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Revolution

We Kill Our Revolutionaries

February 26, 2015 Chris Hedges, www.truthdig.com , , ,
He hopes prisoners will organize to mount a coordinated nationwide work stoppage and hunger strike to improve conditions behind bars, including raising pay from the roughly $1 a day that prisoners now receive for eight hours of labor to the legal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour. He would like to see coordinated boycotts of the overpriced commissaries. He said prisoners should purchase only the bare necessities, such as soap and toothpaste, and forego the “zoozoos and wamwams,” prison slang for junk food. He places no hope in the courts and the legislatures. Prisoners will have to start to carry out acts of mass civil disobedience for any justice, he said—that is the only mechanism left to them. “Prison authorities never give you anything without a fight,” he said, clutching white prayer beads.

20% Of Germans Want Revolution, Most Say Democracy Is Fake

February 25, 2015 RT, www.rt.com , , ,
Twenty percent of Germans believe that their current living conditions won't be improved by reforms and only a revolution can reshape society. That's according to a study released by the Free University of Berlin. The study, titled "Against the state and capital - to revolution" focused on opposition to capitalism, fascism and racism, and concluded that Germans are more left-wing in their attitudes than previously thought. The challenge for the researchers was to analyze the core structural similarities between right and left-wing extremism. Twenty-five years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the ideological divide between the former East and West Germany is still marked, with left-wing ideas getting more support in eastern Germany.

Recalling Occupy Wall Street

February 19, 2015 Ron Jacobs, www.counterpunch.org , ,
It’s hard to believe that the Occupy Wall Street phenomenon began and ended almost four years ago. The relatively short media lifespan of those occupations of public parks and squares in the United States and around the world was a mixed bag, in composition, politics and effects. During its heady peak, there was talk of a revolutionary change, with the neoliberal financiers and their greedy lifestyle being tossed into the dustbin of history. The idea of direct participatory democracy would replace the bought-off plutocracy whose reign was destroying out futures and the planet. Some participants argued that even the cops were on our side. Then the cops got their orders. With the visible exception of one retired policeman from Philadelphia, the men in blue took out their nightsticks, tear gas and pepper spray. They then proceeded to trash the occupied spaces, brutalize the occupiers, almost kill a protesting man in Oakland, and pepper spray persons for no apparent reason other than what appeared to be the cops’ collective thrill.

Class, Change And Revolution

February 17, 2015 Richard D. Wolff, www.truth-out.org , , ,
Overcoming slavery ended that system's injustices on many levels. It increased human freedom in significant ways. Yet, it also enabled the reorganization of ex-slaves and ex-masters into other relations of continuing un-freedom. In some places and times, slavery gave way to feudalism; serfs and lords replaced slaves and masters. In other places and times, slavery gave way to capitalism; employers and employees took the places of masters and slaves. Abolishing feudalism likewise ended many of its systemic injustices to move society forward in terms of human freedoms. However, when capitalism emerged from feudalism's dissolution, as in post-17th century Europe, the landlord-serf structure transformed into the employer-employee structure.

At Least 17 Killed In Protests On Anniversary Of Egypt Uprising

January 26, 2015 Maggie Fick and Shadi Bushra, www.reuters.com , ,
At least 17 people were killed on Sunday in Egypt's bloodiest protests since Abdel Fattah al-Sisi was elected president, as security forces fired at protesters marking the anniversary of the 2011 uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak. Gunfire and sirens could be heard in Cairo into the night as armoured personnel carriers moved through the centre of a city where security forces had once again used lethal force against dissenters. A Health Ministry spokesman said at least 17 people had been killed at protests across the country. The anniversary was a test of whether Islamists and liberal activists had the resolve to challenge a government that has persistently stamped out dissent since the then-army chief Sisi ousted elected Islamist president Mohamed Mursi in July 2013 after mass protests against his rule.

On Being A Rebel

January 13, 2015 Sam Smith, www.prorevnews.blogspot.com ,
The words revolution and rebellion attract unjust opprobrium. After all, much of what we identify as peculiarly American is ours by grace of our predecessors' willingness to revolt in the most militant fashion, and their imperfect vision has been improved by a long series of rebellions ranging from the cerebral to the bloody. There is not an American alive who has not been made better by revolution and rebellion. In fact, the terms sit close to what it means to human, since it is our species that has developed the capacity to dramatically change, for better or worse, its own course without waiting on evolution. No other creature has ever imagined a possibility as optimistic as democracy or as devastating as a nuclear explosion, let alone bring them to fruition.

Standing On The Edge Of Next American Revolution

January 6, 2015 The Amendment Gazette, www.amendmentgazette.com , ,
This revolution has already begun for many, not most, people. The Next American Revolution will not be a solitary journey; far from it. Demonstrations, protests, marches and disruption of business as usual have already shaken the nation, but the movement for racial justice has not yet reached the momentum and visibility of either Occupy Wall Street or the tea party in their heydays. The list of critical issues above strongly suggests that the United States is sliding toward fascism. Genuine democrats and republicans who believe in self-government in a democratic republic must support a revolutionary movement and come to distrust the elites in both major parties who back the corporate interests (profit and survival) over the public interests (peace, democratic policy making, keeping the Earth habitable, etc).

Six Concepts For This Movement’s Continued Political Education

December 26, 2014 Danny Haiphong, www.blackagendareport.com , , , ,
Much of my work for Black Agenda Report has focused on an analysis of US imperialism and its relationship to oppressed people in the United States and abroad. Black Agenda Report covers many issues and topics, including the significance of the Obama era, the privatization of education, the Black Mass Incarceration State, Washington's imperialist policy in Africa, and much more. The primary function of independent media is to challenge the dominant narrative promoted by the ruling system around the issues that shape the lives of the oppressed. In this article, I define six revolutionary concepts for organizers, activists, and people struggling against exploitation of man by man. It is my hope that these concepts become popularized through our collective participation in the #BlackLivesMatter movement and the broader struggle for liberation that Black Agenda Report covers weekly.

Revolution A Distant Memory As Egypt Escalates Repression

December 15, 2014 Orla Guerin, www.bbc.com , , ,
If you want to know what became of the revolution of 2011, which electrified Egypt and swept then-President Hosni Mubarak from power, you could talk to its leaders. Or try to. Some are in exile, and others in jail. The award-winning liberal activist Asmaa Mahfouz is still at large, but far from free. She was recently banned from leaving the country. "The regime is hostile towards the revolution," she says, "and is trying to erase it from history." Many here share that view. Almost four years on, she says the situation is far worse than during the three decades of his rule. "When we protested under Mubarak we were beaten in the streets," Ms Mahfouz says. "Sometimes we were tortured. But now people are being killed, in the most brutal way."

Is Greece On The Verge Of Another Social Explosion?

December 7, 2014 Jerome Roos, www.roarmag.org ,
The hunger strike of an anarchist prisoner and the reaction on the streets are rekindling long-standing conflicts in Greek society going back to 1944. The Greek streets have been relatively quiet of late. After four years of devastating economic depression and continued state repression, the revolutionary zeal that once animated the spectacular mobilizations of the early years of the crisis has since given way to a widespread sense of despondence. This may now be changing. Students and anarchists have been mobilizing in force in recent weeks to show their solidarity with Nikos Romanos, the anarchist prisoner who has been on hunger strike since November 10. Both Nikos’ struggle and the response on the streets are laden with symbolic significance and historical resonance.

Tweeting About A Revolution

November 28, 2014 Jamie Carter, www.scmp.com , ,
Social media thrives on divisive, polarising points of view, and that's not happening with OCLP. "The most mentioned topics of Occupy Central include 'Hong Kong', 'Hong Kong Police', 'OccupyCentral protests' and others in a similar vain," Alobeid says. "The crux of their movement, occupying with 'love and peace' was not one of the most discussed topics." Although Twitter is painted as being critical to a conversation, successful campaigns usually show activity on multiple platforms. Facebook is the obvious second choice, but without hashtags and handles, it can be harder to navigate than Twitter for those after information on a single issue. However, this network of 1.2 billion people can help create far-reaching discussion. Just look at the summer #IceBucketChallenge craze.

Why We Need Professional Revolutionists

November 25, 2014 Chris Hedges, www.truthdig.com ,
No revolt can succeed without professional revolutionists. These revolutionists live outside the formal structures of society. They are financially insecure—Vladimir Lenin spent considerable time in exile appealing for money from disenchanted aristocrats he would later dispossess. They dedicate their lives to fomenting radical change. They do not invest energy in appealing to power to reform. They are prepared to break the law. They, more than others, recognize the fragility of the structures of authority. They are embraced by a vision that makes compromise impossible. Revolution is their full-time occupation. And no revolution is possible without them.

Changing The World Without Taking Power

October 26, 2014 David Bollier, www.blog.p2pfoundation.net , , ,
John Holloway, a sociology professor in Mexico, recently gave an interview with Roar magazine suggesting how to introduce a new social and economic logic in the face of the mighty machine of neoliberal capitalism. Holloway’s idea, recapitulating themes from his previous book and 2002 thesis, is to build “cracks” in the system in which people can relate to each other and meet their needs in non-market ways: “We have to keep building cracks and finding ways of recognizing them, strengthening them, expanding them, connecting them; seeking confluence, or preferably, the commoning of cracks.” This strategic approach has immediate appeal to commoners, it seems to me — even though some engagement with state power is surely necessary at some point. Below, Holloway’s interview with by Amador Fernández-Savater. It was translated by Richard Mac Duinnsleibhe and edited by Arianne Sved of Guerrilla Translation.

Occupying Russell Brand

October 17, 2014 David DeGraw, www.daviddegraw.org , ,
Russell wanted to dedicate his fame to espousing our message. He was tapped into the source flow and aware enough to know where the zeitgeist was going. We were vibrating on the same frequency. We were both riding the same wave of transformation. He had a taste, he bit into the forbidden fruit, just as all of us in Liberty Park did. Freedom was in the air. Russell knew what he had to do. We’re all in the cosmic movie, everyone has a role to play. He was ready to become our Trojan Horse; a glitzy glittery sexy (Russell made me add in “sexy”) famous actor/comedian, our irresistible gift to the gods of mass media. BrandRevolution-BookWe couldn’t have found a more charismatic mate than we found in the mysterious man in the garbage bag. In interview after interview, he’s been lovingly eviscerating mainstream pundits and spreading the revolution meme. He turns the spectacle on itself. We are now inside the machine.

Russell Brand & Naomi Klein: Climate Change And Revolution

October 16, 2014 Asa Bennett, www.huffingtonpost.co.uk , ,
Russell Brand and the author Naomi Klein have called for a "revolution" that could potentially see oil giants like Exxon Mobil dismantled. Speaking to Brand as part of a podcast exclusively shared with The Huffington Post, Klein agreed with the comedian's call for a political and economic revolution, but warned: "It's not going to happen in the right way if we don't talk about the distribution of resources." The pair zeroed in on multinational oil giants such as Exxon Mobil, referring to them as companies that were "addicted to stupid money", with Klein arguing that the world could convert from fossil fuels to renewable energy within 15 years. "What the hell's going on," said Brand. "Is there no money in it? Why don't people do it? They could still make money out of windmills couldn't they?"
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