Decision Time???

       The final day of campaigning in the crooks and liars competition, or as the media portray it, the general election, so I'll make my pitch. Not for your vote, but to ask you to stop handing your power over to a bunch of very rich prancing political ballerinas and start to organise your community and society the way you want it to be, by coming together and doing it yourselves, We do not need them, they need us.
     The quest of our political system---

 

  My pitch: 

Why Anarchism?

Freedom and Equality
      Fundamentally, anarchism is the struggle for freedom. Freedom from rulers and corporations who dominate our lives and are destroying our earth. Freedom for workers, women, and all oppressed people in all parts of the world. We believe that this sort of freedom can only be achieved together with equality and a fair distribution of resources.

Individual and Collective
      Anarchists believe in the inherent dignity and humanity of the individual. But this dignity and humanity can only be fully realised in a co-operative, egalitarian society. This is why we are in favour of working together collectively and being organised. It is incorrect to equate anarchism with individualism or chaos.
 

Revolution
      Anarchists understand that this truly free and equal society can only be achieved through revolution – meaning a complete transformation of society. This society cannot be ‘given’ to the people by politicians or bureaucrats. It must be built by people from below.

Change by Direct Action
       Anarchism opposes the violence which is an integral part of capitalism and the state (this violence comes in many forms: war, patriarchy etc.). We believe that means shape ends – in other words, the way we struggle will shape the outcome of the struggle. This is also why we do not support the seizure of State power by authoritarian political parties. However, anarchists do believe in direct action – action taken by everyday people to address the power imbalance in present day society. This includes strikes, boycott’s, work-to-rule’s and occupations.
 

The Past
       Both authoritarian communism (as in Russia, China etc.) and ‘labourism’ (ie. The labour parties of the world), have failed to solve our global crisis. We need a different path to a better world. Anarchism offers itself as a guide on that path.

        Or perhaps you are willing to accept another spell of the "Boris Club" brutality.



Thanks Loam for the video link.

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

Hail The New Messiah.

      So here we go again, another election, more promises of paradise, more shaking hands, more smiling at babies, the crooks and liars are in town. roll up, roll up to the greatest show on earth. I shudder at the amount of manifestos I have been hit with, and stand aghast at the number of messiahs I've seen take to the podium, but paradise never arrives. Despite the increasing wealth of this country over the years and the number of election promises to see a fairer distribution of wealth, nothing has changed that much. Yes we have mobile phones an TVs, but approximately 25% of our kids live in poverty, people are still homeless, parents are still distraught trying to feed their families, jobs are still precarious and wages are still crap. I still maintain that a parliamentary election is nothing more that a crooks and liars competition, each contender trying to out do the other and be crowned king of crooks and liars and take their place on the throne to perpetuate the same old exploitation of the people. So ends my only contribution to this latest crooks and liars competition.

       This from something I wrote a while ago:

       We all know that those who sit on the seat of government are in the pay of the corporate world, they call the shots, who gets invaded and when, where the tax payers money goes etc. So what’s next, new bums on seats, nicer smiles at the podium, while leaving the same corporate power in control? The system stinks from top to bottom, it is the system that should be criticised not the individuals that manage it, an Obama here a Blair there, so what, what changes. When the mass euphoria broke out at the election of Obama I reminded people of the same euphoria when Blair was elected which quickly turned to an effort to get him indicted. Over the years I have seen a multitude of smiling faces form governments and seen a library of election manifestos held aloft, but little changes, our standard of living goes up a little and goes down again, but we always struggle. We go to war on an alphabet of causes, we are always the just and the defenders of freedom, the other the evil enemy, the workers do the killing and get killed, the corporate world takes the bounty. It’s the system that needs to be destroyed, until that happens, we will struggle and we will go to war, we will kill ordinary people in the defence of those ordinary people and it will be the ordinary people that do the killing.

       Let's stop the babble and the pandering to the parasites that control and destroy our lives, Let's realise that we can make a better job of the world if we take control ourselves. Direct action, direct involvement, not delegation of our power to the millionaire parasite class that is going to screw you to the deck at every turn. 

ENDLESS BABBLE.

The questions arise. Why war and hunger?

Why does poverty continue to linger?

Why such need in a world of wealth?

Why put a price on a child’s health?

Confused and angry the public stand

gazing in disbelief at this pathetic band.

Those shiny politicians designed by spin

their street credibility paper thin,

the great persuaders looking the mood

struggling so hard just for our good!

Masters of the art of wheeling and dealing

exceptional experts at legal stealing.

Enter the Media, drowning us all in trivial text,

everything you need know

of scandal and sport, crime and sex.

Together they create a world of confusion

all fashion and style, a vicious illusion.

So no matter how often we point at need,

we always drown in a sea of greed,

no debate entered into, no answers found,

the waffle the babble goes round and round.

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

Let's Roar.

 

      The farce of pretend change, the general election, is over, but the people still want real change, and it will come, but from outside that edifice to corporate capitalism and British imperialism, The Westminster Houses of Hypocrisy and Corruption. Those who want real change to this unjust, unequal, exploitative society, have to be that change, it will never come through delegating that desire for change to a bunch of overpaid, over privileged, political ballerinas.

 

A post election message from Libcom:

       Whatever the result of the general election, we need to be building a movement capable of creating a better world.

Whether it's to wrest reforms from a minority Labour government, or defend ourselves against the onslaught of an increased majority for Theresa May, politics happens in our everyday lives through the wage relationship at work and the state outside it. Organising in our workplaces and communities is essential to building a movement that can transform society, regardless of the electoral cycle.
There are groups already doing that in the UK, right now. Local solidarity groups, national campaigns, radical media and archival projects, anarcho-syndicalist and revolutionary unions all exist and welcome new members and volunteers.
We list some of these below, pick one and figure out how to join or support them.

     Libcom's list HERE so why not, if you haven't already, seek out a local group and become part of that change. Libcom's list is not the definitive list, I'm sure that if you look and ask around you'll find one you feel you can slot into, and change that whisper to a roar.

Let's Roar.

The problem's to big

The perpetrators unknown

you can't beat the system

all on your own.

So it's easy to withdraw

find your own little cage

turn a blind eye to the suffering

stifle your rage,

but the greed goes on

the poverty's still there,

you can't just leave it

for your children to bear.

Others feel as you do

eager to put things right

but lock in isolation

it's a hopeless fight,

so don't sit in silence

behind a closed door,

your voice can help raise

a whisper to a roar. 

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

A Ploy To Get You Off The Street.

        The latest show from the UK's Theatre of Lies, The General Election, has come to an end, the curtain has come down, the media frenzy abates, now back to the usual world of poverty, exploitation, homelessness, food banks, lousy wages and wars. All that time and energy, all those long TV shows and heated squabbling, in a few weeks will be dead history, and capitalist juggernaut will go merrily on its way, of ruthless exploitation, and its brutal rape and plunder of our planet, but it did give our babbling brook of bullshit, the mainstream media, a lot of bubble gum and popcorn to spew out over us.

       The capitalist system with the backing of the state has the incredible ability to morph and change, but retaining its basic structure. All those radical groups, people’s assemblies, etc. who start to form a political party, and/or enter into dialogue with the existing system to extract improvements, at best, do no more than readjust bits of the system here and there, but leave the raw structure of the capitalist system intact, much to the pleasure of the ruling elite. At the moment the system is in a critical state of turmoil and unrest, more and more of the people across the world are showing their anger at the inequality and injustice of the system, and the power mongers are looking around for any method that will hopefully return them to some sort of control. If this means new political parties, calling for more democracy, being given legitimacy, and in doing so restoring the public’s faith in “representative democracy”, then so be it.
       Probably the best known of these “people’s” movements in Europe, are Syriza in Greece and Podemos in Spain. Both came together as a manifestation of the people’s anger at the establishment and its brutal policies of exploitation, corruption and austerity. Both consisted of a mixed bunch of radical left, anarchists and ordinary people, who wanted real change. Both looked like they might challenge the system. However, both formed political parties, walked through the portal of parliament, and took their seats in the marble halls of power, both became part of the system, bolstering up the capitalist elite’s desire to get the people off the streets and bring them back to the acceptance of “representative democracy”, Accepting the parliamentary road they had taken the anger, and will of the people for real change, and channelled it into lobbyists within the system to ask for a few more more crumbs and crusts from the capitalist booty. 

        To take your protests and people’s assemblies down the parliamentary road you are cementing the status quo, you may gain a few more links in your chains, allowing you to walk a little further, but you will remain shackled to the capitalist beast of exploitation, poverty, homelessness and wars.
       Your freedom lies outside parliament, on the streets, in your communities and in your work places, organising horizontally to take control of these areas, short circuiting, by-passing, circumventing and stifling, the so called “will of parliament”. Building real horizontal democracy based on the needs of all our people, sustainability, co-operation as opposed to competition, and mutual aid, only then will you see the cancer that is capitalism wither and die, only then will the people control their own lives. 

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

June 8th. A Win For Capitalism.

       I find it infuriating, though I have grown to expect it, how our political ballerinas jump on transient figures as if they were tablets of stone. The Teresa May, “strong and stable” cabal, have been spouting about how, under their “strong and stable” spell on the bridge of this sinking ship, the UK is the fastest growing economy in the developed world. They continue with this mantra even although the latest figures puts the UK at the bottom, equal to Italy. The latest figures put Canada at the top, followed by Germany, then Japan, next comes France and near the bottom that mighty capitalist juggernaut the US, then UK and Italy equal, languishing at the bottom. But what does the truth matter, this is the season of spewing bigger lies, the Theatre of Illusions is in full swing, with its latest production, “The General Election”. This farce ends on the 8th. of June, but its consequences will be felt for years to come. Will it be on with the full frontal attack on the social fabric of our society, or will it be a rearrangement of some of the crumbs and crusts from the table of opulence being distributed among the so deserving poor. Which ever Messiah takes their place on the throne of UK money machine, the capitalist exploitation will continue, we the ordinary people will continue to produce all the wealth in the country, and will continue to struggle and fight for decent life, while all that wealth we produce, finds its way into the coffers of the already obscenely wealthy and over privileged exclusive club of our lords and masters. June the 8th. may change the label on the package, but it is still the same old box of lousy tricks. I for one will not be excited nor disappointed at the result, I will predict that result now, here on this wee blog, it will be a win for capitalism.

 

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

Drowning In A Sea Of Propaganda.

        As the UK theatre of lies, our so called "general election", trundles on, trying to get you to support one illusion or the other, we should take note that we swim in a sea of propaganda. The party machines and the babbling brook of bullshit, the mainstream media, weave the smoke and mirrors of fake news, lies, propaganda, speculation and supposition, with truth lying somewhere in the sludge well below the surface. We live in a world created and manipulated by propaganda, spewed out by powerful factions and big business with vested interests against the interests of the ordinary people. Any idea of democracy in  a society where the truth is absent is an illusion, those who produce the propaganda do so to keep that illusion alive. Question everything, accept that the interests of the corporate world and the power mongers, and that of the ordinary people are diametrically opposed, incompatible, propaganda is there to make you believe the opposite.

      My friend and comrade Bob at City Strolls, explains in more detail how the insidious fog of propaganda shapes our world.

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

We Know What You're Doing, ALL Of You, ALL Of The Time!!

       As the "Competition of Liars" sometimes called the General Election, hots up, and the various liars get their knickers in a twist about how to out spin each other, the topic of "austerity" is never far from their lips. No matter how they bandy the word about, none of them will mention the billions wasted on the attempt at total surveillance of the citizens of this country.

       Until the revelations of Edward Snowden emerged just a few years back in 2013, British citizens had no idea as to the level of state surveillance they were subjected to. The government, without due process, debate or permission installed a massive taxpayer funded spying system via its domestic agency GCHQ, to tap into internet cables and build an enormous and detailed database of the communications of every man, woman and child in the country with little to no legal oversight. An ID system is no longer relevant, they have far more information than an ID card could ever store.

        The amount of your tax money that is swallowed up in GCHQ is staggering, with the lie that it is all about protecting us from those nasty foreigners. However, the truth is that billions pounds are gobbled up peeking into the actions of your everyday life. You are permanently under their microscope, listened to, watched and profiled, all of us.

        GCHQ’s 360 degree full spectrum bulk collection data system was constructed in brazen and arrogant defiance of Article 8 of the European Convention of Human Rights. Britain’s parliament never debated or approved this massive construction programme as it would for any national infrastructure project. Every phone call, no matter the device is recorded, every image, website visited, personal details such as medical and financial records, contacts, everything private to you is no longer private.

        In this insane economic system, money means quality, hence the quality of health care, eduction, social services, etc., are all deteriorating due to the lack of money being spent on them. When we look at how much is being spent on prying into your personal affairs, you scratch your head and realise the true priorities in this state.

       Although no-one truly knows the costs of UK state surveillance systems over its own population, it is estimated that the cost to the taxpayer just for the storage of all this data exceeds £20 million a month. And whilst GCHQ’s individual budget isn’t public knowledge, its funding comes from the Single Intelligence Account (SIA), which by all accounts has now reached something in the order (£18 billion as at 2015) £20 billion plus.
     One can only guess that provision for GCHQ’s funding is exponentially increasing in an age of austerity where the NHS is in chaos, emergency services such as the fire-brigade and ambulance services to name just two are being stripped bare or privatised. People are dying at the hands of the state and yet we are told there is no money to pay for these vital services. And yet the taxpayer is still funding bank-bailouts, wars in far-off lands that pose zero threat to national security and a new architecture of state surveillance constructed that would make the East German Stasi blush three decades ago.

       £20 million a month just to store who you phoned last week, where you shopped yesterday, what pub you went to at the weekend. Think of an extra £20 million a month on mental health care?
         Is this the type of society you want? Do you honestly think any one of the political bandwagons standing in this "Competition of Liars" will demolish this insidious prying spy system? Don't be so naive, look at history, we are still struggling for equality, we are still struggling for a decent standard of living, our actions are under ever increasing surveillance, despite the fact we have had the full spectrum of political parties, each wearing the crown for varying periods. The system is loaded against us, it is the system we have to change, not the crown prince or the label on the box.  
Read the full article from Tarcoteca HERE:

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

         

Another Show From The Theatre Of Lies.

The symbol of UK democracy.

        So the UK is to have another election, BORING, BORING, BORING. Does anybody honestly believe that after this latest theatre of lies and hypocrisy, that we will see an end to poverty, an end to homelessness, an adequate health service, and an education system helping all kids to a freethinking maturity? Or will it be business as usual, ordinary people struggling for a decent life, while the rich swagger all the way to the bank. You have seen it all before, pompous messiahs offering you the gift of equality, that they can never deliver. The babbling brook of bullshit, our mainstream media, trying to work the public into a frenzy of choosing between tweedle-dum or tweedle-Dee. How many elections and how many Prime Ministers will it take for the message to sink in, they change nothing, the system stays the same.

         These elections are all about making sure you believe in the illusion that you live in a democracy. We live in that smoke and mirrors of illusion that we the people are calling the shots when it comes to an election, but what is on offer is more of the same, with perhaps little tweaks here and there to suit the taste of a particular messiah. However, the basic structure of exploitation, inbuilt poverty and gross inequality remains the foundation of our society. When has it ever been different.

       These party political elections are capitalisms greatest trick, a necessary illusion for capitalism's survival. Without that illusion that we the people are choosing, the whole festering ruthless system of greed and exploitation would be exposed. When we take part in this theatre of lies and subterfuge, we are complicit in our own exploitation, and we deny our children the future they rightly deserve, a world of justice, freedom from deprivation and exploitation. Our inability to see beyond the capitalism/state monopoly on power, guarantees our future generations a continuous life of struggle for what is their right, a society that sees to the needs of all our people.

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

UK Democracy, Power To The Few, Misery To The Many.

       Our totally unrepresentative government, it rules over us with only 36.8% of the vote, has some nasty pieces of legislation it aims to push down our throats, like it or not. On Privacy, Teresa May wants more powers for the government to snoop on us. The snoopers charter is being dusted up for re-issue. The right to strike is high on their agenda, to appease their financial masters and corporate buddies, they want that right to be considerably curtailed. However, the legislation they are introducing would make their own election illegal, as they didn't have sufficient mandate to carry out their legislation!! The right to independent thought and speech. Fuehrer Cameron has stated, “For too long, we have been a passively tolerant society,---” so they plan to target people who believe in certain values and they will make it impossible for “extremists” to succeed. I wonder whose definition of “extremist” they will use? There will be a renewed attack on the young and poor, as it plans a £12 billion cut in welfare, one of the proposals is to scrap job seekers allowance for 18-21 year olds, replacing it with a six month allowance. There is also a proposal to scrap the right of those under 21 to claim housing benefit. To show their human credentials, Teresa may has suggested that those who risk their lives crossing the Mediterranean, should be sent back. As always, true to form, the last thing they want you to know is what they get up to behind closed doors. So the Freedom of Information Act, will be amended to make it easier for the government to block information from being made public. Open and transparent government?? Of course one of the things that has long riled them, and their corporate robber buddies, is the protection the ordinary citizen gets from the Human Rights Act, so that is to be scrapped. And just to show their compassion, a gift to be given to their “huntin' an' shootin' fraternity, is that the will scrap the fox hunting ban, allowing their millionaire friends to tally-ho across the countryside with their dogs, ripping foxes to pieces. This is the power you get with 36.8% of the vote, there is something rotten at the heart of Britain. 

      Of course it doesn't have to be like this, we have the power, the ability and the imagination, to transform our society in to a just and fair federation of communities, based on mutual aid, co-operation, and the needs of all our people.

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

 

Banana Repubilc With A Queen.

      A short response to the new bare knuckle capitalists taking full control of the Westminster Houses of Hypocrisy and Corruption. No more watered down austerity, from now on, it is full throttle brutal exploitation, now it will be corporatism in all its savage reality. Do you expect any real opposition to come from those comfy well paid seats, with all their perks? You may get plenty of noise, lots of hee-haw and braying, with some prick shouting "order order", but the outcome will be what the banksters mates, the Cameron clan, want. If you are looking for opposition to this cabal of millionaires, then it will have to come from you and I. All those well minded people who have been elected with the intentions of locking the Tories out of Downing Street, have entered the game and they will have to play by those rules. Real meaningful change will only come when enough of us don't play the game, and break the rules. The rules were put in place to make sure they don't work in our favour, the dice is loaded in favour of wealth and power. We have to create the change we want, and for the sake of future generations, we have to start now.

      As the man said, "We are a banana republic with a queen, and no bananas".

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

Song Of The Worms.

       A lot has been said and written about the result of the recent Crooks and Liars competition, the so called general election. All I can say is that I find it strange that the abused south of the border have picked the most brutal of abusers to be their new lord and master. However, I suppose it is all just a matter of degree, since they all dance to the same tune, played by the financial Mafia.

       I'll let Canadian poet Margaret Atwood voice my thoughts.

Song Of The Worms.

We have been underground too long,

we have done our work,

we are many and one,

we remember when we were human

We have lived among roots and stones,

we have sung but no one has listened,

we come into the open air

at night only to love

which disgusts the soles of boots,

their leather strict religion.

We know what a boot looks like

when seen from underneath,

we know the philosophy of boots,

their metaphysic of kicks and ladders.

We are afraid of boots

but contemptuous of the foot that needs them.

Soon we will invade like weeds,

everywhere but slowly;

the captive plants will rebel

with us, fences will topple,

brick walls ripple and fall,

there will be no more boots.

Meanwhile we eat dirt

and sleep; we are waiting

under your feet.

When we say Attack

you will hear nothing

at first.

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

The Solution.

     After this present Crooks and Liars competition is over, its resultant confusion may require the the assembled winners to take some advice from Bertolt Brecht, his poem The Solution, seems to offer the best answer to their problems.

The Solution.

After the uprising of the 17th June
The Secretary of the Writers Union
Had leaflets distributed in the Stalinallee
Stating that the people
Had forfeited the confidence of the government
And could win it back only
By redoubled efforts. Would it not be easier
In that case for the government
To dissolve the people
And elect another?

Bertolt Brecht

 

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

When The Abused Pick Their Abusers.

      Well today is the day, the day when many of the abused run around selecting their abuser. They do it with an attitude of anticipation, they feel that change is in the offing. In spite of this process never having produced any meaningful change in the past, they harbour that insane thought, somehow, this time will be different. The babbling brook of bullshit, our mainstream media, will of course be screaming at you all the intricacies and permutations possible in this charade of smoke and mirrors, attempting to reinforce the illusion that it is you that rules the country. However, choosing your abuser, never allows you to choose the abuse. 

     At 81, I have lived through many elections, (Crooks and Liars competitions), and at the start of each, the promises from the participants is always much the same, they will lift children out of poverty, the will end fuel poverty, they will solve the housing crisis, they will improve social services, education, health and welfare. The very fact that these promises keep coming up at the start of each Crooks and Liars competition, is proof that they have always failed. 

      So what's the betting, that once this new cabal of abusers take up the reins of power, each successful contestant will get richer, and when the next Crooks and Liars competition comes around, they will troop out the very same promises that they made at the last one. Another 5 years of failed promises, but the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, doesn't say something?

      Don't expect justice to handed to you my a bunch of millionaires sitting in a gilded palace, or freedom to be granted to you by a cabal of privileged parasites wallowing in the obscene pomp and splendour of the Westminster Houses of Hypocrisy and Corruption. Freedom and justice is something you have to take, at your level with your community, it is not a gift granted to you from above. Like I keep saying, we don't need them, to make the world a better place for us all, they do need us to keep them in their bubble of wealth and privilege.

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