spending cuts that could put vital public services at risk’. The Commitment to Reducing Inequality Index reveals that fourteen out of the sixteen countries in West Africa planned to cut their budgets by a total of $26.8 billion in 2021 to contain haemorrhaging national debt crises and that these policies have been encouraged by the IMF’s COVID-19 loans.
The evidence is clear: the IMF not only engineers austerity-driven debt crises, but its policies are designed to ensure and manage a permanent debt crisis, not to erase debt.

Image courtesy of Gauri Lankesh news

 

          Does it have to be this way, are we so dumb we can't think of a fairer system on which to build our society. Are we condemned to give our children and grandchildren an ever increasing debt laden country and an ever decreasing standard of living? That's what the present capitalist economics of insanity are constructing for our future generations. Only us the ordinary people can change this, don't expect those who gain so many privileges so much wealth and power from the present insanity to ever dream of changing to a fairer system.

 

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Hypocrites.

Waiting for inflation to drop!!

                                           Image courtesy of Adam Smith Institute.

             Like me, I suppose your sick to the back teeth of hear those hypocritical platitudes spewed out by the parasite class that sit in those Westminster Houses of Hypocrisy and Corruption. While you and I struggle to pay our bills, put food on the table and heat our homes We have Rishi Sunak, with his £800 million luxury cushion, telling us we will "need to hold our nerve". He has no inkling of how we live our what we have to put up with while he spouts pie in the sky---tomorrow, maybe. It makes no difference to him if the price of basic food double in price, he won't even notice. Then we have that other mouthpiece of the system, Karen Ward, she is a member of the Jeremy Hunt Advisory Committee. Her take on the situation we face is, the Bank of England have been too hesitant in raising interest rates and they need to create a recession to get inflation under control. Do these people really understand what a recession does to the ordinary people of this country, or is it that they really don't give a damn? A recession is high unemployment low wages and a massive increase in poverty. All this so that the corporate world and their business buddies can increase their profit margins. Isn't it about time we decided that we can't live under this insane greed driven economic system. We must work to bring the whole stinking edifice down and put capitalism where it belongs, in the dustbin of history, labelled "Humanity's darkest hour".

 Image courtesy of Ecoist Mag.

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Class War.

Image courtesy of Eric Solheim.

          Inflation is the headline news at the moment with the capitalist propaganda gurus stating that inflation can only be tackled by making the people poorer ie, raising interest rates. The fact that inflation is fed by excessive corporate profits, CEO's grossly excessive salaries and bonuses and of course, excessive shareholders bonuses. Any suggestion of tackling these excesses is greeted with, we need to allow this to make the economy grow, touching that golden goose would hinder investment. So their only answer is to make the people poorer. As far as the wealthy are concerned, asking for wage increases to meet these dire conditions is destructive and will only prolong the inflation problem.
          It angers me to hear Oxford educated Andrew Bailey, the Governor of The Bank of England, with his salary of £575,338 per annum, that works out at £2,212. 84p a day, state "We know this is hard- many people with mortgages or loans will be understandable worried about what this means for them. But if we don't raise rates now, it could be worse later."
          This from a man who couldn't care less if meat tripled in price and milk likewise, it wouldn't dent his standard of living. However, what it means to millions of ordinary people across this country is a drastic cut in their already diminished standard of living. This in turn leads to all manner of health problems, stunted kids because of poor diet, increase homelessness. This is a class war, a direct attack on the ordinary people who are already struggling to make ends meet, and often failing. The well being of the corporate world is more important than the well being of the people.
         This savage attack on the people has the backing of millionaires, the get inflation down so as to increase their profit margins brigade, Rishi Suak, he of the £800 million nest egg, states, that the Bank of England is doing a good job, and Jeremy Hunt with his little £14 million cushion, gives it his blessing with, "If we don't act now, it will be worse later." none of them give a shit if food prices double
        Why do we continually accept this crap false scenario, painting the illusion that the only solution to our dropping living standards is to make the ordinary people poorer? Where is the righteous anger, where is the demand for justice and fairness and an end to this insane economic parasite breeding system of greed and profit for the few. 

 

Image courtesy of Green Hearted.

 

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Rebellion

             We are in the midst of a corporate greed crisis where live becomes increasingly difficult for most of us, having to make choices of what meals to cut and what bills to pay, this adds to daily stress and causes increase in health problems. Meanwhile, the state's response is to increase the powers of its minders, the police, and push through ever more draconian legislation restricting our rights. As life becomes more difficult the right to protest is becoming a criminal offence, a deliberate policy from the state to openly say, submit or face punishment. Under such burdening conditions the only road that seems open to us is to rebel, as the state has shut down all other means of meaningful objection to this nightmare of poverty and repression.
            The recent events in Cardiff should not come as a surprise to those living under these state imposed draconian conditions. The anger that has been simmering under the surface for years is about to explode, as the people stand up and say, enough is enough. It is time to stand up and state, the streets are ours and we will not surrender them without a bloody fight. 

The following from Act For Freedom Now.

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Inflation.

 

 

                                                 Image courtesy of MR Online.

              It always amazes me how those privileged parasites' minds work, those wrapped up in their bubble of opulence, the pundits of the capitalist system. Our own Chancellor of the Exchequer, one Hunt, states that the Bank of England has no alternative but to raise the bank rate yet again. The theory behind this is that this will make thing more expensive and so discourage people from spending then inflation should start to fall. This plan, when people are struggling to pay for the necessities of life, is to discourage them from spending. What is it that we have to stop spending on? Is basic food items, kids breakfasts, washing powder, toilet rolls, heating. Their thinking shows a complete disregard for the life and well-being of the public at large, a total misunderstanding of how we are struggling for a decent life as things are at the moment. The point they ignore or sweep under the carpet is that inflation is not driven by wage increases but is driven by corporate greed. Rather than making their corporate buddies pay for the inflation they place the burden on you and I. Capitalism is insane economics that favours the few at the expense of the many and the few will do their damnedest to make sure it stays that way, no matter the pain, poverty and anxiety that this places on the many.
        We know there is a fairer way of organising society, we have imagination, the ability and the power to create that better fairer society. All we need is the will to come together in solidarity and dismantle this crushing burden of privileged parasites grasping all the wealth we create, and start organising our communities in co-operation, to see to the needs of all our people, freed from the greed driven profit motive. Let's place capitalism in the dustbin of history under the label of humanity's darkest hour.

 Image courtesy of Robert Reich.

 

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Liberation.

 

        We live in hard times, poverty is increasing, more and more children go hungry, food banks are multiplying, destitution multiples, basic food is galloping out of reach of many, but hard times should be fertile soil for anarchists. It is so much easier to point to the anomalies and inequality of the system and should be obvious to most people. However, that is not always enough to rouse the people to anger and direct action. So what should anarchists do, perhaps Errico Malatesta points us in the right direction.

Quote from Great Anarchists by Dog Section Press, chapter on Malatesta.       

        "The important thing is not the victory of our plans, our projects, our utopias, which in any case need the confirmation of experience and can be --- developed and adapted to the real moral and material conditions of the age and place. What matters most is that the people--- lose their sheeplike instincts and habits which thousands of years of slavery have instilled in them, and learn to think and act freely. And it is to this great work of moral liberation that the anarchist must specifically dedicate themselves."

 No mean task but sounds like excellent advice.

                                                     Image courtesy of Libcom.

 

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Sacrifice.

 

                                                  Image courtesy of Glamour.

  
          It is normal practice for the state to keep asking the people to make sacrifices, Put up with low wages so that we can beat inflation and get the economy growing, accept a crumbling health service because there is not enough money until the economy grows. We the ordinary people are the ones who are told to sacrifice ourselves in capitalism's continuous wars while the rich and powerful organisers and perpetrators of the war sit back and reap the benefits in blood soiled gold. Always pie in the sky, for you and I, never a realisation of that imaginary time when the economy is super producing and all our ills are sorted. Our end of this arrangement is that we continue to struggle for a decent life while the rich get richer. If we have to live a life of continuous sacrifice and struggle because of the economy, then screw the economy. To grow the economy translates into helping big corporate business to get bigger and richer at our expense. We are fed crumbs so that we can get on with growing the economy all to their advantage. Why not put up with sacrifices to bring down this economic insanity and build society based on mutual aid, co-operation, freed from the poison of profit and one that sees to the needs of all our people. Struggle for revolution rather than struggle to grow the economy under its present exploitative rules and structure.
      Capitalism is continuous competition for markets and resources and that competition takes on an ugly and brutal form in wars. War is just a continuation of capitalist competition. Another aspect of capitalism when we, the ordinary people are asked to make the ultimate sacrifice. There is a better way to organise our society, we should make that choice, sacrifice for capitalism, or sacrifice for revolution.

                                              Image courtesy of The Telegraph.

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Criminal.

           During this so called cost of living crisis, (really an exploitation crisis) the Western nations have been pouring in a virtual avalanche of weapons and ammunition to this American war with Russia, being fought on Ukrainian soil. So much so that some military experts are claiming that the West has depleted its defence capabilities and will have to make military spending, (they call it defence spending) a top priority. UK's Ben Wallace has stated that the military will get an extra £52 billion, and the pentagon has already sent $18billion on prolonging the Ukrainian blood flow, with the U$A planning to up its military budget once again.
      The European Union, in total aid, financial, humanitarian and military, has spent the most, however the U$A has by far, supplied the most in military hardware. The Kiel Institute calculated that between January 24th and November 20th, 2022 £96.7 billion flowed into Ukraine from Western countries, I have no doubt there is more we don't hear about.

Image courtesy of Energy Intelligence.

 

        So it is obvious that as far as the so called free democratic West is concerned, there is never a cry of "not enough money" when it comes to war.
         Contrast this with the cry that there isn't the money to fund the NHS properly. The flow of funds for destruction while our people die waiting for an ambulance, die waiting for treatment, die waiting for an appointment. We have reached the level of third world countries where people languish in hospital simply because there is no community social service to look after them and hospital staff are forced to take strike action to try and improve their working conditions and pay.

Image courtesy of The Mirror.

 

       In this society the government is supposed to have a duty of care for the citizens in their keeping. Failing to do this and allowing people to die because of the lack of proper funding while spending billions on destruction and death of another country's citizens, is surely criminal, and those responsible should be held to task and face criminal charges. It is our money, and we the ordinary public have no desire to see our money being used for the killing and maiming of ordinary people in another country. 

 

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The Street?

          We, the ordinary people are at war. I'm not talking about the war of missiles and drones, but the war we have fought for generations, the class war. Year in year out the conglomerate of corporate beasts have have grabbed more and more of the world's resources and in their never ending drive to increase profits, we have been hit time and time again with punishing austerity, inflation, cuts to social services, which translates into poverty and destitution for millions. Once again with great viciousness, the attack is on the ordinary people, and as winter approaches we are facing cold homes, insufficient food on the table, with the result being stunted children and elderly and vulnerable people dying earlier than would be normally.
           This is a constant fight and it will not be won in the marble halls of power, nor in the debating rooms of unions. It will be won on the streets, we surrender the streets at our peril. It is important that we take our anger and frustration on to the streets in organised vast numbers. To win that decent life for all, we must be prepared to do our debating with direct action on the streets, in our communities and workplaces. The good life will not be handed to you by the wealthy and powerful, we'll have to take what we create and turn it into a society of mutual aid that sees to the needs of all our people.
          Perhaps we can learn something from recent history, the mass protests of Gilets Jaunes

The following from Enough is Enough. 

           On November 17, 2018, a new kind of movement exploded in the face of many observers and took the trade unions and political parties, who were convinced they had a monopoly on protest, by surprise: the Gilets Jaunes (Yellow Vests) movement.

Originally published by Contre Attaque. Translated by Riot Turtle. 

 

         Officially 287,710 demonstrators, probably 10 times more, had spread around 2000 traffic circles across the country, created new spaces for discussion. The demonstrations were heterogeneous, many of them were not used to protesting. We all remember the call of truck driver Ghislain Coutard improvising a rallying symbol, the yellow safety vest. His anger and his genius call “We all have a yellow vest in the car! Put it on your dashboard in front of you all week long. It will be a little color code to show that you support the movement”.
        In the weeks that followed, a strange phenomenon: we all looked at each other on the streets, as if to count ourselves. And there are many of us… You know the rest: 65 weeks of mobilization, thousands of injured demonstrators and an estimated 1.800 injured among the forces of order. The mobilization was unprecedented, but so was the violent repression.
        In 2018 alone, the police fired 19,071 LBD bullets and launched 5,420 rounds of grenade ammunition. Total repression. The victories, unfortunately, are not as numerous. Although the carbon tax has been buried, the list of 42 demands has remained largely unheeded.
        The few measures that have been saved at the simulacrum of a citizens’ assembly will be further eroded by amendments in Parliament. Not sure that this is what the Gilets Jaunes had in mind when they demanded more direct democracy.
        4 years later, most of the initial Gilets Jaunes groups don’t exist anymore, but some activists persist and don’t hesitate to support other militant collectives. From their chaotic course, let us retain that the Gilets Jaunes movement knew how to show all the old street movements the need to renew the way to mobilize. A lesson still far from being integrated if we observe the success of the last call of the CGT in France…
          It would be good not to leave the monopoly of mobilizations to these union organizations again, who usually organize nice demonstrations and then leave. The success of the Sainte-Soline mobilization shows it, we have to fight in a different way. Mobilize people who use different strategies and create cohesion between “peaceful” and “determined” protests. The Gilets Jaunes knew how to blow on the embers of social movements, it’s up to us to set things on fire!

 

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Keelie 37.

 

             Glasgow Keelie 37 is on the streets, look out for it, you'll find it at picket lines, protests, strikers support rallies, in cafes, pubs and on the street, watch out for it and grab your free copy of Glasgow's own radical newspaper. Find out what's happening in our city and further afield, and how to get involved, a pocket rocket of a newspaper jam packed with info. If you think you can contribute, or would like a few copies to distribute among your mates, please get in touch at glasgowkeelie@riseup.net Read it on line at https://glasgowkeelie.org You can also find us Facebook, Twitter and Youtube. 

 

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Pickets.

    

            Strikes are widespread across the country, and rightly so, as the ordinary people of this country are being savaged by the parasite financial Mafia class, all for profit for the big boys. We are being hit with massive food price increases, stratospheric energy price rises, brutal cuts to social services, wage restraint, and the promise that we will be 7% worse off by the next two years. Just remember the strikers are your neighbours, the group you meet in the pub, the bunch you go to the match with, they are us. Their fight is our fight and we must support the strikes, join their picket lines, show your support, for all of us, this is a fight we must win if we have to have any semblance of a decent life. See  Solidarity to find out how and where to support the pickets.

Some photos from this morning's picket lines, join them.

Visit ann arky's home at https://spiritofrevolt.info