Bullshit.

         Capitalism, a system that has always represented only the uppermost echelons of the financially affluent and their parasitical banks. This coterie of self seeking financial fraudsters, though chicanery and bribery convinced the political menagerie, that no matter for what purpose it may have been set up, government is in thrall and dependent on this financial cabal and must follow its bidding. So finance dictates what can and cannot be done. The will of the people must bend to the demands of the financial Mafia, or the threat of societies collapse will ensue. Well that is their mantra that is shouted loud and clear. This preached bullshit is treated by the powers that be, with reverence and respect, with the belief that there is no alternative.
       However, you and I should know that there is an alternative way to structure our society. One based on mutual aid, co-operation, sustainability and community, freed from the greed drive profit motive. The injustices and inequalities of capitalism are not set in tablets of stone. It is a human devised system of selfish greed and can be replaced with a human devised system of fairness. All it requires is the will of the majority of the people to take matters into their own hands and do that restructuring. We can’t wait for the powers that be to do that restructuring, they are very happy in their little bubble of affluence, and to hell with you.

 

 

Image courtesy of The Guardian.

 

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

Kropotkin.

 

          To kick off Red and Black Clydeside, May Week celebrations, a bit early, but to get you in the mood. We start with a Kropotkin Night at Red Rosa's 195 London Road, Calton, Glasgow. Come along and get to know a wee bit more about the man and his ideas. Get to know more about The Paris Commune and the Kronstadt Revolt and lots in between.

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

It's Ours!

 

Image courtesy of Jane Finch

 

      There are many ways to alleviate the cost of living crisis, of course the state's remedy is to get you to grin and bear it until the good times arrive, but they never do arrive. The capitalists tell is it is all due to external factors and market forces, so we just have to be patient and the market will sort it all out. There is another way expropriate what is the fruits of our labour all locked in the labyrinth of the capitalist economic swamp. We create and make everything, we distribute everything, it is all ours but we fall for the capitalist mantra, that it is they who create the wealth and we have to buy the fruits of our labour back, so as to keep CEO and shareholders rich, all bullshit of course.
        An example of self help and mutual aid from that patch of land named Greece.

Image courtesy of Anarchist News.

 

 This from Act For Freedom Now.

via:https://athens.indymedia.org/post/1623804/
Athens: Expropriation of products in My Market in Patisia area

             Precision pricing is one of the most recent manifestations of class violence unleashed by the State and the bosses on those below. The already unaffordable prices of basic goods for some have been inflated through location, resulting in privilege for the haves over the have-nots. With capital striding on the backs of the social base, further impoverishing it, and the State being the institutional guardian of capitalist restructuring and repression, taking our lives into our own hands is the only solution. We will not divide our needs into basic and non-basic, we will not step back on what belongs to us, we will fight side by side until the final elimination of the State and classes.
          In the context of the ongoing mobilizations against precision pricing, revaluations and the overall devaluation of our lives, on Saturday 4/2 an intervention was held by about 25 comrades in My Market in the area of Gravas in Patisia. Various kinds of products were expropriated and after the end of the intervention they were distributed to the people who were in the street market near the supermarket.

Everything is ours because everything is stolen

NTOY in the supermarkets, refusal to pay, war on the war of the State-bosses

 

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

My Rant.

 

          My wee rant on anarchism for those not to sure about what it is. I don't claim it is an essay on anarchists philosophy or a text book for the future, just my ideas on what anarchism can bring to our society.

         Anarchism is a political philosophy that advocates society without a centralized state or government, individuals have the freedom to govern themselves through voluntary cooperation and mutual aid. Though anarchism is often falsely associated with chaos and disorder, there are however, considerable benefits in organizing society on the principles of anarchism.
        What anarchism offers is an increase in individual freedom, choice and equality, with the absence of a central authority that can concentrate power and wealth in the hands of a few individuals, resources are more equally distributed with access to basic needs, such as food, housing, and healthcare are widely available to all. An anarchist society would see to the needs of all its people. It also promotes innovation and creativity, individuals are free to experiment and explore new ideas and solutions to problems, leading to a more dynamic and flexible society.
         Anarchism would create, develop and fosters stronger communities and relationships between individuals, on their own terms without the interference of the state, you are free to form relationships based on trust, mutual aid, and cooperation, which can lead to a greater sense of community and social cohesion. It offers considerable benefits across the full spectrum of society, increased freedom and autonomy for individuals, greater equality, promotion of innovation and creativity, and stronger communities. Anarchism offers an alternative perspective on how society can be organized and the benefits that come from empowering individuals and communities. We can put our trust in each other, rather than some group in the marble halls of power.

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

Stuff!!

         Capitalism demands that we have a consumer society, buy, buy and buy. Any old crap, the latest fashion, an update as they convince you that what you have is out of date, obsolete. A big and better car, move to  bigger house and then fill it with more crap. Consumerism is the life blood of the capitalist parasite class. We eventually find we have loads of stuff, and a lot of it we never use. As long as we buy, we are feeding the capitalist system that enslaves us, helping it to survive and grow. Let's pull the plug on consumerism and see to everybody's needs through mutual aid. On this subject as usual a few words of wisdom from my friend and comrade at Not Buying Anything.

Imagine a life with fewer possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for clutter or excess
In a simple living plan
Imagine all the people
Enjoying just what they need.


- my little ditty, with apologies to John Lennon

         Imagining what we should do with our possessions is a question we all need to come to terms with, preferably before death so we don't leave finding the answers to others.
         Stuff, I have found, is annoyingly persistent. Once acquired, it is difficult to get rid of.
         In recent years even second hand stores have become very selective about what kind of stuff they are willing to take. That's right - you may find you have trouble giving away your unwanted stuff.
         And what is stuff that no one wants? Generally we call that "garbage", and you may have to pay a fee to landfill it. We pay to acquire stuff, pay again to maintain and store it, and finally pay one final time when we want to part with it.
         I have concluded that the thing to do with stuff, unless it is doing important work in your life, is get rid of it as soon as possible, and eliminate the draw on precious life energy. That is why one of my summer projects was filling my big black backpack and biking unwanted possessions out of the house to wherever will take them.
        Returnable beverage containers went to the eco-centre. There I learned that the 125 flattened 1 litre juice tetra boxes in my pack would get shipped all the way to Asia for processing. That seems dumb.
       This led Linda and I to question whether we need fruit juice in tetra packs, or if we need juice in our diet at all. Now we have eliminated it from our pantry, to be replaced by actual fruit.
         Unwanted clothes were also stuffed into The Big Black Pack of Liberation to be whisked away right our of our closet and our lives. Those I biked down to a drop box in the grocery store parking lot. The clothes collected there are resold to benefit a local charity.
         Next I cycled 3 coats to a neighbour that volunteered to make sure they were distributed to people that could use them. I also cleaned out our home and garage and came up with 5 bags of recyclables. Those went to the curb and were picked up on the appropriate day.
        A lot of people can't get stuff into their houses fast enough. They even move to bigger houses to have more room for more stuff. I can't get rid of it fast enough, and it always feels awesome to be rid of it.
        It is a work in progress, and we continue to unload the dead weight that holds us back. There always seems to be more, as if it spontaneously appears and hides until you notice it. This is living better with less in action, and it feels like the right thing to do. The quantity of our possessions are only beneficial to a point, beyond which they are only annoying anchors that hold us back.
       I am always imagining fewer possessions. It is easy if you try.

 

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

Buying.

 

          Some words of wisdom or food for thought, from my friend at Not Buying Anything, call it what you will, but we have choices, and the choices we make will determine the future living standards of our grandchildren, and all the other grandchildren on the planet. Our actions have reactions further down the date line. We are responsible for tomorrow. Of course the ultimate aim is to create a society without buying, but built on mutual aid, co-operation, sustainability and seeing to the needs of all our people, freed from the corrosive and exploitative system of profit.
 

             Gandhi said that the Earth can support our need, but not our greed. More truthful words can not be spoken, but how often do you hear about that today?
             The choice before us today is the same it has always been:
            1. Provide for a small population of high consuming humans satisfying their greed.
          Or
            2. Provide for a large population of humans simply meeting their needs.
            Unfortunately, the psychopaths in charge of consumer nations seem to        have chosen the first option.
            You can call it "The West", "The Golden Billion", or whatever else. It doesn't matter because the result is the same.
            Consumerism is a club, most of the world is not in it, and the plan is to never let them in because there are not enough resources for everyone to consume like we do.
           While those in charge have their own choice made, what will we, the people, choose? Because it is us after all, and how we choose to live, that really matters.

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

Pot & Kettle.

     

        With the farce, pantomime, call it what you will, that is going on in the Westminster Houses of Hypocrisy and Corruption and people calling for a general election, I thought I would try to make it easier to choose between Tories or Labour. So let's look at how the Tories work, they will follow the dictate of the "markets", They will be business friendly, they will balance the books, which translates as the people will have to pay for this mess. So misery and hardship with poverty for us will be the result. 

       Now Labour, however, will follow the dictates of the "markets", They will be business friendly, they will balance the books, which translates as the people will have to pay for this mess. So misery and hardship with poverty for us will be the result. 

      So there you have it, so why bother supporting any of them, the system is rigged in favour of big business. You will be asked, without an option, to bear the brunt of their gambling casino addiction.
        There is a better way to organise society, based on mutual aid, freed from the cancer of profit and exploitation. A society of community organising and control of production and distribution by the people, and seeing to the needs of all our people. Anarchism shows the way, we just have to have the courage and determination to end the state system and build that better world for all. 

 

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

Mutual Aid.

 

           Our Health Service and care facilities are a shambles, creaking at the seams underfunded, over worked. The reason is that they are tied to the state and capital, imagine a health service free from the constraints of state and capital. Imagine a health service run by health professionals and their patients. In a society based on mutual aid and co-operation it would all be possible. As long as we run our society on a system of profit, it will remain impossible. The choice is ours, continue being the slaves to the financial Mafia, live with broken health care, poverty and an eternal struggle for a decent life, or through solidarity and mutual aid break free from this insane, unjust system that caters for the rich and powerful. The choice seems a no brainer.

An interesting article from Anarchist News. 

         From https://www.healthautonomyconvergence.com/ Durham, North Carolina • Coming May 2023 •

        A convergence about healthcare and beyond❋
        Anti-authoritarian, abolitionist, and anarchist healthcare workers Re-imagining and undermining the medical-industrial complex together✹

Conspire with us…

        An invitation to deepen connections for health autonomy together. We invite healthcare workers, caregivers and all who are aligned with our principles to converge in Durham, North Carolina in May of 2023 to find and support one another while creating exits from exploitative medical mazes.
        Are you are a healthcare worker or caregiver who wants to share skills and knowledge, plug into an educational track, propose a discussion, screen a film or discuss something we haven’t even mentioned? Submit a proposal!
        Interested in tabling for the event? Click submit proposals. Interested in volunteering during the weekend? Register and shoot us an email.

About the convergence, What to expect…

         Three days and nights of discussion, workshops, speakers, hands on learning, films, food and fellowship!
         We seek experts in their respective experiences, fields, and communities to share skills and knowledge that may be difficult or impossible to access outside of the space we create together.
         For those looking to orient around specific fields for the weekend, we will experiment with tracks to (optionally) follow in order to foster self-organizing and reinforce long-lasting networks.
        We will create space to vent and grieve all we have lost in the last few years and will provide ample time to nourish ourselves together.
       Coming to Durham in May 2023 ❋ The Hospitals belong to the people
 

       Who we are
        We are anti-authoritarian, abolitionist, and anarchist healthcare workers re-imagining and undermining the medical-industrial complex.
        We look towards a future that prioritizes collective care over individualized exploitation. We honor expertise and undermine professionalism.
        We believe that all humans should have access to knowledge of their bodies, unmediated by the hands of state and capital.
         We work towards a future wherein all human and planetary life has intrinsic and non-exchangeable value, where we are able to live and die on our own terms.
         We look to deconstruct the lines separating patient and provider and hope to collaborate on truly shifting the way power flows in these systems.
         We are pro-autonomy, anti-individual, pro-intimacy, anti-commodification, and so joyful to be coming together to do this work.
         We are an evolving network. If these values resonate with you, we invite you to conspire with us.

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

Why?

 

           I wrote this little piece in October 2003, I think it is more relevant  today than when I penned back then.

A Wider View.  

          If we care to look  beyond the shopping malls and the mainstream media we can see that capitalism is responsible for countless thousands of deaths from poverty, not because there isn’t enough to go round, it is simply that there is no profit in it. In the world today, twenty two children die from starvation every minute of every day, while excess food in the West is stockpiled. Have you ever asked yourself “WHY”? What kind of system would tolerate such blatant cruelty, what kind of people would tolerate such a system? The answer is of course, capitalism is the system, we are that people. How much longer can we allow this to continue? How much longer can we allow the greed of corporate capitalism to rape and plunder this world in its quest for profit? There is an alternative, this so called Western “Democracy” must be stood on it head. An end to the privileged few of the corporate world working hand in hand with State power to use our lives for ever greater profit. This world and its resources belong to the people, to be shared according to our needs. The only way to reclaim our world is to take control of our own lives and organise outside the party political system, at local and community level. We must be the decision makes in the interest of our children, to enrich our own lives, and the preservation of the planet. We don’t need Kings, Presidents or leaders to tell us how to live our lives, their track record is one of wars, greed and exploitation. Let’s sweep them away into the dustbin of history and organise for an era of mutual aid across all cultures, organise at community level in federation with other communities. Let’s see an end to the Nation State and with it, national wars, patriotism and boundaries, a free and colourful world that belongs to free and colourful people.

Most of us go to the grave with our music still inside us!!

                                   Image courtesy of GG-Magazine.

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

Insanity Or?

 

         This world we live in, a mixture of a possible paradise and living in an asylum. We have beauty and co-operation struggling to survive midst greed and brutality We have people's dream of that better world for all and the parasite class voraciously devouring the world's resources for personal power and wealth. A world that functions on the basis of economic insanity. However, it is always in a state of flux, which way will it go, victory for the parasite class and destruction of the planet, or the realisation of that better world for all, the choice is ours, but time is not in our favour. 

          This latest rendering from SubMedia shows the insanity of this world and the forces that struggle for that better world for all.

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

Answers!

 

       What is your answer to the astronomical energy price rises, rocketing food prices, increase taxes, increased interest rates, all of which will kick your standard of living back to the Victorian times? All managed by a group of very rich people, who in all events will not have too much to worry about regarding their standard of living. All off them pointing to the hardship and struggle the ordinary people are facing, but not one of them will suggest an end to the insane economic system that is responsible for all this misery being heaped on you and I. They are all obedient servants of the economic madness that blights the lives of millions, and is destroying the planet, capitalism.
         So what will you do, make placards, march in solemn lines appealing to our lords and master to do something to ease our plight? Will you queue longer and with patience at the nearest food bank? Will you try hard to tighten your belt and live on less, or perhaps, cut down on the kids food? Change your vote for the new Messiah? While we do this, energy companies make billions in profit to feed their over privileged shareholders. Will we stand by while large very rich corporations see their shareholders become millionaires/billionaires. Of course we know that all the above methods have been tried in the past with around about zero effect on our living standards. You may get a small concession here and a little sweetener there, mere paracetamol by the system to make you feel better, to quieten you down, but will not cure our ills, poverty, homelessness, fuel poverty, food insecurity, crumbling health service and broken education system.
        Perhaps this onslaught of hardship and poverty that is being flung our way, way be a kick to much, and we will try a different method to cure our ills. For example build up mutual aid centres in our communities, take control of our community assets and run them as we wish them to be run. Take control of our workplaces and produce for our needs, not for the profit of millionaires/billionaires. They need us, without us they are nothing, we don’t need them, we built everything, shipped everything and distributed everything. The problem is we have been doing it to the dictate of greedy self interested corporations all for their benefit while they laughed all the way to the bank at our servility.

 

 

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

Victory.

          It is not very often that a group involved in self help and community mutual aid, that has been harassed, intimidate told by the city council that what they are doing is illegal and threatened with court action, finds itself in court and after a seven year battle wins and receives damages from the city council. Fort Lauderdale council, done its best to stop Food Not Bombs, by all manner of threats and intimidation from handing out food to those in need. Congratulations to Food Not Bombs for their persistent and courageous fight against the power of the state and gaining a tremendous victory. Hope this is an inspiration to all those other groups and individual intent in facing down the state and trying to make this world a better place for all. The vindictive inhumanity and cruelty of the state knows no bounds, and it is encouraging to see its crass inhumanity get a kick up the backside.

The following from Anarchist News:

           It took seven years, but FTL FNB’s federal civil liberties lawsuit against Fort Lauderdale for banning food sharings is finally concluding. After we won our 2nd appeal in August 2021, the City has accepted a settlement that admits they were wrong to enforce the Park Rule against us and will pay us a small amount of damages. They will also have to pay our lawyers a great deal more!
          These results are on top of the victories this lawsuit already accomplished in years’ prior, including the 2018 appeals ruling that ruled that the original sharing ban law was unconstitutional – and creating a strongly worded precedent about sharing food as protected free speech.
         So anyways we would like to say: FUCK YEAH! We had to bite our tongues a lot over the years to see how this would play out, but no more. We out-lived and out-maneuvered the old Mayor, City Manager, and City Attorney, who were all intent on policing us and the homeless out of existence. Fuck them! Let’s not forget multiple FLPD Chiefs and Captains who sent their goons to stalk and arrest us, all gone now! Nuts to all the narrow-minded fools who wanted to be rid of us.
        And while we struggled to keep FNB going, we did so much more along the way – actions, workshops, fundraisers and so on. We’re honored to have an impact in the courts and the streets over the years.
         One downside to running such a long campaign was our friends that didn’t live to see the end. Presente our dear friend and volunteer David Bambi Hitchcock, and Gonzalo Vizcardo, also a volunteer from a long time ago, and our supporters Sylvie, Bob Bender, Jack Lieberman, and Daniel.
         We deeply appreciate the contributions of all our volunteers and allies over the years.
        All thanks to our lawyers – Mara Shlackman, perhaps the only person who could’ve ever made any of this possible, and Kirsten Anderson, Andrea Costello, and Jodi Siegel of Southern Legal Counsel.
       For the other Food Not Bombses out there – y’all are going to accomplish great things! Don’t give up!
       Finally we’d like to say – Let’s fuck shit up in 2022 – ‘cuz everything’s scary and nothing’s gonna change unless we make it! The people are hungry!

Read the full article HERE:

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

A Choice?

 

        Do you ever imagine living in a style of life that allows you to come and go as you please, to go where you wish to go, to live your life as you desire, as long as you don't abuse and exploit others? A life of freedom in a world of mutual aid, co-operation and respect for each other, a life based on humanity, compassion and empathy. Of course it is all impossible as long as we live under the ever watchful eye of the state and its need for control, as long as we tolerate our lives to be dominated by the corporate world and its never ending drive for profit and perpetual growth. The two styles face opposite directions and are incompatible, which direction we take is our choice. The state/corporate road requires our obedience and the surrender of our personal desires, it may seem the easiest road to take but leaves you an impoverished human, devoid of who you really are, the other requires a struggle to free our humanity with the prize of that better world for all.

The following from Act For Freedom Now:

STATE CAPITAL MEDIA AND SPECIALISTS 

THEY HAVE FUCKED UP OUR LIVES

STOPPING: house arrest, written petition to get a pre-trial hearing, curfew and assembly, certificates of sanitary legality.
“FREEDOM BUSINESS”: third dose, forced vaccination, and for non-compliant, fines, mandatory rapid tests, work suspensions, firings.
DIVIDE AND CONQUER: imposing a new social division between vaccinated and unvaccinated, between compliant citizens and unruly plebes.
ECONOMIC DIVIDE: telecommuting, working around the clock, wage cuts, unemployment, poverty, price increases in everything that concerns our living (rent, food, electricity, etc.).
WE WILL TAKE IT BACK TO THE BARRICADES
We will take them back to the streets.

 – Rabid for life
Source: Athens Indymedia
via: darknights

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

State.

          The "State", a small word with gigantic influence over our lives. A mechanism created and evolved into a forceful defender of wealth, power and privileges for the few. A self perpetuating machine for total domination over the population. However it was not God created, nor is it written in tablets of stone, never to be dismissed, it is simply a man made system of control welded to an economic system of greed and inequality. It can be dismantled and replaced with a humane system of fairness, based on co-operation, mutual aid and a driving force to see to the needs of all our people, free from the profit motive. The more we realise this, the quicker we can bring it down and create that better world for all, and relegate the state/capitalist system to history under the label of Humanity's Darkest Hour.

The following from from Anarchist Agency

A New Animated Video Primer From Agency & AK Press

        As we collectively face an increasing level of social and environmental crises around the world, many people are questioning how the State—a system that wreaks so much destruction—even came to exist and why it has such a stranglehold on us. As anarchists we feel that it is important to acknowledge that the State is the framework for ordering and controlling relations among human society, the economy, and the natural world, and that we have the power to create a better world.
        Recently, Agency’s Eric Laursen published The Operating System: An Anarchist Theory of the Modern State—a groundbreaking look at the State and how it performs like a digital operating system, providing a framework for every part of our lives and rendering itself essential to functioning in human society. Not only does Laursen’s book provide a rare anarchist analysis of the State, but it also calls on us to recognize that the State is something that was intentionally created and can just as readily be replaced with something better.
        We are excited to share with you a new animated video, What is the State? (3:44), which we produced with Eric Laursen and illustrator Seth Tobocman to capture the essence of The Operating System. We highly recommend that you check out the book from AK Press, and please share the video with your friends.

YouTube video link here:

https://youtu.be/u1y_dDfkjrc

 

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

Tomorrow.

          I, like many others have always stated that this pandemic, obviously a painful and devastating disaster to millions, is also the greatest opportunity we have had in generations to change the way we structure our society. As in all disasters, the human reaches out to help each other, and this one was no different. Mutual aid groups sprang up across the planet, people rallied to help each other without the thought of personal gain or profit, it worked and it felt good. As the pandemic seems to be receding across the planet, we mustn't let that feeling of community fade, we should foster it and struggle to make mutual aid the fabric of our communities. Grow the structure of coming together, see and feel the benefits of mutual aid, and use that structure to change the shape and fabric of our unequal, exploitative, profit driven and destructive society, to one that is sustainable and sees to the needs of all our people, mutual aid is the foundation of that better world we all seek. Mutual aid is humanity, humanity is mutual aid.

The following extract from It's Going Down:

           Report from Mutual Aid Disaster Relief about the massive and deadly impact on the coronavirus epidemic and the importance of continued mutual aid organizing.

        Starting in 2019/2020 and now continuing into the summer of 2021, global civil society is witnessing the biggest neoliberal disaster capitalist shock yet: COVID-19. Millions of people have been and continue to be killed by this unprecedented disaster. Like most catastrophes, those historically oppressed and least responsible for this pandemic are nevertheless those most impacted. The death toll is comparable in magnitude of lives lost to another World War.
         Every age has it’s kairos, those moments of possibility where the fate of humanity and all life on the planet hangs on the smallest of threads. What we choose to do or not do in these moments of twilight has the greatest of consequences. The ancient Greeks had two words for time: chronos and kairos. Chronos was/is chronological or sequential time, while kairos signifies a moment of truth – the time for action – pregnant time. Similarly, crisis, in its etymology, is a turning point, a moment where there are multiple paths in front of us, and we must make choices on which path to walk. The Zapatistas, likewise, taught us about the crack in the wall:

        Most of the time the wall is a big marquee where “P-R-O-G-R-E-S-S” repeats over and over. But the Zapatista knows it’s a lie, that the wall was not always there. They know how it was erected, what its function is. They know its deception. And they also know how to destroy it.
        They are not fazed by the wall’s supposed omnipotence and eternity. They know that both are false. But right now, the important thing is the crack, that it not close, that it expand.

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