Corporate Fascism Or True Democracy?

       The financial Mafia and multi-national corporations, work relentlessly to ever increase their power over the various states, attempting to standardise legislation so that it works in their favour, allowing them to run roughshod over anything that may hinder their ever more brutal plunder for profit. No country will be able to pass legislation that may hinder the corporate world's projected profits. If they do so, they can face costly legal battles in special courts that favour the corporate world. Health and safety measures could be challenged, environmental protection can be deemed to jeopardise their future profits, and the people can go to hell in a hand cart.

      For far too long the financial Mafia and the corporate fascists have fattened their bank accounts by sucking the blood from the people, spreading misery and deprivation in their wake. They have hi-jacked the world's resources and used its people as mere commodities.The time has surely come when we put a stop to this system that survives by the plundering of the many by the few. This is a man made system of corporate greed, it can be destroyed and replaced by a system of justice, sustainability and co-operation, a system that sees to the needs of all our people. However, this can only be done by the people, when the people have that desire for justice for all. Have we reached that time?  

A sample of what is in store for us, from SumOfUs:

Huge news: The final TPP text has just been released to the public. And just as we thought, it's full of give-aways for big business.
     To go into effect, the deal must be ratified by legislatures in countries that include Canada, the U.S., Australia, and New Zealand. If we can convince even one of those countries not to ratify, the deal could be dead -- but we're really running out of time. 

      SumOfUs is one of the only organizations in the world with enough global reach to launch and support grassroots campaigns everywhere where widespread opposition to the TPP exists. We need your help to make opposition to this deal as strong as we possibly can. Will you chip in £1 to help stop the TPP?
Yes, I'll donate £1 to help stop the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

     It's absolutely astonishing that a deal this huge would be negotiated entirely in secret. 792 million people live in countries that are party to this deal, yet this is the first any of us have officially been able to see the full text. And in keeping with the secrecy of the deal, the text was released at midnight in New Zealand when they thought most of the world wouldn't notice. 

     We don't think you should need a law degree to make sense of the deal that will affect every single one of us. So we need to make sure the public knows that this deal will drive up drug costs, weaken workers' rights, and put corporations on the same level as sovereign nations, able to sue in special TPP courts to overturn protections for consumers and the environment.
Will you donate £1 to help stop the Trans-Pacific Partnership?
       If you chip in today, here’s just some of what we’ll be able to do together:
Create easy-to-understand, sharable explanations of what's wrong with the TPP to share on social media. Work across party lines to get conservatives and progressives who oppose the deal working together. For instance, in the U.S., top candidates in both parties have come out against the TPP, putting enormous pressure on Congress to say no.
      Target MPs who are up for re-election in Australia and New Zealand and Canada's new government.
       The TPP has never been so close to becoming a reality, but we can still stop it if we all pitch in. Will you donate £1 today?
Yes, I'll chip in £1 to help stop the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

Thanks for all that you do,

Jon and the rest of the SumOfUs team

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


    

Walk of Pride, To Mark 1915 Rent Strike Victory.

       The Glasgow 1915 rent strike was a tremendous victory for working class solidarity. It forced the government to bring in the rent restriction act, freezing all rents in the UK until six months after the war. Only by their determined and heroic stand was this achieved. It wasn't compassion from the landlords, it wasn't concern for the welfare of the people by the government, it was co-operation and solidarity between the local women of the districts of Clydeside, and the men in the shipyards and factories that brought this struggle to an historic victory. 

Photo from www.leftcom.org
 

      A date for your diary to mark this wonderful victory and display of solidarity and determination. Organised by the Scottish Peace Network, and Clydeside branch of the Industrial Workers of The World.  

      In conjunction with this event, Spirit of Revolt is holding an exhibition In the Mitchell Library foyer, From November 2nd. to November 28th. The main theme of which will be the Rent Strike, 100 years on. There will also be a tribute to Joe Hill, marking the centenary of his murder by the US state, along side a display on the Peace Movement.
Two events not to be missed.

Tuesday, 17 November
    Walk of Pride, starting 12 pm, Dewar's statue, proceeding to the City Chambers
       A tribute to radical Glasgow on the 100th anniversary of the rent strikes and mass march of 1915.
      To honour the tens of thousands of Clydeside women and shipyard workers who united to defeat the rent rises; and to affirm the rent strike as a tool of struggle throughout the world.
      In conjunction with Spirit of Revolt's November archival exhibition at the Mitchell Library, The Glasgow Rent Strike:100 Years On; the Scottish Peace Network's Counter-Centenary Project; and the ongoing work of the Clydeside Branch of the Industrial Workers of the World

Chumbawamba.

       From Circled A Radio, for the fans of Chumbawamba, and those who might not know of them, a wee bit of music. and a chat with Dunstan Bruce, former member of Chumbwamba - who famously sang, "I get knocked down, but I get up again" - chats to Donnacha about his Kickstarter-funded film about Chumbawamba 

Listen HERE:

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

 

Legal Inhumanity.

         The various states talk of humanity, but act like the fascists they are. A whole industry has grown up shipping people across borders and depositing them in countries that they have fled. In the modern state, Law enforcement is a euphemism for, repression, dawn raids, eveictions, detentions and deportations, all done with the stamp of the faceless state legitimacy. Deaths in there thousands doesn't move the state apparatus towards humanity, the Mediterranean could fill up with bodies and they would still be pontificating on how to shove them back to where they came from.

Not a new leaflet, but still very relevant.

Taken from Act For Freedom Now:

      The following is a leaflet distributed in almost 200 copies at the rally entitled “Refugees Welcome” Saturday, September 12, during which far-left parties and orgas brought their ideologies for sale …

      In this world, those fleeing conditions of poverty, war, religious persecution of all kinds engendered by capitalism, nationalism, religion and States are many.

      If the system is currently putting the so-called “reception” reserved for Syrian and Kurdish “refugees” fleeing the assassins of Daesh at the front of the media scene it is to better hide from the public the fate that awaits all those without papers here: raids, deportation, detention in CRA before deportation to their countries of origin.

      Yet the operation of the left concerning the “welcome” of migrants is a huge hoax. Its policy swings between the carrot and the stick: between those who might benefit – at random and according to the quotas in force – from “political asylum” and “refugee” status because they are from a country at war and the others, not having papers, will be delivered to living underground, to the police or to charitable organizations (Red Cross, Emmaus …) that manage their misery, their detention and their forced deportation.

     Already for months in Paris migrants and their supporters have been plagued by police repression, which the left parties are involved in by disseminating pacification and their promises of politicos, evicting every occupation of empty buildings; in Seine-Saint-Denis PCF municipalities expel camps of Roma and of those without papers; in Calais metal barriers recycled from the last NATO summit are used to repel migrants desiring to get to the UK by any means possible, risking their lives (11 have died since June); between Ventimiglia and Menton the police raid and deport undocumented people with the material and logistical cooperation of the (Italian) Red Cross; in Besancon for years the town hall has been sending its municipal cops to evict the Roma trying to survive in the Viotte station park, driving travellers from the ‘Malcombe’ land, etc …

       It takes the photograph of a migrant child found dead on a beach circulated by the media and on social networks for citizens to be moved. Yet more than a thousand migrants have perished in the Mediterranean this summer alone. This has nothing of a humanitarian problem. The death of migrants at the borders of Europe and its States is part of a daily life that cannot be tolerated. Here, the companies and institutions that exploit them (in catering, cleaning, etc ..) are many, that give them to the cops (BNP Paribas, the Post, Pôle Emploi (Job centre) …), that collaborate with having them locked up in detention centres (SODEXO, COFELY GDF SUEZ, DE RICHEBOURG, …), that deport them (Air France, SNCF …), etc …

     The heart of the problem lies in the existence of this world of money, of States and their borders, their cops and their prisons. So let’s stop weeping. Let’s rebel!

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

A Dark Alleyway To An Orwellian Future.

      I know I go on about the repressive state, but I do feel that we, by subterfuge and repression, are being lead down a dark alleyway to a menacing Orwellian future. Here in the UK we are seeing the implementation some of the most draconian anti-union laws in any modern country. This is to weaken any resistance to their plundering of the public purse. We quietly go about our affairs, while the millionaire cabal pompously prancing through the marble halls in the Westminster Houses of Hypocrisy and Corruption, dismantle our social services, and selling of our public assets to their millionaire corporate friends.

      Surveillance grows ever more intrusive, with internet tracking, number plate recognition, and profiling. All this moves silently into place while any resistance is stifled, silenced, or brutally repressed. What is more, we are not alone, states across Europe are continually lurching to the right, control moves ever away from the people to the remote centre, controlled by the financial Mafia and their thuggish corporate bedfellows.

      Spain continues to expand its gagging laws, as Operation Pandora widens its net, trawling in more and more of those who are prepared to speak out against the state's authoritarian strangle hold.

This from arrezafe:

       28/10/15: A police operation Began at 7:00 a.m. This Morning raiding several homes and properties in the Neighbourhoods of Sants, Gràcia, Clot and Sant Andreu de Palomar in the city of Barcelona and Manresa. The police action was ordered by the Audiencia Nacional (National Court) and is a continuation of Operation Pandora, Which led to the arrest of ten comrades and the preventative imprisonment of seven of them last December. Among the properties searched were Revoltosa social centre on Rogent street in the Clot neighbourhood and the Ateneu Llibertari Sants on Maria Victoria street ten police vans were in attendance. When the news was leaked, dozens of people Demonstrated in solidarity and took to the streets of Sants marching behind a banner in support of the detainees. Minutes later as the demonstration Reached Masnou street two vans of riot police arrived and Proceeded to violently suppress the demonstration.

     Searches also took place at a house on Perill street in the neighbourhood of Gracia, a house in the neighbourhood of Santos and other private homes in Sant Andreu de Palomar. Police made arrests in the total of 9. At every place police raided they encircled the whole street and impeded the free movement of the neighbourhood. In details leaked to the press by the police they revealed the operation led to the arrest of 9 people for the Alleged crime of "Belonging to a terrorist criminal organization with AIMS."

       In response to the raid a call has gone out for Demonstrations at 8:00 PM at the Plaça del Diamant de la Vila de Gràcia.

Slightly edited for translation/spelling.

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

 

You're Ill, Go To Prison.

        This exploitative authoritarian system can't function without repression and intimidation, that's where the prison system comes into its own. Be submissive or risk being caged. In any civilised society we would see people with mental health problems having compassionate care, support and the assistance that they need. However in this insane society such people are more likely to end up in prison. Figures from Psychiatric Morbidity Among Prisoners In England And Wales, 1998, state that more than 70% of the prison population has two or more mental health disorders. It is likely to be a two edged sword, mental heath problems lead you to prison, and prison creates mental health problems for those incarcerated in these inhumane hell-holes. Suicides in prisons are approximately 15 times higher than the general public at large. That to any sane person tells you that there is something drastically wrong with the way that these people are treated. But then again, it is all about control, intimidation and repression, so I suppose to the eyes of the state's minders, the system is working. 

This from Act For Freedom Now: 

      After this year’s London Anarchist Bookfair South Wales Anarchist’s bus went to HMP Send on Saturday night for a Noise Demonstration outside this women’s prison. People chanted calling for prison abolition and shouted cheers of solidarity. Prisoners waved back, it was great to communicate through the prison bars.
       On leaving the demonstration local screws not in uniform (one claiming to be the Governor) assaulted two women that attended the Demo. The three of them were spoiling for a fight. They blocked the road in an attempt to prevent the bus from leaving but it seems that after they discovered that the Police had no intention of coming, after around half an hour they had to let us leave.
      During the course of their interaction with us, they said to us “”Haven’t you heard them all kicking off on J wing?”” and scolded us with ““Don’t you know how hard it is to control them in there?””. Needless to say hearing them say that almost made their irritating attempt at a citizen’s arrest worth it.
       In addition as being a demonstration in solidarity with Anarchist Comrades behind bars it was a also for class struggle prisoners. As prison abolitionists this quote by Angela Davis illustrates why we think it is so important for us all to show solidarity in this way;
      “”Prisons do not disappear social problems, they disappear human beings. Homelessness, unemployment, drug addiction, mental illness and illiteracy are only a few of the problems that disappear from public view when the human beings contending with them are relegated to cages”.”

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

Elections- A Paracetamol For The People.

      The babbling brook of bullshit, the mainstream media, has turned its attention from Greece to migrants, that doesn't mean that there is nothing happening in Greece. Greece is still in turmoil, apart from prisoners relatives being imprisoned for being related to prisoners, prisoners on hunger strike, and austerity still savagely slashing at the living standards of the people, there is still anger on the streets. 

      There are a series of strikes on an ongoing bases, and the unions are organising for a general strike on the 12th November. As far as the people of Greece are concerned, the recent election solved nothing. But then again, we know that elections never solve anything for the people. An election is nothing more than the system attempting to give the people a paracetamol to calm things down. 

From Barbarian Times:

      The pharmacists have started rolling 24 hour strikes in protest at the new austerity measures, and farmers are planning protest actions soon. There is a general strike called by the unions for November 12.
Syriza and Anel had their offices vandalized in the Byronas neighborhood. https://athens.indymedia.org/post/1550551/
Also a minister of Syriza, Skourletis, recently was attacked and forced to leave a cafe in Exarcheia. https://athens.indymedia.org/post/1550434/
The person in charge of the committee advising on the pension reform received a threatening letter and a bullet in the mail.

     ANEL offices in Athens were occupied by the anarchist group Roubikonas, who sent out an anti-austerity communique, and then shortly police arrived and are pressing some charges for those involved in the occupation. More as it comes…

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

Joe Hill, One Of The Many State Murders.

 

        A small tribute to a big man, Joe Hill, murdered by the state, November 19th. 1915. There will be a tribute to Joe Hill at the Spirit of Revolt exhibition, Rent Strikes 100 Years On, starting 2nd. November in the Mitchell Library foyer, the exhibition will run until November 28th.

My will is easy to decide,
For there is nothing to divide.
My kin don't need to fuss and moan,
"Moss does not cling to a rolling stone."

My body? Oh, if I could choose
I would to ashes it reduce,
And let the merry breezes blow,
My dust to where some flowers grow.

Perhaps some fading flower then
Would come to life and bloom again.
This is my Last and final Will.
Good Luck to All of you,
Joe Hill

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

Sacked For Speaking Out.

         States across the globe keep moving to the right, it is their natural direction and the only way they can keep control of the people. It takes many shapes from intrusive surveillance, to an avalanche of propaganda. They will always come down hard on any group that organises to protect and/or further the interests of the ordinary people. Here in the UK we are seeing some of the most draconian anti-union laws being forced down our throats, after being given the fake stamp of legitimacy by the corrupt cabal sitting in the Westminster Houses of Hypocrisy and Corruption. Of course employers will always take advantage of the states anti-people structure, as in the case of, (often repeated across the globe) the sacked union rep, Sergey Mastepan.

An appeal from Labour Start:

   Union reps are there to speak out in defense of union members. That seems obvious to us.  But not to every employer.
        For example, a company called Transiidikeskus AS has decided to sack Sergey Mastepan, a shop steward for the Estonian Seamen's Independent Union (ESIU), because he spoke out on a picket line and to media about conditions in the company.
        Sergey needs our help today to get his job back.  And to establish the principle that unions are there to defend working people. Please take a moment to sign up to support the International Transport Workers Federation appeal here on LabourStart:
http://www.labourstart.org/go/sergey
       And please share this message with your family, friends and fellow union members.
       And one more thing: the International Union of Foodworkers campaign focussing on PepsiCo's squeezing of human rights in India, needs our support.  They're just 380 messages short of 10,000 -- can you help?  Please go here:
http://www.iuf.org/cgi-bin/campaigns/show_campaign.cgi?c=952
Solidarity forever!

Eric Lee

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

   

Rent Strike Exhibition, Glasgow.

        Small correction regarding the coming Spirit of Revolt exhibition on The Rent Strike, 100 years on, being held in the Mitchell Library main foyer. The exhibition will start on November 2nd. as stated, but will close Saturday 28th. November, not the 29th. as previously stated, as the Mitchell Library is closed on Sundays. Sorry for the misinformation. Hope to see you all there with your comments and chat.

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

Free Hetherington Club Occupation.

 

       For those who were involved in or remember the Free Hetherington Club occupation, at Glasgow University, which started on February 1st 2011. Spirit of Revolt have now put all the posters from the occupation on line. You can find them at http://spiritofrevolt.info/free-hetherington-collection/

and then scroll down to the bottom of the page, 9. Placards and banners.

 

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

It Also Got Dark Inside---

        A call for solidarity on behalf of anarchist prisoner Tasos Theofilou asking for funds for his legal fees through the purchase of sound track. Enjoy the track and if you you can, download for what you want to pay. 

From Contra Info:

       Tasos is currently in prison, after being sentenced on the basis of forged and nonexistent evidence. He was convicted just because he’s an anarchist. He was convicted because he didn’t lose his smile even when the court of first instance announced his sentence.

        “I have committed the offence that encompasses all offences. In the class war, I chose to side with those who have been treated unjustly.” (Tasos Theofilou, February 2014)

        “I am an anarchist communist. I cherish life as much as I love freedom. Let’s fight to tear down the prisons that bury thousands of living persons inside them. Let’s fight for the vision of social liberation. Let’s fight for the liberation of our class from the power of the Capital.” (Tasos Theofilou, September 2012)

       Electric Litany covered the Apostolos Kaldaras song “Night has fallen with no moon (Nychtose choris feggari)” with its original lyrics (before the 1947 censorship) as a gesture of solidarity with anarchist communist Tasos Theofilou, imprisoned in Greece.

         This release (recorded in London during September 2015) has the sole purpose of raising funds to support the case of Tasos Theofilou. You can purchase the track by donating an amount of your choosing through PayPal. Contact email: londanfund15 (at) gmail.com

       All proceeds will go to cover the legal costs of the case, which will be tried at the appellate level. 

via ASF LDN – Anarchists in Solidarity (original description in Greek):

“Night has fallen with no moon, it also got dark inside Yedi,*
and yet, one palikari is unable to fall asleep.
      Who knows what he’s waiting for from evening till morning
at the narrow window that illuminates the cell…
     The door opens, the door closes, but it’s double-locked with key.
What has he done, why was the fellow thrown into prison?”
      * in reference to the notorious Yedi Kule prison in Thessaloniki, Greece (The banner viewed at minute 2:46 reads: “We are all guilty”)
        With those who put up strong resistance for all of us;
with those we will always stand in solidarity.

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

Scott Crow On Circled A Radio.

       The latest broadcast from Circled A Radio, an interview with anarchist Scott Crow. who will be a speaker at the London Anarchist Bookfair starting this weekend.

       Scott Crow is an international speaker, author and story teller who is proudly from a working class background. He has engaged his varied life as a coop business co-owner, political organizer, educator and strategist, activist, film maker, dad and musician. For over two decades he has focused on diverse socio-political issues and the explorations of creating and exercising counter-power to capitalism, Power and unsustainable civilization.

Listen HERE:

 

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

1% - Superfluous To Requirements.

       The world has reached a very bizarre situation. Through human effort and ingenuity we have built up an enormous mountain of wealth, however, we have allowed 1% of the world's population to purloin 50% of that wealth. At the same time we have allowed the conditions of the other 99% to become ever more bleak. Surely any sane person must see this as unjust, unacceptable and unsustainable. Living within this mountain of wealth the world has 2.2 billion children, of which approximately 1 billion live in poverty, almost 50%. Here in the UK we have roughly 3.7 million children living in poverty, 28% of all children. To put it into context, imagine a school class room with 30 pupils, 9 of those children will be living in poverty. There is another anomaly in this capitalist system, London, one of the richest cities in the world, has the highest rates of child poverty in the UK. Opulence and deprivation live cheek by jowl in this crazy insane system of capitalist exploitation and greed. 

       Looking at the trend of greater wealth moving into ever few hands, we have to ask ourselves, will the 1% stop at owning 50% of the world's wealth, will they as a group, say, "Well we have enough now, let's reverse the trend", or will they continue their journey of grasping at ever more of that wealth, where does it stop? When do we say enough is enough, how many more children will have to sink into deprivation and poverty, before we call a halt to this plundering of the world's wealth by the greedy few?
 

      We can't rely on that 1% to reverse this trend, to abandon their desire for ever larger yachts, ever more lavish personal jets, that just will not happen. We have to decide that this system of injustice, inequality, exploitation and greed, has to be destroyed, by us. We have to start with co-operation across our communities and workplaces, at taking control of our lives and shaping things to our needs. We the ordinary people, produce everything in this world, we distribute everything in this world, the change has to be that we decide what we produce, and how it should be distributed. We don't need some over paid CEO, nor a bunch of greedy shareholders, nor the leeches of the financial Mafia, to tell us how to shape our society, to tell us who gets and who goes without. We know, that the 1% is superfluous to requirements.

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

 

Industrial Diseases.

       I wrote this some time ago, but think it is still relevant today, especially when we have short term working, zero hours contracts and part-time, where employees don't get the opportunity to fully get to know the environment in which they will be forced to earn their bread. The dangers are not always just to the individual employee, but also to the community where that industry is based, fracking, for example. The employees and the communities are those impacted most by these industrial hazards, and therefore, logically, should be the group that controls there development or otherwise.

       We have come through the start of the industrial age and moved on to the hi-tec age, but every move into every industry comes with its on particular problems. Practically every industry is linked to an industrial disease. We have silicosis, lung disease prevalent among stone masons, potters grinders etc.. Then there is pneumoconiosis, mainly among coal miners, caused by breathing in fine coal dust and carbon dust. Arc-welders are at risk of manganism, manganese poisoning brought on by exposure to the toxic effects of the fumes from welding rods melting as the are used. Painters are at risk from neurological deficits from solvent‐exposure, which include impaired colour vision, cognitive defects, tremor and loss of vibration sensation. There are many more links with occupation and disease, but we are seldom told of these dangers when you apply for the job. Health and safety regulations go some way to protect workers from these dangers but usually these measures are re-active and only come after years of suffering and campaigning.
        As a young man starting my trade in the Clydeside shipyards in the 1950’s, I was ignorant of the dangers of asbestos, and as it was widely used, all of us were exposed to the horror of death from mesothelioma, an asbestos induced incurable cancer. It was not that the dangers of this substance wasn’t known, medical papers had been written about the danger from asbestos exposure as far back as the 30’s, but it continued to be used up to and including the 60’s. The employers didn’t abandon asbestos willingly, it took campaigning and legislation to finally attempt to get rid of this killer substance. That is the pattern in most of industries, its dangers are only restricted by campaigning and legislation. The profit motive drives industry, not the well being of the employee. Most industries can be made safe, but it usually requires investment in safety equipment and training and that costs money which in turn cuts into the profit. So safety in industries will always come lower down the ladder, and as times get harder, corners are cut in safety to prevent cuts in profit. The economic system we have at present does not lend itself to the welfare and well being of the workers, only when the workers control all the industries will their well being be at the fore front of production.

When the Time-Bomb Goes Off

The bike just sits there,

dust covering its lovely sheen,

puffing up the Fintry Hills

well, it’s no longer my scene.

Y’see, as a Clydeside apprentice

I proudly learnt the tradesman’s skill,

little did I know then

the price, asbestos lungs that kill.

Now I just sit here through the painful day

gasping each mouthful of air, wondering

how can I make the bastards pay.

They new it was a killer

a time-bomb in our lungs

but, because it was so quick and cheap

they firmly held their tongues.

So what, if it cost the workman’s life,

there’s always a couple of new workers

in the care of the worker’s wife.

Please try to understand my anger

as I and others bear their cost,

a slow death from asbestos lungs,

a vibrant life lost.

Anguish for family and friends,

all in the name of profit;

now that really does offend.

Our anger without direction

is a blind archer behind the bow,

we have to use our anger

to smash the status-quo.

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

The House Of The Dead.

       No matter what label they stick on it, prison is torture, call it reforming, rehabilitation, restraining, it matters not, it is still torture of the human spirit. In such unnatural conditions, the human spirit becomes deformed, relationships often descend to a lower level, a more brutal level, and survival takes on a different shape under the ever present shadow of violence. 

Tasos Theofilou is an anarchist, imprisoned by the Greek state in 2013 and who subsequently went on hunger strike.

Extract from the recent publication of Tasos Theofilou book:
32 Steps or reports from the house of the dead:

Introduction note:

Prison is not only incarceration, pan optic surveillance, sensory
deprivation and the always present violence from above or from bellow.
Prison is not only the constant addiction to the sound of a heavy door
locking and unlocking. It is not only the endless rock of the yard. It
not only the use of smack to oppress any intention of revolting against
the brutality. It is not only the extreme poverty of the lumpen
proletariat, as well as the ostentatious wealth of illegal capitalism,
which exist to remind that class stratification is not absent even from
the basements of society.

Prison is also an entire civilization which emerges from the depths of
the soul of the damned. It is the dark matter of crime that is
transmuted into life: “And among the dead walls life develops and wild
weeds grow drenched in sorrow and intensity and injustice and waiting.
But they emerge, they grow out of cement. People try to remain alive,
and some succeed. An entire civilization is developed, a brutal
reflection and condensation of society, brutal without pretexts.
However, an entire civilization in the fringes of society and under the
most sharp corner of the heel of authority”.

Tasos Theofilou describes sides of this small universe, the underground
culture of the prisoners, which might begin from the improvised
practical art and reaches the humorous, self-sarcasm and imaginative
word moulding. He himself experiences not only the brutality of
incarceration, but also the arbitrariness of an entire
journalist-police-judicial complex which used even his pulp short
stories as “unshakeable” proof of guilt for bank expropriation. He found
himself in the surreal position of being an anarchist-communist and
being accused as a member of a nihilist organization, the conspiracy
cells of fire. His own political identity was considered an unshakeable
presumption of guilt…

The literary and political stylus of Tasos Theofilou does not only
observe the life in prison, it does not only describe the Kafkaesque
universe of oppression, but dissects the contemporary dystopia of the
state of emergency. The literary and political stylus of Tasos Theofilou
fulfills a higher political duty, beyond the analysis and interpretation
of modern brutality. The resistance of human dignity until the
definitive end of this brutality.

Tasos Theofilou texts can also found on the blog Postscripts of a
Fabrication (astop.espivblogs.net). The books Paranoir and Goodbye
Batman are also published (in greek), by Asymmetric Threat publications.

From:halastor.blogspot.gr

Translated by BoubourAs /Act for freedom now!

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