Accepting Authority Or Education?

       Education, what is it? Is it a system where we train our kids to be efficient units in a capitalist society so they can seek capitalist style "success"? Or perhaps it is a system where we train our kids to be obedient and submit to authority? Or is it a system where by we help our children become self sufficient, freethinking and caring individuals?

      On reflection and what we know of the present education system I think we can score the latter of our list. Kids are regimented and are taught to respect an over riding authority. Hardly the formula for creating freethinking individuals, but an excellent system for making them subservient to authority, once they have left that "educating" institution.

      I have heard of Summerhill School and the works of S. L. Neil, but sadly don't know very much about him and his theories, but found this video fascinating. It does state that it is based on a real case but fictionalised in the making of the film.

       Is this the road for education, treating kids as equals, involving them in all decision making, and allowing them to be involved as they wish? I expect a load of criticism about this method, but we do have a load of criticisms of the present education system. So where does that leave us?

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

Invisible Ears And Eyes.

       There can be no doubt that we live in a surveillance society. Surveillance is a necessary tool for the state to keep control of the population, knowing where you are, what you are doing and who you are with, is information the state needs to survive. What we see of this surveillance apparatus, the CCTV cameras etc., in and around our towns and cities is just the tip of the iceberg. There is a plethora of hidden devices, small pieces of equipment hidden away in unsuspecting places, listening, watching and recording, someone's activities, how do you know it is not you?

      All this equipment is not due to spontaneous birth, it is manufactured by large and small companies across the globe, producing ever more tiny, ever more sophisticated, ever more intrusive means to track and record your every movement, without your knowledge. These companies are not the friends of the people, they are another branch of the population control and management system operated by the state. We should know more about these companies, what they are doing, and why, who is the money behind them. Like the arms companies, they are not for a free and democratic society. 

This from Ears and Eyes:

        When cops decide to spy on us using surveillance devices, they need to get the devices from somewhere. It seems that they often buy these devices from private companies. The companies that manufacture and market surveillance-related products and services to law enforcement agencies, governments, and armed forces, form what we can call the surveillance industry.

         Although on this website we limit ourselves to the study of hidden physical surveillance devices, the surveillance industry develops all kind of repression tools to be used by law enforcement and intelligence agencies worldwide. Internet monitoring, interception of cellular communications, counter-surveillance equipment and biometrics technologies are only a few examples.

The companies participating in this industry aren’t spread evenly on the world map. In their 2016 report about the global surveillance industry, Privacy International commented on the geographical breakdown of the 528 surveillance companies taken into account in the report :

These companies are overwhelmingly based in economically advanced, large arms exporting states, with the United States of America (USA), United Kingdom (UK), France, Germany, and Israel comprising the top five countries in which the companies are headquartered.

        Despite this, many of these companies export their products, so that surveillance devices manufactured in one country can sometimes be sold everywhere in the world.

        Due to the nature of the industry, these companies often work in relative secrecy and it is sometimes hard to obtain reliable information about their activities, their clients, and their products. Documents leaked by whistleblowers, such as the Spy Files, a large collection of documents about the surveillance industry published from 2011 to 2014 by Wikileaks, are a precious source of information.

       We think that understanding how the surveillance industry works, who sells the surveillance devices to the cops and what the devices look like will help us to oppose this surveillance. On this website, you will find a list of companies that sell physical surveillance devices to law enforcement agencies, a list of the trade shows and other events of the industry, a glossary of the specific terms of the surveillance industry, and a list of other resources on the subject.

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

Learning From The Past, Glasgow.

       A last reminder of our second event marking the anniversary of the great working class victory in 1915, when the people of Glasgow, lead by the women of the city, forced the government of the day to introduce the Rent Restriction Act, freezing all rents across the country, until after the war. Let's remember it, celebrate it, and learn from it.

 Photo from Pat's Guide.

       A tribute to the Clydeside women and shipyard workers who brought victory to the 1915 Glasgow Rent Strikes through class unity and direct action.
       Assembling on Sunday, 17 November, 2019, at 1pm, Buchanan Street steps, then to GOMA, then to the old Sheriffs Court in Ingram Street, the destination of the mass march on this date in 1915, then to George Square for a celebration of our history and dreams.
       In Their Words-Rent strikers' speeches from the contemporary newspapers. Spoken and written by Mary Barbour, Helen Crawfurd, Agnes Dolan, Mary Burns Laird, and Mary Jeff - presented by Strong Women of Clydeside.
       'Human megaphone'/Open Mic for reading aloud and sharing thoughts, songs, poems. Taking our words to the pavement with coloured chalk!

Solidarity Forever!

       This event co-hosted by members of City Strolls/Radical Imagination, Industrial Workers of the World, May Day on the Green, Scottish Peace Network, Scottish Tenants Organisation, and Strong Women of Clydeside.

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

Lest We Forget---!!.

      Perhaps a wee bit late for "Rembrance Day", but still worth mentioning. Just what were we remembering and what were we forgetting? We here in this country may have "peace", but it is a blood stained peace.

      An article I wrote some years ago, it is obvious that nothing much has changed except perhaps that the weapons are more destructive.

       All the self centred, pompous heads of state who shuffled for their moment on the podium, attempting to glorify the imperial blood bath of 1914/18, keep referring to how war brought peace to Europe and how we all live in harmony now. The so called peace that followed that dreadful avoidable slaughter, lasted a mere 21 years, before they were at it again, spreading the blood of youth  across the globe. They wax lyrically about how Europe has known peace since their last blood letting of 1939/45. That of course is a lie. There may have been peace in most countries in Europe, but we were busy doing our blood thing across the globe. The list of wars, battles, interventions, and attempts to thwart independence movements across the empire, is a long unending catalogue of bloodshed.

       This is by no means a complete and definitive list, but it does give some idea of what they mean by peace.

After the 1914/18 blight on humanity, we have had:
1918/20, Intervention in Russia civil war.
1919/23, Turkish war of independence.
1919/19, Third Anglo-Afghan war.   
1919/21, Irish war of independence.
1920/20, Somalialand campaign.
1920/20, Great Iraqi revolution.
1936/39, Great Arab revolt in Palestine.
1938/48, British Zionist conflict.
1939/45, Second World War.
1945/49, Indonesian National revolution.
1945/46, Vietnam, Operation Masterdom.
1946/47, Greek civil war.
1948/60, Malayan emergency.
1950/53, Korean war.
1951/54, Suez Canal zone emergency.
1952/60, Mau Mau uprising.
1955/60, Cyprus.
1956/57, Suez Crisis.
1962/66, Indonesia - Malaysia.
1962/75, Dhofar rebellion.
1963/67, Aden emergency.
1982/82, Falklands war.
1982/84, Lebanon.
1991/91, Gulf War.
1992/96, Bosnia.
1998/98, Desert Fox Iraq.
1998/99, Kosovo.
2000/02, Siera Leone civil war.
2001/----, Afghanistan, 4th Anglo-Afghan war.
2003/09, Iraq war.
2011/11, Libyan Intervention. 2011,
2011, Syria

     Most of these conflicts were against people trying to free themselves from the British Imperialists. While we were merrily sending our youth to foreign shores to repress and kill, we were proudly proclaiming how we were living in peaceful Europe. As we done our imperial killing across the globe, other European countries were doing likewise, but our efforts were dwarfed by the new mighty imperial nation, US of A.

     This is the pattern of capitalist peace, slaughter for wealth and power, death for resources and profit. Nothing will change until we change the system, and consign this exploitative system of capitalism to the dustbin of history.

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

What Is Property?

 

        As we look around, it isn't hard to see that all that was common and open to all is fast disappearing and being gobbled up into that great  bucket of "Private Property". More and more of the planet and all that is on it, is being owned by fewer and fewer, and more and more we find that the vast majority of people have lost all that was common, Why? Quite simply, capitalism a system that is built on the principle of the few gathering more and more wealth and therefore property, at the expense of the many. We are fast reaching the stage where all the planet will belong to a few who control the corporate and financial juggernaut that is capitalism. In this system, property is power.

This from It's Going down: 

        All power structures are rooted in ideology. A shared belief in this ideology is what keeps the structures of power in place. Under capitalism, the edifice of social control is built on the collective illusion of private property, and the sanctity of the so-called ‘free market’. Any moves taken to challenge this logic will therefore provoke pushback from the system’s indoctrinated cheerleaders, and will certainly catch the attention of the repressive and recuperative functionaries of the state. But as the saying goes… you can’t make an omelette without breaking a few eggs. And you definitely can’t overthrow capitalism without messing with people’s stuff.

So…. what is property, anyway? And what do anarchists have against it?

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

Rent Strike Walk Of Pride, Glasgow.

      Following on from our Then and Now 1915 rent strike anniversary film/discussion, our next event marking this great working class victory will be our "Walk of Pride" on Sunday, 17th. November. Assembly Buchanan Steps, Buchanan Street 1pm. come along, bring noise, enthusiasm, and the family. So Come One, Come All, and walk with pride.

Details:

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

Do We Leave The Problems To Our Kids?

 

 

      So you have seen the grotesque pantomime performed by the political ballerinas at Westminster, you have seen the rising child poverty, you have seen the increase in precarious working conditions, you have seen the decimation of our social services, you have seen the increase in homelessness and un-affordable rents, you have seen the corporate mafia vultures circling our National Health Service. Look abroad and you see the rise of fascism in Europe and else where, you have seen the wars in the Middle East where the West has stepped in to bring the people of that area "democracy" and delivered death, destruction and destitution, plus an unimaginable wave of desperate people taking the dangerous course migrating half way across the world in search of a decent life. You look at our burning planet and the total unwillingness linked to complete inability of the system to do anything meaningful about this impending disaster. You look at Chile and you see the people of that country rise up in desperation to try and stop the the ever downward spiral of their living conditions, as well as the continuing exploitation, endemic corruption and state violence. Across the globe people are standing up and saying, very loud and clear, this system doesn't work for the vast majority of the people on the planet.

      We see the vast wealth that we produce, but we see it private jets, luxury yachts, opulent penthouse and vast gated estates, we are aware of the tax havens that are a boon to the millionaire and billionaire predatory class, while we, the wealth producers, struggle from day to day for a decent living.

      It is obvious that we have the imagination, the desire, the means and the ability to devise a much fairer and sustainable system that is built on mutual aid, and co-operation, that sees to the needs of all, and respect for all life on the planet. A system freed from the vile clutches of the profit motive, free of borders and authority over others. You know that in your hearts that is the world we want for our children and our grandchildren. However it is up to us to deliver it, or will we sit back and leave this vile corrupt system of exploitation for our kids to sort out?

     It is obvious that the system cannot be reformed, it is built on exploitation of others for personal gain, that is the basic principle of its existence. The only answer is the total destruction of the entire system, and that will only come about by you and me standing up and joining those who are already in direct conflict with this cancerous system of corruption and greed. We can eradicate it from the planet and place it in stories of the past, labelled "The Darkest Hour In Human History.

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

Avoid The Epidemic.

 

       It's coming down the tracks at full steam ahead, the over-consumption juggernaut. You are facing an epidemic  of over indulgence, you will be infected by the splurge of the hurry-panic virus, spread by advertising agencies attempting to switching your brain to Oh Gee, I must get in first before I miss all those wonderful boxes of shit. Retailers will be sitting staring at their accounts, have they cleaned up enough to buy that new luxury yacht. Of course you could be rational and say I don't need any more shit, I'll just settle for having a great time with family and friends. Yes it is Christmas, they sell it as a time of good will, but they also tell you that you can't have good will without heaping on the debt and rampaging through the various stores grabbing never to be missed crap. Your friends will love you more if you will only spend lots of money on them.

       Retailers refer to this time of year as the "golden quarter", this when they have to drag you apathetic lethargic shoppers through their doors, get you enthusiastic about shiny things, latest models, coloured boxes, that will bring eternal happiness, for a few moments. You can worry about the debt later on.

       Let's make this a happy with family and friends Christmas, a shop free Christmas, a debt free Christmas, and have a laugh at the demented millionaire shareholders left with that mountain of shiny boxes of shit, the miles of tinsel, and all those latest models that will declared out of date by June or July. It is not too late or too soon to shut your eyes and ears to the advertisers blitz of jazzed up corny adverts. Let them do the spending while we can laugh our way through this good will season.

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

The Past Can Point To The Future.

       Our event last night the film/discussion at the CCA marking the anniversary of the Glasgow/Clydeside 1915 rent strike was a success. Well attended, only a few empty seats, the entertainment was excellent, thanks to Pauline and Shaun, the film was interesting, and varied thanks to Bob, likewise the discussion brought up interesting points and lasted quite a while, we over ran our scheduled time, so a big thanks to all who took party.  The only hope is that those who attended went away with some fresh ideas and a renewed vigour in their desire to affect change. 

     It is only by coming together and discussing these issues of the past and how they can help us with the struggles we face today that we can hope to bring about that change to society that we all want. fairness, justice and equality.

    

     

   Our next event marking this remarkable working class victory will be a "Walk of Pride" November the 17th., the date on which the massive demonstration out side the Glasgow Sheriff Court forced the government to introduce the rent restriction act, freezing all rents until the end of the war.

Details:

Date, November 17th.

Time, 1pm.

Assemble, Buchanan Street steps.

Route, to Goma, old sheriff court, George Square,

Participants, Strong Women of Clydeside, reading from contemporary newspaper women activists words.

Open mic, for reading aloud and sharing thoughts songs and poems.

Actions, coloured chalking of pavements.

     Come and participate and enjoy  the memory of this magnificent victory for the ordinary people, and bring that united solidarity and determined activism back to the struggles we face today. 

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

1915 Rent Strike Free Event.

      Details of tonight's free Glasgow/Clydeside 1915 rent strike anniversary event in the cinema in the CCA 350 Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow.

7:15-7:30 pm

Music by Pauline and Shaun as people arrive.

7:30-7:45 pm

Welcome from compere Bob.

Eric's brief intro to the 1915 rent strike.

Iain's brief comments on housing issues and solutions today.

7:45-7:55 pm

Shaun and Rob's poems.

7:55 to 8:25 pm

Video collage.

8:25-9 pm

Discussion.

9:00-9:10 pm

Songs by Pauline and Shaun.

          Following on from this anniversary event we will be holding another event to mark this remarkable working class victory on November 17th. a "Walk of Pride" from city centre to the old sheriff court to mark the day that this struggle was won. Of course our struggle continues as injustices become the norm. Where injustice is law, resistance is duty.

         More details of this event will be made public shortly, so watch this space.

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

Cleasing The Cities Of Ordinary People.

       Gentrification, that creeping corporate cleanser, that eradicates districts and communities and replaces them with money making playgrounds for the wealthy, is a world wide policy. We have all seen it in our own cities and districts, Glasgow is no different. There will be different approaches to this cleansing of areas of ordinary people, modernisation, or perhaps for one the corporate world's extravaganzas like the "Commonwealth Games" where large swaths of Glasgow's east end was demolished and the people moved, though in that case they had a fight on their hands for quite a while, thanks to one family and their supporters. The end result is all you have is  a sanatised area where all you can do is spend lots of money. The process of course requires loads of tax payers money poured in, but we should feel good as we are told it will boost the economy, in other words it will be good for businesses. Wow, I'm delighted that big business is doing well at my expense.

      Below is just another example of this process from another part of the world, and how some people are reacting to this cleansing cities and towns of ordinary people.

 

 A Wee But-n-ben in Lecce, Italy. 

 

This from Anarchists Worldwide:

       It now appears that “Lecce city of tourism” no longer tolerates any dissent. A city now completely gentrified, synonymous with a controlled city. The walls erected following the eviction of the new anarchist occupation in the historic center, in a building owned by the municipality, speak for themselves. Outside of consumption, nothing is granted. And the historic center of Lecce is now totally a place of consumption, including bars and restaurants, trendy bars and luxury shops, hotels and B&Bs. For residents of the past, pointed because inhabitants of the historic center, there is no place left. There is no place for refractories of any kind. The walls stand for those who do not adapt or are different: whether they are immigrants living in the Giravolte for more than twenty years, or those who want to take a space to express their ideas and desires. Those walls are the exact expression of power. That is called Us with Salvini [“Noi con Salvini”, electoral party coalition led by Matteo Salvini, leader of the “Northern League” party, currently renamed “League]” or that is called Us with Salvemini (mayor of Lecce), in fact the processes carried out are the same. With brutality the first, with a smile the second, security and decorum are the central part of the agenda of power. Agenda that means more and more police in the streets, TSO, annihilation of social life, expulsion of undesirables, total control, homologation. Because everything is connected and it is not possible to feel strangers.
        Only those who have their eyes closed cannot realize how much and how this territory is changing, how and how the people who live there are increasingly dispossessed of their existence. Trees are eradicated and the landscape is erased, replaced with structures, power stations and cement. Spaces are closed to eradicate critical thinking, dissent, rebellion. By police or by bureaucracy, the Authority wants only to affirm itself and its totalitarianism. This basic concept of a police State is basically the basic concept of a democratic State and its administrators. The rest is bar talk. But if the walls are erected, the simplest and most urgent thing to do is to demolish them, whatever they represent. Borders, morality, annihilation of critical thinking. Eradicating the refractoriness of wild nature, as well as anti-authoritarian nature, is not an easy task. “Knock down, always knock down, because many more abuses are eliminated in the present, many egalitarian solutions you will prepare for the future” – E. Cœurderoy.

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

The System Is People.

      What a crazy insane world we live in. A world awash with wealth all gravitating to a few humans, while millions of people live in deprivation and misery. Looking rationally at the situation today you have to scratch your head in disbelief and ask yourself, how did we let this happen. In this world today we have approximately over 2,200 (USD) billionaires, that's a lot of wealth in the hands of so few. Add to this the fact that we have somewhere between, 14 to 18 million, millionaires. Think of that in total wealth and ask yourself what could that do to help eradicate the deprivation and misery experienced on a daily basis by millions of ordinary people. 

       Of course we often say it is the system and lambast the system. However we should not forget that the system is not an inanimate "thing", the system is people. The system is those billionaires and millionaires, all with names and faces, who hoard caches of wealth in tax havens, wealth they plunder from the ordinary working people. It is an impossibility for any individual to go out and work hard and amass a billion dollars, all by their own efforts, without exploiting the effort of others. My father worked really hard all his life as a coal miner, we never amassed a fortune. 

       The system will be defended ferociously by those names and faces that hold all that plundered wealth, all those billionaires and millionaires, they are the system, they are the perpetrators of all that deprivation and misery on this planet, they are the enemy of the ordinary people. Don't be fooled by their minions and puppets who call for the rich to pay more taxes, that is just the system offering the ordinary people a paracetamol. It is simply a straight forward class war between the ordinary people and that band of greed driven plunderers. 

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

The Shackles Of State Laws.

        This short video highlights the true nature of the state. What individuals do in the spirit of humanity and co-operation, reaching out to those in dire need, offering and helping to create shelter and assistance, so the refugees can get on with their lives and become integrated in communities, is what the state is attacking in country after country. In Exarcheia, in Athens, the Greek state has launched a full scale and savage war against these very projects. Projects that would in actual fact save the state money, but dogma and ideology dictate that the state and/or its corporate bedfellows must control  all that happens within its proclaimed phony borders. No real rational approach, no humanity, just the rule of its shackling laws, created to ensure the continuation of its power and authority. Freedom and the state are incompatible.

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

Read Of The Month.

       For Spirit of Revolt's November Read Of The Month, we have trawled through our Bratach Dubh Collection and come up with a rather rare little paper. We always try to get a wide variety of papers, pamphlets, booklets for our Read Of The Month, and cover a wide range of subjects. Why not take a wee while to peruse the wealth of material in our Collections, I'm sure you will learn something and come back for more. Enjoy.

Treason, Read On Line:

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