Anarchist Age Weekly Review 7th Oct. '98 Number 320 5th - 11th October, 1998 IN A TIME OF UNIVERSAL DECEIT - TELLING THE TRUTH IS A REVOLUTIONARY ACT - GEORGE ORWELL CAPITAL NEEDS THE STATE Almost every treasurer worth their salt (excluding Peter Costello and Anwar Ibrahim) were dancing the light fantastic with the International monetary Fund and George Sores earlier this week in New York. These learned folk have just come to the astounding conclusion that free market economies are no good for a countries economy let alone its people. Standing around the remains of their free market feast, they have come to the amazing conclusion that nation states should set up barriers to protect themselves from the devastating effect of international capital. These learned giants among us mere mortals have belatedly understood (after bringing the planet to the brink of an economic catastrophe), that unregulated capital flows have compounded not solved the worlds economic woes. They have tacitly agreed the economic devastation that has occurred in Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Korea, Russia and that has now spread into New Zealand, South America, Japan, Australia and many other nation states is a direct consequence of the I.M.F.'s policies. These states that opened up their borders to this "great adventure" are paying the cost while those like China, Vietnam and Sri Lanka that have regulated the flow of money into their countries have not suffered the same bleak economic futures. It's interesting to note, although these intellectual giants have learnt the pitfalls that occur when capital is given its head. They don't seem to be able to halt the spread of this menace. Their attempts to harness the very monster they have created has been spectacularly unsuccessful. It seems the eventual survival of capitalism ultimately rests with the state. Unbridled capitalism cannot survive with out state intervention. No wonder the hedge king, George Sores is begging the world's treasures to set up barriers to the free flow of international capital. He knows that unless barriers are introduced, his ill gotten speculative gains will evaporate. THANKS!! The Anarchist Media Institute/Libertarian workers for a Self-Managed Society would like to thank all those electors who took part in our Direct Democracy not parliamentary Rule black ribbon campaign. We would like to congratulate all those people who abstained from the parliamentary farce, those electors who voted informal and those people who drew or attached a black ribbon to their ballot paper. As the parliamentary stooges argue over their so called mandates and as the Australian Electoral Commission continues to count votes to determine the eventual electoral outcome, John Howard must be looking over his shoulder as seat after seat falls to the opposition parties. Irrespective of who wins the elections, the electors will be the eventual losers. The single most interesting aspect of the whole election charade is not the final composition of the government and the opposition but the number of people who deliberately abstained from the electoral process or who voted informal. For the first time since compulsory voting was introduced in 1974, the informed vote in both the House of Representatives and the Senate is nudging 5%, an increase of over 50% since the last election. Either way, irrespective of the mass media's lack of interest in the level of the informal vote, an increasing number of people have shown this countries political leaders that parliamentary democracy is just two minutes of illusory power. Our congratulations and thoughts also go out to all those brave people who had the courage to hold up I DIDN'T VOTE, ASK ME WHY, or DIRECT DEMOCRACY NOT PARLIAMENTARY RULE posters, outside polling booths across Australia, on October the 3rd and handed our black ribbons for people to tape to their ballot papers. ANWAR IBRAHIM LEGACY!! Chinese and Indian ethnic minorities in Malaysia are quietly packing up their capital and fleeing the country. The arrest, intimidation and bashing of Anwar Ibrahim, the former Deputy Prime Minister and Treasurer by Mahatair and his goons is no accident. The symbolism is clear to anybody who looks at Anwar's battered face and body. If the Malaysian police can publicly brutalise the former Deputy Prime Minister and not one government figure dares to criticise his treatment, what will they do to anybody else who falls into their clutches. Stories are filtering out of Malaysia of scores of dissidents and ethnic Chinese and Indians being detained, interrogated and beaten. The arrest and brutalisation of Anwar Ibrahim is a calculated game of government intimidation. Fortunately many Malays have called the governments' bluff and are willing to confront them on the streets. Whether they are able to cleanse the country of the Mahatair stain, will to a large degree depend on their individual courage and their ability to withstand the government's current crackdown on dissenting voices in Malaysia. STONEHOOD STALLED!! Northern Territorians have put an almighty boulder in the path of the stonehood juggernaut. The good burghers of the Northern Territory had an extra question on their Federal ballot papers. They were asked whether they wanted the Northern Territory to become a state. Contrary to the dribble that appeared in the mass media, that over 90% of the people in the Northern Territory wanted statehood, the good citizens rejected Stone's idea of statehood. Northern Territorian's were concerned that the one strike and your in mob were going to foist an ultraconservative constitution onto them. The referendum question on statehood became a defacto referendum on the Stone government. Most Northern Territorian's were not willing to give Stone and his mob the opportunity and the power to draft a new constitution and rejected the statehood proposal outright. Stone now finds himself in the difficult position of having the people of the Northern Territory reject his most important initiative. Howard's cynical attempts to buy pre-election votes by offering the territory statehood, have been rejected by the indigenous population because they believe it's little more than a naked grab for power. They have been rejected by the now indigenous population because they are unhappy about the authoritarian nature of Stone's proposals and because people are concerned that the generous commonwealth grants that the Northern Territory receives from the commonwealth government, will be lost with the advert of statehood. KOVOSO, ANOTHER POTENTIAL BOUTIQUE STATE What's happening in Kovoso is another example of the pressure that artificially created nation states are experiencing across the globe. The disintegration of the U.S.S.R, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, Sri Lanka, Zaire and the devolution process in Great Britain are classic examples of the pressures nation states find themselves under. All across the planet more and more people are demanding local autonomy. In some cases like Czechoslovakia, the situation is resolved relatively peacefully, in other cases the push for independence is bought at the cost of social dislocation and even genocide. Kovoso is a particularly nasty example of what happens when people are forced to remain in a union they don't want. Technological innovations, rapid transit systems and the decreasing importance of the nation state in a world that trans-national corporations increasingly dominate, have created the conditions that favour the formation of the boutique state. States no longer need to be able to have a distinct economic base to survive. The continuous flow of capital around the globe and the resultant concentration of power in the hands of transnational corporations, has created the climate where client corporate states that ponder to regional differences can be created. The breakdown of the state apparatus is a distinct consequence of the rise of corporate power. Small nation states do not have the power to resist corporate demands. Although people may win the right to manage their cultural affairs, economic power still remains in the hands of the corporate sector. The struggle for independence is two fold, it revolves around two central issues, local and economic autonomy. What we are witnessing today in Kovoso is another chapter in the long struggle people have waged to maintain local autonomy. JOSEPH TOSCANO (Libertarian Workers for a Self-Managed Society). Saturday October 3rd, 1998 As I write my account of the events of October 3, 1998, Voting day in the 1998 Federal election, I can't help feeling that anarchism as a philosophy, has the hard yards to do when it comes to peoples' illusions in the parliamentary system. As I walked around "my electorate" with my sign I am not voting, ask me why @. A few curios individuals did dare to ask me why I was not "having my say" ie voting. I told them of my anarchist objection that I saw voting as giving politicians a blank cheque, giving the fact (I feel), that once in Parliament they are mere employees of the multi-national and trans-national corporations and they serve their masters. I linked the comments of Joe Toscano's ABC of anarchism. As I had the floor (so to speak), I gave the voters the full program, we don't need leaders, we all have the ability and know how to run society without them. And that this obsession with such things such as leaders, (voting for them) worship of elite figures comes from the primitive sections of the brain that only seems to react to emotions, we can run the world ourselves and not just obey as we do. I found the exercise on the whole only added to my cynicism that people want to vote, no one, certainly wanted a black ribbon. People that reacted most seemed to vote for a party machine (bummer). Some voted to register a protest, vote against the Liberal government. A few individuals voted informally and said he heard about it on the Anarchist World This Week so that was a direct result of our campaign. Another person I spoke to at the polling booth agreed with me in principle, but he disagreed with the method. He said he could see no difference in voting informally as it was not casting a vote. He went on to say that he wrote protest messages all over the ballot papers and he won't cop the fine like myself. Another criticism from another voter was that if anarchists did not believe in voting, then why were we standing candidates at all, I responded we were attempting to build our ideas, anarchist awareness in mainstream society perhaps. As elections come and go, in future our tactics may evolve into a more successful formula. The Democratic Socialist Party, running in the seat of Melbourne, used this same logic as ourselves and from what I have observed none of us lefties or anarchists have succeeded as yet, I suppose we can counter the electorates lack of understanding of not just the Political process but when our @ ideas are taken on board by the masses. Revolution may be just around the corner. Oscar Reghenzani. (Libertarian Workers for a Self-Managed Society). ANARCHIST QUESTION AND ANSWER Q. What role does self-thinking sufficiency play in anarchist thinking? A. Many anarchists tend to think that self-sufficiency is an important goal to strive for in an anarchist community. Decentralisation, especially decentralisation of essential services is a goal that all anarchist communities strive to achieve. They strive to decentralise all services, especially essential services not for theoretical reasons but for one very practical reason. Power does not come from the barrel of a gun, it comes from the centralisation of essential services. How far any particular individual wants to take the idea of self-sufficiency in an anarchist society is a personal and economic one. Not everybody will have the inclination, the expertise or the access to resources to be fully self-sufficient. Geographical, climatic, population and environmental factors all play a role in the levels of self sufficiency that could develop among individuals and communities. The push for personal autonomy and self-sufficiency will result in the development of technological innovations that both do the job and are decentralised. Instead of pursuing technological innovations that centralise both services and power in the hands of a small minority, an anarchist community will actively search for and promote decentralised solutions to problems. Although personal self sufficiency is not a specific anarchist goal, community self-sufficiency is. Any community that wants to maintain its dependence and integrity, needs to be able to strive for self sufficiency in as many areas as possible. Considering the highly centralised nature of western societies, it's highly likely it would take some time to set up decentralised structures. How long this would take will depend on the amount of control people believe they have over the highly centralised structures they take over. ACTION BOX LIVING ON THE MARGINS Anarchists live on the margins of society, not because we want to, but because dominant culture pushes us out to the margins. What we say and do may seem strange to other people because they are not familiar with the ideas and concepts we promote. Dominant culture is so pervasive it suffocates any new buds. Living on the margins personally, economically and socially can breed a "you and them" mentality and can create minuscule ghettos that are hot houses for intrigue and schisms. Irrespective of how marginalised we are or feel, it's important to maintain contacts economically, socially and personally with the greater community. Those elements in society who want to marginalise us and our ideas, succeed every time we withdraw into protective ghettos. It's important we fight marginalisation at every level, if we don't, we run a very real risk of remaining on the margins of society. Marginalisation is one of the most, if not the most, successful tactics that can be used to keep our ideas on the fringes. It's important we don't make anarchism a private vice because we are concerned about being pushed to the margins. Our ideas are just as relevant if not more relevant than what passes as informed comment in today's consumer driven society. We have an important place in society, we refuse to be pushed into the margins and will continue to articulate our ideas and organise in the places we work and live. We don't need and will not live on the margins, we have something to say and will continue to say it. We are part of society and don't believe anarchism is a private vice, we believe it's a public virtue. We will continue to resist any efforts to force us into the margins of society. We are here to stay and will continue to cut a swathe through dominant culture, irrespective of how hard people try to push us back into the margins. AUSTRALIAN ANARCHIST HISTORY HENRY LAWSON Henry Lawson the archetypal Australian poet had a radical side to him that seems to have been ignored by Australian nationalists who love to claim him as one of their own. The economic crisis of the 1890's and the defeat of the big strike at the beginning of the 1890's, had a profound impact on Australian workers and intellectuals. One group took the parliamentary road, reformed the Australian Labor Party and immersed themselves in electoral politics. Another group began to question the very basis of society, some took to anarchism, others took to socialism. In the early 1890's Henry Lawson aligned himself to those who took the extra parliamentary road. Many of his most productive poems were produced during this period. Unfortunately few appear in any modern day anthologies. The following poem, one of Henry Lawson's best revolutionary poems first appeared in the Brisbane Worker on the 10th of June, 1893. BOOK REVIEW EAST TIMOR:GENOCIDE IN PARADISE By Matthew Jardine 1995 ISBN 1-878825-20-8 This little 100 page book catalogues the story of East Timor from 1515 to 1995. After a short introduction by Noam Chomsky, Matthew Jardine methodically and succinctly examines the history and the events that in Noam Chomsky's words led to "perhaps the greatest death toll relative to the population since the Holocaust." Michael deftly examines Portuguese rule, the Japanese occupation during W.W.II. and the struggle for independence. East Timor:Genocide in Paradise, gets into full stride with the Indonesian invasion in 1975. The author catalogues Indonesian atrocity after atrocity and exposes United States, Australian and Western supporters for a war in a forgotten corner of the world. East Timor is less than two hundred kilometres from Darwin. The Indonesian invasion in 1975 resulted in the deaths of 60,000 East Timorese in the first few months. Twenty-three years after the Indonesian occupation began, 200,000 East Timorese have died at the hands of the Indonesian Military dictatorship (approximately 30% of the total population), genocide in anybodies words. Michael Jardine visited East Timor as a "tourist" in July 1992, barely seven months after the televised Santa Cruz massacre. He describes his experiences in detail, outlining the all pervasive Indonesian presence in Paradise. This little book is a fund of information, easily digestible and surprisingly, for its size, an excellent reference source. It is very well researched and provides access to 78 separate references and a very comprehensive index. Although Suharto has moved from the limelight into the back rooms, his alter ego president Habibie, continues to brutally enforce the Indonesian occupation of East Timor. The major difference between 1975 and 1998, is that the West understands that dictatorships are not good for profits and a number of Indonesia's main backers including Australia and the United States are having second thoughts about their support for the Indonesian occupation of East Timor. East Timor:Genocide in Paradise, retails at $7.80 at Annares Mail Order Books. A copy of this book and other interesting radical and anarchist publications are available by writing to Anarres Books, P.O. Box 150, EAST BRUNSWICK, MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA, 3057 or if you have access to the internet e-mail your orders to: mailorder@anarres.org.au and look at their website on http://www.anarres.org.au for more information about the books they have in stock. PERSONAL OBSERVATION Parked cars where you don't expect to see them littered the roads. Empty schools and halls, forlorn Saturday brides maids were decked in tinsel. Little knots of people hurriedly, some furtively consummated their relationship with the state. Yes folks, it's election day the one day every three years when all and sundry knock on the states door and do their bit to resuscitate the juggernaut. Banners attached to school fences, names ticked off, people lining up to do their duty for God and country, Everybody wants a piece of the action. An assorted menagerie of human forms patiently wait their turn at political tinsel towns across the country, hoping against hope their vote will make the difference. Eager beavers shove how to vote cards under peoples noses. They shout vote for me, I'm the one, do it for yourself, do it for the country. Eager fresh faces, mould with older heads, parents with children in tow wait in line with fresh faced electoral virgins and men and women who go through the motions of casting a ballot. Cups of tea and coffee reinforce the resolve of the how to vote mob, friends of the pollies hand out card after card after card. As the day wears on, the trickle becomes a flood, the tide of humanity waiting to make their mark, ebbs and flows, comes and goes. Everybody stops when a familiar television face, runs out of a hastily parked car and presses the flesh, rubbing shoulders with his scrutineers, looking a little older and greyer than his television face. That's when I noticed that this man had legs. Although I'd seed him in television land for over a decade I never noticed he had legs. Thinking about it, political television land seems to be populated with people who don't have legs. Ah well, that's democracy Australian style, an illusion that has as much to do with reality as the heads and shoulders in television land have to do with real people. STOP PRESS - THERE'S A HOLE IN THE BUCKET DEAR LIZA. DEAR LIZA. Anybody who's taken an interest in the death rattle of the Japanese economy knows that there is a gaping hole in the countries financial bucket. Rampant stock market and real estate speculation has eaten a very big hole in the countries finances. Irrespective of the secret deals that are hatched by the Japanese government, the writing is on the wall for the Japanese banking sector. Japan's nineteen major banks are about to go belly up. Japanese interest rates are so low (1/2 a percent), the countries major banks, have used their depositors capital for purely speculative purposes. It looks like their investors' funds have been lost in real estate and stock markets speculation. If Japanese bank depositors panicked and decided to withdraw their funds, the Japanese banks do not have the reserves to cover even 1% of their investors funds. The Japanese economy is faced with an economic catastrophe that no injection of public funds can bridge. When the Japanese economy fails (It's a question of when, not if) the reverberations will cause a major collapse on wall street that will be followed by a major world depression. No wonder the governor of the Japanese Reserve Bank is very concerned about this precarious situation, he knows that by January the Japanese economy will be experiencing a major depression that has global implications. JOSEPH TOSCANO (Libertarian Workers for a Self-Managed Society). ANARCHIST PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED THIS WEEK RED and Black No 28 Spring 1998. P.O.Box 12, Quaama NSW 2550 Australia. ARIVISTA ANARCHIA No247 Spring Ô98. Editrice A CAS. POST. 17120. 20170 MILANO, ITALY. LE MONDE LIBERATAIRE No 1132 & 33 17th-30th Sept Ô98. 145 RUE AMELOT 75011 PARIS, FRANCE tel:0148053408 fax:0149299859. NOTIZIARIO CDP NO 153 Summer Ô98. Via deglio orofi 29. CAS POST 347. 51100 PISTOIA. ITALY tel/fax:0573/977353 E-mail: cduaumen@tin.it;cintroduocumpte@pistoia.conmune.it SICILIA LIBERTARIA No 165 May Ô98. Via Galileo Galilei 45-97100 RAGUSA, ITALY. SOCIAL ANARCHISM N0 25 1998. A.C.R.E. 2743 Maryland Ave. BALIMORE MD 21218 UNITED STATES. http://www.nothingness.org.sociala E-mail: sociala@nothingness.org UMAMITA MOVA 78th year No 22, 21st June Ô98. Corso Palermo 46 10152 TORINO, ITALY. tel/fax: (011) 857850 E-mail: fat@internet.it OTHER PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED THIS WEEK WESTEND NEIGHBOUHOOD NEWS No 58, Sept Ô98, PO Box 5208, West end 4101, Queensland, Australia. Tel 38464358. THE OTHER ISRAEL - VIA INTERNET, otherisr@actcom.co.il ANARCHIST WORLD THIS WEEK NOW ON THE INTERNET - FOR ANYBODY ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD TO LISTEN IN TO. LIKE THE PROGRAM - TELL YOUR FRIENDS AROUND THE PLANET ABOUT OUR INTERNET ADDRESS - http://www.freespeech.org/anarchistAge ANARCHIST WORLD THIS WEEK POSTER AVAILABLE FOR THE COST OF A FEW STAMPS Want to help us find new listeners for the Anarchist World This Week, then send us a few stamps to AWTW, Po Box 20, Parkville 3052, Australia and we'll send you out a colour poster (A3) for your use and a black & white poster you can photocopy and put up to help us increase the number of people who listen to the Anarchist World This Week. TALK BACK WITH ATTITUDE Commencing Thursday 22nd October 1998, 9.00am - 10.00am. Co-hosted by Joseph Toscano and Sasha Shtargot on Community Radio 3CR, 855am on your Radio Dial. TURN THE TABLES ON THE CORPORATE WORLD AND THE STATE. CALL US - SHARE YOUR VIEWS WITH 3CRS LISTENERS (03) 9419 8377 DEBT ELIMINATION APPEAL - PUSH US OVER THE LINE Our debt stands at $987.55. We would like to eliminate this debt by June. Over the past two years we have been able to reduce our debt from over $3000.00 to a little over $800.00. If you've hesitated helping us overcome our debt because you didn't want to throw good money after bad, well you don't need to worry as we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. We need a little bit of extra help to push us over the line. So if you haven't helped before and want to help, make out cheques or money orders to Libertarian Workers and send it to L.W.S.S. PO Box 20 Parkville 3052 Melbourne. THANKS!! DEBT 7.10.98 - $987.55 (perilously close to the $1000 mark) STAMP APPEAL We normally spend over $400.00 per month on postage stamps. If you have any spare stamps floating about or are about to write to us, stuff a few stamps in the envelope. Every little bit helps. NEW WEB SITE BLACK PLANET (PLANETE NOIRE) This new web site has grouped 338 ANARCHIST SITES from across the globe, into one web site. Want access to more anarchist web sites than you can blink at then log into http://www.mygale.org/07/endehors A) ANARCHISM TOWARDS THE 21ST CENTURY B) TOWARDS AN ANARCHIST SOCIETY - Libertarian Workers for a Self-Managed Society Position & Activities 1998. Send $4.00 of stamps to L.W.S.S. PO Box 20 Parkville 3052 Melbourne Australia and we will post out both booklets to you. McLIBEL/FILM What's Wrong With McDonalds? Saturday 10th October, 6.30pm, (Cost $4.00 includes a VEGAN MEAL) Barricade Books, 115 Sydney Road, Brunswick Melbourne, Tram Route No.19 ANARCHIST MEDIA INSTITUTE OBSCENITY OF THE WEEK Has been awarded to the Australian Mass Media for once again ignoring alternatives to the Parliamentary Farce. If You Like What You Have Read, Photocopy This Publication and Leave It In Doctors, Dentists, Vets Waiting Rooms and In Railway Stations, Bus Stops, Libraries and Restaurants Etc. The articles in the Anarchist Age Weekly Review express the opinion of individuals within the Libertarian Workers for a Self-Managed Society/Anarchist Media Institute. They do not necessarily reflect the opinions of The Libertarian Workers for a Self-Managed Society/Anarchist Media Institute. P U B L I C A T I O N S Anarchist Age Weekly Review - 4 pages of Anarchist commentary on Local, National and International events. $50.00 for 50 issues $10.00 for 10 issues Anarchist Age Monthly Review - Issue 80 out July 1998 $48.00 wage earners - 12 issues $30.00 non wage earners - 12 issues Make out cheques or money orders to: Libertarian Workers, PO Box 20, Parkville, 3052 Victoria Australia. All material in the Anarchist Age Weekly Review can be used by anarchists, anarchist collectives and non-profit organisations as long as the source of the material is mentioned in the article. The Anarchist Age Weekly Review reserves all rights as far as commercial publications are concerned. NEVER DOUBT THAT A SMALL GROUP OF THOUGHTFUL COMMITTED CITIZENS CAN CHANGE THE WORLD - MARGARET MEAD.