Today's Topics:
1. France, Alternative Libertaire AL - Travelogue, A
Libertarian Communist in the YPG # 01: Why I'm Here by Redac (fr,
it, pt) [machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
2. Greece, ESE Athens, SUPPORT MESSAGE TO THE EMPLOYEES OF
AGR-Clarin (Argentina) (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
3. France, Alternative Libertaire AL - Travelogue, A
Libertarian Communist in the YPG # 01: Why I'm Here (fr, it, pt)
[machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
4. US, WSA, ideas and action: WSA Statement on the Atrocities
Committed in Chechnya by Winter Jones (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
5. anarkismo.net: On Referendum by DAF - DAF (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1
With volunteer fighters and fighters. For the revolution in Rojava. A comrade writes us
from there. ---- Alternative libertarian reproduces the blog posts
Kurdistan-Autogestion-Revolution , travel diary of a fellow committed to the YPG. ----
Over the course of the weeks, he will testify to the life of the fighting militias, the
debates that take place there and the experience of democratic confederalism in the
liberated zones. ---- Academy of YPG Training for Foreign Volunteers, Canton of Cizérre,
April 12, 2017, ---- This blog will be the travel diary of a communist libertarian party
joining the revolution in Syrian Kurdistan (Rojava). ---- I will try to update it
regularly (as far as possible as you can imagine) to keep you informed of all the
experiences or discoveries I will make here.
I guess I have to start with a little presentation.
My name is Arthur Aberlin.
In order not to facilitate the lives of our Intelligence friends, even if I suspect that
they know I am here, I will not tell you too much about my own history, except that I come
from a working Average city. I had the chance to study in a provincial university, but in
a field with no outlet. I began to militate in the student movement, before embarking on a
libertarian communist organization.
Why did I leave ?
The first reason, of course, is to put into practice my solidarity with the revolution
that is taking place in Rojava at the moment. I know that the revolutionary nature of
current events is the subject of masturbatory intellectual jousting in our circles, to
which I have myself participated.
Nevertheless, after a certain time, I always had more respect for the imperfection of
action than for a perfect theory. And I was tired of being a spectator of events happening
a few days away from home. The trigger was probably more personal but, as the usual
formula says, everything is political.
So after several years of militancy, let's say that I had more and more difficulty to make
sense of the militant routine ... And I felt slowly but surely a slow resignation settled
in me. I had long looked to the Syrian events ; I cherished the comforting thought that at
worst, I could always join this revolution. A fantasy that made me reassure myself as to
my quality of revolutionary I suppose.
In short ! One January morning, falling on the online diary of a comrade who had taken the
plunge - I hope to meet him to tell him that he is originally, somewhere, a turning point
in my life - , I thought I was at a crossroads:
Or I continued a militant rout that did not bring me any greater satisfaction and that I
feared an unpleasant ending, disillusioned with my ideals and certainly a lot of alcohol
to pass the whole.
Or I concretized my fantasies and walked to the unknown.
The next day my choice was made.
I began to think about how to rally the YPG.
http://www.alternativelibertaire.org/?Un-communiste-libertaire-dans-les-YPG-01-Pourquoi-je-suis-ici
------------------------------
Message: 2
The Libertarian Syndicalist Union (ESE Athens) sends support and solidarity greeting to
the employees of the printing of AGR-Clarin newspaper in Argentina that are in multi-day
struggle (occupation of the workplace), asking to revoke their colleagues layoffs. ---- We
denounce the strikebreaking tactic of the employer, which in order to break the
mobilization, he prints the Sunday edition of the newspaper in the neighboring country of
Chile. The business committee of the AGR-Clarin workers sent a letter to the Chilean
unions and in the union of Argentine truckers, asking for their solidarity: not to print
or transfer the scabs form. ---- The struggle of the workers in the printing facilities of
Clarin is part of the general struggle of the Argentine labor movement against the
government's austerity measures Macri, as well as against the anti-working-class choices
of the bosses. The Macri government attacks on workers' achievements and tries to remove
rights and freedoms conquered through struggle. The attempt to repress and dismantle the
self-managed Bauen Hotel in Buenos Aires, it's one more example of the anti-labor
aggression.
We are so far away from Argentina, but yet so close to the Argentinean
workers' struggles. We call every labor collective to stand in solidarity
with the printing workers, by sending messages of support to Clarin.
SOLIDARITY IS THE WEAPON OF LABOR PEOPLE
WAR TO THE BOSSES
WORKERS UNITED - NEVER DEFEATED
*Libertarian Syndicalist Union (ESE Athens)*
------------------------------
Message: 3
With volunteer fighters and fighters. For the revolution in Rojava. A comrade writes us
from there. ---- Alternative libertarian reproduces the blog posts
Kurdistan-Autogestion-Revolution , a travel diary of a fellow committed to the YPG. ----
Over the course of the weeks, he will testify to the life of the fighting militias, the
debates that take place there and the experience of democratic confederalism in the
liberated zones. ---- Academy of YPG Training for Foreign Volunteers, Canton of Cizérre,
April 12, 2017, ---- This blog will be the travel diary of a communist libertarian party
joining the revolution in Syrian Kurdistan (Rojava). ---- I will try to update it
regularly (as far as possible as you can imagine) to keep you informed of all the
experiences or discoveries I will make here.
I guess I have to start with a little presentation.
My name is Arthur Aberlin.
In order not to facilitate the lives of our Intelligence friends, even if I suspect that
they know I am here, I will not tell you too much about my own history, except that I come
from a working Average city. I had the chance to study in a provincial university, but in
a field with no outlet. I began to militate in the student movement, before embarking on a
libertarian communist organization.
Why did I leave ?
The first reason, of course, is to put into practice my solidarity with the revolution
that is taking place in Rojava at the moment. I know that the revolutionary nature of
current events is the subject of masturbatory intellectual jousting in our circles, to
which I have myself participated.
Nevertheless, after a certain time, I always had more respect for the imperfection of
action than for a perfect theory. And I was tired of being a spectator of events happening
a few days away from home. The trigger was probably more personal but, as the usual
formula says, everything is political.
So after several years of militancy, let's say that I had more and more difficulty to make
sense of the militant routine ... And I felt slowly but surely a slow resignation settled
in me. I had long looked to the Syrian events ; I cherished the comforting thought that at
worst, I could always join this revolution. A fantasy that made me reassure myself as to
my quality of revolutionary I suppose.
In short ! One January morning, falling on the online diary of a comrade who had taken the
plunge - I hope to meet him to tell him that he is originally, somewhere, a turning point
in my life - , I thought I was at a crossroads:
Or I continued a militant rout that did not bring me any greater satisfaction and that I
feared an unpleasant ending, disillusioned with my ideals and certainly a lot of alcohol
to pass the whole.
Or I concretized my fantasies and walked to the unknown.
The next day my choice was made.
I began to think about how to rally the YPG.
http://www.alternativelibertaire.org/?Un-communiste-libertaire-dans-les-YPG-01-Pourquoi-je-suis-ici
------------------------------
Message: 4
According to multiple news publications such as the Guardian[1]and the BBC[2], the Chechen
police have began to round up suspected gay men and put them in a concentration camp where
they are beaten, tortured, and murdered. So far 3 men have been reported dead[3]in these
horrible acts of state repression, but more are expected to have been killed. ---- The men
that are let loose from the concentration camp are released with the expectation that
their family will murder them in a so called "honor killing". This is corroborated by
the fact that according to Amnesty International, "honor killings" are still prevalent in
Chechnya.[4] ---- Alvi Karimov a Chechen state spokesperson said that the reports are
"absolute lies and disinformation". He claims this is because there are no gay people in
Chechnya, stating that"You cannot detain and persecute people who simply do not exist in
the republic".
Two events have been thought to have led to this repression according to the Novaya Gazeta
article. In late February 2017, Chechen police detained a man in connection to drugs and
discovered gay porn on his cell phone, as well as phone contacts for other gay men in the
area. The first wave of arrests and state-sponsored murders was thought to have happened
shortly after his arrest in response.
The second wave of repression came in response to activism on the part GayRussia.ru, which
is a Queer advocacy group that had been sending requests for permission to hold pride
parades across Russia. They send the the letters the group received denying permission to
hold the parades to the European Court of Human rights. The group avoided Chechnya when
sending the requests, but in spite of this there were major protests across Chechnya. In
response the Chechen police performed what they termed as a "preventative sweep operation".[5]
Attitudes about queer people in Russia are very reactionary, with 41% of Russians saying
that the government "should persecute people with untraditional sexual preferences in
order to exterminate the phenomenon".[6] This is up from previous decades, as the trend
seems to be towards more bigotry and discrimination.
Workers' Solidarity Alliance is outraged, abhorred, shocked, and disgusted by these
egregious human rights violations. We stand in solidarity with the victims of these
atrocities and mourn these horrendous losses.
Long live Queer Liberation!
Long live the social revolution!
Workers' Solidarity Alliance
wsa.corresponding.secretary@gmail.com
https://workersolidarity.org
https://facebook.com/workersolidarityalliance
http://ideasandaction.info
________
[1]https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/apr/02/chechen-police-rounded-up-100-gay-men-report-russian-newspaper-chechnya
[2]http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-39566136
[3]Novaya Gazeta article that broke the story
https://www.novayagazeta.ru/articles/2017/04/01/71983-ubiystvo-chesti
[4]https://www.amnesty.org.uk/actions/stop-abducting-and-killing-gay-men-chechnya
[5]https://themoscowtimes.com/articles/detained-tortured-killed-how-chechnya-launched-a-crackdown-on-gays-57648
[6]https://themoscowtimes.com/articles/poll-shows-russian-attitudes-to-gay-people-are-worse-than-decade-ago-48066
http://ideasandaction.info/2017/04/wsa-statement-atrocities-committed-chechnya/
------------------------------
Message: 5
In all selective systems, the ones who is majority takes the power. In democracy, the
power of majority is democratic. Whoever is majority takes the power, whoever is minority
does not have power. The relationship between the majority and minority during the
election continues as a debate between two separate methods. The only thing that they
don't discuss is elections. Election is a bet which begins when a group says "I-we want to
administrate society" and they are replied by another group saying "no I-we want to
administrate". Election is a process of counting voters, initiated by agreement of the
parties of the bet and can not occur without the voters. The government of society is
owned by the side which has more voters than the other side. The voter is only a numeric
value in the bet. This numeric value is not a value to care about for a citizen trying to
solve the many problems of everyday life. To increase participation to elections, the
parties of the bet, want to promote the citizens from the voter title into the bettor
title. This should increase the participation of the bet. The increase in attendance will
cause the voter, being a number, to internalize the bet and then the domination formed as
a result the result of the elections. The voter will accept the result of elections and
the power of the selected side, regardless of who won or lost. This acceptance of the
citizens is a win for each group who bets on elections. As long as the winner of the
elections continues its government, the loser will continue its opposition and both sides
will wait for the next elections.
[Turkçe][Français]
Also read:
Regarding Referendum 2 DAF
Referanduma Dair 2 DAF (in Turkish)
On Referendum
February 17, 2017
Anarchists, in principle, do not vote and do not participate in elections.
It is our responsibility not to vote.
On the voter:
To politicize by one vote; or as part of a one vote election campaigns for a party or a
president. In the last elections made in Turkey, 87% of voters participated in the
elections. The number of participants in the elections was 49 million, while the number of
those not participating is about 9 million. Participation in the referendum to be held in
front of us for a change in the system will be at a similar number.
What does it mean for voters to participate in elections?
In all selective systems, the ones who is majority takes the power. In democracy, the
power of majority is democratic. Whoever is majority takes the power, whoever is minority
does not have power. The relationship between the majority and minority during the
election continues as a debate between two separate methods. The only thing that they
don't discuss is elections. Election is a bet which begins when a group says "I-we want to
administrate society" and they are replied by another group saying "no I-we want to
administrate". Election is a process of counting voters, initiated by agreement of the
parties of the bet and can not occur without the voters. The government of society is
owned by the side which has more voters than the other side. The voter is only a numeric
value in the bet. This numeric value is not a value to care about for a citizen trying to
solve the many problems of everyday life. To increase participation to elections, the
parties of the bet, want to promote the citizens from the voter title into the bettor
title. This should increase the participation of the bet. The increase in attendance will
cause the voter, being a number, to internalize the bet and then the domination formed as
a result the result of the elections. The voter will accept the result of elections and
the power of the selected side, regardless of who won or lost. This acceptance of the
citizens is a win for each group who bets on elections. As long as the winner of the
elections continues its government, the loser will continue its opposition and both sides
will wait for the next elections.
What does the responsibility of voter mean?
It means the participation of citizens, in the government of society. The voter who
actually believes that by placing a single vote, he or she is participating the social,
economic and political management of society, will agree with this manufactured system
because of responsibility nonsense. The deal is simple; whether your vote won or lost, you
must submit your right to be administered to the winner, that is the rightful power. It is
the responsibility of the deal which you approve with the vote you place in the ballot box.
What does, the equalization of the voters with one vote, mean?
Elections create a fallacy in the conflict between classes. Elections creates the fallacy
of equalization of a worker who receives a salary of 1,400 and the engineer who receives a
salary of 14,000 and even the boss who profits 140,000 by "one" produce of these workers
and engineers, with one vote. This fallacy lasts for months, but ends in a day, reducing
the oppressed to nullity in social management. The oppressed live the exploitation of all
the governments that are elected.
It is obvious that the subcontracting system operated by new laws for many years during
the period of the AKP government, also works for the local governments of CHP. These two
parties taking the highest votes in all the elections for almost 20 years, hold similar
positions in the class conflict. One of them being the government and the other being the
opposition will not affect the class conflict positively or negatively. The boss who
profits 140,000 will always have more impact on the social government, and as the owner of
capital, will continue relationships with the owners of the government. The worker who is
given 1400 in exchange of his or her labor will have no effect in government. The
momentary happiness of "I also exist in this society" created by the fallacy will end with
the social and economic realities of everyday life.
What does it mean to be qualified voters?
It means to belong to the majority in society. For all groups entering the elections, the
segment which makes up the majority of the population is the mass that will determine the
outcome of the election. Properties of this mass also determines the axis of propaganda
for the election. Both AKP and CHP aims to win the segments that constitutes the majority
in society, the segments with mainstream values like the Turkish, the Sunni sect, the
nationalist-nationalitarian. Voters other than qualified voters, mean less votes compared
to the number of the mass. This means, unqualified voters are secondary in the election
propaganda. Therefore, social and economic identity of the citizen, determines his or her
voter quality.
On the opposition
What does it mean to be the opposition to power in elections?
To be the opposition to power in the elections means that, you were not selected in past
elections, and you're hopeful for the future elections.
All of the electoral systems require the participation of at least two groups to the
elections. The two groups are in opposition to each other until the election day in which
the winner and the losers will be determined. The winner will be in power, in parallel
with the loser being in opposition.
In the parliamentary system, CHP who opposes all decisions of AKP in the parliament,
brings into question the administration practices of AKP and their negative effects on
social life and functioning of the state. This mission of opposition in parliament helps
CHP to make propaganda opposed to the political power. From then on, this is the only
relationship that the opposition establishes with voters; since the agreement that it made
with voters for a single vote, has ended with the defeat in the elections.
The opposition outside the parliament however does not base its existence on opposition
against the political power who had won the elections; the rest of the non-parliamentary
opposition is based on anti-capitalism and/or anti-imperialism. Such opposition is a side
of the class struggle in the Marxist-Leninist class framework. They fight for the
revolution that will end class struggle with the political power of the worker class
against the bourgeoisie. Among their strategies of struggle, they are for practical
associations with the parliamentary opposition in the elections. Revolutionary opposition
who advocates the elections as a strategy, highlights the opportunity of organizing
society during the elections. They argue that politicization of the citizen with one vote
during the election period could be beneficial. Marxist, Leninist and scientific socialist
organizations in general, interpretation differences aside, advocate using the elections
strategically.
The HDP is now beyond being the representation of the Kurdish people in the parliament and
has become an institution that the revolutionary opposition came together. HDP has
continuously increased its voters in the elections it participated until the general
elections on November 1. Now that its number of voters has reached 10%, which is the
minimum required percentage required for participating the parliament as a party, it could
act as a party in the parliament. The votes it has been receiving from the people of the
region, their own, primary voters, has stabilized. Along with the votes it receives from
metropolises, its votes fluctuate between 10-11%. However, the process which began rising
in November 1, during which the state of Turkey confronted Kurdish movement in internal
and external politics, has resulted in the removal of HDP by legal-illegal methods from
the parliament that it entered after being elected. The fact that the elected are being
judged and arrested one by one despite their legal immunity, indicates the
unconstrained-ness of rule maker, i.e. the state, to change its rules. Yet another
indicator is elected mayors being replaced by trustees in municipalities won by HDP in
local elections. The state proves the fact that representative democracy is an illusion of
administration by reducing the elections and the elected to nullity in line with its
internal and external strategies.
In June 7th elections, we saw the process of total revolt, street actions, slowly being
compressed into the ballot box. This process of compression would be considered
existential for the opposition from CHP to the Patriotic Party, but it had an
incomprehensible and complex aspect: HDP's suggestion to society for the ballot box, and
not streets. While the street actions continued socially, they were dissolved in election
campaign. Even the liberation of Kobanê was compressed by the campaign. The ones who went
out to the street, not as part of a campaign, but to realize themselves, first went inside
the buildings of the ballot box, then into the apartment buildings of their homes. HDP
said "Come and end the AKP dictatorship" and asked them to vote, the ones who were
politicized not a day by a vote, but every day by resistance. Election campaigns, cast
votes and system not changing, has transformed into a constant state of despair under the
unchanging dictatorship of the state. The discourse of "that's life, it's inevitable"
spread mouth to mouth, didn't it? Those who compressed hope in the streets inside the
ballot box, and think hope means voting, now want to repeat that fallacy in another
election. Voting is not a hope, but a politicization fallacy for the voter; and elections
are not a hope for justice and freedom, but a fallacy of social management.
On Political Power
Elections mean their power is continued or ended. Every power wants to get the approval of
the whole of society, and this approval is given by participating in the elections.
After a period during which AKP won elections one after the other and continuously passed
through crash scenarios, we now have an untimely referendum/elections. These untimely
elections, that is, out-of-season elections, are AKP's favorite type. We are again in an
election process where the power is assumed unconstrained by being the majority; the power
makes its own rules and lifts the rules he doesn't like. This referendum, is AKP's third
referendum and if it wins, he will have gained an important position in the shaping of
society. The most important detail in AKP's electoral strategy is that it wants not only
to increase the number of its voters, but also to increase the number of voters
participating in the election. The power acts like it does not care about the thoughts and
feelings of its opponents, but in reality it does care; because one of the things it tries
to avoid is not being able to have social approval. The power already has the approval of
voters who vote for him. For the power to have the approval of opposing voters, their
participation in the elections will suffice. The fact that the opposing voter have
participated in elections and lost, will provide the legitimacy of the election results.
Because illegitimate power, cannot take power. The thing that it is most wary of, is low
participation in the elections. Directly or indirect boycott, is what AKP is really afraid
of. Consequently, in order to increase participation, AKP continues to increase tension in
general. By using provocative words and actions while doing its propaganda, it tenses up
the opposition and increases the confrontation between voters. More confrontation means
more participation in the elections.
On Us Anarchists:
Does non-participation to elections mean neutrality?
Anarchists who reject the administer-administered relationships, must also reject
elections made for the administration of society. This is not being neutral, but taking
the side of the struggle for a world where there are no administers or administered
people. The elections obviously create the illusion of free will. The individual who
thinks that he or she gets closer to social management and influences it with free will,
is going to become distant to the daily reality because of this fallacy. The individual
who distances away from the injustice, poverty and deprivation that one lives, inevitably
becomes more obedient. In this unjust and not-free world order created by the conception
of society that ignores the individual, there is no society in which the administration of
society is not determined by elections. The options presented to the voters are clear and
regardless of the choice the voters, these major facts do not change:
1) The ones who has to earn a living by selling their labor and their time, that is the
oppressed, have no influence on administration.
2) For the oppressed, there is no difference between the implementations of the
post-election administrations.
3) Owners of administration and owners of capital share interests.
4) In every society, there are of families, tribes, ideological parties, sects and
ethnicities which have chronic potential for power or opposition. In Turkey, these are
formed like Turkish, Kurdish, Sunni, Alevi, secular, conservative.
5) Power is responsible for the regulation of state-company relations. It fulfills this
responsibility by using its bodies such as the execution, the judiciary and the law
enforcement. This is the responsibility of perpetuating the desired shape of the
relationship between the oppressor and oppressed. In turkey or whichever state in the
world, did the power which won the elections favored the oppressed class against the
oppressor class, ever? No elected power, conservative, liberal or even socialist, has ever
favored the best interests of the class of the oppressed.
Anarchists cannot advocate voting and thereby acknowledging the power of winner of the
elections, whether their vote win or lose. Anarchists do not take the organizing of
society by participating in the elections and turn it into a strategy, like Marxist
Leninist scientific socialists. Parties participating in the elections, create the fallacy
that all demands of the people for justice and freedom have been covered in the electoral
discourse and these will be met after they win the elections. To be a supporter,
individually or as an organization, of the election campaign which means, in one way, a
comprehensive demand, is to help propagate this fallacy. The desire to turn the election
process into an opportunity to be utilized, is the desire to make propaganda for the
electoral system, i.e. the fallacy. Anarchists should call all individuals that make up
the society for the responsibility of abstention. This call, is the responsibility of the
individual, for not leaving one's own will, and also one's desire for a just and free
world, to the will of a party or the will of the president. Such responsibility is the
beginning of a politicization that will span not a single day, but every day.
Revolutionary Anarchist Action
First Declaration On The Referendum.
Related Link: http://www.anarsistfaaliyet.org
http://anarkismo.net/article/30164
------------------------------
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