#video

www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzeCmjYNdgI

Defending Space - Part 1 for the right-wingers

so, a little bird told me that some far-right extremist channels are claiming that this is a guerrilla playbook which would plan "disruption" (to whom? where? why? how? when? who knows) and that would be something that has been in the making for quite some time.

I'd find this absolutely hilarious if it's not completely and yet dangerously idiotic and, of course, an argument done in bad faith, once again.
I'll try to explain what this is.

To start off, and I can't believe I have to explain this, but this is not a guerrilla playbook. At no point it's promoting terrorism. At no point it's promoting assassinations. At no point it's scheming what to do to bring down the government or any state or any organization. If it had been a guerrilla playbook, it would be a terrible one. All of this is written purely from a defensive pov, already disproving its "guerrilla" character.

This is a document which aims at giving suggestions at how to create, build and defend a self-managed community. It has nothing to do with what is going on now which are riots and protests. This has nothing to do with riots. The word "riot" and "protest" don't even appear in the whole document.

Anarchists want to build self-controlled, self-managed, autonomous, democratic zones. Now, some of these critics may claim that this is wrong or whatever, but that's just an ideological difference. For what do I know, they might even be right. I'm not an anarchist myself, but this is what anarchists (real anarchists, not fake ideologies created just to feel edgy) want, and this is a document who tries to give actual advices for those who want to do it. It is defensive in character, since the whole idea is the creation of autonomous communities (which must be democratic by definition, or they wouldn't be anarchist).

All of this is not some obscure shit. I know that these people think of black blocs when they read about anarchists, but political anarchism is a serious ideology with a long history and a lot of theory behind it. You might oppose it, you might not like it, but first you must understand what it's about, because it's definitely not "let's break some windows and then draw the anarchist symbol around". Some anarchist thinkers you might consider checking out: Kropotkin, Makhno, Bakunin, Emma Goldman and many, many others. I repeat this: you might dislike their thought, but first you have to understand it.

Defending Space - Part 2 for the right-wingers

Now, let's go back to the (in)famous 'guerrilla playbook'.

At the start it establishes that:"Finding yourself providing security for threatened individuals, groups, actions, and/or locations is not just a necessary reaction to the threat now present before us but is an act of radical solidarity and love in increasingly dangerous times. The weight of this responsibility to each other necessitates the need for informed, organized, and value-based organizing and support around Community Safety, Security, and Defense. The following document is intended to provide a basic overview of some necessary tactics, techniques, procedures, and theory, that should be considered when providing physical security."

At this point I do wonder how could anyone think that this is about guerrilla warfare. It's about establishing and defending a static zone with no intention of actively attacking anyone, just defending it. It's the exact opposite of guerrilla warfare, both in its intents and for the fact that guerrilla warfare is 1) a fucking warfare, which this has nothing to do with and 2) highly dynamic in nature (this is about creating a static zone, I repeat).

The document moves on by defining the values that one should have when building such communities.

"The way in which we show up to support our communities, partners and networks really should, in all seriousness, most definitely, reflect the values and vision of the world we are hoping to create. Folx intending to provide community defense in any situation should consider the values that are informing their praxis."

The paragraph continues: "[...]Though this can be a very individualized expression, collective and community values and agency should be centered."

So, if anyone was thinking that there was some gran scheme to bring down the government should really ask themselves why would anyone do it by starting with an heavily decentralized structure (which makes planned events extremely hard, since there's no centralized group planning what to do. And these people claim that the Iranian government may be behind this (sic!). Lmao, imagine anarchists approving the actions of a violent theocracy which spends its time putting their anarchists behind bars) and by creating local communities, instead of, say, actual terrorist organizations (something which would also be much easier to do. Clearly, then, this document has nothing to do with terrorism, which is a shameful practice that most of the time only targets innocent civilians)

The first main value the document promotes is Demilitarization (if they were some evil terrorist organizations, as these people are implying, they would be quite explicit about doing the opposite, right?). In particular, it explicitly states: "Avoiding the recreation of a Left leaning gun/defense culture, which only continues to reinforce the mechanisms of capitalism and imperialism, is imperative."
Once again, if these people were guerrilla fighters they'd be literally saying anything but this.

The document follows by promoting Mutual Aid (a staple of anarchist thought, see Kropotkin) and values promoting Harm Reduction and the elimination of any barriers for individuals within the community to express their fears and needs. Because the point would be to create an 'happy' community, or at least a community that works at its best for the sake of working at its best. Being anarchist, they of course promote Decolonization and Democratic Control and Decision Making by abolishing all unnecessary Hierarchies, another staple of anarchists' thought.

Defending Space - Part 3 for the right-wingers

The community itself is to be created after, obviously, a process of analysis. Roles are then created. Particular emphasis is given to the defense from threats and the reaction to emergencies. As I've said already, this document is defensive in scope (anarchists have a history of having been brutally suppressed by every government, so that's not a big surprise. And that includes the whole political spectrum, from fascists, to bolsheviks).

I wanted to go more into focus with this, but reading the document again I really can't understand how this stuff has been so hugely misunderstood. All of the document is extremely straight-forward. it only requires a crumb of good faith that not everyone you dislike is just an Iran-backed evil terrorist.
It really isn't that hard, it only requires some effort instead of giving it a quick read with some heavy (deeply misguided) prejudices already in mind and then claim "It's consider terrorist. Read it thoroughly.". Oh, the hypocrisy.

I hope I've been able to explain some basic points of anarchist thought. I am sure that some of the right-wingers might want to learn more about anarchism, whether they like it or not. I can expect a huge dose of skepticism in the aims and objectives of anarchists. I am not an anarchist, but I can suggest reading "The conquest of bread" by Kropotkin, which you can easily find if you search in the right places.

Europe's economic regress and progress: GDP change 2007-2016
https://redd.it/gt3t89
@r_mapporn

#announcement
#video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jcRtN6RUCU

In December 2018, the Democracy in Europe Movement (DiEM25) and the Sanders Institute issued an open call to all progressive forces to form a common front.

"It is time for progressives of the world to unite."

Progressive International takes up that call. We unite, organise, and mobilise progressive forces behind a shared vision of a world transformed.

The Progressive International aspires to a world that is:
- Democratic
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Official site to learn more: progressive.international/

#video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yPTAxI8wTY