CrimethInc.'s Blog

How did Trump come to power, and what does that tell us about the era we are entering? What strategies will be effective in countering repressive government policies and the rise of grassroots nationalism? Framing Trump’s victory in a global context, we will explore some of the approaches to self-organization and self-defense that anarchists are employing in various parts of the United States, drawing on the principles of mutual aid and direct action.

This is the second leg of this speaking tour, which has already visited several cities along the East Coast. If you would like to host an event in your town on a future outing, please contact us at rollingthunder@crimethinc.com.

Friday, January 6, 7 pm

Pittsburgh, PA

Bloomcraft, 460 Melwood Avenue

Saturday, January 7, 4 pm

Bloomington, IN

Monroe County Public Library Meeting Room, 1C 303 E Kirkwood Ave.

Sunday, January 8, 6:30 pm

St. Louis, MO

2900 Sidney

Monday, January 9, 8 pm

Carbondale, IL

214 North Washington Street

Tuesday, January 10, 7 pm

Asheville, NC

Firestorm, 610 Haywood Road

Earlier this week, we published a text from a comrade entitled Does Trump Represent Fascism, or White Supremacy? We’ve received this counterpoint on the same topic.

Trump’s election signals a turn in a century-old cycle, one we ought to recognize by now. The U.S. has been experiencing growing populist discontent, a sentiment fostered by poor material conditions for the working class. The Left has had a few token victories (a black president, gay civil rights), but has, predictably, not demonstrated the revolutionary potential that could lead to real changes in most peoples’ lives. This failure is bitterly felt.

Most U.S. residents see the government as corrupt and untrustworthy. They feel alienated from the democratic process, and from their physical communities, retreating instead into online echo chambers of shared opinions and mythologies. The long legacy of white supremacy in the United States, which has never truly subsided, is fed by all of this: rather than directing their anxiety and frustration towards the true structures of power that oppress everyone in this country, many within the white working class are sharpening their feelings, stemming from precarity, into resentment directed at the bodies of black and brown people. These emotions are manipulated and exploited by members of the bourgeoisie who are worried that their power may be slipping. The specter of ISIS without—a true and yet mythologized enemy—is used to justify infinite repression within.

Many people like the comrade who wrote the article “Does Trump Represent Fascism or White Supremacy?” are cautious about calling current political movements fascist. Dozens of books debate even the past—was Nazi Germany fascist, or only Mussolini’s Italy? What about Franco’s Spain, or Perón’s Argentina? More recently, people ask: do the self-organized, until recently rather pathetically unthreatening white supremacists in the United States who call themselves fascists actually count as such? What about Silicon Valley billionaires pouring money into racialized campaigns of secession? Perhaps this caution stems from the urge to be precise, to avoid name-calling—though all know that Trump has earned most epithets one could imagine.

In the case of the aforementioned comrade, this concern is framed as technical:

“Fascism is not just any extreme right-wing position. It is a complex phenomenon that mobilizes a popular movement under the hierarchical direction of a political party and cultivates parallel loyalty structures in the police and military, to conquer power either through democratic or military means; subsequently abolishes electoral procedures to guarantee a single party continuity; creates a new social contract with the domestic working class, on the one hand ushering in a higher standard of living than what could be achieved under liberal capitalism and on the other hand protecting the capitalists with a new social peace; and eliminates the internal enemies whom it had blamed for the destabilization of the prior regime.”

Sure. The United States is on this trajectory, and it can only be stopped from reaching its destination by the full-hearted efforts of all. The fact that we have not yet arrived, that it may look slightly different here and now, or that many proto-fascist parties in Europe did not reach their goal, does not make the situation less serious; it rather means that people struggle every day against oppression of all kinds, fascist or no, and too often pay the price for that struggle. We fight the tide, but people have fought before; nothing is guaranteed.

As McKenzie Wark recently said: “It’s curious that the political categories of liberal, conservative and so forth are treated as trans-historical, but you are not supposed to use the category of fascism outside of a specific historical context… But maybe we should treat it not as the exception but the norm. What needs explaining is not fascism but its absence.” During Hitler’s rise to power, many calmed themselves by saying that he would not really murder Jews, that it was all election rhetoric. Today, as the CNN scroll asks “Are Jews people?” and neo-fascists salute Trump with the sieg heil mere blocks from the White House, let us not fall into a similar error.

Fascism and white supremacy are not mutually exclusive concepts; in fact, the scholar Hannah Arendt, as well as the fascists Benito Mussolini and Francisco Franco, attribute the rise of fascism to European “imperial adventures” in Africa. Such murderous adventures provided practical experience, forms of governance, and newly vicious tactics (some of the first people gassed to death were Rif people rebelling against Spanish colonizers) to those who went on to be fascists. Achille Mbembe and others have shown how the creation of whiteness and the state of exception through American and European slavery foreground fascism on a more subtle and pervasive level. I am not certain if fascism would be possible without white supremacy; but white supremacy thrives under other systems of government, and I believe anarchy is likely the only thing that can fully eradicate it. What is clear is that white supremacy and fascism are as much bosom friends as Trump and Steve Bannon.

The comrade to whom I am responding makes a mistake in assuming that people’s responses are intellectually founded: “If economics were the bottom line, white Americans would feel more secure, not less secure, after Obama’s presidency.” People read facts (though less often, given the growing U.S. reliance on fake Facebook news and Twitter feeds)… but they believe stories. The story Trump, Breitbart, and a million other online and community influencers are feeding white people and aficionados of “traditional values” speaks to deeper and older impulses that feel like truth. White mythology (and, Jasbir Puar reminds us, whiteness is utterly contingent and can be extended in exchange for loyalty) is founded in the fear of the Other; a lack of empathy or even familiarity with the cultures and lives of black and brown people; a suspicion that white is not right, and that the privileged will someday pay in hell for the goods they have laid up on earth; and a boiling resentment and sense of disenfranchisement bred by that suspicion. Whiteness—again, a social condition—is a sickness; and white people in America are burning with its fever. Fascism seems to many like the solution to their problems, imagined though they may be.

I am not writing to propose a new framework that we should all use to define our conditions of struggle. There are endless history books describing life before and under fascism, and we ought to all familiarize ourselves with them, and form our own judgments. Rather, I propose that we reject the mystification of endlessly re-categorizing our enemies. Fascists and anarchists are historic enemies, and we can learn lessons from our previous mistakes and betrayals to help us in the fight today. Racist attacks are on the rise in the United States; trolls terrorize people on Twitter along lines of race, gender, gendered expectations, and perceived “Jewishness”; politicians, emboldened by the political climate, are already attempting to ban us from bathrooms and from getting abortions. None of this is new, but the tone has changed. Acting as though social democracy is infallible and that our “gentle parent,” whose rule we have been rebelling against a long time, will always step in to save us from our more terrifying intimate enemy, contravenes not only what we know from the histories of fascism in Spain, Italy, Germany, and Argentina, but from our own experiences as anarchists.

The good news is that this election both signals and generates a huge crisis of faith in the U.S. government: if we anarchists can provide a coherent and present alternative, one of peace, camaraderie, and joy in struggle, we may have more opportunity for realizing a fully different society than we ever did in more comfortable times. The state is our enemy, no matter the season… but the different aspects it wears should inform our tactics. As always, the project is not defeating a particular enemy or ensuring our own personal comfort, but total freedom and real possibilities for all. I join the comrade in calling for solidarity between the oppressed in our struggles; I caution that we do not adopt the Manichaean perspective of our enemy in so doing. Names are useful; categories are not real; we are not at war any more than we ever have been. The struggle continues as always, in our hearts, communities, and world.

How should we understand the impending presidency of Donald Trump? What should we be prepared for? While some have framed Trump’s victory as a sign of resurgent fascism, our guest contributor argues that we should see it as the latest development in a much older phenomenon, which is not an interruption of democracy but intimately interlinked with it.

There are many ways to conceptualize the relationship between democracy and fascism, and this is a dangerous time to take anything for granted; we will be publishing more on this subject shortly. In the meantime, this is a useful contribution towards analyzing the dangers ahead and how to ready ourselves for them.

Read the feature.

We’ve obtained translations of our call to action against the Inauguration of Donald Trump, “No Peaceful Transition,” in Spanish, French, and Portuguese. Please circulate these widely. If you can translate the call into additional languages, or you wish to receive updates about the mobilization, email disruptj20@riseup.net.

Nada de transición pacífica


#DisruptJ20: Llamada a una audaz movilización contra la toma de posesión de Donald Trump el 20 de enero de 2017

El viernes 20 de enero de 2017, Donald Trump tomará posesión del cargo de Presidente de los Estados Unidos. Pedimos a todas las personas de buena conciencia que se unan para interrumpir las ceremonias. Si Trump tiene que tomar posesión, vamos a hacer que suceda a puerta cerrada, mostrando el verdadero rostro del estado de represivo que presidirá. Al mundo entero le debe quedar claro que la gran mayoría de la gente en los Estados Unidos no apoya su presidencia ni consiente en su gobierno.



Trump representa la tiranía, la codicia y la misoginia. Es el campeón de neonazis y nacionalistas blancos, de la policía que mata a los negros, latinos y pobres a diario, de agentes fronterizos racistas y sádicos guardias de prisión, del FBI y de la NSA que pinchan tu teléfono y leen tu correo electrónico. Él es el heraldo de una catástrofe climática aún mayor, de deportaciones, discriminaciones y de la guerra sin fin. Continúa negando la existencia del cambio climático, a pesar de todas las pruebas, poniendo en juego el futuro de toda la raza humana. El Ku Klux Klan, Vladimir Putin, Amanecer Dorado, y el Estado Islámico,… todos aplaudieron su victoria. Si permitimos que su inauguración no sea desafiada, estamos abriendo la puerta al futuro que ellos imaginan.

El éxito de Trump confirma la bancarrota de la democracia representativa. En lugar de usar el proceso democrático como coartada para la inacción, debemos demostrar que ninguna elección podría legitimar su agenda. Ni los demócratas ni ningún otro partido o candidato nos salvarán; simplemente ofrecen una versión más débil de lo mismo. Si va a haber un cambio positivo en esta sociedad, tenemos que hacerlo nosotras mismas, juntas, a través de la acción directa.



Desde el primer día, la presidencia de Trump será un desastre. #DisruptJ20 será el comienzo de la resistencia. Debemos tomar las calles y protestar, bloquear, interrumpir, intervenir, sentarnos, salir, levantarnos y hacer más ruido y crear más problemas de los que el sistema puede soportar. El desfile debe ser detenido. Debemos deslegitimar a Trump y todo lo que él representa. Es hora de defendernos a nosotras mismas, a nuestros seres queridos, y al mundo que nos sostiene como si nuestras vidas dependieran de ello, porque lo hacen.

En Washington, DC:

DC no será hospitalario para la administración de Trump. Toda corporación debe declarar abiertamente si están al lado de él o con la gente que sufrirá en sus manos. Miles convergerán y demostrarán su resistencia al régimen de Trump. Reserva la fecha. Se creará un sitio web en breve con más detalles. #DisruptJ20

En el resto de los Estados Unidos

Si no puedes llegar a Washington DC el 20 de enero, sal a la calle donde quiera que estés. Hacemos un llamamiento a nuestros/as compañeros/as para que organicen manifestaciones y otras acciones para la noche del 20 de enero. También hay un llamamiento para que se lleve a cabo una huelga general. Organiza un paro en tu centro educativo ya. Trabajadores/as: llamad dicendo que estáis enfermos/as y tomad el día libre. Sin trabajo, sin escuela, sin compras, sin tareas domésticas. #DisruptJ20

En el resto del mundo

Si vives fuera de los Estados Unidos, puedes actuar en las embajadas de EE.UU., en las fronteras u otros símbolos del poder neocolonial. Nuestra lealtad no es a “hacer a América grande de nuevo”, sino con toda la humanidad y el planeta. #DisruptJ20

Difunde la palabra. Únete a la lucha. #DisruptJ20


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Si queréis adheriros a  esta llamada, poned vuestro nombre en la parte inferior de esta lista y hacedla circular. Enviad un correo electrónico a disruptj20@riseup.net para ser incluido en la lista.

Traducido por Alasbarricadas.

Pas de transition pacifique

#DisruptJ20: Appel à une mobilisation audacieuse contre l’investiture de Donald Trump le 20 janvier 2017

Le vendredi 20 janvier 2017, Donald Trump sera intronisé Président des États-Unis. Nous en appelons aux personnes de conscience à participer à la perturbation des cérémonies. Si Trump doit réellement être investi, faisons en sorte que cela se fasse à huis clos, pendant que nous exposerons le vrai visage de l’État sécuritaire que Trump présidera. Il doit être clairement affirmé au monde entier que la vaste majorité du peuple américain ne soutient pas sa présidence ni ne consent à son règne.

Trump incarne la tyrannie, la cupidité et la misogynie. Il est le champion des néo-nazis et des nationalistes blancs, de la police qui assassine quotidiennement les noirs, les hispaniques et les pauvres, le champion des agents frontaliers et des gardiens de prison les plus racistes pour les uns et sadiques pour les autres, du FBI et de la NSA, enfin, qui mettent votre téléphone sur écoute et qui lisent vos emails. Il laisse même présager davantage de désastres écologiques, d’expulsions, de discriminations et de guerres interminables. Il persiste à nier la réalité du changement climatique, et ce en dépit de toutes les évidences, mettant en jeu l’avenir de l’humanité tout entière. Le Ku Klux Klan, Vladimir Poutine, Aube dorée ou encore l’État islamique ont tous applaudi sa victoire. Si nous laissons son investiture se dérouler sans contestation, nous ouvrons la porte au futur dont ils rêvent tous.

Le succès de Trump confirme la faillite de la démocratie représentative. Plutôt que de recourir au processus démocratique comme un moyen de justifier l’inaction, nous devons montrer qu’aucune élection ne saurait légitimer son programme. Ni les Démocrates ni aucun autre parti politique ou politicien ne nous sauvera – ils ne font qu’offrir une version édulcorée de la même chose. Si des changements positifs doivent se produire dans cette société, nous devons les initier nous-mêmes, collectivement, par l’action directe.

Dès le premier jour, la présidence de Trump sera un désastre. #DisruptJ20 marquera le début de la résistance. Nous devons prendre les rues et manifester, mener des actions de blocus, perturber et s’interposer, faire des sit in et déambuler, se lever et faire plus de bruits et de good trouble que ce que la caste dirigeante ne pourra supporter. Il faut mettre fin à la parade. Nous devons délégitimer Trump et tout ce qu’il représente. Il est temps de nous défendre, nous, nos proches et le monde qui nous compose, comme si nos vies en dépendaient – parce que tel est le cas.

À Washington DC


Washington DC n’accueillera pas Trump à bras ouverts. Chaque entreprise doit se positionner ouvertement, de son côté ou du côté du peuple qui souffrira par ses mains. Des milliers de personnes convergeront et opposeront une résistance au régime de Trump. À vos agendas. Un site Internet sera bientôt disponible avec davantage de détails. #DisruptJ20

Dans le reste des Etats-Unis


Si vous ne pouvez pas vous rendre à Washington DC le 20 janvier, prenez la rue où que vous soyez. Nous appelons nos camarades à organiser des manifestations et d’autres actions pour la nuit du 20 janvier. Il y a également un appel à la grève générale. Dans les écoles, organisez dès maintenant les blocus. Pour les travailleurs, faites-vous porter pâles et prenez votre journée. Pas de travail, pas d’école, pas de shopping, pas de corvées ménagères. #DisruptJ20

À travers le monde


Si vous vivez à l’extérieur des États-Unis, vous pouvez mener des actions devant les ambassades américaines, aux frontières ou devant tout autre symbole de la puissance néocoloniale. Notre allégeance n’est pas de « rendre sa grandeur à l’Amérique », notre allégeance va à l’humanité et à la planète toutes entière. #DisruptJ20

Faites passer le mot. Rejoignez la lutte. #DisruptJ20

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Traduction: Lundimatin

Não haverá transição pacífica

#DisruptJ20: Chamada para uma audaciosa mobilização contra a inauguração do mandato de Donald Trump no dia 20 de Janeiro de 2017.

Na sexta-feira, dia 20 de Janeiro de 2017, Donald Trump irá inaugurar seu mandato de presidente dos Estados Unidos. Convidamos a todas as pessoas de boa consciência para juntarem-se a nós na sabotagem da cerimônia. Se Trump vai mesmo assumir a presidência, que seja atrás de portas fechadas, mostrando a verdadeira face do estado policial que Trump irá presidir. É preciso deixar claro para o mundo que a grande maioria das pessoas nos Estados Unidos não apoiam sua presidência ou tem consenso com sua ordem.

Trump representa a tirania, a ganância e a misoginia. Ele é o símbolo dos neonazistas e dos nacionalistas brancos, da polícia que assassina os negros, latinos e pobres diariamente, dos agentes racistas de fronteira e guardas sádicos das prisões, do FBI e da NSA (Agência de Segurança Nacional), que grampeiam nosso telefone e acessam nossos e-mails. Ele é o prenúncio de catástrofes climáticas ainda maiores, de mais deportações, discriminações, e guerras intermináveis. Ele continua a negar a existência das mudanças climáticas, apesar de todas as evidências, colocando o futuro de toda espécie humana em risco. A Klu Klux Klan, Vladimir Putin, Aurora Dourada (partido grego neonazista), e o Estado Islâmico comemoraram sua vitória. Se deixarmos que ele assuma a presidência, estaremos abrindo as portas para o futuro que eles visualizam.

O sucesso de Trump confirma a falência da democracia representativa. Ao invés de utilizar o processo democrático como um álibi para inação, precisamos mostrar que nenhuma eleição poderia legitimar sua agenda. Nem os Democratas nem nenhum outro partido ou político irá nos salvar – eles apenas oferecem uma versão mais fraca da mesma coisa. Se houverem mudanças positivas nesta sociedade, temos de fazê-las por nós mesmos, juntos, através da ação direta.

Desde o princípio, a presidência de Trump será um desastre. #DisruptJ20 será o começo da resistência. Precisamos tomar as ruas e protestar, bloquear, quebrar, intervir, insurgir, e fazer mais barulho e confusão que o governo poderia aguentar. O desfile deve parar. É necessário deslegitimar Trump e tudo o que ele representa. É hora de defendermos a nós mesmos, a quem amamos, e o ao mundo que nos sustenta como se nossas vidas dependessem disso – porque dependem.

Em Washington, DC

Washington não será hospitaleira à administração de Trump. Cada corporação precisa declarar abertamente se estão ao lado dele, ou ao lado do povo que irá sofrer em suas mãos. Milhares irão convergir e resistir ao regime de Trump. Guarde esta data. Em breve um site irá aparecer com mais detalhes. #DisruptJ20

Ao redor dos EUA

Se você não pode ir até Washington, DC, no dia 20 de Janeiro, tome as ruas onde quer que você esteja. Nós chamamos a nossos camaradas para organizar manifestações e outras ações para a noite do dia 20 de Janeiro. Também há uma chamada para greve geral. Organize uma marcha na sua escola. Trabalhadores: peguem licença médica e tirem o dia de folga. Sem trabalho, sem escola, sem compras, sem trabalho doméstico. #DisruptJ20

Ao redor do mundo

Se você vive fora dos EUA, pode agir em embaixadas dos Estados Unidos, fronteiras, ou outros símbolos do poder neocolonial. Não nos dedicamos para “fazer a América grande de novo”, nos dedicamos à humanidade e ao planeta. #DisruptJ20

Espalhe a notícia. Junte-se a luta. #DisruptJ20

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Tradução: Malobeo

A joint statement published on the occasion of Obama’s visit to Athens, Greece by Void Network and the CrimethInc. ex-Workers’ Collective. To respond to the inauguration of Donald Trump, click here.

Today, November 14, outgoing US President Barack Obama sets out for Greece. Speaking from both the United States and Greece, we call on every partisan of freedom to participate in the night demonstration called for Athens on November 15.

It is symbolic that Obama is visiting Greece on his farewell tour. The Balkans have served as a laboratory for neoliberalism and US military interventions since the late 20th century; Greece in particular has undergone a global experiment of crisis management and repression. As war draws closer and closer—Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Ukraine, Turkey—the Balkans are expected to serve Europe and the US as a buffer zone while suffering the same abuse as the periphery.

Now that the pipe dream of universal economic growth has come to an end, giving way to a vista of chaos and climate catastrophe, we can see that the new order will only be stabilized by the empty promises of politicians and the brute force of the police and military. In a word, by the ballot and the bullet. The buffer zone is getting smaller and smaller, and the United States is not exempt—the same National Guard sent to Iraq have already been deployed in Baltimore. Now is the time to fight, before the situation grows any worse.

In expressing shock and outrage about [the election of Donald Trump, many on the Left have obscured the systemic nature of the problem. By taking action against the Democratic favorite of the US, we show that our opposition is not directed against any particular representative, but against the state and capitalism themselves. In the pleas Clinton and Obama have made for a “peaceful transition of power” to a man they declared unfit to rule, we see the collusion of liberals who would rather preserve the apparatus of the state even in the hands of outright fascists than permit real freedom to emerge.

Indeed, as the candidate of supposed “Hope” and “Change,” Obama not only preserved the structures of power, but persuaded many of the people who are most targeted by the system to invest more faith and resources in those structures—which will now be used to repress them more aggressively than ever. Just as we reject the false solutions of Syriza, we understand that Obama’s reputation as a “good” politician has only made him more dangerous to those he purports to protect. Those who promise a more “inclusive” neoliberalism today pave the way for tomorrow’s fascism.

Obama has deported two and a half million people, as many as all the US Presidents of the 20th century combined—turning Mexico and Central America into a detention center for the population capitalism has no use for. Just as we act in solidarity with those targeted by the so-called “migrant crisis,” a crisis imposed by the borders and wars that are endemic to capitalism, we demonstrate against Obama’s visit in solidarity with all the people of Mexico, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, and the world. If we don’t tear down the borders that fence other people out today, who will help us tear down the borders that fence us out tomorrow?

As the first Black President, Obama has served the agenda of those who want to convey the impression that white supremacy is a thing of the past. Yet under his reign, a million Black people have languished in prison while police have murdered Black people in the streets with impunity on a daily basis. Over the past months, we have seen indigenous warriors attacked by the same police for defending the water that gives life to their communities. Inspired by the courageous fighters of Ferguson, Baltimore, Oakland, and Standing Rock, we aim to strike blows against racism, prisons, and police everywhere.

These struggles will not be concluded when Obama leaves Greece, nor when he exits office. As President of the most hegemonic state power of our era, Obama arguably represents the interlaced and mutually reinforcing hierarchies that divide humanity—property, citizenship, gender roles, and every other form of authority—yet he himself is merely a cog in a much greater machine. When he is replaced this coming January, the economic interests that have pulled the strings in his administration will move on to utilizing Donald Trump to the same ends, albeit via a more overtly brutal strategy suitable to these times.

We, too, must update our strategies. Today, fewer and fewer people retain the illusion that voting, party politics, or the state could solve the problems we face. The situation is the same the world over. When we take action against politicians, we must not understand ourselves as engaging in mere protest. We are not simply seeking to obtain leverage by militant means. We are developing forms of self-defense in order to open up liberated spaces in which we can experiment with ways to meet our own needs, directly, rather than being experimented upon.

We have to undertake immediate initiatives to create communities of struggle everywhere—opening spaces and social centers, organizing discussions and demonstrations, liberating public spaces, breaking through apathy and isolation, producing free food, shelter, and culture for all. We have to think freedom and enact emancipation.

The blows we strike in Greece will resonate across the world, from all the other peripheries to the very heart of the United States. Together, let’s become ungovernable.

For international coordination and solidarity in the struggle against global capitalism and the state

For anarchy, the perpetual reinvention of our relations in pursuit of freedom

For freedom, the collective capacity to fulfill our tremendous potential on our own terms

Jointly composed and signed—

CrimethInc. ex-Workers’ Collective

Void Network [Theory, Outopia, Empathy, Ephemeral Arts]

Καλώς ήρθες στην Αθήνα Ομπάμα

Κοινή δημόσια ανακοίνωση που δημοσιεύθηκε με την ευκαιρία της επίσκεψης του Μπάρακ Ομπάμα στην Ελλάδα από το ΚΕΝΟ ΔΙΚΤΥΟ (Αθήνα) και την “Συλλογικότητα πρώην- Εργαζομένων” CrimethInc. (ΗΠΑ)

Σήμερα 14 Νοεμβρίου, ο απερχόμενος πρόεδρος των ΗΠΑ Μπαράκ Ομπάμα φτάνει στην Ελλάδα. Οι συλλογικότητες μας καλούν τόσο από τις Ηνωμένες Πολιτείες όσο και από την Ελλάδα κάθε άνθρωπο που αγωνίζεται για την ελευθερία να συμμετάσχει στη διαδήλωση το βράδυ της Τρίτης 15 Νοεμβρίου 2016 στους δρόμους της Αθήνας με έναρξη το Πολυτεχνείο στις 5.30 μ.μ.μ.

Το γεγονός ότι ο Μπάρακ Ομπάμα επισκέπτεται την Ελλάδα στην αποχαιρετιστήρια περιοδεία του αποκτά έντονους συμβολισμούς. Τα Βαλκάνια έχουν υπηρετήσει ως εργαστήριο πειραμάτων για το νεοφιλελευθερισμό και τις στρατιωτικές επεμβάσεις των ΗΠΑ από τα τέλη του 20ου αιώνα. Η Ελλάδα ειδικότερα έχει υποστεί στις μέρες μας ένα παγκόσμιο πείραμα εφαρμογής μοντέλων διαχείρισης κρίσεων και κοινωνικής καταπίεσης. Καθώς ο πόλεμος πλησιάζει όλο και πιο κοντά, στο Αφγανιστάν, το Ιράκ, τη Συρία, την Ουκρανία και την Τουρκία, τα Βαλκάνια αναμένεται να εξυπηρετήσουν την Ευρώπη και τις ΗΠΑ ως ουδέτερη ζώνη, ενώ θα υπομένουν την ίδια κακοποίηση με όλη την υπόλοιπη περιφέρεια.

Τώρα που η ψευδαίσθηση της καθολικής οικονομικής ανάπτυξης έφτασε στο τέλος της μπορούμε να δούμε ξεκάθαρα ότι η νέα τάξη πραγμάτων θα σταθεροποιηθεί μόνο με τις κενές υποσχέσεις των πολιτικών και την ωμή βία της αστυνομίας και του στρατού: με τα ψηφοδέλτια και τις σφαίρες. Η ουδέτερη ζώνη γίνεται όλο και μικρότερη, και οι Ηνωμένες Πολιτείες δεν εξαιρούνται από αυτή την διαδικασία-η ίδια Εθνοφρουρά που περιπολεί απόψε στο Ιράκ έχει ήδη παραταχθεί και στους δρόμους της Βαλτιμόρης. Τώρα είναι η ώρα να πολεμήσουμε, πριν η κατάσταση γίνεται χειρότερη.

Εκφράζοντας σοκ και οργή για την εκλογή του Donald Trump, πολλοί στην Αριστερά έχουν αποκρύψει τη συστημική φύση του προβλήματος. Με την ανάληψη δράσης ενάντια στον Μπαράκ Ομπάμα, τον αγαπημένο πρόεδρο των Δημοκρατικών στις ΗΠΑ, δείχνουμε ότι η αντίθεσή μας δεν στρέφεται εναντίον κάποιου συγκεκριμένου εκπρόσωπου, αλλά εναντίον του κράτους και του ίδιου του καπιταλισμού. Στους πρόσφατους μετεκλογικούς λόγους τους, η Χιλαρι Κλίντον και ο Ομπάμα μίλησαν για μια “ειρηνική μετάβαση της εξουσίας» σε έναν άνθρωπο που έχουν οι ίδιοι χαρακτηρίσει ως ακατάλληλο να κυβερνήσει, αποκαλύπτοντας τη σύμπραξη των φιλελεύθερων, που με σκοπό να διατηρήσουν τη λειτουργία του κράτους είναι πρόθυμοι να παραδώσουν την εξουσία ακόμη και στα χέρια των απροκάλυπτων φασιστών από το να αποδεχθούν την ανάδυση της πραγματικής ελευθερίας.

Πράγματι, ως υποψήφιος της δήθεν “Ελπίδας” και της “Αλλαγής”, ο Ομπάμα όχι μόνο διέσωσε τις δομές εξουσίας, αλλά και έπεισε πάρα πολλούς ανθρώπους που υπομένουν την πιο στοχευμένη επίθεση από το σύστημα να επενδύσουν περισσότερη ακόμα πίστη και πόρους σε αυτές τις δομές- οι οποίες τώρα θα χρησιμοποιηθούν για να τους καταπιέσουν πιο επιθετικά από ποτέ. Με τον ίδιο τρόπο με τον οποίο έχουμε απορρίψει τις ψεύτικες λύσεις του ΣΥΡΙΖΑ, καταλαβαίνουμε ότι η φήμη του Ομπάμα ως “καλός” πολιτικός τον κάνει ακόμα πιο επικίνδυνο για αυτούς που φιλοδοξεί να προστατεύσει. Εκείνοι που υπόσχονται έναν νεοφιλελευθερισμό «χωρίς αποκλεισμούς» σήμερα, είναι αυτοί που ανοίγουν τον δρόμο για τον αυριανό φασισμό.

Ο Ομπάμα έχει απελάσει δυόμιση εκατομμύρια ανθρώπους, ίσο αριθμό με όσους έχουν απελάσει όλοι μαζί οι Πρόεδροι των ΗΠΑ ολόκληρο τον 20ο αιώνα, μετατρέποντας το Μεξικό και την Κεντρική Αμερική σε ένα απέραντο κέντρο κράτησης για τους πληθυσμούς που για τον καπιταλισμό δεν έχουν καμία χρήση. Ακριβώς όπως δρουμε σε αλληλεγγύη με εκείνους που στοχεύονται από τη λεγόμενη “προσφυγική κρίση”, μια κρίση που επιβάλλεται από την ύπαρξη των συνόρων και των πολέμων που είναι ενδημικοί στον καπιταλισμό, δρούμε εναντίον Ομπάμα σε αλληλεγγύη με όλους τους ανθρώπους του Μεξικού, της Νικαράγουας, της Ονδούρας, του Ελ Σαλβαδόρ και όλου του κόσμου. Αν δεν γκρεμίσουμε μαζί τα σύνορα που φυλακίζουν άλλους ανθρώπους σήμερα, ποίοι θα ενωθούν μαζί μας για να γκρεμίσουμε αύριο τα σύνορα και τους φράχτες που κρατάνε εμάς φυλακισμένους;

Ως ο πρώτος μαύρος πρόεδρος, ο Ομπάμα έχει υπηρετήσει την ατζέντα όσων θέλουν να δοθεί η εντύπωση ότι η ρατσιστική “λευκή υπεροχή” είναι ένα πράγμα του παρελθόντος. Ωστόσο, στο πλαίσιο της βασιλείας του, ένα εκατομμύριο μαύροι λιώνουν στις φυλακές, ενώ η αστυνομία δολοφονούσε ατιμώρητη έναν μαύρο στους δρόμους των Η.Π.Α. κάθε μέρα. Κατά τη διάρκεια των τελευταίων μηνών, έχουμε δει πολεμιστές αμερικανικών ιθαγενικών πληθυσμών να δέχονται επιθέσεις από την ίδια αστυνομία για την υπεράσπιση του νερού που δίνει ζωή στις κοινότητές τους. Εμπνευσμένοι από τους θαρραλέους μαχητές και τις μαχήτριες του Φέργκιουσον, της Βαλτιμόρης, του Oakland, και του Standing Rock, έχουμε ως στόχο να καταφέρουμε και εμείς ισχυρά χτυπήματα κατά του ρατσισμού, των φυλακών και της αστυνομίας παντού.

Φυσικά αυτοί οι αγώνες δεν θα ολοκληρωθούν όταν ο Ομπάμα φύγει από την Ελλάδα, ούτε όταν θα εγκαταλείψει το προεδρικό μέγαρο. Ως Πρόεδρος της πιο ηγεμονικής κρατικής εξουσίας της εποχής μας, ο Ομπάμα προσωποποιεί όλες τις διαπλεκόμενες και αμοιβαία ενισχυόμενες ιεραρχίες που διαχωρίζουν την ανθρωπότητα -την ιδιοκτησία, την ιθαγένεια, τους ρόλους των δύο φύλων, καθώς και κάθε άλλη μορφή εξουσίας- και όμως, ακόμη και ο ίδιος, δεν είναι τίποτα άλλο πάρα ένα γρανάζι σε μια πολύ μεγαλύτερη μηχανή. Όταν αντικατασταθεί τον ερχόμενο Ιανουάριο, τα οικονομικά συμφέροντα που κρατούσαν τα νήματα της διακυβέρνησης του και καθόριζαν τις επιλογές του θα προχωρήσουν αξιοποιώντας τον Donald Trump με τους ίδιους βασικούς στόχους, έστω και μέσω μιας πιο απροκάλυπτα βίαιης στρατηγικής, κατάλληλης για αυτούς τους χρόνους που μας περιμένουν.

Από μεριάς μας και εμείς επίσης, πρέπει να ανανεώσουμε τις στρατηγικές μας. Σήμερα, όλο και λιγότεροι άνθρωποι διατηρούν την ψευδαίσθηση ότι οι εκλογές, το κόμμα, ή το κράτος θα μπορούσαν να λύσουν τα προβλήματα που αντιμετωπίζουμε. Όταν παίρνουμε μέτρα εναντίον πολιτικών σαν τον Ομπάμα, δεν πρέπει να κατανοούμε τους εαυτούς μας ως συμμέτοχους σε μια απλή διαμαρτυρία. Δεν επιδιώκουμε απλά να αποκτήσουμε δύναμη με μαχητικά μέσα. Αναπτύσσουμε μορφές αυτο-άμυνας, προκειμένου να δημιουργήσουμε απελευθερωμένους χώρους στους οποίους μπορούμε να πειραματιστούμε με τους δικούς μας τρόπους για να καλύψουμε τις δικές μας ανάγκες, άμεσα, αντί άλλοι να υποβάλλουν τις ζωές μας σε πειράματα.

ΝΑ ΠΑΡΟΥΜΕ ΤΗΝ ΜΟΙΡΑ ΜΑΣ ΣΤΑ ΧΕΡΙΑ ΜΑΣ. Να πάρουμε άμεσα πρωτοβουλίες, να δημιουργήσουμε κοινότητες αγώνα παντού, να ανοίξουμε χώρους, στέκια, καταλήψεις, σημεία συνάντησης, να καταλάβουμε και να απελευθερώσουμε τον δημόσιο χώρο, να ανοίξουμε συζητήσεις, να οργανώσουμε διαδηλώσεις, να παράγουμε ελεύθερη τροφή, στέγη και κουλτούρα για όλους, σκέψη χειραφέτησης και δράσεις απελευθέρωσης, να συμμετάσχουμε στις κοινωνικές δομές του κινήματος, να σπάσουμε την απάθεια και την ιδιώτευση.

Τα χτυπήματα που θα καταφέρουμε εδώ στην Ελλάδα θα ακουστούν σε όλο τον κόσμο, από τις υπόλοιπες περιφέρειες έως την καρδιά των Ηνωμένων Πολιτειών.

Μαζί, από όλες τις πλευρές του πλανήτη, να γίνουμε ακυβέρνητοι.

Για τον διεθνή συντονισμό και την παγκόσμια Αλληλεγγύη στον αγώνα ενάντια στο κράτος και τον παγκόσμιο καπιταλισμό.

Για την Αναρχία, την αέναη επανεφεύρεση των σχέσεών μας με σκοπό την άσκηση της ελευθερίας

Για την Ελευθερία, τη συλλογική ικανότητα να εκπληρώσουμε τις τεράστιες δυνατότητές μας με τους δικούς μας όρους

 

Κοινή διεθνής ανακοίνωση


Κενό Δίκτυο [Θεωρία, Ουτοπία, Συναίσθηση, Εφήμερες Τέχνες] / Αθήνα
και Crimethinc ex-Workers’ Collective (USA)

#DisruptJ20: Call for a bold mobilization against the inauguration of Donald Trump on January 20, 2017

On Friday, January 20, 2017, Donald Trump will be inaugurated as President of the United States. We call on all people of good conscience to join in disrupting the ceremonies. If Trump is to be inaugurated at all, let it happen behind closed doors, showing the true face of the security state Trump will preside over. It must be made clear to the whole world that the vast majority of people in the United States do not support his presidency or consent to his rule. 

Trump stands for tyranny, greed, and misogyny. He is the champion of neo-nazis and white Nationalists, of the police who kill the Black, Brown and poor on a daily basis, of racist border agents and sadistic prison guards, of the FBI and NSA who tap your phone and read your email. He is the harbinger of even more climate catastrophe, deportation, discrimination, and endless war. He continues to deny the existence of climate change, in spite of all the evidence, putting the future of the whole human race at stake. The KKK, Vladimir Putin, Golden Dawn, and the Islamic State all cheered his victory. If we let his inauguration go unchallenged, we are opening the door to the future they envision.

Trump’s success confirms the bankruptcy of representative democracy. Rather than using the democratic process as an alibi for inaction, we must show that no election could legitimize his agenda. Neither the Democrats nor any other political party or politician will save us—they just offer a weaker version of the same thing. If there is going to be positive change in this society, we have to make it ourselves, together, through direct action.

From day one, the Trump presidency will be a disaster. #DisruptJ20 will be the start of the resistance. We must take to the streets and protest, blockade, disrupt, intervene, sit in, walk out, rise up, and make more noise and good trouble than the establishment can bear. The parade must be stopped. We must delegitimize Trump and all he represents. It’s time to defend ourselves, our loved ones, and the world that sustains us as if our lives depend on it—because they do. 

In Washington, DC 

DC will not be hospitable to the Trump administration. Every corporation must openly declare whether they side with him or with the people who will suffer at his hands. Thousands will converge and demonstrate resistance to the Trump regime. Save the date. A website will appear shortly with more details. #DisruptJ20

Around the US

If you can’t make it to Washington, DC on January 20, take to the streets wherever you are. We call on our comrades to organize demonstrations and other actions for the night of January 20. There is also a call for a general strike to take place. Organize a walkout at your school now. Workers: call out sick and take the day off. No work, no school, no shopping, no housework. #DisruptJ20

Around the World

If you are living outside the US, you can take action at US embassies, borders, or other symbols of neocolonial power. Our allegiance is not to “making America great again,” but to all of humanity and the planet. #DisruptJ20

Spread the word. Join the fight. #DisruptJ20

Facebook: http://tinyurl.com/disruptj20

Signed,

Agency

CrimethInc. Workers’ Collective

It’s Going Down

subMedia

New York Anarchist Action

The Base

NYC Anarchist Black Cross

Pittsburgh Autonomous Student Network

Pittsburgh Student Solidarity Coalition 

NightShade Pittsburgh

Pitt Against Debt

Pitt Students for a Democratic Society

Steel City (A) Team

UNControllables

Antifa Seven Hills

WNC Antifa

Asheville Anti-Racism

Black Rose Book Distro St. Louis

Resonance: An anarchist audio distro

Rose City Antifa

Torch Antifa Network

Central Oklahoma Black/Red Alliance (COBRA)

Sprout Distro

New Wave Army

Puget Sound Anarchist Black Cross

Four Corners Antifa

killedbypolice.net

AK Press

PM Press

Indigenous Action

Chicago Anarchist Black Cross

NYC Anarchist Book Fair

NYC ANARKOARTLAB

Autonomous Actions Against Prisons—Seattle

Antifa United

If you endorse this call, sign your name at the bottom of this list and circulate it. Email disruptj20@riseup.net to be included in the above list.

Move the doomsday clock forward another click.

We were right about the direction things are heading, but wrong about the timeframe. We thought Clinton would win the election, and would then be discredited by new scandals and the challenges of preserving an increasingly unpopular status quo, producing a reactionary surge like the one that recently toppled Dilma in Brazil. Instead, the scandal broke before the election, with the announcement of further FBI inquiries into emails associated with Clinton. And, as with the Brexit vote, everyone underestimated just how desperate and reactionary the general public has become—at least the ones who still identify with the ruling order enough to vote at all. It’s later than you think.

It’s significant that the news event that rescued Trump’s presidential bid was essentially an intervention by the FBI. This tells us a lot about the era we are entering: it is the security apparatus of the state that will be calling the shots, not the aspects of government that purport to improve the lives of citizens. Capitalism, long stabilized in the so-called First World by the compromises that produced the middle class, will henceforth be imposed by force. The surplus of the 20th century has run out; the velvet glove is coming off the iron fist. Sure, demagogues like Trump and Sanders will continue to promise us the moon every four years or so, but it won’t be peace treaties that will preserve the prevailing order—it will be police.

News like this is bound to induce despair, but we must not let this election cause us to lose faith in humanity as a whole. Elections serve to represent us to each other at our worst, distilling the most offensive, cowardly, and servile aspects of the species. Many people who would never personally wrest a mother from her children are capable of endorsing deportation from the privacy of a voting booth, just as most people who eat meat could never work at a slaughterhouse. Were it not for the alienation that characterizes government itself, most of the ugly policies comprising the Trump agenda could never be implemented.

Presidential campaigns are calculated to promote apathy, giving the impression that all the important decisions in the world are out of our hands. That’s the point of state politics: to immobilize us outside the halls of power, distrusting each other and ourselves.

Today, even the most law-abiding liberal must realize that we cannot continue to watch from the sidelines. Against the spectacle of powerlessness, we must counterpose our own agency. But to what purpose? Surely not to prop up yet another political campaign. We have to think bigger.

The fundamental problem is that power is structured into such vertical concentrations in the first place. If the President of the United States did not wield such disproportionate influence over the fate of humanity—if the free market did not enable businessmen to accumulate so much leverage over society—then Donald Trump could not be so dangerous, however despicable a person he is.

Those on the Left who have persisted in the naïve belief that the right government could solve the problems generated by global capitalism are partly to blame for this situation. The Democratic Party was foolish to back an establishment candidate at a time when so many people are desperate, angry, and rebellious. In legitimizing the idea that America is or should be great in the first place, Democrats smoothed the way for Trump to promise to make it great once more. Every tax dollar good liberals paid to the government hoping it would care for the poor, sick, elderly, and underprivileged has built the juggernaut that will now roll across their civil liberties. Every law they continue to obey will aid and abet that process. And if the media outlets and politicians that decried Trump as the candidate of the apocalypse accept him now in the name of the democratic process, this only confirms their complicity.

The problem is democracy itself: the form of government that brought Adolf Hitler into office. In response to the polls, we assert that no one should have the right to rule over anyone else. Neither Donald Trump, nor Barack Obama, nor Mother Theresa could ever use such power for good. We have to create horizontal structures and autonomous movements that can meet our needs directly, rather than continuing to feed resources into structures that will be used against us for the benefit of a few.

Let us look for silver linings in this cloud of oncoming tear gas. Perhaps it is for the best that someone like Trump is coming to power now, rather than four years hence. Let the right wing demonstrate that their solutions are just as inadequate as those proposed from the Left. In a time of economic crises, ecological collapse, and spreading war, the state is a hot potato: no one will be able to hold it long. Those who voted for Trump will be disappointed indeed if they actually believe he will bring back the heyday of Fordist capitalism in a globalized world.

Of course, disillusioned Trump voters will not necessarily join our ranks. They are more likely to move further to the right, just as Sanders supporters may simply entrench themselves deeper in futile and antiquated fantasies of 20th century socialism. We should set out to debunk the arguments from both sides, keeping dialogue open with everyone we can while preparing for open conflict with those who are determined to bring about a more totalitarian world.

We must not let the outrage that people feel today shift into a hopelessness that could become the new normal. Only in taking action, however small, can we come into a sense of our collective agency. This is the time to strengthen ties between communities in struggle and those who will be most affected by Trump’s policies. This is the time to dispense once and for all with hope for any solutions from above, any brighter future apart from the actions we take on a day-to-day basis in our immediate surroundings. This is the time to learn and practice proper online security—who knows how far the repressive operations of the state will go, or how fast.

There will be new social movements, new uprisings, new fights ahead. This is the time to find each other and prepare to go resolutely forward into them.

Cradle the seed, even in the volcano’s mouth. Good luck out there, comrades.

For months, hundreds of people, including members of nearly a hundred different indigenous peoples, have mobilized to block the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline. On October 27, police raiding the Sacred Ground camp encountered stiff resistance. We’ve just received the following firsthand report from comrades who participated in the defense of the camp. Describing some of the fiercest clashes indigenous and hey pose important questions about solidarity struggles.

Read the account.

We published Work at the beginning of 2011, at the onset of the social movements precipitated by the economic crisis of 2008. The idea was to update the critique of capitalism for the 21st century, starting from lived experience rather than dusty theory. Over the following years, the authors traveled throughout the Americas and Europe, comparing notes with other participants in the demonstrations, riots, and revolutions that ensued.

The book has since appeared in German, Russian, Serbo-Croat, Korean, and most recently, Lithuanian. Congratulations to our Baltic comrades!

Now, to mark the publication of the Spanish edition of Work, our comrades there have organized a speaking tour visiting ten cities around the Iberian peninsula. What is really new about capitalism today, and how should this inform the ways we organize to stand up for ourselves? What can we learn from the limits that previous movements have reached? Could we really do away with work, profit, and property, or at least make it possible to imagine a world without them? Join us for a lively discussion.

November 5: Aldarull, Ateneo de Gracia, Barcelona

November 6: (18h) L’Ateneu Anarquista La Ruda, Manresa

November 8: La Central, Barcelona

November 9: La Pantera Rossa, Zaragoza

November 10: La Fuga, Sevilla

November 11: Bakakai, Granada

November 14: Katakrak, Iruñea

November 15: Louise Michell, Bilbo

November 16: Biblioteca Subversiva Crimental-La Revoltosa, Gijón

November 17: Cambalache, Oviedo

November 18: Traficantes, Madrid

November 19: 1314, Madrid

Gira de presentaciones del libro Work por la península ibérica

Publicamos Work a comienzos de 2011, con el arranque de los movimientos sociales que respondieron a la crisis de 2008. La idea era actualizar la crítica al capitalismo para el siglo XXI a partir de la experiencia del día a día, en lugar de basarse áridas teorías. En los años que siguieron los autores viajaron por América del Norte y del Sur y Europa, comparando apuntes con otros participantes en las manifestaciones, disturbios y revueltas que sacudieron el mundo.

Desde entonces el libro ha sido publicado en Alemán, Ruso, Serbo-Croata, Coreano, and most recently, Lituano. Enhorabuena a nuestros compañeros bálticos!

Ahora, para señalar la publicación de la  edición en español de Work, nuestras compañeras de allí han organizado presentaciones en diez ciudades de la península Ibérica. ¿Qué hay de nuevo a día de hoy en el capitalismo, y cómo debería esto influir en las formas en que nos organizamos para hacernos valer? ¿Qué podemos aprender de las limitaciones con las que se han topado los movimientos anteriores? ¿Podemos realmente vivir sin trabajo, lucro y propiedad, o al menos, lograr que sea posible imaginar un mundo sin todo ello?

Únete a nosotras para un intercambio ameno de ideas!

Fechas del tour

Noviembre 5: Aldarull, Ateneo de Gracia, Barcelona

Noviembre 6: (18h) L’Ateneu Anarquista La Ruda, Manresa

Noviembre 8: La Central, Barcelona

Noviembr e 9: La Pantera Rossa, Zaragoza

Noviembre 10: La Fuga, Sevilla

Noviembre 11: Bakakai, Granada

Noviembre 14: Katakrak, Iruñea

Noviembre 15: Louise Michell, Bilbo

Noviembre 16: La Revoltosa, Gijón

Noviembre 17: Cambalache, Oviedo

Noviembre 18: Traficantes, Madrid

Noviembre 19: 1314, Madrid

 

 

[bonus photo of Lithuanian edition]

Could there be any better illustration of the shortcomings of representative democracy than this year’s Presidential campaign? For months upon tiresome months, the whole world has cringed as US voters struggled to identify the second worst of all possible evils. As anarchists who believe in bona fide self-determination, we have critiqued and mobilized against the reduction of freedom to electoral politics in every Presidential race since 1996. This time, it just seemed redundant.

But the 2016 election is practically over. What’s coming next is worse.

Read the analysis.