Workers Know Your History, November 17, 1915, Rent Strike Victory.

A reminder, today, 17th. November, we celebrate that great victory with pride.

THE RENT STRIKE.

CAUSES.

         The first world war saw considerable change to the structure of Glasgow's working class. Youth employment was common with boys as young as 11 years of age employed as horse drawn van drivers. Also women being employed in what until then had been all male trades. Ministry of Munitions figures stated that by 1916 there were 18,500 women working in metal trades in the Clydeside area. During the war the standard of living improved considerably with near full employment, endless overtime and restricted pub hours. After the war there was a tremendous rise in unemployment and in poverty.

GLASGOW WOMEN’S HOUSING ASSOCIATION.

        In pre First World war Glasgow there were a large number of empty houses, by the year 1915 all were occupied by incoming workers to the munitions and allied war industry trades. A shortage of workers and materials saw a lack of maintenance and the housing stock deteriorate rapidly. At the beginning of the war the landlords tried to implement large rent increases, at risk were 7,000 pensioners and families whose men were fighting in France. This brought about the formation of the "Glasgow Women's Housing Association" and many local "Women's Housing Associations" to resist the increases. All manner of peaceful activities were used to prevent evictions and drive out the Sheriff's officers. There were constant meetings in an attempt to be one step ahead of the Sheriff's officers. All manner of communication was used to summon help, everything from drums, bells, trumpets and anything that could be used to create a warning sound to rally the supporters who were mainly women as the men were at work in the yards and factories at these times. They would then indulge in cramming into closes and stairs to prevent the entry of the Sheriff's officers and so prevent them from carrying out their evictions. They also used little paper bags of flour, peasmeal and whiting as missiles directed at the bowler hatted officers. These activities culminated on the 17th of November 1915 with the massive demonstration and march of thousands through the city streets and on to the Glasgow Sheriff's Court. This resulted in the immediate implementation of the "1915 Rent Restriction Act" which benefited tenants across the country. The Rent Act was to run for 6 months after the war. However immediately after the war the Glasgow Property and Factors' Association demanded large rent increases. The City's tenants organised the Scottish Labour Housing Association. John Wheatley through an ILP campaign helped to bring about the 1920 Rent Restriction Act. The intended compromise was that there would be an immediate increase of 15% plus another 25% if essential repairs were done. The tenants, however stated that there had been no repairs since 1914 and precious few before that. On the 23rd of August 1920 a General Strike was called and had a massive support in Glasgow. A large demonstration took place on Glasgow Green and "Notices of Increase" were piled up and set alight. The property owners response was to take out eviction orders in Court against tenants who refused to pay. During the period between the 1920s and the 1930s Glasgow's unemployment never fell below 20% with a population of over 1,250,000. Unemployment in the city climbed to over 25% during the thirties. The Labour Housing Association pointed out that the cases could be continued in the Sheriff Court, who were unlikely to grant thousands of decrees for eviction of unemployed tenants. It appears that the Glasgow Sheriffs were not unsympathetic to the plight of the poor tenants. The "GLASGOW HERALD" , a newspaper not noted for its sympathy towards the ordinary folk of Glasgow, carried an article on, " ...the human consequences of this endless litigation against the poor..."

LEGAL CONFUSION.

         The numerous attempts at peaceful protest to the evictions continued, using the same methods as before. Thousands of windows had notices stating, "We are not paying rent increases" . The situation with regards to tenants under Scots law was that when they signed their original tenancy agreement accepting the rent the agreement was binding on both parties as long as the tenant paid the stated rent. The factor could not alter the rent without first issuing a Notice of Removal", giving the tenant the option of accepting the new rent or vacating the premises. On the 26th of November 1920 the Sheriff-substitute Menzies of Dumbarton Sheriff Court held that the rent increases allowed by the 1920 "Rent Act" are invalid where no "Notice of Removal" had been given. Further, rent increases paid under these circumstances could be reclaimed by the tenants. At the same time, on the same day the Glasgow Sheriff Court gave the opposite ruling on an identical case involving "Emmanuel Shinwell", who was duly evicted. The Factors Association appealed the Dumbarton Court decision all the way through the legal system to the Law Lords and in each appeal the decision was to agree with the Dumbarton Court's findings. The Glasgow "Rent Strike " movement, though still continuing was now weaker than the situation in Clydebank where it remained solid and very militant.

ASSESSMENT.

         Due to the trouble and chaos of the rent situation the government in January 1925 set up a commission under "Lord Constable" to look at the whole affair of rented accommodation. This more or less brought about the collapse of the "Rent Strike" movement. The rent strikes were not led by any one person or group. This was a genuine popular struggle involving; women, housewives, the "National Unemployed Workers Movement", militants, organised vigilantes, propagandists and housing associations. 

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

To Get Beyond Two Shitty Choices.

       Without losing sympathy for the victims of violence or condoning violence, one should never forget that France is an imperialist power. It is in other lands with modern fire power defending its assets, the "collateral damage", is the deaths of innocent men, women and children, creating trauma and misery for families and friends on a greater scale than what happened in France the other night. Violence be-gets violence, war breeds war, and so the circle is perpetuated.

     Until now the fight has always been, from first to last, between existing and aspiring world powers; it has always been a struggle between a power that already oppresses us and one that will soon do so; the point, however, is to finally get beyond this stale tale of two shitty choices----

The First and Last Word on a Rotten Civilisation.  

       -------Unlike the citizens of early Mesopotamian city-states, who assembled to govern their own affairs directly and whose active consent was needed even by a demi-god ruler like Gilgamesh before he could wage war, the voters of France assemble only to labour as servants for their bosses or consume the bread and circuses they are thrown as distraction and compensation for their servitude. The rulers of European or Middle-Eastern states wage war through the passive resignation of modern plebeans, who can do no more than reap the grave consequences of decisions they neither understand nor command. A civilisation that began as a democracy of slave-holders who elected their representatives has reached perfection in a democracy of slaves who elect their masters. From this botched experiment (which has produced nothing but irresponsibility, insanity, and impotence – transmuted by the lies of history, art and political-economy into fictions with pretty names like duty, reasonableness, and maturity) there's nothing worth defending or saving.

The ferocious muslims who, unlike the era of the crusaders, now have the ability to retaliate, are right to despise it. If only they did so consistently! The first and final paragraphs from the entry for Ebla on Wikipedia read:

Ebla was one of the earliest kingdoms in Syria. Its remains constitute a tell located about 55 km southwest of Aleppo near the village of Mardikh. Ebla was an important center throughout the third millennium BC and in the first half of the second millennium BC. Its discovery proved the Levant was a center of ancient, centralized civilization equal to Egypt and Mesopotamia, and ruled out the view that the latter two were the only important centers in the Near East during the early Bronze Age. Karl Moore described the first Eblaite kingdom as the first recorded world power.
As a result of the Syrian Civil War, excavations of Ebla stopped in March 2011, and large-scale looting occurred after the site came under the control of an opposition armed group. Many tunnels were dug and a crypt full of human remains was discovered; the remains were scattered and discarded by the robbers, who hoped to find jewelry and other precious artifacts. Digging all around the mound was conducted by nearby villagers with the aim of finding artifacts; some villagers removed carloads of soil suitable for making ceramic liners for bread-baking ovens from the tunnels."

The villagers of Syria know how to treat the ruins of a despicable past with the disrespect it deserves. Only people able to perform this task coherently can create anything useful, beautiful and happy out of the rubble of a miserable history. Until now the fight has always been, from first to last, between existing and aspiring world powers; it has always been a struggle between a power that already oppresses us and one that will soon do so; the point, however, is to finally get beyond this stale tale of two shitty choices. Humanity will never be happy until the last Quran is used as tinder for setting fire to the presidential palace of the last democratic republic!

Read the full article HERE: 

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

 

Glasgow's Walk Of Pride.

        A rallying call, for this Tuesday, 17th. November, 12 noon, this is not a protest march, it is a Walk of Pride, a chance for all Glaswegians to show their pride in their parents and grandparents. In the struggles that they fought, the poverty and repression they endured with solidarity and dignity. The battles they won, against all the odds. November 1915 saw the rent strike victory over the greed of landlords, forcing the government of the day to introduce The Rent Restriction Act, freezing rents across the whole of the UK, until the end of the war.
       This was no mean victory, it took the combined determination and solidarity of all the women in the districts of Glasgow and Clydeside, combined with the unstinting support of the workers in the shipyards and factories of Clydeside.
       Let's hold our heads high, show our pride in that spirit of solidarity, and determination that built an unbeatable working class army of ordinary people. Let's make it a fun day, let's celebrate our history, our culture. Come along in your groups, families, friends and neighbours. Bring your noise with you, let's create that noise that rallied the women of the time to come out and face down the sheriff officers. Bring pots, pans, whistles, drums, racquets, banners and music. Let's walk with pride, it's our history, a history of solidarity. 

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

Groundhog Day.

         Recently I was given a book by a comrade/friend, thanks Tommy. It was called, Coogit Bairns, for the ill-informed, it translates as "Cowgate Children", Cowgate being a district in Edinburgh. It was a book of poems and prose by a Scottish poet Sandie Craigie, 1963-2005, a wonderful performance poet, that I seemed to have missed, one of the problems of being a loner most of my life. Her subject matter is too varied to pick a typical example, but I thought this one was quite relevant to today.

            The book is published by Red Squirrel Press and printed by Clydeside Press. 

Not 1984.

George Orwell was a clever man
we say
forgettin that the flaw in the human race
is that we tend to repeat ourselves
until we learn

Even if the words in the history books
make it sound like it wiz different
in 1916, 53, 1956, 1959, 61, 1964, 65, 70, 72, 1973, 1979 and 1980
1989, 1991, 1997, up ti and including the present day,
am ah borin ye yet?
in Ireland, Iran, Hungary, Haiti, Zaire, Brazil, Indonesia,
Cambodia, Chile
Afghanistan, El Salvador, Panama, an the Gulf
In Nagasaki, the Basque, Sudan, Rwanda, Armenia
Australia, Noreiga and the Kurdish nation
just remember that history is written
by cunts too thick ti learn
just as George Bush makes predictions
in words we ken dinny come fi him

Orwell's message wiz clear
history dizny repeat itself
it's the cunts in power
and this isny 1984
it's groundhog day
in Brilliant Technicolour
again and again and again 

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

For The World To Live, Europe Must Die.

      We are all human, and in the sea of sorrow at the suffering that occurred in Paris on Friday 13th. November, it is difficult to focus on the bigger picture, we are overwhelmed by the pain and suffering of the dead, wounded and traumatised.  We feel it greater because of the close proximity, we feel less for similar suffering far away, Iraq for example, but it is a small world. The traumatised, weeping parents, family and friends is repeated across the Middle East on a daily basis, but our mainstream media doesn't cover it in the same manner.

       I don't believe "evil",( a word I detest) pops out of a bottle from nowhere, it usually has a history, a birth somewhere in the past. Short term memory will never solve the problem, we have to look a lot deeper into the past, the seeds were sown somewhere at some point. 

     I found the article, For the World to Live, "Europe" Must Die. by Russell Means, brings clarity to this whole question of violence, placing it firmly in an historical context. 

      “The only possible opening for a statement like this is that I detest writing. The process itself epitomizes the European concept of "legitimate thinking": what is written has an importance that is denied the spoken. My culture, the Lakota culture, has an oral tradition, so I ordinarily reject writing. It is one of the white world's ways of destroying the cultures of non-European peoples, the imposing of an abstraction over the spoken relationship of a people.” -- Russell Means (in a 1980 speech)

       The following are two rather large quotes from his article, however, the whole article is well worth the time it takes to read.

       The deaths of hundreds of people in a third world country evidently do not send the world’s press into high alert. In fact, while 500,000 Iraq children died [UNICEF figure] as a result of U.S. bombing of Iraq’s power generation, water purification and sewage processing infrastructure compounded by U.S.-led U.N. sanctions/embargoes of essential food and medical supplies to Iraq, it was given coverage but not the sort of frantic coverage given by ‘terrorist attacks’ in the U.S., Britain, Spain and most recently France. It is hard NOT to compare this lack of empathy to third world citizens to the cultural genocide inflicted on indigenous peoples of North America by European colonizers.
       The attention given to terrorist attacks in Europe and the United States, that Means and Churchill refer to as; ... ‘some people pushing back’, and, ... ‘chickens coming home to roost’, .. are treated as one-offs, and are not viewed by the Western press or Western leaders as part of a ongoing conflict that began with 15th century European colonization. Instead, they are portrayed as coming out of nowhere for 'no reason' [why would anyone attack innocent others?] as if they are pre-shocks that warn of an imminent Armageddon.
        In the wake of the attacks in France, yesterday, Barack Obama’s comment was;
      Once again we’ve seen an outrageous attempt to terrorize innocent civilians. This is an attack, not just on Paris, it’s an attack not just on the people of France, but this is an attack on all of humanity and universal values that we share.”
     ‘Once again’, ... we see Western world leaders pull out the binary ‘good versus evil’ framing, characterizing the colonizing powers and their supporters as ‘good’ and ‘innocent’ and as ‘victims’, ... while those people ‘pushing back’ are characterized in this binary framing, as ‘evil’ and ‘guilty’ and as ‘offenders’.
      Few people can help but think about themselves and their own families undergoing such horror, whether watching helplessly as their children die in the terrible conditions in Iraq arising from infrastructure bombings and embargoes, or whether slaughtered quickly and suddenly in shootings and bombings in Paris restaurants and concert halls.
       Strife is inevitable and war is hell, but pulling out this logical and moral reference framing, which Nietzsche euphemistically terms ‘a great stupidity’, amounts to such blatantly obvious denial that it can only amplify the radicalizing of some increasing fraction of the millions of those who ‘dream of pushing back’ but who, in the larger fraction, remain committed to less violent remedial paths.
     Western leaders are ‘scientific thinkers’ and their discursive reasoning is based on logical assumptions adopted by science, such as;
      “Instead of embracing in its entirety the progressive development of a phenomenon, we simply try to connect each moment with the one immediately preceding. We admit that the present state of the world only depends on the immediate past, without being directly influenced, so to speak, by the recollection of a more distant past.” — Poincare, ‘Origin of Mathematical Physics’
     Such simplification, termed ‘economy of thought’ by philosophers of science, is very convenient when one has gained the position one now has through a program of global domination via colonization [military appropriation of the lands of indigenous peoples] and cultural genocide. It is a scientific concept reinforced by the Enlightenment European view of man as an ‘independent reason-driven being’, a ‘human being’ that is fully and solely responsible for his own behaviour.
      So, look out, push back people, because the statute of limitations on prosecuting colonizer and sovereigntist atrocities expires before it starts, and where there is push-back, those who push back violently will be judged fully and solely responsible for ‘their evil and offensive behaviour’ against the ‘innocent colonizing powers and their innocent, victimized constituents’.
      This essay is NOT aimed at justifying push-back retribution in Paris, New York, London, Madrid and elsewhere. There is no support in it for Western moral judgement based retributive justice. This essay is a commentary on the hypocrisy of Western leadership and the pathetic façade of holier-than-thou innocence coupled with sternly self-righteous commitments to ‘rid the world of evil’. The physical reality of our natural experience is NOT binary; i.e. if we are to be honest we must “embrace in its entirety the progressive development of a phenomenon” and thus connect the authorship of the push-back to colonizing powers who have been spring-loading the pushers-back for a long, long while.--------

And a little further on:

       Meanwhile, global media rushes to support the bald-faced political pitch of ‘good and evil’ on each eruption of push-back violence. Nevertheless, in the intervals, even mainstream media opinion-shapers such as BBC’s Adam Curtis are making documentaries such as ‘Bitter Lake’, advertised quote/unquote as; “How Western leaders' simplistic "good" vs. "evil" narrative has failed”, and how Western political leaders have come to recognize that the source of their power has shifted from rallying people onward and upward towards a Utopian society, to defending people against a global decline and free-fall towards a horrific Dystopia.
       What is unfolding is reminiscent of Nietzsche’s predictions. Nietzsche, in the 1890s, suggested that it would take two centuries for ‘Europe to die’ in the very same sense that Russell Means intends it; to suspend this ridiculous pretense of ‘good’ and ‘evil’ and ‘truth’ and ‘falsehood’ as binary realities; i.e. to restore intuition and harmony-seeking to their natural precedence over reason and morality.
      He didn’t say how it would play out, exactly, other than that there would be “devaluation of the highest values”; i.e. ‘good and evil’ ‘truth and falsehood’, morality and reason.
      Both are already looking pretty shabby on Friday, November 13th, 2015.

Read the full article HERE:

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

Rent Strikes And Walk Of Pride.

       The Spirit of Revolt exhibition being held in the Mitchell Library foyer has been running now for two weeks, and has proved popular and has had many positive comments. 

       If you have not yet made your way long to browse through the exhibits and have a chat with Spirit of Revolt members, you still have an opportunity, as it has a couple of weeks to run, it ends on November 28th.

      The main theme of the exhibition is the 1915 rent strikes, and is called, The Rent Strikes 100 Years On. It highlights the use of rent strikes across the world as a tool of struggle by people trying to improve or safeguard their conditions.  There is also display paying homage to the peace movement around the same period during WW1. As November this year marks the centenary of the execution of Joe Hill, there is a display marking some details of his life. 

      There is another event in which the Spirit of Revolt is involved. To mark the magnificent victory of the 1915 Rent Strikes. There will be a "Walk of Pride" held on November 17th. forming up at the Donald Dewar statue at the top of Buchanan Street and walking, noisily and with pride in our tradition of solidarity and struggle, making our way to the City Chambers in George Square. Do come along, bring your friends, family and the rallying implements of the rent strike, pots, pans, whistles, racquets and banners, let's reclaim that pride in our history and our working class culture.

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

Black December.

       The Greek state is preparing for Black December, the police are organising to crack down on anarchists across Greece. The crack down has been going on for a considerable time, however, the call for Black December will allow them to escalate the brutal repression.

This from Greek Reporter:

       Greek police are on alert after jailed anarchist Nikos Romanos issued a written statement calling all anarchists to wage war against the state and “…take over city halls and blow up fascists and bosses.”
      As the November 17 celebration and the anniversary of the murder of teenager Alexandros Grigoropoulos by a policeman on December 6 approach, the 22-year-old man who is serving 15 years in prison for armed robbery sent a written statement to indymedia.gr website calling all anarchists to arms.
     Given that since December 6, 2008 when Grigoropoulos was killed there are extreme riots taking place in Athens and Thessaloniki with arson and injuries of policemen, Greek police are preparing to deal with the threat.
      In the long statement coming from inside Korydallos Prison, there is mention of a destructive “action campaign called ‘Black December'” which will “restart the anarchist revolution, inside and outside of prison.”
     “Let’s smash the windows of department stores, occupy schools, universities and city halls, let’s distribute texts that spread the message of rebellion, blow up fascists and bosses,” read the message co-written by Romanos and convict Panagiotis Argyrou, member of terrorist group Conspiracy of the Cells of Fire.
        “… Let’s blow up the homes of politicians, throw molotov cocktails at cops, cover walls with messages, sabotage the normal flow of Christmas trade,” the statement continues.
        “…Let’s paint with ashes on the ugly buildings of banks, police stations, multinational corporations, army camps, television studios, courthouses, churches and charity organizations,” the statement further reads.
      Romanos was with Grigoropoulos on the night the 15-year-old was killed by policeman Epameinondas Korkoneas. Since then, Romanos pledged to avenge the death of his friend and fight against the state that killed him. In early 2013, Romanos, along with Yiannis Michailidis, Andreas Bourzoukos and Dimitris Politis were arrested during an armed robbery attempt at Velventos in northern Greece. 

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

 

Capitalism And Slave Labour Camps.

       Capitalism, where is it going? I suppose we could look at the most developed capitalist country in the world and gain some idea. America, King Capitalist, the big boy in the game, the pinnacle of capitalist development, what does it show us? Over the last six years, America's wealth has grown by over $30 trillion, a staggering 60%, over roughly the same period, the number of homeless children has grown by the same staggering figure, 60%. In 2013, 2.5 million children experienced homelessness, 1 in 30. According to UNICEF, America has the highest child relative poverty rates in the developed world.
      Homelessness in America is another indicator of what capitalism brings to people, approximately 3.5 million people experience homelessness in America each year. Roughly 15% of Americans, 4.8 million, live in poverty, with 7.7 million classified as living in poor households. These are figures from the crowning glory of capitalism.
      Apart from the poverty and homelessness in America, there is a much more sinister aspect to American capitalism, the road that we are all heading down, its prison system. America incarcerates more people than any other country in the world, its recent figures stand at 2.3 million, of its citizens locked up, mostly Black and Hispanic. America has locked up half a million more people than China, which has five time the population of the US. America, with 5% of the world's population, accounts for 25% of the world's prison population.

      The prison system in America is big business, the system is highly privatised and a wonderful money maker for the corporate world. 

       “The private contracting of prisoners for work fosters incentives to lock people up. Prisons depend on this income. Corporate stockholders who make money off prisoners’ work, lobby for longer sentences, in order to expand their workforce. The system feeds itself,” says a study by the Progressive Labor Party, which accuses the prison industry of being “an imitation of Nazi Germany with respect to forced slave labor and concentration camps.”
     The prison industry complex is one of the fastest-growing industries in the United States and its investors are on Wall Street. “This multimillion-dollar industry has its own trade exhibitions, conventions, websites, and mail-order/Internet catalogs. It also has direct advertising campaigns, architecture companies, construction companies, investment houses on Wall Street, plumbing supply companies, food supply companies, armed security, and padded cells in a large variety of colors.”

        The American prison system is slave labour, with a workforce that can be paid less than a dollar a day, has no union rights or representation, never turns up late, never goes on strike, or makes demands for increase wages, and can be punished for not working hard enough. In some cases, private prison are paid by the government for the number of empty beds they have, as the government guarantees a certain occupancy rate, so logically it pays the state to fill the prisons. This of course encourages big business to build more prisons.
       The US prison business is no small-fry production unit, this is BIG business. The American prison system produces for the American market, 

     100% of all military helmets, ammunition belts, bullet-proof vests, ID tags, shirts pants, tents, bags and canteens. Along with war supplies, prison workers supply 98 percent of the entire market for equipment assembly services; 93 percent of paints and paintbrushes; 92 percent of stove assembly; 46 percent of body armor; 36 percent of home appliances; 30 percent of headphones/microphones/speakers; and 21 percent of office furniture. Airplane parts, medical supplies, and much more: prisoners are even raising seeing-eye dogs for blind people.”
       When you can get that kind of labor for less than a dollar a day, it’s hard to see the government’s motivation for incarcerating fewer people. And it’s all done at the taxpayer’s expense.

        So let's look at America,  and see the future of capitalism, poverty, homelessness and mass slave labour camps by means of state incarceration. This is our future, unless we do something about it, and do it quick.

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

Greece, December 2008, A Prelude.

 

 

Athens December 2008.

 

          I was in Athens that December 2008, on the streets around Syntagma Square, the atmosphere was electric, awe-inspiring, walking and chatting among those thousands of people from all walks of life, it was easy and wonderful to get drunk on this new elixir, an elixir that is there for us all. I had never felt a feeling like it before in my life, and I have never felt anything like it since. Deep inside you felt that something wonderful was about to happen, something new and empowering was about to be born. Sadly it didn't happen that month, or the next. The process is still going on, still forming, still waiting to burst forth and create that new world we all hold in our hearts.

There Will Come a Time

There will come a time when the hordes remember,

who bound our grand-parents to the yoke of oppression,

who sentenced our parents to deprivation,

who bid poverty sink its teeth into our heart,

who teach our children, greed is a noble art.

Who sent our sons through the gates of hell

to a litany of cambist brawls,

crammed coffers with blood-stained gold

while laughing in Ares’ halls.

“Who does these terrible things to us?” they will ask,

and when they remember,

they’ll bring an energy that is endless

to drive a fist that is fearless.

Then this merciless market-driven world will crumble

under an insurrection of integrity,

the poor will emerge from the dark husk of capitalism

to live in the light of social justice.

There will come a time when the hordes remember.

Athens December 2008.

The following from Contra Info:

 

        I hate the individual who bends his body under the weight of an unknown power, of some X, of a god. 

        I hate, I say, all those who, surrendering to others, out of fear, out of resignation, a part of their power as a man, are not only crushed themselves but crush me, and those I love, under the weight of their frightful cooperation or their idiotic inertia. 

      I hate, yes, I hate them, for I sense it, I do not bow before the officer’s braid, the mayor’s sash, the capitalist’s gold, moralities or religions; for a long time I have known that all of this is just baubles that can be broken like glass.
— Joseph Albert (Libertad)

       There are times in history when the randomness of some events can cause dynamic variables, able to almost entirely paralyse the social space-time.
      It was Saturday night, on 06/12/2008, when the culmination of a conflict between two worlds took place in just a few moments. On one hand, the youthful, enthusiastic, spontaneous and impetuous insurrectionary violence; on the other hand, the official state institutional organ that, legitimately, claims the monopoly on violence through repression.
       No, it was not about an innocent kid and a paranoid cop found in the wrong place at the wrong time, but a rebellious young comrade who attacked a patrol car, in an area where clashes with the forces of repression were common, and a cop who patrolled the same area and, out of a personal perception about the honour and reputation of the police, decided to confront the troublemakers on his own. It was a conflict between two opposing forces: on one Insurgency, on the other Power, with the main protagonists of this conflict each representing their own sides.
     The murder of Alexandros Grigoropoulos by the cop Epameinondas Korkoneas, and the large-scale riots that ensued, caused a powerful, high-tension social electroshock, because the image of “social peace” was shattered and the existence of these two opposing worlds was made visible, in the most manifest way, triggering situations from which there was no easy return, at least not without a creation and manifestation of events whose momentum nobody could any longer pretend they did not notice, they did not see, they did not hear, they did not take into account.
     The 2008 rebellion rocked a society that, in its majority, still enjoyed their consumerist bliss and the culture of western lifestyle, and ignored the unbearable consequences of the coming economic crisis. It caused embarrassment, numbness and perceptive paralysis, since the majority of the social body was unable to comprehend whence sprang so many thousands of rioters, who were creating disturbances of such a tension.
      In the aftermath of the rebellion, a number of intellectuals, political analysts, professors, sociologists, psychologists, criminologists, and even artists, each taking advantage of their own professional prestige and renown, joined the public debate, not only in order to interpret December ’08, but also to de-signify it by slandering its occurrence and condemning violence altogether, from wherever it may come, making it clear what their real social role is.
      There is much more to be said about December ’08 and its insurrectionary heritage, as manifested through the dozens of direct action groups which proliferated explosively across the country, creating a front of internal threat. A period when anarchist direct action undermined the social normalcy almost on a daily basis. But what we want above all is to remember…
      To remember what December ’08 was and how anarchy, having a leading role, contributed to the manifestation of dynamic situations, which gained resonance in the international anarchist movement.
      To remember the time when anarchy overcame the fear of arrest, captivity and violent repression, and therefore acquired a tremendous self-confidence, moving on to actions and gestures that, until then, seemed impossible; a self-confidence which was manifested in the whole range of anarchist polymorphous action, from simple public interventions to all kinds of occupations, and from spontaneous confrontational practices to more organised offensive actions.
       We want to remember our young comrade who was guilty of his spontaneity, which he paid with his life. Under other circumstances it might have been us in his place, as the same insurrectionary enthusiasm pervades us since then, and besides, EVERYONE should remember their origins instead of exorcising them.
      We want to remember the beauty of paralysing the social space-time through smaller or larger social short circuits.
     We want to remember how dangerous anarchy may become, when anarchy wants to…
      We want to relive the days when “death shall have no dominion, and dead men naked they shall be one with the man in the wind and the west moon, and they shall break in the sun till the sun breaks down”
(paraphrased verses from a poem by Dylan Thomas).

Read the rest of the article HERE:

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

 

 

States And Fascism, Two Sides Of The Same Coin.

      The fascists attempt to spread their divisive and bigoted ideas by brutal acts, attempting to instil fear, while the state looks the other way. Greece is no stranger to the foul, brutal vomit and actions that spews from the these forms of low life, The latest is a bomb attack on a squat in Athens.

This from Contra Info:

      On Monday morning (November 9th 2015), at 05:30, the Epavli Kouvelou squat was struck by bomb attack. The result of that murderous attack was that nearby houses and shops suffered heavy material damage, while some damage was caused to the main entrance of the squat itself.

       What is shocking, however, is not the material damage caused by the attack but the fact that the perpetrators left the high power explosive device in the middle of the street, acting with complete disregard for the lives of neighbours or passersby.

      This attack was not a bolt from the blue; besides, it was not the first one aimed against the squat (recall the 2011 arson, and the golden dawn’s attack on 01/08/2014). It came as a response and intimidation attempt in the face of the dynamic interventions undertaken by people housed in the squat. The perpetrators, who belong to the extreme right-wing milieu, have targeted and struck the squat exactly because they fear these interventions. They fear solidarity with refugees and migrants, they fear the resistance to governmental and memoranda policies, the struggles against employers’ terrorism and against fascism. They fear all of us, who do not serve the interests of our bosses, but instead fight with dignity, putting self-organization and solidarity in the forefront of the struggle.

     We do not discriminate against people on the basis of national origin, race and sex, we do not go along with the powerful, nor become their minions; we, therefore, want to reassure the neo-Nazi killers that their attack not only does not terrorise us, but it confirms that our action is directed in the proper direction.

more photos: athens imc

      On Monday evening, a gathering was called in the squatted space. A PA system was set up from 18:00, and the above text was read and also distributed in the neighbourhood. At 19:30 we began marching loud and lively in the surrounding area, then moved to the centre of Maroussi, and ended the demonstration at the squat. The slogans chanted were anti-fascist, anti-statist, and in solidarity with refugees/migrants and squats/self-managed spaces. An estimated 250-300 comrades from various neighbourhoods of Athens participated in the demonstration.

     We make clear once again that such attacks do not terrorise us but make us more tenacious.

      Our struggles are dynamites, not only in Maroussi but everywhere We erect embankments against fascism

Epavli Kouvelou squat
Dionysou & Solonos St., Maroussi

source: epavli kouvelou

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The Sacrificed, On War's Red Altar Lie.

      To mark Remembrance Day, with an abhorrence of war, and all those who plan, engineer and profit from its vile destructive power, two short passages from the recently re-discovered Political Essay by the young Percy Bysshe Shelley. One the first passage, the second is the last passage from the poem. 

DESTRUCTION marks thee! o’er the blood-stain’d heath
Is faintly borne the stifled wail of death;
Millions to fight compell’d, to fight or die
In mangled heaps on War's red altar lie.
The sternly wise, the mildly good, have sped
To the unfruitful mansions of the dead

Oppressive law no more shall power retain,
Peace, love, and concord, once shall rule again,
And heal the anguish of a suffering world;
Then, then shall things, which now confusedly hurled,
Seem Chaos, be resolved to order’s sway,
And errors night be turned to virtue’s day.

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

Blek Le Rat.

         Another interesting episode from Circled A Radio:

       Blek Le Rat is a French street Artist known as the father of stencil graffiti. He has earned this title through years of spray painting unforgettable figures on walls across the globe. In the early 80’s he became one of the first street Artists in Paris, known for his iconic rat stencils. His stencil technique has since been adopted by some of the biggest names in graffiti and street art today.

Listen HERE:

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Glasgow's Walk Of Pride, November 17th.

     Citizens of Glasgow should be proud of their heritage in working class struggle, over the centuries they have fought and won many a battle for better conditions in their homes, and in the work place, not just for themselves, but for everybody. It has always been a city of struggle for the many, and our previous generations of men and women have always risen with determination and pride to what ever challenge the system threw at them. It was February 3rd 1919 that one of Glasgow's better know anarchists, Guy Aldred, arrived from London to stay in Glasgow, when asked why Glasgow, his reply was," --he was attracted to Glasgow by its citizen's truculent attitude, rebellious spirit and disrespect for leaders."  Can we grow that spirit and add a large dose of pride.

      One of the many victories we Glaswegians can can take great pride in, is the 1915 Rent Strike. By solidarity, determination and co-operation, between the women of the districts of Glasgow/Clydeside and the workers in the yards and factories, they beat the landlords, and forced the government to freeze all rents across the country until the end of the war.

      November 17th. marks the centenary of that great victory, and to honour with pride that event, a Walk of Pride, will take place on November 17th 2015.

       Let's make this the noisiest, largest, walk Glasgow has seen in years. Bring the implements used in the Rent Strike, pots and pans, whistle, racquets, banners, let's show our pride in that massive victory and all those determined women and men that came together to make an unbeatable working class army.

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

Entertainment, Information, Education, Fun.

      Glasgow, great city that it is, always something going on, at the moment we have the Spirit of Revolt exhibition, The Rent strike, 100 years On”, taking place in the Mitchell Library foyer, running until November 28th. Following on from that we have an eight day festival of events from, “The Only Way Is Ethics”, running from November 29th. To December 6th. This festival has a myriad of events, so I'm sure you will find one or more to grab your interest. If I were to pick a couple that I will certainly be at, then it would be, “Banner Tales of Glasgow” December 1st, Free, from 6pm-9pm. Film, Live Music and Conversation. The other, a must, would be Wednesday 2nd December, “The Man Who Never Died” a Joe Hill Song Night, Live Music, 17:30-23:00, this is shaping up to be a fantastic night, £7, £4 un-waged. Both these events will take place in The Old Hairdressers, 27 Renfield Lane Glasgow G2 6PH. It's events like this that let's us take the council's sterile slogan, “People Make Glasgow” and turn it into a truth, the real people make the real Glasgow.

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