Today's Topics:
1. Czech, afed: International in Prague -- Report from the
second meeting of foreign secretariats of the International
Anarchist Federations this year [machine translation]
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
2. France, Alternative Libertaire AL #288 - Should we do
without wind energy ? (fr, it, pt)[machine translation]
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
3. Indonesian Black Cross: Free all class war prisoners!
[machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
4. Britain, notts blackarrow AF: Talks at Second Nottingham
Radical Bookfair - Saturday 17th November 2018
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
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Message: 1
In the first half of November, a regular meeting of delegates and member delegations of
the International Anarchist Federation (IFA) took place. This time, our organization was
taken over by our federation, or the local AF-Prague group, and we were pleased to welcome
our friends and friends from five foreign organizations in our city. ---- The meeting was
held again at the weekend (our subversive activity was not done by anyone), officially
started on Saturday morning. Friday afternoons and evenings we donated accommodation to
our guests and a joint informal sitting in a friendly environment of Žižkov's businesses.
---- A friendly Saturday afternoon took care of our friendly cooking team, who prepared a
pan of pancakes and an inexhaustible amount of zapatistic coffee for all delegates and
delegates.
After breakfast, we moved to the agenda. The first point was always presenting the
"reports" of individual federations - so we had the opportunity to get to know the
activity of anarchists and anarchists from different parts of the world, as well as their
views on the development of the social situation in their places of activity. Reports were
also sent by organizations whose delegates could not attend the meeting personally.
It followed the necessary bureaucracy (because anarchy is not chaos, but orderlessness, as
the classic said) and then an excellent lunch (again thousands thanks to the kitchen
team). After that, we discussed the IFA web site, which is back in operation at
https://ifa.org and will be accessible to every member organization soon. The site will
soon undergo a slight redesign on the initiative of various federations. In addition,
their content (that is, principles, history of the International and description of
functioning) will soon, hopefully, also be available in Czech.
After that, comrades from the Slovenian Federation for Anarchist Organizations (FAO)
informed us about the preparations for the IFA Congress, which is held every three years
and which will take place next year in Ljubljana. For the time being, we will not be much
betrayed because the preparations are not over yet, but it is quite certain that as
members and members of the AF we will participate in this (traditionally large and
well-organized) event and bring a report from the site.
The Saturday program also included a discussion of the forthcoming G20 World Congress,
which will take place in Buenos Aires on 30 November, the counter-actions that are being
set up against it, and the possibility of engaging anarchists and anarchists - in this
context, mainly organizing financial support for the detainees.
"The Gentlemen" was the last point of the Saturday agenda, and so we went to show our
international friends and buddies a bit of the anarchist history and present of Prague's
Zizkov. After a walk with our interpretation (Anarchist Federation recommends: if you want
to go to the cemetery, make sure it's open), we went back to our secret anarchist lair for
dinner (as well as a great, re-prepared friend of the kitchen team). For the rest of the
evening, we talked about everything possible and impossible, establishing contacts and
enjoying a friendly atmosphere.
Sunday morning was devoted to two important topics: Anti-Semitism (and how to actively
apply it within our organizations) and IFA's reflection on how to promote and promote our
ideas more effectively and in a more coordinated way.
Our feelings at the Prague conspiracy meeting with international participation are
therefore mostly positive. Although the delegates and delegates of some groups organized
at the IFA could not attend this event, the Prague meeting was stimulating (and
accompanied by a great vegan meal!). We hope that our southern comrades and comrades were
not too cold, and we are looking forward to another meeting that will take place again in
a few months.
https://www.afed.cz/text/6904/internacionala-v-praze
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Message: 2
Since the 1970s, the libertarian communist current defends an energy policy favoring
energy savings, solar energy and other renewable energies, including wind energy. Yet
Alternative Libertarian has published articles denouncing some wind turbine projects. Why
? Let's put this question in its overall economic and ecological context. ---- Can
capitalism do better with less ? In the 1970s, people like the anarchist Murray Bookchin
(1921-2006) and the environmentalist Barry Commoner (1917-2012) showed that he was
incapable by nature. Capitalism is based on a fundamental principle: capital must go to
the most lucrative activities. Protecting the planet would, on the contrary, require
prioritizing biological rhythms over profit rates.
However, as the journalist Grégoire Souchay shows, the wind " remains marked, like other
industries, by a predatory capitalist universe and a logic of economic appropriation of a
common space to serve private interests " [1].
Projects that are not at the service of the people
Recall that the levies on natural resources continue to grow: + 65% between 1980 and 2007.
This is not mainly due to the development of poor countries. Western states have relocated
some of the pollution and the consumption of resources. Thus, in 2002, the area that the
world's population needs - to produce the resources it consumes and to assimilate the
waste it rejects - was 138% of the total bioproductive area. Since the beginning of 2010,
it exceeds 150%.
" Despite the proliferation of wind turbines and photovoltaic panels in the last fifteen
years," Le Monde diplomatique 2016 noted, "capitalism is therefore not greener than in the
past.[...]Renewable energies only add to, rather than replace, polluting modes of
production " [2]. The wind projects brought by capitalism do nothing to reduce the
so-called ecological footprint of humanity.
Sometimes intended exclusively for export, these projects do not result in the destruction
of agricultural land and cause significant local opposition [3]. The methods used to
impose them flout any form of local democracy and resort to significant police violence.
The current development of wind energy is only interested in a " wind farm " to maximize
profits. The wind market is transforming, because of " many technical innovations to
increase the size of the blades, the height of the masts and the power of the turbines "
[4]. Production can be four times larger than previous generations of wind turbines.
Questionable technical choices
Many industrial groups choose to equip their wind turbine turbines with magnets doped with
rare metals. These are also the latter which are also used in batteries, catalytic
converters, energy-saving light bulbs, components of electronic devices, solar cells ...
The technical choices made by capitalism today make all the " green technologies "of these
same metals.
Extraction and refining are extremely polluting. Their recycling currently represents a
cost higher than their value ... Which leads to not recycling. The social and
environmental dumping practiced by China has allowed the West to relocate its pollution. "
Concealing the dubious origin of metals in China has given green and digital technologies
a certificate of good repute. It is certainly the most fantastic greenwashing operation in
history, " writes Guillaume Pitron [5].
The collective All energies Occitanie, which aggregates a large number of local anti-wind
associations has developed a transition scenario without wind turbines named Reposta. But
" it is not a scenario 100% renewable energy, because Reposta integrates in its mix a
share of nuclear and fossil energies " [6].
The association NegaWatt [7]does not have the same position. Paul Neau, who participated
in the wind component of the negaWatt scenario, recalls: " Wind energy is the most
profitable and cheapest technology to produce renewable electricity. " Even Praderie
review for Benedict, manager of the cooperative Soleil du Midi managing solar park citizen
of Luc-sur-Aude. This technology is " the best technical, mathematical and economic
solution, " he says: " The wind is not the man to shoot. "
But we are still in favor of wind energy.
Guillaume Pitron takes stock of the immense rare earth potential of French mines that have
been dormant since the 1980s, and also points out the inconsistency of environmental NGOs,
who denounce the consequences, particularly of mining, of the transition they are
promoting. He makes himself the advocate of a " mine responsible for us " that will always
be better than " irresponsible mine elsewhere ". We must not be mistaken for debate. The
nuisances and potential pollution related to renewable energies - which must be combated -
must not lead to the adaptation of even more destructive technologies. Our fight is part
of a struggle against the international division of labor and the private ownership of the
means of production. Because there is the crucible of economic and technological choices
that allow to continue the destructive logic of capitalism.
It is reasonable to fight some wind projects. But in order to engage in a real energy
transition, it is necessary to support wind projects that are locally developed and at the
service of the population. Technological choices can evolve, other methods of extraction
and refining of metals are possible. And yes, in an ecological society we will need energy
and that brought by the wind will be irreplaceable.
Jacques Dubart (AL Nantes)
[1] Grégoire Souchay, " The new geography of French wind ", Mediacites.fr, May 29, 2018.
[2] Aurélien Bernier " How globalization has killed ecology ", Le Monde diplomatique ,
September 2016.
[3] " Take off your big blades from there, " Alternative Libertaire , March 2018.
[4] Grégoire Souchay, op. cit.
[5] Cited in " Rare metals, the dirty face of" green "technologies," Reporterre, February
10, 2018.
[6] Grégoire Souchay, Reporterre, July 4, 2018.
[7] The aim of the NegaWatt Association is to show that another energy future is desirable
for society and technically feasible.
http://www.alternativelibertaire.org/?Faut-il-se-passer-de-l-energie-eolienne
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Message: 3
Anarchist Black Cross (Anarchist Black Cross-ABC, formerly the Anarchist Red Cross) is an
anarchist support organization. This group is famous for its efforts in providing
prisoners with political literature, but the group also arranges material and legal
support for prisoners of class struggle throughout the world. The Black Cross is generally
in contrast to Amnesty International, which is mainly concerned with detainees and refuses
to defend those accused of encouraging violence. The Black Cross openly supports those who
have carried out illegal activities as a revolutionary goal accepted by anarchists as
legitimate. ---- The Anarchist Black Cross began as the Anarchic Red Cross, an
organization that broke away from the Political Red Cross held to assist political
prisoners in the Tsarist regime of Russia. Over the years, the origin of the organization
is being debated, but new documents have reappeared. According to Rudolph Rocker, who was
treasurer of the Anarchic Red Cross in London, this organization was founded in Russia
during "the busy period between 1900 and 1905." Most of the material that discusses ABC
history refers to this era as the birth of this group. This group became famous after the
Revolution of 1905 with the rise of anarchists imprisoned in Russia. Because of the
refusal of the Political Red Cross and other prisoner assistance groups to support
anarchist political prisoners, Russian anarchists in Russia and exiled people abroad
created the Anarchist Red Cross to support their colleagues held in Russian prisons. Each
branch of the organization is known by the area in which they operate (Latvia, Riga,
Odessa, etc.). Within a few years, the organization spread beyond the Russian border to
the United States and Britain, where exiled revolutionaries had settled.
In 1905, this group changed its name, dropping the "Red Cross" from its name. In this era,
this group uses a variety of names including: the Chicago Aid Fund, the Society to Assist
Anarchist Prisoners in Russia, the Joint Committee to Help Revolutionaries Imprisoned in
Russia, and finally, the name that will remain, the Anarchist Black Cross.
However, according to Harry Weinstein, one of the two people who started the organization,
group activities began after his arrest in July or August 1906. After being released,
Weinstein and others provided clothing for anarchists who were sentenced to exile in
Siberia. Weinstein alleged that the group broke away from the Political Red Cross early in
late 1906 when Weinstein and other anarchists did not receive support even though there
were many contributions from the anarchist community. Weinstein continued his business in
Russia until his arrival in New York in May 1907. Once there, he helped create the New
York Anarchist Red Cross, which included members such as the editor of Mother Earth,
Louise Berger. In 1911, Philadelphia, the Pennsylvania section of the Anarchist Red Cross
was founded by Morris Beresin and Boris Yelensky.
In 1918, Nestor Makhno organized new parts of the Anarchist Black Cross in addition to the
Ukrainian anarchist Revolutionary Rebel Army or Black Army on the territory of Ukraine
they controlled.
It was at this time that the organization's efforts shifted from inmate support to
emergency medical responses and self-defense. With the initial attack from the Cossacks,
White Guards, pogromists, and later the Red Army, the Ukrainian Black Cross took a unique
secondary role to prepare the city defense and organize the first urban army in Ukrainian
history. As a city militia, the Ukrainian Black Cross worked with anarchist Black Army
units, but never became a movable force, mainly based in the city environment. Members do
not wear formal uniforms, but are identified by wearing distinctive arm bands.
For the time being, the Anarchist Black Cross was tolerated in Moscow and Petrograd by the
Bolshevik government, although its activities in the cities were not large scale. Cheka
(Lenin's secret police) infiltrated informants to the Black Cross, who regularly made
reports about the leaders and activities of the organization. Outside Moscow, Petrograd,
and regions of Ukraine controlled by the Black Army there is complete oppression;
Anarchist pamphlets and books are regularly confiscated, and even Black Cross aid workers
must be arrested and detained.
In September 1919, a grenade attack at a meeting of the Moscow Committee of the Bolshevik
Party was used as a pretext for the mass arrest of anarchists throughout Russia by forces
of the Bolshevik and Cheka Red Army. Anarchist militants were arrested; even the Black
Army and its general Nestor Makhno, hunted at the behest of Leon Trotsky, were determined
to rid Russia of all anarchists with an "iron broom". It soon became clear that some type
of anarchist prisoner assistance organization had to be created once again to help
anarchists in the Bolshevik prison. In Moscow, Kharkov, Odessa, and many other small
towns, the Anarchist Black Cross and similar organizations were formed like the Anarchist
Prisoners' Aid Institute, which mainly served food for anarchists and other dissidents on
the left. The work proved difficult, even where food is easily available, because it is
often confiscated by Bolshevik Red Guards who are found on the street. In 1922, even
anarchist aid workers in Moscow and Petrograd such as Senya Fleshin and Mollie Steimer
themselves were captured by the GPU on the grounds of "helping criminal elements" which
violated the Soviet state's security code.
At present, the Black Cross is formed in many countries. In the United States, the
intensification of anarchist attacks made the Black Cross born organically in various
cities, which later joined the Anarchist Black Cross Federation. The Indonesian Black
Cross was formed spontaneously to respond to friends who were arrested during the Mayday
2018 riots in Yogyakarta.
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Message: 4
Saturday, 17th November. 10:30 am - 5:00 pm -- Location: Nottingham Mechanics Institute
---- Nottingham's second radical bookfair, organised by Five Leaves Bookshop, featuring
stalls by national and local publishers, second-hand booksellers and a full supporting
programme throughout the day. Free, with free events. No need to book. ----
Speakers/events include: ---- 11.00-12.00 ---- "Diversity in children's picture books",
with Troy Jenkinson (author of The Best Mummy Snails in the Whole Wide World, an LGBT
children's book) and Latina illustrator Erika Meza ---- It's the work, the work, the
working life... and how do we organise to make things better? Build the old unions, or
create new? The recent long university strike and the success of independent unions in
"organising the unorganisable" show what might be possible. Join the discussion with Alan
Tuckman (author of Kettling the Unions)
12.15-1.15
Iain McKay on "Modern Science and Anarchy" - the life and work of Peter Kropotkin, prince,
anarchist, geographer, whose funeral was the last public anarchist demonstration in Russia
under the Bolsheviks.
Familiar Stranger: a life between two islands, a memoir by Bill Schwartz and the late
Stuart Hall, the Jamaican-born cultural theorist, political activist of the New Left, and
sociologist
1.30-2.30
Amrit Wilson on Finding a Voice: Asian women in Britain to mark the new edition of this
landmark book
Owen Hatherley on his adventures travelling around eleven countries of the former Soviet
Union - "Daffodils for Wordsworth. Deprivation for Larkin. A trashed tower block
surrounded by a toxic landscape pocked with rust-pitted Ladas in a forgotten oblast 2,000
miles from Moscow for Hatherley." - Jonathan Meades
2.45-3.45
Singing for Our Lives: Stories from the Street Choirs centres on more than 40 oral
histories gathered from members of the UK's many street choirs, supported by Nottingham
Clarion Choir
The Fire Now: anti-racist scholarship in times of explicit racial violence, with Remi
Joseph-Salisbury and Azeezat Johnson (editors) and Viji Kuppan (contributor)
4.00-5.00
Paul Hegarty gives a sound-illustrated talk on Peter Gabriel, singer-songwriter, record
producer and activist
Assembly Lines - poetry of the workplace by Jane Commane and Neil Fulwood. Jane runs Nine
Arches Press, a poetry specialist press, and her own latest collection is from Bloodaxe.
Neil is the author of No Avoiding It, a Nottingham geography of work and class
https://nottsblackarrow.wordpress.com/2018/11/17/talks-at-second-nottingham-radical-bookfair-saturday-17th-november-2018/
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