Today's Topics:
1. France, Alternative Libertaire AL #271 - Nanterre: Freedom
for political prisoners (fr, it, pt) [machine translation]
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
2. verba-volant: Greece, APO, Thessaloniki, April 4, 2017:
Manifestation in defense of squats (gr, ca, pt) [machine
translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
3. wsm.ie: There's Not Enough Time in the Day (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
4. France, Alternative Libertaire - Tract AL, To act is better
than to elect: for an alternative libertarian ! (fr, it, pt)
[machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
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Message: 1
At the University of Nanterre, university students and professors are mobilizing for the
release of prisoners and prisoners of the social movement, including Antonin, who has been
imprisoned for almost a year. ---- For several months, Nanterre students and teachers have
been struggling to support Antonin, a student from Nanterre in detention, and other
defendants from the social movement. ---- Antonin, imprisoned for political reasons ----
Antonin has been in pre-trial detention for nine months in the case of the police car
burnt on May 18, 2016 in Paris, on the sidelines of a police demonstration, accompanied by
extreme right organizations. With Nico, Kara and Crème, the other detainees, he is
imprisoned for political reasons. ---- Antonin knows a record of evidence, as witnessed by
his relatives and his defenders. They have mobilized, in particular for the board of the
university to adopt a motion calling for the student's release. The professors, for their
part, wrote a motion also demanding his liberation by respecting the presumption of
innocence which is today flouted.
For several months, petitions have been signed in support of it, and independent students
and students organize self-managed canteens in order to raise funds to help them in their
everyday life.
On Thursday, March 2, a day of support was organized in support of the accused. The hall,
decorated with banners such as " The problem is not Antonin, it is Fleury-Mérogis " or "
Forcibly or freely, let's release Bagui Traoré ", was filled, counting permanently more
than 150 people ; At least 300 spent in total during the day.
It was divided into two parts and was first devoted to the contributions and debates of
researchers on prison, justice and the police. The second part was marked by the testimony
of victims of police violence, whether they take place in neighborhoods or social
mobilizations [1].
Crushing prisoners
The emphasis of the interventions was, in particular, that the militant environment tends
to omit racist violence of a racist nature in the working-class districts, and especially
the struggles against them. This day was precisely the occasion to relate the almost daily
police violence of these neighborhoods and those that the activists and practitioners are
known almost exclusively during the social movements.
Similarly, testimonies have reported the process of crushing individual personalities,
through the judicial process and prison environment, with deplorable living conditions, in
contrast to the arguments of those who would have us believe that The prison may have a
role of social reintegration.
In the long term, the destruction of the prison and judicial system is essential for us to
build a libertarian society.
Étienne (AL 92)
[1] The videos will be available in the coming weeks on the site of the association " Free
Antonin ": libertepourantonin.blogspot.fr.
http://www.alternativelibertaire.org/?Nanterre-Liberte-pour-les-emprisonne-es-politiques
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Message: 2
The following text from the Anarchist collectivity of Thessalonica "Black and Red" , is a
brief information about the demonstration held in the city in defense of the squatters.
---- Yesterday ( April 4 ) was held the demonstration in defense of squatters, class
memory and combative antifascism, with the participation of some 300 companions. ---- The
meeting took place at 6:00 p.m. in Kamara, where a megaphone system was set up and texts
were read against attacks by the state on squatters and on behalf of refugees and
immigrants. A statement was also read on the case of Mohamed A., whose application for
asylum will be brought back to the resolution stage these days, as well as a statement on
the murders of workers in the Mikel coffee shop, the works on the Thessaloniki subway and
On Speedex.
The demonstration was self-safeguarded. It ran all over the city center. During the march
several slogans were marked and anarchist political material was distributed. Before the
demonstration, posters were placed in the center of the city, students from the secondary
school had licked slogans in their schools, an intervention in the concert of the
antifascist events celebrated during two days in the old Polytechnic School, was made
publicity by megaphone in the event in solidarity with Mohamed A While fellow students had
participated in an intervention at the University during an anti-immigration policy event.
In the current political conjuncture, in which the government's plan to suppress the
squatters is under way, the demonstration wanted to send everyone the message that the
anarchist movement and the fighting people will not stand idle by the offensives of the
State and Capital.
One day after the demonstration, on April 5 , and while for two days ( 3 and 4 April ) in
Athens and Thessalonica, the comrades were on the alert safeguarding the squatters, the
state proceeded to evict a building in the Upper City of Thessalonica , Which was being
used as housing by refugees and immigrants. There is even more determination to overturn
the repressive government plan and to propose social counterattack.
Get your hands off the squats and the fighting places. To annul the repressive plans of
the State.
Translation: Anarchist News Agency.
http://verba-volant.info/pt/tessalonica-4-de-abril-de-2017-manifestacao-em-defesa-das-okupas/
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Message: 3
There's not enough bloody time in the day. I find the more my life goes on, the less time
I have to live. I wake up around 6am to go to work, and after my commute home, cooking
dinner, and attending to other errands, I have 1 hour to myself if I'm lucky. Often by the
time I do these basic tasks it's late enough that I know I'll be shattered tomorrow and
I'll have to drag myself through the day. After five days I clamber to the shore of the
weekend, but often find I'm so drained and conditioned by the work week I'm not myself.
It's a cycle which has no end in sight. Time is constantly on my mind. ‘Can't do that, not
enough time. Sorry, not enough time. Not enough time. I wish I had more time. Where does
the time go?' Checking my phone, what time is it, checking my phone, checking my phone. It
does my head in and it's not going to improve.
I'm absolutely not alone in this paucity of time. In fact as a young person without
children I count myself as exceptionally lucky in this regard. It blows my mind that
anyone could possibly raise a child, let alone multiple children, in this society. The
fact that anyone is raised in any way properly - which is arguably the most important job
of all to get right - is a miracle. I really think it's sick how we end up having so
little time to spend with the people we care about.
None of this is a law of nature or our faults. When humans lived on the plains of Africa
150-200,000 years ago they didn't have their days mapped out down to the hour by some
all-encompassing and rigid ‘society'. They weren't stressed to the gills with deadlines.
They didn't have to pencil in meetings with their loved ones 2-4 weeks in advance. They
could do whatever they wanted. Obviously I don't want to go back to that time. In
particular modern labour-saving and medical technology, at least in theory, makes life a
lot easier. Which is actually incredibly annoying because somehow we've still ended up so
busy that we often want to tear our hair out.
The point is that we've been enlisted in this economic machine which demands too much of
us and our time. And for what? The vast majority of us work so that someone else can get
rich. And not even for some great cause, but often for some relatively trivial commercial
purpose. Making stuff and providing services that probably don't even need to exist or
could be better put to use. Not to mention all of the goods and services which exist
because we're so time poor.
Or we do it to pay bills and debts. Yeah we're fined for existing. Oh you want food,
water, electricity, and a place to live? That'll cost you. It's not like every human on
the planet needs these things.
I dread the idea of being a drone in this stupid capitalist system for the rest of my
life. It terrifies me. I have so much to offer but it's a constant struggle to express any
significant amount of that in the little hours here and there that aren't spoken for
already. And again I know I'm far from the only one who thinks this. After work, I spend
the majority of my time trying to improve the world and make all of our lives better
through political change. That's an activity none of us would have to do (to anywhere near
the same extent) if we actually lived in a free and fair society. I'm no hero, just one of
millions who've tried to do their bit over hundreds of years. But it takes time too. I
look around me and see so much misery and injustice.
Climate change is going to make sure that there is no future for us. Our essential crops
are going to drop by up to half by mid-century. Hundreds of millions will flee from their
homelands. We're constantly on the verge of nuclear war even though most are unaware of
this tension (the Atomic Doomsday Clock is at 2 minutes to midnight last I checked). Our
natural resources are being robbed by private companies left, right, and centre, like our
water in Ireland. The scumbag far-right are taking off. Decent jobs are being replaced by
awful casual ones. Digital technology threatens to trap us in an unbreakable 1984-style
surveillance nightmare. And so on, and on. I wish more than anything I could spend all day
fighting against this. We're so unbelievably fucked and we're running out of time. But
instead I'm forced to turn up to a desk each morning and do stuff that someone else
decided, because otherwise I won't be able to eat. It's infuriating. That's what people
call ‘alienation'. You're not in control of your own life. Someone else is.
Anyway not everyone is an ‘activist' (I prefer the word ‘revolutionary'), but most of us
have our own parallels. We want to care for our family members, who need our love and
attention. They might be ill. We want to provide a shoulder to lean on to our friends in
trouble. We want to help out in our community. We want to do something to make things
lighter for others, and have real connections with people based on respect and care. It's
a natural human trait.
Where did our lives go? Who took them away? How did everything get so narrowed? I wasn't
born to work, go on a few holidays, browse the internet, and die. This isn't fun. This
isn't freedom. I don't feel free at all. I don't care what the politicians say, or the
advertisers who wreck my head daily. If I was free I wouldn't have to turn up to work on
Monday under pain of starvation and homelessness, and then take orders all day like I was
in the army. And no, bullshit corporate leaflets about mental health don't help. If you
mean it, give me shorter hours so I can sleep at night and stop exploiting me while you're
at it.
I keep saying to myself I'm not alone. I know I'm not. But I feel alone. This capitalist
society makes us feel so alone. I want to see my friends and have a laugh. I want to care
for my family. I want to have a loving romantic bond. Did you know that younger
generations are giving up on romantic relationships because of the demands of time and
careers? How sad is that? It's not because we're shallow monsters, it's because it's
becoming barely possible.
I want to be part of a community of people who work together and help each other be our
best, through thick and thin. Where is that? Where are our communities? Instead it's just
an onslaught of concrete and demands. They've destroyed them. Thank goodness for the water
charges because the bastards made us come together and re-discover the meaning of
community. I had a community once, in the Barricade Inn social centre on Parnell Street.
That was probably the best time of my life. But the state ripped that apart and left
behind an empty building.
It would drive you to drink. And so many of us do. I'm drinking writing this thing, I have
to do something to calm my brain. We do all sorts of things to escape our situations apart
from drinking, other drugs, sex, TV. It's an epidemic of escape. But ultimately, we never
do escape. We just put it out of our heads for a few hours, and keep going. Everything is
grand.
I feel like I'm in a crumbling temple. The people dearest to me are in trouble, wrecked on
the thorns of this merciless conveyor belt world, and I'm basically powerless to help
them. So many of the people I hold dear just can't cope. There's so much mental illness
and anguish around me. And around everyone. It reminds me of the song Under Pressure:
‘It's the terror of knowing
What this world is about
Watching some good friends
Screaming, "Let me out!"'
If only I had more time, I could make more of a difference.
John Maynard Keynes was the most influential economist of the 20th century. His mission
was to save capitalism. He wasn't the only one, but even as an advocate of capitalism he
predicted that by now we'd be working a 15 hour week (e.g. 3 hours a day) because of the
massive advances in technology. We've had those massive advances in technology, and we've
had them 100 times over. Where the hell is our 15 hour week? It's such a cheat. The
technology has become so powerful that we can't even believe it's real. But we're still
wasting our lives in front of computer screens, and mucking about warehouses, or whatever
else. And even when the robots come, more so than they already are, that's not going to
make us live better, it's going to screw us.
That's because profit comes first. Not happiness. If happiness came first we'd have a
society where the vast majority of us would have control. We'd organise society so that we
could spend time with the people we care about. We'd live in real communities. We'd do
meaningful work that actually had value and which we got the full fruits of. But no, the
working class are just bits of meat to push around so that the actual interesting and
important people with all the property can climb higher on the economic scoreboard.
There's no clear conclusion to this article. I'm so fed up, and so are you. This isn't
life. We have to do something. I firmly believe that we can create the beautiful free
world we all want and deserve, where every voice is heard and we aren't ground into pulp.
Everyone who can withstand this madness at all inspires me. People have struggled for
freedom who might as well have lived in hell itself. We're so full of genius and art and
wit and graft we can achieve anything if we can get over the sadness and low self-esteem
which those pricks at the top have infected us with. You're not alone, I believe in you.
Subject: Work, Solidarity Times, Mental Health, Alienation
Topics: Economy, Workplace
Geography: National
Multimedia: Video
Source: Opinion
Type: Analysis
Author: Ferdia O'Brien
http://www.wsm.ie/c/not-enough-bloody-time
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Message: 4
What is the purpose of the presidential election ? To choose a president among candidates
who, for the most part, propose only to adapt to the laws of the bosses and the market.
The next host of the Elysée can only bend to the rules of the economic system in place:
capitalism. ---- Now, in this system, there is only one thing that counts: profit. And to
maintain growth, millions of people are plunged into precarious situations (starting with
women ...), looting the natural resources of the countries of the South, sacking the
planet and concreting ecosystems For large, completely useless projects. ---- But then how
do we change things ? ---- We have nothing to expect from the outcome of the elections
because there can be no real democracy as long as capitalism remains in place. Why ?
Because with capitalism, all economic power is in the hands of a minority and completely
escapes democracy. As long as workers do not control what they produce, there will never
be a true democracy.
We must therefore break with capitalism and propose another political project: solidarity,
egalitarianism and self-management.
We must already prepare ourselves for future battles. And they will be numerous. History
shows us that governments have always found themselves serving the powerful or
capitulating against the capitalists, despite the fine speeches and election promises.
Since politicians betray us, only count on ourselves. Let us take care of our affairs by
working daily in our workplaces and in our places of life, struggling with imagination and
imposing a balance of power in our favor. Yesterday as today, most of the freedoms and
rights have been obtained or defended.
Tract in PDF to download
The same will happen tomorrow, and it is through collective action that we will change the
situation:
By involving ourselves in the social movements: the struggle unions and the associations ;
By proposing counter-powers and constructing an alternative to capitalism.
Is the alternative libertarian project utopian ?
Voting every five years means giving a blank check to an elected official who will not
represent you. It is this scam that explains the increasing number of abstentionists.
Faced with a state of emergency, mass unemployment, rising poverty levels, wars,
neo-colonial domination of the countries of the South, corruption, would not it be time to
consider Other options ?
Cc David Reece
To this reality, we oppose a real alternative:
Direct democracy
A self-managing democracy: each participates in the collective power and has a say on the
choices of society. The power is no longer centralized but is exercised at the grassroots
level and is shared by all members of society. Decisions are made on the scale to which
they apply (neighborhood, city, department, region, country, continent, world). Those on
larger scales are taken by mandates that can be revoked at any time if they do not respect
their mandates.
Social Transformation
A new ecological balance: The capitalist system is responsible for the pollution of the
planet, the disappearance of hundreds of species and the deregulation of the climate. We
must finish with this productivist system for a " reasoned " production that respects
the planet And living beings.
Restored and expanded public services: Schools, health, transport, housing and food should
no longer be thought of as market values but as free services for all.
Self management
Self-managed production: No more work for bosses (big or small), power is given to
workers, who discuss production choices. They take vocational, economic, political and
cultural training and carry out the choices decided collectively.
Decentralized production and the productive autonomy of each region of the world: Produce
locally, otherwise, according to the needs of the population and not the market, by
developing cooperation and know-how, respecting the environment and the collective of This
will only be possible with the self-management and socialization of the economy.
Social production to satisfy needs: To get out of the " economy ", to restore production
to its social character: no more money (profitability, profit) or financing (credit,
contributions) is discussed The usefulness of the projects for society, the needs to be
met, the time to be devoted to it, the material and intellectual resources available and
the ecological constraints.
Sharing work
A massive reduction in working time: The only way to share work and allow employees to
have time to satisfy the legitimate aspiration to gain personal and collective time
outside the workplace.
The end of unemployment and exclusion: Work is shared by all. Production is not subject to
profits. It is the human needs that become decisive.
Emancipation
The end of the patriarchal order: by sharing household duties, equal rights and incomes,
balancing the role of men and women in the public as in the private sphere.
The transformation of education: The school should allow a fulfilling framework capable of
developing the capacity for analysis, decision-making, critical thinking and responsibility
The Alternative Libertarian project is to allow each one of us to be an actor and actress
of his life by giving him the power to express himself, to decide, to educate himself and
to be distracted.
Then, yes, let us dare utopia ...
Let us dare the libertarian alternative !
http://www.alternativelibertaire.org/?Agir-c-est-mieux-qu-elire-pour-une-alternative-libertaire
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