Unstable.

 

Image courtesy of Refinery 29.

          We live in a very unequal society, a world of inequality that stretches across the planet with its ensuing misery and deprivation for the majority. What our plunderers and pillagers of the corporate parasite class and their state bed companions should do well to remember is that an unequal world is an unstable world. Fractures are already appearing and the anger is simmering just beneath the surface, occasionally bursting forth in riots, insurrection and resistance, built on a shared burden of struggle. As the capitalist system is utterly incapable of creating an equal society as it is based on profit from exploitation, it is also incapable of creating a stable and fair society. It becomes ever more obvious that if we want a fair and just society we will have to dismantle the present economic system of profit which is driven by greed and self interest. There is no magic wand, nor will the change come from above with a bunch of roses. The change we want will have to be wrestled from the hands of the plundering capitalist system we must replace. Banners and polite marches with snap slogans will not force the plunderers to relinquish their opulent lifestyles in favour of equality and fairness. It will take the mass of the population to rise up and in solidarity state that enough is enough, we will be free and live in a fair society that sees to the needs of all our people.

 The Invisible.

We live there— yes— there
A little bit above the dead
But quite a bit below the living
Where poverty is a dream
Deprivation a reality
Our daily bread an illusion
We sigh--we weep—
As ruthless poverty
With its cold claws
Tears the heart from our children
We ask—WHY?
Surrounded by opulence
Invisible to arrogant greed
Anger simmers beneath the surface
We seek equality
We will have justice
If blood is the price
So be it. 

 

Visit ann arky at https://spiritofrevolt.info    

Anarky.

           I penned this wee piece away back in April 2010, but thought it was worth another shout. With the chaos and poverty engulfing us all at the moment, surely now is the time to seek alternatives to the plundering and exploitation of the existing system, now is the time to start to create the better fairer world for all.

  

       

         Ask the average person on the street what they think of “anarchists” and they’ll all probably say something like “chaos” “violence” “mayhem” or some other negative expression. Ask them what they have read of anarchist history or anarchist theory and they will probably say “nothing.” So where did they get their opinions? Obviously they got those opinions from the propaganda organ of the state and the corporate greed machine commonly called “the media”. Why should the media give anarchists and anarchism such a bad press? Could it be because they see anarchism as the greatest threat to their desire and ability to rule over and exploit the people of this world? The state is an hierarchical structure set up to control the people and legislates to protect the wealth of the corporate greed machine. Anarchism is a non-hierarchical system of sharing and mutual aid to the benefit of all in society, the two are totally incompatible. The corporate greed machine works to exploit the population and drag all the wealth up to a privileged few, it puts a price on everything and excludes all those who can’t pay the price, be it healthcare, housing, leisure, services or the necessities of life. Anarchism seeks to see to the needs of all in society and for society to be shaped by all those who take part in that society. The state/capitalist/corporate system produces an ever widening gap between rich and poor, plunders and rapes the planet in an endless drive to increase profits to the shareholders of the corporate beast. Anarchism seeks sustainability through a system based on free association, voluntary co-operation and mutual aid. Given a choice why choose to be exploited, why choose to struggle for the benefit of the privileged few, why sell your children into poverty? We can produce enough to see to the needs of all on this planet, the reason we don’t is not lack of resources it is simply that the system says “NO”, there must be profit in every action, profit for that greedy privileged few who control the corporate greed machine. We accept a system of winner take all and to hell with the hindmost, our compassion and common sense surely demand we look at the alternatives. It is only common sense to attempt to break the downward spiral of the corporate driven consumer juggernaut that destroys the environment and creates the illusion that happiness comes in pretty packaged boxes, at a price. We owe it to our children and grandchildren to try to create a better world of peace and freedom from deprivation for all. Anarchists point the way, anarchism is the tool.

 

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

Keelie 35.

 

          Hi all, the Glasgow Keelie 35 is out, as usual it is packed with what's going on in our city and further afield, comments on the Truss menagerie and its incompetence and blatant attack on the ordinary people in our society. You'll find the Keelie at picket lines, demos, on the street, in pubs and cafes. Make sure you watch out for it and grab yourself a free copy. If you think you could distribute some copies among your mates, then contact us and we can arrange to get them to you.

Read the Keelie on line.

 

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

Contrasts.

            At this moment in time millions of people in the UK are facing hardship beyond their lives experience. Poverty, debt and lack of decent food and heating. with massive increases in prices of food and energy shooting higher, the future looks black indeed. At present in the UK the total debt already owed to utility companies is £1.3 billion. How will the coming price increase add to that. These figures are human beings, struggling to survive in extremely adverse conditions. Compare this with the other end of the capitalist system. The UK has 171 billionaires, with a total wealth of £653 billion, this is up £55 billion on the previous year, that's a 9.4% increase in the past year. Have you seen an 9.4% increase in your personal wealth in the last year. Surely since we are the wealth creators we should be seeing that extra wealth flowing our way. 

 

       Since the end of the pandemic, the only section of this country that has seen a real benefit is the millionaire/billionaire class. During the pandemic UK billionaires saw their wealth grow by more than a fifth, while the population as a whole saw their conditions deteriorate.
       It must be obvious to anyone with at least two brain cells, to realise that this capitalist system is grossly unfair. We have allowed a system that sees the real wealth creators come off worst in the distribution of that wealth and a few parasites to glean the cream of the created wealth. It is long past the time when people think of reforming this unjust exploitative greed driven system of capitalism, its total destruction is the only answer and see it replaced with a system of fairness, justice, mutual aid and the ability to see to the needs of all our people.

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

Expoitation.

 

         It is difficult to take your mind off the so called "cost of living crisis" because of the amount of suffering and hardship that will hit millions of ordinary people in this country and across the world. However, on examination you realise that it is not a "cost of living crisis", it is in fact an "exploitation crisis".
       For example, the wholesale price of gas is 37% cheaper than it was at its peak in March, but retail prices are 53% more expensive than they were in March. Meanwhile British Gas, during the same period, posted an increase of 411% in profits during that period. BP have just announced the highest profits in the company's history, approximately £7 billion. This little earner could mean that the BP CEO Bernard Looney will be in line for an obscene remuneration of £11.7 million. Though in this case we are the real "loonies" for accepting this daily plundering of our lives.
        Now hand on heart and say this is a cost of living crisis and we are all in it together. When will we wake up to the fact that we are being shafted day and daily by a group of billionaires, aided and abetted by the corporate world's minders, the state. They are two sides of the same coin, inseparable, licking each others backsides.

 A trade off!!

           Of course it is not a local problem, it is a world wide plundering and pillage of the ordinary people. For example EXXON's profits are stated to be $2,245.62 every second of every day. Where do you think all that money goes?

 

Visit ann arky's home at http://strugglepedia.co.uk  

Loot.

 

How to get out and about.

           Today I was reading the Financial Times, yea, the Financial Times, I do read it from time to time. This paper is obviously put together for that stock-market, banking, CEO brigade of parasites and their corporate cronies. So it feeds them lots of info, some of it interesting for those looking for the blatant rip-off and plundering that keeps the poor poor, and fattens the off shore bank accounts of the parasite class.

A life on the ocean waves.

       One little article that caught my eye, Vitol, a London based oil trading company, after a bumper year has decided to pay its executives and staff the equivalent of more than $7 million to each of its almost 400 London based trading partners. That's a lot of loot, to the ordinary person $7 million is nothing, it is just an unimaginable entity, a lot of zeros on a piece of paper. Where did all that money come from? Why from you and I, of course, where else. Money does nothing unless we sell our selves to the corporate beast and take our pittance to spend in their shops and malls. Meanwhile they shovel mountains of pounds/sterling into their favourite off-shore tax haven, or perhaps buy a new £100 million yacht. 

If you are in a hurry to get to another country.

       Bearing in mind that is just one company among thousands that garner plunder from our labour, and salt it away for the pampered privileged few. Just imagine if all that loot, that you and I created went to social services instead of Bentley and Rolls-Royce cars, private jets and fancy mansions on some idyllic island. Do you think it would make a difference to the lives of the ordinary person, who happens to be the essential element in creating that wealth? Without the workforce of millions, they would just be a bunch of useless twats, but of course, they already are. It is the wealth that we create that gives them their power and privileges, why don't we take it away from them and share the fruits of our labour across our own communities, creating the style of society we want, one that see to the needs of all our people, and not just to that useless pampered, privileged parasite class.

 A simple place to lay your head.

 

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

It's Illegal.

 

          It's legal, it's illegal, all according to the laws made by the rich and privileged, laws drafted to protect that wealth and those privileges, and a whole state apparatus to enforce it on those who would dare to say, not so, not fair.
           This from my friend and comrade, Bob at Citystrolls, look, listen, think and enjoy, then share with all and sundry, and the rest.

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

Plundering.

 

          Look at the numbers under this system and you see the glaring inequality, you realise the magnitude of the plundering by the few of the riches produced by the multitude. Numbers paint a picture, in this case a picture of blatant robbery of the fruits of the labour of the many, the inhumane exploitation of the many. Under no stretch of the imagination can any of this take place in a democracy. This world has yet to experience democracy, and if we persist with the present system of capitalism and its unavoidable greed driven excesses, we never will see democracy, just ever growing inequality and endless wars to increase and defend the power and privileges of the plunderers.  

 

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

Fork In The Road?

         Let’s imagine the coming year, it will be a year of struggles, as the wealthy, pampered, privileged class will struggle hard to get us to accept the “normal” we used to know before Covid19. On the other hand there should be a struggle by the many to make sure we never go back to that unequal, unjust “normal” we used to know. If we return to their “normal” it will be very one sided, they will do their normal visits to Monaco and St. Moritz, looking at a new luxury yacht and running their eye over a larger mansion, all accompanied by opulence. However, our side of their return to “normal” will be working harder for less, wage cuts/freezes, slashed working conditions and austerity sabotaged social services. So why do it? 

      Of course after such an devastating year and possibly two, of authoritarian rule, harsh and inhumane conditions, added to the suffering and death of loved ones, there will be some sort of burning desire to get back to some sort of “normal”. Despite all that, we have to be rational, that yesterday's “normal” has gone forever, and if you give it some thought, it was a dreadful unjust and unequal “normal”. We now must choose, which of the two roads will we struggle towards, their brutal exploitative “normal” where millions were exploited, oppressed, alienated and ravaged by wars and famine in the midst of plenty. Or will we take on the struggle for that new “normal”, one of our choosing, one of our shaping, a “normal“ where we bury the profit motive, see to all our people’s needs, and build a sustainable society based on mutual aid, co-operation, free association, and respect and dignity for all. 

 

       On looking at the situation before us, it doesn’t seem a difficult decision to make, but the action required will take courage, determination, solidarity and that long term view that we will never allow our grandchildren to be exploited and abused by a pampered and privileged bunch of parasites, as we were for generations. The alternative is that at the end of this pandemic, we pick up our shackles and fasten them to our ankles and aimlessly follow where our masters’ chains pull us, and bind our grandchildren to a heritage of bondage. Their "normal", or our new "normal"?

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

Pretty Boxes.

         We in the West receive our shiny hi-tec products in nice boxes and it all looks very pretty, but at the manufacturing end it is never quite so pretty. These products so often start their lives in sweatshops under arduous conditions, where workers lives are worth nothing and human dignity is something they dream about. Many endure this as a necessity to survive and see to their family's needs, some decide that they'll take no more of this inhumanity and slavery and give free reign to their righteous anger. This is what has happened at a factory that manufactures products for such big shining lights in the hi-tec world as Apple, Levono and Microsoft to mention a few. These and other extremely wealth corporate beasts, paint their products as beautiful necessities to enhance your life, but every box is sealed with blood and sweat of ordinary people struggling to survive in this cesspool of greed.
This from Gadgets 360:

 

 A screengrab of the purported video of the violence, not verified by Gadgets 360 independently

        An iPhone manufacturing facility in Kolar district in Karnataka, operated by Taiwan-headquartered Wistron Corporation, has reportedly been vandalised. A video clip of the violence, allegedly by workers, has also appeared online. However, this clip has not been independently verified. Press Trust of India has quoted a police official saying that the workers attacked the facility — damaging windows, vehicles, furniture, and computers — over salary-related issues. A trade union leader also reportedly said that most employees were not being paid on time and they were unhappy about many deductions in their salaries.
        The workers allegedly claim that many of them were made to work for 12 hours but only paid Rs. 200 to Rs. 300 per day calculated for 7-8 hours, according to a report by News 18. The vandalism took place after the management failed to address their grievances, as per the report.
       Hundreds of workers are said to have ransacked the manufacturing facility, located in Narasapura Industrial Area in Kolar district, 51 kilometres from Bengaluru, after their night shift ended at 4 am today, December 12.
       Wistron Corporation manufactures iPhone 7 for Apple, and IT products for Lenovo, Microsoft among other companies. The company has not made any official statement so far.

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

Blood Fur.

 

        We live in a society that will exploit anything if it can be squeezed for profit. People are exploited to varying stages of degradation, animals are exploited irrespective of the cruelty and suffering, the environment is exploited with little or no regard for the future of life on this planet. Should you object to and attack, any of these profit avenues, you will be labelled a criminal, terrorist or worse. You will be hounded, vilified and persecuted, as all these activities hold the stamp of phony legitimacy, issued by managers of the system, the state.
       Despite the persecution by the state, there is an ever growing army of people who are taking on these savageries against all that lives, and fighting for a better, fairer world for all forms of life, a sustainable world where nature and life are respected in all their wonderful and fascinating forms.

 

 

The following from Inoffensive Animal:

        Many months after Richii’s sentence, the filth has taken him to prison to serve six months. We want to remind you how important it is to support folks in prison, write letters and send love his way, he will need it.
      Richii was arrested and sentenced on bogus charges for fighting against the fur industry. He was targeted because of his history organising in animal rights in Sweden and used as an example to try to stop a campaign that has become increasingly effective. His charges are manufactured to make him look bad and are not based in reality.
      Read his words below:
     “Auf wiedersehen comrades
     if you are reading this, I have been kidnapped by our animal hating & corrupt state and will be imprisoned for a while.
      Many of you have asked me if I want any form of support in prison. Feel free to write me! However, do not feel obligated to send money or other expensive things. Instead, donate that money to your local animal sanctuary.
     Never to stop fighting for the animals, regardless of any resistance or setbacks.
      We are the only ones they’ve got, the only ones who want to save them at any cost and the only ones who care enough and are dedicated enough to set our egos aside for what’s right. We are the ones fighting to end cruelty and exploitation of animals and we’re going to end it once and for all, step by step.
      Fight even harder to crush the resistance: show no mercy for those who stand between us and the oppressed individuals we are trying to save from a certain death.
       Fight back. Organize yourself.
       No revolution has ever begun without a fight, no revolution ever happened in silence. Silence Is Violence.
       Raise your voice for those who can’t speak, fight until every cage is empty and smashed into pieces. I will join you as soon as I can.
For the animals
RK
My address in prison :

Klinsmeister
Box 3112
200 22 Malmö

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

Re-set.

      A lot of the talk at this years Davos wealthy get-together of the world's best exploiters, was of the opportunity to hit the capitalist "re-set" button. This was couched in language such as stakeholder society, greater equality and other double speak to get public money to re-finance the ailing capitalist system. Of course emphasising the need for private enterprise to be there "every step of the way".
        Read for your self and see whether you believe that these pampered privileged billionaires are eager to share their ill gotten gains in a more equitable fashion, making sure you get a fair share of the goodies. Pigs can fly and ducks eat elephants. They are fully aware that the capitalist system is in dire straights and approaching a systemic collapse, it needs to be refinanced urgently and public money is all that is left to bolster their wealth, power and privileges. So hit the "re-set" button and structure capitalism so that it gets the lions share of all public assets, if not all. Dress it up in fine words and platitudes, make it sound fair, but paint a cesspool to look like a mansion, it's still a cesspool. Capitalism can't be re-imagined into into a fair and equitable system, it is a system of exploitation, its very existence requires that we, the ordinary people, are units to earn wealth for the owners and mangers of the system. The only real method of turning it into an equitable system is first destroy it completely, and then get our heads together and create a new design based on the welfare of all our people and sustainability. We hold the plan in our hearts, let's start to put it into action.

From World Economic Forum:

 

----Likewise, populations have overwhelmingly shown a willingness to make sacrifices for the sake of health-care and other essential workers and vulnerable populations, such as the elderly. And many companies have stepped up to support their workers, customers, and local communities, in a shift toward the kind of stakeholder capitalism to which they had previously paid lip service.
        Clearly, the will to build a better society does exist. We must use it to secure the Great Reset that we so badly need. That will require stronger and more effective governments, though this does not imply an ideological push for bigger ones. And it will demand private-sector engagement every step of the way.----

Read the full article HERE: 

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

Funny Money.

 

        The pillars of our wonderful capitalist system is the financial giants, our honourable banks. They oil the wheels of capitalism, they feed the growth of the parasites' wealth, and now we find that they are up to their necks in wheeling and dealing with criminal and corrupt elements, laundering trillions of their ill gotten gains of this festering mess we call capitalism.  

 

         UK bank shares have taken a hit after some of the world's largest lenders were accused of allowing criminals to launder dirty money.
        Over 2,100 suspicious activity reports (SARs) covering more than $2trn (£1.5trn) in transactions were leaked to BuzzFeed News and shared with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ).
       These reports, and more than 17,600 other records obtained by the ICIJ, allegedly show how senior banking officials allowed fraudsters to move money between accounts in the knowledge that the funds were being generated or used criminally.
        Five global banks were named in the investigation: JPMorgan Chase, HSBC, Standard Chartered, Deutsche Bank and Bank of New York Mellon.

      Their greed and brass necks allow them to follow the money, no matter where or how it was generated, more funds in the bank means higher share prices, then bigger bonuses for the masters. To expect other than this from these financial vultures, is being rather naive. After all they firmly believe that they control the world.

        The ICIJ reported that some of the banks named continued to work with "mobsters, fraudsters or corrupt regimes" even after they were warned by US officials that they would face criminal prosecutions for doing so.

       The sums involved are no trifling petty cash, but vast fortunes, and they are not one or two isolated incidents, it is hundreds of transactions over a considerable lapse of time. 

The top 10 banks represented in the FinCEN Files include:

Institution	Number of SARs	Amount flagged
Deutsche Bank	982	$1.3 trillion
BNY Mellon	325	$64bn
Standard Chartered	232	$166bn
JP Morgan	107	$514bn
Barclays	104	$21bn
HSBC	73	$4.4bn
Bank of China	35	$1.3bn
Bank of America	35	$384m
Wells Fargo	21	$57m
Citibank	18	$251m

Data compiled by Buzzfeed News

       Looks like Deutsche Bank could be the biggest money laundering machine in the world. So what does all this tells us, well nothing new, we should all be aware that the entire capitalist system is built on exploitation, though some of that exploitation receives the stamp of legitimacy from the state, others are given the badge of criminality. The latter are simply cash making exploitations that the state feels it has not got control of, nothing to do with morality, ethics or any of that stuff. Of course pursuing these types of affairs creates the illusion that the state is the guardian of the purity of our capitalist system. Will they pursue all those who made money from the rising shares and bonuses, as the stinking trillions flowed smoothly through the system?  

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