Britain, Nee-Nar North-East Anarchists Newsletter #3 Feb 2013 - Welfare Is A Right, Not A Privilege

If you wanted to capture the essence of everything that is wrong with Britain in one 
sentence, you need only look to something Maggie Thatcher once said: ?There is no such 
thing as society.? ---- It is this psychopathic idea that lies at the root of so many 
problems. Imagine it: no shared interests, no common values, no obligations to one 
another; everyone just out for themselves and to hell with other people. It is a 
philosophy that exalts greed, selfishness and every form of deceit, manipulation, 
oppression and exploitation. It is a recipe for all out civil war. Thatcher?s rancid idea 
has been constantly undermining everything that holds society together: public housing and 
education, trade unions, universal health care and the whole of the welfare system.

Of course, it?s not a new idea: it has
existed in one form or another for cen-
turies, whether in ?the divine right
of kings? or the ?Social
Darwinism? that became popular a century
ago among the rich and powerful be cause it seemed
to justify their oppression of the poor. But there has always
been opposition to it. During the Civil Wars of the 1640s, the Levellers
asserted that the poorest had as much right to a decent life as the richest. The
anarchist Peter Kropotkin wrote a book called ?Mutual Aid? to counter the Social 
Darwinists. In it, he argued that co-operation and altruism were at least as important as 
competition in the evolutionary struggle for survival - a theory that is well
supported by modern science.

To anarchists, society is everything. The principle of mutual
aid - of collective efforts to provide all of the necessi-
ties of life - food, shelter, security, etc - is the core
of everything that makes civilisation possible. Without
it, our distant ancestors could never have suc-
cessfully spread out from the African savannahs, let alone
developed cultures capable of space travel.

The importance of defending
this collectivist principle can-
not be overstated. When the
Tories launch their attacks on
the NHS and the benefits sys-
tem, they are attacking the
heart of civilised society. A
world where we no longer care
for each other, no longer pro-
vide help and comfort for each
other, is a world not worth liv-
ing in. They must be stopped,
by any means necessary.

Inside: welfare reform, anti-fascism, Metro Cleaners plus other odds and ends...

It?s Time For Tory Heads On Spikes

It?s sobering to think that the
farcical ?Pasty Tax? is actually
starting to look like one of the
Tories? more benign and prac-
tical ideas. Among the many
other turds floating in the Tory
think-tank, welfare reform
looms largest and promises the
most putrid stench. It?s diffi-
cult to grasp the full scale of
the mess, but let?s start with
?Universal Jobmatch?. This
is the new privatised jobcen-
tre website, which has been
shown to be riddled with iden-
tity theft scams. (Part of the
idea is that you upload your
CV and it will automatically be
matched up with vacancies and
forwarded to employers, in-
cluding fake job ads.) This new
site is less stable, usable and
detailed about vacancies than
the old website, plus it often
goes offline at the DWP?s side
too, so the dole advisers can?t
even access it. And the Tories
are trying to make this ?digital
by default? crap mandatory!

You may well laugh at the bit-
ter irony of forcing the unem-
ployed ? the people least like-
ly to have access to a PC ? to
do all their jobsearch online,
while at the same time, closing
down libraries with their free
internet access. And then in-
creasing the length of benefit
sanctions to up to three years,
while also cutting funding for
the Citizens Advice Bureau by
half and completely cutting
legal aid for welfare and debt
advice.

The sick bastards at Atos, run-
ning the work capability assess-
ments which are systematically
forcing even terminally ill peo-
ple into Workfare placements
have been well-publicised re-
cently ? as has the fact that 32
people die every week after
being declared fit for work.
Workfare itself can only be de-
scribed as slavery: forced la-
bour for dole which is itself at
bare subsistence level.

It?s not just the unemployed and
disabled being hit though:
Working Tax Credit is being
made conditional on working
at least 35 hours a week, forc-
ing some 1.1 million people
who are already in work to look
for second jobs to top up their
hours or face benefit cuts. Or
how about proposals for con-
trolling claimants? spending by
issuing payments via so-called
?smart cards? - basically food
stamps in a credit card form,
to prevent claimants frittering
away money on anything but
bare essentials of food, rent
and utility bills. Or this absurd
and obscene ?Spare Bedroom
Tax?? Fuck that! Why don?t we
start with a Spare House Tax
and get all these thieving bas-
tard millionaire MPs to cough
up for their town houses, coun-
try estates and holiday homes?

Things are going to get very
ugly in the coming months.
When the inevitable riots kick
off, don?t condemn them, join
them! It?s time for Tory heads
on spikes!

Finkin? ?bout Fightin? The Fash

In the many moons since our
last edition there has been a lot
of activity on the anti-fascist
front, especially in Sunderland,
with first the BNP, and then the
National Front / Northern Pa-
triotic Front and the EDL sully-
ing our streets with their nox-
ious nonsense (see our website
for reports from some of the
counter-demos). Although the
BNP fled in embarrassment af-
ter getting their silly ?Truth
Truck? stuck under a railway
bridge, and the NPF have be-
gun to flounder after three of
their members (about a quar-
ter of their total by the look of
it) got nicked for racist abuse
on an anti-mosque demo, the
EDL are once again threaten-
ing the peace and quiet of our
communities. Unlike the nump-
ties of the BNP and NPF, the
EDL have managed to mobilise
more than 20 people. Back in
October, 13 of the ugly buggers
were arrested when a hundred
of them turned up pissed up
and pelted anti-fascists (and
police) with bottles, stones
and fireworks. They?re promis-
ing more of the same on March
30th when they?ve called a re-
gional demo in Sunderland and
again in Newcastle some time
in May when they?re supposed
to be having a national demo
about an education centre be-
ing opened in Byker. (Figures,
huh?)

There have also been sad but
entirely predictable develop-
ments among anti-fascists,
as the usual liberal nonsense
about freedom of speech rears
its daft woolly head again. The
idea of extending free speech
and the freedom to organise
to an ideology which aims to
destroy free speech and free
organisation is just downright
stupid and suicidal. We?ve
seen enough fascist regimes
throughout history to know
what fascism is and what it
means. We have only to look at
Greece and the violence sur-
rounding Golden Dawn to know
what happens when we allow
fascists to grow in strength. It?s
pathetic really that we?ve had
Labour councillors in Sunder-
land stand up and say ?Ignore
them and they?ll go away. Just
turn your back on their aggres-
sion.? Bollocks! As one veteran
anti-fascist said, all that means
is that you get punched in the
back of the head instead of in
the face. Non-violence is not
an option when dealing with
people who revel in violence
and domination.

Violence and power worship
are key planks of fascist ide-
ology. The psychology of fas-
cism is defined by the bully
mentality, the lack of empathy
for the suffering of others, the
despising of weakness and the
tension with their own lack of
self-esteem and sense of per-
sonal impotence. That?s what
drives the militarism, the ag-
gression, the inarticulate rage
at the wrong targets. Certainly
in the long run, it can only be
stopped at the root, and that
means addressing the deeper
social problems caused by cap-
italism and the class system.
True anti-fascism cannot be
separated from the class strug-
gle, and this is precisely why
the foolishness of liberals and
the soft-Left is so predictable:
they don?t want to acknowl-
edge the real social problems
and so their understanding of
fascism is superficial. They see
fascists as mere ignorant, rac-
ist thugs with no real cause to
be angry about anything.

Actually, there?s plenty to be
angry about, from lack of jobs
and the resulting loss of dignity
and self-respect, to poor hous-
ing and facilities and the bla-
tant corruption of the political
class. A class-based analysis of
all of these problems makes
sense of them and provides a
solution. But neither schools
nor the media provide this,
and instead people are sub-
jected to absurd and incoher-
ent conspiracy theories about
political correctness and ?the
muzzies? taking over (or the
Jews, or the Reds ? it?s all the
same paranoid fantasy).

In the end, fascism is a standing
rebuke for the failures of both
the Left and liberal democracy
as a whole. It?s an ugly truth,
but until we face it, fascism
will always be a threat.

An Invitation To Abuse

There has been a lot of noise
recently about allegations of
sexual abuse in the SWP. One
aspect of the affair that has
caught our attention is the claim
that the accused used his posi-
tion on the Central Committee
and as a prominent anti-fascist
to argue that exposing him
would give ammo to the nazis
and therefore be objectively
pro-fascist and counter-rev-
olutionary. The infantilism of
this argument should be plain
to see ? as should the parallels
with Jimmy Savile using
his charity work to silence
anyone who threatened
to expose him. Sadly the
idea that socialists should
selectively abandon their
principles for reasons of
political expediency is
one we?ve come across
several times in various
contexts. It?s hardly sur-
prising that the revolu-
tionary Left is failing to
make any progress with
hthis sort of logic driving
the train.

It should also be stressed that instances of abuse like this are
precisely why anarchists oppose hierarchy and centralisation.
Situations where an individual becomes so important as to be
untouchable are an open invi- tation to abuse. Nobody should
be politically indispensable - that?s how privilege worms its
way back in. It doesn?t matter what your politics are: power
corrupts.

Anarchy In Egypt

One of the heartening things about the Arab Spring has been
the readiness with which anarchist movements have sprung
up in the thick of the action,
notably in Tunisia, but especial-
ly in Egypt. In the past month,
Egyptian anarchists have taken
to using the ?Black Bloc? tactic
to organise defence of protests
against the god-bothering fas-
cist thugs of the Muslim Broth-
erhood, and even the BBC has
noticed them. (Incidentally,
one of the more hardline con-
servative Islamic groups has
stated it is willing to kill and
mutilate members of Black
Blocs if ordered by President
Morsi.)

Elsewhere, there has been a pleasing outbreak of anarchism in action in the form of
worker?s control ? the workers tak- ing over factories and setting up co-ops and
running them themselves without bosses. We can only applaud and cheer our comrades
in Egypt who are pushing beyond a merely polit- ical to a full social revolution.
Victory to the Black Bloc and the Egyptian working class!

Teesside Anti-Capitalists Launched

We?re pleased to note the ap-
pearance of a new broad-left
activist group on Teesside. As
both individuals and as a col-
lective, North-East Anarchists
routinely work with a number
of groups for various specific
causes, from anti-fascism, to
anti-cuts protests to welfare
support and strike solidarity.
Our basic criteria for getting
involved in such groups boils
down to two questions: does the
group take internal democracy
seriously and are the actions
/ activities genuinely in the
interest of the working class?
There is a crying need for such
broad-left co-operation ? it
seems to us the only way things
are going to move forward
as the old vanguard party
model of organisation is
dead. We wish our com-
rades on Teesside good
luck and hopefully we?ll
find opportunities to link
up and work with them in
the near future.

Solidarity With Freedom Press

We?ve been outraged to
hear that Freedom Press,
the anarchist publisher, has
suffered an arson attack on
it?s bookshop premises in
Whitechapel. Although it?s
not yet clear who is respon-
sible, the shop has been tar-
geted by fascist fire-bugs be-
fore, back in the early 1990?s.
There is reported damage to
the ground floor ? particularly
tothe electrics ? and some loss
of stock. An appeal for funds
has been launched: Cheques
payable to ?Freedom Press?,
send to Freedom Press, 84b
Whitechapel High Street, Lon-
don E1 7QX

---------------------------------

Metro Cleaners? Fight Continues

RMT Metro cleaners held a
?soup kitchen? protest at
Newcastle Civic Centre against
low pay and conditions. The
cleaners were on strike again
in a dispute with contractors,
Churchill?s which has been
rumbling on for well over six
months now. Among the vari-
ous grievances is the lack of
sick pay, pension and free trav-
el pass on the Metro, which all
other Metro staff have - includ-
ing the Nexus executives!
The protest was timed to co-
incide with a Labour Group
meeting of the Integrated
Transport Authority, who have
overall control of public trans-
port. Newcastle council have
recently brought in a ?Living
Wage? for public employees,
but as the Metro cleaning con-
tract has been privatised, the
lads and lasses keeping pub-
lic transport tidy are stuck on
minimum wage.

For updates, search for ?Cam-
paign For Tyne & Wear Clean-
ers? on Facebook.