Caesar Is Dead, Long Live-------!!!

     2015, what does it hold, how do you predict this in a world controlled by a ruthless financial Mafia? How will the festering Western imperialism shape up in a world of shifting powers? I have always believed that the collapse of American imperialism is much closer than most people think. Could this be the year, if so what next? Widespread mayhem and violence, continuous wars as the financial/corporate scum brutally fight for control of the ruins? Who will be calling the shots, will it be a new Caesar, a new Attila? Or will the people seize their moment and turn the wilderness into  garden? We have the imagination and the ability, the opportunity will present itself, do we have the will power?

 

Image from Doomsteaddiner

    A fascinating and insightful article on the subject of the collapse of what he calls Anglo-Imperialism,  from ClubOrlov:

Image by Leon Kuhn

• When the British got tossed out of their American Colonies, they did all they could, using a combination of import preferences and British “soft power,” to bolster the plantation economy of the American South, helping set it up as a sort of anti-United States, and the eventual result was the American Civil War.

• When the British got tossed out of Ireland, they set up Belfast as a sort of anti-Ireland, with much blood shed as a result.

• When the British got tossed out of the Middle East, they set up the State of Israel, then the US made it into its own protectorate, and it has been poisoning regional politics ever since. (Thanks to Kristina for pointing this out in the comments.)

• When the British got tossed out of India, they set up Pakistan, as a sort of anti-India, precipitating a nasty hot war, followed by a frozen conflict over Kashmir.

• When the US lost China to the Communists, they evacuated the Nationalists to Taiwan, and set it up as a sort of anti-China, and even gave it China's seat at the United Nations.

     The goal is always the same: if they can't have the run of the place, they make sure that nobody else can either, by setting up a conflict scenario that nobody there can ever hope to resolve. And so if you see Anglo-imperialists going out of their way and spending lots of money to poison the political well somewhere in the world, you can be sure that they are on their way out. Simply put, they don't spend lots of money to set up intractable problems for themselves to solve—it's always done for the benefit of others.

Well worth reading the full article:

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What Is On Your Bookshelf???

      Spain's "Operation Pandora" is no more than the fascist state defending its corporate foundations. It was on December 16th. that the state moved in and kidnapped 11 comrades, in a wave of dawn raids in towns and cities across Spain (earlier articles here and here). Seven of those comrades are still held in captivity, you can find a list of their names and prison addresses here on actforfree, letters and cards of solidarity would show them that they are not alone.

   According to the prosecutor, the evidence against them includes finding numerous copies of the book, "Against Democracy", which is a theoretical critique of contemporary democracy rather than a “terror manual”. Be careful what you have on your bookshelf in this age of corporate power, we could be re-entering the era of book burning.

    Rabble has released an English translation of the preface of the book, the following is an extract from that translation: 

    ----------In democracy we give up our interests, the satisfaction of our needs and the organisation of human relations and of life, into the hands of others. By means of the vote we supposedly choose those who can better represent our interests, but here we collide with reality: the political parties defend their own interests in accordance with the rules they themselves have established, they seek to accumulate levels of economic and political power in order to maintain their domination and influence on the rest of society-----

     -------In this historical moment the various political leaders have no opposed interests, apart from gestures. All should promote the structure of the state in which capital develops, and apply policies according to the needs of the market not of people. Indeed, in many cases the politicians are direct beneficiaries as they themselves belong to the business class. We have all been silent witnesses of how the government has injected millions of euros to the banks while most people do not have work or are suffering from evictions. We are also accustomed to hearing how the webs of corruption directly tie together economics and politics. Without mincing words and with little concern to hide the reality from the population, Emilio Botín [chairman of Santander bank, died of a heart attack in September 2014] says: “above certain levels the relation between business and politics is direct, much more than people suspect, a direct phone call from mobile to mobile without any secretaries in between”. When it comes time to legislate, democracy is based not on common interest but on company interests.

       For these reasons we conclude that democracy is not the government of the people but the masquerade behind which hides the dictatorship of capital.

IF WE BELIEVE THAT DEMOCRACY IS FREEDOM WE WILL NEVER STOP BEING SLAVES.
LET’S UNMASK THIS GREAT LIE!
LET’S BUILD ANARCHY!

Read the full preface HERE: 

 The entire book (92 pages) is available in Spanish here.

     Here are links to some articles on the case, translated by contrainfo:
“Operation Pandora: Democracy imprisons 7 more anarchists” by Iberian Federation of Libertarian Youth 22 December
Letter from anarchist prisoner Monica Caballero to the imprisoned comrades “Pandora’s box and the hotchpotch of Spanish anti-terrorism” 18 December

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This Time-----.

FROM GEORGE SQUARE TO TAHRIR SQUARE.

In a global square, in a global village the people are gathering,

They want to sort out their village once and for all.

They have had enough of wild beasts stealing their chickens,

Of war lords pillaging and plundering their crops.

Though they labour hard, they live poor

While the wild beasts and war lords grow fat.

This time they will take the time and do it right,

This time they will finally and forever banish,

Wild beasts and war lords from their village.

This time all our chickens will feed all the children of the village

This time our crops will see all our people through the winter,

This time, all the fruits of our labour will be ours.

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Workers, Know Your History, Sara Berenquer.

       We should know our history, it is our inspiration, and a tool-kit for tomorrow, it also allows us to pay homage to those who pushed our struggle forward.

      On this day January 1st. 1919, poet, anarchist and life long activist Sara Berenquer Laosa was born, she died 8th. June 2010. 

This from Christie Books

     Sara Berenguer Laosa (Barcelona, 1919 – Montady, Francia, 2010), the daughter of an anarchist militant (Francisco Berenguer, her father, was killed on the Aragon front fighting with ‘Los Aguiluchos’) was a leading figure in the Spanish anarchist ‘Free Women’ movement ‘Mujeres Libres’. After the ‘Events of May 1937’, in which she played a part, she was involved in various industrial committees of the CNT and in the Combatant Section of Solidaridad Internacional Antifascista (SIA), regularly visiting the front lines. At the end of 1938 she was elected secretary of the regional committee of ‘Mujeres Libres’. After the Francoist victory Sara escaped to France where she was interned for a time by the French. During WWII she and her partner, Jesús Guillén, moved to Bram, near Carcassone, where they were members of the clandestine Resistance groups operating in the ‘Black Mountain’ region. After the Liberation, Sara (who was made a Chevalier of the Légion d’honneur for her role in the Resistance) continued to provide logistical support for the anti-Francoist resistance groups until Franco’s death in 1975, as well as editing ‘Mujeres Libres’. A documentary, by ‘Zer Ikusi A’, made a few months before Sara’s death, includes her last interview, in which she retraces what she considered to be the key events in her life as an anarchist, anti-fascist — and as a ‘free woman’.

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There Is No Going Back.

      2014 was a year of rising unrest, across the globe, neo-liberal/corporatism ran wild, sparking wars, spawning devastation and creating poverty for millions. People lost faith with the usual channels of governance, and took to the streets, in many areas the establishment felt threatened and fanned the rise of fascism. States lurched violently to the right in an act of self preservation. What is becoming ever more obvious is that there can be no return to the "old ways", people have lost their fear, and are no longer demanding change, but creating that change. It will not be an easy road, as the avenues of the left grow in strength and confidence, so the establishment with fear at its heart will strengthen the forces of the right. Repression will be more open, the gloves will be off, the control structure of the existing system will not relinquish its power willingly.

     The choice is limited, we either buckle under and allow the power of the financial Mafia to control all aspects of our lives, or we strengthen our resolve to finally smash  this corrupt, repressive system that is a weaver of illusions, a cancer on humanity, and a destroyer of freedom and justice.

This extract from Roar Mag:

    In many respects, 2014 was a very dark year. Between Israel’s monstrous war on Gaza to the shooting down of a civilian aircraft over the Ukraine, and from the world’s appalling inaction in the face of the ebola outbreak in West Africa on to the thousands of migrants who drowned off the Mediterranean coast this year, there seemed to be little to be hopeful or excited about. Some of the most spectacular mobilizations, from the Euromaidan revolt in Ukraine and the royalist rebellion and military coup in Thailand to the middle class protests that rocked Venezuela, originated not from the left but from the right.
But 2014 also witnessed the steady rise of new progressive forces. In Greece, the conservative-led government just collapsed over its failure to appoint a new president, triggering snap elections to be held on January 25, with the radical left party Syriza slated to win. In Spain, meanwhile, the new leftist party Podemos was founded in January to compete in the European elections, and now, less than a year later, already finds itself catapulted into first position in the polls. Spanish activists hopefully observe that “the fear is changing sides.” In 2015, the European austerity doctrine will face its most serious challenge to date.

Read the full article HERE:

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Greetings From Athens.

Greetings from Athens.

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Awe Ri Best.

      To all those folks who follow this blog and also to the casual passers by, wishing you a great new year. May your goodwill be infectious and swell the happiness of humanity, Let's work harder to bring about that better world that lives in our hearts, let's realise the dream. Tomorrow belongs to us.

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The Real Growth Is Debt.

      The Oxbridge millionaire duo that sit on the thrones in The Westminster Houses of Hypocrisy and Corruption, the Cameron-Osborne parasites, are still crowing about how they fixed the economy, of how we are all doing better, as unemployment is falling. Of course we all know that the employment being created is part-time, low paid, low skill, zero hours contacts, the thousands forced to call themselves, “self-employed” and lets not forget, the thousands who now work for no wage at all, the workfare slave force. 

        The true signs of this “growth” are in the figures. UK family debts are rising much faster than incomes. According to a recent survey, the Avia Family Finance Report, states that typical family income rose by 4% between July and December 2014, while average household debt has rocketed over the last six months from £6,740 to an eye watering £16,260. The debt comes from many sources, family credit card debt rose a staggering 71% from £1,720 to £2,940, personal loan debt went from £1,210 to £2,090, and increase of 72%, while that ever increasing modern commodity, the “pay-day loan” went from an average £350 to £1,290, a 269% increase. Another sign of our growth, is the growth of the overdraft, which over the last six months going from an average of £340 to strangling £1,490, a whopping 338% increase.

       The report goes on to show that while average debt is climbing, the amount we pay to clear that debt is falling. The amount spent since July 2013, on servicing our debt, excluding mortgages, has dropped from £262 to $208 a month. Some of the reasons for the ncreasing debt and the falling paying off of that debt, is simply harder times. Families are paying on average, £571 a month on rent/mortgages and council tax, compared to £514 six months ago. Public transport costs have also seen an increase from £102 to £188 a month, with driving going from £116 to £130. 

      In the real world of the you and I, outside the Cameron/Osborne illusionary world, the predictions are that things will get tougher in 2015.

      A recent Money Advice Service survey found approximately half (47%) are buying cheaper alternatives to their usual everyday products, while 41% are planning to spend less on socialising. A little more than 25% will spend less on presents next year, it also states that 25% will take a packed lunch to work to help cut day-to-day spending. 

        This then is the recovery, this is the growth of the millionaire cabal, and they will continue to carry out the dictates of the financial Mafia and punish the poor and drive more people into poverty as the pursue the ideology of the corporate world. Sweatshop Europe, here we caome. 

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Future Suspended.

      This video by Ross Domoney, may have been post before, but is well worth a second viewing, as it show some very basics of how the system works. Privatisation, plundering public assets and exclude the ordinary people. Creating poverty, breeding racism, dividing the people, while the financial Mafia walk off with the loot.

Future Suspended (2014)

Filmed and edited by Ross Domoney
Co-edited and script by Jaya Klara Brekke
Music composed, performed and recorded by Giorgos Triantafyllou
Assistant editing by Antonis Vradis, Christos Filippidis and Dimitris Dalakoglou
Research by Christos Filippidis, Dimitris Dalakoglou and Antonis Vradis

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Some Laugh, While Most Cry.

      The Greek parliament failed to elect a new president, at the third attempt, in spite of bribery and corruption to swing the vote. Now Greece is heading for a snap election, where it is expected that the left party Syriza will win an overall majority. This will of course see the big money leaving the Greek stage in lorry loads. Expect trouble as the die-hard establishment indulge in the usual array of dirty tricks to discredit and destroy the Syriza government if the do win. In the words of the song, "There may be trouble ahead---".

       Greece has suffered years of "austerity" destroying social services, its health service is practically defunct, its education system is in tatters, unemployment is in the stratosphere at 26%, with the youth of the country living with 50% unemployment. Twenty first century European capitalism at work.

      It is all part of the "restructuring" plan, which means destroying labour organisation, and creating a population that will be grateful for any job at any wage. Of course it is not just Greece that is getting the financial Mafia's "austerity" ideology shoved down its throat, Italy is heading down the same road, and Spain is well on the way to join Greece in the new Europe sweatshop economy. It is all just a matter of pace, but the direction is the same for the whole of Europe, UK included, or are you foolish enough to think that they will make an exception in our case?

      Meanwhile, the suits with their unearned wealth, are laughing all the way to the bank, and clinking their Champagne glasses in celebration of their wonderful "austerity" plan.

     This from arrezafe, though in Spanish, I think you'll get the general drift of the Video.

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Workers Know your History, William Morris.

      Despite his wealthy upbringing and his Oxbridge background, William Morris, March 1834-October 1896, played an important part in the early development of socialism in the UK. 

From Wikipedia:

    In January 1881 Morris was involved in the establishment of the Radical Union, an amalgam of radical working-class groups which hoped to rival the Liberals, and became a member of its executive committee.^[154] However, he soon rejected liberal radicalism completely and moved toward socialism.^[155] In this period, British socialism was a small, fledgling and vaguely defined movement, with only a few hundred adherents. Britain's first socialist party, the Democratic Federation (DF), had been founded by Henry Hyndman, an adherent of the socio-political ideology of Marxism, with Morris joining the DF in January 1893.^[156] Morris began to read voraciously on the subject of socialism, including Henry George's Progress and Poverty, Alfred Russel Wallace's Land Nationalisation, and Karl Marx's Das Kapital, although admitted that Marx's economic analysis of capitalism gave him "agonies of confusion on the brain". Instead he preferred the writings of William Cobbett and Sergius Stepniak, although also read the critique of socialism produced by John Stuart Mill.^[157]

     Spirit of Revolt have just added the Second Series Vol.II No.2 of The Commune, The William Morris Issue, published by Guy Aldred in February 1927, to their read of the month, collection. It is well worth a read.

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First They Came For The Anarchists----!!!

       Proof, if ever it was needed, that Europe keeps lurching to the right. Spain has started dawn raids and dragging people from their homes because of their beliefs. No, it is not anti-religion, it is anti-free-thought, those having their doors knocked in are anarchists. Obviously the privileged, pampered establishment, see anarchism as the greatest threat to their plundering, repressive regime. First they give their repression an inoffensive name, the this case of the Spanish onslaught on freedom it is call “Operation Pandora”, rather than “let's kill the opposition”.
       As expected, the people of Spain didn't take this lying down, and there have been mass demonstrations in various parts of Spain, Madrid, Barcelona, Zaragoza, and Seville, to mention a few. These early morning raids are seen in Spain for what they are, state kidnappings, as the state comes down hard on those who would dare to resist its repression.

    The Spanish state, Like the rest of Europe is attempting to crush any resistance to the ideology of the financial Mafia, namely “austerity”, a brutal treatment meant only for the ordinary people.
       The financial Mafia are determined to force wages and conditions in Europe down to sweatshop standards, so as to compete with the Eastern sweatshop economies. And as the resistance grows, so does the repression. You don't have to have committed any crime, just hold a particular point of view that sees the plundering of the ordinary people as wrong, and you could see yourself facing the full force of the “law”.
     Europe today is no different from the 30's, it is in turmoil, as resistance grows as the capitalists carry out what they call economic and labour relation adjustments, which translates into getting rid of organised labour, so as to reduce wages and decimate conditions, and increase profit. World War II saved their bacon then, as the imperialists set about redrawing their borders, under the banner of “democracy” and patriotism. What will they dream up to save them this time, and will we let them? 

 

This from Contra Info:

      On December 16, Operation Pandora was unleashed. The State’s security forces burst into different houses and squats in Barcelona and Madrid, and eleven anarchist comrades were kidnapped.
    This kidnapping—and it couldn’t have been done any other way—was coordinated with the media, who helped justify and legitimate it with heart and soul, spreading the news that the police had carried out an operation against international anarchist terrorism. This kidnapping of eleven comrades set off a multitude of rallies and demonstrations that same day in different cities—Madrid, Barcelona, Seville, and Zaragoza, for example—thousands of people coming out in solidarity with the kidnapped comrades and showing rage and hatred towards the State’s new repressive operation against the libertarian movement.

Read the full article HERE:

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A Time Of Celebration And Good Cheer!!!

      While the babbling brook of bullshit, the mainstream media, spews out images of throngs of people fighting their way into shops to spend hundreds of pounds in an attempt to buy happiness in a colourful box, let's not forget the reality of modern day Britain. The Britain where millions of us live, the Britain of the daily struggle, of trying to keep our heads above water. A world where we are surrounded by unimaginable wealth, but are witness to beggars, rough sleepers, homeless, food-banks, child poverty and fuel poverty. the question is why?

      Behind the veneer of designer names and brightly coloured shopping malls, there is another world. A world where hopes and dream die, and opportunity never knocks.

      Zero hours contracts and the minimum wage are the establishments method of guaranteeing poverty. Don't expect them to try to alleviate the problem, it suits them the way it is. It creates a pool of cheap labour.

      Poverty kills both the young and old, and those it doesn't kill, it scars for life. So who is responsible for those scars and those deaths?

      Poverty, a preventable phenomenon,  turns good people into bad parents, but not by their own desire.

      Fuel poverty in one of the richest countries in the world, is a crime, who is responsible?

     Don't expect the top layer of parasites to do anything about poverty, they need it to keep getting fat bank accounts. If we want to be rid of poverty, we will have to do the fixing ourselves.

      No matter how they do the numbers, no matter the illusion they try to weave, the truth is that the UK has millions living in poverty, Why?

     Food banks, a necessity in modern capitalist Britain, while the Oxbridge millionaires talk of a growing economy, Why?

      Employers will gladly pay you the minimum wage or less, if they could get away with it, and some do.

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