Rebel.

                  The state relies on a submissive population, one of its tools to engender this submissiveness is the virus of patriotism. It needs you to feel you owe an allegiance to the state and its flag, so that you can be used as cannon fodder in its many power driven wars. They attempt to create the illusion that the state is there for you, where as they have created a society where, in actual fact, we are there for them. To be used as tools for creating wealth for the few and dying to protect their power, wealth and privileges. Our submissiveness to this arrangement makes us complicit in our own slavery, and in prolonging our world of broken dreams and hollow promises. Our placid acceptance of this hollowed out world is entirely up to us, we have the numbers, the imagination, power and ability to end this insanity and create that better world free from profit, greed and exploitation.

 Patriotism

No, I shall not die for the fluttering flag,
if truth be known, ’tis nothing but a multi-coloured rag
held aloft by some foolish hand
inciting worker and peasant to kill
on some green and wooded hill,
peasant and worker from some other land.

Nor shall I shed blood for the fluttering rag
that brings out fools to stand and brag
of brutal deeds painted grand,
deeds where rustic and craftsman lie so still
killed by my brothers' misguided hand.
 

No allegiance have I for the Nation
this man made autocratic creation
that divides my brothers in a world so small,
binds us to a country's cause, right or wrong,
bids us follow its drum, sing its song,
then sheds our blood in some border brawl.

No, I'll be no slave to flag or nation,
have no ear for power oration,
though its iron heel is on my breast,
my back feels its leather thong,
at patriotism's barracoon, I'll be no guest.

 The following extract from the magazine, The Local Kids.

     

        The initial shock of a new war in Europe has provoked the tired argument that an exceptional event merits an exceptional response. Nevertheless, many before us have been confronted with unprecedented events and have found their anarchist position. Anti-patriotism isn’t an unrealistic position: the discussion of taking sides between warring states is deceitful even in its most pragmatic form. War doesn’t turn authoritarians into humanitarians. On the contrary, strategic calculations become more ruthless. A victorious state will not be generous to anti-authoritarians even if they temporarily ally themselves with the armed forces. On the contrary, the state thrives and is emboldened by patriotic fervour. We should refuse the blackmail of kill or be killed but that doesn’t mean that we should march with the opportunists who now claim pacifism. Although the world doesn’t come back as it was before, anarchists do not start from nothing in finding our way through the perennial challenges of our days. Our hearts still beat for direct actions against war mobilization because there’s nothing liberating in being soldiers and fighting their wars.
          Take care and greetings to everyone out there taking advantage of the interruptions!

PDF on thelocalkids.noblogs.org

Visit ann arky at https://spiritofrevolt.info

Epidemic.

 

           PLEASE PLEASE MAKE IT STOP. This endless throng of wooden headed individuals from ordinary backgrounds, fawning in front of a millionaire who in his entire life has never earned a penny of his wealth, it was handed to him from stolen wealth from across the blood soak empire. They’ll stand and weep and cheer and gush at his presence, then go home and worry about paying the energy bills, how to feed their families. We have to, with urgency, find a vaccine to cure this epidemic of the virus patriotism that blights our land. We have to find that antidote called sanity and spread it across the country or all will be lost and our people will continue to live with that blight of long patriotism, condemned to illusion and poverty. 

 

Image courtesy of LEGIT.

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

Patriotism!

            I couldn’t escape some of the media’s deluge of patriotic nonsense at the loss of one of their imperial figureheads. What shocked me most about this outpouring was a clip on TV of young woman crying because the Queen had died. This young woman of what looked like ordinary working class family, crying at the death of a woman who lived in a world of obscene opulence, so divorced for her own working class standards, she would be unable to comprehend that lavish privileged world, a women she in all probability had never met, but somehow swallowed the patriotic fabricated rubbish that surrounds that whole family and missing what they stand for, privilege, wealth and power. Monarchy is an anathema to democracy and yet vast numbers of ordinary people fall for the illusion that they, the royal family are part and parcel of life with us. The peasant and the lord are never partners, the wealth power and privileges of the lord divides and creates a wall where the peasant must know their place, and it is not in the same big happy family. Patriotism is the narcotic used to dumb the minds of the population, create that illusion that we are all one big happy family, special, different from others, better.

Patriotism

No, I shall not die for the fluttering flag,
if truth be known, ’tis nothing but a multi-coloured rag
held aloft by some foolish hand
inciting worker and peasant to kill
on some green and wooded hill,
peasant and worker from some other land.
Nor shall I shed blood for the fluttering rag
that brings out fools to stand and brag
of brutal deeds painted grand,
deeds where rustic and craftsman lie so still
killed by my brothers' misguided hand.
No allegiance have I for the Nation
this man made autocratic creation
that divides my brothers in a world so small,
binds us to a country's cause, right or wrong,
bids us follow its drum, sing its song,
then sheds our blood in some border brawl.
No, I'll be no slave to flag or nation,
have no ear for power oration,
though its iron heel is on my breast,
my back feels its leather thong,
at patriotism's barracoon, I'll be no guest.

 

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

Anzac.

            All wars are fought to protect the rich and powerful of one power block from the rich and powerful of another power block. They are either fought to increase the resources and markets of one power block or to protect resources and markets of a power block. As the power blocks gear up for war, the war propaganda will spew out, illusions will be painted, through the subservient media, the poison of patriotism will be flow like a river in spate, we will be fed such garbage as defending "our nation", an illusion will be manufacture about some foreigners wanting to destroy "our culture" our way of life, the other is evil and must be destroyed. All this because the rich and powerful need the ordinary people as cannon fodder to shed their blood in these power struggles of the rich and powerful parasite class. Without a subservient population their power would collapse.

The following from Enough is Enough:

        Australia. On 25 April, 1915, about 25,000 Australian and New Zealand soldiers landed at Anzac Cove. Australia’s militaristic national myth was founded on the Gallipoli landing. 

Originally published by Melbourne Anarchist Communist Group.

Gallipoli 1915

Winston Churchill wanted to knock the Ottoman Empire out of the war. Plan A, a naval attack on the Dardanelles, failed.  Plan B was a land assault.    So, on 25 April, about 25,000 Australian and New Zealand soldiers landed at Anzac Cove.  Many were mown down by Turkish guns on the very first day.    By the time of the evacuation nearly nine months later, the debacle had cost 56,000 lives on the allied side and another 56,000 on the Turkish.    The Gallipoli Campaign was one of the many crimes in the much larger crime that was World War I, a clash of two rival imperial alliances squabbling over territory, colonies and resources. Over 17 and a half million people, civilian and military, died for the wealth and power of their ruling classes.

Read the full article HERE: 

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

Borders.

            From an early age the state and its propaganda section, attempt to get you to love that little patch of land that they have with force claimed and built an imaginary wall around, it's called a border. They need you to support them against some other state who might wish to shift the border in favour of their own, power, interests and control. You are trained to love this little patch of land of which you own none, you are trained to love the history of those who claimed this land as theirs and set up those invisible walls called borders. You are meant to have an unstinting love for its flag and its leaders, and patriotism is the poison they use to attempt to intoxicate you into a state of being prepared to give your life for their purloined piece of the planet. These borders are sacred to the powers that be and encourage a dislike and distrust of those on the other side. Trying to cross these borders can cost you your life, you can be herded like cattle in detention centres, classified as an "alien" devoid of any rights. Humanity demands that we bring these imaginary walls crashing down, there is only one race, the human race and we are all part of that race and live on the one planet which belongs to no one, or belongs to us all. Borders are weapons to protect the rich, privileged and powerful, and attempt to create differences between the various groups of people trapped within their boundaries. Freedom and democracy means no borders, and freedom of movement.

Patriotism

No, I shall not die for the fluttering flag,
if truth be known, ’tis nothing but a multi-coloured rag
held aloft by some foolish hand
inciting worker and peasant to kill
on some green and wooded hill,
peasant and worker from some other land.
 

Nor shall I shed blood for the fluttering rag
that brings out fools to stand and brag
of brutal deeds painted grand,
deeds where rustic and craftsman lie so still
killed by my brothers' misguided hand.

No allegiance have I for the Nation
this man made autocratic creation
that divides my brothers in a world so small,
binds us to a country's cause, right or wrong,
bids us follow its drum, sing its song,
then sheds our blood in some border brawl.

No, I'll be no slave to flag or nation,
have no ear for power oration,
though its iron heel is on my breast,
my back feels its leather thong,
at patriotism's barracoon, I'll be no guest.

The following from Enough is Enough:

           This summer we will organize a No Border Camp, somewhere* in the Netherlands.

Originally published by Indymedia NL.

This summer we will organize a No Border Camp, somewhere* in the Netherlands. A week of actions, networking, meetings and discussions about all aspects of repressive migration policies – detention of refugees, racist border controls, deportations, militarization of borders, exploitation of migrant workers, etc. – and the connections with other areas of struggle, such as climate, anti-racism and anti-militarism. The international Abolish Frontex campaign is an important spearhead for the camp.
In the No Border Camp we want to bring the undocumented and the documented together. During the camp, interesting workshops are held and we discuss how we can all take a stand and organize resistance against the harsh Dutch and European migration policies.

Note the dates in your agenda; further info will follow.

Ideas for workshops or actions? Can you help organize this? Mail us: nbc-2022@riseup.net.

* location to be announced shortly before the start.

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

WW3.

          Just to clarify my position, I’ll start by saying, this piece in no way, manner, shape or form, supports the Russian invasion of Ukraine. However, events are not happenings that just pop up out of nowhere, they are usually points on a chain of events.
        Let’s go back to WW2 and remind ourselves of the fact that is seldom admitted to in the West, Russia won the second world war. Russia managed to push the Nazi military machine more or less from Moscow to Berlin in less time that it took the allies to push them from Calais to Berlin. At the final stages of the war, the Americans realised that the Russians would reach Berlin before they did and could therefore lay claim to the capital. So the Americans sent a dispatch rider with the American flag to Berlin ahead of their forces so that he could plant the flag in Berlin and claim that they had also reach Berlin. Hence the split of the capital into East Berlin and West Berlin.
        From that day forward, America saw Russia as a threat to its global power, and labelled Russia as an enemy.
        Since then it has done everything in its power to weaken Russia, destroy its economy and remove it from being a threat to American hegemony, It has applied various sanction, and moved its military might ever closer to the Russian border in the form of its puppet organisation NATO. Everybody knows, push a tiger into a corner and it will pounce. Russia pounced and Ukraine is where the blood is shed.
 

 

       Call it what you will, but world war 3 is in progress and the American imperialism is winning and most of the public seem to think this is a good thing. What fails to register on the public consciousness is the fact that America has invaded more countries than any other nation on the planet. America has attempted to destroy more countries economies by sanctions and threat of force than any other country on the planet. America is an imperialist nation that has imprisoned a far great proportion of it own citizens that any other country on the planet. Every analysis of the American prison system comes up with the same result, it is nothing less than a cheap slave labour institution which makes billions of dollars for the corporate world.
        American imperialism is achieving what it has always wanted, the destruction of the Russian economy and it is succeeding with the co-operation and blessing of most Western countries. It can now turn its attention to its next rival for world domination, China. America has already surrounded China with a ring of fire in the form of missile bases, see John Pilger’s Coming War on China,
         American imperialism will go to any lengths to destroy any power group or country that should dare to challenge its hegemony. It will sacrifice populations in bloody wars, it will starve the population by means of sanctions, to maintain its dominant position on the planet. Not for the benefit of the people, but for the enrichment of the corporate world of billionaires and the protection of their wealth, power and privileges.
         Peace will only come when we get rid of nation states, national borders and see the world as one village where we all benefit from co-operation and mutual aid, freed from higher authorities and the profit motive. Our obedience to their rules and propaganda, to their flag honouring and the poison of patriotism is the foundation of their success.

Patriotism

No, I shall not die for the fluttering flag,
if truth be known, ’tis nothing but a multi-coloured rag
held aloft by some foolish hand
inciting worker and peasant to kill
on some green and wooded hill,
peasant and worker from some other land.
Nor shall I shed blood for the fluttering rag
that brings out fools to stand and brag
of brutal deeds painted grand,
deeds where rustic and craftsman lie so still
killed by my brothers' misguided hand.
 

No allegiance have I for the Nation
this man made autocratic creation
that divides my brothers in a world so small,
binds us to a country's cause, right or wrong,
bids us follow its drum, sing its song,
then sheds our blood in some border brawl.
No, I'll be no slave to flag or nation,
have no ear for power oration,
though its iron heel is on my breast,
my back feels its leather thong,
at patriotism's barracoon, I'll be no guest.

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

Borders.

             What are borders, nothing more than imaginary lines drawn on paper and marked on the ground by power mongering states, to proclaim to others that this is their territory, their stolen slice of a planet. These lines encompass all who live there and bind them to the fabricated rules of the power monger and also are there to deter others born on another stolen patch from entering. Europe has joined hands in a massive border surrounding many of these power mongering states, in an effort to keep out non-Europeans. The suffering and death of thousands of human beings fleeing fear, persecution, death and destruction, is of little consequence to the power mongers of the European super state. Here in the UK our state apparatus has whole heartedly joined and help fund this savage persecution of humans trying to get and take their families to safety. Death among those seeking asylum and safety is a daily occurrence, exacerbated by the actions of these nation states and their phoney borders. Borders are inhuman and in a free society cannot exist, free movement of people is a foundation stone of freedom. We will not be fettered by the rules of power and wealth or glued together with the poison of patriotism.

The following is an extract from Enough is Enough: 

Originally published by Calais Migrants Solidarity.

Thursday’s shipwreck

       In the early hours of Thursday morning (12/08/21), a boat carrying approximately 37 people, including women and children, began to deflate and take on water in the Channel, around 25 kilometers north of Dunkerque. Because of their distance from shore, the people on board were not able to reach the emergency numbers by phone. They tried to signal for help to passing cargo ships, at least two of which passed by without responding. For more than two hours the people kept trying to get water out of the boat. According to survivors, as the boat continued taking on more water, luggage was thrown overboard and some people jumped into the sea to lighten the load.

Continue reading

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

Those Migrants.

         No matter the country, nationalism and patriotism is the main drive of the powers that be. They all try to create this notion that the collective "we" of that country are special, different and should be protected from cultural infection of those others from over there. Migrants are the enemy, the are obviously inferior of criminal intent, and must be herded like cattle and denied any human rights. This technique has worked for centuries, making it easier for the state to gather its population of ordinary people behind its flag and send them over there to kill the population of ordinary people of some other state. All for power, wealth and/or resources to benefit the handful of power mongers that hold the reins of power.

        Patriotism is a poison that tries to tell us the we are different, sadly it is being fed to the ordinary people in every country across the globe. It's a poison that says we are different, when in actual fact we are all the same, human beings trying to make sense of our lives and survive in an alien economic system that benefits the few.

 Patriotism

No, I shall not die for the fluttering flag,
if truth be known, ’tis nothing but a multi-coloured rag
held aloft by some foolish hand
inciting worker and peasant to kill
on some green and wooded hill,
peasant and worker from some other land.
Nor shall I shed blood for the fluttering rag
that brings out fools to stand and brag
of brutal deeds painted grand,
deeds where rustic and craftsman lie so still
killed by my brothers' misguided hand.
No allegiance have I for the Nation
this man made autocratic creation
that divides my brothers in a world so small,
binds us to a country's cause, right or wrong,
bids us follow its drum, sing its song,
then sheds our blood in some border brawl.
No, I'll be no slave to flag or nation,
have no ear for power oration,
though its iron heel is on my breast,
my back feels its leather thong,
at patriotism's barracoon, I'll be no guest.

Brisbane, Australia: Fountain Runs Red for the Victims of Fortress Australia
Posted on 10/08/2020 by anarchistsworldwide

       This morning a group of autonomous dissidents went to the heart of Meanjin’s (Brisbane) capital and political district, close to the plush offices of politicians who make decisions about who gets to live freely and safely, and who remains indefinitely imprisoned and tortured in Australia’s detention regime.
         The fountain runs red today, representing the blood of the dozen or more refugees who died at the hands of Australia’s detention industry, and the thousands of others who have been mentally and physically tortured by it.

         We wrote messages to express our rage and our solidarity for the morning coffee goers, joggers and politicians who work in the corridors of power above, to read on their way to work.
        Though our gesture this morning is small, it is a symbol of our commitment to fight to the end for the freedom of refugees and abolition of Fortress Australia. We demand nothing but freedom and full citizenship rights for all asylum seekers and refugees incarcerated by Australia.
         This is not a game. Refugees have lost eight years of their lives imprisoned by this regime and childhoods have been stolen.
Enough is enough.
          We are counting down, there are only days left to choose humanity over this barbaric standard.

           Each day is another day of shame to Australia and the countdown is on.
5, 4, 3, 2, 1…

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

Lies of War.

     For centuries we have lived in a war ravished world, a world where states preach war as noble, and dying for such noble events is a sacrifice that enhances the human spirit. Though the truth is well known to those who have been there and fought the battles, and the millions of civilians that have perished needlessly in savage brutality, the state still persists in this lie, this illusion, that to die for your country is a noble and honourable sacrifice. Patriotism is usually the banner under which war is given the stamp of legitimacy

      Against the lies and deceptions of the state to sanitise and ennoble war there have been an army of poets, and others, who told the truth and said it like it is, state murder, pointless savagery and bloodshed in the name of the wealthy, powerful and privileged.

        Among them my favourite probably is Siegfried Sassoon, however, this poem that captures the horror of war in one incident of the first world war by Wilfred Owen, probably stands out as a most graphic description of the horrors of the first world war. Sadly these horrors have grown in savagery as wars have moved with the technological advances in killing techniques.

DOLCE ET DECORUM EST

Bent double. like old beggars under sacks,

Knock-keed, coughing like hags, we cursed through the sludge,

Till on the haunting flares we turned our back

And towards our distant rest began to trudge.

Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots

But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;

Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots

Of tired, outstripped Five-Nines that dropped behind.

Gas! Gas! Quick, boys! - An ecstacy of fumbling,

Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;

But someone still was yelling out and stumbling,

And flound'ring like a manin fire or lime . . .

Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light, 

As under a green sea, I saw him drowning,

In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,

He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.

If in some smothering dreams you too could pace

Behind the wagon we flung him in,

And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,

His hanging face, like a devil's sick sin;

If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood

Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,

Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud

Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues, -

My friend, you would not tell with such high zest

To children ardent for some deserate glory,

The old lie: Dulce et decorum est

Pro patria mori. 

        "Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori" meaning: "Sweet and beautiful is to die for the fatherland" from a verse of an ode by Horatio.

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

One Race.

      The incident in this post happens day and daily, in different degrees of harassment and intimidation in cities across the world. The nationalist fervour that is prevalent in our cities is a disease that we have to root out. Migrants are the easy scapegoat for nationalist bile, and the states create this by their nationalistic policies, in an attempt to get you all to rally round the flag. The other must be seen as a problem, the enemy, to get you to accept and embrace their policies of control. We are all people, we all have family or did have, we all fall in love, drive buses, fix plumbing, take care of grand parents, who look after grandkids. We can't allow the state to dictate who we like and who we should fear. Nationalism and patriotism are the enemies of unity across those false lines drawn on the map by power mongers. One race, one planet, one home. The following incident was in Athens, but that city is not unique in its treatment of migrants.

Patriotism

No, I shall not die for the fluttering flag,
if truth be known, ’tis nothing but a multi-coloured rag
held aloft by some foolish hand
inciting worker and peasant to kill
on some green and wooded hill,
peasant and worker from some other land.
Nor shall I shed blood for the fluttering rag
that brings out fools to stand and brag
of brutal deeds painted grand,
deeds where rustic and craftsman lie so still
killed by my brothers' misguided hand.

No allegiance have I for the Nation
this man made autocratic creation
that divides my brothers in a world so small,
binds us to a country's cause, right or wrong,
bids us follow its drum, sing its song,
then sheds our blood in some border brawl.
 

No, I'll be no slave to flag or nation,
have no ear for power oration,
though its iron heel is on my breast,
my back feels its leather thong,
at patriotism's barracoon, I'll be no guest.

The following from Act For Freedom Now:

       On 5/4, a friend from Pakistan was walking on Amfipoleos street in Votanikos towards Rouf train station. At the traffic lights, 2 DIAS bikes that were headed to the opposite direction did a U-turn and stopped him. They asked him where he lives and where he’s going, he showed them the handwritten paper that said he was going out for exercise and then they asked him for his residence permit. He showed them the application certificate, because he’s expecting his papers in the next month, they tore it up, shouting that this isn’t valid anywhere, they pushed him against the wall hitting him in the face, one of them pulled his gun, the other two were holding him and the third one was looking around. One spit at him. At that moment the man’s phone was ringing, the cops saw that those were calls from his girlfriend and started mocking him saying: “Do you have a date?” and “Is your girlfriend looking for you?”.
      Then they pulled down his trousers and opened his jacket, they did a body search on him, for drugs as they said, they searched inside his underwear and pulled off his socks and shoes. They started threatening that they were going to lock him up since he has no papers, they told him they were taking him straight to the police station, and when they saw he wasn’t answering them and just asked to call his lawyer, they refused, hitting him, and sarcastically asked if he was going to start crying, too. What’s more, they doubted that the paper of movement was written by him and they were laughing at him, saying there is no way he can write so well, they stated to him that now they’re going to send the photos from his documents everywhere and they’ll be watching him wherever he goes and in the end they told him that they’ll send him back to Pakistan if he wants to walk free in the street or to exercise, because “here, it’s forbidden”. Then they let him go, telling him that they’re doing him a favour by letting him, and only on the condition that he’ll go home.‌
      One more time, the face of democracy and its instruments is made clear. We are reporting this incident not as something new, nor as something shocking. We are aware of the living conditions of migrants in Greece, of the abuses of the state, of their ill treatment by the police and by every fascist scum, and of the suffering they’re put through—if they’re lucky—to get their papers and live with dignity.‌‌
We’ll soon deal with the cannibals of this world.‌‌
NO ONE ALONE AGAINST REPRESSION.
SOLIDARITY TO MIGRANTS.
LET’S BREAK THE FEAR
source

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

Freedom Means No Borders.

        Migrants, that group of human beings devoid of rights, demonised by the state, simply because they crossed those imaginary lines drawn across the planet by power mongers. Lines that mark the territory over which a small group of powerful and wealthy individuals claim sovereignty. They will defend this patch of the planet with their subjects blood, to ensure they retain their plundered lands or expand them. These lines, borders, are transient, they shift and move according to the dictates of power, without any consideration for those living between these shifting lines. A country can be on a map one day and then disappear on another day, for example Kurdistan, sliced up and divided among other countries, at the dictate of the European Imperialists. Palestine, rapidly disappearing in a deadly and bloody land grab by the Israeli state. Borders are an anathema of freedom, they place individuals under the tutelage of some fabricated sovereignty, demanding the people follow its drum beat and dance to its song, even to the extent of shedding their blood, the state demands we feed on that poison known as patriotism, which is the abandonment of your will to that of the state.
       Freedom is impossible as long as we have the planet divided into power blocks, states, each controlled by a small bunch of pampered and over privileged individuals competing for the worlds finite resources. No where in this grand scheme of things, is there room for the freedom of the individual, no possibility of equality, the system, to survive, must have leaders and followers, otherwise it collapses. If we desire freedom, justice and equality with a sustainable existence, all borders must vanish and be seen for what they are lines in the sand drawn by the greedy and powerful to their own advantage. 

Patriotism
No, I shall not die for the fluttering flag,
if truth be known, ’tis nothing but a multi-coloured rag
held aloft by some foolish hand
inciting worker and peasant to kill
on some green and wooded hill,
peasant and worker from some other land.
Nor shall I shed blood for the fluttering rag
that brings out fools to stand and brag
of brutal deeds painted grand,
deeds where rustic and craftsman lie so still
killed by my brothers' misguided hand.
No allegiance have I for the Nation
this man made autocratic creation
that divides my brothers in a world so small,
binds us to a country's cause, right or wrong,
bids us follow its drum, sing its song,
then sheds our blood in some border brawl.
No, I'll be no slave to flag or nation,
have no ear for power oration,
though its iron heel is on my breast,
my back feels its leather thong,
at patriotism's barracoon, I'll be no guest. 

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

Nationalism, Divider Of People, Cementer Of Submission.

 

       Why is is it that there are people how still think nationalism is a way of bring people together across the globe? Or is it that they don't give a shit about other people, but somehow believe that their own national parasites will take better care of them than parasites from further afield? This illusion that nationalism is somehow a flag worth waving, has been responsible for countless years of bloodshed, savagery, and the needless killing of our brothers and sisters, who happen to be born on a different spot on the planet. All for the protection of the wealthy and powerful, who hold the reins that control the various repressive societies, we at present, live under. Those with this divisive "National Pride" delusion, should accept that it is only by pure chance that they were born in a particular patch of soil on this rather small planet, and it is only by co-operation, solidarity and mutual aid, in a border free world, that we can hope to improve the lives of all our people.

 

Patriotism.

No, I shall not die for the fluttering flag,

if truth be known, ’tis nothing but a multi-coloured rag

held aloft by some foolish hand

inciting worker and peasant to kill

on some green and wooded hill,

peasant and worker from some other land.

Nor shall I shed blood for the fluttering rag

that brings out fools to stand and brag

of brutal deeds painted grand,

deeds where rustic and craftsman lie so still

killed by my brothers' misguided hand.

No allegiance have I for the Nation

this man made autocratic creation

that divides my brothers in a world so small,

binds us to a country's cause, right or wrong,

bids us follow its drum, sing its song,

then sheds our blood in some border brawl.

No, I'll be no slave to flag or nation,

have no ear for power oration,

though its iron heel is on my breast,

my back feels its leather thong,

at patriotism's barracoon, I'll be no guest.

           Note from Insurrection News: The following text is a translation of a leaflet that is being distributed by the comrades at Contra Madriz along with a series of posters, pamphlets and stickers that denounce all expressions of nationalism. The material will be distributed throughout the territories currently ruled by the Spanish State. You can read the original text in Spanish and download PDFs of the material HERE.

NO STATE WILL MAKE US FREE

      No State, Spanish or Catalan, will give us any kind of freedom. Because the reason of being for every State is to subject the exploited and to guarantee the privileges of the ruling classes. The state regulates exploitation via the law and is responsible for ensuring that the oppressed never rise up against an order that exploits, humiliates, evicts, steals, murders and creates misery throughout the length and breadth of the planet.

      No police, Mossos (Catalan police), Civil or National Guard protects us. They are the shock force of the state that protects private property and are responsible for repressing and persecuting those who do not kneel and decide to fight against their rotten world. There are no good police or bad police, all repressive bodies obey a very specific logic: maintain order. Let’s not forget the actions of all police forces in general strikes, demonstrations, neighborhood raids, racist controls, surveillance of prisons, evictions and even as a force of foreign occupation (remember the number of police officers deployed for international missions). They obey and serve their masters.

       Democracy, parliamentary institutions and politicians do not look after our interests, but their own interests. No one but ourselves should look after our interests. Electing our masters, voting, submitting to majorities and / or minorities, acting within democratic frameworks…makes us complicit in our own domination and establishes in us the spirit of delegation in officials. We put our lives in their hands. Relying on politicians who only seek (as they all do) to profit from our struggles and our feelings, while submitting us or aspiring to submit us, makes us become a servile mass ready to mobilize or demobilize according to their electoral interests and their struggles for power.

       No nationalism or flag should represent us. As the oppressed and exploited we should understand that we have more in common with the other oppressed and exploited than with an entrepreneur or politician who was born in the same place as us. Nationalism and patriotism are tools of power which infect and manipulate the oppressed and make them dance to the tune of the oppressors and bond with our class enemies and their constantly changing projects and needs. The affection for the land in which we live or our language are taken away to justify the creation of new states. Obviously, culture should be something living, in constant evolution and free development between individuals and communities. The state is the death of all free development, building borders and sowing the seeds of racism and xenophobia.

        Under capitalism, the state and any form of authority, we will never be free. Let us build a new world on the ruins of authoritarian and state society. Let us build and fight for anarchy, as a constant struggle against all forms of oppression and exploitation, in solidarity and mutual support with our equals, no matter where they come from.

NO NATIONS! NO BORDERS!

(via Contra Madriz, translated by PDF)

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

The Workers Pledge In Time Of War.

      The blood curdling howl of the dogs of war reverberate through the airwaves, the babbling brook of bullshit, the mainstream media, blasts out the bugle call to arms. Meanwhile, in the Westminster Houses of Hypocrisy and Corruption, the Honourable Members, those who will never be called upon to wear a uniform, or lift a gun, call for others to shed blood in the name of some illusion. From their cloistered, pampered, privileged cocoons, they scream their frenzied insanity, calling on workers of this land, to kill workers in another land.

      Have no illusions, our super smart bombs are not really smart, they are blunt instruments of death. They will tear through the flesh of a child just as accurately and as brutally, as that of a "terrorist". The bombs will fall on villages, towns and cities, and will reap carnage on shopkeepers, nurses, invalids, gardeners, and fruit growers, the elderly will meet the same fate as the gunman. Villages, towns and cities will disappear from the map, their people will scatter to the four corners of our world, fleeing hell on earth, families will be dispersed, and hatred will grow like weeds and its seeds will spread in the wind of memory and folklore. 

Patriotism

No, I shall not die for the fluttering flag,

if truth be known, ’tis nothing but a multi-coloured rag

held aloft by some foolish hand

inciting worker and peasant to kill

on some green and wooded hill,

peasant and worker from some other land.

Nor shall I shed blood for the fluttering rag

that brings out fools to stand and brag

of brutal deeds painted grand,

deeds where rustic and craftsman lie so still

killed by my brothers' misguided hand.

No allegiance have I for the Nation

this man made autocratic creation

that divides my brothers in a world so small,

binds us to a country's cause, right or wrong,

bids us follow its drum, sing its song,

then sheds our blood in some border brawl.

No, I'll be no slave to flag or nation,

have no ear for power oration,

though its iron heel is on my breast,

my back feels its leather thong,

at patriotism's barracoon, I'll be no guest.

        We cannot allow the insanity of our wealthy "lords and masters" wrapped in the cloak of patriotism and "national security" to drag us into another nightmare of carnage. We cannot see another generation born into a world of hatred and revenge. We the ordinary people of the world, have bled through endless wars, our families have mourned our dead for generations, we know the suffering of carnage, it has solved nothing. Don't be fooled by the frenzied screaming of the friends of wealth and power, the voice of imperialism. We have been bombing the Middle East continuously since 2001, remember Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, and now Syria? Is the world now a safer place, a more peaceful place? Only a blind fool or a lying imperialist stooge would answer yes.

         Let us go back to the words of one of Glasgow's well known anarchists, and conscientious objector, Guy Aldred, and take some words from his 1929 pamphlet, "At Grips With War"

The Workers Pledge In Time Of War.  

   I refuse to kill any child's father.

   I refuse to slay any mother's son.

   I refuse to plunge the bayonet into the breast of any

                   woman's brother, lover our mate.

   I refuse to murder and deem the slaughter glory.

   I refuse to butcher with hands that were intended to

                   to serve and caress.

   I refuse to soak the earth with blood and blind my reason

                   with obedience.

   I refuse to assassinate another man and then hide my

                   stained fists in the folds of a bloodstained flag.

   I refuse to be flattered, cajoled, or driven into hell's

                   nightmare by a class of well-fed snobs, crooks

                   and cowards who despise my class socially, rob

                   my class economically, and betray and oppress it

                   politically. Let militarism do its worst, I refuse

                   to serve, I decline to kill.

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

WW1, Aristocratic Greed, Not Patriotism.

      As 2014 starts to write its story, we have artists, in this case con-artists, the Cameron Gang of millionaire parasites, attempting to paint it as the year of patriotism. They will endeavour to drown us in patriotic bullshit, using the horrible slaughter of the disastrous and unnecessary World War 1, attempting to paint it as a wonderful achievement. This horrendous human folly will be re-branded as part of a glorious past. A blood bath brought about by the wealthy, greedy, power hungry, aristocrats squabbling over lines in their empires. This disagreement between the parasites resulted in 37 million, military and civilian casualties. There were over 16 million deaths, and more than 20 million wounded. Disease claimed more than 2 million and another 6 million went missing presumed dead. For what?

 
 Photo from Google.

      We should not allow the pampered, millionaire Oxbridge parasites to use this horrendous event as a smoke screen to conceal the effect of their vicious policies. It would be demeaning to those who died in that pointless blood bath. All of those who died were our people, the ordinary people, and they died because of other people's egos, stupidity and greed.

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

Colonial Butcher Kitchener.

       Well friends and comrades,  it's a new year, will it be a new year's resolution, or will it be a new year's revolution? Will there be the great awakening, will there be that revolution of consciousness when we see the world differently? Will we follow our imagination, and grasp our dreams? Will we realise that power we have through solidarity, and shape the world to all our needs? After generations of being exploited, will we finally stand up and screw the bastards, once and for all. All the best.

           This image, one from those brutal days of empire, must be the biggest insult of the last century, to the ordinary people. Field Marshal Horatio Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener, KG, KP, GCB, OM, GCSI, GCMG, GCIE, ADC, PC.

was a famed butcher of the colonies, in the peak days of Empire. As colonial administrator, he was responsible for many ruthless campaigns to keep the colonies under the yoke of the British Crown. He was also the imperialists recruiting sergeant for that swamp of death, that is referred to as The First World War. Why would the people of this country and those of the former British colonies wish to see this man honoured? Why should we feel any affinity to this butcher?

     We are in for a year of patriotic pish being poured over us, in an attempt to turn the stupidity and the pointless carnage of that blood bath of 1914/18 into a glorious event. An avoidable event, when parasitic imperialists decided to settle their greedy squabbling by shedding the blood of millions of ordinary people. People who had nothing to gain from the slaughter, People who left poverty to enter that hell on earth, and, if the did come back, they returned to even greater poverty and hardship, while their imperial lords and masters wallowed  in glory and wealth.

    There was nothing in the "Great War" for the ordinary people except endless, pointless killing and suffering. Rather than follow the flag waving triumphalism of that pampered parasitic class of imperialist dinosaurs, who would willingly send another generation into the "valley of death", for their own gain, we should be getting very angry. We the people bore the brunt of all the bloodshed, death and misery, while they, the ruling parasites gained all the spoils.

    The First World War, like most wars, was a public display of our lords and masters' greedy squabbling, to further their own wealth and power. It should be remembered as such, and the finger should be pointed at those responsible for all that death and suffering. 

Patriotism

No, I shall not die for the fluttering flag,

if truth be known, ’tis nothing but a multi-coloured rag

held aloft by some foolish hand

inciting worker and peasant to kill

on some green and wooded hill,

peasant and worker from some other land.

Nor shall I shed blood for the fluttering rag

that brings out fools to stand and brag

of brutal deeds painted grand,

deeds where rustic and craftsman lie so still

killed by my brothers' misguided hand.

No allegiance have I for the Nation

this man made autocratic creation

that divides my brothers in a world so small,

binds us to a country's cause, right or wrong,

bids us follow its drum, sing its song,

then sheds our blood in some border brawl.

No, I'll be no slave to flag or nation,

have no ear for power oration,

though its iron heel is on my breast,

my back feels its leather thong,

at patriotism's barracoon, I'll be no guest.

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