Hypocrites.

Waiting for inflation to drop!!

                                           Image courtesy of Adam Smith Institute.

             Like me, I suppose your sick to the back teeth of hear those hypocritical platitudes spewed out by the parasite class that sit in those Westminster Houses of Hypocrisy and Corruption. While you and I struggle to pay our bills, put food on the table and heat our homes We have Rishi Sunak, with his £800 million luxury cushion, telling us we will "need to hold our nerve". He has no inkling of how we live our what we have to put up with while he spouts pie in the sky---tomorrow, maybe. It makes no difference to him if the price of basic food double in price, he won't even notice. Then we have that other mouthpiece of the system, Karen Ward, she is a member of the Jeremy Hunt Advisory Committee. Her take on the situation we face is, the Bank of England have been too hesitant in raising interest rates and they need to create a recession to get inflation under control. Do these people really understand what a recession does to the ordinary people of this country, or is it that they really don't give a damn? A recession is high unemployment low wages and a massive increase in poverty. All this so that the corporate world and their business buddies can increase their profit margins. Isn't it about time we decided that we can't live under this insane greed driven economic system. We must work to bring the whole stinking edifice down and put capitalism where it belongs, in the dustbin of history, labelled "Humanity's darkest hour".

 Image courtesy of Ecoist Mag.

Visit ann arky at https://spiritofrevolt.info  

Willie Mc.

            Glasgow has a long history of anarchist activists one being Willie McDougal, born 1894, Willie was an active anarchist from his teens until his death in 1981. As a conscientious object he was in several prisons, escaping from Dartmoor, after stealing a bike cycled part way back to Glasgow, where he continued his anti war public stance. He kept the Anti-parliamentary Communist Federation going until 1941, Guy Aldred having left in 1932. Willie held street meetings at the bottom of Buchanan St. Arrested for speaking on Glasgow Green without a permit during the "Fight for Freedom of Speech on Glasgow Green". He published printed and edited numerous papers, among them, Advance, Fighting Call, Barcelona Bulletin, Workers Free Press, Solidarity,  He also formed Workers Revolutionary League. Also with others formed The Workers Open Form and kept it going until 1950's. The last issue of his paper Sense was at the printers when he died in 1981. We owe his dedicated life a gift of gratitude for helping to keep that vision of a better world alive for us to take up the struggle and carry forward. See https://spiritofrevolt.info and Clck on STRUGGLEPEDIA.

Image courtesy of LibCom.

 

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Rebel.

                  The state relies on a submissive population, one of its tools to engender this submissiveness is the virus of patriotism. It needs you to feel you owe an allegiance to the state and its flag, so that you can be used as cannon fodder in its many power driven wars. They attempt to create the illusion that the state is there for you, where as they have created a society where, in actual fact, we are there for them. To be used as tools for creating wealth for the few and dying to protect their power, wealth and privileges. Our submissiveness to this arrangement makes us complicit in our own slavery, and in prolonging our world of broken dreams and hollow promises. Our placid acceptance of this hollowed out world is entirely up to us, we have the numbers, the imagination, power and ability to end this insanity and create that better world free from profit, greed and exploitation.

 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.

 The following extract from the magazine, The Local Kids.

     

        The initial shock of a new war in Europe has provoked the tired argument that an exceptional event merits an exceptional response. Nevertheless, many before us have been confronted with unprecedented events and have found their anarchist position. Anti-patriotism isn’t an unrealistic position: the discussion of taking sides between warring states is deceitful even in its most pragmatic form. War doesn’t turn authoritarians into humanitarians. On the contrary, strategic calculations become more ruthless. A victorious state will not be generous to anti-authoritarians even if they temporarily ally themselves with the armed forces. On the contrary, the state thrives and is emboldened by patriotic fervour. We should refuse the blackmail of kill or be killed but that doesn’t mean that we should march with the opportunists who now claim pacifism. Although the world doesn’t come back as it was before, anarchists do not start from nothing in finding our way through the perennial challenges of our days. Our hearts still beat for direct actions against war mobilization because there’s nothing liberating in being soldiers and fighting their wars.
          Take care and greetings to everyone out there taking advantage of the interruptions!

PDF on thelocalkids.noblogs.org

Visit ann arky at https://spiritofrevolt.info

Class War.

Image courtesy of Eric Solheim.

          Inflation is the headline news at the moment with the capitalist propaganda gurus stating that inflation can only be tackled by making the people poorer ie, raising interest rates. The fact that inflation is fed by excessive corporate profits, CEO's grossly excessive salaries and bonuses and of course, excessive shareholders bonuses. Any suggestion of tackling these excesses is greeted with, we need to allow this to make the economy grow, touching that golden goose would hinder investment. So their only answer is to make the people poorer. As far as the wealthy are concerned, asking for wage increases to meet these dire conditions is destructive and will only prolong the inflation problem.
          It angers me to hear Oxford educated Andrew Bailey, the Governor of The Bank of England, with his salary of £575,338 per annum, that works out at £2,212. 84p a day, state "We know this is hard- many people with mortgages or loans will be understandable worried about what this means for them. But if we don't raise rates now, it could be worse later."
          This from a man who couldn't care less if meat tripled in price and milk likewise, it wouldn't dent his standard of living. However, what it means to millions of ordinary people across this country is a drastic cut in their already diminished standard of living. This in turn leads to all manner of health problems, stunted kids because of poor diet, increase homelessness. This is a class war, a direct attack on the ordinary people who are already struggling to make ends meet, and often failing. The well being of the corporate world is more important than the well being of the people.
         This savage attack on the people has the backing of millionaires, the get inflation down so as to increase their profit margins brigade, Rishi Suak, he of the £800 million nest egg, states, that the Bank of England is doing a good job, and Jeremy Hunt with his little £14 million cushion, gives it his blessing with, "If we don't act now, it will be worse later." none of them give a shit if food prices double
        Why do we continually accept this crap false scenario, painting the illusion that the only solution to our dropping living standards is to make the ordinary people poorer? Where is the righteous anger, where is the demand for justice and fairness and an end to this insane economic parasite breeding system of greed and profit for the few. 

 

Image courtesy of Green Hearted.

 

Visit ann arky at https://spiritofrevolt.info 

Rebellion.

 

                                                 Image courtesy of Daily Record.

        Over the centuries Glasgow has been a city of rebellion as workers fought for decent wages and conditions, the poor and unemployed fought for some form of help. In a lot of these actions there was confrontation with the military and on occasions fatalities. Today we face mass poverty, food banks, an education system on its knees, a social care system that has evaporated before our eyes and a health system that by all modern standards is not fit for purpose. Meanwhile large corporations are making billions in profits and handing out excessive bonuses to shareholder. There are striking workers in all section of our society in an attempt to stop this greed driven grossly unfair distribution of society's wealth, wealth created by the workers. What brought the citizens of Glasgow to turn to rebellion in those past centuries, what element is missing now that stops us from demanding more and taking to the streets to take what is rightfully ours? Will Glasgow and other cities once again become cities of rebellion, the conditions are there, poverty, grossly unfair distribution of wealth, draconian legislation preventing us from taking our grievances to the street in protest. How much further will we allow our society to sink before we cry out, enough is enough.

                                                     Image courtesy of BBC.

          Some date of past rebellions in the city of Glasgow. To read about these and more of Glasgow's past go to https://spiritofrevolt.info and click on "STRUGGLEPEDIA"

1706 The Union
1706 Against the Union
1787 Calton Weavers Strike
15th February 1800
1812 Weavers Strike
6th March 1848
1915 Rent Strikes
1919 'Forty Hour Week’ Strike

 

                                                   Image courtesy of BBC

Visit ann arky at https://spiritofrevolt.info  

Lithium.

 

           The corporate greed juggernaut, with assistance from the media propaganda machine and the various states, is pushing the electric vehicle as the the answer to our climate and ecological problems. What they don't mention is that the electric vehicle is dependent on lithium for its super sized batteries and all that this entails. The mining of lithium in such vast quantities is an ecological disaster in its self and also leads to removing indigenous people and/or destroying their land in an unimaginable scale. The electric vehicle requires the same massive destructive production systems as the internal combustion vehicle just changing the engine to one that requires vast amounts of copper and lithium. Both these materials are responsible for unbelievable destruction to our ecosystem.  One thing we can be sure of, as far as the capitalist world is concerned mass production must continue to keep the massive profits flowing into the coffers of the privileged parasite class. They will weave the various illusions of how they are moving to clean ecologically friendly production, while ravaging the Earth on a scale unimaginable a few years or so ago. The only answer to our pending ecological disaster and species demise, is to bring down the capitalist system and its insane economics of profit and perpetual growth. 

 SubMedia's latest production, System Fail 23.

Visit ann arky at https://spiritofrevolt.info   

Rebellion

             We are in the midst of a corporate greed crisis where live becomes increasingly difficult for most of us, having to make choices of what meals to cut and what bills to pay, this adds to daily stress and causes increase in health problems. Meanwhile, the state's response is to increase the powers of its minders, the police, and push through ever more draconian legislation restricting our rights. As life becomes more difficult the right to protest is becoming a criminal offence, a deliberate policy from the state to openly say, submit or face punishment. Under such burdening conditions the only road that seems open to us is to rebel, as the state has shut down all other means of meaningful objection to this nightmare of poverty and repression.
            The recent events in Cardiff should not come as a surprise to those living under these state imposed draconian conditions. The anger that has been simmering under the surface for years is about to explode, as the people stand up and say, enough is enough. It is time to stand up and state, the streets are ours and we will not surrender them without a bloody fight. 

The following from Act For Freedom Now.

Visit ann arky at https://spiritifrevolt.info 

Workers' City.

 

              This video is from From https://spiritofrevolt.info/audio-video/ Collection. An event put on by Spirit of Revolt to remember and learn from Glasgow's Workers City group (1988 - 1993). It was a Spirit of Revolt Show And Tell event, well attended and enjoyed. Hope you enjoy and perhaps learn something from this.

Visit ann arky at https://spiritofrevolt.info 

Pollok Free State.

           Pollok Free State was a long bitter struggle to save part of Pollok Estate being carved into a motorway to suit the corporate bodies that transport goods for profit, destroying ancient trees & habitat of hundreds of species in the process. Of course the cry from the powers that be was, "it will be good for the economy" and screw the planet. we are fortunate that Spirit of Revolt Archive, has a large collection of photos and documents of the struggle at https://spiritofrevolt.info/simon-yuill-collection/ SoR-25-2-1. All free to view.

 

Visit ann arky at https://spiritofrevolt.info

Inflation.

 

 

                                                 Image courtesy of MR Online.

              It always amazes me how those privileged parasites' minds work, those wrapped up in their bubble of opulence, the pundits of the capitalist system. Our own Chancellor of the Exchequer, one Hunt, states that the Bank of England has no alternative but to raise the bank rate yet again. The theory behind this is that this will make thing more expensive and so discourage people from spending then inflation should start to fall. This plan, when people are struggling to pay for the necessities of life, is to discourage them from spending. What is it that we have to stop spending on? Is basic food items, kids breakfasts, washing powder, toilet rolls, heating. Their thinking shows a complete disregard for the life and well-being of the public at large, a total misunderstanding of how we are struggling for a decent life as things are at the moment. The point they ignore or sweep under the carpet is that inflation is not driven by wage increases but is driven by corporate greed. Rather than making their corporate buddies pay for the inflation they place the burden on you and I. Capitalism is insane economics that favours the few at the expense of the many and the few will do their damnedest to make sure it stays that way, no matter the pain, poverty and anxiety that this places on the many.
        We know there is a fairer way of organising society, we have imagination, the ability and the power to create that better fairer society. All we need is the will to come together in solidarity and dismantle this crushing burden of privileged parasites grasping all the wealth we create, and start organising our communities in co-operation, to see to the needs of all our people, freed from the greed driven profit motive. Let's place capitalism in the dustbin of history under the label of humanity's darkest hour.

 Image courtesy of Robert Reich.

 

Visit ann arky at https://spiritofrevolt.info  

Election.

Does this look like a day in your working life?

Image courtesy of UK Parliament.

          With three bye-elections and a general election on the not too distant horizon, our political ballerinas are in a flutter. Will they still be on the gravy train after the election, will they be knocked off their luxury perch? These are the problems that fill the minds of our privileged political class. However, you and I should know, if we have ever looked at the history of elections over more than a couple of centuries, that our freedoms have never come from the ballot box. The suffragettes didn't get the vote by voting, our trade unions weren't born from the ballot box. Everything we have ever gained as a class, has been through determined struggle, direct action and solidarity of the people. So get used to the fact, the next election will be a close relation to what we are already experiencing, no matter what colour of tie wins a majority.
         The usual mantras will be chanted, "difficult choices have to be made", "we must grow the economy to improve our living standards". Meanwhile you and I will suffer austerity in a variety of names and guises, struggle to try to have a decent life for our kids, waiting for that pie in the sky when the economy will give us the promised land. However, our political ballerinas and their corporate buddies will be living the life of luxury. When will be get wise and decide that we will no longer be shafted by a bunch of wealthy privileged parasites. When do we say, enough is enough, we will govern ourselves, we don't need you, you are dependent on us.

         Our government functions with more that 755 peers which includes 25 bishops in the House of Lords and more than 650 MPs in the House of Commons, all paid handsomely plus expenses from our tax money. Do you think we get value for our money? 

 

Image courtesy of the Daily Mail.

 

Visit ann arky at https://spiritofrevolt.info    

Nazi.

 

Image courtesy of Radio Free Europe.

 

An interesting article by author and journalist Patrick Lawrence

 

           "I tell you, serving as a New York Times correspondent these days cannot be

easy. You have to convey utter nonsense to your readers while maintaining a straight face and a serious demeanor. You have to suggest the Russians may have exploded a drone over the Kremlin, that they may have blown up their own gas pipeline, that their president is an out-of-touch psychotic, that their soldiers in Ukraine are drunkards using faulty equipment, that they attack with “human hordes” (Orientalism, anyone?) and on and on—all the while affecting the gravitas once associated with the traditional “Timesman.” You try it sometime.
        I am reminded of that pithy passage in Daniel Boorstin’s regrettably overlooked book, The Image. “The reporter’s task,” Boorstin wrote in 1962, “is to find a way of weaving these threads of unreality into a fabric that the reader will not recognize as entirely unreal.”
           Boorstin reflected on America’s resort to imagery, illusion, and distortion as Washington geared up its gruesome follies in Vietnam. The reporter’s task is a whole lot harder now, given how much farther we have wandered into illusion and distortion since Boorstin’s day.
          And now we have the case of Thomas Gibbons–Neff, a square-jawed former Marine covering the Ukraine war for The Times—strictly to the extent the Kyiv regime permits him to do so, as he explains with admirable honesty. This guy is serious times 10, he and his newspaper want us to know.
         Tom’s job this week is to persuade us that all those Ukrainian soldiers wearing Nazi insignia, idolizing Jew-murdering, Russophobic collaborators with the Third Reich, gathering ritually in Nazi-inspired cabals, marching through Kyiv in Klan-like torch parades are not what you think. Nah, our Tom tells us. They look like neo–Nazis, they act like neo–Nazis, they dress like neo–Nazis, they profess Fascist and neo–Nazi ideologies, they wage this war with the Wehrmacht’s visceral hatred of Russians—O.K., but why ever would you think they are neo–Nazis?
            They are just regular guys. They wear the Wolfsangel, the Schwarze sonne, the black sun, the Totenkopf, or Death’s Head—all Nazi symbols—because they are proud of themselves, and these are the kinds of things proud people wear. I was just wearing mine the other day.

            Views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Radical Glasgow Blog.

 

           I post this article to draw attention to who and what our government could be supporting with your tax money.

 

Image courtesy of Forward.
 

Visit ann arky at https://spiritofrevolt.info   

BoJo.

                                               Image courtesy of Umbrella online.

           The mainstream media has made a big splash about Boris the Buffoon resigning from Parliament, let the speculation begin. Boris has jumped before he was pushed, Boris will do anything  to save his earning capacity. This liar, charlatan, narcissistic, bumbling, incoherent product of the Oxbridge sausage factory came to gain power because of his wealth and background, not because of his intelligence. He is typical of what the mass producers at the Oxbridge sausage factory turnout, power because of the wealth and privileges, yet these are the people we constantly hand over our power to, for them to "take care of our affairs". By now we should have learned that all they do is look after their corporate conies and their own off-shore accounts. Time and time again they are found to be dodging taxes, claiming expenses to which they are not entitled. They take petty jobs with large companies and receive fabulous fees, not for their knowledge of the business, but for the strings they can pull in parliament. So while they continually stuff their off shore accounts, they give us austerity, underfunded NHS, closed libraries, swimming pools, community centres a crumbling education system and a collapsed social care service. While they allow the corporate world to rip us off with hyper-inflation, so that the financial Mafia can recapitalise their rotten corrupt system. So rejoicing at the departure of one of these political ballerinas is an empty celebration, The Westminster Houses of Hypocrisy and Corruption, is still stuffed full of narcissistic greed driven charlatans, still riding the gravy train, which we, in our blind folly, fund and allow them to do without hindrance. Bring the whole rotten system down, it's the only answer to our problems.

                                              Image courtesy of Wealden District.

 

Visit ann arky at https://spiritofrevolt.info