Anarchist history is varied and exciting and on many occasions has changed society dramatically. The Paris Commune is just one example and well worth remembering and celebrating, even if the end was a bloody massacre. The spirit lives on. This from SubMedia, with the promise of more to come.
We are post, we are autonomous, we are anarchists, we are communists, we provide humanitarian aid in Ukraine, we chase the uprisings, we are brutal feminists and we look after each other, searching for truth and yet disoriented, we fight in our neighborhoods and look for every opportunity to throw a stone. We come from the solidarity movement with Latin America, from the housing struggles of the 80s, from the fading Antifa of the 2000s, from the anti-globalization movement, and finally from today, which does not yet have a name. We want everything and nothing
The world is decaying. The Greens, in their compulsive good face game, try to stop or heal this decay with aloe vera. The fascists try to breathe new life into the decaying world with their necromancy of family, fatherland and Christianity. The old capitalists just continue as before. And the left, in its unsurpassed wisdom of the both-as-also dialectic, also tries its hand at the necromancy of concepts from the 19th and 20th centuries, also adding a pinch of aloe vera to the alleged magic potion that gives them the feeling of moving forward. Even the disciples of Andreas Malm pay homage to a despondent Leninism that trivializes the seizure of power in questions of militancy and pressure to act. Gramsci and Lenin would turn in their graves.
We stand stunned before what nowadays calls itself revolutionary politics, and yet is only a pile of rubble of left-wing social-democratic politics, which pounces resentfully on the FDP, still has not gotten over the betrayal of the SPD of 1914, and does not realize that the Greens have taken these “Punch and Judy” parties to their side as welcome idiots, in order to comfortably consolidate their project of Green Capitalism without causing a stir:
The Government has decided to take the gloves off and use dictatorial methods to stop the workers from defending themselves against greed driven exploitation. The anti-strikes legislation going through parliament at the moment is a direct attack on workers rights, it moves the UK state into the realms of a despot regime. This legislation is at the behest of the state's bed partner the big corporations. They are desperate to re-capitalise their rotten splintering system of capitalist exploitation. Big business wants a free hand to savage the pay and conditions of the workers in an attempt to fatten the bank accounts of the millionaire/billionaire parasite class. The only way they know how to do this is to exploit and squeeze the workers pay and conditions.
Image courtesy of Labour Unions.
This legislation must be destroyed, not just by the workers, but by all the ordinary people, as it is an attack on all our conditions, an undermining of our standard of living, for nothing other than profit for the few. We are expected to accept whatever the corporate world throws at us and submit docile fashion to allow them a free hand in plundering the conditions of the ordinary people of this country. We must organise in our communities and workplaces to support every strike action, every workers dispute, and make it clear, that enough is enough, our time has come. If we allow this legislation to work in any shape or form, it will be proof that they are laughing at us, while we crawl in search of crumbs.
The price you pay for not dressing according to the dictate of authoritarian religious.
Are the people of Iran finally going to throw off the shackles of authoritarian religion? Are they going to grasp the jewel of freedom, free from the rigours of patriarchy? Time will tell, but it is looking extremely positive in what the people are doing on the streets of Iran.
The flames of uprising are once again burning in Iran. Yet, it seems different this time. A revolution is afoot, a feminist revolution.
The first sparks of the revolution started in Saghez of Kurdistan, the home town of Mahsa Amini. Mahsa Amini was a 22-year-old Kurdish girl who was beaten to death by the police for “improper Hijab.” Mahsa was better lnown as Zhina among friends and family. In the Kurdish language, Zhina means life. The Islamic Republic of Iran snuffed out her life and countless others as sacrifices to the altars of Patriarchy, Religion, Racism, & Capitalism.
The original sparks of revolt started by the chants "Jin, Jiyan, Azadi," "Woman, Life, Freedom" are now a evolution spreading to all 31 provinces and hundreds of cities. Even the ideological strongholds of the regime, Qom and Mashhad, are revolting. For the first time, the police are the direct target of people's ire. The Police have been driven back, beaten, and killed. Police cars flipped, burned, and destroyed. Police stations taken over and set aflame. People are no longer scared of them.
The revolution is bearing fruits. Oshnavieh is the first city liberated and in full control of people on September 24th. We are but one step away from overthrowing the death cult that is Islamic Republic of Iran. It has yet to be seen if we would take that final step. But, the people of Iran have already proven that they shouldn't be underestimated.
A co-production between AntimÃdia, Federation of Anarchism Era and subMedia.
The following Lifted from ANARCHISM:
London, the most unregulated city in the world - rich scum particularly welcome ★
“Give me your rich, your greedy,
Your mafia drug-gangs from every corner of the globe
yearning to launder cash,
The people traffickers who exploit the teeming shores.
Send these, the property speculators
who create the city's homeless and drive out the working class.
Bring on the economic power of right-wing churches
To buy up our cinemas, our theatres, and our music venues.
I lift the lamp of the corrupt politician
To illuminate your way!”
The second edition of the anarchist publication Rumoer is out! A publication which will hopefully provoke discussion, irritation, inspiration, agitation, and attack. Because we do not want a raise in wages, but the destruction of work. Because we do not want to shout ‘boo!’ but want to hear BOOM! We want a confrontation without compromise with the system that is destroying our lives and the planet.
In this issue some extra attention for the rampaging Covid-19 virus. But also just the ongoing anarchist interventions and other topics: an interview with a graffiti maker in Lebanon, the fight against Shell, post-gentrification and the use of the Signal app.
If you want to receive the new Rumoer, send an email to: rumoer (((A))) riseup /// net. Since most social centres are currently closed, we ask you to help spread the latest edition. Order some extra copies and bring it to your neighbours, isolated family, friends and comrades.
You can also download the new Rumoer or print it yourself. The link to the downloads can be found at rumoer.noblogs.org
Remember, the streets are empty, the possibilities are open. Keep 1.5 meters away, but always at least ten times as much from the police!
Download:
Cover
Print PDF
Read PDF
Radio on
Smartphones on
Films on
Tablets on
Travels bought
Cars bought
Houses bought
Furniture bought
For what?
Trains going
Dollars flowing
Machines going
People toiling
Motors made
Canons made
For whom?
Destroy what destroys you
Bombers flying
Tanks rolling
Cops hitting
Soldiers falling
Stocks protected
Managers protected
The state protected
Against us?
Destroy what destroys you
The following from Wear Your Voice:
Described as “more dangerous than a thousand rioters”, Lucy Parsons’ writings and speeches were reflective of her time and continue to be relevant today.
The summer of 2020 was ~eventful~ in terms of political focus on anarchists and anarchism. I rolled my eyes every time an American politician blamed anarchists for chaos, showing clearly how willfully ignorant they were about anarchism as a philosophy.
With all that in mind, I wanted to delve more deeply into the history and words of Lucy Parsons. Her life was also marked with American politicians blaming chaos on anarchists, though this was in the late 1800s. Reading Lucy Parsons: American Revolutionary ended up hitting way too close to home, considering it was about events that happened more than a century ago. I took a lot away from the book, but the biggest takeaway is how applicable Parsons’ ideology remains in today’s political climate.
I would be wrong not to mention that Parsons was far from perfect. Her views on sex workers and sexual liberation were antiquated—causing strife between her and Emma Goldman. That being said, I personally believe Goldman was afforded privileges Parsons never got because of race. Parson’s treatment of her son, who she had committed to an asylum, was also abhorrent. Still, reading about her life and her ideologies has been illuminating.
So, here are four Lucy Parsons quotes to turn to for the rest of this cursed year:
“If the Anarchists had thrown the bomb at the Haymarket they didn’t commit a crime nor violate any law. The Constitution gives the people the right to repel any unlawful invasion in any way they see fit.”
This just feels so pertinent when we look at the so-called violence and looting during protests this summer. I’ve written about it before, but fighting against oppressors is justified violence—it’s self-defense. Now I personally think the Constitution is relatively shitty considering who was included in drafting it, but I can’t argue with Lucy’s logic here.
“And some did rest their chins upon their clenched hands And swear to help abolish the infamous system that could produce such abject misery… And some did gnash their teeth and howl, swearing dire vengeance against all tyrants.”
To me, this so perfectly describes the organizers and revolutionaries who are working so hard to dismantle the systems that oppress us. We cannot forget that the uprisings of this summer came after years of organizing and struggling by mostly Black people, who have been working for liberation for centuries (and more recently, since Ferguson). The activation of people during this summer’s actions has hopefully produced a new group of people who “swear to abolish the infamous system,” whether that be capitalism, the carceral state, settler colonialism, or all of them (inshaAllah).
RECOMMENDED: Anarcha-Feminists of the Past and Present are an Inspiration for Today
“Will you deny that your jails are filled with the children of the poor, not the children of the rich? Will you deny that men steal because their bellies are empty?”
Prison and police abolition are undoubtedly having a moment right now. When we talk about abolition, the conversation isn’t only about what would be abolished, but also about what would be created. This quote by Parsons illuminates how so much crime in our country is caused by lack of resources and opportunity, where punishment by the carceral state does nothing but exacerbate the conditions that caused the crime in the first place. It feels as though more people are finally willing to accept that the system we’ve been told is meant to provide justice does no such thing. Rather, it is a symptom of a racialized capitalism, one that criminalizes poverty, especially when those who are poor are Black, brown, disabled, and/or sex-working.
“The present social system is rotten from top to bottom. You must see this and realize that the time has come to destroy it.”
This is the one that lights a fire under my ass (and enrages me). People have known that capitalism is untenable and immoral since the 1800s. We must resist the narrative that it’s the natural order of things and embrace the idea that no one person should control wealth in such a way that others are left without enough to live comfortably. It is far past time to destroy the systems that support cisheteropatriarchy, capitalism, carcerality, and colonialism. So, let’s get to it.
Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk
The idea and practice of anarchic insurrection in the Chilean region and the world is enough to make us forget who we are and to uncritically join social revolts in which diverse and sometimes contradictory interests are involved.
For us, insurrectionists and antisocial anarchists, it has been a great joy to share moments of generalised rebellion between like-minded people and sometimes with circumstantial accomplices united by the desire to bring out the rage against what oppresses us.
However, when we go deeper into the visions about the struggle and what we want to destroy and build, the differences usually come out and we are not interested in this going unnoticed just to be socially accepted. On the contrary, the fire of our indomitable hearts calls us to propagate the idea and practice of confrontation against all forms of social order.
That is why we are not indifferent when we meet people who point out that there would be no major contradictions in being anarchic and going to vote in the plebiscite that could lead to a new Constitution. Among those voices, the argument is repeated that it does not cost much to go to the polls, claiming that this would be an act of “solidarity” with the most precarious people who – supposedly – would obtain structural changes in their lives when a new Constitution is approved. Some have even gone so far as to publicly denounce the “purist selfishness” of those who maintain the idea that elections and political reforms to the state apparatus are not part of the tools of autonomy, horizontality and direct action historically demanded from the terrain of anarchy.
That is why we chose to be explicit in our position, knowing that this can stress those who, motivated by honest aspirations of “participation and social transformation”, tend in some cases to idealize without question the work “with the people”, to not even question the use of well known mechanisms of reformism such as the plebiscites which throughout history has been used to demobilize those who rise in revolt, channeling the struggle towards institutional solutions.
Of course, our anti-electoral option does not make us better than anyone else. What interests us is simply not to forget who we are and that what we are is determined by what we do, regardless of whether the context is favorable or adverse to anarchic action.
That is why, unlike those who claim that society is a victim of the implacable power of the State, we remain in affinity with our comrades who, throughout history, have shown the symbiotic and inseparable relationship between State and Society, revealing the very complicity of citizens in their own domination and that of other individuals.
Because it is not enough to change a government or a constitution for another one. It is not enough to eliminate the neoliberal capitalist economic system to replace it with another form of “more humane” and kindly exploitation.
That is why we will continue to spread the idea that structural changes to the prevailing way of life will not be found either at the ballot box or in the cages of power.
We will continue to point out the important need to destroy the State and all forms of authority by attacking its structures, representatives and defenders, which together with the construction of forms of life and anti-authoritarian relations on the outside and against the institutions is a fundamental part of updating the historical proposals of anarchy in the struggles for individual and collective emancipation.
Actforfree received by email: Introduction to Estallido Antisocial / Antisocial Outburst, a new anarchist publication from Chile. Translation: anarchistsworldwide.noblogs.org SPREADING IDEAS AGAINST POWER AND THEIR SOCIETY
From autonomous initiative as ungovernable individuals we spread anarchy without expecting the progress of the “social struggles” that leads to an illusory future state of “welfare and progress.” The images and feelings of thousands of people fighting in the streets of Chile before the COVID-19 pandemic are still fresh in our memories. Also fresh is the conviction that our lives have been in revolt since long before October 18, 2019, and that in our wild journey we have wielded a theoretical and practical arsenal that has long since ceased to be determined by levels of social and citizen acceptance of violent protest.
We are no longer lost in the absurd idea of considering any person just for the fact of living in society and we are always happy that more people are rebelling against normality by vandalizing buildings state and corporate, looting or attacking the police. However, this does not mean that we are willing to let the revolts, our ideas and practices mingle in the midst of mass discourses, humanitarians or reformists who do not represent us.This is why we deny all typecasting: we are not the people, we are not a class, we are not a vanguard, we do not proclaim ourselves part of a “glorious front line” or any other fictitious social or idealized category to homogenize individuals in the midst of the revolt.
We rebel against all social norms and impositions, aiming at the formation of associations that are free and consistent with our essence: individuals in struggle living the revolt as a continuous present that forges its own evolution in the destruction of the existent, in constant conflict with authority and hierarchical ways of relating, and for the permanent construction of anarchic links of autonomy and horizontality in the here and now.
Nothing more, but also nothing less.
We open this space of communication and dissemination to connect with other like-minded people, collectivizing ideas, tensions and proposals that move us away from comfort and stagnation. For the permanent tension against the State, power and the society that gives it life.
Against all forms of authority, we constantly strive to bring Anarchy to life.
Continue reading HERE:The Decline and Fall of the
Spectacle-Commodity Economy
August 13-16, 1965, the blacks of Los Angeles revolted. An incident between traffic police and pedestrians developed into two days of spontaneous riots. Despite increasing reinforcements, the forces of order were unable to regain control of the streets. By the third day the blacks had armed themselves by looting accessible gun stores, enabling them to fire even on police helicopters. It took thousands of police and soldiers, including an entire infantry division supported by tanks, to confine the riot to the Watts area, and several more days of street fighting to finally bring it under control. Stores were massively plundered and many were burned. Official sources listed 32 dead (including 27 blacks), more than 800 wounded and 3000 arrests.
Reactions from all sides were most revealing: a revolutionary event, by bringing existing problems into the open, provokes its opponents into an inhabitual lucidity. Police Chief William Parker, for example, rejected all the major black organizations’ offers of mediation, correctly asserting: “These rioters don’t have any leaders.” Since the blacks no longer had any leaders, it was the moment of truth for both sides. What did one of those unemployed leaders, NAACP general secretary Roy Wilkins, have to say? He declared that the riot “should be put down with all necessary force.” And Los Angeles Cardinal McIntyre, who protested loudly, did not protest against the violence of the repression, which one might have supposed the most tactful policy at a time when the Roman Church is modernizing its image; he denounced “this premeditated revolt against the rights of one’s neighbor and against respect for law and order,” calling on Catholics to oppose the looting and “this violence without any apparent justification.” And all those who went so far as to recognize the “apparent justifications” of the rage of the Los Angeles blacks (but never the real ones), all the ideologists and “spokesmen” of the vacuous international Left, deplored the irresponsibility, the disorder, the looting (especially the fact that arms and alcohol were the first targets) and the 2000 fires with which the blacks lit up their battle and their ball. But who has defended the Los Angeles rioters in the terms they deserve?
We will. Let the economists fret over the $27 million lost, and the city planners sigh over one of their most beautiful supermarkets gone up in smoke, and McIntyre blubber over his slain deputy sheriff. Let the sociologists bemoan the absurdity and intoxication of this rebellion. The role of a revolutionary publication is not only to justify the Los Angeles insurgents, but to help elucidate their perspectives, to explain theoretically the truth for which such practical action expresses the search.
