When the #revolution happens, you’re going to have to be in the streets.
~Marcus Baram
Nowadays there is a lot of talk about #digital, or e-democracy – focusing on online participation. There is even talk of a so-called Appocracy – civic participation being channeled through smartphone apps. Many see in such means an exit from the dee”.
Direct democracy certainly requires the physical presence of #citizens in a.. place
Today in Labor History December 11, 1905: Workers and students rose up against the Russian government and established the Shuliavka Republic in Kiev, Ukraine. The uprising lasted for four days. The majority of the protesting workers were from the Shuliavka district. On the first day of the uprising, the Council of Workers' Deputies published their manifesto demanding the abolition of absolute monarchy, freedom of speech and assembly, social services, amnesty for political prisoners, national emancipation of Ukrainians, Poles and Jews, and the immediate end to the Jewish pogroms. The workers also demanded pensions and better medical services. On December 15, Shuliavska was surrounded by the Imperial Russian Army and local authorities. The police came in, made mass arrests and confiscated any weapons they found. 1 month later, Bolsheviks led another revolt in Kiev.
Today in Labor History December 10, 1865: August Spies, anarchist labor organizer and Haymarket martyr was born on this date. As he was led to the gallows (1887), he shouted, "The day will come when our silence will be more powerful than the voices you are throttling today." In 1883, he was a leader in the Revolutionary Congress, in Pittsburgh, that launched the International Working People's Association in America.
Today in Labor History December 9, 1842: The Anarchist formerly known as Prince, Peter Kropotkin, was born on this date in Moscow. Kropotkin was a geographer and anarcho-communist. His most well-known works include “Conquest of Bread,” “Fields, Factories,” and “Mutual Aid, A Factor of Evolution,” which explores the role of mutually-beneficial cooperation and reciprocity (i.e., mutual aid) in the animal kingdom and human societies both past and present. It was an argument against the theory of social Darwinism, popular at the time, that argued that existing social relations were the natural consequence of rich people’s inherent genetic superiority over the poor. Kropotkin argued that because mutual aid has pragmatic advantages for the survival of human and animal communities, it has proliferated through natural selection. In 1874, Kropotkin was arrested and imprisoned in the Peter and Paul Fortress for subversive political activity. In 1876, he escaped and fled to Switzerland. During his younger days, he served as a geographer for the Russian empire. In 1873, he published a scientific paper showing that the existing maps entirely misrepresented the physical features of Asia.
I grow more #socialist every year, though I find myself afraid of the #dictatorship of the #proletariat because the primary examples I've seen in my lifetime have become #dictatorships of the #dictator en route to communism. We need to do something better, but I'm pretty convinced it's going to require massive #World#Revolution to do that, and can we survive that to the point we can make a healthy restart?
Today in Labor History December 7, 1905: A General Strike of 150,000 workers began in Moscow, at the climax of the 1905 Russia Revolution. The strike escalated into a general uprising, with thousands of workers taking up arms against the imperial government. At least 400 workers died. The revolt was based in the apartment of writer, Maxim Gorky. Militants made bombs in his study and ate in his kitchen. On December 10, socialist revolutionaries bombed the headquarters of the Moscow Okhrana (secret police). By December 12, the rebels held six of the seven railway stations and many neighborhoods. On December 15, they assassinated the head of the Okhrana. However, the Imperial Guard brought in reinforcements on the 15th. They shelled the proletarian district of Presnia, home to 150,000 textile workers, and ultimately quashed the rebellion.
Today in Labor History December 7, 1896: Antonio Maceo (1848-1896), Afro-Cuban revolutionary leader, died from wounds after 27 battles in 92 days. He was known as the Titan of Bronze because he had survived so many battle wounds. The Spaniards referred to him as the “Greater Lion.” In 1895, he helped launch the Cuban War of Independence against a vastly larger Spanish military. He was considered one of the most effective Latin American guerrilla leaders of the 19th century.
Any "leftist" who tells you not to #vote isn't your fucking friend, and if they call you "privileged" or a "bootlicker" whatever bullshit, tell them to fuck off and gamble with the lives of minorities somewhere else.
I don't give a shit about your theoretical #revolution if you can't even be bothered to do basic fucking #harmreduction
One side things I'm a disgusting abomination, and if you tell me voting against them makes me a privileged bootlicker, you need to pull you head out of your ass and maybe think for one fucking second about the rights of others. #voting#elections#privilege#democracy
Today in Labor History November 26, 1911: Paul Lafargue, Cuban-French revolutionary and son-in-law of Karl Marx, died. Lafargue wrote “The Right to Be Lazy” in 1893 while in prison. Lafargue had Jewish, French, Indian, Creole and African ancestry. When IWW cofounder Daniel De Leon asked him about his origins, he replied that he was proudest of his “negro” ancestry. In his youth, Lefargue participated in the International Students Congress in 1865. Consequently, the government banned him from all French universities. So, he moved to London, where he became a frequent visitor to Marx’s house, ultimately marrying his daughter, Laura. Lafargue was a member of the General Council of the First International. He also participated in the Paris Commune.
Today in Labor History November 23, 1903: Army troops were sent to Cripple Creek, Colorado to put down a rebellion by striking coal miners. 600 union members were thrown into a military bullpen, and held for weeks without charges. When a lawyer arrived with a writ of habeas corpus, General Bell, who led the repression, responded "Habeas corpus, hell! We'll give 'em post mortems!” The strike was led by Big Bill Haywood and the Western Federation of Miners, which, at the time, was the most militant union in the country, calling for revolution and abolition of the wage system.
#Revolution that divests itself of #ethical values thereby lays the foundation of injustice, deceit, and #oppression for the future #society. The means used to prepare the future become its cornerstone.
We mourn the dead and fight for the living. #Trans Day Of Remembrance 2023 :antifa_100:
Today in Labor History November 20, 1922: Ricardo Flores Magón died in Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary. Magon, with his brother Enrique, founded and edited the anarchist paper Regeneracion, founded the Partido Liberal de Mexico, and organized with the IWW. Magon was one of the major intellectual forces inspiring the Mexican Revolution, and he launched a short-lived revolution in Baja California, in which many IWW members from participated. In 1918, the U.S. arrested him under the 1917 Anti-Espionage Act, for publishing an anti-war manifesto. This was part of the First Red Scare, also known as the Palmer Raids, which also swept up Eugene Debs and Emma Goldman. Ricardo Flores Magon died 4 years later, in Leavenworth Prison.
Hundreds gathered at the Crash Live 2023 event in the UK, celebrating the Sinclair range of retro computers. Original hardware and modern variations were on display, including enhancements for the popular Sinclair ZX Spectrum.
« Les massacres sont dans les révolutions. Ceux qui réclament le renversement de la société le savent très bien et ne condamnent jamais la violence. »
C’est une page de L’Élimination de Rithy Panh. Quelqu’un l’a tweetée ; Rithy Panh l’a RT. Le compte de Rithy Panh était un de mes préférés, sur Twitter, surtout pour les images qu’il postait, mais pas seulement.
Speaking of the #history of the #mexican#revolution , this page from "The Mexican Revolution: A Brief History with Documents" on how Pancho Villa tricked a city into capturing themselves reads like its from loony tunes #histodons would like
The sentence where they took the city without firing a single shot, if you ignore the massacre, is just surreal.
My Crash Live 2023 Experience - Sinclair Spectrum Retro Dedicated Event - Pixel Refresh (www.pixelrefresh.com)
Hundreds gathered at the Crash Live 2023 event in the UK, celebrating the Sinclair range of retro computers. Original hardware and modern variations were on display, including enhancements for the popular Sinclair ZX Spectrum.