We’ve previously written a few things
about the 2016 referendum which led
to the process of Britain’s exit from the
European Union. As the time gets closer
we look at what the currently uncertain
situation means for workers.
Before we get on to the
specifics, we make some more
general points about Brexit. In
Organize 97 (Winter 2016) we
said:
Much media space is
devoted to speculation about what
Brexit will mean. There is even
some doubt about whether despite
May’s strong assertions that she
will make Brexit work, that it
will go ahead. She certainly is
taking her time about it. After
all, key sections of the British
ruling class did not want Britain
to leave the EU. They want the
che... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.) For several years the BSE (Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy) crisis has been simmering away, boiling over into a tabloid fueled food scare with frightening frequency. The recent piece of legislation when all beef on the bone was banned from sale is only the latest in a long line of panic measures from politicians.
The actual reasons for BSE, and if it can be passed to humans, is poorly understood, even by the so-called experts. I certainly can’t answer these questions either, though it seems at the moment that the risk is very small. But what I can do is look at the disastrous way this crisis has been handled and the incompetence and greed of the politicians, scientists, farmers and media.
BSE and governement
BSE first came to pu... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.) Dear Organize!
We, Turkish and Kurdish anarchists who live in Britain, first would like to express very briefly some of the weaknesses such as lack of co-ordination, communication and solidarity that we see in the British anarchist movement which either we are part of or trying to take part in. Then we will put forward our suggestions and opinions, again very briefly.
We think that the British anarchist movement is at the moment in a situation in which it is disorganized and atomized, and it has no aims nation-wide. And except the Anarchist Bookfair which is organized every year and gradually becoming monotonous, we do not see each other, we do not communally inform each other, let alone directing our forces toward mutual aims. We know ... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.) Capitalism has responded in a variety of ways to the criticisms and opposition of Greens, both reformist and radical. This response has fallen into two categories: the velvet glove (capitalism is and can be green) and the iron fist (jailing, physical intimidation and the murder of green activists).
Many greens have become part of the problem: capitalism, rather than the solution: green anarchist communism. This is because their lack of radical class analysis leads them to believe that capitalism can be reformed and made green through strategies such as technological fixes e.g. electronic cars, green consumerism and the big myth of green/sustainable growth. More radical greens are prey to other theoretical cul-de-sacs such as spirituality o... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.) Glossary
Capitalism: An economic and political system based on the exploitation of those forced to sell their labor to survive. In this system, trade, industry and major decisions which affect the environment are made by private owners who are driven by profit.
Green capitalism: As above but with more solar panels.
Neoliberalism: A political system of free markets, privatization of once communal resources and minimal regulations exploiting workers or the environment.
Scientific consensus: An agreement among the majority of experts in a field about a scientific process. Over 97% of climate scientists agree humans are causing climate change.
Holistic: An approach which assumes parts of a system are intimately interconnected and must be... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.) In 1986 when the Anarchist Communist Federation (ACF) was launched the old ‘advanced guard’ of the industrial working class in Britain had taken a serious beating. The steel workers and miners had been defeated, the later after a fierce strike of over a years duration. After attending the founding conference of the ACF the assembled delegates joined the massed picket of News International at Wapping. Another struggle that felt the full weight of the state thrown against it, led to defeat by the unions despite the combativity of the pickets.
Since then we’ve seen our class suffer a series of defeats whilst fighting a retreating defensive battle, misled and sabotaged by its ‘leaders’ at every turn. The state had... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.) 1: Myths and Legends — Che Guevara
from Organize, Issue 47, Winter 1997/1998
flag.blackened.net
In the second of our series we look at the life and ideas of Ernesto Che Guevara. Che has been in the news a lot lately, with his remains being dug up in Bolivia and reburied in Cuba, the publication of hitherto unknown photos of his Bolivian campaign and two new biographies. The heroic cult that has developed around him has taken on new life. Whilst his image — on T-shirts, posters, and beer labels — continues to make money for capitalists, there seems to be a revival among the young in the idea of Che as idealistic hero and fighter for freedom. This hero cult seems to have infected many young radicals, some of whom... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.) Over the weekend of October 23/5 1998, claimants groups throughout England, Scotland and Wales launched a campaign against Reed Employment UK Ltd, which is administering the New Deal in the Hackney & City area of North-East London. The aim of the campaign is to draw public attention to this systematic exploitation of the unemployed for corporate profit; and to deter other, equally greedy, private agencies from sticking their snouts into the trough so cynically prepared for them by the Labor government, and ultimately to force reed to withdraw from the scheme.
The current action
In towns and cities across the country, claimants & campaigning groups flyposted somewhere between 30 & 50 High Street offices of Reed Employment. Th... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.) Aims and definitions
The purpose of this paper is to outline a class struggle anarchist analysis of Privilege Theory. Many of us feel “privilege” is a useful term for discussing oppressions that go beyond economic class. It can help us to understand how these oppressions affect our social relations and the intersections of our struggles within the economic working class. It is written by members of the women’s caucus of the Anarchist Federation. It does not represent all our views and is part of an ongoing discussion within the federation.
What do we mean – and what do we not mean – by privilege? Privilege implies that wherever there is a system of oppression (such as capitalism, patriarchy, white... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.) At the 2008 Climate Camp in Kingsnorth an open letter was circulated by anti-capitalist campers raising concerns that the movement was increasingly being by influenced state-led approaches to tackling climate change. A more developed version was later published by Shift magazine. The original argued broadly that the camp should adopt anti-capitalist, anti-authoritarian principles and objectives.
The 2009 Climate Camp, sited this year in Blackheath, London, saw continued debate over the future direction of the struggle against climate change. As a part of this, anarchist and libertarian communist activists hosted a debate on what we saw as a growing trend towards Green authoritarianism within the movement. Key concerns discussed inclu... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.) The following article was written about one week ago by our comrades in the Italian Anarchist Federation (Federazione Anarchica Italiana) and translated by them (original in Italian). Much of this will ring true for those of us living in the UK or elsewhere in Europe. We are seeing some differences, notably the strikes of factory, construction and other workers over the neglect of their safety by bosses, whereas many of these same workers are casualized or self-employed and not unionized in UK. And prisoners are rioting. But the deadly effect of an minimally funded health system under neoliberal policies is a clear warning for those of in countries who are catching up with Italy on the exponential spreading of illness. The British media, in... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.) Are we criminals ? Are you ? The rhetoric of the ruling class, their servants and apologists certainly suggests we are criminals and that we are to blame for everything wrong in the world. This is a song the capitalists never get tired of singing: there’s something wrong with the working class !
Criminalization of the working class is a set of policies applied more or less severely depending on the rough balance of power between the twin poles of bourgeois democracy: conservative, reactionary, statist on the one-hand, do-gooding, moralizing, populist on the other. It is something that is always with us. It is also a future history becoming all too horribly real — why ?
‘Law and Order’ usually plays a big part in el... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.) Unelection Day 1997
What a strange and wonderful day that was, when no none went to vote. The police were bored, the polling stations closed early and all over the country, mounds of party food went uneaten except by dogs and the homeless who found the dustbins outside party offices overflowing. Pundits babbled, television blared and the newspapers predicted chaos, then fell silent. Ex-MPs turned up at Parliament and carried on talking, pausing only to chase curious mocking people off the benches. No one paid attention.
July 1997
John Tweedledee gave up and got a job as an accountant just as people stopped using money, then vanished into obscurity. Tony Tweedleum declared New Labor was now the Church of Nice. The stock market closed ... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.) Election Day 1997
This was a bad day for the people — the government got back in. John Tweedledum resigned and Tony Tweedledee got to bow his knee to Queenie. His first Cabinet had no surprises; Harriet Harman was appointed Mistress of Public Morals, declaring the nation’s motto for the next five years would be ‘do as we say, not as we do’. Jack Straw got to be No-Home Secretary and announced that street people would be tagged and stuck in one Howard’s Houses, as the cozy prisons, sorry involuntary hostels, run by Group 4 were now known. Things got worse...
October 1997
Rather than read the Queen’s Speech, Brenda resigned and Charles III crowned by Shere Bhagwan Rajneesh, four ex-Bishops and their ... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.) Introduction — a serious threat to freedom
The Labor Party is bringing in a national identity scheme to Britain. Anyone concerned about threats to our freedom from an increasingly authoritarian state should be worried by the Identity Cards Act 2006. This was passed with little change from what the government wanted, in spite of all the ‘write to your MP’ lobbying by No2ID and optimistic hopes of House of Lords amendments.
The British ID Cards Act is just one part of European and American efforts to impose electronic identity schemes across the western world. Around the same time, George Bush pushed one through the US Senate as an enhanced driving license known as RealID, tacked on to a military spending bill that was u... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.) Numerous anarchist communist militants have been involved in the resistance at Newbury, as they are at other road-building projects. Here, one comrade shares his experiences and impressions.
Fluffy Heaven
We get a good crowd together but problems at home force people to drop out. Five are left ranging Freedom Network Fluffy to anarchist communist (me). Arrive in Newbury late afternoon. After touring the countryside find the ‘visitors camp’ following the map and directions sent out from the Third Battle of Newbury group and clued up from the Friends of The Earth Internet sites. The visitors camp is on a friendly farmer’s land just off the A34 and consists of a small office, cooking area, dis-washing area, wood-cutting a... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.) Yesterday Scotland voted against independence. Today half the country are mourning, their hopes of a new state and it’s social democratic promise dashed. The other half are relieved, if perhaps not enthusiastically celebrating, the potential uncertainty removed; things will persist as before.
We neither mourn nor celebrate. The scaremongering of the No campaign would likely have proved largely unfounded. So too would the promises of the Yes campaign. In reality our lives would have continued mostly as they did before in either event. We will trudge to the same jobs we hate along the same roads, through the same congestion on the same expensive transport. We’ll do so so we can pay our wages back to the capitalist class in the sa... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.) Introduction — Ecological Crisis
Many people are aware of the worldwide problem of environmental pollution and destruction. Rainforests such as Amazonia are being decimated, large areas of land turned into desert. Droughts, floods and earthquakes affect millions; large-scale pollution is causing dangerous climatic change. Ecology (the science of living things and how they interact with each other), is therefore vital, literally a matter of life and death.
In Africa and Asia, deforestation and desertification reinforce the effects of grossly unfair land ownership, producing starvation and malnutrition for millions of people. In Europe and North America, cancers from the environmental degradation caused by mass industrial society af... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.) A decisive collision looms. On one side is the ‘grow-or-die’ industry of Capitalism, lurching out of control. On the other, the fragile conditions known as the biosphere necessary for the maintenance of advanced life forms on this planet. Does there have to be one or the other? Ecologists, economists and sociologists are beginning to find common ground between ecology and industry, and discovering that by working together and abolishing the ‘grow-or-die’ aspect of industry, a sustainable future may really be possible.
The vision of whole networks of industries, each efficiently feeding off others byproducts to eliminate waste and pollution, like natural ecosystems may not be as idealistic as it once seemed. Harmful ... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.) The Millenium Dome is a huge construction being built on derelict land on the banks of the river Thames in South London. It is a prestige project, effectively a re-run of the Great Exhibition of 1850 (history repeating itself as farce) which trumpeted the wonders of the Industrial Revolution, and of British Capitalism. This time around the structure is only intended to be temporary, lasting 25–30 years, and it will be a snip at a mere 758 million pounds.
Why oh Why?
The Dome will ‘celebrate the Millennium’ — the year 2000 (though a number of people argue that it falls in the year 2001!), and promote Britain plc and New Labor. British Capital will be promoted to investors and consumers abroad in terms of ‘lo... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.) Nowhere in the world are the power politics of inter-imperialist rivalry more sordid and machiavellian than in the relationship between all the players in the act known as the ‘peace process’ presently being performed in Belfast, Dublin, Washington and London.
This particular series (presented to us by New World Order plc.) is showing regularly on a T.V. screen near you but we also an saw explosive live performance in Canary Wharf on February 9th, with deadly consequences.
After almost 18 months of prevarication, stalling and what amounted to provocation from the British State, the IRA have been forced to apply a little pressure on Major and co., in the form of a large explosion in the British capital. Although the IRA cease-f... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.) After 2 years 300 sacked Liverpool dockers agreed at a mass meeting by a majority of 4–1 to accept payoffs of £28,000 from the Mersey Docks and Harbor Company, their employer. 80 dockers employed by Torside company, whose sacking had set off the strike will receive no payment. These pay-offs will mean that the strikers will receive no Jobseekers Allowance until each claimants savings fall below £8,000. Many are in debt after 2 years of strike, and will have to pay off mortgages etc.
When the strike first started, the dockers expected a massive show of solidarity from other workers. Recently the TGWU union in which the dockers are members, with Bill Morris at its head, sabotaged all solidarity action. Any motions for posit... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.) A mass wave of occupations of unemployment benefit offices swept through France in December 1997 continuing well into the New Year. Organize! takes a look at this welcome resistance.
This phenomenon should be looked at in detail as it should provide lessons and examples to all unemployed who are looking to defend themselves in Britain and round the rest of the world. As the French magazine Courant Alternatif, the paper of the Organization Communiste Libertaire noted in a February editorial: “Once more, libertarians were omnipresent in the action.”
The movement of occupations began in December when some local unemployed groups, as well as the national unemployed co-ordination Agir contre le chomage! (Act against unemployment)-A... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.) Introduction
During the McLibel trial it was suggested that there is nothing wrong with raising chickens on a battery farm as long as they had been born into such conditions. Chickens who had never seen a farm-yard, grown up in a normal chicken family, sunbathed in the hay (chickens do, apparently) or sheltered from the cool rain could not, as though by definition, be stressed by missing these things. Indeed they could not be said to suffer, because they thought their crowded shed was all that there was to life and expected no more. This seems a fitting analogy to the human condition under the tyrannies of capitalism and the state. Those who lead a relaxed and enjoyable, even decadent lifestyle feel no guilt about depriving the world&rsq... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.) Introduction
So what’s all the hype with “platformism” anyway? For those who don’t know, “platformism” is a tendency within the wider anarchist movement of groups and organizations who share a basic agreement with “The Organizational Platform of the Libertarian Communists” published by the Dielo Trouda (Workers’ Cause) group in 1926 after their experiences in the Russian revolution of 1917–1921. The Platform is not seeing as a “bible” which we need to obey but as a solid base with which to build a theory of revolution and of revolutionary organization on.
The texts that make up this pamphlet are taken from the Northeastern Anarchist #6 (Spring/Summer 2003). The Nort... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.) Three weeks after our article More of the State You’ve Got, the UK government has accepted, as in Italy and elsewhere, that containment and the still to be widely available use of testing kits along the lines of World Health Organization advice is a better strategy to allow health services to cope. But so much was already known globally earlier in this century with similar coronaviruses MERS and SARS. These outbreaks required global collaboration to stop their spread between people and to protect healthcare workers.
As the death rate in UK has been doubling every 3–4 days and the number of confirmed cases is doubling every 6 days at the time of writing, massive field hospitals are being built in exhibition halls with basi... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.) The birth of the workers’ movement in Mexico was profoundly influenced by anarchism. This movement proclaimed independence from the political parties and the State. Yet in 1915 a pact was signed with the Constitutionalists led by Carranza. Organize! Looks at why this might have happened.
The workers’ movement in Mexico was relatively young and inexperienced. At the time the population counted 11 million who lived in the countryside as opposed to 4 million who lived in urban centers a comparison with Russia during the 1917 Revolution could be made).
The first two decades of the 20th century were marked by a radicalization of the Mexican workers’ movement, with an influx of Spanish immigrants, bringing with the... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.) IN 1993 WHILST Greece was celebrating 20 years of “democracy” dating from the collapse of the colonels’ regime, the international press was working itself into a frenzy over the risk of fascism there with the mobilization of a million people at Thessaloniki around the slogan “Macedonia is Greek!” This demonstration was the result of 3 years incessant propaganda in all the media of an unprecedented intensity, involving both Right and Left and effecting all classes.
The trauma of the colonels’ dictatorship and the process of its collapse resulted in the polarization of the political class into Left and Right, with their own respective functionaries employed by the administrations they controlled, 2 differe... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.) The first results of the GANDALF (Green Anarchist and Animal Liberation Front) trial are out and it was a big win for the forces of oppression. Three editors of Green Anarchist, Steve Booth, Sax Wood, and Noel Molland, have been convicted of conspiring to incite ‘Persons unknown’ to commit criminal damage by printing and distributing animal rights and ecological info over a five year period. They have been sentenced to 3 years in prison for this. Another editor, Paul Rogers, has had his trial postponed to next year. Simon Russell, editor of the Animal Liberation Front newsletter, was acquitted.
Now the ACF has more than minor differences with the politics of Green Anarchist , as has been seen abundantly in the pages of Organize... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.) Alongside the attempts of any ‘Socialist Labor Party’ to sabotage and head off struggles , we have to look at the maneuvers by another form of social-democracy to do the same. The Green Party has never achieved the electoral success it had in 1989 in the European elections when it got 15% of the vote. In the European elections last year it polled only 2%. Membership has dropped to 4,000 and one third of the 200 branches are moribund or on the verge of collapse. The electoralism of the Greens has proved to be a failure. Nevertheless, they hope to continue in the same vein by attempting to win over sections of activists involved in the anti-roads and anti-Criminal Justice Act movements to ensnare them in the trap of electoralism a... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)