To Weather Seasons Such As These.

      Two very recent reported incidents from within our very rich country that should make us all rise up and  crush this pitiless economic system of greed and inequality.

    One is the recent case of a man dying in a carpark in Glasgow in sub-zero temperatures, the other a man dies in the job centre after being told he is fit for work. What kind of society can tolerate this inhumanity? these are not isolated cases. Deaths from the cruelty of the universal credit system runs into thousands, deaths among the homeless runs into hundreds. These are not accidents, these are the result of deliberate policies legislated by people with lots of money and in most cases at least two homes, our political ballerinas. all of them well shielded from the ravages of their ideological policies.

     William Shakespeare's words from "Seasons Such As These" are probably very apt for our times as they were in his:

Poor naked wretches, wherese're you are
that hide the pelting of this pityless storm,
how shall your houseless heads and unfed sides,
your looped and windowed raggedness, defend you
from seasons such as these.

 

       Homelessness is not a failing of the individual, it is the abject failure of the system we tolerate, but for how much longer, for how many more avoidable deaths?

The Warmth Of A dream. 

He lay in a dark doorway, dreamed of home,
night frost locked his joints
morning rain chilled the marrow of his bone.
In the dream there was a sister,
a pram in a garden, a crowd of youngsters
who called him “mister”, a time of little pain.
Are these youngsters the same young men, who
now laugh at him, throw beer cans,
piss on him as he lies drunk in some dark lane?
When was that first step down this slippery slope,
when was that first step to no forgiveness.
No will to rise to beg for food,
numbness kills the pain.
The dream brings a warmth that feels good,
dark fog shades out consciousness,
an ambulance carries off a body washed in rain.

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

We Will Not Forget.

 

 In memory of Alexia Gigoropoulos.

      Anyone who is aware of the murder of 15 year old youth, Alexis Gigoropoulos, by a police officer in Exarchia, Athens, in 2008, would be well aware that the people of Athens would not allow the anniversary of his cold bloodied murder to go unmarked. Every year since his murder in 2008, large protests against police violence, have take place on December 6th, in towns and cities across Greece. That evening in, December 6th. 2008, Alexis, like so many youths, was hanging out with his friend Niko Romanos in an open air café in Exarchia. Because of a few words of banter from the youths, a police officer drew his gun and shot 15 year old Alexis, who died on the street in the arms of his friend Niko. Niko went on to become a very committed and involved anarchist, and is now in prison. The state, by its actions, always breeds hate against the state.

 Niko Romanos after his arrest.

     So it would be expected that this year, like the previous years, is no exception, and the people of Greece will shout loud and clear, we do not forget, we will not forgive.

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

Our Anger Must Be Daily.

The Homeless.

Tenebrous spectres, they exist,    out there,

on the crumbling edge of chaos.

A father, a son, a brother,

a daughter, a sister, a mother.

Fragments of some shattered family structure;

waste products

from a society being drive to destruction

by a hurricane of greed

living a life that wears out life,

dying,

the devious death of destruction from existence.

        There seems to be an out pouring of anger and and pity at the death of a young homeless man who died in the city centre of Birmingham in what was the coldest night of the year so far. My heart goes out that young man, his friends and family, but why does it take his death for that out pouring of emotion? People living on the streets of the fifth richest country in the world, should be enough to get that anger and emotion boiling over. I have no doubt that Birmingham, like all of UK cities, is awash with wealth, lots of empty properties, yet they all have people living openly on the streets in the cruel British weather.   Think, how many homeless people did you see sitting on the pavements the last time you walked trough town? Can you call yourself a civilised country, when people die on the streets from cold and hunger? This case should be more proof, if any more proof was needed, that this system of capitalism that dominates our lives, is incapable of seeing to the needs of all our people. It breeds inequality, poverty and deprivation, yet smothers a band of parasites in unimaginable opulence. It fails miserable to help those in most need, it discards humans it deems as unproductive. It has created a world of insecurity, desperation, and alienation, for what? Nothing more than wealth and power to the few, struggle and anguish for the many. The system is not set in stone, despite the illusion they try to create, that it is the only game in town. It is a man made economic system, that syphons wealth to that cabal of parasites, at the expense of us all. It can and should be destroyed, if we want any form of justice for all. 

 

The Warmth Of A Dream.

 

He lay in a dark doorway, dreamed of home,

night frost locked his joints

morning rain chilled the marrow of his bone.

In the dream there was a sister,

a pram in a garden, a crowd of youngsters

who called him "mister", a time of little pain.

Are these youngsters the same young men, who

now laugh at him, throw beer cans,

piss on him as he lies drunk in some dark lane?

When was that first step down this slippery slope,

When was that first step to no forgiveness.

No will to rise to beg for food,

numbness kills the pain.

The dream brings a warmth that feels good,

dark fog shades out consciousness,

an ambulance carries of a body washed in rain. 

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

 

 

 

Capitalist Success Doesn't Look At Poverty.

     In capitalist Europe, Germany is seen as the shining example of capitalist success. It is meant to be what the rest of Europe should try to aspire to, prosperity for all. Of course like all the tales of capitalist success, as far as the ordinary people are concerned it is all an illusion. The German Joint Welfare Association report on poverty for 2013 shows a very definite pattern of increasing poverty for Germany as a whole. It also states that from 2006 to 2012 the growth of poverty was steady going from 14% to 15.2%. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), approximately 10% of German children live in families whose income is below the poverty line. A UNICEF study finds that 8.6% of children in Germany have long term experiences of poverty that seriously affect their entire future. It also finds that more than 1 million adolescents have spent more than one third of their childhood and youth living in poverty. 

       Officially, homelessness doesn't exist in Germany, there are no official figures held by the state. So we have to rely on estimates made by independent groups that offer social assistance to such people. One institution that offers assistance to homeless, Bundesarbeitgemeinschhaft Wohnungslosenhilfe (BAG) states that their figures suggest that there are approximately 591,000 homeless in Germany, however if you add the homeless immigrants, the total looks more like 860,000, roughly the same size as the population of one of Germany's largest cities, Cologne. This figure breaks down as, approximately one third are women, almost the same number are young people and children, men making up 39%. BAG also estimates that approximately another million are under threat of homelessness, or living in sub-standard housing. It also estimates that some homeless with families can get some temporary accommodation with friends and relatives, but approximately 35,000 single people face living on the streets. A further figure from BAG states that in the winter of 1996/97, a staggering 27 people froze to death on the streets of Germany, one of the worst figures among the world's most prosperous nations.

      That is the irony, one of the most prosperous nations on the planet and poverty, homelessness and freezing to death on the streets is accepted. It is the economist apologists for the capitalist system that can only see one side of the equation and spout German as a success story. Germany is growing rapidly in wealth, according to Manager Magazin, October issue, the assets of the richest 100 have increased during the last twelve months by 5.2% to a staggering €336.6 billion and there are 135 billionaires living in Germany and according to a recent study by Credit Suisse, there are approximately 1.7 million, “dollar millionaires” living in Germany.

       In this insane capitalist world, success means rich getting richer, and the rest can go to hell in handcart.

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