resistance - monthly bulletin of the Anarchist Federation (Britain)


Posh parasite!

When so many forces combine to justify something so obviously corrupt, stinking and rotten as the British monarchy, then it is obvious that something serious is up.
Not so long ago the monarchy seemed to be up to its neck in scandal, now they seem fine. What is going on?
What is going on is that one of the richest women in the world has found a device for holding on to her wealth and privileges (and those of her large, extended family). Conveniently for the Queen (and us!), Princess Margaret died of underwork and over-indulgence. Soon after the Queen Mother decided to follow her deceased daughter to hell (let’s really hope it exists). The Queen Mother, another drink-sodden lay-about croaked after about five million years of sponging off us, and so the scene was set for a royal come-back from our dear Queen.
The propaganda circus of the royal family (an extortion racket appropriately self-designated as “the firm”), Tony Blair, the BBC and the rest of the mass media got their act together, and so we had the sickly spectacle of a state send-off. Conveniently, this came immediately prior to the golden jubilee “celebrations” which unleashed another chain of royal arse licking events and activities. These are proving effective means of rehabilitating the monarchy.
Her majesty embarked on a jubilee tour of the UK but given that she hardly ever leaves her posh palaces, she sometimes got a bit confused. When visiting the northeast she thanked the people of the northwest. But of course she never met real people, who live real lives, struggling to make ends meet. When visiting east London she managed to miss the Dagenham housing estate, a place of real deprivation but viewed instead a manor house! The steps to that building, our agents tell us, were swept four times in the two hours leading up to the visit.
Nearby, the council estate is cluttered with litter, poverty and despair. Nice one Ma’am.
What looked like a probable wash-out now has taken on renewed vigour. Whilst, thankfully, there may not be many street parties, there will be lots of official celebrations. Let’s hope it rains over the Buckingham Palace concerts. But remember, however many hours the television devotes to this royal rigmarole, you are paying for it, either directly or indirectly. And oh, isn’t it funny that the Queen Mum’s millions are exempt from inheritance tax?
Journalist Jenny Bond may fawn sickeningly over how “ordinary” a family they really are. But we know better. They are an outfit of rich, idle, self-seekers who represent stability, inequality, privilege and order. And that is why the whole of the ruling class is so desperate to prop them up. As at least the ruling class knows, an injury to one is an injury to all.
Off with their heads and forward to revolution!

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Against the Jubilee

What is every one screaming about since they started this bullshit jubilee!
25 years ago the monarchists were surprised by the punk movement’s reaction against the Queen. 25 years later they should be aware that anarchism is an alive and kicking movement as demonstrated by the recent anti-capitalist demonstrations and thousands of struggles across the world. The monarchy is the antithesis of anarchism. The Queen is the figure head of this hierarchical society. She is the epitome of the class system where the rich live off the labour of the rest of society.
Anarchism stands for no power and no privilege: - no gods - no masters - no cops - no politicians - no traffic-wardens, ticket inspectors or security guards and no fucking Queen. So instead of celebrating a tired old woman with shit dress sense, instead of rejoicing in this medieval social system and our own slavery within it, we’re going to have a party to celebrate: Anarchy!
Anti-jubilee events:
1st June 2002: Bristol Centre (Fountains/St Augustine’s Parade) Email:  Black_Cat_Collective@yahoo.co.uk or write to: Box 22, Greenleaf Bookshop, Colston Street, BS1 5BB
1st June: Movement Against the Monarchy are meeting at Brixton Ritzy cinema at noon. Visit: www.fuckthejubilee.com
Email:  guillotine66@hotmail.com
Tel: 07931 301 901
2-4st June: Up the republic! Stuff the Monarchy! At Clwb y Bont, Pontypridd, Wales. For more info: PO Box 661, Wrecsam, LL11 1QU, Tel: 02920 830 029
Email:  stuffthemonarchy@yahoo.co.uk
4st June: Execute the Queen Street Party, 10.30am starting at Tower Hill,
London. Contact 07931 301 901 and 07946 687 192 on the day.

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On the frontline

Our regular look at workplace struggles:

Local Government workers in London have stepped up their actions in support of a fairer local “weighting” – local councils are currently paying them a rate that means in real terms, London employees are worse off than outside the capital due to higher rents, house prices etc. 55,000 caretakers, secretaries, and school meals staff walked out on the 14th and 15th shutting down many schools and council offices. This ‘weighting’ scam has long been a favourite of local councils and it can only be a good sign that it’s now being challenged.
Further Education lecturers have also decided to strike in support of their demands, after they were offered an “insulting” 1.5% pay rise. The strikes are timed to coincide with the summer exams in the 280 colleges in which action is expected by the 32,000 lecturers.
We reported in the last issue of
resistance on the threat of the first national firefighters strike in over 25 years – that now seems more likely to happen, as the firefighters are now demanding a 40% pay rise (average £8,469). If nothing else this shows a return to aggressive assertion of working class needs. The ongoing rise in collective industrial action is helping to build up confidence in people’s ability to fight and win. Great stuff – let’s have more of the same!
Strikes are threatened by air traffic controllers if the out-sourcing company Serco is allowed to invest in the industry. Serco is a scumbag company that is used to introduce mass redundancies, greater workloads for those workers remaining, and the abandoning of collective agreements in favour of individual contracts, and the loss of agreed redundancy packages. With summer coming, this could be one to keep an eye on…
Meanwhile, there were signs that industrial militancy was once again rearing its head in Germany, where ten days of strike activity by more than 100,000 workers from 85 firms crippled economic activity in the Baden-Wuerttemberg region, and was spreading to Berlin and Brandenburg as we went to press. This resurgence of industrial action is the first large-scale strike since 1995, and is a pattern that is being mirrored across the continent. From the general strike in Italy, to threat of the general strike in Spain (over changes in unemployment benefit – 70,000 at Madrid demo) to the unrest on the UK railways and in the Postal service, there are encouraging signs that a long overdue fightback might be starting to take shape.

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CELEBRITY PRAT OF THE MONTH

“They [pensioners] are by far the worst drivers. They are spiteful, dithering, old and in the way. They should have their licences taken away.” Jeremy Clarkson.

What really irks Clarkson is the temerity of the pensioners - it could just as well be any group of people he sees as obstacles - to challenge his arrogant bullying and who will not meekly step aside just because they are threatened by a frustrated ego-maniac. Clarkson’s tantrum exhibits all the nasty symptoms that are a direct result of a way of life like capitalism, the dog-eat-dog, rat-race, testosterone-fuelled 24/7 day-by-day existence of almost unbearable intensity. That presents palpable challenge to the basic rationality of the human psyche (see Organise! magazine #58 - “Speed” article).
In a way, Clarkson is to be pitied, for he too is a victim of a system that encourages the despising of everything and everyone deemed to be impeding what Clarkson and his motor supposedly represent - speed, freedom, luxuriant comfort and sexual potency, each of which a prat of Clarkson’s mindset would deny to the group he is slandering. Too many contemporaries in Clarkson’s contrived position of influence take it for granted, because capitalism indoctrinates them into behavioural infantility like this, that they and only they are of any importance in the world. It isn’t too wide of the mark to say that such an attitude carries the hallmarks of a creeping fascism taking root in this consumerist society that leads everyone by pocket and purse.
Smug inside their high-powered status-symbols, yobs like the T.V. presenter attempt to impose themselves forcibly over anyone they regard as inferior or nuisances, subordinating their will, trying to degrade their right to be wherever they are, to the point of destroying (exterminating) them if necessary. We believe it’s time to curb the thuggish contempt people like Jeremy Clarkson hold for their fellow human beings. Only a society that places people ahead of profit can do that – anarchist communism.

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MUDDLED MAYDAY?

Since 1888, May 1st has been International Workers Day, a day to celebrate our struggles against capitalism and the state, as well as remember our fallen comrades. Anyone in Mayfair, London, during the Mayday week could’ve easily mistaken it for a celebration of alternative lifestyles within capitalism (radical yoga, local trade instead of global trade, etc.). Whilst walking down the middle of Oxford Street gave us a sense of strength for a short period, the day quickly degenerated into what the libertarian socialist group Solidarity called “sterile and harmful action” (see resistance #36). Wandering around Mayfair all afternoon with no apparent aim can only serve to increase “the passivity of the masses, their apathy, their cynicism.”
Whilst the police didn’t have a clue about what we were going to do next, neither did we, with informal hierarchies rapidly forming and people just blindly following those at the front. This can in no way be seen as helpful in the fight against capitalism and the state.
Meanwhile, the Trotskyists of the SWP, through their front organisation Globalise Resistance (surely that’s Demobilise Resistance?) had entered into an alliance with trade union bureaucrats and Stalinists for yet another boring demonstration marching from A to B. The most recent Maydays, for all their faults, were an attempt to get away from this towards something more imaginative. Now, they were able to divert effort and numbers away and their spokespeople on the media in the evening were able to gloat that everything had passed off “peacefully.” Business as usual!
However the day was not completely negative. There was a good turn out and interest in anarchism was high. Copies of resistance were snapped up by demonstrators and workers coming out of building sites and shops as fast as we could hand them out. It would be good to see more organised class struggle anarchists handing out literature on this sort of Mayday demonstration.
We look forward to the time when a wave of working class resistance in the form of strikes and street mobilisations will refresh the notion of Mayday. Let’s ensure that Mayday 2003 is one the Chicago anarchist martyrs, that Mayday commemorates, would be proud of.

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INTERNATIONAL ANARCHIST NEWS

Dutch anarchists
The execution of right-wing politician Pim Fortuyn on 6th May has been an excuse for the right, the media and mainstream politicians to attack anything at all progressive or radical. The spokesperson of Fortuyn’s party said that “the left” was responsible for creating an atmosphere in which people could get the idea that killing Fortuyn was a good idea. So any denunciation of Fortuyn’s reactionary ideas is seen as a provocation to murder!
Neo-nazis have joined the pro-Fortuyn demonstrations calling for physical attacks on social centres, organisations, squatted houses and individuals – obviously not a provocation to murder!
The anarchist collective Eurodusnie had to endure attacks on two of their social centres. One had its windows smashed, was broken into and had equipment destroyed. The media has whipped up hysteria against Eurodusnie, by trying to link pie-throwing incidents (in 1999!) against politicians to the individual who shot Fortuyn, links which do not exist. You can read their statements on the web at  http://eurodusnie.nl

Czech anarchists
On May 8th 100 people gathered in Prague for a demonstration organised by the Czechoslovak Anarchist Federation and Anti-Fascist Action. Although the demonstration was illegal, police did not – this time – attack the demonstration. The march ended outside a Czech radio station at a memorial to victims of fascist terror in World War Two.
More anarchist news from the Czech Republic at  http://a-kontra.csaf.cz/english
Bolivian anarchists occupy
The Gruppo Anarquista Revuelta together with students and professors occupied the biggest Bolivian university to demand that persecution against anarchists and other revolutionaries stop at once. This followed several weeks of a hunger strike which demanded the dropping of any charges against lecturers and students and autonomy for the university and the decisions of its mass assemblies.
The rector of the university, with the backing of the State, has launched a campaign of persecution against anyone critical of the system, such as is the case with the anarchist Juan Perelman, a teacher of philosophy and history. The Gruppo Anarquista Revuelta is calling for international solidarity against the repression. Messages of support and information from  rasolnikof@hotmail.com and the website www.nodo50.org/jjll.bolivia/jjll/jjll.index

Anarchist bookshop attacked
Anarchists of the French Anarchist Federation in Montpellier started a massive distribution of posters, stickers and leaflets around opposition to the Front National and the need for a social revolution in the run-up to the large demonstration there on April 27th. During the night of May 1st three shots were fired at the anarchist bookshop La Mauvaise Reputation (no-one was there at the time). Anarchists in Montpellier have no doubt this attack is a result of their propaganda campaign and are not deterred from carrying on the fight for a free society.
In Paris on May Day a united contingent of anarchists numbering 6,000
(Federation Anarchiste, the anarcho-syndicalist union CNT, Alternative Libertaire and the anti-fascist groupings Scalp and No Pasaran) demonstrated in the Place de la Republique.

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Prison riots

The prison population in England and Wales is at a record level of 71,000. The Prison Service is considering using another ship to house prisoners because the jails are full to overflowing. In this situation it is hardly surprising that three separate disturbances broke out in British prisons in the first week of May.
At Guys Marsh, Dorset, on the 2nd of May 30 prisoners barricaded themselves in and damaged fixtures. At Lindholme jail on the 6th, 25 prisoners on a wing refused to return to their cells. At Ranby in Nottinghamshire, on evening of the 7th, 48 prisoners took over their residential unit.
The authorities attempted to keep quiet about these disturbances and then when word got out, strenuously denied that they had done so.

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ANARCHISTS ORGANISE

Anarchists in Hereford have been getting organised of late, and have
recently established a local group -
Hereford Anarchists.
There has already been quite a bit of interest in libertarian ideas despite the conservative nature of this rural county.
As of yet, not much has been planned beyond distributing literature i.e. a mass leafleting, extensive fly posting and a
possible newsletter.
Email:  herefordanarchists@hotmail.com

Stroud Valley Anarchists have a new website at www.geocities.com/svanarchos. They’ve brought out 2 issues of their monthly newsletter the Stroudie. They can be contacted at:  svanarchos@yahoo.co.uk

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WORKPLACE ORGANISING

In the last issue of resistance we looked at how we can individually survive at work. Now we look at how we can collectively fight back...

It is not easy to operate in an overwhelmingly hostile environment. Your chances of success are affected by a whole range of factors. Small workplaces have less opportunities than larger ones. Shops and catering are extremely difficult. Established firms with traditions of militancy usually offer more opportunities. White collar workers have different priorities than manual workers, and so on.

Despite the difficulties, workplace organisation can offer some spectacular opportunities including sabotage, occupations, strikes, go-slows and expropriations! However, a sobering feature is that management intimidation can lead to loss of livelihood. So, unless you couldn’t give a toss, some degree of caution is advisable.

Organising at work does have the advantage over other areas of activity insofar as issues tend to be clearer. In times of recession, when the employers are under pressure to hold on to markets and unemployment is high, issues such as redundancies, increasing output (i.e. the rate of exploitation), wage cuts, tougher work conditions, job evaluation, etc., come to the fore. In periods of economic upturn, short, sharp conflicts arise when workers take advantage of their strengthening positions to win back what has been lost in the previous period. Generally then, there is no shortage of issues to take up.

The reactionary nature of trade unions is a difficult issue to tackle as many workers (despite being continuously disappointed) see them as defenders of their interests. Often the best militants identify unions with the class struggle. This false perception must be patiently and carefully argued against both theoretically and with example from the abundant evidence available of official union sabotage of real struggles.

In day to day practice, ideas can be spread though casual conversation. More serious and details revolutionary effort might involve meetings of like minded comrades, the production of leaflets and perhaps, workplace bulletins and of course AF literature!

There’s much more on this topic on the Anarchist Federation Ireland website at: www.afireland.cjb.net

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INSIDE INFORMATION

Anarchist prisoner needs support
Long-term US anarchist prisoner Harold H. Thompson is challenging a decision that will determine whether inmates across the US are able to receive mail containing “political content.” Currently between 22,000 and 25,000 prisoners receive anarchist, environmental or animal rights literature. Thompson has been pursuing this case for over two years to ensure this legal right is maintained.
A recent District Court setback (these invariably produce biased verdicts) means that at least a further years intensified struggle will be necessary to ensure prisoners access to what state governors refer to as “Security Threat Group Material”.
This is a serious heavyweight legal contest with far-reaching implications for every prisoner held in US jails, particularly those prepared to stand up and fight the system from behind cell bars. There is increasing likelihood it will finish in the US Supreme Court for final resolution. Harold needs funds urgently to carry on this fight. He remains convinced that this struggle can, and indeed, must be won, and an awful lot of hope is riding on his endeavours. If the case folds through lack of resources then prisoners across the USA will be the losers. Please help if you can with donations to: “Friends of Harold H. Thompson”, PO Box 375, Knaphill, Woking, Surrey, GU21 2XL, England.


Justice For Mark Barnsley
Anarchist prisoner Mark Barnsley could be released soon (on licence with certain conditions) after serving eight years of a 12 year sentence. As things currently stand he is due to be released on July 5th 2002, but if a pending legal action is successful (challenging a previous punishment) he could be released on June 21st.
When Mark is finally released from prison he will be personally contactable on the Justice For Mark Barnsley campaign mobile phone: 07944 522001.
Mark Barnsley Release Fund
With the possibility of Mark’s release this summer, some forward thinking supporters of the campaign have recently set up a Release Fund for him. The Release Fund, which is accountable to the campaign, has been set up to help Mark get a bit of money behind him for those most difficult first few months of release. Mark will be jobless and financially broke and will need all the help he can get to try and adjust to life on the outside. As well as money donations, if anyone has any train vouchers (from complaining) please send them in too, as Mark would like to be able to travel, if possible, to visit friends and supporters, and will need to travel to the CCRC and his solicitors in order to continue his struggle for justice. Please send cheques / Postal Orders (payable to ‘Mark Barnsley Release Fund’ / train vouchers (and anything else useful you can think of!) to: ’Mark Barnsley Release Fund’ - Sumac Centre, Box CC, 73 Beech Avenue, NOTTINGHAM, NG7 7LR, England.


Anarchist Prisoner Moved
Robert Middaugh #T41137 Bldg 410 23up, P.O. Box 8, Avenal, CA 93204
Please send him letters of support. Prison is a very lonely place, and we need to remember and support our comrades and friends who are locked up.

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Subvert and resist

Take precautions when going on demonstrations and don’t take cameras, booze or drugs. If you’re nicked give your name and address then say ‘no comment’ to any other questions.

JUNE: 5th – International day of action for Gothenburg prisoners. In solidarity with the 41 people who have so far been sent to prison after the protests against the EU summit in Gothenburg last year. Between them the 41 have been sentenced to 476 months in prison (about 12 months each). Many of the convictions have been based on very dodgy evidence. Organisers of the day of action are calling for people to protest outside Swedish embassies, consulates or to stage similar actions in solidarity with the prisoners. Visit: www.manifest.se/upprop
8th – International day of action in solidarity with anarchist prisoner Mark Barnsley. Tel: 07944 522 001, Visit: www.freemarkbarnsley.com
13th – Nought for Conduct anarchist film club presents Blue collar. 7.30pm, Marchmont St. Community Centre, WC1, London. For more info contact London AF.
15th – National protest at Harmondsworth Detention Centre. Protest to kick off the Refugee Week of Action, 12-2pm. Outside the Detention Centre, near Heathrow. Bring banners, whistles, drums and balloons. Tel: 07960 309457  info@defend-asylum.org
15–22nd – Week of Action in support of refugees. For more info Email:
 refugeeaction-week@ncadc.org.uk
JULY: 11th – Nought for Conduct anarchist film club presents Matewan. 7.30pm, Marchmont St. Community Centre, WC1, London. For more info contact London AF.

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Join the resistance

The Anarchist Federation is an organisation of class struggle anarchists aiming to
abolish capitalism and all oppression to
create a free and equal society. This is
Anarchist Communism.
We see today’s society as being divided into two main opposing classes: the ruling class which controls all the power and wealth, and the working class which the rulers exploit to maintain this. By racism, sexism and other forms of oppression, as well as war and environmental destruction the rulers weaken and divide us. Only the direct action of working class people can defeat these attacks and ultimately overthrow capitalism.
As the capitalist system rules the whole world, its destruction must be complete and world wide. We reject attempts to reform it, such as working through parliament and
national liberation movements, as they fail to challenge capitalism itself. Unions also work as a part of the capitalist system, so although workers struggle within them they will be unable to bring about capitalism’s destruction unless they go beyond these limits.
Organisation is vital if we’re to beat
the bosses, so we work for a united
anarchist movement and are affiliated to the International of Anarchist Federations.
The Anarchist Federation has members across Britain and Ireland fighting for the kind of world outlined above. To get involved contact us at:

Anarchist Federation,
84B, Whitechapel High Street,
London, E1 7QX. Tel: 07946 214 590
Visit: www.afed.org.uk
Email:  anarchistfederation@bigfoot.com