HAPPY 2009!
20 hours ago
Wednesday, 31 December 2008
Tuesday, 30 December 2008
SL Palestine Demo
HAPPENING NOW! LET'S HAVE A PERMANENT OCCUPATION OF THIS SIM!
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Israel/34/158/25
To Exist is to Resist
By Remi Kanazi • Dec 10th, 2008
http://palestinethinktank.
In my mind
I’ve freed Palestine
Envisioned a dream
That just needs to be seen
Olive trees and fields of figs
Orange groves
That lead to our roads
No blocks filled with cops
No ten-year-olds shot
Freedom
Is what I got
I understand my grandmother’s plan
To live on her bought and paid for land
And though it isn’t in her hands
It remains in her heart
Every time another is killed
We go back to the start
1948: the date you make us remember
The star and scars of David
And we’re the ones who’ve hated?
We’ve been raped and berated
By bullets and forced “immigration”
Squatting and settling
Left wrestling with the best Zionism has to offer
While the US fills its coffers
We’re seen as monsters
Our people blow up in pain
Black-eyed and half-insane
Wouldn’t you be?
If an Israeli bullet penetrated your child’s brain?
I envision Palestine in my mind
With the “chosen” frozen in time
To realize their morality’s blind
To take back generations of crime
And put an end to Apartheid
How many kids sit and wish
They could be labeled other than a terrorist
To exist is to resist!
Reads the graffiti in their cities
Give them chalk instead of rocks
They’ll use the blackboards
If you let them go to school
Give them chalk instead of rocks
Instead you bulldoze the block
Destroy their homes
Palestine is what you call the “no building zone”
But you can’t bulldoze our minds
Every time we’ll rise through ashes
Like Cassius Clay
We’ll bob and weave for infinity
There is no divinity
In bombing our cities
Setting up committees to treat us differently
We’re from Falasteen
The land where dreams are made
So just remember one thing
One day the bells of freedom will ring
And you’ll see me smiling
Loving life in Palestine
remi@poeticinjustice.net
Thursday, 25 December 2008
Wednesday, 24 December 2008
Plea from SLLU member, Irah Anatine
Forget all your opinions about what is going on in Iraq. There are great chances that you are wrong, lacking vital information or, at least, that the information you have is only one small part of the huge caos that Iraq is today.
How do I know this? First of all, I apply this rule to myself. Second, one of the most important lessons I've learned when I was in Iraq is that...you really need to be there in order to understand how little we know about it.
But let's forget all about this too, I'm not trying to start a debate, more urgent things are happening. In Iraq, there is a "city" called Ashraf. It's the headquarters of the PMOI, iranian resistance, protected under the Geneva Agreement by american forces. 4800 people live there, including young men and women, educated in the best western schools, who decided to join Ashraf in order to "make a difference and fight for freedom." The difference is...they have no guns, so they fight with the same persistent activism then many of the western movements: words, campaigns, concrete actions of support to iraqi civilians. What do they fight against? Torture, terror, violence against women, dictatorship. But forget about all this, it doesn't matter one bit at this point. First of all because you don't know if I'm telling the truth. Second because, even if it's true, it would be only a small portion of the great chaos that Iraq is today.
The facts are: the american government has agreed to transfer the responsibility of protecting Ashraf citizens from America to the Iraqi Government, under Iraqi Government request. The Iraqi Government wants to close Ashraf camp and send citizens back to Iran or a third country.
Facts are: 4800 people risk death, torture and displacement, right now, while we wrap Christmas presents.
Facts are: Iranian prisons are far worst then any Guantanamo, the shameful prison we fight so much against.
Facts are: you can make a difference, by signing the following letter to Obama and send it back to babelproject@gmail.com. At this ponit I am still trying to find a delivery adress, but all your help is necessary. Best wishes,
Ana
NOTE: You will need to put your name, position and the name of the organization you belong to. If you don't belong to any, please put your name, email and hometown.
LETTER TO OBAMA
Dear President Obama
Following the singing of the agreement between the USA and Iraq on the status of the US forces in Iraq the anxiety and fear over the situation of the residents of Camp Ashraf in Iraq, home to the members of the People's Mojahedin organization of Iran (PMOI), the main opposition to the Iranian regime, has extremely increased.
The residents of Ashraf were recognized as "protected persons" under the 4th Geneva Convention in 2004 by the US government. Recently the US authorities in Iraq have announced that the protection of the Camp and its residents will be transferred to the Iraqi forces.
Concerning the influence of the Iranian regime in Iraq since the war in 2003 and an Iranian official collective death sentence on the PMOI members, the said transfer will put the lives of the residents of Ashraf at great risks. Many world leading human rights organizations and personalities, as well as members of the US Congress have expressed their concern over the situation. Amnesty International warned on December 27 that, "The Iraqi government is reported to have told the PMOI that those at Camp Ashraf must leave Iraq by 31 December 2008. Some Iraqi officials have suggested that they will be forcibly expelled if they fail to comply. According to Amnesty International, the Iranians would be at risk of serious human rights violations if they were forcibly returned to Iran."
The Parliamentary Assembly of Council Europe (Written Declaration No 415) announced on 2 October 2008 that: "Transferring protection of Ashraf under the present circumstances violates the principle of non-refoulement, the Fourth Geneva Convention, the Refugee Convention, the Convention Against Torture, IHL and International Law and would result in a humanitarian catastrophe, thus we urge U.S. forces for as long as they remain in Iraq to continue to protect Ashraf residents and uphold their judicial protection under international law."
We urge you that the US protection of Camp Ashraf is continued until the government of Iraq provides secure and viable guarantees for protection of Ashraf residents. We are sure such guarantees under the auspices of international community will help to safeguard the independence and security of the government of Iraq vis-a-vie the pressures and interferences by Iran.
Yours sincerely,
(Views addressed are not necessarily the views of SLLU as an organisation. Members are free to comment).
Tuesday, 23 December 2008
SLLU Membership Meeting, 21st Dec 08
The Meeting of 21st Dec 08 decided:
( attendants: Plot Tracer, Smoke Wijaya, Jamadagni Lefavre, Demo Ho, Coop Cascarino, Brotherjim Jonesford, Ms Qunhua, Ernest Newman, Frew Lovenkraft, Socrates Nightfire, Xulio Pessoa)
-on weekly Membership Meetings, every sunday, 2 pm SLT, Unity Station;
-on SLLU Alecto, SLLU Funds Account, to have a second person able to access it, next to Plot, namely Forelle Broek;
-on Feminist space. Feminist Network of SLLU can use land of SLLU for this: non-used parcel in Flagg, next to the place build in solidarity with the Greek Revolt;
-on having a promotional space for Indymedia (webbased and SL based Indymedia) at the Unity Station (on 2nd or 3d floor);
-2 Year Party for SLLU: we will aim for end Jan, early febr 09;
-need for SLLU to do something around the economic crisis, proposals will be discussed next meeting, Sun 28 Dec.
[If anyone wants a complete chatlog of this meeting, contact Plot or Smoke. Next meeting will be Sunday 28 Dec, 2 pm SLT, Unity Station.]
Sunday, 21 December 2008
Greek Solidarity Information Hub
Please check out the Indymedia site for information about the Greek uprising info hub. And join in the debate!
Click here.
Thursday, 18 December 2008
Flagg Infohub - "In Solidarity..."
This is a follow up for clarification of our goals, and for our perception of what the climate in Greece means for the rest of us, and of course, why we have acted at all on this issue.
As many of you should be aware, since the first days of the Greek riots, SLLU has been organising an infohub in Second Life. This parcel has come under some scrutiny, which I would like to cut through quickly.
We acknowledge that this hub does not constitute real world action on its own. However, our aim is to raise the consciousness of this situation through the means we have available to us, just as indymedia or libcom have used their means. Our goal with this parcel, is to bring to the front the facts of the Greek Riots, and indeed what has become much more: The greek resistance.
We created this parcel as an action of solidarity with the family and friends of Alexandros Grigoropoulos, and in Solidarity with those who struck back against the apparatus that caused his death.
The methods used to raise awareness and provoke action are not, as some critics have made out, as simple as action in the real world. There is a hefty propaganda campaign required, among other various actions, especially now that the counter-campaign has gone into full swing.
-----------------
The purpose of the hub:
To educate and facilitate consciousness. Most information given to the majority of the public, including the vast majority of users of Second Life (making up hundreds of thousands of people world wide), do not receive the complete story of the rioting or the resistance in Greece. Many have not even heard of the resistance. Through this medium, SLLU in collaboration with other activists have staged demonstrations to bring awareness of the issue to others, and we have had success. This hub, by all intents and purposes, is working as it is supposed to.
-----------------
The current situation in Greece:
It is important for us now to recognise the shift in climate amongst the working class of Greece. What started as rioting and lashing out against police has progressed (and rather quickly) to a new level of fighting. What was once a reaction, has now become fuel for action. We now see student and worker occupations of buildings - importantly, occupations which have lead to major video and press releases.
- http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hf5r8rybV-5ZtuufxCmM8LV7NsIw
- http://blog.abiss.gr/mgogoulos/entry/we_are_not_blocking_traffic
- http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=bdb_1229205435
- http://libcom.org/news/greek-workers-occupy-union-offices-17122008
We have seen General Strikes, which have successfully brought Athens to a stand still. These strikes have also begun to spread beyond the nation's boarders.
- http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hyLu98leuG7mLuJ4sm-VI-ILxr0wD9519PGO0
What we have is a fundamental progression of a movement, as we have seen many times before. From rioting, to coherent direct. From lashing out, to striking back and striking back hard. With further mass demonstrations planned, and further general strikes planned - it now becomes a situation not only for the disillusioned youths and Anarchists (as we have been told by major media), it is now a situation involving the broader Greek working class, and indeed, the working class of the world as a whole.
-----------------
So what do we do now?:
It is my opinion that what must now be done is a continued campaign against the political right and misrepresentation. We must publish and expose any and all lies and slanderous actions. We must publish and expose any and all resistance in Greece or any other part of the world. We must continue to keep up to date, continue to flood this stream of information through as many minds as possible, and we must encourage, rather push, for people to act out wherever and whenever they can.
I am to understand that several solidarity protests are occuring in time with protests and strikes in Greece. We must be plugging these at every opportunity.
We at SLLU, will continue to do what we can within this Virtual world, by staging demonstrations, continuing to update information, and continuing to cultivate conversation and consciousness on the issue - just as we do in our daily real world lives.
But the most important thing to do is this: We must leave behind the shackles of the riots. The riots are quite important, without them, none of this was possible. However, the rioting will quickly become the bane of the movement across the world if it is not completely progressed into a working class movement, a movement of the majority. So with that said, we must assimilate the police brutality into the brutality of the very system that breeds them. We must assimilate the state corruption into the very system the state apparatus serves. And we must then divide the people between those who rule, and those who have been subjugated. We must bring to the front parallels between Greece and our own nations.
Understand that quickly, the rioters become a minority, and the riots themselves lose purpose under the weight of the broader movement. And so in light of this, we too, who seek to help progress this movement must move beyond the riots. As I have stressed here out our hub, we will be focussing more on the resistance itself than we will the violence. As the resistance itself is the most important part of the picture. We must then show that the broad resistance is to that of the State, and indeed, Capitalism itself.
-----------------
Finally, I would like to draw attention to some things.
We at SLLU recognise the broad arrangement of politics within our membership. As such, all actions of solidarity have, and always will be, inclusive of all political views.
Much of the situation in Greece has been limited only to Anarchist and Anarcho-communist sources, and for that we apologise to many of you. Not because the sources are wrong, but because they are the only available sources of information that are frequently updated.
We would like to stress that the activities are not limited to Anarchists, that we have a broad spectrum of political ideas cooperating in this endeavour.
I would also like to mention something about the conduct within the parcel. Out of respect for the deceased, please do not come here naked. Out of respect for the people of Greece, do not bring firearms into the Parcel, and begin shooting people.
-----------------
In regards to what is and is not regarded - Do not use this parcel as a means to plug your own ideologies. Discuss them, by all means, but this Parcel is not a place for you to advertise.
No form of bigotry is tolerated here. Be it anti-religious, sexist, racist, homophobic, anti-working class, nationalist, ageist etc. We in SLLU do not stand for these things, and we cannot sit idly as people spread these diseases further, especially in a place where the whole purpose is to squash those ideas, and to bring Solidarity.
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Flagg/222/65/95
Tuesday, 16 December 2008
Monday, 15 December 2008
The state of the U.S. labor movement
As the economy continues its downward slide, the U.S. labor movement is showing signs of a revitalization. On Wednesday, workers represented by the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE) ended their occupation of the Republic Windows and Doors factory in Chicago after reaching an agreement on their unpaid wages and benefits. On Tuesday, after a 16 year struggle, workers at the Smithfield Packing Co. voted in favor of union representation by the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW). Also last week, truck drivers affiliated with the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) staged a work-stoppage at the North Carolina operations of timber and paper giant Weyerhaeuser Mills, following which the company agreed to meet with the workers to discuss their issues.
These three victories -- two of them in what is arguably the most anti-union state in the U.S. -- come at a time when unions are once again under public assault, as pro-corporate and anti-worker interests seek to pin the blame for the ailing U.S. auto industry on the United Auto Workers (UAW), and attempt to derail the Employee Free Choice Act ("EFCA"), a legislative initiative aimed at restoring the right to organize that U.S. labor law ostensibly guarantees workers, but which has been thwarted by decades of increasingly aggressive employer tactics and increasingly feeble government enforcement.
I will be discussing these and other recent developments this Thursday, December 18th, North Carolina Public Radio's "The State of Things". The show, which airs live at Noon Eastern Standard Time (GMT -5) on Thursday, will also be available online (click here).
Eric Fink (SL avatar 'Forelle Broek') is a law professor and former labor union lawyer, and a member of SLLU.
Sunday, 14 December 2008
Demonstrations in SL!
IN SOLIDARITY with GREEK UPRISING (see below) - TWO SL RALLIES, SUNDAY 14th:
12PM-3PM SLT @ THE WATERHEAD: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Waterhead/36/76/25
9PM-12AM SLT @ AHERN: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Ahern/3/4/40
Thursday, 11 December 2008
SLLU PRESS RELEASE
IN SOLIDARITY AND SUPPORT OF THE GREEK UPRISING
Individuals and groups organized through Second Life Left Unity (SLLU) have created an interactive media installation in the virtual world of Second Life in solidarity and support of the Greek protesters and for the remembrance of Alexandros Grigoropoulos, the Greek teenager who was murdered December 6, 2008 in cold blood by Greek police. This criminal act of state terror has been the spark of the consequent protests that have been raging on in for days in Greece.
This inworld site has been created to show the SLLU members and concerned SL citizens support and solidarity with the family and loved ones of Alexandros as well as to inform and spread awareness about the murder, the uprising and the historical context.
An independent media info centre is set up with links to various web sites about the current situation to counter one-sided news from the established, corporate controlled venues. Greek independent free radio can be listened to live at this metaverse location.
Second Life is an international platform where people from all over the world can engage in a 3D Internet environment. Please join us there to show your support for tragic abuse of state power.
Take action, consider organizing protests yourself against state-supported fundamentalist-capitalist oppression anywhere, in cyberspace or on the streets!
SLLU has plans for more actions and events to cause attention to the situation, which will be announced at the solidarity protest place in SL, as well as on the SLLU blog (links below)
Please join us there to show your support for tragic abuse of state power.
INWORLD CONTACTS: Smoke Wijaya; Abel Koskinen; Plot Tracer
AVATAR TELEPORT LINK:
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Flagg/218/69/94
SLLU
INDEPENDENT, FREE (non-commercial, non-state) left news sources by the people, about the current situation in Greece:
http://www.occupiedlondon.org/blog/
* HUMAN RIGHTS FESTIVAL * Grid-wide Awareness and Music Celebration
SLLU have hosted two of the events on the SL human Rioghts Festival Agenda - Russel eponym played a blinging set in the hub yesterday. Photos below. Ledoof Constantineau's exhibition continues - please visit - http://slurl.com/secondlife/Oculea/156/150/44
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THURSDAY 11th dec - Human Rights - Uthango™
8 am Human Rights discovery walk
9 am Thumper Boucher
10 am Sage Duncan
11 am Mash Rode
12 noon Rara Destiny
1 pm Peregrine Singh
2 pm Inchino Melson
3 pm Virtual Live Band (VLB)
4.15 pm Serene Bechir+guest (poetry reading)
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Robben%20Island/229/124/25
Sim CONTACT: Alanagh Recreant, Aayia Jun
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FRIDAY 12th dec - New Caerleon Human Rights Exhibit
8 -10 am UK Writers Guild and Bookstacks Poets and Writers Readings
10 am - 12 noon Jano Runo performs
http://slurl.com/secondlife/New%20Caerleon/232/84/22
Sim CONTACT: Sabrinaa Nightfire
HRF Exhibition Gallery Zeusdinne
12 noon - 1 pm Blair Blonde
1 - 2 pm to be determined
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Otherwhen/149/176/26
Sim CONTACT: Zeusdinne Baroque
New Caerleon Human Rights Exhibit
4 - 5 pm Thumper Boucher
5 - 6 pm OhMy Kidd
6 - 8 pm Angelnskyz Galicia and Dougie Moonites
http://slurl.com/secondlife/New%20Caerleon/232/84/22
Sim CONTACT: Sabrinaa Nightfire
HRF Exhibition
8 - 9 pm and 10 pm to midnight
Thoth Jantzen´s incredible video experience
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Beau%20Logement/76/201/260
Sim CONTACT: Thoth Jantzen
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SATURDAY 13th dec Human Rights Festival
Keeping Kids Safe - Fundraising
11 am Pasty Petrov
12 noon Ricken Flow DJ
1 pm Jano Runo
2 pm Kitzie Lane
3 pm Jaycee Slade DJ
4 pm Nick99 Razor
5 pm Sequoia Pinion
6 pm DJ HUSH
7 pm Johnny Kidd (comedian)
8 pm Darrius Bereford
9 pm Bassie Shelman
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Oleander/31/233/22
Sim CONTACT: Carmen Gray
HRF - LOVE IS THE GREATEST GIFT - SATURDAY 13 dec
07:00 - Maximillion Kleene
07:30 - Cylindrian Rutabaga
08:00 - Ayden Kruh
08:30 - Vladamir Lamont
09:00 - Peregrine Singh
09:30 - Enniv Zarf
10:00 - Franklee Anatra
10:30 - Jonas Lunasea
11:00 - OhMy Kidd
11:30 - Freestar Tammas
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Freestar%20Bay%20Isle/73/129/501
Sim CONTACT: Freestar Tammas
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SUNDAY 14th dec PeaceTrain/Twilight´s Peace Human Rights Festival
7-9 am Sammy Jacobs Abbey of the International Center for Conflict and Human Rights Analysis (ICCHRA) - by skype from Ghana
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Spinoza%20South/229/126/22
SIM Contact: Siri Vita
LIVE MUSIC
9am slt Fodie Crosby - Live Music!
10am slt Joaquin Gustav - Live Music!
11am slt Edward Kyomoon - Live Music!
12 noon slt Allister Westland - Live Music!
1 pm slt Pillowfish - Live Music!
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Port%20Spinoza/228/110/23
theRings/CARP Human Rights Festival performance 14 dec
2 pm theRings Performance
http://slurl.com/secondlife/NMC%20Labs/143/110/664
3 pm theRings Discussion
http://slurl.com/secondlife/NMC%20Labs/173/111/664
Sim CONTACT: junivers Stockholm, Velazquez Bonetto
LIVE MUSIC
PeaceTrain/Twilight´s Peace Human Rights Festival
4 - 5 pm Al Hofmann
5-6pm SLT - Obeloinkment Wrigglesworth
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Port%20Spinoza/228/110/23
DISCUSSION/LIVE MUSIC
6:00- 7:00 pm - Human Rights Discussion
7:00 - 8:00 pm - Improvisational Piano with Enniv Zarf and artist Texanna Schumann
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Cetus/204/144/28
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MONDAY 15th dec - HRF UNION ISLAND
8 am Philip Jennings, General Secretary of UNI Global Union,
(the international federation for unions in business services representing around
20 million people around the world) is hosting a presentation and discussion on
labour rights, Zuzanna Gorska (Solidarnosc), Owen Tudor UK TUC
Contact: Johninnit Ni
MONDAY 15th dec HRF Cupid
4 am Mia Maxsted
9-10 am Vienna James
10 am Fodie Crosby
11.30 am Mats Milev
1 pm Xander Nichting
2 pm ZeroOne Paz
3 pm TJ Oanomochi
4 pm AL Hofmann
5 pm Eio Tuqiri
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Cupid/108/112/41
Sim CONTACT: Edemon Gausman, Bailarin Franciosa
Human Rights Festival Sandbox
Join "the rings discussion group"
Build you own Human Rights Art
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Angels%20Nest/128/103/23
Sim CONTACT: Edemon Gausman, Bailarin Franciosa
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Tuesday, 9 December 2008
Grassroots Mobilization for Justice and Peace, to Save the Planet
On Dec. 4th, over 2000 independent grassroots organizers and activists from 32 states and a wide range of organizations attended a forum in DC to discuss their role in the election of Obama, and how they would hold him accountable to his promise to bring them and their constituencies "to the table" in setting his administration's policy agenda.
The forum was co-sponsored by the community organization that Obama worked with as a youth fresh out of law school, when he was inspired by the writings of Saul Alinsky, a seminal influence for grassroots organizing technique in the US.
Criticized by some elements of the left for being essentially "reformist", Alinsky laid out methods for mobilizing local constituencies to challenge local, state and national power, to force changes that their communities desperately need for the most fundamental dignity and survival.
The methods Alinsky developed, organizing on the Southside of Chicago, were adapted by civil rights, labor, anti war and environmental groups all over the US, who were more interested in building a material base of support and participation in struggles for power, than in symbolic rhetorical "revolutionary" posturing and posing.
The focus tends to be on tangible, immediate practical local issues. It's about pressing the contradictions of capitalism, in terms of democracy...which can arguably be considered a first step in raising consciousness of the need for revolution.
Wiki on Alinsky
Many (but not all) of the participants in this forum were from "faith based" groups that were the backbone of the black civil rights movement (not to be confused with the right wing fundamentalist "Christian" base of the Republicans). A large preponderance of the attendees and their constituencies are people of color.
Several labor unions also participated in the forum.
Whether Obama ultimately proves willing or able to actually deliver on his promises, or the hope he has inspired, such motion in the masses tends to develop legs of it's own, and thus could be considered a positive development.
This CSPAN archive video was broadcast live during the forum on Dec. 4th. It's 2 hours and 24 minutes long.
Video of Forum
Members of Obama's transition team participated in the forum and workshops, setting yet another precedent for this election, in actually continuing to hold out hope for really substantial, significant change in governance for the US, post election.
This official Obama administration transition website goes beyond anything ever seen before in the US, in terms of attempting to establish a two-way dialog with the general population.
change.gov
Sunday, 7 December 2008
SLLU past and future
The beginnings of SLLU have largely been documented on the web – rudimentary searches will show who was involved and how it developed. One article gives a basic – and not totally detailed – run down on the beginnings (http://www.redflag.org.uk/frontline/feb07/03secondlife.html ). Wikipedia has at least three mentions of the group – one on Second Life Businesses; one on the page of the French Front National and one on the page of the Scottish Socialist Party. SLLU has been mentioned in quality press across the world – including the London Telegraph, Guardian and Los angeles Times and New York Times. Members have been interviewed on TV –CNN and British station, Channel 4 have both carried articles on the groups work. We have organised and been part of the organisation of various SL events – including being the initiators of the “attacks” on Front National; supported the first SL/RL “strike” which led to the resignation of the CEO of Italian IBM – amongst many others.
SLLU became more insular than originally planned because of wrecking tactics by some who joined with less than a “Unity” agenda. Unity on the left means a place we on the left can come together on things we can agree on and a place to discuss – comradely – things we may differ on.
The Aims and Principles of SLLU were developed by an active core of members who met over a periods of 8 weeks – with meetings going on well into the wee small hours here in the UK. Members of the core were drawn from countries across the world – well, countries reflective of the digital haves…
The SLLU, in order to continue as a real left unity project, must ensure it has procedures that ensure responsibility and accountability of members.
SLLU has developed from the insular group (and insulation was necessary to protect what had been built) to a group that has opened up to more members taking control. This has been reflective in the amounts of people who have requested use of notices and those who have organised meetings in SLLUnity Station Hub and those who now “own” the Hub. All lands have been passed on to the group – and no individual has control of any of the institutions of the group (except for the funds AV – which will soon pass on to two members agreed by a group meeting).
Procedures are necessary in light of the new openness of the group.
Once these have been achieved, SLLU can truly blossom.
The Hub will be used for discussion. It will be used for exhibition and educational installations – as well as the other lands we own. Members will share ideas and group together to implement them in SL and RL.
Plot Tracer is an avie who is part of this, but just a part. I have, with others, given a large part of my last two years to this project, but my time is increasingly being taken up with other rl things. I will be in and out of SL – but have not the time to devote to projects like I have been able to over the past few months. SLLU is extremely dear to me – and to others who have been part of the project. Now it is over to all those who would like to see a Left Unity project get results.
Remember, capitalists can unite on varied platforms in order to keep their hegemony. Let’s unite on various projects that throw a spanner in their works and moves the time closer when capitalism is a seen by all as old fashioned – and barbaric – in our history books alongside feudalism.
Plot Tracer, 7.12.08
Saturday, 29 November 2008
Appalachian Coal Camp
Imper Fegte with a suggestion of what to do with some of the SLLU land:
Living History Site
In 2007 I offered a sociology course that explored the potential of virtual worlds to affect social
change. As is the case with any technology, a culture that has virtual worlds can do things that were
not possible before the technology was implemented. Which reality is constructed, and the degree that
reality shapes future society, appears to be unusually placed in the hands of the users of the
technology-- referred to as the "residents". We have begun to explore the structures and processes
consistent with the development of a sense of agency among residents.
Thanks to the generosity of many, a "school" came into existence. This school very imperfectly
attempted to accept transformation of society through transformation of the actor as its educational
mission. Of course, it fell considerably short. None the less, some lessons were learned.
One was that it is important to create an experience with collective project design and construction. I
naively thought that that project could be the construction of the school itself. Eventually I recognized
that a separate project, taken on by the school, would produce a much cleaner constructivist experience.
I had been fascinated by historical lessons associated with a particular period of West Virginia history.
http://www.as.wvu.edu/engl01/users/students/kmoore/public_html/minewar2.htm
A while back, I imagined a RL living history site associated with a number of very dramatic events.
After introduction to Second Life, I imagined that I could create this "living" history site on Second
Life, and that that site would be the school. Now I see the site as the project that the school undertakes.
I'm pretty sure the lessons of history discernible from the West Virginia Mine Wars are consistent with
SLLUs mission. If the group agrees, I would propose using some available land to construct an
Appalachian Coal Camp as a Living History site.
Monday, 10 November 2008
Millions Worldwide Celebrate Obama/Biden Victory, Defeat of Bush Legacy
Images from Daily Kos, one of the more interesting US progressive Democrat blogs
MSNBC Montage of Obama Victory Celebrations...MSNBC is by far the best commercial mass media TV news network, with progressive commentators like Keith Oberman and Rachel Maddow.
CSPAN Coverage of Obama Victory Speech...CSPAN provides by far the best non-commercial US TV coverage of pubic affairs.
By SLLU member Ernest Newman
I'll admit it, I cried in joy, and in fear, and mourning our losses over the years.
So many brothers and sisters are not with us here now to celebrate this great, if mostly symbolic victory, and to help us to push the struggle forward, over the top.
But a new generation is stepping forward, and the struggle continues...
All over the US (and around the world), millions of people poured into the streets, dancing and shouting, cheering and sobbing with joy, and praying to "God" that the right wing reactionary conservative fundamentalist swine don't kill him.
Obama by a landslide! The People have spoken! All Power to the People!
Is it Utopia yet? NOT.
Democrats failed, just barely, to seize sufficient plurality in the Congress to block Republican filibusters. The right will still be able to tie every issue into knots with endless debate and bitter oppositionalism, in determined efforts to sabotage everything Obama tries to accomplish.
And even that much-needed Democratic super-majority in the Congress, which we can still hope to achieve with the next election cycle, will not solve all the problems of a corrupt, commercial bourgeois "electoral process".
There are still far too many "Blue Dogs" in the party, and many more have joined it's ranks, from the vacillating, opportunist "undecided" and "swing voters" who went to Obama only at the last minute, just to be on the winning side.
But the Democrat's plurality in Congress has been substantially increased, such that they will have a lot more clout, and will only have to bring over a few Republicans to be able to block a filibuster, or ram through the legislation they want.
The situation remains far from perfect. But it is much "better", relatively speaking, than the nightmare of a McCain, or, as "God" has forbidden, a Palin Presidency, and the Republican controlled Congress of just a few years ago.
Where will we go from here? If the bastards don't kill him, and/or force a civil war on us, Obama will most likely inject some level headed calm and dignity into dealing with domestic and international issues.
Biden will be a good back up, if the worst happens, and an asset to Obama.
We can expect a surge of diplomacy and gestures of reconciliation, on all fronts.
Hopefully Obama will be able to initiate more than mere gestures, and bring some real substance to a role that has been so notably lacking in that, except in the negative, for so long.
An historic, massive popular democratic mandate has just been expressed, in the most material way possible at this time, under our present circumstances and conditions. That's what really matters.
A huge surge in the youth vote, breaking all records, is a good indication for the future, in their decisive rejection of the dogmatic, doctrinaire cynicism and defeatism of the sectarian "left", including the "anarchists", who have so loudly and consistently tended to call for electoral boycott, "on principle".
This was not a vote for the profound flaws of a corrupt, commercial, bourgeois "electoral" process, but a conscious vote against those flaws.
It was not a vote even for the Democrats, or Obama/Biden so much as a vote against Bush/Chaney, McCain/Palin, and all of their supporters at Faux News, hate radio, local "letters to the editor" pages, ranting right wing preachers and other bitter, vicious wing-nuts, fascists, racists, sexists, eco-rapers, corporate rip offs and imperialist war mongers who have become so absolutely "politically incorrect" in this country.
The best anyone can hope for is that the overt, explicit, vicious counter-revolutionary Republican program will be blocked, blunted, and somewhat suppressed, to give us some breathing room to continue the revolutionary struggle.
But the conditions for that struggle just got somewhat better.
Nevertheless, as good as it is to hold out some hope for improvement, and for the future, people should not get their hopes up too high.
As Obama pointed out in his victory speech, and at his first press conference, which was even more obviously aimed at dampening expectations, it's going to take awhile for him, the Democrats, and people all over the world, to correct 8 years of Bush policy.
The Republicans have looted the treasury and thoroughly sabotaged the economy on their way out the door, and that is not going to be overcome overnight. And Bush still has nearly 3 months to inject whatever poison pills that he can, to sour the Democrats' victory.
Give us a year, or two, and we'll see what he can do. It's not good enough, I know. But it's the best he can promise at the moment. At least we can hold out some hope.
Meanwhile, the whole world is watching, and Obama and the US people need and deeply appreciate your solidarity, where it's due, as well as your principled criticism.
We'll need to hold Obama and the Democrats fully accountable, every step of the way, and maintain that pressure, relentlessly, just like we have have had to do against wrong-headed policies of previous Democratic administrations.
Obama, after all, is just another bourgeois liberal Democrat, even is he is black, heh. And going into it, he has been wrong, wrong, wrong, on many issues. There will be plenty to criticize.
This is not a time for complacency, or naive expectations. But it is a time for hope, and to redouble our efforts for justice and peace, to save the planet.
It costs little or nothing to tactically cast a vote that will effectively block the worst fascist swine from power (and I don't mean a wasted vote for some 3rd, 4th, or 5th party guaranteed loser and splitter, which serves only the interests of the fascists), or even to put some energy into "supporting" broader mass tactical participation in the bourgeois electoral arena, especially if that is done in a principled manner, pointing out the inherent flaws of that "process"
The fact is, the detriments of those flaws can be overcome in only one way, and that is through truly massive popular democratic participation aimed at breaking through, toward eventually eliminating those flaws, such as what has just happened, with this election.
That is the primary, and perhaps the only real genius, or flaw, as it were, LOL, of the "American" system.
The US "founding fathers" hated and feared only one thing more than the monarchy and nobility, and that was the concept of universal suffrage. Their polemics of the day stated repeatedly that they believed actual mass democracy would be a disaster, leading only to "chaos, and anarchy", lol.
That is to say, a loss of control by the the small elite of rich, white, Protestant male land owners who wrote the founding documents.
All of the "checks and balances" of the system they set up were intended merely to ensure that power struggles between various factions of that elite would not result in the kind of consolidation of power that could lead to formation of a new monarchy and nobility on the models of the past.
It was never about the popular democratic mandate, really, but totally about reserving power to a strictly enforced coalition of elites, to rule on an "equal footing" with each other (certainly not on an equal footing with the rest of us).
However, they also theorized that some day, maybe, people would be ready and able to handle real democracy, through universal access to education, and other very futuristic ideas.
Jefferson, for example, actually stated that he thought black people, if raised from childhood with all of the advantages of whites, in terms of education, living conditions and moral and social support, could, theoretically, be just as intelligent, capable and "human" as any white person. But, as he saw it, "of course" that was not yet feasible, in his time.
Reprehensible as it may be, that he was a slave holder, the fact is that he was, relatively speaking, for his time, a true revolutionary, because such views as he held were not at all widely accepted, but more likely to get even a white man killed.
The "founding fathers" left a back door open, for potential eventual future exploitation by the masses, if and when "they" were ever ready and able to develop and express the unity of will to use it.
And rhetoric and theory have a propensity to develop legs of their own. The rhetoric of "one person, one vote" has indeed come to be extrapolated in the public mind from that small bourgeois elite, to mean the entire population.
Everyone knows it's not really like that, yet, but the vast majority of us want it to be so, and the pressure is growing, to make it so.
This is not going to be easy, but it can, and must be done, if we are to see truly revolutionary change in the US, or anywhere.
By all means, continue to build exemplary alternative social and economic models for what you want our lives to be like, and for group and community communication and decision making, as well as individual choice. By all means, ardently criticize and resist injustice, privately, and publicly. By all means, do continue to make revolution.
But get real. The "American" people have spoken, and to dis or resist that popular democratic will is not a viable revolutionary strategy.
Indeed, the right will find that out, if they continue to call for "revolutionary" (counter-revolutionary) civil war "against the government and the left". We will crush them, if they raise their ugly heads again like they did most recently under Carter and Clinton. This is not the 1960's, the 70's, or even the 80's and 90's. That was then, and this is now.
Most likely, as irrational as they tend to be, Aryan Nations, et al, will recognize that cold reality, and it will serve as a deterrent, at least for a time. They may hold back, initially, and wait for things to calm down, and for the full effects of Republican sabotage to take hold and to demoralize and destabilize things more.
Either way, ultimately, those who join with such traitors, in unprincipled alliance against the popular democratic will, will be crushed, regardless of their "motivaton". It won't be about being mean to anyone, grinding their face in the dirt, or getting revenge.
But we have urgent priorities that must be addressed, for justice and peace, to save the planet. The counter-revolution must be suppressed, for us to move forward.
Don't get suckered into letting yourself be identified with the wrong side, comrades!
At best, you will be disregarded or held in contempt. At worst, you may find yourself lumped in with the fascists, whether you yourself recognize that, or want it to be so, or even whether it may necessarily be technically, theoretically "accurate" or "fair".
There is little tolerance anymore in the US for "violence" and "terrorism" of any stripe, and it would be best to remember that. We've been there, and done that, and we've rejected that, as a tactical or strategic method.
Only the cops, their dupes, and the right are advocating violent "revolutionary" civil war in this country, at this time.
Beware those in your own ranks who put forward rhetoric and tactics that ultimately serve only the interests of the enemy.
Those who advocated boycott of the electoral process here have also just delineated themselves to be on the wrong side, in this popular democratic mandate against right wing extremism, whether that was their intention or desire, or not.
This is not about "tailing" the masses, but about accepting the leadership of the people, and supporting their legitimate demands for change.
On November 4th, things did change, not only on the surface, but also in the hearts and minds of the "American" peoples.
We will not be denied.
All Power to the People!
Democracy is the most fundamental revolutionary concept.
Saturday, 8 November 2008
Election Night – Firery Broome
Just wanted to drop all of you at SLLU a word of thanks for your help with the Election Central event that took place on the real world University of Delaware campus on election night.
For those of you not fully aware of the event, here is some background.
The University of Delaware held a live event on election night in which students and faculty from Communication, Political Science and English departments covered the election in a newsroom type of setting. There were roving reporters off-campus reporting in from local polling areas and live on-the-spot student tv news programing hosts doing interviews and analyzing and commenting on the incoming results as they were happening.
The event was open to the public and attendance was estimated in some reports as being near 2,000.
One of UD's Communication faculty members and a former world correspondent for CNN, Ralph Begleiter, has an interest in Second Life for its educational possibilities and world wide outreach. He thought the time might be right to cover the election events in world as well. So, I escorted two student journalists in world for the event, both of which had never been in world before, other than a 1 hour intro on UD's own islands.
We set up laptops under one of the big screen televisions that was covering various news outlets and then went in world. We visited a number of events on both Republican and Democratic themed sims with my computer acting as the camera focused on the two journalists.
As the night wore on and more people started hitting the local computer network set up for the event, and more people entered SL, we ran into the usual issues. We got booted off the system a number of times, and then could not reenter sims as they hit their limits. Some of the sims we managed to get into were so laggy that once we got in we could not move or chat.
And I have to say, as the outcome of the election drew closer, we were all more caught up in the excitment of the real world events happening around us.
Despite all the issues, the students really enjoyed the opportunity to cover the event in world and really appreciated the list of contacts, links and group updates that SLLU folks shared with them. It was extra rewarding to hear the students explain to those who stopped by our booth what SL was and why they were there. As the night wore on they were very comfortable with the environment and its possibilities and the virtual world's broader implications for communications.
For more information included below are some links to articles by our student newspaper and our Office of Communications and Marketing (PR).
Special thanks go out to:
Plot Tracer of SL Left Unity
Any1 Gynoid - Sl Activism and Event Organizing
Hamlet Au of New World Notes
Wyatt Forster of Stright Talk Cafe
Many Thanks!
Firery Broome
Student publication: The Review
University of Delaware daily news: UDaily
Friday, 7 November 2008
Another position on OpenSpace-issue, but as symptom -and- on asking for corporate capital to control a means of production.
This text is a personal opinion of me, Smoke Wijaya, not of SLLU or another group.
Previous posts to which this post refers:
http://slleftunity.blogspot.com/2008/11/two-views-from-sl-left-unity-on-open.html
http://slleftunity.blogspot.com/2008/11/summary-of-last-nights-debate-on.html
First of all, I want to make clear that I am not thinking SL is a necessity of life and till this day I have never heard anyone stating this either.
Internet and also SL are indeed “roses” to life, not “bread”. But these roses are edible and eaten more and more.
I am talking about the Internet as well, because I think that the SL world is the start of a 3D web that will be seemingly integrated with the flatweb, as well as being used more and more for augmenting physical reality. Note, Linden Lab, together with OpenSim and IBM (in the Architecture Working Group (AWG)) work towards this as well; they are now creating the protocols and standards for interoperable grids.
Unilateral contract changes and need for contract negotiation
Regarding the specific issue of OpenSpaces I have not much to say. You can read the details around this at the Secondlife blog.
What I focus on, as well as the group SL Democratic Movement, is the underlying cause where this issue is a symptom of, namely the Terms of Service. Protest of me and/or SLDM around the OpenSpace- issue is not in support of any specific group or only regarding the price hike, but in general support of the user of SL and in opposition to the onesided Terms of Service, from the belief the userbase should be an intricate and decisive part of the decisions made, because of the fact they create the world.
As we have seen with this issue, people apparently only rise up when they are hit in the bankaccount and only rise up to oppose the price(hike). Almost no attention goes to the Terms of Service, which give LL a legal basis for these unilateral decisions, without consideration with the userbase beforehand. Remember, the Second Life world is entirely created by its users; the userbase is the producer of the Second Life world, which in turn is used as product by LL (note, I am not talking about LL's product the SL Grid).
If we do not want to be hit again and again by unilateral decisions by a for profit corporation, it is the ToS that need to be opposed and changed towards acknowledgment and empowerment of the individual (communities); it is the ToS that needs to change, towards protection, empowerment and rights of the user! In short, we need to demand negotiation of contract!
The ToS articles important for this are:
"Terms of Service
Linden Lab may amend this Agreement at any time in its sole discretion, effective upon posting the amended Agreement at the domain or subdomains of http://secondlife.com where the prior version of this Agreement was posted, [...]" - SL ToS
"1.7 In the event you choose to use paid aspects of the Service, you agree to the posted pricing and billing policies on the Websites.
[...] Linden Lab may add new services for additional fees and charges, or proactively amend fees and charges for existing services, at any time in its sole discretion. " - SL ToS
Why asking for for profit corporations to sustain our world?
“[...] we should be demanding that residents are given FREE land. There is enough land for everyone to utilise.”
“Linden Lab glean a huge amount of money from corporations and research establishments. Lets take the reprehensible “Playboy” as an example. Playboy pay for a sim in SL. [...] These types of commercial sims could fund the expansion of SL – and free land allowance given to residents” - Plot
I am a bit at a loss how Plot sees the possibility of funding by for profit corporations for the many thousands of servers which are currently the backbone of the SL world.
All the 'land' in SL at the moment, is paid for by a multitude of users, from many individual users to non profits and large for profit corporations. From people that pay for small parcels of 512 sq meters, to organisations and corporations owning many sims.
Yes, Playboy pays for one sim, ONE sim. In the exact same manner as individual users pay for serverspace with LL. Plot now states that these kind of corporations should pay for the possibility of having 'free' land for others, thus for all the other sims (which will be public then or something?).
In other words, the for profit corporations are asked to sustain our world, to power our world. To power the world by means of their capitalist workings, in SL and RL. The servers and operation of them have to be paid for after all. This in my opinion is the wrong road and also exactly a leap towards what Plot opposes, namely “We are all a homogenised “consumer” and are treated as such.”. And what would happen with these 'free' sims powered by this corporate capital, where 'normal' SL users have build their SL lives and organisations on in Plot's idea, if the corporation goes bankrupt or removes its presence?
So, instead of asking for a hierarchical structure controlled by a few large for profit corporations, fueled and powered by their capital, governed by profit (as Plot's idea seems to entail), we should be calling in my opinion for decentralization of governance and hardware, selfmanagement and selfrule of individuals and communities, opensourcing of the servercode, as well as opening the SL grid, to help push SL (and the possible/probable Metaverse to come) and its clones like OpenSim grids towards a horizontally structured space which is build, governed and sustained by its constituting peers!
Wednesday, 5 November 2008
Crowds Gather in SL to Follow US Election Returns
Crowds gathered in several SL locations to share the vigil on US election returns Tuesday night.
As the night wore on, most venues filled to max capacity.
Here's just a few snapshots from Cafe Wellstone.
Tuesday, 4 November 2008
On the Eve of the US Elections: Something's Happening Here...(there's a man with a gun over there)
A view from US citizen and SLLU member, Ernest Newman
Vote or Fight
(it might take both)
Zapatista agitprop, circa 1996
In the US right now, the revolution is at hand.
On the eve of national elections, the US is poised to surge forward ...or to be dragged down into civil war.
Maybe both.
As pathetically inadequate as the bourgeois liberal Democrats may be, the right is totally freaking out over the very likely prospect that "socialist" Democrats will not only seize the Presidency, but also a super-majority, or very close to it, in the Congress.
It's one thing, for "the most liberal Senator", a Black man, to win the Presidency.
But a Democratic super-majority in the Congress will be able to cut off at the knees Republican oppositionalism and "filibusters" (endless speeches, to block motion on legislative measures).
The Democrats have failed, in so many respects, to deliver even a "progressive" program, despite having a present majority in the Congress....but that's because they only hold a simple majority.
They have not had sufficient plurality to block filibusters, which would be required to proceed with impeachment of Bush and his cronies, end the war in Iraq, or to force through really comprehensive programs for health, environment, economy, foreign policy, etc.
The counter-revolution is not going to just accept a change in this situation. They can be expected to fight to the death, literally as well as metaphorically. There is nothing more determined and desperate than someone who has held the power in their fervid grasp, and now finds it being wrested away.
After 8 years of keeping a relatively low profile, the brown shirt militias are already starting to come out of the woodwork again, just like they did under Carter and Clinton, only this time with a much more desperate tone. There have already been several bloody incidents in the past few months, by supposed "lone nuts" and a few seemingly incompetent "wannabes". But their major organizations have been organizing fervently underground, and have been enlisting in the military to get training and access to rip off weapons and ammo, for years.
And the closer the Democrats come to total victory, the more hysterical and draconian the rhetoric of "hate radio", the "freeper" blogs, Faux News, and fringe elements of the Republican Party seem to get, more and more often explicitly calling for, or insinuating the "need" for drastic actions they themselves wouldn't dare to personally take.
It could get very ugly.
It is a conceivable possibility that the Democrats may be forced to declare martial law...not to put down a leftist rebellion, lol, but to suppress a right wing reactionary conservative fascist civil war "against the government and the left". I say bring in the black helicopters, and UN troops, if necessary, to eradicate the traitors, once and for all...but nobody listens to me, heh.
Hopefully, it won't be all that bad...maybe the right will finally recognize that their goose is cooked, and that they are going to have to learn to "love it, or leave it". I hope the door hits them in the ass on their way out, either way, heh.
Meanwhile, another struggle is underway, within the Democratic Party, at all levels, and especially on the local, grassroots level.
Beyond the issue of the sheer number of Democrats in Congress being insufficient to overcome Republican treason and sabotage on every issue, there is the issue of the "Blue Dogs" (conservative Democrats) who presently predominate in key positions of power within the Democratic party.
Due to the extremely low voter turnout so prevalent in the US, and, I would say, soley due to this factor, progressive Democrats have long been outnumbered and isolated within their own party, and unable to prevail upon the Blue Dogs to mount more resolute opposition to the Republicans.
While that situation cannot be expected to completely change with this election cycle, momentum is building, to drive these vascilating weasels from the Democratic Party, over the next several cycles.
At all levels, there is a concerted campaign underway, to purge the Blue Dogs and seize the power, by the more progressive elements. While this is being kept somewhat tamped down, presently, leading up to the elections, full scale assault on the power of the Blue Dogs can be expected to ensue immediately after the elections are over, especially on the local levels.
From local city councils and county boards of supervisors, all the way up the ladders of power, a vigorous mass movement is not only underway to establish Democratic super-majorities, to suppress the Republicans, and remove them from all levers of power, but also to challenge the Blue Dogs to either move to the left, or be replaced by more progressive candidates.
To those purist, dogmatic, doctrinaire, absolutist idealists who would dismiss such "struggle" as mere co-optation and surrender to an inherently corrupt and counter-revolutionary bourgeois capitalist system, there may be little that can be said, to convince that any of this really means anything.
Those who say, and actually think, that there is "no difference" between the two parties in the US, are not, in my experience, particularly susceptible to reason or convincing to the contrary.
I can only say that millions of people all over the world, and here in the US, are soon going to find that there are significant and substantial differences, especially where day to day survival hangs in the balance.
Will the differences be "enough"? Of course not. The struggle will continue.
The Republicans, on their way out of power, are doing everything they can to loot the treasury and sabotage the economy while they still can, to make it as difficult as possible for the new administration to even keep it's head above water. Last minute efforts to reverse environmental protections, lock us into long term commitments to war in the Middle East, and other such measures, are underway in the last days of the Bush administration..
It may take Obama's entire first term, if he survives, just to recover somewhat from the extensive damage that has been done. One glimmer of hope is that Biden, his Vice Presidential running mate, has promised that there will be investigations, prosecution, and punishment for the many treasons of the Republicans. We'll see about that...
Nobody with a brain can expect the Democrats to deliver a genuinely revolutionary program. But the fact remains that many millions of lives will be at least somewhat improved under a "Democratic" regime...which in itself will be at least somewhat "better", relatively speaking, than continuous pokes in the eye with a sharp stick, from the much more fascistic Republicans.
But beyond that, there is the historic fact, that the better conditions get, the more persistent the demands of the people get, for real, actual justice. Once they get their noses open for what it might be like, to be out from under the threat of premature death and grinding poverty, people tend to move forward and demand an actual life of dignity and fulfillment, rather than to just "go to sleep" and think "everything is all better now".
And this is in stark contrast to the effect of right wing assaults against justice and survival, dignity and fulfillment, which, in fact, tend to demoralize and grind down opposition, and to crush it brutally, when it dares to rise up and express itself.
Ah, and you might well say, thus the right and "the left" trade off the power, every so often, to keep the people confused, and perpetuate the illusion of "progress".
And you won't be absolutely wrong, in that regard, heh, any more than you are "wrong" to point out all the many shortcomings and betrayals of liberal bourgeois politicians, in terms of delivering a genuinely revolutionary program.
But the only absolute in life, and especially in politics, is that there are no absolutes, except, perhaps, death.
The absolutist idealism that refuses to vote for bourgeois liberals, even tactically, to block the worst available fascists from power..."on principle", no less...should really examine in their heart of hearts the real question: what fkn good are your "principles", if millions more people have to die, as a direct result of your refusal to "support" less than ideal candidates?
Have you ever wondered why those masses are not flocking to your "movement" in greater numbers?
If you actually have such contempt for their suffering, that you would think it's a "good thing" for them to suffer more, under a rightist regime, because that might prod them into joining your "movement", lol...then why the hell should they trust you, or accept your jive ass "leadership", LOL?
Eventually true revolutionaries must recognize that merely symbolic, futile gestures of protest and defiance are ultimately...futile. We must seize the power. History, and the people, demand material results
I remain convinced that a very major portion of counter-revolutionary strategy has long been to infiltrate and manipulate left groups, for the express purpose of injecting as much anti-electoral rhetoric and sentiment as possible into those ranks.
Oh sure, they also try to just generally spy, disrupt, discredit, and provoke illegal actions, to embarrass and get people arrested, for sure...But if they can convince you to tell others not to vote, or to split the vote with guaranteed losers from "alternative" parties, then they really have it made, because their own right wing fascist candidates will then prevail, by default.
That is, in fact, the only way a Hitler, Nixon, Reagan, Bush...or Sarkovy, or Greek fascists, etc. rise to power.
Indeed, thats the only way they can "win", is by suppressing popular democratic engagement in the electoral process, since the vast majority of the actual people tend to support progressive rhetoric and programs.
For those of you, who may harbor some understandable cynicism about where the peoples of the US are really at, I'd like to offer again the excellent reference below, which is well worth the time to read and study. It's kind of long, but it's very well written, and chock full of hard data.
The writer is not just some partisan party hack or axe grinding "pundit", but provides an in-depth scholarly analysis of US public opinion polls over the last 30 years or so.
The important thing to remember in considering this document, is that the results he reports are IN SPITE OF everything the commercial bourgeois media and various other socio-economic manipulations that the counter-revolution have brought to bear, in trying to reverse the trends. Imagine the results if Faux News, et al were brought to revolutionary justice, for their lies and slanders!
My conclusion? We won the revolution in the 60's and 70's, and in the long hard struggle since, to take it to the masses. We consciously, deliberately stood down from the ridiculous "revolutionary" posturing and armed struggle rhetoric. We took it to the people, and worked hard, for many years, on a personal, one to one, and an organizational basis, to build the genuine grassroots base of participation and support that revolution requires, anywhere.
As much as the enemy has tried to make it look like we lost, and they won, sometimes effectively fooling even many of us into thinking that was the case...as hard as it has been, for us, and for the whole world, the day has finally come. The final struggle is now at hand.
All that's left now is the mopping up and final suppression of the counter-revoutionary traitors who refuse to submit to the popular democratic will. It may take awhile, but the final struggle is now underway, and surging throughout our society. We will not be denied.
Racism, Sexism, Eco-rape, Corporate rip off, and Imperialist wars are no longer "politically correct" in the US, despite what you may have heard from various cynics and liars.
I have been invited to bring a series of polemics to this forum, for general discussion, and will try to accommodate that. Perhaps we can look at the term "American Exceptionalism" next time, and also how some of my analysis, and conditions in the US, may apply (or not, heh) in Europe, for example, and in other parts of the world.
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