Shelter - a Squatumentary

I've begun to write reviews for Political Media Reveiw.

The first oneis about a film i saw over the weeknd of the San Francisco Anarchist Bookfair earlier this Spring - Shelter, a Squatumentary.

 

Shelter: a Squatumentary
Hannah E. Dobbz
(Kill Normal Records 2008)
Reviewed by Rob Los Ricos

 

For me, one of the highlights of this spring’s anarchist bookfair in San Francisco was the opportunity it provided for me to reconnect with the squatting scene in the Bay Area. In several communities I’ve visited recently, there has been much discussion of squatting. And, as luck would have it, over the weekend of the bookfair, there was a screening of the film Shelter - a Squatumentary.

Shelter tells the stories of three squats in the East Bay Area. For anyone who has wondered about the feasibility of squatting, but has not yet made an attempt, this film will give an honest idea of the hassles, harassment and effort involved in doing so. Two of the squats featured in the film were suppressed. The police and courts hassled one squatter to the point that he gave up after years of on-again, of-again effort to legally inhabit a house . He put a lot of work into making the abandoned property into a home, but was constantly chased away by the police. His interactions with the cops are great, as he continually reasserts his right to live in the squat, and refuses to acknowledge that he is committing any sort of crime by being in his home.

More successful was a squat in Emeryville. At least while it lasted. After returning one day to find the squat behind a chainlink fence, the squatters must plead for a little time to gather their belongs before the building was demolished. This segment is particularly useful for novice squatters who wonder about the dynamics of sharing a squatted space with other people, both as housemates and temporary housing for travelers.

Far more successful by far is Hilarity squat in Oakland. Hilarity has been around for years, and Shelter does a lot to clear up some of the legends about the house and its history. At the end of the Hilarity segment, the inhabitants are awaiting a court decision which could potentially have resulted in the squatters having legal ownership. The film was released in 2008, and the residence of Hilarity were concerned over the prospect of losing the property altogether. I’m glad to report that at the time of the bookfair, the squat was still going strong, with a dynamic core of people living there and utilizing the space as place to organize. I stayed there for a week, so I got a chance to observe this first-hand.

Filmmaker Hannah Dobbz was present for the screening, as well as other people either featured in the film or squatting at the moment. She did a great job with the filming and editing, and was one of the principle participants in the Power Machine squat in Emeryville. Overall, Shelter is a good representation of what lies in wait for anyone who is considering opening up a squat, or curious about how they function.

Shelter Trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWMmJxmE-Hk&NR=1

Homesite:

http://www.killnormal.com/shelter/

 

Rare uncontacted tribe photographed in Amazon
Mood:  flirty
RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Amazon Indians from one of the world’s last uncontacted tribes have been photographed from the air, with striking images released on Thursday showing them painted bright red and brandishing bows and arrows.



The photographs of the tribe near the border between Brazil and Peru are rare evidence that such groups exist. A Brazilian official involved in the expedition said many of them are in increasing danger from illegal logging.



"What is happening in this region is a monumental crime against the natural world, the tribes, the fauna and is further testimony to the complete irrationality with which we, the ’civilized’ ones, treat the world," Jose Carlos Meirelles was quoted as saying in a statement by the Survival International group.



One of the pictures, which can be seen on Survival International’s Web site  shows two Indian men covered in bright red pigment poised to fire arrows at the aircraft while another Indian looks on.



Another photo shows about 15 Indians near thatched huts, some of them also preparing to fire arrows at the aircraft.



"The world needs to wake up to this, and ensure that their territory is protected in accordance with international law. Otherwise, they will soon be made extinct," said Stephen Corry, the director of Survival International, which supports tribal people around the world.



Of more than 100 uncontacted tribes worldwide, more than half live in either Brazil or Peru, Survival International says. It says all are in grave danger of being forced off their land, killed and ravaged by new diseases.



(Reporting by Stuart Grudgings; editing by Sandra Maler)

Charges dropped against alleged 9/11 "20th hijacker"
Mood:  chatty

The Pentagon has dropped charges against a man alleged to have been the "20th hijacker" in the September 11 attacks, his US military defence lawyer has said.
 
Mohammed al-Qahtani, who is being held at a US military jail at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, was one of six men facing murder and war crimes charges for their alleged roles in the 2001 attacks.
   
Bryan Broyles, al-Qahtani's military lawyer, said on Monday that Susan Crawford, the convening authority for military commissions, dismissed the charges against al-Qahtani on Friday.
 
The charges were dismissed "without prejudice," meaning they could be filed again at some point in the future.
   
Crawford is proceeding with charges against five other people accused of having a role in the attacks, Broyles said.
 
Prosecutors are to seek the death penalty for the men if they are found to be guilty.
 
Military tribunal

Authorities allege al-Qahtani was only prevented from taking part in the attacks because he was denied entry to the US by an immigration official.

The US military said that he had no return ticket and Mohammed Atta, the lead hijacker, was waiting for him.

Officials previously said al-Qahtani had been subject to harsh interrogation authorised by Donald Rumsfeld, the former US defence secretary.

The five defendants who are still facing charges include Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who is alleged to have masterminded the attacks in 2001 that killed nearly 3,000 people.

The five charged men are set to be arraigned before a military tribunal at Guantanamo, where the US holds about 270 men on "suspicion of terrorism" or links to al-Qaeda and the Taliban.

Human rights organisations have criticised the rule that allows US judges to decide whether to allow evidence that may have been obtained under "coercion".

US authorities have acknowledged that Mohammed was "waterboarded" - an interrogation method designed to simulate the sensation of drowning - by CIA interrogators.

Al-Qahtani last year retracted a confession he said he made after he was tortured at Guantanamo.

In a written statement he said he was beaten, restrained for long periods in uncomfortable positions, threatened with dogs, exposed to loud music and freezing temperatures and stripped nude in front of female military staff.

Imported from Myspace:
Mood:  a-ok
Now Playing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4U0LrtfFdjs&feature=related

The West Coast Convergence For Climate Action July 28 - Aug. 4 — Near Eugene, Oregon

Activists and families, the young and old, experienced and bright-eyed are coming together for the 2nd Annual West Coast Convergence for Climate Action. Take a week to share skills, tactics, ideas and fun while building a social and political movement for climate action!

This year, we are joined by Climate Convergences around the world on four different continents. Come join the global movement for earth-centered and community-based solutions to climate change.

Workshops will include: sustainable living skills, lower-impact technologies, creative non-violent direct action, organizing skills, strategies to beat Liquefied Natural Gas, organic gardening, protecting small farms, building communities beyond cultural boundaries, and dozens more.

With massive fossil fuel development projects threatening our region, and concerns over food prices and accessibility growing, we can find strength in people power and work towards building the strong communities we need.

If you are interested in helping with a workshop, getting the word out, or anything else, please feel free to contact us at westcoast[-AT-]climateconvergence[-DOT-]org.

May 7 Coast Salish Territories (Vancouver): Truck belonging to Kiewitt & Sons lit on fire.

On the night of May 7, 2008 we set fire to a Kiewitt & Sons work truck. Peter Kiewitt & Sons is currently working on expanding the Sea to Sky highway between Vancouver and Whistler, the main artery for the Olympics, also paving the way for investment into land exploitation, tourism and development. This is not the first act of resistance to PK+S and hopefully not the last; in 2007 people occupied eagle ridge bluffs to prevent its destruction by the Sea to Sky highway. PK+S filed an injunction causing the arrest of camp occupants and the imprisonment of Squamish elder and warrior Harriet Nahanne who died shortly after suffering illness in prison.

PK+S constructs the spaces that house many institutions of physical as well as social control including; air force and navy operations centers, mines, dams, highways, and industrial nuclear experimentation facilities. This act, for us, was an attack against repression and those who construct its systems.

Re-posted from Anarchist News.

To read more about resistence to the illegal occupation and destruction of First Nation's People's lands in KKKanada, see the First Nations website.

Maitreya, life, etc.

Okay, I admit it - I live in an Eco-village. That does NOT make me a hippy, dammit!

It's called Maitreya.

The place where I actually sleep,eat, shower, etc. is part of the dome village. There are four guys and three women who live here. They all have domes - made from recycled materials - while I live in the attic of the house we share (with the kitchen, bathroom, living space). It's really sweet here, and it's taken me over a month to shake off the hangover from living in the streets and get into the swing of life at Maitreya. So, if you are interested, check out the website, and I'll post more later. Right now, I gotta go to a party! Life in Eugene is really being good for me right now. Love ya's!

What happens to your body when you drink a soda
Mood:  sharp

Do you want to be healthy? Drinking soda is bad for your health in so many ways; science can't even state all the consequences. Here's what happens in your body when you assault it with a Coke:

Within the first 10 minutes, 10 teaspoons of sugar hit your system. This is 100 percent of your recommended daily intake, and the only reason you don't vomit as a result of the overwhelming sweetness is because phosphoric acid cuts the flavor.

Within 20 minutes, your blood sugar spikes, and your liver responds to the resulting insulin burst by turning massive amounts of sugar into fat.

Within 40 minutes, caffeine absorption is complete; your pupils dilate, your blood pressure rises, and your livers dumps more sugar into your bloodstream.

Around 45 minutes, your body increases dopamine production, which stimulates the pleasure centers of your brain – a physically identical response to that of heroin, by the way.

After 60 minutes, you'll start to have a sugar crash.

The average American drinks more than 60 gallons of soft drinks each year, but before you grab that next can of soda, consider this: one can of soda has about 10 teaspoons of sugar, 150 calories, 30 to 55 mg of caffeine, and is loaded with artificial food colors and sulphites. Not to mention the fact that it's also your largest source of dangerous high-fructose modified corn syrup..'s take a look at some of the other major components of a can of soda:

• Phosphoric Acid: Which can interfere with the body's ability to use calcium, leading to osteoporosis or softening of the teeth and bones.
• Sugar: It is a proven fact that sugar increases insulin levels, which can lead to high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease, diabetes, weight gain, premature aging and many more negative side effects. Most sodas include over 100 percent of the RDA of sugar. Sugar is so bad for your health in so many ways, I even created an entire list outlining 100-Plus Ways in Which Sugar Can Damage Your Health
• Aspartame: This chemical is used as a sugar substitute in diet soda. There are over 92 different health side effects associated with aspartame consumption including brain tumors, birth defects, diabetes, emotional disorders and epilispsy/seizures.
• Caffeine: Caffeinated drinks cause jitters, insomnia, high blood pressure, irregular heartbeat, elevated blood cholesterol levels, vitamin and mineral depletion, breast lumps, birth defects, and perhaps some forms of cancer.
• Tap Water: I recommend that everyone avoid drinking tap water because it can carry any number of chemicals including chlorine, trihalomethanes, lead, cadmium, and various organic pollutants. Tap water is the main ingredient in bottled soft drinks.

Clearly, the over-consumption of sodas and sweet drinks is one of the leading causes fueling the world-wide obesity epidemic.

One independent, peer-reviewed study published in the British medical journal The Lancet demonstrated a strong link between soda consumption and childhood obesity.  They found that 12-year-olds who drank soft drinks regularly were more likely to be overweight than those who didn't. In fact, for each additional daily serving of sugar-sweetened soft drink consumed during the nearly two-year study, the risk of obesity jumped by 60 percent.

Here's another sobering fact if you're struggling with weight issues: Just one extra can of soda per day can add as much as 15 pounds to your weight over the course of a single year!

Other statistics on the health dangers of soft drinks include:

• One soda per day increases your risk of diabetes by 85 percent
• Soda drinkers have higher cancer risk. While the federal limit for benzene in drinking water is 5 parts per billion (ppb), researchers have found benzene levels as high as 79 ppb in some soft drinks, and of the 100 brands tested, most had at least some detectable level of benzene present
• Soda has been shown to cause DNA damage – courtesy of sodium benzoate, a common preservative found in many soft drinks, which has the ability to switch off vital parts of your DNA. This could eventually lead to diseases such as cirrhosis of the liver and Parkinson's

If you are still drinking soda, stopping the habit is an easy way to improve your health. Pure water is a much better choice, or if you must drink a carbonated beverage, try sparkling mineral water with a squirt of lime or lemon juice.

There is absolutely NO REASON your kids should ever drink soda. None, nada, zip, zero. No excuses. The elimination of soft drinks is one of the most crucial factors to deal with many of the health problems you or your children suffer.

If you struggle with an addiction to soda, remember; sugar is actually more addictive than cocaine!

Related Articles:

  The Amazing Statistics and Dangers of Soda Pop

 Soft Drinks: Disease in a Can

 Turbo Tapping: How to Get Rid of Your Soda Addiction

Shamelessly pirated from the Mercola.com website.

About Dr. Mercola

A History of Anarchy in Venezuela
Mood:  a-ok

 This is a brief outline of the libertarian footprint in the history of Venezuela, prepared by members of the Collective Editorship of El Libertario www.nodo50.org/ellibertario. We hope that this serves as a useful point of reference for those who are interested in the subject.

At the beginning of the 20th Century, European anarcho-syndicalist immigrants contributed towards the emergence of worker organisations despite economic, social and cultural backwardness (Rodríguez 1993). These efforts – formation of mutual societies and guilds, strikes, propaganda etc – gained them a certain notoriety in the era of the oil industry, however the dictatorship of Juan Vicente Gómez (1908-35) viciously repressed all syndical activity, preventing it from developing as it did at other latitudes. The few hounded social militants that remained in the country tried with great difficulty to generate political thought, whilst the majority of the anti-Gómez exiles were not open to radical thought. Amongst the radical minority, the attractiveness of the expansion of Russian bolshevism proved too strong and effectively stemmed the flow of anarchist thought. When this Marxist faction returned after the death of the tyrant, it occupied the entire field of leftwing politics, absorbing the handful of readers and clandestine disciples of the libertarian ideal, who were even among the founders of the Venezuelan Communist Party (PCV- 1936) and Acción Democrática (1941), the two parties that would subsequently control the process of the political organisation of the masses. Additionally, the anti-anarchist repression had a constitutional footing and was implemented in the so-called Ley Lara (Lara law) which was in effect between 1936-45.

Many exiled Spanish anarchists arrived in Venezuela during the 1940’s and 1950’s, and had to deal, not only with the weight of defeat in the Spanish Civil War, but also an adoptive environment where their ideas were seen as strange. The urgent need to subsist and the imperative to adapt to the atmosphere of brutal authoritarianism were additional obstacles to the organisation of potential local sympathizers. Their efforts were not, however, in vain, particularly after 1958 when, after ten years of military dictatorship, the Federación Obrera Regional Venezolana – FORVE (Venezuelan Regional Workers Federation, affiliated to the International Workers Association, a global anarcho-syndicalist movement founded in 1922) was established. Too, some specific groups were formed, newspapers, pamphlets and books were produced, but little of this activity transcended beyond the most politically aware circles of Spanish immigrants (Montes de Oca 2008).

The wave of socio-political contestation that was experienced globally at the tail end of the 1960’s – especially May 1968 in France with its indubitable libertarian roots – also took hold in Venezuela. Its mark can be clearly seen in the Renovación Universitaria (University Renewal) that profoundly shook the principal institutions of higher education in Venezuela between 1968-70, and maintained its presence in subsequent student movements and alternative culture. However, apart from the diminishing presence of Spanish veterans, years would pass before groups that identified themselves with the ideal and practice of anarchism would exist, this is because in the 70’s Marxism was still considered the irreplaceable ideological support for any revolutionary proposal in Venezuela.

Between 1980 and 1995 there were clearly anarchist attempts to connect with social struggles and movements, the Colectivo Autogestionario Libertario - CAL (Libertarian Self-managing Collective) being the most visible. Two journals, El Libertario (published by CAL – 9 editions between 1985-87) and Correo A (28 editions between 1987 and 1995), were points of reference and reunion for activists, exiled Latin American libertarians, and, principally, young people who came to anarchism through the punk scene. Also noteworthy at this time was the academic and informative activity of Angel Cappelletti, an Argentinian anarchist who worked in Venezuela for 26 years (Méndez & Vallota 2001). Despite the difficulties inherent in trying to propagate and push forward anarchist proposals of self-management and direct action in an environment where they were either unknown or poorly interpreted, little by little routes towards diverse spaces where such projects could be expressed became apparent. And then on 27/02/1989 the popular rising known as the ‘Caracazo’ occurred, which together with other national events (particularly the crisis of near total dependency on the oil industry and of the political model that was established in1958) and international events (such as the fall of the Eastern European bureaucracies), opened spaces where the libertarian ideal could be propagated.

The attempt to fuse anarchism with concrete collective struggles was made more apparent by the reappearance of El Libertario in 1995, whose working group called itself first, the Comisión de Relaciones Anarquistas - CRA (Commission of Anarchist Relations), and after 2007 the Collective Editorship of El Libertario. It is the most lasting publication in local libertarian history, publishing 5 editions every year and with a significant circulation compared with other local and continental publications. Side by side with El Libertario are numerous core groups and initiatives with various areas of intervention and which are located in diverse regions, highlighting the working of specific spaces( such as the CESL in Caracas, the CEA in Mérida and the Ateneo La Libertaria, first in Biscucuy and then in the rural area to the southwest of Lara), the organisation in January 2006 of the Alternative Social Forum in Caracas, the activity of the Anarchist Black Cross, the persistent publication of various informative materials, and the impulse given to distinct events of social protest and cultural agitation. This process has had to overcome the test of the ‘Bolivarian revolution’, led by Hugo Chávez, which for anarchists represents a demagogic, corrupt, militarist and inefficient swindle which has deceived a large sector of local and international socialists, making the development of autonomous popular movements, a course of action promoted by Venezuelan anarchism, more difficult.

Finally...
Now Playing: the Flaming Lips

For the first time since my release from prison in June of 2006, I have a home.

I've been given a temporary work-trade space in an eco-village. Despite the fact that many people here have their doubts and suspicions about me, there are several who welcome me. Especially the dome-dwellers.

We have about half a dozen small dome structures here, and there's a kitchen, bathroom and computer room that we share in a house. It's an odd assembly of people here in the dome village - an autonomous unit within the larger community. There are four men and three women and we seem to get along really well. 

My presence has created a stir here (of course). I sorta got snuck in before the larger community had a chance to meet me. I had a decent reference, since I first came here for a going-away party for a really cool comrade who moved to Portland. The night of the party, I found a guitar laying around the dome house. It had been abandoned by a previous resident. I took it to the party and wound up playing silly songs and jamming a little with a real musician. I've been playing everyday (almost) since then. It's been fun, and I'm getting closer to realizing my fantasy of busking. I need to know a few more songs. Well, more than a few.

So, some of the older members of the community aren't sure about me. As I said - I sorta moved in before anyone had a chance to discuss things, and that ruffled a few feathers. It's possible that I'll be asked to leave sometime soon. It's more possible that I'll stay, though. My friends in the dome village really like me, and one of them wants to busk with me. Or start up a band, if we get some electric instruments.

My life changed so much, so quickly, I haven't had a chance to sort things out for myself. I'm going to be doing some prisoner support work soon, and hope to start up an anarchist coffee cart, too. Meanwhile, I have a new zine out, and am working on the next one in the series. They'll be about my prison experiences, though the first two will be mostly background.

This place has been really good to me. I've got a guitar to play while my acoustic-electric is repaired. I also have a bike, which was also left behind by a previous resident. A home, a guitar to play, a bike to ride, friends to hang out with, projects to work on - life feels really good right now. And I'm not even slightly concerned that I'll fuck it all off. I'm on a roll, and I'm gonna take full advantage of the opportunities life is presenting me.

Yea! 

For the Barbarians

You hear the slanders nearly every day:  contemptuous denunciations of barbarous atrocities.  Words meant to stir primal animosity towards some people.  The association of the word "barbarian" and certain activities is reason enough to call into doubt the humanity of the perpetrators of these barbarous actions and suggest that they are demi-demons.  The concentration camps of Nazi Germany - the use of  biological warfare (small pox) against Native Americans - the deliberate starvation of millions of peasants by Stalin and Mao - the commercial hunting and trading of African Peoples - the dungeons and pyres of the Inquisition - the Crusades - the bombings of Guernica, Dresden, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Iraq, Yugoslavia - the creation of famine and pestilince by the World Bank and IMF - all acts of cruelest barbarity, right?

No!  All of these horrific crimes against humanity were carried out by civilized people IN THE NAME OF CIVILIZATION!  Indeed, these were all specific actions carried-out, designed and implemented by people at the pinnacle of civilization.  Furthermore, most of these acts of massive slaughter would have been impossible without civilization.  Barbarians could not conceive of such widespread, indiscriminate murder, and would be incapable of carrying them out.

Even in ancient days, when nomadic hordes smashed civilizations, they did so as proto-civilizations, recognizing the fact that the already existing civilizations were their rivals.

Do you want to know what savage, barbaric people are like?  Look at them!  Quick!  Before they disappear!  The U'wa who live in the Cloud Forests of Colombia and consider themselves to be a chosen people - chosen to be the caretakers of their magnificent homeland.  The Dineh elders who weep as they watch Peabody Coal destroy the mountains where they live joyously simple lives because that's what the desert provides for them.  They do not weep for their loss, nor do they hate the people killing their Mother Earth.  They weep because, according to their worldview, if they had been living their lives in a sacred manner, other people wouldn't be killing the Earth.  One aboriginal People of Australia have decided not to reproduce because they can't bear the thought of their grandchildren having to live in the toxic wasteland that is being made of the Earth.  The Ogoni People of the Niger River Delta are being exterminated because they are petitioning the Nigerian government to stop Shell Oil from befouling the ecosystems that have always sustained their People.  The various Peoples of West Papua who have united in their opposition to the development of their island homelands and declare "We refuse any kind of development:  religious groups, aid agencies and governmental agencies and governmental agencies.  Just leave us alone!"  And the mysterious inhabitants  of another Indonesian island whose only messages to civilization are volleys of arrows.  

Do you want to know what kind of unfeeling, sadistic person could carry out such acts of eco- and genocide?  Take a look around any shopping mall, go to any religious service in America.  Could it be any plainer to you if your cars needed human blood in order to run?  If Americans had to strangle an infant Native American child in order to gain financing for their homes, would there be forcible childbirth centers on reservations?  And would there be any decline in the number of home sales?

Accusations of barbarity are made by one civilized people against another.  It would be an honor to live among barbarians ñ to share our love of our homeworld, our joy of living.  Instead, I'm stuck here, existing in a state of semi-animation while beyond the walls and razor wire, the smug despoilers of the Earth carry on with their frenzied, hate-filled lives.

I will not be tamed and returned to the herd of domestic humanity.  Imprisoned as a dissident, I'm not one who will be re-educated for assimilation into Amerikkka.  It's fitting that only by imprisoning me were the forces of society able to coerce me into living indoors, pissing and shitting in water - that's sick! And desiring work just for something to do.  If anything, this episode of incarceration has strengthened my resolve to smash civilization.

Release me from this cage!

We need a new anarchist movement!
Mood:  chatty
A lot of ya'll reading this probably don't know much about anarchy and anarchism, so you might have a lot of questions. Too bad this medium doesn't allow for back and forth discussion, because I'd love to answer your questions, but to give you an accurate account of anarchist history and theory would require a book or two. And a lot of that history and theory has been rendered obsolete by the current New World Order. The media tells us that the world changed forever on 9/11/01. The NWO was already functioning before then and had been in the process of being implemented for a century. But that, too, is another long story. What I want to do is let you know is where I stand as a Tejano working class political prisoner in a movement dominated by white middle class students and activists.

Anarchy?

The simplest explanation is the best: no rulers, or no authoritative power.

Anarchism: the theory that all forms of government are oppressive and should be abolished.

Anarchism is what I believe is obsolete in this day and age. It's a 19th century ideology that lost relevance when it became clear that capitalism would win out over socialism as the dominant social order in the Industrial West. This was in question until recently. When capitalism won, we entered the New World Order.

Back in the day, Anarchism was the most militant, revolutionary branch of the Socialist milieu. Anarchists played vital roles in the revolutions in Mexico, Russia and China. They were active throughout Latin America, Asia and Africa. Anarchists staged their own revolution in Spain, which was crushed by the fascist armies of Franco, Hitler and Mussolini. [ "The Spanish Anarchists" by Murray Bookchin (the only subject he's written about that is worth reading) and "The Bonnot Gang" by Richard Parry (Are anarchists terrorists?)]

But that was in a different era, when technology and Progress seemed like they would give the world a future of unlimited abundance, shared by all. The disintegration of the Soviet Union cleared the way for a newly unified global economic and social order. Now we can all go about the business of fueling the engines of capitalism as consumers.

In the real world, however, wealth is being reserved for increasingly fewer people, natural resources are being used up, and it's getting more difficult to provide for oneself - economically. The promise of a world of material abundance was a lie, and many people didn't fall for it. [ "The Imagination of the New Left: A Global Analysis of
1968" by George Katsiaficas and "The Prosperous Few and the Restless Many" by Noam Chomsky]

Worldwide Uprisings and the other American Revolution

From 1968-1972, people all over the world rose up to challenge the established States for the control of their own lives. It didn't matter if they were communist or capitalist: students, workers and peasants worldwide protested, organized and revolted against the pettiness to which their lives had degenerated.

The most significant uprising took place in France, where a coalition of students and workers nearly succeeded in overthrowing the government and the intellectual shackles of Marxism.

The Situationist International described life as having been so trivialized by social and economic forces that people were nothing more than spectators in their own lives. [ "The Society of the Spectacle" by Guy Debord and "The Situationist International Anthology" by Ken Knabb] This was a brilliant insight, and it's a shame that they didn't cast off their Marxist dogma as they had shed their roles as passive witnesses to history.

Here in America, people inspired by the civil rights movement, and the determination of the people of Vietnam, also rose up against our government. We fought a revolutionary war here in the U.S. from 1970-1972, and many fought on throughout the 1980s. This is where many of America’s current political prisoners come from. Try to find THAT in your history books! You'll have more luck looking through back issues of newspapers.

The government ultimately won, but it was not an easy battle. Anyone who researches that time will find massive mobilizations of police, National Guard and U.S. Armed Forces in almost every major city and most universities across the nation. Activists, revolutionaries, and union organizers died and tens of thousands were imprisoned. Though a few groups reformed and continued to fight, most of us were left wondering where we went wrong. It seemed at the time that we were winning, that radical change in the way the world was evolving was possible.

It was this period of self-reflection that eventually led to new questions, a deeper analysis of society and the crises the future would bring us. And anarchists, for the most part, were the ones asking the questions and looking for answers, even if these inquiries led in unexpected directions.

Alienation

The key point to understand in the current anarchist scene is ALIENATION. Alienation is so central to the NWO that it can't exist without alienation. As a matter of fact, as more History and Archeology students began to make critical examinations of the "Progress" of history, it became all too clear that, not only do we not live in the best of all worlds, but the ascension of the West to world domination has been a catastrophe rather than a divinely ordained blessing. Especially when one considers how our technological civilization treats the Earth - as both a source of wealth to plunder and as a garbage dump.

The thought that human beings are apart from the natural world, rather than a part of the Earth, is the original source of alienation. This is what made civilization possible. Once people began to build cities, they developed a feeling of superiority over their fellow humans. So, first people became alienated from their habitat, then from one another. The rest, of course, is History.

One point an anarchist scholar has highlighted was that few people became civilized willingly [ "Against His-story, Against Leviathan" by Fredy Perlman (hard to find), "Rebels Against the Future" by Kirkpatrick Sale, "My Name is Chellis Glendinning and I'm in Recovery from Western Civilization" by Challis Glendinning (easy to find and a great read)].  They were either conquered by the armies of the "civilized" people, or adopted civilized ways in order to prevent such conquests. People often equate the ability to conquer other peoples with the level of a civilization's development. But let me ask you, is the desire to kill on a massive scale in an efficient manner a sign of a healthy, intelligent society? How do wars of conquest affect the warriors? And how will these warriors, in turn, affect their society when they return to their families? Also - how does such a conquest mentality affect the society as a whole?

Alienation is the root of all of civilization's problems. We are alienated from our environment by the belief that we are its masters. We are separated from other cultures by feeling that they are our rivals. We are in competition with our neighbors and struggle for domination within our own households. Our short-term desires can supercede our commitments to and relationships with the people in our lives. Our lives are so determined by Alienation that almost everyone is resigned to live lives that bear no resemblance to our innermost desires. Not only that, but most people actively pursue daily routines that will prevent them from living rewarding, fulfilling lives. Alienation from our own selves is so entrenched in our social consciences that we think, "Well, that's just the way it is."

No, that's not the way it is. That's the way WE make it. Things could be very different, but we will have to MAKE it  so.

And Now For Something Completely Different

It is not possible to create a new society, one based on integration with other people, our inner (higher) selves, and the world at large, within the context of our current society. A new society must be built outside of this one. By working "within the system," one is only integrating oneself further into the system. That's how the New World Order works. Anything that expands - or requires - economic activity feeds the system. It's what is expected of us. We are going to have to create new lives outside of the realm of Economics and Alienation. That means devoting our life energy to making these changes, as opposed to working for wages, or otherwise acquiring money. This may sound scary and weird, but let me clue you in on something: Many native peoples have festivals where everyone gathers together and gives away all their possessions. At first, some people may have a lot more than others, but by the end of the festival, everyone pretty much has an equal share. Such outpourings of communal devotion are such a threat to civilized alienation that they are illegal in Canada and the U.S. Ponder over that for a moment.

It is evident then that not only must a new social order arise outside of the current one, but it must be done in secret. The government will not toleratew it.

A Fugitive Future

It is up to us – ourselves -  our friends and the people we love, to create a future we can truly believe in, one that produces healers instead of serial killers, that cherishes teachers, not athletic rapists. To anyone who reads this, that means sacrificing a lot of privileges. It means facing times of peril, material deprivation, hunger, even torture and/or  death. But what is the alternative? Nearly universal poverty, famine and internal wars of attrition like the War on "Drugs" and "Terrorism." Does a worldwide police state appeal to you? I doubt it, or you wouldn't be reading this [ "Nation of Terror" by Noam Chomsky, "Snitch Culture" by Jim Redden, "Lockdown America" by Christian Parenti (highly recommended)].

And never forget that almost every "White" person has a god complex. Be they Republicans, Pacifists, Vegans or Commies, they feel like they are entitled to determine how other people think, act and feel. Also, most of us are not accustomed to the level of privilege that middle class White Americans enjoy. Back in the 1970s, when the U.S. police forces began attacking the Black Panthers, a few of their white "comrades" came out to help. When push came to shove, very few White people of privilege stood by our sides. The ones who will are rare and awesome folks and should be cherished. But for the most part, the White kids will run crying to Mom and Dad after their first arrest, or certainly after the bullets start to fly. The ones with the most to lose will likely become informants, too. ["Pacifism as Pathology" by Ward Churchill and "The War at Home" by Brian Glick]

I know you out there reading this likely have experience dealing with issues of trust. All I can add now is that you should nurture your hearts and stop doing things that don't make you feel proud for being who you are. One of the most hideous aspects of the NWO is how it encourages a sameness in all of us. Cultural and ethnic divisions become marketing gimmicks. Obscure languages disappear, taking with them their People's oral histories, folk tales and other folk wisdom. In the NWO's schemes, we are all Americans, ready and willing to sacrifice our lives in service to the creation of wealth and privileges for an elite. We must resist this by embracing our uniqueness and by creating strong bonds with others in our revolutionary movements.

I could go on and on, but I hope I've given you enough to think about. The challenges the present and future present us are formidable, but not insurmountable. The NWO wants you to believe that it is omnipotent. The truth is, it requires our cooperation to function. Creating new lives for ourselves won't be easy, but the rewards are unimaginable. Giving birth is always this way.

Money Hates Me!
Mood:  d'oh
Gads - I keep losing things. Lately, it's been money. $5 bills. I've lost two in two consecutive weeks. And I rarely have any cash in my pockets; how does this happen? Why? I'm sick of it, but it's certain to continue for as long as I'm homeless. I suppose things could be worse. It's only money, after all, and not that much, really. Still - it sucks.