We Can Do It Ourselves.

      In most emergencies, "natural" or otherwise, the state never seems to step up to the line. It gets bogged down in legislation and concern for costs and a bias to protect property. It always falls to the communities to step forward and organise in a hands on and unstinting manner. Yes charities do step in but the are always dependent on the money factor, communities use mutual aid and utilise what is available, cost is seldom a factor.

    The following article shows this coming into play in the recent brutal cold spell to hit the Chicago area, if only the communities would hold onto this strategy after the crisis has passed, then perhaps we would see a more rapid collapse of the failed system of capitalism.  

This extract from Its Going Down:

Street Team Response

---------Several teams sprung up and mobilized quickly from a coalition of anarchist groups which included Little Village Solidarity Network, Haymaker, Tenants United Hyde Park Woodlawn, Blood Fruit Anarchist Library, Chicago Recovery Alliance, Lucy Parsons Labs, Four Red Stars, Chicago General Defense Committee, Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee, and Chicago Black Rose/Rosa Negra Anarchist Federation, among others. Raising funds from family, friends, and allies, they were able to immediately put together a plan to track temporary warming shelters and open spaces that were available like Haymaker gym.
     Teams fanned out to purchase supplies and deliver them to whichever neighborhoods they knew best, giving rides to shelter where needed and checking in on people in encampments who were less mobile or didn’t want to leave. While hitting the streets other individuals were encountered who had the same idea, and some independent groups like ChiRides. As well, a warming school bus was making rounds and giving rides. Trinity Lutheran Church in Bridgeport was passing out socks that the teams were able to take with them, and shelters like Flood’s Hall in Hyde Park were looking for help with the early morning shifts, being especially busy at night. Provided by Chicago Recovery Alliance, narcan was available and distributed to whoever was in need.
     The city has a long history of criminalizing homelessness and prioritizing the needs of developers and landlords over tenants and people without housing, while hundreds of houses sit empty or foreclosed across Chicago. Though we don’t depend on the City of Chicago to come through in times like this, we used whatever tools we had to keep people safe tonight. A lot of the warming shelters that would be open during the day on Wednesday weren’t open at night, but the trains that were running 24/7 weren’t charging readmission. Passing out single ride ventra cards downtown and elsewhere has already kept a lot of people out of the cold, and then we have teams going in and out of train cards offering food and supplies through the night and all day today.
      We’re not here to be thanked or anything, but mutual aid and direct action are what’s going to save us from capitalism and that’s something that doesn’t just come about when you need it–it’s something that requires organizing now and practicing community care all the time.--------

Read the full article HERE: 

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

Thugs And Politicians, Bed Partners.

      The dirty side of the lovely Greek holiday. Greece is a beautiful place, its people friendly and it has a fascinating history, though at the moment they are suffering from being ten years under the cosh of the EU, (Expert Users) ECB, (Expedient Criminal Bastards) and the IMF, (International Mankind Fuckers) and the level of poverty in that country is a criminal indictment of the system. Like all countries in this economic exploitative system of capitalism, the pleasant scenery and friendly people of Greece, has an underbelly. Apart from the "legal" exploitation of the people, there is the "illegal" abuse and exploitation of vulnerable people. Those who top the "legal" exploitation, CEO, politicians etc. are lauded and gifted privileges, the top thugs of the "illegal" exploitation reach such a position of wealth and power that they are welcomed into the exploitation club where an expensive suit and car are seen as badges of respectability. Both seek favours from the other and deliver, to form a cosy little network of exploitation and corruption, much to their mutual benefit.  

An extract from 325:

        If the one hand for laundering is the star-celebrity system, then the other one is the state.
       As a mafioso, but also as an employer, A.G. wouldn’t even survive for 30 years without the State’s tolerance, coverage and assistance. From the police “failures” to catch him, to the Financial Crime Investigation Unit / Social Insurance Institute / revenue that find his VAT number alright, all state auditing and repressive institutions bail him out. On his face we see the usual way of the local nocturnal business, with too much cruelty and gall. Still, we acknowledge him for his image of a self-made jeune premier that makes him special in our hearts. He is the first pimp, drug dealer and extortionist we know that not only doesn’t hide, but also seeks prominence and publicity.

Women burnt at the stake

        The captive migrant women of A.G. and his mafia is the tip of the iceberg in a patriarchal society, where women are to be submissive to man, the husband, the father, the boyfriend, the brother, the client, the trafficker, and the sex client. The recent murders of Helen in Rhodes and Aggeliki in Corfu represent this condition. With the same ease that the Greek society points the finger at and condemns the murderers, it winks at the conditions that produce the rapists from next door. Patriarchal violence, due to class, sex, race, sexuality, age, and any type of violence exerted by authoritarians doesn’t cease in punishment, but it goes further: it exemplifies, sending out a message to all women to remain silent, obedient, “normal” and they may not be the next victims.

      This violence is ubiquitous in daily reality. From the looks that strip, the sexist comments and harassment in the street, sexual assaults at work, to the rapes, assaults and murders, patriarchy opens wounds on our bodies and beings, delimits them with ideologies, institutions and mechanisms. Christian morality defines the woman as the inferior of the man, while stigmatizing any woman who deviates from the standard of a good Christian as a two-faced, sly, deceitful, liar, dirty. On the other hand, lifestyle reduces femininity to a refined, glossy image, always on men’s scale. At the same time, Capital binds women to production chains, while family imposes the exclusive role of motherhood, procreation and housework on them.

Immigrants burnt at the stake

      After the economic and social downturn in eastern Europe, “illegal” Capital has established networks of trafficking through employment offices and abductions as well. From Athens to the furthest villages of the Greek provinces, we got full of shabby bars, where women from Eastern Europe are being prostituted slaves to traffickers and punters, experiencing the first-hand exploitation-plunder and the male biopower.

On the other side of the coin, the remaining immigrant women take care of the local middle and petty bourgeoisie, babysitting children, cleaning houses and looking after the elderly. And in addition to the daily patriarchal decay, migrant women are experiencing nationalism, racism and xenophobia, so the Russian is identified as a prostitute, the Albanian as a cleaner, and the Bulgarian as a domestic servant.

Turning the longest night into day

    Giannakopoulos family’s comings and goings had made us stay out late. Thus, late at night of 19th to 20th December, we went to the former hellhole of Heraklion Avenue, we left three simple incendiary devices (candle, gasoline, duct tape) on some of their vehicles, set them ablaze and lit up the night.

For each Natascia, Olga, Maria.
For all.

NOT AN INCH OF GROUND FOR PIMPS – RAPISTS.
THE PATH OF FREEDOM WILL PASS OVER YOU!
ATTACK ON LEGAL AND ILLEGAL STRUCTURES OF CAPITAL

“Sophia Perovskaya” Cell, January 2019

Read the full article HERE: 

PDF version:

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By Our Tolerance, We Are Complicit.

      I recently read an article decrying the plight of the people of Greece and stating that due to the dire economic situation in Greece, 25.7% of Greeks are unable to heat their homes adequately. It pointed out that this was among the highest in Europe. Bulgaria at 37% being the worst, followed by Lithuania 29%, Cyprus 23% and Portugal 20%. Shocking figures which are indicators of misery and deprivation across rich Europe.
       Of course you and I know that under the capitalist system, being in a rich union of countries or in a very rich country does not eliminate poverty and deprivation. Take the VERY rich UK, recent government figures reveal that we in the UK are among the top raft of fuel poverty citizens in Europe. In the first four years since the Conservative Oxbridge brigade took control of our political machine in 2010, fuel poverty has risen by 9%. During the coldest spell of the 2017/18 winter it is estimated that more than 50,000 died from cold related problems, the worst figure for 40 years.
      The study also found that as well as turning down the heating to save money. 25% were scrimping on food. It is obvious that with rising prices and benefits and real wages shrinking, fuel poverty is going to increase. The fuel poverty rate for the UK, 2015, was 17% (Wikipedia) energy prices have continued to rise well above the rate of wages, this can only add more pressure to the struggling homes.
     All this is a further indictment of this economic madness, the UK, 5th. richest country in the world is among the worst for fuel poverty in Europe, when compared to the lowest rates of fuel poverty in Europe of around 2% in Austria, Finland, Sweden, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.
      In a sea of wealth, we tolerate a system of inequality, exploitation, poverty and deprivation, where people queue at food banks, and die from the cold. Our tolerance makes us complicit in their deprivation and deaths. The wonder of capitalism and the "market forces".

 

 

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Power Mongers Never Give Birth To Democracy.

      A little more on Venezuela, after all it is a possible flash point for more misery to be heaped on the heads of an already suffering population in the shape of foreign troops intervention, civil war, or both. One of the main problems is that all the moves in this power game are being called by a rich and wealthy elite in other countries, all with a vested interest in the resources of Venezuela, none of the external voices have the interests of the people of that country in there plans.
      Of course it is impossible to ask the powerful imperialists of this world to stay away and let the people of Venezuela decide their own future. They see wealth, and opportunities for grabbing resources, and in this economic madhouse, from wealth comes power.

      This not me waving the flag for the Maduros government, on the contrary, it is an attempt to highlight how the powerful imperialist powers demand that they are in control. The only real answer to the "Venezuela problem" is for the people of that country to decide how they want to run their lives, without external interference.  

Again from Information Clearing House:

        For some months now, Venezuela’s socialist government has lurched through a series of escalating crises — hyperinflation, mass protests, political violence — while both the government and its opposition have flirted with authoritarianism. It isn’t pretty — and to hear the right wing tell it, it’s the future the U.S. left wants for our own country. As if to prevent that, the Trump administration is now fomenting a coup in Venezuela.
     They’ve publicly recognized an unelected opposition leader as president, discussed coup plans with Venezuela’s military, and sanctioned oil revenues the country needs to resolve its economic crisis. They’re even threatening to send U.S. troops. They’ll tell you this about restoring “democracy” and “human rights” in the South American country. But one look at the administration officials driving the putsch perishes the thought.
      Take Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who recently spoke at the United Nations calling on countries to stand “with the forces of freedom” against “the mayhem” of Venezuela’s government.
      This fall, the same Pompeo shared a photo of himself beaming and shaking hands with Saudi Arabia’s crown prince — just as the prince’s order to kill and dismember a U.S. resident journalist was coming to light. The same prince is carrying on a U.S.-backed war in Yemen, where millions are starving. Does this sound like a man who gives one fig for democracy, or against mayhem?
     Or take Pompeo’s point man on Venezuela, the dreaded Elliott Abrams. Pompeo said Abrams was appointed for his “passion for the rights and liberties of all peoples.” More likely, it was Abrams’ history as Reagan’s “Secretary of Dirty Wars” (yes, that’s a real thing people called him).
      A singularly villainous figure, Abrams vouched for U.S. backing of a genocidal Guatemalan regime and Salvadoran death squads in the 1980s. And when a UN report cataloged 22,000 atrocities in El Salvador, Abrams praised his administration’s “fabulous achievement” in the country. Abrams was convicted of lying to Congress about U.S. support for Nicaragua’s brutal Contras, but that didn’t prevent him from serving in George W. Bush’s State Department — which backed not only the Iraq war but an earlier coup attempt in, you guessed it, Venezuela. “It’s very nice to be back,” Abrams told reporters. I bet!
      Finally there’s National Security Adviser John Bolton, who recently took a cute photo with the words “5,000 troops” written on a notepad. Bolton still thinks the Iraq war was a good idea, and he’d like one with Iran too. Do we think it’s bread and roses he wants for Venezuela?
       For all its faults, Venezuela achieved tremendous things before the current crisis — including drastic reductions in poverty and improvements in living standards. Mismanagement and repression may have imperiled those gains, but that’s no justification at all for the U.S. getting involved. In fact, U.S. sanctions have worsened the economic crisis, and U.S. coordination with coup plotters has poisoned the country’s political environment even further. The future of Venezuela’s revolution is for Venezuelans to decide, not us. All that can come of more intervention now is more crisis, and maybe even war.

Read the full article HERE:

Video: Former UN Special Rapporteur talks about Venezuela:

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

Spirit of Revolt At The Bookfair.

      The Spirit of Revolt Archive is now established as a very valuable resource of grassroots working class history and struggles in the Glasgow/Clydeside area. We are always eager to reach out to the public at large to encourage them to get to know their own history. To this end we hold exhibitions, and talks/discussions, we also hold a regular talk/discussion and display of material in the Mitchell Library, called "Show and Tell", as well as other events to attempt to bring our history alive.

     We are delighted to be taking part in coming event Glasgow Autonomous Space Bookfair on Saturday, March 2nd. with a stall displaying a wiff of what we hold in the archive. Please come along and visit us at the stall, ask questions, Talk to us about your views on Glasgow's proud radical history. 

      You can contact us via our contact form: https://spiritofrevolt.info/contact/    or at: info@spiritofrevolt.info 

Spirit of Revolt Archive stall at the GAS Book Fair
Saturday 2nd March 11am-5pm
Spirit of Revolt: Who we are?

Spirit of Revolt Archive, Glasgow based, run by volunteers, dedicated to collecting, preserving multi-media records from Glasgow/Clydeside’s anarchist, libertarian-socialist past and present. Formed August 2011 it has 38 collections and growing. It is now an important resource of working class history. A large amount of its material can be viewed online. Other material can be viewed in the Mitchell Archive reading room.
https://spiritofrevolt.info/
https://www.facebook.com/Spirit-of-Revolt-archive-18845251…/
Book Fair Event Page: https://www.facebook.com/events/315574305908436/

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

Guardian Angel America To Rescue Poor Venezuelans.

      Venezuela is in the news a lot at the moment, and it is the usual fabricated banal bullshit from the media puppets, handed to them by their political and corporate masters. The message goes something like this: "The people of Venezuela are in the grip of an evil despot, unlike us, here in the wonderful utopian free world, watched over by our guardian angel America. So we must do our duty and make that sacrifice, go in and bring them democracy, just as we have done to Libya, Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria, the poor suffering Venezuelans deserve no less than this from us."
       The fact that across the world, in every country, poverty and deprivation are part and parcel of this economic system, doesn't seem to register in their twisted minds. It is all about power and control of world's limited resources. Lies, and the suffering of the people are all part of the power mongers' game, a price we pay for their wealth and power.
       In the past days of "the great British Empire" Britain was the master of regime change and setting up of puppet governments around the world, now in the days of "The American Empire", that mantle has fallen to America, and it carries out that role with brutal savagery and total disrespect for the people in its target areas.  

      The following is an extract from Information Clearing house:

( http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/51021.htm)

Why Must Venezuela Be Destroyed. 

    -------To be thorough, let’s look at the arguments being used to advance this regime change operation. There is the contention that Nicolas Maduro is not a legitimate president because last year’s elections, where he was supported by 68% of those who turned out, lacked transparency and were boycotted by certain opposition parties, whereas Juan Guaidó is 100% legit in spite of him and his inconsequential National Assembly being opposed by 70% of Venezuelans according to the opposition’s own polling numbers. There were also some unfounded allegations of “ballot-box stuffing”—except that the Venezuelans do not use paper ballots, while according to international election-watcher and former US president Jimmy Carter, “the election process in Venezuela is the best in the world.”
      There is the contention that Maduro has badly mismanaged Venezuela’s economy, leading to hyperinflation, high unemployment, shortages of basic goods (medicines especially) and a refugee crisis. There is some merit to this contention, but we must also note that some of Venezuela’s neighbors are doing even worse in many respects in spite of Maduro not being their president. Also, many of Venezuela’s economic difficulties have been caused by US sanctions against it. For instance, right now around 8 billion dollars of Venezuela’s money is being held hostage and is intended to be used to finance a mercenary army which would invade and attempt to destroy Venezuela just as was done with Syria.
     Finally, a lot of Venezuela’s predicament has to do with the oil curse. Venezuela has the largest oil reserves in the world, but its oil is very viscous and therefore expensive to produce. During a period of high oil prices Venezuelans became addicted to the oil largess, which the government used to lift millions of people out of abject poverty and to move them out of slums and into government housing. And now low oil prices have caused a crisis. If Venezuela manages to survive this period, it will be able to recover once oil prices recover (which they will once the fracking Ponzi scheme in the US has run its course). We will return to the topic of Venezuelan oil later.
      As a side comment, a lot of people have been voicing the opinion that Venezuela’s woes are due to socialism. According to them, it’s fine if lots of people are suffering as long as their government is capitalist, but if it is socialist then that’s the wrong kind of suffering and their government deserves to be overthrown even if they all voted for it. For example, the site ZeroHedge, which often publishes useful information and analysis, has been pushing this line of thinking ad nauseam. It is unfortunate that some people imagine that they are being principled and right-thinking whereas they are just being dumb jerks at best and somebody’s useful idiots at worst. The politics of other nations are not for them to decide and they should stop wasting our time with their nonsense.
       This naked attempt at regime change would set a very dangerous precedent for the US itself. The doctrine of legal precedent is by no means universal. It comes to us from the dim dark ages of tribal English common law and is only followed in former British colonies. To the rest of the world it is a barbaric form of injustice because it grants arbitrary power to judges and lawyers. The courts must not be allowed to write or alter laws, only to follow them. If your case can be decided on the basis of some other case that has nothing to do with you—well then, why not let somebody else pay your legal fees and your fines and serve out your sentence for you? But there is an overarching principle of international law, which is that sovereign nations have a right to keep to their own laws and legal traditions. Therefore, the US will be bound by the precedents which it establishes. Let’s see how that would work.
        The precedent established by the US government’s recognition of Juan Guaidó allows Nicolas Maduro to declare Donald Trump’s presidency as illegitimate for virtually all of the same reasons. Trump failed to win the popular vote but only gained the presidency because of a corrupt, gerrymandered electoral system. Also, certain opposition candidates were unfairly treated within the electoral process. Trump is also a disgrace and a failure: 43 million people are on food stamps; close to 100 million are among the long-term unemployed (circularly referred to as “not in labor force”); homelessness is rampant and there are entire tent cities springing up in various US cities; numerous US companies are on the verge of bankruptcy; and Trump can’t even seem to be able to keep the federal government open! He is a disaster for his country! Maduro therefore recognizes Bernie Sanders as the legitimate president of the United States.

Read the full article HERE: 

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

Shy Radicals At Glasgow Bookfair.

         Glasgow Autonomous Space Book Fair coming up Saturday, March 2nd. 2019, is shaping up to be a very interesting affair. Certainly well worth marking your diary to make sure you don't miss out. The stalls that will be there on the day are proving to cover a very interesting and wide ranging array topics, there will be something there for you.
https://www.facebook.com/events/315574305908436/permalink/373976400068226/

Shy Radicals Book Stall at the GAS Book Fair
Saturday 2nd March 11am - 5pm
         The stall will sell the Shy Radicals book as well a wide selection of zines about Autism and radical mental health and Other Asias zines:
https://otherasias.webnode.com/shop/
There is also a Shy Radicals talk at the GAS Book Fair at 2pm:
https://www.facebook.com/events/719979628402327/
Shy Radicals by Hamja Ahsan
Part manifesto, part history of the shy revolution, part hymn to introversion: Shy Radicals is a beautiful exploration of exploitation, nationalism and power-dynamics as seen from the perspective of the revolutionary introvert. It's a poem and a manual that helps you take apart the cult of personality and endless expression and their part in enforcing evils of capitalism, colonialism and white supremacy. Exploring the Shy People's Republic of Aspergistan, the book looks at how neurotypical-domination has led both to the oppression of shy people, and to the creation of an unnecessarily brutal world: reminding us that 'the extrovert state is a terrorist state.' Ahsan's work is genuinely radical, and this book challenges traditional conceptions of art and politics by putting militant quietness at its centre. It's as deadly serious as it is fun. Buy two copies and give one to a shy comrade or extroverted enemy.
The flag of Aspergistan consists of a black flag punctuated thusly '...'
Twitter / instagram: @hamjaahsan

BUY HERE THE BOOK HERE - £9.95 - https://www.bookworks.org.uk/node/1917

twitter: @shyradicals
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Check out other events that will be at the Bookfair:
https://www.facebook.com/events/315574305908436/permalink/373976400068226/

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

The Rent Strike To Bloody Friday.

       A date that should be etched in the psyche of Glasgow's working class and its struggles for that better life, January 31st. 1919. 

(http://www.hiddenglasgow.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=7510) That was one of the many times the British state has shown its readiness to turn the military on its own citizens.

     After WW1 there had been a struggle for a 40 hour week, in support of this a large demonstration was held on George Square, for some unknown reason the police started a vicious attack on the crowd, this in turn created outbreaks of violence across the city, at that point the state put troops on the streets of Glasgow.

     However, these events never happen in isolation, they do not pop up from a tranquil environment, they are part of an ongoing connected struggle, a struggle that still continues to this day. Bloody Friday was not "an event" it was part of that chain of struggle between the desires of the ordinary people and the unyielding demands of the wealthy and powerful. It has not been finalised yet, there are more "events" going to happen along the way in this process.  We should learn from our history that the powerful and wealthy elite will do what is necessary to defend their privileged position. Troops on the streets is not a symbolic display, it is a very real statement of intent. The Liverpool strikers during the Transport Strike of 1911 (https://libcom.org/history/1911-liverpool-general-transport-strike ) found this out brutally, as two of the strikers were shot dead on the street by the military.

Extract from The Rent Strike To Bloody Friday: Strugglepedia:

Glasgow's Bloody Friday 1919

       Like all the events in political struggle it is difficult to trace the thread back to what brought it to this stage, Bloody Friday 1919 is no different. This was not just an attack on a large demonstration in Glasgow, it was the culmination of a series of radical events in Glasgow and the Clydeside area where the state showed its brutality. Perhaps we could even take it back to the 18th century and the radicals like Thomas Muir and others. However we can certainly take it back to the rent strikes of the first world war, the forming of the Labour Withholding Committee, (LWC) The Clyde Workers Committee (CWC) and the political climate of that period.

The Rent Strike

       In pre First World War Glasgow there were a large number of empty houses, by the year 1915 all were occupied by incoming workers to the munitions and allied war industry trades. A shortage of workers and materials saw a lack of maintenance and the housing stock deteriorate rapidly. At the beginning of the war the landlords tried to implement large rent increases, at the receiving end of this were 7,000 pensioners and families whose men were fighting in France. This brought about the formation of the "Glasgow Women's Housing Association" and many other local "Women's Housing Associations" to resist the increases. A variety of peaceful activities were used to prevent evictions and drive out the Sheriff's officers. There were constant meetings in an attempt to be one step ahead of the Sheriff's officers. All manner of communication was used to summon help, everything from drums, bells, trumpets and anything that could be used to create a warning sound to rally supporters, who were mainly women as the men were at work in the yards and factories at these times. They would then indulge in cramming into closes and stairs to prevent the entry of the Sheriff's officers and so prevent them from carrying out their evictions. They also used little paper bags of flour, peasmeal and whiting as missiles directed at the bowler hatted officers. These activities culminated on the 17th of November 1915 with the massive demonstration and march of thousands through the city streets and on to the Glasgow Sheriff's Court. The size of the demonstration caused the Sheriff at the court to phone the Prime Minister of the day, this resulted in the immediate implementation of the "1915 Rent Restriction Act" which benefited tenants across the country.

The Labour Withholding Committee

       This happened in a time of war, so it was obvious that by 1915 Glasgow and Clydeside had a very large class oriented militant grassroots movement and had forced the Government on this occasion to act in their favour. The rent strike was mainly a women’s organisation but the men were proving to be just as militant in the workplaces. Around the same time in 1915 during a prolonged period of considerable economic hardship for most industrial workers, Clydeside engineering employers refused workers demands for a wage increase. The insatiable demand for war munitions had lead to a rapid rise in inflation and a savage attack on the living standards of the working class. Workers were demanding wage increases to offset these repressive conditions. At this time Weir’s of Cathcart was paying workers brought over from their American plant, 6/- shillings a week more than workers in their Glasgow plant.

      The dispute between workers and management at Weir’s rapidly escalated into strike action. The strike was organised by a strike committee named the Labour Withholding Committee (LWC). This committee comprised of rank and file trade union members and shop stewards. It was they who remained in control of the strike rather than the officials from the Amalgamated Society of Engineers (ASE).

The strike started in February 1915 and lasted almost 3 weeks. At its peak 10,000 members of the ASE from 8 separate engineering works were on strike throughout Clydeside. The officials from the ASE denounced the strike and backed the government’s demands to resume work. It was this double pressure from the government and their own trade union that drove the workers from the various engineering works in Glasgow to form the LWC to give the workers a voice and to organise the strike to their wishes.

      Although the strikers demands were not met, its importance is in the fact of it forming the LWC. A committee formed from rank and file union members that determined policy in the work place and refused to follow the directives from union officials when those directives conflicted with the demands of that rank and file.

Continue reading HERE:
  http://strugglepedia.co.uk/index.php?title=The_Rent_Strike_to_Bloody_Friday

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

There Are Some Anarchists---.

       I post this article in full, knowing it may well cause discussion, argument and even anger, but also may cause some to have a look at, and question their own values. So what is wrong with that?
This from Anarhija:

         There are anarchists who run after uprisings on other continents wherever the spotlights of the media fall. There are anarchists who talk about “fortress Europe” and they don’t even know which States are part of the EU. There are anarchists who struggle against the borders and they don’t even know where the Schengen frontier runs. There are anarchists who, like “good white men”, see in the “dark-skinned” non-EU people potential comrades, and they don’t even notice that there are European non-EU people.

       There are anarchists who talk about internationalism and they don’t even know (or don’t give a fuck) what happens on their own continent. There are anarchists who express solidarity with all prisoners (or all political prisoners), as if the prison is really a correctional facility that automatically turns a human being into a better person (or a comrade/anarchist).

        There are anarchists who think of antifa as their comrades, as if the left-wing/extreme-left movements/parties are the lesser evil in an illusory revolutionary front. There are anarchists who get into the role of victims, just because they are a woman, gay, trans etc.., as if it is not enough to be “simply” a human being to be oppressed by the Power (as if this notion is too tight and therefore it requires some other label to express that someone is more oppressed than others; is it possible that in these times of alienated sexuality where people, including anarchists, obsessively see sexual harassment on every corner, we suppress our femininity/masculinity turning ourselves in a sterile “gender”, in which the democracy is trying to turn us, in accordance with this mechanistic society of mutilated sexuality?).

        There are anarchists who in the 21^th century still talk about the “class” struggle (a concept created in 19^th century; in fact, marxist), while we live “simply” in a stratified society (like it has always been since civilization). There are anarchists who idolize the “native” people, as if they have already materialized Anarchy (always according to the notion of “the noble savage”), as if the history/time is linear (not circular).

        There are anarchists who say that they seek to decolonize their territory from the State in their struggle for national liberation (“the nation”, this concept born with the modern State), as if the Earth is private property, as if all of us are not colonised by the State. It appears as though anarchists have fetishized the struggle per se, any struggle, regardless of its purpose, background, actors and ideology. So long as there exists any weak minority clashing with a more powerful enemy, it is sure to find attention (and occasionally, fervent support) on the counterinfo sites. It is as if many have forgotten that national liberation struggles are not struggles against power, but struggles for power. (National liberation is an appropriate term for what it is: it is a liberation of the nation, not of human beings).

Likewise, the struggles of native groups do not seek to destroy power, but to take a (greater) share in it. No Kurds, Palestinians, Mapuche, nor any other oppressed ethnic minority or any irredentist/separatist movement seeks to abolish oppression altogether, but merely to abolish oppression against them, so that they may be free to become oppressors themselves and build a national empire of their own, justified by the same myths of ancestry and “the right” to a “fatherland” and to “national self-determination”. These terms are the jargon of the State and have no place on anarchist platforms. All these struggles take place under the cult of the nation-state. How does anyone calling themselves anarchist can find comrades among people reproducing power, authority and submission?

        And there are anarchists who see no problem in being every day watched, registered, filmed…, so they make their own videos/photos to share them online. There are anarchists who use the social networks as if they are places of discussion (with “like”, “followers”, “friends” and all). There are anarchists so devoted to animal liberation, as if anarchy could be achieved (as if by magic) by all becoming vegan, as if liberation is plural, and not just one and total (liberation of the Earth and of everything which composes it).

      “Everything is velocity, moment, instinct. (…) My nature is — opposition; logic — indiscipline; philosophy — subversion” [Janko Polić Kamov, “Sloboda”]

        How do you intend to destroy the existent if you support it with your own struggles?

anarhija.info & some comrades

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

A Squat, Always A Welcome Spark Of Humanity.

       While this capitalist system is hell-bent on power mongering, death, destruction, exploitation and selfish greed, it is always heart warming to see a spark of humanity illuminate some of its dark corners. Like Azadi, a new squat in Exarchia Athens. As they start their journey of co-operation and mutual aid, they are making a call for support to help them on their journey.

      This from Act For Freedom Now:

        Why we call us Azadi? Azadi is meaning freedom in Farsi and Kurdish language. We took this name because the most of our residents are Iranian and Kurdish Families! Freedom of movement- Freedom of ourselves- Freedom of our minds is what we want. so this is why we meant this gonna be a good name for our house!
     We are in the process of reorganizing ourself. We are a selforganized community of international people who opened this house to give a safe shelter for woman and children!
we have some rules in the House:
No Violence
No Sexism
No Racism
No Drugs
      This is the main consensus of the people who are living in this house. This time we are around 50 people living peacefully together. Most of us are woman and children. We are on the way to set up the house in a good living standard for everyone who is having a room in the building. Currently we are not able to take new people in the Squat. But we are able to take care of those who are living inside!
What we need:
Fridge, Blankets, Pillows, Lamps, Food, Cleaning stuff
Find out the news at our blog:
https://azadiathens.noblogs.org/

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

Glasgow's Autonomous Bookfair.

 

        A coming event in Glasgow, well worth marking your diary for, The Glasgow Bookfair. Glasgow used to have a pop-up bookfair called RIB, Radical Independent Bookfair, and it was a familiar sight at various events around the city. It stopped a few years ago and since then Glasgow has been denuded of a bookfair. It is a sad city that can't hold its own radical bookfair, so here is a chance to support one and hopefully see it grow, and put itself, with your help on the Radical Bookfair map. 

Glasgow Autonomous Space, Unit 11, 53 Kilbirnie Street, G5, will be hosting a Book Fair on Saturday 2nd March 2019.

        The idea is for the book fair is to reflect the ethos of GAS, fighting capitalism and other forms of oppression, and the diversity of the people and organisations who use GAS and who will use GAS in the future.
        There will be books on anarchism and feminism with radical zine distros and small publishers.
       Info stalls on organising Deliveroo and Uber Eats workers, asylum seeker, migrant and refugee solidarity, the radical history of Glasgow, and veganism.
       Discussions and talks by Go Vegan Scotland, Shy Radicals, Sisters UnCut and Ubuntu Women Shelter with more to be confirmed.
     Workshops include badge making, under 12's cycling, printing, radical songs and trans poetry.
        Plus free food, children's activities, Rattle Library and Stories For Strangers.
      The Book Fair is part of GAS's 3rd Birthday Celebrations with a party in the evening.

Spread the word, share, plan to be there.

https://www.facebook.com/events/315574305908436/

https://www.facebook.com/glasgowautonomousspace/

https://glasgowautonomous.weebly.com/book-fair.html

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

Yellow Vests And False Flags.

        The "Yellow Vests" in France have been an inspiration to the underlying anger of the people against this elitist system that fits a yoke around the shoulders of the people. However, though you may walk under the banner of your true feelings, there are those who march under a false flag, we have to be ever vigilant. The cabal of xenophobic, fascist vermin, will never miss an opportunity to get their bile onto the streets. It seems that the racist scum in Dublin have commandeered the Yellow Vest movement in that city.

      This report from Ireland taken from 325:

The Yellow Vests call for unity, but how can there be unity?

       On Saturday, January 12th the Yellow Vests had another of their weekly marches in Dublin. Anti fascist and anti racist showed up to the march for the second week in a row.

      As soon as the banner and anti fascist flag was took out yellow vesters came out of the crowd looking angry. We received a torrent of abuse and shouts of, “house our own”, “we need more racists”, “Fuck refugees”, “refugees not welcome”, “you’se are paid by George Soros”, and “Ireland for white people”. They gave a very poor attempt to take our banner and flag but couldn’t manage to succeed. We were shouted at to leave, “fuck off”. Not one out of the crowd of about 60 to 70 yellow vests supported the banner for refugees or said anything about the racists shite being spouted. We stayed and followed them in their march and we left before they attempted their joke of a direct action where they attempted to block a road for an hour, the cops moved them on before the yellow vest protest reached their hour long goal to block traffic.

          The Yellow vests in Ireland are not a “leaderless movement”

The Yellow Vest march was led this week by Kevin Molloy, a self confessed debt collector. Kevin even announced this in his speech, not one yellow vester bat an eyelid including the anti refugee people who want to “house our own” and who preached on about “our homeless are sleeping on the streets”.

        His xenophobic, anti muslim mate Glen Miller was busy this week in Wexford organising the Wexford branch of the Yellow Vests. Any talk of a “leaderless movement” is bull shit. There is very much a leadership of key organisers within the yellow vests, the majority of them are either anti Muslim, xenophobes or conspiracy “free men” nut jobs.

      In the core group of leaders they decide what the march will do and where it’ll go. They talk with cops of what their plans are. They control the admin on the facebook pages.

I would imagine a lot of the people attending yellow vest march wouldn’t be racist or necessarily anti refugee/immigration. The dangerous thing is a lot of the leaders and key organizers are. On one hand they call for unity against the government on the other hand they are against refugees/migrants entering Ireland.

Homes for all:

       There is 250,000 of empty/boarded up buildings all over the south of Ireland. There are also 10,0000 people on the housing waiting list? So let’s do the math – if 10,000 of these empty place were turned into homes for the people on the waiting list it means there are still plenty left over.

        Yes there is need for struggle against the state but we also need to look at the Irish elite class, the banks, and further afield at the imperialist proxy wars being waged in the Middle east and the IMF purposely getting countries into severe debt. The struggle is against the whole system that creates poverty, wars and corruption which goes on to create homelessness and refugees.

     Whoever considers unity with this joke would really want to seriously reconsider their position.

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

There Will Come A Time!!

 

         When looking at the subservience by vast swaths of the population, to this brutal and exploitative system, that mires the people in permanent poverty,  I'm reminded of an Oscar Wilde quote: 

       "The difference between the common people and university professors is that the latter have arrived at ignorance after long and painful study"

        Perhaps that is a bit harsh as "The common people", those so mired in poverty, find it hard to do anything except try to survive in this cesspool of greed. However, beneath that subservience lurks a seething anger, not ignorance, and sooner or later that anger will seek answers to its pain. No one knows the spark that will ignite that anger, when it does ignite, we as anarchists had better have our answers on the table or chaos will surely reign, as the false Messiahs will appear eager to lead them back to a new "improved" version of the status-quo, or worse.

There Will Come a Time

There will come a time when the hordes remember,
who bound our grand-parents to the yoke of oppression,
who sentenced our parents to deprivation,
who bid poverty sink its teeth into our heart,
who teach our children, greed is a noble art.
Who sent our sons through the gates of hell
to a litany of cambist brawls,
crammed coffers with blood-stained gold
while laughing in Ares’ halls.
“Who does these terrible things to us?” they will ask,
and when they remember,
they’ll bring an energy that is endless
to drive a fist that is fearless.
Then this merciless market-driven world will crumble
under an insurrection of integrity,
the poor will emerge from the dark husk of capitalism
to live in the light of social justice.
There will come a time when the hordes remember.

 

 

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

Money Rules, Insanity Is Normal.

       It is obvious by now that the economic system that covers this world is unsustainable, since it is based on the theory of perpetual growth from a finite source, our planet, which in turn sucks all the wealth into a small cabal of extremely rich and pampered parasites, much to the detriment of the rest of humanity and the planet's ecosystem. Sooner or later the bubble will burst, and the consequences will be catastrophic for humanity. How much longer can we sustain the unsustainable? Financiers and bankers have conquered the world, and their only aim is to increase their wealth and power, financing ever more damaging schemes that are supposed to create greater growth, but in actual fact do nothing but plunder and destroy the Earth's ecosystems. We cannot rely on those who grow fat on this destruction and plunder to mend their ways, and reduce their wealth and power, the answer will have to come from those who suffer most under this insanity, the ordinary people. We should do well to remember, Spaceship Earth has no escape capsule.
        The following is an extract from a very informative, if somewhat depressing article on the extent of the damage that has already been done to the fragile balance of our ecosystem. I feel it is so important that it should be read in full, no matter how depressing it makes you feel, and should also be widely circulated.

This from Peak Prosperity:

        ------The bottom line is this: We are destroying the natural world. And that means that we are destroying ourselves. I know that the mainstream news has relegated this conversation to the back pages (when they covered it at all) and so it's not “front and center” for most people. But it should be. Everything we hold dear is a subset of the ecosphere. If that goes, so does everything else. Nothing else matters in the slightest if we actively destroy the Earth’s carrying capacity. At the same time, we're in the grips of an extremely dangerous delusion that has placed money, finance and the economy at the top spot on our temple of daily worship. Any idea of slowing down or stopping economic growth is “bad for business” and dismissed out of hand as “not practical”, "undesirable" or "unwise". It’s always a bad time to discuss the end of economic growth, apparently. But as today's young people are increasingly discovering, if "conducting business" is just a lame rationale for failed stewardship of our lands and oceans, then it’s a broken idea. One not worth preserving in its current form.
        The parade of terrible ecological breakdowns provided above is there for all willing to see it. Are you willing? Each failing ecosystem is screaming at us in urgent, strident tones that we’ve gone too far in our quest for "more". We might be able to explain away each failure individually. But taken as a whole? The pattern is clear: We’ve got enemy action at work. These are not random coincidences. Nature is warning us loudly that it's past time to change our ways. That our "endless growth" model is no longer valid. In fact, it's now becoming an existential threat. The collapse is underway. It’s just not being televised (yet). Davos As Destiny. And don't expect the cavalry to arrive.
      Our leadership is absolutely not up to the task. If the Davos conference currently underway in Switzerland is a sign of anything at all, it’s that we’re doomed. The world has been taken over by bankers and financiers too smitten by their love of money to notice much else or be of any practical service to the world. By way of illustrative example, here’s the big techno-feel-good idea unveiled on the second day of the conference. The crowds there loved it: Yes, folks, this is what the world most desperately needs at this time! /sarc
       While I’m sure drone-delivered books is a heart warming story, it’s completely diversionary and utterly meaningless in the face of collapsing oceanic and terrestrial food webs. Sadly, this is exactly the sort of inane distraction most admired by the Davos set in large part because it helps them feel a tiny bit better about their ill-gotten wealth. "Look! We're supporting good thngs!" The ugly truth is that big wealth's main pursuit is to distort political processes and rules to assure they get to keep it and even amass more. Drones carrying books to Indonesian children provides the same sort of dopamine rush to a Davos attendee as Facebook 'like' gives to a 14-year-old. Temporary, cheap, superficial and ultimately meaningless.
        The same is true of their other feel-good theme of the day. “Scientists” have discovered an enzyme that eats plastics: That’s swell, but you know what would be even better? Not using the bottles in the first place. Which could be accomplished by providing access to safe, potable water as a basic human right and using re-usable containers. Of course, that would offer less chances for private wealth accumulation so instead the Davos crowd is fixated on the profitable solution vs. doing the right thing. In virtually every instance, the Davos crowd wants to preserve industry and our consumer culture as it is, using technology and gimmicks in attempt to remedy the ills that result. There’s money to be made on both ends of that story. The only thing that approach lacks is a future. Because it’s not-so-subtly based on continued "growth". Infinite exponential growth. The exact same growth that is killing ancient trees, sea birds, insects, amphibians, and phytoplankton.
     Who wants more of that? Insane people.
   In other words, don’t hold out any hope that the Davos set representing the so-called “elite” from every prominent nation on earth are going to somehow bravely offer up real insights on our massive predicaments and solutions to our looming problems. They're too consumed with their own egos and busy preening for prominence to notice the danger or care. As they pointlessly fritter away another expensive gathering, the ecological world is unraveling all around them. The oceans are becoming a barren wasteland. The ancient trees are dying. Heatwaves are melting tar and killing life. The web of life is snapping strand by strand and nobody can predict what happens next. In other words, if you held out any hope that “they” would somehow rally to the cause you’d best set that completely aside. It's no wonder social anger against tone-deaf and plundering elites is breaking out right now.
      From here, there are only two likely paths:
(1) We humans simply cannot self-organize to address these plights and carry on until the bitter end, when something catastrophic happens that collapses our natural support systems.
(2) We see the light, gather our courage, and do what needs to be done. Consumption is widely and steeply curtailed, fossil fuel use is severely restrained, and living standards as measured by the amount of stuff flowing through our daily lives are dropped to sustainable levels.
       Either path means enormous changes are coming, probably for you and definitely for your children and grandchildren. In Part 2: Facing Reality we dive into what developments to expect as our systems continue further along their trophic cascade. Which markers and milestones should we monitor most closely to know when the next breaking point is upon us?
       To reiterate: Massive change is now inevitable and in progress.
Collapse has already begun.

Read the FULL ARTICLE HERE:
And further READING HERE:

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