Must We Bend Our Knee At The Altar Of Capital?

      If ever we needed proof that social reformist parties functioning within the capitalist rule book, just don't work, we need look no further than Greece today. What was a genuine explosion for real change from the people of Greece, was channelled into a party political farce, where the only change was the face of the new messiah. Once again a cartload of promises evaporated in the labyrinth of the state apparatus. Once again the people are expected to bend their knee before the altar of capital. The financial Mafia cracked their whip and the government obeyed. 

 Kneel before your new Messiah.

This from Void Network:

Election Boycott against Capital and the State
    The approval of the third memorandum by the SYRIZA—ANEL coalition government clearly destroys the reformist delusions. Very few continue to believe that under the domain of global capitalism, the European Union, and contemporary totalitarianism, that government programs could possibly satisfy the needs of the exploited. Through their facetious referendum, the Left government transformed the social effervescence of the “NO” into a resounding “YES” for emiseration. Now they are preparing for new elections, showing how quickly they have learned to take advantage of the rules of the bourgeois political game. In the same moment, a section of SYRIZA has split off, trying to renovate faith in the prospect of leftwing management of capitalism. They continue to cultivate the delusion of delegating the solution of social problems to self-proclaimed saviors, within a populist-nationalist program of interclass collaboration. But it is now clear that the neoliberal path as well as the statist alternative converge in their goals of capitalist growth and the further devaluation of our labor and our lives.
        It is more urgent than ever to understand that we can only rely on our own power. To prevent social cannibalism, it is necessary to organize the self-defense of the exploited and oppressed. Networks of social solidarity based in direct participation that take a position against the philanthropic logic of NGOs and the Church, can create a common field of defense and reproduction of our class in conditions of crisis and the assault of Capital. Simultaneously, we must sabotage the plans of the State and Capital, and organize our attack. With base unions and workers' initiatives that will attack the bureaucratic, state-legitimized syndicalism and organize in the workplace, with public assemblies that will turn neighborhoods into zones of resistance, with federated political groups, with all of these we have to reorganize every aspect of social life, and to organize our attack against the dominance of State and Capital. Inseparable from our self-defense as a class is the defense of the devalued segment of our class: the immigrants and the refugees. We will not allow the fascists to ever again appear in public space, promoting as always the interests of the bosses.

      In this year's Thessaloniki International Trade Fair, we make our first appearance in the movement as the Initiative for the Creation of the Anarchist Federation, emphasizing the collective organizing of our needs and the coalescence of the struggles of our class against contemporary totalitarianism. We support the uncompromising and independent social and class struggles, such as the struggle of the workers of the self-organized, occupied factory of BIO. ME. that of the residents of Halkidiki against the goldmine in Skouries, and all of the other self-organized initiatives from below, with which we will struggle together against the Thessaloniki International Trade Fair. Against the State, the European Union, local and international capital, we walk towards the social revolution, anarchy, and communism.
WE WILL NOT LIVE LIKE SLAVES.
FOR SOCIAL REVOLUTION,
FREEDOM, AND COMMUNISM—ANARCHY
      Open invitation to participate in the demonstration against the Thessaloniki International Fair*, Saturday, 5 September 2015, Kamara, 6pm
     *The Thessaloniki International Trade Fair is an annual meeting of investors and business owners, important in the Balkan and east Mediterranean region.
    Anarchist Group Thrialida (Fuse) (Athens), Anarchist Group Kathodon (On the Way) (Athens), Anarchist Group from Nea Filadelfia Athens, Anarchist Group Rubicon (Athens), Anarchists for Social Liberation (Athens), Void Circle (Political Section of Void Network, Athens), Libertarian Initiative of Thessaloniki, Anarchist Group Oktana (Crete), Libertarian Initiative Against State and Capital “No Man's Land” (Patras)

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Food For Thought.

      Do you think the problem with anarchism is anarchists? It is certainly a multifaceted avenue to walk, a many coloured mosaic, but are its variations, its strength or its weakness?

An interesting article from libertarian-labyrinth:

        As for energy and perseverance, I can honestly say that I have never been more in love with the ideal of anarchy or more convinced of the possibility of its practical application, provided people actually want it. I feel like I have a clear sense of the general lines of the tradition and, somewhat surprisingly, that the elements that originally drew me to that tradition were no so marginal to it as I had been led to believe. I find myself curiously mainstream, with a line of influences running right through the heart of the “classical” part of the tradition (roughly Fourier—Proudhon—Bakunin—Mella—Nettlau—> .)
        The last couple of years have been like a homecoming, though perhaps a little light at times on the welcome. The last couple of months have been about getting okay with all of that.
        It’s not so easy to feel like you have finally reached the sort of understanding you’ve been struggling toward, and to end up feeling more than a bit lonely when you get there. It’s easy to imagine that, even among anarchists, failure to conform is failure. But I’ve come to believe, over time and through periods of wrestling with facts and stakes, that it is unfortunate, but not unlikely that coming to terms with the ideal of anarchy, in the midst of a world that is so firmly set against it, should be an isolating affair. I’ve spent a lot of time, particularly quite recently, in the context of some other anarchists’ explorations of similar concerns, thinking about what “not giving up” and “not burning out” might look like, and also what it might look like it the burn-out was more general than individual. And I’ve reached my own conclusions, for better or worse, and this time around I really think that, well…

Read the full article HERE: 
(It appears that this article has been removed from The Labyrinth.)

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Rojava, What Is Going On.

       It is extremely difficult to know what exactly is going on in Rojava, we can't rely on that babbling brook of bullshit, the mainstream media, they will spew out what ever misinformation bolsters the ideology of their corporate masters, with a complete disregard for truth, people, society or humanity. There has been lots of verbal support from "left" thinking people in the West, but where do we gather the pearls of reliable data on which to base our opinions?

        The following is an extract from one stating to be an anarchist eyewitness on the ground in Rojava.

 From Autistici.org

-------Yet, in positions of power, there are many revolutionary people with a strong anti-state philosophy. [7] So there is an opportunity here. We have a unique space where we can organise, carve out our own projects and implement our ideas. We are at an advantage in this space with access to a lot of resources (think oil fields and country of three million people) rather than your little commune or squat.
        Maybe that’s cool for you and you like the lifestyle but don’t call yourself a revolutionary. I’m disappointed that there’s less than a dozen libertarian type revolutionaries here. They are desperate for solutions here and if we don’t give them, they will go to the corporations rather than allowing their people to starve.
      ISIS became strong when they announced to the world their project for a revolutionary caliphate. Revolutionary Muslims came from all over the world with the strength of their conviction and made ISIS powerful. If Rojava fails it will be because of the lack of international solidarity and I will personally disown the anarchist movement as a joke movement incapable of practical change. Now the revolution has happened but people don’t seem to want to know about it. Cool.
        Here are some excuses I’ve heard from friends I’ve invited:
“I have to look after my dog.”
“I can do more from here advocating and protesting.”
“I don’t know if Rojava is real” (i.e. I will stay comfy in a capitalist state rather than risk a revolution).
“I have important work here” (maybe your work is more useful in Rojava).
        History is made by people that leap into unknowns. If you are satisfied with the status quo, stay where you are. But this revolution is the biggest libertarian project of this century. This is a chance to be a better person that swum against the tide. The more of us that do this, the stronger we become. And we don’t even need to be that great in number.
The time of theory is over. Now is the time of action.
– from Rojava Reality

Additional Notes

1. It has been claimed that the PKK executed 1,500 of its own members.† This may be an exaggeration but one former member insists that Abdullah Ocalan “demanded absolute submission to his person from the people in his surrounding and unrelentingly pushed this through”. Another has said that “you’re not allowed to question Ocalan’s orders. You’re not free. … If there was Kurdish state it would be like the PKK.” Yet another PKK dissident has said: “One man decides everything, nobody else can say what they think. … To become a member of the PKK is like joining a religion.”

2. This claim is backed up by Abdullah Ocalan’s brother, Osman, who says that the PKK still has a Stalinist ideology of ‘one party, one leader’ and that the PKK “orchestrates 90% of what is happening in Syrian Kurdistan.” The Rojava regime, apparently, has even tried to ban the display of pictures of politicians other than those from the PKK such as Abdullah Ocalan.† They have also banned overly critical journalists.†

3. Workers’ “uncooperative” attitude is hardly surprising considering that selling your labour to a cooperative in a market economy gives you no real control of your life anyway.--------

Read the full article HERE: 

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Film Show, Glasgow And Edinburgh.

From Global Justice Now:

        This month, the inspirational Take One Action film festival returns to cinemas in Glasgow and Edinburgh. Now in its eighth year, the Take One Action Film Festival promises some of the most inspiring new international films, plus debates and opportunities for change for a better world.
       This year, we’re supporting screenings of the film Tigers, a moving thriller and real-life David and Goliath story about what happens when a young salesman working for a multi-national pharmaceutical company realises the impact of what he's selling and decides that it's time to take on the company, and the system.
      The screenings are on Saturday 19 September at the Edinburgh Filmhouse and Sunday 20 September at the Glasgow Film Theatre. Both screenings will be followed by panel and audience discussion as well as ideas and opportunities to take action or get involved locally.

Hope to see you there!
Best wishes

Liz
Global Justice Now (Scotland)
Connect with us: Twitter | Facebook

Our mailing address is:
Global Justice Now
66 Offley Road, London SW9 0LS
Phone: 020 7820 4900

We used to be the World Development Movement. Find out more.

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Sweets Way Resistance Continues.

     The residents of Sweets Way have been resisting eviction and the gentrification of their area for months now, and now the onwers have turn to violent intimidation. They need the support of all of us, solidarity is our winning weapon.

Their appeal for support.

       4 Sep 2015 — On Wednesday night, new security guards, Dorman, were caught on video violently attacking occupiers. CALL THEM NOW AND DEMAND THE GUARDS ARE FIRED! (Details below)
      At about 8pm on Wednesday, private security attacked two occupiers from Sweetstopia, who were wheeling a shopping trolly across the estate.
None of us ever wanted our campaign to protect our homes to come to this, but those with money have clearly decided that the only way to protect their investment, is through violence. Wednesday a new security firm, Dorman, arrived on site, and within hours had sparked the first outbreak of violence in six months of peaceful campaigning.
     After a young man and woman from the Sweetstopia occupation were violently wrestled to the ground by security guards without cause, dozens of occupiers came to their defence. Dorman security began to attack and detain them (without having the legal authority to do so), closing a group in behind the temporary Heras fencing placed around many of the empty houses on the estate.
We called the police, who arrived and moderated between us and Dorman, but not before one of the occupiers was physically beaten by security, leaving him with a bleeding head injury and was eventually sent to hospital.
Even after the police left, Dorman again assaulted more occupiers until we called the police once again.
      During the attacks, Dorman guards covered up, shone lights at, and threw away cameras and phones that were filming their brutality. None of the security had badges on display either, which is illegal.

BUT WE MANAGED TO FILM THEIR ILLEGAL VIOLENCE!

Call Dorman NOW and demand that their staff at Sweets Way are IMMEDIATELY FIRED.
Call them on 0208 951 4909 or 07957 360 185.
       Video by In My Way To Free: http://inmywaytobefree.com/
Thank you for the support! We need all of your voices right now as the property developers try to bully us out!
Sweets Way Resists

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A Nation In An Eternal War.

      On this day, September 3rd. 1939, Britain declared war on Germany, and the Macabre scene of blood and death washed across the world until 1945, then we were told peace reigned. Sadly Britain has been at war more or less continuously before that date, and ever since that horrendous event 1939-1945.

Imperialism at work.

     You may disagree with the names of some of these conflicts, but they were incidents where British imperialism shed the blood of its own citizens and the blood of those from other countries.

From the Malayan Emergency.

This list from Wikipedia:

Indonesian National Revolution 1945-49
Greek Civil War 1944-48
Operation Masterdom 1945-46
Malayan Emergency 1948-60
Korean War 1950-53
Angola-Egyptian War 1951-52
Mau-Mau Uprising 1952-60
Jebel Akhdar War 1954-59
Cypriot Intercommunal Violence 1955-60
Suez Crisis 1956-57
Irish Border Campaign 1956-62
Indonesia-Malayasia Confrontation 1962-66
Dhofar Rebellion 1962-75
Aden Emergency 1963-67
Nigerian Civil War 1967-70
Irish “Troubles” 1968-98
Falklands War 1982
Multinational Forces In Lebanon 1982-84
Gulf War 1991
Bosnian War 1992-96
Operation Desert Fox 1998
Kosovo War 1998-99
Sierra Leone Civil War 2000-02
Afghanistan War 2001-14
Iraq War 2033-09
Libyan Civil War 2011

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Socialist Faces In High Places.

     Elections come and go, new saviours of the people arise and fall, somehow the people never learn. Next time round a new face, a new personality takes centre stage, suddenly the promised land is is sight, only once again to fade in the mist of state bureaucracy, wheeling and dealing with the corporate world and the financial Mafia. White-knight saviours of the people fall from grace like leaves in autumn and their fabricated party of the people crumbles into the dust of antiquity.

      No matter the "principles" of the party, no matter the vision of the leader, the state can never be a vehicle for freedom, equality and justice. Surely by now we have seen it all, from Ramsay MacDonald to Obama, from Blair to Tsipras, they arrive on their white horse with a sack full of promises, and deliver the same pitiful rubbish, nothing for the people. 

     We have to stop letting the state and its smoke and mirror illusions of elections, set the agenda. To keep doing the same thing expecting a different outcome, is one sign of madness. Freedom and justice lie outside the state, outside authority, we can only create these qualities in our own communities, by ourselves. Let's leave the leaders, messiahs, and saviours to the deluded. We can create a world of mutual aid and co-operation, a world that sees to the needs of all our people, without the need to follow the "great leader" nor do we need to weigh ourselves down with all the useless baggage of the one true party.

       We have the power and the imagination, we have the resources and the skills, we have the numbers, all we require is the will, the will of the ordinary people to bring crashing down, this unjust, unequal, brutal system of exploitation.

This from Libcom:

        As various segments of the US radical left begin planting their flags in the electoral arena, Syriza’s recent fall from grace should serve as a stark reminder of the unfulfilled promise of the electoral road to socialism.
         Syriza’s rise to power elicited widespread praise from the left internationally, inspiring renewed enthusiasm for the possibilities and promise of “mass left” party building in and outside the United States. At a rally celebrating Syriza’s electoral victory in Spain, Pablo Iglesias, secretary general of the Spanish anti-austerity party Podemos, declared that“the sun of hope rose over Greece.”
      Yet “the sun of hope” began to set on Greece almost as quickly as it rose. Shortly after taking office, Syriza, the “Coalition of the Radical Left,” formed a coalition government with the right-wing, anti-immigrant Independent Greeks (ANEL) party, followed only months later by the predictable surrender of the government to a new round of harsh austerity imposed by Greece’s creditors.

Read the full article HERE:

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You Can't Be Governed And Be Free.

 

       Still in prison for being the partner of a prisoner, that's the justice from the Greek "left" wing Syriza government. They continue to lock up people in a prison system that is in a state of collapse, and condemned by the EU, while ignoring a prison hospital system that is inhumane, dangerous. The ugly face of state power cannot be hidden by sticking a new label on the front door. It is still an apparatus for power and control, not a vehicle for liberation. Liberation comes when the state, the nation, and all borders, are destroyed, and replaced by communities based on mutual aid, co-operation, free association, sustainability and the needs of the people.

Greek prison hospital where disease and death are bred

This from Anarchist News:

     Note: Evi Statiri is the partner of Conspiracy of Cells of Fire member Gerasimos Tsakalos. She was arrested on March 2, 2015 under accusation of participating in a 'terrorist' group, for allegedly being involved in an escape plan by the imprisoned CCF members. After her arrest, CCF members went on hunger strike to the death, demanding the release of their family members. After 31 days of hunger strike, with some strikers approaching death, the left wing management agreed to their demands. However, after months of waiting, Evi remains in prison.

Inter Arma received and translated:

      On September 3, the Judicial Council is going to decide on the extension of the pre-trial detention of Evi Statiri.

       In the context of the nationwide call for action and solidarity which has been organized by comrades for the 2nd of September, we invite all anarchist individualities, direct action cells and comrades to sabotage normality and to destroy the clock of power. To brake the silence with counter-info actions (posters, flyers, banners, slogans) and to end the immobility of passivity with actions and sabotage.

      On September 2, let us challenge the world of organized apathy with hostile gestures of insubordination.

NO REGRET

NO DEFEAT

IMMEDIATE RELEASE OF EVI STATIRI

2 SEPTEMBER NATIONWIDE DAY OF ACTION

individualities tending towards chaos

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Enough Is Enough.

        Thinking of those pampered parasites draped in ermine, those corporate bosses with their private jets and yachts, those rich callous MPs, legislating life and death for the poor, those bonuses for the rich and austerity for the many. If it was a story written for TV, I could understand it, but a reality created by the sweat and labour of the many, it beggars belief. 

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.

MUST WE TOLERATE

the giggling audacity of the rich

midst the pitiful anguish of the poor,

those boated cavaliers

using pillage to secure

their lives of arrogant excess,

a pirate's plundering tour.

WHERE IS IT WRITTEN

that this world must be

a place where the many toil and sweat

grinding out their meagre existence

in poverty, hunger and debt,

while the hubristic greedy few

live the life of a pampered pet.

LET'S TRY AGAIN

no more war, no deprivation

a world of sharing, a world of giving

a chance for all to grow and prosper

in a culture of friendship and forgiving.

With true love and understanding

we can create a new way of living. 

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Scotland's Changeable Weather.

       Another Sunday on the bike, thought I would visit, one of my favourite areas for the bike, Loch Lomond. Weather started nice, but deteriorated the further north I went. The rain started just past Luss, wished I had doubted the forecast and put on a long sleeve top and stuck my wee nylon waterproof in my back pocket. Never the less, still a time of great joy.

All set fair and looking good.

This is when I wished I had put on a Long-sleeved top.

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Corporate Murder, Political Murder, What's The Differnce?

      Ian Duncan Smith, master of the grand plan, creator of the final solution, the culling of the sick, the vulnerable, those with disabilities, those deemed by the corporate world to be none productive units. We can't afford you if you don't sell yourself to the corporate greed machine, embrace the minimum wage, beg for zero hour contracts, profit is what it is all about.

      The recently released figures showing the number of people who have died after having their benefits cut, or been deemed fit for work, is nothing less than a crime, a crime against the most vulnerable in our society. Those who bring these pressures to bear on the sick and vulnerable are responsible for their deaths, and must be held to account. If it was a factory, there would be a charge of corporate murder, these deaths didn't happen in a factory, but the responsibility still lies with those pushing and enacting this legislation.

      However it is no more than we should expect from a system of exploitation based on profit for the few, at the expense of the many. We can protest, complain, demonstrate, all we want, but we can't turn capitalism into a caring compassionate system. It is not a system of social sharing, mutual aid, and caring for the needy in society, if you are unfortunate enough to be in need of any of these terms, you will be dumped by the wayside. Your only recourse to survival will be charity.

 Figures from Vox Political:

      A statistical release published today (August 27) in response to my Freedom of Information request dating back to May 28, 2014, states that the total number of deaths involving claimants of Incapacity Benefit, Employment and Support Allowance and Severe Disablement Allowance – between the start of December 2011 and the end of February 2014 is 81,140, including 50,580 (ESA claimants) and 30,560 (IB/SDA claimants). All figures are rounded up to the nearest 10.

      Add this to the 10,600 deaths that were already known between January and November 2011 and you have 91,740.

Information for ESA claimants shows:

• 7,540 deaths while claims were being assessed, bringing the known total to 9,740.
• 7,200 deaths in the work-related activity group, bringing the known total to 8,500.
• 32,530 deaths in the support group, bringing the known total to 39,630.
• And 3,320 deaths in which the claimant was not in receipt of any benefit payment and is therefore marked as “unknown”.
  

The total number of claimants who flowed off ESA, IB or SDA whose date of death was at the same time and of those the number with a WCA decision of “fit for work”, between December 2011 to February 2014 was 2,650 (2,380 ESA, 270 IB/SDA).

Read the full article HERE:

        The above figures show quite plainly the way this system treats its vulnerable and needy. This is not done with a heavy heart, it is worked out by expensive suits sitting round a table in the marble halls of power, in a cold and calculated way, checking balance sheets to see how much they can save by abandoning the weak, needy and vulnerable, based on their poisonous ideology of, if you can't provide for yourself, then you can be abandoned to the fate of poverty, deprivation and death.  

            Capitalism can't be reformed, it must be destroyed, or it will destroy any semblance of society that we might have at the moment.

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Dystopia From The Belly Of Western Imperialism.

      The authors of yesteryear or today, could not replicate the horrors of our present reality. While the Caesars of the imperial world pontificate in palatial halls, bloated bodies of men, women and children float on the beautiful Mediterranean Sea, small boats bob about, their holds filled with cargoes of dead families, decomposing bodies lie in lorries, sitting by the roadside, and still they come. An army of ordinary people fleeing death and destruction, but they have lost their label "people", they have a new label, "migrant", this is meant to dehumanise them, to somehow magically turn them in to, "the other", not one of us.

         The horror, death, mutilation, destruction and trauma from which they flee, is beyond our imagination. They flee a reality that is a modern dystopia spawned from the belly of Western imperialism. Before the Western imperialists' with their insatiable greed for the black liquid gold, unleashed their military might on those lands with that black liquid gold, the "migrants" were, school teachers, shop assistants, bus drivers, plumbers, students, school children, retired office workers, parents, lovers, children. Now thrown together in an inhumane and desperate bid for survival, their brothers and sisters across that beautiful Mediterranean turn their backs on them. They are to herded like cattle, labelled and bar-coded like merchandise, or worse still, to be sent back from whence they came. 

        The present economic system gave birth to this inhumane nightmare, and as the wealth from this dystopia flows ever upwards to the coffers of the corporate world of oil giants and the arms industry, its progress is oiled by the blood of the ordinary people.

        There is no such thing as "migrants", a term of derision and division, there are only people, travelling to seek safety, shelter and a better life, people just like you and I, they are indeed, one of us, they are not the problem, the problem is the corporate worlds insatiable greed, backed up by its military might. When we finally end that power that is wielded over us, and the people take control of their own lives, put an end to nation states, and wipe away borders, seeking shelter and safety will be met with open arms. We should start now.

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In Thee We Trust!!!

       So you think voting for a new "leader" will solve the problem, a change in government will be the answer? How many new "leaders" have we seen voted in? How many governments have we changed? Are we any nearer solving our problems?

        Saw this video on arrezafe, pity about the ad for t-shirts at the end.

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