The Folkcommunity as an alternative for the future

Only an unwavering will of the people to live and survive can enable us to save life on earth, as well as earth itself, in this ceucial period we find ourselves. However if we continue on the same pass as we do now, we will find ourselves from the ravine we are already in, into a bottomless pit, from which we can probably never get out again. It’s useless to have any faith in the establishment for this. They are blinded by their relentless quest for short term profit and petty display of power. They will never would or could take the essential drastic steps that are necessary for the people and the earth to survive. We must believe in the necessity of a radical transformation of our society. Only then will we be able to create a world without classes, which is equitable, sustainable and non exploitative for every people on earth. In fact the only constructive answer to the crisis that threats our people and world, no matter if these are of an economic or ecological nature, is the realization of self-sustaining regional folkcommunities. Despite that most of the times it seems infeasible to revert the negative consequenses that neo-liberalism, capitalism and globalist imperialism have had on our people and on the earth, this necessary revolutionary change is not entirely impossible. The people is able to fight through the crisis we are in, even although the problems seem insurmountable and the chances to return the tide seem marginal.

At first we must realize a revolution about how we see the earth and ourselves, before we can practice the needed changes. The last deccenia we are lured to far away, by capitalist individualism and materialism, from our natural instincts and original nature. The small cosmopolitan elite that exploits the earth and her peoples view man only as a thing, an object which only reason of existance is to be exploited or dominated. Many people do not realize they are merely slaves, docile sheep who only work to expand the profits and the personal power of the small elite who is in power. They don’t see people and beautifull nature, but only what we can produce and how we and the earth, can be best to their service. The only meaning of man is to be a worker, a consumer, cannon flodder, a taxpayer or electorat. Does a certain group of people no longer serve those interests, they are simply replaced by a new or other group of people. Again and again we let ourselves be abused. We are nothing more then a number, something that can be striped down on paper, nobody except the elite matters in their eyes. The earth, the basis of all life, is seen as nothing more then the giver of resources, which can be exploited for their relentless greed.

The establishment says it “tries to fight” all the imminent dangers that threat all live – the pollution of the earth, ozone and the cosmos as well as the degeneration and exploitation of peoples worldwide – but they are fighting symptoms. They only do minor interventions that do not change the fundamental causes to keep the “plebs” satisfied, to keep their winkers on and to prevent a massive revolt. Most people fall for this over an over again. How is it possible that we don’t realize that as the majority of the world we could have more power than the elites who now control our everyday lives? The “free market”, bank and IMF loans, only directly and indirectly expand the ever increasing immense suffering caused by hunger, poverty, violence, homelessness, unemployment and basically “preventable” diseases. They make the differences between nations and individuals bigger and bigger. They divide people and oppress them. They are the ones that make peoples struggle against each other instead of those who cause this evil; the capitalist elites. We must stop this destructive capitalism. The folkscommunity has to take back power in its own hands by expropriating the cosmopolitan capitalist classes and by recreating a self-sufficient community with local self-government based on direct democracy. These folkcommunities offer better, more expanded and specialized answers on economic, ecological and other problems we can come across, than any centralized governance can ever offer. Because these folkcommunites connect people in a natural way, there will be more mutual help, trust and responsibility. The cooperative labor required to keep the community alive, will give the members of society a much more satisfying feeling than the current wageslavery. In  conjoint cultural activities as well as maintaining the natural beaty of the enviroment the community will satisfy the emotional and creative needs of the people.

These kind of communities are still found here and there, but are usually dismissed by modern Western society as backward and barbaric. But is our society thanks to all her modern means truly “better” than these small communities? Or can we say that although we are technologically more advanced than these communities, in emotional terms we are far behind? We buy our children all the newest technological gadgets, for many thousands of Euro’s, that are on the markets, still they remain unhappy. This in contrast to small communities in  which a child is much more happier with the simplest of means. Not withstanding all our possesions, we in the West are stuck with a constant feeling of emptyness, because we no longer have the emotional satisfaction that material things cannot provide; no matter how much we buy and consume. I do not claim that our technological “progress” is by defition a bad thing. But we have to try to get back in touch with our natural inner-self, our culture and our folkcommunity, if we want to truly break the shackels capitalism has imposed on us. People are still blinded by their “bread and circuses”, but at some point even the most blind people will be forced to open their eyes. Let our peoples revolt against the elites who oppress us with empty terms like “freedom” and “democracy”, so that we may have a chance to not only save ourselves, but also the earth from demise. Only through that we can give ourselves and our offspring a better future; a future that means more than simply be born, indoctrinated, produce, consume and die.

The TTIP treaty: Unstoppable plunge into a corporatocracy

The United States has been the undisputed superpower for decades, whose influence extends throughout the entire world. However currently in the light of the decaying American economy, the continuingly accruing –already exorbitant- debt and the rise of new superpowers trying to take over the dominant position, the US is starting to act like a cornered cat to try to consolidate its dominance. Not just using the, for everybody obvious way of war, but mostly by using economic measures and installing economic treaties.

The Obama administration rushes to enter into as many free trade agreements as possible with as many countries and partnerships as possible, while they are still the “upper party” so they can assert their dominance during the negotiations. Everything to assure that in the case of an economic collapse of the US, or in case of a growing dominant position of the Chinese and/ or Russian economy, the US has already economically tied so many countries to itself that it can remain the absolute undisputed superpower and countries have to remain living and obeying their rules and measures.

As most of us already know, the US is being ruled by the corporations and Wall Street. They for example determine who is going to be the next president. They are eventually the ones who benefit the most from these free trade agreements and they are the ones who instigate them.

Europe has been under the US shroud since the end of the Second World War. Among others by instating the Marshall plan. Through the EU the power of the US is extended with every country willing and able to join the EU. European nation states have given up their individuality, autonomy and national sovereignty years ago to become a sort of America light version. America’s influence and culture can be seen and noticed everywhere around us. If the US says jump the EU only asks; how high, where and when.

The EU has lost a big part of its global market share throughout the last couple of years; they however remain an important business partner because of its international influence and big number of potential consumers. Because of the disappointing Euro and the global financial crisis, there is not a single doubt in the mind of the EU and its rulers to dive in head first into the trade agreement. Any reservations from their side are simply spurious and only meant to please the peoples and the skeptic parties. Through the Lisbon treaty (which the Dutch people among others voted against) the European commission has the power to decide for all the member states without any of the individual states interfering.

The TTIP

The new to form free trade agreement between the US and the EU is the TTIP, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership.

There is practically already free trade between the EU and the US. The reasons for this treaty are a bit more obscure than meets the eye. Although the EU and the US are still in the stage of negotiations and it’s not perfectly clear the treaty will pass, past experiences make it pretty clear that we can expect this or a likewise treaty to pass in the nearby future.

Despite the fact that we in the EU live under the flag of so-called freedom and democracy, the negotiations for the TTIP treaty, an agreement that concerns us all, are covered with a shroud of secrecy. The entire process of negotiations is covered in a thick layer of mystical smoke and for most people it’s thus not clear what kind of negotiations these are, what they’re about or what the treaty would mean to us. It wasn’t until things began to leak to the media, the negotiators came forth with the fact that they were in fact negotiating. Nowadays the negotiations are again covered in shades, because they will make sure these things disappear from the mainstream media again or no attention will be given to it. As soon as nothing is in the news, people don’t care that much anymore. This however doesn’t mean that the negotiations aren’t full speed ahead, just nobody cares.

If any bit of news about the negotiations happens to leak, it is immediately covered with the propaganda cloak. The treaty should supposedly create more jobs, give our economies a boost and it would be positive for all of our nations in general. This of course has to be propagated because otherwise there would be a lack of social and/ or political support, which might result in protests or up rises. The elite group that is in charge wants to postpone this social unrest until the treaty is ratified and implemented, thus making it inevitable.  The peoples could know what is going on, but they want to remain in the dark, they want to believe in our politicians best intentions, they want to believe in our so-called freedom and democracy. However earlier trade treaties the US corroborated have proved otherwise. Also the EU farce should have opened the eyes of the peoples. The rich are getting richer and that is the only benefit. Why would this treaty be any different, or go any different?

The purpose of the TTIP treaty is to conjoin the economies of the EU member states and the US economy and therewith regulate them. However merging these two markets causes the good qualities of each individual market being annihilated and the worse qualities being adopted by both.  The odds of the EU adopting the protectionism of the US market are zilch, nor will the US adopt the consumer protection laws of the EU. Although as mentioned before, because of the current dominance of the US most adjustments will be on the side of the EU and the US will probably have zero to none changes made to its current market, they will remain fully in charge of their own market.  In other words, the US will probably continue as they are and the EU has to adapt, without taking in any of the good qualities of the American market (namely the protectionism).

There is only one clause that we can practically be certain about that it will be a part of the final treaty, because it has been a part of every single treaty the US has closed the last decades. Namely; the investor-state dispute settlement. This simply means that companies have the opportunity to summon individual states –who are subservient to the TTIP treaty- before secretive arbitrary courts –which are made up by corporate lawyers-. These courts are above the national courts, which makes sure that governments are obliged to consent to the arbitrary courts verdicts without any accountability, explanation or proclamation to its people. Governments under the TTIP treaty have no power or say whatsoever and they have no opportunity anymore to protect the people, nature, welfare, jobs etc.  So far our supposed democracy, with the TTIP treaty it is definitively traded in for a corporatocracy. Steps have already been made to sue countries such as Germany because they want to stop using nuclear energy. The costs of these by company’s instigated lawsuits can become enormous for governments, which causes social and environmental legislations being toned down and taxes being raised.

The corporatocracy

From the get go of the negotiations the TTIP treaty has been written by lobby groups, which makes them very proud and they boast about it to each other. The companies with the most money and willing to spend it, and the companies with the vastest lobby groups are the ones with the most power and say within the TTIP treaty and the concerning negotiations. They can thus largely decide the contents of the treaty.

The commission responsible for the negotiations has so far had 600+ meetings and consultations with representatives of the large companies and industries while at the same time only 5 to 8 such meetings and consultations took place with peoples representatives or social groups. The latter ones most likely are being told much different things than the companies are being told. This once more shows where the pith of the matter in the negotiations is. It should be for all to see that despite the sweet talk, this treaty is nothing but trouble to us all, and it will only benefit the interests of the big companies and big industries. This treaty has never been about the interests of the people, only the interests of the companies and their possibilities to avoid existing regulations. Earlier free trade agreements instigated by the US have proved this time and time again; like NAFTA.

Our national governments are big accomplices in the matter. They try to –completely unjustly- hide behind the negotiation mandate they gave the European Committee, however they never hold this committee accountable for its actions or take away its power.

The European Committee responsible for the negotiations has promised individual member states that it wouldn’t compromise European standards in consumer safety and environmental norms; however history has proven over and over again that when it comes to promises, Brussels never keeps them. They are already negotiating about it. They are empty rhetorical promises that are worth nothing in the long run. They are only meant to serve as negotiating tactics, because Europe as the weaker party need to put something on the table, they don’t want to go belly up immediately. American negotiators as well as their European counterparts have already stated that mayor changes have to take place in the EU to meet the American demands.

The TTIP treaty is going to put its mark on every possible area of our societies. From the obligation to have bigger military spending, to the obligation of drilling for shale gas (fracking), to mandatory GMO’s and cloning, to the mandatory introduction of SOPA and PIPA.

A good example of this is: The main negotiator for the US about agriculture and cattle farming for this treaty is the former Monsanto lobbyer Islam Siddiqui. This should be a red flag to all of us. The use of antibiotics and growth hormones is common in the US. The last few years the EU has however taken steps to downsize their use, mainly because of the continuingly increasing problem of antibiotic resistant bacteria. Also the use of (supplied by Monsanto) herbicides and pesticides are more than common in the US. The cultivation of GMO’s is also more common than exception in the US. Cloning is also used widespread throughout the US. In the USA fewer farmers have more land at their disposal than farmers in the EU have. Because of all of this, this treaty will be the dead sentence to European farmers; they can never, no matter how hard they try, compete with the US farmers.  The treaty not only opens the door to the European market for, among others, chlorine washed chicken meat, acids bleached veal, GMO’s  sprayed with the vilest stuff etc. it kicks the door clean out of the groove.

Fulfilling the EU dream

This treaty also gives the EU the possibility to fulfill long treasured desires. For example: the EU has been trying to privatize the water supply for years. They have already been successful in countries stricken by debt with the trojka. However the rest of the EU member states haven’t already caved under pressure. This treaty takes away any form of free will or option from the individual member states.

To control and maintain the compatibility of current and future legislation the EU and the US will form a permanent legislative cooperation council. This council will judge from local to national legislations to see if it perhaps affects or will affect international trade. The peoples in the EU and the US have no say whatsoever about this council or its members. This means that current and future legislation will be made and implemented outside of any public cadre. The only ones of any affluence will be the corporate lobbyers, lawyers and negotiators.  Corporate fascism thus seizes all control and power. This will only result in more deregulations, liberalization, the destruction of current legislations and the prevention of future legislation that don’t fit the multinational and oligarch agenda.

Just like with the NAFTA treaty and the GATT treaty (the WTO predecessor) at no point in the process of negotiations and closing the deal, there will be any public consultation. This treaty however goes further than the negotiators at the NAFTA and GATT treaty could have ever imagined.

And so we finally see the vile true face of this free trade agreement. The ultimate goal is to consign the little bits of our national sovereignty we have left to the whims and fancies of the biggest multinational conglomerates of the world. It gives multinationals and oligarchs hugely bigger property rights over the peoples and the countries, than any domestic company, community or individual (besides perhaps the Rothschilds and the Rockefellers of this world) could ever have or obtain. It also creates a hegemonic legal system that enforces and harshly vindicates these superior rights. Only the threat of lawsuits against countries will have the national governments trembling. All power is seized and transferred into private hands, who can’t be taken into any accountability by the peoples.

Conclusion

Despite all the pretty mesmerizing words the politicians are trying feed us that liberalization provides better products and cheaper services, the truth has caught up with the lie a long time ago and liberalism has already shown its filthy true face to the public. Anybody who doesn’t see this is either blind, blinded or someone who profits from it.

The former European social model is on the fast track towards extinction, the participation society is almost a fact. As it looks like right now the negotiations about the TTIP treaty will be finalized at the end of this year. This will be the last and definitive nail to our coffins. As soon as the treaty is finalized, we will only be consumers and producers and we will never ever become more than just that. The global corporatocracy will be in full effect.

The EU commission has already proclaimed in a memo that the TTIP treaty purports the most far reaching changes in the European societies: “ IT’S THE FIRST STEP TOWARDS A NEW WORLD ORDER: U must know that in this negotiation process it is about much more than just a conventional trade agreement.”

It should be clear to all of us that this treaty preludes the final decisive battle in the, already for decades, ongoing class struggle of the ruling class to obtain full power over the proletariat and the middle class. Multinationals and oligarchs have won each and every battle so far, with the conscious complicity of the political class. If we don’t stand up as a conjoined front now and fight for our rights, we have lost for ourselves and for all future generations.

Voor de Gemeenschap: Het Communitaire Anarchisme van Gustaaf Landauer

Hieronder vind u de Nederlandse vertaling van de brochure “Voor de Gemeenschap: Het Communitaire Anarchisme van Gustaaf Landauer” door Larry Gambone, die een uitgebreide bescrijving geeft over het leven en de ideeën van de Duitse anarchist Gustaaf Landauer:  Voor de Gemeenschap: Het Communitaire Anarchisme van Gustaaf Landauer

Hands off our Heritage: The Real Black Pete

This article was originally published on Taaldacht and is translated by us to provide a better insight in the mythical figure Black Pete and its backgrounds. This way we try to give some historical context to the strongly politicized discussion surrounding our St. Nicholas tradition, which is commonly misinterpreted as a so-called “racist black face tradition”.

If there is something wrong with Black Pete, it is the fact that he has become a happy and harmless appearance. The educational part of St. Nicholas day seems to have gotten entirely lost. These days it is hardly the question if kids have behaved the past year, but more about how much candy or presents they will get. The real Black Pete is a creepy and educational spirit from ancient times, who’s got the task to scare the young and elderly into good behavior. It would be a mistake to change him into a Rainbow Pete or something else clumsy.

 

Saint Nicholas and Black Pete arriving in Amsterdam (1950)

Comrades cease your wild roar

To understand the figure of Black Pete we must take a look at The Wild Hunt: an impressive mythological representation from pre-Christian times and which was known in the whole of the Germanic world. During the long nights of Yule, the midwinter time, a crowd of noisy deaths, black as the night, ride the night with horses and dogs, terrifying the living as the guardians of morals.

Their leader is Wodan, lord of enthusiasm, poetry, wisdom and the wind. He has a long white grey beard and he wears a hood and a long cloth. In one hand he holds a wooden staff or spear, in the other the reins of his white horse. He misses one eye. On other days he travels around in disguise and sends his black ravens out, to find knowledge everywhere.

Representation

Wodan, whose name in short form still can be found in the word Wednesday, was seen as one of the most important gods in paganism. In the imagination of the Germanic peoples he even displaced Tuw, the original supreme god.  Wodans devotees wrought in a state of spiritual ecstasy, especially on the battle field, where they fought the enemy as possessed with wild roar and seemingly superhuman powers.

The Roman writer Tacitus wrote in the 1st century AD, that one Germanic tribe in particular, the Harii, had the tradition to pick dark nights for their battles and resembled a death army with their black shields and black painted bodies. Harii is a Latinisation of the old Germanic word ‘Harjoz’ or ‘warriors’.

Originally it were the warrior guilds dedicated to Wodan, who every midwinter night pictured the army of the death of the Wild Hunt, by covering themselves in dark disguises, while noisy and rowdy going around in their communities.  The art was not to be recognized by others. The purpose was to guard the morals of the people. Whoever had been bad last year, could now count on a punishment.

Traces from this ancient tradition can be found everywhere in the Germanic world, from Ameland to Switzerland. Men disguised as the death, even though the origin in many cases is long forgotten and the disguises are different in each region. However, the original form of the follower is a black, not African, figure, as is seen among others with Schmutzli in Switzerland, Knecht Ruprecht in North and Central Germany and the Houseker in Luxembourg. Usually he is now headed by St. Nicholas in its vernacular character.

The Wild Hunt

 

Christianisation

During the 4th century St. Nicholas was the bishop of Myra, a part in the eastern realm of the Roman Empire, which is a Turkish and Islamic region since several centuries. His worship was spread throughout Europe during the middle Ages, likely by the Normans. In the by this time Christianized Germanic territories his representation slowly but surely mixed with that of Wodan and the Wild Hunt. Also the child’s feast of medieval times, where children for one night were the boss, was introduced in this.

Although St. Nicholas as we know him is a Christian character, he resembles a lot to Wodan, who’s pictured as old and wise, with a white grey beard, with a hood and wooden stick in his hand, riding a white horse. That our present day St. Nicholas also rides the roofs is of little surprise if we look at the old image of the Wild Hunt. Also the fact that St. Nicholas writes poems is not surprising once we know Wodan was the lord of poetry. The handing out of chocolate letters resembles the old Germanic believe that Wodan gave the runes, Germanic alphabet, to the people.

 

Saint Nicholas of Myra

Evil spirits and Moors

The death who accompanied Wodan were later on seen as doomed souls and evil spirits. Thus the peculiar situation occurred where St. Nicholas saw himself surrounded by evil spirits. And so the result was drawn that he had made them servant. The devil and his minions were traditionally depicted dark and black. So, Black Pete became just one of many names for evil spirits and in particular the devil.

During the last centuries the people of the Netherlands sought for more worldly interpretation as to why the Saint had black servants. Because everybody knew he came from the south, it seemed only logical that his followers must have been Moors from Africa. So the present appearance of Black Pete is not an expression of the idea that whites are superior, but the natural consequence of oblivion and  re-interpretation. This was already pointed out by many experts, among them Marcel bas in his book Black Pete.

Moors – feared throughout Europe

Let the true Black Pete return

His present figure is a Morish looking servant in a flashy, sixteenth century page packet. This was a relatively late onset and his role as a roguish candyman is certainly a very young development. The real Black Pete is indeed pitch black and must scare the hell out of children and their parents. So if his appearance really has to change, then let him return to the old, as a shadow of deaths, follower of the rapid greybeard. It would not be much scarier for the delicate children’s souls than for instance the stories of JRR Tolkien, J. K. Rowling and Roald Dahl. It would be a more exciting and meaningful use.

Whoever agrees; spread the word!

 

Globalization and the Environment

The inexhaustible belief in economic growth as key to progress begins to waver as the systems that sustain life on Earth become ever poorer and the signals that indicate an ecological disaster are ever increasing. The globalization that is geared to encourage the stimulation of growth through the increase of consumption is overcharging the environment and widening the gap between rich and poor.

Neo-liberals choose “pure” market solutions to increase the consumption of the population. Some examples are tax cuts and low interest rates, these things are supposed to stimulate investment and spending by consumers by providing them with “more money to spend”.

Until recent the environment was completely ignored in the whole globalization process. With the increasingly more global the economy is becoming, it becomes completely dependent on good management of the planet Earth. However everything around us suggests that the ecological health of our planet is in serious peril.

The industrial production systems have consumed enormous amounts of irreplaceable natural resources during the last two centuries. Not only are they destroying complete ecosystems and natural habitats in an alarming rate, it is also clear that we are exhausting our natural resources (the “natural eco capital” of the economy).  Accompanying that, we are producing so much waste in a pace that is so much higher than the ability of nature to renew and heal itself. All around us the evidence can be seen and found of the destruction of our planet. An urgent need is required for the disintegration of the basic systems needed for the preservation of life, but we simply take that for granted. The water cycle, the composition of the atmosphere, the waste processing and recycling of nutrients, pollination of crops, and the delicate interplay between different species: this is all in danger.

This massive decline of our planet is recorded and echoed by many studies. The deserts are spreading, whole forests are cut down, fertile lands are ruined by erosion and desalination, fishing grounds are depleted and groundwater reserves are drained. The carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere continue to rise due to the excessive use of fossil fuels. All this to drive our artificial consumption needs. Since 1950 the global economic output has nearly quintupled, from 3,800,000,000 to $ 18,900,000,000 U.S. dollars. In this relatively short period of time a larger share of the natural eco capital has been wasted than during the entire history of mankind before 1950.

Several animal rights groups are warning that the global extinction of animals and plants is accelerating as well as for the dramatic decline in population of several species. The loss of habitats, human cultivation and the invasion of alien species are seen as the biggest threats to nature. Scientists believe that the natural pace in which species extinct, is 1 type of species in every 4 years’ time. The current rate is estimated at a 1000 to 10,000 times the natural rate.

The through export led growth combined with the debt of third world countries, at institutes like the World Bank and the IMF, have picked up the pace of the fast consumption of the Earths irreplaceable natural resources. The adjustment policies that are imposed on the third world countries as the price for access to the global trading community mean that they are obliged to repay their debts before they can do anything else. Therefore, their only option is to increase the amount of raw materials they put onto the global markets. A major problem resides in this; all poor countries have to increase their export, so the markets get saturated. As a result of this the prices of raw materials will go down, which in effect cause the poor countries to even further enhance their production and export to continue to try to fulfill the debt obligations set by the World Bank and the IMF. Because the countries continuingly have to increase their production and export evermore forest is cut down and nature is destroyed for agriculture, mining etc. and there are fewer resources available for their own internal markets. This is definitely not good for the indigenous peoples and the environment and is thus also a major attack on our earth as a whole.

Quote ecologist Robert Ayres: “Everything indicates that human economic activity, supported by a mistaken policy of trade and growth, is a long way to destroy our natural environment more quickly than any other known disrupting event in the history of the planet whatsoever, except perhaps for the large asteroid impact that brought the extinction of the dinosaurs. It could well be that we are heading towards our own extinction.”

Yet, the neo-liberals continue to believe in global free trade. The (fake) logic of globalization is seductive because it is based on a simple premise: free the market of its restrictions and its self-organizing dynamics will bring employment, wealth and prosperity. The capacity of our earth would be infinite. Through a combination of ingenuity and technology it would eventually be possible for everyone to live as a middle class American. However despite of the (self) confidence of those who preach the “neoliberal gospel”, there are clear indications that ordinary people begin to lose their faith in the neoliberal global free trade. Worldwide there are evermore protests erupting against this practice. Even in the circles of power globalization is increasingly critically being followed. Some previously strong supporters of the neoliberal policy were forced to revise their opinions by repeated evidence that the neoliberal approach is not working properly and leads to all sorts of crises and a growing gap between rich and poor.

Capitalism: An insatiable evil

Nowadays we live in a plutonomy, our entire life is at the service of a small capitalist elite. Everybody and everything is being exploited and taken advantage of to gain evermore profits for this elite.

Practically every current world problem, from the eco-cide, wars to expatriation due to massive migration flows, is in one way or another linked to capitalism. Under the reign of capitalism and its ideological offsprings like neoliberalism, we have reached a deep abyss that is unprecedented in the entire history of mankind.

Although the missionaries of capitalism try to blame a lot of these problems to the idea that there, in their opinion, still is no real “free market”, the true problem lies in the insatiable nature of capitalism itself. Within capitalism there simply cannot be a “free market”, because evermore capital accumulates in ever less hands, as an insuperable consequence an ever growing social inequality. This gives a rich minority the possibility to enrich themselves even more and claim even more power over the backs of the nonpossessory majority of people. Right now 1% of the world population owns more capital than the remainder 99% combined. That is the result of the capitalist development and this promises little good for the future.

Consumer behavior?

Capitalists like us to believe that within a so called “free market” the power is within the hands of the consumer. One of the many heard sophisms is that if only the consumer was willing to pay more for their products or if only they would buy their products consciously, the industry would change and supply their demand. This is of course utter nonsense. In reality our society only upholds an illusion of free choice, despite a multitude of brands; almost all are in the hands of multinational conglomerates like Coca-Cola or Sony. These conglomerates have profit maximization as their only moral and they are the ones that dictate the markets, not the consumers.

The capitalist conglomerates only work to make as much profit as possible for the capitalist elites, who already have so much money that they make Scrooge Mcduck look like a poor lowlife.  As long as these companies overflow the markets with products only aimed at making profits, they will not be able to make durable changes in the field of animal welfare, the environment or bettering working conditions. If we as consumers would pay more for our products it would only end up in the pockets of the capitalists owning these conglomerates, instead of where it is needed most; the poor farmers that provide products or the sweatshop labourers who make products.

If all of the sudden everybody would change to green ecologically responsible or biological products, it would not mean –like some people try to make us think-  that the world would become a better place and that mankind, animal and environment would be treated any better. No, it would only mean that we’ve created a new market for the conglomerates in which they can make even bigger profits than before. Take for example the biological market, in which non biological products are sold through a detour as biological products, as can be seen with the egg scandal in Germany. This is most likely just merely the tip of the iceberg in consumer deception. People think they are doing the right just thing by buying biological products, but they are only filling up the pockets of the capitalist elite. The alternative is of course to buy local and conscious and try to avoid the “middle man” as much as possible.

We have to distance ourselves from the idea that through our buying behavior we somehow could change these conglomerates. The only possible option is to not buy/consume anything that has been produced by these conglomerates anymore. This is however made practically impossible for us as consumers.  Small regional companies are simply competed out of business or bought up by the big conglomerates. The conglomerates also set up small private companies that make products with nice sounding names (for example Holy Soda, by Sourcy, owned by Heineken) that are eventually at the service of the conglomerates, nothing conscious, durable or biological about that.  This way the conglomerates gained an absolute monopoly over the market. The conglomerates decide the prices, the rules and the laws, all in favour of their own wallets. Public health, social justice and other moral considerations play no part in this: the creed is profit maximization.

Consumers are perfectly willing to pay more if the product was really good and if it was produced with the wellbeing of the workers and the environment at heart. The problem is however not the consumer but the manufacturer. A more expensive product in general merely means more money for the manufacturer himself and not for the people he exploits.  For example; you buy a pair of cheap branded socks for say 4 Euro, the worker who made these socks in a sweatshop gets (very roughly speaking) 1 cent of that money. The production of the raw materials costs let’s say maybe 10 cent. If you on the other hand buy a comparable pair of brand socks from say Nike for 10 Euro, still the worker who made them, working in a comparable factory or sweatshop, working under the same circumstances also gets (very roughly speaking) 1 cent. The production of the raw materials maybe costs 11 cent. So where does the extra approximately 6 Euro, you as a consumer paid more go to? You guessed it, in the pockets of the manufacturer himself.

Thanks to the debt slavery imposed by capitalist institutions like the World Bank and the IMF, practically all third world countries have become dirt cheap production countries; besides the raw materials, they also provide the labourers who can be maximally exploited. The estimates about how much of the total costs for the eventual product manufactured in a third world country are labour costs vary, however in general they don’t add up to more than a few cents. This is at most 1 to 3% of the total selling price of the product. If we calculate it really roughly the total accumulated production costs don’t even add up to 15% of the eventual price the consumer pays. As consumers we are already paying way too much, because relatively speaking the total costs of production are a sharp contrast with the profits made.

If you were to take away the insane profit margin, you could pay a lot more for the raw materials and to the workers who fabricate these ingredients and products. The power is not in the hands of the consumer, who is already paying more than enough, but in the hands of the manufacturers who appropriate the majority of the profit, at the cost of the workers (also to satisfy the capitalist need for competition)

Current massive migration flow

Massive economical migration (as we see today with the asylum-invasion) is at the service of the big companies.  One of the core features of the capitalist induced globalization is the free movement of labourforce; in other words the freedom of capitalism to boost exploitation and maximize the profits by suppressing the wages.  By importing thousands upon thousands of people from faraway places, capitalists satiate the labour market and break down the social accomplishments. In the long run the mass immigration will lead to cultural disintegration in favour of the capitalist globalist agenda.

For the peoples in Europe the mass immigration only causes problems, now and in the long run. However we must not forget that for the countries of origin of these migrants it also causes problems. The massive outflow of the middle class of these countries, they are after all the only ones “fortunate” enough to pay the human traffickers for the expensive journey to Europe, deprive the poorest countries from their most experienced work force.  It is in this context that we should view upon this current asylum invasion. Although you can’t blame a person for trying to find a better life –think of what you would do in their situation- the image the mass media feeds us of these refugees is deceitful. Through shocking images and messages the media tries to play with the emotions of the masses. In contrast to the image the media creates, merely one third of these migrants are actual refugees from a warzone (20% are from Syria, 3% are from Iraq and 7% come from Afghanistan) and almost two third of the migrants is male.

For the capitalists it doesn’t matter in the least bit what the intentions of these immigrants are, or were they are from. Politicians and employer organizations were clamoring to muster for a fast integration of these newcomers by providing them with a job. The migrant crisis is used to undermine the position of the native workers.  Europe has known a long tradition of guilds and unions, which are all unknown things for these foreign workers. This way capitalists can easily replace every native worker with ten foreign workers. The financial crisis has caused a lot of people to lose their jobs, or to have to fear for the very existence of their jobs. This migration flood is a new reason for concern.

Mass immigration undermines social solidarity and threatens the economic and demographic maintainability of our societies; the only ones to profit from it are the bankers, the politicians and the conglomerates.

So capitalism is to blame for the economic migration and the installation of the so-called multicultural society. Without capitalism there simply would be no need for massive labour migration. However much neoliberal political parties (in the Netherlands such as VVD and PVV) are pretending to oppose massive migration, they are merely keeping up appearances towards the people. The world lies in the hands of conglomerates, politicians are mere puppets at the service of the factual capitalist rulers. Elected politicians have no real power, no real say; they are only accountable to the conglomerates in the hope that after their political career they end up with a lucrative job within these companies.

Eco-cide

Also the notion that the consumer itself can be held accountable for the pollution of the earth and the drying up of natural resources like oil is incomplete. Of course the modern day consumerism has put a heavy strain on our planet Earth, this lifestyle was however mainly forced upon us by the conglomerates. During our entire life we are bombarded with the thought that if we just consumed more and followed up on the latest trends we would have a fulfilling life. This is of course far besides the truth. Besides, this problem is partly due to the manner of production and the used means of production.  Refrigerators, cars, TV’s, phones, you name it they all have intentional due dates. All technology and means used are grafted on transiency and replaceability. Truly durable technologies are pushed aside or bought up and placed in a big vault by the conglomerates, unless they can make big money of, of it, through which the durability ideal most often gets corrupted.

We as consumers are not main responsible for the current social and environmental problems. We are mere participants in the entire capitalist story not game leaders. The biggest polluters and destroyers of our planet Earth are the industrial military complex and the conglomerates such as Monsanto, PepsiCo, BP and so on. Evermore earthly treasures are transformed into lucid products in a highly irresponsible manner which creates a lot of garbage (gasses, chemicals etc.) for the purpose of short term profits. Over 95% of all garbage produced on our planet Earth comes from companies and governments, not from us the consumers. The influence we could have by cutting back our personal waste or our personal carbon footprint is minimal if we don’t tackle the companies first.

Conclusion

Some people say “a better environment starts with you”. This is of course true, however without fighting capitalism it is nothing more than a miniscule drop on a burning hot stove. The ecological and nationalist struggle is in the first place a struggle against capitalism. Capitalism is an unmerciful and ruthless system of exploitation: exploitation of mankind, animals and nature. By resisting against capitalism, we resist against our otherwise inevitable doom. As free people and free societies we should form an anti-globalist front against the rampant power of the capital, or else the indivertible demise of mankind is the consequence.

The art of distilling Alcohol

The only alcohol humans can consume is ethanol. Through beer and wine ethyl alcohol has been used since the early dawn of men. Distilling was originally an eastern invention, which spread around the 14th century through monasteries and universities all over Europe. With this technique we can separate different substances (like alcohol) by evaporation. Distillate can be found in all kinds of dilutions, but most commonly somewhere between 30% and 50%.

A lot of nonsense and myths go around about alcohol. This is not surprising considering alcohol is the most common stimulant in our European civilization. And although the State suggests that alcohol would actually not be very good for us, they make big money through it by the high taxes they collect on alcoholic beverages. Also the manufacturers and suppliers have no interest in low alcohol prices. For them it is of great interest to keep alcohol something mysterious. We must continue to think that distilling alcohol is a very difficult business and that the prices would have something to do with the quality of their alcohol and the beverages it is used in.

Here we make an end to these myths: Alcohol can be made very easily and very cheap. The big booze manufacturers buy tank trucks full of pure alcohol from the yeast factory, after which it is mixed with all kinds of essences from other factories. In fact these brands are merely bottlers and fluid mixers surrounded by a huge advertisement apparatus. They proclaim all kinds of nonsense, and suggest a lot about age old traditions. However if this is a tradition, it is a tradition of scams. Everybody with the right material can not only make this alcohol cheaper, but also much and much better. Of course this is prohibited by law, because with this the State as well as the manufacturer loses a lucrative source of income. Therefore we emphasize strongly that we don’t want to incite people to start distilling their own alcohol, of course we only want to explain the theory behind it.

As an example we take the production of authentic and traditional Dutch liquor that has been drunk here for over 500 years: Korenwijn (also known as Grain Wine). One of the first manuscripts in the Netherlands in which the distilling of alcohol is explained is from the year 1351. In this text the alcohol distillate is described as a healing “life elixir”, which could be mixed with all kinds of (medicinal) herbs to strengthen the effects. The Netherlands as a maritime nation was once one of the biggest producers of distilled liquor. Wine and beer tend to deteriorate on long sea voyages because of their low alcohol content and thus it was distilled to enhance its durability.

Alcohol is made through the fermentation of sugars. The fermentation process is done by yeast cells that die around an alcoholic percentage of 15% to 18%. The sugary liquid changes during this process in beer or wine. This is the “mash” from which we distill the alcohol. For our Korenwijn we first make a malt-whine of approximately 6 – 12%. We make this by crushing 5 kilos of barley malt and leave it for one hour in 20 liters water of 65 degrees Celsius. Now the starch in the barley malt transforms into sugars. This we cool down and by adding yeast it will start fermenting for several days. We fill the kettle of our distillation-device for about 2/3rd with this mash.

The distillation-device exists out of a heating source, a kettle, a column with a thermometer and a water-cooling. In general we distill twice. The first distillation, also known as ‘raw burn’, we do at quite a high temperature of 90 degrees Celsius. We collect the distillate and bring it back to maximal 40% alcohol, before we put it back in the kettle.

First we heat this liquid until it reaches a temperature of about 65 degrees Celsius, which we keep stable for about 15 minutes. The liquid which comes out now exists out of poisonous methyl alcohol and other substances we don’t want in our booze. So we keep this separate and throw it away. Now we slowly bring up the temperature to 79 to 80 degrees Celsius. By now the drinkable ethyl alcohol vaporizes and condensates because we cool it. The first part of the liquid will have a strong smell, this we collect and throw away. After this a more neutral and grainy smell will appear. The liquid that comes out, also known as “midrun”, we catch and keep separated. We stop once the alcohol is around 60-55% and when it starts to stink. The alcohol which follows afterwards is of a less quality and we call that the “post run”. This still contains a lot of useable alcohol and flavor and can be distilled together with a new run during.

This distillate we bring back with (distilled/demineralized) water to a percentage of about 55% to 60%, after which we can put the Korenwijn on the oak cask (woodchips are a cheaper but less tasty alternative). Because of aging the wood will give its flavors to the Korenwijn and the complexity and flavors will develop into a superior drink. Once the booze has its distinctive flavor it can be bottled or consumed.

Cheers!

De kunst van het Alcohol stoken

De enige voor mensen te drinken alcohol is ethanol. Via bier en wijn wordt ethylalcohol al sinds het begin der mensheid genuttigd. Het destilleren is oorspronkelijk een oosterse uitvinding dat zich rond de 14de eeuw via kloosters en universiteiten in Europa verspreidde. Met deze techniek kan men verschillende stoffen (zoals alcohol) doormiddel van verdamping van elkaar scheiden. Destillaat komt in vele verschillende verdunning voor, maar bevindt zich over het algemeen ergens tussen een alcoholgehalte van 30% tot 50%. Hogere concentraties vormen een gevaar voor de gezondheid.

Over alcohol doen heel wat onzinverhalen en mythes de ronde. Dat is niet zo verwonderlijk aangezien alcohol het belangrijkste genotmiddel is binnen onze Europese beschaving. Hoewel de staat vindt dat alcohol eigenlijk niet zo goed voor ons is, verdient deze er goed aan via de torenhoge belastingen die ze op alcoholische dranken heffen. Ook de fabrikanten en leveranciers hebben geen belang bij lage alcoholprijzen. Voor hen is het van groot belang dat alcohol geheimzinnig blijft. Wij moeten blijven denken dat alcohol destilleren een geweldig moeilijke zaak is en dat die prijzen iets te maken zouden hebben met de kwaliteit van die alcohol en de dranken waarin deze verwerkt wordt.

Wij maken hier een eind aan deze mythes: Alcohol is zeer eenvoudig en uiterst goedkoop te vervaardigen. De grote drankmerken kopen tankwagens vol pure alcohol in bij de gistfabriek, waarna deze gemengd worden met allerhande essences uit andere fabrieken. Feitelijk zijn deze merken enkel nog bottelarijen en vloeistofmengers met een gigantisch verkoopapparaat er omheen. Daaromheen wordt een hoop onzin verkondigd waarbij veel over eeuwenoude tradities gesuggereerd wordt. Als dit echter al een traditie is, dan is het een traditie van oplichting. Iedereen met de juiste spullen kan deze alcohol niet alleen goedkoper, maar vooral ook beter maken. Dit is uiteraard bij wet verboden, want hiermee ontneemt men zowel de staat als de fabrikant een lucratieve bron van inkomsten. Wij willen dan ook met klem benadrukken dat wij niemand willen aanzetten tot het zelf stoken van alcohol, wij willen natuurlijk enkel de theorie er van uitleggen.

Als voorbeeld nemen we de vervaardiging van een authentieke en traditionele Nederlandse drank die hier al ongeveer 500 jaar genuttigd wordt: Korenwijn. Een van de eerste manuscripten in de lage landen waarin men het destilleren van alcohol beschrijft stamt uit het jaar 1351. In deze tekst wordt het alcohol destillaat beschreven als geneeskrachtig “levenswater”, waar allerhande (geneeskrachtige) kruiden aan toegevoegd konden worden om deze effecten te versterken. Nederland was als scheepvaartland ooit een van de grootste producenten van sterke drank. Wijn en bier vergingen snel op lange zeereizen vanwege hun lage alcohol percentage en dus werd deze gedestilleerd om langer houdbaar te maken.

Alcohol wordt gemaakt door het vergisten van suiker. Het vergistingsproces wordt gedaan door gistcellen, die echter met een alcoholpercentage van rond de 15% tot 18% afsterven. De suikerhoudende vloeistof veranderd door dit proces dus in bier of wijn. Dit vormt het “beslag” van waaruit we de alcohol gaan destilleren. Voor onze Korenwijn maken we dus eerst een moutwijn van ongeveer 6 tot 12%. Dit doen we door 5 kilo gerstemout te schroten (vermalen) en één uur in 20 liter water op 65 graden Celsius te leggen. Het zetmeel dat in het gerstemout aanwezig is zet nu om in suikers. Dit laten we afkoelen en na toevoeging van gist laten we dit enkele dagen fermenteren. Met dit beslag vullen we de ketel van ons destillatieapparaat tot ongeveer twee derde. Korenwijn wordt traditioneel op het graan gestookt.

Het destillatieapparaat bestaat uit een warmtebron, een ketel, een kolom met thermometer en een waterkoeling. Over het algemeen wordt er twee keer gedestilleerd. De eerste destillatie, ook wel de ruwbrand genoemd, wordt er een hoge temperatuur van ongeveer 90 graden Celsius aangehouden. De vloeistof die er nu uit komt wordt opgevangen en aangelengd met water tot een percentage van maximaal 40% alcohol. Dit gaat terug in de ketel. Eerst verwarmen we de vloeistof tot een temperatuur van ongeveer 65 graden Celsius en houden we dit ongeveer een kwartier stabiel. De vloeistof die er nu uit komt bevat giftige methylalcohol en andere stoffen die we liever niet in onze drank willen hebben. Dit vangen we dan ook apart op en gooien we weg. Vervolgens brengen we de temperatuur langzaam omhoog naar de 79 tot 80 graden Celsius. De drinkbare ethylalcohol gaat nu in damp-vorm over en condenseert omdat we deze afkoelen. Het eerste sterk ruikende deel van de vloeistof vangen we eveneens op en gooien we weg. Hierna zal er een neutralere geur ontstaan met een uitgesproken granenlucht. De vloeistof die er nu uit komt, ook wel bekend als “bestnat”, vangen we op en houden we apart. We stoppen zodra de alcohol ongeveer 60 tot 55% is en begint te stinken. De alcohol die hierna nog volgt is van een mindere kwaliteit en noemen we de naloop. Deze bevat nog veel bruikbare alcohol en smaakstoffen en kan eventueel een tweede keer mee gestookt worden.

Deze vloeistof brengen we met (gedestilleerd/gedemineraliseerd) water terug naar een percentage van ongeveer 55% tot 60% waarna de Korenwijn op het eikenhouten vat kan om te rijpen (een goedkoper maar minder smaakvol alternatief zijn houtsnippers). Door rijping zal het hout zijn smaken aan de Korenwijn geven en zal de complexiteit en smaak zich verder ontwikkelen tot een volwaardige drank. Als de drank op smaak is kan deze gebotteld of geconsumeerd worden.

Proost!

Fascism on the rise again in Spain

Since November 2013 the Spanish government-Rajoy introduced a series of controversial repressive laws that even Franco’s fascism could not match. These new ‘public security laws’ are a threat to democracy and therefore they soon became known as ‘ley mordaza’ among the Spanish population: the gag-laws. These laws serve to criminalize and suppress all opposition against the Spanish status quo in a systematic order. In practice it means a prohibition on all kinds of civil protest and other democratic expressions.  With this a dangerous precedent for a repressive policy is created, which slowly but surely will be introduced in all European member states.

Since the Spanish conservative-liberal government-Rajoy introduced these new laws, there has been huge resistance from the Spanish people against them. Plagued by the neoliberal austerity policy imposed by the Troika, the Spaniards have witnessed several turbulent years. Just like other south-European countries social unrest prevails in the country that was struck hard by the economic crisis. As a result the many different communities of Spain demand more autonomy. Separatism gets a new impulse, with which the existence of the Spanish State becomes endangered. As a reaction on this, the Partido Popular introduced its gag-laws, so that in practice a new totalitarian Spanish State was declared.

ley mordaza

The gag-laws exist of 21 new violations, with severe penalties for social protests and an almost total license for the police, in order to infringe on even the most banal civil rights. While activists are outlawed because they exercise their fundamental rights, the power of the State and the police apparatus is deemed absolute. The police may identify and arrest people without any reason and may search their houses, this while for example making pictures of cops misbehaving on demonstrations can count on a severe prosecution. The gag-laws undermine all liberties and civil rights the people have fought for, for many, many years, in the ultimate attempt to once again install a totalitarian dictatorship in Spain.

Although human rights organizations criticized these new undemocratic laws on a European level, there remains a deafening silence from the ivory towers in Brussels. This does not come as a surprise once we realize the European Union itself is an undemocratic project, in which the elected parliament merely plays a small supporting role. The real decisions are made behind closed doors by undemocratic institutions such as the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the European Court. So it seems this tendency towards a totalitarian dictatorship first was started by the hyenas in Brussels, who are busier with the interests of banks and multinational enterprises, than the peoples they claim to represent.

The situation in Spain does not stand on its own. In the whole of Europe national parliaments are busy introducing similar repressive laws to give their opposition as hard a time as possible. Although in most cases this did not yet reach Spanish forms, the future is grim. The disappearance of democracy in Europe should be filled up by a strengthening of self-organized communities on a local level. A change has to take place towards an economy based on solidarity and needs. Only this way the oppressed are able to resist capitalist oppression.

However, we are not afraid. We will never let ourselves be gagged. Resistance won’t let itself be forbidden!  Our solidarity goes out to our Spanish brothers and sisters and their brave struggle against this new globalist fascism of the hyenas in Madrid and Brussels!

Het Fascisme is weer in opmars in Spanje

Sinds november 2013 heeft de Spaanse regering-Rajoy een serie omstreden repressieve wetgevingen doorgevoerd, waarbij het fascisme van Franco in het niet valt. Deze nieuwe ‘openbare veiligheidswetten’ zijn een gevaar voor de democratie en zijn onder de Spaanse bevolking dan ook al snel te boek komen te staan als de ‘ley mordaza’: de knevel-wetten. De wetgeving dient ertoe alle oppositie tegen het beleid van de Spaanse gevestigde orde systematisch te criminaliseren en te onderdrukken. In de praktijk betekent dit een verbod op allerhande vormen van burgerprotest en andere democratische uitingen. Hiermee is een gevaarlijk precedent geschapen voor een repressief beleid dat langzaam maar zeker in alle Europese lidstaten doorgevoerd lijkt te gaan worden.

Al sinds de Spaanse conservatief-liberale regering-Rajoy de nieuwe wetten aannam is er grote weerstand vanuit het Spaanse volk. Geplaagd door het neoliberale bezuinigingsbeleid dat hen door de Troika is opgelegd, hebben de Spanjaarden een aantal turbulente jaren achter de rug. Net als in andere Zuid-Europese landen, heerst er grote sociale onrust in het land dat hard door de economische crisis geraakt is. Als gevolg hiervan eisen de verschillende gemeenschappen van Spanje meer autonomie. Het separatisme krijgt een nieuwe impuls, waarmee het voortbestaan van de Spaanse staat in gevaar komt. In 2013 leidde dit bijna tot de afscheiding van Catalonië. Als reactie hierop voerde de Partido Popular de knevel-wetten in, waarmee feitelijk een nieuwe totalitaire Spaanse staat werd uitgeroepen.

ley mordaza

De knevel-wetten bevatten 21 nieuwe overtredingen, met zware straffen voor sociale protesten en een bijna algehele vrijstelling voor de politie om de meest banale burgerrechten te schenden. Terwijl activisten vogelvrij worden verklaard en boetes tot 600.000 euro kunnen verwachten omdat zij hun fundamentele rechten beoefenen, is de macht van de staat en het politie apparaat absoluut gemaakt. De politie mag mensen zonder enige reden identificeren, arresteren en hun huizen doorzoeken, terwijl bijvoorbeeld het nemen van foto’s van agenten die zich tijdens demonstraties misdragen, op zeer strenge strafvervolging kan rekenen. De knevel-wetten ondermijnen alle vrijheden en burgerrechten waar jarenlang door het volk voor gestreden is, in de ultieme poging om wederom een totalitaire dictatuur in Spanje te vestigen.

Hoewel mensenrechten organisaties op Europees niveau deze nieuwe ondemocratische wetgeving sterk bekritiseerd hebben, blijft het oorverdovend stil vanuit de ivoren torens in Brussel. Dat is wellicht niet zo verwonderlijk wanneer we beseffen dat de Europese Unie zelf een ondemocratisch project is, waarin het gekozen parlement slechts een adviserend bijrolletje heeft. De echte beslissingen worden immers achter gesloten deuren genomen, door volkomen ondemocratische instituties zoals de Europese Commissie, de Europese Centrale Bank en het Europees gerechtshof. Het lijkt er dan ook eerder op dat deze trend richting een totalitaire dictatuur allereerst bekokstoofd werd door de hyena’s in Brussel, die meer bezig zijn met het belang van de banken en de multinationale ondernemingen, dan dat van de volkeren die zij zeggen te vertegenwoordigen.

De situatie in Spanje staat niet op zichzelf. In heel Europa zijn nationale parlementen bezig om vergelijkbare repressieve wetgevingen door te voeren om het de oppositie zo moeilijk mogelijk te maken. Hoewel dit in de meeste gevallen nog geen Spaanse vormen heeft aangenomen, ziet de toekomst er weinig rooskleurig uit. Het verdwijnen van democratie in Europa zou opgevuld moeten worden door de versterking van zelfgeorganiseerde gemeenschappen op een lokaal niveau. Er moet een kentering plaats vinden richting een economie die is gebaseerd op solidariteit en behoefte. Alleen zo kunnen de onderdrukten zich tegen de kapitalistische onderdrukking verzetten.

Echter, wij zijn niet bang. Wij zullen ons nooit monddood laten maken. Verzet laat zich niet verbieden! Onze solidariteit gaat uit naar onze Spaanse broeders en zusters en hun dappere strijd tegen dit nieuwe globalistisch fascisme van de hyena’s in Madrid en Brussel!