Obvious.

         I have always maintained that those who believe we can "fix" capitalism, are idiots. They are trying to fix something that isn't broken, capitalism is working just fine, and doing what it was intended to do, make a few people very rich at the expense of the many. Once you grasp this truth, you realise that the only answer for justice and equality for all, is the total destruction of capitalism and all its attendant institutions. We are sold lies and illusions, and dwell in a land of smoke and mirrors. A world woven by the massive corporate advertising beast and its companion, state propaganda. Nowhere in the world of these two servants of capitalism is there a shred of reality, nothing related to the world we the ordinary people inhabit. 

      Nothing is as it is painted, "the economy" dressed as necessary and benevolent to all, reality, a label for the continuation of exploitation of the mass of people. Bearing in mind that the richest 1% have massively increased their wealth while the bottom 50% have become poorer.  "Prison", a place to put dangerous people, reality, a dustbin to dump those who would hinder the exploitation of the people. Bearing in mind that approximately 80% of those in prison suffer learning difficulties, substance addiction and/or mental health issues, and should be somewhere in the social care system and not prison. "Advertising" bringing the latest information to assist you to make choices to enhance your life, reality, devious and duplicitous manipulation of desires and reality to increase consumption and profit. Bearing in mind that the corporate world spends billions of pounds annually on advertising, so it must work. "Democracy", hailed as a way for you to be involved in the running of your country, reality, an illusion created to try to stop you from taking control of your own lives and communities. Bearing in mind that practically all those in government have connections and investments in the corporate world and they decide the shape of your world and how your tax money will be spent.

        So the answer seems to be straight forward, to live our lives in a world we recognise and relate to, we must screw the "economy", abolish "prisons", scrap "advertising", and get rid of their so called "democracy" and take control of our communities and workplaces in co-operation with all other communities scrapping the profit motive. Well, what are we waiting for?

 

 

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Why Work.

          Lock-down, partial lock-down, half lock-down, tiered lock-down regional lock-down, all shaped to try to keep you going to work, all those who can’t work stay in your cell and don’t socialise. There is an attempt to stop this virus but not at the expense of the economy. The economy must be protected at all costs, and that cost is billions of pounds of taxpayers money being pour into the coffers of big business, and continual spikes in deaths. As the various fiddling with measures give the impression that our lords and masters are working for your benefit. However we have the farcical “test and trace”, billions handed to corporate buddies and the result a scheme that is laughable if it were not so tragic. It’s safe to go to work on public transport, but not safe to go on public transport to visit your granny, one helps the economy, the other doesn’t. You can mix with strangers in a cafe, at a distance, but can’t visit your neighbours or your family down the road, again one helps the economy, the other doesn’t. Of course they will give you the "science" behind these decisions, but science like anything else has a variety of avenues, and there are several scientific views on these matters. Our lords and masters will pick the one that suits them, and interpret it according to their desires, which is, save the economy.
          Covid19 is a virus that spreads by close contact, it doesn’t select those that mix socially rather than those obliged to mix to keep the economy going. As long as the plan is to keep getting people out to work, rather than the number one priority being save people’s lives, we will see continual decreases and spikes. Sadly these rather innocent sounding terms and simple graphs, “spikes” and “hospital admissions” refer to human beings, members of families being struck down by a very serious and debilitating disease, and in some cases death. No economy is worth that cost. Why should you be the one to risk you and your family’s health for the benefit of “the economy”, remember as a worker mixing with others in what could be described as rather dubious conditions, go home and take what infections you may have picked up back with you. Who benefits most from you risking you and your family’s health, you or your employer? 

 

         Let’s screw the economy and look after each other. We can use this pandemic to change the structure of society by building on mutual aid and seeing that anything that is necessary for the well being of the public is taken into public ownership and run by the communities on a non-profit basis. We don’t need fat profits, greedy CEO and other members of the parasite class. Why risk your and your family’s health and well-being to keep the tills of a coterie of parasites ringing, so that they can live in the sort of luxury they think they deserve. Our new normal that sees to the needs of all our people, is what we should be aiming for, not a return to their exploitation and profit driven greed economy normal.

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Insanity.

        At the moment the favourite popcorn and bubble gum of the mainstream media is the pandemic and the Trump election. All else in the world is calm and not worth reporting, or so it would seem. However the horror of Iraq still spills blood in buckets full, all those years after we installed "Western democracy", Afghanistan still keeps adding to its dead and maimed, on a daily basis, after 19 years of Western attempts at bring the people "freedom" and to punish them for a event they had no part in, 9/11. Then there is Libya, where the West freed the people by getting rid of an evil man and turned the country into a blood letting tribal battle ground, and now it is about to once again explode as the Western powers have not got the compliant structure that would delivery what they wanted. Then let's not forget Syria, a country where millions have fled their homes, hundreds of thousands have been killed and the slaughter still goes on. A country where a world war is being fought with the people of Syria being the collateral damage. In that country at the moment, Israel, Turkey, Russia, and America, aided and abetted by the EU are shelling, bombing maiming and killing, while the media would have us all focus on the election between a lying, egotistical, psychological deranged, delusional idiot and an authoritarian, money grabbing, duplicitous manipulator, from which the outcome will not alter anything.

Libya

     Add to this mayhem and insanity, the gross ineptitude in handling this pandemic, with the powers that be keeping their emphasis on the economy as that is where their wealth and power lies, without their control of the economy they have nothing, and they will never allow that to happen. So expect this pandemic to continue with its stop-start, spike and leveling off, restrictions on-off and on again. In between all that saving the economy, people will die unnecessarily. And there are those who say that the human is a rational animal.

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Economy V People.

      Different countries respond to the coronavirus pandemic in different ways, it appears that the more capitalist developed a country is the more helping the economy is seen as a must, with the health of the people trailing behind. The more socialist orientated, then the more the health of the people is first and the economy trailing behind. Add to this the situation in the capitalist world of vested interests in the economy and crass stupidity of those in power, shaping the decisions made by our lords and masters and you can understand why some countries are facing a greater disaster than others.

     The following is an interesting article by Leonardo Flores from CODEPINK:

       Within a few hours of being launched, over 800 Venezuelans in the U.S. registered for an emergency flight from Miami to Caracas through a website run by the Venezuelan government. This flight, offered at no cost, was proposed by President Nicolás Maduro when he learned that 200 Venezuelans were stuck in the United States following his government’s decision to stop commercial flights as a preventative coronavirus measure. The promise of one flight expanded to two or more flights, as it became clear that many Venezuelans in the U.S. wanted to go back to Venezuela, yet the situation remains unresolved due to the U.S. ban on flights to and from the country.

       Those who rely solely on the mainstream media might wonder who in their right mind would want to leave the United States for Venezuela. Time, The Washington Post, The Hill and the Miami Herald, among others, published opinions in the past week describing Venezuela as a chaotic nightmare. These media outlets painted a picture of a coronavirus disaster, of government incompetence and of a nation teetering on the brink of collapse. The reality of Venezuela’s coronavirus response is not covered by the mainstream media at all.
      Furthermore, what each of these articles shortchanges is the damage caused by the Trump administration’s sanctions, which devastated the economy and healthcare system long before the coronavirus pandemic. These sanctions have impoverished millions of Venezuelans and negatively impact vital infrastructure, such as electricity generation. Venezuela is impeded from importing spare parts for its power plants and the resulting blackouts interrupt water services that rely on electric pumps. These, along with dozens of other implications from the hybrid war on Venezuela, have caused a decline in health indicators across the board, leading to 100,000 deaths as a consequence of the sanctions.
     Regarding coronavirus specifically, the sanctions raise the costs of testing kits and medical supplies, and ban Venezuela’s government from purchasing medical equipment from the U.S. (and from many European countries). These obstacles would seemingly place Venezuela on the path to a worst-case scenario, similar to Iran (also battered by sanctions) or Italy (battered by austerity and neoliberalism). In contrast to those two countries, Venezuela took decisive steps early on to face the pandemic.
      As a result of these steps and other factors, Venezuela is currently in its best-case scenario. As of this writing, 11 days after the first confirmed case of coronavirus, the country has 86 infected people, with 0 deaths. Its neighbors have not fared as well: Brazil has 1,924 cases with 34 deaths; Ecuador 981 and 18; Chile 746 and 2; Peru 395 and 5; Mexico 367 and 4; Colombia 306 and 3. (With the exception of Mexico, those governments have all actively participated and contributed to the U.S.-led regime change efforts in Venezuela.) Why is Venezuela doing so much better than others in the region?
      Skeptics will claim that the Maduro government is hiding figures and deaths, that there’s not enough testing, not enough medicine, not enough talent to adequately deal with a pandemic. But here are the facts:
      First, international solidarity has played a priceless role in enabling the government to rise to the challenge. China sent coronavirus diagnostic kits that will allow 320,000 Venezuelans to be tested, in addition to a team of experts and tons of supplies. Cuba sent 130 doctors and 10,000 doses of interferon alfa-2b, a drug with an established record of helping COVID-19 patients recover. Russia has sent the first of several shipments of medical equipment and kits. These three countries, routinely characterized by the U.S. foreign policy establishment as evil, offer solidarity and material support. The United States offers more sanctions and the IMF, widely known to be under U.S. control, denied a Venezuelan request for $5 billion in emergency funding that even the European Union supports.
       Second, the government quickly carried out a plan to contain the spread of the disease. On March 12, a day before the first confirmed cases, President Maduro decreed a health emergency, prohibited crowds from gathering, and cancelled flights from Europe and Colombia. On March 13, Day 1, two Venezuelans tested positive; the government cancelled classes, began requiring facemasks on subways and on the border, closed theaters, bars and nightclubs, and limited restaurants to take-out or delivery. It bears repeating that this was on Day 1 of having a confirmed case; many U.S. states have yet to take these steps. By Day 4, a national quarantine was put into effect (equivalent to shelter-in-place orders) and an online portal called the Homeland System (Sistema Patria) was repurposed to survey potential COVID-19 cases. By Day 8, 42 people were infected and approximately 90% of the population was heeding the quarantine. By Day 11, over 12.2 million people had filled out the survey, over 20,000 people who reported being sick were visited in their homes by medical professionals and 145 people were referred for coronavirus testing. The government estimates that without these measures, Venezuela would have 3,000 infected people and a high number of deaths.
         Third, the Venezuelan people were positioned to handle a crisis. Over the past 7 years, Venezuela has lived through the death of wildly popular leader, violent right-wing protests, an economic war characterized by shortages and hyperinflation, sanctions that have destroyed the economy, an ongoing coup, attempted military insurrections, attacks on public utilities, blackouts, mass migration and threats of U.S. military action. The coronavirus is a different sort of challenge, but previous crises have instilled a resiliency among the Venezuelan people and strengthened solidarity within communities. There is no panic on the streets; instead, people are calm and following health protocols.
      Fourth, mass organizing and prioritizing people above all else. Communes and organized communities have taken the lead, producing facemasks, keeping the CLAP food supply system running (this monthly food package reaches 7 million families), facilitating house-by-house visits of doctors and encouraging the use of facemasks in public. Over 12,000 medical school students in their last or second-to-last year of study applied to be trained for house visits. For its part, the Maduro administration suspended rent payments, instituted a nationwide firing freeze, gave bonuses to workers, prohibited telecoms from cutting off people’s phones or internet, reached an agreement with hotel chains to provide 4,000 beds in case the crisis escalates, and pledged to pay the salaries of employees of small and medium businesses. Amid a public health crisis - compounded by an economic crisis and sanctions - Venezuela’s response has been to guarantee food, provide free healthcare and widespread testing, and alleviate further economic pressure on the working class.
      The U.S. government has not responded to the Maduro administration’s request to make an exception for Conviasa Airlines, the national airline under sanctions, to fly the Venezuelans stranded in the United States back to Caracas. Given everything happening in the United States, where COVID-19 treatment can cost nearly $35,000 and the government is weighing the option of prioritizing the economy over the lives of people, perhaps these Venezuelans waiting to go home understand that their chances of surviving the coronavirus – both physically and economically – are much better in a country that values health over profits.

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All Must Kneel Before The Altar Of The Economy.

       So often humans create something for their benefit, and then the "thing" becomes more important than the people. Trade unions were created to help people but now in most cases the union becomes more important than the people it was meant to serve. Religion is the same, the church must be protected even at the expense of the people. Today it is the economy, how do we cure ourselves from the epidemic of consumerism. These usual words of wisdom, which I endorse, from Not Buying Anything sums it up perfectly.

 Don't worry. Keep buying, and be happy... sort of.

          I keep hearing that "the consumer is doing the heavy lifting" for the economy, that they are "holding up", and "aren't fatigued yet". Isn't this backwards?
      I remember a time when the economy worked for the people, existed for the people, functioned for the people. Now, the people work for the economy. Now, nothing is more important than the economy.
       So we get the following situations:
       The environment is generally collapsing... but the consumer is still buying.
       Manufacturing is down... but the consumer is still buying.
       There is a "Retail Apocalypse"... but the consumer is still buying.
       There is a global political crisis... but the consumer is still buying.
      Depression and suicide have reached depressing proportions... but the consumer is still buying.
       We are getting fatter and less fit... but the consumer is still buying.
      Everything is breaking down, but not to worry - the consumer is still buying.
       If I understand this correctly, as long as we keep buying, everything will appear to be fine. The only disaster that could befall the world that would actually matter is if The Consumer stopped buying.
         If The Consumer even dared to slow their acquisitional frenzy, there would be an immediate emergency declared that would require special and intense activity to repair.
        We would need to really DO something in that case. We wouldn't want to put the billionaire lifestyle at risk now, would we?
       "I buy, therefore I am", will be the new motto to live by if the economic manipulators get their way. Today's Consumers will be tomorrow's Buybots.
       So don't worry about all those pesky and unimportant emergencies scientists and environmental activists keep making up, just keep buying.
         Everything will be fine. Well, the economy will be fine, at least, and what is more important than that?
       That is the system as it exists, and I'm not buying it. Our planetary community needs something better, and soon.

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

CORPORATISM AND WAR,

Simple and yet comprehensive in its explanation,  it should be on the national curriculum.

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WHY WORK?

       In today's society and for some hundrerds of years past, work has been the, be all and end all, of the ordinary person's life. We are brain washed into believing that it is necessary and the only method for our survival. It doesn't have to be that way, work can be transformed into creativity, and society structured to limit time spent on "necessary" work cut to a minimum and still see to the needs of all our people. We should examine what exactly work is in a capitalist society and who stands to gain the most for "our work".

This from Digital Elephant:

       The old work ethic has disappeared along with the massive obsolete structures of capital which required a permanent army of producers, yet work still has far more implications than mere survival. Millions of people still compete for the privilege of turning up day after day, year after year, to surrender body and soul in exchange for a wage. The alternative: to encounter one’s real desires and create the means required to realise them, could present some surprises and lead to undreamed choices. A job, boring or arduous as it might be, is the easy way out. It gives structure to our day and puts order in our expectations, giving us just enough in our pockets to acquire instant sublimation and quell any sudden surge of hatred towards what is stealing our time and our lives.
The pernicious mixture of hatred and dependency at the basis of the work relationship atrophies the individual, reducing life to a question of accountancy. ‘Free time’, a mere negative quantity ranging from a few hours between days at work, to months or even years between jobs, can be survived by performing a number of rituals. Shopping, watching TV, doing voluntary work or going on adventure holidays to far away places can fill gaps and prevent any feelings of anguish which might lead to putting the whole setup in question. If all else fails, capital’s white-coated auxiliaries are always on hand to prescribe the latest psychotropic fix tailored to produce a dim glow of indifference.

Continue READING:

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HOLIDAY AT HOME -FOR THE ECONOMY???

       

         We should be used to hearing politicians saying things to get an effect or create an impression, but not really meaning what they say. Our millionaire public school thug Cameron has just given us another example.

         The British economy must be doing very well at the moment. How do we arrive at the point of view, well by Mr. Millionaire Cameron of course, as deeds speak louder than words. For the last three years the millionaire Camerons have taken their holidays in Cornwall and last year he stated “I love going on holiday in Britain.” He also called on Britons to take their holidays at home to boost the country's economy. Well this year it seems that the country's economy no longer needs his money as he is off to some foreign spot to “get some sun”. Perhaps he feels he has done enough and it is now up to you and I to holiday at home and pull the country through. That is for those that can still afford a holiday, considering the rising fuel bills, rising inflation and the fear of losing your job.

          Don't listen to what they say, watch what they do!!!

 

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FREEDOM PRESS AND WILDCAT.

   

  The longest running anarchist newspaper in Britain is Freedom, established in 1886. As well as fighting the sysyem for the last 125 years, publishing lots of interesting and informative articles, keeping you in touch with what anarchists are up to, it also has "Wildcat". "Wildcat" has some wonderful insights and words of wisdom, this little session is from 16 July Freedom issue Vol. 72 No. 14.

Why not get your copy of Freedom and enjoy Wildcat and keep in touch with what is going on.

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