Today's Topics:
1. Czech, AFED: A3: Women against darkness - Protests
are under
way in Poland against further restrictions on the right to
abortion and conservative religious demagoguery. [machine
translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
way in Poland against further restrictions on the right to
abortion and conservative religious demagoguery. [machine
translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
2. France, Union Communiste Libertaire AL #309 - Unionism,
Hutchinson: coordinating factories to thwart layoffs (de, it, fr,
pt)[machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
Hutchinson: coordinating factories to thwart layoffs (de, it, fr,
pt)[machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
3. UK, ACG: Trump on his way out but big struggles ahead
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
4. Greece, maurokokkino APO: Polytechnics are not "allowed" by
anyone for this and can not be banned by anyone [machine
translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
anyone for this and can not be banned by anyone [machine
translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
5. Canada, Collectif Emma Goldman - [Book] My October 70: The
crisis and its consequences (de, it, fr, pt)
crisis and its consequences (de, it, fr, pt)
[machine translation]
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
6. UK, ACG: Libertarian Communism 2020: Class Not Nation
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
7. EVERYONE AT THE NOVEMBER 17 PROTEST | Athens Local
Coordination By APO (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1
In October, 32 states signed the "Geneva Declaration of Consensus on Promoting
Women's Health and Strengthening the Family." At first glance, this sounds like a
commendable concern for women. In reality, however, it is an alliance pushing for
a complete restriction of the right to abortion. And who signed himself under
such atrocity? Not surprisingly, these are governments that are often autocratic,
conservative, religious, or narcissistic. ---- The list is therefore dominated by
the Donald Trump administration. We have been able to see his relationship with
women many times. Probably the best known is his quote from 2005: "And if you're
a star, they'll leave you. You can afford anything. (...) Catch them by the
pussy. Whatever. "He is successfully seconded by the Brazilian government of the
religiously based fascist Bolsonar, and three of the European countries with the
most authoritarian governments, such as Orbanov Hungary, Poland and Belarus's
dictator Lukashenko. To this have been added some governments of the Islamic
world, such as Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Libya and other countries, which, according to
the University of Georgetown Index, are at the bottom of the world's ranking of
women's safety.
Almost at the same time, a decision was made to substantially reduce the right to
abortion in Slovakia. Here, despite repeated attempts, such a proposal did not
pass, but the battle is far from won, as similar attempts will certainly be
repeated. However, much worse news has come for women in Poland, who, due to the
government of the Conservative and Church-affiliated Law and Justice Party (PiS),
already have almost completely limited abortion. Now, however, the local
constitutional court, in which PiS installed its people, has declared an article
of the constitution, which spoke of abortion in cases where the fetus has a
serious and irreversible birth defect, unconstitutional. It thus fulfilled the
Middle Ages, reminiscent of the efforts of PiS President Jaroslaw Kaczynski to
end even very complicated pregnancies, including in cases where it is certain
that the unborn child will die, the fetus is damaged or the pregnancy should end
with the birth of a stillborn baby. The argument for this woman threatening
nonsense is that every unborn child should be properly baptized and buried.
Such religious fanaticism, lack of respect for women, and a patriarchal worldview
are the unifying element of all dangerous darkness - from the Islamic State to
Law and Justice. But there are also many Christians, Muslims, who are not so
backward and disagree with similar decisions. Although all sorts of orthodox
believers and ultra-rightists encourage people to hate people of different
faiths, cultures, or skin colors, they are almost entirely similar in their
darkness across different parts of our planet.
But we don't want to go back to the Middle Ages, where women can just keep their
mouth shut and where their lives are determined by some black ass (regardless of
the religion they represent). It is no wonder that a large number of
conservatives reject, for example, the Istanbul Convention, which opposes
violence against women. According to them, the family is the basis of the state.
And since the state has a monopoly on violence, it is clearly necessary to
maintain this model in the family as well.
For the time being, we can be comforted by the fact that we are not in danger of
the Polish scenario. But let's be careful when he heads the March for Life
through Prague, led by representatives of the clergy. When the clerical-fascist
Duke declares the trade unionist a mob or glorifies Churchill, when someone dares
to come up with a critique of his racist policy. After all, they have now built a
Marian column under our noses at Staromák, which was demolished by the people of
Prague in 1918 as a hated symbol of Catholic enslavement.
The hope that the shrinking clouds of conservative oppression will be dispelled
and the light of humanism and rationality will come to earth is the motto
"Wypierdalac" - Go to hell - Polish women. They took to the streets to say their
"Enough" attempts to control their bodies and lives. The protests are carried by
the whole society - towns and villages. Kaczynski surrounded hundreds of police
officers around his headquarters and called on his followers to defend the
churches. His words were heard by the fighting between nationalists and neo-Nazis
attacking protesting women. Live clerical fascism. However, they did not
intimidate the women's strike, as well as threats of long-term punishments for
protesters for rallies during the coronavirus crisis.
We anarchists stand by (not only) Polish women for their right to decide their
bodies and lives. We stand on the side of light against the forces that seek to
draw us into the patriarchal darkness of God, the family and the nation.
A3 ( November 2020) can be downloaded HERE . http://www.afed.cz/A3/A3-2020-11.pdf
Download, print, distribute!
The A3 wall newspaper is published by the Anarchist Federation every month. They
are intended mainly for dissemination through stickers in the streets or posting
in workplaces and schools.
https://www.afed.cz/text/7246/a3-zeny-proti-tmarstvi
------------------------------
Message: 2
The management is trying to obtain the consent of the yellow unions to pass
collective collective agreements on the various sites. The CGT refuses the scheme
and wants to unite to resist. ---- September 17 was a modest day of national
action, but it was able to have relief in localities where struggles are starting
to mount against layoffs. This is the case in Segré (Maine-et-Loire), where 86
jobs out of 689 are threatened at Paulstra, plant of the Hutchinson group, an
automotive supplier specializing in rubber. ---- At the national level, the goal
of Hutchinson, a subsidiary of Total, is to take advantage of the coronavirus
crisis to restructure and lay off between 800 and 1,000 employees in its 25
factories in France. All despite the millions and billions of profits made for
many years by these groups, despite the millions of state aid acquired, and after
having refused short-time working in order to be able to continue paying
dividends without fear of seeing them. contested ...
The general management relies on collective contractual breaks (RCC) and, to
begin with, seeks to gain the consent of the yellow unions at the group level
before having the RCCs signed in the various legal structures of the group (SNC
Paulstra, SNC Le Joint Français , SNC Hutchinson, SA Hutchinson ...). The CFDT,
the CGC have already given their agreement, and FO is in the process of
switching, although it claims the opposite. Only the CGT - which fortunately has
a sufficient majority to block everything - refuses.
Since July, a CGT coordination of the Hutchinson group has been set up, bringing
together the unions located in 19 of the 25 factories. Demands have been
established to defend the maintenance of activity over the long term, and to
allow employees who want to leave to be able to do so without harming employees
who want to stay. Among these we find in particular a reduction in working time
for all to 32 hours with maintenance of salary, early retirement for team
positions and recognition of arduousness, or setting a maximum percentage of
temporary workers by factory to oblige to hire in CDI.
In the industrial area, with Hutchinson employees, September 17, 2020.
cc UCL Angers
Interested in the population
In Segré, given that the job cuts would affect the local economy more broadly,
steps have already been taken to challenge elected officials and the population.
On September 17, the CGT union in Paulstra called for a walk-out to go to the
inter-union rally on a strategic roundabout in the city. Distributing leaflets
for about an hour, followed by a walk to the factory, then speaking. Several
dozen factory employees were present, as well as a delegation from the CGT from a
factory of the same group in Château-Gontier, and a few others from the UL-CGT in
Segréen, as well as the PCF.
A delegation from UCL Angers who came to support them was very well received.
Interesting discussions with several strikers on the roundabout. Seeing the red
and black flag, several demonstrators spontaneously came to greet them (when they
already knew) or to learn about the UCL and its proposals. We will come back to
this fight.
Guillaume (UCL Angers)
https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Hutchinson-coordonner-les-usines-pour-dejouer-les-licenciements
------------------------------
Message: 3
"In the final analysis, Trump may want a personal dictatorship. But the other
guy[Biden], he's an agent for the state and he's an oppressor in his own right.
He's helped to get the prison system to the point where it is. His running mate,
Kamala Harris,-well she is just as much of an establishment Democrat as he is.
She's just as much in favor of using the police and the government against the
poor. We need to be able to educate masses of people about these things while
we're creating an alternative, so they will not be fooled. We need a new society
and a new world, not more capitalism." ---- Lorenzo Kom'boa Ervin, black American
anarchist and ex- Black Panther, from interview with William C. Anderson: ----
blackrosefed.org/ungovernable-interview-lorenzo-komboa-ervin-anderson/
First of all, the defeat of Trump, a symbol of climate change denial, racism and
white supremacy, sexism and corruption, is much welcomed, and was celebrated by
many, not just in the States but over the world. But when it comes down to it,
the result of the US election was, as always, a win for the ruling class. Trump
represented one faction of capitalism, Biden, another. At the same time,
unprecedented numbers, in the majority drawn from the working class and young
people, came out to vote for Biden, not with any particular enthusiasm for him,
but because they wanted to dump Trump, appalled as they were by his record on
COVID-19, on the environment, on racism and on women's rights.
One sign of how little has changed is the way post-election protests have been
treated by the authorities. There have been NO arrests in places where armed
Trump supporters have threatened ballot counters, such as Detroit, Michigan and
Maricopa County, Arizona. On the other hand, some of the many protests that
blossomed after Trump called for vote counting to stop and refused to concede
have been met with violence. In Portland, Oregon the Democratic governor, Kate
Brown, used the National Guard and police against those she described as
"self-described anarchist protestors", in actual fact different groups, some
protesting police violence, others Black Lives Matter supporters. In New York,
police attacked demonstrators and kettled them, arresting 57. In Minneapolis
police harassed demonstrators and issued 600 citation orders for ‘unlawful
assembly'. Police arrested seven demonstrators in Seattle, and in Denver, they
arrested eight, firing rubber bullets at the heads of demonstrators.
Trump has been backed by sections of the American boss class because they approve
of his rescinding of previous environmental laws which protected land and
species. They welcome his opening of protected land, including that of Native
Americans, to logging, fracking and oil, gas and mineral exploitation, reversing
over 70 environmental rules, including on air and water pollution and carbon
dioxide emissions. They approve of his moves to attack and deregulate health
services: they approve of economic deregulation in general. Trump's own
businesses have benefitted ‘bigly' from deregulation. Coal industry bosses have
been big backers of Trump, although in actual fact, the coal industry has failed
to prosper under Trump. The oil and gas industry bosses have backed Trump because
of his "drill, baby, drill" campaign although during the 2016 election they
financed Hillary Clinton to the tune of $1 million because she promised to put
their coal industry rivals out of business. They put $936,000 in Trump's 2020
election coffers. Other capitalists support Trump's economic protectionist policies.
The Democrats under Biden and Harris, on the other hand, represent an apparatus
geared to support of the military, and the various security and secret services,
like the FBI and the CIA. Both the military and the security services are, in
general, hostile to Trump. Whilst Trump favours protectionism, the Democrats
favour global trade, and so they have the support of capitalists involved in
this. The Koch multinational, which in the past gave limited support to Trump,
have kept out of the current election race, precisely because they benefit from
global trade. The Democrats also promise to maintain the establishment as it was
before Trump, and so have the approval of the military, the security services and
other elements of the ruling class, as they are very concerned about Trump's
attitude to Putin's Russia, which they regard as conciliatory. They are also
concerned about the diplomatic standing of the USA, which they feel has been
undermined under Trump, and which threatens American world hegemony. In addition,
Trump's riding roughshod over democratic norms, including the use of the National
Guard and border corps in some of the cities experiencing uprisings, has much
disturbed them, as they need to maintain the illusion of a ‘democracy'.
Unity?
The key note in Biden's recent speeches has been his calls for unity of "the
American people." Biden said: "I am a proud Democrat, but I will govern as an
American president. I will work as hard for those who didn't vote for me as those
who did. If we can decide not to cooperate then we can decide to cooperate. And I
believe this is part of the mandate given to us by the American people."
Some of Biden's supporters are under no illusions as to what he will in fact do
to benefit the working class. It is hoped that at least he will take the pandemic
seriously and undo some of the worst of Trump's policies on climate change. Even
if he did want to make any other social and economic changes it will be
impossible with a Republican-controlled Senate. The main point, however, is
Biden's election is simply a return to a more rational pro-global capitalism
government and will do very little for the working class and the poor, whether in
the inner cities or in the rust belt. The Democrats will run things as before, in
conjunction with the Republicans, just as Biden is promising in his speeches.
Biden has a friendship with Mitch McConnell, the Republican majority leader in
the Senate. McConnell has veto power over a future Biden administration's cabinet
appointment. The media are highlighting this close personal relationship,
legitimising collusion between Democrats and Republicans.
The Democrats have a history of military intervention on a world scale, and Biden
himself has been implicated in this in the past. It is likely that the incoming
Democrats will continue with austerity measures. Biden has promised a package of
reforms - a $3.5 trillion economic package including investment in clean energy
and caregiving, a narrowing of the gap between rich and poor, as well as the
buying of more made-in-America goods. But Biden's inner circle is still very much
wed to austerity policies and one of these, ex-Senator Ted Kaufman, had to admit
that large increases in federal spending would not be possible because of the
increased deficit under Trump and the consequences of the pandemic. In addition
Biden has promised his capitalist backers on Wall Street that he would not
introduce new legislation to shackle the corporations. If change is going to
happen it will only be because of the actions of a strong self-organised united
movement in the workplaces and in the community. But what are the chances of
building such a movement?
One of the main obstacles will be the massive divisions in the working class. The
legacy of slavery, the long-term and on-going fight for basic rights, the
continued existence of highly segregated communities and workplaces means that
racism still permeates both institutions and the consciousness and actions of
many white workers. This has meant that many people have given up hope in unity
and focused on alliances between different ‘progressive' groups, based around
clearly defined identities: women, Black Americans, Latinos, Native Americans,
supported by whites, often from the middle class. This has led to the US
political scene being riddled with the scourge of identity politics. In its most
extreme form, white workers are written off completely and blamed for the Trump
years and his continued high number of votes.
Yes, Trump did have huge support from white workers. However, we need to
understand that this is an overgeneralisation and to pigeonhole people into a
particular identity, as if being a white male in itself means you are a racist,
and sexist bigot is to make the task of creating a united working class
impossible. White workers voted for Biden in unprecedented numbers. In addition,
one million more Black Americans and 5.5 million women voted for Trump than in
2016. Of course, the majority of Black Americans and women voted for Biden in
this election, and Trump had significant support among white workers, but the
simplified ‘truths' of identity politics are exposed by these figures.
The uprisings that took place in the cities over the summer and the autumn point
towards an alternative to the same old, same old of the Democrat-Republican
roundabout. The ongoing decay of American capitalism, aggravated by the pandemic,
and the brutal, murderous and racist behaviour of the police resulted in a number
of interesting and encouraging developments. First, the large number of wildcat
strikes and protests against safety concerns over COVID-19 in workplaces. Second,
the emergence of grassroots mutual aid networks throughout the States. Third, the
mobilisation of millions against state violence and racism and white supremacy,
sparked by the murder of George Floyd.
Millions are now looking for solutions to the ongoing crisis in America, to the
drive to military exploits abroad, the decay of the cities and mass unemployment,
to the violence of the police and the growth of the far right, to the
environmental threat but they will not find it with the Democrats. The Left
grouping, the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) are creating illusions in
the Democrat administration, that somehow it will be open to pressure from below.
This is not the case, for reasons we have already described above.
Independent and Autonomous Movement
The answer lies in creating a movement independent and autonomous from both the
Republicans and the Democrats that looks for working class unity that cuts across
ethnic divides. It has to reject both identity politics and co-option by the
Democrats. Against the false idea of "unity of the American people" it must
advance that of class unity. In this equation, we have to take account of the
large number of white workers who DID vote for Trump. They were in part motivated
by a feeling of betrayal by the Democrats, who had posed as their champions.
Years of the collapse of traditional industries, and the Democrats failing to
take any notice of their plight, as well as disgust with foreign wars, led many
workers in the rust belt and elsewhere to support a snake oil salesman who
promised much and delivered nothing to them. The problem of forging class unity
with this section of the working class is a difficult one, but on no account
should it be ignored. Whilst still challenging racism, sexism, climate change and
pandemic-deniers, those interested in a radically new society and the end of
capitalism need to come together and find ways of building this unity.
As Lorenzo Kom'boa Ervin said in the interview quoted above:
"We have to make it so that we create a new kind of political system of our own,
whether it's dual power or revolutionary direct democracy, whatever we want to
call it in this period. We need to create that kind of movement... And on the
other hand, we need to have the capacity on a mass scale to build a
community-based mass economic survival tendency, based on cooperatives in the
ghetto for housing the poor, rebuilding the cities, and taking care of the
material needs of the poor. We need to be able to build that. But what needs to
happen is that we need to be reaching the masses of urban poor people with these
programs. We're not fighting just to have a cult or a group, or some leaders.
We're fighting to put power in the hands of the people in a new society.
Presumably, revolutionaries know some things in some areas of organizing that
people don't know. So we need to be training them, we need to be equipping them
to be independent of this political structure. I also think the Black Panther
Party was right, we need to have survival programs and we need to be going beyond
just what they had. We should be trying to build the survival economy in this
period right now. We should go from this period where there are some people who
understand or are practicing mutual aid, but the masses do not. So we need to go
beyond ‘just helping,' to working toward some sort of different economy, a
survival economy on the way to full on anarchist communism."
Finally, there is the possibility that Trump will attempt to stay in power by
appealing to his armed supporters to rise in insurrection. If that is the case,
there must be a response of mass demonstrations, blockades, general strikes and
the raising of self-defence groups to thwart any such moves.
https://www.anarchistcommunism.org/2020/11/09/trump-on-his-way-out-but-big-struggles-ahead/
------------------------------
Message: 4
Polytechnics are not "allowed" by anyone for this and can not be banned by anyone
---- NO TRUST IN THE STATE NO TERMINATION WITH CAPITAL ---- Historically, the
state has a single reason to be concerned about the health of its citizens: that
they work and generate the profits of their bosses and must continue to do so.
However, this calculation is also subject to the terms of profit-loss. If the
treatment proves to be very expensive then they prefer to let it fall to the
levels where the National Health System is today. In the midst of terrible
unemployment, production can continue with those who remain healthy at no
exorbitant cost. At the same time, two new opportunities arise for the state and
the bosses. The first has to do with the even greater devaluation of the wages of
"dependent" workers. When people die and become unemployed, it is obviously time
for further reductions, so the pandemic turns into a rapid health memorandum. In
addition, the rulers do not stop "envisioning". Thinking that this golden
opportunity should not be lost in the possible temporary nature of the situation,
they hasten to legislate, perpetuating the horror of ten-hour work, unpaid work,
forced overtime and, of course, the indirect but completely effective strike ban.
This ensures that the reproduction of the exploitation of the working class will
intensify smoothly on even worse terms, beyond the length of time the pandemic
will last.
One question arises very clearly from the developments. Since the state is not
only not interested in protecting its citizens effectively, but is planning in
detail their class strangulation, while at the same time undermining the
expendable character of workers and the surplus of the unemployed and retirees,
what can the poor do to ensure that are they not going to die like animals in a
queue or in a sad waiting room or their house waiting for help that is not
coming? The answer is known to all, common to all the latitudes and longitudes of
the world and absolutely necessary when things reach no further: to revolt! And
here comes the major part of the government management of the pandemic.
Since the end of last month in Thessaloniki and since the beginning of November
in the rest of the country, a universal lock down has been declared for the
second time. And if for the first time the social body troubled by the unknown
threat took all the necessary measures of self-protection, while de facto
restricting its social and political freedoms, hoping for state assistance, today
it is forced to return to conditions of confinement and even stricter
authoritarianism, while it has watch in recent months an orgy of squandering
public money on intertwined entrepreneurs, (propeller, construction) media barons
and other bigoted idiocies (see walks). In this miserable situation for the
plebeians, where the inadequate ICUs are full with a responsibility entirely
theirs comes the Minister PRO.PO. ?. Chrysochoidis to announce the ban on the
demonstration of the Polytechnic. In fact, with arrogant gossip, he classifies
the 17th of November next to the national and religious parishes of the 28th of
October and Easter. But November 17 does not exist to "remind us of what unites
us" as a hymn by Savvopoulos from the "tables outside", but to swear to the dead
of the junta that we will never allow state terror, the police, to be imposed
again. concentration camps, the ultimate oppression and naked inhumanity. Banning
the demonstration is not a measure to fight the pandemic, but a state
announcement for a unilateral freezing of the social and class struggle on the
part of the workers and the youth, the exploited and the oppressed.
Their policies are the clearest revelation of their hypocrisy, as they dare to
use the health of society as a whole as an argument for repression. The one for
whom we are able to sacrifice everything while they are not able to take care of
the slightest thing. The only real equipment upgrade that took place during this
time was not the hospitals but the police. New helmets, new shields, new
chemicals... for the effective application of the old methods of oppression:
wood, torture, prohibitions. The state can and does not want to offer NEITHER
HEALTH OR FREEDOM to the plebeians, it wants us to work without any rights and to
stop it, while it creates conditions of misery and cannibalism to impose its
terrorism. Today, 47 years after the uprising, it bans the course of the
Polytechnic, while it has already passed the well-known bill to reduce the
protests. The anarchists will be present at the Polytechnic, not because of some
ideological whim, but because if we do not ensure today that the oppressed will
be able to resist against their executioners, then we are already dead! The time
is now and the place is here. We know that you have no trace of moral dilemmas
like the ones you recently invoked in another, convenient for you, treaty and you
do not hesitate to bleed the poor with your thumbs up, but much sooner than you
expect the voices you are trying to silence today. they will sound louder through
the darkness of your dystopian regularity. while it has already passed the
well-known bill to curb protests. The anarchists will be present at the
Polytechnic, not because of some ideological whim, but because if we do not
ensure today that the oppressed will be able to resist against their
executioners, then we are already dead! The time is now and the place is here. We
know that you have no trace of moral dilemmas like the ones you recently invoked
in another, convenient for you, treaty and you do not hesitate to bleed the poor
with your thumbs up, but much sooner than you expect the voices you are trying to
silence today. they will sound louder through the darkness of your dystopian
regularity. while it has already passed the well-known bill to curb protests. The
anarchists will be present at the Polytechnic, not because of some ideological
whim, but because if we do not ensure today that the oppressed will be able to
resist against their executioners, then we are already dead! The time is now and
the place is here. We know that you have no trace of moral dilemmas like the ones
you recently invoked in another, convenient for you, treaty and you do not
hesitate to bleed the poor with your thumbs up, but much sooner than you expect
the voices you are trying to silence today. they will sound louder through the
darkness of your dystopian regularity. but why if we do not ensure today that the
oppressed will be able to resist their executioners, then we are already dead!
The time is now and the place is here. We know that you have no trace of moral
dilemmas like the ones you recently invoked in another, convenient for you,
treaty and you do not hesitate to bleed the poor with your thumbs up, but much
sooner than you expect the voices you are trying to silence today. they will
sound louder through the darkness of your dystopian regularity. but why if we do
not ensure today that the oppressed will be able to resist their executioners,
then we are already dead! The time is now and the place is here. We know that you
have no trace of moral dilemmas like the ones you recently invoked in another,
convenient for you, treaty and you do not hesitate to bleed the poor with your
thumbs up, but much sooner than you expect the voices you are trying to silence
today. they will sound louder through the darkness of your dystopian regularity.
As we do not fight the pandemic together with the state but against its will,
with the compass of mutual aid and tool the structures of solidarity and
resistance so we do not expect any permission to honor our dead and to protest
against it. Polytechnics are not "allowed" by anyone for this and can not be
banned by anyone.
ONLY THE PEOPLE SAVE THE PEOPLE
PROTEST 17 | 11 | 2020, 17:00 POLYTECHNIC
Thessaloniki Local Coordination of the Anarchist Political Organization
------------------------------
Message: 5
It is not today that "patriots" propagate conspiracy theories. In the years
following the events of October, many people began to believe that the Front de
liberation du Québec (FLQ) was a creation of the police and that its activists
were mere puppets incapable of autonomous action (Comeau, p, 33). The leader of
the sovereignist movement, none other than René Lévesque, declared in an article
published in 1973 in Le Devoir that it was necessary to ask "if the Cross-Laporte
affair was not a political operation aimed at frightening Quebec. using the FLQ
as a pretext. "(Comeau, p.33). ---- here are still today many gray areas
surrounding the two political kidnappings, the death of Pierre Laporte, the laws
of war measures and the activities of the FLQ. In his book My October 70: The
crisis and its consequences , Robert Comeau tries to re-establish certain facts,
whether it is on his role in the October crisis as a member of the Viger
information cell[1]or of the role played by Carole Devault, agent provocatrice of
the police after October 1970.
The Keable Commission
On July 26, 1974, RCMP officer Robert Samson was seriously injured after
depositing a load of dynamite on behalf of the underworld near the residence of
the CEO of the Steinberg food chain. During his trial, he will disclose the
existence of "Operation Bricole", or the burglary by the police of the premises
of the Movement for the Defense of Political Prisoners and the Free Press Agency
of Quebec. This revelation will be at the origin of the major public inquiries
into the criminal activities of the police, including the Keable commission
(Comeau, p.32).
During his appearance before the Keable commission, set up by the Lévesque
government in 1977, Robert Comeau refused to testify. Rather, he reads a long
declaration that he co-signed with François Séguin and which was supported by
Nigel Hamer[2]. Regarding the conspiracy theories circulating about the FLQ and
the October Crisis, he states:
"What the Keable commission tries to accredit is the thesis that the federal
government of the time would have in 1970 if not engendered, at least favored,
the emergence of political terrorism in Quebec to have a pretext of choice to
annihilate independent forces. This thesis of the great manipulation by Ottawa in
1970, has been disseminated and discussed for a long time. In the background, it
should be read that the State would be so powerful and popular revolt so
improbable that any revolutionary violence would be suspect.»(Comeau, P.161).
With all due respect to fans of this kind of theory, the commission will not be
able to demonstrate any police infiltration prior to 1970.
"Operation Poupette"
Robert Comeau mentions that a few days after the kidnapping of James Richard
Cross, a young woman named Carole Devault came to ask him, during a party, to be
put in contact with activists of the FLQ. To show him her determination, she
suggests that he hold a flight for the benefit of the FLQ in the company where
she works. The police informed of the conspiracy obviously goes there to pick up
the thief and his accomplice. Later, faced with Carole Devault's insistence on
obtaining official FLQ paper and dynamite, Comeau refused by inventing directives
from an equally imaginary FLQ leader. This did not fail to fuel the myth of a
structured organization with a leader[3].
Source: BAnQ
During the events of October, Devault was not a member in good standing of the
FLQ and she was not in contact with the Liberation cell and even less with the
Chénier cell. Nevertheless, Comeau underlines that by his imprudence, "[he]had
introduced him into one of the nerve centers, the one which made the junction
between the cells which held the hostages". Subsequently, the information
transmitted to the police by the informant, the surveillance and the wiretapping
enabled the police to trace the traces to the hideout of the Liberation cell and
the place of detention of James Richard Cross. Finally, it was not until January
1971 that Carole Devault joined the real FLQ, (what remains of it) when she was
put in contact with François Séguin (who became an informant in 1972). In its
final report,
Reconstruction of the FLQ
No member of the Viger cell was arrested following the events of October.
According to the analysis of investigator Jean-François Duschenes: "Several
police testimonies attest that the decision not to worry Hamer was motivated by
the opportunity he had to monitor the Viger cell, the members of which had been
chased for some time. time[...]It was indeed logical to think that any
restructuring of the FLQ would be done from this cell and that by monitoring it
we would be able to prevent a recurrence of the October crisis. "(Comeau, p.114).
Le Devoir, September 27, 1971
After the Liberation cell's exile to Cuba, the arrest of members of the Chénier
cell and the political reorientation of Charles Gagnon and Pierre Vallières: "We
can say that it is this failed flight from Mascouche (and the death of
Pierre-Louis Bourret) who put the last nail in the FLQ's coffin ". Subsequently,
as Julien Giguère, then lieutenant-detective with the Montreal police force,
underlined: "In 1972, the FLQ was us. ".
Read also:Manifesto of October 1970: "the brave workers of Cabano"
Read also:[History of the FLQ]The Front cell in Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean
read also:50 years ago ... "the crisis" of October
[1]The Viger cell essentially played a supporting role for the Liberation cell
and exceptionally for the Chénier cell.
[2]Niger Hamer, an Englishman from McGill.
[3]A group of cells (Liberation, Chénier and Viger) without central management
and without group leader designated as such was formed within the framework of
the events of October (Comeau, p.76).
Posted 19 hours ago by Collectif Emma Goldman
http://ucl-saguenay.blogspot.com/2020/11/livre-mon-octobre-70-la-crise-et-ses.html
------------------------------
Message: 6
Saturday 5th December, 1pm-4.30pm ---- The nation state creates the illusion that
the people who live within certain physical borders are united politically,
economically, and culturally. However, this is not the case and belief in this
illusion has led to many in the working class to support their rulers and bosses
more than their fellow workers who are not identified as belonging to this
nation. Though understandably groups of people who have been exploited and
oppressed under colonialism want to free themselves, the end result is the
substitution of another oppressive State, just with different people in charge.
Whilst many people understandably identify with the place they live, the way in
which nationalism as an ideology has developed makes it very difficult to develop
any sense of working class internationalism. Political and social movements have
been diverted from fighting the real enemy- the capitalist class- and instead
have focused on another state or another group or people as the cause of their
situation. This can be seen all over the world - the conflict in Yugoslavia,
Hindu/Muslim clashes in India, the horrendous genocide in Rwanda/Burundi and the
hatred and violence against immigrants in the UK. Though the nationalism of
Scotland and Catalonia may seem less dangerous, it is based on the same premises:
that an independent Scotland or Catalonia will be better for all and workers
stand side by side with the ruling class.
Nationalism is a form of identity politics: the belief that by sharing a
particular identity, eg being Scottish, English, Welsh or whatever, that you
automatically share certain essential characteristics. People may experience
certain forms of exploitation and oppression because of having a particular
identity, eg not being able to speak your own language or even genocide. However,
this situation is based on the structural and material situation that people live
in and has nothing to do with eternal or essentialist characteristics of
different groups of people. The only way out of the situation is to see things in
terms of class with the enemy being capitalism. This does not mean that
identifying yourself as working class is enough - and repeating the same mistakes
of other forms of identity politics. Rather it is seeing that there is a
particular relationship between capital and labour that leads to exploitation. In
the end we want to abolish class as well - ending all exploitative and oppressive
relationships such that all that is left is human beings living in a free and
equal society.
Libertarian Communism 2020 will consider all these issues, aiming to find ways of
combatting nationalism and working towards a working class internationalism.
Speakers will address the question of nationalism generally and then the next
speakers will focus on nationalism in Catalonia (with a speaker from the CNT in
Spain) and in Scotland.
https://www.anarchistcommunism.org/2020/11/10/libertarian-communism-2020-class-not-nation/
------------------------------
Message: 7
Polytechnics are not "allowed" by anyone for this and can not be banned by
anyone. ---- NO TRUST IN THE STATE NO TERMINATION WITH CAPITAL ---- Historically,
the state has a single reason to be concerned about the health of its citizens:
that they work and generate the profits of their bosses and must continue to do
so. However, this calculation is also subject to the terms of profit-loss. If the
treatment proves to be very expensive then they prefer to let it fall to the
levels where the National Health System is today. In the midst of terrible
unemployment, production can continue with those who remain healthy at no
exorbitant cost. At the same time, two new opportunities arise for the state and
the bosses. The first has to do with the even greater devaluation of the wages of
"dependent" workers. When people die and become unemployed, it is obviously time
for further reductions, so the pandemic turns into a rapid health memorandum. In
addition, the rulers do not stop "envisioning". Thinking that this golden
opportunity should not be lost in the possible temporary nature of the situation,
they hasten to legislate, perpetuating the horror of ten hours, unpaid work,
forced overtime and, of course, the indirect but completely effective ban on the
strike. This ensures that the reproduction of the exploitation of the working
class is intensified smoothly on even worse terms, beyond the length of time the
pandemic lasts.
One question arises very clearly from the developments. Since the state is not
only not interested in protecting its citizens effectively, but is planning in
detail their class strangulation, while at the same time undermining the
expendable character of workers and the surplus of the unemployed and retirees,
what can the poor do to ensure that are they not going to die like animals in a
queue or in a sad waiting room or their house waiting for help that is not
coming? The answer is known to all, common to all the latitudes and longitudes of
the world and absolutely necessary when things reach no further: to revolt! And
here comes the major part of the government management of the pandemic.
For the second time since the beginning of November, a universal lock down has
been declared throughout the country. And if for the first time the social body
troubled by the unknown threat took all the necessary measures of
self-protection, while de facto restricting its social and political freedoms,
hoping for state assistance, today it is forced to return to conditions of
confinement and even stricter authoritarianism, while it has watch in recent
months an orgy of squandering public money on entangled entrepreneurs,
(propeller, construction) media barons and other bigoted idiocies (see walks). In
this miserable situation for the plebeians, where the inadequate ICUs are full
with a responsibility entirely theirs comes the Minister PRO.PO. ?. Chrysochoidis
to announce the ban on the demonstration of the Polytechnic. In fact, with
arrogant gossip, he classifies the 17th of November next to the national and
religious parishes of the 28th of October and Easter. But November 17 does not
exist to "remind us of what unites us" as a hymn by Savvopoulos from the "tables
outside", but to swear to the dead of the junta that we will never allow state
terror, the police, to be imposed again concentration camps, ultimate oppression
and naked inhumanity. Banning the demonstration is not a measure to fight the
pandemic, but a state announcement for a unilateral freezing of the social and
class struggle on the part of the workers and the youth, the exploited and the
oppressed.
Their policies are the clearest revelation of their hypocrisy, as they dare to
use the health of society as a whole as an argument for repression. The one for
whom we are able to sacrifice everything while they are not able to take care of
the slightest thing. The only real equipment upgrade that took place during this
time was not the hospitals but the police. New helmets, new shields, new
chemicals... for the effective application of the old methods of oppression:
wood, torture, prohibitions. The state can and does not want to offer NEITHER
HEALTH OR FREEDOM to the plebeians, it wants us to work without any rights and to
stop it, while it creates conditions of misery and cannibalism to impose its
terrorism. Today, 47 years after the uprising, it bans the course of the
Polytechnic, while it has already passed the well-known bill to reduce the
protests. The anarchists will be present at the Polytechnic, not because of some
ideological whim, but because if we do not ensure today that the oppressed will
be able to resist against their executioners, then we are already dead! The time
is now and the place is here. We know that you have no trace of the moral
dilemmas like the ones you recently invoked in another, convenient for you,
treaty and you do not hesitate to bleed the poor with your thumbs up, but much
sooner than you expect the voices you are trying to silence today. they will
sound louder through the darkness of your dystopian regularity. As we do not
fight the pandemic together with the state but against its will, with the compass
of mutual aid and tool the structures of solidarity and resistance so we do not
expect any permission to honor our dead and to protest against it. Polytechnics
are not "allowed" by anyone for this and can not be banned by anyone.
ONLY THE PEOPLE SAVE THE PEOPLE
EVERYONE AT THE NOVEMBER 17 PROTEST
Anarchist Political Organization - Federation of Collectivities Athens Local
Coordination
http://apo.squathost.com/oli-ke-oles-sti-diadilosi-tis-17is-noemvri-topikos-sintonismos-athinas/
------------------------------
Coordination By APO (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1
In October, 32 states signed the "Geneva Declaration of Consensus on Promoting
Women's Health and Strengthening the Family." At first glance, this sounds like a
commendable concern for women. In reality, however, it is an alliance pushing for
a complete restriction of the right to abortion. And who signed himself under
such atrocity? Not surprisingly, these are governments that are often autocratic,
conservative, religious, or narcissistic. ---- The list is therefore dominated by
the Donald Trump administration. We have been able to see his relationship with
women many times. Probably the best known is his quote from 2005: "And if you're
a star, they'll leave you. You can afford anything. (...) Catch them by the
pussy. Whatever. "He is successfully seconded by the Brazilian government of the
religiously based fascist Bolsonar, and three of the European countries with the
most authoritarian governments, such as Orbanov Hungary, Poland and Belarus's
dictator Lukashenko. To this have been added some governments of the Islamic
world, such as Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Libya and other countries, which, according to
the University of Georgetown Index, are at the bottom of the world's ranking of
women's safety.
Almost at the same time, a decision was made to substantially reduce the right to
abortion in Slovakia. Here, despite repeated attempts, such a proposal did not
pass, but the battle is far from won, as similar attempts will certainly be
repeated. However, much worse news has come for women in Poland, who, due to the
government of the Conservative and Church-affiliated Law and Justice Party (PiS),
already have almost completely limited abortion. Now, however, the local
constitutional court, in which PiS installed its people, has declared an article
of the constitution, which spoke of abortion in cases where the fetus has a
serious and irreversible birth defect, unconstitutional. It thus fulfilled the
Middle Ages, reminiscent of the efforts of PiS President Jaroslaw Kaczynski to
end even very complicated pregnancies, including in cases where it is certain
that the unborn child will die, the fetus is damaged or the pregnancy should end
with the birth of a stillborn baby. The argument for this woman threatening
nonsense is that every unborn child should be properly baptized and buried.
Such religious fanaticism, lack of respect for women, and a patriarchal worldview
are the unifying element of all dangerous darkness - from the Islamic State to
Law and Justice. But there are also many Christians, Muslims, who are not so
backward and disagree with similar decisions. Although all sorts of orthodox
believers and ultra-rightists encourage people to hate people of different
faiths, cultures, or skin colors, they are almost entirely similar in their
darkness across different parts of our planet.
But we don't want to go back to the Middle Ages, where women can just keep their
mouth shut and where their lives are determined by some black ass (regardless of
the religion they represent). It is no wonder that a large number of
conservatives reject, for example, the Istanbul Convention, which opposes
violence against women. According to them, the family is the basis of the state.
And since the state has a monopoly on violence, it is clearly necessary to
maintain this model in the family as well.
For the time being, we can be comforted by the fact that we are not in danger of
the Polish scenario. But let's be careful when he heads the March for Life
through Prague, led by representatives of the clergy. When the clerical-fascist
Duke declares the trade unionist a mob or glorifies Churchill, when someone dares
to come up with a critique of his racist policy. After all, they have now built a
Marian column under our noses at Staromák, which was demolished by the people of
Prague in 1918 as a hated symbol of Catholic enslavement.
The hope that the shrinking clouds of conservative oppression will be dispelled
and the light of humanism and rationality will come to earth is the motto
"Wypierdalac" - Go to hell - Polish women. They took to the streets to say their
"Enough" attempts to control their bodies and lives. The protests are carried by
the whole society - towns and villages. Kaczynski surrounded hundreds of police
officers around his headquarters and called on his followers to defend the
churches. His words were heard by the fighting between nationalists and neo-Nazis
attacking protesting women. Live clerical fascism. However, they did not
intimidate the women's strike, as well as threats of long-term punishments for
protesters for rallies during the coronavirus crisis.
We anarchists stand by (not only) Polish women for their right to decide their
bodies and lives. We stand on the side of light against the forces that seek to
draw us into the patriarchal darkness of God, the family and the nation.
A3 ( November 2020) can be downloaded HERE . http://www.afed.cz/A3/A3-2020-11.pdf
Download, print, distribute!
The A3 wall newspaper is published by the Anarchist Federation every month. They
are intended mainly for dissemination through stickers in the streets or posting
in workplaces and schools.
https://www.afed.cz/text/7246/a3-zeny-proti-tmarstvi
------------------------------
Message: 2
The management is trying to obtain the consent of the yellow unions to pass
collective collective agreements on the various sites. The CGT refuses the scheme
and wants to unite to resist. ---- September 17 was a modest day of national
action, but it was able to have relief in localities where struggles are starting
to mount against layoffs. This is the case in Segré (Maine-et-Loire), where 86
jobs out of 689 are threatened at Paulstra, plant of the Hutchinson group, an
automotive supplier specializing in rubber. ---- At the national level, the goal
of Hutchinson, a subsidiary of Total, is to take advantage of the coronavirus
crisis to restructure and lay off between 800 and 1,000 employees in its 25
factories in France. All despite the millions and billions of profits made for
many years by these groups, despite the millions of state aid acquired, and after
having refused short-time working in order to be able to continue paying
dividends without fear of seeing them. contested ...
The general management relies on collective contractual breaks (RCC) and, to
begin with, seeks to gain the consent of the yellow unions at the group level
before having the RCCs signed in the various legal structures of the group (SNC
Paulstra, SNC Le Joint Français , SNC Hutchinson, SA Hutchinson ...). The CFDT,
the CGC have already given their agreement, and FO is in the process of
switching, although it claims the opposite. Only the CGT - which fortunately has
a sufficient majority to block everything - refuses.
Since July, a CGT coordination of the Hutchinson group has been set up, bringing
together the unions located in 19 of the 25 factories. Demands have been
established to defend the maintenance of activity over the long term, and to
allow employees who want to leave to be able to do so without harming employees
who want to stay. Among these we find in particular a reduction in working time
for all to 32 hours with maintenance of salary, early retirement for team
positions and recognition of arduousness, or setting a maximum percentage of
temporary workers by factory to oblige to hire in CDI.
In the industrial area, with Hutchinson employees, September 17, 2020.
cc UCL Angers
Interested in the population
In Segré, given that the job cuts would affect the local economy more broadly,
steps have already been taken to challenge elected officials and the population.
On September 17, the CGT union in Paulstra called for a walk-out to go to the
inter-union rally on a strategic roundabout in the city. Distributing leaflets
for about an hour, followed by a walk to the factory, then speaking. Several
dozen factory employees were present, as well as a delegation from the CGT from a
factory of the same group in Château-Gontier, and a few others from the UL-CGT in
Segréen, as well as the PCF.
A delegation from UCL Angers who came to support them was very well received.
Interesting discussions with several strikers on the roundabout. Seeing the red
and black flag, several demonstrators spontaneously came to greet them (when they
already knew) or to learn about the UCL and its proposals. We will come back to
this fight.
Guillaume (UCL Angers)
https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Hutchinson-coordonner-les-usines-pour-dejouer-les-licenciements
------------------------------
Message: 3
"In the final analysis, Trump may want a personal dictatorship. But the other
guy[Biden], he's an agent for the state and he's an oppressor in his own right.
He's helped to get the prison system to the point where it is. His running mate,
Kamala Harris,-well she is just as much of an establishment Democrat as he is.
She's just as much in favor of using the police and the government against the
poor. We need to be able to educate masses of people about these things while
we're creating an alternative, so they will not be fooled. We need a new society
and a new world, not more capitalism." ---- Lorenzo Kom'boa Ervin, black American
anarchist and ex- Black Panther, from interview with William C. Anderson: ----
blackrosefed.org/ungovernable-interview-lorenzo-komboa-ervin-anderson/
First of all, the defeat of Trump, a symbol of climate change denial, racism and
white supremacy, sexism and corruption, is much welcomed, and was celebrated by
many, not just in the States but over the world. But when it comes down to it,
the result of the US election was, as always, a win for the ruling class. Trump
represented one faction of capitalism, Biden, another. At the same time,
unprecedented numbers, in the majority drawn from the working class and young
people, came out to vote for Biden, not with any particular enthusiasm for him,
but because they wanted to dump Trump, appalled as they were by his record on
COVID-19, on the environment, on racism and on women's rights.
One sign of how little has changed is the way post-election protests have been
treated by the authorities. There have been NO arrests in places where armed
Trump supporters have threatened ballot counters, such as Detroit, Michigan and
Maricopa County, Arizona. On the other hand, some of the many protests that
blossomed after Trump called for vote counting to stop and refused to concede
have been met with violence. In Portland, Oregon the Democratic governor, Kate
Brown, used the National Guard and police against those she described as
"self-described anarchist protestors", in actual fact different groups, some
protesting police violence, others Black Lives Matter supporters. In New York,
police attacked demonstrators and kettled them, arresting 57. In Minneapolis
police harassed demonstrators and issued 600 citation orders for ‘unlawful
assembly'. Police arrested seven demonstrators in Seattle, and in Denver, they
arrested eight, firing rubber bullets at the heads of demonstrators.
Trump has been backed by sections of the American boss class because they approve
of his rescinding of previous environmental laws which protected land and
species. They welcome his opening of protected land, including that of Native
Americans, to logging, fracking and oil, gas and mineral exploitation, reversing
over 70 environmental rules, including on air and water pollution and carbon
dioxide emissions. They approve of his moves to attack and deregulate health
services: they approve of economic deregulation in general. Trump's own
businesses have benefitted ‘bigly' from deregulation. Coal industry bosses have
been big backers of Trump, although in actual fact, the coal industry has failed
to prosper under Trump. The oil and gas industry bosses have backed Trump because
of his "drill, baby, drill" campaign although during the 2016 election they
financed Hillary Clinton to the tune of $1 million because she promised to put
their coal industry rivals out of business. They put $936,000 in Trump's 2020
election coffers. Other capitalists support Trump's economic protectionist policies.
The Democrats under Biden and Harris, on the other hand, represent an apparatus
geared to support of the military, and the various security and secret services,
like the FBI and the CIA. Both the military and the security services are, in
general, hostile to Trump. Whilst Trump favours protectionism, the Democrats
favour global trade, and so they have the support of capitalists involved in
this. The Koch multinational, which in the past gave limited support to Trump,
have kept out of the current election race, precisely because they benefit from
global trade. The Democrats also promise to maintain the establishment as it was
before Trump, and so have the approval of the military, the security services and
other elements of the ruling class, as they are very concerned about Trump's
attitude to Putin's Russia, which they regard as conciliatory. They are also
concerned about the diplomatic standing of the USA, which they feel has been
undermined under Trump, and which threatens American world hegemony. In addition,
Trump's riding roughshod over democratic norms, including the use of the National
Guard and border corps in some of the cities experiencing uprisings, has much
disturbed them, as they need to maintain the illusion of a ‘democracy'.
Unity?
The key note in Biden's recent speeches has been his calls for unity of "the
American people." Biden said: "I am a proud Democrat, but I will govern as an
American president. I will work as hard for those who didn't vote for me as those
who did. If we can decide not to cooperate then we can decide to cooperate. And I
believe this is part of the mandate given to us by the American people."
Some of Biden's supporters are under no illusions as to what he will in fact do
to benefit the working class. It is hoped that at least he will take the pandemic
seriously and undo some of the worst of Trump's policies on climate change. Even
if he did want to make any other social and economic changes it will be
impossible with a Republican-controlled Senate. The main point, however, is
Biden's election is simply a return to a more rational pro-global capitalism
government and will do very little for the working class and the poor, whether in
the inner cities or in the rust belt. The Democrats will run things as before, in
conjunction with the Republicans, just as Biden is promising in his speeches.
Biden has a friendship with Mitch McConnell, the Republican majority leader in
the Senate. McConnell has veto power over a future Biden administration's cabinet
appointment. The media are highlighting this close personal relationship,
legitimising collusion between Democrats and Republicans.
The Democrats have a history of military intervention on a world scale, and Biden
himself has been implicated in this in the past. It is likely that the incoming
Democrats will continue with austerity measures. Biden has promised a package of
reforms - a $3.5 trillion economic package including investment in clean energy
and caregiving, a narrowing of the gap between rich and poor, as well as the
buying of more made-in-America goods. But Biden's inner circle is still very much
wed to austerity policies and one of these, ex-Senator Ted Kaufman, had to admit
that large increases in federal spending would not be possible because of the
increased deficit under Trump and the consequences of the pandemic. In addition
Biden has promised his capitalist backers on Wall Street that he would not
introduce new legislation to shackle the corporations. If change is going to
happen it will only be because of the actions of a strong self-organised united
movement in the workplaces and in the community. But what are the chances of
building such a movement?
One of the main obstacles will be the massive divisions in the working class. The
legacy of slavery, the long-term and on-going fight for basic rights, the
continued existence of highly segregated communities and workplaces means that
racism still permeates both institutions and the consciousness and actions of
many white workers. This has meant that many people have given up hope in unity
and focused on alliances between different ‘progressive' groups, based around
clearly defined identities: women, Black Americans, Latinos, Native Americans,
supported by whites, often from the middle class. This has led to the US
political scene being riddled with the scourge of identity politics. In its most
extreme form, white workers are written off completely and blamed for the Trump
years and his continued high number of votes.
Yes, Trump did have huge support from white workers. However, we need to
understand that this is an overgeneralisation and to pigeonhole people into a
particular identity, as if being a white male in itself means you are a racist,
and sexist bigot is to make the task of creating a united working class
impossible. White workers voted for Biden in unprecedented numbers. In addition,
one million more Black Americans and 5.5 million women voted for Trump than in
2016. Of course, the majority of Black Americans and women voted for Biden in
this election, and Trump had significant support among white workers, but the
simplified ‘truths' of identity politics are exposed by these figures.
The uprisings that took place in the cities over the summer and the autumn point
towards an alternative to the same old, same old of the Democrat-Republican
roundabout. The ongoing decay of American capitalism, aggravated by the pandemic,
and the brutal, murderous and racist behaviour of the police resulted in a number
of interesting and encouraging developments. First, the large number of wildcat
strikes and protests against safety concerns over COVID-19 in workplaces. Second,
the emergence of grassroots mutual aid networks throughout the States. Third, the
mobilisation of millions against state violence and racism and white supremacy,
sparked by the murder of George Floyd.
Millions are now looking for solutions to the ongoing crisis in America, to the
drive to military exploits abroad, the decay of the cities and mass unemployment,
to the violence of the police and the growth of the far right, to the
environmental threat but they will not find it with the Democrats. The Left
grouping, the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) are creating illusions in
the Democrat administration, that somehow it will be open to pressure from below.
This is not the case, for reasons we have already described above.
Independent and Autonomous Movement
The answer lies in creating a movement independent and autonomous from both the
Republicans and the Democrats that looks for working class unity that cuts across
ethnic divides. It has to reject both identity politics and co-option by the
Democrats. Against the false idea of "unity of the American people" it must
advance that of class unity. In this equation, we have to take account of the
large number of white workers who DID vote for Trump. They were in part motivated
by a feeling of betrayal by the Democrats, who had posed as their champions.
Years of the collapse of traditional industries, and the Democrats failing to
take any notice of their plight, as well as disgust with foreign wars, led many
workers in the rust belt and elsewhere to support a snake oil salesman who
promised much and delivered nothing to them. The problem of forging class unity
with this section of the working class is a difficult one, but on no account
should it be ignored. Whilst still challenging racism, sexism, climate change and
pandemic-deniers, those interested in a radically new society and the end of
capitalism need to come together and find ways of building this unity.
As Lorenzo Kom'boa Ervin said in the interview quoted above:
"We have to make it so that we create a new kind of political system of our own,
whether it's dual power or revolutionary direct democracy, whatever we want to
call it in this period. We need to create that kind of movement... And on the
other hand, we need to have the capacity on a mass scale to build a
community-based mass economic survival tendency, based on cooperatives in the
ghetto for housing the poor, rebuilding the cities, and taking care of the
material needs of the poor. We need to be able to build that. But what needs to
happen is that we need to be reaching the masses of urban poor people with these
programs. We're not fighting just to have a cult or a group, or some leaders.
We're fighting to put power in the hands of the people in a new society.
Presumably, revolutionaries know some things in some areas of organizing that
people don't know. So we need to be training them, we need to be equipping them
to be independent of this political structure. I also think the Black Panther
Party was right, we need to have survival programs and we need to be going beyond
just what they had. We should be trying to build the survival economy in this
period right now. We should go from this period where there are some people who
understand or are practicing mutual aid, but the masses do not. So we need to go
beyond ‘just helping,' to working toward some sort of different economy, a
survival economy on the way to full on anarchist communism."
Finally, there is the possibility that Trump will attempt to stay in power by
appealing to his armed supporters to rise in insurrection. If that is the case,
there must be a response of mass demonstrations, blockades, general strikes and
the raising of self-defence groups to thwart any such moves.
https://www.anarchistcommunism.org/2020/11/09/trump-on-his-way-out-but-big-struggles-ahead/
------------------------------
Message: 4
Polytechnics are not "allowed" by anyone for this and can not be banned by anyone
---- NO TRUST IN THE STATE NO TERMINATION WITH CAPITAL ---- Historically, the
state has a single reason to be concerned about the health of its citizens: that
they work and generate the profits of their bosses and must continue to do so.
However, this calculation is also subject to the terms of profit-loss. If the
treatment proves to be very expensive then they prefer to let it fall to the
levels where the National Health System is today. In the midst of terrible
unemployment, production can continue with those who remain healthy at no
exorbitant cost. At the same time, two new opportunities arise for the state and
the bosses. The first has to do with the even greater devaluation of the wages of
"dependent" workers. When people die and become unemployed, it is obviously time
for further reductions, so the pandemic turns into a rapid health memorandum. In
addition, the rulers do not stop "envisioning". Thinking that this golden
opportunity should not be lost in the possible temporary nature of the situation,
they hasten to legislate, perpetuating the horror of ten-hour work, unpaid work,
forced overtime and, of course, the indirect but completely effective strike ban.
This ensures that the reproduction of the exploitation of the working class will
intensify smoothly on even worse terms, beyond the length of time the pandemic
will last.
One question arises very clearly from the developments. Since the state is not
only not interested in protecting its citizens effectively, but is planning in
detail their class strangulation, while at the same time undermining the
expendable character of workers and the surplus of the unemployed and retirees,
what can the poor do to ensure that are they not going to die like animals in a
queue or in a sad waiting room or their house waiting for help that is not
coming? The answer is known to all, common to all the latitudes and longitudes of
the world and absolutely necessary when things reach no further: to revolt! And
here comes the major part of the government management of the pandemic.
Since the end of last month in Thessaloniki and since the beginning of November
in the rest of the country, a universal lock down has been declared for the
second time. And if for the first time the social body troubled by the unknown
threat took all the necessary measures of self-protection, while de facto
restricting its social and political freedoms, hoping for state assistance, today
it is forced to return to conditions of confinement and even stricter
authoritarianism, while it has watch in recent months an orgy of squandering
public money on intertwined entrepreneurs, (propeller, construction) media barons
and other bigoted idiocies (see walks). In this miserable situation for the
plebeians, where the inadequate ICUs are full with a responsibility entirely
theirs comes the Minister PRO.PO. ?. Chrysochoidis to announce the ban on the
demonstration of the Polytechnic. In fact, with arrogant gossip, he classifies
the 17th of November next to the national and religious parishes of the 28th of
October and Easter. But November 17 does not exist to "remind us of what unites
us" as a hymn by Savvopoulos from the "tables outside", but to swear to the dead
of the junta that we will never allow state terror, the police, to be imposed
again. concentration camps, the ultimate oppression and naked inhumanity. Banning
the demonstration is not a measure to fight the pandemic, but a state
announcement for a unilateral freezing of the social and class struggle on the
part of the workers and the youth, the exploited and the oppressed.
Their policies are the clearest revelation of their hypocrisy, as they dare to
use the health of society as a whole as an argument for repression. The one for
whom we are able to sacrifice everything while they are not able to take care of
the slightest thing. The only real equipment upgrade that took place during this
time was not the hospitals but the police. New helmets, new shields, new
chemicals... for the effective application of the old methods of oppression:
wood, torture, prohibitions. The state can and does not want to offer NEITHER
HEALTH OR FREEDOM to the plebeians, it wants us to work without any rights and to
stop it, while it creates conditions of misery and cannibalism to impose its
terrorism. Today, 47 years after the uprising, it bans the course of the
Polytechnic, while it has already passed the well-known bill to reduce the
protests. The anarchists will be present at the Polytechnic, not because of some
ideological whim, but because if we do not ensure today that the oppressed will
be able to resist against their executioners, then we are already dead! The time
is now and the place is here. We know that you have no trace of moral dilemmas
like the ones you recently invoked in another, convenient for you, treaty and you
do not hesitate to bleed the poor with your thumbs up, but much sooner than you
expect the voices you are trying to silence today. they will sound louder through
the darkness of your dystopian regularity. while it has already passed the
well-known bill to curb protests. The anarchists will be present at the
Polytechnic, not because of some ideological whim, but because if we do not
ensure today that the oppressed will be able to resist against their
executioners, then we are already dead! The time is now and the place is here. We
know that you have no trace of moral dilemmas like the ones you recently invoked
in another, convenient for you, treaty and you do not hesitate to bleed the poor
with your thumbs up, but much sooner than you expect the voices you are trying to
silence today. they will sound louder through the darkness of your dystopian
regularity. while it has already passed the well-known bill to curb protests. The
anarchists will be present at the Polytechnic, not because of some ideological
whim, but because if we do not ensure today that the oppressed will be able to
resist against their executioners, then we are already dead! The time is now and
the place is here. We know that you have no trace of moral dilemmas like the ones
you recently invoked in another, convenient for you, treaty and you do not
hesitate to bleed the poor with your thumbs up, but much sooner than you expect
the voices you are trying to silence today. they will sound louder through the
darkness of your dystopian regularity. but why if we do not ensure today that the
oppressed will be able to resist their executioners, then we are already dead!
The time is now and the place is here. We know that you have no trace of moral
dilemmas like the ones you recently invoked in another, convenient for you,
treaty and you do not hesitate to bleed the poor with your thumbs up, but much
sooner than you expect the voices you are trying to silence today. they will
sound louder through the darkness of your dystopian regularity. but why if we do
not ensure today that the oppressed will be able to resist their executioners,
then we are already dead! The time is now and the place is here. We know that you
have no trace of moral dilemmas like the ones you recently invoked in another,
convenient for you, treaty and you do not hesitate to bleed the poor with your
thumbs up, but much sooner than you expect the voices you are trying to silence
today. they will sound louder through the darkness of your dystopian regularity.
As we do not fight the pandemic together with the state but against its will,
with the compass of mutual aid and tool the structures of solidarity and
resistance so we do not expect any permission to honor our dead and to protest
against it. Polytechnics are not "allowed" by anyone for this and can not be
banned by anyone.
ONLY THE PEOPLE SAVE THE PEOPLE
PROTEST 17 | 11 | 2020, 17:00 POLYTECHNIC
Thessaloniki Local Coordination of the Anarchist Political Organization
------------------------------
Message: 5
It is not today that "patriots" propagate conspiracy theories. In the years
following the events of October, many people began to believe that the Front de
liberation du Québec (FLQ) was a creation of the police and that its activists
were mere puppets incapable of autonomous action (Comeau, p, 33). The leader of
the sovereignist movement, none other than René Lévesque, declared in an article
published in 1973 in Le Devoir that it was necessary to ask "if the Cross-Laporte
affair was not a political operation aimed at frightening Quebec. using the FLQ
as a pretext. "(Comeau, p.33). ---- here are still today many gray areas
surrounding the two political kidnappings, the death of Pierre Laporte, the laws
of war measures and the activities of the FLQ. In his book My October 70: The
crisis and its consequences , Robert Comeau tries to re-establish certain facts,
whether it is on his role in the October crisis as a member of the Viger
information cell[1]or of the role played by Carole Devault, agent provocatrice of
the police after October 1970.
The Keable Commission
On July 26, 1974, RCMP officer Robert Samson was seriously injured after
depositing a load of dynamite on behalf of the underworld near the residence of
the CEO of the Steinberg food chain. During his trial, he will disclose the
existence of "Operation Bricole", or the burglary by the police of the premises
of the Movement for the Defense of Political Prisoners and the Free Press Agency
of Quebec. This revelation will be at the origin of the major public inquiries
into the criminal activities of the police, including the Keable commission
(Comeau, p.32).
During his appearance before the Keable commission, set up by the Lévesque
government in 1977, Robert Comeau refused to testify. Rather, he reads a long
declaration that he co-signed with François Séguin and which was supported by
Nigel Hamer[2]. Regarding the conspiracy theories circulating about the FLQ and
the October Crisis, he states:
"What the Keable commission tries to accredit is the thesis that the federal
government of the time would have in 1970 if not engendered, at least favored,
the emergence of political terrorism in Quebec to have a pretext of choice to
annihilate independent forces. This thesis of the great manipulation by Ottawa in
1970, has been disseminated and discussed for a long time. In the background, it
should be read that the State would be so powerful and popular revolt so
improbable that any revolutionary violence would be suspect.»(Comeau, P.161).
With all due respect to fans of this kind of theory, the commission will not be
able to demonstrate any police infiltration prior to 1970.
"Operation Poupette"
Robert Comeau mentions that a few days after the kidnapping of James Richard
Cross, a young woman named Carole Devault came to ask him, during a party, to be
put in contact with activists of the FLQ. To show him her determination, she
suggests that he hold a flight for the benefit of the FLQ in the company where
she works. The police informed of the conspiracy obviously goes there to pick up
the thief and his accomplice. Later, faced with Carole Devault's insistence on
obtaining official FLQ paper and dynamite, Comeau refused by inventing directives
from an equally imaginary FLQ leader. This did not fail to fuel the myth of a
structured organization with a leader[3].
Source: BAnQ
During the events of October, Devault was not a member in good standing of the
FLQ and she was not in contact with the Liberation cell and even less with the
Chénier cell. Nevertheless, Comeau underlines that by his imprudence, "[he]had
introduced him into one of the nerve centers, the one which made the junction
between the cells which held the hostages". Subsequently, the information
transmitted to the police by the informant, the surveillance and the wiretapping
enabled the police to trace the traces to the hideout of the Liberation cell and
the place of detention of James Richard Cross. Finally, it was not until January
1971 that Carole Devault joined the real FLQ, (what remains of it) when she was
put in contact with François Séguin (who became an informant in 1972). In its
final report,
Reconstruction of the FLQ
No member of the Viger cell was arrested following the events of October.
According to the analysis of investigator Jean-François Duschenes: "Several
police testimonies attest that the decision not to worry Hamer was motivated by
the opportunity he had to monitor the Viger cell, the members of which had been
chased for some time. time[...]It was indeed logical to think that any
restructuring of the FLQ would be done from this cell and that by monitoring it
we would be able to prevent a recurrence of the October crisis. "(Comeau, p.114).
Le Devoir, September 27, 1971
After the Liberation cell's exile to Cuba, the arrest of members of the Chénier
cell and the political reorientation of Charles Gagnon and Pierre Vallières: "We
can say that it is this failed flight from Mascouche (and the death of
Pierre-Louis Bourret) who put the last nail in the FLQ's coffin ". Subsequently,
as Julien Giguère, then lieutenant-detective with the Montreal police force,
underlined: "In 1972, the FLQ was us. ".
Read also:Manifesto of October 1970: "the brave workers of Cabano"
Read also:[History of the FLQ]The Front cell in Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean
read also:50 years ago ... "the crisis" of October
[1]The Viger cell essentially played a supporting role for the Liberation cell
and exceptionally for the Chénier cell.
[2]Niger Hamer, an Englishman from McGill.
[3]A group of cells (Liberation, Chénier and Viger) without central management
and without group leader designated as such was formed within the framework of
the events of October (Comeau, p.76).
Posted 19 hours ago by Collectif Emma Goldman
http://ucl-saguenay.blogspot.com/2020/11/livre-mon-octobre-70-la-crise-et-ses.html
------------------------------
Message: 6
Saturday 5th December, 1pm-4.30pm ---- The nation state creates the illusion that
the people who live within certain physical borders are united politically,
economically, and culturally. However, this is not the case and belief in this
illusion has led to many in the working class to support their rulers and bosses
more than their fellow workers who are not identified as belonging to this
nation. Though understandably groups of people who have been exploited and
oppressed under colonialism want to free themselves, the end result is the
substitution of another oppressive State, just with different people in charge.
Whilst many people understandably identify with the place they live, the way in
which nationalism as an ideology has developed makes it very difficult to develop
any sense of working class internationalism. Political and social movements have
been diverted from fighting the real enemy- the capitalist class- and instead
have focused on another state or another group or people as the cause of their
situation. This can be seen all over the world - the conflict in Yugoslavia,
Hindu/Muslim clashes in India, the horrendous genocide in Rwanda/Burundi and the
hatred and violence against immigrants in the UK. Though the nationalism of
Scotland and Catalonia may seem less dangerous, it is based on the same premises:
that an independent Scotland or Catalonia will be better for all and workers
stand side by side with the ruling class.
Nationalism is a form of identity politics: the belief that by sharing a
particular identity, eg being Scottish, English, Welsh or whatever, that you
automatically share certain essential characteristics. People may experience
certain forms of exploitation and oppression because of having a particular
identity, eg not being able to speak your own language or even genocide. However,
this situation is based on the structural and material situation that people live
in and has nothing to do with eternal or essentialist characteristics of
different groups of people. The only way out of the situation is to see things in
terms of class with the enemy being capitalism. This does not mean that
identifying yourself as working class is enough - and repeating the same mistakes
of other forms of identity politics. Rather it is seeing that there is a
particular relationship between capital and labour that leads to exploitation. In
the end we want to abolish class as well - ending all exploitative and oppressive
relationships such that all that is left is human beings living in a free and
equal society.
Libertarian Communism 2020 will consider all these issues, aiming to find ways of
combatting nationalism and working towards a working class internationalism.
Speakers will address the question of nationalism generally and then the next
speakers will focus on nationalism in Catalonia (with a speaker from the CNT in
Spain) and in Scotland.
https://www.anarchistcommunism.org/2020/11/10/libertarian-communism-2020-class-not-nation/
------------------------------
Message: 7
Polytechnics are not "allowed" by anyone for this and can not be banned by
anyone. ---- NO TRUST IN THE STATE NO TERMINATION WITH CAPITAL ---- Historically,
the state has a single reason to be concerned about the health of its citizens:
that they work and generate the profits of their bosses and must continue to do
so. However, this calculation is also subject to the terms of profit-loss. If the
treatment proves to be very expensive then they prefer to let it fall to the
levels where the National Health System is today. In the midst of terrible
unemployment, production can continue with those who remain healthy at no
exorbitant cost. At the same time, two new opportunities arise for the state and
the bosses. The first has to do with the even greater devaluation of the wages of
"dependent" workers. When people die and become unemployed, it is obviously time
for further reductions, so the pandemic turns into a rapid health memorandum. In
addition, the rulers do not stop "envisioning". Thinking that this golden
opportunity should not be lost in the possible temporary nature of the situation,
they hasten to legislate, perpetuating the horror of ten hours, unpaid work,
forced overtime and, of course, the indirect but completely effective ban on the
strike. This ensures that the reproduction of the exploitation of the working
class is intensified smoothly on even worse terms, beyond the length of time the
pandemic lasts.
One question arises very clearly from the developments. Since the state is not
only not interested in protecting its citizens effectively, but is planning in
detail their class strangulation, while at the same time undermining the
expendable character of workers and the surplus of the unemployed and retirees,
what can the poor do to ensure that are they not going to die like animals in a
queue or in a sad waiting room or their house waiting for help that is not
coming? The answer is known to all, common to all the latitudes and longitudes of
the world and absolutely necessary when things reach no further: to revolt! And
here comes the major part of the government management of the pandemic.
For the second time since the beginning of November, a universal lock down has
been declared throughout the country. And if for the first time the social body
troubled by the unknown threat took all the necessary measures of
self-protection, while de facto restricting its social and political freedoms,
hoping for state assistance, today it is forced to return to conditions of
confinement and even stricter authoritarianism, while it has watch in recent
months an orgy of squandering public money on entangled entrepreneurs,
(propeller, construction) media barons and other bigoted idiocies (see walks). In
this miserable situation for the plebeians, where the inadequate ICUs are full
with a responsibility entirely theirs comes the Minister PRO.PO. ?. Chrysochoidis
to announce the ban on the demonstration of the Polytechnic. In fact, with
arrogant gossip, he classifies the 17th of November next to the national and
religious parishes of the 28th of October and Easter. But November 17 does not
exist to "remind us of what unites us" as a hymn by Savvopoulos from the "tables
outside", but to swear to the dead of the junta that we will never allow state
terror, the police, to be imposed again concentration camps, ultimate oppression
and naked inhumanity. Banning the demonstration is not a measure to fight the
pandemic, but a state announcement for a unilateral freezing of the social and
class struggle on the part of the workers and the youth, the exploited and the
oppressed.
Their policies are the clearest revelation of their hypocrisy, as they dare to
use the health of society as a whole as an argument for repression. The one for
whom we are able to sacrifice everything while they are not able to take care of
the slightest thing. The only real equipment upgrade that took place during this
time was not the hospitals but the police. New helmets, new shields, new
chemicals... for the effective application of the old methods of oppression:
wood, torture, prohibitions. The state can and does not want to offer NEITHER
HEALTH OR FREEDOM to the plebeians, it wants us to work without any rights and to
stop it, while it creates conditions of misery and cannibalism to impose its
terrorism. Today, 47 years after the uprising, it bans the course of the
Polytechnic, while it has already passed the well-known bill to reduce the
protests. The anarchists will be present at the Polytechnic, not because of some
ideological whim, but because if we do not ensure today that the oppressed will
be able to resist against their executioners, then we are already dead! The time
is now and the place is here. We know that you have no trace of the moral
dilemmas like the ones you recently invoked in another, convenient for you,
treaty and you do not hesitate to bleed the poor with your thumbs up, but much
sooner than you expect the voices you are trying to silence today. they will
sound louder through the darkness of your dystopian regularity. As we do not
fight the pandemic together with the state but against its will, with the compass
of mutual aid and tool the structures of solidarity and resistance so we do not
expect any permission to honor our dead and to protest against it. Polytechnics
are not "allowed" by anyone for this and can not be banned by anyone.
ONLY THE PEOPLE SAVE THE PEOPLE
EVERYONE AT THE NOVEMBER 17 PROTEST
Anarchist Political Organization - Federation of Collectivities Athens Local
Coordination
http://apo.squathost.com/oli-ke-oles-sti-diadilosi-tis-17is-noemvri-topikos-sintonismos-athinas/
------------------------------
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