Anarchic update news all over the world - 13.08.2019

Today's Topics:

   
1.  Russia, avtonom: "Children of cops hate cops": speech of
      Alexei Polikhovich at a rally on August 10 [machine translation]
      (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
   
2.  France, Manifesto of the Union Communist Libertaire UCL -
      Lute contra todas as alienações (fr, it, pt)[machine
      translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
   
3.  France, Alternative Libertaire AL #296 - Public services,
      Privatization of ADP: why refuse the big Macronian sellout (fr,
      it, pt)[machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
   
4.  London Anarchist Federation: London Antifascist Assembly
      Mobilises - Report on August the 9th (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
   
5.  anarchist communist group ACG: Atossers! (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)


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Message: 1






One of the speakers at the rally on August 10 in Moscow was the anarchist and former 
prisoner of the "Swamp business" Alexei Polikhovich. Here is the print version of his 
speech: ---- Hey people ---- My name is Alexei Polikhovich, and I spent three years, three 
months and three days in the case of the riots in Bolotnaya Square. I served for grabbing 
the riot police by the hands with which they beat the demonstrators. And now I'm standing 
in front of you because I'm furious. ---- I am furious that history is repeating itself. I 
am furious that anonymous people in helmets, masks and armor hit the defenseless on the 
streets of Moscow. They beat again, and again find themselves unpunished. I am furious 
that Moscow is occupied by attack aircraft, which consider us all enemies of Russia.

I saw them. I saw a man in a helmet, furiously beating a lying and screaming guy with a 
club. I saw flocks of such people in helmets attacking peacefully standing people. The 
only danger for someone on July 27 was represented by law enforcement officers. It is they.

They learned to beat us - and then they learned to tolerate in courts how painful it was 
for an abandoned plastic cup, the touch of our warm, tender hands, how painful it was for 
the slogan "Garbage - Shame on Russia." They cry in their anonymous cowardly telegram 
channels that they are real Russian men, and we are paid provocateurs. Hey guys, what is 
it like to be patient in courts for students, candidates of sciences, bloggers, TV 
directors, volunteers? What will your children say about these stories when they grow up? 
Your children will hate you. Children of cops - hate cops!

I am furious that once every seven years a ship of the Investigative Committee comes to 
Moscow and takes young people to the Cretan labyrinth, a sacrifice to the Minotaur. To 
Athens - to Moscow - remained a peaceful city of barbecue festivals. So that the fugitives 
and traitors from Berkut could practice with impunity a fencing baton on our bodies. So 
that Colonel Kusyuk could still wear his mustache on our land and command the dispersal of 
peaceful demonstrations.

They come every seven years and take this sacrifice from us all. So here. Today I am 
furious and want you to feel the rage too. I want you - we all - to become Ariadne for so 
far the thirteen guys who have already been imprisoned in the riot case. I believe that we 
can handle it. After Golunov - I believe - that we have the strength to throw a thread 
that will lead the guys out of the labyrinth of prisons, ships and garbage lawlessness.

How many people are there now? Many thousands. I want to see these thousands under the 
windows of the Basmanny Court - here very close to the Basmanny Court. I am not a 
supporter of Navalny, I do not believe in elections, I am just a Russian anarchist. A 
simple Russian man. I want us to shout to all the bites, the Moscow election commission, 
riot police, cops, judges and bureaucrats. You fucking! They are fucking crazy! They are 
fucking crazy!

Support people in prison. Come home and write them a letter in jail. Throw off money for 
transfers and the lawyer. Find a person with a box in the crowd now - this is my 
accomplice in the Bolotnaya case, Volodya Akimenkov, throw him at political prisoners. 
Talk about it and go to court - the rally under the windows of the court should not end.

Remember their names. Remember their names not as the names of victims or heroes, but as 
the names of your friends who will be home soon. Shout them out:

Alexey Minyailo

Vladislav Barabanov

Kirill Zhukov

Egor Zhukov

Ivan Podkopaev

Samariddin Rajapov

Evgeny Kovalenko

Sergey Abanichev

Daniel Conon

Sergey Fomin

Aydar Gubaidulin

Danila the Fugitive

Dmitry Vasiliev

Pavel Ustinov

https://avtonom.org/news/vystuplenie-alekseya-polihovicha-na-mitinge-10-avgusta

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Message: 2






Com aspirações igualitárias e libertárias que vão além da luta de classes, a emancipação 
de cada indivíduo não é, para nós, uma perspectiva secundária. Longe de se opor a eles, 
afirmamos que a luta pela liberdade individual não pode prosseguir sem a ajuda de lutas 
coletivas. ---- Para justificar, ou simplesmente para ocultar, a dominação e os mecanismos 
materiais que a implementam, as classes e grupos sociais dominantes mantêm ideologias que, 
combinadas, formam a ideologia dominante. ---- Isso, transmitido a todos os níveis da 
sociedade, leva uma parte significativa do proletariado e grupos sociais dominados para 
apoiar uma ordem social contrária aos seus interesses. ---- No trabalho, onde o indivíduo 
é fragmentado, dominado e reduzido ao status de mercadoria. Na vida cotidiana, onde o modo 
de consumo é determinado pela lógica dos lucros, os ditames dos padrões de beleza e 
necessidades artificiais gerados pelas técnicas de marketing. Se o capitalismo apóia, 
enquanto os renova, alienações multimilenárias, é ele próprio portador de alienações 
específicas.

O capitalismo não engendrou todas as alienações que constituem essa ideologia dominante, 
mas servem para cimentar sua dominação e justificar a ordem estabelecida pela destilação 
de ódios e divisões na população.

Submeta religiões a críticas radicais
Como tal, as religiões estão entre os principais vetores de alienação: a visão do mundo 
que oferecem, as formas hierárquicas que deram a si mesmas, sua reivindicação de cercar a 
vida de todos e de cada um, até mesmo sua mais íntima intimidade, em uma rede de dogmas, 
tabus e regras impostas (direito ao aborto, sexualidade, casamento como norma, 
patriarcado, etc.)

Nós não lutamos contra crentes, mas dogmas: nós somos pela liberdade de culto, respeitando 
a escolha de cada um e de todos. Denunciamos as perseguições e proibições contra os 
crentes. Mas a UCL é uma organização ateísta e defendemos um projeto de sociedade livre da 
alienação religiosa.

De fato, rejeitamos qualquer influência das religiões na sociedade e queremos sujeitá-las 
à crítica radical, porque elas servem para justificar uma ordem social desigual. Estamos 
lutando contra discursos que buscam proteger áreas inteiras da realidade social da crítica 
em nome do "sagrado" ou do "divino".

Ao contrário do que afirmam, as religiões não são isoladas da sociedade, elas têm um lugar 
no espaço político e podem servir de apoio às ideologias da extrema direita.

Contra alibis essencialistas
Questionamos as normas sociais, hierárquicas e de gênero impostas ao longo da vida em nome 
de uma suposta "natureza" ou sob o disfarce de um cientificismo que justifica as 
desigualdades sociais e encerra cada ser em dados biológicos, hereditariedade ou DNA 
significava determinar seu futuro e limitar seu livre arbítrio.

Por uma educação emancipatória
Afirmamos que o sistema educacional desempenha um papel considerável na alienação do 
indivíduo, reproduzindo a ordem social estabelecida e fazendo com que ele a aceite desde 
cedo. É necessário pôr em prática uma forma de educação emancipatória para superar 
coletivamente suas alienações. No entanto, estamos conscientes de que a única ação em 
educação não é suficiente para a construção da sociedade a que aspiramos.

Fiel à nossa corrente política que, desde sua origem, se apoderou da problemática 
educacional, defendemos valores e práticas pedagógicas baseadas no racionalismo, na 
cooperação, na criatividade, no respeito à especificidade de cada um e de todos. forjar 
indivíduos livres e responsáveis, capazes de entender e agir sobre o mundo ao seu redor.

Também damos ênfase especial à conscientização contra discriminação racista, sexista e 
social, porque ela visa capacitar as pessoas a agirem contra elas. Os libertários defendem 
uma educação que visa desenvolver, sem priorizar, habilidades físicas, intelectuais e 
artísticas. Uma educação ao longo da vida que se emancipa da submissão à autoridade, 
competição e permite uma sociedade de solidariedade e igualdade.

Para isso, os meios são tão importantes quanto os fins, e é por isso que adotamos as 
práticas das pedagogias antiautoritárias e da educação popular.

Contra o validismo
A sociedade capitalista é uma sociedade eminentemente válida. Validade é uma opressão que 
afeta pessoas com deficiência (física ou psicológica, visível ou invisível). O capitalismo 
encoraja e apoia as estruturas validistas, na medida em que valida os indivíduos de acordo 
com as capacidades que os tornam produtivos ou exploráveis na esfera do trabalho 
assalariado. As pessoas que não atendem a esses padrões são devidamente deficientes e, 
portanto, excluídas, marginalizadas ou marginalizadas.

A validade também é cristalizada em infraestruturas urbanas, que geralmente são adaptadas 
apenas a um indivíduo típico válido (um indivíduo que não está em uma cadeira, por 
exemplo). As pessoas com deficiência geralmente serão mais afetadas pela insegurança e 
dependência, pois têm menos acesso à esfera de trabalho. Em um sistema que torna o valor 
do trabalho um princípio de integração e valorização, eles também são desacreditados, 
simbolicamente e socialmente.

Nem preconceitos nem obstáculos
Somos partidários e partidários de uma luta global que abrange todas as formas de 
alienação e opressão, e cujo objetivo final é o absoluto respeito de todos e de cada um de 
nós, que todos possam viver, amar, trabalhar , criar, expressar-se livremente, sem 
barreiras de cor da pele, de confissão, de sexo, de nacionalidade, de idade ou de estilo 
de vida, para que todos possam encontrar um lugar na sociedade humana, florescer aí e ter 
um meio de vida satisfatório.

Somos, portanto, a favor da luta de classes e das várias lutas contra a alienação. A 
destruição da ordem capitalista, a dominação patriarcal e a dominação racista, a 
construção de novas relações sociais igualitárias e libertárias, fornecerão os fundamentos 
necessários - mesmo que não sejam suficientes em si - para uma era de emancipação. . Nós 
não defendemos um individualismo radical, a liberdade de alguns não deve se tornar o 
pretexto para a opressão dos outros.

http://www.alternativelibertaire.org/?Combattre-toutes-les-alienations

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Message: 3






The privatization of Aéroports de Paris (ADP) is far from being a problem for the Parisian 
bourgeoisie who has the means to travel regularly by plane. It is above all an announced 
social and ecological disaster and an attack on the collective heritage. Fighting against 
it is a necessity. ---- The privatization process of ADP was brought back to the fore by 
the procedure of referendum of shared initiative (RIP) supported by parliamentarians of 
various persuasions and carried by CGT ADP. This extremely demanding process (see box 
below) promises to be a crucial political issue for the coming months. How should we 
approach this case ? ---- First, keep in mind that this is not an isolated case. It takes 
place in a wave of attempts to privatize airports: that of Toulouse Blagnac is still 
ongoing, despite a recent decision to annul the administrative court, seized by the 
combative unions (Solidaires, CGT, FSU) that are active on the site. More generally, it is 
never anything but a dimension of the great destruction of the public service (hospital, 
school, railway ...) launched by the government, and which threatens to extend to the 
national roads: the LOM law of 2019 makes it possible to sell certain segments of national 
channels previously free to highway dealers such as Vinci.

Brader ADP is, however, of great economic irrationality. The dry losses for public 
finances have been abundantly emphasized: 200 million euros less each year. But the 
question of competition has been little discussed. Yet the first economist to come knows 
that international airports, like highways, are what are called " natural monopolies ": 
the costs of entering such markets are prohibitive, so there can not be any. competition.

Development of outsourcing
Owners can therefore gorge themselves by blazing prices and degrading the quality of 
service. The users of the motorways conceded to Vinci for a pittance know something: 
according to Le Parisien , between 2011 and 2018, tariffs for French motorways increased 
by nearly 10 %. And for good reason: it is unlikely that a private investor comes to build 
another highway for the same route, thus playing the competition. The same goes for the 
airport sector: no one will come to build an airport to compete with sites in the Paris 
region (CDG, Roissy ...), all of which are owned by ADP.

The privatization of ADP is also a delayed social disaster. As the Secretary General of 
the CGT ADP pointed out to L'Humanité , a partial privatization procedure had already been 
launched in 2005. Result: 1,600 jobs lost in a few years, and an important development of 
subcontracting. The same goes for the concession of motorways, where each time a factory 
is sold to another band of unscrupulous shareholders: corporate resales are often the 
occasion for major wage degreasing operations.

This may seem strange, but keeping ADP under state control is also an environmental issue: 
reducing the significant pollution caused by air transport will be all the more difficult 
as private capital has taken control of the sector. According to the Ministry of Ecology, 
aviation represents " 2 % of carbon emissions across all sectors and 13 % of those related 
to transport activities in the world ", so it is not a secondary issue.

Nevertheless, the intentions of parliamentarians calling for a referendum are not always 
as pure: some support the proposal with the objective of an explosion of air traffic, 
which can not be supported if we are concerned about the environment. Not to mention the 
enormous difficulties that mark the referendum procedure and its concrete conditions: it 
is necessary to be registered on the electoral lists (which leaves out strangers and many 
French people), while the site internet to support the proposal is riddled with bugs and 
accessibility issues.

The illusion of the " republican front "
But although we think of the referendum procedure, one thing is certain: it is a beautiful 
thorn in the foot of the government, because it contributes to crisping the business 
climate and therefore to delay the sale. In addition, 250,000 signatures were already 
collected on June 21, about 5 % of the total required, after only a few days of campaigning.

However, there is no question of maintaining the illusion of the " republican front " with 
the right, which sees the fight against privatization as a matter of national grandeur. 
That jobs are abolished and the environment ravaged by the state or the private 
capitalists does not change anything fundamental. Public property makes sense only if it 
allows democratic control: leaving transport to politicians or senior officials is not 
satisfactory.

This campaign for a referendum must be an opportunity to ask the question that counts: 
that of the self-management of the means of production, and especially transport, because 
those who work there and have an interest. The kind of questions that " Republican fronts 
" can not ask.

Mathis (UCL Lyon)

Shared initiative referendum: a procedure designed to never come to an end

First step: obtain the support of one fifth of the members of the Assembly and the Senate 
and the approval of the Constitutional Council. This milestone was achieved for the first 
time since the introduction of the RIP in the constitution in 2008.
Step two: Reach the support of one in ten voters, 4.7 million people nine months after the 
start of the collection (ie March 2020, in this case). A much larger number than what is 
required for the Swiss People's Initiative, which only requires the signature of one in 
every fifty voters within eighteen months.
Third step: get the presidency of the republic to hold the referendum, provided that the 
parliament does not decide to examine the issue of privatization itself within six months 
after collecting the signatures. If not, the procedure is canceled. Suffice to say that we 
are far from the citizens' initiative claimed by the yellow vests.

http://www.alternativelibertaire.org/?Privatisation-d-ADP-pourquoi-refuser-la-grande-braderie-macronienne

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Message: 4






Last Saturday, on the 3rd of August, all the usual suspects piled onto the streets of 
central London in support of grifting class traitor Tommy Robinson, currently in prison 
for jeopardising the trial of a paedophile ring. In response, groups from across London 
and beyond organised a counter mobilisation to ensure that Tommy Robinson supporters knew 
they and their far right politics were not welcome. ---- Background ---- August the 3rd 
was especially important because it was the first major mobilisation for the London 
Antifascist Assembly (LAFA), a coalition of individuals and groups that was formally 
created in early 2019, but traces its roots back the antifascist mobilisations of the 
second half of 2018.
The need for such a coalition grew out of the disaster that was the counter mobilisation 
of Jun 9th, 2018. On that day we saw the largest ever British far right rally, with 
numbers of up to 15,000 coming out to support Tommy Robinson. The counter mobilisation 
only managed to get 200 to 300 people out on the day, and they were attacked from behind 
by breakaways from the main far right march.

This counter mobilisation consisted mostly of Stand Up To Racism (SUTR) with some members 
of the more militant Antifascist Network (AFN) also present. SUTR has a bad reputation 
among other antifascists and most groups on the left, partly over tactical disagreements 
over SUTR's cooperation with the police, and partly over SUTR's reputation as a front for 
the Socialist Workers Party (SWP), which is known for entryism and rape apologism. The 
AFN, while more broadly respected than the SUTR, was never intended to be the kind of mass 
organisation that could confront a 15,000 strong far right rally on the street.

With many people and groups rightly refusing for formally organise under the SUTR banner 
and a sudden increase in the far right presence on the streets, something new was needed. 
 From that point onwards an alliance of community groups, unions, left political 
organisations, and militant antifascists (including the AFN) organised open assemblies and 
independent blocs to oppose the far right. As 2018 went on these independent blocs grew, 
sometimes outnumbering the SUTR mobilisation, and combined with SUTR, sometimes 
outnumbering the far right rallies they were opposing.

At the start of 2019 this alliance was formalised as the London Antifascist Assembly. LAFA 
was set up as a broad front that could incorporate many different groups with differing 
politics while also being a place for individuals without any previous group affiliation 
to get involved with antifascism. It was intentionally designed to be a joint effort and 
not dominated by any one group. In containing groups as diverse as London Anarchist 
Federation, Labour Against Racism and Fascism, and Revolutionary Socialism in the 21st 
Century, among many others. It has been a great success in these terms.

However, a combination of the stresses of attempting to form a new organisation and the 
nature of the far right mobilisations in the first half of 2019 prevented LAFA from being 
able to test its strength with a proper mobilisation until August the 3rd. So, how did 
that mobilisation go?

The Day Itself

LAFA attempted to mobilise entirely separately from SUTR, but SUTR changed their meeting 
point to a position near to ours and we ended up both meeting around Piccadilly Circus. We 
had feared that this might lead to a repeat of the 9th of December mobilisation, where 
both groups met at the same place and SUTR promptly attempted to co-opt the entire march. 
But, despite some problems between individual stewards, SUTR behaved in a far less 
antagonistic manner towards the LAFA bloc as a whole, and fell in behind us when we 
marched off down Regents Street towards the far right meeting point at Oxford Circus.

Despite some attempts to break out, the police mostly managed to prevent us from coming 
into contact with the far right as we marched, although there was a hilarious moment where 
a small group of Tommy supporters got stuck in a park as we marched past it and attempted 
to hurl abuse at us from the bushes, like a species of drunk racist hedgehog.

While the police were not as heavy handed as they had been on the 9th of December, where 
some antifascists were quite badly injured or arrested, there were still some incidents of 
police bastardry. They attacked some individuals without provocation and pushed one 
antifascist into the far right mob, but our bloc managed to maintain its integrity despite 
some shoving matches with the cops and no antifascist was seriously hurt or arrested to 
our knowledge.

We ended up near Portland Place, opposite the Tommy Robinson Rally but separated by 
police, who attempted and failed to push us further down the street into a fenced off 
kettle they had designated for the SUTR march. At this point a splinter group of Tommy 
supporters attempted to attack us from behind but the police again kept the two groups 
mostly separate. After being kettled for a while we marched off towards Great Portland 
Street station and called it a day.

The far right got up to their usual antics of abusing passers-by and getting into scuffles 
with the cops, and went to attack both an anti-hunt march and a Sudanese solidarity 
demonstration. 24 of them managed to get themselves arrested on the day, including one for 
possessing an offensive weapon.

Did it Go Well?

So, was LAFA's first big day out a success?

In terms of organisation it went well. Training was carried out before the march. Stewards 
kept the bloc pretty tight and it was never seriously disrupted by the police, even if it 
never managed to push through them. Special thanks must go to QueerCare, who provided 
medics, water, information, and sugary sweets, and the Activist Court Aid Brigade who 
provided legal observers and bust cards.

In terms of numbers different people have given different estimates. I personally think 
that both the far right and the combined antifascist presence were under a thousand, with 
an advantage in numbers to the far right and the antifascists split evenly between SUTR 
and LAFA, however others have given numbers far more in favour of the combined antifascist 
presence in general and/or LAFA in particular.

Whichever numbers are correct, neither the far right or the combined antifascist 
mobilisation drew big numbers. However, in context I think we can consider this 
mobilisation a qualified success. Around summer time last year Tommy Robinson could muster 
15,000 supporters and we could only mobilise 200-300. This summer both sides drew lower 
numbers than their peak mobilisations last year, likely because everyone is tired of Tommy 
Robinson at this point, but the difference in numbers between both sides was not massive 
whichever way it went, and the antifascist presence was more militant and better organised 
than it was last summer.

While we did not manage to block the far right march, and our numbers, starting point, and 
the geography of the area made it unlikely that we would be able to do so, LAFA proved it 
can mobilise at short notice as well as any other antifascist organisation in London. 
Hopefully our presence did force the police to keep them more contained than they 
otherwise would have, and we did show the far right that they cannot march in central 
London without an equal and opposite counter mobilisation.

The Future

While the 3rd was somewhat of a success, it could have been bigger and better. The 
coalition that LAFA grew out of got higher numbers out towards the end of 2018 than LAFA 
did on Saturday. Part of this is likely due to the lull in activity between then and now 
and the fatigue that sets in organising something like LAFA, but from this first 
mobilisation greater numbers are possible, and we might be facing a long campaign of Free 
Tommy nonsense ahead of us. There is already another far right rally planned for the 24th 
of August, which LAFA will be opposing.

To build numbers we need to keep building LAFA, getting more groups and individuals 
involved, and we need to build an awareness of the risks the far right represents and the 
need for antifascism both in terms of opposing the far right and building an antifascist 
culture in our communities. We need people not only for the big counter mobilisations but 
for the more day to day work of building contacts, giving talks, handing out flyers, 
organising assemblies, and running stalls.

We also have to look beyond what is needed to oppose the far right fringe. The Tory party 
is already pandering to its most extreme elements over Brexit, and we are looking at an 
uncertain and potentially chaotic future in the face of climate change. The potential for 
the far right to become the mainstream right, as is happening in America and many parts of 
Europe, is a real threat. We need to start thinking about and building a movement capable 
of confronting a quasi or fully fascist state right now, as attempting to do so when such 
a state is already in place is likely too late.

LAFA24

Final Thoughts and Resources

I would like to end on thanking everyone who came to or helped organise the August 3rd 
counter demonstration. A lot of hard work has gone into trying to build the London 
Antifascist Assembly and it was great to see that work bear fruit. For anyone interested 
in Antifascism in London I recommend you get in touch with LAFA or one of the other local 
antifascist groups, most of which are also involved with LAFA. If you know an organisation 
or group that might want to get involved, pass that information on to LAFA.

The next London mobilisation - 24th of August

https://aflondon.wordpress.com/2019/08/09/london-antifascist-assembly-mobilises-report-on-august-the-9th/

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Message: 5






A comrade talks about his dealings with Atos assessment centres... ---- I have had the 
harrowing experience of visiting Atos assessment centres on two separate occasions. The 
first time I was required to do this was to support my girlfriend's son for his medical 
assesment in 2014. My girlfriend's son has Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, a degenerative 
hypermobility condition. The second time I had to visit an assessment centre was for my 
PIP (Personal Independence Payment) claim (I have Ulcerative Colitis and have had my large 
bowel removed). This was last year. ---- Harrowing ---- During my first visit I didn't 
know what to expect but I use the word harrowing with good reason. We arrived and had to 
wait in a waiting room with other people that were due to have medical examinations. One 
of these people was a woman with brain damage that was accompanied by a carer. Whilst 
talking to this woman's carer we learned that she was a nurse who had got brain damage by 
being assaulted at work. She needed assistance with being able to walk. Although we had 
heard about what was happening to people, this was still a disturbing shock. We were 
outraged and disgusted (and still are) that people such as that woman and her carer are 
forced into being called in to be assessed and that people are allowing this to happen in 
this day and age.

  My girlfriend's son had his assessment, and of course was deemed fit to work, despite 
suffering random pain and discomfort and only being able to do physical tasks for a 
certain period of time. He actually didn't bother appealing, as he didn't see the point.

  My second trip to an assessment centre was more recent. I had put in my claim for PIP 
and was informed that I had an interview. The assessment centre is located in an out of 
the way location near a small industrial estate in Canterbury. If anyone was to protest or 
picket this place they would not be visible and so I think this sort of location is 
deliberate.

  I was shocked to discover, when I turned up at the centre, that the staff were wearing 
Atos badges. After what Atos have done I assumed they were no longer operating in this 
capacity, how wrong I was! The staff put themselves across as friendly and there to help, 
which wasn't convincing to me as an anarchist and shouldn't be convincing to anyone.

  After I was asked a series of questions at a desk I was told to wait in a waiting room. 
On the waiting room walls there were posters instructing and advising us claimants to 
behave ourselves and keep calm and not be rude or abusive to staff, again it was 
reiterated that staff were ‘only trying to help' or some such nonsense. This instantly 
made me angry and irritated, but I was only to get angrier.

  A young woman with a carer entered the building after a while and she was clearly upset 
as she was crying. I overheard her explain that she was in constant pain. Yet again I was 
appalled and outraged at the harassment of a claimant who clearly didn't need this. I 
thought to myself what scum the staff in the office were and how unnecessary all this was. 
I didn't get a chance to speak to these people and was called in to my interview, which of 
course I ‘failed'. I am now in the process of appealing the decision with the help of the 
Citizens Advice Bureau. Appeals are more successful.

Fight Together

There is no doubt that claimants need to come together and somehow fight back against this 
disgusting atrocity, an affront to civility and decency. I'm no expert on how to fight 
back but claimants need to somehow support each other in whatever ways they can and try 
and fight back, utilising direct action when possible. The sad truth is though, that I and 
others despair at a society where this is possible and certainly going through what I did 
can make a person feel hopeless. As an anarchist it just confirms the callous nature of 
capitalism but there is a sense that this shouldn't be happening.

  It is happening, no doubt, because of misinformation about claimants and the 
scapegoating of them by the ruling class, with the help of their media. We must highlight 
the truth as much as we can and clear up any misconceptions and lies spread by the ruling 
class. The sad and bizarre truth regarding Atos staff is that they actually think their 
jobs are necessary. How they cannot see the disgusting inhumanity of what they are doing, 
I don't know, but they have clearly conned themselves into actually believing they are 
helping claimants, which I guess is part of the reason this is happening.

https://www.anarchistcommunism.org/2019/08/10/atossers/

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