Anarchic update news all over the world - 23.07.2017

Today's Topics:

   
1.  Britain, SolFed, Case study: Grassroots pressure over
      substandard housing in Brighton (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
   
2.  Workers Solidarity Movement (Ireland): Today, the 19th of
      July marks the anniversary of the beginning of the Spanish
      Revolution. (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
   
3.  [Spain] Acts commemorating July 19 in Barcelona By ANA (pt)
      [machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
   
4.  Catalunia, embat: Only the people saved the people (ca)
      [machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
   
5.  US, Anathema: A #Philadelphia Anarchist Periodical Volume 3
      Issue 5 July 2017 (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
   
6.  wsm.ie: Cringe hard as Leo and Simon try and look human
      (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)


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Message: 1




The following article from Brighton SolFed looks at how even seemingly small amounts of 
pressure on council figures can shine enough light to panic them, and potentially force 
concessions. ---- On Monday June 25th Brighton SolFed delivered leaflets to a number of 
high rise blocks in the city, offering our solidarity and support to any tenants who might 
be organising to ensure their safety as a result of the fire at Grenfell. ---- The 
following day, we received an angry email from Larissa Reed, Executive Director for 
Neighbourhoods, Communities & Housing at Brighton council - who earns upwards of £100,000 
a year - informing us that our leaflets were inaccurate. This, Ms Reed said, was because 
since Grenfell, the council had decided to speed up the installation of sprinklers in 
council-owned tower blocks in the city, which was previously going to take until at least 
2025.

We replied to say that this is the minimum that the council should be doing. We also 
pointed out that Brighton Council has been systematically neglecting its most vulnerable 
tenants for a while now.

Ms Reed assured us that she wants to "ensure we have the safest homes possible" for all, 
that "concerns are heard and acted upon," and that she would be happy to meet 
face-to-face. OK then, we said; meet with Bobby and with Steve, hear about the hell that 
the council has put them through, and do something about it. Do something not only to fix 
their situations, but to ensure that Brighton council no longer places or leaves any 
tenant in dangerous housing.

Since 2012, Bobby Carver, who is paraplegic, has had his housing situation shaped by a 
series of shocking decisions by council officers systematically ignoring or overruling 
professional and medical opinion advising that his home is unsafe. Council officials have 
also lost documents, delayed decisions, and persisted in offering alternative 
accommodation deemed unsafe by medical professionals. As a result Bobby is stuck in an 
attic flat which fire services described during an inspection as "a death trap."

Brighton SolFed member Steve meanwhile is a severely visually impaired tenant with 
epilepsy and memory loss. He explained that his flat is structurally damp, hazardous, and 
dilapidated. Since this was reported to the council in early 2016, the Private Sector 
Housing team has not visited his flat to undertake an assessment of it; changed their 
version of events when challenged and left him to negotiate a complex situation regarding 
these now planned renovations (which are only in place because of the efforts of his 
organising), with the council offering no oversight of this process to ensure that he 
receives the appropriate legal protections.

It would appear - predictably - that what upset the council was not that we had not 
included the (as far as we're aware, not yet widely publicly known) plan to speed up the 
fitting of sprinklers. What upset them, and continues to upset them, is tenants and 
organisations in solidarity with those tenants drawing attention to their neglectful 
practices and placing pressure on them to stop these, and to start making our homes safe.

Ms Reed has since promised to arrange a meeting with Brighton SolFed and the Bobby Carver 
campaign within the next two weeks. We look forward to hearing how the issues raised below 
are going to be addressed, and about the changes the council is going to put in place to 
ensure ‘the safest homes possible' for everyone...

We plan to keep this pressure up - if you'd like to join us, you can get in touch at 
housing@brightonsolfed.org.uk, or you can send a text to 07427239960.

An injury to one is an injury to all!

Pic: What's the rush (Flickr CC)

https://freedomnews.org.uk/case-study-grassroots-pressure-over-substandard-housing-in-brighton/

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Message: 2




For a brief time, capitalism and the State were replaced by solidarity, mutual aid and 
respect for others. Workers and peasants, who were deeply influenced by anarchist ideas, 
ran society collectively and gained control over their lives, industry and land. A central 
part of the revolution was the struggle against a fascist attempt to take over Spain. We 
remember both the magnificent triumphs and tragedies of the Spanish revolution and attempt 
to learn from our comrades' mistakes. ---- Anarchist and syndicalist ideas had deep roots 
among Spanish peasants and workers. In 1911, a massive revolutionary trade union 
federation, the CNT (National Confederation of Labour) was formed. It had two aims; first, 
to fight the bosses with mass action in the daily struggle and, second, to make an 
anarchist revolution by organising the workers and the poor to seize back the land, 
factories and mines.

The CNT led many militant and successful struggles against the bosses and the government. 
By 1936 it was the biggest union in Spain, with nearly two million members. But the CNT 
was always democratic and, despite its giant size, never had more than one paid official.

The Anarchists did not restrict themselves to the workplace. They also organised an 
anarchist political group to work within the unions (the FAI) and organised rent boycotts 
in poor areas. The CNT itself included working peasants, farm workers and the unemployed. 
It even organised workers' schools!

In July 1936, fascists led by General Franco, and backed by the rich and the Church, tried 
to seize power in Spain. The elected government (the Popular Front coalition of left-wing 
parties) was unable and unwilling to deal with the fascists. It even tried to strike a 
deal with the fascists by appointing a right-winger as Prime Minister. Why? Because they 
would rather compromise with the right wing and protect their wealth and power than arm 
the workers and the poor for self-defence.

Fortunately, the workers and the peasants did not wait around for the government to act. 
The CNT declared a general strike and organised armed resistance to the attempted 
take-over. Other unions and left wing groups followed the CNT's lead.

In this way the people were able to stop the fascists in two-thirds of Spain. It soon 
became apparent to these workers and peasants that this was not just a war against 
fascists, but the beginning of a revolution! Anarchist influence was everywhere, workers' 
militias were set up independently from the State, workers seized control of their 
workplaces and peasants seized the land.

There were many triumphs of the revolution, although we are only able to consider a few of 
the Spanish workers' and peasants' victories here. These included the general take over of 
the land and factories.

Small peasants and farm workers faced extremely harsh conditions in Spain. Starvation and 
repression were a part of their daily lives and, as a result, anarchism was particularly 
strong in the countryside. During the revolution, as many as 7 million peasants and farm 
workers set up voluntary collectives in the anti-fascist regions. After landowners fled, a 
village assembly was held. If a decision to collectivise was taken, all the land, tools 
and animals were pooled together for the use of the entire collective. Teams were formed 
to look after the various areas of work, while a committee was elected to co-ordinate the 
overall running of the collective. Each collective had regular general meetings in which 
all members participated. Individuals who did not want to join the collectives were not 
forced to. They were given enough land to farm on, but were forbidden to hire labourers to 
work this land. Most "individualists" eventually joined the collectives when they saw how 
successful they were.

Anarchism inspired massive transformations in industry. Workers seized control over their 
workplaces, and directly controlled production by themselves and for the benefit of the 
Spanish workers and peasants. The tram system in Barcelona provided a shining example of 
just how much better things can be done under direct workers' control. On July 24th 1936, 
the tram crews got together and decided to run the whole system themselves. Within five 
days, 700 trams were in service instead of the usual 600. Wages were equalised and working 
conditions improved, with free medical care provided for workers.

Everyone benefited from the trams being under workers' control. Fares were reduced and an 
extra 50 million passengers were transported. Surplus income was used to improve transport 
services and produce weapons for defence of the revolution. With the capitalist profit 
motive gone, safety became much more important and the number of accidents were reduced.

In the early stages of the revolution, the armed forces of the state had effectively 
collapsed. In their place, the trade unions and left-wing organisations set about 
organising the armed workers and peasants into militias. Overall, there were 150,000 
volunteers willing to fight where they were needed. The vast majority were members of the 
CNT. All officers were elected by the rank-and-file and had no special privileges.

The revolution showed that workers, peasants and the poor could create a new world without 
bosses or a government. It showed that anarchist ideas and methods (such as building 
revolutionary unions) could work. Yet despite all this, the revolution was defeated. By 
1939, the fascists had won the civil war and crushed the working-class and peasants with a 
brutal dictatorship.

Why did this happen? The revolution was defeated partly because of the strength of the 
fascists. They were backed by the rich, fascist Italy and Nazi Germany.

The CNT also made mistakes. It aimed for maximum anti-fascist unity and joined the Popular 
Front alliance, which included political parties from government and pro-capitalist 
forces. This required the CNT to make many compromises in its revolutionary programme. It 
also gave the Popular Front government an opportunity to undermine and destroy the 
anarchist collectives and the workers militias, with the Communist Party playing a leading 
role in these attacks at the behest of Stalinist Russia.

Nevertheless, anarchists had proved that ideas, which look good in the pages of theory 
books, look even better on the canvas of life.

Read more at https://www.wsm.ie/spanish-revolution

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Message: 3




On July 19, 1936 something very important happened in the city of Barcelona. The people, 
previously organized and prepared, faced the Francoist troops and practically without aid 
and without adequate armament managed to defeat them, originating one of the revolutions 
of greater impact in the history of the worker movement. The city of Barcelona passed into 
the hands of the workers. Factories and workshops were collectivized. Entire industries 
are now managed through workers' assemblies. They created militias of workers who went to 
fight the Francoist troops in many places of the State, liberating whole cities and 
turning them into agrarian collectivities. In some places government, money, and private 
property were completely abolished, and communism was declared libertarian. And it all 
started in our own neighborhoods.

The role of the CNT in this revolutionary process was indispensable. For this reason we 
can not fail to remember as an example of the capacity of a strong working class, united 
and firm in their convictions.

For all this, since the CNT in Barcelona we organized a series of acts in which, while we 
remember the achievements of our ancestors, we will also expose the validity of the 
proposals that inspired them. The acts will consist of the following program:

> Saturday, July 15:

* 12h Concentration for the freedom of the anarcossindicalistas victims of repression. 
(Pl. Catalunya in front of "El Corte Inglés")

* 2:00 pm Popular lunch

* 4:30 pm Talk about the Rojava Revolution

* 18h Puppet show by the company "Puppets from Below"

* 19h30 Performance of the chorus of revolutionary songs

(All afternoon activities will take place in l'L'Hort del Xino, C / Reina Amalia 11, barri 
del Raval)

> Wednesday, July 19:

* 18h Historical path through Revolutionary Barcelona (Sant Antoni L2 subway stop)

* 20h Juan de Diego Trio Concert, presenting a work based on the book "The Summer Short of 
Anarchy" (Solar of "Salvem les Drassanes", PL, Blanquerna, "M" Drassanes L3)

CNT Barcelona

Cntbarcelona.org

Translation> Rose and Cinnamon

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Message: 4




On 19 July the army 81 years ago came to the streets of Barcelona. Imagine a quick and 
easy victory, virtually a military parade. Instead the people were well prepared. The 
military conspiracy was known by the trade unions and left and only the republican 
government denied its existence and looked the other way. But the people of Barcelona 
managed to defeat the military uprising because a large crowd insurgency. ---- If we talk 
about "civil war" and not "coup" is only due to popular resistance in the Spanish cities 
animated by the great victory of Barcelona. They were organizations working to stop the 
fascist coup, and were the first workers' organizations would send militias organized to 
take the territories that had been under rebel rule. Within days the working class was 
aware that the country should continue to operate and would gradually taking control of 
companies, socializing the means of production, and initiating the revolutionary process 
of 1936.

It should be mentioned in the same way, another symbolic date, 6 October 1934 . The 
President of the Generalitat Lluís Companys, proclaimed the Catalan State . Its social 
base is ready. In addition there is the Workers' Alliance, made up of unions and leftist 
parties, the general strike convened for the occasion. They thought, good sense that any 
proclamation is empty without a base willing to take forceful measures. Also, take time 
for thought that this Republic was socialist in nature, or at least more beneficial to the 
working class that the Spanish Republic in 1931. But Companys refused to arm the workers , 
much less ask for help movement libertarian, resulting in a pathetic defeat would mean a 
lot of repression.

Speaking of 1931, another significant date: April 14 . Held municipal elections. 
Republicans win in the cities and in general in all areas predominantly worker. However, 
the monarchists had won the elections thanks to rural and traditional despotism factor 
prevailing in the field. Well, the crowds spontaneously proclaim the Republic. They had 
the strength and reason, and were either enough. I would never have gotten the Republic 
following the established legal courses.

We conclude, as the title, only the people can save the people. No one else will do it for 
us. The republican period of 1931-1939 teaches us that only the people overthrew the 
monarchy, only the people stopped the military raised against it, and after being free of 
chains, the town itself took control of all the country won its freedom. It also teaches 
us that without the people mobilized and organized nothing to do.
http://embat.info/sols-el-poble-salva-el-poble/

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Message: 5




Volume 3 Issue 5 (PDF for printing 11 x 17)
https://anathema.noblogs.org/files/2017/07/Issue-V-PRINT-final.pdf
Volume 3 Issue 5 (PDF for reading 8.5 x 11)
https://anathema.noblogs.org/files/2017/07/Issue-V-READ-final.pdf
In this issue:
Call for Week of Solidarity with J20 Arrestees ---- Assassination Attempted in Alexandria 
---- Antifa v. 4Chan: A Perspective on the July 2nd March to Impeach Trump ---- What Went 
Down ---- News ---- Letter to the Editor ---- PA Pipeline Updates ---- Factory Death ---- 
NYPD Officer Assassinated ---- Watching Police ---- July 25 Day of Solidarity with Antifa 
Prisoners ---- Zoo Abuse, Collective Liberation ---- How to Buy a Gun ---- Poem, Pictures, 
& Comics

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Message: 6




If you want to cringe hard, watch the Fine Gael PR team's latest attempt to make Leo 
Varadkar and Simon Coveney look human.  The comments section is uplifting and worth a 
read, another case of an arrogant elitist organisation thinking they can put out any auld 
waffle without a kickback from the people they abuse. ---- As the picture says, we agree 
with minister for foreign affairs Simon Coveney on one thing, that 'the strength of 
politics is at the base, not at the top'. ---- Well, we agree with those words anyway. If 
you watch the video you'll hear him say that as he tries to convince us that Fine Gael is 
some kind of grassroots democratic organisation. Of course this is just more empty spin 
and FG are a highly centralised party run from the top down with little internal democracy 
to speak of. A smaller-scale version of the society the leadership wishes to preside over.

When we say we agree, we mean something else. Politics is usually thought of as something 
driven by 'great men' , a pursuit of a select few who govern while the rest of us watch 
politics happen from the sidelines basically as a spectator sport.

Even establishment jackals like Coveney know that this isn't really how the world works 
though. The reality is that Coveney, Varadkar, Doherty, Burton, and the rest of the ruling 
class are just apes in suits who have no magical powers to shape society. They only reason 
they exert influence is because we, the vast majority, obey them and the institution of 
the state which they manage.

We've seen a major case of this truth in the water charges struggle. Here 'the base' 
rebelled against the wishes of 'the top', and greatly outnumbered the top realised they 
couldn't get their way (N.B. the charges haven't been abolished yet though). But it's not 
unique to the water charges at all. What happens in society is determined by the contest 
between social movements driven by the masses and the diktats of the privileged.

Even reform through the parliament is decided by these social movements outside the 
parliament. It isn't so much the politicians inside who shape history, it's the thousands 
of us outside who get active and through our campaigning together force the hand of the 
politicians and create the conditions for that legal change.

If you stop to think about it, those who are at the very top of society and hence make the 
decisions are only a very small fraction of the population. If you think of all the 
politicians, top civil servants, judges, clerics, bankers, cops, corporate executives, and 
so on, how many could that be? 0.1% maybe? 0.1% is about 6,500 people for this island. Less?

Those aren't very good odds at all from their side. This raises some interesting questions.

The big question is 'if the strength of politics is at the base, why does our political 
system not actually reflect this reality?'. There's an odd contradiction. A tiny group of 
people (e.g. 166 TDs or 90 MLAs) make whatever decisions they like, and everybody else has 
to spend their spare time chasing them around doing damage control. Why do we not have a 
political system where the vast majority, the people actually affected by these political 
decisions, have control?

Well, the short answer is that if you had that, a system of direct or participatory 
democracy, then the rich and powerful would quickly find themselves turfed out by the 
people - the people being a lot more interested in justice than maintaining inequality 
through state force.

Therefore it's very important to keep the people away from decision making, and to only 
allow a very small number to have power. That way it's a much more controllable situation 
for the elite, since the small number of politicians (professional life decision-makers 
for everybody) are highly filtered, and a small group is a lot easier to influence or even 
buy off.

This way the base are disenfranchised. 'Disenfranchised' in the technical sense means you 
can't vote, but we all know that when it comes to actually having a say over our society 
and our lives, our votes count about as much as a Tesco receipt with a doodle on it.

And that's really the point of our political system. Parliamentary democracy emerged in 
the transition between feudalism and capitalism a few hundred years ago. Many people 
wanted real democracy, a democracy where the masses were truly in charge. But this was a 
very threatening prospect to the newly ascended bourgeoisie (capitalist class), who knew 
that democracy would mean a fair re-distribution of wealth and power.

So a phony compromise was made, where 'democracy' consisted of electing 'representatives' 
to parliament. This was a perfect fudge, as it gave the illusion of popular control but 
really left the most privileged in society at the helm (even including many of the 
aristocrats from the feudal regime). It talked the democratic talk, but it did not walk 
the democratic walk.

That this is what representative democracy was always about it even clearer when you note 
that the first modern representative democracies only allowed property owning men to vote. 
This would have only been a tiny fraction of the population, i.e. the upper class. In the 
actual words of the American 'founding father' James Madison, the purpose of 
representative democracy is to 'protect the opulent minority'.

There were lively debates among the upper class about who should be allowed vote, and how 
many votes each person should get (for instance, a property owning man might get 3, while 
a male manual worker might get 1).

The dark punchline is that in 2017 this same political system exists in Ireland, and in 
almost every country on Earth which aren't dictatorships. Its purpose didn't change just 
because we feel more modern and just because the ruling class have gotten a lot smarter at 
talking the democratic talk.

To get back to that tiny fraction of powerful people versus the rest of us, it becomes 
clear why parliament is so important to that very small elite in improving their odds. If 
the rest of us decided to actually do something to change things, if we just cut to the 
chase and fixed things, took control over our own lives, then well that would actually 
change things and make the tiny elite redundant. This is what 'direct action' is by the way.

So what our political system does is put a middle man between us and what we want. Instead 
of just fixing things ourselves, we are encouraged and often legally required to pursue 
some kind of obscure process through the state - lobbying, and bills, all of that 
bureaucracy. This places the ball firmly in the elite's court. 99% of people taking action 
are unstoppable. But if you make them come to your house then you can make them play by 
your rules, and you can maintain control.

Furthermore, if you keep making them turn up to your incredibly boring house, people will 
switch off and become less active. In fact, there's a saying that 'parliament is where 
movements go to die' partially for this reason. This transforms the unwieldy 99.9% into a 
0.1% of regular 'activists', a much more manageable number for your 0.3% of police to keep 
in line.

The truth is we don't even need 99% of people to be active. Even 10 - 20% of people 
rebelling would shake the stilts that our rulers walk upon. Our power together is 
enormous. We learn to think that we are impotent - 'I am only one person', but we can see 
flashes of that power all the time.

We say cut off the top like a mouldy bit of fruit. All power to the base.

https://www.wsm.ie/c/cringe-hard-leo-simon-fine-gael

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