#freeblog

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Sun, 25 Nov 2012 08:22:36 -0500

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Mon, 19 Nov 2012 16:51:00 -0500

Hidden Patriarchy

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 17:25:17 -0400

It seems that most modern men claim to be supporters of gender equality and women’s rights. Everyone supports equal treatment, equal pay and women’s right to make their own choices. Apparently it may seem that everything is all right. Some people might say patriarchy is a history as we have women in politics, business and in every other area of life. Of course I refer to the Western world as it looks different in other places such as Saudi Arabia. Obviously in Western countries there are also examples of open discrimination as many men (who also happen to be bosses or politicians) aren’t able to accept women’s choices (e.g. I wasn’t born to cook for you and give you a blowjob every morning). However, I don’t want to focus on men (or women) who are openly chauvinist. We all know that there is still much to be done to provide better living conditions for women. Rather, I’d like to raise the issue of women’s sexuality which causes different reactions among people who support women’s rights in general.

Sexuality is a problem When it comes to sexuality people react differently. We are talking about cases where women use their rights to use their sexuality. For example female animal rights activists. They strip down for the cause as vGirls do and suddenly they become problematic. Their opponents argue that the exposure of their bodies leads to the objectification of women. Well, honestly, yes, some people looking at nude pics (or half-nude) of women are building a belief that a woman is only a sexual object. However, it is worth to ask a question: who’s problematic here? The model who exposed her body or a person who seeing the naked body draws wrong conclusions? A short skirt is not an excuse for rape. And an exposure of female nudity doesn’t justify the objectification. The interesting thing here is that when we deal with vGuys the problem disappears. The same people can look at the naked torsos of handsome men and no one says those men build a bad image of all men. So it’s cool to expose your body if you’re a man but it’s not cool when you’re a woman? Similar accusations are directed towards the Femen activists who raise awareness about women’s issues using bare breasts. They are either ignored by society or accused of promoting sexism. In reality they managed to bring issues such as human trafficking, sex industry and violence towards women to main stream media.

A similar mechanism applies to sex. There’s a dominating view (even in liberal environments) in which a man has the right to sexual freedom. He can have a few sexual partners at same time and that’s okay. But if a woman wants to enjoy her freedom she suddenly turns out to be a whore.

Hidden Patriarchy

It’s actually quite funny that some men try to teach women what patriarchy is. It’s funny when some people say Yes you can but you can’t. I call it a hidden patriarchy as I believe that the term ‘freedom’ includes sexual freedom as well. This may have its source in patriarchal past in which female sexuality was designed to pleasing men, and was reserved for them. Women’s sexual freedom may thus result in anger as it means lack of control over the sphere that was controlled by men. Just as the men had decided about the finances a few decades ago, some men want to decide how women can use their sexuality, what’s appropriate and what’s not. Who’s a whore and who’s not.

Of course, hiding behind the label “I do not want the objectification of women” is very convenient. But at the end of the day it’s not logical. Getting naked doesn’t harm anyone. Having a sex with many partners doesn’t harm anyone either (if it’s consensual sex). There’s no objectification unless someone seeing a sexy female objectify her. In this case, as mentioned above, that someone has a problem with his views. The problem is not a model who used her body to raise some awareness. When you see a photo with a guy watching rugby and holding a bottle of Budweiser you don’t say “Hey, that’s because of you chicks think I’m a primitive alcoholic!!”. But you should if you want to be consistent as it’s also a gender stereotype.

The other thing is the fact that sexism is present everywhere. The market is trying to use women’s bodies to attract consumers to make more money. And if you put a half-naked blonde on the billboard it’s more likely that some guy will pay attention to it. That’s true, that’s sexist. But after all, if the girls want to strip we (as a society) can’t reject the right to decide for themselves because a bunch of capitalists make sexist ads. If no one is hurt and everything is done voluntarily, well it’s called freedom. Freedom doesn’t mean smart decisions, it doesn’t mean being perfect. It means we can decide for ourselves even if others won’t like our decisions. And if a man tells a woman that she can’t expose her sexuality because it’s inappropriate, well whatever you call it, it’s a part of patriarchy. It fits perfectly to a male-oriented world where women take a passive role in terms of sexuality.

Sexual freedom provides an equality that men enjoy from many years. It means women don’t need to satisfy anyone if they don’t want to, but if they do want it won’t make them sluts. Sexual freedom means they don’t need to play a good girl because that’s what a male-oriented society expects from them. It means they stop being a product as they can actually say both YES and NO. As long as they don’t harm anyone it’s their business what they do. Finally, women are not anyone’s property so why they should feel bad because they do what they want to do?

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Sat, 21 Apr 2012 15:51:09 -0400

Abolish copyright?

Sat, 17 Mar 2012 21:04:00 -0400

So we’ve got ACTA, PIPA & SOPA and Bakunin knows what else. All those controversial bills aim to defend copyrights owners interests (usually big businesses) and reduce our privacy at same time. Obviously that seems to be perfectly fine from the corporate point of view. It also fits in the current social-economic model. In other words the big companies can simply make more money.

What’s wrong with it?

The problem is copyright is not such a simple issue. Most people would say copyright prevents plagiarism and protect the interests of the authors. Well, in some individual cases yes that might be true, but in reality it looks a bit different. Let me make a few points on this below:

1. Copyright prevents progress- this is a major thing. We live in a pretty crazy world where you have to have the money (quite a lot actually) to use software, buy licenses, deal with patents, etc. It led us to the situation when the development can be achieved only if it’s profitable. From the technical point of view this is absolutely wrong and it actually kills thousands innovative projects every year. In fact you won’t be able to get investors involved in any project which is not based on profit. So you may know how to cure AIDS or how to create an amazing program that can make some people’s life way more easier but you can’t make it unless they can sell it. In consequences you develop some things to sell them not to make the world a better place. It means that all brilliant ideas that aim to improve our lives will never be created unless they can make some profit. Also with copyright most of great solutions cannot be shared for free, you need to buy them. You don’t have the money? Well, get lost!

2. Culture is not a product - Now, they call us pirates. Sure, the law says that the people sharing music or movies or ebooks are criminals. The thing is the law is not always right and it’s influenced by business groups who have close ties with politicians. They call it business we call it corruption. However they forget that the song is not an iPhone. You can do a cover but you can’t really steal a song. You can copy Radiohead’s Exit Song but it doesn’t mean you own this song. Radiohead own this song and they will always do. That’s the thing with the culture. It’s created for people not for the market. A movie or a book are not products you can take off the shelf and hide it in your house. The culture is for everyone and had a key role in human history. But now, with copyright, they’re trying to tell us you can’t really listen to Radiohead unless you’ve got the money. You can’t watch the latest Scorsese movie unless you pay for it. So it becomes a luxury product only for those who can afford it. Now, try to work for low salary (as most of us do) and get a few new albums and new DVDs once a month. Can you afford it? The funny thing is at the same time when the corporations are using a “piracy” keyword they are actually able to make a deal where the author loses any rights to his song/book/etc.

The other thing is a slogan used by lots of people saying that the young or unknown artists lose their money. Well, I actually spent some time in the music industry and the truth is they are usually forced to accept ridiculous contracts. They don’t really see much of $ from it. There are better solutions that can be put in place to make sure the artists can actually live from music/films/books (such as self-organized publishers or music labels). You can call it Culture Fair Trade. I might write more about in the following weeks.

The final question here is though where will we be in 20 years if an access to the culture is so limited?

Absurd of buying- we got to the point where you might become a criminal if you wish to make digital copies of music/movies you’ve purchased. It also seems that we may have to pay a copyright fee every time we use anything copyrighted in close future.

In fact, copyright issues have turned into an industry VS consumer issue. Copy protection increases cost to consumers.

What are the alternatives?

Well, the alternative is a different understanding of economics and the importance of progress. Just like Anonymous said in their statement: In our world, whatever the human mind may create can be reproduced and distributed infinitely at no cost.So we have a coplyleft. Under copyleft, an author may give every person who receives a copy of a work permission to reproduce, adapt or distribute it and require that any resulting copies or adaptations are also bound by the same licensing agreement. Another thing is open source that is widely used around the world. It promotes free redistribution and access to an end product’s design and implementation details. For example you’re fed up with your work and you want to start an e-commerce project. Normally you would need to pay some mad money for the e-commerce site. However thanks to the open source projects such as Drupal or even Wordpress you can get it done for free and you have an access to the code. Or move from Windows to Ubuntuand see how many great applications you may get for free. You create, learn and share at same time.

In real life you have places like tech labs, hackerspaces or tech cooperatives where you can not only learn but also develop any ideas you can think of. They’re amazing source of knowledge but also cooperation and voluntary work in search of development. The other places are squats or social centres where you get a free access to any culture-related materials, cultural workshops, art lessons, etc. Another example are freeshops where you can fetch a CD, check it out or make a copy and bring it back when you don’t need it anymore. There are plenty of alternatives available. They just need to be developed.

Basically these examples show that skills sharing, transparency and open projects can seriously improve our ideas and in result our lives. They’re not made for the money though. The entire philosophy behind them is different from commercial solutions we know. Research & Development rather than profit-based thinking. Free access for anyone rather than excluding poor. And I believe that’s the way to go. The copyright limits us in general (whether you’re a creator or consumer) and they oppose a free thought that may create a different system some day. It doesn’t work for the benefit of people and artist/creators as well. We’ve got alternatives out there but we just need to move away from the current system and use them.

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Tue, 13 Mar 2012 17:05:47 -0400

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Tue, 13 Mar 2012 16:37:31 -0400

Will revolution start on the Internet?

Mon, 05 Mar 2012 18:08:33 -0500

I guess many people recalls cyberpunk books written by writers such as William Gibson these days. The conflicts between hackers and corporations, post-industrial world, dirty businesses and corrupted politicians. The struggle against them. A few decades ago it all looked like an intriguing fiction or great ideas for a movie.

Today, it’s not a fiction anymore. We witness a growing conflict between organized (but leadership free) groups of hackers such as Anonomyous and corporations or governments. In many places of the world we face an environmental disaster caused by big businesses or tragic effects of globalization such as mass exploitation and degeneration. We’re monitored by thousands CCTV cameras and surveillance tools, we’re forced to eat GMO foods, we’re influenced by corporate propaganda and threatened by economic compulsion. Mortgages, unemployment, crisis… we face a number of issues like these every day. It’s not something new though. The political movements opposing capitalism are trying to cope with it from many years. We had massive Seattle protests in 1999, anti-capitalist Genoa in 2001, direct actions led by groups like ELF, ALF or urban guerillas from Greece, Italy, Argentine or Chile. Zapatistas, Argentinian workers and their cooperatives, social centres. Revolts in France and Greece. And many many more. Those actions caused a lot of confusion and fear among politicians and shareholders. But the system remains strong. At the end of day you may see a black block with molotov cocktails but the other side have tanks and guns.

The system remains strong because it’s hard to fight the enemy who’s way more powerful on the streets. It’s hard to win with an opponent who’s so violent and depraved. However as we learned in a last few years it looks different when it comes to the Internet. Internet gives people the tools they wouldn’t find in reality. Internet allows people to organize themselves anonymously and democratically. It gives them freedom of expression and creation. At the same time it is a way to exchange unlimited information on any subject. On the Internet it doesn’t really matter whether you’re white, black, gay, Russian or Canadian, queer, Christian or Jew.

So when you see such a bastion of freedom in the enslaved world of capitalism it’s not surprising that it becomes a threat to the system. In fact, it was the work of Internet activists that shook its foundations. Wikileaks leaks such as CableGate or Iraq War Logs were and are the cause of the crises of several governments. Their impact is really huge and in consequences it means their activity seriously affects the reality we all live in. And when the US administration and fellow corporations tried to shut Wikileaks down they received a quick response from Anonymous. It’s quite fascinating that the web attacks were more serious for all the companies and governments than thousands of protests and boycotts. It brings us to the question, what does it mean?

Perhaps we’re looking for a change in the wrong place? We expect that the Occupy Movement or Arab Spring will inspire a revolution. But most people are not on the streets. Most people are on the web though. That’s why you got so big resistance re PIPA, SOPA and ACTA bills. That’s why sites like PirateBay are so popular and Wikipedia is one of the most popular websites in the world. People want to share their knowledge, information, music, films, ideas. People want to live together and organize themselves freely. They want to join projects, they want to leave projects, they want privacy, they want freedom. On the Internet they realize they don’t need governments or big businesses to rule their lives. The progress of civilization is amazing on the web. The current system with all those copyrights, profit-based think tanks and neoliberal perspective can’t follow it, can’t understand what’s actually going on. They’re still looking for money when people are building a new kind of social and political relations. No borders, skills sharing, open source, free speech, free culture. Anonymous group even released A Declaration of the Independence of CyberSpace where they state:

In our world, whatever the human mind may create can be reproduced and distributed infinitely at no cost. The global conveyance of thought no longer requires your factories to accomplish.

In other words, maybe this is the place where the revolution starts?

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Sat, 03 Mar 2012 12:15:00 -0500

FreeLab

Fri, 02 Mar 2012 07:45:00 -0500

A friend of mine is setting up a tech social centre called #FreeLab. It actually looks quite interesting as you’ve got loads of social centres or squats where you can attend screenings, gigs or lectures. However most of them don’t cover technological issues so you’re not really able to learn how to use PHP or how to build a wind turbine or rocket stove. Unless you pay for it ridiculous money. So you may say #FreeLab is a technical initiative that aims to provide Resarch & Development support for intentional communities. Check out their manifesto.

Now, it’s based in Poland but I know lots of you travel a lot. Some of you visit Poland regularly. So here’s the thing. If you reckon you’d be able to run some workshops, or you’d like to attend some of them get in touch. Alternatively you can also support them in other way. They’re just starting so they need a lot of help with it. If you can donate, send in some stuff, share your contacts or you want to be a part of the collective running #FreeLab, get in touch with them too. I believe it might be a very useful place for the movement itself but also for each of us. It may provide the support we really need in order to progress (from where we are). We have brilliant ideas but we lack skills. Let’s face it as it happens all the time. So let’s change it!

Anyways, if you’re looking for something exciting to do, here’s your chance! Get involved folks and keep it going!

"Fuck that, I still fill like I am innocent You think I wrote BIF on McD without a reason?"

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 15:49:00 -0500

““Fuck that,
I still fill like I am innocent
You think I wrote BIF on McD without a reason?””

Ever wondered who made your shoes?

Sat, 25 Feb 2012 11:40:00 -0500

Ever wondered who made your shoes?

Activism is not a party

Fri, 24 Feb 2012 05:37:34 -0500

It’s worth to remind what activism actually is. Especially when we see increase of activists. The problem is they’re more interested in fun. Well, to be honest activism is not a fun. I mean it’s fun too but that’s not a purpose of being activist. It’s mostly hard work, risk and fatigue. Often a series of major failures and small victories. In many cases, activism means many sacrifices and inconveniences: it makes you broke, you don’t have a time for yourself or you’re living under constant risk of repression. In other words it’s not a party!

I think everyone likes concerts, parties and meeting friends. That’s natural. But let’s straight it out here: we need actions. It’s nice if you come to Vegan Cafe and have a great evening. It’s nice if you go to solidarity gig and pay five quid to help antifascists in prisons. But let’s be honest, you don’t need to go to concert to support other folks. It’s fun for you but it’s not activism unless you organize it.

So we’ve got a number of people who attend gigs, parties and they reckon they do a great job. I mean, I’m far from criticizing anyone who likes fun. Fun is not bad. We should however realize that the struggle against capitalism or the exploitation of animals is another matter. This requires a particular attitude and dedicated people instead of party people. Of course, conformity, or rather the consumption of alternative lifestyle visible among many activists is not surprising. The specificity of the current consumer system affects us everywhere. We’re all indoctrinated in some way as this is the way we were raised. So it’s not about judging who’s brilliant activist or who’s not. It’s not a competition and everyone contributes as much he/she can. It’s about goals we want to achieve.

At the end of day someone has to do the job. There are hundreds of important things that should be done straight away. But they’re not really fun. They may be boring, tiring or even frustrating. However, when we see hundreds of smiling people at the parties / potlucks / cafes, we only see a few of them during real actions. That’s not right.

So hey, you want to change the world? You want human and animal liberation? That’s awesome! Get involved and work hard! But if you’re looking for something different, there are many ways to have fun or express yourself. Otherwise you just distract those who do the job and might count on you.

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Thu, 23 Feb 2012 09:24:00 -0500

Online safety - a short guide

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 06:16:00 -0500

Well, the thing is you don’t need to be a geek to be pretty safe. Of course there’s no such thing like 100% online safety but there are a few things we can do to improve it. And if you happen to be an activist you should consider it really seriously. Especially with all those PIPA, SOPA and ACTA laws they are trying to put in place.

So here we go:

1. Ubuntu - if you’re Windows user I’d recommend to check out Ubuntu. Linux is much safer and stable than Windows. The great thing about linux is that it’s open source and you get updates very often. It means if there’s a bug it’ll get fixed pretty soon.You also get thousands of free applications and if you need to use some Windows-only apps you can use Wine to mount them. By the way, believe it or not with Ubuntu you don’t need to be worry about viruses. It’ll make you forget what a virus is. It’s also user friendly and fast so you don’t need to know all those fancy terminal commands to use it.

2. VPN - VPN means Virtual Private Network and it’s pretty straight forward. You’ll exchange the IP-number you get from your ISP to an anonymous IP-number .You get a safe/encrypted connection between your computer and the Internet. Your existing ISP can not limit what you can do nor limit what information you can access. It’s a really cool thing! I use iPredator which is pretty stable but there also other ones. Riseup collective set up a VPN recently but I didn;t have a chance to test it. Alternatively you can use Tor

3. GPG for emails - if you’re sending/receiving some private data why not to encrypt it? Normally people use corporate emails like Gmail or Hotmail. They look grand but they’re free and terms&conditions are not really in favor of users. So if you want to exchange some sensitive information use GPG. The easiest way to use it is to install enigmail plugin to Thunderbird client. Than create public & private keys. Check details in documentation. Also if you’re an activist it’s a great idea to set up a Riseup mail account rather than use corporate stuff. They don’t log IP and encrypt all the data.

4. Chatting - Facebook’s or Gmail chats are nice but not when you exchange important info. It all stays on their servers so it’s way safer to use different communicators. IRC and Jabber are great alternatives. With IRC you’ve got dozens of servers (e.g. irc.indymedia.org) where you can find a number of channels. For example if you have a problem with your Ubuntu you go to irc.freenode.org and join #ubuntu channel and ask for help. Or if you’re a revolutionary vegan fella you can set up your own channel, make it private & invite only and plan revolution with your trusted folks. IRC is great for groups to run real-time discussions online. As for Jabber it’s more like ICQ. You have a contact list and you talk to you friends when they’re online. The good thing is with these communcators you can use OTR (Off-The-Record) plugin which encrypts your chat.

5. Firefox plugins - if you’re using Firefox get these plugins. They’ll improve your anonymity and safety. Also I’d recommend Google plugin that will prevent Google from collecting information about you.

6. Crabgrass - a software libre web application designed for group and network organizing, and tailored to the needs of the global justice movement. The long term goal is to provide the technical tools to facilitate active, confederal, and directly democratic social change networks. In other words if you run campaigns, organize events or actions, use Crabgrass rather than Facebook or any other corporate social network.

7. Truecrypt - we all have sensitive data. ID details, passwords, porn (busted!). Truecrypt is free open-source disk encryption software for Windows 7 /Vista/XP, Mac OS X and Linux. It’s very easy to use and it has great options. Get your stuff encrypted!

These are just basics. I’m not a geek myself but I constantly learn how to be safer so people I cooperate with are not at risk that someone will break their (my) privacy. If you think I should mention about other stuff let me know and I’ll fix it.

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Tue, 21 Feb 2012 17:44:00 -0500

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Tue, 21 Feb 2012 06:26:00 -0500

Hey, straight edge is not boring!

Sat, 31 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0500

When I became straight edge, many people did not understand my choice. Especially that I always liked to experiment with various substances. I really enjoyed it. I mean until then an integral part of the fun was the alcohol or other stuff. Now I can see it’s not surprising. Getting drunk / high just for fun is part of a western style. You work all week bravely paying off mortgage and filling boss’ orders. So what else can you do over the weekend to make yourself more relaxed? And if you need more you go further and you do drugs. Drugs are intended to give you something what is missing in your life. And yeah for example cocaine can give it for a little while. However at the end of day it’s all fake, it’s all poison, it’s all a part of being a slave. Drunk people are easy to be controlled. The truth is usually they end up in the pub complaining about everything. Sometimes they are aggressive but then they attack each other. And junkies? They can’t resist at all. After years alcohol or drugs become those things that make people happy, cheer them up or stimulate them. At same time they poison their bodies and minds though. It all has consequences.

Why it’s so cool to be straight edge?

It took me a while to understand that life without alcohol and drugs is much better. It changed when I became a dad. I didn’t want my kids to see me with a bottle of beer, to smell alcohol when I’m putting them to sleep or to see I’m in some way different. And when I stopped drinking and gave up on other stuff suddenly I could see things in other way.

But back to that question. I always ask: What’s so cool in being drunk? Vomiting? Fake joy? Hangover? Someone who drunk too much and became aggressive? Lack of control? Or the fact that from time to time you end up in bed with someone you wouldn’t really like to know. So here’s the thing with being straight edge. No vomiting, true joy, no hangover, no aggressive drunks, full control and you always end up in bed with someone who is the same person in the morning.

But it’s boring!

Now, lots of people associate straight edge with boredom. That’s actually the main thing you hear. So you go to the pub and you do what? Drink orange juice? How can you pick up a girl while sober? C’mon! But in reality why the hell should it be boring? You do exactly same things, just they’re much better when your mind is clean and works right. You meet plenty of interesting and cheerful folks, you enjoy great gigs, you attend events and make new friends, you enjoy your free-of-addictions family, you’re happy that your kids are not disappointed or scared by your actions. I also tie it with veganism so it means your body is healthy and you don’t support animal cruelty. Finally I can’t really see the reason why being straight edge would be boring. Unless you can’t enjoy life without alcohol or drugs. But it only indicates you have a problem, not straight edge people.

Everyone’s choice

Personally I think it’s everyone’s choice and alcohol/drugs are not evil if you know how to use them. But I think that our civilization is so much imbued with artificial values that we should refute several myths about the straight edge movement, because it is a great alternative. We need to let people know they can make other choices in order to be happy. Until recently, the straight edge was indeed associated with the hardcore scene, but in times of consumerism, more and more people are recognizing its benefits. It’s not a subculture thing anymore.

It’s not surprising though. Junk food and GMOs are flooding our plates, corporations tell us that we need to take drugs to be healthy, and we can achieve happiness only after drink or joint. This way a healthy life free from addictions remains an alternative for those who do not want to become victims of someone’s interests, who see life differently, and looking for real values. Someone might say that Western civilization is based on the hedonistic and destructive attitudes. Wild parties, hard drinking, coke, crack, food from McDonalds, etc. Sounds like a good weekend for many. That’s true. But guess what, we weren’t straight edge our entire life too! People grow up, people change. If anyone feels it’s time for change, this change will come. And straight edge might be a change you’re looking for!

Recent events

Mon, 14 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0500

As we were quite busy last few months here’s a short list of movies we screened. Let me know if you’re interested to screen them I might lend you a copy or contact with film makers if screening fee applies!

Planeat is the story of three men’s life-long search for a diet, which is good for our health, animals, good for the environment and good for the future of the planet. With an additional cast of pioneering chefs and some of the best cooking you have ever seen, the scientists and doctors in the film present a convincing case for the West to re-examine its love affair with meat and dairy. The film features the ground-breaking work of Dr. T Colin Campbell in China exploring the link between diet and disease, Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn’s use of diet to treat heart disease patients, and Professor Gidon Eshel’s investigations into how our food choices contribute to global warming, land use and oceanic deadzones.

The Cove begins in Taiji, Japan, where former dolphin trainer Ric O’Barry has come to set things right after a long search for redemption. In the 1960s, it was O’Barry who captured and trained the 5 dolphins who played the title character in the international television sensation Flipper. But his close relationship with those dolphins – the very dolphins who sparked a global fascination with trained sea mammals that continues to this day – led O’Barry to a radical change of heart.

One fateful day, a heartbroken Barry came to realize that these deeply sensitive, highly intelligent and self-aware creatures so beautifully adapted to life in the open ocean must never be subjected to human captivity again. This mission has brought him to Taiji, a town that appears to be devoted to the wonders and mysteries of the sleek, playful dolphins and whales that swim off their coast.

But in a remote, glistening cove, surrounded by barbed wire and “Keep Out” signs, lies a dark reality. It is here, under cover of night, that the fishermen of Taiji, driven by a multi-billion dollar dolphin entertainment industry and an underhanded market for mercury-tainted dolphin meat, engage in an unseen hunt. The nature of what they do is so chilling – and the consequences are so dangerous to human health – they will go to great lengths to halt anyone from seeing it.

The Cove is directed by Louie Psihoyos and produced by Paula DuPre Pesman and Fisher Stevens. The film is written by Mark Monroe. The executive producer is Jim Clark and the co-producer is Olivia Ahnemann.

In suburban Buenos Aires, thirty unemployed auto-parts workers walk into their idle factory, roll out sleeping mats and refuse to leave. All they want is to re-start the silent machines. They reclaim control of a closed Forja auto plant where they once worked and turn it into a worker cooperative

But this simple act - the take - has the power to turn the globalization debate on its head. Armed only with slingshots and an abiding faith in shop-floor democracy, the workers face off against the bosses, bankers and a whole system that sees their beloved factories as nothing more than scrap metal for sale.

With “The Take”, director Avi Lewis, one of Canada’s most outspoken journalists, and writer Naomi Klein, author of the international bestseller No Logo, champion a radical economic manifesto for the 21st century.

“Sharkwater” takes you into the most shark rich waters of the world, exposing the exploitation and corruption surrounding the world’s shark populations in the marine reserves of Cocos Island, Costa Rica and the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador.

In an effort to protect sharks, Stewart teams up with renegade conservationist Paul Watson of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. Their unbelievable adventure together starts with a battle between the Sea Shepherd and shark poachers in Guatemala, resulting in pirate boat rammings, gunboat chases, mafia espionage, corrupt court systems and attempted murder charges, forcing them to flee for their lives.

Through it all, Stewart discovers these magnificent creatures have gone from predator to prey, and how despite surviving the earth’s history of mass extinctions, they could easily be wiped out within a few years due to human greed. Stewart’s remarkable journey of courage and determination changes from a mission to save the world’s sharks, into a fight for his life, and that of humankind.

The Corporation explores the nature and spectacular rise of the dominant institution of our time. Part film and part movement. The Corporation is transforming audiences and dazzling critics with its insightful and compelling analysis. Taking its status as a legal “person” to the logical conclusion, the film puts the corporation on the psychiatrist’s couch to ask “What kind of person is it?” The Corporation includes interviews with 40 corporate insiders and critics - including Noam Chomsky, Naomi Klein, Milton Friedman, Howard Zinn, Vandana Shiva and Michael Moore - plus true confessions, case studies and strategies for change. The film looks at the concept of the corporation throughout recent history up to its present-day dominance.

Reformist revolution?

Fri, 17 Jun 2011 00:00:00 -0400

Reformists clash with the revolutionaries for years on the methods of struggle against capitalism. The first group is criticized for its strategy of building a new society step by step. Revolutionaries say that it will never happen because real liberation requires radical action and confrontation with the enemy. But reformists say that revolutionary methods are based on short-term changes that lead to violence and it is never possible to predict the outcome of the revolution.

So the conflict about the strategies already takes many years and we see no improvement here. Last week I attended a lecture on these two issues at the Anarchist Bookfair and I spotted that the movement is still in the stagnation in this field. I mean we all know the history: conflicts between Marxists and anarchists, reformism promoted by Edward Bernstein, Spanish revolution or insurrectionary campaigns run by urban guerillas in Germany, Chile or Greece and other countries. There’s more stuff here. It gives a framework for the analysis, but we are at a point in which global capitalism is very strong and dreadful, and all sorts of leftists are considered to be commies and fans of Stalin. This means that there is no time for further doubts and disagreements. We can share our analysis on blogs and Indymedia sites, but it only gives us a little. Mr. Th0rin said to me recently that one of the biggest victories of the current system may be the fact that we are able to write and publish wise essays and books, but we are unable to operate.

Thus, back to our conflicted reformists and revolutionaries, I think we get to the point where both groups are correct.

What’s good in reformism?

Well, if we want to be honest we have to recognize that the movement is weak. Although we have hundreds of organizations, social centres, campaigns, websites and activists involved in every field of struggle, as a WHOLE we are weak. We do not have strong foundations, we do not have a close international cooperation, we do not exist in the mass media (unless there are some riots), we lack the people and money. Capitalism has it all and this is why it is so strong.

If we think about real change we must have SOMETHING. We must have a base to support the change, something that will act as financial and logistical support. We need a global and local solutions, which allow us to organize, gain experience and get involve other people. For example, local activists have some great ideas, they want to meet and start working, but what if they do not have access to any place where they can actually do it? What if they need money, but do not have access to funds which will help them? What if there’s a threat of repression, but there is no one who will protect them? What if they lack skills and do not know anyone who could provide training?

It’s happening now, that’s why so many brilliant projects die before they even get started. Often it happens also that the campaigns which last a long time are simply harmless for the elites. It’s convenient for them. So it’s easy to set up a gardening group but try to reduce dependence on oil for your region. Or try to change the law so that animals were not defined as property. You’ll see how quickly you become a terrorist and public enemy. Therefore, before making big challenges we have to be prepared and have adequate resources (funds, community properties, legal teams, food suppliers, plans, skills, etc.). I know it takes a lot of time and it sounds really reformist but let’s be honest : this has to be built first. Otherwise, how can we even think about the revolution? That would be disaster. A small group of people against the tanks of NATO and the mercenaries from Blackwater? We can actually see a part of it in Greece currently. There are several urban guerillas groups operating in Greece which try to confront the government and wake up the people. However, they do not have the necessary capacity and despite the many actions Greece remains in a big trouble. So after a few years of fight instead of mass support of the population they get lessons of a state terror in prisons.

Anyway at this point the reformist approach is useful. To think about the revolution you must have a social and logistic background to make this possible. But I think that here the role of reformist thinking ends as well. Faith in the parallel construction of an alternative society with no reaction of rulers is simply naive. As soon as they see the threat they will try to fix this. So the entire reformist path leads to a confrontation anyway. At least I don’t see any other way.

Revolution time

Politicians, capitalists, bankers, elites - or whatever you call them - will not go away just like that. Their wealth is based on power and control. I mean they have invested millions in corporations and they hold shares in businesses exploiting workers, destroying communities or causing the environment pollution. They own dozens of properties and banks, they support the wars, they kill millions of animals every year, they profit from unjust globalization in Third World. At same time they drive big SUVs, fly private jets, staying overnight in hotels $ 3000 per day. Does anyone really think that seeing a threat to their status, they will just give the power to the people in the name of freedom? No way!

Don’t get me wrong here, it doesn’t mean Let’s kill them all. I’m far from that and I’m far from saying that each of them is responsible for terrible crimes. But the fact is that these groups do control the economy and politics. And they do it wrong what affects everyone. Another fact is they do control police and military and in the face of threats to their power they will try to eliminate opposition. It means they will use the police and army if required. And alternative institutions, alternative economics, and finally an alternative society are such a threat. I mean we saw it in so many cases that it is hard to count (Argentine, Mexico, Peru, Greece, Italy, Libya) So if we have a base (tools) ready it will probably get tough now. Never mind whether you’re a hippie or black block member. As soon as the growth of independent projects (e.g. community financial institutions) reaches a certain level the authorities will feel threatened. Then they will react.

Anyway this is where revolutionary thought comes to place. I would like to believe that radical changes can be done peacefully, but it is difficult to imagine it when we are dealing with the violent opponent. The confrontation at some point is inevitable. The problem is, however, that the wrongly run revolution can bring more harm than good. Riots, violence on the streets are no fun, even if it is a part of the struggle for a better life. The revolutionary attitude demands great discipline too, because it is easy to cross the line of morality. I mean the revolution’s aim is to overthrow an unjust system and not to enjoy violence itself. However, we can be sure there would be people who just want to shoot other people. Also because of that the reformist part is important because building alternative places educates society at same time. You get educated earlier through doing things, not during insurection. Otherwise, instead of putting power into the hands of people we may have an explosion of mass killing, robbing, etc. I do not think that violence can be avoided. I mean if you look at history, large social movements always came through the fight to achieve what they wanted. So this is really bad news, but on the other hand is it so better to be oppressed by capitalism? And I know there are a lot of people that don’t feel oppressed. They usually split into two groups, the rich and the unconscious. The last ones need to switch off their TV first. Then they will see we don’t need to take 30 years mortgage to own a house if we don’t want to. And then many other things will get clear (Honey, how could we feed our kids with junk food for over 10 years???)

Redefine strategy

So finally reformists must realize that their method leads to a response of state anyway. It’s better to know that earlier than be surprised and then shocked by brutal response. And revolutionaries need to understand that the struggle is something more than just open and armed resistance. The revolution itself is the moment of climax but to defeat the system you need a broad perspective. Pre-revolution and post-revolution times are just as important. So these two views should be combined not separated.

At the end of day it’s all still theory. Nobody knows what will happen. It is certain that the movement must unite to join together different trends and work out an overall strategy. Resistance must be global as capitalism is global. Of course, these are just words like many others, but without the unification of the various groups we will continue to use corporate laptops to write anti-corporate notes. Without a new strategy, we will never progress. The evolution of the movement is very slow especially if you compare it with the flexibility of politicians and financiers.

And people still do not recognize the environmental pollution, surveillance, junk food, labor relations, economic system and many other issues as something that is destructive to themselves. And if even they do they do nothing about that . They simply lack faith, because no one can propose to them a credible plan for change. So they choose to believe in Obama instead of themselves.