When A District Gets Milked.

      I was born in Garngad and move to the Springburn area, where I lived the largest slice of my life and it is still my part of the world. In my many years I have seen some very dramatic changes to our city and to my patch, Springburn.

 Springburn Road at Balgrayhil, around 1940/50s

     

       Springburn, once a busy industrial centre, known as a railway town in its own right. A mass of different industries supplying the massive steam locomotive industry in its area, the expansive St Rollox railway repair yard, Tennant’s Chemical factory on Sighthill, once the largest chemical plant in Europe, with its tall chimney belching out its noxious fumes over the area, it even had the killing hand of a Cape Asbestos factory. Its main street, Springburn Road was a busy highway of trams buses and shops. Springburn Park was a shining jewel in the dirt and grim of this densely populated industrial area, the park boasted a magnificent winter gardens, once the largest glasshouse in Scotland at 842 sq. m.
       Today Springburn is a shadow of its former self, dominated by a very busy dual carriageway that split the community asunder, that magnificent glass structure in the park now resembles the skeletal structure of some bygone dinosaur. Its industries gone, its houses demolished and most of its people dispersed to other parts. 

Springburn Park winter gardens today, photo by Stevie Douglas.

      So what now? Here are some statistics for the area. Though a few years old, I doubt if they have improved that much, if at all, due to the ensuing years of austerity, benefit cuts and social services ravished.

        Life expectancy for both males and females has risen in recent years in Springburn but has remained below the Glasgow average. In the most recent period shown (2008-12), life expectancy was notably lower than the Scottish average, particularly for men.

Adults in income deprivation,       3,610 – 29.9%   2012.
Working age in employment deprivation,    2.120 – 27.8%   2012
Children in poverty,       1,100 – 46.4%   2011

    Springburn ranks in the most financially distressed 10% of constituencies in Glasgow.  2016.

     That’s how capitalism works, it milks you for all it is worth and then when it deems fit, moves on and abandons you to poverty and deprivation. Surely we can do better than this!

Springburn Road today. 

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Slow Death By Avoidable Poverty.

         I know I sometimes repeat myself, but there are somethings that just build up the anger that I feel I will just keep repeating it in the hope that it might just make a little difference. I wrote the following piece about 6 years ago, now instead of just writing it I feel I should be shouting it from the rooftops, as it becomes ever more obvious that the same vicious policies are still being pursued by our greedy rich and powerful masters. However, they don't have to be our masters, we can be masters of our own destination, it's up to us.

    Some things are necessary for survival, like water, shelter and food, without any one of these basics your survival is in jeopardy, yet we tolerate a system where by if you don't have enough of that stuff called money, you can be denied these basic necessities. Probably one reason this cruel unjust system survives is because you don't die suddenly. With poverty you can be denied one or all of these basics, not enough money means cheap crap food, not enough food, and you die, rather slowly. We won't see people fall over and die in the street, they will just simply deteriorate and die young, the shock factor isn't there. Likewise the homeless, a hidden slow death by poverty, murder by shareholders. Across the world day in day out, millions of lives are shortened by not having access to clean drinking water. Why should the flow and distribution of the very basics of life be under the control of the Davos Club, that group of greedy, pampered, parasitical, millionaire shareholders?

      Under our millionaire's scheme of "debt reduction" and "austerity cuts" we are seeing more and more of our public assets being handed over to those shiny suits of the Davos Club. Soon there will be nothing that belongs to the people. In the UK they already own, among other things, our energy resources and we have seen the prices rocket, as they pursue ever greater profits. Social housing has long been under attack and is disappearing, financial institutions own our homes, and they are working hard at getting our water.

      These corporate conditions will produce a world where we will be completely at the mercy of those greedy, pampered, parasitical, millionaire shareholders of the Davos Club, for everything we need, and if you are poor, your only means of survival will be dependent on charity organisations. Of course we can take everything back, creating co-operatives and community controlled enterprises, it is happening in all sorts of places across the globe. People have seen enough of "free market", "neo-liberalism", which translates into ripping-off the people and widespread deprivation. The tide is turning, it has to, it must be our world, or it is a destroyed world of abject poverty.

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

Decision Time???

       The final day of campaigning in the crooks and liars competition, or as the media portray it, the general election, so I'll make my pitch. Not for your vote, but to ask you to stop handing your power over to a bunch of very rich prancing political ballerinas and start to organise your community and society the way you want it to be, by coming together and doing it yourselves, We do not need them, they need us.
     The quest of our political system---

 

  My pitch: 

Why Anarchism?

Freedom and Equality
      Fundamentally, anarchism is the struggle for freedom. Freedom from rulers and corporations who dominate our lives and are destroying our earth. Freedom for workers, women, and all oppressed people in all parts of the world. We believe that this sort of freedom can only be achieved together with equality and a fair distribution of resources.

Individual and Collective
      Anarchists believe in the inherent dignity and humanity of the individual. But this dignity and humanity can only be fully realised in a co-operative, egalitarian society. This is why we are in favour of working together collectively and being organised. It is incorrect to equate anarchism with individualism or chaos.
 

Revolution
      Anarchists understand that this truly free and equal society can only be achieved through revolution – meaning a complete transformation of society. This society cannot be ‘given’ to the people by politicians or bureaucrats. It must be built by people from below.

Change by Direct Action
       Anarchism opposes the violence which is an integral part of capitalism and the state (this violence comes in many forms: war, patriarchy etc.). We believe that means shape ends – in other words, the way we struggle will shape the outcome of the struggle. This is also why we do not support the seizure of State power by authoritarian political parties. However, anarchists do believe in direct action – action taken by everyday people to address the power imbalance in present day society. This includes strikes, boycott’s, work-to-rule’s and occupations.
 

The Past
       Both authoritarian communism (as in Russia, China etc.) and ‘labourism’ (ie. The labour parties of the world), have failed to solve our global crisis. We need a different path to a better world. Anarchism offers itself as a guide on that path.

        Or perhaps you are willing to accept another spell of the "Boris Club" brutality.



Thanks Loam for the video link.

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

Free And Fair Elections????

        We are entering the last few days of the UK general election, or as I prefer to call it, the UK Crooks and Liars Competition. We are told we have "free" and "fair" elections in this country, but a little survey of the press coverage, that sewer of putrid propaganda, tells a different story. A media search in all UK national press over the last 3 months, hardly looks fair reporting. The number of articles covering the two main candidates:

Corbyn and antisemitism – 1,450
Johnson and Islamophobia – 164
Corbyn and IRA – 272
Johnson and Yemen and war crimes – 2

 

      A wee bit of bias perhaps, or downright attempt to scupper one candidate and glorify another. Ah the beauty of a free and fair press, standing up to defend our fair and free elections. Bullshit, and a plague on all your houses. 

 

 Photo by John Hartfield.

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

Live Free, Ride Free.

        Don't you just love the ingenuity of the ordinary people? The myth is always peddled that those in power that run our affairs are smart hard working, self-sacrificing individuals. When in fact most are self gratifying prancing political ballerinas, with a high percentage being liars and stupid.

     Time and time again these greedy, celebrity photo-op seeking buffoons are outwitted by members of the general public.
       In Greece the bus system was that you buy your ticket from a kiosk, and when you enter the bus there is a small machine into which you put your ticket to have it date and time stamped. Inspectors periodically enter the bus to check if your ticket is stamped, if not you're in for a fine. In one occasion groups of anarchists entered the buses with screw drivers, removed the machines and left the bus with the machine. Travelers could not stamp their tickets, so could use the same ticket time and time again.
      This latest little act of ingenuity from Canada, was simple and effective, sophisticated high tec machines are always vulnerable to ingenuity.

This from Act For Freedom Now:

       Over the past several days, motivated by an international call for transit fare strikes, the fare distribution machines in several metro stations were disabled by blocking the debit/credit card readers and coin slots.
      The STM is continually hiking fares and deploying squads of wannabe-cop “inspectors” to harass, fine, and assault people over $3.50. Currently, the STM is even seeking to give its inspectors expanded powers to detain and arrest people and access police databases. Every effort to maintain and expand policing of people’s movements deserves to be met with resistance. Fortunately, there is no shortage of inspiration from around the world, above all the ongoing revolt in Chile.
      These actions were experiments with some simple, effective, and fairly discreet means of sabotageing fare collection and enforcement. At this point in time, the method that gives us the most confidence is to apply super glue to both sides of a random unactivated gift card and insert it fully in the debit/credit card slot, and put more super glue in the coin slot after causing it to open by operating the machine as though you want to pay for a ticket with cash. We hope this technique can be reproduced widely alongside other tactics for taking these machines out of service.

Live free, ride free.

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

The Kite, Anti-prison Paper.

        A new month, and a new document for our "Read of the Month". For this months Spirit of Revolt’s “Read of the Month” we have gone back to 1979. It is from our Bratach Dubh Collection, an anti-prison news journal, The Kite, summer issue, 1979. It was distributed in several countries, and makes for interesting reading, with ideas that apply equally well today as they did in 1979. Enjoy.

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

The Usual Police Brutality.

 

      Police brutality is a fact of the state system, there is no other way that the state can keep control of the population. What the people want and what the state want are irreconcilable. People want freedom to choose their way of life, to enjoy the fruits of their labour and to share in an equal and civilised manner. The state wants total control to keep the wealth flowing to the few wealthy power mongers at the top. The moment people challenge that position out comes the iron fist, Chile, Lebanon, Ecuador, Haiti, Bolivia, Iran, Iraq, France, Spain, Hong Kong and lots of places elsewhere.

   Let's not forget Greece, a short video of Greek democracy at work today:

αλλού τον βρίσκει αλλά δεν έχει σημασία που θα σε βρει ο πυροσβεστηρας ...

— Konos (@Kon0s) December 6, 2019

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

The Rapist Is You.

      It infects our world, it is an epidemic that needs to be stamped out, no country is immune from it, patriarchy, the virus spawned for the macho state model that at present rules the planet. Patriarchy is cloaked in the false legitimacy of tradition, culture and phony macho values, and where ever women stand up against this silent brutality, civilised men must stand with them. It is a vile problem for all of us who desire and struggle for a free and civilised world.

       It is wonderful and encouraging to see such unified and open opposition to this silent and all too often, accepted violence. Thanks Loam for the link:

Source: @Professorsblogg on Twitter. In front of the Chilean Court of Justice –and even in front of a police station– a most strong message delivered by female protesters on brutal state-repression, disappearance of detainees, police rapes and judges' complicity. Here translation by The Indicter Channel of the original (in Spanish) chant:

The rapist is you.

And our punishment

it's the violence you don't see.

Patriarchy is a judge

that judges us for being born.

And our punishment

it's the violence you see.

It's femicide,

impunity for the murderer.

It is the disappearances [of detainees].

It is the rape.

And the fault was not mine,

neither where I was,

nor the way I dressed.

And the fault was not mine,

neither where I was,

nor the way I dressed.

The rapist was you.

The rapist is you.

They are, the cops.

They are, the judges.

The state.

The President.

The oppressive state

is a macho rapist.

The oppressive state

is a macho rapist.

The rapist is you.

The rapist is you!

[Below, in quotes, a citation of the Carabineros (police force) anthem, shouted by the female demonstrators]:

"Sleep quiet innocent girl

without worrying about the bandit

that for your sweet and sinuous dream

watch the policeman who loves you "

The rapist is you.

The rapist is you!

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

Writers For Miners.

      It is that time of year again, when we at Spirit of Revolt stand with cap in hand asking for your donations.

You Can Donate HERE:

     Spirit of Revolt was formed in 2011, by a small group of volunteers, with one thing in mind, the history of the ordinary people matters and is very important in defining who we are. Since that day when we got our first collection we have built up a fabulous array of material from people who struggle for all of us. The number of collections now numbers 40, with more being processed. The number of documents goes into the thousands from leaflets, serials, letters, posters, booklets, pamphlets, photos and lots of other memorabilia. All this material is open to the public via the Mitchell Library, but we also have put an incredible amount on line for you to peruse at home, on your phone, laptop or whatever, and will continue with this process.

     Our collections are too numerous to list here, but they include, "The Faslane Peace Camp", "James Kelman Collection", "Bratach Dubh Collection", "Counter Information", all valuable records of the history of the ordinary people. 

    We are in no way attached to trade unions or political parties, nor do we receive any funding from these organisations. We collect material of the struggles of the ordinary people, mainly from the Glasgow Clydeside area but some of material comes from further afield.

    I think it was George Orwell who said, ( I paraphrase here) "The best way to destroy a people is to destroy their history"

    Without our history we are a people without a culture, without a past. In the case of the ordinary people that is far from the truth, we have a long history of struggle of which we can be very proud. What Spirit of Revolt collects and stores is a history that is not usually preserved, we owe it to those people of past struggles that we should remember them and learn from them.

    Why not take a look at what we do, browse the labyrinth of collections, be proud of your history and learn more about that history.

     If you like what we are doing and think we are doing a decent job, why not make a small donation, a one of, or a direct debit, and help us to continue doing what we do, preserving your history.

    To tempt you, for a limited period, we are offering a free CD to anyone who arranges a direct debit of £5 or more. This is a unique CD with an array of names you will not see on any other one CD. Think of it as giving us the price of a couple of coffees once a month.

Free CD and booklet.

     Spirit of Revolt is anarchist/libertarian-socialist archive dedicated to preserving and making easily accessible to the public at large, Glasgow/Clydeside grass-roots history of struggle. We are not connected to any political party or trade union nor do we receive any funding from any of these organisation. We are a volunteer group who give our time freely, however in a capitalist society funds are a necessary evil to survive and grow. We rely on our various outreach programs to raise funds, and the much appreciated supporters who have signed a direct debit to help sustain this project, to them, a great big thank you.

In an endeavour to increase our funds and help secure the project, we are, for a limited period offering a CD and booklet, Writers for Miners, to anyone who signs up a direct debit for £5 or more, to Spirit of Revolt. It will be free delivery in the UK, further afield we would have to look at the cost. Have a look at our website https://spiritofrevolt.info, if you like what we are doing and think we are doing a good job, then the price of a couple of coffees a month would be much appreciated.

Details of the CD and booklet:

 The Writers for Miners Events, 1984

        In 1984-85 events known as “Writers for Miners” took place on consecutive Saturdays in Glasgow’s 3rd Eye Centre to raise funds for striking coal miners at local pits in one of the most significant industrial disputes in world history. With 140,000 out on strike the Thatcher Government planned to break the power of the NUM union, the most well organised group of workers in the country. With 11,291 arrests and lasting 1 year it unleashed massive state repression, brutality and violence. The other unions largely did not show solidarity and the strike failed, opening the door to the destruction of working class communities, job insecurity and privatisation.

       Performers, poets, visual artists and others decided to support the striking miners in Scotland and formed artists-in-Solidarity which organised fundraising for the miners’ families by holding events. This CD is a recording of those events. James Kelman explains, “Radical history is marginalised by the State and events of this nature should be recorded otherwise they are forgotten. The STUC offered to part-fund the project but on this occasion failed to come up with the money. We still went ahead. It was hoped that a selection of songs, poetry and prose-readings might be produced eventually in the form of a couple of albums (all proceeds to the miners’ strike fund). It didn’t happen, for one reason or another…The original project was launched in support of the miners and their families. Those days may have gone but solidarity and comradeship haven’t. All proceeds from the sale of the Writers for Miners album will go toward the Spirit of Revolt (S.O.R.) Archive, in appreciation of the crucial work carried out by the S.O.R. volunteers in the preservation of radical history”.

In 1984, those involved were,
Norman McCaig,
Freddy Anderson,
Hamish Henderson,
Duncan Maclean,
Kathleen Jamie and Robert Alan Jamieson,
Donald Saunders,
Peter Nardini,
Rab Noakes,
Nancy Nicolson,
Alasdair Gray,
Jeff Torrington,
Agnes Owens,
Carl MacDougall,
James Kelman,
Archie Hind,
Donald Saunders,
Tom Leonard,
Edwin Morgan,
Edward Boyd,
Danny Kyle,
Tom McGrath,
Jeff Torrington,
Agnes Owens,
Archie Hind.
Where will you get such a fabulous collection of performers on one CD?

You can make you donation from our donate page:

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

The State's Pacifier, Police Violence.

 

        Yes the yellow vests struggle in France continues, but what we have to realise that it continues in face of extreme state violence against anyone who would dare to challenge the inequality, injustice and corruption of the French state. Those statistics of injuries are people, people's lives mutilated and changed forever by the callous use of brute force and dangerous weaponry, on which the state believes it has a monopoly. They believe they can use what force they wish with impunity, and those who continue to resist this savagery will be hit harder, and others will be chewed up in the state's loaded judicial system.

The extremely violent repression of the Gilets Jaunes movement has affected the lives of many, continuing a long tradition of police violence in France. In December 2018: three lives are affected by police violence amongst the chaos of the Yellow Vest protests in France. This film is dedicated to people all over the world mutilated and killed by police weapons. Please watch and share this independent short documentary which has been filmed over a year.

A story of police violence in France from Ross Domoney on Vimeo.

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

Capitalism Extinction Or Anarchism Survival?

 

  The latest from Sub.Media on climate emergency.

          Every day the news gets worse. Millions of people are displaced by record-breaking heatwaves and droughts, violent mega-storms and flash floods. Unprecedented wildfires burn out of control, scorching massive tracts of forest and brush, and plunging nearby urban metropolises into surreal scenes of mid-afternoon darkness. Meanwhile, scientists solemnly inform us that marine life could be wiped out by mid-century, as the oceans continue to be gradually transformed from vibrant areas of rich biodiversity into the plastic-filled graveyards of industrial civilization. Try as we might... the consequences of our consequence-free lifestyles are becoming harder and harder to ignore.

       It’s become widely accepted that ‘global warming’ exists, and that our societies’ current rates of carbon emission are imperiling future generations. Millions of people agree that we are robbing our unborn descendants of their right to an inhabitable planet – something that their ancestors foolishly took for granted. This increasing awareness is translating into a growing consensus that our so-called ‘leaders’ need to intervene in order to fix this problem and correct this historic injustice. Unfortunately, most environmental activists continue to be hampered by a false understanding of how power operates in society, the scale of the problem that we face... and what would actually be required to fix it. In Trouble 23, subMedia takes a closer look at these dynamics, arguing for the importance of taking bold action to defend local bioregions, even as we work towards the total overthrow and replacement of the global capitalist economy.

Trouble #23: Prelude to a Disaster from sub.Media on Vimeo.

 

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

Chile, The Struggle Continues.

     Chile has dropped off the radar as far as our mainstream media are concerned, they have used it for a sensational splash and then dropped it in favour of a prince's alleged sexual antics, and our political ballerinas prancing around for photo ops to enhance their chances of winning the latest "crooks and liars" competition. However, the people of Chile are still in struggle against the corruption, injustice, inequality and state brutality of the regime in control there.

 

There's no doubt where their loyalties lie. Photo from crimethinc.

 

This from LeftVoice:

 

 

      Chile is now in the midst of a popular rebellion. Sparked by protests against unpopular subway fare hikes, the popular rebellion that began on October 18 is perhaps best described as an uprising. One union playing a leading role in these tumultuous events is the radical Dockworkers Union of Chile (UPC – Unión Portuaria de Chile).
     Academic and contemporary Chile specialist Franck Gaudichaud has pointed to the key role now being played by the Dockworkers Union of Chile. In a recent interview, he points out that in the early days of the rebellion, it was the UPC that first took action with its 24-hour strike on October 21, while the bureaucratized United Workers’ Centre (CUT – Central Única de los Trabajadores) union federation initially refused to act..
     The 6,000 members of the Dockworkers Union have repeatedly paralyzed the majority of the nation’s ports in a series of 24-hour and 48-hour strikes. The first was the 24-hour strike on October 21 that coincided with the largely spontaneous demonstrations of over 1 million people that same day. The UPC then called a 48-hour strike for October 23 and 24, which fed into the October 23 general strike, the first called by the CUT since the rebellion began. The dockers’ union has also had a 24-hour stoppage across October 29-30 that linked up with the general strike of October 30, and a further 24-hour strike on November 12, which coincided with that day’s general strike. The most recent was the 48-hour strike over November 25, 26 and 27, which exceeded the CUT’s call for a November 26 general strike and coincided with the call by the Social Unity Roundtable group of unions and social organizations for a national strike from November 25 to 27.

Continue reading HERE: 

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

War And Climate Emergency.

     Yesterday evening, Tuesday, 3rd. December, in Glasgow's dark and cold weather, Scottish CND and Scottish Peace Network held a demonstration at the top of Buchanan Street, against war and all the death, destruction and misery that goes along with this barbaric state action. Among other groups, the Clydeside IWW was there, and some comrades handing out the re-born Glasgow Keelie, now on its third issue.

     At the moment there is a lot of focus on climate emergency, but what should not be forgotten is that the greatest carbon footprint is war and its ancillary support mechanisms. The Pentagon has the world biggest carbon footprint. So when you shout "climate emergency" you must support the anti-war movement. You can't have one without the other. Two aspects of our world that are driving it to extinction are capitalism and war, and states are the guardians of both of these two mechanisms.

     So our lords and masters who are holding "summits" on climate change in Madrid at the moment, are liars, charlatans, weavers of illusions, for they are the very people who instigate, manage and carry out wars, in all parts of the planet. If our aim and desire is to save the planet from unimaginable disaster, we have to take a stand against the various state apparatuses that perpetuate wars. Wars are not accidents or unavoidable circumstances, they are planned and executed by states, and these states are made up of people who have grasped power and use it perpetuate that power.

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