A World Of Trees Or Tarmac, The Choice Is Ours.

      The Hambach Forest has been a battle ground for a number of years now. The resistance by people from all over against the turning the largest forest of its kind into a mining area has been constant. However, over the last year or so, the authorities have stepped up their brutal and forced eviction. As usual the authorities are on the side of big business and will bring the full force of their trained thugs down on those who resist the march of the corporate world, as it decimates and plunders our world to the detriment of all life.

     This is a call out from the resisters still fighting, against overwhelming odds, within the forest, as there position is being met with consistent and ever increasing force. This is not just about the Hambach Forest, this is about our planet and the well being of all life, it is a battle for a sustainable life or a corporate world of  barren tarmac and industry.

This from Contra Info: 

       Right now a large scale police action in the Hambach Forest occupation is taking place! The protest camp fighting against energy company RWEs destruction of land and climate must be sustained until the last tree is standing! The eviction of the occupation is coming ever closer, and the struggle is becoming clearer every day now.
         Climate change does not stop at the borders, and neither does our movement! Therefore we are calling for actions of solidarity to take place all over Germany, all over Europe, and all over the world!
The Hambach Forest occupation has become a focal point in the struggle for climate justice worldwide, and now, as we are preparing for the struggle to come, we need all your support!
      So whether you are climate activists, anarchists, anti­police­brutality organizers, or you simply believe in fighting for justice, the callout is clear:
Organize yourself, take action, and show your solidarity!

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

Phoney Figures Conceal The Savage Insanity.

        Though this article from Its Going Down, original source, Anathema, was referring to America, it applies to the entire capitalist world. The three pillars of the capitalist cathedral that are necessary for its survival are, increase market share, reduce costs, and increase profit margin. Of course these are impossible to maintain in a finite world. Disaster for the many is the only outcome of such an insane system, its destruction is the only road open to a sane and just world, and that task is up to us, the ordinary people of this world, the corporate parasites will fight tooth and nail to hold on to their privileged insanity.  

        The following essay from Anathema argues that the success of “our” economy that we are told about over and over, from a variety of parasites, is nothing more a cycle of boom and bust that is designed to explode every few years, trapping us both in poverty and jobs that we hate.
        Despite constant governmental controversies and the raging disaster that is the global capitalist system, in late August President Trump was able to announce record-setting economic success as the U.S.’s bull market became the longest running in its history. For those struggling to find work and stay afloat, it may be surprising to hear that the economy is doing better than ever and unemployment at an all-time low. How is that possible?
       To start with, the stock market is not an accurate indication of how well the economy is actually doing. Even to many capitalist experts, the current valuations of the market seem like a serious stretch. But more importantly, to correctly assess current economic phenomena would require a historical perspective on capitalism and certain insights into its tendencies that no mainstream economist is willing to take on — hence professional analysts’ sometimes amazing inability to understand or predict economic trends.
       A basic tendency of the capitalist system is that it needs to keep expanding in order for it to preserve itself. At this point in its history, global capitalism has been struggling for some time to find new markets and other ways to continue growing profits at the massive rate that is now necessary. Its growth has happened through increasingly constricting labor costs in a number of ways – through employers decreasing full-time jobs with benefits, automating more jobs, and employing temporary, part-time, or even unpaid labor, as in the notorious case of prison inmates. Some specific manifestations of this have been the rise of the gig economy, which, in promoting “flexible” working arrangements, cuts the costs and responsibilities that corporations would have if they maintained a permanent workforce; the adjunctification of labor in universities, in which professors are hired on a cheaper, temporary basis instead of the university maintaining tenure-track lines; and a major shift towards what’s called just-in-time production, which similarly involves a dramatic increase in temporary work, as employers adjust their workforce based on supply and demand.
       So the fact that Walmart is posting high earnings does not mean, as mainstream analysts are suggesting, that consumer power is up and the economy will keep doing great. It just means that Walmart is a corporate distributor using just-in-time supply chains to crush labor and reduce costs to the absolute minimum. Meanwhile, news media is reporting unemployment in the U.S. is at 3.9%; it seems poised to hit 3.7%, the lowest it’s been since 1969. As we’ve written previously, this low number is actually the result of more and more people giving up on looking for work and no longer being officially counted in the “workforce.” This number has nothing to do with the total population of the U.S. and the significant actual changes in the nature of labor mentioned above. It is hopelessness and misery that are spreading, not the number of jobs.
         At what point will global growth actually peak, and another recession kick in? The U.S.’s current economic success is in part the result of the Trump administration’s massive tax cut, spending increases, and aggressive stance on trade, all of which have been calculated to grow the market for now without necessarily holding up well in the long term.
       Moreover, trade tariffs and the looming reality of Brexit stand to lead to a loss of investment confidence and tank the markets; however, it seems very possible that the escalatory trade threats with China are just Trump politicking and that nothing will actually happen until after the midterm election. The real sign of a looming recession is wage inflation, meaning the rise in the price of goods that happens when wages increase.
       It seems obvious, given the reality of employment conditions in this country, that there will not be any significant wage growth any time soon. Average hourly wages have risen only 2.7% in the past year, which is much lower than usual in a strong economy. What the current market’s success really indicates, then, is ongoing success by employers in keeping their workers underpaid and unstable, while pushing more and more people out of the job market altogether. While labor organizing and reforms may occasionally still have some successes, to reverse these trends and go back to better labor conditions under capitalism is structurally impossible for the capitalist system, which depends on increasingly minimizing labor costs.
      The only way forward for this economy is for the obscenely rich to get richer through devastating the livelihoods of more and more of the world, crushing the ability or will of the latter to do more than survive, let alone rebel.

        The two sides of the cancerous capitalist nightmare, the privileges of corporate parasites depend on the poverty of the many.

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

In This Economic System Brutality Repeats Itself.

 

        There is always talk of change, but in this capitalist system, certain things never change. I wrote this little piece back in 2012, and here we are in 2018 and the same  basic structure still continues. Wealth and power control our lives, that wealth and power is created by the daily grind of the ordinary people. We furnish them with the wealth and power to continue exploiting and controlling our quality of life.

February 2012:

       We should never forget that in any industrial struggle you are not only fighting your employer, but the powers that be. The authorities will always throw the full extent of their power in support of the employer and against the workers. You elect them and they support your employer, that's how the system works. That power can be police intimidation/brutality/provocation, to bringing the troops onto the streets to crush the resistance of the group in dispute. Britain is no different in that respect, we have had the troops on the streets on numerous occasions. Troops were put on the streets in Liverpool during the 1911 dockers strike, resulting in two strikers being shot dead on the street. Later in Glasgow 1919 during the 40 hour week struggle, once again the state brought troops on to the streets. That event in Glasgow became known as Bloody Friday. We can go away back to what was probably the first organised strike in the country and the then authorities ran true to form and brought the troops out against the strikers, that was the 1787 Glasgow weavers strike. Don't ever expect "YOUR" elected representatives to support you in any workers dispute, they support the system, which is one of exploitation and business orientated, your are just the replaceable wee cogs in their greed machine.

Let's jump forward, 1984/85 miners strike

       Of course it is not just industrial disputes that the full force of the wealth and power cabal will come down on the public. Any resistance to whatever  legislation they wish to force on to the public will be met with the same brutal onslaught, jump forward to 1990, remember the poll-tax? In that case it was a victory for the people.

       Real change for the benefit of all our people will only come when we demolish this greed driven exploitative, unjust system, and replace it with a society that is free from the profit motive, sees to the needs of all our people, and is built on sustainability.

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

Under The Fifth Rib.

 

         September, another month, another opportunity to poke you nose into one more of Spirit of Revolt’s little gems from the past. This month we have chosen a 1939 publication by the Glasgow Anarchist Communist Federation, Under The Fifth Rib, by H. T. Derrett. It is part of our Charlie Baird Collection, T SOR-6-7-23. The Glasgow Anarchist Federation had their address as, 287 Netherton Road Glasgow, has anybody any idea if it is still there, and if so, who or what occupies the place? Enjoy and learn and perhaps peruse the catalogue while there, as over the last month or so we have added a considerable amount of new "Read on line" documents. This is an ongoing process, so keep coming back and do a wee bit of browsing. I'm sure what you find will be rewarding.

Under The Fifth Rib, by H. T. Derritt.

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

Edinburgh Is ACE!!

        As usual, our friends in Edinburgh are busy, the hub of that activity being ACE. Here is the latest list from that hive of activity.

 ACE OPEN SATURDAY 1ST SEPTEMBER
        ACE is open tomorrow Saturday 1st September 1pm – 4pm. You will be able to access and borrow books from the Scottish Radical Library and also look at the Autonomous Archive of pamphlets, magazines, news-sheets and leaflets. Other ACE facilities will also be available including the Info Shop with books and pamphlets for sale and free leaflets, info on the grass-roots and revolutionary groups which meet in ACE and are active in Edinburgh, Chiapas Solidarity merchandise and info, free use of broadband computers etc..
       We hope to open regularly on the first Saturday of each month. This is dependent on having enough volunteers and this is where you can help – no experience needed as you would be on the shift with someone who was a regular at ACE. If interested in volunteering then please leave a message on ACE facebook, ring ACE on 0131 557 6242 during opening times, or email ecap@lists.riseup.net (ACE email not working).
ACE OPENING TIMES
        Every Tuesday 12-3pm. The last Thursday each month 6pm – 8pm. We are no longer open on the second Thursday of each month. Watch out for news on further Saturday opening.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Sat 1 September:
     Ace Saturday Opening Everyone welcome to pop in & check us out 1 - 4 pm
IWW in the Park BBQ
     The Meadows, hosted by Edinburgh IWW 2 - 6 pm
Mon 3 September: 
     ECAP monthly meet At ACE 7 - 9 pm (meetings first Monday each month)
edinburghagainstpoverty.org.uk
Thurs 6 Sept: 
      Living Rent Housing Protest, Muirhouse high rise council tenants demanding the Council end dampness and carry out much-needed repairs
Fidra Court, Pennywell Medway, Muirhouse EH4 4SE
1pm - 2.30/ 3 pm all welcome
Buses 37, 16, 27.
Wed 12 September: 
ATH Meeting ACE 7 - 8:30 pm
Sat/Sun 22/23 September: 
      Social Centre Conference At GAS, Glasgow --
Check out ACE on facebook @AutEdinburgh for news of the many regular events held at ACE including public discussions and film screenings.
         We also recommend you checking out the sites and facebooks of the several great groups based at and associated with ACE which include Action for Trans Health, Sisters Uncut, the International Womens Strike , Edinburgh Antifa, the Industrial Workers of the World, Oficina Precaria, the Anarchist Federation, Edinburgh Chiapas Solidarity Group, Migrant Pride, Edinburgh in Protest, Decolonising Discussion Group, Anarchist Feminist bookfair, the Spit collective and ECAP.

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

Don't Ask For The Right To Strike, Take It.

       It is a strange thought that in a so called democracy, you can be employed but if a difference between you and your employer arises, you can't stop working to try and get the situation resolved. The law, as in slave society, forbids you to stop working, you first have to jump through hoops organised by the state and your employer.

     The right to strike has continually been attacked by employers and this mindset has always had the backing of the state as it continually tightens the legislation governing our right to strike. The aim of course is to destroy one of the main tools in the armory of the workers as they struggle to hold onto, or improve their conditions. Their idea is that during disputes you just keep working while the employers indulge in so called talks, that can drag on indeterminately while you still keep producing their profit, and your grievance becomes a pantomime of talking shops.

     Most Europeans consider Sweden to be one of the more socially conscious states on the continent, but even there, the right to strike is under fierce attack, sadly backed by the big unions.

This from Gatorna:

        This is a video in English about the Right to Strike rally in Sweden and the demonstration that was held on Saturday August 25 in Stockholm by anarchist and autonomous organizations, unions and individuals. 2000 people joined the demo. STRIKE BACK was a mass action with the purpose of defending worker's rights in Sweden. Recently the heads of the swedish trade union confederacy made a deal with the employer's confederacy severely limiting the right to strike. While it hasn't been turned into law yet, any plausible government alternative after the election this September are likely to pass it.We see this development as part of a larger pattern of impeding working class struggle across Europe, as seen in the development in countries such as France or Poland in the last years. See the call for the action bellow.

        We publish the call for a nationwide social strike on the 25th August in Stockholm, launched by the “Strike Back” movement against the project of a law that drastically limits the right to strike. The law was proposed as a response to the mobilizations of the dock workers in Gothenburg, to close down the already limited possibilities for workers to call for a legal strike. This proposal is but one episode of a longer series of attacks to the right to strike in several European countries in the last years. As the call implies, if they attack us in the workplaces, we will bring the strike into the streets, taking up the determination to reinvent the strike expressed recently in Sweden by the young Afghans striking against deportations and globally by the women’s strike. How the limitations to the right to strike are part of an overall transformation that tries to turn workers into a just in time asset, how to join forces and confront the attacks to the strike on a transnational level, these are for us the open questions we are looking forward to discuss in Stockholm in autumn.

Read the full article HERE: 

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

The Release Of Some Bile.

        This little piece is just the release of some bile that has been bothering me for some time now.

       Europe, one of the supposed centres of the civilised world, an extremely wealthy enclave. The usual story put about of how the Europeans came so wealthy is that here was the heart of the industrial world, a continent of hard working intelligent people who introduced the world to a multitude of inventive industrial processes.
        Of course this mythical history of Europe, is built on a series of massive lies. The wealth of Europeans, was 100% built on savage brutality. We Europeans sailed forth and landed on a continent we called America, plunder it is lands and brutally killed its people, genocide was the foundation of the wealth that flowed from there to Europe, bolstered by the savage growth of slavery. It is estimated the the indigenous population varied between 5 million and 15 million, but by the end of the "Indian Wars" it had dropped to a little over a quarter of a million. We arrogantly rampaged through Arab Africa treating the indigenous population as lower animals slaughtering where we felt necessary, to allow us to plunder their resources. Sub-Sahara didn’t escape the European blood lust, we moved into a land where people had live for countless centuries and called it ours. Any resistance to this mindset was met with savage slaughter and genocide. In that vast and ancient country of India, once again we moved in, called it ours and subjected its people the some of the most horrifying slaughter imaginable, countless millions dying as our iron grip milked the country for the benefit of the wealthy Europeans, in this case mainly British. China wasn’t over looked in the European arrogant attitude of superiority, Asia and China received the same treatment as we intended to call the part of the world ours, and plunder with impunity. As usual local resistance would be met with the customary European savagery.
        The wealth of the Europeans is soaked in blood, for centuries we have prospered on the suffering and death of countless millions, and most of the conflicts across the planet today, are actions of that arrogant bunch of Europeans, (of course that includes those who settled in America), as they try to hold onto what they see as their right to plunder and control the world’s resources. Nothing has changed in the arrogant attitude of the established wealth of the Europeans, and nothing will change until we recognise that no group has the right to dominate any other group. Nothing will change until we get rid of this unjust system of arrogant wealth and power accumulation, and replace it with a system of social justice, a system built on sustainability and the needs of all our people.
Burrp. 

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

A Two Year Old Birthday Party.

 

       If you can get there, have fun, make contacts, learn, share and help change the world.

       Squat Kumma celebrates its 2 year journey in august with a hardcore gig on saturday 25.8 and a DIY-festival on 31.8-2.9. At the DIY-fest there will be workshops about tattoos and “artvandalism”, food, gigs, art exhibition and more!
       Two years ago a group of squatters decided to squat an empty house in Malminkartano, Helsinki and create a space for self-organized and free from oppression. Since then the squat has hosted numerous events; gigs, peoples kitchens, movie nights, workshops etc.
      What does Do-It-Yourself mean for us?
      DIY for us is anti-capitalism, squatting, taking back our lives, solidarity, direct action and many other things. It is not only a theory but an action that we want to spread right here and now.
      We dont want to create a consume-based event but to create a space for sharing skills, learning from eachother, experience and emancipate. No-one has to be a expert to participate because DIY for us is also Do-It-Together.
*SQUAT KUMMA DIY-FESTIVAL PROGRAM*

OPEN CALL FOR ARTISTS:
        Squat Kumma invites graffiti writers and all sorts of artists to decorate Kumma for upcoming diy festivals on thursday 30.8
send email to kumma@protonmail.com or just come to the house afternoon!

PROGRAM:
Friday:
17:00 “Artvandalism” workshop
      How to cut stencils or to use spraypaints? Whats the best way to make wheat paste or make paint bombs? In this workshops we go through basic practices of art vandalism and why reclaiming cities walls should be important for anarchists.
Workshop is free
 

20:00 Music and dj:s 3-5€
    KUUMOTUKSET FEAT VIOLA (PSYCHOTIC RAP)
AFF (HARDCORE TECHNOMETALLC PUNK EXPERIENCE WRAPPED IN REGGAETON)
FLORALL ( cutest in the game // soundcloud.com/florallll )

Saturday:
15:00 Pizza
       Squat kumma starts the day with pizza
 

16:00 Stick n poke tattoo workshop.
      Practicing and doin handpoke tattooing. Come and make tattoo for your friend or on yourself. Kumma will provide tattooing materials so we wish that people would donate little bit to cover the costs of inks, needles,glowes and so on. However if you dont have any money thats not a problem!
 

19:00 Film documentary: If a tree falls
        Trailer www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAGxy85R380
+ documentary about social center satama.

Sunday:
14:00 Fleemarket/Freemarket/freeshop/Distro(s)
       Come and bring your old clothes, distro, whatever! There will also be kummas own zine distro.

16:00 Building workshop
      Kumma will provide materials for creatin. You can build art
installations, furniture, whatever you want!

17:00 Food

18:00 Playing basketball, football etc

xoxo
Changes in the program are possible!
Welcome to Kumma in late august!
      If you have questions or want to help organizing the festival please contact kumma (at) protonmail.com
kumma.me

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

From Sacco And Vanzetti To The Craigavon 2

        Pick your country and you will find injustice, miscarriages of justice are part and parcel of any state's judicial system, as it will always do its utmost to intimidate dissent and subdue activists in the defence of the privileged few who control the wealth and hold the reins of power. 

A call for solidarity from 325:

From Sacco and Vanzetti to the Craigavon 2
A Call Out for Support and Solidarity

       The 23rd of August marks the 91st anniversary of Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti. They were both executed in the US in 1927 for the robbery of a shoe factory and the killing of a guard and paymaster. During their trial the prosecution produced conflicting ballistic evidence and witness testimony. The defence had several witnesses testifying where the accused men were on the day of the robbery and killings. This should have proven Sacco and Vanzetti innocence but instead both were convicted and sentenced to death. They were killed for their beliefs, they were insurrectionary anarchists “that advocated relentless warfare against a violent and oppressive government.”
       Like Sacco and Vanzetti, the state scapegoated Brendan McConville and John Paul Wootton (their case is known as the Craigavon 2) , for revenge over killing of a cop and two British soldiers in 2009. The cops arrested and charged several republicans in connection with the killings. In all cases the only real evidence the state had was that all the accused were republicans. Two people, John Paul Wootton and Brendan McConville were charged and convicted of the killing of the cop. Two others, Colin Duffy and Brian Shivers, were charged with the killing of the soldiers. The latter were subsequently found not guilty of the killings of the soldiers, the state had no evidence on them.
       Like with Duffy and Shivers the state have no real evidence on John Paul Wootton and Brendan McConville. The only evidence produced by the state was circumstantial evidence and a witness statement from a proven liar, whose own father came forward denouncing his son as such, and the partner of the witness that was with him on the night of the killing cannot confirm his version of events. So what really convicted John Paul Wootton and Brendan McConville were their belief in the republican struggle and for the state to save face and for the revenge on what were the first killings of British armed forces in Ireland since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998.
         The Craigavon 2 need support and solidarity, they are are going on their tenth year of imprisonment. Brendan McConville is a father of two, was 37 in 2009 when first imprisoned, Brendan has to do at least 25 years before being considered for parole.
         John Paul Wootton was 17 years old when first imprisoned, he wasn’t even an adult and has been in prison ever since, John Paul has to do at least 18 years before being considered for parole. John Paul now describes himself as an anarchist, and so is added to the long list of anarchists in prisons across the globe from Chile to Russia.
       Their only hope is for an appeal in court, their case needs to be made known and their campaign needs to grow to put pressure on those in power.

      For further information on cases of John Paul Wootton and Brendan McConville see: https://jftc2.com/

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

Cherish The Bootlickers And The Entrepreneurs.

       Yes, with reverence and wall to wall coverage, that babbling brook of bullshit, our mainstream media, reported the Pope's visit to Ireland. However, despite the massive turnout, paid little heed to those who see through the illusion of the God men and their grovelling groupies of fools and exploiters. Thanks Loam for the link.

       Sarah Clancy performs her poem 'Cherishing for Beginners' at the Stand for Truth rally on the day of the Papal rally in the Phoenix park Ireland.

Cherish the meek
cherish the ranchers
cherish the guards
cherish the bankers
cherish the virgins
then ride them and cherish their sisters,
cherish tax exiles and entrepreneurs
cherish the rewards of intergenerational privilege
or if that's too hard for beginners
sure cherish the Rose of Tralee for starters,
cherish the goal and the point and the foul
cherish the priest's dirty sheets
but not the women who wash them,
don't mention her
or what she might need,
go on though and cherish the IFSC
and its type of laundries-
those ones are fine,
they are grand sure.
Cherish Them.
Cherish the pope and his
band of transglobal bootlickers
cherish the bishops
who moved paedophile priests
around like chess pieces
and were afflicted with severe mental reservations
every time child rape was mentioned
cherish the bureaucrats
who know that the institution always comes first
cherish the shame they implanted
on the whole population
then cherish the suicides
as collateral damage
in an otherwise virtuous struggle
cherish the high moral ground
they reached by tramping on
the graves of dead babies,
cherish the ring kissers
who made it all possible
sure give them a big round of applause
don't the y deserve it
Cherish the men
because they couldn’t help it
if the women and girls went and fell pregnant,
cherish the foetus, the heartbeat,
but not the person it's in
then cherish the small graves
in their undisclosed wastelands
cherish the shovels
and boot soles that dug them-
let there be no doubt about it-
Yes We Can!
cherish the children
if they're from the right class
aren’t travelling people
and are not for god’s sake
seeking asylum,
don't forget too that we must
cherish the mute
and cherish the sheepish
but hate those in need,
worship Fr Peter McVerry himself,
go ahead make him an icon
but don’t listen to what he’s saying
about anything.
Cherish the poor
for how you can use them
to frighten those
who are just one rung above
cherish the people
who learned early and often
what happens to those
with big mouths,
cherish your local TDs,
and the crowd in Listowel
who didn't care that he raped her
sure wasn't he one of their own?
Yea cherish the rapist,
why don't you?
Cherish the golf course
and its sprinklers
sure Irish Water will save us
cherish piece work and internships,
and zero hour contracts
aren't you lucky you have a job at all?
Do you not remember the coffin ships
and are you not grateful?
Yea cherish your own exploitation
cherish the school board,
for our lack of gay teachers,
cherish women's place in the home
then cut their allowances,
sure they don’t deserve them
having all of those children
repeat after me- Cherish Privatisation;
and if you don't then you better learn
to cherish the knock on your door
in Jobstown in the morning.
Consider this a warning.
Cherish Dev and Pearse
and blood sacrifice
but don't mention James Connolly
who said until Ireland's women are free
none of us will be, most of all though
cherish outsourcing and remember
your call is important,
you too will be cherished equally
if you can afford it
as soon as an operator
becomes available
which may well take
another hundred years.

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

Auschwitz-Disneyland.

      I post this article in full  because I think, with clarity, it puts into words what so many of us think and feel, but can't quite put it together. Also as the writer says, the audacity of linking those two words, Auschwitz and Disneyland will create a shock among those conditioned minds.

     It is an anonymous article taken from The Anarchist Library, a wonderful Aladdin's Cave of anarchist texts.

Auschwitz-Disneyland

I live in Auschwitz-Disneyland. I make sure that all my papers are in order,
I document my existence on social networks,
        I apply for grants and loans. I wear clothes that express who I am, I am a walking billboard, a name tag, I pick a style. I take a train, a subway, my car, un Bixi[1], it's so convenient. I take a shower, I smell good, according to the ads this foaming gel makes me irresistible. Auschwitz-Disneyland is the countryside in the city, the city in the suburb, and the suburb in the countryside. Auschwitz-Disneyland is naked life in one's Sunday best, the hegemony giving itself the answer. In Auschwitz-Disneyland, “holidays make you free.” In Auschwitz-Disneyland, we order at the drive-through, we studying by distance learning, and we shop online.
      In Auschwitz-Disneyland, “water comes from the tap and food comes from the supermarket”, food found in the skip also comes from the supermarket. Spectacular capital of Biopower and the bio-political Spectacle: Auschwitz-Disneyland is the name of the metropolis and that of the empire. Auschwitz-Disneyland is not synonymous with the Spectacle, but rather, that which the Spectacle prevents us from keeping our distance from. Auschwitz-Disneyland is not civil war, but the denial of civil war to such a degree that it becomes a weapon. Auschwitz-Disneyland does not call itself Auschwitz-Disneyland, it is called: Montréal, Burlington, Club Med, the Univerisity of Québec in Montréal, Athens, Amiens, Dix-Trente, Bagram, Oakland, Bois-des-Fillions, and I'm skipping some. The inhabitants of Auschwitz-Disneyland are citizens. In the aftermath of a riot, the citizens come out of their condominiums armed with brooms. Living in Auschwitz-Disneyland is an anaesthetic experience, which deprives us of the beauty and possibility of sensory experience.
     I wouldn't know how to say exactly how this all started, if it was domestication, patriarchy, agriculture, the State, cities, symbolic culture. There is also this god from the desert, jealous and terrible liar whose promise is no stranger to the hegemony of Auschwitz-Disneyland. This god, who could not have been so hideously jealous and a horrible liar if he had really been alone, managed to convince his disciples that he was the only god and that nothing that links us to the here-and-now is of importance, that what mattered was elsewhere and he held the key for it. Although we are no longer as loyal to this tyrannical buffoon, we continue to diligently follow his terrible promise. Auschwitz-Disneyland is the objective incarnation of this promise, the absolute negation of the possibility of being here, now. Here-and-now, is no longer here-and-now, it is just next door, out of reach, fenced off, it is a no-man's land that crosses the empire, it is subject to police surveillance at all times. When I try to escape Auschwitz-Disneyland is not to go elsewhere, it is to rediscover the here-and-now. I do not dig a tunnel, but a hiding place, a shelter.
     Auschwitz-Disneyland subjects the world to its empire through use of powerful tools such as reason, technique and grammar. In a world whose ins and outs are contained in symbolic mediations, do not underestimate the power of grammar. Grammar shapes minds and stories, it also brings many prohibitions, of course it is not permissible to join the words “Auschwitz” and “Disneyland” with a hyphen, to try to give them one and the same meaning. In Auschwitz-Disneyland, resistance, like all counter-cultures, has developed a vocabulary of its own, but fails to overcome the enemy grammar; the word “ecocide” will never hold weight against the concept of “economic growth”. The combination of a counter-cultural vocabulary with the authoritarian grammar of mass society can only lead to ridicule, we must see how easily the “New World Order”, “Bilderberg” and “chemtrails” conspirators put an end to any political conversation. Facing the risk of being confined to jargon, it is beneficial to talk through the force of rocks, paving stones, poles...
        Auschwitz-Disneyland is less the Apocalypse in motion, than the negation of this Apocalypse in the service of its expansion. The task falls on the best agents of the Apocalypse of denying the slightest trace of the latter, and to wipe out the unfortunates who had the audacity and recklessness to pronounce its name. It is perhaps no coincidence that Saint Peter became the head of the church by denying Christ three times. If this negation of the Apocalypse returns in the sphere of the spectacular, to specialists, in the private sphere we become all subcontractors. We prefer, most of the time, to deny our desire to end the domination, in favour of a trans-historical oppositional perspective and of 'counter-power'. In doing so, we deny the possibility of abolishing Auschwitz-Disneyland, by contenting ourselves with a space for demonstrations, a zone for free expression, a protest pen. We let go of the gun to better cling to the barricade.
      This mutilated negativity first results in our inability to sustain ourselves without precarity, which also feeds our servitude. This constant management of subsistence denies the possibility of note-worthy experience, of bearing a relationship to the world which is not that of domination.
        A century of industrialisation, continental genocide and four years of trench warfare eradicated everything up until the “possibility of experience.” Then after that, it was relayed by the most horrible images, rats shown alternating with a hated minority; and during that time on other screens, a mouse wearing trousers, going to the restaurant with his girlfriend, driving a car. Since scrapping experience, progress, basing itself on images, has free reign, hiding the cost of what little is given to us, cultivating our dependence, promising us anything. In Auschwitz-Disneyland, progress maintains itself by combining its best gadgets, which form so many layers which capture us like cellophane. Auschwitz-Disneyland merges telecommunications, cybernetics and pornography, and gives us the internet.
     Auschwitz-Disneyland is also the triumph of sustainable development, humanitarian intervention and green capitalism. Divided thought has multiplied to the point of constituting an inseparable heap. New animal torturers are the “finest minds” of cognitive science, and wise European scholars, well-intentioned, try to prove the innocuousness of new molecules that surround us. Where does the baby start and the bathwater finish? The “banality of evil” is also the evil of banality. The dreams of citizens reproduce sadness and the banality of their existence, their interaction is limited to an interface. Another world is possible, you want to laugh. This world is impossible, its end is desirable, that will suffice. Jokers put forward superficial slogans: ecosocialism or barbarism. If it's a matter of choice the answer is too easy, we are not fooled, the 250 known species which have become extinct today are not fooled. If it's a threat, we will respond with a roar, a fierce and wild roar, we will roar with all our strength, we will roar for the 250 known species which became extinct today.
     Auschwitz-Disneyland can provide free education, cover itself with windfarms, eat organic and drive electric cars, the “Princesses' Castle” and her thousands of hideous copies could be made of recycled cardboard, the horror would remain whole. To maintain itself, this world must keep us out of the here, far from the now, outside nature and alien to each other.
       Auschwitz-Disneyland only maintains itself by cultivating this estrangement within us towards others. We share a subway car, without letting it show; we don't look at anyone, we are voluntarily absorbed by some gadgets, some books, some music. When empty-handed, we pretend to be alone, to be somewhere else; we are in the habit. We are mobilised against the presence of the body and against the possibility that it carries. Sometimes this mobilisation fails and the decorations get torn. There are all these cities and suburbs ablaze when the cops execute the “baddies”. There is Sobibor[2] where a dozen prisoners got the camp to revolt: killing the guards, destroying the cells, fleeing into the woods. There's also Woodstock '99[3], Seattle[4] and there is Oka[5].
        A drone flies over a piece of desert, preparing to launch a missile at a truck; we will say that it was carrying some “militants”. A landlord's association decides to analyse the DNA of dog shit that stains their lawns to find and punish those “guilty”. A counterfeit Mickey Mouse gets on stage with a neophyte dictator for the greatest “joy” of children. An Italian atomic energy official gets kneecapped[6]. The war is already here, we know which side to choose. All that's left is to “desert with arms”, to desert with a friend, with at least one friend, a friend, a stranger, a stranger who became a friend, with two friends, five friends. Deserting doesn't necessarily imply going elsewhere, “arms” are not just useful for fighting; deserting implies creating a new relationship to the world, exploring “here” and experimenting “now”, noting the location of enemy devices, making a plan, plans, finding yourself, finding a friend, two friends, five friends. Together we will survive, heal, and of course fight, we will also experiment with this new grammar, better yet this language without grammar, which will put an end once and for all to “Auschwitz-Disneyland.”

[1] ed. – Similar to the 'Boris Bikes' cycle hire scheme.
[2] ed. – Sobibór was a Nazi German extermination camp in Poland.
[3] ed. – The 1999 Woodstock festival near New York ended with rioting.
[4] ed. – Seattle hosted the 1999 World Trade Organisation summit, with big protests and much property damage.
[5] ed. – The 1990 'Oka Crisis' was a 78-day armed stand-off between the Canadian military and Kanesatake indigenous protectors of traditional habitat to be turned into a golf course. Other tribes set up blockades and downed power-lines in solidarity.

[6] ed. – See Rebels Behind Bars; 'We Refuse to Reduce Our Desires...'

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Venezuela Punished For Social Spending.

        In our babbling brook of bullshit, the mainstream media, we hear a lot about the plight of the people of Venezuela, mass migration out of the country to escape dire poverty and deprivation, they spout the usual drivel about the collapse of the economy, hyper inflation, and put it down to the failure of socialism/communism. Though most socialists will agree that Venezuela was not a socialist country.

     Never once will they mention the true cause of the plight of the Venezuelan people to the deliberate policy of the US, in conjunction with Saudi Arabia. The US can't hear the word socialism without jumping in with the boot, as such a system would ruin the ability of the grossly over rich parasites from continuing to exploit the world, its people and its resources. 

      The root cause of the collapse of the Venezuelan economy was the deliberate strategy of the US and Saudi Arabia to flood the market with cheap oil forcing the price from $110 a barrel, down to $28 a barrel, pulling the plug from the pool of rich oil resources with which Venezuela was developing the country. The US hypocrites will of course pretend to be the benefactor by organising a totally inadequate supply of food aid to the migrating millions.

      The unbelievable misery foisted on the people of Venezuela is of no consequence to the power mongers of the "free market", any price will be paid to safeguard their privileged position, their wealth and their power. The problems of the people of Venezuela are not internal problems, it is punishment for their failure to pay homage the corporate moguls of the free market. Hoist the flag of socialism and you will feel the wrath of the corporate moguls aided and abetted by their minders, the US state, its allies and puppets.

This from Mint Press News:

        The political and economic crisis facing Venezuela is being endlessly pointed to as proof of the superiority of the free market.

Images and portrayals of Venezuelans rioting in the streets over high food costs, empty grocery stores, medicine shortages, and overflowing garbage bins are the headlines, and the reporting points to socialism as the cause.  

        The Chicago Tribune published a Commentary piece titled: “A socialist revolution can ruin almost any country.” A headline on Reason’s Hit and Run blog proclaims: “Venezuelan socialism still a complete disaster.” The Week’s U.S. edition says: “Authoritarian socialism caused Venezuela’s collapse.”

         Indeed, corporate-owned, mainstream media advises Americans to look at the inflation and food lines in Venezuela, and then repeat to themselves clichés they heard in elementary school about how “Communism just doesn’t work.”

In reality, millions of Venezuelans have seen their living conditions vastly improved through the Bolivarian process. The problems plaguing the Venezuelan economy are not due to some inherent fault in socialism, but to artificially low oil prices and sabotage by forces hostile to the revolution.

        Starting in 2014, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia flooded the market with cheap oil. This is not a mere business decision, but a calculated move coordinated with U.S. and Israeli foreign policy goals. Despite not just losing money, but even falling deep into debt, the Saudi monarchy continues to expand its oil production apparatus. The result has been driving the price of oil down from $110 per barrel, to $28 in the early months of this year. The goal is to weaken these opponents of Wall Street, London, and Tel Aviv, whose economies are centered around oil and natural gas exports. And Venezuela is one of those countries. Saudi efforts to drive down oil prices have drastically reduced Venezuela’s state budget and led to enormous consequences for the Venezuelan economy.

         At the same time, private food processing and importing corporations have launched a coordinated campaign of sabotage. This, coupled with the weakening of a vitally important state sector of the economy, has resulted in inflation and food shortages. The artificially low oil prices have left the Venezuelan state cash-starved, prompting a crisis in the funding of the social programs that were key to strengthening the United Socialist Party.-----

Read the full article HERE: 

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My Thoughts On Not The Anarchist Bookfair.

         My thoughts on the “Not The Anarchist Bookfair”, is that it is a wonderful idea and a great strategy to draw more people to the anarchist way of thinking. However, I believe that London probably has enough people to make this venture a great success, so instead of people travelling to London, to me it would make more sense for all the cities in this enclave known as the UK, to hold similar events at the same time, a British Anarchist Festival. It would have a greater impact on our own local area. I’m sure that within the large cities there are enough anarchists to organise such an event. These numbers could be supplemented by the peripheral areas where they don’t have the numbers to put on such an event. It would give us a more local profile but at the same time, all over the whole of the country.
       It is probably too late for this year, October is not that far away, but next year?? We have more than a year to talk and think it through, and see if it is a feasible project, and if so, put it together.

 

 

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Week Of Solidarity With Anarchist Prisoners.

        Prisons are places of repression, intimidation and isolation, as the state would have them be. However, the isolation can be broken with contact from the outside, that feeling of being cut off and forgotten can destroy your mind. To feel that you are part of something bigger than the prison that tries to subdue you, can help you through your ordeal. Below is a call for solidarity with anarchist prisoners, here and abroad, from Anarchist Black Cross: 

         Why bother writing to politicians when all they deserve is our hatred? They will never listen to appeals from social reformers or the unwashed, nevermind the misguided anarchists. Why don’t you write to locked-up anarchists instead, cheer them up and strike up a conversation? One of the most important and simple ways we have available to break the isolation imposed on our imprisoned comrades is to write to them and let them know that they are not forgotten but are present. Nothing stops when you enter prison and we can meet them there with our international solidarity which is taking place on many fronts.
        Here is a good PDF guide to prisoner correspondence written by ABC Leeds some years ago but still relevant today, plus a list of anarchist prisoners compiled by the international groups of the Anarchist Black Cross for the week of solidarity taking place at the moment:
Writing to prisoners – Guide by ABC Leeds
Anarchist prisoners addresses list – August 2018

From 325:

 
       If the “innocent” ones deserve our solidarity once, then the “guilty” ones deserve it a thousand times… — Conspiracy of Cells of Fire, FAI-IRF / Imprisoned Members Cell

       Solidarity will always be practiced as an indispensable feature of an anarchist way of life and action. The war continues, never give up, never give in. Long live FAI-FRI. Long live CCF. Long live the black international — Alfredo Cospito

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