Failed System.

      The fight against injustice has never gone away, it is part and parcel of the exploitative system of capitalism. Throughout the years people have struggled, organised and fought bitter battles, demanding a fair and just society for all. In Glasgow, we can go back to 1787, the Calton Weavers strike where the weavers of that area  organised to fight the continuing erosion of their living standards, and in the usual attempt at repression, the powers that be were responsible for the deaths of at least six strikers. 1915, the Glasgow Rent strike, a fight to stop the landlords from squeezing the last drop of sustenance from their tenants.  Since then nothing has really changed, we are still fighting the continuing erosion of our living standards, the bedroom tax, zero hour contracts, workfare slave labour and sanctions, the removal of disability allowance from the most vulnerable in our society, and a continuing erosion of wages and working conditions.

         Centuries of bitter struggles just to keep some semblance of decency, while the employing class get richer and richer. Surely by now we should have realised that the system doesn't work in our favour, it can't be modified to work for the benefit of all our people, it has to be scrapped, shoved in the dustbin of history, relegated to the category of man's greatest folly. It has to be replaced by a system that sees to the needs of all our people, a system based on co-operation, mutual aid and sustainability, free from the corrosive motive of profit. We have to do it ourselves, by organising within our communities  mechanisms that circumvent the existing capitalist structures. The help wont come from those already in power, they are doing just fine and are loathed to change anything. The system will only crumble and die when we decide we have had enough, of this endless exploitation and bitter struggle.

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

Student Protest Is Back!!

      Student protest is back, claims an article in popularrestance. Well I hope it is, but that is not enough, protests have to be across the spectrum of society. Those who are hurting must organise and fight back, the low paid, the unemployed, the disabled, pensioners, single parents, they are all being attacked by the "austerity" measures, they are all hurting, they are all being wounded by the attacks of this millionaire corporate cabal we refer to as the government. As the IWW would say, an injure to one is an injury to all. Each group has to join with the other groups, and support each other, solidarity is a winning weapon. To borrow one of their slogans, "we're all in this together", but it against them, drivers of the corporate greed machine.

Students at University of London march through the streets of Bloomsbury as they continue their Cops Off Campus campaign. 

From popularresistance.org

       In 1967, the London School of Economics suspended two students for taking part in demonstrations. The harsh treatment of the duo inspired their peers to hold a sit-in protest and a boycott of lectures. Within weeks, the suspensions were lifted. This began a decade-long student movement that took on social injustice at every turn. Protesting racism, US foreign policy and a whole host of other issues went hand-in-hand with studying in the UK.

     Fast-forward 46 years. The University of Sussex suspends five students for their involvement an occupy-style campaign. University management refuse to release evidence of the disruption they have caused and the student body is moved to action. More protests are arranged, a petition is started, messages of support flood in from MPs and academics. Within less than two weeks, senior management buckles to the pressure and the students are reinstated – with a renewed confidence that they can stand up to authority and force through change.

Student protest is back.

Read the full article HERE:

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

IT'S OUR HEALTH SERVICE - TAKE IT BACK.

          What are you doing in your area, get organised, numbers can change society. You either take it or you fight back. We can create a better society based on the needs of all our people, smashing this system of feeding the rich parasites. Surely the measure of a civilised society is the way it caters for those in most need, and a fair and free health service is a prerequisite of any decent society.  

JOINT TRADE UNION RALLY

to protect the NHS

In conjunction with Trades Council Coalition against the Cuts

Outside the Royal Liverpool Hospital

Tuesday 6^th September 2011

at 12 Midday – 2 PM

BE THERE!

ann arky's home.

SPAIN: ANARCHISTS AND MAY 15 MOVEMENT, REFLECTIONS.

HOW DEMOCRACY WORKS IN SPAIN. 

   

     The following is a short extract from a very interesting article posted on that excellent site LibCom It is well worth reading the full article.

        A reflection article written by anarchists in Madrid on the occupation at Puerta del Sol, leading up to the neighbourhood assemblies which took place on May 28.

        This text was written in Madrid, so many of the descriptions and reflections may not match the reality of other locations, especially given the heterogeneity of the 15-M Movement. Even so, we think that it could be useful as a point of departure for reflection for all the comrades involved in the assemblies, regardless of the site. The text was written and corrected hastily so that it would be ready before the convocation of village and neighbourhood assemblies on May 28. Keep this in mind while reading it and excuse any mistakes that it may have.

-Some Anarchists from Madrid.

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IUF Uniting food, farm and hotel workers world-wide

      Four years after punishing lockout, one year after OECD agreement, Unilever Assam workers still waiting for their union to be recognized.

      Business is doing well at Unilever’s personal products factory at Doom Dooma in the Indian state of Assam. But nearly 4 years after management tried to destroy the union with a punishing 6-week lockout, and almost one year since the IUF and Unilever formally concluded an agreement to settle the dispute under the auspices of the UK government, the workers are still waiting for their union to be recognized as their collective bargaining agent. The workers’ mood is one of deepening frustration. How has this happened?

Read the full story here

ann arky's home.

GLASGOW'S MAY DAY.

      Glasgow's May Day parade took place this afternoon in the city centre, it was a colourful affair with most left political groupings present. This year saw a good turnout, perhaps the weather had something to do with that, but I feel it was because people are looking for ways to display their anger at what is happening in their communities across the country. The chanting and coloured banners symbolised their hope that something can be done to stop the savage cuts to their standard of living.

      However, though they are looking for answers, unless those answers include a dramatic change to the economic system its self, those hopes are going to be dashed. To call for no cuts means keeping the system, which really means postponing the cuts for another day and another generation, as we have struggled against cuts for about as long as we have had the capitalist system.

      May Day, is about the people and their desire for a better world for all, it is not about asking our lords and masters, the parasite class, for some relief from the perpetual struggle, a struggle for which they are responsible. So I to have hope, I hope that all those involved in the May Day celebrations go back to their communities and their work places and begin to organise with their workmates and neighbours, to change society forever and to the benefit of all our people. If not, our children and grandchildren will still be struggling and hoping as they march on future May Days.

ann arky's home.

TAX DODGERS OF THE HIGH STREET.

      This is just a few of the big wealthy businesses that are ripping off the British tax payer while the government turns a blind eye and swings the hatchet at public services. We in Britain are being mugged by a gang of public school thugs. As far as I am aware, mugging is a crime against which you are entitled to fight back in self defence, you can legally take what action is necessary to defend yourself. Hit back hard.

BHS:
        BHS is part of the Arcadia group, owned by Sir Philip Green. Well no, not really, because he gave it to his wife, who doesn't actually work there at all, but she lives in Monaco so doesn't have to pay income tax. This costs Britain around £300 million. That's enough to pay the full £9,000 hike in tuition fees for 32,000 students. Or, the salaries of 20,000 NHS nurses.
      To make matters worse, David Cameron sought advice from billionaire Sir Philip Green on government cuts, We are not really “in this together”.

    WHERE DID ALL OUR MONEY GO? 

     HE SENT IT OFF TO MONACO!

VODAFONE:
     Vodafone owes the UK an estimated £6 billion in avoided tax. This money would cover most of the £7 billion per year cuts to the welfare system.
     It's not only Britain where they aren't paying up. Vodafone owes the Indian government £2 billion in tax from buying an India company. This could save millions of people in India dying from starvation.

     THEY SAY TOP UP!      

       WE SAY PAY UP!

LLOYDS TSB:
     The Lloyds banking group was bailed out by the government after taking too many risks with our money. The bail out cost the British public £850 billion, that's 95% of this country's deficit. Yet we are the ones facing cuts – not the bankers.
     In fact these banks are actually promoting tax avoidance by encouraging wealthy customers to channel money through China.
     Pay them a visit and picket their premises, organise demonstrations to let the public know what they are up to. You are being asked to pay the shareholders bonuses by taking a cut in your standard of living, don't swallow the crap, fight back.

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.

SELF DEFENCE IS NOT A CRIME- IS IT??

Unity statement -
Defend the right to protest - Defend Education

Now is the time for unity, more so now than at any point in our movement for a better world. The move to privatatise all areas of our lives and work will need maximum unity against their efforts to divide us.

SIGN THE STATEMENT ONLINE NOW AND FORWARD TO YOUR NETWORKS
http://www.petitiononline.com/st53231/petition.html

We need unity to defend education and break the Con Dems’ attacks. Stand with protesters against victimisation.
• Stand with the protestors against victimisation
• Hands off our students, our colleges and our universities
• Broken windows cannot compare to the broken hearts and dreams of a generation denied education and jobs
       Wednesday’s 10th November national NUS/UCU 50,000 strong national demonstration was a magnificent show of strength against the Con Dems’ savage attacks on education. The Tories want to make swingeing cuts, introduce £9,000 tuition fees and cut EMA. These attacks will close the doors to higher education and further education for a generation of young people. During the demonstration over 5,000 students showed their determination to defend the future of education by occupying the Tory party HQ and its courtyards for several hours. At least 32 people have now been arrested, and the police and media appear to be launching a witch-hunt condemning peaceful protesters as “criminals” and violent. A great deal is being made of a few windows smashed during the protest, but the real vandals are those waging a war on our education system.
        We reject any attempt to characterise the Millbank protest as small, “extremist” or unrepresentative of our movement. We celebrate the fact that thousands of students were willing to send a message to the Tories that we will fight to win. Occupations are a long established tradition in the student movement that should be defended. It is this kind of action in France and Greece that has been an inspiration many workers and students in Britain faced with such a huge assault on jobs, housing and the public sector.

We stand with the protesters, and anyone who is victimised as a result of the protest.
Initial signatories include:

Mark Bergfeld, NUS NEC
Sean Rillo Raczka, Birkbeck SU Chair and NUS NEC (Mature Students’ Rep)
Vicki Baars, NUS LGBT Officer (Women’s Place)
Alan Bailey, NUS LGBT Officer (Open Place)
Kanjay Sesay, NUS Black Students’ Officer
Matt Bond, NUS Disabled Ctte (Open Place rep)
Michael Chessum, Education and Campaigns Officer UCL SU
Jade Baker, Education Officer Westminster Uni SU
Cameron Tait, University of Sussex Students' Union President
Nathan Bolton, Campaigns Officer Essex University Students’ Union
Clare Solomon, ULU President
Jim Wolfreys, UCU NEC
Dr Marion Hersh, UCU NEC and Scottish Executive
Alex Gordon, President, National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers (RMT)
Lee Hall, playwright ‘Billy Elliot’
Hilary Wainwright, Transnational Institute
Alex Callinicos, Professor of European Studies King’s College London
Billy Bragg Songwriter
Noami Klein Author and Activist.
All in a personal capacity

SOLIDARITY.

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YOU CAN'T EAT MONEY.

       

        This article first appeared on annarky 1 blog on April 6 2010 but I think it is worth repeating. It is just one field where the big money funds manipulate and speculate to increase their wealth at the expense of the ordinary people. Crisis after crisis is inflicted on the ordinary people to the benefit of the pampered parasites that feed of the people, all in the name of profit, it is called capitalism.

    

         "Over the last year we have seen food prices rise at an alarming rate with the pundits pointing in all directions as the possible area to blame. It is drought and other adverse weather conditions, it is the increase population, it is the bio-fuel drive, it is increase demand from the growing middle class in China and India and so they go on. There is absolutely no doubt these factors do play a part in the increase but what is driving the prices up quicker than any other factor is undoubtedly the speculators, “non commercial traders” as they are called in the financial circles.

        Before 2007 the percentage of trading in the world’s food markets controlled by speculators was about 12%, today it is 43%. That is a lot of extra money being pushed into the food market with the result that prices start to rocket. What we are talking about is greed little people with millions scurrying around looking of ways of turning their millions into billions and they don’t give a damn of the consequences to the rest of us. The other bunch of greedy speculators that are pushing the price of food through the roof are of course the speculators in the oil futures markets. We live oil, as it its price goes up so does food transportation, fertilisers and the energy required to process that food. These two groups are holding the world’s population to ransom in their quest for ever more millions for themselves and their shareholders.

       In 2007 before the prices started to shoot up there were 800 million people on this planet who could not get enough to eat, with the daily increases in prices this figure is also shooting up dramatically. We are now hearing of food riots in countries across the globe, the speculators are starving the world in an attempt to increase their already over abundant wealth. Our political “Leaders” are meeting here and there in capitals across the world and making noises but they don’t have the muscle nor the will to control the big corporate greedy beast that is devouring our planet.

       While those government representatives are uttering vacuous mush on the subject the developed governments are subsidising one of the elements of the price increases, bio-fuel. It is stated that by 2017 40% of the maize production in the US will be for bio-fuel. This will certainly increase the speculators wealth and will certainly help keep the internal combustion engine going but will do nothing but more harm to that ever growing, starving multitude of 800 million+ .

      This is the capitalist system, it is not set in tablets of stone, it is not the only way to organise our societies, it is a man made system that fosters greed in parallel with poverty. It can be removed and a fairer and more humane system set up in its place if the people so desire."

 

       Only when we organise to finally put the parasites and their greed driven system in the dustbin of history will we ever see an end to the suffering of millions of hungry people.

ann arky's home.

EXPECTING FAVOURS FROM MILLIONAIRES!!!

       

        The Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS) has stated that the coalition government's first Budget has hit the poorest families hardest. It also stated that the measures announced in the Budget were regressive. According to their analysis this Budget will see the low income families with children lose most as a percentage of net income. Their report also suggests that cuts to housing benefit and disability allowance would see the poorest families lose approximately £422 between the Budget and April 2014. Two other statements are “Low-income households of working age lose most as a percentage of income from tax and benefit reforms announced in the Budget.” and “Those who lose least are households of working age without children in the upper half of income distribution.” The report went on to conclude, “once all of the benefit cuts are considered, the tax and benefit changes announced in the the emergency Budget are clearly regressive as, on average, they hit the poorest households more than those in the upper middle of income distribution in cash, let alone percentage terms.” This from an institution that can hardly be called left wing.

        Now is there anybody out there who believed this bunch of over privileged parasite millionaires would do it different? The Chancellor is a millionaire from a privileged background, 23 of his colleagues in the cabinet are also millionaires. They have no idea of what it is like to be poor, the don't even accept the idea that this system creates poverty. With their value structure, if your poor it is because you are not trying enough, it's your fault. So why spend money on those who just won't get up and get rich. They are under the illusion that they are rich because the worked very hard. So, if you work very hard, you could be a millionaire. From their privileged pampered background social services and benefits just make you lazy. They have no idea of the reality of the working class in this system of exploitation.

          We can never expect them to create a system to benefit all the working class, everything they do will be to the benefit of the corporate world, their world. If we want a better world for all the people in society we will have to do it ourselves. Only the working class can create a society that is fair and just to all and we can only do that if we take control of our lives and control of society and all that it entails. We must organise to take control of our communities and our work places, shaping them to see to the needs of all our people. Who needs a bunch of useless, pampered, privileged parasites to organise our world?

 

 
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WHO SHOULD PAY???

     

      Remember those Glasgow's arms length organisations, Steven Purcell's baby that brought him praises from Tony Blair and were supposed to save the city council taxpayers, millions, well those millions haven't quite materialised. They were projected to bring, for the year 2009/2010, a nice little sum of £7 million, however the have managed to amass a loss of nearly £5 million. This is a group of 12 organisations that were removed from the scrutiny and control of Glasgow's citizens and have become nice little earners for those appointed to run and oversee them. We also know that Purcell, who resigned after a drugs and cronyism scandal earlier this year was accused by some of offering up jobs in these organisations as “sweeteners” to friends and enemies alike. It was a nice little appointment as councillors could pick up £400,000 in extra salaries as directors of these organisations. The stench of corruption is the same no matter where it comes from, The Westminster House of Corruption or the headquarters of the Glasgow political Mafia.

     While this snouts in troughs act is going on we get information that ten of Scotland's councils are set to lose 10,000 jobs between them, our local Glasgow mob are about to shed 2,800. Some of the Scottish councils have said that they expect to to reduce staffing costs, (cut jobs) by 12% over three years.

      We should make no mistake, the plans that are being made at national and local level will mean massive job cuts, which will result in increased poverty among the ordinary people. Of course it will also mean a drastic cut in services for which we have already paid.

       Our aim should be to organise against these cuts, it is not somebody else’s problem it is right across our communities, we will all be hit, the only exemptions will be the millionaires club that organised the cuts. It is the wealthy, those how will not in any way be touched by these savage cuts that are telling us that it is necessary. They organise, we hurt, should we not be turning that around, we organise, they hurt.

 

 

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THE CLASS WAR, IT'S STILL HERE TO BE WON.

       

        As we keep hearing about “the cuts” we tend to look at the small picture and think how it might affect ourselves, our family or our friends. This of course suits the powers that be, see it as an isolated thing, a blip in the running of a good system. However if we want to do something about it we have to see the bigger picture and realise that this is a European wide crisis, one of a continuing string of crisis in a rotten corrupt unjust system, not a blip.

        Greece gets a lot of publicity and the rest of Europe thinks aren't we lucky, we're not as bad as Greece. They were shady and corrupt, while we are open and honest, bullshit. All of European governments are shady, and corrupt. What is hitting Greece is going to be the pattern throughout Europe. A little nearer home, Ireland has already been devastated. The people of Ireland are facing a return to an age of poverty and deprivation. Tens of thousand of people in that country have been ruined. The cuts that the Irish people have had inflicted on them is equivalent to the UK slashing its budget by £150billion, approximately 25 times more than our suggested £6billion+.

            In Ireland, apart from the thousands who have lost their homes and their jobs, there are those who are now working 7 days a week just to keep a roof over their heads. Spain is circling the drain, with Italy, Latvia and other European countries putting a brave face on things as the sweat starts to appear on our masters' foreheads. This is a European wide affair and it is only if we the ordinary people link up in solidarity with all the other working class people on the continent can we hope to gain anything from this struggle. It is a struggle, a struggle that has been going on since the start of capitalism. The corporate world are united in their defence of their wealth and privileges, they realise it is a class war, they will defend viciously everything they have, while savagely slashing at the standard of living of the ordinary people. We have to make the same decision and accept this as the continuation of the class war, it is the working class that is going to be decimated if that upper class has it way. You can rest assured no matter how severe the cuts, the millionaires and billionaires will still be sitting on top with their private jets. It is a case now of accepting the class war, organising and standing up in solidarity across the continent. Don't ignore what is happening on the streets of Greece, speak to them, support them, learn from them, the deprivation is coming your way, don't wait until the shit hits the fan.

 

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