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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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

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