Today's Topics:
1. cab anarquista: An anarchist Indianist looking at Marx --
Marina Ari (pt) [machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
Marina Ari (pt) [machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
2. cnt.es: What is missing from the #alertaroja campaign? --
Canary Islands, Red alert (ca) [machine translation]
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
Canary Islands, Red alert (ca) [machine translation]
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
3. France, Union Communiste Libertaire AL #309 -
Unionism, Home
helpers: The "first chores" must earn their dignity (de, it, fr,
pt)[machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
helpers: The "first chores" must earn their dignity (de, it, fr,
pt)[machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
4. Slovakia, CNT-AIT calls for solidarity in wage dispute
[machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
[machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
5. vrije bond: Open call for the protest gathering in
solidarity with the persecuted anarchist Abtin Parsa (nl)
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
solidarity with the persecuted anarchist Abtin Parsa (nl)
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
6. US, black rose fed - People Get Ready: Popular Power In The
Coming Crisis By Arthur Pye (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
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Message: 1
This article was proposed as a response to David Ali's text entitled "Is it possible to think of Marx from Indianism - Katarism?" (Pukara
No. 149)[1]. Written by Marina Ari, a historian and member of the Pukara Community, and published in the next issue of the same vehicle in
February 2019, before the coup in Bolivia in November that toppled the Evo Morales government. This translation comes in an effort to seek
and gather reflections and experiences in the field of peasant, indigenous and forest peoples issues from the point of view of anarchism.
---- As well as contributing to the debate on non-urban, rural, forest and water struggles and the need to search and elaborate analysis
tools that start from the reality of these peoples, or that dialogue with them. The limits of Marxism and Leninism in this sense are
evident, and it is important to reflect on the extent to which the Left does not reproduce the same integrationist logic of the State. For
us anarchists, it poses challenges in the walk for popular power and social transformation, understanding the alliance between countryside
and city as fundamental to the social struggle; popular indigenous, black, peasant.
Let's go to the text
Sociologist David Ali Condori's challenging question “Is it possible to think of Marx from Indianism-Katarism?”, In his article published in
the number 149 (January 2019) of the Pukara Periodical, is like a constant bell chime that does not let you relax; do not forget that, in
Bolivia, we supposedly live in a Marxist regime with a liberator like Fidel Castro and all, but dressed in designer Andean blankets,
airplanes and luxury cars, a museum of his own and a palace with a jacuzzi .
The intelligent and precise question that Ali asks brings to mind something that Engels wrote, when in 1849 the USA took California over
Mexico's territorial rights. Engels said:
In America we witnessed the conquest of Mexico, which we are satisfied with. It constitutes progress (...) It is in the interest of its own
development that Mexico will be in the future under the tutelage of the United States. It is in the interest of the development of all
America that the United States, through the occupation of California, obtains the predominance over the Pacific Ocean ... (Engels, 1972: 183).
Without forgetting the extraordinary luck that Engels attributes to California for having been snatched from the Mexican "lazy" and "indolent":
Or, is it a disgrace that magnificent California was taken from the lazy Mexicans, who didn't know what to do with it? (It is a disgrace)
that the energetic Yankees, through the rapid exploitation of the gold mines (…) increase the means of circulation (…) create large cities,
establish steamboat routes (…) open (…) the Pacific Ocean to the civilization (…). The 'independence' of some Spaniards in California and
Texas will suffer, perhaps; 'justice' and other moral principles may be violated here and there, but what does it matter in the face of such
historical-universal deeds? (Engels, 1972: 189-90)
The "justice" and other violated moral principles that Marxists consider collateral damage, apply more acutely to indigenous peoples,
qualified as barbarians, located - at best - in the stage of feudalism and, therefore, are part of that that capitalism must destroy, as a
necessary step to be overcome by the revolution of the proletariat.
The Indians, in the desirable classist context for Marxism - as is the stage of the bourgeoisie versus the proletariat - we are only an
obstacle, a weight that must be annihilated by the industrial and "vigorous" bourgeoisie to give way to the proletariat, so it is not
strange that Marxism, during the European invasion, place us as barbarians with inevitable destinies: "the Indians of the so-called New
Mexico peoples, the Mexicans, Central Americans and Peruvians of the time of the conquest were in the middle stage of barbarism" (Engels,
1972: 29-30). These thinkers were the result of the establishment of positivism that projected that history was linear and progressive, that
is why they argued that political-economic processes were subject to progress (fundamental idea of positivism), and how good students of
Hegel drank from the views of the German philosopher who proposed that the highest expression of human thought was produced in Europe with
modernity. Of course, the father of positivism proposed European superiority over other "territories" that he qualified as "immature".
Europe, owner of history, when "expanding" gave history to the vassal territories that neither existed nor were represented. It is not
strange, then, that the annihilation of peoples from the "new world" (qualified as "immature" and powerless ") seems inevitable: when
"expanding", he gave history to the vassal territories that neither existed nor were represented. It is not strange, then, that the
annihilation of peoples from the "new world" (qualified as "immature" and impotent ") seems inevitable: when "expanding", he gave history to
the vassal territories that neither existed nor were represented. It is not strange, then, that the annihilation of peoples from the "new
world" (qualified as "immature" and impotent ") seems inevitable:
They had a culture when they were discovered by the Europeans, and they lost it when they came in contact with them (...) it was a natural
culture, which would die as soon as the spirit approached it. America has always been revealed and continues to be powerless both physically
and spiritually. The indigenous people, since the arrival of the Europeans, have died under the breath of European activity. In animals
themselves, there is the same inferiority as in men ... (Hegel, 2005: 266).
Does it coincide with Hegel's thinking when Engels speaks of the subjugation of America and its inhabitants as unimportant in the face of
universal historical facts? Of course, it is the result of the Hegelian root, that is, positivist and Eurocentric root. Marx and Engels
speak as Europeans and from the perspective of Europe.
Hegel already referred in a supremacist way to the brotherly Indian peoples of North America when he conceptualized them as weak and
inferior, in the face of European superiority: "These peoples of weak culture perish when they come into contact with peoples of higher and
more intense culture" ( Hegel, 2005: 267). He will refer to us, Indians of South America, as subservient, submissive and lacking in
self-esteem, as savages and without "spirit"; and without educational capacity; that is: lower:
The travel descriptions tell stories that demonstrate the submission, humility, servility that these indigenous people show towards the
Creole and even more towards the European. Europeans still have a long way to ignite a sense of self-esteem in the natives' souls. We saw
them in Europe, walking with no courage and almost no capacity for education. The inferiority of these individuals is manifested in
everything, even in stature ... (Hegel, 2005: 267).
It is positivism with its idea of progress that sees us as retarded, adults like children, subdivided without thought or purpose: "So, well,
Americans live like children who just exist, far from everything that means thoughts and goals high "(Hegel, 2005: 267).
In the Marxist project we don't even exist, despite the efforts of the great Peruvian thinker JC Mariátegui, who tried to forge that the
Indian is the true proletarian; we are not, and therefore we necessarily become expendable for Marxism, because for the theory of the
history of class struggles to be fulfilled with the destruction of one of the antagonistic classes, such as the bourgeoisie, we need to die
to make way for the formation of the proletariat. For Marxism, we are obstacles, barbarians who were excluded from this process. That is why
Engels describes us as "people with no history"; moreover, Engels was inspired by Hegel, who referred to this category to people who could
not be structured into nations. Marx and Engels applauded British colonialism in India, characterizing it as progressive because, as in
China, they were pre-capitalist societies;
The Hegelian basis in Marxism is clear, when Engels distinguishes peoples with history from those "without history", he takes the
evolutionary linear Marxist theory to postulate that these pre-capitalist, barbaric and agrarian peoples, "should be forced into
civilization and succumb to an inevitable assimilation process "(Tarcus, 2008: 13) and although Marx perceives the importance of European
colonialism, he considers it as an" unconscious instrument of history "(Tarcus, 2008: 13) and, in the next step of his theory, it represents
the capitalist establishment as a step before the social revolution, therefore it is progressive (attention, the favorite concept of
positivism), as progressive will be the consequences of the subjugation of the peoples considered pre-capitalist. Our extinction as
indigenous peoples is a requirement for "evolution", which is capitalism, to be later defeated. Because we are not part of European history
or its project in which "The bourgeoisie exercised... an essentially revolutionary action. Wherever power was conquered, feudal, patriarchal
and idyllic relations were trampled underfoot "(Marx, 2000: 29), in this linear scheme the Indians (worse, indigenous women) are"
reactionaries "because we cannot be proletarians, and in this situation, elements destined to succumb. Eurocentrism legacy view because
"historical materialism does not break with the transversality of imperial difference, but assumes it, as an implicit category of its theory
of history, to make room, based on an interpretation methodology that is specific to it,
However, in spite of the fact that I do not rescue Marx because I consider that Marxism expelled the Indians (with the recommendation of
devastation) from the area of themes of historical materialism, I am in full agreement with my friend David Ali, in the last part of his
article, when it determines the decline of the capitalist system:
However, the capitalist system is in crisis with global warming, because its "middle-end" rationality translates into domination and
accumulation; and these lead to the denial of life. Therefore, to continue betting on this system is to go on the path of collective suicide
... (Ali 2019).
I agree with the proposal of the need to cancel this brutal system that also comes from positivism. But I agree even more with his idea of
Pachakuti: "the return to the paradigm of life, founded on another rationality, where the end would be the affirmation and reproduction of
life and thus leave the modern anthropocentrism that has made the world a thing" (Ali 2019). Conception that has nothing to do with Marxism.
Although capitalism brutally imposed the incorporation of labor technology to extract, transform and destroy nature, Marxism did not
consider it any more than a production base for consumption and also for merchandise, within an anthropocentric conception, "Ultimately
instance, a commodity implies the destruction of biological biodiversity and a loss of unique and irreplaceable genetic material,
The Pachakuti approach (outside the pachamamism of the current "socialist" regime in Bolivia, which without understanding this tendency of
thinking and distorting and twisting and prostituting it called "the rights of Mother Earth") has more to do with the deep ecology created
by Arne Naess who in her life project declared that the struggle is for the end of anthropocentrism.
https://jichha.blogspot.com/2019/02/es-posible-pensar-marx-desde-el.html
Bibliography:
Bibliography:
ALI CD (2019). Is it possible to think of Marx from Indianism-Katarism? Qullasuyu: Pukara monthly periodical. Enro 2019. Año 12. No. 149.
ANDERSON, KB (2012). Marx around nationalism, ethnicity and non-Western societies. (En: https: //viento¬sur.info/spip.php? Article6987 ). Al
01, enero 2019
GÜENDEL, Hermann. (2011). Marx on Latin America, critical review of a Eurocentric enunciation. Praxis Magazine No. 67. Dialnet.
HEGEL, GWF (2005). Lectures on the Philosophy of Universal History. Madrid. Editorial Tecnos.
MARIÁTIEGUI, JC (2007). 7 Interpretation sessions of the Peruvian reality. Boliviarian Republic of Venezuela: Ed. Fundación Biblioteca Ayacucho
MARX, K. (2000). Communist Manifesto. Ed. Elaleph
MARX, K. ENGELS, F. (1972) Materiales for the history of Latin America. Cordoba, Argentina: Ed. Cuadernos de Pasado y Presente 30.
TAELI, GF (2018) Marx: natural and commercial. Chile: Nuevos Nómadas. 229-237. (En: http: //nomadas.ucentral.
Edu.co/nomadas/pdf/noma-das_48/48_14G_marx_la_na¬turaleza_y_la_mercancia.pdf ) Al 02 enero 2019
Tarcus, Horacio. (2008). Is Marxism a philosophy of history? Marx, the theory of progress and the "Russian question". Andamios, 4 (8), 7-32.
Retrieved on January 1, 2019, at http://www.scielo.org.mx/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1870-00632008000100001
Source: Pukara No 150. La Paz, February 2019. Seen at https://jichha.blogspot.com/2019/02/indianista-anarquista-mirando-marx.html
translation: CAB Agrário GT
http://cabanarquista.org/2020/11/02/uma-indianista-anarquista-olhando-marx/
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Message: 2
1. MEASURES DIRECTLY AFFECTING, IN POSITIVE, EMPLOYED PEOPLE. ---- The joint claims table lacks measures for us, except for the ERTES
request, which also benefit the employer. Thus, the thing focuses on: ---- ? Not claim any labor rights for the workers. ---- ? Reduction of
corporate tax. ---- ? Request for aid with public money to companies, without any link to employment maintenance measures, or sanctioning
regime, in case of non-compliance with current labor legislation. ---- ? Social abandonment of female workers (self-employed or third
parties). ---- 2. QUESTIONING THE ORIGIN OF THE SITUATION THAT AFFECTS US.
The current labor framework is considered good, for the benefit of companies, with false self-employed workers, fraud in registration, lack
of regulation of the sector and insufficient contributions; ignoring the Right of a large part of the workers, to the special regime of
artists (RD 1435/1985 of August 1). The business sector prioritizes the self-employed and their trade associations. He is responsible for
fraudulent contracts and false self-employed, breaching the Agreements.
3. IT HAS DELIBERATELY LEFT OUT THE UNIONS.
It does not recognize the unions, vetoing their participation. He excuses himself with the desire to create a negotiating table,
appropriating the representativeness of the working people. The legislation designates unions to negotiate the working conditions of an
economic and labor sector.
4. A FALSE SENSATION OF "BEING ALL IN THE SAME BOAT ALWAYS" IS GENERATED.
Workers and Entrepreneurs, especially the big ones, cannot fight together for the same interests, because they will almost always be opposed!
Furthermore, there is no equal relationship between the two parties. The confusion of an idealized and unreal worker-business union is
staged, generating an opinion that creates "cultural alarm", providing as a solution all business interests and preventing the entry of
unions to say ours.
The stoppage due to Covid-19 is assuming greater precariousness, especially for cultural workers, with employers telling us that they cannot
do anything else, the old and
recurring "this is what you get."
IN SUMMARY: The #AlertaRoja campaign fundamentally benefits business interests, not those of the working class.
WHAT DO WE PROPOSE?
1. PROMOTE DIRECT HIRING AND KILL THE FALSE SELF-EMPLOYEE.
? Application of RD.1435 / 1985 to all working people who participate in public shows, including technical, auxiliary, administration and
management personnel, while the Statute of the Artist, Creator and Worker of Culture is developed (which already includes this type of
contract).
? Application of the most favorable Agreements for female workers. * Creation of the State Sectorial Collective Agreement, with its regional
and provincial sectorial Agreements. Scope of
application of working conditions for all types of hiring in the same activities, without distinguishing between working for third parties
or self-employed (self-employed without dependents).
2. DEFEND, EXPAND AND IMPROVE AGREEMENTS.
Urgent amendment of the Workers' Statute to include unions in statutory collective bargaining with implantation in sectors where the
representative system is not viable
by union elections, especially cultural and entertainment, and in general in those in which intermittence is the labor reality of the workers.
3. STOP AND REVERT AS POSSIBLE THE EXTERNALIZATIONS OF SERVICES.
Outsourcing of services involves a disguised privatization of public services and it has been fully demonstrated that they have a very
negative effect on the working conditions of workers: reduction of wages, precariousness, job instability, etc.
? Public entities and the public sector should be prohibited from new outsourcing and subrogate the personnel of those already existing
directly by the Administration and by public sector companies.
? Place special emphasis on public cultural management companies, to avoid subcontracting
structure personnel, as well as compliance with current labor legislation.
4. PARTICIPATION OF ALL THE SECTOR UNIONS AT THE BARGAINING TABLES.
Substantial modifications to the current Legislation are being considered. The unions, and especially those that, even though they are a
minority, have a real presence in the sector, cannot be excluded from the debate and negotiation, even less when the employers are
represented in these negotiations through their business associations and taking advantage of the associations
trade union professionals.
5. NO TO THE RAISED MODEL OF TAX DISCOUNTS.
The large cultural industries have already been the major beneficiaries of the aid granted so far, and they undoubtedly intend to continue
taking advantage of the situation to continue maximizing profits, guaranteeing the status quo and deepening the general precariousness of
the sector.
The sharp decline in activity is causing countless closures and bankruptcies of small and medium-sized companies, which will lead to an even
greater business concentration than the current one, which we consider negative, both for the interests of cultural workers and for the
Culture in itself.
The rescue plans for companies through tax reductions do not guarantee that small companies can take advantage of most of the provision of
the measures, and they are not carried out by monitoring that they comply with the rights of workers, through sanctioning regimes in case of
non-compliance.
6. CREATE A UNION OF WORKING PEOPLE OF CULTURE.
We reject Professional Associations as valid interlocutors, since in most of them there is a clear conflict of interest. Employers can be
part of many of these associations, so that there cannot be a situation of equality between the parties and workers are thus
under-represented, reinforcing the employer's positions.
We advocate making a clear distinction between the working class and the bosses. The message is clear, when negotiating a possible
collective agreement the interests of workers and those of the
companies are opposites, companies try to earn more by paying less and we have fair wages and decent working conditions.
Worker / a do not fool yourself, your boss is not your colleague and who is going to negotiate for him either!
Communiqué-Alert-roja-con-CGT-v.2 Download
Post navigation
https://www.cnt.es/noticias/que-le-falta-a-la-campana-alertaroja/
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Message: 3
There is no rush to work in home help... although it is a vital link in society! It must be said that the collective agreement is a
deterrent. This is due to the state's mishmash, which subcontracts this essential service to non-profit associations. But how to organize
such an atomized proletariat in trade unions to improve the situation ? ---- Childcare, services to stay at home, support for everyday
activities (cleaning, toilet, games, walking, etc.): home help is essential for many dependent people, especially those isolated in an
environment rural. It is nevertheless facing a recruitment crisis for three clearly identified reasons: working conditions, travel and wages.
Responding to this vocations crisis would require financial resources that no government wants to meet. Signed in 2010, the collective
agreement for the home help, support, care and services branch (known as "BAD") covers 227,000 employees, 97% of whom are women. Their
employers are non-profit organizations, including the best known is the network ADMR (Home help in rural areas) which appears as "1 stFrench
associative network service to the person, a leader in the social economy and solidarity". On the employee side, three trade union
federations are representative: the CFDT (47.42%), CGT (38.46%) and FO (14.11%)[1]
Pay for travel !
At the beginning of 2012, when it entered into force, the ADB collective agreement set fire to the powder in several departments, in
particular in the ADMR network, where the employees lost days of seniority leave, and especially a part travel expenses.
A large majority of employees must indeed use their own car to go from one home to another. And the distances traveled increase very quickly
in rural areas ! The collective agreement provides for reimbursement of 0.35 € / km, which has not changed since... 2008 ! Suffice to say
that they are rolling at a loss. And yet, part of these trips are simply not compensated, on the pretext that they are outside working time
! Indeed, it is the employer who sets the schedule and the time between two interventions, 30 or 45 minutes for example, beyond which travel
time is no longer counted.
In 2017, part of the situation was resolved by signing an amendment (No. 36) to the collective agreement. From now on, all trips are
considered as actual working time but... for this provision to apply, "a funder" must be willing to pay money accordingly to the budget of
the employing association. However, the Ministry of Solidarity and Health refuses the funds, and returns the ball to the departmental
councils ... of which only a minority has agreed to put their hands in their pockets. This unbearable inequality between departments decided
the CGT not to sign amendment n ° 36.
Employers negotiate, the state refuses
But the hardest part is the income, which is very low: while more than 89% of contracts are part-time, a large part of conventional wages
are below the minimum wage ! Negotiations carried out since 2018 on the salary scales have recently resulted in an agreement on an addendum
(number 43) signed by the CFDT and by FO. According to FO, this agreement would allow an increase in wages of 14% on average, then pushing
all the coefficients above the hourly minimum wage. The increase would even be 22% for the basic salary of the educational and social
support (AES).
The problem is that employers can sign whatever they want, since the implementation of the agreement - pending approval by the ministry -
depends on state funding. However, the government (like all its predecessors) refuses the budget increase, of the order of 600 million
euros, that this would represent.
The CGT, for its part, refused to sign the agreement, pointing out the lack of guarantee of a conventional salary higher than the minimum
wage, of a real career progression and, above all, the new architecture of the classification induced by the rider n ° 43. The numerous
salary scales with progression according to seniority would in fact disappear, in favor of radical simplification. There would only remain
two streams (support ; management and intervention), two degrees per stream and three steps per degree. And the passage from one level or
from one degree to another would be, in good part, left to the appreciation of the hierarchy ! At the start, the employers' union even had
the project of a classification no longer making any reference to diplomas, and based on a logic of "competence. ". Hey, isn't that
analogous to the strategy of the metallurgy bosses ? [2]
Some 227,000 employees, 97% women, more than 89% part-time ... and a significant portion of conventional wages below the minimum wage !
France 3
When will there be real resources for union action ?
In the end, CGT and FO slowed down this employer orientation. For example, they have prevented assistance with essential acts of life from
being allowed to employees without training. This is to avoid, in theory, the "slippage of tasks", which is one of the black spots of the
profession.
But they were not able to avoid the introduction of a Trojan horse in rider n ° 43: "additional elements of remuneration" (ECR), previously
incorporated in the salary, would henceforth be separated. Some are permanent (seniority and diploma), others not, and the latter would
allow employers, in the future, to come back to the charge against seniority and diplomas.
As in other fragmented sectors of the wage earner[3], organizing and fighting in home help is very difficult. Collective struggles sometimes
emerge, unions can be created or strengthened, but all this remains very fragile. For this to work, we know from experience, it would be
necessary to second more militants to organize the forces on the ground. But that would imply financial means, which would have to be found
on the side of the trade union federations in the sector, with the help of the local unions.
The question of home help is also that of the female proletariat, of the essential place it has held since the start of the Covid-19 crisis.
Has the lesson really been learned by struggle unionism ? Not yet.
Michel (UCL Vosges)
Light punishment for the labor inspector
Thanks to the mobilization, Anthony Smith's disciplinary change was reduced: he was finally assigned to the Meuse, his region of origin. The
Minister of Labor announced it on September 9, prompting the resignation of a senior minister, Yves Struillou, publicly disowned. Anthony
Smith, also a CGT activist, was suspended and then sent before a disciplinary council for having initiated proceedings against Aradopa, a
home help association which, in the midst of the virus, did not provide gowns or masks to its employees.
After this first victory, the inter-union CGT-SUD-FSU-CNT maintains its complaint before the International Labor Organization for violation
of the independence of the labor inspectorate.
Validate
[1] This representativeness was established in March 2017 by the Ministry of Labor by aggregating all the scores in professional elections
(DP, CE, now CSE) in companies with at least 11 employees between 2013 and 2016. Representativeness is recalculated every four years.
[2] "Metallurgy: how the UIMM wants to work more while paying less", Alternative libertaire , September 2020.
[3] "Childminders: Neither nannies nor nurses, the cry of pink vests", Alternative libertaire , April 2019
https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Aides-a-domicile-Les-premieres-de-corvee-doivent-gagner-leur-dignite
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Message: 4
The CNT-AIT in the Marina Alta region has called for an international week to support an unpaid wage dispute with the luxury rental company
The Adelante House. Back in December 2019, the company reduced Roxane's working hours by 2 hours a day without notice and proper
documentation, which was to be reflected in lower wages. At that time, she was just on vacation, which she was going through under stress,
and when she returned, the situation became even more complicated. In the article, we explain the cause of the dispute and the company's
reaction and state the possibilities in which to express solidarity. ---- Problem development ---- Upon returning from leave, Roxane was
informed (again without written proof and the 15-day legal period required for such an adjustment) that her salary would be reduced by EUR
400 and she would have to go to more than one workplace. The next day, she had a long conversation with the boss (who was just arguing)
about the problem, which resulted in anxiety and led to a long-term PNka. However, Roxana did not want to give up, and after discussing the
whole matter with the union, they decided together to enter into a dispute.
The company's reaction to the union's protests
So far, three protests have taken place. During the first company, Roxan even called the police and did not even protect itself by sending
various threats by e-mail. However, the shares have brought some concessions, although not yet satisfactory. For example, the company called
for an end to the protests and promised to pay off the money owed. However, she only paid out a ridiculous amount, so the shares continue.
How you can help
Next week, there is a meeting with the company's management to reach a settlement of the dispute. The CNT-AIT is trying to put as much
pressure as possible on the boss to meet the requirements. Therefore, an international week of events in support of Roxana is taking place
from Monday.
For example, you can join as follows:
1) Call the company on a number in Spain or Belgium and give your opinion
+34 6531 128 815 Spain
+32 474 629 270 Belgium
2) Send a protest e-mail to welcome@theadelantehouse.com
CNT-AIT sent us the following English sample link for the company, but you can easily edit it at your own discretion:
Stop taking advantage of workers. No more playing with their health and sustenance.
Adelante Home Costa Services pay what you owe!
An injury to one is an injury to all.
NAME,
COUNTRY
Translation:
Stop abusing workers. Don't mess with their health and livelihood.
Adelante Home Costa Services pay what you owe!
Injustice on one is injustice on all.
In the blind copy, please also include our e-mail zvazpa (at) riseup.net so that we can inform CNT-AIT about the number of people involved.
3) Write down what the company's practices think of their FB and IG
http://instagram.com/theadelantehouse?igshid=n00iw79qgzmx
http://facebook.com/theadelantehouse
If you can't think of the wording, you can use the email pattern above.
We recommend using the #TheAdelanteHouse hashtag on social networks.
4) Spread this challenge among the people around you and ask them to get involved too
.
Union Direct Action
https://www.priamaakcia.sk/Zvaz-CNT-AIT-ziada-o-solidaritu-v-spore-o-dlznu-mzdu-.html
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Message: 5
Neither Iran, nor Greece, the persecuted anarchist Abtin Parsa should stay in the Netherlands -- 7th November, at 14:00 in DAM square of
Amsterdam -- The persecuted anarchist Abtin Parsa is an former political prisoner with atheism view from Iran who was imprisoned by Islamic
regime for one year and half. ---- On 2014, the persecuted anarchist Abtin Parsa, in the age of 16 was arrested by IRGC for a anti Islamic
and anti state public speech in his hight school known as Shahid Chamran of Iranian city of Zarghan. ---- The persecuted anarchist Abtin
Parsa, even after his release from prison, came under pressure and control by the Islamic regime, that in 2016 escaped to Greece from Iran.
The presence of the persecuted anarchist Abtin Parsa in Greece was accompanied by threats from the Islamic regime, which repeatedly he was
threatened with death from various organizations and individuals affiliated with the Iranian Islamic regime.
In 2017, at the same time as the nationwide anti-state protests in Iran, the persecuted anarchist Abtin Parsa showed his solidarity with the
protests in a video message. A few days after this message of solidarity was published, the Iranian regime manipulated and edited this video
message and broadcasted it on national television to accuse the persecuted anarchist Abtin Parsa of teaching protesters how to make explosives.
The persecuted anarchist Abtin Parsa was granted political asylum at 2017 for a three-year staying in Greece. In the same year 2017, the
persecuted anarchist Abtin Parsa joined the resistance movement in Greece, and began to struggle against the systematic oppression
perpetrated by the Greek state against society, especially immigrants. During these struggles, the persecuted anarchist Abtin Parsa was
arrested and even tortured several times by the Greek state, including:
In July 2018, the persecuted anarchist Abtin Parsa was tortured by Greek police for his political activities against the Greek state, during
which several parts of his body were seriously damaged and a vertebrae in his back was broken.
In January 2019, the persecuted anarchist Abtin Parsa was arrested by Greek police on charges of using forged documents to leave Greece
illegally.
In August 2019, he was arrested next to his home by Greek police on charges of carrying a weapon while he had only a small paper cutter with
him. The persecuted anarchist Abtin Parsa refused to give a criminal finger to the police in order to protest the way the police treated him
and other immigrants, and the court sentenced him to three months in prison and a fine of 180 euros.(suspended prison)
In November 2019, as the counter-terrorism police launched a large-scale operation to find clues to a revolutionary organization, his house
and several other anarchists were attacked by the counter-terrorism police. During the anti-terrorist police operation, an anarchist and
another person were imprisoned, and two other anarchists were arrested, both of whom are temporarily released. During the anti-terrorist
police raid on the house of persecuted anarchist Abtin Parsa, all his asylum documents, which were in the house, along with his other
belongings, were confiscated by the anti-terrorist police.
In February 2020, the persecuted anarchist Abtin Parsa was forced to leave Athens in a political decision to have a secret life in different
city to be away from police control due to the anti-terrorist police's excessive control over his home, movements and even personal connections.
On March 14, 2020, the persecuted anarchist Abtin Parsa was charged with call for armed uprising, in fact because of his solidarity with
immigrants, which was covered as propaganda by various Greek television channels and newspapers against him. Then, on March 30, 2020, the
persecuted anarchist Abtin Parsa was arrested by Greek anti-terrorist police on these charges against him.
While the political asylum of persecuted anarchist Abtin Parsa was nearing the end of its three-year term, various Greek newspapers quoted
the Greek Ministry of Immigration as saying that the political asylum of persecuted anarchist Abtin Parsa had been revoked due to his arrest
on March 30, 2020.
After the Greek state revoked the political asylum of persecuted anarchist Abtin Parsa, he fled Greece and applied for political asylum in
the Netherlands. A few weeks ago, the Dutch state rejected his political asylum application and intends to extradite him to Greece. If the
persecuted anarchist Abtin Parsa is extradited to Greece, he may end up to Greek prisons or even extradited from Greece to the Islamic state
of Iran, where his life will no doubt be in serious danger. We demand the granting of Dutch political asylum to the persecuted anarchist
Abtin Parsa, and we oppose his extradition to Greece.
Anarchist initiative, Amsterdam
https://www.vrijebond.org/open-oproep-voor-protest-bijeenkomst-in-solidariteit-met-de-vervolgde-anarchist-abtin-parsa/
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Message: 6
In this critical moment social movements must mobilize to not only defeat a possible Trump coup, but also showcase a vibrant alternative to
neoliberalism. ---- As the November election rapidly approaches, a larger battle is raging over the future of this country. While the fate
of the Presidency will be consequential to say the least, its wider implications will be shaped by forces far beyond the ballot box. To
understand the full weight of this moment, we have to look beyond the election itself, at the broader context of a nation mired in crisis
and rebellion. ---- It is the strength of popular movements, more than anything else, which will determine the fate of the United States,
for better or worse. As Trump threatens to trigger a constitutional crisis over the election results, organized mass resistance is the best
weapon we have, not only to stop an attempted coup, but to fight for a just and livable world. We are living in an age of crisis, and with
or without Trump, popular power is our only hope.
An Age Of Crisis
We are living through a time of unparalleled and compounding crises. The almighty US empire, with its promise of safety, stability and
prosperity, is in a state of sharp decline. Its veil of legitimacy is lifting. Under the backdrop of a deadly global pandemic and rapidly
accelerating climate change, American society is being ravaged by systemic racism, state violence, unemployment, housing insecurity, gender
violence, declining mental health, escalating political violence, and a looming election crisis.
Like most crises, this moment has been accompanied by widespread polarization and radicalization. As faith in the legitimacy of existing
institutions plummets across the board, people come to their own conclusions and increasingly take matters into their own hands. The center
simply cannot hold. On the left, we've seen this in the wildcat strikes of the pandemic as well as the militant tactics and abolitionist
demands of the George Floyd Rebellion. On the right, we see it in the armed protests against State COVID restrictions, conspiracy theories
like Qanon, white supremacist violence and the growing militia movement. As the ranks of radicals swell on both sides, conflict between them
intensifies. The 2020 Presidential Election (and its mainstream media frenzy) has only served to amplify this polarization as a deepening
culture war.
What we are seeing is a fundamental instability of the neoliberal establishment, as its basic institutions increasingly cease to function.
Its demise is far from inevitable, but as it weakens, cracks are beginning to open, presenting opportunities for both left popular movements
and the far right to push for alternatives. Whether our current system is ultimately reconstituted or transformed into something else will
depend on the outcome of these struggles in the coming period.
Rebellion And Reaction
Rather than quietly submitting to fear and disillusionment, the people of this country have met crisis with outrage and direct action on a
mass scale. The first wave came in response to the pandemic. When bosses and politicians condemned thousands of people to death in order to
safeguard their own profits and political control, workers and community members fought back with a wave of wildcat strikes and grassroots
mutual aid networks.
The second wave came in response to the relentless racist terror of American policing. We are still in the midst of an unprecedented
national uprising against state violence and white supremacy. Since May, tens of millions of people have flooded into the streets of
America, demanding systemic change through sustained mass protest and bold disruptive action. In doing so, the George Floyd Rebellion has
exercised real transformative power, capturing public consciousness and uniting diverse social movements around a radical vision of racial
justice, abolition and self-determination.
This movement has transformed the cultural and political landscape with remarkable speed. Less than a week after George Floyd's murder, a
majority of Americans said the burning of a Minneapolis Police precinct was "justified." Calls to defund and disband the police spread like
wildfire, winning broad support across the country. As the streets swelled, protestors held their ground, often laying siege to local police
departments night after night, forcing some to retreat from their stations altogether. Through the act of collective struggle, people have
begun to uncover a dangerous secret - that the police are not invincible, and sustained mass action can quickly bring the powerful to their
knees.
This rebellion has posed a direct threat to State power, provoking panic and reaction across the spectrum of the ruling class. The liberal
establishment has attempted to neutralize the rebellion through co-optation, pacification and division. On the other side of the spectrum,
Trump's GOP and its far-Right base have tried to crush it by force, through vigilante violence and direct state repression. This conflict
has not only given voice to communities terrorized by centuries of systemic oppression, it has also exposed the violent racism which still
permeates the very foundations of state power and much of the American psyche.
A Looming Election Crisis
Nothing illustrates the volatility of our current moment more clearly than the uncertainty surrounding the upcoming election. Amidst a
deadly pandemic, a collapsing economy and escalating political unrest, the sitting US President is openly threatening to throw the country
into a full-blown constitutional crisis if he is not re-elected. This is unprecedented in modern US history, and even top officials are
unsure whether existing legal structures can withstand the challenge.
There has been much speculation about possible scenarios and how they may unfold in the period following election day. But suffice it to
say, the stage is set for a full-blown meltdown. Unless Biden wins such a staggering victory across the board that Trump and the Republicans
miraculously give up and set aside all their sinister plans, the results will be contested. Trump has made it crystal clear that unless he
wins outright (which is looking increasingly unlikely), he and his party will sound the alarm, claiming widespread voter fraud and denying
the legitimacy of the election. From there, we could quickly enter uncharted territory, from which there's no turning back. An ensuing
battle will rage, not only in federal courts and the halls of congress, but in the streets of America.
In the weeks and months that follow, this conflict could dramatically transform the social and political landscape of the country in
unpredictable ways, regardless of who eventually takes office. If Trump makes a clear effort to steal the election, we will almost certainly
see a dramatic and widespread upsurge in political activity on the left, including mass direct action on a scale possibly beyond even the
George Floyd Rebellion. The right will likely respond with aggressive actions from "Patriot" militias and other loyalist groups, easily
leading to an escalating cycle of political violence which could edge the nation closer and closer towards the brink of low-grade civil war.
A Choice Of Two Enemies
In this election, two broad forces are coalescing around the respective parties, presenting popular movements with a choice between two
enemies: the neoliberal establishment and an insurgent right-wing authoritarianism. The neoliberals, represented by the Biden-Harris
Democratic Party, are committed to maintaining the stability of the current system by co-opting, pacifying and dividing today's progressve
movements. Trump's GOP and its far-Right base represent a fascistic alternative, committed to crushing progressive movements by force,
enforcing a racist and nationalist agenda, dismantling the existing regulatory state, and consolidating their own power beyond the official
bounds of representative democracy. That both these forces are hostile to our movement should be clear. The question is which will wield the
full powers of the State for the next four years.
Not all enemies are created equal. They don't all wield power in the same way. They don't have the same interests and vulnerabilities. Under
equal pressure from social movements, they don't yield the same results. While Biden and the Democrats undeniably represent the same rotten
system our movement is fighting to dismantle, the blatant authoritarianism and white supremacy of Trump's GOP represents a unique threat,
not only to the left and to communities of color, but to the very notion of democracy itself (whether we believe our current system is
actually democratic or not).
If reelected to a second term, Trump will almost certainly move to consolidate his power and expand his most reactionary policies. If
emboldened through a successful power-grab, there's no telling how far he will go. The difference between these two enemies controlling the
State is therefore enormously consequential. It could mean the difference between our movement playing offense or defense - between fighting
for a Green New Deal, police abolition and universal health care, or fighting just to keep our communities safe and our comrades out of
prison in Trump's America 2.0. For some, it will mean the difference between life and death.
None of this is to suggest we can simply vote our way out of this crisis. If anything, Trump's attempt to override the election results
should be proof enough that voting is a woefully insufficient strategy. Regardless of which party holds the presidency, our movement must
continue fighting a war on two fronts - advancing struggles for social and environmental justice in the face of both neoliberalism and
Trump's insurgent right-wing authoritarianism.
How To Stop A Coup
In the days following November 3rd, the action (or inaction) of popular movements will prove decisive in determining Trump's chances of
staying in power. Immediately following election day, as votes are being counted, the left has to mobilize an enormous show of force, making
it clear that he will have a national uprising on his hands if he so much as whispers about overriding the results.
As soon as Trump makes the slightest attempt to steal the election, we have to respond immediately with massive direct actions across the
country. Dozens of major cities and large sectors of the economy should be effectively brought to a standstill until Trump concedes. We have
to make it abundantly clear not only to Trump, but to his entire party and its powerful corporate backers, that the country will become
ungovernable until he steps down. Rapid escalation is critical here. The Republicans cannot be given any time or wiggle room to exploit the
legal system, spread disinformation, or intimidate people into inaction. Security forces loyal to the President must be quickly overwhelmed
by the sheer scale of collective action.
There will surely be widespread calls for public protest, supported by the Democratic Party. But to exert the power necessary to make
Trump's bid untenable, popular movements have to push these mobilizations beyond protest, into a full scale national uprising. The Democrats
will likely discourage anything beyond symbolic protest, urging us to stand on the sidelines and trust the legal system to work itself out.
They will be mistaken. It will be crucial at this point for popular movements to push back and insist on bold disruptive action.
Shutting the country down is no small feat. While we're likely to see a massive surge of energy in the streets, energy alone is not enough.
It will take organization and resolve to effectively sustain that level of action. Here, the George Floyd Rebellion has provided us with
invaluable lessons. We know from recent experience that success will require mass participation, strategic alliances among diverse groups, a
commitment to direct action, and organized support networks to sustain momentum and keep people safe. Our power lies in our numbers and our
ability to directly disrupt the routine political and economic functioning of the country. That means organizing mass blockades and
occupations of major infrastructure such as transportation corridors, ports, railways, federal courthouses and capitol buildings.
Strikes are another crucial tactic. Organized workers hold a tremendous amount of power, especially in key industries and government
agencies. The threat of a possible coup attempt has already provoked many unions to consider post-election walkouts. These efforts should be
enthusiastically bolstered and supported. The collective action of organized workers could prove pivotal to the success of the uprising,
broadening its reach and dramatically expanding its disruptive power. This power would reach its ultimate potential in the form of a general
strike, where workers across a range of industries, throughout an entire region (or the whole country) strike simultaneously with the same
demand.
Whatever form the uprising takes, it will not go unchallenged. Trump will almost certainly unleash the full extent of his loyal forces in an
attempt to crush the uprising and galvanize his supporters. Based on his reaction to recent #BlackLivesMatter protests, we can expect these
forces to include the police, DHS, the National Guard, and various far-Right militias. We could easily see a further escalation this time
around, depending on how the situation develops. If Trump feels threatened enough, he could order the DHS to round up activists and detain
them as suspected "antifa terrorists." He could also attempt to deploy the US Military again, this time invoking the Insurrection Act. If
that fails, he could openly call on loyalist "patriot" militias to deploy into American streets. It's impossible to predict, but we should
consider all these courses of action to be within the realm of possibility.
The most important thing to remember is that our best self-defense from any of these threats is to build a movement that is simply too big
to crush. Many of us think of the police and other state forces as invincible but if the uprising this summer taught us anything it's that
they are not. Trump only has so many forces at his disposal, and (crucially) the military does not appear to be one of them. That means a
straight-forward military coup is out of the question. If everyday people are able to effectively shut down dozens of major cities and
entire sectors of the economy for a prolonged period of time through a massive and sustained popular uprising and widespread labor strikes,
there are simply not enough cops and soldiers to bring that kind of situation under control. Many of them would eventually become
demoralized, and some would refuse orders. Even Trump's most loyal ruling class backers would have to rethink their position. The sheer
scale and force of disruption by popular movements would instill a fear of institutional instability which outweighs whatever potential
benefits Trump promises them. Eventually the president would have no choice but to step down.
Keep Your Eyes On The Prize
An attempted power-grab by Trump should be seen not only as a major threat to the left, but also as an enormous opportunity to build the
power of our movements. If mass popular resistance forces the President to step down, our movement will hold an enormous amount of leverage
- the power to bring the U.S. government to its knees. In such a moment, we will face a critical decision: do we surrender this power to the
Democrats, or continue to wield it in the interests of our own transformational goals. Will our energy be turned towards a Biden
Administration, or deflated by it?
Those who fail to realize the power they hold will be easily convinced to "go home" as soon as Trump concedes. This would be a grave
mistake. The moment we demobilize, we will not only weaken our prospects for progressive change, we will also be opening up space for the
inevitable backlash of the far-Right. Our ability to avoid this pitfall will be shaped over the course of the uprising itself. It will
depend on our ability to fight on our own terms.
Just because an uprising is sparked by election-tampering, doesn't mean our demands should be limited to the terms of the election itself.
Are we fighting for Joe Biden, or for liberation? Are we fighting for the status quo, or for the full realization of our movement's vision?
The limits of our power will be shaped by the way we define victory itself. If we define it as defense of the status quo, then the most we
can hope for is what we already have. If we define it as liberatory transformation, then our resistance to Trump can become resistance to
the entire ruling establishment itself.
This opens up a world of possibility for transformation from below. With this revolutionary spirit, we can build lasting structures of
popular power over the course of the uprising. Local assemblies, action councils, militant unions, community defense groups and mutual aid
networks could sustain mass momentum beyond the uprising and lay the groundwork for a revolutionary movement. Only then can we begin to
emancipate ourselves from the system that gave rise to Trump in the first place and go on to fight for truly free, ecological and democratic
society.
What Now? Get Organized!
Organize with your coworkers or fellow students and prepare to strike after election day. Organize with your neighbors and community members
to care for each other and defend each other. Organize mutual aid networks. Join a local grassroots organization. Unite diverse
organizations into strategic coalitions. Organize an affinity group with your friends and prepare to take action. Organize study circles
about direct action tactics, first aid, legal rights, security culture and how to stay safe at a protest. Raise money for community bail
funds. Open up your home as a potential safehouse for activists. Discuss revolutionary politics with your fellow activists. In short - get
organized.
And never forget: Trump is a symptom. Capitalism is the crisis. Popular power is our only hope.
Arthur Pye is a writer, community organizer and member of Black Rose/Rosa Negra based in the Salish Sea. Follow him on Twitter at
@PyesOnThePrize.
https://blackrosefed.org/people-get-ready-popular-power-in-the-coming-crisis/
------------------------------
Coming Crisis By Arthur Pye (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
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Message: 1
This article was proposed as a response to David Ali's text entitled "Is it possible to think of Marx from Indianism - Katarism?" (Pukara
No. 149)[1]. Written by Marina Ari, a historian and member of the Pukara Community, and published in the next issue of the same vehicle in
February 2019, before the coup in Bolivia in November that toppled the Evo Morales government. This translation comes in an effort to seek
and gather reflections and experiences in the field of peasant, indigenous and forest peoples issues from the point of view of anarchism.
---- As well as contributing to the debate on non-urban, rural, forest and water struggles and the need to search and elaborate analysis
tools that start from the reality of these peoples, or that dialogue with them. The limits of Marxism and Leninism in this sense are
evident, and it is important to reflect on the extent to which the Left does not reproduce the same integrationist logic of the State. For
us anarchists, it poses challenges in the walk for popular power and social transformation, understanding the alliance between countryside
and city as fundamental to the social struggle; popular indigenous, black, peasant.
Let's go to the text
Sociologist David Ali Condori's challenging question “Is it possible to think of Marx from Indianism-Katarism?”, In his article published in
the number 149 (January 2019) of the Pukara Periodical, is like a constant bell chime that does not let you relax; do not forget that, in
Bolivia, we supposedly live in a Marxist regime with a liberator like Fidel Castro and all, but dressed in designer Andean blankets,
airplanes and luxury cars, a museum of his own and a palace with a jacuzzi .
The intelligent and precise question that Ali asks brings to mind something that Engels wrote, when in 1849 the USA took California over
Mexico's territorial rights. Engels said:
In America we witnessed the conquest of Mexico, which we are satisfied with. It constitutes progress (...) It is in the interest of its own
development that Mexico will be in the future under the tutelage of the United States. It is in the interest of the development of all
America that the United States, through the occupation of California, obtains the predominance over the Pacific Ocean ... (Engels, 1972: 183).
Without forgetting the extraordinary luck that Engels attributes to California for having been snatched from the Mexican "lazy" and "indolent":
Or, is it a disgrace that magnificent California was taken from the lazy Mexicans, who didn't know what to do with it? (It is a disgrace)
that the energetic Yankees, through the rapid exploitation of the gold mines (…) increase the means of circulation (…) create large cities,
establish steamboat routes (…) open (…) the Pacific Ocean to the civilization (…). The 'independence' of some Spaniards in California and
Texas will suffer, perhaps; 'justice' and other moral principles may be violated here and there, but what does it matter in the face of such
historical-universal deeds? (Engels, 1972: 189-90)
The "justice" and other violated moral principles that Marxists consider collateral damage, apply more acutely to indigenous peoples,
qualified as barbarians, located - at best - in the stage of feudalism and, therefore, are part of that that capitalism must destroy, as a
necessary step to be overcome by the revolution of the proletariat.
The Indians, in the desirable classist context for Marxism - as is the stage of the bourgeoisie versus the proletariat - we are only an
obstacle, a weight that must be annihilated by the industrial and "vigorous" bourgeoisie to give way to the proletariat, so it is not
strange that Marxism, during the European invasion, place us as barbarians with inevitable destinies: "the Indians of the so-called New
Mexico peoples, the Mexicans, Central Americans and Peruvians of the time of the conquest were in the middle stage of barbarism" (Engels,
1972: 29-30). These thinkers were the result of the establishment of positivism that projected that history was linear and progressive, that
is why they argued that political-economic processes were subject to progress (fundamental idea of positivism), and how good students of
Hegel drank from the views of the German philosopher who proposed that the highest expression of human thought was produced in Europe with
modernity. Of course, the father of positivism proposed European superiority over other "territories" that he qualified as "immature".
Europe, owner of history, when "expanding" gave history to the vassal territories that neither existed nor were represented. It is not
strange, then, that the annihilation of peoples from the "new world" (qualified as "immature" and powerless ") seems inevitable: when
"expanding", he gave history to the vassal territories that neither existed nor were represented. It is not strange, then, that the
annihilation of peoples from the "new world" (qualified as "immature" and impotent ") seems inevitable: when "expanding", he gave history to
the vassal territories that neither existed nor were represented. It is not strange, then, that the annihilation of peoples from the "new
world" (qualified as "immature" and impotent ") seems inevitable:
They had a culture when they were discovered by the Europeans, and they lost it when they came in contact with them (...) it was a natural
culture, which would die as soon as the spirit approached it. America has always been revealed and continues to be powerless both physically
and spiritually. The indigenous people, since the arrival of the Europeans, have died under the breath of European activity. In animals
themselves, there is the same inferiority as in men ... (Hegel, 2005: 266).
Does it coincide with Hegel's thinking when Engels speaks of the subjugation of America and its inhabitants as unimportant in the face of
universal historical facts? Of course, it is the result of the Hegelian root, that is, positivist and Eurocentric root. Marx and Engels
speak as Europeans and from the perspective of Europe.
Hegel already referred in a supremacist way to the brotherly Indian peoples of North America when he conceptualized them as weak and
inferior, in the face of European superiority: "These peoples of weak culture perish when they come into contact with peoples of higher and
more intense culture" ( Hegel, 2005: 267). He will refer to us, Indians of South America, as subservient, submissive and lacking in
self-esteem, as savages and without "spirit"; and without educational capacity; that is: lower:
The travel descriptions tell stories that demonstrate the submission, humility, servility that these indigenous people show towards the
Creole and even more towards the European. Europeans still have a long way to ignite a sense of self-esteem in the natives' souls. We saw
them in Europe, walking with no courage and almost no capacity for education. The inferiority of these individuals is manifested in
everything, even in stature ... (Hegel, 2005: 267).
It is positivism with its idea of progress that sees us as retarded, adults like children, subdivided without thought or purpose: "So, well,
Americans live like children who just exist, far from everything that means thoughts and goals high "(Hegel, 2005: 267).
In the Marxist project we don't even exist, despite the efforts of the great Peruvian thinker JC Mariátegui, who tried to forge that the
Indian is the true proletarian; we are not, and therefore we necessarily become expendable for Marxism, because for the theory of the
history of class struggles to be fulfilled with the destruction of one of the antagonistic classes, such as the bourgeoisie, we need to die
to make way for the formation of the proletariat. For Marxism, we are obstacles, barbarians who were excluded from this process. That is why
Engels describes us as "people with no history"; moreover, Engels was inspired by Hegel, who referred to this category to people who could
not be structured into nations. Marx and Engels applauded British colonialism in India, characterizing it as progressive because, as in
China, they were pre-capitalist societies;
The Hegelian basis in Marxism is clear, when Engels distinguishes peoples with history from those "without history", he takes the
evolutionary linear Marxist theory to postulate that these pre-capitalist, barbaric and agrarian peoples, "should be forced into
civilization and succumb to an inevitable assimilation process "(Tarcus, 2008: 13) and although Marx perceives the importance of European
colonialism, he considers it as an" unconscious instrument of history "(Tarcus, 2008: 13) and, in the next step of his theory, it represents
the capitalist establishment as a step before the social revolution, therefore it is progressive (attention, the favorite concept of
positivism), as progressive will be the consequences of the subjugation of the peoples considered pre-capitalist. Our extinction as
indigenous peoples is a requirement for "evolution", which is capitalism, to be later defeated. Because we are not part of European history
or its project in which "The bourgeoisie exercised... an essentially revolutionary action. Wherever power was conquered, feudal, patriarchal
and idyllic relations were trampled underfoot "(Marx, 2000: 29), in this linear scheme the Indians (worse, indigenous women) are"
reactionaries "because we cannot be proletarians, and in this situation, elements destined to succumb. Eurocentrism legacy view because
"historical materialism does not break with the transversality of imperial difference, but assumes it, as an implicit category of its theory
of history, to make room, based on an interpretation methodology that is specific to it,
However, in spite of the fact that I do not rescue Marx because I consider that Marxism expelled the Indians (with the recommendation of
devastation) from the area of themes of historical materialism, I am in full agreement with my friend David Ali, in the last part of his
article, when it determines the decline of the capitalist system:
However, the capitalist system is in crisis with global warming, because its "middle-end" rationality translates into domination and
accumulation; and these lead to the denial of life. Therefore, to continue betting on this system is to go on the path of collective suicide
... (Ali 2019).
I agree with the proposal of the need to cancel this brutal system that also comes from positivism. But I agree even more with his idea of
Pachakuti: "the return to the paradigm of life, founded on another rationality, where the end would be the affirmation and reproduction of
life and thus leave the modern anthropocentrism that has made the world a thing" (Ali 2019). Conception that has nothing to do with Marxism.
Although capitalism brutally imposed the incorporation of labor technology to extract, transform and destroy nature, Marxism did not
consider it any more than a production base for consumption and also for merchandise, within an anthropocentric conception, "Ultimately
instance, a commodity implies the destruction of biological biodiversity and a loss of unique and irreplaceable genetic material,
The Pachakuti approach (outside the pachamamism of the current "socialist" regime in Bolivia, which without understanding this tendency of
thinking and distorting and twisting and prostituting it called "the rights of Mother Earth") has more to do with the deep ecology created
by Arne Naess who in her life project declared that the struggle is for the end of anthropocentrism.
https://jichha.blogspot.com/2019/02/es-posible-pensar-marx-desde-el.html
Bibliography:
Bibliography:
ALI CD (2019). Is it possible to think of Marx from Indianism-Katarism? Qullasuyu: Pukara monthly periodical. Enro 2019. Año 12. No. 149.
ANDERSON, KB (2012). Marx around nationalism, ethnicity and non-Western societies. (En: https: //viento¬sur.info/spip.php? Article6987 ). Al
01, enero 2019
GÜENDEL, Hermann. (2011). Marx on Latin America, critical review of a Eurocentric enunciation. Praxis Magazine No. 67. Dialnet.
HEGEL, GWF (2005). Lectures on the Philosophy of Universal History. Madrid. Editorial Tecnos.
MARIÁTIEGUI, JC (2007). 7 Interpretation sessions of the Peruvian reality. Boliviarian Republic of Venezuela: Ed. Fundación Biblioteca Ayacucho
MARX, K. (2000). Communist Manifesto. Ed. Elaleph
MARX, K. ENGELS, F. (1972) Materiales for the history of Latin America. Cordoba, Argentina: Ed. Cuadernos de Pasado y Presente 30.
TAELI, GF (2018) Marx: natural and commercial. Chile: Nuevos Nómadas. 229-237. (En: http: //nomadas.ucentral.
Edu.co/nomadas/pdf/noma-das_48/48_14G_marx_la_na¬turaleza_y_la_mercancia.pdf ) Al 02 enero 2019
Tarcus, Horacio. (2008). Is Marxism a philosophy of history? Marx, the theory of progress and the "Russian question". Andamios, 4 (8), 7-32.
Retrieved on January 1, 2019, at http://www.scielo.org.mx/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1870-00632008000100001
Source: Pukara No 150. La Paz, February 2019. Seen at https://jichha.blogspot.com/2019/02/indianista-anarquista-mirando-marx.html
translation: CAB Agrário GT
http://cabanarquista.org/2020/11/02/uma-indianista-anarquista-olhando-marx/
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Message: 2
1. MEASURES DIRECTLY AFFECTING, IN POSITIVE, EMPLOYED PEOPLE. ---- The joint claims table lacks measures for us, except for the ERTES
request, which also benefit the employer. Thus, the thing focuses on: ---- ? Not claim any labor rights for the workers. ---- ? Reduction of
corporate tax. ---- ? Request for aid with public money to companies, without any link to employment maintenance measures, or sanctioning
regime, in case of non-compliance with current labor legislation. ---- ? Social abandonment of female workers (self-employed or third
parties). ---- 2. QUESTIONING THE ORIGIN OF THE SITUATION THAT AFFECTS US.
The current labor framework is considered good, for the benefit of companies, with false self-employed workers, fraud in registration, lack
of regulation of the sector and insufficient contributions; ignoring the Right of a large part of the workers, to the special regime of
artists (RD 1435/1985 of August 1). The business sector prioritizes the self-employed and their trade associations. He is responsible for
fraudulent contracts and false self-employed, breaching the Agreements.
3. IT HAS DELIBERATELY LEFT OUT THE UNIONS.
It does not recognize the unions, vetoing their participation. He excuses himself with the desire to create a negotiating table,
appropriating the representativeness of the working people. The legislation designates unions to negotiate the working conditions of an
economic and labor sector.
4. A FALSE SENSATION OF "BEING ALL IN THE SAME BOAT ALWAYS" IS GENERATED.
Workers and Entrepreneurs, especially the big ones, cannot fight together for the same interests, because they will almost always be opposed!
Furthermore, there is no equal relationship between the two parties. The confusion of an idealized and unreal worker-business union is
staged, generating an opinion that creates "cultural alarm", providing as a solution all business interests and preventing the entry of
unions to say ours.
The stoppage due to Covid-19 is assuming greater precariousness, especially for cultural workers, with employers telling us that they cannot
do anything else, the old and
recurring "this is what you get."
IN SUMMARY: The #AlertaRoja campaign fundamentally benefits business interests, not those of the working class.
WHAT DO WE PROPOSE?
1. PROMOTE DIRECT HIRING AND KILL THE FALSE SELF-EMPLOYEE.
? Application of RD.1435 / 1985 to all working people who participate in public shows, including technical, auxiliary, administration and
management personnel, while the Statute of the Artist, Creator and Worker of Culture is developed (which already includes this type of
contract).
? Application of the most favorable Agreements for female workers. * Creation of the State Sectorial Collective Agreement, with its regional
and provincial sectorial Agreements. Scope of
application of working conditions for all types of hiring in the same activities, without distinguishing between working for third parties
or self-employed (self-employed without dependents).
2. DEFEND, EXPAND AND IMPROVE AGREEMENTS.
Urgent amendment of the Workers' Statute to include unions in statutory collective bargaining with implantation in sectors where the
representative system is not viable
by union elections, especially cultural and entertainment, and in general in those in which intermittence is the labor reality of the workers.
3. STOP AND REVERT AS POSSIBLE THE EXTERNALIZATIONS OF SERVICES.
Outsourcing of services involves a disguised privatization of public services and it has been fully demonstrated that they have a very
negative effect on the working conditions of workers: reduction of wages, precariousness, job instability, etc.
? Public entities and the public sector should be prohibited from new outsourcing and subrogate the personnel of those already existing
directly by the Administration and by public sector companies.
? Place special emphasis on public cultural management companies, to avoid subcontracting
structure personnel, as well as compliance with current labor legislation.
4. PARTICIPATION OF ALL THE SECTOR UNIONS AT THE BARGAINING TABLES.
Substantial modifications to the current Legislation are being considered. The unions, and especially those that, even though they are a
minority, have a real presence in the sector, cannot be excluded from the debate and negotiation, even less when the employers are
represented in these negotiations through their business associations and taking advantage of the associations
trade union professionals.
5. NO TO THE RAISED MODEL OF TAX DISCOUNTS.
The large cultural industries have already been the major beneficiaries of the aid granted so far, and they undoubtedly intend to continue
taking advantage of the situation to continue maximizing profits, guaranteeing the status quo and deepening the general precariousness of
the sector.
The sharp decline in activity is causing countless closures and bankruptcies of small and medium-sized companies, which will lead to an even
greater business concentration than the current one, which we consider negative, both for the interests of cultural workers and for the
Culture in itself.
The rescue plans for companies through tax reductions do not guarantee that small companies can take advantage of most of the provision of
the measures, and they are not carried out by monitoring that they comply with the rights of workers, through sanctioning regimes in case of
non-compliance.
6. CREATE A UNION OF WORKING PEOPLE OF CULTURE.
We reject Professional Associations as valid interlocutors, since in most of them there is a clear conflict of interest. Employers can be
part of many of these associations, so that there cannot be a situation of equality between the parties and workers are thus
under-represented, reinforcing the employer's positions.
We advocate making a clear distinction between the working class and the bosses. The message is clear, when negotiating a possible
collective agreement the interests of workers and those of the
companies are opposites, companies try to earn more by paying less and we have fair wages and decent working conditions.
Worker / a do not fool yourself, your boss is not your colleague and who is going to negotiate for him either!
Communiqué-Alert-roja-con-CGT-v.2 Download
Post navigation
https://www.cnt.es/noticias/que-le-falta-a-la-campana-alertaroja/
------------------------------
Message: 3
There is no rush to work in home help... although it is a vital link in society! It must be said that the collective agreement is a
deterrent. This is due to the state's mishmash, which subcontracts this essential service to non-profit associations. But how to organize
such an atomized proletariat in trade unions to improve the situation ? ---- Childcare, services to stay at home, support for everyday
activities (cleaning, toilet, games, walking, etc.): home help is essential for many dependent people, especially those isolated in an
environment rural. It is nevertheless facing a recruitment crisis for three clearly identified reasons: working conditions, travel and wages.
Responding to this vocations crisis would require financial resources that no government wants to meet. Signed in 2010, the collective
agreement for the home help, support, care and services branch (known as "BAD") covers 227,000 employees, 97% of whom are women. Their
employers are non-profit organizations, including the best known is the network ADMR (Home help in rural areas) which appears as "1 stFrench
associative network service to the person, a leader in the social economy and solidarity". On the employee side, three trade union
federations are representative: the CFDT (47.42%), CGT (38.46%) and FO (14.11%)[1]
Pay for travel !
At the beginning of 2012, when it entered into force, the ADB collective agreement set fire to the powder in several departments, in
particular in the ADMR network, where the employees lost days of seniority leave, and especially a part travel expenses.
A large majority of employees must indeed use their own car to go from one home to another. And the distances traveled increase very quickly
in rural areas ! The collective agreement provides for reimbursement of 0.35 € / km, which has not changed since... 2008 ! Suffice to say
that they are rolling at a loss. And yet, part of these trips are simply not compensated, on the pretext that they are outside working time
! Indeed, it is the employer who sets the schedule and the time between two interventions, 30 or 45 minutes for example, beyond which travel
time is no longer counted.
In 2017, part of the situation was resolved by signing an amendment (No. 36) to the collective agreement. From now on, all trips are
considered as actual working time but... for this provision to apply, "a funder" must be willing to pay money accordingly to the budget of
the employing association. However, the Ministry of Solidarity and Health refuses the funds, and returns the ball to the departmental
councils ... of which only a minority has agreed to put their hands in their pockets. This unbearable inequality between departments decided
the CGT not to sign amendment n ° 36.
Employers negotiate, the state refuses
But the hardest part is the income, which is very low: while more than 89% of contracts are part-time, a large part of conventional wages
are below the minimum wage ! Negotiations carried out since 2018 on the salary scales have recently resulted in an agreement on an addendum
(number 43) signed by the CFDT and by FO. According to FO, this agreement would allow an increase in wages of 14% on average, then pushing
all the coefficients above the hourly minimum wage. The increase would even be 22% for the basic salary of the educational and social
support (AES).
The problem is that employers can sign whatever they want, since the implementation of the agreement - pending approval by the ministry -
depends on state funding. However, the government (like all its predecessors) refuses the budget increase, of the order of 600 million
euros, that this would represent.
The CGT, for its part, refused to sign the agreement, pointing out the lack of guarantee of a conventional salary higher than the minimum
wage, of a real career progression and, above all, the new architecture of the classification induced by the rider n ° 43. The numerous
salary scales with progression according to seniority would in fact disappear, in favor of radical simplification. There would only remain
two streams (support ; management and intervention), two degrees per stream and three steps per degree. And the passage from one level or
from one degree to another would be, in good part, left to the appreciation of the hierarchy ! At the start, the employers' union even had
the project of a classification no longer making any reference to diplomas, and based on a logic of "competence. ". Hey, isn't that
analogous to the strategy of the metallurgy bosses ? [2]
Some 227,000 employees, 97% women, more than 89% part-time ... and a significant portion of conventional wages below the minimum wage !
France 3
When will there be real resources for union action ?
In the end, CGT and FO slowed down this employer orientation. For example, they have prevented assistance with essential acts of life from
being allowed to employees without training. This is to avoid, in theory, the "slippage of tasks", which is one of the black spots of the
profession.
But they were not able to avoid the introduction of a Trojan horse in rider n ° 43: "additional elements of remuneration" (ECR), previously
incorporated in the salary, would henceforth be separated. Some are permanent (seniority and diploma), others not, and the latter would
allow employers, in the future, to come back to the charge against seniority and diplomas.
As in other fragmented sectors of the wage earner[3], organizing and fighting in home help is very difficult. Collective struggles sometimes
emerge, unions can be created or strengthened, but all this remains very fragile. For this to work, we know from experience, it would be
necessary to second more militants to organize the forces on the ground. But that would imply financial means, which would have to be found
on the side of the trade union federations in the sector, with the help of the local unions.
The question of home help is also that of the female proletariat, of the essential place it has held since the start of the Covid-19 crisis.
Has the lesson really been learned by struggle unionism ? Not yet.
Michel (UCL Vosges)
Light punishment for the labor inspector
Thanks to the mobilization, Anthony Smith's disciplinary change was reduced: he was finally assigned to the Meuse, his region of origin. The
Minister of Labor announced it on September 9, prompting the resignation of a senior minister, Yves Struillou, publicly disowned. Anthony
Smith, also a CGT activist, was suspended and then sent before a disciplinary council for having initiated proceedings against Aradopa, a
home help association which, in the midst of the virus, did not provide gowns or masks to its employees.
After this first victory, the inter-union CGT-SUD-FSU-CNT maintains its complaint before the International Labor Organization for violation
of the independence of the labor inspectorate.
Validate
[1] This representativeness was established in March 2017 by the Ministry of Labor by aggregating all the scores in professional elections
(DP, CE, now CSE) in companies with at least 11 employees between 2013 and 2016. Representativeness is recalculated every four years.
[2] "Metallurgy: how the UIMM wants to work more while paying less", Alternative libertaire , September 2020.
[3] "Childminders: Neither nannies nor nurses, the cry of pink vests", Alternative libertaire , April 2019
https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Aides-a-domicile-Les-premieres-de-corvee-doivent-gagner-leur-dignite
------------------------------
Message: 4
The CNT-AIT in the Marina Alta region has called for an international week to support an unpaid wage dispute with the luxury rental company
The Adelante House. Back in December 2019, the company reduced Roxane's working hours by 2 hours a day without notice and proper
documentation, which was to be reflected in lower wages. At that time, she was just on vacation, which she was going through under stress,
and when she returned, the situation became even more complicated. In the article, we explain the cause of the dispute and the company's
reaction and state the possibilities in which to express solidarity. ---- Problem development ---- Upon returning from leave, Roxane was
informed (again without written proof and the 15-day legal period required for such an adjustment) that her salary would be reduced by EUR
400 and she would have to go to more than one workplace. The next day, she had a long conversation with the boss (who was just arguing)
about the problem, which resulted in anxiety and led to a long-term PNka. However, Roxana did not want to give up, and after discussing the
whole matter with the union, they decided together to enter into a dispute.
The company's reaction to the union's protests
So far, three protests have taken place. During the first company, Roxan even called the police and did not even protect itself by sending
various threats by e-mail. However, the shares have brought some concessions, although not yet satisfactory. For example, the company called
for an end to the protests and promised to pay off the money owed. However, she only paid out a ridiculous amount, so the shares continue.
How you can help
Next week, there is a meeting with the company's management to reach a settlement of the dispute. The CNT-AIT is trying to put as much
pressure as possible on the boss to meet the requirements. Therefore, an international week of events in support of Roxana is taking place
from Monday.
For example, you can join as follows:
1) Call the company on a number in Spain or Belgium and give your opinion
+34 6531 128 815 Spain
+32 474 629 270 Belgium
2) Send a protest e-mail to welcome@theadelantehouse.com
CNT-AIT sent us the following English sample link for the company, but you can easily edit it at your own discretion:
Stop taking advantage of workers. No more playing with their health and sustenance.
Adelante Home Costa Services pay what you owe!
An injury to one is an injury to all.
NAME,
COUNTRY
Translation:
Stop abusing workers. Don't mess with their health and livelihood.
Adelante Home Costa Services pay what you owe!
Injustice on one is injustice on all.
In the blind copy, please also include our e-mail zvazpa (at) riseup.net so that we can inform CNT-AIT about the number of people involved.
3) Write down what the company's practices think of their FB and IG
http://instagram.com/theadelantehouse?igshid=n00iw79qgzmx
http://facebook.com/theadelantehouse
If you can't think of the wording, you can use the email pattern above.
We recommend using the #TheAdelanteHouse hashtag on social networks.
4) Spread this challenge among the people around you and ask them to get involved too
.
Union Direct Action
https://www.priamaakcia.sk/Zvaz-CNT-AIT-ziada-o-solidaritu-v-spore-o-dlznu-mzdu-.html
------------------------------
Message: 5
Neither Iran, nor Greece, the persecuted anarchist Abtin Parsa should stay in the Netherlands -- 7th November, at 14:00 in DAM square of
Amsterdam -- The persecuted anarchist Abtin Parsa is an former political prisoner with atheism view from Iran who was imprisoned by Islamic
regime for one year and half. ---- On 2014, the persecuted anarchist Abtin Parsa, in the age of 16 was arrested by IRGC for a anti Islamic
and anti state public speech in his hight school known as Shahid Chamran of Iranian city of Zarghan. ---- The persecuted anarchist Abtin
Parsa, even after his release from prison, came under pressure and control by the Islamic regime, that in 2016 escaped to Greece from Iran.
The presence of the persecuted anarchist Abtin Parsa in Greece was accompanied by threats from the Islamic regime, which repeatedly he was
threatened with death from various organizations and individuals affiliated with the Iranian Islamic regime.
In 2017, at the same time as the nationwide anti-state protests in Iran, the persecuted anarchist Abtin Parsa showed his solidarity with the
protests in a video message. A few days after this message of solidarity was published, the Iranian regime manipulated and edited this video
message and broadcasted it on national television to accuse the persecuted anarchist Abtin Parsa of teaching protesters how to make explosives.
The persecuted anarchist Abtin Parsa was granted political asylum at 2017 for a three-year staying in Greece. In the same year 2017, the
persecuted anarchist Abtin Parsa joined the resistance movement in Greece, and began to struggle against the systematic oppression
perpetrated by the Greek state against society, especially immigrants. During these struggles, the persecuted anarchist Abtin Parsa was
arrested and even tortured several times by the Greek state, including:
In July 2018, the persecuted anarchist Abtin Parsa was tortured by Greek police for his political activities against the Greek state, during
which several parts of his body were seriously damaged and a vertebrae in his back was broken.
In January 2019, the persecuted anarchist Abtin Parsa was arrested by Greek police on charges of using forged documents to leave Greece
illegally.
In August 2019, he was arrested next to his home by Greek police on charges of carrying a weapon while he had only a small paper cutter with
him. The persecuted anarchist Abtin Parsa refused to give a criminal finger to the police in order to protest the way the police treated him
and other immigrants, and the court sentenced him to three months in prison and a fine of 180 euros.(suspended prison)
In November 2019, as the counter-terrorism police launched a large-scale operation to find clues to a revolutionary organization, his house
and several other anarchists were attacked by the counter-terrorism police. During the anti-terrorist police operation, an anarchist and
another person were imprisoned, and two other anarchists were arrested, both of whom are temporarily released. During the anti-terrorist
police raid on the house of persecuted anarchist Abtin Parsa, all his asylum documents, which were in the house, along with his other
belongings, were confiscated by the anti-terrorist police.
In February 2020, the persecuted anarchist Abtin Parsa was forced to leave Athens in a political decision to have a secret life in different
city to be away from police control due to the anti-terrorist police's excessive control over his home, movements and even personal connections.
On March 14, 2020, the persecuted anarchist Abtin Parsa was charged with call for armed uprising, in fact because of his solidarity with
immigrants, which was covered as propaganda by various Greek television channels and newspapers against him. Then, on March 30, 2020, the
persecuted anarchist Abtin Parsa was arrested by Greek anti-terrorist police on these charges against him.
While the political asylum of persecuted anarchist Abtin Parsa was nearing the end of its three-year term, various Greek newspapers quoted
the Greek Ministry of Immigration as saying that the political asylum of persecuted anarchist Abtin Parsa had been revoked due to his arrest
on March 30, 2020.
After the Greek state revoked the political asylum of persecuted anarchist Abtin Parsa, he fled Greece and applied for political asylum in
the Netherlands. A few weeks ago, the Dutch state rejected his political asylum application and intends to extradite him to Greece. If the
persecuted anarchist Abtin Parsa is extradited to Greece, he may end up to Greek prisons or even extradited from Greece to the Islamic state
of Iran, where his life will no doubt be in serious danger. We demand the granting of Dutch political asylum to the persecuted anarchist
Abtin Parsa, and we oppose his extradition to Greece.
Anarchist initiative, Amsterdam
https://www.vrijebond.org/open-oproep-voor-protest-bijeenkomst-in-solidariteit-met-de-vervolgde-anarchist-abtin-parsa/
------------------------------
Message: 6
In this critical moment social movements must mobilize to not only defeat a possible Trump coup, but also showcase a vibrant alternative to
neoliberalism. ---- As the November election rapidly approaches, a larger battle is raging over the future of this country. While the fate
of the Presidency will be consequential to say the least, its wider implications will be shaped by forces far beyond the ballot box. To
understand the full weight of this moment, we have to look beyond the election itself, at the broader context of a nation mired in crisis
and rebellion. ---- It is the strength of popular movements, more than anything else, which will determine the fate of the United States,
for better or worse. As Trump threatens to trigger a constitutional crisis over the election results, organized mass resistance is the best
weapon we have, not only to stop an attempted coup, but to fight for a just and livable world. We are living in an age of crisis, and with
or without Trump, popular power is our only hope.
An Age Of Crisis
We are living through a time of unparalleled and compounding crises. The almighty US empire, with its promise of safety, stability and
prosperity, is in a state of sharp decline. Its veil of legitimacy is lifting. Under the backdrop of a deadly global pandemic and rapidly
accelerating climate change, American society is being ravaged by systemic racism, state violence, unemployment, housing insecurity, gender
violence, declining mental health, escalating political violence, and a looming election crisis.
Like most crises, this moment has been accompanied by widespread polarization and radicalization. As faith in the legitimacy of existing
institutions plummets across the board, people come to their own conclusions and increasingly take matters into their own hands. The center
simply cannot hold. On the left, we've seen this in the wildcat strikes of the pandemic as well as the militant tactics and abolitionist
demands of the George Floyd Rebellion. On the right, we see it in the armed protests against State COVID restrictions, conspiracy theories
like Qanon, white supremacist violence and the growing militia movement. As the ranks of radicals swell on both sides, conflict between them
intensifies. The 2020 Presidential Election (and its mainstream media frenzy) has only served to amplify this polarization as a deepening
culture war.
What we are seeing is a fundamental instability of the neoliberal establishment, as its basic institutions increasingly cease to function.
Its demise is far from inevitable, but as it weakens, cracks are beginning to open, presenting opportunities for both left popular movements
and the far right to push for alternatives. Whether our current system is ultimately reconstituted or transformed into something else will
depend on the outcome of these struggles in the coming period.
Rebellion And Reaction
Rather than quietly submitting to fear and disillusionment, the people of this country have met crisis with outrage and direct action on a
mass scale. The first wave came in response to the pandemic. When bosses and politicians condemned thousands of people to death in order to
safeguard their own profits and political control, workers and community members fought back with a wave of wildcat strikes and grassroots
mutual aid networks.
The second wave came in response to the relentless racist terror of American policing. We are still in the midst of an unprecedented
national uprising against state violence and white supremacy. Since May, tens of millions of people have flooded into the streets of
America, demanding systemic change through sustained mass protest and bold disruptive action. In doing so, the George Floyd Rebellion has
exercised real transformative power, capturing public consciousness and uniting diverse social movements around a radical vision of racial
justice, abolition and self-determination.
This movement has transformed the cultural and political landscape with remarkable speed. Less than a week after George Floyd's murder, a
majority of Americans said the burning of a Minneapolis Police precinct was "justified." Calls to defund and disband the police spread like
wildfire, winning broad support across the country. As the streets swelled, protestors held their ground, often laying siege to local police
departments night after night, forcing some to retreat from their stations altogether. Through the act of collective struggle, people have
begun to uncover a dangerous secret - that the police are not invincible, and sustained mass action can quickly bring the powerful to their
knees.
This rebellion has posed a direct threat to State power, provoking panic and reaction across the spectrum of the ruling class. The liberal
establishment has attempted to neutralize the rebellion through co-optation, pacification and division. On the other side of the spectrum,
Trump's GOP and its far-Right base have tried to crush it by force, through vigilante violence and direct state repression. This conflict
has not only given voice to communities terrorized by centuries of systemic oppression, it has also exposed the violent racism which still
permeates the very foundations of state power and much of the American psyche.
A Looming Election Crisis
Nothing illustrates the volatility of our current moment more clearly than the uncertainty surrounding the upcoming election. Amidst a
deadly pandemic, a collapsing economy and escalating political unrest, the sitting US President is openly threatening to throw the country
into a full-blown constitutional crisis if he is not re-elected. This is unprecedented in modern US history, and even top officials are
unsure whether existing legal structures can withstand the challenge.
There has been much speculation about possible scenarios and how they may unfold in the period following election day. But suffice it to
say, the stage is set for a full-blown meltdown. Unless Biden wins such a staggering victory across the board that Trump and the Republicans
miraculously give up and set aside all their sinister plans, the results will be contested. Trump has made it crystal clear that unless he
wins outright (which is looking increasingly unlikely), he and his party will sound the alarm, claiming widespread voter fraud and denying
the legitimacy of the election. From there, we could quickly enter uncharted territory, from which there's no turning back. An ensuing
battle will rage, not only in federal courts and the halls of congress, but in the streets of America.
In the weeks and months that follow, this conflict could dramatically transform the social and political landscape of the country in
unpredictable ways, regardless of who eventually takes office. If Trump makes a clear effort to steal the election, we will almost certainly
see a dramatic and widespread upsurge in political activity on the left, including mass direct action on a scale possibly beyond even the
George Floyd Rebellion. The right will likely respond with aggressive actions from "Patriot" militias and other loyalist groups, easily
leading to an escalating cycle of political violence which could edge the nation closer and closer towards the brink of low-grade civil war.
A Choice Of Two Enemies
In this election, two broad forces are coalescing around the respective parties, presenting popular movements with a choice between two
enemies: the neoliberal establishment and an insurgent right-wing authoritarianism. The neoliberals, represented by the Biden-Harris
Democratic Party, are committed to maintaining the stability of the current system by co-opting, pacifying and dividing today's progressve
movements. Trump's GOP and its far-Right base represent a fascistic alternative, committed to crushing progressive movements by force,
enforcing a racist and nationalist agenda, dismantling the existing regulatory state, and consolidating their own power beyond the official
bounds of representative democracy. That both these forces are hostile to our movement should be clear. The question is which will wield the
full powers of the State for the next four years.
Not all enemies are created equal. They don't all wield power in the same way. They don't have the same interests and vulnerabilities. Under
equal pressure from social movements, they don't yield the same results. While Biden and the Democrats undeniably represent the same rotten
system our movement is fighting to dismantle, the blatant authoritarianism and white supremacy of Trump's GOP represents a unique threat,
not only to the left and to communities of color, but to the very notion of democracy itself (whether we believe our current system is
actually democratic or not).
If reelected to a second term, Trump will almost certainly move to consolidate his power and expand his most reactionary policies. If
emboldened through a successful power-grab, there's no telling how far he will go. The difference between these two enemies controlling the
State is therefore enormously consequential. It could mean the difference between our movement playing offense or defense - between fighting
for a Green New Deal, police abolition and universal health care, or fighting just to keep our communities safe and our comrades out of
prison in Trump's America 2.0. For some, it will mean the difference between life and death.
None of this is to suggest we can simply vote our way out of this crisis. If anything, Trump's attempt to override the election results
should be proof enough that voting is a woefully insufficient strategy. Regardless of which party holds the presidency, our movement must
continue fighting a war on two fronts - advancing struggles for social and environmental justice in the face of both neoliberalism and
Trump's insurgent right-wing authoritarianism.
How To Stop A Coup
In the days following November 3rd, the action (or inaction) of popular movements will prove decisive in determining Trump's chances of
staying in power. Immediately following election day, as votes are being counted, the left has to mobilize an enormous show of force, making
it clear that he will have a national uprising on his hands if he so much as whispers about overriding the results.
As soon as Trump makes the slightest attempt to steal the election, we have to respond immediately with massive direct actions across the
country. Dozens of major cities and large sectors of the economy should be effectively brought to a standstill until Trump concedes. We have
to make it abundantly clear not only to Trump, but to his entire party and its powerful corporate backers, that the country will become
ungovernable until he steps down. Rapid escalation is critical here. The Republicans cannot be given any time or wiggle room to exploit the
legal system, spread disinformation, or intimidate people into inaction. Security forces loyal to the President must be quickly overwhelmed
by the sheer scale of collective action.
There will surely be widespread calls for public protest, supported by the Democratic Party. But to exert the power necessary to make
Trump's bid untenable, popular movements have to push these mobilizations beyond protest, into a full scale national uprising. The Democrats
will likely discourage anything beyond symbolic protest, urging us to stand on the sidelines and trust the legal system to work itself out.
They will be mistaken. It will be crucial at this point for popular movements to push back and insist on bold disruptive action.
Shutting the country down is no small feat. While we're likely to see a massive surge of energy in the streets, energy alone is not enough.
It will take organization and resolve to effectively sustain that level of action. Here, the George Floyd Rebellion has provided us with
invaluable lessons. We know from recent experience that success will require mass participation, strategic alliances among diverse groups, a
commitment to direct action, and organized support networks to sustain momentum and keep people safe. Our power lies in our numbers and our
ability to directly disrupt the routine political and economic functioning of the country. That means organizing mass blockades and
occupations of major infrastructure such as transportation corridors, ports, railways, federal courthouses and capitol buildings.
Strikes are another crucial tactic. Organized workers hold a tremendous amount of power, especially in key industries and government
agencies. The threat of a possible coup attempt has already provoked many unions to consider post-election walkouts. These efforts should be
enthusiastically bolstered and supported. The collective action of organized workers could prove pivotal to the success of the uprising,
broadening its reach and dramatically expanding its disruptive power. This power would reach its ultimate potential in the form of a general
strike, where workers across a range of industries, throughout an entire region (or the whole country) strike simultaneously with the same
demand.
Whatever form the uprising takes, it will not go unchallenged. Trump will almost certainly unleash the full extent of his loyal forces in an
attempt to crush the uprising and galvanize his supporters. Based on his reaction to recent #BlackLivesMatter protests, we can expect these
forces to include the police, DHS, the National Guard, and various far-Right militias. We could easily see a further escalation this time
around, depending on how the situation develops. If Trump feels threatened enough, he could order the DHS to round up activists and detain
them as suspected "antifa terrorists." He could also attempt to deploy the US Military again, this time invoking the Insurrection Act. If
that fails, he could openly call on loyalist "patriot" militias to deploy into American streets. It's impossible to predict, but we should
consider all these courses of action to be within the realm of possibility.
The most important thing to remember is that our best self-defense from any of these threats is to build a movement that is simply too big
to crush. Many of us think of the police and other state forces as invincible but if the uprising this summer taught us anything it's that
they are not. Trump only has so many forces at his disposal, and (crucially) the military does not appear to be one of them. That means a
straight-forward military coup is out of the question. If everyday people are able to effectively shut down dozens of major cities and
entire sectors of the economy for a prolonged period of time through a massive and sustained popular uprising and widespread labor strikes,
there are simply not enough cops and soldiers to bring that kind of situation under control. Many of them would eventually become
demoralized, and some would refuse orders. Even Trump's most loyal ruling class backers would have to rethink their position. The sheer
scale and force of disruption by popular movements would instill a fear of institutional instability which outweighs whatever potential
benefits Trump promises them. Eventually the president would have no choice but to step down.
Keep Your Eyes On The Prize
An attempted power-grab by Trump should be seen not only as a major threat to the left, but also as an enormous opportunity to build the
power of our movements. If mass popular resistance forces the President to step down, our movement will hold an enormous amount of leverage
- the power to bring the U.S. government to its knees. In such a moment, we will face a critical decision: do we surrender this power to the
Democrats, or continue to wield it in the interests of our own transformational goals. Will our energy be turned towards a Biden
Administration, or deflated by it?
Those who fail to realize the power they hold will be easily convinced to "go home" as soon as Trump concedes. This would be a grave
mistake. The moment we demobilize, we will not only weaken our prospects for progressive change, we will also be opening up space for the
inevitable backlash of the far-Right. Our ability to avoid this pitfall will be shaped over the course of the uprising itself. It will
depend on our ability to fight on our own terms.
Just because an uprising is sparked by election-tampering, doesn't mean our demands should be limited to the terms of the election itself.
Are we fighting for Joe Biden, or for liberation? Are we fighting for the status quo, or for the full realization of our movement's vision?
The limits of our power will be shaped by the way we define victory itself. If we define it as defense of the status quo, then the most we
can hope for is what we already have. If we define it as liberatory transformation, then our resistance to Trump can become resistance to
the entire ruling establishment itself.
This opens up a world of possibility for transformation from below. With this revolutionary spirit, we can build lasting structures of
popular power over the course of the uprising. Local assemblies, action councils, militant unions, community defense groups and mutual aid
networks could sustain mass momentum beyond the uprising and lay the groundwork for a revolutionary movement. Only then can we begin to
emancipate ourselves from the system that gave rise to Trump in the first place and go on to fight for truly free, ecological and democratic
society.
What Now? Get Organized!
Organize with your coworkers or fellow students and prepare to strike after election day. Organize with your neighbors and community members
to care for each other and defend each other. Organize mutual aid networks. Join a local grassroots organization. Unite diverse
organizations into strategic coalitions. Organize an affinity group with your friends and prepare to take action. Organize study circles
about direct action tactics, first aid, legal rights, security culture and how to stay safe at a protest. Raise money for community bail
funds. Open up your home as a potential safehouse for activists. Discuss revolutionary politics with your fellow activists. In short - get
organized.
And never forget: Trump is a symptom. Capitalism is the crisis. Popular power is our only hope.
Arthur Pye is a writer, community organizer and member of Black Rose/Rosa Negra based in the Salish Sea. Follow him on Twitter at
@PyesOnThePrize.
https://blackrosefed.org/people-get-ready-popular-power-in-the-coming-crisis/
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