How they learnt to riot and burn?

I was on the train listening to feral youth, trainee bankers smug as they talked about stealing from us, stealing big style is the socially accepted norm, cops taking bungs from Murdoch to turn a blind eye to phone hacking, city hacks, rioters....its a system which does not even disguise the greed. Can we move from a society based on burn, steal and batter? We have to.



http://davidharvey.org/2011/08/feral-capitalism-hits-the-streets/

Feral Capitalism Hits the Streets
by David Harvey
11 August 2011

“Nihilistic and feral teenagers” the Daily Mail called them: the crazy youths from all walks of life who raced around the streets mindlessly and desperately hurling bricks, stones and bottles at the cops while looting here and setting bonfires there, leading the authorities on a merry chase of catch-as-catch-can as they tweeted their way from one strategic target to another.

The word “feral” pulled me up short. It reminded me of how the communards in Paris in 1871 were depicted as wild animals, as hyenas, that deserved to be (and often were) summarily executed in the name of the sanctity of private property, morality, religion, and the family. But then the word conjured up another association: Tony Blair attacking the “feral media,” having for so long been comfortably lodged in the left pocket of Rupert Murdoch only later to be substituted as Murdoch reached into his right pocket to pluck out David Cameron.

There will of course be the usual hysterical debate between those prone to view the riots as a matter of pure, unbridled and inexcusable criminality, and those anxious to contextualize events against a background of bad policing; continuing racism and unjustified persecution of youths and minorities; mass unemployment of the young; burgeoning social deprivation; and a mindless politics of austerity that has nothing to do with economics and everything to do with the perpetuation and consolidation of personal wealth and power. Some may even get around to condemning the meaningless and alienating qualities of so many jobs and so much of daily life in the midst of immense but unevenly distributed potentiality for human flourishing.

If we are lucky, we will have commissions and reports to say all over again what was said of Brixton and Toxteth in the Thatcher years. I say ‘lucky’ because the feral instincts of the current Prime Minister seem more attuned to turn on the water cannons, to call in the tear gas brigade and use the rubber bullets while pontificating unctuously about the loss of moral compass, the decline of civility and the sad deterioration of family values and discipline among errant youths.

But the problem is that we live in a society where capitalism itself has become rampantly feral. Feral politicians cheat on their expenses, feral bankers plunder the public purse for all its worth, CEOs, hedge fund operators and private equity geniuses loot the world of wealth, telephone and credit card companies load mysterious charges on everyone’s bills, shopkeepers price gouge, and, at the drop of a hat swindlers and scam artists get to practice three-card monte right up into the highest echelons of the corporate and political world.

A political economy of mass dispossession, of predatory practices to the point of daylight robbery, particularly of the poor and the vulnerable, the unsophisticated and the legally unprotected, has become the order of the day. Does anyone believe it is possible to find an honest capitalist, an honest banker, an honest politician, an honest shopkeeper or an honest police commisioner any more? Yes, they do exist. But only as a minority that everyone else regards as stupid. Get smart. Get Easy Profits. Defraud and steal! The odds of getting caught are low. And in any case there are plenty of ways to shield personal wealth from the costs of corporate malfeasance.

What I say may sound shocking. Most of us don’t see it because we don’t want to. Certainly no politician dare say it and the press would only print it to heap scorn upon the sayer. But my guess is that every street rioter knows exactly what I mean. They are only doing what everyone else is doing, though in a different way – more blatently and visibly in the streets. Thatcherism unchained the feral instincts of capitalism (the “animal spirits” of the entreprenuer they coyly named it) and nothing has transpired to curb them since. Slash and burn is now openly the motto of the ruling classes pretty much everywhere.

This is the new normal in which we live. This is what the next grand commission of enquiry should address. Everyone, not just the rioters, should be held to account. Feral capitalism should be put on trial for crimes against humanity as well as for crimes against nature.

Sadly, this is what these mindless rioters cannot see or demand. Everything conspires to prevent us from seeing and demanding it also. This is why political power so hastily dons the robes of superior morality and unctuous reason so that no one might see it as so nakedly corrupt and stupidly irrational.

But there are various glimmers of hope and Light around the world. The indignados movements in Spain and Greece, the revolutionary impulses in Latin America, the peasant movements in Asia, are all beginning to see through the vast scam that a predatory and feral global capitalism has unleashed upon the world. What will it take for the rest of us to see and act upon it? How can we begin all over again? What direction should we take? The answers are not easy. But one thing we do know for certain: we can only get to the right answers by asking the right questions.

—
David Harvey is Distinguished Professor at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. His latest book is The Enigma of Capital, and the Crises of Capitalism.

Socialist Worker central committee 'Why we need an ecosocialist network'

Karl Marx, in Capital, Volume III noted:
“Even an entire society, a nation, or all simultaneously existing societies taken together, are not the owners of the earth. They are simply its possessors, its beneficiaries, and have to bequeath it in an improved state to succeeding generations as boni patres familias [good heads of the household].”


Great to see Aotearoa/New Zealand Socialist Worker embrace ecosocialism, ecosocialism currents are growing fast in socialist and green organisations, to my mind ecosocialism is about 3 three things.

1. Democratic control of society i.e. the Commons
2. Respect for future generations i.e. the idea that we must act as good ancestors advocated by Marx, Ostrom, indigenous, etc.
3. Disciplined and focussed struggle to achieve 1 and 2 so we have a decent democratic ecological and equal society

None of this belongs to one political organisation, we have to make paths by walking them. I am not a supporter of the Socialist Worker A/NZ, its not my tradition but great they are prepared to take steps to make paths....

Statement by Socialist Worker central committee

August 11, 2011 -- Unityblog -- The crises of global capitalism, coupled with catastrophic climate change and peak resources, is going to bring about profound social, ecological and political upheavals.

There is evidence of this happening globally already. We can point to the Arab revolts that have toppled US-backed regimes and the emergence of anti-neoliberal movements of workers and young people in a number of European countries. Part of the context for these revolts is the global financial crisis, which is ongoing and will unravel further, impacting severely on the lives of grassroots people around the world.

While the current political situation in New Zealand is a big step away from mass revolt, the forces at work in this country are similar. Masses of ordinary people are hurting, there’s simmering anger towards politicians and other corporate elites, and there’s growing concern at the ecological catastrophe that humanity faces. The political quietism will not last indefinitely.

What can eco-socialists do today to prepare our forces for the historic challenges in front of us?

Socialist Worker believes the time is right to encourage further cooperation among people who identify as eco-socialists. Across the New Zealand’s existing left parties and socialist groups there are people who broadly share a common political perspective, who want to work towards a sustainable, equitable and democratic future.

But equally importantly, there is probably thousands of people not currently belonging to any political party or organisation who broadly share an eco-socialist vision.

We think it’s necessary, and possible, to cohere and grow the network of eco-socialists in New Zealand. For this reason, Socialist Worker has started trialing an eco-socialist network sign-up sheet. (To view the sign-up sheet click here.)

While it’s very early days, there are some encouraging signs that people are interested in joining an eco-socialist network.

In the near future we want to set up an eco-socialist website/discussion forum on the Internet. We envisage this new site being free of any party branding and that it would evolve, we hope, into a forum jointly run by a number of organisations and individuals.

Such a web presence would maximise the sharing of information and ideas relevant to an eco-socialist vision. The site would connect with people through email newsletters and social media.

Socialist Worker believes that building a broad eco-socialist network in the short term will be one practical “here-and-now” foundation for a mass-based broad left movement in the future.

An eco-socialist network would complement other positive developments on the left, particularly the emergence of the Mana Party, which is uniting a flaxroots Maori movement with radical left activists from socialist and union backgrounds.

An eco-socialist network would also build on the closer cooperation between leftists that we’ve seen in recent years around campaigns like $15 per hour minimum wage, NZ Not For Sale, Kia Ora Gaza, Tax Justice and anti-mining/oil drilling.


An eco-socialist network could look to achieve these goals:


1. Draw people together across parties and organisations who self-identify with the word “eco-socialist”, and thus be a force for breaking down barriers and opening up democratic debate, so essential to building a broad movement for change;

2. Facilitate open discussion about all aspects of the political struggle in New Zealand and globally.

3. Foster increased cooperation around anti-neoliberal campaigns initiated by a range of groups and organisations;

4. Work towards launching popular strategic campaigns that target neoliberalism and bring activists into contact with broad layers of grassroots people.

5. Encourage a dynamic analysis of the crisis of global capitalism and its impact on material conditions in New Zealand, from which sound political strategies can emerge that provide us with realistic pathways towards a sustainable, equitable and democratic future.

While there is a lot to work out in practice Socialist Worker believes a web-based eco-socialist network has considerable potential.

We would like to invite interested individuals and organisations to contact us directly about supporting and getting involved in this initiative. Contact Vaughan Gunson, email vaughangunson@ecosocialist.net or ph/txt 021-0415 082.

For more on the crisis of global capitalism, which compels the eco-left to join together, read Capitalism's terminal crisis and the global cooperation of eco-socialists by Grant Morgan.

In solidarity,

Socialist Worker’s central committee:

Bernie Hornfeck
Bronwen Beechey
Daphne Lawless
David Colyer
Don Archer
Grant Brookes
Grant Morgan
Len Parker
Peter Hughes
Vaughan Gunso

Stealing the commons and looting the streets

The elite steal and the people steal from each other depressing....food for thought here.

This week the international news has been dominated by two distinct, yet not unrelated events. First was the international financial crisis precipitated, or more accurately exacerbated, by the decision of S&P to downgrade the US credit rating, something that led to $3 trillion (that’s 3 with 12 zeros) to be ‘lost’, a topic addressed at length in the article by Horace Campbell this week. The second was the eruption of young people onto the streets of Britain (see Alex Free’s article). Two features of these events are worth pointing out.

First, the reaction to the events reflect the growing crisis of the ruling classes in being able to imagine a solution beyond trying to solve the problem with the same kind of thinking that created the problem: in the first case, neoliberal economics that serve the interest of financialised capital has itself created a crisis in a world economic system that depends on fictional capital (what Yash Tandon refers to as ‘Kleptocratic capitalism’); the solution to that crisis? Yes, you’ve guessed it, more privatisation, greater cuts in social expenditure, fleecing those who labour, and increasing the scale of the dispossessed. The same neoliberal policies have created a growing class of the dispossessed, not only in the global South, but in the belly of the Empire itself. Accumulated frustration about a lack of a future, deprivation, impoverishment, harassment by the police and imprisonment have finally erupted into anger and rage on the streets of London, Liverpool, Manchester and other cities. And the solution to that offered by the ruling class? Yes, once again, the same treatment that has created the crisis is offered as the solution: harass the young more, cut social expenditure, harass them more and lock them up (one newspaper even proposed shooting them!).

But the second feature of these events is perhaps best captured in the following poem by an anonymous author from the 1821 (quoted by Arundhati Roy in her recent book “Broken Republic: Three essays” Penguin Books, London 2011):

‘The law locks up the hapless felon
Who steals the goose from off the common,
But lets the greater felon loose
Who steals the common from the goose.’

Anonymous, 1821

BROUGHT TO YOU BY PAMBAZUKA NEWS

Sour times in Britain.

I get the impression that 98% of the population want water cannons, horrendous but understandalbe, this is worth reading and the horrifying video is instructive....and I have pasted in one of Jenny Jones statement which is important. A cycle of violence looks increasingly likely in the UK as the jilted generation meets alienation with looting and they in turn face more repression...sour times.

Public opinion on this will probably be under the belief that this just means getting protesters a bit cold and wet so they go home. We must be clear that the use of water cannons is brutal and dangerous, and can result in the following:

This man had his eyes ripped out by a water cannon (see picture above) in the protests in Stuttgart against the construction of the Stuttgart 21 train station. The image is taken from Der Spiegel, and has done the rounds in Germany, but is not well-known here in Britain. It is vitally important that we spread good information on the dangers of water cannon use as quickly as possible. Please link to this post wherever you can, retweet it, link to it on facebook, etc. This way we can build a campaign against this tactic.

FROM THE TRUTH ABOUT WATER CANNONS


10 AUGUST 2011
Responding to David Cameron's statement today making water cannon available to police forces on the UK mainland, Jenny Jones, Green member of the Metropolitan Police Authority, said:

"Water cannon causes injuries to the eyes and brain, as well as bruising to internal organs.

"Water cannon have restricted manoeuvrability, so they would not be very useful against mobile groups in narrow city centre streets or estate lanes.

"And when you have a machine that requires 4000 gallons every 4 minutes, it needs constant refilling.

"In contrast, we've seen a massive increase in police presence on the streets of London on Tuesday night, leading to more order and security.

"We should be asking why the police didn't respond sooner and nip the looting in the bud on Saturday night, at the Wood Green and Tottenham Hale shopping centres.

"We had copy cat looting, with the destruction of businesses and livelihoods, because young people felt they could get away with it.

"We need an urgent review of police tactics, not a whole new armoury.

"Instead of investing in water cannon, the government should be thinking of investing in the longer-term measures that we know will make a difference.

"We have to avoid a US approach of criminalising entire communities and using paramilitary policing on young minority men.

"We need to think about younger children who may be vulnerable to getting caught up in gang violence.

"And we need to create a society where youth are not so extremely alienated in the first place."

Jenny Jones statement on events in Tottenham

Green Mayoral candidate and member of the Metropolitan Police Authority,
Jenny Jones, has reacted to last night's riots in Tottenham by calling
for swift action to restore vital youth services and a review of
communications failures between the police and the community.

Jenny Jones said:

"We urgently need to examine all the factors that led to last night's
events in Tottenham, a community suffering from one of the highest
deprivation levels in the country [1], and take appropriate action to
prevent repercussions.

"We need a full investigation into the shooting of local man Mark Duggan
which seems to have been the trigger for last night's riots, and an
urgent review of stop and search and what communications failures there
were between the police and Tottenham's community. Violence and looting,
and smashing up your own streets is not the answer. It's bad for the
old, the poor, and those who run the small businesses people rely on.

"The Government must take some of blame for what went wrong last night.
Cuts to local services, especially youth services [2], played a role in
fomenting tensions in the area. With one of the highest unemployment
rates in London, Tottenham urgently needs help. Emergency funds to stop
youth centre closures and a review of policing must now be a priority."

Notes to editors

[1] Residents in Haringey claiming Job Seekers Allowance rose for the
fourth consecutive month in February to 10,159, according to the Office
for National Statistics. The figures show eight per cent of the adult
population of Tottenham are on the dole, a fifth of which is
under-24-year-olds.
Source:
http://www.haringeyindependent.co.uk/news/topstories/8917424.Call_for__game_changer__as_unemployment_rises_again/


[2] The Government reduced the local youth services budget by 75% after
a cut of £41m to Haringey council's overall budget.
Source:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/jul/29/young-people-gangs-youth-clubs-close




--
Anna Bragga
London Press Officer
Green Party of England & Wales

Derek Wall discusses “The green left alternatives” in Belfast

Belfast Béal Feirste
Tuesday 9 August, 1 p.m.
Unite Political Summer School, 2011
First Jim Brown Debate: “The green left alternatives”
Speaker: Derek Wall (environmental activist). Chairperson: Ritchie Browne (Unite).
▶Unite (26 Antrim Road)

Máirt 9 Lúnasa, 1 i.n.
Scoil Samhraidh Pholaitiúil Unite, 2011
Céad Díospóireacht Jim Brown: “The green left alternatives”
Cainteoir: Derek Wall (gníomhaí imshaoil). Cathaoirleach: Ritchie Browne (Unite).
▶Unite (26 Bóthar Aontroma)

Very pleased to have this invite to address the Unite Summer School in Belfast.

I am trying to stick to my no fly rule, so its train and ferry there and back, so less blogging from me for the next day or two!

Here is a biog of Jim Brown, proud to be doing the first of what will be a series of annual events in his memory.

And of course its 'green left alternatives' so not based on one political organisation but thought the GL banner would be appropriate for this post!

Jim Brown

Trade Unionist – Socialist – Anti -Fascist

“ A Delightful Subversive”

That was how the rural trade unionist and socialist, Jim Brown from Lisbellaw , Co. Fermanagh, Northern Ireland was described in a book published by Marian Hyndman about activists from the unionist/loyalist community in Northern Ireland who dared to be different (Journeys from a Protestant Past)

Jim was born in 1924 in the village of Lisbellaw into a working class family. He didn't get a lot of schooling and took a jaundiced view of Sunday school when on an an outing to the seaside sponsored by the Sunday school he was refused a paris bun and a cup of tea because he hadn't attended enough Sundays. Jim attended a lot less after that experience.

Jim's early working life was as an agricultural labourer who was hired out to local farmers because he a strong young fellow. As a hired labourer he seen the injustice of a system which worked him day and night with not a lot of food or decent shelter and often refused to pay the 6 months pittance due on the flimsiest of excuses.

That was the experience of the young man who although underage joined one of the Scottish regiments of the British army at the outset of the Second World War. He fought fascism in the deserts of North Africa and the beaches of Dunkirk where he seen friends blown to piece beside him . That experience gave Jim a live long hatred of viloence, sectarianism and fascism. It was also in the war that Jim developed a lide long interest in socialist politics when his commanding officer ( A Lieutenant Sinclair from Aberdeen) gave him the Ragged Trousered Philiantrophist to read in the North African desert.

Jim demobbed in Bristol where he met the veteran comunist, Betty Sinclair and began to sell the Daily Worker on the streets of Bristol. At the time Jim seen no future in Northern Ireland and only returned because his mother took seriously ill. While home he met his future wife Margaret and settled in his home village of Lisbellaw.

Jim was not however for settling when it come to the class issue and got himself involved in local trade union struggles, he had joined the Transport and General Workers Union in 1945. Jim who worked as a Carter went to become the local Branch Secretary of the T&G branch and the Chairperson of the local Fermanagh Council of Trades Unions. At various times he was also a member of the Communist Party and the Northern Ireland Labour Party. Wherever there was a workers struggle Jim was there cheering them on whether at the Woolen Mills of Henderson/Eaddie in his native Lisbellaw or when he became a member of the Civil Rights Movement in 1969.

Jim always encouraged rurual workers to organise and fight for their rights. Nothing annoyed him more than the violence and oppression which engulfed his community for so many years. When the ceasfires came and the dispensation of the Good Friday agreement was negotiated. Jim, although he knew it wasn't going to solve our problems, was four square behind political conciliation and at that time in particular the Women's Coalition.

Jim always argued that the long term answer to our problems in Northern Ireland and beyond was the development of class politics. He was never afraid to promote that argument whether locally or on the Regional Committee or National Trade Groups of the union on which he sat. Undoubtedly Jim would have had double contempt for this Government because while he had not time for Tories he had even more contempt for what he called the “wrotten middle class” of the Liberal Party .

Jim died in 2003 but he would have been delighted that the union he loved was sponsoring a political debate which would advocate liberating the class he loved, “The Working Class”.

Left publisher should reject racist author

I am shocked that Zero books are apparently publishing a book by Gilad Atzmon, who is a pretty solid example of anti-semite, as I noted here.

I often disagree with Harry's Place and I am sometimes known to have my disagreements with Socialist Unity but this seems a straightforward example of a racist being helped to promote his views.

Atzmon claims that Jews were responsible for their persecution by Nazis, and argues that Hitler’s persecution was a “direct response to the declaration of war on Germany by the worldwide Jewish leadership. “
Atzmon has argued that American Jews do “try to control the world by proxy”, which “makes any debate on whether the ‘Protocols of the elder of Zion’ are an authentic document or rather a forgery irrelevant”
Atzmon claims that “Jewish bankers bought for themselves some real reputations of backers and financers of wars and even one communist revolution”
Atzmon has written that the credit crunch was caused by “Zionists”
Atzmon promotes the views of Holocaust deniers, and praises “three outlaws: [David] Irving, [Ernest] Zundel and [Germar] Rudolf”
Atzmon believes that burning down a synagogue is a “rational act”.

MORE HERE