By 1^Зпэмұ
By RzBz

Graffitying

One of the greatest advantages of tagging, graffiti or writing is that it is one of those things that most people don’t know whether to condemn or not, so people will think twice before denouncing you. None the less it requires some organization and ethics so that you don’t end up in jail or give a negative image to the community as whole. The first thing to do is meet up with other artists. This has several advantages. If you cannot draw nor have no artistic skills they will be able to teach about some techniques. Also they will know how to operate spray cans and things. The most important advantage though is that you'll be able to go on "bombing" raids (this is what some people call graffiti) on your own. Going on your own may seem like a good idea (no need to coordinate, less crowds and so on) but eventually you will be caught, due to the facts you cant be looking out for yourself AND create appreciable pieces of work. Not only this but you a lone person is more dubious than a group. A good number for a graffing "cell" is 3. This enables one person to work comfortably, one person to look out and another to assist the first. Taking turns is a good idea so that no one person is bored or tired of what they are doing. Good places to meet fellow artists will vary from city to city but looking for your nearest graph shop is good. There you'll be able to meet fellow graphers without having to ask awkward questions. A good place to network in Geneva is the 242 (242 shop - rue du vieux-billard 4 / 1205 geneve) street-shop. It sells tons of good materials and attracts a large crowd from the urban underground artistic community. You should be able to find someone to work with.
Your gear is essential to any successful operation. The first thing you’ll need is "writing" equipment: spray paint is ideal, because of its versatility and rapidity of use. A problem with spray paints is their size and the noise they make. Special bags can be bought or made, and pocket cans purchased though. Regular paints would work as well but spray paint is really a must. Stencils are good if your going to be doing many of the same throughout your area and work fast and well once you know how (www.stencilrevolution.com for more info on that). A respirator is very useful so you don’t hurt your lungs but cost a lot and are difficult to make. You should also plan to take gloves and a hat. Your clothes should not be too showy and cover at least your fore arms and legs. Once you and your partners are geared up you should try to fin the time you can all go. A good moment is around 3 or 4 in the morning if you’re going to go to a major urban or residential center as this is the time people are least alert. If not you can plan to go some time after midnight at least, once again not to get caught. At least for the first few times, try to go with someone more experienced than you. Get around fast is essential if you plan to hit large areas fast. Good means include bicycles, roller skates and skate boards if you don’t have a car or can’t use one. OF course a car would be best because you can relax and spray calmly; waiting for each layer to dry inside your vehicle, but this may not be convenient in some situations. The essential thing is not to get caught of course. IF you do get busted attempt to remain calm: avoid antagonizing the police officer or rent-a-cop and avoid breaking down and crying. This way they may just let you off. Avoid having any personal items such as ID cards on you as they may fall out. Try to keep up the artistic or intellectual value of your work or it will get quickly buffed over. Try to get recognition by keeping the same style for most of your work. Always try to find the best location such as high places, government buildings, trains ect. so that your work gets a maximum of coverage.
There are a few rules you should remember when painting on walls:

- Never hit any place you know cannot afford it (especially poorer areas)- Never Vandalize: tagging should not solely destructive- Try not to paint over other artists work (unless it’s fascist or bad) - Don't boast- Don't steal other artists work
-Rzbz

First up is another collage i made. That's a refugee child in case you were wondering. it sould be the right sizae and fomat for most screens as a back ground. It is rather fancy and rather not very good, but i try.

This is an advertisement for this very website. Feel free to print one or two if you want ot show your support and stick them up wherever you feel like. im also working on some neat little stickers. E-mail me if you want some.
This is another collage. It is even poorer than the previous one.

Sorry.
Once agian the right size for a Back ground.
Tune in Monday for another update.

Talking of which Rioter's Blog Updates Bi weekly, on the weekend and on wednesday or thursday.

We still need writers so please feel free to send us your articles, recipies drawings, ect...

"EZLN calls for International Support

Zapatista Army of National Liberation
May 3, 2006

Compañeros and Compañeras around the World:

This is Insurgent Lt. Col. Moise's speaking to you,

Today we have entered into a Red Alert.

Our compañeras and compañeros from Texcoco near San Salvador Atenco (State of Me'xico) were attacked. This is a place where our compañero Subcomandante Marcos has just visited. We are calling for a national and international mobilization against the government of Vicente Fox for May 4th beginning at 8 in the morning in front of Mexican embassies.

Up to this point we do not know how many dead and injured there might have been because our brothers and sisters from Atenco were confronted by the forces of the bad government and they defended themselves.

Stay tuned compañeros and compañeras.
We will be in contact when necessary. "

-This was released on the Third of May 2006. I realise its abit late but these events were of major importance. I was unable to report on them in the newspaper at the time. If you want more information on theis visit www.ezln.org.mx .

More events of importance are renewed violence in the French Banlieues. Int he night of te 30th to the 31st the marginalised area of montfermeil saw many confrontations between the police and masked youth. In between 200 and 300 young people attacked the police in the area after the police had arrested a young man and his mother. This was perceived as yet another police provocation in an area that saw the birth of the riots last autumn. This area has virtually no public transport to the city of Paris. only an erratic bus service connects this area to the outside. this is seen by many of the inhabitants as a step to exclude the poor from Paris. During the violece several cars were burnt and six Policemen were injured. Many people were arrested, mainly for throwing rocks. One of the young men that had been with the two electrocuted last year and had set off the first riots was arrested.
Nicolas Sarkozy has been attempting to dress these events up as racial riots. He has stated that those rioting are mainly young Blacks and Aravs, two large minorities in France. He has also stated that the riots are the work of organised criminal organisations ina n attempt to take full control of the "Cités", implying that all Blacks and Arabs are criminals. The fact is that these riots are the consequence of the politics of the government and parts of french society who seem to be attempting to minimise the problems of poverty by placing it to the sude and carefully ignoring it.
Nicolas Sarkozy seems poised to take ofver the government from Jacques Chirac, at the expense of VIllepin. This definitely confirms frances shoft to the Right, exposed during the last elections with Le Pen's assention to the second electoral round fro presidency. Sarkozy's UMP party is ideologically close to Le Pen's Front National.


All images ar copyright to their respective owners

This is a collage of various pictures i made. the images are porbably copyright to someone. By the way the man lying on the floor is Carlo Giuliani. He is dead. Read the short peice entitled "Why they killed Carlo " In one of my previous posts.

Incidentaly this image should be large enough for most desktops. Feel free to use to that purpouse. Or any other for that matter.

This is another comic, on war this time. Same author as the previous one.

To enlarge any of these pictures just click on them.

This is a comic about religion. If i have offended any one: tough poo. this is is hitherto unpublished so once again make the most of it.

Rebel dignity

There are those who will never be crushed. There are those who even dead continue fighting. There are those who cease to be human and become an idea, a concept, a revolution. There are those whose names are forgotten but whose actions linger on.

In southern Mexico over fifteen years ago there was a group of men and women that congregated. They remembered. They remembered that they had not always been oppressed; they remembered when there had been a time when their people had lived in dignity. It was this memory that animated them, that directed their movement at the beginnings. They were indigenous man and women who had remembered this. Then they remembered that once they had fought. They had fought oppression like the one they were living now. They remembered that they had fought the Spanish conquerors. They remembered that their forefathers had stood up and fought. They also remembered that again they had fought the continuers of the conquistador tradition in Mexico, many years after. They remembered that man that had stood out amongst so many heroes: Emiliano Zapata, who had shouted out: “Land and Liberty!” He was long dead, but his memory remained and it was these memories that united these shadows that collected in the dusty and disused corners of the Mexican South. It was these memories that, like a magnet brought these people together in the darkness. The anger had been breeding for a long a time. Now it crystallized into a thought, an organisation an aim.

For a time they stayed in the dark of the forest, forgotten, pushed aside by the government. But in cool darkness of the undergrowth they planned, they plotted. Silently they moved from township to Run-down Township. They spoke to the men and women there. They organised. They thought. They formulated plans. And they came to the conclusion that they would need to fight. The anger was too great. The unhearing ears of the government too deaf. And so they gathered support. Hundreds, and soon thousands drifted towards this group that now had a plan, an aim and a name. The Zapatista Army for National Liberation. Thousands of Zapatistas infiltrated the corrupt police in Chiapas. On New Years Eve they volunteered to take a shift no one else wanted. On January the First 1994 the insurrection occurred. Almost as if in dream the police stations were seized and the army gained control of large swathes of the state.

BY now the anger of the indigenous Mexicans had a face and a name. The army marched on the capital, Mexico. At first it seemed like a conventional army, invading a land it had no right to hold. But the Zapatistas had a weapon the conquering armies of Spain, France and corrupt capitalist imperialism had never had. They had the weight of memory. They used as a great club, smashing the threatening vision of hundreds of masked men marching across the country. For as they took town after village after town they allowed the people there to refuse and fight their rule. They allowed the towns to rule themselves. They did not conquer. The liberated in a way no army has ever done. As the fire spread across Mexico sparks flew off in the winds of change and settled around the globe starting fires, small or large, in the USA, Europe, Africa, South America and Asia. These fires were never to go out, even as the Zapatistas were crushed by the armies of corruption, by the American backed Mexican troops. As entire villages were destroyed by the advancing tanks, around the world the flames of dissent were already burning. The flames have never gone out. They have grown stronger even as the Zapatistas were pushed back into the Jungles of Chiapas, Mexico. The fires blazed in Genoa. The fires blazed in Nairobi. The fires blazed in Paris. The fires Blazed in Washington. The fires Blazed in Seattle. And the fires blaze on, constantly stoked by change, and fuelled by revolt, anger and discontent. The sparks were not lost. They found try tinder around the globe that was ready to go up. The Zapatistas started a fire that now reaches across the globe. A fire of red flames. A fire who sounds like hope. A fire that creates even as it destroys.

A fire that will not be put out now it has started.

By RzBz

Exclusive to Ritoer's Blog so make the most of it!!

Why they killed Carlo Giuliani

In July 2001 the rich and powerful of the world collected like vermin in Genoa. The eight most corrupt, power hungry, powerful men in the world congregated in this small costal Italian town in the intention of dividing up the world like one big pie. This yearly event had always brought controversy, protest and often violence. However Genoa was going to be a turning point for anti-G8 protests. Because in Genoa we were explicitly shown exactly what these men were prepared to do. Because in Genoa, on that hot summer day Carlo Giuliani died. HE was shot in the face by the neo-fascist Italian police when they opened fire on the crowed attempting to disrupt the conference of the Few, the conference of the Powerful. As if to make sure that the sprit of the movement was dead, the Carbineri drove over his body in their Land Rover.

Who exactly Carlo Giuliani was is not relevant. The governments tried to add insult to injury by calling him a vagrant. But the fact is that Carlo Giuliani died fighting against a system that he believed was unjust. This was the first time this kind of event happened in Europe. It is almost certainly not the last time. Five years on very little has changed. Europe has continued its great rightwards drift, while in the USA the Christian right, in all its fascistic glory is sliming its way into every nook and cranny of society. Skinheads walk the streets of the West, while black men and women, Asian, African and Latin American migrants are shot in cold blood and impunity. In Brazil revolutionaries are tracked down and shot, accused of being part of a problem the system created. In Korea the expansion of US military base threatens the livelihoods of hundreds. In Western Africa ant-IMF protesters are shot and killed by the police. The Oppression will not stop until the criminals and the societies they seek to protect are destroyed, taken down brick by brick. Justice for all the Carlos who has died over the years will only be brought once those corrupt men in their seats of power are brought to popular justice for mass homicide. Only once these men and the system which allows them to continue to rule us all is destroyed, only then will the people know, peace, only then will they know rest from the relentless pace of profits, productivity and money imposed by these people. Only then will we know equality and freedom from want. Only then will misery and starvation disappear. Only then will men women and children finally know something else but the crushing jaws of capitalism…

So we must fight back, with our words, with our music, with our drawings with our actions. Unless we do this many more of us will be crushed under the steel boot of the Market and Imperialism…

- RzBz

Trust, Power and War

Society is built on trust. Everyday, we trust other people to be honest and do their work truthfully so that everybody else has a certain level of security. On the plane, you trust that the pilot will get you safely to the desired destination. At home, you trust that electricity will be provided faithfully. And yet, when these trusts are broken, there emerges from the depths of society the unruly tension and chaos that underlies all human existence. What happens when the plane is hijacked? And when the lights go out for good? What happens when a miscalculation causes a building to collapse on top of hordes of innocent and unsuspecting people? Therefore, if trust is so fundamentally important, why is it that the people who rule nations, who make the important decisions, who pick and chose in an almost totalitarian manner the lives of their citizens, are the ones who are the most untrustworthy?

Honest politicians? That's an oxymoron. And yet, we must admit that it is in human nature to make mistakes. You and I make them everyday and are always anxious to be forgiven and allowed another chance to prove ourselves. But the mistakes made by politicians have macabre and extensive consequences. War, terrorism, totalitarianism, massacres - these have all been attributes of government policies (not neccessarily mistakes) in the past. So what exactlly is the problem here? It is not the fact that politicians make mistakes, they are human, they are naturally prone to do so. The problem lies in their power. If their power was not so great, their mistakes would not have such grave and large-scale impacts. While George Bush and his cabinet may have made a mistake (or so they claim now that it is strategically useful to do so) in invading Iraq and forcing modern imperialism on the basis of non-existant weapons of mass destruction, this mistake would not have been possible had the president of the United States been attributed a lesser lever of power.

We must question then, why there are a few, elite individuals making the choices and decisions for a society? Why can the society not do so itself? America is just one extreme example of this hidden dictatorship, and it is one that we should hope we shall not see emerge in our own respective countries.

What is the solution? The solution is a society where everyone works for the better good of everyone else. Where everyone has a voice and that voice is loud and clear, not feeble and ignored as it tends to be in the nations of today. And the demoliton of singular power would aid this cause greatly. We cannot trust individuals to make the decisions for us - we must make them ourselves, collectively. And though this may seem a herculean feat, it can be achieved, through the highest form of democracy - but only once absolute equality is an established and consistent feature of society.

R.A.P

Wheatpasting

Wheatpaste, otherwise known as Marxist glue, due to its affinity to being used by leftwing organizations, can be used to stick paper onto a wall, and with luck, it’ll stay there for a long time, especially if cooked and applied right. Wheatpaste is made extremely easily with common household items, and can be made in ten minutes flat. The basic principle behind it is the mixture of flour and water to make a thick sticky paste, that when dry acts as; you guessed it, glue. The actual process comprises of the following:

1. measure out 1 cup of water and 3 tablespoons of flour
2. set the water on the stove, but don’t let it boil
3. mix the 3 tablespoons of flour with a bit of water, to make a creamy consistency, make sure there are no lumps, because those are a hassle
4. once the water is almost boiling, add the flour/water mixture to the almost boiling water and mix thoroughly
5. bring the water/flour mixture to a gentle boil, letting it bubble for a minute or two

Now its done. Pour it off into something and clean the pan and you are set. There are various other things you can do to the wheatpaste, such as add sugar for strength, or add some wood glue, but that’s just some people. I keep it simple.

As for application, I find the easiest method is to pour it into one of those squeezy ketchup bottles so you can squirt it on a wall, then using a brush to smooth it out. Otherwise a jam jar full of it and a paintbrush will do just fine. For proper application, apply a layer of wheatpaste behind the paper, place the paper down, and then apply another layer of wheatpaste to make sure it sticks well. Make sure to cover all the edges so no one can rip down the wheatpaste. It should dry in a couple of hours, and hopefully be permanent.

You can paste up pretty much any kind of paper, but the best kind is thin newsprint paper, or anything thin pretty much. Even thicker paper works, but its hard to keep all the edges down. There you have it, how to make and use wheatpaste. Now go color up our cities please.

from Rioter's Block # 7

The USA, the distribution of power and Lies

The Very first Lie: The USA is democracy

The USA is not a democracy. In a democracy, the people are ruled by men and women who were voted in by their people. In the USA this cannot be considered the case. In the USA and indeed much, if not all, of the Western World, the people are directly influenced to take decisions concerning who they elect by the media. The media hold the main source of power in that depending on what the Media say the people will take decision. Seeing as the media in general are the only source of information concerning these matters the people of any media-centric country will ultimately hold the power. For example if the main television network decides to support a given candidate, then people who watch that television network will also begin to support him. However a more balanced view could come from the other networks that could support another candidate or give more objective news. However due to basic law of supply and demand these ‘independent’ networks will have to align them with what their consumers want. And if a large section of the potential audience is conditioned to believe one thing the networks will have to cater for this belief and support it to be able to feed their families. Far from is it to make some ranting raving anti-American comment. It is not the United States which is the problem, nor even is it the people who govern it. These are just symptoms, the visible gangrene of a problem much deeper and much more powerful than one imagines. The real issue is system-wide.

The Second Lie, as told by the Revolutionaries

Many liberals, socialists, angst-ridden teens and “alternative types” can sustain quite a long rant about how evil and wrong the United States and its leader, President George Walker Bush, are. However this is a lie or a mistake. The United States are just the apparent tip of an iceberg that stems worldwide and permeates the very fabric of “civilized” society. As given by the example of the Media ima Western-style, media-centric democracies, and the entire system is ruled by the laws of the market. This is one of the hallmarks of neo-liberalism as denounced by the Zapatistas. The Market is allowed to influence the way people make decisions. The Media is just one of the most prominent examples but there are many more. Thus attacking the USA and demonizing its leaders is more or less an act of ignorance. The world is not controlled by the USA but the Market. And the Market is controlled by the large turns-national companies that know no borders to their expansion. They are the ones that are real in charge and it is to them and their, bloated, cruel ambitious Coos that people will turn to when push comes to shove. It is all the Mc Donald’s, Coca Colas, Shells and Altheas that must be destroyed or at least limited before change can occur.

-RzBz

From Rioters Block #6 published may 3

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