(en) Anarkismo.net: Ireland,Oppose the G8: Dealers of Austerity by Sean

The media charm offensive has began as our local corrupt political class roll out the the 
red carpet to the notorious gang of eight, dealers of austerity, state terror and 
imperialism. The beautiful tranquil lakes of Fermanagh will be turned into a ring of 
steel? with security fencing extending for miles protected by an army of professional 
thugs and watchtowers to keep the rest of us plebs at bay. ---- Anyone with any illusions 
in the liberal democratic state should take note as the gloves are off and it's business 
as usual for the rich and wealthy elite. The G8 summit provides the British state along 
with their junior administrators at Stormont an opportunity to showcase the 'normality' of 
the new era disguising a mask of repressive instruments from unmanned drones, to army 
patrols and temporary cells at Maghaberry prison to deal with any dissent.

An additional 3,600 police officers will be drafted in from across the UK to assist the 
7,000 PSNI officers placing the area in virtual lockdown with widespread stop and search, 
all serving to disrupt the lives of local people going about their everyday business.

To justify this police state and enormous cost to the taxpayer the whipping up of fear and 
scaremongering will only intensify with the gutter press playing the role of subserviently 
printing security force smear stories. From the ?dissident republican? threat to the 
?anarchist menace? is an all too familiar smear campaign leading up to these spectacles. 
The estimated ?50 million cost of the policing operation could be better spent on 
alleviating poverty, mass unemployment and providing affordable housing but this is not 
the priority for our local politicians. Wining and dining with the richest and wealthiest 
elite is!

For other sections of the reformist toothless left it is a chance to resurrect the usual 
front groups and recruit new members while republican groups will be outdoing each other 
to see who can oppose ?British normalisation? more effectively. The fact that our ruling 
class is confident enough to host this summit, which would have been unthinkable ten years 
ago highlights the containment and weakness of armed republicanism as posing a significant 
threat to the status quo.

For anarchists, it is important to oppose this summit both from a revolutionary class 
analysis and anti imperialist basis recognising that the solution to this criminal system 
is ourselves the working class organised at the coalface of struggle in our communities 
and workplaces across the sectarian divide.

Any opposition to the terror summit must respect a diversity in tactics instead of 
allowing the state and its propaganda organ to determine what is acceptable or 
unacceptable protest as this only serves the agenda of the status quo. We must remember 
the state is biggest practitioner of violence from the decades of state collusion here to 
the recent invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan.

The G8 summits effectively decide what sort of world you and your children get to live in. 
Behind closed doors decisions are made that mean our environment is sacrificed for profit, 
a system whose role it is to preserve.

It is important to oppose the G8 and its savage neo-liberal agenda. This provides a rare 
opportunity to challenge the mainstream political discourse, to debate ideas and struggles 
and the type of world we want to build - one based on serving the needs and desires of the 
majority not the global wealthy elite.

The reality is this latest summit, in comparison with previous ones, is unlikely to 
produce the same level of militant opposition and disruption on the streets. The state can 
and will easily contain and repress any opposition during these spectacles especially any 
ritual marching from A-B to listen to a few speeches then home again.

The challenge is to build a mass movement from below based on self-management, solidarity 
and direct action which will strike fear into the ruling class involving tens of thousands 
of people street by street, workplace by workplace.

Ultimately, this is where the real organising and our potential power lies - in 
confronting their brutal anti-working class agenda. Capitalism is a violent social 
relationship based on exploitation and domination that is played out in our everyday 
lives. It cannot be overthrown by smashing a Starbucks window or grovelling to our 
masters. The G8 summit is merely a symbol of this which needs to be swept away along with 
whole rotten system they represent. This is not a demand we make of the G8- the world we 
need cannot come from above by pleading with them to be reasonable but must be won through 
struggle of all of us below.