TEAPOT COLLECTIVE - INTRODUCTION TO ANARCHY, PAGE 3.

     

      Today we continue with the wonderful wee booklet, "Introduction to Anarchy" from the Teapot Collective. The recently posted pages 1 and 2 went down well, so read on.

        Page 3.

        At the moment we are all forced to surrender our independence, with no opt-out clause or exception to the “authorities”, And what kind of society has been created through this? One built on oppression based on gender, race, sexuality, species, nationality. Oppression based on class, with a whole section of society made dependent on dull, exploitive work. We're left with the false choice of voting in one bunch of lying scum or another, while the people with money and power remain untouched – landowners, directors of industry and finance, high ranking police and army chiefs, and the rich elite in general.

       According to our “democratic” system the problem is just with the policies of the political parties – every time one of them “fails” in government we're supposed to hope the next lot do better. Of course they rarely do. Even when a revolutionary party takes over, the names may change but power still stays with a small elite and everybody else get shat on. After all, we all know what great places the communist dictatorships of Eastern Europe were.

      So what hope is there for change? We can't just vote for it, and trying to act for ourselves can be difficult, ---

ann arky's home.

THE PARTY'S OVER!!!

        

       On 29 June 2010, I posted the idea that nothing less than an indefinite Pan-European general strike would be needed to change the shape of society for ever. To free ourselves from the grip of corporate greed and build a society based on mutual aid in a sustainable fashion we have to take control of all those corporate institutions. In a word, occupy, transforming them into institutions that are truly democratic, sustainable and run for the benefit of all in our communities, working in federation with each other.

       There is no point to forming a mass organisation to ask our “Lords and Masters” (the parasites) to please give us back some of our pensions and please don't decimate our health service and could we please have a half decent education system, but leave the greed mongers and millionaire parasites in charge. We created all the wealth on the planet, we own it by our forefathers sweat and blood and by our own efforts. They on the other hand have contributed nothing but control it all. The present economic climate may be our last chance to grasp control and change society for ever. Every ordinary person will feel the effects of the millionaires “austerity cuts”, ever ordinary person has to realise that there is a better way to organise our society without feeding the plundering parasites of the corporate world. We have nothing to lose, they are attempting to take every public asset into private hands and completely out of your control. Social services will be private business, you pay or you do without or rely on charities. This system of leaders, presidents and corporate greed has given us nothing but wars, poverty and deprivation, we can surely manage our lives much better than that.

       Organising to take control of our communities and our workplaces is the only hope left for the ordinary people to create a decent life for themselves and their children. As long as we accept the present system of plundering and exploitation of the many by the few, then we are on an ever accelerating downward spiral to ever greater deprivation.

        The UK Trades Unions recently called for a co-ordinated defence of our conditions, the members should be calling not just for UK co-ordinated action but for that Pan-European general strike, not to protect our conditions but to create that better society which is run for the benefit of all. A truly free and democratic society based on free association, voluntary co-operation, mutual aid and sustainability. To hell with the misery of being exploited to hand greedy shareholders a life of unearned luxury, to hell with Chief Executives firing thousands of workers and walking away with millions of pounds for their efforts. The need for that pan-European struggle is now greater than ever, it is the last line of defence before the millionaire's corporate world grasp every public assets into their greedy profit seeking clutches. 

ann arky's home.

WE ARE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER!!!!

       

      The following is a letter written to Indymedia Scotland and the reason I have posted it here is that I fully agree with the writer's sentiments. The student movement should not fight in isolation hoping to sort out something on education cuts. To quote the millionaire twins, "we are all in this together", the fight is a matter of self defence for the whole of society, excluding the millionaire parasites who at this moment in time are calling the shots. The ideology that is being forced onto the ordinary people of this country affects everybody, workers, students, unemployed, claimants, pensioners, the sick, those with mental health problems, housewives, single parents, couples and children. These groups should not be left alone to fight their own battles, like the letter says, the state is powerful, has limitless resources at its disposal and will pick the groups off one at a time. It is only through linking up and working in co-operation across the full spectrum of society with true solidarity can we win this fight. It is a defining battle, if the ordinary people lose there will be a totally corporate society, a society with no social welfare, everything provided by the private sector, at a price, and if you can't afford the price then it will be an appeal to a charity. We will have become a society of profit providers for the corporate world with no say in the shape our society takes. On the other hand, if we win, we can start to create a society that will see to the needs of all our people, a society built on the simple principles of mutual aid, voluntary co-operation and free association based on sustainability. We can create a society that frees all its members from the fear of deprivation. However, it will take courage, co-operation and organised solidarity. We can draw on lessons from some of our victorious battles of the past, to mention two, the 1915 Clydeside rent strike and the 1980's poll tax struggle. Solidarity and direct action was the key in both these victories. 

More on Glasgow working class history, HERE.

Dear Student Anti-Cuts Protesters,

       Thank you. You are an inspiration. You have lit the blue touch paper. But now is not the time to stand back. I was proud to be part of the tremendously successful Edinburgh University-led protest and occupation yesterday. There was a huge turn-out for an Edinburgh protest, and the sudden occupation of the university took everyone by surprise. I am not a student: I'm currently a benefits claimant, and was marching with the Edinburgh Campaign Against Poverty. One of the reasons I am most proud of the Edinburgh protest is that it made an active effort to work in solidarity with workers, benefits claimants, and all others affected by the cuts. As in London, we were all also delighted and impressed by the number of school students who came too. This is an aspect a number of the University anti-cuts campaigns are missing, and that's what I'm writing to you about now.

         Your struggle is not isolated. You are not alone. All those affected by the cuts – workers, claimants, families, everyone – should be proud of you and impressed by you, because you have with rage and love and energy led the charge against these repressive and unnecessary cuts. Workers are being betrayed by the TUC just as students are being betrayed by the NUS: currently so many in Britain are waiting and hoping for organisations to work for cross-class struggle against the cuts. You can contribute to that.

        This government, for all its flimsy rhetoric, is incredibly powerful. States are powerful. You do not win a fight against a state, with all its apparatus of power – from police who beat us up to teachers who punish schoolchildren for their brave protest “truancy” – unless you work across social groups, across classes, in solidarity with the huge diversity of people who are struggling with this government.

       University student protesters, you are privileged. Many, if not most you, have far more financial freedom and time than many affected by the cuts (though certainly you will suffer terribly from them); many of you are white, or male, or have other markers of privilege. It is easier for you to protest and occupy than it is for many, because you will face less repression and have more freedom, and so you have a responsibility to use that power for others.

       So do not let your struggle against fees be compartmentalised. Do not let the anti-cuts fight be divided. Go out and meet with trade unions, with workers and their councils, with disability and LGBTQ rights groups, with women's groups, with those fighting for their benefits, with everyone who is affected by the cuts. None of us will win alone. Together, we can. Do not be parochial. Do not let your struggle be the only reported struggle, and do not waste the power you have.

       This is not to say that you must come and rescue the struggling poor or oppressed minorities. That would perpetuate structures of privilege and oppression. What I am saying is that you are organised, and that you are starting to be heard, and that all the other organised groups who have to struggle harder to be heard need you to work for them.

      Be strong. Use your privilege. Extend your fight. Make it stronger. Show solidarity – but also be active in your solidarity. I say this without pretension or apology for sincerity: your country needs you.

     This letter has been written quickly and not gracefully. It is propaganda. It is flawed. I am currently too busy working and fighting to spend much time writing the philosophical arguments and journalistic analyses. But you can find those elsewhere and I will link to as many as I can find as soon as I can; there are people struggling and writing on all fronts. I am not the only voice telling you this. I am not the only voice asking for your help.

We are already together. We are already strong. Onwards!

ann arky's home.

NEWS CORPORATION.

     

     A short profile of Rupert Murdoch taken from Class War,  his influence spreads far and wide, so you should know a little about the man.

     Rupert Murdoch is News Corporation, an organisation that has evaded, (avoided) paying what would be considered his fair share in tax.

      Some of Murdoch's tax avoiding assets: Fox, Sky, The Sun, News of the World, The Times, The Financial Times, and Myspace.com. He is rated as the 117th richest person in the world with a net worth of $6.3 billion

        He is a union hater and according to the Economist in 1986 Murdoch helped to smash the British print unions by transferring the production of his newspapers to a non union plant at Wapping in East London. He stated that he would dismiss the 6,000 striking workers who were trying to win some concessions out of the media billionaire. The London Evening Standard called the episode, "the biggest union-busting operation in history."

      According to a BBC report; "Mr Murdoch's die-hard loyalty to the tax loophole has drawn wide criticism." The report found that in the four years prior to June 30, 1998, "Murdoch's News Corporation and its subsidiaries paid only $325 million in corporate taxes world wide. That translates as6% of the $5.4 billion consolidated pre-tax profits for the same period. By comparison another multi-national media empire, Disney paid, 31%. The corporate tax rates for the three main countries in which News Corp. operates - Australia, the United States and the UK - are 36%, 35% and 30% respectively. Further research reveals that Mr Murdoch's main British holding company News Corp. Investments, has paid no net corporation tax within these shores over the past 11 years. This is despite accumulated pre-tax profits of nearly $3 billion." 

    So in keeping with the feelings of the ordinary people about occupying and picketing bailed out bankers and tax dodgers we could start a boycott campaign against the tax dodging anti-working class newspapers who will be peddling the crap put out by the millionaire cabal at the Westminster House of Hypocrisy and Corruption, that these cuts are necessary.

ann arky's home.