#WORLD #WORLDWIDE #RUSSIA #ANARCHISM #LIBRARY #News #Journal #Update - (en) #Russia, avtonom: The memory of real anti-fascists and action unite us: "Order and Chaos Trends", episode 89 (January 22) (ca, de, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

 14 years ago, in Moscow, Nazis shot a left-wing lawyer, human rights activist

Stas Markelov and journalist and member of Autonomous Action Nastya Baburova with
pistol shots. The Nazis (Nikita Tikhonov and Yevgenia Khasis) were connected with
the Kremlin administration. At the time, it seemed unbelievable to someone else.
Now, after Putin launched a full-scale war against Ukraine, the near-fascist
sympathies of this entire Caudle are already quite obvious. No matter how they
call themselves "anti-fascists" and "denazifiers". ---- And for 14 years now,
every January 19, actions in memory of Stas and Nastya have been held. This is
part of the fight against fascism - both street and state. I personally am very
encouraged that this week various actions were held in various countries: in
Russia, and in Europe, and in Ukraine, and in Georgia and in Armenia. When was
the last time you heard that on the same political issue, with approximately the
same positions, they spoke in Ukraine and Russia? And I haven't heard in a long
time. But it turns out there is something that unites all of us. And it was not
in vain that anarchists in the Ukrainian troops three days ago wrote on artillery
mines "For Stas and Nastya! Death to Putin's fascism" (on the cover of this
episode of "Trends"). They are right: today's war in Ukraine is really a
continuation of the anti-fascist struggle of Stas Markelov and Nastya Baburova.
And who is the fascist here, it is obvious to anyone.

House in Dnipro
However, in fact, there is another rather sad example of parallel actions in
Russia and Ukraine. Everyone already knows that on the night of January 15, a
Russian X-22 missile demolished the entrance of a residential building in the
Dnieper. At least 45 people died - ordinary people who cooked dinner, surfed the
net or chatted. Russian propaganda is trying to excuse itself by saying that it
was Ukrainian air defenses that shot down a missile, so it fell in the wrong
place, but actually flew very accurately into some kind of military facility. It
is clear that this is nonsense: if the Russian army had not launched cruise
missiles at Ukrainian cities, then they would not have needed to be shot down.
So, of course, Russia as an aggressor is to blame for this (another) war crime.

But it seems that such things can still shock Russians, whom many consider
completely hopeless. In Moscow, on Ukrainian Boulevard, near the monument to
Lesya Ukrainka, ordinary citizens organized a spontaneous memorial in memory of
the victims of the Russian missile strike in the Dnieper. The same thing happened
at least in Krasnodar, Tver and St. Petersburg. In mourning for the dead, people
in Russia turned out to be in solidarity with the Ukrainians. Naturally, the
authorities quickly demolished some of these memorials and put cops in their
place. But the memory will not be erased. Yes, this is very half-hearted
solidarity and I would like to ask - where were you during the previous bombings
of Ukrainian cities? But still, it is an indicator of humanity awakening in the
inhabitants of Russia. This is a grassroots movement and it reflects some deep
shifts in understanding the nature of this war.

If you have the opportunity, organize such a memorial in your city. Surely you
have a monument or memorial plaque to some Ukrainian writer or poet. Gogol,
anyone. Bring flowers there. This is the responsibility of all who live in
Russia. This is the least that can be done. But this is a start.

"Wagner" as a symbol of degradation
While ordinary Russians show that humanity remains in them, the Russian
authorities, on the contrary, jump out of their pants to prove that there is
nothing human in them for a long time. The Russian Ministry of Defense reported
on those same bombings as follows: "On January 14, 2023, a missile attack was
carried out on the military command and control system of Ukraine and related
energy facilities. All assigned objects are hit. The target has been reached."
All that is missing is the gurgling of hellish cauldrons and the cries of "Sieg
heil!" in the background. This is just like Mironov, the head of the supposedly
"socialist" Rodina party - he was presented with a souvenir sledgehammer by PMC
Wagner, and he happily takes pictures with it. Recall that "Wagner" creates its
own myth, and within the framework of this myth uploads a video where such a
sledgehammer breaks the heads of those who are trying to escape from the war.
Mironov, the leader of the parliamentary party, poses with this very sledgehammer
with a wide smile. Both funny and creepy. The official reports from the blood
baths are apparently not far away.

In general, "Wagner", apparently, is becoming a symbol of the kind of "real
Russia" recognized at the highest level - as the Kremlin sees it. He also plays a
military role: he acts as a competitor to the regular army of the Russian
Federation, as a result, they compete with each other, and it seems to work. At
least, after the loss of Kherson, the Russian troops no longer have such
large-scale retreats, on the contrary, they are advancing in the Bakhmut area.

On the other hand, Prigozhin and other "Wagnerites" constantly appear in the
media space. In a variety of roles, but all the time dashing and trying to
attract attention. That muddy types arrange "art exhibitions" as if on behalf of
"Wagner" . So, for example, let's take deserters. Ordinary deserters from the
army in the Lipetsk region are killed by special forces , like Dmitry Perov. But
the former Wagner commander Andrei Medvedev deserted ... and ended up in Norway,
where he applied for political asylum . For many years he killed for money, and
now he has a chance to become a kind of dissident. Conveniently!

In a sense, the Wagnerites, as it were, demonstrate to the citizens of Russia a
certain opportunity to fight cheerfully and "unofficially", without shoulder
straps and a formal army hierarchy. Such a "makeshit army" for those who love the
"soldiers of fortune" vibe. One could even say that they are exploiting the
anarchist sympathies of Russians - but putting them at the service of Putin's
dictatorship (and Prigozhin's business interests, of course). And, of course, in
fact, there is no fun and "soldiers of fortune" there: as far as one can judge,
most of Prigozhin's army are former prisoners who simply fell from one hell to
another. They are not threatened with moving to Norway - it is much more likely
that they will burn in the next shelling, and their relatives will receive empty
coffins and a tin medal from Wagner.

Don't go to the military!
By the way, let us once again remind all those who are in Russia, both within
specific zones and within this entire large zone under the pseudonym "Russian
Federation": do not go to war. Do not sign up with Prigozhin's agitators, do not
go to the draft board. The mobilization has not ended at all. Moreover, it,
apparently, will never end now, as long as the Putin regime exists.

Recently, the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces canceled the deferment
for fathers of large families from mobilization . The State Duma rejected several
other bills on exemption from mobilization - for example, for candidates and
doctors of sciences. The State Duma needs cannon fodder now much more than all
these egg-headed professors. Men will be taken away as the previous sets are
disposed of at the front and as places become available in training camps and
conscript camps.

Do not go to the draft board, avoid conscription and mobilization by any means!

Repression: impotent malice?
Yes, the Kremlin regime is trying to punish those who avoid being sent to war.
But any punishment is better than death, and the cops have a lot of other things
to do besides looking for dodgers. Like any aggressor who suffers defeats at the
front, Russia is intensifying repressions within the country - in relation to
everyone who somehow raises his head.

These are, first of all, anti-war activists, who especially draw attention to the
punishment for direct actions. They are now routinely classified as "sabotage"
and "terrorism" . This clearly shows what the authorities are afraid of.

By the way, provocations are sometimes clearly visible when unknown suspicious
types offer teenagers money for an attack on, for example, a railway, and then
the FSB officers come very quickly and imprison teenagers as "saboteurs" . Be
careful!

But not only direct action frightens the Kremlin: they again left Sasha
Skochilenko in the pre-trial detention center, who, in fact, only replaced labels
in stores.

The degree of simply ordinary cop lawlessness is also rising: Dmitry Ivanov, an
activist of the Initiative Group of Moscow State University, was beaten by a
guard right in the courthouse . This does not even surprise anyone, although it
should cause shock and rage. Strange manipulations continue with the defendants
in the Tyumen case - they are transferred from one pre-trial detention center to
another. By the way, don't forget to support the guys!

Or, recently, unknown gangsters beat up the defenders of the Trinity Forest ,
although it would seem that there is some sort of policy there? But all this is
also going in line with the increase in the degree of hell.

Resistance to evil with violence
Returning to the subject of war, it's no secret that Ukraine holds out (and
sometimes even advances) against the vastly superior Russian forces only thanks
to the powerful support of the West. Ukrainians are certainly heroes, but without
ammunition, artillery, warm military uniforms and other things, heroism would not
help much. In Europe, many (though not all) leftists now oppose military aid to
Ukraine.

Their logic is something like this: the more weapons sent to war, the more people
will eventually be killed and cities destroyed. Efforts should be directed to
"diplomatic resolution of the conflict, truce and negotiations," and not to
strengthening the Ukrainian army. Actually, this is an interesting question. In
principle, we already mentioned in "Trends of Order and Chaos" that the
continuation of the war is beneficial to the arms business. It really is.

Probably, there is no unambiguous and ethically impeccable solution. And NATO is
not at all flawless angels in a white coat - especially since Turkey enters it,
which directly dictates to NATO candidates that they hand over dissident Kurds to
it (but by the way, Sweden still refuses ).

Still, Western left-wing pacifists are too naive. They look like they're straight
out of the 60s, but they're not the 60s anymore. We have been opposing Putin and
his henchmen for 20 years now and we know their habits well. Trying to
"negotiate" with them is pointless: the logic of imperialist expansion
presupposes aggression and territorial seizures by definition. Stopping the
supply of Ukrainian troops with Western weapons will lead to a single result: the
rapid advance of the Russian army to the west, the occupation of the right-bank
Ukraine and the establishment of a pro-Russian regime there. Yes, it is possible
that this will stop mass casualties in the short term (although not a fact -
partisan resistance will clearly begin). But in the long run, that's another 40
million people who will fall under the rule of Putin's dictatorship, and this is
the destruction of Ukraine as a country and, apparently, of Ukrainian culture and
language. At the same time, a military victory for Ukraine, on the contrary, will
put a sharp limit to the expansion of the Kremlin and is likely to contribute to
political changes within Russia itself.

Therefore, despite all the obvious questions and ethical problems with the supply
of weapons to Ukraine, we would not oppose it. Yes, sometimes evil must be
resisted with violence. We have known this since the days of the Paris Commune,
the Makhnovist Republic, the Spanish Revolution, the anti-fascist partisans of
World War II, the Red Army Factions in post-war Germany, and indeed our own
street war against the Nazis in the former USSR. Now the aggression of the Putin
regime can only be stopped by force.

Chatbots Cancel the President: Speaker Drone
And finally. Many have already heard about another language model called ChatGPT,
which was trained by OpenAI . Journalists sometimes talk about "artificial
intelligence" in this context, but it's certainly not artificial intelligence at
all: it's just a very large neural network that generates answers to questions or
phrases you give it. Such models have already existed before, but ChatGPT uses a
few clever tricks that make the generated text look very human-like.

It is likely that the mass automatic generation of texts will greatly change the
media landscape, and indeed the entire human culture. For example, you may
remember that at the beginning of 2021, Autonomous Action called for the
abolition of the presidency in Russia (and we still call for it). Then we spent
quite a lot of time justifying why this should be done.

Now we asked ChatGPT a question: "From an anarchist position, why should the
presidency be abolished in Russia?". And here is what the neuron answered us:

"From an anarchist point of view, the idea of a president or any other central
figure in power is problematic in itself because it concentrates power in the
hands of one person or group. This allows them to make decisions that affect the
lives of all citizens, while those who these decisions are influenced, have no
voice and do not take part in decision-making.In addition, such a system creates
a hierarchy in which those in power can make rules and laws supported by the
state.Violent and suppression is used against those who do not comply.

Historically, in Russia the president has been a powerful figure and has been
associated with authoritarianism, repression and the suppression of political
discontent.

Anarchists advocate the abolition of the presidency and other forms of state
power because they believe that the state and its institutions are necessary to
enforce discipline and inequality in society. Anarchists stand for
self-government and social democracy, in which people decide for themselves the
issues that affect their lives and communities, without state interference.

Not bad, isn't it? Generated in 5 seconds, and even now to a leaflet or telegram
channel. In principle, there is even an opinion that such models can play a role
in creating a more egalitarian society, because soon anyone will be able to
create and disseminate a compelling text in support of any idea. Such "lobbying
for the poor": you no longer need to hire a PR agency, you can do everything
yourself. A good analogy is cheap drones, which also, in a sense, equalized the
rich and the poor on the battlefield. Drone speaker.

But, of course, not everything is so smooth. Large neural networks require large
computing resources, and they are also unevenly distributed. Running ChatGPT on a
smartphone has not yet been possible (but progress does not stand still). In
addition, the model itself has not even been published yet, you cannot just
download it. There is unevenness in both the quantity and quality of training
data. If you try asking ChatGPT questions in both English and Russian, you will
quickly see that the answers in English are much more lengthy, detailed, and
versatile.

In general, inequality in the world manifests itself in various aspects, and
large neural networks are not spared from it either. But we are clearly at a key
point in technological progress, and it will affect the political struggle as
well. So keep that in mind, even in cold and repressive Russia!

Well, that's all for today! We remind you that in "Trends of Order and Chaos" the
participants of "Autonomous Action" give anarchist assessments of current events.
Listen to us on YouTube , SoundCloud and other platforms, visit our website
avtonom.org , subscribe to our e-mail newsletter!

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