Today's Topics:
1. anarchist communist group ACG: The Rebellion in Nicaragua
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
2. Announcement on the attempted operation of the Messochora
Y/Y dam and the struggle against the destruction of the Acheloos
river By A.P.O. - (gr) [machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
3. wsm.ie - Review: Jordan Peterson in Dublin - not the type of
talk the audience had envisaged (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
4. Kate Sharpley Library update July 2018 (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
5. US, black rose fed - WE ARE NOT AFRAID: CHILEAN FEMINISM
RISES IN THE FACE OF FASCIST ATTACKS (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
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Message: 1
In the 1970s the Sandinista movement in Nicaragua was a cause celebre of the left and
extreme left, in the same way the Zapatistas in Mexico were at the beginning of the 21st
century, and the YPG in Rojava are now. ---- The Sandinistas developed out of the student
radical circles in Nicaragua in the late 1950s and early 1960s. They were influenced by
the nationalist example of the FLN in Algeria and later by the Cuban revolution. They
engaged in a guerrilla war with the corrupt and murderous dictatorship of Anastasio
Somoza, and eventually following a general strike and urban insurrection, overthrew the
reptilian Somoza in 1979. ---- The Sandinistas inherited a country stripped of its
financial resources by the fleeing Somoza, 30-50,000 dead from the protracted guerrilla
war, 600,000 made homeless and a smashed economic infrastructure. In addition, Somoza had
deliberately not introduced any literacy programs, as he wanted only "oxen" in his own
words. The Sandinistas instituted a sweeping packet or reforms, including a massive
literacy programme. Property held by Somoza and his supporters was nationalised. Soon the
Sandinistas fell out with other Nicaraguan political parties, and Daniel Ortega, head of
one of the three main factions in the Sandinistas, was accused of developing a Cuban-style
system in Nicaragua. Armed groups from different factions, and collectively known as the
Contras then began a war against the Sandinista government, and were heavily backed by the US.
Ortega was elected President in 1984. A year later the US under Reagan instituted a total
embargo on Nicaragua and the Contra war dragged on until 1989, claiming many lives. In
1990 the Sandinistas ceded power to Violeta Chamorro at the head of an anti-Sandinista
coalition that ranged from conservatives through liberals to Communists. In a deal to buy
off the Sandinistas, the land and property that had been nationalised was handed over to
the Sandinista leaders, and this involved millions and probably billions of dollars.
Ortega's tendency within the Sandinistas, the terceristas, had always favoured an approach
that married armed insurrection to cross-class alliances with business owners, the
churches, professionals on one hand and shanty-town dwellers and the unemployed on the
other. This strategy is echoed in other Latin American left nationalist movements.
In 2006 Ortega won the presidential elections, with a former Contra leader as his running
mate. He firmed up his alliance with the Catholic Church and as a part of this deal
introduced strict legislation against abortion where before in the 1980s he had supported
abortion rights. He also formed an alliance with the Constitutional Liberal Party.
He began to build alliances with Iran, Cuba and then Venezuela. Recently he has increased
his ties with China and Russia. He was again re-elected in 2011 and in 2016. He increased
his support of business in this period. Using the assets from the confiscated land and
property, Ortega and his wife Vice-President Rosario Murillo, together with other
Sandinistas formed an alliance with big businessmen to build up a considerable business
conglomerate, which includes control of various media outlets.
Meanwhile Nicaragua's social spending per head is one of the lowest in the region. 62% of
the population live in dire poverty, whilst there are around 250 multimillionaires who
have prospered under Ortega.
This April 18th Ortega announced cuts in pensions and increases in social security
contributions as dictated by the International Monetary Fund. This was a bridge too far
for many. Barricades were erected in towns south of the capital Managua, and heavy
fighting with police and army has resulted in many deaths. The unrest has continued now
for three months and shows no signs of abating. The movement has increasingly called for
the removal of Ortega and Murillo.
The USA for its part, whilst looking favourably on Ortega's pro-business positions, is
disturbed by the Nicaragua-Venezuela-Cuba axis, and the links with Russia, China and Iran.
The revolt in Nicaragua must not be allowed to be hi-jacked by the US, who would install
another reactionary regime more compliant with their policies.
The whole sorry scenario in Nicaragua, and indeed in Mexico and Venezuela, reveals the
bankruptcy of leftist politics in Latin America. It is even more imperative that a
pan-American revolutionary anarchist movement is developed, a movement based on the
working class, peasantry and indigenous peoples, not tied to any of the power blocs, and
that the road to social revolution is opened.
https://www.anarchistcommunism.org/2018/07/20/the-rebellion-in-nicaragua/
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Message: 2
The widespread destruction and plunder of the natural world at global level, with
incalculable consequences for the entire planet, is the result of the wild and
long-standing attack of the state and capitalism on exploitation and sovereignty in nature
and human societies. The deforestation of the forests, the pollution of the seas, the
melting of polar ice, climate change, the greenhouse effect, the shrinking of biodiversity
and the disappearance of a number of animal species are just some of the total marginal
environmental crisis created by the state- capitalist aggression. As far as Greece is
concerned, this attack has escalated in recent years, with a number of disastrous, small
and large projects both in the countryside and within the cities. From the establishment
of business activities in Parnitha, the oil pollution of the Saronic Gulf and the
expansion of bauxite mines in Giona to the open gold mine of North America. Halkidiki, the
attempted extraction of oil in Epirus, the installation of hundreds of wind turbines in
Agrafa, the imposition of landfills in Lefkimi and the routine operation of the Y / E dams
in Acheloos.
The case of the dams and the deflection of the river Acheloos is a pre-election commitment
of all governments and a keen wish of the local capital, the landlords and the local
agents of Thessaly from the 1960s onwards. The completion of pharaonic works in the
Acheloos valley and in the wider area of southern Pindos will result in the definitive
destruction of the river from its upper reaches in southern Pindos, to mountainous
valleys, natural ecosystems and human settlements (such as Messochora village of Trikala)
in the mud of the PPC's artificial reservoirs, up to the vulnerable delta of its estuary
in the Ionian Sea where unique wetlands are formed.
As early as the late 1980s, when the first pharaoh docks of PPC and diversion projects
began to be constructed, the residents of the area showed no willingness to allow the
destruction of their land and chose the decent road of resistance. It is characteristic
that on May 30, 1990, residents of Mesochora occupied the huge dam of 150 m. Of PPC, which
threatened their village with extinction, and collided with the MAT.
Over the last decade, the project has been shaken at a central political level, while
resisting the destruction of the river and the local community. A series of political and
social initiatives, ecological organizations and collectives have been publicly expressed
against the dams and the attempted diversion of the river, conducting a multi-faceted
struggle, for the time being, setting up mounds in the catastrophic upsurge of state and
capital. The Autonomous Match Meeting against the dams and the deflection of the
Acheloos River was created in August 2007 in the campaigns in Messochora, Trikala and
continues to this day thanks to the willingness of many fighters to resist the largest
development project for water management in Greece with kinematic and self-organized
characteristics. So, having the idea that the fight should be carried out and at the very
place where the disaster takes place, every summer a multi-day mobilization is organized
in Messochora, Trikala with events and interventions, a demonstration at the PPC dam and
tours in the area.
Today, the operation of the works and the development of the struggle itself against the
dams and the deflection of the river are at a marginal point. This is because the
SYRIZA-ANEL government, fully aligned with the neo-liberal antisocial plundering policies
of the natural world and the world of work, imposed by all previous governments, the EU
and the IMF, which includes the completion of the Y / their privatization, has completed
the decommissioning of the Messochora Y / Y dam from the total project of diversion, which
has been temporarily blocked by the Council of State so that it can operate immediately
and independently.
As Anarchist Political Organization-Federation of Collectivities, we are hostile to any
state-capitalist intervention in the physical world. That is, in any operation that aims
to speculatively exploit it, pillaging and destroying it. Even when this intervention
appears as an alternative, "green", sustainable, etc., it serves the same speculative
perception of the natural world, expanding its control and exploitation in new fields,
renewing the ideological framework of capitalist development and perpetuation the system
of sovereignty of the state and the capital on nature and man.
We stand firmly against the aggression of the state and capital, PPC and the major
construction companies that are launching the destruction of Acheloos and the local
communities. We do not have delusions of landscaping the state-capitalist system of
organizing society and trust in the institutions that have been systematically cultivated
by local actors and the ruling party that is currently taking initiatives to complete the
disaster.
We support the mobilization of the Independent Match Meeting, realizing that the
self-organized and uninterrupted struggle from the bottom is the only realistic prospect
today to defend the natural world and society in general. This struggle must nowadays more
than ever, strengthen the streets, expand socially, radicalize and embrace all the
individual resistances that arise at various points where the state-capitalist aggression
manifests itself, creating a mound against the pursuit of development , to a central
choice of power, such as that of the dams and the deflection of the Acheloos River.
AGAINST THE LIFE OF THE NATURE AND SOCIETY FROM THE STATE AND CAPITAL
GAME FOR LAND AND FREEDOM
THE AHELOOS WINS! LIVE THE MESSAGE! BREAKING THE DAM!
July 2018
Anarchist Political Organization-Federation of Collectivities
apo.squathost.com | anpolorg@gmail.com
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Message: 3
Saturday 14th July we checked out the Dublin appearance of Youtube snake oil salesman
Jordan Peterson. Peterson over the last couple of years has developed a sizable following
of angry young white men through Youtube videos consisting of incomprehensible lectures on
‘meaning' and, more disconcertingly, anti-trans, anti-feminist, and anti-leftist rants. We
expected it to attract many of the small fascist groups and those in orbit around them,
indeed there were even ‘Men's Rights Activists' leafleting outside it, presumably having
identified it as a recruiting ground for their poisonous misogyny. ---- Peterson was
speaking at a a public talk titled "Winning the War of Ideas" which took place in Dublin's
3Arena. The event featured internet personas Jordan Peterson (an eccentric and generally
unintelligible Canadian university professor, widely known for his campaigning against the
rights of trans people and rants on "the postmodern conspiracy destroying academia") and
Sam Harris - an American, self-declared ‘new-atheist' and proponent of islamophobia and US
imperialism. It was moderated by the English journalist Douglas Murray, another
islamophobe, vocal opponent of migration, and proponent of ‘European values' and Brexit.
(Readers unfamiliar with these speakers should be sure to read the accompanying article,
which discusses their backgrounds in more depth).
While the event was, in the end, reasonably well attended, low ticket sales in the days
before led organisers to reduce ticket prices from over €60 to €20.
On the morning of the event, Peterson was given a forty minute interview slot on Marian
Finucane's RTÉ Radio 1 show, on which he recited his usual titbit polemics about sea
creatures justifying hierarchy in human society, and legal protections for trans people
leading to Orwell's 1984. While most of his ludicrous claims went unchallenged by
Finucane, there was a highlight at the end of the interview where she read out messages
sent in by the general public, most of which called Peterson out as deranged, an
intellectual fraud, and general bigot.
The most revealing portion of the night was the first twenty minutes, when an open mic was
given to audience members to say which speaker they were there to see, and what their main
interests/concerns were. As I walked into the auditorium, a young American man was on the
microphone. Noting that the event was titled the War of Ideas, his question was when this
would translate into a real war, "like a civil war in the US". There were howls of
excitement from the crowd which was still filing in. Another young man wanted to hear a
discussion on "the decay of Europe, and how feminism has caused that" - more cheers. A
young woman who hoped the speakers would address feminism was met with booing; whether the
woman was feminist or anti-feminist, or whether the crowd were booing her or simply the
mention of the word feminism, was unclear.
Before the show began the atmosphere was one of tension and excitement. People who usually
consume these political ideas in isolation through Youtube were clearly encouraged by the
number of people in attendance. The references which most excited were those closest to
pure fascist talking points - protection of national identity from whatever "threat" we
feel like, anti-immigration, anti-queer politics, and general reactionary backlash against
the gains of progressive politics. As the speakers walked onto the stage, before saying a
word, they were greeted with a standing ovation.
When the talk began however, it became clear that it was not going to be the type of talk
the audience had envisaged. For the first hour, Harris and Peterson engaged in an
abstract, irrelevant and intellectually sterile discussion about the space between "facts
and values", which Harris stated was central to their "social project". The enthusiasm of
the audience visibly waned. Peterson's best efforts, which were spent attempting to
introduce some form of pseudo-religious "transcendentalism" or universal ethics to their
collective worldview, were almost effortlessly put down by Harris, who in fairness kept to
basic skepticism and rationality in this part of the discussion. In the toilets during the
event I overheard a young white man complain that the speakers "won't get on to talking
about the important stuff".
While the second portion of the show was supposed to be an audience Q&A, instead the
discussion continued. Perhaps an overly cynical view was that Peterson intentionally
veered it away from Q&A after hearing the blatantly far-right language of some audience
members (he had in the radio interview earlier that day, as he has done on other
occasions, claimed to have "nothing to do" with alt-right and other fascist politics). He
asked people who wanted a Q&A to shout first, then those who wanted the discussion to
continue to shout second. Predictably, the second won, in part because crowds will tend to
shout louder the second time, and partly because Peterson is a powerful orator and
communicator, and as a result people were so obviously in adoration of the speakers that
it seemed a compliment to ask them to continue what was at that point a draining, boring
discussion topic.
Eventually however, the speakers did get on to discussing more relevant political ideas.
When discussing borders Harris revealed his materialist conception of humanity, and
western-supremacist world-view claiming that, in the absence of international borders,
people would migrate to the West until standards of living were basically equalised
globally. A discussion of the role colonialism and modern imperialism played in preventing
development in these "less advanced" countries was absent. Peterson's contribution was
that lots of things are borders - "your skin is a border, towns are borders, cities are
borders". He did at least acknowledge that "we pay a bloody price for borders, and I say
those words very carefully[...]and it's often in the price of other people's blood". His
solution to this ethical problem was for each of us who are privileged by the border
regime to "live as effectively as you can". In essence - people are literally being
murdered for you, so make sure you get a good job and enjoy your salad.
When Harris introduced the point of alt-right and fascist politics intersecting with their
work, all three outrightly denied to have anything to do with fascism. Murray argued that
people are overly sensitive given past atrocities, and are on the lookout for fascists -
which has caused them to be unfairly targeted. Crucially, Murray followed by stating that
- being accused of popularising fascistic ideas is bad, but after a while, you seem to get
away with it. Peterson again denied any link to fascism stating that we know when the
right goes too far - they start talking about ethnic cleansing. He claims the rest of the
right's response is to box fascists in (demonstrably untrue throughout the history of
fascism). He followed with false equivalence, arguing that it's not as easy to identify
far-leftists, "and this is a real problem".
Except for some moments with problematic and racist comments (mainly from Harris and
Murray) and crack-pot religious references and biological determinism (mainly from
Peterson) the politics of the talk was generally limited to a relatively standard
centre-right type discussion, and no doubt from the perspective of far-right leaning
people in attendance, wholly disappointing. The bulk of discussion was taken up with
bizarre metaphysical and ethical musings which was boiled down to a dispute between
Peterson and Harris over a critique of pure rationalism.
Still, the fact that right-wing speakers who are the darlings of many on the far-right are
staging speaking tours around the world should draw our attention and concern.
For an idea of the intolerance of Peterson fan boys check out the comments on the first
publication of this review on our Facebook page
https://wsm.ie/c/review-jordan-peterson-dublin-sam-harris
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Message: 4
The latest Kate Sharpley Library bulletin is up on our website --- The latest issue of
KSL: Bulletin of the Kate Sharpley Library is out ---- No. 95, July 2018 has just been
posted on our site. The PDF is up at: https://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/0gb6n3 ---- The
contents page is at https://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/tx97nv ---- Contents:
Lenin is a-coming by Camillo Berneri ---- "The working man needs to be told that Lenin
will not be crossing the Alps like some 'great red bear' to liberate Italy"
https://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/fn30gg (cartoon by Philip Ruff) ---- Anarchism in the
1980s: an interview with another ex-member of Bristol Class War. ---- "It made you feel
confident and strong. It wasn't us who should be worried. It was them! ‘Behold Your Future
Executioners!'" https://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/dncm56
Portrait of the artist as a wanted man: Philip Ruff's search for Peter the Painter by John
Patten
"Ruff has discovered the where and how of his last disappearance. The final words of the
book reflect on Žaklis's fate, but also show what Ruff has learned himself: ‘survival can
demand as much bravery as the willingness to die for a noble cause'."
https://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/6t1h62
The Anarchists in London 1935-1955: a Personal Memoir by Albert Meltzer[Review].
"When the second edition of 'The Albert Memorial' was being put together, I recall one of
Albert's comrades saying ‘I miss the old rascal'. Now we have a chance to enjoy some of
his work again. https://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/wpzjc8
Anarchist History Roundup July 2018
The Rag-Pickers' Puigcerdá Manifesto: Fight for History; Tyneside Anarchist Archive;
Working Class History Podcast: John Barker Interview; Sparks of Hope; Anarchist history on
screen (more of the Leah Feldman and Leo Rosser interview, plus Albert Meltzer and Philip
Ruff) https://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/crjftg
Happy reading!
Leah Feldman and Leo Rosser
Copyright © 2018 Kate Sharpley Library, All rights reserved.
We're sending you this because you asked to receive updates from the Kate Sharpley Library
Our mailing address is:
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Message: 5
Black Rose/Rosa Negra Statement Opposing the Fascist Attacks and Stabbing of Three
Feminist Activist in Chile ---- The Black Rose/Rosa Negra Anarchist Federation sends our
unconditional solidarity to feminists across Chile fighting for free and legal abortion!
We want to explicitly note our support to the Coordinadora Feminista 8 de Marzo,
Coordinadora Feministas en Lucha, and the dozens of feminist collectives and other
organizations leading this struggle. ---- On July 25, 2018, 50,000 feminists and
supporters of free and legal abortion on demand filled the streets of Santiago, Chile,
which still remains illegal in the country. The march commemorated the 5th Anniversary
since feminists took over the main Catholic Cathedral during a special mass presided by
the Chilean Archbishop in honor of San Santiago with bishops, the mayor, and other
government officials present. The event was the first feminist toma (occupation) and
marked a turning point in the Chilean feminist movement that, since 2013, has blossomed
into a mass movement impacting political spaces and debates throughout the country.
The feminist movement has been slowly gaining ground across Latin America. In Uruguay,
after years of struggle, abortion before 12 weeks was legalized in 2012. Chile, until
recently, along with El Salvador, had the strictest abortion laws not allowed under any
circumstances; a policy put in place in 1989 by the Pinochet regime. In August 2017, the
Chilean Congress approved a bill allowing abortion only under three conditions: if the
woman's life is in danger, if the fetus cannot survive, or in the case of rape for girls
14-years-old and under. In Argentina, feminists are on the verge of possibly seeing
abortion legalized, pending an August 8 vote by the Argentine Senate.
In an article by Alondra Carrillo, a vocera (spokesperson) for the Coordinadora Feminista
8 de Marzo, she wrote, "For some years, a specter haunts the world and in this occasion,
it is the specter of feminism." Carrillo is right. The specter of feminism is growing and
the decline of patriarchy's hold and power is being challenged in real-time. As a system
of power is being confronted, the tantrums and violence by those losing political and
economic control begin to be felt.
In reaction to the growth and impact of the feminist movement, a group of fascist
pro-patriarchal men called the Social Patriotic Movement describes themselves as a
nationalist organization that is opposed to the legalization of abortion and the "ideology
of gender." Their spokesperson, Pedro Kuntsman, stated that the organization accepts gay
men because it is not their business what people do in bed, but described feminists as
hembras (referring to female animals) that should be sterilized. Several hundred male
members of this fascist organization mobilized to block the feminist march, covered the
street with animal blood, and physically attacked demonstrators, including stabbing three
women. While we are grateful that no one lost their lives, we stand alongside feminists
and supporters who march today against the fascist attack.
Following the incident, Chilean feminists filled their social media pages with images of
their march stating: "We are not afraid." They will not be frightened by the fascist
attacks nor by the apathy of the police as they watched on as women were being stabbed.
The feminist movement understands that while demands are being made for new laws, the
struggle for feminism is on the ground, in the streets, in the workplaces, and in the
neighborhoods.
There will be no turning back! The specter of feminism is here to change the world.
From the Black Rose/Rosa Negra International Relations Committee
July 26, 2018
Declaration by Coordinadora Feminista 8M here
https://www.facebook.com/notes/coordinadora-feminista-8m/declaraci%C3%B3n-p%C3%BAblica-coordinadora-feminista-8m-por-el-derecho-al-aborto-libre-leg/2370193789874058/
Declaration by Coordinadora Feministas en Lucha here
https://www.facebook.com/coodinadorafeministasenlucha/photos/a.761320207219250.1073741828.755138671170737/2406545892696665/?type=3&theater
http://blackrosefed.org/we-are-not-afraid-chilean-feminism/
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