the unofficial pictorial review of March 26th by CROYDONCLASSWAR.
COMING NEXT.....
Part Two
A strategic assessment of the resistance that followed the TUC march....and where the struggle against tyranny goes from here.....
Tuesday, 29 March 2011
March 26th 2011 The March
Here it is folks,
the unofficial pictorial review of March 26th by CROYDONCLASSWAR.
COMING NEXT.....
Part Two
A strategic assessment of the resistance that followed the TUC march....and where the struggle against tyranny goes from here.....
the unofficial pictorial review of March 26th by CROYDONCLASSWAR.
COMING NEXT.....
Part Two
A strategic assessment of the resistance that followed the TUC march....and where the struggle against tyranny goes from here.....
Sunday, 20 March 2011
Friday, 18 March 2011
Thursday, 17 March 2011
Remembering Red Clydeside
The middle of March 1941 saw the Luftwaffe blitz of Scottish Clydebank. Devastation on a massive scale. Residential areas were obliterated.
The Nazi war machine was principally targeting the vital munitions factories in an attempt to cause a major disruption to the British war effort. Modern warfare was all about who could out-industrialise the other. To out-produce imperial Germany during the Second World War the British required factory SLAVES (a curious fact overlooked by most establishment history). And the Clydebank forges were crucial in the draconian militarisation and industrialisation of Britain during both 20th century world wars.
''We are not a totalitarian state, but we are steadily working ourselves into a total war organisation'' Churchill to the Commons 1941
Its important to remember that the 'consensus' First World War was actually the THIRD World War (!) the other two taking place from 1793 to 1802 and from 1803 to 1815.
But let's remember (or investigate for the first time) a brief history of what is known as RED CLYDESIDE.
From the 1910s to the 1930s Glasgow, Paisley, Greenock and Clydebank were seen as a hotbed of Socialist ideas and protest.
People led protests against the First World War and organised rent strikes to fight dramatic rent increases. In June 1916 the rent strike leader Helen Crawfurd launched the Women’s Peace Crusade, which opposed the war.
Twenty-five thousand households refused to pay rent and hundreds of people turned out to stop evictions. The rent strikes forced the Government to rush through a Rent Restriction Act, freezing rents at pre-war levels.
Leaders of Red Clydeside included John Maclean, Mary Barbour, Agnes Dollen, Helen Crawfurd, David Kirkwood and Jessie Stephens.
On 31 January 1919 a massive rally was held in George Square, in the heart of Glasgow. It is thought that as many as 90,000 men and women filled the square to support the campaign for a 40-hour week and better conditions for workers. The Red Flag was raised in the crowd. The police read the Riot Act and strike leaders were attacked. Tanks and soldiers were brought into Glasgow as the Government feared the protests would turn to revolution.
The demonstrators stood up to the police. The Chief Constable attempted to read the Riot Act and had it torn out of his hands. Willie Gallacher and David Kirkwood were arrested. Pitched battles took place between police and strikers in the streets around the square.
''I was happy at Beardmore's as a free-man. I resented being in Beardmore's as a SLAVE. I was part of the Forge by nature and by inclination. I would not be part of it by compulsion'' David Kirkwood 1915
Trongate, January 1919.
Alarmed by the Forty Hours Strike called on the 27th January, the Government sent English troops to Glasgow to keep the peace and make sure that essential services were not disrupted. Six tanks and 100 motor lorries accompanied the troops, and they were sent to strategic points across the city on 1 February in a calculated show of force.
http://www.redflag.org.uk/articles/art005.html
http://gdl.cdlr.strath.ac.uk/redclyde/index.html
Red Clydeside does not belong to some dead past but to the living present.
It is our responsibility to pick up the mantle left by the heroes and heroines of that time and to honour their memory by ensuring that their vision becomes a reality.
The Nazi war machine was principally targeting the vital munitions factories in an attempt to cause a major disruption to the British war effort. Modern warfare was all about who could out-industrialise the other. To out-produce imperial Germany during the Second World War the British required factory SLAVES (a curious fact overlooked by most establishment history). And the Clydebank forges were crucial in the draconian militarisation and industrialisation of Britain during both 20th century world wars.
Its important to remember that the 'consensus' First World War was actually the THIRD World War (!) the other two taking place from 1793 to 1802 and from 1803 to 1815.
But let's remember (or investigate for the first time) a brief history of what is known as RED CLYDESIDE.
People led protests against the First World War and organised rent strikes to fight dramatic rent increases. In June 1916 the rent strike leader Helen Crawfurd launched the Women’s Peace Crusade, which opposed the war.
Twenty-five thousand households refused to pay rent and hundreds of people turned out to stop evictions. The rent strikes forced the Government to rush through a Rent Restriction Act, freezing rents at pre-war levels.
Leaders of Red Clydeside included John Maclean, Mary Barbour, Agnes Dollen, Helen Crawfurd, David Kirkwood and Jessie Stephens.
''I wish no harm to any human being, but I, as one man, am going to exercise my freedom of speech. No human being on the face of the earth, no government is going to take from me my right to speak, my right to protest against wrong, my right to do everything that is for the benefit of mankind.''
John MacLean, May 1918
On 31 January 1919 a massive rally was held in George Square, in the heart of Glasgow. It is thought that as many as 90,000 men and women filled the square to support the campaign for a 40-hour week and better conditions for workers. The Red Flag was raised in the crowd. The police read the Riot Act and strike leaders were attacked. Tanks and soldiers were brought into Glasgow as the Government feared the protests would turn to revolution.
David Kirkwood
David Kirkwood was born in Parkhead in the east end of Glasgow in 1873 and worked in Beardmore's steel forge in Parkhead from the age of 14 until his election, aged 49, as Independent Labour Party MP for Dumbartonshire in 1922. He was converted to socialism while still an apprentice at Beardmore's and became active within the Amalgamated Engineering Union, helping to organise a number of engineering disputes in the Clydeside area before becoming chief shop steward at Beardmore's and helping to establish the Clyde Workers' Committee in 1914. Kirkwood also became involved in Labour politics in Glasgow, joining the ILP around 1909 where he worked closely with John Wheatley, James Maxton and Emanuel Shinwell. Kirkwood became one of the leaders of the Clyde Workers' Committee and was arrested during the riot in George Square on 31 January 1919, which became known as Bloody Friday. Kirkwood was found not guilty while William Gallacher and Emanuel Shinwell were each sentenced to five months imprisonment. Kirkwood was later elected as a Labour MP and became Lord Kirkwood in the 1940s.
The demonstrators stood up to the police. The Chief Constable attempted to read the Riot Act and had it torn out of his hands. Willie Gallacher and David Kirkwood were arrested. Pitched battles took place between police and strikers in the streets around the square.
''I was happy at Beardmore's as a free-man. I resented being in Beardmore's as a SLAVE. I was part of the Forge by nature and by inclination. I would not be part of it by compulsion'' David Kirkwood 1915
Trongate, January 1919.
Alarmed by the Forty Hours Strike called on the 27th January, the Government sent English troops to Glasgow to keep the peace and make sure that essential services were not disrupted. Six tanks and 100 motor lorries accompanied the troops, and they were sent to strategic points across the city on 1 February in a calculated show of force.
http://www.redflag.org.uk/articles/art005.html
http://gdl.cdlr.strath.ac.uk/redclyde/index.html
Red Clydeside does not belong to some dead past but to the living present.
It is our responsibility to pick up the mantle left by the heroes and heroines of that time and to honour their memory by ensuring that their vision becomes a reality.
Monday, 14 March 2011
The Edge... there is no honest way to explain it because the only people who really know where it is are the ones who have gone over.
The Middle East is teetering on the brink, apparently.
Opinion is divided over the call for a 'no fly zone' in Libya. The general consensus is that the rebels need help...but what help...and from whom? But a 'no fly zone' is serious stuff. It doesn't mean signs being pinned up around Ras Lanoof, it means war.
But whose war ?
The momentum for conflict in numerous countries is steadily gathering. The BBC and Al-Jazeera clearly want it. The newspapers, left and right seem to be propelled along, The government want it, naturally.
Even dissident anarchists are making appeals. Ian Bone writes on his blog:
''I would be quite happy to see western planes bombing the fuck out of Saif Gaddafi and his cronies.How can revolutionaries in the uk gainsay what rebels fighting and dying are crying out for? Quite easily is the answer – far better to keep your revolutionary credentials than soil your hands with reality – the reality that the rebels will die unles we support them.''
It's an argument, but hang on. Phil Dickens reminds us:
''those of us musing on blogs or in newspaper articles are not discussing what "we" should do. We are discussing what THE STATE should do. As we are discussing it whilst in no position to influence government policy and (in my case) from the understanding that said policy has to reflect the rough consensus of the elites rather than popular will anyway, it is something of a moot point.''
What should concern everyone at the moment is the break-neck speed with which events are unfolding.
Let's pause for a second ...and take things in.....
So...the global financial collapse happens....it's effects take a few months to show themselves....unrest in Athens (yes, respect to the rebels in Athens, they set the ball of direct action in motion) but then things swing away to Tunisia....a revolution....swift and relatively simple...Dictator jumps on plane and escapes to....??? London ? Usually.
Then the events of Tahrir Square take precedence as Al-Jazeera stamps its journalistic credentials once and for all....round the clock coverage of the revolution in Cairo....Journalists hanging out of Hilton Hotel bedroom windows 24/7....Mubarak's police and army make a last ditch attempt to get the Egyptian's to fight amongst themselves.....IT FAILS....Dictator goes shopping in Kensington....
...now the dispossessed, downtrodden and silent masses in numerous Middle-Eastern and African countries become inspired and emboldened...there are uprisings everywhere...of various shapes and sizes.
No chance of Gaddaffi being troubled in Libya though ....
then Gaddaffi is troubled in Libya...
In the words of Kurt Vonnegut ''and so it goes....''
BUT THINK BACK.
In early February the thought of revolution in Libya was almost inconceivable.....
It's ONLY the middle of March and yet Saudi tanks are rolling into the streets and squares of Bahrain and the British and American governments are debating sending the army to Libya ! WOA THERE !!
Time for some deep breaths.
Don't take your eye off the bigger picture for one second. This is a hegemony orchestrated conflict.
CRISIS IS THEIR WEAPON
We need to remember that the only just war is the CLASS WAR
Under no circumstances must we forget that the war planes being prepared for Libya and who knows where else are NOT being sent to liberate the people. Ever. Not them not us.
All the intelligent blogging is coming from Phil Dickens right now:
http://truth-reason-liberty.blogspot.com/
Without doubt the best way we can repay or show solidarity with the brave people of Greece, Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Yemen and Bahrain ( to name just a few of the places where the squares have been occupied and lit up by the genuine call for proletariat freedom) is NOT to condone the deployment of War planes, which KILL indescriminately. It is NOT to jump on the bandwagon of Obama and Cameron et al when they talk about Democracy (which is nothing more than the exportation of value-system wage slavery. It is NOT to believe without question that the arab billionairres behind Al-Jazeera really give a damn about liberty and justice.
The best way we can repay those people who died in Tahrir Square is to TAKE TO THE STREETS of London on 26th March and show that the momentum for 'eternal' ethnic and ideological conflict and the genocidal accumulation of capital CAN and MUST be stopped in it's tracks.
To send a clear message that the outrage of a British democratic system which routinely returns a 'permanent' aristocracy to power MUST NOT BE ALLOWED TO CONTINUE.
The world establishment media stands complacent and assured that Britain and America are the last places on Earth where proletariat revolution could ever break out. It is our job to show that revolution here is inevitable. The media must be FORCED to place it's spotlight NOT on the slums of Cairo, Sanaa or Tripoli but AT THE VERY EPICENTRE of exported imperialist white patriarchal power....
LONDON has to become the frontline in the struggle for freedom and oppression from tyranny.
Opinion is divided over the call for a 'no fly zone' in Libya. The general consensus is that the rebels need help...but what help...and from whom? But a 'no fly zone' is serious stuff. It doesn't mean signs being pinned up around Ras Lanoof, it means war.
But whose war ?
The momentum for conflict in numerous countries is steadily gathering. The BBC and Al-Jazeera clearly want it. The newspapers, left and right seem to be propelled along, The government want it, naturally.
Even dissident anarchists are making appeals. Ian Bone writes on his blog:
''I would be quite happy to see western planes bombing the fuck out of Saif Gaddafi and his cronies.How can revolutionaries in the uk gainsay what rebels fighting and dying are crying out for? Quite easily is the answer – far better to keep your revolutionary credentials than soil your hands with reality – the reality that the rebels will die unles we support them.''
It's an argument, but hang on. Phil Dickens reminds us:
''those of us musing on blogs or in newspaper articles are not discussing what "we" should do. We are discussing what THE STATE should do. As we are discussing it whilst in no position to influence government policy and (in my case) from the understanding that said policy has to reflect the rough consensus of the elites rather than popular will anyway, it is something of a moot point.''
What should concern everyone at the moment is the break-neck speed with which events are unfolding.
Let's pause for a second ...and take things in.....
So...the global financial collapse happens....it's effects take a few months to show themselves....unrest in Athens (yes, respect to the rebels in Athens, they set the ball of direct action in motion) but then things swing away to Tunisia....a revolution....swift and relatively simple...Dictator jumps on plane and escapes to....??? London ? Usually.
Then the events of Tahrir Square take precedence as Al-Jazeera stamps its journalistic credentials once and for all....round the clock coverage of the revolution in Cairo....Journalists hanging out of Hilton Hotel bedroom windows 24/7....Mubarak's police and army make a last ditch attempt to get the Egyptian's to fight amongst themselves.....IT FAILS....Dictator goes shopping in Kensington....
...now the dispossessed, downtrodden and silent masses in numerous Middle-Eastern and African countries become inspired and emboldened...there are uprisings everywhere...of various shapes and sizes.
No chance of Gaddaffi being troubled in Libya though ....
then Gaddaffi is troubled in Libya...
BUT THINK BACK.
In early February the thought of revolution in Libya was almost inconceivable.....
It's ONLY the middle of March and yet Saudi tanks are rolling into the streets and squares of Bahrain and the British and American governments are debating sending the army to Libya ! WOA THERE !!
Time for some deep breaths.
Don't take your eye off the bigger picture for one second. This is a hegemony orchestrated conflict.
CRISIS IS THEIR WEAPON
We need to remember that the only just war is the CLASS WAR
Under no circumstances must we forget that the war planes being prepared for Libya and who knows where else are NOT being sent to liberate the people. Ever. Not them not us.
All the intelligent blogging is coming from Phil Dickens right now:
''States will always act as they need to in order to serve the power behind them. The masses will combine when they wish to break free of that power and act for themselves. Rather than speculating on the power plays of the ruling classes and presuming benevolent motives that aren't there, we should be taking the side and agitating in the interest of ordinary people. Everywhere. Always.''
http://truth-reason-liberty.blogspot.com/
Without doubt the best way we can repay or show solidarity with the brave people of Greece, Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Yemen and Bahrain ( to name just a few of the places where the squares have been occupied and lit up by the genuine call for proletariat freedom) is NOT to condone the deployment of War planes, which KILL indescriminately. It is NOT to jump on the bandwagon of Obama and Cameron et al when they talk about Democracy (which is nothing more than the exportation of value-system wage slavery. It is NOT to believe without question that the arab billionairres behind Al-Jazeera really give a damn about liberty and justice.
The best way we can repay those people who died in Tahrir Square is to TAKE TO THE STREETS of London on 26th March and show that the momentum for 'eternal' ethnic and ideological conflict and the genocidal accumulation of capital CAN and MUST be stopped in it's tracks.
To send a clear message that the outrage of a British democratic system which routinely returns a 'permanent' aristocracy to power MUST NOT BE ALLOWED TO CONTINUE.
The world establishment media stands complacent and assured that Britain and America are the last places on Earth where proletariat revolution could ever break out. It is our job to show that revolution here is inevitable. The media must be FORCED to place it's spotlight NOT on the slums of Cairo, Sanaa or Tripoli but AT THE VERY EPICENTRE of exported imperialist white patriarchal power....
LONDON has to become the frontline in the struggle for freedom and oppression from tyranny.
Wednesday, 9 March 2011
the people have the eternal right to rebel against, and overthrow, these institutions.
When, in the course of human development, existing institutions prove inadequate to the needs of man, when they serve merely to enslave, rob, and oppress mankind, the people have the eternal right to REBEL against, and overthrow, these institutions.
The mere fact that these forces--inimical to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness--are legalized by statute laws, sanctified by divine rights, and enforced by political power, in NO WAY justifies their continued existence.
We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all human beings, irrespective of race, color, or sex, are born with the EQUAL right to share at the table of life; that to secure this right, there must be established among men economic, social, and political freedom; we hold further that government exists but to maintain special privilege and property rights; that it coerces man into submission and therefore ROBS him of dignity, self-respect, and life.
The mere fact that these forces--inimical to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness--are legalized by statute laws, sanctified by divine rights, and enforced by political power, in NO WAY justifies their continued existence.
We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all human beings, irrespective of race, color, or sex, are born with the EQUAL right to share at the table of life; that to secure this right, there must be established among men economic, social, and political freedom; we hold further that government exists but to maintain special privilege and property rights; that it coerces man into submission and therefore ROBS him of dignity, self-respect, and life.
Friday, 4 March 2011
I am an Anarchist! Wherefore I will
Not rule, and also ruled I will not be!
Just as religion has fettered the human mind, and as property, or the monopoly of things, has subdued and stifled man's needs, so has the State enslaved his spirit, dictating every phase of conduct.
"All government in essence .....is tyranny."
It matters not whether it is government by divine right or majority rule. In every instance its aim is the absolute subordination of the individual.
Not rule, and also ruled I will not be!
Just as religion has fettered the human mind, and as property, or the monopoly of things, has subdued and stifled man's needs, so has the State enslaved his spirit, dictating every phase of conduct.
"All government in essence .....is tyranny."
It matters not whether it is government by divine right or majority rule. In every instance its aim is the absolute subordination of the individual.
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