July 2011
BANKS GAMBLE – YOU OWE THE MONEY?? 10:20 am / 31 July 2011 by ann arky, at annarky's blog.
" To understand why each Greek owes €30,000 in debt requires an understanding of the role of credit in the capitalist system. Fractional reserve banking allows banks to lend more money than they actually have. In boom times everything looks rosy to the capitalists and credit is extended and profit rates look healthy. But this expansion of credit fuels overproduction. It then starts to dawn that debt-saturation means not all loans will be repaid. Banks become reluctant to lend to one another and credit dries up. This is a credit crunch. As capitalists retreat to cash, effective demand in the market reduces and a recession occurs."
The above is a short extract from an interesting and informative article in that excellent paper and website, THE COMMUNE. Take a peek and grasp a firm understanding of how and why we are being screwed by the wealthy, the name of the game is capitalism.
ann arky's home.
Categories: Anarchism
No War but Class War – July 2011 10:12 am / 31 July 2011 by Phil Dickens, at Truth, Reason & Liberty
One of the more significant events that has taken place this month is the Israeli housing revolt, and I have covered it in depth here. Whilst this is ongoing, with the possibility of a general strike tomorrow, Palestinian government workers are demanding their pay within 48 hours, or they will take indefinite strike action.
Elsewhere in Israel-Palestine, Libcom.org reports on a quarry workers' strike;
Palestinian quarry workers at an Israeli settlement in the occupied territories have gone on strike over unpaid wages.The strike began last month at Salit Quarries in Mishor Adumim, in occupied East Jerusalem. The workers demands included a pay raise, and end to the withholding of pay, arranges pension provision and signs a collective agreement with the workers.The action is supported by WAC-Ma’an, an independent trade union based in Israel that states that is aims to unite “workers regardless of nationality, religion, gender or the color of their skin.” The strike began on June 16th after quarry management failed to attend a meeting organised to discuss a collective bargaining agreement.The Israeli-owned Salit quarry are employed to break rocks down to gravel. Tens of thousands of Palestinians work in similar conditions in Israeli-owned businesses, rarely with any form of union organisation.
It is a promising sign that, even in the region arguably worst affected by sectarian and nationalist divisions, class issues continue to push themselves to the fore. In part, this is because these issues are not only directly tied into the behaviour of states and other injustices, but they have a direct impact on people's ability to survive day to day even when bombs aren't dropping or rockets flying. The emergence of these struggles also gives hope that resistance can be built on a class basis, and the ruling class on both sides held accountable for their actions.
In South Africa, twelve shack dwellers arrested following an attack on their settlement in Durban have been acquitted of all charges brought against them. The African National Congress and the local police were complicit in the original attacks, which saw two residents killed and many others beaten. It was only when the residents moved to defend themselves that police intervened, charging residents with murder for the deaths of several attackers and seeing the settlement handed over to the pro-ANC militia.
After two years, all charges of murder, attempted murder, armed robbery, public violence and damage to property have been thrown out. Shack dwellers movement Abahlali baseMjondolo have declared this a victory "for all poor in South African who are suppressed every day when they try to resist their repression," and say it shows up "those in high authority" as well as "the regressive left that would rather support state repression against a movement than to allow the poor to organise ourselves and to speak for ourselves." The latter point refers to the attitude taken by the likes of the South African Communist Party.
The movement of the shack dwellers continues to be an inspiration to the most alienated and isolated sections of our class everywhere. As I've written elsewhere, they show the revolutionary potential of those dismissed by Marx as "social scum." As they say, their struggle continues, and let's hope that they live up to their word and "move forward without any fear of any thuggery from any politician."
In Britain, whilst the focus of the left has been on the set-piece J30 strike, there have been two key struggles worth following. One, the strike by IWW-organised migrant cleaners in Guildhall. The other, the ongoing battle of council workers in Southampton.
In Guildhall, 34 cleaners employed by Ocean Contract Cleaning London struck for 2 days in June over under-paid wages dating back three months. The workers are on poverty pay as it is and this reduced wage could not be tolerated. The dispute was suspended on a promise that the wages would be paid, but when the employer failed to keep its promise a new strike date was set for 15th July.
In the face of a solid strike and strong shows of solidarity, the management gave proof that they were addressing the wages issue worker by worker. This is a small victory and the cleaners have vowed to now fight for the living wage. But it demonstrates what a united workforce, acting for itself, can achieve.
In Southampton, the threat of 250 immediate job losses and a 5.4% pay cut for everyone earning over £17,500 sparked a two-month dispute. Targeted and rolling strike action has seen two thousand tonnes of rubbish pile up and considerable inconvenience caused locally. Despite which, 63% of residents polled still support the strikers.
One concession already won is that a formal pay cut for children's care workers has been revoked, but they still face a three year pay freeze. At present, social workers are engaged in a seven-day strike, but as Libcom.org notes "the organisation and militancy was not there to organise an effective boycott of the new contracts." As such, it is vital that there is "effective further action, espectially when the inevitable next cuts are proposed, to show that declaring war on the council's workforce in this manner will have dire consequences." Council leaders elsewhere will be watching this action closely, and workers should too.
In Greece, the tent occupation of Syntagma Square was evicted yesterday morning, with riot police destroying and removing tents on the order of the attorney general and the mayor of Athens. There was a call to assemble at 6pm that night and to have the general assembly as normal, but there has been no word on whether this occurred.
The Spanish "indignants" have set off on a march from Madrid to Brussels, in protest "against what they see as governments bowing to financial markets and
ignoring the needs of their own people in the economic crisis." In the spirit of the open and democratic movement which emerged on 15th May, they "plan to hold meetings, collecting complaints and proposals as they go." They aim to meet up with similar movements from other countries, who have followed their lead and also taken up the march.
There are limitations to the movement, and no end of internal contradictions between reformist demands and radical, direct action means. But it offers a glimpse of the class anger boiling over across Europe and across the world, as well as the power it holds if rank-and-file workers organise themselves and take direct action.
There are limitations to the movement, and no end of internal contradictions between reformist demands and radical, direct action means. But it offers a glimpse of the class anger boiling over across Europe and across the world, as well as the power it holds if rank-and-file workers organise themselves and take direct action.
ARREST AND TRIAL – WITNESSES. 8:03 am / 31 July 2011 by ann arky, at annarky's blog.
Omar Ibrahim, a comrade from Glasgow, was charged with violent disorder following his arrest outside Topshop in Oxford Street London on March 26th. during the anti-cuts demonstration. Since then he has managed to get some very restrictive bail conditions reduced with curfew hours being lessened, so that he can take up work offers.
His trial date has been set for Thursday 22nd. September at Kingston Court and is expected to last two days. The police are trying to portray the incident as more violent than it actually was. Were you near Topshop on March 26th. around 1-2pm? Could you act as a witness and describe the mood of the demonstration and events that took place?
If found guilty he could face a prison sentence of one to five years. Omar would appreciate any messages of support left as replies or as comments. They will be forwarded. Or send messages to:
omgigotnickedforprotesting@hotmail.co.uk
His trial date has been set for Thursday 22nd. September at Kingston Court and is expected to last two days. The police are trying to portray the incident as more violent than it actually was. Were you near Topshop on March 26th. around 1-2pm? Could you act as a witness and describe the mood of the demonstration and events that took place?
If found guilty he could face a prison sentence of one to five years. Omar would appreciate any messages of support left as replies or as comments. They will be forwarded. Or send messages to:
omgigotnickedforprotesting@hotmail.co.uk
Omar would like to ask any supporters to attend the trial.
Categories: Anarchism
PRIVILEGES FOR SOME, FEAR FOR OTHERS!!! 6:43 am / 31 July 2011 by ann arky, at annarky's blog.
One of our over lords, Oliver Letwin, Policy Minister for the millionaire cabal, has stated the old upper class mantra that, public sector workers should be afraid of losing their jobs because it will make them more productive. His comments were made at a meeting with a leading consultancy firm. This is the same Oliver Letwin who reportedly agreed to repay a bill for £2,145 for replacing a leaking pipe under the tennis court at his constituency home in Somerset after having claimed it on his parliamentary expenses. The same guy who once said that he would rather beg on the street than let his children go to an inner city comprehensive school.
It never fails to amaze me how the arrogant bunch of Oxbridge millionaires and their lackies see people as units to be worked harder, to live in fear of losing their job and a constant fear of deprivation. While they themselves feel they are entitled to any and every privilege that they can lay their grubby sweaty little hands on.
We need to put the fear of death into those bloody workers.
Do we need them? They cost US a fortune to keep THEM at a priveleged standard THEY believe THEY are entitled. They produce nothing except hot air and spend their time passing legislation that will slash the living standards of all the ordinary people in this country, but will not affect them one little bit. They call it democracy!!!
Categories: Anarchism
Anarchists are in season once again 6:17 am / 31 July 2011 by Phil Dickens, at Truth, Reason & Liberty
Anarchism is a political philosophy which considers the state undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful, and instead promotes a stateless society, or anarchy. Any information relating to anarchists should be reported to your local Police.
As Random Blowe points out, "leaving aside the rather limited definition of 'anarchism', [this] is another example of the attempted criminalisation of ideas." Not least because Project Griffin exists to "advise and familiarise managers, security officers and employees of large public and private sector organisations across the capital on security, counter-terrorism and crime prevention issues."
But there is more here than just routine fear-mongering from the state. Last week, the Independent on Sunday reported that "organisers of next year's Olympics believe there is a greater threat of disruption to the Games from anarchist protesters than Islamist terrorism." This, too, is a rather tenuous and pointless story, but given the experiences of this year alone (let alone prior precedent) we have to be wary of the motives here and on the lookout for a trend developing.
The IoS claims that "the Games are a likely target for anarchists because of the heavy corporate sponsorship of the events," but if this was true then every sporting event would be beseiged by anarchists. That is clearly not the case. Instead, most anarchists will recognise that "heavy corporate sponsorship" is a reality of capitalism and that workplace and community organising to challenge that system will have far more effect on this than stunts at the Olympic Games. As North London Solidarity Federation said when the same nonsense was swirling around the royal wedding, "our feelings on the matter are those of indifference."
However, it is the royal wedding that tells us what we could expect as we get closer to the Olympics. Then, too, we saw absurd scare stories about "hardcore militants," and it became the pretext for raiding squats, the pre-emptive arrest of the entirely harmless Charlie Veitch and Chris Knight, the invocation of section 60 of the public order act to prevent people wearing masks. 55 people were arrested and the only one who had done anything harmful wasn't an anarchist but a man who had sexually assaulted a 14 year-old girl.
All of this is in the wider context whereby "police resources have shifted towards anarchists and anti-government movements after the series of anti-cuts protests on the streets of London, and elsewhere in Britain, over the past 12 months."
Indeed, since the anti-cuts movement began, it is fair to say that Britain has been caught in the grip of another red scare. The point now is to make sure that we are alert to it, and in a position not only to counter the propaganda but also to defend ourselves and our comrades from the repression that follows alongside such hysteria.
HEALTH CARE OR STICKING PLASTER?? 1:20 am / 31 July 2011 by ann arky, at annarky's blog.
I keepsaying that the millionaire cabal sitting in the Westminster Housesof Corruption and Hypocrisy, know who there friends are. It seemsthat the millionaire public school thugs have changed the fundingarrangements for the primary care trusts. Previously areas which havehigher incidences of poor health were given a higher per-capitafunding. However our millionaire controllers have decided to end thatarrangement of special weighting. The result of this clever slight ofhand means that poorer areas such as Manchester and Tower Hamletswill lose out in the funding process, while the more prosperous partsof the country, for example, Hampshire and Surrey will gainconsiderably.
I was treated in Manchester!!
As the NHS moves to privatisation it will becomeobvious that the poorer areas will be unable to afford thesuper-duper care on offer, while the toffs can. So market forcesdictate that you put the better, more expensive facilities in thericher areas and have a sort of good sticking plaster care system forthe peasants. It is all falling nicely into place, our lords andmasters are looking after their own, isn't about time we didlikewise?
Categories: Anarchism
Quote of the day… 4:39 pm / 30 July 2011 by Phil Dickens, at Truth, Reason & Liberty
...can only be either a statement of extreme irony or a total and utter lack of self-awareness;
The English Defence League: the Leading Force Against Far Right Extremism in the UK
This headline comes from an article on the EDL's website, following on from leader Tommy Robinson's appearance on Newsnight. But if that alone wasn't enough, the statements that accompany it go beyond absurdity.
Aside from being "the world’s leading counter-jihad protest movement," the EDL are also apparently "remaining vigilant for all other forms of extremism." Alongside the Islamists, "there are three main forms of extremism that we are helping to defeat," and this includes being "one of the best forms of protection that this country has against far right extremism." Yes, really.
The brave troops of the EDL also apparently challenge "the view that in order to defeat fascist ideologies (Nazism,
Islamo-fascism, Stalinism, etc), it is necessary to resort to violence
or other extreme action" and of course the old chestnut of "violent anarchism." Because these self-styled heroes of the working class deride the idea "that the existing establishment (the banks, the government, the media,
leading industries, etc) are responsible for the world’s problems and
deserve to be attacked in some way."
I've dissected much of this claptrap previously. In my report on the poppy burning incident, I explained how the EDL are at best ineffectual at challenging militant Islam, I've responded to their position on class, and as well as tearing down their mission statement I've explained why - far from being "anti-fascist" - the EDL's actions and politics vindicate the use of the term "far-right" to describe them.
As for the bullet points in this article, it isn't difficult to show them up as falsehoods or delusions. Taking them one by one;
- We are committed to peaceful protest; stewarding our demonstrations and cooperating with the police.
This is demonstrable bollocks. Not only do the EDL have a record of going on the rampage at demonstrations, they turn on one another when there is nobody else to fight. This is alongside preparing for such demonstrations by issuing threats to Asian taxi drivers, hardly conducive of peaceful protest.
- We educate our supporters about the threat posed by Islamic extremism; analysing its cause and encouraging a public debate, rather than making unfair generalisations.
If this is true, you have to wonder the value of their education. Taking Liverpool as an example, of late the EDL have demonstrated against a vigil for the people of Palestine which they automatically equated with "supporting Hamas," and a march for female asylum seekers. Then there was their threat to cause disruption across the country on the basis of tabloid myths. If these are people educated against unfair generalisations, we can only wonder what the ignorant bigots are like.
- We argue that extremism cannot be fought with extremism – not only is it wrong, but it doesn’t work.
This is too vague a statement to address. The EDL do not define "extremism," and at any rate their attitude appears to be that of the state's - fall in line with a prescribed way of thinking or be declared an enemy.
- We speak out against prejudice, and defend the reputation of ordinary Muslims.
- We celebrate the efforts made by truly reformist or modernising Muslims.
- We regularly accept opportunities to debate with our critics and those with whom we disagree: encouraging mutual understanding between people on different sides of the argument.
Perhaps why, when they invaded News from Nowhere, an admin of the Liverpool EDL page pointed out that some bits of literature "promote communism and are anti-royals" and "A[s] a[n] Englishman I find this unacceptable."
- We give a voice to people who have might otherwise believe that no one speaks for them.
This one is true. However, as I've argued before, what this amounts to is leading the working class down a nationalist blind alley. They have demonstrated their support for "the banks, the government, the media,
leading industries, etc," and serve their needs by twisting class resentments and interests to present them as nationalist ones.
- We help prevent resentment from growing between communities.
I refer to my point on "peaceful demonstrations" above. The EDL not only causes and exacerbates tensions between ethnic and religious groups, it plays up the myth that such groups can be organised into homogenous "communities," which is the very basis of the divide and resentment.
- We refuse to cooperate with known extremists, and have made ourselves very unpopular with the far right for refusing to endorse their views.
- We celebrate diversity, by establishing ‘specialist divisions’ such as our separate religious divisions, and LGBT division.
Indeed, they have their token divisions, rejected by the "communities" they are supposed to represent. Moreover, their Jewish Division leader Roberta Moore quit precisely because of those using the group "for their own Nazi purposes."
Clearly, far from being "one of the best forms of protection that this country has against far right extremism," the EDL are the far-right. They attempt to mask it with sophistry, but their is no escaping their origins as a gathering of fascists and football hooligans. It is the duty of real anti-fascists to oppose them, both by dissecting their dogma and by standing in front of them when they advance upon our communities.
Do not ask for the EDL to be Banned 4:33 am / 30 July 2011 by Phil Dickens, at Truth, Reason & Liberty
Via Liverpool Antifascists, the following is a statement from Tower Hamlets ALARM in response to calls for the EDL's protest in Tower Hamlets to be banned.
Some people are getting into the old rhetoric “We are proud of Tower Hamlets, a vibrant multiracial area, which has along and proud history of resistance to racism & fascism. From Cable Street in the 1930s, to Brick Lane in the 1970s and to Millwall in the1990s, the people of Tower Hamlets have come together to see off racism and fascism before. We will now stand united against the racist and extremist EDL.” Reads a letter from Hope not Hate in which they repeatedly ask for a ban.
In the 30’s they did not ask for a fucking ban they stopped them. The answer to Nationalist right wing nuts is never State oppression. The EDL must be defeated on the streets. There is no other solution to them.
All the EDL have to offer is a paranoid partially twisted dystopian future, one shared with people like Anders Behring Breivik who’s grotesque actions in Norway are fuelled by the same hateful ideology of anti-immigration hysteria. They rub shoulders in the same political world alongside a plethora of religious bigots. They may claim not to be an explicit fascist organisation but they fail to realise that they are igniting a political vacuum that allows and even encourages it’s behaviour. Is there a chance of EDL activists turning down this path of lone wolf bombs and gun attacks? Yes, London has seen an example before with David Copeland the nail bomber. This EDL is where their politics ends, with violence.
Banning their march’s only further legitimises their arguments. A tiny tiny tiny minority of orthodox Islamic followers do need to be criticised and protested. If their march’s are banned their narrative of victimisation, that all Muslims are a problem and that the Left are willing to allow this country to fall into this minority hands becomes more acceptable, despite lacking any proof. If their marches are banned it makes them seem right, their numbers will grow, this is unacceptable. They must be stopped. And they must be stopped by the only language they know. On the streets.
The only thing that is certain is that a ban on the EDL march in Tower Hamlets will be a nightmare.
Without the EDL on the 3rd to protest, our community will be attacked by another invading army, the police as seen before on June 20th last year. The groups that turn out to oppose the absent EDL will have the shit kicked out of them by the police. Kids will be rounded up beaten, arrested and months later sent to jail.
The EDL can be defeated politically (just not by Newsnight’s Paxman) because their ideas are mental. They want to pit us against our neighbours. We live here and we know for a fact that “English” and “Muslim” people can and do live side by fucking side in shit cramped housing and get along just fine.
And if they do head down to Tower Hamlets on the 3rd they will be defeated on the streets. And this is what NEEDS to happen. We don’t need a ban on the EDL, we need to stand against them. Not walk away to Weaver’s field, but to stand in front of them. Stop them marching, show them that they cannot not intimidate, divide and batter a community.
If the EDL are not beaten on our streets they will never go away, if they are not smashed to atoms – physically and ideologically – then they will continue to grow and infect. If the EDL are banned and go underground without being definitively defeated on the streets we will never be able to operate without a fear of them. They will become the bogeyman to radical politics.
State intervention is a worrying turn, the State stepping in and banning EDL protests is not a sign of a left wing section of the State acting, or even an Islamic element gaining strength, it is a sign of a further move to a totalitarian State. We already have the camps in Yarlswood, thug police that get away with murder and an ever watching State gathering information on us. We don’t need to campaign for them to ban political groups. Today the EDL, tomorrow us.
We don’t need the State to stop the EDL. We need to do this ourselves. We need our communities to work together, overcome divisive elements and tackle the threat of fundamentalism in whatever forms it takes. This is the only way the working class can stand strong in the Governments onslaught of public service cuts. United we stand, divided we fall.
See also ALARM's letter to the unions in Tower Hamlets and response to the message they received from the EDL's "Angels."
See also ALARM's letter to the unions in Tower Hamlets and response to the message they received from the EDL's "Angels."
Working class rebellion in Israel 3:46 am / 30 July 2011 by Phil Dickens, at Truth, Reason & Liberty
The Israeli working class has added its voice to the protests and discontent spreading across the Middle East. There are twenty five tent cities across the country, demonstrations and road-blocks have occurred daily, and now there is the very real possibility of an unofficial general strike taking place on Monday.
The protests began two weeks ago, in response to an average 27% rise in rents over the last three years. As WSWS reports, this has been exacerbated by the occupation of Palestine;
Since the 1993 Oslo Accords, successive governments—Labour, Likud or Kadima—encouraged Israelis to move to the settlements in the West Bank, Gaza and the Golan Heights, rather than build in Israel. This led to a shortage of new affordable housing in the outlying areas and an increase in prices and rent. The recent property bubble has seen house prices in the prime areas rocket.Within the Tel Aviv area, only three percent of the construction over the last decade was public housing. Not one public housing unit was built between 2006 and 2009.
But it is not just house prices that are the problem. "Israel is a predominantly low-wage economy, with 75 percent of workers earning $1,700 or less a month," and whilst wages are declining, the price of food, electricity and fuel has increased significantly. Thus, as elsewhere, what we see is a working class pushed to revolt by steadily more aggressive attacks on their living standards.
The scale of that revolt has been enough to force Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to cancel his visit to Poland in order to try and appease the demonstrators with concessions. However, Haaretz notes that the protest "has not waned since the news conference" and is now spreading to include "a number of large, diverse groups joining in amid a general feeling of anger at the government." It was then that the campaign also escalated to include blockading the knesset and occupying the roof of the Tel Aviv stock exchange.
It is also promising that the movement has - like a significant portion of the Arab Spring as well as the people's assemblies in Spain and Greece - rejected official leadership. The Histradut, the Israeli labour federation, has recently "stepped in" to the protests, trying to lead from the front with token promises of "a small strike" and a pale call on Netanyahu to "join with him" and "to solve the problem of the middle class, and to show young couples and students that there's hope." However, protesters have responded by explicitly stating that "no establishment body can step in to lead this protest." Since this began, they "were getting proposals from official institutions that wanted to take over," but "the people are having their say, and no one is going to take that away from them."
It is an extremely welcome development that people are taking to the streets in Israel on the basis of class. WSWS points out that "Israeli society is wracked by divisions," with "Jews from the Middle East and North Africa, known as Mizrahi Jews, earn[ing]
40 percent less than the Ashkenazi Jews of European origin." Palestinians, the Bedouins in the south, and ultra-orthodox Haredim Jews are worse off still. Not to mention the struggles of immigrants in the country, which I have documented previously. The movement now emerging is a chance to tackle the divisions which allowed this hierarchy of labour to develop.
As the struggle in Israel develops, we also have the chance to demonstrate the power of working class unity. It is the sense of nationalistic loyalty that creates the division between Jews and Arabs and not only provides a base of support for the occupation of Palestine but also isolates the Israeli working class. A strong show of solidarity - across the borders of nation, religion, and ethnicity - could destroy that nationalism and help the Arab Spring advance into the summer.
