The message is getting louder, "We refuse to be poor anymore", again Glasgow showed support for the RMT picket at Glasgow Central Station, today August 20th. Colourful banners and vociferous street support, is now the common sight in our cities around the country. Let's join them up and bring this stinking system of greed and privileged wealth to a grinding halt to which it will never recover. Poverty is not our lot as a given, we create that wealth, we are the owners of that wealth, we should decide how that wealth will be divided.
Spirit of Revolt Archive is a treasure trove of anarchist and libertarian socialist history from Glasgow and Clydeside area and some from further afield. It is 11 years old and is run by a small dedicate band of unpaid volunteers. We receive no funding from unions, companies or political parties, but sadly we still live in a capitalist world and there are costs involved. We rely solely on the financial support from friends supporters and comrades. We work hard at getting as much material up on line and free to access. If you think we are doing a worthwhile job and would like to see the archive grow and carry on collecting, storing and digitising our history, then perhaps you could think of donating the price of a couple of coffees a month, any donation no matter how little is most appreciated, direct debits gives us a guarantee to plan and develop into the future. Solidarity.
For August Read of the Month, Spirit of Revoltgives
you two issues of the Magazine Anarchy, No.15 and 16. We can always
learn from the past, and Spirit of Revolt is a treasure chest of
anarchist and libertarian socialist history. Feel free to delve in, we
have digitised thousands of documents, photos, magazines, pamphlets and
much more. All this is free for you to prowl through and learn from the
actions and theory of those who, in the past, have fought the battle for
that better life for all.
Strikes are popping up all over the place, some union organisd and others wildcat strikes, all with the same message, we will not be poor any more. Post Office workers have just voted 98% in favour of strike action, others are going in the same direction. The anger of the ordinary people is now being transferred to action with the mind set this plundering of the ordinary people for the fat cat corporate world, can and will be challenged. All of us must get behind these struggles for a decent life, it is all of us that are being shafted on a daily basis. Our solidarity is unbeatable, if we all stand together and support every action for that better life for all. Glasgow again showed support for the RMT workers and their struggle for a decent life. Thursday August 18th, a protest by RMT was held outside Scotrail headquarters in St Vincent Street, and again there was colourful and vociferous support from various groups and individuals standing with the RMT Union members. The support and actions must continue and gain momentum and we will win.
Do you believe that the media plays a large part in forming people's opinions? You would be foolish to believe otherwise, it is to the media we turn for information on what is happening, if that information is controlled by a handful of very powerful companies, then you have to admit that the information we get is somewhat limited and one sided. If that is the case then can we honestly say we live in a democracy when a small group of extremely powerful people decide what information you get and what ideas will shape your opinions. The modern day media is not there to feed you information, it's there to shape your opinions, make lots of money and protect the status quo, keeping power where they want it to be. Corporate capitalism and monopoly media are part and parcel of this corrupt system of wealth equals power and they will fight tooth and nail to make sure it stays that way. It is up to the ordinary people to change this insanity of wealth means power and monopoly media that perpetuates the system.
This new report, published in March 2021, shows that just three companies (News UK, Daily Mail Group and Reach) dominate 90% of the national newspaper market (up from 71% in 2015). When online readers are included, these three companies (News UK, Daily Mail Group, Reach) dominate 80% of the market. In the area of local news, just six companies (Gannett, JPI Media, Reach, Tindle, Archant and Iliffe) account for nearly 84% of all titles. Two companies, Bauer and Global, now control nearly 70% of all local commercial analogue radio stations and 60% of national commercial digital stations.
To those extremely rich individuals sitting in the Westminster Houses of Hypocrisy and Corruption, during this "exploitation crisis" who waffle on about growing the economy being the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. They totally ignore the fact the the crisis is now, millions are facing deprivation on a Dickensian scale, They may throw a few peanuts your way, a propaganda stunt to make you believe they are trying to improve your situation. However, it is that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow that they are focused on, and it will not be shared with you. It is encouraging to see more and more people take to the streets to vent their anger at this blatant exploitation. The public are now more determined than ever that they will not take this being shafted by the rich and powerful any more. The anger is there and it will not dissipate by the usual paracetamol of meager handouts to try to appease that righteous anger. We, demand a dramatic change in how our society is run, we will have a fair society or that anger will spill over and explode across the whole of society. Across the country there are demonstrations, protests and rallies, Glasgow is no exception. This Friday, August 12th. saw a protest held outside the head office of Scottish Power, in St Vincent St. from various groups and individuals, all with one thought, we will not take this plundering of our assets to enrich a handful of very rich and powerful individuals and corporations. I loved their very large banner, Power to the People, very appropriate outside Scottish Power. There is a storm brewing.
At this moment in time millions of people in the UK are facing hardship beyond their lives experience. Poverty, debt and lack of decent food and heating. with massive increases in prices of food and energy shooting higher, the future looks black indeed. At present in the UK the total debt already owed to utility companies is £1.3 billion. How will the coming price increase add to that. These figures are human beings, struggling to survive in extremely adverse conditions. Compare this with the other end of the capitalist system. The UK has 171 billionaires, with a total wealth of £653 billion, this is up £55 billion on the previous year, that's a 9.4% increase in the past year. Have you seen an 9.4% increase in your personal wealth in the last year. Surely since we are the wealth creators we should be seeing that extra wealth flowing our way.
Since the end of the pandemic, the only section of this country that has seen a real benefit is the millionaire/billionaire class. During the pandemic UK billionaires saw their wealth grow by more than a fifth, while the population as a whole saw their conditions deteriorate. It must be obvious to anyone with at least two brain cells, to realise that this capitalist system is grossly unfair. We have allowed a system that sees the real wealth creators come off worst in the distribution of that wealth and a few parasites to glean the cream of the created wealth. It is long past the time when people think of reforming this unjust exploitative greed driven system of capitalism, its total destruction is the only answer and see it replaced with a system of fairness, justice, mutual aid and the ability to see to the needs of all our people.
