Today's Topics:
1. Greece, Anarchist Federation: Solidarity with anarchist
Theodore Sipsas (gr) [machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
2. France, alsace.alternativelibertaire - COP21, from global to
local - Episode 2: What is it with the energy transition in
Strasbourg? (fr, it, pt) [machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
3. Libertarian Initiative of Thessaloniki: Concentration
against the abolition of the Sunday holiday | 13.12, 12:00
Tsimiski with Hagia Sophia (gr) [machine translation]
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
4. Britain, South Wales Anarchists : Fascists fail to show at
their own event (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
5. Melbourne Anarchist Communist Group MACG: Statement of
Shared Positions Adopted 6 Dec 2015 (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
_______________________________________________
Message: 1
Five and a half years ago, 5th May 2010, the day of general strike 500,000 people were in
the streets of Athens protesting against the imminent adoption of the first Greek
memorandum. - The general strike of May 5 was the culmination of a period of major
protests. - The participation in the strike and the demonstration was massive and had
clearly aggressive characteristics against the imposed policies. - The climate but
reversed completely when communicated the news of the death of three workers in Marfin
bank due to arson of the building. - A few days before the completion of a year, on April
29, 2011, brought four people on suspicion of arson. ---- The Media faithful as always in
the service of the State directly have targeted the anarchist space and start a witch hunt
that will last. The data; Unsigned love letter to name the prosachthentes and photographs
from cameras but which does not reflect any of them (!). The prosecutor returns the folder
back to the police because no category are not documented. Two years later, on May 5,
2013, without new evidence indicted comrade Theodore Sipsas. Comrade submits: "The file is
best demonstrated through witness statements, photos and videos from cameras that I have
nothing to do with any attack at any time that day in Athens." Leave on bail.
On December 16, 2015 will be heard after a series of postponements (which never sought our
partner but the state) the arson case of Marfin. The fact that Theodore Sipsas has not the
slightest connection with any attack that day demonstrated both by witnesses and by the
material of the traffic cameras. The non-involvement of our partner but the tragic
incident of arson of Marfin except for us is obvious and self-evident. As anarchists and
anarchists do not share neither reasonable nor practical targeting blind and directed
against the oppressed parts of the society. Our violence directed and will continue to be
directed against those who exploit and oppress our class, against the State and the
bosses. In the prosecution of Theodore Sipsas recognize another conspiracy of the state,
since the media serving the aspirations, retrieve and use the case of Marfin at will try
to illustrate it criminally antisocial characteristics anarchists attempting our moral
obsolescence. We stand by all means on the side of our partner and we call the world of
the race to continue to oppose in every way to those who arranges the complete suppression
and control society. Against those who are trying to build a totalitarian world on the
backs of the oppressed. To those who think that machinations and witch hunts will manage
to equate the social and class struggle with crime answer clear: criminals are the State
and Capital.
THE social and class GAMES NOT POINIKOPOUNTAI.
CRIMINALS ARE THE MEMBER AND THE CHAPTER
SOLIDARITY IN PARTNER Th. Sipsas prosecuted for THE CASE OF MARFIN
Anarchist Federation
December 9, 2015
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Message: 2
As reported in the article "Deep geothermal energy: A little heat, a lot of profit",
Strasbourg aims to be a model of energy transition in France. As much look a little more
closely at what has happened or will happen in the metropolis. A local look to illuminate
the global expansion strategy of COP21. ---- The four initiatives in heating networks.
---- Biomass and heat from wood grows at Wacken and the Esplanade. Can be non-consumptive
gas, these plants use wood from at least 100km radius. This includes incessant stream of
trucks, whose carbon footprint is obviously not counted nor nuisance in terms of urban
traffic. ---- The undisputed treatment plant Wantzenau, is a jewel of bio-industry refers
even heat in the network, through the fermentation of sewage sludge. Inaugurated by the
Minister Segolene Royal in September 2015, the treatment plant is the 4th biggest in
France, presented by the Minister as a model to disseminate (60 projects by 2020) to the
delight of the multinational Suez Environnement in charge of running the place. The catch
is that to maintain a high rate of wastewater, including Suez needs to do its butter,
continue to waterproof floors of the city, continue to not find other solution than flushing,
The incinerator is much more problematic, considering that the management of waste water
is not. City property, its function is to burn waste into heat and power plants around.
Polluting activity in itself which saw the working conditions disintegrate since 2010 and
the transfer of management to the company Sénerval, the Séché Environnement. The CGT has
supported a strike against 12 weeks in 2014 Sénerval. After the strike ended, the
incinerator was put off due to the presence of asbestos in the structure. And the city
heavily compensates Sénerval! If there were "only" that, but environmentally it's the
same: how to design to consume less waste when one utilizes them to produce heat which
allows a company to make profits? Rather, it must import them to the incinerator is
sufficiently powered, and too bad for the fallout in the Lower Rhine environment.
Geothermal energy appeared to be a grail ecological, finally revealed its many flaws,
already commented here. Just note that this hazardous technology meets resistance in
Strasbourg. The draft Robertsau was definitely canceled, but that of Eckbolsheim and
Reichstett continue, under the auspices of the company Fonroche, as well as that of
Illkirch led by Electricite de Strasbourg.
He is proud, Olivier Bitz, the deputy mayor that shows "his" great achievement to the
Minister for Ecology and Jean-Louis Chaussade, CEO of Suez!
The same logic: liberalism "green"
Common to all these projects is to privatize services. Under the pretext of complex
technologies, the city will assign rights to all kinds of industry, whether local or ES as
GDS, or whether international SUEZ as environment, Séché Environnement or Fonroche.
All these companies are engulfed in a wave of subsidies. Strasbourg spends 220 million
euros between 2010 and 2020 in renewable energy, but there is also the ADEME (national
energy agency), or Europe with the bottom life + which Suez treatment plant has ...
All of this is coordinated by the Ministry of Ecology. All this will create new private
property in sectors vital to our existence, in all the cities of the territory. All this
promotes global conquests for large voracious groups.
Shareholders can say thank you to the institutional ecology. Employees, much less those of
Sénerval are the first witnesses!
http://alsace.alternativelibertaire.org/spip.php?article760
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Message: 3
To break the window of Capitalism ---- In times of misery of the working class and the
state of exception in which the unemployed are came from the previous government, the law
provides for the operation of shops for 7 Sundays a year, which by decree increase to 52.
"We defend the Sunday holiday! No shop not working "was the main slogan of Syriza up
before the election. However the shops will remain open for one more Sunday, 13 December.
As with a number of issues that would change dramatically with the left government, so it
is on the ice. We had no doubt this development already before the election, let alone
now. The government SYRIZA-ANEL does nothing other than to ensure "labor peace" and to
promote "national unity", a section always orchestrated by the bosses and works in their
favor.
Which aims to abolish the Sunday holiday?
The abolition of the Sunday holiday and full flexible working hours is a very important
part of capitalist restructuring has intensified in response to the crisis. At the heart
of this restructuring is labor relations as the factor that is based on the exploitation
of workers, the production of surplus value and ultimately the profits of the capitalists.
It is a measure that will directly benefit mainly the businessmen of the sector of trade
and large shopping centers, that will favor the further accumulation of capital. It is
still yet another attack on labor achievements that opens the way for the further
intensification and aftarchikopoiisi already bad labor relations in accordance with the
prevailing spirit of full commercialization of our lives. To survive capitalism in crisis
should aggressively expand into more and more places where until now had not sufficiently
exploited. The goal is to transform the workers into machines with little labor rights
when they do not work will be tame consumers. That is total conversion of life in a circle
to produce surplus value, consumption goods and capital accumulation. This is the
notorious capitalist development. Anyone who thinks that this attack in his spare time
workers will cease to trade are much mistaken.
The holy alliance of commercialization of our lives
This effort brings together an enlarged front forces each in its own way contributes to
the common goal. The driving force is of course the capitalists and a key lever the
government using the state apparatus acts as trustee of the fund. This course is one of
the basic functions of the state in modern totalitarianism. The role of the judiciary is
also a clear and distinct, and a rough look at the role played in smashing to pieces of
labor rights in recent years does not let the fact on which the decision of the State
Council to cloud the issue. The mainstream media have taken on the role of ideological
vanguard trying to present the Sunday opening of shops as a solution to the crisis and to
advertise as much as possible, at the same time showing any reaction as antisocial and
harmful to workers. Special mention should be made of the chipsterofasistikes free press
tabloids who allegedly apoideologikopoiimeni and aestheticised visual crystallize the
content of social ekfasismou as aggressive neoliberalism.
Trade associations in the majority and they helped in their own way. Initially the
tergiversation of "7 Sundays and not 52," which seemed to not understand that the
leadership now belongs to the bourgeois and not to themselves, and any change in the
Sunday holiday will not be staying there but would sway me everything. After the
introduction of institutions that contribute to more flexible schedules such as the 'White
Nights' where workers are forced to work until midnight to increase turnover. In the
'white nights' they contributed several municipalities that supported many such efforts,
even mayors belonging to the left, demonstrating its role as left the capital and their
potential management system power and not the power of overturning. Finally, shouting
consumers who are willing to preface their breasts to shop Sunday play the role of useful
idiots who do not realize that the complete abolition of labor rights and will affect them.
The importance of the fight against the abolition of the Sunday holiday
We must not forget the direct impact of the intensification of work in the lives of
workers. At the same time the official unemployment rate is 26% leisure time workers
clipped. The concept of free time shrinks to fit consumption and only much needed rest.
The labor movement needs to understand the issue of free time as the same importance to
the salary, as aspects of the same thing. He must epananoimatodotisei the meaning of free
time outside and against capitalism, a time that employees use to organize their
resistance to capitalist barbarism, create their own culture, to live outside the
sovereignty of the goods. The struggle against the abolition of the Sunday holiday must
beat to give a blow to workers' struggles and to enrich their content.
What to do
The abolition of the Sunday holiday is not just about the shop assistant but all workers.
The strikes of industry associations Sundays are open stores are necessary and should be
supported, but not enough. It is necessary to horizontal coordination wider tracks of our
class, the base unions, labor shapes and collectives that these strikes to obtain
generalized characteristics. In this effort the institutional unionism and defeated
reasonable and practices of a burden, rather than an ally. To win this battle, the road is
one: we must destroy the functioning of the market on Sundays. With massive marches,
dynamic interventions and exclusions shops, sabotage, street closures to create a diverse
movement until you get a decision that our Sundays are not going to give away the world's
goods. On Sundays we'll use them to have fun and talk, to fall in love and to organize the
social revolution that will sweep the world of state and capital and build freedom.
CONCENTRATION
December 13, at 12:00,
Tsimiski with Hagia Sophia
Libertarian Initiative of Thessaloniki
https://libertasalonica.wordpress.com/2015/12/07/%CF%83%CF%85%CE%B3%CE%BA%CE%AD%CE%BD%CF%84%CF%81%CF%89%CF%83%CE%B7-%CE%B5%CE%BD%CE%AC%CE%BD%CF%84%CE%B9%CE%B1-%CF%83%CF%84%CE%B7%CE%BD-%CE%BA%CE%B1%CF%84%CE%AC%CF%81%CE%B3%CE%B7%CF%83%CE%B7-%CF%84-3/
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Message: 4
Solidarity with all facing racist violence! Solidarity with the anti-fascits actually
fighting ISIS in Rojava! ---- After a couple of weeks of typing small and threatening
words online* – no doubt buoyed up by media coverage of the supposed “islamic extremist
threat” to the UK – a South Wales-based fascist group calling itself ‘War Against ISIS’
completely failed to turn up at its inaugural event: ‘we will not let our country be taken
over by isis’. They called it at a location where they possibly perceived there to be a
well known ISIS presence, given the apocalyptic nature of their ‘worldview’*: Cardiff
Central Train Station. When counter-demonstrators from various anti-fascist groups,
totalling around 100 – 150 persons, gathered in advance of the promised fascist fighters,
we found there to be merely the usual procession of christmas consumers, bustling through
in a hurry, barely glancing up in their mad march to the merch.
Sure, there were hell of a lot more police than usual and a couple of their put upon horses…
Antifa occupy the fascists’ meeting point early whilst others scout the area
…waiting. But street-fascist-fighters? Nothing. One or two possible fascists braved making
handgestures from quite some distance, slinking along the periphery wordlessly, before
disappearing, not to be seen again. A few others maybe made it to the pub; perhaps the
real reason for calling the demonstration at the station: it’s proximity to sympathetic
drinking establishments, but hardly known for their islamic (extremist) punters. Whether
nursing last night’s hangover or terrified at the prospect of facing UAF chants, Red Choir
singers and Welsh Antifa, with their new shiny pink banner, the upshot is they did not
show, let alone pass. As they put it in their own event description: “we need as many
people to be here otherwise it will be pointless”.
UAF and other anti-fascists
Despite their laughable ineptitude today, it would, however, be a mistake to completely
dismiss them as a threat. They did have just over a hundred ‘committing’ to attend the
event and around a thousand in their online group. They made links to the South Wales
National Front and other violent Hitler-lickers. And we obviously haven’t forgotten that
Muslims and mosques are currently being targeted in the physical world. But for the time
being, this local group appear to be a sad collection of keyboard and barstool warriors.
Let’s keep it that way.
* How they choose to describe themselves: “the government are helping the c*nts they want
civil war they need for the start of the new wold order. Civil war is coming and it’s
going to last around 20-30 years. We need to get our shit together now before they catch
us unprepared and slaughter them all. Apparently 600-1000 refugees are coming to the
Caerphilly county area we should do something about it asap !!!!!!!”
https://southwalesanarchists.wordpress.com/2015/12/06/fascists-fail-to-show-at-their-own-event/
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Message: 5
This document is to be read as a supplement to the Aims & Principles of the Melbourne
Anarchist Communist Group. Agreement with the positions in this document is a condition of
membership. ---- 1. The social revolution will be the act of the working class, organised
in the workplace. Other classes (e.g. the peasantry) and social strata (e.g. students) in
society may support the workers in this struggle, but cannot substitute for them. The
workers have a unique role because of their numbers, their role in production which means
that they are able to remove the economic power of the capitalists by organising under
their own initiative, and the fact that the experience of social co-operation in
production tends to produce the values that promote solidarity in the struggle against the
employer. One corollary of the fact that the struggle will be decided in the workplace is
that it will not be decided by street brawls with the cops. While it is certainly
necessary to defend ourselves against police attack, capitalism’s achilles’ heel is in the
workplace and our strategic orientation must be there.
2. We stand for the complete equality of the sexes and oppose all forms of oppression of
women. The liberation of women from patriarchy will not be achieved without the overthrow
of capitalism and the destruction of class society. The overthrow of capitalism will not
be achieved without the full participation of working class women in the struggle. It is
therefore in the interests of male workers to support all struggles for equality and
freedom for women, even if these are at the expense of male privileges. The solidarity of
the male and female halves of the working class can only be built on the principle that an
injury to one is an injury to all. We support the right of women to organise autonomously
within the wider working class movement and also within Anarchist organisations.
3. We oppose the oppression and dispossession of indigenous people in Australia. This
means that indigenous people have the right to equal treatment within Australia (i.e. no
racial discrimination, whether from the State or in society) and have the right to remain
indigenous (i.e. retain their lands and culture, without pressure for assimilation into
the dominant culture). Indigenous people in Australia have never ceded sovereignty and
have never sold their land. We acknowledge the desire of indigenous people in Australia
for a treaty to recognise their prior occupation and continued rights, but believe that no
such treaty can be negotiated on just terms for indigenous people while capitalism and its
State endure in Australia. We believe a just settlement for indigenous people can only be
achieved after a revolutionary transformation of society, including crucially the
abolition of capitalist real estate.
4. We are internationalists, opposing the division of humanity into conflicting nation
States and supporting working class solidarity as the one force which is capable of being
an axis of effective counter-mobilisation against nationalism and racism. We therefore
support open borders as a principle that will be implemented under Libertarian Communism
and in the meantime will support struggles which provide opportunities to move in that
direction. In particular, we support the struggle of refugees for asylum in Australia and
oppose both immigration detention and deportation.
5. We oppose both pacifism and terrorism. Instead, we support the right to use reasonable
force in self defence.
Pacifism is the principled refusal to meet physical force with physical force. Terrorism
is the strategy of using violence, or the credible threat of it, in order to create a
climate of fear for personal safety in the civilian population of a society, or a
definable sub-group of it, to achieve a political end.
The problem with pacifism is that it assumes that there is a degree of humanity at work
amongst the capitalist class and its State and that there are limits to their
ruthlessness. The history of the last hundred years, however, provides plentiful evidence
to the contrary. In the face of totally non-violent resistance, a sufficiently ruthless
force, even if a tiny minority, could impose its will on the rest of society.
The problem with terrorism is that it is a strategy which marginalises the mass of the
working class politically and drives it into the arms of the State for protection. Even if
used in the pursuit of supportable goals, therefore, its political effects are inevitably
reactionary. The callous and instrumental attitude to humanity necessary to use terrorism
is completely antithetical to the principles of Anarchism and thus to resort to this would
be to betray our philosophy.
Our position is that we recognise the right to use reasonable force in self defence. We
are consistent on this point and thus we repudiate the State’s proclamation of a monopoly
on the legitimate use of force. Rather, we insist that we do not lose the right to self
defence when we enter the field of political struggle. Workers thus have the right to use
reasonable force to defend themselves against police or thug attack on the picket line or
on demonstrations.
We oppose the use of force beyond what is reasonably necessary for self defence. This
would contradict the humanitarian values of the society we wish to create. The working
class, being the immense majority in industrialised societies, has the advantage of the
weight of numbers and the ability to use economic force to press its cause. We therefore
have no need of violence, beyond what is necessary to defend ourselves against those who
themselves would use violence to prevent us achieving our goals non-violently. We also
believe that the use of unnecessary violence would alienate sections of the working class
and make it harder to break them from authoritarian ideologies. In particular, it would
strengthen the position of authoritarian groups active within the working class.
We believe that Fascism provides an example, unique in advanced capitalist democracies at
present, of a specialised application of the principle of reasonable force in self
defence. A Fascist group is not a debating society, but a permanent conspiracy to murder.
It is an open threat of violence against women, immigrants, indigenous people, all other
minorities and ultimately, to the working class and its organisations. Defence against
Fascism is therefore necessarily, in many cases, pre-emptive. Fascist groups should be
defeated and broken up, if possible, whenever they show their faces. We emphasise that
this position is unique to the issue of Fascism and does not apply to Right wing
populists, where the ordinary use of the principle of self defence would apply when
fighting them.
We recognise the possibility that, in revolutionary situations, self defence may require
pre-emptive action against forces of the State. This is not a pretext, however, for
abandoning a principled opposition to offensive violence. The situation must still be
assessed using the criteria of whether the use of force is both necessary for defensive
purposes and of a reasonable degree given the threat.
We reject any attempt to equate property damage with violence. Property has no rights and
damage to it must be assessed in the light of its impact on people. Damage to nuclear
weapons, therefore, is the complete opposite of damage to a worker’s home.
6. “Free thought, necessarily involving freedom of speech & press, I may tersely define
thus: no opinion a law — no opinion a crime.” — Alexander Berkman
We therefore oppose State bans on any opinion, even ones with which we passionately
disagree. Any such bans would end up being used, in the end, against the working class and
its organisations.
We also, therefore, recognise complete freedom of conscience. We support the right to
believe in any religion or none, to practice any religion or none and to preach any
religion or none. In the Australian context today, this includes a special responsibility
to defend the right of people to be Muslims without discrimination or harassment.
In addition, freedom of conscience is a right of every individual person and is not
restricted to religious leaders. Adherence to religious precepts must therefore be
entirely voluntary. Attempts by religious leaders or denominations to compel adherents to
conform to their teachings or discipline must be resisted and we resolutely reject any
attempt to give them State backing.
7. A libertarian communist society will be one that is ecologically sustainable. Even if
capitalism were just and supportable on other grounds, it would fail the test of
sustainability. We need to reject the instrumental thinking inherent to capitalism and
realise that we are part of nature – a conscious and creative part, but a part. As such,
nature is not something to be dominated, but to be protected – and particularly to be
protected against human damage.
In building a sustainable society, it is essential to end the use of non-renewable
resources – or develops ways of making them renewable. In the short term, this means a
rapid transition away from burning fossil fuels and towards renewable energy. In the
medium term, we need to restructure our existing cities for a preponderance of medium
density living and decentralise into a considerably larger number of smaller cities. And
in the long term, we need to phase out mining before the exhaustion of accessible mineral
deposits at practical grades forces us to abandon it involuntarily.
A commitment to ecological sustainability does not, however, mean enforced poverty in
living standards and even less so does it require a return to a hunter-gatherer society.
We therefore reject Malthusians of all varieties and especially in their primitivist
manifestation. Production of a wide variety of goods and services needs to be increased,
not decreased, in order to abolish poverty and want from the face of the Earth. We hold
that it is capitalism, not human nature, that is responsible for the wanton environmental
destruction which has occurred in the last two centuries and is threatening the very
liveability of the planet which we inhabit.
Further, the fact that technology has been developed under capitalism does not
irretrievably contaminate it. Different technologies have capitalist relations embedded
into them to different degrees and in some cases development of a particular technology
has been slowed because it doesn’t fit well with contemporary capitalism. Nuclear power is
an example of a technology which will have to be abandoned as anti-social, while solar
power is an example of a technology which, on the whole, undermines the power of the great
capitalist corporations.
A libertarian communist society will resolve the current conflict between the need to
increase production and the need to limit the environmental damage that capitalist
production imposes by:
(a) Producing for rationally determined needs, rather than for wants generated by advertising;
(b) Producing quality goods which last, rather than shoddy ones which break down quickly;
(c) Using only renewable energy;
(d) Using closed loop manufacturing processes, with 100% material recycling and zero waste;
(e) Rationally planning the satisfaction of social needs in the most energy and resource
efficient manner;
(f) Using the most modern technology to institute efficient small-run production of a wide
variety of goods, thus eliminating a large part of the need for long distance transport; and
(g) Planning cities, and the means of transport within and between them, on ecologically
sustainable and energy efficient lines.
Finally, we believe that the current so-called “population crisis” is an illusion caused
by the inefficient, unjust and unsustainable practices of capitalism. While there is a
natural limit to the carrying capacity of the planet, we believe that this limit is
impossible to determine until after capitalism has been abolished and its destructive
practices eliminated. If population reduction is called for after the planet’s carrying
capacity is established, it can be achieved gradually through social consensus.
------------------------------
