________________________________________________ A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C E http://www.ainfos.ca/ ________________________________________________ ANARCHISM ADVANCING IN DIVERSITY STRIKING IN UNISON YAMAGUCHI KENJI WE'RE NOT FOOT SOLDIERS Anarchists are no one's foot soldiers. As the demonstration against the Asia Pacific leg of the World Economic Forum in Melbourne gathers steam, the call has gone out for foot soldiers. Organisers need to understand that anarchists are not foot soldiers for the environmental movement, the trade union movement, church groups or Marxists. We control our own destiny. We are not whipping posts for the State, police or media. We have clear objectives. We want direct democracy, common ownership of society's resources and we want to be involved in the decision making processes of the communities we live in. We oppose the World Economic Forum because their framework is diametrically opposed to our framework. We detest their centralised authority and their monopoly on power and wealth. That's why anarchists across the globe are at the forefront of the struggle against globalisation and corporatisation. On the 11th, 12th and 13th of September those self-appointed world leaders who are trying to set political, social and cultural agendas will understand that they cannot make decisions for billions of people without their participation in the decision making process. Our strength lies in our diversity, it lies in our ability to organise in a non-hierarchical manner. We are a many headed hydra, chop one head off and twenty will take its place. Now is the time to form your own affinity group; now is the time to formulate your agenda. We are nobody's foot soldiers, we represent ourselves. Direct democracy, transparency and direct action are our tools of trade. Centralised, top-heavy organisations like the World Bank, the World Economic Forum and the corporate sector are no match for our enthusiasm, our ideas and our organising capacity. The dawning of the 21st century marks the beginning of the struggle to make that new world in our hearts into a practical, breathing reality. THEY JUST CAN'T COPE The latest attempts by the Federal government to squash what little democratic tradition exists in the corporate sector highlights how sensitive these people are to criticism. Any corporation listed on the stock exchange has to, under Australian law, call an extraordinary meeting if 100 shareholders call for an extraordinary meeting on a particular topic. Last year, a number (I think two) environmental groups caused two Australian corporations to call extraordinary meetings about matters of concern to share holders. Unfortunately, it looks like this little bit of share holder accountability is about to bite the dust. The Federal government wants to push legislation through parliament which would only allow an extraordinary meeting to be called if share holders holding 5% of the total capital of the company called for an extraordinary meeting. In Telstra's case, this would mean that an extraordinary meeting could only be called by a group holding 4 billion dollars of Telstra shares. We all know that corporate democracy is based on the amount of shares somebody owns in a company. The more shares you own, the more power you have. We all know that 'Mum and Dad' investors are the first ones to be screwed and that institutional investors enjoy all the perks of office. So why the chest beating and hair pulling about the government's attempts to disenfranchise small share holders? Anybody who believes that corporate power is somehow linked with democratic principles needs to take a crash course in the principles of capitalism. It's obvious our corporate mates can't cope with even the minimum of scrutiny. Theyıre in the game to make a buck, you give them your money on trust. How they use that money is up to them. Don't ask them any questions, trust them and if your really lucky you'll make a buck at the end of the day. No wonder so many investors are so insecure, on top of the heap one day, down in the depths the next day. What a way to live your life, handing over your nest egg to a bunch of people you have no power over. Your future in their hands, your fate interlinked with their unethical and immoral behaviour. LET'S GET THE FACTS RIGHT!! Cathy Freeman's intervention in the stolen generation debate has once again highlighted the collective amnesia that is such an integral feature of this country's history. Let's have a look at the facts. We're told that between the 1920's to the late 1960's, early 1970's, that the government and church groups took Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children away to protect them from unhealthy, dangerous situations. I'm sure that 5 to 10% of indigenous children may have been removed because of the poverty of their surroundings and family life. This occurred as a consequence of the brutal way many indigenous people were treated in this country. The other 90% were removed from their families because they were "light skinned". It was both State and Federal government policy to remove "light skinned children" from their indigenous families so that they could be brought up in a European manner. Time and time again, police raids were conducted on fringe settlements to "rescue mixed blood children" from their indigenous environment. The very communities that took on the responsibility of caring for children who were born as a result of exploitative and violent relationships were penalised by the State for taking on that responsibility. The harm and dislocation caused by the stolen generations was a result of distinct government policies to assimilate "light skinned" indigenous children into the bottom rungs of Australian society. The policy was brutal and inhumane, was government sanctioned and is responsible for the very poor state of physical, psychological and emotional health of many members of this country's indigenous community. The Howard government's inability to offer an apology is a clear indication that segments of Australian society including government continue to cling to the white wash version of Australian history that has denied the racial origins of the government's assimilation policies. PANIC MODE!! The Victorian Police hierarchy are in panic mode. No, not about the accusations of corruption that have been levelled at the Victorian Force. They're in panic mode about the forthcoming protests on the 11th, 12th and 13th of September against the Asia Pacific leg of the World Economic Forum in Melbourne. What was to have been a quiet 'knees up Mother Brown' turn has turned into a potential catastrophe. The poor Victorian Police Force has been given an impossible task, they've been asked to secure Crown Casino, possibly Melbourne's busiest building. Thousands of gamblers, shoppers, movie and restaurant goers use the building every day. All police leave has been cancelled, police have been called up from New South Wales and South Australia to protect the delegates to the World Economic Forum. In an attempt to frighten people from attending the demonstrations, the Victorian Police Force has embarked on a campaign of terror. Terror in the sense of trying to portray the participants in the protest as bent on violence and mayhem. Unfortunately for the State government and the Victorian Police, their attempts to win the hearts and minds of people through their terror campaign has fallen on deaf ears. The harder they protest, the more media interest is focused on the proposed protest. No wonder the upper echelons of the Victorian Police Force are in panic mode. I feel so sorry for them. I'm happy to offer some unsolicited advice to the State government and the police. Cancel the World Economic Do at Crown Casino and transfer it to the Puckapunyal Army Barracks outside Seymour. I'm sure Bill Gates and his mates would have no objections to using the accommodation at the army base, recently vacated by the Kosovo refugees who were given temporary safe haven there. If they hold the show in the army barracks they could ring the whole place with gun emplacements and tanks and the meeting could go ahead without any interference from those pesky demonstrators. It's the only way I know they'll be able to have their conference and not be bothered by the tens of thousands who will be protesting. SANCTIONS? WHAT SANCTIONS! The Federal governments tough talk about the Fiji crisis has come to nought. A few cosmetic sanctions, nothing to upset the racists who now rule the roost in Fiji. When you compare the government's Fiji response to their response to the Bougainville crisis - a total blockade which led to the deaths of 5% of the population, you soon realise that something is not quite right. Just in case your wondering about the draconian response in Bougainville compared to the slap on the wrist dished out to Fiji's racist dictatorship you soon come to understand that the bottom line is business and profits. A total blockade was applied around Bougainville because large sections of the Bougainville population wanted to be independent of Papua New Guinea and wanted to control their own lives. In order to do this they chased C.R.A. out of Bougainville. For over a decade C.R.A.'s mine in Bougainville has lain dormant. The example set by the people of Bougainville is one that could be copied by people across the world. That's why it's important that capital isolates them from the rest of the world. Nobody, neither government or business is that concerned about what's happening in Fiji. What's important is that business continues to flourish. That's why the proposed sanctions have no teeth and will not have any teeth. We wouldn't want things to get out of hand and impose some sanctions with teeth. If the government did that, business would soon be out of pocket and the people of Fiji would have a non racist government. ANARCHIST QUESTION AND ANSWER Q. How would an anarchist society deal with those everyday intractable problems that occur between individuals within any community? A. Some of the most difficult problems that occur within any community, occur within families, collectives, between neighbours and within workplaces. An anarchist society needs to have mechanisms in place which can tackle these problems. It's no good just saying that people will sort problems out. In many cases they won't and small problems will become unsurmountable ones. Any mechanism that is set up needs to be both fair and accessible. One way of tackling this problem is by setting up elected tribunals that have the authority to intervene and settle disputes. Tribunals would be elected for a specific geographical entity or a specific workplace. They would be elected for a fixed period of time. Everyone within that area would be involved in the electoral process. The tribunals legitimacy stems from the fact that they are elected by the very people who use the tribunal. Any person could take a particular problem to the tribunal. The tribunal would be assisted by an investigative and counselling unit that would initially try to settle the problem to both side's satisfaction. If no agreement is reached, the matter would then go to the tribunal. Any person who finds themselves before the tribunal can represent themselves, can be represented by friends or can use tribunal staff to represent them. The tribunalıs main task is not apportioning blame, it will listen to all sides of the story and will then attempt to negotiate an agreement between the parties. If no agreement can be reached, the matter would then be placed before a jury. Juries selected by lot would have the power to apportion blame and order a settlement. At the end of the day, justice within an anarchist society is dependent on due process and people's participation within the organs that the community creates to resolve difficulties that may arise within an anarchist community. ACTION BOX TALK!! TALK!! TALK!! TALK!! So, you've decided to join the demonstrations against the Asia Pacific leg of the World Economic Forum in Melbourne on the 11th, 12th and 13th of September. What are you doing about it? This is one time that talk isn't cheap. Don't expect the mass media to do the job for you. They would like no one to turn up on the day. Don't expect the Labor Party to spread the message, they don't want to rock the boat. Don't expect the trade union movement to take on the mantle, they want to keep their Labor mates out of trouble. Don't expect the Internet jockeys to do all the work for you. At the end of the day, how many people turn up will depend on how may people you talk to and explain the reasons you will be attending these demonstrations. See if you can convince a couple of your friends to go with you on the day. See if they can convince a couple of their friends, before you know it you may have encouraged dozens of people to turn up. As I said before, this is one case where talk is not cheap. Most of us seem to have forgotten how important conversation is. Although we're bombarded by a number of simultaneous electronic messages, talk is still the single most important method of communication we have. So, over the next two weeks, talk, talk, talk. Tell people at the train station, doctors surgery, in the street, at university or college, in the workplace, why you will be going. The more people you talk to, the greater chance you have of breaching the media induced hysteria these proposed protests are generating. Are you going to let them set the agenda on what is legitimate action or are your going to seize the reins and place your ideas in the public arena? It's important we don't let the mass media set the political, social and cultural agenda. Through talk, organisation and action we can set the agenda about what is important. Seize the moment and turn over the applecart so that everyone has apples. Don't let the world leaders who will be attending the Asia Pacific leg of the World Economic Forum in Melbourne continue to push the apple cart and keep the apples for themselves. AUSTRALIAN ANARCHIST HISTORY Lemmings of the World Unite!! Dare to Struggle, Dare to Swim!! The 1970 'Save the Lemmings' campaign took on a life all of it's own. The absurdity of activists raising high the banner of Marxism-Leninist thought in Melbourne in 1970 formed the backbone of the anarchist inspired 'Save the Lemmings' campaign. The three leaflets issued during the campaign:- 'Raise High the Banner of Marxist-Lemmingist Thought', 'Marxist-Lemmingists on the Road to Power' and 'Ho Ho Lemming Power' highlighted the absurdity of Marxism-Leninism. Forty Lemming lovers marched through the streets of Toorak on Saturday the 25th of June to the Swedish Consulate. The good burghers of Toorak were confused by the march. Two old ladies suggested to the marchers that they should do something useful like working. One woman came back with balloons for the marchers and local children joined in the singing. Melbourne's finest became part of the event and were bussed in by police command to protect the Swedish consulate. Protesters entered the consulate driveway and attacked the police with balloons. A good time was had by everyone except Melbourne's Maoists, they didn't quite get the joke. One of the more interesting comments in the two leaflets issued at the demonstration was "Though you may think that the filthy-comprador-imperialist aggressors - the Swedish government is your worst enemy this is not so. For although they are the ones who profit from tourism by selling your mass fever of self destruction to some decadent, debilitated, sadistic American bourgeois grandmothers on their trip of a lifetime, who will actually pay money (exploited from American workers)" and the leaflet goes on in similar vein. The poem "The Lemmings waved their golden tails And jumped into the moat Though learned Marxists search and scan No single Neo-Stalinist can Entirely see the joke" summed up the justification for the 'Save the Lemmings' campaign. Thanks to Dimitri form Barricade Books for providing us with a copy of the Melbourne Anarchist Archives (1965-1970) so we could bring this campaign to your attention. BOOK REVIEW WATERFRONT The Battle that Changed Australia Helen Trinca and Anne Davies Publisher Double Day 2000 ISBN 186471 050 0 Three things I like about this book written by two of Fairfax's Sydney Morning Herald reporters are the chronology at the start of the book, the End notes and the Index. The rest of the book chronicles the unfinished events which many of the readers of the Anarchist Age Weekly Review participated in. This is a book about the background figures and the big boys and girls who participated in the 1998 events. Waterfront helps to fill in some of the missing pieces of the crossword puzzle, but doesn't spell out the cryptic clues that tell us the full story. What I found disappointing about the book was the lack of space that was devoted to the real heroes and heroines in the struggle - those people who gave up their time and put their bodies on the line in the struggle to maintain collective bargaining - the community pickets. The waterfront dispute is an unfinished dispute, although partially resolved in the High Court, the untold story has not been told because the A.C.T.U. and the Maritime Union have decided not to pursue their case against Corrigan and Rieth in the Courts. Even this tip toe through the tulips version of events had a difficult birth. The treasurer, John Howard's anointed successor, Peter Costello forced the first edition of the book to be pulped. Trinca and Davies made an error about one of Costello's comments and were told that the publishers could face legal action if the book was not recalled. Over 7500 copies of the first edition were recalled and pulped and eight thousand new copies with the offending sentence removed were reissued. As I said at the beginning of this review, buy the book, not because it throws new light on the Waterfront dispute but because it's got a decent chronology, notes and index. As some one who was involved in the people's pickets on the Melbourne Docks, this Double day publication doesn't do justice to the people who stopped the government in its tracks, the picketers. Thanks to Steve Reghenzani for providing me with a loan of his copy of Waterfront (It's one of those five hundred or so first edition copies that were sold before the book was pulped.) The book is available from most bookshops for around twenty five dollars Australian. PERSONAL OBSERVATION Blue plastic curlers wrapped in greying hair, jogging round the boundary of a local football field got me thinking about how each generation has its own distinctive appearance. The blue rinse set is different from the plastic curlers set. The pork pie hat doesn't look quite right on a younger head. Cowboy hats cross physical and generational boundaries. Wrap around sunglasses are all the rage among the X-generation. Just in case you hadn't noticed, flares are back in fashion. In every crowd are reminders of what was hip and fashionable in bygone days. Plastic curlers worn in public reminds me of the 1950's. Every Saturday morning in thousands of Australian front yards, the women of the house came out in hair in metal curlers wearing an ill fitting baggy nondescript dressing gown. Men smoking pipes and wearing slippers was the 1950's male equivalent. The wave of post W.W.II. immigration introduced the four corner knotted handkerchief as a head covering for outdoor workers. Pictures of life in the 1930's were replete with masses of men wearing hats. Drab affairs that sat on the crown and marked the bearer of the hat as a member of a uniform homogenous community. Although in blue plastic curlers, our friend was wearing Reebok running shoes and Sloppy Joes. As she came closer I noticed she had a layer of thick make up plastered on her face, the sort women used to remove last night's application of the stuff. All that was missing were the dark eye patches. What seems unusual to me is normal to someone else. Each generation leaves its mark and then disappears. How many people wear white gloves everytime they go out or a bowler hat? Very few if any. Looking back at each generation since the turn of the century, no other generation has been so manipulated by the corporate sector. 'God, King and Country' set the parameters for everything that was good and acceptable in the past. Today's generations X and Y have become human billboards for the corporate dream. The logo, not the clothes maketh the man. Give me metal hair curlers, bowler hats, thick makeup, flares, eye patches, wrap around sunglasses, mohawks, beanies and micro-minis any day. Just keep me away form those human corporate billboards that pay good money to their corporate Gods to parade their patron's logo. STOP PRESS Homemakers Worthless! Robyn Philpott, homemaker, casual worker, mother of two was killed on the 2nd of September 1995 when a derailed railway carriage uprooted a stanchion and catapulted it onto the car that she was driving. Since then her husband Geoff Philpott has been fighting for modicum of justice. In Victoria and all other Australian States, people who are injured or killed in motor vehicle accidents are covered by the relevant Transport Accident Commission. A significant proportion of the money that is raised through car and truck registrations is given to the T.A.C. to cover peoples medical and hospital costs and to compensate them for time lost from work. The only catch is that the amount of compensation the family of somebody killed or injured in a motor vehicle accident is entitled to directly linked to their current income. People on unemployment benefits are transferred to sickness benefits and people who are homemakers are only entitled to hospital and ongoing medical costs. Mr Philpott and his family are not entitled to anything because Robyn was just a homemaker. This legal catch 22 highlights the way that the official economy always takes precedence over the volunteer economy. Although the unofficial home based economy is worth as much if not more in monetary terms as the money economy the non- money making economy is ignored in law. The Philpott's dilemma is nothing new, only people involved in the money economy are considered to be legitimate work, those people who work in the home or in a voluntary capacity are not recognised as doing real work. The current impasse doesnıt need radical social change or revolution to solve the problem. All it takes is a few legislative changes. Unfortunately for the Philpott's, changes are unlikely because if their case is successful, the State will have to take into account the worth of the voluntary labour that keeps the official money economy ticking over and that would cost them a few pennies. @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ JOSEPH TOSCANO (Libertarian Workers for a Self-Managed Society). ANARCHIST PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED THIS WEEK . ARIVISTA ANARCHIA No263 May 2000, EDITRICE A, C.P. 17120, 20170 MILANO, ITALY, Tel/Fax: 02 2896627, Email: anarca.bolo.ch/a-rivista . FREEDOM Vol 61 No13 1st July 2000, 84b Whitechapel High St, LONDON EI7QX, ENGLAND, www.ecn.org/freedom, Email Freedom Press at: [EMAIL PROTECTED] . L'HOMME LIBRE No164 July-Sept 2000, B.P. 205, 42005 SAINT-ETIENNE, FRANCE . LIBERA VOLO No109 June 2000, Organo do Federacio Anarkiista, P.B. 15, HIROSHIMA HIAGASHI, HIROSHMASIHI 732 8799, JAPAN . LE MONDE LIBERTAIRE No 1211 22nd-28th June 2000, 145 Rue Amelot, 75011 PARIS, FRANCE, Tel: 0148 053 408, Fax: 0419 299 859 OTHER PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED THIS WEEK . NEWFARM NEIGHBOURHOOD NEWS No 14 June 2000, P.O. Box 5208, WEST END 4101, BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA, Tel 07 3846 4358, Fax 07 3846 2233. . DISCUSSION BULLETIN No102 July-Aug 2000, P.O. BOX 1564, GRAND RAPIDS MI 49501,UNITED STATES DEBT ELIMINATION APPEAL Our debt is now $687.50. If we can continue to keep it below five hundred dollars we can continue to publish till the cows come home. It costs around 1500 dollars a month to produce the weekly, quarterly, radio program and finance our other activities. The Libertarian Workers for a Self-Managed Society provide 800 to 900 dollars per month of this total. The other 700 to 800 dollars needed to keep this level of activity going needs to come from our subscribers and supporters. Itıs important to remember to keep those subscriptions and donations rolling in. If you are sending relatively small amounts (twenty dollars or less) send us 45cent postage stamps (this saves you bank and money order charges) and help us to pay our 400 dollar per month postage bill our second biggest expense after our radio costs. Make out cheques and money orders to LIBERTARIAN WORKERS and send them to P.O. Box 20 PARKVILLE 3052, Melbourne AUST. DEBT 19.7.2000 - $687.50 BILLET AN ANARCHIST Do you live in Melbourne? Are you attending the demonstration against the Asia Pacific leg of the World Economic Forum on the 11th, 12th, & 13th of September? Then think about Billeting an anarchist/s for the protest. Anarchists from across Australia are coming to the demonstration by car, bicycle, plane, bus and train. The least we can do is put them up for a few days. Ring the Anarchist Media Institute on (03) 9828 2856 anytime and leave a telephone number and name if you can billet an anarchist/s. Youıve got to be in it, to win it bigger than Ben Hur - the peoples pre-olympic festival outside Crown Casino in Melbourne on the 11th, 12th and 13th of September. ANARCHIST WORLD THIS WEEK NOW ON THE INTERNET - FOR ANYBODY ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD TO LISTEN IN TO. LIKE THE PROGRAM - TELL YOUR FRIENDS AROUND THE PLANET ABOUT OUR INTERNET ADDRESS -http://www.freespeech.org/anarchistAge ANARCHIST WORLD THIS WEEK POSTER AVAILABLE FOR THE COST OF A FEW STAMPS Want to help us find new listeners for the Anarchist World This Week, then send us a few stamps to AWTW, PO Box 20, Parkville 3052, Australia & we'll send you out a colour poster (A3) for your use & a black & white poster you can photocopy & put up to help us increase the number of people who listen to the Anarchist World This Week. STAMP APPEAL We normally spend over $400.00 per month on postage stamps. If you have any spare stamps floating about or are about to write to us, stuff a few stamps in the envelope. Every little bit helps. 11th, 12th, 13th September ASIA-PACIFIC LEG OF WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM MEETS IN MELBOURNE. WILL YOU BE WELCOMING THE PEOPLE WHO WILL BE MAKING DECISIONS ABOUT YOUR LIFE TO MELBOURNE TOWN? IF YOU THINK YOUıLL BE MAKING THE PILGRIMIGE email, write or telephone us for an A3 b/w poster about the demonstrations planned for these three days. You can photocopy and distribute this poster in your workplace, school or around your community. The more who turn up, the merrier. A) Anarchism towards the 21st century B) Towards an anarchist society 1999 handbook Libertarian Workers for a Self-Managed Society Position and Activities 1999. Send $4.00 of stamps to L.W.S.S. PO Box 20 Parkville 3052 Melbourne Australia and we will post out both booklets to you. BARRICADE BOOKS NEEDS YOUR HELP!! Barricade books is having problems keeping their doors open, six days a week. The bookshop is a voluntary co-operative which provides low cost anarchist publications and staffs an anarchist information centre in Melbourne. If you are interested in helping keep the bookshop open, you want to meet interesting people and are at a loss about what to do with all those hours you have at your disposal. Think about becoming a voluntary worker at Barricade Books. Drop in and meet them at 115 Sydney Rd, Brunswick Melbourne and have a look at Barricade Books and Information Centre. Email them at [EMAIL PROTECTED] or give them a ring on (03) 9387 6646 if you want to help. ANARCHIST MEDIA INSTITUTE OBSCENITY OF THE WEEK. Has been awarded to Mr Shier, the El Supremo of the A.B.C. for attempting to perform a frontal lobotomy on the A.B.C. If You Like What You Have Read, Photocopy This Publication and Leave It In Doctors, Dentists, Vets Waiting Rooms and In Railway Stations, Bus Stops, Libraries and Restaurants Etc. The articles in the Anarchist Age Weekly Review express the opinion of individuals within the Libertarian Workers for a Self-Managed Society/Anarchist Media Institute. They do not necessarily reflect the opinions of The Libertarian Workers for a Self-Managed Society/Anarchist Media Institute. P U B L I C A T I O N S Anarchist Age Weekly Review - 4 pages of Anarchist commentary on Local, National and International events. $50.00 for 50 issues $10.00 for 10 issues Anarchist Age Quarterly Review Issue 90 Jan-March 2000 - OUT NOW! $48.00 wage earners - 12 issues $30.00 non wage earners - 12 issues Make out cheques or money orders to: Libertarian Workers, PO Box 20, Parkville, 3052 Victoria Aust. All material in the Anarchist Age Weekly Review can be used by anarchists, anarchist collectives and non-profit organisations as long as the source of the material is mentioned in the article. The Anarchist Age Weekly Review reserves all rights as far as commercial publications are concerned. IN A TIME OF UNIVERSAL DECEIT TELLING THE TRUTH IS A REVOLUTIONARY ACT GEORGE ORWELL WELCOME TO THE 21ST CENTURY THE ANARCHIST CENTURY ******** The A-Infos News Service News about and of interest to anarchists ******** COMMANDS: [EMAIL PROTECTED] REPLIES: [EMAIL PROTECTED] HELP: [EMAIL PROTECTED] WWW: http://www.ainfos.ca INFO: http://www.ainfos.ca/org To receive a-infos in one language only mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] the message unsubscribe a-infos subscribe a-infos-X where X = en, ca, de, fr, etc. (i.e. the language code)
