Today's Topics:
1. anarkismo.net: Is President Donald Trump a threat and
danger? by Zaher Baher (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
2. Britain, anarchist communist ACG: Enough is Enough - Scrap
Universal Credit now! (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
3. Belarus, pramen: Bankruptcy of the Belarusian statehood
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
4. afed.cz: How I fought the Trotskyists (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
5. France, Union Communiste Libertaire UCL - International
press release, On the front line, always on the exploited side !
(fr, it, pt)[machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
6. icl-cit: [Bangladesh] Dragon Group tries to silence protests
(ca) (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
7. Britain, Class War Daily - FRIDAY 03 JULY 2020 - The Fucking
SWP: protect yourself and others (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
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Message: 1
This article covers how president Trump has shown us the true face of capitalism and whether the working class struggles grow under the
dictatorship or those in power by the names of labour, social democrat, socialists, leftists. It also puts some facts before the readers and
question them that who really in a long-term serves our struggle? ---- Is President Donald Trump a threat and danger? ---- By: Zaher Baher
---- June 2020 ---- Certainly he is, but who is he a threat to? Before answering this question, I believe that history has so far taught us
a few things about the revolution that we cannot ignore. ---- Firstly, it has shown that political parties, such as-lefties and
authoritarian socialists, cannot fundamentally change the current system. In fact, they create so many obstacles by maintaining and
prolonging the system.
Secondly, revolution cannot happen through a military coup or a political plot.
Thirdly, we have a very long history of a parliamentary system that has failed to bring about real changes.
Fourthly, poverty alone is not a foundation that revolution can emerge from. History has shown that poverty has made people more dependent
on the state and charities instead of relying on themselves to struggle for change.
In the UK, the history of the struggling working class shows that the number of demos, protests and strikes decreased dramatically while the
Labour party was in power*. This is the case even though there is barely any difference in the conditions of the working class when the
Conservative Party is in power.
I recognise that some of the reforms that are usually carried out by leftists and social democrats when they are in power can slightly
improve the lives of the working class, but this only benefits them for a short time. In the long-term, it gives them false hope and makes
them more dependent on the political parties to make change. In other words, it damages them, makes them lose their confidence in doing
things for themselves, and also brainwashes them by giving them a false meaning of democracy. It gives people an impression that there is a
different kind of power and, a different kind of government. It tells people, one state is a democracy and the other is a dictatorship.
However, in reality having a democracy or a dictatorship is the same. Whatever name the state has for its political system, it is to control
and subdue the people, by using the tool of democracy and dictatorship accordingly to suppress them. In other words, democracy or
dictatorship are the same to whoever governs us.
When dictators and right wing political parties are in power, it is true that there is very little freedom, or no freedom at all. But in
fact, the social relationship between the people is very strong, solidarity is there, and cooperation and support exist. The line is clearly
drawn between the supporters of the government/state and those against it. There is unity and trust between the people, and almost everybody
rejects the propaganda of the state and its media. I have experienced this under Saddam Hussein in Iraq, and other comrades share the same
feeling in other countries.
Let's look at the United States (US) under President Trump, as leader of the most powerful country in the world. I do not need to go through
his record of the last three years as he has been very frank in what he believes in and what he says. In fact, he implements most of his
domestic and foreign policies.
He has introduced us to the realities of the capitalist system. He is clear about his dislike for climate change science, and he is open
about his love of rich people and his support for big corporations. He does not hide his hate of the poor, unions, leftists, socialists and
anarchists. He is frank to tell us that his administration's involvement in Syria and Iraq is for exploiting oil. He denounces human rights
and equality. His position towards Israel, the Kings and Princes in the gulf countries, President Jair Bolsonaro, and the Philippines'
president is very obvious to all. He is not diplomatic like UK politicians and those of other European countries, who tell us one thing and
do something else. He is against the hypocritical attitudes of Congress. He shows us that the state and its entire administrations are
reflected and embedded within businesses. He tells us that business and politics cannot be separated; one serves the other. The list could
go on and on.
So, the questions here are: Who is actually showing us the capitalist system, truly? Trump, or the leaders and the politicians of the UK and
other western countries? Who is actually as honest as him, telling us that this system is not for us and does not benefit us, and only
serves him and the others I mentioned above? Who is really a long-term threat to capitalism, serving the working class movement by pushing
people to carry out strikes, protests, and even rise up against the system? Him, or the other leaders who always try to portray the system
as a democracy, or keep people happy with reforms?
In fact, President Trump has created the best grounds for uprising in the US by implementing all of the policies which favour the rich.
Under his leadership there has been more police brutality, more inequality, more injustice, more poverty and more hate towards Muslims and
the LGBTQI+ community.
We have this existing climate in the US and people have had enough. The killing of George Floyd, unfortunately, was only a trigger point.
President Trump might not create a revolution, but he has certainly created a movement, not only in the US, but in many European countries,
especially here in the UK. The name of George Floyd is only a symbol of uprising. ‘Black Lives Matter' is not just a movement of black
people and for black people. It is a movement of millions of people around the world. It is a movement of everybody who has been suffering
for so long at the hands of state brutality, austerity, inequality, social injustice, unemployment, wars, displacement, homelessness and
much more.
This movement certainly cannot resolve everything, but can surely change many aspects of life. By using direct action, it can quickly
achieve what lobbying, petitions, complaints, traditional protests and parliament debates couldn't achieve in a few decades. It has changed
the nature of protests, smashed the lockdown, has had no permission from the police and has not listened to politicians. It has taken
matters into its own hands and has revived the movements which existed around the world prior to Covid-19.
In the UK, the protests look capable of changing more things: taking away the statues of racists and slave traders in public places is just
a start. In addition, activists are forcing the state and media to begin to acknowledge the true reflection of a multicultural British
society. Campaigners are calling for a change to school syllabuses and university curriculum, to include studies of the role of black
history. And finally, campaigners are calling for museums to document the UK's role in the slave trade.
However, if people want to fundamentally change their own lives staying on the streets and fighting with the police is not enough. We need
to use this kind of tactic less often and put our weight, experience, knowledge and efforts into organising ourselves in the neighbourhood,
on our own streets, in the universities, in the factories, in the offices, in the farms and in other places of work. We need to do this in
non-hierarchical groups and organisations to prepare ourselves for the final push against state power, in order to manage our lives by
ourselves and make the real changes. The first step is to struggle and fight to achieve a libertarian municipality at local level to replace
the existing bureaucratic councils or local authorities.
Zaherbaher.com
*http://isj.org.uk/why-are-there-so-few-strikes/
https://www.anarkismo.net/article/31964
------------------------------
Message: 2
The Covid-19 lockdown in Britain has doubled the number of people forced to claim Universal Credit to 2.9 million. This does not include the
sharp increase in claimants for Job seekers Allowance, (its value still frozen at the 2010 level). The 8.9 million "furloughed" workers laid
off because of the pandemic are not included either. They are still classed as employed. ---- We have reported the many failings of
Universal Credit (UC) before in Jackdaw. The most notorious problem faced by claimants is the completely unnecessary five-week delay before
any payment is made. This creates huge debt problems and rent arrears for hundreds of thousands of households. ---- The delay in payment is
still there, but to cope with the sudden doubling in claimant numbers since March, the Government has had to temporarily forgo other
controversial features of UC. It also has had to increase the weekly amount of benefit by £20 so that more people are eligible.
The conditionality rules that force claimants to spend up to 30 hours a week pursuing often non-existent jobs have been waived. Face to face
assessments at Job Centres have stopped. Universal Credit is designed to punish people for the crime of not working or not working enough
hours. The arbitrary rules are enforced by benefit sanctions (the loss of benefit for a minimum of four weeks). The use of sanctions too has
been suspended temporarily.
Until now. The 1.5 million new claimants who became reliant on Universal Credit due to the lockdown are in for a shock. The Government has
refused to listen to pleas from experts in the field and community voices. It will re-instate conditionality and benefit sanctions as from
1st July. Claimants will be expected to attend assessment interviews, held in cramped DWP offices that have not been risk-assessed for
Covid-19, according to PCS, the DWP union. As one claimant activist put it, "Universal Credit is the 21st Century workhouse".
Apart from the pointlessness and danger to claimants being forced to search for non-existent jobs during a pandemic lockdown, the Government
is wilfully ignoring mounting evidence accumulated over the last 7 years. Conditionality and benefit sanctions do not encourage people to
look for work. If anything, they have the reverse effect. Stopping, or even threatening to stop benefits drives people into anxiety, mental
illness, starvation, homelessness, and suicide.
The Scrap Universal Credit campaign
More than two years ago disabled activists took the lead in calling for an end to Universal Credit. Their continued campaigning for its
abolition and replacement with a just and equitable welfare system has been led by Disabled People Against the Cuts (DPAC). The original
campaign managed to win the wider support of community groups, then Unite the Union, from there to the TUC, before eventually becoming
official Labour Party policy under Corbyn's leadership. A classic example of hard continual lobbying, speaking and demonstrations. The
campaign failed when the Labour Party lost the General Election.
Since the election, masses of workers have been affected by the Covid-10 lockdown. Many more are about to face the realities of mass
unemployment and get their first experience of Britain's broken social security system. It's time to renew the campaign for social justice
in welfare: to provide, without discrimination, a guaranteed minimum income for everybody, and the means to gain the skills and knowledge
necessary for a socially rewarding life.
DPAC is again taking the lead in a renewed campaign to abolish Universal Credit, by announcing the formation of a national umbrella group,
the Stop Universal Credit Alliance (SUCA) . SUCA aims to bring together disabled activists, disabled people's organisations, union and other
allies. The major unions in the TUC are planning a national conference on social security reform. The Labour Party has also recently
convened a national forum to look at future options other than Universal Credit.
As anarchist communists, we welcome the growing demand for change, but we encourage workers to learn from the first campaign. Don't trudge
through endless internal political meetings for four years, and don't rely on party manifestos and elections.
Disabled activist Mike Harrison from Norfolk Against Universal Credit summed it up, telling the Disability News Service "we need a campaign
on a similar level to the poll tax movement, a grass roots movement, where every town, every city, every part of the country had a movement
to scrap the poll tax, a long campaign but eventually hugely successful. The poll tax was scrapped and that the led the way to getting rid
of Thatcher".
No to conditionality! No to benefit sanctions! Scarp Universal Credit Now!
anarchistcommunism.org/2020/07/02/enough-is-enough-scrap-universal-credit-now
------------------------------
Message: 3
In the last 3 months, the Belarusian government has shown its failure to solve serious urgent problems. And if the problem with economy is
not new for the country, then Lukashenka's inability to overcome the coronavirus destroys the myth that without centralization the society
will be plunged into chaos. ---- Many Belarusians have long understood that the state is not the guarantor of their security. Back in the
Soviet Union people discussed what was happening in the country only when the state wasn't listening. Belarusians dreamed of freedom while
the state tried to teach us obedience. ---- Protection of the population from external and internal threats is the key argument for the
existence of the state. Threats can be of different nature: depending on the state, you can be saved not only from a neighbor's invasion,
but also from starvation death or illness.
Belarus State, being the heir to the Soviet Union, is trying to present itself as a social apparatus committed to creating a social system
for the working population. Promises are transformed into conditionally free medicine, subsidized public transport and social programs for
housing construction.
The state as an apparatus is in constant need to justify its existence. If there is an organization in society that imposes taxes, laws and
whims on the population, it is the population that should receive something in return. The absence of sufficiently strong arguments for the
existence of the state can lead to a revolution that will try either to establish a "social" state or to destroy the state apparatus as a
whole and choose a decentralized way of organizing society.
In this case, the Belarusian state is gradually losing its meaning. Belarusians can tolerate Lukashenka on their necks until he becomes so
heavy that nobody wants to pull him. The protests in 2017 were against a certain law that should have made the lives of workers harder, but
did not threaten their lives. The COVID-19 situation called into question the necessity of the state itself, which continues to let the
population down in the fight against the virus.
Neighboring countries are doing much better with the coronavirus. This situation makes us doubt that the Republic of Belarus, which has been
a dictatorship for almost the entire period of its existence, is able to somehow respond constructively to the problems of the population.
Yes, we have already heard about the need to save the economy at the cost of the lives of physicians and workers, but few will accept such
an argument. Economic failures in the country are directly related to Lukashenko and his government, which for many years has been trying to
maintain its own power at any cost. Why then should Belarusians give their lives for the mistakes made by the country's famous potato farmer
and his friends?
The self-organization of tens of thousands of people inside the country shows that the Belarusian state copes worse with the crisis than
people who are not professional managers on state salaries. If one reads social networks and telegram, one unwittingly asks why the
Belarusian society needs the state in general, if we can spontaneously organize better than the whole vertical of power?
An additional nail in the coffin of the regime was a scandal with water in the western part of Minsk. Several hundred thousand people lost
access to water in the midst of the coronavirus epidemic. What flowed from the tap in the Frunzenski district can only be used by the
president and his children.
The local authorities initially denied the problem and once again tried to prove to us that the problem is in our heads and not in reality.
And even after admitting the problem, the water tanks that were taken out into the street could not seriously affect the situation. Today,
not everyone can pull 5 liters of canisters, and those who are under quarantine are isolated from the most basic resource. Residents of the
city took the initiative and brought water to the homes and apartments of those who could not get to the nearest clean water tank. Thank you
once again to the ordinary people of the country.
And don't tell us stories that the guilt lies on the shoulders of local officials, while the king simply did not know. Throughout his reign,
Lukashenko created an apparatus that will always report on the green grass in the street at any time of year under the fear of repression.
That's why the poisoning of minsk lies on the shoulders of the entire vertical.
In the coming elections, some believe that the Belarusian state needs liberal reforms. These very reforms will turn the country into the
real cradle of European civilization, and we will finally get our "papizzot"[1]. The projects of other Eastern European states show that
corruption and indifference of officials remain even after the change of one ruler to another. Scandals in Bulgaria, Poland and many other
countries of former Eastern Block confirm a rather simple thesis - power corrupts even the most idealistic fighters. And the only solution
that can rid people of greedy and corrupt officials is a world without the state and capitalism.
Today, Belarusians, like many people in other countries, will not be able to defeat the dictatorship of the state by choosing a new
president. The destruction of the regime requires a social revolution that will restore the self-confidence of the working population. That
is why not voting, but resistance and direct action can bring us freedom.
1: papizzot - is a promise from belarusian president that everybody will have salaries at least of 500 euro. This promise comes and goes
every year and slowly turned into a meme.
https://pramen.io/en/2020/07/bankruptcy-of-the-belarusian-statehood/
------------------------------
Message: 4
Looking back at the anarchist's struggle with the authoritarian left with a lesson at the end ---- When the Czechoslovak Anarchist
Association (CAS), the first modern anarchist organization, initially found a background at the Left Alternative, a group following the left
wing of Czech dissent, I had other worries - what to paint on a T-shirt beer in pubs where I knew they wouldn't want a citizen. One
movement, anarchist, was born and the other, the post-dissident left, sought a new place, but in vain. I don't know if there were any
ideological frictions between these twins, but since Jakub Polák was adding to the boiler of the running train of CAS, it is clear to me
that there was no idyll in the matter of practice and personal relations.
I read A-kontra magazine from the first issues because it corresponded to my subcultural nature. In one of the first issues (1991), I read
about the defeat of the Kronstadt Uprising by the Red Army led by Leo Trotsky and the liquidation of the Makhnovist anarchists in Ukraine; a
ridiculous report from the camp of the Trotskyist international, but also about the autonomous movement in Germany, to which there were
certain ties, which, however, was largely under the influence of various branches of Marxism. I did not understand the demonstrations there,
where flags with a sickle and a hammer or with portraits of communist ideologues and dictators appeared next to black-and-red flags. So I
would not suffer from this, and I agreed on that with the vast majority of Czech anarchists at the time.
The A-counter 6/1992 published several responses to text editors issued by a group of revolutionary solidarity (RS), which zcestnými
arguments denounced anarchism of Bakunin (anarchism criticism she fossilized remains unchanged even after many years - see a similar
reaction in the A-kontra3/2005). Andrej Funk clarified that the RS is a small group of supporters of the original Marxism, mostly foreign
students and young intellectuals, and said that he could personally cooperate with it following the example of the German autonomous
movement. Another editor admitted to collaborating on marginal topics. The serpent wrote only: "We should finally say what we think of our
comrades from various Trotskyist and similar organizations: We do not want the Red Fascists here anymore!" And Jakub Polák added to him with
an addendum: Knowledge prefers to adopt "proven" articles of the true faith. The phrases, refined by long-term tumbling, combined into a
seemingly logical system, offer a simple and clear solution. "Even so, it was possible to find texts dedicated to the pages of the
magazine.Program of Social Self-Government , Left Alternative, Egon Bondy, RAF, etc., which even led to the attack of the A-kontra editorial
by people around the magazine Autonomie arguing that A-kontra , especially Polák, is trying to abuse anarchists in the election campaign in
favor of the Left Bloc , which also included the Communists.
However, similar debates about the influence of the radical left on the anarchist movement and the ensuing strife have often given the
impression that they are more of a surrogate issue to show who is who in the movement and who deserves the spurs of a true anarchist. And it
should also be noted that this was a problem that, in practical terms, mainly concerned Prague, anarchists from the "countryside" often had
no choice but to theorize, issue communiqués or wiggle their eyes incomprehensibly.
Personally, I began to perceive a stronger interest of the Trotskyists (a collective term for all those groups of "real" Marxists /
Leninists) around 1997. They could be encountered before and appeared in the early 1990s with some of their propaganda at a few of our
events, but without success. The 9th issue of the CSAF Svobodná mysl magazine published a reaction to the successor to the RS, Socialist
Solidarity (SocSol), which again came to the conclusion that all directions on the left (including anarchism) had failed historically and
that only their Marxism "defended the interests of workers and showed the way forward. ". Although in fact the opposite was true, it was
their understanding of Marxism that brought the workers' revolutions under party rule and led to Stalin-type dictatorships. And they were
always the first to get rid of anarchists who rejected their authoritarian character.
Trotskyists at that time began to be relatively active. They were at the birth of several different initiatives, such as the Youth Rights
Charter or the Anti-Racism Initiative. However, they never lasted long, they served the Trotskyists mainly as recruitment platforms, which
eventually repelled potential candidates for some cooperation, so they soon ceased to fulfill their intended purpose. Probably the biggest
enemy of this kind was the Socialist Workers' Organization (SOP), which was established in the summer of 1998 during the division of not
even twenty-member SocSol. This group began spewing proclamations about the deviations of other left-wing groups (blackmailing anarchist
groups sent out in English to 250 foreign organizations) and publishing a magazine with the repulsive title Socialist Avant-Gardeand no less
repulsive content. Its numbers did not exceed a dozen members and were usually in the middle of this figure. They did not hesitate to unite
with the Communist Youth Union in order to hunt among KSCM supporters. A united front of Trotskyists and Stalinists would probably be power
over Trotsky himself.
Sometime in the summer of that year, an incident must have happened that I almost forgot. We played football at the Ladronka squat and the
Trotskyists also had their team here. Good opportunity to give it to them, at least on the field. Personally, I preferred to stick to beer
bottles and cheer. The Trotskyist standing nearby was also encouraging his horses: "In Kronstadt, in Kronstadt, an ac hangman is hanging on
a wire!" I don't know how serious he was or he was joking and provoking. He fell silent in a matter of seconds. There is something wrong
with the gas in your mouth. I stood a little helpless - beer in one hand, a pistol in the other (which was great fashion at the time, though
usually useless) and a dumb Trotskyist against me with rolled-up bulbs. So at least I looked rough and told him I'd squeeze it next time.
On October 28, 1998, the SOP, together with the Stalinists, organized a completely pointless demonstration against racism, and subsequently
tried to add to the confrontational demonstration of anti-authoritarian anti-fascists, who carried it with great resentment. Fortunately,
the Trotskyists failed to impose an anti-fascist agenda on the KSCM and thus reduce media anti-fascist activities on the communist vs.
fascists, which could bring the sympathies of shy anti-communists to the fascists. Previously, the organizers of the anarchist demonstration
pasted posters of demonstrations organized by Trotskyists. And although workers and young people were encouraged on both posters to come and
demonstrate, they obviously didn't care.
At that time, however, the anarchist movement was experiencing a rift, which set the tone for the Federation of Social Anarchists (FSA),
which was formed by splitting from the CSAF in the fall of 1997. in fact, everyone outside the FSA. Their aggressive policy led one of the
CSAF members to say something in an interview for an anarchopunk magazine that he would rather work with Trotskyists than with the FSA. He
admitted that it was nonsense, but that did not save him from retaliation during a chance meeting with FSA members on the tram. Plesk,
plesk! The attacker then added in the FSA periodical: "Dan... often and indiscriminately attacked me h if the stupid and really embarrassing
attacks of some primitive are joined by an open call to collaborate with the enemies of anarchism,
In the same magazine, the CSAF was accused of collaborating with Trotskyists, and there appeared an "FSA Open Letter to Czech Trotskyists":
. You will soon experience it for yourself... Mr. Šanda left Most alive and well only thanks to the presence of numerous police units.
Fortunately for us and unfortunately for him, the police are not everywhere, there are many dark and empty streets where we will surely
meet... with every dead Bolshevik one step closer to revolution and classless society! "
The FSA set the bar, and whoever wanted to be considered an anarchist now had to hate Trotskyists to death. In fact, it didn't cause us much
trouble, and Orwellian's two minutes of hatred took place every time we (at least some of us) saw one. However, over time, despite my
sincere anti-Bolshevism, I perceive it as a somewhat forced expression of loyalty to the idea of anarchism (some members of the CSAF already
pointed this out aptly).
However, the FSA did not prevent its liquidator (a few Trotskyists really felt a hard fist) anti-Bolshevik stance with going to the
Bolshevik May Day, which took place in 1998 on the Letna Plain, with its leaflets. I must point out that even the CSAF was not spotless in
this respect, when it went to the lion's den in 1999 on the Day of the Left Press, which was in fact an event directed by comrades. Well, at
least we took advantage of the local offer of a cheap burcák and we snorted at Jirina Švorcová when she recited something. An old comrade on
a stick came to rebuke us: "I saw you very well as you made a noise during Mr. Grebenícek's speech." "Fuck you, Grandma," was my not exactly
correct and sober answer.
The Ax of War was temporarily buried in a very shallow grave before protests against the IMF and World Bank meeting in Prague in September
2000, when we co-founded the Initiative Against Economic Globalization (INPEG). The SOP has traditionally sought to mobilize the KSCM, while
SocSol affiliated with the international around the British Socialist Workers' Party has joined the INPEG. There were few local activists
and every hand was good. The experience was instructive, though not surprising. The Trotskyists did not take responsibility for any part of
the protests, but their aim was to cram in front of the main protest, and their logos were visible everywhere. But it would be a mistake to
see the problem only in the Trotskyists, on the side of the anarchists, the FSA, which did not participate in the preparations, took the
lead in the blue procession, on the contrary, pointed out all the others and its separate campaign had no effect. The FSA used the presence
of Trotskyists in INPEG to argue why not to participate in the organization of the joint protest and at the same time why to cram at the
head of the blue march during the INPEG demonstration on September 26 and disrespect the organizers' decision to keep the protest
nonviolent. Other parts of the demonstration were nonviolent, albeit confrontational - often imaginative.
After the protests, it was the CSAF that sharply put itself in the dubious role of the Trotskyists within INPEG and clearly said "either
them or us" - after a long argumentative struggle, this platform became just a catching-up coordination platform with no external outputs.
To prove to the Trotskyists that their vision of history is misleading (naive assumption, I admit), we held a discussion in the Utopia Café
about the Kronstadt Uprising (preceded by a memorial demonstration). However, we received a message from the FSA that if a Trotskyist
appeared there, he would intervene by force. The discussion therefore took place in anticipation of an "anarchist strike," but in the end
the represented Trotskyists confirmed the rest of those present in the unacceptability of their attitudes and dogmas, which was probably the
most beneficial result.
Shortly afterwards, their party marched on an anarchist demonstration on May 1, 2001, even though they were asked in writing not to attend
our events. They proudly held a banner, red scarves around their necks. Right on the outermost, which had a scarf decorated with August and
a hammer, I threw myself and started to tear it off. I couldn't do it very well and after a while the Trotskyist started to look kind of
suffocated. But it fulfilled the educational effect, the comrades in the weapon packed their fiddles this time, and I carried home a total
of three Bolshevik trophies.
Never again with the Trotskyists, so we organized protests against the NATO summit two years later on a smaller scale and only with other
anti-authoritarians, especially from Eastern Europe. When we did not allow SocSol to distribute leaflets at the demonstration against NATO,
there were new voices about inadmissible intolerance, which sparked a new debate on the A-contra website . It has been repeated that we do
not want any Bolshevik propaganda (and the promotion of political parties) at anarchist events, but as individuals, no one will expel
Trotskyists, and as far as broader coalitions are concerned, it is up to them to decide. An ORA-S member reminded the editor of A-kontra,
who justified this, on the one hand forbid, from the position of organizer and member of the hegemonic current of the anti-capitalist
movement, handing out leaflets to Trotskyists for a demonstration organized by anarchists, but on the other hand, when expelled by the
organizers from a trade union demonstration a few days later against his leaflets and expelling the anarchists without the will of the whole
demonstration. The editor replies that the decision not to leave Trotskyist propaganda at events organized by anarchists is the result of
several years of discussion (unlike the absence of a previous debate among trade unions).
At the Balkan bookfair in Ljubljana in 2003, I proudly reported to the plenary that in Czechoslovakia we managed to keep our events without
the influence of the authoritarian left. I added mischievously that it was in the past at the cost of physical confrontation, and enjoyed
the acknowledged views of those foreign anarchists who did not succeed. But what I was not so proud of was the fact that our main problem in
building the movement was not Trotskyists, but authoritarians in our own ranks who determined who was the "right anarchist" and with whom he
could (not) cooperate.
I have to laugh at something in retrospect, I still stand for something, yet I have learned many lessons from my "struggle with the
Trotskyists": 1) . 2) What the appearance of our events will depend only on us. If we don't want anyone to parasitize on them, let's not let
them. 3) That the line of when I can become a political parasite myself is often unclear. 4) The fact that someone has some ideas does not
mean that he cannot reconsider his attitudes (for better or worse). 5) The fact that intimidation by an external enemy is often just a way
to assert one's own position and attitudes within the movement. 6) That the fear of abuse or accusations of "collaboration" can paralyze any
debate with others. 7) That, that with far greater zeal, little substantial problems are solved instead of real ones.[Da capo al fine.]
Published in Existence No. 2/2015 on the topic of the Radical Left.
(Picture from comic Liquidator in Ukraine )
Related link:
Radical left
https://www.afed.cz/text/7200/jak-jsem-valcil-s-trockisty
------------------------------
Message: 5
We women suffer from the social and economic crisis that started around the world after the appearance of the new coronavirus and its global
expansion, but on top of that we suffer from gender-based violence. This situation is not new in a system of patriarchal domination, but it
has taken particular forms in the current context, relegating us more and more to the private sphere and subordinating us more and more to
the male figure. ---- Gender-based violence increased with confinement. Deprived of our families and our friends, we women who are forced to
live with an aggressor, generally our partner, are trapped in this hellish situation. The initiatives taken by the States have been
ineffective and insufficient to curb domestic violence and the problem, far from diminishing, has worsened ! The confinement prevented women
victims of domestic violence from leaving the space of the home and finding outside support, because many women could not call in the
presence of their attacker, who stayed at home.
The rise of femicide during confinement is a reality in Latin America and elsewhere. As for street harassment, it was not confined !
Although the streets have been emptied, confinement has not limited sexist and sexual assaults in public and open space, quite the contrary.
With or without a mask, shopping, going to the doctor or working have become obligations for women who present themselves as the ideal
terrain from which the stalkers have been able to take advantage.
The free work that we women do every day has also increased with confinement. In addition to ensuring that children are well nourished and
do their homework, many women have had to telecommute, which has increased mental and emotional stress for all. In countries where measures
have been taken to allow people to stay at home without having to go to work, it is still women who earn lower wages than men. As a result,
since men are the "providers of the home", the distribution of domestic tasks has completely disappeared.
Some women were more affected than others by the crisis and confinement. The situation of refugee women, who are crammed into shelters or
centers, is worrying, as is that of women from working-class neighborhoods and racialized women, because they are more exposed to the
pandemic. Having informal jobs, they cannot stay at home and maintain their income, or maintain it by assuming household responsibilities.
At the same time, the militarization of living spaces exposed us to police repression as did our children.
Patriarchy and capitalism profit from the free or poorly paid work of women in the name of "national unity". We are particularly vulnerable
to the crisis because our jobs are more precarious than those of men and many of them work in essential sectors. Many workers, like those of
us who work in supermarkets, health care and education, are on the front line of the pandemic, redoubling their efforts to stop it. These
labor sectors, where women are in the majority, are generally poorly paid, but they are also sectors which are historically distinguished by
their high level of fighting spirit for better wages, against layoffs and casualization.
It is also us, through our popular organizations, who have put solidarity and mutual aid into practice. State institutions have not been
able to respond to the current crisis, which is why it is popular organizations, mostly made up of women, who have created different
strategies to alleviate the crisis, through canteens , soup kitchens, supply networks, like the seamstresses who made masks, among others.
To the State, to bosses, to the police, to gender-based violence, to racists, to LGBTIphobes, we say: we will not give up and we will always
fight to make our struggles visible, against all forms of domination. We are not on the front line with the capitalists, we are on the front
line to transform society !
¡¡Arriba las que luchan !!
Signatories:
? Coordenação Anarquista Brasileira - CAB (BRAZIL)
? Alternativa Libertaria - AL / FDCA (ITALY)
? Federación Anarquista Uruguaya - FAU (URUGUAY)
? Federación Anarquista Rosario - FAR (ARGENTINA)
? Organización Anarquista Córdoba - OAC (ARGENTINA)
? Grupo Libertario Vía Libre (COLOMBIA)
? Union communiste libertaire (FRANCE)
? Workers Solidarity Movement - WSM (IRELAND)
? Die Plattform - Anarchakommunistische Organization (GERMANY)
? Organization Socialiste Libertaire - OSL (SUISSE)
? Libertaere Aktion (SUISSE)
? Melbourne Anarchist Communist Group - MACG (AUSTRALIA)
? Aotearoa Workers Solidarity Movement - AWSM (Aotearoa / NEW ZEALAND)
? Anarchist Unión of Afghanistan and Iran - AUAI (IRAN & AFGHANISTAN)
https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?En-premiere-ligne-toujours-du-cote-des-exploite-es
------------------------------
Message: 6
Since we published our message in solidarity with workers of Dragon Sweater Factory -Bangladesh fighting off dismissals and unpaid wages,
our Asia working group has received a complaint letter from the company management. It is reproduced below, together with a reply from
GWTUC, the union of garment workers. They both speak by themselves. ---- Obviously, the company managers have not taken the time to read our
statutes or our online material. For some bizarre reason, they seem to think that we are a neutral arbitration body that will lend an ear to
business owners' claims. They are very much mistaken. ICL, the International Confederation of Labour, is an instrument by and for the global
working class to promote solidarity across the borders and to support workers' struggles all over the world. The International brings
together anarcho-syndicalist and revolutionary unions and will always stand by the workers in their fight against capitalist exploitation.
Therefore, we state again our demand to reinstate the dismissed workers and to pay their salaries and we encourage our sections and contacts
to take action to support this demand. The struggle continues (https://globalmayday.net/2020/07/01/garments-workers-rally-in-dhaka/), so
does our support and solidarity.
RelatedPosts
Dragon Sweater Factory (Bangladesh) must reinstate workers and pay unpaid wages
Against the Terror of Anti-Terror
[IWW]Solidarity with the uprising happening across the U.S.A.
The managers have spent some substantial time and effort in writing to us. These would be better used in engaging with GWTUC and addressing
workers' concerns and demands. ICL's sections and contacts will continue taking action until GWTUC informs us that the conflict has come to
a conclusion that they are happy with. Meanwhile, if the company owners are concerned about the factory's reputation being tarnished, as it
is the case, and they want to prevent further disrepute, there's a very simple solution at their disposal: answer workers' demands.
Another word of caution: reading between the lines in the letter, it seems obvious that the managers are laying the ground to accuse the
workers of unpatriotic behaviour and calling for more repressive measures to be used against them. Let this be a warning against such
methods. This is a red line that would only be crossed at the company's expense. From now on, we will consider the company managers liable
for any repressive action that the state may take against the protesting workers and this will be enough for Dragon Sweater to be branded as
a union busting company before the commercial brands that it works for, another stain that it will find very difficult to shake off.
Keep the struggle up, stay strong, in solidarity,
ICL's Asia Working Group
Reply letter from GWTUC
Dear Comrades,
It has come to our attention that the management of Dragon Group has forwarded a letter to Global May Day and ICL in response to the ongoing
movement of the Dragon Sweaters workers and the GWTUC call for solidarity in support of the movement. We have listed our responses point by
point:
1. Dragon Group has claimed that their factory only employs 800 workers.
Here, Dragon Group has used a very generous interpretation, to the owners, of what constitutes 'employment.' Their claim, for the umpteenth
time, exposes the lens of sheer disposability through which employers view workers and shines a light on the precariousness of the working
class under capitalism.
In fact, workers at Dragon Sweaters are divided into two groups:
‘Per piece rate' manual workers, who are paid according to the number of units of clothing they produce. Dragon Sweaters employs more than
4,000 of these workers.
‘Fixed salary workers,' including sewing operators, menders, finishers, and quality control. Dragon Sweaters employs around 1,200 of these
workers.
Dragon Group in their response seems to have only counted the latter salaried workers, and even then under reported the numbers. That Dragon
Group would choose to disregard the manual ‘per piece' workers displays how devalued manual feminized labor is. ‘Per piece' workers are
supposed to receive a basic income for the 4-5 months where buying orders are not coming in and thus they are not producing units, but this
basic income has gone unpaid by Dragon Group. We stand by our numbers and believe Dragon Group's underreporting is another attempt, in a
long line, to evade responsibility.
2. Dragon Group claims that allegations of unpaid wages and union-busting are baseless.
The truth is Dragon Group has taken no responsibility for paying the workers during the COVID 19 pandemic. The government has pushed through
a tk 5,000 crore stimulus package for the payment of workers' wages for the months of April, May and June. Even so, those workers that have
(many have not) received money have had their wages slashed to 60 percent and their Eid bonuses slashed by half. As we have already
established, Dragon Group has a suspect definition of who even constitutes a worker in the calculation of their profits, so this claim is
anything but baseless.
As to the union-busting, their track record is a terrifying testament to the lengths bosses will go to prevent workers' rights to free
association.
The GWTUC's attempts to form a union at Dragon have been quashed on no less than three separate occasions. Workers attempting to form unions
have been fired, including union presidents Nazmul and Shahidul, and Secretary Babul. More than 200 legal cases are also currently pending
against workers who attempted to organize a union. As to our committees at Dragon, these are organizational committees of the GWTUC composed
of Dragon workers, not registered trade unions.
3. Dragon Group's third claim of the provident fund not being an ‘issue' is as laughable as it is confusing. As we already stated, workers
are not being paid their full salaries. Even if they were, would that not still entitle them to their owed provident funds, service pay and
other benefits? The wages of an RMG worker in Bangladesh are among the lowest in the world. This 5 million strong work force serves as cheap
labor for the world's top brands and fashion runways. Even as the low wages are unjustifiable, garment workers depend on every meagre amount
for their livelihoods. Are we really expected to believe that Dragon Group does not see the issue in notpaying workers their owed benefits?
Are workers not entitled to their benefits because a global pandemic has rendered all public work a threat to their lives?
4. Dragon Group claims that the protests are limited to 30-40 workers and portrays the movement as stemming from ‘confusion'. There is no
confusion, except for the justified question of why workers are being illegally laid off without their full wages and benefits. In regard to
the number of protesters, does anyone really believe that the workers of Dragon Sweaters could have laid siege to the Bangladesh Labor
Ministry on 11th June with a handful of workers? The truth, accounted in major news publications, is that the protests are supported by the
whole spectrum of outraged Dragon workers deprived of their wages and dignity by employers who are using a worldwide pandemic of suffering
and death to lay off thousands and relocate their factory 150 km away, all in the pursuit of profit.
Neither are the protests by any means isolated to Dragon. Rather, Dragon workers have joined arms with thousands of workers from other
factories to protest the BGMEA and the government's disregard for workers. The most recent example of this assembly of workers' power was on
29th June, when a massive rally by the GWTUC attempted to lay siege to the Prime Ministers' office.
As for the ‘goodwill' of the national police. What goodwill does a police force that routinely brutalizes, suppresses, silences, disappears
and extrajudicially murders it's citizens really have?
Lastly, it is an insult to the thousands of workers who died, and millions more who continue to toil and agitate to call the BGMEA
respectable. The BGMEA's ‘hard earned reputation' includes such instances of industrial murder as Rana Plaza, Tazreen, Tung Hai, and Matrix.
5. Relations between bosses and workers cannot in the best of times be called amiable. It is always an exercise on the bosses part of
degradation and exploitation of the worker. So it follows that Dragon Group's insinuation of friendly relations between bosses and workers
is a pipe dream. One need only ask Ramesha apa, who had worked for Dragon for over two decades, labored for years, without vacation,
everyday from 8 to 10 and was recently terminated without her owed benefits, if she ever felt the bosses ‘enhanced her privileges' in any
way. The testimonies of thousands of other workers, past and present, will no doubt attest to the same lack of humanity.
The GWTUC has never been and will never be a neutral organization. We unabashedly agitate for redistributing all socio-economic power to
workers.
Nothing, not the designer clothes on the bosses' back, nor their stories of offices and factories, nor their opulent villas here or in tax
havens would be built without the hammer and the needle, the dexterity and the intellect of the worker. We do not have to doctor the facts.
We do not need to make tall claims. The reality of the workers' struggle is more often too brutal and unjust for the written word or oration
to contain.
Dragon Group in its letter called Bangladesh a responsible and mature democracy: ‘a land of law.' There is a law that governs this land, but
it is not of the courts, never mind the people. It is the law of the rich and privileged, indolent and able-bodied, reviving from scripture,
secular or religious, reigning over workers debased and desposed, women raped and shamed, queer folks hidden and killed, protestors maimed
and bloodied, writers silenced and jailed. If in the words of Dragon Group, a member of this cartel of wickedness, we are anti-national. Our
only response is that workers have no nation, no borders. Our allegiance is only to each other.
Workers' of the World Unite.
Solidarity,
Mahmood Sadaat Ruhul,
International Affairs Department
Garments Workers' Trade Union Center
https://www.icl-cit.org/bangladesh-dragon-group-tries-to-silence-protests/
------------------------------
Message: 7
Today in Class War Daily: ---- The Fucking SWP: protect yourself and others ---- This is the last issue of the Daily. From 15th July, we
will be producing a weekly copy. Thank you to all supporters, readers and contributors! ---- Dear Readers, Contributors and Supporters ----
Today is our 62nd issue and the Daily's last. ---- As lockdown eases on order of his majesty bojo the clown, we'll be getting on with stuff
in our lives. We might return to a daily if there is every the need but after todays edition we've decided to go weekly. We will be
producing a copy every week on a Wednesday, starting WEDNESDAY 15TH JULY. ---- This past couple of months have been a trip, from fuck ups
down number ten to global protestst. What's next? ---- Onwards and upwards comrades! Fuck the system!
Got a text for us? Email classwardaily@gmx.com
Class War Daily 3/07/2020 https://classwar.world/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/CW-Daily-62-200703.pdf
THE FUCKING SWP PROTECT YOURSELF & OTHERS
Parasite Infection in the
UK is Reaching pandemic
proportions.
As the wave of anti-racist
and Black Lives Matter
protests gain momentum
in the UK, the Socialist
Workers Party and their
inbred offspring Stand Up
to Racism are planning their
latest invasion of protests
and meetings.
Now as anarchists, we don't
really like these controlling
Trots, in fact we fucking
hate them - taking over new
groups with their luring
offers of support, funding
and placards (all with their
SWP/SUTR branding of
course).
Then there's the constant
claiming that any
demonstration (with
no breaking the law of
course), protest, march is
a "resounding success" for
them - THEM! Oh yes,
then there's the liaising
with the cops stuff -
stewards bossing people
around, grassing up anyone
who looks like they might
possibly do something
naughty that the cops
wouldn't like. After all, it's
always very important to
the SWP/SUTR to abide by
the law.
These passionless reformist
control freaks are a fucking
nuisance. Always there with
their fucking wallpaper
table selling their odiously
boring Socialist Worker.
Between 2010-14 there were
accusations of systemic
sexual abuse within the
SWP - this was all "sorted"
within the party and many
"left " the party who were
not happy with the outcome.
The SWP are still very
jumpy and defensive about
all this - ask a paper seller
or stallholder and they'll
start manically screaming
in your face chasing you
down the road.
Question any member of
SUTR/SWP about politics,
and they respond with a
robotically learnt text that
they have been taught at
Trot HQ training sessions.
The BLM protests have
given the SWP a major
recruitment opportunity
by pushing SUTR out on
the streets in big numbers,
handing their placards out
(they got loadsa dosh them
trots) so that the march/
protest/gathering looks like
it's them that organised it.
Wankers, the lot of them.
Stand up to Racism -
parasitic vermin that needs
the Anarchist Pest Control
Department out there
chasing them back down
the SWP sewer.
https://classwar.world/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/CW-Daily-62-200703.pdf
-----------------------------
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