Today's Topics:
1. colectivo libertario evora: (ECUADOR) I APPEAL TO SOLIDARITY
WITH THE SHUAR PEOPLE IN THE FIGHT AGAINST THE EXTRACTIVIST
INDUSTRY (pt) [machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
2. Greece, anarchist group "restive horse" APO: For the workers
'accident' on Everest (gr) [machine translation]
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
3. France, Alternative Libertaire AL - archive libertarian
communists Fund (fr, it, pt) [machine translation]
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
4. Britain, class war: Anyone fancy a water cannon? Two
previous careless owners (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
5. WSM National Conference, Oct 2016: Perspectives for Struggle
and Revolution (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
6. France, Alternative Libertaire AL Decembre - Antiterrorism:
The intrusion of security in schools (fr, it, pt) [machine
translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
7. Greece, anarchist group "restive horse" (APO)For the
anti-fascist gathering Saturday, December 10 in Patras By A.P.O.
(gr) [machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
8. Create anarchist university group! - Change the university
from below! Groups, AGDo and FdA (de) (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
9. Britain, class war: Anarchy in the UK: A Changed Political
Landscape (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1
The following letter was sent to the libertarian and alternative media around the world by
a companion who lives in an indigenous community in the Ecuadorian Amazon jungle and in
which he appeals to the urgent solidarity against extractivism that continues to be the
dominant activity of several regimes of the Latin America, occupying the lands of
indigenous communities and reducing them to acculturation and misery. Our partner - who
prefers not to be identified because of the possibility of reprisals - is sociologist,
anthropologist and libertarian. On several occasions he has served as a negotiator between
the Shuar and Huaurani peoples and the Ecuadorian government of Rafael Correa. Today, as
always, anarchism is the great ally of the indigenous peoples and the international
libertarian movement the almost only guarantee that their voice is heard. We share this
letter, sympathizing with the Shuar people and demanding that their identity and their
lands be fully respected and we invite all libertarians to add their voice to ours in
denouncing the new Latin American regimes whose program seems Be no more than the
extermination of indigenous peoples who oppose the extractivist model.
https://colectivolibertarioevora.wordpress.com/
------------------------------
Message: 2
THERE ARE NO ACCIDENTS HAVE AFTAPATES, the sweatshop OF EVEREST murder WORKERS -
Communication from the anarchist group "restive horse" / member FROM Labour "accident" on
Everest. - Thursday 01/12/16 shortly after 9 am explosion occurred in EVEREST store
located on Victoria Square in Athens. - The result of this explosion was the death of the
accounting officer of the company and the injury still three workers and two bystanders. -
The worker was trapped in the office was working, which was in the basement of the store,
while next to kitchen maintenance were apparently without the company take care of getting
the necessary security measures. ---- This incident is no exception to the rule, but an
everyday condition in the workplace and is part of the long list of "accidents" that have
resulted or heavy injury or death of workers, as the safety of workers is costly to employers.
The workers 'accidents', the lack of safety measures, the constant blackmail of
unemployment with armies of unemployed and underemployed live in poverty and social
exclusion, layoffs, abolition of collective agreements, wage cuts and pensions, low wages
and starvation wages, exhausting working conditions and exhausting hours, the abolition of
the Sunday holiday, the employer arbitrariness and hit any form of association are the
factors that make up today's work reality. A fact that is expected to become even tougher
since the current political management -in full compliance with the recommendations of the
bourgeoisie, the local and international elite and transnational mechanisms; sharpen the
attack of the lower classes by promoting new antisocial and anti-labor measures, razing
every social class and acquis, in creating a modern working middle ages.
The only way to be able to respond to this attack we are experiencing is the path of
social and class struggles. The same workers, the unemployed, youth, natives and
immigrants, knowing our real needs, we must take life in our hands, to organize and to
fight collectively self-organized and adiamesolavita in any society and the workplace, in
schools and colleges, workplaces, neighborhoods and streets. With base unions and workers'
initiatives to assert that belongs to us, away from the trade elites who have a
complementary role to the employers.
To connect a couple and-demand games for permanent and stable job for better salary and
better working conditions, access to social goods, housing, healthcare, education, to
defend labor and social rights, for the protection of nature, with comprehensive and
topical social and political demand to overthrow power world and libertarian
transformation of society.
* In the morning Thursday, December 8, during the strike path, we performed a symbolic
attack with paint in the central store of Everest in Patras. Hands of employers are dyed
with the blood of the murdered worker.
** We support the announced mobilization of emporoupoallilon, workers, the unemployed and
youths against the abolition of the Sunday holiday.
Do not live like slaves! Do not get used to death!
CLASS self-organization and tried to crush THE WORLD OF BOSSES
anarchist group "restive horse" / member of the Anarchist Political Organisation -
Federation collectivity
Patras Dekemvris 2016
------------------------------
Message: 3
By disposing of forty years of archives, Alternative Libertaire took the opportunity to
open a resource center for the history of an entire political movement and its struggles:
the archive libertarian communists Fund. ---- FACL - living history museum 31, Boulevard
Theophile Sueur 93100 Montreuil ---- Contact: archives[@]alternativelibertaire.org ----
One hundred and twenty cartons carefully sorted, inventoried and numbered, newspaper
collections, posters, fliers, photographs, audiovisual equipment, all covering the
activity of the libertarian communist current (and related) in the 1944 Francophone to
today ... This is the archive Fund libertarian communists (FACL). ---- Originally this
fund, a modest idea: the filing of federal archives in G an institute of social history.
The aim is threefold: first, ensure a durable, professional preservation of archives;
second, make them available to historians and historians, students, activists, etc.;
third, free up space on the premises of G, rue d'Aubervilliers, Paris 19th, close to
saturation.
The FACL will be inaugurated January 29, 2017 at the Museum of living history (MHV) in
Montreuil.
Appointment of 10:00 to 12:00, at the museum in the park Montreau, 31, Theophile Sueur bd.
A beautiful green
After several months of consultations, G turns to MHV because of its open and pluralistic
character and his desire to turn into a labor history museum (MHMO) - a national dimension
to the project, currently under construction. The fact that the MHV is located in a
beautiful setting (the Montreau park, Montreuil) does not hurt.
In September 2015, the MHV AL and therefore sign a deposit agreement. The organization
retains ownership of the archives, but their conservation is delegated to the depositary.
Follows a three phase and inventory rue d'Aubervilliers that stores - sometimes in a
pathetic mess - the archives of the UTCL, CJL and AL. Two comrades plunge into forty years
of national and local publications, posters, leaflets, internal newsletters and training
manuals ... That's when the idea emerges to expand the project by aggregating donations
are private, to cover a wider field. Contacted a dozen vétéranes and veterans of the
movement show immediately interested, some - Henri Celie and Micheline Bourgeois
particular - yield mountains of documents.
The museum of living history,
is located in the heart of Montreau Park in Montreuil.
115 pages Inventory
Thus in the 70 boxes deposited by the AL MHV in autumn 2015, have gradually added some
fifty additional cartons, addressing the history of the libertarian communist movement
since 1944 in all its ramifications (FCL, GAAR, UGAC TAC, MCL, ORA, OCL 1 and 2, UTCL,
CJL, AL ...), his struggles (anti-colonialism, trade union lefts, coordinat
http://www.alternativelibertaire.org/?Fonds-d-archives-communistes
------------------------------
Message: 4
"These water cannon have been used to train officers for deployment in Northern Ireland
for the past two years and could provide a vital service on London's streets tomorrow if
required..." ---- Evening Standard: Boris Johnson's water cannon up for sale after
£322,000 spend... and no use at all ---- The full cost of the former Mayor's controversial
purchases - which have languished in storage for the last two years - is more than
£322,000, meaning the London taxpayer will lose out even if they go for the maximum price.
---- This covers storage, maintenance and upgrade work on the three crowd control
vehicles, including £20,000 on repainting, £5,000 on bodywork repairs due to corrosion and
almost £1,000 on installing radio and CD players for the drivers.
Labour's Sadiq Khan, who took over as Mayor in May, announced today that the water cannon
would be sold via the Ministry of Defence, to a reputable European policing or civil
defence force.
Boris Johnson: the former mayor bought the cannon (PA)
He said the sale will abide by rigorous ethical standards to ensure the water cannon are
not misused in future, ruling out any bids from Middle Eastern states, Russia and probably
Turkey.
The Mayor plans to redirect the proceeds, and any funds which would otherwise have been
spent on maintaining the crowd control vehicles in future years, into projects to tackle
gang crime.
Mr Khan said: "It beggars belief that such a huge amount of taxpayers' money has been
wasted on paying to store these redundant machines.
Criticism: Mayor of London Sadiq Khan (PA)
"We've been left in this position by the previous Mayor who rashly purchased them before
he even had permission to use them, and now it's my job to claw back as much of London
taxpayers' money as I can.
"I have spent a significant amount of time looking into how I can do this, and have been
left with no choice but sell these machines through a process that charges a fee."
The Met and the German Federal Police estimated that the water cannon would now be worth
between £35,000 and £43,000, after substantial upgrade work.
They were originally bought from the Germans two years ago for £28,000 each - a total of
£84,000 - but the overall package, including refurbishment was £218,000. Since then the
Met has spent vast sums on storage, insurance and other expenses.
This included £32,000 on making the vehicles compliant with the Low Emission Zone, even
though they were never used, £20,000 on fitting CCTV and £3,000 on 999 sirens, plus
another £3,500 on Met Police signage.
In July 2015, Mrs May refused permission for their use on the capital's streets, telling
MPs that evaluation and testing had shown the cannon could cause serious injuries,
including spinal fractures, and raised doubts over their usefulness in fast-moving riots.
The cannon have since been kept in storage by the Metropolitan Police at its Gravesend
training facility.
The MoD will take 5 per cent of the sale price, with a further 30 to 35 per cent going to
the contractor.
Tory Assembly member Keith Prince said: "Although they cannot currently be routinely used,
the Met can apply for a special licence to deploy water cannon were we to have a repeat of
events like the 2011 riots - a fact the Mayor is either ignoring or unaware of.
"These water cannon have been used to train officers for deployment in Northern Ireland
for the past two years and could provide a vital service on London's streets tomorrow if
required.
"The Mayor wants to make this look like he's shedding dead weight. The reality is he will
get virtually nothing back for what are third-hand vehicles which are currently serving a
useful purpose."
http://www.classwarparty.org.uk/anyone-fancy-water-cannon-two-previous-careless-owners/
------------------------------
Message: 5
What this paper is... ---- What we summarise below is what the WSM has collectively agreed
are the prospects for struggle in the short and medium term both in terms of global and
local capitalism but more importantly of the existing movements and struggles and those we
think are coming into existence. It should be read in conjunction with ‘The Role of the
Anarchist Organisation' which is the long term strategic view within which these short and
medium terms considerations are shaped. Fundamentally we think ‘kick it till it breaks'
leads to burnout and inactivity. Sustained organising over decades requires a collective
understanding and identification of the moments of opportunity scattered through the
periods of preparation and experimentation.
In general
Capitalism goes through various phases of development, with neoliberalism being the latest
and cycles of boom and bust. These phases shape and are shaped by class struggle and
struggles against oppression. This means what works at one time and in one context may
not work in another, we can't become rigid in out thinking.
Opportunities for radical change, including revolution are related to the point capitalism
is at but are very much more related to the confidence, size and experience of movements
of the working class and marginalised. Simply put when we win a little we are far more
likely to fight for more than when we have been defeated. Victories matter, defeats that
turn into routs are disastrious.
Ideologically plays a very important role in limiting what is possible. At one extreme
the idea of a collective path to a free society may be almost non existent and instead
every individual fights for themselves. At the other the vast majority can recognise that
if we organise together we can redistribute power and wealth to all. While there are long
trends in how most people think between those two poles there are also very rapid, if
sometimes short lived shifts.
Where things are at
The escalating wealth gap between the richest 0.1% and the rest of the population has
profound implications for even the limited parliamentary democracy that has been granted.
In particular in relation so the new super wealthy of 'silicon valley' there has been the
growth of an ideological opposition to any form of social welfare or a right to housing,
education or healthcare outside the narrow needs to maintain a useful workforce.
Automation which should promise increased leisure hours for all is instead threatening to
destroy the access of huge number of workers to a means of marking a living. Those with
jobs are being pushed towards working more rather than fewer hours and the pace of that
work is intensifying.
We used to emphasis that there were no short cuts and plenty of time to learn from
mistakes. However with the escalating danger of global environmental disaster, in
particular in relation to climate change, this can no longer be claimed with certainty.
The left
There has been a long retreat from both genuine social democracy and revolutionary
politics in most of the global north from the mid 1970s to today. The situation in the
global south is more complex with the emergence of some positive new movements built on
the lessons of the past. But for the most part the left nationalist post colonial
movements have become fully integrated into capitalism, just as happened here in Ireland.
In Ireland we are almost alone in organising with the goal of radical revolutionary
transformation. The idea of revolution has become a rhetorical device that almost no one
attempts to link to any coherent process of getting there.
WSM
Since its formation in 1984 the WSM has remained a very small organisation going though a
number of periods of growth and decline. From that we understand the need to have a
collective, ambitious but realistic idea of what is possible at any moment. We want to
make the most of opportunities leading to growth without being in a state of constant
frenzied activity that leads to demoralisation and decline.
Despite this small size we sometimes played a key organising role within particular
struggles including those around abortion access, anti-war, anti-racism, opposition to
social partnership, opposition to Shell in Erris etc., the anti-water charges & bin tax
campaigns of the 90s etc. From this we can say that while numbers are very important even
a small number of dedicated organisers acting together at the right time can have major
impacts.
While recognising that revolutionary organisations only become actual mass organisations
at time when huge sections of the working class move into struggle we have the ambition of
preparing for these moments by building an organisation that organises one in a thousand
and therefore has a presence in all neighbourhoods and most workplaces.
Perspectives over the next two years
The strongest by far pro-choice movement of the previous decade emerged in the aftermath
of the death of Savita Halappanavar. That movement organised over the following four
years to the point where the demand for Repeal of the 8th amendment has mass support. The
government is seeking to play for time to avoid calling a referendum, it is essential they
are not allowed to do so. As with the Marriage Equality issue a tension is developing
between those who advocated a lowest common denominator respectability approach to winning
the referendum and those of us who see that as a mistake in terms of the overall struggle
as well as winning the referendum
The water charges movement and in particular the mass boycott made collection of the
charge in a way that would be compatible with privatisation impossible. This will make it
very difficult for any government to return to trying to impose the charge which makes at
least a partial victory likely. It's essential that the lesson that is learned is that
mass organising defeated the charge and not the electoral fortunes of one or another of
the political parties, including Fianna Fail, that will attempt to claim the victory.
Organisationally the anarchist movement is in a state of flux and probably weaker in most
respects than at any time since the very early 2000s. Among other factors, online,
informal networking has resulted in a retreat from formal organisation. While more people
in Ireland now engage with anarchist ideas online, one major disadvantage of the shift to
online engagement is the loss of physical spaces where people meet routinely to discuss
ideas and disagreements in formal and semi-formal ways less prone to disintegration into
hostile camps.
In this context, maintaining the Dublin anarchist bookfair as a annual large networking
event is important. We also see our regular branch educational discussions and
skill-sharing workshops as important, providing physical spaces in which to listen to
others' perspectives, to build relationships, to reflect on our activities, and to propose
new ways of developing our struggles. Nevertheless, we see a pressing need to work to
improve offline discussion spaces for anarchist ideas and organising.
The radical left is deeply divided around the debates coming from the relatively new
feminist wave often referred to as ‘intersectionality'. We have clearly located ourselves
on the intersectional side of that debate and have a role to play in overcoming the
hostility to these ideas and encouraging a positive practise that spreads throughout the
left in the broadest sense (i.e. including community and unions organisations as well as
left organisations).
We are very much encouraged by the Rojava Revolution and in particular by the experiment
of a radical grassroots decision making structure that places gender liberation at the
centre of its methodology.
Collectively agreed by WSM National Conference, Oct 2016.
http://www.wsm.ie/c/perspectives-struggle-and-revolution
------------------------------
Message: 6
The attack intrusion year is now officially part of the specific plan of lockout against
major hazards (PPMS) alongside the fire and containment exercise in an explosion of plant
or chemical hazard. The generalization of these exercises largely precedes any national
uniform or anticipation of work necessary for securing the premises, increasing his
anxiety character. ---- If some schools and institutions are randomly with small equipment
such as a videophone at the entrance or human resources with host officers control access,
the practice is still very disparate according to individual decisions responsible for a
number of which show such zeal that even the new school year was held under a
disproportionate deployment of forces.
For the year that was carried out during November, the official text states that "
everyone has to react according to the two positions identified in case of attack: to
escape or be locked ." Transforming the teachers and instits security agents, the first
option is prepared in direct collaboration with the police while the latter plans to "
stay in the classroom, lock the door, barricading using the identified furniture before,
turn off the lights, away from the walls, doors and windows, lie on the ground behind
several solid obstacles, while upholding the absolute silence . " Around exercise meant
to be lived as a play by kindergarten students whose gravity however not always escapes
their lucid discussion is in place for students from 6 years.
Behind this framework, there is the actual configuration of the many institutions whose
windows have stores. These exercises are related to attempted conspiracy of voodoo curse way.
political Message
Without relying on the abuses that have taken place in Guyana as college Matoury where
members of staff hooded simulated terrorist and suggested several detonations sowing
panic, this exercise actually serves not to grandfather thing if it is to establish once
and for all that children are also targets, and no place is a refuge. If it reassures
neither students nor teachers, it seems that the implementation of this protocol by the
Ministry of Education is primarily a political message against parents and society. As
reported in a statement by South Education, which filed a strike notice to cover those who
refuse to submit to it, these measures " instead of reassuring students, staff and
relatives, maintain a permanent sense of insecurity[and]working to obtain consent to the
instruments of social control and restriction of civil liberties . " And fear creeps into
the homes of more than 12 million school pupils ...
Julie (AL Moselle)
http://www.alternativelibertaire.org/?Antiterrorisme-L-intrusion-du
------------------------------
Message: 7
On Saturday 10/12 the Nazis of Golden Dawn, go missing in the city of Patras in recent
years, they tried in secret, with no public announcement earlier, to conduct the event in
their offices with MEP deft. This is because the last time we announced previously not
even been able to reach their offices (and 2-3 which were in them remained trapped there
for hours) after direct antifascist concentration in space. ---- Once we realized the
gathering of fascists, many comrades have chosen to move forward assembled to the offices
of Golden Dawn in order to prevent the realization of the event. When we approached the
point, one of our platoon MAT closed the road even once protecting the murderers Nazis. We
were assembled in front of the cops shouting slogans, stressing that the fascists are not
wanted in the city. After about an hour the fascists left their offices under the
protection of cops.
From our side we were as anarchists in spontaneous antifascist concentration realizing as
imperative immediate halting of the Nazi rabble of golden dawn where he appears as the
importance of social enhancement of the role of the state in the formation of the modern
fascist para-state itself.
Since the attacks of paramilitary fascists in squats housing refugees and broader in
self-managed and occupied spaces of struggle, arson in detention centers until the state
repression and the evacuation of refugees squat in Thessaloniki, the stacking of refugees
and migrants in camps concentration, the humiliation and the physical elimination of the
borders of fortress Europe is obvious brutality of a regime that creates war and misery,
that uses fascist gangs to hit immigrants, refugees and those who are fighting, but also
to intimidate those who have every reason to resist. A scheme regardless of its political
manager is always harmonized towards creating a society-galley. Against this regime, the
bottom have only one road to cross, that of self-organization of resistance and
solidarity. Social self-defense and of creating a class of mutual structures. For placing
the social and class self-organization, the common struggles locals and immigrants /
refugees against poverty, misery, fear, racism and state and parastatal terrorism. Promote
the ongoing struggle for global social revolution, anarchy and libertarian communism.
SOLIDARITY TO REFUGEES AND MIGRANTS
The crimp FASCISM THE ROAD FROM THE WORLD RALLY
Social self-organizing-CLASS SOLIDARITY-militant
anarchist group "restive horse" - a member of the Anarchist Political Organisation
------------------------------
Message: 8
The Anarchist Group Dortmund organized a demonstration through the Nordstadt neighbourhood
under the motto "Truly self-organized - change Nordstadt from below!" on November 4, 2016.
We were present at the event and had brought an audio as our radio statement. This audio
on the topic of neighbourhood struggles and resistance was put together in different
languages and contained parts in German, English, Kurdish and Spanish. ---- Length: 10:24
min ---- You can download the audio at: archive.org (mp3 | ogg). ----
https://archive.org/details/A-radioBerlin_kiezdemoDortmund-redebeitrag_11-2016_en_de_es_ku
----
https://archive.org/download/A-radioBerlin_kiezdemoDortmund-redebeitrag_11-2016_en_de_es_ku/A-radioBerlin_kiezdemoDortmund_multilingual_11_2016.mp3
---- Here you can listen to it directly
http://afrheinruhr.blogsport.de/2016/12/13/dortmund-audios-multilingual/#more-483
------------------------------
Message: 9
In 2016 the political landscape has changed around us. A resurgence of conservatism
resulting from changes within the Conservative Party leadership following the EU
referendum has been followed by Donald Trump's victory in the US Presidential election and
the possibility of populist parties and personalities winning elections in Europe next
year. ---- Originally published by Freedom, December 7, 2016: ----
https://freedomnews.org.uk/anarchy-in-the-uk-a-changed-political-landscape/ ---- This
article is the first in a series by Jon Bigger looking at gains the voices of social
conservatism have made in recent years and what that means for anarchist politics. ---- In
Britain, the much of the left has put it's heart and soul (and hundreds of thousands of
activist hours) into keeping a left-wing leader at the top of the Labour Party. They seem
to have spent more time doing that than getting stuck into the ruling class, although I
suspect they think this is exactly what they've been doing.
I've seen all the immediate analysis from Brexit and the Trump victory and it's not
surprising that much of it is poor and ill thought out. This changing landscape may be
something we don't fully understand for years and I don't think anyone has got the
definitive vision yet (and you shouldn't expect to see it here either). However, at the
end of the 2016 it's time we took stock and prepare for whatever will come next. This is
my contribution to that process.
Neoliberalism appears to be facing its most important challenge, and it's not us. Since
2008, when the financial crisis we're all still witnessing started, socialists of all
types have been winning the arguments on austerity, being both anti-Establishment and
anti-elite. But the right has won power. Think for a moment about how this
anti-Establishment feeling has manifested around the world since it started: the Arab
Spring, Occupy, Brexit, Bernie Sanders, Donald Trump, Momentum and Corbyn. We have seen a
global public response that has encompassed revolutions, student debt protesters and
changes to parties of both the left and the right. The response to a disaster within
global capitalism hasn't been one simple global revolution. Instead people have responded
in ways that reject a simple left / right ideological perspective. When things settle at
home and abroad there will be a new alignment, a new politics which may well conform to a
clearer ideological split.
In many ways this could look like the old politics but with new people, aligned to
different causes. The political battle for the last 30 years has always been about
conservatism and liberalism. Whether Thatcher, Major, Blair or Brown it was some form of
liberalism in the ascendancy. Alongside brutal economics we got identity politics and a
shallow pitch on individual and minority rights, particularly in the final few years.
The Conservative Party has for many decades been a fine balance between liberal and old
Tory values with the former gradually taking prominence, until this year. The Tories are
now pragmatically shifting their focus to a perceived conservative element of the working
class they think they can get votes from.
The Labour Party has for decades been a mixture of social democratic and liberal values
with liberals in the ascendancy. They, however, are currently attempting a strange
experiment. It's a Marxist wet dream where they get to model a social movement in an
Occupy mould, but from the top down and within a political party. For decades they've
watched anarchists and wondered how they could steal what they thought were our best bits
- lots of young people in groups practicing direct democracy.
For socialists there has been no real parliamentary voice for decades. With its champions
defeated in the 1980s at home and abroad, anarchists have led the way for socialism. We
were the banner bearers. Throughout the years of globalisation it was our umbrella of
groups which resisted the excesses of the free market, with trade unionists, Marxists and
social democrats tagging along and marvelling at the decentralised approach.
Now neoliberalism and globalisation appears to be in retreat. Trump has already vowed to
pull the US out of multinational trade deals. Brexit could see Britain out of the single
market. Suddenly governments are thinking about protecting certain industries and jobs for
the good of the nation. Suddenly nationalism and not globalisation is sound economics.
Suddenly we are bracing ourselves for the oncoming new style of capitalism in which
exploitation will continue unabated whilst the gains made for minorities could be offset
or eroded. It will be the worst of both worlds.
This new politics and economics is in no way set in stone though. The political landscape
is realigning. How politics works right now might not be how it works by 2020 or 2030. If
Corbyn's Labour can convince people that it is worth voting for then in Parliamentary
terms this resurgent conservatism has a fight on it's hands. That doesn't seem likely
though. The recent Richmond by election victory for the Lib Dems shows that the Brexit
split can make a very real difference to British politics. It isn't inconceivable to see
the British public split along the lines of the referendum for years to come, with the
Conservatives and UKIP on one side and the Lib Dems, Greens and SNP on the other. Note
that as things stand there isn't any real role for the Labour Party in this scenario. If
the country remains split and they want votes they have to come down on one side or the
other or else hope they can heal the split singlehandedly and with policies that satisfy
both camps to a certain extent.
Labour and indeed labourism (the link between socialism, trade unions and a party for
working people) could well die in Britain over the next few years as Labour voters move to
the Conservatives, UKIP, the Lib Dems and the Greens. The SNP appears to have already
taken their votes in Scotland. The main political battle is, as it was, between
conservatism and liberalism. Socialism in parliamentary terms appears dead, despite Corbyn.
So we are undoubtedly witnessing the end of one era and the start of something new. If the
scenario that the Labour Party is dying is correct then we need to give some thought to
how we develop our alternative. The people who have joined the Labour Party and it's
faction, Momentum, may stay and fight it out or they might start drifting away from
mainstream politics again. Anarchism should offer a political home to as wide an array of
people as possible. That is our challenge. We have to be able to show that we have the
answers to the problems of the majority. Anarchism is in this sense both an end result and
a living process.
The end of capitalism and the State is a tough thing to explain to people who see no
possible alternative to either. People often get bogged down in visualising that end
result. How would an anarchist system work in practice? But the process is more accessible
and one in which we can gather the politically dispossessed around us.
The process starts with a simple question: how can we speak truth to power? It is in
answering this question that we will find our pathway through the changing political
landscape. We may carry on doing the same things we've always done. It might be direct
action, striking, anti-fascist action, green campaigning, animal rights etc. It might
still involve a class analysis alongside identity campaigns. It might even involve the
occasional petition signing (I bet you do). Some of the tactics we use will always be
effective, others will depend on circumstance. The exciting position we are now in is to
find the tactics that work the best. The objective is to speak truth to power and in doing
so to disrupt their harmful practices. Along the way we will find new comrades and they
will inspire and reignite our anarchist community. Together we can challenge capitalism
and the State. Together we can shake things up and hopefully shape the political landscape
for ourselves.
It is only the landscape, the terrain, that has changed. The war remains the same.
http://www.classwarparty.org.uk/anarchy-uk-changed-political-landscape/
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» Anarchic update news all over the world - 18 december 2016