Obituary.

 

     I know a lot has been posted about Stuart Christie since his death the other day, but as an anarchist of such stature and a friend of Spirit of Revolt, we believe that it is only fitting that we should re-post the obituary by John Paton published on the Kate Sharpley Library website. 

Stuart Christie 1946-2020,

Anarchist activist, writer and publisher

John Patten

      Stuart Christie, founder of the Anarchist Black Cross and Cienfuegos Press and co-author of The floodgates of anarchy has died peacefully after a battle with lung cancer.

    Born in Glasgow and brought up in Blantyre, Christie credited his grandmother for shaping his political outlook, giving him a clear moral map and ethical code. His determination to follow his conscience led him to anarchism: “Without freedom there would be no equality and without equality no freedom, and without struggle there would be neither.” It also led him from the campaign against nuclear weapons to joining the struggle against the Spanish fascist dictator Francisco Franco (1892-1975).

     He moved to London and got in touch with the clandestine Spanish anarchist organisation Defensa Interior (Interior Defence). He was arrested in Madrid in 1964 carrying explosives to be used in an assassination attempt on Franco. To cover the fact that there was an informer inside the group, the police proclaimed they had agents operating in Britain – and (falsely) that Christie had drawn attention to himself by wearing a kilt.

       The threat of the garotte and his twenty year sentence drew international attention to the resistance to the Franco regime. In prison Christie formed lasting friendships with anarchist militants of his and earlier generations. He returned from Spain in 1967, older and wiser, but equally determined to continue the struggle and use his notoriety to aid the comrades he left behind.

      In London he met Brenda Earl who would become his political and emotional life partner. He also met Albert Meltzer, and the two would refound the Anarchist Black Cross to promote solidarity with anarchist prisoners in Spain, and the resistance more broadly. Their book, The floodgates of anarchy promoted a revolutionary anarchism at odds with the attitudes of some who had come into anarchism from the sixties peace movement. At the Carrara anarchist conference of 1968 Christie got in touch with a new generation of anarchist militants who shared his ideas and approach to action.

        Christie’s political commitment and international connections made him a target for the British Special Branch. He was acquitted of conspiracy to cause explosions in the “Stoke Newington Eight” trial of 1972, claiming the jury could understand why someone would want to blow up Franco, and why that would make him a target for “conservative-minded policemen”.

     Free but apparently unemployable, Christie launched Cienfuegos Press which would produce a large number of anarchist books and the encyclopedic Cienfuegos Press Anarchist Review. Briefly Orkney became a centre of anarchist publishing before lack of cashflow ended the project. Christie would continue publishing, and investigating new ways of doing so including ebooks and the internet. His christiebooks.com site contains numerous films on anarchism and biographies of anarchists. He used facebook to create an archive of anarchist history not available anywhere else as he recounted memories and events from his own and other people’s lives.

      Christie wrote The investigative researcher’s handbook (1983), sharing skills that he put to use in an exposé of fascist Italian terrorist Stefano delle Chiaie (1984). In 1996 he published the first version of his historical study We the anarchists : a study of the Iberian Anarchist Federation (FAI), 1927-1937.

       Short-run printing enabled him to produced three illustrated volumes of his life story (My granny made me an anarchist, General Franco made me a ‘terrorist’ and Edward Heath made me angry 2002-2004) which were condensed into a single volume as Granny made me an anarchist : General Franco, the angry brigade and me (2004). His final books were the three volumes of ¡Pistoleros! The Chronicles of Farquhar McHarg, his tales of a Glaswegian anarchist who joins the Spanish anarchist defence groups in the years 1918-1924.

      Committed to anarchism and publishing, Christie appeared at many bookfairs and film festivals, but scorned any suggestion he had come to ‘lead’ anyone anywhere.

        Christie’s partner Brenda died in June 2019. He slipped away peacefully, listening to “Pennies From Heaven” (Brenda’s favourite song) in the company of his daughter Branwen.

Stuart Christie, 10 July 1946-15 August 2020

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

Prepare.

      With a brutal recession most certainly coming, what should we be doing to prepare for this capitalist inevitability? Where you live and your circumstance can and will dictate a great deal of how you manage the situation, but we should always remember, mutual aid, sharing and community co-operation are key to not just surviving, but winning in this battle between survival of capitalism or a better way to live for all.  

      The covid19 pandemic taught a lot of people the benefits of mutual aid, let's not lose that knowledge, we should expand it, learn from it and take those tools with us into this battle for survival, remember, a community can grow a lot of its own food with a wee bit of co-operation and effort. When the scourge of the capitalist recession hits us, the ordinary people, it will be brutal and you can be sure the establishment's main aim will be for the survival of capitalism, no matter the cost to human health and welfare. We owe it to our children and grandchildren to reverse that plan and see to the health and welfare of all our people at the expense of capitalism. They need us, we don't need them.

     A few words of commonsense from Not Buying Anything:

 Our pantry order arrived! Not a bit of plastic. Everything is packaged in heavy paper sacks.

      We have been working on our pantry since we moved to Nova Scotia in 2014, but didn't really maximize on the space, having never had a real pantry before. We needed to get motivated. The pandemic provided us with a good kick in the butt, and this year we finally got down to business.
      When we were researching our new home area, we discovered an agri-business in the Maritimes that specializes in locally grown organic staple foods. We also found a food buying group in our community. But we had not yet connected the two.
          Enter The Virus and we had that extra bit of motivation we needed.
        We tried to order directly from the wholesaler, but were told because of the pandemic they were very busy and had to enforce a minimum order of several hundred dollars or 600 pounds of delivered weight.
         We couldn't do that. We are building a pantry, not a bunker.
      Therefore, we contacted the local food buying group, and found that they deal with the supplier! We could order whatever we wanted, in any quantity.
      They took our order by email, we paid by e-transfer, and when it came in a couple of weeks later, it was delivered right to our front door free of charge.
      As much as possible, the products are from local organic farms. All their flour is stone ground, a process which retains more fibre and nutrients than steel roller milling which causes the loss of anywhere from 20 - 30% of the good stuff.
      This is what was in our order. All of it is organic.
- 2.27 kg sesame seeds
- 2.27 kg soybeans
- 2 X 2.27 kg cornmeal
- 2.27 kg sunflower seeds
- 20 kg oatmeal
- 10 kg whole wheat flour
        I have never seen a 20 kilogram bag of rolled oats before. What a beautiful thing, if you love oats, and we do. We were buying non-organic large oats (for the same price) in 1 kg plastic bags from the store previously.
        That's 20 plastic bags we will not be using!
       Over the next few weeks we will be augmenting our progressing pantry with food from the garden. We have already made strawberry jam, and we are looking forward to drying herbs, making pesto, canning pickled beets and cucumbers, as well as tomatoes and/or salsa.
       We are also freezing things like bush and pole beans, peas, and kale.
       We have also increased some amounts of pantry items. For many things, we try to always keep 2 in stock. Now we are keeping 3 of certain items, like peanut butter. The less we have to shop, the better, and this allows us to take advantage of sales when they come up.
     Our food storage has never been this prepared before, and the timing couldn't be better. It all fits with giving up our vehicle, the pandemic, and an impending Greatest Depression.
       And who knows what else?

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

Stuart Christie.

       Shattered today, just heard of the death of friend and comrade Stuart Christie, deepest and sincere condolences to all his family. Apart from Stuart's many activities I suppose he is best know to most through Christie Books. Massive as Christie Books is, it is only a fraction of the man and his activities. There is a world of anarchism wrapped up in his life that the anarchists across the world can be proud of.

 From Twitter:

Philip Ruff

@RuffPhilip

·

Devastated to report the passing of my old friend & comrade Stuart Christie (pictured here with Albert Meltzer in 1976), who died peacefully today after a brave battle with lung cancer. RIP amigo!

He will be sadly missed by so many.

A Farewell

Another comrade leaves the field of battle

Another comrade who always stood tall

Another of our warriors has left the field

Another brick has fallen from our wall

Who will step forward to take their place

Who among us will rise to their just call

Who will step forward to fill the gap

Who has the courage to replace their fall

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

Anarchist Agitators.

          Spirit of Revolt, like other groups, has seen its activities curtailed somewhat due to this Covid19 pandemic. However we  can still function at some level and one of those is our "Read of the Month" feature.  For August “Read of the Month” we have chosen a booklet from our Bratach Dubh Collection, Anarchist Agitators: Information and correspondence organ of the Social-Revolutionary Anarchist Federation. This is issue 50, we have several other issues of this serial which you can read at Bratach Dubh Collection T-SOR-5-1-17. which run from 1976-1986. Enjoy.

Anarchist Agitators: Read on Line

  

   While at our website, why not browse and see what other gems we hold, all there for you to read and perhaps learn from, you could give us a wee feed back of what you think. Perhaps you have some material of your own that you would like to see get a good home, send us an email from our contact page. 

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

Belarus.

       We should continually highlight mass protests across the world, in an attempt show that people across the world are rising against the injustice and inequality that is the norm in this world, and against the authoritarian attitudes of all states across the globe. The authoritarianism is all a matter of degree, some more brutal than others, but the aim is the same, to keep wealth, power and privilege where they are, in the hands of a few pampered parasites. Brutality is the inherent tool of all states, to be brought out when ever it feels threatened by its own people or an external rival to its power.
        From Chile to France, from Peru to Mexico, Bolivia to Slovenia, the anger is rising and the streets are becoming the political arena, we should all be organising to join them, the streets are where we will eventually win, not in the marble halls of power, enter there and you play their game to their rules.
     Some extracts from AMW:

Situation in Belarus: Anarchist Perspective Briefly
       Finally, we face the outrage of Belarusian people in the streets. The increase of resistance is enormous. Many people say that such an uprising was never seen before during the rule of Alexander Lukashenko. These three nights, probably all the world has seen crowds of people giving fight to the police special forces, using barricades, burning tires and Molotovs.
      The police (or “militia” in Soviet-fashioned Belarus) reacts with great violence. Many people got seriously injured and there is one confirmed killed protester.
        There is also the call for the General Strike issued by the opposition. How successful it will be is yet to be seen. But there are first confirmed reports of strikes at several State-owned enterprises today (August 12).
        As it often happens in Eastern Europe, it was elections and electoral fraud that served as the starter for people’s unrest. However, deeper roots of the situation are long autocratic rule of the president, poverty, lack of prospects and opportunities. A big role in the current revolt is also played also by the inhuman policy of the government during the Coronavirus epidemic. Authorities decided to simply ignore it and made several scandalous statements. This ended up with a wave of infection and also a huge grassroots organizing of the society against the danger of the virus.------

       ------In this political landscape, anarchists are more visible than in Ukraine or Russia. In oppositional circles, they have the reputation of quite “hardcore” enemies of the regime who suffered very strong repressions, which is true, and also are always in the frontline of the resistance. The reverse of this image is that anarchists are seen more as eternal fighters, which can be a sort of “ram” of the changes, but then are supposed to give way to more conventional politicians.-----

-----From riot to revolution
        Today the whole protest movement shows a very simplistic demand: resign of Lukashenko and new “honest” elections. It helps to maintain the superficial unity of the protesters. But surely, this situation cannot last long.
       The specific of Belarus is state-ownership of the huge part of the economy. It is the basement for extracting wealth by state bureaucracy and capitalists close to the ruling clique.
     It is highly predictable that once either pro-Western or pro-Russian politicians are in power they’ll try to launch large-scale privatization and transformation this merely State-capitalism into the one ruled by external actors, i.e, international monetary organizations and Russian business-elites.
       In this context, the program and the call of revolutionary forces should be both clearly anti-authoritarian (Lukashenko MUST go) and also socially-concerned. We need to counter the ghost of privatization by promoting the turning of state-owned enterprises into municipal and collectively-ran ones, decentralization and democratization of different sphere of social life: self-defense, healthcare, education. At the same time, all social obligations for free access to different services monopolized by the state today should be promoted and developed.
       To be short: if anarchists of Belarus will be able to play key and organizing roles in the development of the popular uprising (while all opposition leaders are clearly confused now), then they have several prospects. As a minimum, to present actively the anarchist movement and its message, to make it known broadly within the population. As a medium goal, to become significant political actors, which will influence the social development of the new Belarus in terms mentioned in the previous paragraph, to take a foothold in infrastructure, media-sphere and society for rapid further political development. As a maximum… who knows our real limits?

Read the full article HERE:

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

Slovenia.

       With the people taking to the streets in an attempt to force real change, in country after country, it's difficult to keep up to date with all the various uprisings. Blogs, twitter,  facebook, etc. can be very helpful, but a conversation with some of those involved can give a abetter picture of what is actually happening, and why.

     Podcasts are becoming increasingly popular as a method of getting information out, and among those that regularly give us reports from the front-line of protests and from participants is A-Radio Berlin.

      This latest podcast is on on the protests in Slovenia, an interesting aspect of the Slovenian protests is that thousands of cyclists have taken to the streets in mass protests:

         As A-Radio Berlin we had the opportunity of talking to a comrade from the Federation for Anarchist Organizing (FAO) in Slovenia and Croatia. Amongst the topics were the ongoing social uprising in Slovenia, the dynamics and challenges of such a movement in the Covid-19 context, state repression and neonazi attacks as well as a comparison to the 2012/2013 uprising. Last but not least our comrade offers an analysis of the tactics used in the struggle and how to possibly go forward.

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

Those Migrants.

         No matter the country, nationalism and patriotism is the main drive of the powers that be. They all try to create this notion that the collective "we" of that country are special, different and should be protected from cultural infection of those others from over there. Migrants are the enemy, the are obviously inferior of criminal intent, and must be herded like cattle and denied any human rights. This technique has worked for centuries, making it easier for the state to gather its population of ordinary people behind its flag and send them over there to kill the population of ordinary people of some other state. All for power, wealth and/or resources to benefit the handful of power mongers that hold the reins of power.

        Patriotism is a poison that tries to tell us the we are different, sadly it is being fed to the ordinary people in every country across the globe. It's a poison that says we are different, when in actual fact we are all the same, human beings trying to make sense of our lives and survive in an alien economic system that benefits the few.

 Patriotism

No, I shall not die for the fluttering flag,
if truth be known, ’tis nothing but a multi-coloured rag
held aloft by some foolish hand
inciting worker and peasant to kill
on some green and wooded hill,
peasant and worker from some other land.
Nor shall I shed blood for the fluttering rag
that brings out fools to stand and brag
of brutal deeds painted grand,
deeds where rustic and craftsman lie so still
killed by my brothers' misguided hand.
No allegiance have I for the Nation
this man made autocratic creation
that divides my brothers in a world so small,
binds us to a country's cause, right or wrong,
bids us follow its drum, sing its song,
then sheds our blood in some border brawl.
No, I'll be no slave to flag or nation,
have no ear for power oration,
though its iron heel is on my breast,
my back feels its leather thong,
at patriotism's barracoon, I'll be no guest.

Brisbane, Australia: Fountain Runs Red for the Victims of Fortress Australia
Posted on 10/08/2020 by anarchistsworldwide

       This morning a group of autonomous dissidents went to the heart of Meanjin’s (Brisbane) capital and political district, close to the plush offices of politicians who make decisions about who gets to live freely and safely, and who remains indefinitely imprisoned and tortured in Australia’s detention regime.
         The fountain runs red today, representing the blood of the dozen or more refugees who died at the hands of Australia’s detention industry, and the thousands of others who have been mentally and physically tortured by it.

         We wrote messages to express our rage and our solidarity for the morning coffee goers, joggers and politicians who work in the corridors of power above, to read on their way to work.
        Though our gesture this morning is small, it is a symbol of our commitment to fight to the end for the freedom of refugees and abolition of Fortress Australia. We demand nothing but freedom and full citizenship rights for all asylum seekers and refugees incarcerated by Australia.
         This is not a game. Refugees have lost eight years of their lives imprisoned by this regime and childhoods have been stolen.
Enough is enough.
          We are counting down, there are only days left to choose humanity over this barbaric standard.

           Each day is another day of shame to Australia and the countdown is on.
5, 4, 3, 2, 1…

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

Squats.

       Squatting is just one gateway to a free society, hence the state's aggressive action against them in an attempt to close them down. Some are open others more secluded, but all serve a different function and for different reasons, helping migrants, local community centres, social/medical centres, etc.

      The following is posted by one particular squat, which has shaped itself around the needs of the group involved, others may grow around the needs of the community where they exist. Squats are organic and should grow and morph around the needs and desires of those involved. The rules change as they grow, but should be founded on co-operation, respect for others, equality among members, and where possible, self sufficiency.

From the Bubble:

What the Bubble is and what it is not
       The Bubble (Bublina in Czech) is a squat, located on the planet Earth, somewhere on the road between the cities of Aš and Břeclav. These buildings with a yard have been unused by the owner and inhabited by many different people with many various motivations over the years. Some of them left, others have been expelled by the police. Since August 2019, the squat has been occupied by first member of a newly emerging group of residents and supporters, and has been re-named to “Bublina” (The Bubble).

       This first resident has been dealing with housing crisis and lack of space to thrive for quite some time. After a few months, two more people joined who has been on streets since their employer deprived them of financial resources. They moved right before outbreak of Covid- 19 pandemic, which allowed them to self- isolate in quarantine here and survive without health risks. Both of them are elderly, so their health could have been compromised otherwise. These elderly men and middle-aged anarchist soon became accustomed to living together. It is not ideology nor generational struggle which made them cooperate, but their willingness to solve their material conditions and fulfill their other needs by squatting.
      Their situation is quite different to those, often coming from middle-class, who squat for idealistic reasons and squatting is just another adventure for them. Residents of the Bubble simple do not have resources to buy or rent flats and squatting is the only way out. A solution beyond the legal and mainstream norms, nevertheless legitimate and effective. If it weren´t for activities of these residents, there would only be wreck of a building on the spot now, with owner who would not take care of it. Squatters take good care of this house and yard. It is their home now, after all.

       The Bubble is also open for short- term stays of non- permanent residents. At the time of pandemic, a person with mental health issues found a calm spot to heal here. He lived through great personal crisis and gained energy for upcoming important life steps. The Bubble also hosts travellers who cannot afford to pay for accommodation, or simply want to spend their money in more meaningful ways.
      The Bubble operates on non- commercial basis. Food, water and other resources are free of charge here. Everyone can take what they need, and contribute what they can. We hope that Bubble could host social events in the future. If you would like to throw one, contact us.
       If you are aware of location of the Bubble, keep this information confidential. The residents wish to stay anonymous. Although you may know or suspect who are they, keep this information confidential too.

 SOURCE

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

Phony Justice.

 

     In this world of pampered privilege for the wealthy few and bare knuckle treatment for the poor, justice is a word of many interpretations. Innocent until proven guilty sounds fine, but that doesn't mean that you are free until proven guilty. The following case is not unique where individuals are held in high security sections of prisons for over a year, while waiting for that verdict, guilty or not guilty. All this on the whim of one or group of those wealthy pampered privileged few. Those tasked with administering this loaded justice, wear fancy clothes, sit in high chairs and dispense their brand of justice written by the wealthy pampered privileged few, to protect their wealth and power. This is not justice, this is bare faced protectionism by a powerful, wealthy clique.

The following is from Act For Freedom Now:

 

 

        A preliminary hearing for the ”Prometeo” investigation was held on 29th July at the court in Genoa. Videoconferencing was imposed on Beppe and Nat, and given the charges against them (article 280, with aggravated and continued circumstances) this is likely to continue throughout the trial.
         During the hearing lawyers raised a technical issue which has been going on for months, i.e. that no one has been able to access environmental and telephone bugging yet, considered “evidence” on which a good part of the accusatory structure is based. Moreover, with the change of public prosecutor, a good part of the material had not even reached pm Federico Manotti, now in charge of the investigation. The investigating judge therefore postponed the preliminary discussion and the choice of trial procedures by setting two hearings: the first on 11th and the second on 18th [August] for any reruns.
         After over a year in prison, the investigating judge ordered an extension of the custodial measure for Beppe and Nat on the eve of the detention period expiry term, justifying it with the usual “risk of escape” due to the accuseds’ lifestyles: owning a camper van that can be used for travel and for undertaking seasonal work abroad has become the pretext for justifying the escape risk and handing out more days of prison as though they were sweets.
      An appeal hearing concerning Natascia’s remand will be held on 14th August.
      Meantime, while these gentlemen are taking their time, Natascia remains locked up in the AS3 unit in the prison of Piacenza, and Beppe in the secure unit in Pavia: in spite of Beppe’s two hunger strikes and repeated requests from lawyers, the Director of Prison Administration persists in holding him in there.
As always, and even more so in anticipation of the trial, we are renewing the call for solidarity with the accused comrades.
FREEDOM FOR ALL!
To write to the comrades still locked up in jail:
NATASCIA SAVIO
C.C. SAN LAZZARO
STRADA DELLE NOVATE 65
29122 PIACENZA
ITALY
—————-
GIUSEPPE BRUNA
C.C. DI PAVIA
VIA VIGENTINA 85
27100 PAVIA
ITALY
To contribute to support them:
– Postepay evolution
Account name Vanessa Ferrara
Number 5333 1710 9103 5440
IBAN: IT89U3608105138251086351095
– Postepay evolution
Account name Ilaria Benedetta Pasini
Number 5333 1710 8931 9699
IBAN: IT43K3608105138213368613377

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

Jimmy Josse.

 

      For years I have been haunted by a name, Jimmy Josse. I came across his name frequently when doing a wee bit of research at the Mitchell and was crawling through the Guy Aldred papers. Jimmy's name kept cropping up at meetings of Glasgow anarchists, he would propose this and second that. So I got to wondering who was this guy, Jimmy Josse, but drew a blank in any research that I pursued.

 A young Guy Aldred.

     Some years ago I mentioned it to my mate Joe, who died recently, and to my surprise, he said he knew him. Joe said that he was a self employed painter and decorator, and Joe was his helper for a few years. He said he was an anarchist was involved around the time of Guy Aldred, had a wee van, and was always getting stopped by the police. Joe said that he was quite gallous with the police, when they stopped him, he would throw his arms in the air and come out with some remark or other, such as, "OK you've got me this time, I thought I was getting away with the crown jewels, but you got me." Of course they never found anything except paint brushes, paint, white sheets, rags and ladders. Joe also mentioned that he loved to go for lunch at cafes around Glasgow University so that he could get into arguments with students.

     The only other info I have is that he was married to a woman called Jean, she died and it seems Jimmy was really depressed for quite a while, but later entered another relationship and the lived in West Graham Street. Apparently it didn't work out and he left and went to stay in a flat at St. Georges Cross, and lived there until he died. I believe he had a daughter and one of his mates was a guy called Willie Kenny.

     Why am I writing this. well I believe since he was an anarchist and activist, there is a story in his life and it is one I would love to record with some detail and put it on record in strugglepedia. So if any of you out there, have any snippet of info on this guy, I would be extremely grateful if you could pass it on to me. I have made this appeal before to no avail, but who knows, maybe this time I'll strike it luck and Jimmy's story can be entered into the history of Glasgow Anarchists, where I'm sure it belongs. 

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

The Invisible.

         A few words for those millions that suffer poverty and deprivation in this system of inequality and greed. For the migrants fleeing death and destruction with just the clothes on their back. For the homeless, the marginalised, for those invisible to the arrogant, greedy masters of this economic system of injustice, inequality and exploitation. For those cast aside for plunder and profit, a price will be paid for your pain.

 The Invisible.

We live there— yes— there
A little bit above the dead
But quite a bit below the living
Where poverty is a dream
Deprivation a reality
Our daily bread an illusion
We sigh--we weep—
As ruthless poverty
With its cold claws
Tears the heart from our children
We ask—WHY?
Surrounded by opulence
Invisible to arrogant greed
Anger simmers beneath the surface
We seek justice
We will have equality
If blood is the price
So be it.

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

Failed System.

      We have never had to look far to see glaring evidence that the capitalist economic system has failed the people of this world. There has been those continuing wars all for resources, wealth and power for the few. Poverty is endemic in large swaths of the planet, abject poverty and deprivation are part and parcel of the lives of millions of families and individuals. Now with this pandemic it is obvious that the capitalist system had in no way prepared for such an event, even although the experts in that field had been warning for years that it was an absolute necessity. I suppose they hadn't worked out how quite to turn into a money making exercise since it had a social service aspect.

      Now the predicted pandemic has truck and the abysmal handling of it by forewarned but unprepared states across the globe is obvious. The result being a flood of avoidable deaths and a steep rise in poverty across the world. On top of the pain and stress of losing loved ones, no country will escape the rise in poverty and deprivation. There is no doubt that the disastrous outcome of this pandemic can be laid at the feet of the economic system that puts the economy and profit for the few ahead of the health and well-being of the people. The only reason for continuing this greed driven exploitative economic system can only be insanity, sanity surely must prevail and bring an end to this cancerous economic system that blights large swaths of humanity.

The following extracts are from AP News:

      -----With the virus and its restrictions, up to 100 million more people globally could fall into the bitter existence of living on just $1.90 a day, according to the World Bank. That’s “well below any reasonable conception of a life with dignity,” the United Nations special rapporteur on extreme poverty wrote this year. And it comes on top of the 736 million people already there, half of them in just five countries: Ethiopia, India, Nigeria, Congo and Bangladesh.------
      ----India is struggling with one of the world’s largest virus caseloads and the effects of a lockdown so abrupt and punishing that Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked the poor to forgive him. Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, has surpassed India with the most people in extreme poverty — roughly half its citizens. And Congo remains one of the world’s most crisis-ridden countries, with outbreaks of Ebola and measles smoldering.-----

• – The Latest: Confirmed coronavirus cases reach 20 million
• – Schools mull outdoor classes amid virus, ventilation worries
• – Pandemic wrecks global Class of 2020's hopes for first job
  

      Even China, Indonesia and South Africa are expected to have more than 1 million people each fall into extreme poverty, the World Bank says.
     “It’s a huge, huge setback for the entire world,” Gayle Smith, president of the ONE Campaign to end extreme poverty, told The Associated Press. Smith, a former administrator for the U.S. Agency for International Development, called the global response to the crisis “stunningly meager.”------

Read the full article HERE: 

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

Our Mistakes.

         History is never dead, it tells us how we got where we are, it lets us see where we went wrong, it should teach us how not to make the same mistakes again. Sadly we don't always see those mistakes and also the powers that be will do what they can to conceal, distort or destroy those parts of history that might point to ways and means of getting rid of their power and privileges. The true history of the ordinary people is a history of perpetual struggle for justice and equality, a struggle that still continues today. Let's learn and spread our history so that we don't again repeat those mistakes.

The following is an extract from Orgrad, Organic Radicals:

       The spring of 1649 was a time of unprecedented hope for the people of England. Civil war had turned to revolution, King Charles I had lost his head and a republic had been declared.
      The victorious “roundhead” parliamentary army which had defeated the royalist “cavaliers” was heavily imbued with the radical ideas of the Levellers and at St George’s Hill in Surrey a little group of rural rebels were setting out to reclaim the land as a “common treasury for all”. (1)
        But the hope did not last and the moment turned out to be the high water mark of popular revolt. The agitators of the New Model Army were crushed at Burford by Oliver Cromwell’s cronies, the Diggers were attacked and evicted from their squatted land and “law and order” were restored. Eventually, of course, the monarchy came back as well, albeit in “constitutional” guise.
        Instead of becoming a country of free men and women, growing their own food and deciding their own destinies, England became the birthplace of liberal capitalism.
         The tyranny of privilege maintained by the old Stuart regime had not been ended, simply transferred into new hands.
     Popular anger against feudal hierarchy had been harnessed by the entrepreneurial and banking classes to get rid of all those inconvenient old-fashioned barriers to trade and money-making.
        Once the people had played their revolutionary role, and the old regime was gone, they became the enemy within and had to be quickly be put back in their place before things went too far.
        The essence of this commercial coup d’état is nicely symbolised by the fact that a lavish feast was laid on for Cromwell by the City of London to celebrate his crushing of the radicals at Burford. (2)
        By the first decades of the next century, Merrie England had already been replaced by the kind of society that is all too familiar today.

The Bank of England.

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Raw Capitalism.

         I'm always surprised when people are shocked when companies take every opportunity to cut wage bills and increase profit margins. After all, that is the basic mechanism of capitalism. Increase market share, reduce costs and increase profit margins, its what they do. We should all have seen the wonderful opportunity that large companies would have through Copvid19 crisis. It would be a case of gloves off and get tore into raw capitalism. Grasping every opportunity to reduce wages and slash working conditions, and say with sad eyes, as if they cared about the staff that they have milked for years, how difficult these decisions are. Basically they don't give a shit about their workers and would gladly dump the lot if they could mechanise all their operations.

The following extract is from a BBC news article:

       British Airways staff who have accepted voluntary redundancy say they had felt "forced" into it. BA wants to cut 12,000 job roles and says 6,000 staff have volunteered.
       Carol - not her real name - said BA had told her if she did not accept the offer of voluntary redundancy she would have to apply for a job and if she did not get it she would only receive a statutory redundancy payout. She says the airline's conduct was "a slap in the face".
      Carol, who had worked for BA for 23 years, told the BBC: "They [BA] said 'If you don't take the offer, you'll go into the fire-and-rehire phase', but if we aren't hired, we'll get only statutory redundancy."
      Those BA cabin crew who did reapply for their jobs on a new contract are expected to find out later on Friday whether or not they lose their jobs. Carol, who worked on the long-haul fleet, said it was a foregone conclusion that the airline would not re-hire older cabin crew members.
      "Even before I had accepted the voluntary redundancy offer, I had a message on my roster from BA: 'Thank you for your service. Good luck'. That is all I got from them after 23 years.
       "It's a slap in the face, but it shows they knew who they were getting rid of," she said. She says she will be forced to sell her home since her redundancy payment won't cover her mortgage. "It's actually age discrimination, we were forced out."

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       I have every sympathy for those who find themselves moving along on the end of a corporate boot, it's called capitalism.

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