1940's Glasgow.

        For those youngster, and not so young, interested in the history of Glasgow's anarchism, you could do well to have a wee read of the Charlie Baird Snr.'s interview on libcom. Part WW2 period experience and part post war. My one little criticism of the interview is no mention of Willie McDougal, a very active Glasgow anarchist, who published several papers, spent time in prison as a conscientious objector, and kept the Workers Open Forum running when others had moved on, and very little on Guy Aldred, a very active and well known anarchist in Glasgow. It would be interesting to hear what people think of where we are now in Glasgow. Have we grown, shrunk, on track, lost our way, are we grasping the opportunities the way we should, have we lost the streets in favour of the internet?

 Willie McDougal.

Anarchism, in 1940's Glasgow:

1) Charlie Baird Sr. : An Interview

6th June 1977

Before the war I’d been sympathetic to the Communist Party, as early as 16 or 17 years of age. It wasn’t until the war, when Russia had signed the pact with Hitler, that I started to have my doubts about the CP. But even prior to that I’d drifted away from them. When the war started, I took up the Conscientious Objector position, and finished up, of course, in jail. It was in jail - I hadn’t been conscious that there was such a movement as the libertarian movement, the anarchist movement - I thought that the CP was the last thing in left-wing movements.

I met two lads in prison (I also knew one prior to going in, who’d told me to look out for these two lads) ; one was Jimmy Dick. He’d managed to get some anarchist literature in. I went through that and discovered that was what I’d been looking for. It was what I’d believed, even when I was in the CP ; I was dissatisfied with the centralised character of the movement.

Then, of course, when we came out, there was an anarchist movement in Glasgow at that particular time. We came out of jail and teamed up with them. It was around 1942 when I came out of jail,and there were about 40 active members of the group. By 1944-45 it was probably around 70-80 members.

The peculiar thing about the Glasgow group was that there was no such thing as recognised members of the group. The only way you could recognise a regular member of the group was by his activities ; there were no things like membership cards or anything like that. The 70 or 80 would include the lads from Burnbank and Hamilton - miners, the small groups out there with 3 or 4 members. They organised meetings and we supplied them with speakers.

Continue Reading HERE: 

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

Out Again.

         Well, well, I thought it might never happen again. However, today I got out on the bike for a wee run, just a wee run. Which is fantastic as I was beginning to think that I would never get back on the bike again. A crap spell of chemo and hospital appointments and various other procedures, arthritis in my lower spine and hips and slipped disc, among other problems and a lousy spring, too cold for my chest, made it look doubtful. However, today, 17 degrees and no wind, how could I resist. Though I did cheat, to ease the pain in my back I took a couple of paracetamol before heading out. Something I refrain from doing, hate those things, I have enough pills on my list to keep a pharmacy in business all by myself.

    It was just a short spin around Springburn Park, but boy, did it feel good, as usual Stasia had to get some photos, she can't resist, I hope you can see the delight in my face.

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

State Repression.

       I know everybody is preoccupied with the coronavirus pandemic, and rightly so. However the state functions at different levels, and the brutality and savagery of its mercenaries continues, pandemic or no pandemic. Migrants are still badly treated and in some cases viciously repressed. Migrant camps are dotted all over Europe and the conditions are far from acceptable, but in some cases it is reminiscent of nazi concentration camps. This latest report from  the detention centre Paranesti Dramas in Greece should not go unmarked because we are suffering from a pandemic. These are human beings, their lives are being made a living hell by the same state apparatus that spouts how it is trying to save us all from this pandemic, of course all, doesn't include migrants. 

 Paranesti Detention Centre.

The following report from 325:

       Following our communication by phone with many migrant prisoners in the Paranesti Detention Center, we were informed of the following events that took place on Friday 3rd of April. In the aforementioned camp there are 6 wings in which are places 7 to 8 containers, and in each one are cramped together 15 persons. The living conditions are terrible and the people are lacking basic resources for survival.
        Under conditions of life threatening detention, the authorities on top of this, ceased to accept any asylum claims a month ago and they ordered confinement due to the corona virus. As a result the migrants were confined inside the containers without any hope of freedom. No information was given to them about the reasons they were quarantined, about what is going on outside or even what they should be doing to protect themselves from the virus.
       In a climate of general upheaval and uncertainty, on Friday 3rd of April they decided to react initially regarding the terrible food that they are given and then, in coordination, 500 to 600 people in all 6 wings refused the meals. They made known to the Administration the reasons of their mobilization and the authorities reacted immediately telling them their demands would be met and convincing them to accept the food temporarily.
       Later the same day they were given the same inedible food to eat and so, realizing the intentions of the Guards, they decided to declare hunger strike not only for the meals but also demanding to be informed about the health situation and the reasons for their isolation.
     The managers of the concentration camp, as true heirs of their fascist predecessors, locked up the migrants inside the containers, aiming to isolate and terrorize them so as to stop their mobilization. Moreover, as punishment they cut the supply of food in the super market.
      What followed is worthy of the Nazi tradition in the concentration camps. After keeping them imprisoned for hours inside the containers, around 9 pm the riot squad came along with the OPKE (heavily armed units) cops and 2 vans full of fully armed cops. Savage beatings followed with the repression forces opening the doors of the containers one by one and dragging out of them the migrants one by one beating them up. They would enter the containers, 6-7 cops together beating indiscriminately everyone in their sight. Then they would drag them outside beating them on the head, the legs, the body and wherever their batons would strike. The migrants say that even tasers were used against them.
     The whole operation lasted 2 to 3 hours, and when the cops took out all their fury, they decided to elaborate their torture, by keeping some migrants outside on the containers in the cold until the middle of the night, while locking others inside.
      Many of the migrants were badly hurt and taken the next day to hospital, some were punitively transferred to other detention centers while some were taken to the cells of police stations. Some were transferred to the nearest clinics for their wounds. In this way they dispersed them, isolating them so as to not have any contact between them and so as to silence the events.
     This violence, the repression against hunger striker migrants should not pass!

We don’t forget, we don’t forgive.
Bastards of the police, we are drops of the coming storm.

 

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

One Race.

      The incident in this post happens day and daily, in different degrees of harassment and intimidation in cities across the world. The nationalist fervour that is prevalent in our cities is a disease that we have to root out. Migrants are the easy scapegoat for nationalist bile, and the states create this by their nationalistic policies, in an attempt to get you all to rally round the flag. The other must be seen as a problem, the enemy, to get you to accept and embrace their policies of control. We are all people, we all have family or did have, we all fall in love, drive buses, fix plumbing, take care of grand parents, who look after grandkids. We can't allow the state to dictate who we like and who we should fear. Nationalism and patriotism are the enemies of unity across those false lines drawn on the map by power mongers. One race, one planet, one home. The following incident was in Athens, but that city is not unique in its treatment of migrants.

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 from Act For Freedom Now:

       On 5/4, a friend from Pakistan was walking on Amfipoleos street in Votanikos towards Rouf train station. At the traffic lights, 2 DIAS bikes that were headed to the opposite direction did a U-turn and stopped him. They asked him where he lives and where he’s going, he showed them the handwritten paper that said he was going out for exercise and then they asked him for his residence permit. He showed them the application certificate, because he’s expecting his papers in the next month, they tore it up, shouting that this isn’t valid anywhere, they pushed him against the wall hitting him in the face, one of them pulled his gun, the other two were holding him and the third one was looking around. One spit at him. At that moment the man’s phone was ringing, the cops saw that those were calls from his girlfriend and started mocking him saying: “Do you have a date?” and “Is your girlfriend looking for you?”.
      Then they pulled down his trousers and opened his jacket, they did a body search on him, for drugs as they said, they searched inside his underwear and pulled off his socks and shoes. They started threatening that they were going to lock him up since he has no papers, they told him they were taking him straight to the police station, and when they saw he wasn’t answering them and just asked to call his lawyer, they refused, hitting him, and sarcastically asked if he was going to start crying, too. What’s more, they doubted that the paper of movement was written by him and they were laughing at him, saying there is no way he can write so well, they stated to him that now they’re going to send the photos from his documents everywhere and they’ll be watching him wherever he goes and in the end they told him that they’ll send him back to Pakistan if he wants to walk free in the street or to exercise, because “here, it’s forbidden”. Then they let him go, telling him that they’re doing him a favour by letting him, and only on the condition that he’ll go home.‌
      One more time, the face of democracy and its instruments is made clear. We are reporting this incident not as something new, nor as something shocking. We are aware of the living conditions of migrants in Greece, of the abuses of the state, of their ill treatment by the police and by every fascist scum, and of the suffering they’re put through—if they’re lucky—to get their papers and live with dignity.‌‌
We’ll soon deal with the cannibals of this world.‌‌
NO ONE ALONE AGAINST REPRESSION.
SOLIDARITY TO MIGRANTS.
LET’S BREAK THE FEAR
source

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

They Failed Us.

   

     The lockdown rumbles on, the deaths keep being reported, and no end in sight. Whatever your views on this pandemic you have to lay the largest slice of blame on our various governments and their wholehearted support of the Neo-liberalism foisted on the world for the benefit of the rich and powerful. It was their policies that hollowed out the health services to breaking point, it was their deliberate actions to destroy social services, all in the aim of increasing profits to the big corporate plunderers. We can also lay the blame at their feet for their incompetent, confused, delayed and vested interests approach to the pandemic when it first raised it dangerous head.

    As the cry for seeing things back as usual increases, we would be full blown idiots if we even considered that return road to be lead by the incompetent, crew with their vested interests that brought us to our knees in the first place. There can be no place in our plans for that new normal for the crew of the institutions that through their greed and vested interests driven policies, gross incompetence and inhumanity, brought misery and death to many more families than would have been the case had the situation been handled by well funded health services and social services, co-operation between countries and done rapidly.

      No, we can't reward greed and incompetence, our new normal must in no way resemble the old corporate greed normal of the rich and powerful, that has heaped so much misery, death and poverty on vast swaths of the world's population, and at the same time creating an ecological disaster we might not be able to repair. 

The following is an extract from an article by Paul Craig Roberts

•       We are hearing from many that the world after Covid-19 will be different. The question is: Different in what way? Will it be better or worse?
        Elites are working to make it better for them, and worse for the rest of us. About that the evidence is clear. The Big Boys are being bailed out and their debts covered. Everyone else, except those already marginalized and without a recent work record and fixed address, got a month’s rent and extended unemployment benefits.
          Big Pharma sees massive profits in the virus, Government sees more power to control
          But the disparity in economic benefits is only a part of it. Powerful vested interests, such as Bill Gates and Big Pharma, are determined to vaccinate us all, and to control our movements with an internal passport called “vaccinated, health cleared” or other words to that effect. New tracking procedures and technologies are to be put in operation reminiscent of the “mark of the beast” to police the access of varous categories of people to various areas and benefits.
         Experts point out that just as we cannot be vaccinated against the common cold, except perhaps for the past year’s version we cannot be vaccinated against Covid-19 and other mutating viruses, but the experts are already being shouted down. No expert opinion is to be permitted to stand in the way of vaccination profits.
         Neither will nutrition and vitamin advocates be allowed to get in the way. Bill Sardi predicts that orchestrated scares generated by mandatory recalls of “toxic” vitamins await us (https://knowledgeofhealth.com/modern-medicine-laid-bare/). Big Pharma is determined to acquire control over vitamins and homeopathic remedies, and the FDA is Big Pharma’s likely pawn.
         Vaccination has been elevated above cure, as Big Pharma and its shills such as CNN shout down the positive experience doctors report of successful treatments with Hydroxychloroquine and Azithromycin, and the effectiveness of Vitamin C, Vitamin D3, and Zinc in strengthening the ability of immune systems to fight off the virus. Big Pharma-influenced medical orthodoxy cannot get out of the box it has been put into. When new thinking and experimentation are needed, those capable of thought are hasseled and even blocked by FDA regulations and dogmatism.
        The permanent government and its security agencies see in the population’s fear and confusion opportunities to put into place more tyrannical measures, more set-asides of Constitutional Rights, more impairments on free speech. The ability of freedom to resist oppression is ever diminished.
  Various descriptions of the expected dystopia are offered on the Internet. But it does not have to turn out this way. It is up to us. Demoralized and fearful, we can accept more government power as we did after 9/11. Instead, we can collectively recognize the massive failure everywhere of Western leadership and construct a more livable and sustainable society.
         The failure of leadership is an opportunity for real change
        CNN, the New York Times, and the rest of the controlled media tell us every day that President Trump represents the failure of leadership. But the failure of leadership goes beyond all the leaders of the last 30 years and resides in the system itself. Global, “self-regulating,” greed-driven, financialized, soulless capitalism cannot unite people into a sustainable community. 

Continue reading HERE:

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

Musical Pleasure.

      And now for something completely different. I have always enjoyed music, but classical music was my main love, especially the piano. The very first classical recital I attended was when I was a teenager and was by the Polish pianist Witold Małcużyński, it was a Chopin recital. It was in Glasgow's St. Andrew's Halls, yes I'm that old, and I didn't follow the herd, for me it was a very emotional event.

    With time on my hands because of this confined to barracks period, I was prowling through some videos on the internet and came across this one of Evengy Kissin, my favourite pianist, and thought it was worth sharing. It is worth noting that this is not the performance, but the remarkable number of encores after the performance. Apart from the brilliant performance, the emotional content, and the magical dexterity of his hands, the effort is shown in the sweat dripping from his face and the sweat mark on the back of his jacket slowing moving down the jacket to below his waist line. 

 

    I feel quite privileged to have heard him live many years ago in the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, I can't remember the date, but I'm sure you could find it by looking through their back catalogue.

Enjoy:

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

The Illusion.

 

 

     What a strange phase capitalism is going through, always the call for less state interference in the market, let the corporate bosses rule and everything will be alright. Now in one of the biggest crisis to hit capitalism, this pandemic, and the hands of the corporate beast are stretching out for the state to bail them out and save the shareholders from losses. Across the developed world countless trillions are being thrown at big business to prop them up, and a pittance being sprinkled among the ordinary people. Another alien thought to the capitalist mind that is being floated, the state could buy up shares in failing businesses to get them on their feet again, then when they start to make a profit, sell them back to the shareholders. Everything must be done to save the shareholders and financial institutions from losing too much of their ill gotten loot.

 

     All this is floated as trying to save jobs to help you and me. They know we are just desperate to get back to miserable wage slavery to ensure our bosses can live in the luxury to which they have been accustomed. Perhaps we could keep all these jobs going not by the state buying into failing businesses with tax payers money, but us the ordinary people simply taking over all the business and running the ones we deem necessary as non-profit entities on a co-operative basis. That way we wouldn't need to bother about the parasitical shareholders and their lavish life styles. They could eat their luxury yachts. 

    We will be hit time and time again, us, the poor, the struggling, the ordinary citizen, with demands to use taxpayers money to bail out the rich and powerful as long as we tolerate this insane system of capitalism. History tells us that it lurches from crisis to crisis, each one worse that the previous, and the answer is always the same, we tighten our belts so that the rich and powerful can hold on to their wealth and power. "When will we ever learn"

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

Treason.

         Whilst we are in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, Spirit of Revolt volunteers, like so many others, have been working from home when and where possible. Our archivist, Paula, is beavering away on a laptop at home, others are trawling through our catalogue to see where we can find improvements, and of course being another month, we can’t forget our “Read of the Month”.

        For April we have chosen, Treason: Against the State. No. 7  a 1981 pamphlet from our Bratach Dubh Collection.  

       These are trying times and with the confined to barracks regime in place at the moment, perhaps you are looking for something interesting to do. Well why don’t you spend some time perusing our catalogue, there are thousands of articles, papers, pamphlets, booklets, etc. to read your hours away, at the same time learning something about our history, the history from below, the history the ordinary people in their day to day struggles for that better world for all. With today’s conditions what better time to start to think of how we can change the system to one that benefits us all. Happy reading, stay safe.

Treason: Read on line

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

The End Is Nigh.

       Everybody is, rightly so, concentrating on getting through this nightmare pandemic, but we should also be focusing on what about after this? The political ballerinas and their experts keep talking about getting back to "normal", well I think you can forget the return to normal, as it will just not be there. There will be massive unemployment as business after business is, and will continue, to go down the plug hole. Not that I for one ever wanted to return to their normal of struggle to survive, while we keep the parasite class in luxury.

    The pandemic is being the seed sower of mutual aid, we have seen it grow in community after community, and should become our plan for a return to our created "normal", freed from the destructive profit motive that has blight humanity for centuries. As far as capitalism is concerned, let's all unite and say "The end is nigh"

   Some recent figures from America can give some insight on what to expect economically, after we get through this pandemic. Remember in this crazy economic system we are tied to the rise and fall of the mighty dollar.

The following from The UNZ Review:

1– Unemployment is off-the-charts

       Thursday’s jobless claims leave no doubt that the country is in the grips of another severe recession. More than 6.6 million Americans filed for unemployment insurance in the last week. That number exceeds the gloomiest prediction of more than 40 economists and pushes the two-week total to an eye-watering 10 million claims.

According to CNBC:

       “Those at the lower end of the wage scale have been especially hard-hit during a crisis that has seen businesses either cut staff outright or at best freeze any new hiring until there’s more visibility about how efforts to contain the coronavirus will work.

      “We’ve lived through the recession and 9/11. What we’re seeing with this decline is actually worse than both of those events,” said Irina Novoselsky, CEO of online jobs marketplace CareerBuilder.” (CNBC)

According to New York Magazine:

      “Economists at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis projected Monday that job losses from the coronavirus recession would reach 47 million and push America’s unemployment rate to 32.1 percent — more than 7 points higher than its Great Depression–era peak.”

2– Service Sector has been walloped by the virus

      Services account for 70% of the US economy, but presently the sector is in meltdown. According to the analysts at Wolf Street: “Employment contracted sharply and hours were reduced for those still employed. “The employment index plunged from +6.1 to -23.8, also the lowest level on record…

       Retailers got whacked. The Retail Sales Index of the Texas Retail Outlook Survey collapsed from the already beaten-down level of -2.5 in February to an epic all-time low of -82.6 in March… (Also) the general business activity index collapsed from the beaten down level of -5.0 to a historic low of -84.2….

        Comments from retail executives were somber:… “Most of our business has gone to zero except for essential locations such as hospitals, military bases and prisons… We are contemplating at this moment sending most employees home while our owners determine whether they can afford to pay reduced salaries and cover benefits for a short period while we see if things improve or worsen” (Wolf Street)

3– Economic carnage extends across sectors

      Business Insider: “Recession risks are rising as coronavirus spreads around the world…The crisis will clobber airlines, shipping, hotels, and restaurants…

     “Sectors reliant on trade and the free movement of people are most exposed,” said Benjamin Nelson, a Moody’s vice president and co-author of the report.

Carmakers, gaming, and retail will be hit hard by supply chain disruptions, the analysts said…

     “A lengthy outbreak would affect economic activity for longer, leading to heightened recessionary dynamics and a more significant demand shock,” Moody’s said. “A sustained pullback in consumption would hurt corporate earnings, prompt layoffs, and weigh on consumer sentiment.” (Business Insider)

      Car sales have also dropped dramatically in the last two weeks. On Wednesday, Hyundai reported that sales had seen a decline of 43 percent for March compared to the same period in 2019. That’s a drop from 61,177 vehicles in March 2019 to just 35,118 during the same month in 2020. All other car manufacturers are experiencing similar weakness in demand.

Continue reading HERE: 

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

Create Our Normal.

     It is good to see that more and more people are coming together to help each other in a series of mutual aid groups. Also most are saying they don't want things to get back to normal, as their normal was pretty dismal in the first place. The majority of people were struggle to hold onto a half decent life, others were far from a decent life and saw food banks as their main source of sustenance. The thought going through lots of people's minds is to hell with getting the economy back on its feet, it screwed us for generations, let's bring the economy down and do things by ourselves and for ourselves. We can make a better job of it than the economy ever could, and it feels better being part of a real community.

    Let's all do our best to keep this attitude going, we don't need greed driven shareholders, plundering chief executives, and prancing political ballerinas, they're a burden we can jettison for good, that better world is ours to make. 

The following from It's Going Down:

       Two weeks later, more than 10,000lbs of free groceries have been delivered to the homes of people in need. Hundreds of people have responded to the call to help, forming a large scale, highly effective operation almost overnight. It’s growing by the day.

This is an amazing achievement, but it’s not nearly enough.
        The fact is, capitalism has left our communities hollowed out, brittle, on the edge of collapse for a long time now. Everyone is desperate. Trump talks about getting the country back to normal, but there’s no normal to return to. No job, no childcare, no health insurance, growing debt, soaring rent: this is the status quo many have been barely surviving under for years – and that’s without a pandemic-fueled recession. If we return to normal, it will destroy us. We need to create a different world to return to.
        Right now, while everything is on pause, we have a chance to build that world. Instead of going to work, a hundred of us spent the past two weeks figuring out how to get food to those who need it. Some have begun organizing with their neighbors to go on rent strike, or to open up abandoned houses to get homeless people a safe place off the streets. Out-of-work engineers are collaborating over video conference, working around the clock to design DIY medical care tools. Farmers are preparing new land to grow free food this spring.
      The lesson is clear: When the economy stops, we keep going – and we’re actually more capable of caring for each other without it.
The Atlanta Survival Programs are a crisis response, but they’re not a short term measure, because the crisis isn’t over until survival is possible for everyone.

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

A Police State?

 

        In this wee posting I don't intend to say anything, just post three wee videos and let you ponder them and come to you own conclusions. Note police gathering in close proximity with no thought to distancing and no masks?

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

State Killings.

       Prisons, those state institutions of repression, often run by private corporations who, as usual, make profit from people's misery, are harsh and brutal places. However, a prison sentence should not mean a death sentence, but all too often it does. To be locked in a cage is inhumane enough, but to die locked in such conditions is a criminal indictment against the state and its festering apparatus.

   The recent death in a Turkish prison, of a musician, must surely shock all those who hear of this tragedy, and voices must be raised in anger.

Istanbul, Turkey: Helin Bölek Dies After 288 Days of Hunger Strike

Posted on 04/04/2020 by anarchistsworldwide

 

 

      After 288 days on hunger strike, comrade Helin Bölek died today, Friday the 3rd of April, 2020.
      Helin was a member of the left-wing music group “Grup Yorum” in Turkey. She was not the only hunger striker, other members of the music group are still going. With their hunger strike they demand the release of the imprisoned group members and an end to the criminalization of their group. Today, 1000 people in Istanbul took to the streets and held a memorial service in spite of coronavirus and police repression.
      Grup Yorum are banned from performing because they are accused of being members of the banned Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party/Front (DHKP-C). Grup Yorum makes music for workers and they convey political content. This is a crime in the Turkish state today. The group members protest against this draconian treatment with a hunger strike. For some of them, forced feeding has been ordered by the state, this measure can also end in death.
       This cruel inhumanity affects us. The workers’ choir of the IWW Bern (Industrial Workers of the World) calls for as many people as possible to show solidarity with the hunger strikers. Raise you voice – worldwide! It is not too late to fulfill the demands of the group and save them from death.

Freedom for all prisoners!
An attack on one is an attack on all!

www.wobblies.org
www.facebook.com/iwwjam

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

Hand-To_hand.

      During this pandemic, people's thoughts fly in different directions, and rightly so. This whole episode in our lives is certainly food for thought, the failings  of our society, the possibilities of dramatic change to the way we structure our society, the need for the ordinary people to take control of the decisions that shape our lives, build a world free from the profit motive, bring an end to the ruthless financial Mafia that at present dictates the shape of our world to the benefit of the few. 

    With all of this and more running through my head as it does in others, there is one thought that persistently pushes itself to the front of my mind. We don't produce enough anarchist literature, that hard copy, that tangible thing of paper that we can read and pass from one to the other. I know, the internet is there, but not everybody walks that road. Anarchism is a big field and it grows a wide and varied harvest, let's throw its fruits far and wide. The leaflet, pamphlet, flyer, booklet, serial, are all every bit as necessary and as productive as as the blog, social media etc.

    So I'm always delighted when a new issue appears, whether it is a first or the next issue of anarchist thought, action, tactics, strategies deeds, I don't have to agree with everything that is published, but they can be handed hand-to-hand and should open the door to discussion of our ideas at cafes, bars, workplace, meetings and households, etc. we have a bottomless pit of ideas for that better world for all, let's throw them around more freely.      

    The second issue of RUMOER is now available

       The second edition of the anarchist publication Rumoer is out! A publication which will hopefully provoke discussion, irritation, inspiration, agitation, and attack. Because we do not want a raise in wages, but the destruction of work. Because we do not want to shout ‘boo!’ but want to hear BOOM! We want a confrontation without compromise with the system that is destroying our lives and the planet.
       In this issue some extra attention for the rampaging Covid-19 virus. But also just the ongoing anarchist interventions and other topics: an interview with a graffiti maker in Lebanon, the fight against Shell, post-gentrification and the use of the Signal app.
       If you want to receive the new Rumoer, send an email to: rumoer (((A))) riseup /// net. Since most social centres are currently closed, we ask you to help spread the latest edition. Order some extra copies and bring it to your neighbours, isolated family, friends and comrades.
       You can also download the new Rumoer or print it yourself. The link to the downloads can be found at rumoer.noblogs.org
      Remember, the streets are empty, the possibilities are open. Keep 1.5 meters away, but always at least ten times as much from the police!

Destroy what destroys you
Radio on
Smartphones on
Films on
Tablets on
Travels bought
Cars bought
Houses bought
Furniture bought
For what?
Trains going
Dollars flowing
Machines going
People toiling
Motors made
Canons made
For whom?
Destroy what destroys you
Bombers flying
Tanks rolling
Cops hitting
Soldiers falling
Stocks protected
Managers protected
The state protected
Against us?
Destroy what destroys you

You can download the English version HERE:

Cover
Print PDF
Read PDF

 

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

Where Is The Anger?

       The following video (thanks Loam for the link) could be about any country in the developed world, the numbers may vary, but the procedure is the same. A crisis is bailout time for the corporate moguls. What I particularly like about this video is not just the facts, but the anger, not enough of us are getting angry at this mechanism of "crisis = plunder of the public purse" by the wealthy and powerful. The multi-billionaires just love a crisis, they know that they will be handed the keys of the public coffers, not because they are poor and suffering, but because they are rich and in control. It is so blatantly obvious I don't understand the lack of outright anger, the media will keep you preoccupied with stories of all those brave people putting their lives on the line to save people, with scarce resources, an underfunded health service and a decimated social services system, but very little of how much the billionaires will plunder from the ever dwindling public purse.

     Just one putrid example is multi billionaire Richard Branson, he owns an island, uses it as a tax haven for his corporate empire, made lots of that billionaire loot from his Virgin Airline, and now when his money machine is slowing down he wants the UK tax payer to help supplement his income. Where is our righteous anger, we should be taking him to the public square and putting him is the stocks for people to vent their anger on. A man with unbridled greed and conceit, applauded by the media as a celebrity and successful businessman.  

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

Insane On A Whim.

 

       The situation is serious, regarding the draconian legislation brought in on the pretext of fighting the pandemic, your basic rights are being eradicated. One individual can now decide who should be sent to a mental health institution, thereby stripped of all their rights, and forced take medication, at the whim of one individual, possible not fully trained in these matters. Difficult individuals, awkward people as seen by the state and its minions, prisoners that are a nuisance to the system, individuals that question authority, all can fall foul of this new legislation. We must ask ourselves, is this authoritarian step necessary to control this pandemic, or is it just another weapon in the state's toolkit for total control of the population, should the public get really angry as this mess drags on, and the aftermath  is rampant unemployment, endemic poverty and a society that is knee deep in deprivation. This was nodded through by a bunch of wealthy political ballerinas that are well protected from the devastating ravishes of the aftermath that will follow on from this collapse of the existing system, that is sure to follow this pandemic.

The following from 325:

Prison-state UK comes into law: coronavirus.

       The Coronavirus Act 2020 in the UK is now in force for the next two years. It is a totalitarian coup by a right-wing government which has already shown it’s utter contempt for the judiciary, for parliament and for the people. Many of the provisions of this Act are already experienced by those on the margins of society, by dissidents, those in the prison and criminal justice system, the poor, and ethnic groups consistently disposed of by the police and the system, through poverty, imprisonment and death. Now the grand experiment is whether the kind of control infrastructure and total suspension of rights already administered to particular groups can be rolled out to the entire population.

     The most manipulable provisions come, as ever, under the Mental Health sections. Always a good catch-all since dissidence, illegality and criticism of the existent is already considered by the system to be tantamount to mental illness, people can now be hospitalised and medicated on the say-so of a single approved clinician. This power of one also decides the fate of those awaiting trial, convicted persons (we wonder whether that refers to anyone with a criminal record regardless of their current status) and those currently serving prison time: the Act allows a single person to sign off on a transfer from a prison to mental hospital. To the cynical, it might imply that unruly prison populations or undesirables (either currently or historically) are now living under the threat of being summarily detained or if already detained, then transferred and sedated with a no-questions-asked decision by a single clinician.

      Under coronavirus, the criteria that elects someone to the status of a person approved to implement these laws is considerably relaxed. Under the emergency laws, a person applying to volunteer as a health worker or social worker can be approved by a single senior administrator who believes the person is “fit, proper and suitably experienced”. Moreover, this administrator can approve a group of people who have organised themselves as such, presumably concerned ‘citizens groups’, without assessing each individual within that group. While the public health sections appear not to allow forced medical treatment, although it does allow for forced screening and assessment including the taking by force of biological samples from your body, the mental health provisions do allow people to be medicated by force, again to be decided by a single officer.

Dissidents and undesirables will also fall foul of the sections dealing with Potentially Infectious Persons (PIP), again this designation to be the whim of a single official. As they roll out their totalitarian nightmare under the guise of coronavirus, all civil liberties are suspended. They do not expect this strange compliance to last. It cannot last. In the UK, there is barely any social welfare for people being rolled out and a huge swathe of the population, already broken by a decade of Tory rule, are hungry now. There have already been riots.

       There are infectious diseases and there are infectious ideas: it is the latter that they are most keen to contain. For either, just read ‘Potentially Infectious Person’! The new Act allows for arrest and detention, new search and entry laws, and retention of an potentially infectious person’s things. Detention has a time limit but can be extended… and extended… and extended with no legal rights. Restrictions on a potentially infectious person’s movement, place of residence, activities and social contact, previously reserved for those leaving prison but still on licence, could now be rolled out for anyone with potentially infectious ideas under the guise of public health concerns.

       We are witnessing the building of a new wall where borders can be and are closed at a moment’s notice. Countries are being sealed off overnight. This is how the horror happens. One day you enjoy “free movement”, the next it is punishable by the law, if not death. The same status that refugees and undocumented people fleeing wars and shot at the borders have, blamed and vilified for the problems of the capitalist society.

      The new laws surrounding the registration of death and disposal of bodies are some of the darkest pieces of this legislation. In essence, there is no longer a need for an inquest, no investigation into suspicious deaths, there is no safeguard surrounding the recording of a cause of death which can simply be written by a temporarily registered medical practitioner (not the doctor attending the death), no medical certificate is required for cremation or burial and the disposal of remains and the place of disposal is taken out of the hands of relatives and given to national or local authorities regardless of the wishes of the deceased or relatives. How easy it would be to disappear us under such conditions.

      Totalitarianism is born under the pretence of necessity, of protection, of security. This moment is no different. Whatever the truth of the deadliness of this virus, the world created by this new legislation, the willingness of the people to accept it and the potential abuses written into it, are sobering. It reveals if not the plan then the opportunism of the totalitarian project which underlies the techno-industrial civilisation: immediate suspension of elections and referendums, no right of assembly or protest (which lockdown conditions have already illegalised), the implementation of the virtual and cashless surveillance society, the army on the streets as a matter of course, a police state whereby every move is monitored, absolute and unmitigated powers of detention (which must be experienced in isolation) and subjection of the individual to medical intervention, complete and punitive control of the movement, activity and association of individuals and groups, and a dismantling of safeguards over causes of death, recourse to an inquest and disposal of bodies. As scared and confused as people are by this pandemic, we must remember that the measures introduced by dictatorships to control populations often seem reasonable or even laudable at the time and are born of an irresistible logic that is embraced by the good citizen, whether that is the logic of communism, nationalism, protectionism or the logic of infection.

       We must also remember that throughout history people fought back against the false logic of their social and political reality. They also risked being detained, medicated, tortured, and killed. The states of emergency being rolled out by our national governments are in danger of becoming the new normal if we do not fight back. We are always facing death, both physical and metaphysical. This is an extraordinary moment in which we may find we have more comrades than we know as the system’s collapse reveals not only people’s crippling dependence on it, but also the forms of our potential liberation as critical masses experience new ways of being, new priorities and desires, that will not be met by a post-pandemic return to business as usual and also will not tolerate this state of emergency for long. As ever, our task is to find our leverage in this situation, to find our opportunities to engage according to our own anarchic principles, to organise against and despite of the tightening of control, to expose it for what it is and to break out of our isolation and the state of fear that is the real virus.

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