The Case OF MUmia Abu-Jamal

The short front page article published in Rioter's Block number 4 is one of the few most controvertail peices to have been published in the papaer. I heard nand spoke to many people who where convinced of Mumia Abu-Jamal's guilt. In the view of the evidence and contexxt in which Mumia was tried i beleive it will be virtually impossible to determine his guilt. However, wether or not he shot the police man Falkner is not the real issue here. It is to igbnore the real forces at work int he USA than to think that it is the execution of a potentially innocent man. This occurs all the time in America and will coninue so lon gas the system exists. No, what is really at stake here is freedom. The reasomn Mumia Abu-Jamal's case is so important is that it examplifies the way the US government works. Is it a coincidence that Mumia Abu-Jamal had beena prominent Black Panther since he was 13? Is it a coincidence that he was one the most articulate and outspoken Panther of his generation? Is it also a coincidence that the FBI had a program aimed at silencing and disrupting the activities of the Black PAnthers, inimidating, black -mailing and atticking members of the Black Panther Party?
All of this does not prove Mumias innocence. However it does to a large extent question the integrity and objectiveness of the overwhelingly white American government. An argument i have heard many times is that insitutionalised racism has disapeared from the glorious United States of AMerica. This is an aboniable misconception. I have heard people assert that the USA is a free country and that is just not the way things are done anymore: ISnt it? HAs the US government abandoned the old mobster gangland tactics for freedom and equality for all
? Then what is going on at Camp X-Ray in Guantanamo Bay? Torture, extortion and harrassment in an illegal prisoner camp that defies all conventions and treaties.If they do it abroad, is not the next logical step as to assume that they do it at home? That to silence their opponents they would resort to imrisoning them, threatening the oppnents' lives? Did an illustrious historian not once said "Foreign policy is just an extention of domestic policy".
I ask all these questions of the USA not because i love that glorious country, not because i beleive it is grreat democracy that ought to be defended from the evil men that direct it. I ask these questions of the USA specifically because it is the greatest Power the world has ever seen, extending control over many aspects of daily life through out the world. Thus it is this country that must be brought down in order for the Revolution to succeed. Once the US is toppled all other countries should turn to the ideas of Marx as they are freed of their anglo-saxon, WASP forged cultural and economic chains. This is why we must compile evidence in order to undermine the USA's credibility in the eyes of the world. this should not be difficult to do as the list o fthe USA's crimes extend back to its conception over 200 years ago. However it should be done.

On Education

Whether a country is developed or in the process of developing can easily be distinguished from the visual state of things. Just a ride through the streets is usually enough to provide a more or less accurate image of the state of the infrastructure. But the real sadness, the real fact of the matter lies in the stories of the people when you see the world from their point of view. Though there is poverty, corruption and all that lies in between, behind the haze of development there is an enthusiasm unmatched by those growing up in more fortunate circumstances. In schools which provide at least a minimum level of education to those who need it and desire it most, and those who can least afford it, teachers are respected and all are welcomed with the equal belligerence of children who long to learn. During the summer, I met and learnt with and taught some children from a slum in a school. There, I met two boys who were in what I then considered to be, a most 'unusual' situation. Though they were already sixteen, they had to learn with the younger children in this school because they had never attended regularly and were therefore almost completely illiterate. Only three days after I began to teach them, they came to say goodbye to me, adding that they might not see me again. When I asked why, they said that their brother, while employed only in small jobs, made enough money to keep his family going and it was time for them to do the same. I started arguing that getting an education was more important, that it would get them better jobs and provide an improved standard of living if they studied now. In short, I told them what we are taught everyday – that education is the answer. In response, they smiled knowingly and said simply, "Our families need our help today. If we wait for an education, we may not have a family to benefit." And it was the bare truth. Even while I had been preaching what I had been taught, my words had sounded hollow because the statement was so far from the reality.
These two boys were past their innocence and already considering the responsibility of a family to look after, something, which very few of us are burdened with in the West. It is true that education benefits greatly in the long-term. But for families who cannot afford the education, the children grow up knowing that however much they may want to learn, it will never become a reality.
This is not only due to the impoverished state of millions of people around the world, but also because of the weakness of the state system and government, whose responsibility it is to implement certain policies that make standard things (such as food, education and water) accessible to everyone, cost-free. But the few government schools that are in place are low in standard of teaching and attendance. It is vital that schooling, at least primary if not entirely, be gratuitous and available to everyone regardless of social status. We would not confront the situation of these boys, as millions do, if this were the case.
Education cannot be the answer to all of life's questions. But it is most certainly the answer to some. The example of these two boys is a lesson: it tells us two things. First, that Western ideals that education must come first and foremost cannot hold in every situation, that sometimes people, who we presume to be ignorant, must make much more complex choices than we have had to face. Second, if education were made more available, this type of situation could eventually be eradicated. Education is still a very vital component in the advancement of a developing society. But though they say 'practice what you preach' now we must try to understand why sometimes, they cannot.

From Issue #5 published Friday 7

On obedience

In a school or indeed any system in which one human finds him or herself above another, obedience is a crucial issue. Often a teacher will consider (s)he has won when the student complies. But is this really a victory. IS the docility of the student really beneficial for humanity?

It is in our earliest youth that we learn to be docile, to be obedient. Obedience is one of the fundamental values taught by parents , teachers and society in general. We are conditioned to believe that obedience makes you a better person. This is false. Obedient, docile, servile human beings are exactly what keeps the system running. Without our compliance to their rules the entire system will come crashing down as cog after gear after cog collapse. This is why the system has become conditioned to support and encourage those that obey, that conform, that comply while marginalising and destroying those that do not.

I talk as if the system where a living organism: it is in many ways. Societies grow and are destroyed, to be replaced by newer ones that are more efficient than the older ones. Eventually these are replaced and thus a process of naturally societal elimination occurs. Those societies unable to compete will eventually disappear, engulfed in the better society or smashed up and destroyed. Thus societies which have encouraged their members to obey and conform to the society have survived and eventually taken over.

This is why we must fight extra hard against conformism and obedience. We must at every turn oppose the system. BY disobeying we encourage others to disobey, which in turn encourages others. Thus the spirit spreads throughout a population like wildfire and eventually the system is brought down. In practice though, what do these disobediences represent? These can be vandalism (graffiti and so on), civil disobedience and refusal to comply with authority figures and ‘superiors’: police officers, teachers and so on.

A note of warning however: doing things that jeopardises your ability to help anyone in the near or distant future is not a Good Thing.

-RzBz

From Issue #4 published April 5

Imperialism Watch

China

China had started off so well. A large country, a potential and past superpower becoming Communist like Russia. The promise of a revolution to sweep the world, for workers to unite in a common front inspired by Mao Zedong… Yes it had all started so well, but then it went horribly wrong. After Mao’s botched reforms China rapidly followed Soviet Russia in the spiral towards dictatorship. These two countries perfected beurocratic totalitarianism to an extent rarely seen before. Perhaps it had been seen before under the imperial rule of China, before the arrival of the West. One of the oldest beurocracies on earth. Perhaps what China became was hardly a surprise. Perhaps the past of a nation can plague it forever.

In any case the fact is that the PLA invaded Tibet. The massive immovable Party rewrote Tibetan history. Since then the people of Tibet have not known freedom. The ballant imperialism of the Chinese government is often unnoticed and unheard of.1.6 million Tibetans have died since the invasion of Tibet the West ignored it all. Not since the mid-60s has the case of Tibet been taken to the UN and into international spotlight. Once again, fear of China’s implacable, ruthless and aggressive economic and foreign policies have pushed the money hungry bourgeois capitalists to ignore the plight of an entire people…

by RzBz

From Issue # 4 published April 5

******

Can communism succeed?

The previous issues of Rioter’s Block have already made it sufficiently clear that communism has never been implanted for enough time to be able to appreciate any consequences. How can one judge the functioning of a theory that has never been tested, but rather used as a catchword and a tool of totalitarian dictators to reach supreme power?

The fact that communism has not been put to practice does not mean that it cannot be in the future, in the same way as the fact that the telephone did not exist in the 18^th Century did not prevent its invention later on. The world is for us to change it. Moreover, the world is for us to improve it. We have the capacity and the means to do this. All we lack is consensus on the way to do so and the final determination to take that way.

To seek refuge in claims of the type “communism cannot work because people are selfish” is what we do not need or want. If we are to have such an oversimplified and cynical mentality, then we may as well arrive to conclusions such as “murder and crime will never cease to exist, because people are evil in nature”. Why punish crime then? What is the point of us humans inhabiting this planet if we’re not going to at least make an effort to improve our, and by “our” I mean everyone’s, standard of life?

I agree: at the moment, communism cannot possibly succeed. Under our present conditions, progress is virtually a utopia. Conformism, passivity and indifference, expressed at their height by the easy-to-say and narrow-minded “logic” that “humans cannot be communist because communism is too idealistic”, are the worst diseases that affect humankind nowadays.

This is why Rioter’s Block wants you to wake up, to look beyond the veil of egoistic interests and national boundaries and to contribute to purge the world of indifferent conformists who can sit back and enjoy life while others are forced to make this possible. The world can be changed. Because not everyone is selfish, and not everyone is evil. And not everyone has good dreams while millions of people are dying of hunger. Not everyone wants this world to remain as it is. But for a change to happen, for an improvement to be made, we must all become conscious that communism is the best, if not the only, path.

-A Zappatista

From ISsue #4 published April 5

On Equality

The more fortunate have become the ignorant numb. The political climate, the tensions between nations, wars, genocides – the problems of the world - these are trivial matters, if anything, to the bourgeoisie of today. But why should we care, you say, when we are safe? Unfortunately, that is the tone taken by most. Why should we care that George Bush invaded Iraq on unjust and immoral grounds? Why should we care that millions in Africa who suffer from AIDs are unknowingly subject to inhumane tests? Why should we care if genocide in Rwanda tears the country and its people apart? Because we are human beings. We are citizens of the world. Whether you choose to acknowledge it or not, man does not live by himself - man is born into society.
We live amongst others, therefore what concerns their well-being concerns ours. It is no fault of a man where he is born and into what situation. Every man, woman, child is conceived and born in the same way, with the same right to freedom and a future. So how is it that some suffer while others prosper? Is it right that those who have more should be able to exercise the freedom to keep those who have less in chains?
This is the catastrophic truth – the fact that one human being is discriminated against by others based purely on social status, race, disability and appearance – things that have no bearing on a person's worth. Because of these prejudices, those who are subject to the discrimination retaliate, often in violent ways. It is not an act of aggressive hate – but an act of despair and a cry for recognition of each man's equality. We are equal, that is a fact that should not be denied. And any system that promotes this idea is worthy of attention.
it asks people to sacrifice a little of what they have, since they have more than enough, to enable someone else to survive another day. Today it is ridiculed, tomorrow it will be violently opposed, but one day the universal truth of Communism will be recognised. And those who understand the intelligence and humanity in Marx's ideology, should fight to bring that day of enlightenment ever closer.

From Rioter's Block Issue # 3 Published March 31st

“Communists are hypocrites”

How often have you heard that accusation? Easy to say… But hard to prove, isn’t it? “Well”, they’ll say, “if you’re a ‘commie’, you shouldn’t have a car. If you’re a ‘commie’, you shouldn’t go to La Chat. If you’re a ‘commie’, you shouldn’t have money”. Since when, readers will ask themselves, is communism the ideology of the idiots?

It isn’t. Communism is a political and economic doctrine that advocates for the proletariat’s revolution to overthrow capitalism and progress towards a higher social order in which property is equally shared by the people.

Just because I’m a communist, it doesn’t mean I have no right to a good education or a good standard of life. By that logic, the only communists in the planet are the poor, the homeless, the malnourished. This may lead to common misconceptions of the concept of communism, a result of years of anti-communist propaganda. Being poor, readers, is not a prerequisite for being a communist.

Moreover, being rich is not an obstacle for being a communist. Wealthy people are not the enemies of communism; capitalism is. Ideology should never be equated to economic status, although I suppose under fascism they do come to be the same thing.

I insist: communism wants an equal share of property, not the destruction of property. Communism doesn’t want to make everyone be equally poor, but everyone to be equally prosperous.

The charge that “communists are hypocrites” because they go against their own principles comes from the mouths of ignorant people, people who want to remain uninformed, people who turn away from communism as a hypocritical evil and prefer to give in to the tempting offers of that paradigm of sincerity that fascism claims to be, people who will inexplicably do anything to avoid the, sooner or later inevitable, prospect of revolution and freedom.

-“L”

From Rioter's Block issue #2 published March 27

The USSR, teen rebellion and anti-Communism

Any leftist (Anarchist, Communist or Socialist) will come to a point where he/she will ask him or herself why it is people can still support ideas that do not promote equality and harmony amongst people. Why is it that seemingly well educated, perfectly intelligent men and women will so emphatically reject the harmony and prosperity that most leftwing ideas (through logical reasoning) offer. Why is it that they turn to capitalist, rightwing views, when the stated aim of these is to maintain the class system and all it entails, such as poverty and exploitation for many, and power and wealth for few?

I believe there are several reasons for this. The first is a very basic misconception: the USSR was communist. It was not. The USSR was a totalitarian dictatorship for virtually all of its existence. It was meant to have been built on Marx’s idea but corrupt, power hungry men usurped and used the hype of these ideas for their own ends (most notably Iosef Stalin). Right wing, or anti-communists, will often quote the USSR as a prime example of communism. It is not. Communism promotes freedom. Communists, anarchists and socialists were persecuted under Stalin’s rule as much (if not more) as the rest of the population.

Another reason for the rejection of leftwing ideas as a step forwards is as a kind of rebellion. This may seem illogical, but one must understand that these revolutionary ideas have (since the 90s) passed on into mainstream teenage culture. Che Guevara has become the icon of vaguely rebellious teenagers worldwide. Being a “Commie” or having an A on your bag have become signs of belonging in teenage culture. As all large-scale cultural shifts, it has created a counter reaction. Teen rebellion has now shifted from being against the system, to being against those who are against the system. Rather than being a well informed opinion, anti-communism (at least in teens) has become a kind of rebellion in itself.

This I think stems from the very real problem of peer pressure and opinions. Here peer pressure from rebellious teens claiming to be “commies” has lead to the pent up teen rebellion of the others being directed at what appears to be the majority of leftists.

- RzBz

From Rioter's Block Issue #2 printed March 27

Closet Fascists at La Chataigneraie and at Large

Fascists at la Chataigneraie? The international school that supposedly teaches freedom, tolerance and peace? Well its true. There are two main types of fascists in the world: those who accept their own views and those who don’t, posing for conservatives, capitalists, and most often anti-communists. Most often these are the ones you will find most viciously attacking communism, usually resorting to bringing Stalin into the argument and equating it to fascism, these are the most insidious types of fascists. Most often they will not admit to themselves they are fascists. They will often reject any connection to fascism, yet when we examine the typical mentality of one of these “closet fascists”, we see that they’re way of thinking is very much geared in the same way as that of a typical fascist or Neo-Nazi. We see that most often this person will glorify weapons and militarism, cultivating a real love for everything military (guns, apparel, and lingo). This might be accompanied by, or preceded by, a passion for videogames that themselves glorify militarism of this nature. Often they will support or at least attempt to defend Nazi ideals, though never presented as such.

These include ideas such as nationalism and this idea that certain people are somehow inferior and should be shot (these ‘untermenschen’ will include communists, homosexuals and mentally handicapped people). Often they will say that Hitler was ‘not so bad’, and ‘not all wrong’. Evidence of this kind of thinking was found some weeks ago in the Art Dept bathrooms. “Fuck Communism” and “long live the National Elitists”. National Elitists?!? Neo Nazis under a more acceptable and less politically charged package.

Now do not misunderstand me: these traits are in no way indicative of being a fascist. However it is this kind of person who will stand by silently when Neo-Nazis walk in, who will think ‘hey it should be pretty neat to be in their number’, who will join in to feel a sense of belonging to an organised, strong, militaristic movement. It is my personal belief that many people have forgotten the bad of fascism and Nazism, mostly under their silent insidious whispering. It is these silent unwitting agents of fascism that are most dangerous to the cause of freedom, by giving fascist ideas a sensible and positive spin.

Fascism: Extremist nationalistic ideology. They believe that the government should be in charge of every aspect of civilian life. They believe society should more like the military. They are diametrically opposed from an ideological standpoint, to Communism-anarchism. They do not shy away from violent means to enforce their views. May resort to a “that’s gay” or similar argument when outwitted