Bullshit.

         Capitalism, a system that has always represented only the uppermost echelons of the financially affluent and their parasitical banks. This coterie of self seeking financial fraudsters, though chicanery and bribery convinced the political menagerie, that no matter for what purpose it may have been set up, government is in thrall and dependent on this financial cabal and must follow its bidding. So finance dictates what can and cannot be done. The will of the people must bend to the demands of the financial Mafia, or the threat of societies collapse will ensue. Well that is their mantra that is shouted loud and clear. This preached bullshit is treated by the powers that be, with reverence and respect, with the belief that there is no alternative.
       However, you and I should know that there is an alternative way to structure our society. One based on mutual aid, co-operation, sustainability and community, freed from the greed drive profit motive. The injustices and inequalities of capitalism are not set in tablets of stone. It is a human devised system of selfish greed and can be replaced with a human devised system of fairness. All it requires is the will of the majority of the people to take matters into their own hands and do that restructuring. We can’t wait for the powers that be to do that restructuring, they are very happy in their little bubble of affluence, and to hell with you.

 

 

Image courtesy of The Guardian.

 

Visit ann arky's home at https://spiritofrevolt.info   

Buying.

 

          Some words of wisdom or food for thought, from my friend at Not Buying Anything, call it what you will, but we have choices, and the choices we make will determine the future living standards of our grandchildren, and all the other grandchildren on the planet. Our actions have reactions further down the date line. We are responsible for tomorrow. Of course the ultimate aim is to create a society without buying, but built on mutual aid, co-operation, sustainability and seeing to the needs of all our people, freed from the corrosive and exploitative system of profit.
 

             Gandhi said that the Earth can support our need, but not our greed. More truthful words can not be spoken, but how often do you hear about that today?
             The choice before us today is the same it has always been:
            1. Provide for a small population of high consuming humans satisfying their greed.
          Or
            2. Provide for a large population of humans simply meeting their needs.
            Unfortunately, the psychopaths in charge of consumer nations seem to        have chosen the first option.
            You can call it "The West", "The Golden Billion", or whatever else. It doesn't matter because the result is the same.
            Consumerism is a club, most of the world is not in it, and the plan is to never let them in because there are not enough resources for everyone to consume like we do.
           While those in charge have their own choice made, what will we, the people, choose? Because it is us after all, and how we choose to live, that really matters.

Visit ann arky's home at https://spiritofrevolt.info    

Simple?

        I suppose I'm an old fashion and simple minded guy, so I get a bit confused with the number of variations of anarchism I hear about, I reckon we out variety Mr. Heinz with his 57 varieties. To name a few, we have, Social anarchism, Collectivist anarchism, Anarcho-communism, Philosophical anarchism, Egoist anarchism, Individualist anarchism in the United States, Individualist anarchism in Europe, Anarcho-naturism, Anarcho-Transhumanism, Anarchist-Capitalists, 

 

        I don't claim that this is the definitive list of variations, it is just a hotch-potch of varieties that I got from my friend Mr. Google.
       I embraced anarchism at the sweet and tender age of 17 while an apprentice in Fairfield's Shipyard on the Clyde, that wasn't yesterday. However I have always found that the simple word "Anarchism", was well and fully explained in the myriad of leaflets, pamphlets and books that have been around for many years. To me what it simply boils down to is that, no group or individual has the right to authority over any other group or individual, no group or individual has the right to exploit or abuse  any other group or individual, we respect each individual and function on the principles of free association and mutual aid, communities are organised on a horizontal structure and decisions taken in that manner, all based on the sustainability of the planet's ecosystems. Each can contribute in accordance with their ability and should receive according to their needs. What ever direction these societies, large or small, take, should always be governed by these simple principles. Like I said, I'm a simple minded guy, but I believe these simple principles embrace all our causes for freedom and justice, and attend to such matters as war, gender, race, patriarchy, patriotism, power, privilege, wealth accumulation and the swamp of inhumanity that smothers us in this present state/corporate capitalist system. I don't need adjectives, before or after the word, to me and my simple mind, the word "Anarchism" speaks loud and clear. Let's leave the philosophical table and take our simple word and its principles to the streets and workplaces.

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

Blood Fur.

 

        We live in a society that will exploit anything if it can be squeezed for profit. People are exploited to varying stages of degradation, animals are exploited irrespective of the cruelty and suffering, the environment is exploited with little or no regard for the future of life on this planet. Should you object to and attack, any of these profit avenues, you will be labelled a criminal, terrorist or worse. You will be hounded, vilified and persecuted, as all these activities hold the stamp of phony legitimacy, issued by managers of the system, the state.
       Despite the persecution by the state, there is an ever growing army of people who are taking on these savageries against all that lives, and fighting for a better, fairer world for all forms of life, a sustainable world where nature and life are respected in all their wonderful and fascinating forms.

 

 

The following from Inoffensive Animal:

        Many months after Richii’s sentence, the filth has taken him to prison to serve six months. We want to remind you how important it is to support folks in prison, write letters and send love his way, he will need it.
      Richii was arrested and sentenced on bogus charges for fighting against the fur industry. He was targeted because of his history organising in animal rights in Sweden and used as an example to try to stop a campaign that has become increasingly effective. His charges are manufactured to make him look bad and are not based in reality.
      Read his words below:
     “Auf wiedersehen comrades
     if you are reading this, I have been kidnapped by our animal hating & corrupt state and will be imprisoned for a while.
      Many of you have asked me if I want any form of support in prison. Feel free to write me! However, do not feel obligated to send money or other expensive things. Instead, donate that money to your local animal sanctuary.
     Never to stop fighting for the animals, regardless of any resistance or setbacks.
      We are the only ones they’ve got, the only ones who want to save them at any cost and the only ones who care enough and are dedicated enough to set our egos aside for what’s right. We are the ones fighting to end cruelty and exploitation of animals and we’re going to end it once and for all, step by step.
      Fight even harder to crush the resistance: show no mercy for those who stand between us and the oppressed individuals we are trying to save from a certain death.
       Fight back. Organize yourself.
       No revolution has ever begun without a fight, no revolution ever happened in silence. Silence Is Violence.
       Raise your voice for those who can’t speak, fight until every cage is empty and smashed into pieces. I will join you as soon as I can.
For the animals
RK
My address in prison :

Klinsmeister
Box 3112
200 22 Malmö

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

Our WW4.

         War, that integral part of this economic system we live under, the wars of imperialism, wars fought all over the world with your blood for their gain, the war of state power for plunder and pillage to benefit the few, those members of the pampered, privileged parasite class. However there is another world war that the establishment don't want you to see, hear about, or in any way support. It's the war of the people for justice, equality and freedom. In country after country the battles rage and blood is shed, but for the noble cause of that better world for all, free from exploitation, for a sustainable world unshackled for the chains of profit for the few. 

 

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

Fascism Tomorrow?

       There's a lot of talk and thought about after this pandemic, perhaps not enough by the general public on how we can scrap the old system of inequality, injustice, and destruction of the planet for greed. If we don't come together to sort this out the way we want it, to a system that sees to the needs of all our people, based on mutual aid, equality, justice, respect for all and sustainability, we will end up in a worse state than we were in before this covid19 pandemic struck.

      To help to focus our minds on our future if we don't grab the initiative now, I nicked this poem from Tayside Wobbly's site, I'm sure they won't mind.

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

This or--?

Another thoughtful piece from Not Buying Anything:

      Humanity has some serious decisions to make right now. We should have made them 50 years ago, but we did not. Now we must, because our survival depends on it.
     Will we decide on preserving the Earth, our only life support system, or will we choose something else?

What it comes down to is,
      "You can have *this* or you can have a liveable planet. You can't have both".
With *this* being things like:

- unlimited travel
- personal motor vehicles (fossil fuel or electric)
- billionaires
- industrial food production
- unfettered human reproduction
- ruthless competition
- war/hate
- convenience
- monumental waste
- a disposable society

         I don't think it inaccurate to say that we can have a liveable Earth, or we can have those other things. As much as we have been deluding ourselves, we can't have both.
      American biologist E.O. Wilson said that "nature holds the key to our aesthetic, intellectual, cognitive and even spiritual satisfaction."
       That is because nature is everything. In the end, nature represents our survival.
     What do all those other things represent?
     Which would you vote for?
     *This*, or a liveable planet?

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

Anarchy Is For Lovers.

 

     So many people still see anarchism as that unruly individual, hell bent on destruction because they want to do what they want and screw everybody else. This is the picture painted by the pro-establishment mouthpiece the mainstream media, in its determination to maintain the status-quo. 

     Of course anyone who has looked seriously at anarchism knows that this a deliberate fabrication to defile and destroy the only real road to a free society based on co-operation, mutual aid, equality of opportunity, sustainability and peace.

This quote from Anarkismo, puts it better than I could.

**Many people regard anarchism and socialism as contradictory programs. This is based on the conception of "socialism" as state ownership of the economy. Yet historically, anarchists have regarded this program as "state socialism" or "authoritarian socialism." They have rejected such views in favor of "anarchist-socialism" or "libertarian socialism." This concept of anarchism as a variety of socialism remains important today in opposition to pro-capitalist "libertarianism" and to "democratic socialism"--that is, reformist state socialism.**

Read the full article HERE:

      Perhaps we are to blame for not getting the true principles of anarchism across as the accepted view. Taking a leaf out of the capitalist book, propaganda, propaganda, propaganda, we should still be flooding the streets and workplaces with those bits of paper that proclaim anarchy is for lovers. Lovers of humanity, lovers of respect for the individual, lovers of co-operation to our mutual benefit, lovers of mutual aid, lovers of organisng together to solve our problems, lovers of our planet and its sustainability. Who in their right mind would object to joining such a group.  

A Needless Sea Of Tears.  

Though we live in a world of callous commerce 

and know justice

is an altar where the caring are sacrificed,

see freedom as a river that runs parched

in the fierce desert of poverty,

our thoughts cannot be chained

our dreams will not be caged.

We will think beyond the profit race

dream beyond the market place

in friendship clasp each human hand

with compassion try to understand

our differences, our hopes, our fears,

dragging this world from its needless sea of tears.

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

Our Home Is On Fire.

         Just what are we doing to the our home, planet Earth? The Amazon fires have grabbed the headlines recently, but it seems that it is not the largest or most widespread of the world's fires. Forests are being cleared at an alarming rate, some by natural events, though this is accelerating due to rising temperatures, and an increasing amount of fires are to increase farmland. However without forests life on this planet is in extreme danger of a dramatic change. Without our forests the CO2 would rapidly fill our atmosphere greatly accelerating the temperature rise and rapid demise of most large forms of life, including humans. No doubt bacteria, viruses and certain insects would survive for a certain amount of time, they would probably be the last inhabitants of planet Earth.

       All this "slash and burn" extravaganza is nothing more than the capitalist system at work, a system where every piece of the planet must be turned it a profit making entity. Forests are seen as profit generating timber factors, or a hindrance to developing other profit making ventures. In this capitalist system nothing is for what it actually is, it has to produce financial profit or it is deemed to be useless. The profit from a healthy planet is not on their balance sheet.

       Seeking to change capitalism into a humane green system is being naive in the extreme. To save our home, planet Earth, from burning, capitalism has to be destroyed and replaced with a sustainable system of mutual aid and co-operation, freed from the profit motive, that sees to the needs of all our people. We have to decide which system we want and we don't have a lot of time to make that decision. As one placard said "The wrong Amazon is burning".

 This from Void Network:

         While the Amazon burns, many other fires are burning across the world, some even larger and more widespread than those in the Amazon.
        The fires in the Amazon have been among the top news stories in the world for the past week because it is such an iconic location that is so important to the global ecosystem. However, it is important to note that these events come at a time where many other fires are burning across the world, some even larger and more widespread than those in the Amazon.
        The areas affected include Angola, Congo, Spain, Greece, Alaska, and Siberia.
        The World Meteorological Organization announced that this fire season has been unprecedented for the Arctic Circle, with over 100 major fires reported in the region.
        In Siberia, it has been reported that over 21,000 square miles of the forest were recently damaged. Some reports, from Global News and other outlets, have indicated that these fires were started intentionally to conceal illegal logging activities, but these reports have not been confirmed.
       Also last week, the Greek island of Evia was under a state of emergency after multiple large fires broke out. Earlier this month, a huge fire in Russia’s Krasnoyarsk Territory damaged over 1 million hectares of forest.
        Alaska and Greenland, both known for cold temperatures, have also faced serious fires this summer. Last month, Denmark sent a team of firefighters to Greenland to put out huge fires that were spreading across the island nation.
         A fire in Spain’s Canary Islands cased 9,000 people to evacuate. Another Spanish island off the northern coast of Africa, Gran Canaria, lost about 46,000 square miles of woodland due to fires this year.
        At this moment, it seems that the largest fires in the world are currently burning in Angola, Africa.
        According to MODIS satellite data analyzed by Weather Source, 6,902 fires broke out in Angola in the 48 hours between August 21st and 23rd. During the same time, 3,395 fires were reported in the Democratic Republic of Congo and 2,127 in Brazil.
        Large wildfires are not uncommon in Central Africa this time of year, but once again, many of these fires are intentionally set by humans attempting to clear space for agriculture businesses.
        According to data from the NASA Aqua satellite, more than 67,000 fires were seen in just one week during June of last year.
        Experts believe that most of these fires are the result of a farming technique, known as slash and burn, which as the name implies, involves the burning of forest to make room for crops. Obviously, there are other far less-reckless ways of getting the job done, but burning everything down just happens to be the fastest and the cheapest. The ash also provides nutrients to the crops that will eventually be planted, but environmentalists warn that this practice could cause deforestation, soil erosion and a loss of biodiversity.

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

Bicycle Wins.

 

        Away from the hypocrisy, lies, deceit, farce, illusions and downright insanity  of the party political scene, This from Not Buying Anything, is obviously created by a man after my own heart. Like the writer, I learnt to drive before the legal age, I could drive before I left school, thanks to my ol' man.

        I read once that a bicycle is the most efficient form of transportation in the known universe. I am sure it is not far from the truth. I have always thought that bicycles were magic machines.
Riding a bicycle can be up to 5 times more efficient than walking, and can produce the equivalent of about 950 miles per gallon. Number crunchers carefully calculate such things with wonderful equations such as:

P = gmVg(K1+s) + K2VaVg
and
E = 1/2mv2 + 1/4mv2 = 3/4mv2

Oooo, it's science. Here is some more:

One hundred calories can power a cyclist for three miles,
but would only power a car 280 feet (85 meters)

         I have always been impressed with sensible cycling peoples in India, China, and many European countries. As a kid I saw photographs of large Indian and Chinese cities teeming with bicycles, while private vehicles were as rare as persistent killing smog events.
In recent years China has been making the shift from being a 'bicycle kingdom' to one dominated by cars. How sad it is to see former cycling nations make the shift from a sustainable source of transportation to one completely unsustainable.

  Member of Environment's Angels bicycle gang

        I started out on unsustainable transportation quite early. I bought my first car before I was old enough to drive it legally. The day I got my driver's licence I ceased to walk or cycle if I could drive instead.
That was a big mistake because I came to miss the freedom, enjoyment, and simplicity of walking and biking. But I was destined to return to my beloved cycling eventually.
Part of the problem has been that the auto industry has us sucked right in to the whole car mystique. We feel like we can't live without them, that we are somehow incomplete without hauling our two tons of glass, metal, and rubber around with us everywhere we go.
However, increasingly aware recent generations are not as enthusiastic about car ownership, and the sales of cars is projected to fall in some markets in the future.

        I am also increasingly unenthusiastic about driving. While we still own a vehicle, we only drive it about 3000 km a year, well below the average of 20,000 km.
I find driving less enjoyable than I used to, and instead of being a 'freedom machine' it is beginning to feel more like an anchor.

 Bicycle cargo carrier from Denmark hauls up to 100kg of freight

        For shorter trips (below about 20 kms return), I usually ride my bicycle. It keeps me fit, saves money, and is more sustainable. And it is fun.
        Based on the principles of energy efficiency and sustainability, there is no contest. No car can deliver 950 miles per gallon. Nor will you burn much fat while driving.
The bicycle wins.

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

Food For Thought!!

      Most rational people agree that we humans have had a tremendous impact on our home, the planet on which we live. Most would also agree, that impact has done tremendous damage, and the damage is on going. At what point is the damage non-repairable? 

From Not Buying Anything:

      What if scientists are right and the planet's systems really are under threat of collapse, or are already in a state of collapse? What if humans were the major cause of that?

      Based on an evaluation of more than 1,000 previous studies, a new meta-review by an international group of 18 scientists suggests the Earth is perilously close to a tipping point where resource consumption, ecosystem degradation, climate change, biodiversity loss and population growth will trigger massive changes in the biosphere. 

- From: Scientists Tip 2025 for Possible Planetary Collapse

How would one live if this were true?

     Would we continue with the economic system that is the root cause of all this damage, and continue to devour ourselves into extinction, or would we start to dismantle this system and structure our communities and society in a sustainable fashion, creating a system of co-operation rather than competition, seeing to our needs, and not the self-centred desires of the greedy? At what point will we make that decision? Now, or when it is already too late?

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

A Late World Poetry Day.

 

      Considering it was the day before my birthday, I guess I must be getting old, I missed World Poetry Day, it was yesterday March 21st. However, as they say, better late than never.

Just Imagine!

If only we could find the imagination

to see this world as one rich colourful nation,

not a collection of camps, insular and small

always eager to mount a border brawl

sending forth an army of fruit growers

to shed the blood of some seed growers,

holding high a coloured rag

proclaim, "the blood I shed is for this flag",

believing this justifies the countless dead

across nature's beauty spread.

Can't we learn from yesterday's errors

borders breed false fears and foolish terrors;

each flag waving hand sows the seeds

of tomorrow's pointless brutal deeds.

If only we could find the imagination

to see this world as one rich colourful nation,

all free to walk our chosen path

free from fear of the stranger's wrath.

A brother, rich or poor we can accept

a different coloured skin is cause to reject,

smile at a brown eyed sister with reddish hair

yet mock one who walks a jungle path, bosom bare.

Shower with praise and welcome embrace

anyone from our spurious race,

greet with snarl and angry glare

those strange people from over there;

then useing our culture as some kind of shield

guarantee our future in isolation sealed.

If only we could find the imagination

to see this world as one rich colourful nation. 

A new Dawn.

Today we live in a peace

midst a thousand pygmy wars;

a humanity bankrupt by its past

dragged wearily through darkness and despair

yearns for a day that's cast

long, warm and fair,

a dawn that sees humankind discard

its class, its nation and prepare

to grind outworn creeds to dust,

so mankind naked is revealed,

then moving with common cause,

share

what such a dawn may yield.

Our Children's Inheritance. 

Blind to the future's unrisen dawns

we change nature to industrial debris.

Lead our children to a terrifying land

there to let them do or die.

Consign our children's children

to

poisoned air, a sterile earth,

set hungry faces fishing on some odious fishless sea.

Bequeath them a silent world

where

no feathered friend wings and sings

no hare, no fox runs free; by our efforts guarantee,

no wondrous woodlands, no wild forests,

no blushing bloom of spring,

no clear streams, no rolling meadows,

no fresh breezes blowing in on a bounteous sea.

How can we meet their trusting eye

when our legacy they acquire;

children

who by our actions will receive

a thorn in every kiss, from every mouth a lie.

What will our heart reply when asked,

"Why no harmony with nature?"

"Why has the truth been masked?"

         I can hear you say, "OK, so you missed the day, but there was no need to go into overdrive!!"

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

Until We Win,Victories Borrowed From The Exploiters.

      One lesson that is important to learn in this capitalist world is that each and every victory we win has to be guarded vigilantly and determinedly, or our lords and masters will take it back. Generations of workers rights gained through struggle are rapidly disappearing and being replaced with zero hours contracts and "self-employed" status and other schemes of exploitation. The social care aspect of society is being removed under the banner of austerity. No gains in this society are permanent, it is a perpetual struggle to just stand still and hold onto what we have.

       Some months ago the Dakota Access Pipeline was halted by determined and brave direct action of thousands, and there was considerable jubilation. At the time I stated that this was not the time to have a victory parade, as it had not been cancelled, just stopped to consider the best route. Well now those water protectors are being pushed from the area by the heavy repression equipment of the state. The hard won victory is being swept away by brute force. That is how this system of exploitation works, it is a war between two irreconcilable sides, won aiming to plunder the Earth's resources for wealth and power for the few, the other side, struggling for a better life for all. Only our victory over capitalism will guarantee that better world for all.

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

This Is Not a Dialogue.

          I have always maintained that this society will always encourage you to debate anything, but punish you if you try to change things. As long as we fail to see this society as a class war with two diametrically opposed sides, and one side holds all the power levers, we are doomed to enter into an endless and pointless conversation that goes under the label of dialogue. If you are bound by the rules of your opponent, then you are not in a fair and equal dialogue. If the ground rules are shaped by your opponent, and backed up by threat, you are not in a equal dialogue. You cannot discuss capitalism into a fair and just system, that’s not how the system works. Under capitalism, the reality is that the majority will always have to struggle to get a reasonable standard of living, while the corporate bosses and their henchmen, will live in unimaginable opulence, that’s how the system functions. We can’t enter into a dialogue under such conditions, it is an illusion created by our opponents to weave passivity over society, a trick for continuity of the system. What we want is to frame the argument in our value structure, equality, justice, freedom and sustainability, realise that we can’t have those conditions under capitalism, forget the illusionary, action sapping dialogue, and organise to destroy the existing system. 

On Anarchist News from Crimethinc:

         This is not a dialogue. How could you be so naïve? A dialogue—from which some of the participants can be deported at any time? A dialogue—in which one side keeps shooting and incarcerating the other side? A dialogue—in which a few people own all the networks and radio stations and printing presses, while the rest have to make do with markers and cardboard signs? A dialogue, really?
          You’re not in a dialogue. You’re in a power struggle. All that matters is how much force you can bring to bear on your adversaries to defend yourself from them. You can bet that if you succeed, they will accuse you of breaking off the dialogue, of violating their free speech. They will try to lure you back into conversation, playing for time until they need no more stratagems to keep you passive while they put the pieces in place for tyranny.
          This isn’t a dialogue—it’s a war. They’re gambling that you won’t realize this until it’s too late. If freedom is important to you, if you care about all the people marked for death and deportation, start taking action.

Read the full article HERE:

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