A revolutionary poem – Adrienne Rich

Text of image:

Adrienne Rich: A revolutionary poem will not tell you who or when to kill, what and when to burn, or even how to theorize. It reminds you… where and when and how you are living and might live, it is a wick of desire.

image by @redglitterx

Join the Pseudo-Revolution, it’s time to #Occupy My Local Capital City

{I support #OccupyWallStreet, I do not support the #Occupy in my local city which is already asking for donations but refuse to tell me what they are fighting for – this is for them, this is not for #Occupy in other city or country}

You want a get rich scheme, forget “social security is a Ponzi scheme“, the ultimate Ponzi scheme is to put #occupy in a tweet or status update and BOOM!! watch the money roll in, watch the free rent and electronic gifts, free clothes and free pizza – it’s a party in the streets tonight (rather, YOU are in the streets, while THEY party).

Mining other people’s anger, desperation, and hopelessness will make you rich!

Cos, nothing says It’s a Revolution for a New Century like recycling tired old drug-induced slogans, don’t you know THE WAR IS OVER, long over….

almost as relevant as The Black Panthers Up Against The Wall, MotherF-cker! or the British Suffragettes Deeds Not Words (actually that last one is still relevant, that can stay)

In my local capital city, the request has already gone out for donations, of cash, electronics, food, and places to stay during the Occupation.

(By the way – what exactly will you be occupying if you want free places to stay, doesn’t that, like, you know, defeat the ENTIRE point of an occupation.)

And so Dear Leaders of the Occupy Revolution in my local capital city – what are you fighting for?

Um….. *crickets*

So, let me get this straight, you refuse to tell me what you’re actually in fact fighting for, or how you intend to spend the $$$ you want me to hand you – but you want me to give you things, lots of things, lots of shiny, pizzery things? ……. and in return you’ll be staying in someone’s inner city apartment, tweeting on your Blackberry® or iPad™ about REVOLUTION…. um, yep, that doesn’t sound like a fair trade.

In fact, wanting working-class people to pay your bills while you sit around doing nothing productive but telling them what to do, sounds strangely like the same system you claim to want to overthrow.

That’s what the Wall Street Banksters have been accused of doing – parasites of society, drinking sham-pain while the peasants are revolting.

And you Dear Leader of the #Occupy revolution are the same kind of PARASITES.
…… You have your hand out asking for donations for which you will do nothing.

(BTW, try googling® Dear Leader you don’t even need to know how to spell it, simply copy&paste)

You think we are naive, you think our only role in the revolution is to fund it, while you reap the benefits, hey, that makes us part of the 99 and you the 1%.

And I’m here for the 99, I’m not here to make the 1% rich/er.

It’s Your Revolution…. Everybody Dance Now (only if you want to)

Come the revolution, we’ll all need to know how to dance.
– Herrick (Being Human)

To all the Single Ladies, all the Single Ladies, put on those one-shoulder leotards and learn a few moves….

Because, as Emma Goldman never quite said
If I can’t dance, it’s not my revolution

For all the neo-con wannabe anarchists who are begging for money to support the #Occupy revolution – Emma Goldman was an anarchist, she was not on an MTV reality show.

I was tired of having the Cause constantly thrown into my face. I did not believe that a Cause which stood for a beautiful ideal, for anarchism, for release and freedom from conventions and prejudice, should demand the denial of life and joy. I insisted that our Cause could not expect me to become a nun and that the movement should not be turned into a cloister. If it meant that, I did not want it. “I want freedom, the right to self-expression, everybody’s right to beautiful, radiant things.” Anarchism meant that to me, and I would live it in spite of the whole world–prisons, persecution, everything. Yes, even in spite of the condemnation of my own comrades I would live my beautiful ideal. [Living My Life (New York: Knopf, 1934), p. 56]
EMMA GOLDMAN

And I wanna dance – I don’t want to buy the entry ticket and have someone snatch the ticket out of my hand, and watch them dance.

But I am not surprised most of these #occupy-pretenders do not know who Emma Goldman was, they don’t know names like César Chávez, Dolores Huerta, Emmeline Pankhurst, Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Huey Newton, Angela Davis or Afeni Shakur.

César Chávez, does he like dress up as a Roman Gladiator at the local casino?

Afeni Shakur, is she/he, like, related to Tupac? sure I’m a white kid from the suburbs of Australia, but I’m so gangsta, I’m down with Tupac, when is he touring next?

Che Guevara? Hell yes, I know who that is – I have his face on a t-shirt, he wears a beret, right. He was Mexican or something? right?

The same people piling onto the overcrowded #Occupy bandwagon are the same failed script-kiddies who couldn’t find their way around an operating system and couldn’t take part in the Anonymous revolution.

They never had access to State-secrets and so their only contribution to the wikileaks revolution was to change their profile picture on their social-nerdwords to say “Free Julian”.

These are the same people who put a whole lotta distance between what they are fighting for and Marx and Lenin – UGH, communism is so messy.

What they are, they say, is “THE 99“.

Yah for you, you are the 99.

What is the 99?

Uh, something to do with angry people? perhaps?

In the United States, long-term unemployed are “the 99-ers”, a term derived from 99 weeks of unemployment benefits.

It coincides well with the saying that 1% own the wealth, 99% pay the bills.

In the end, it comes down to those who are willing to do the work of setting up a PayPal™ account and harassing others for donations, and hardworking but busy people contributing to it.

If you can’t be there in person, hand over your hard-earned weekly pay-packet and you too can be a part of the revolution.

But, isn’t that exactly what got us into this situation in the first place.

The more you spend, the better a revolutionary you are.

If you haven’t got the time, give us all your money, and let us be angry for you, the ultimate in out-sourcing.

Your worth to the movement is based exclusively on how much $$$ you are willing to give the organisers.

Now that’s a revolution I want to be part of – as long as I’m in the 1%

#Occupy is a multi-level-marketing scheme of the most creative order.

As A.Breeze Harper (of Sistah Vegan) says It’s problematic because we are not trying to get to the very root of the problem, which is, at least in the first world, overconsumption. We are not addressing our addictions.

#Occupy (at least where I am) has morphed into the very thing it claims to want to overthrow.

#Occupy has now become an event to be consumed.

#Occupy has been commodified.

It is time for me to walk away, turn on the TV, watch some soaps, eat some take away and SHUT UP, WORK, CONSUME, DIE and NEVER QUESTION AUTHORITY.

[Edited To Add;

In a recent tweet I used an @ instead of # and got the attention of @occupysydney

I’d been commenting that as I have organised Animal Rights demonstrations in the past, it takes time, and just how did #occupysydney manage to do it so fast. (You need permits, because there is no such thing as public space, everything is owned by someone, and so you need permits to gather / OCCUPY private space Regular laws about obstructing traffic, loitering, jaywalking, disturbing the peace still apply to regular citizens – even if you are demonstrating, permits give you different rights such as walking on the roads etc.

This is what I got back
https://twitter.com/#!/occupySYDNEY/status/119940665852428288
So already, we see the standard operating procedure, people issue the orders, other people doing the work, while  organisers are strutting like they know everything.

So I do the work of dealing with the council, the police, putting my name and details in the database, you think “a link” is fair trade? (oh Lucky me!)…. and he/she the Great And Powerful of Oz Occupy still can’t tell me what “link you in” means

Please!

Teach me to pay more attention in future when I use an @ instead of #

Vegan Bootcamp: 101 days of Animal Rights Activism

This post is the first in a series that will cover Animal Rights Activism from as many angles as possible. Tactics, techniques, methods, historical figures, current controversies, inspirational essays-quotes-graphics, campaigns, movements – from education, agitation, resistance to revolution.

People don’t care if you’re upset. They care when you organize. – Al Sharpton

It was Gandhi who said “if you do nothing, there will be no result“, so, the time for talking is over.

Now is the time to act. It’s time to get organised.
First, you have to make the decision that you want it… no, it’s more than that, you NEED it, you NEED to be an Active participant in the struggle for Animal Rights.

For many ARA’s (Animal Rights Activists) that I have met, they can’t live any other way. They simply cannot live a life without putting the fight for animal rights front and centre of almost everything they do.

Today, is about making that decision. You know you want to, have to be an Activist. You can no longer sit by and do nothing while animals are suffering. You have reached a point in your life where you must do something.

If you hear about some unspeakable horrendous act of cruelty against an animal, or you hear about the billions upon billions of animal killed for food each year, or any other act of abuse and you find yourself saying “Somebody must do something… and I think that somey will be me.” then it’s time to learn, act, think, agitate and bring about changes in the world.

And if you already are an AR Activist, then you will know that you have made the right decision.
For Animal Rights Activists, there are two questions:

–1–

What do we want?

–2–How will we get it?

This can be summed up simply as “Objectives” and “Tactics“.
1. Objectives (the ENDS)
What those Objectives / Goals are may vary between individuals; long term education or short term direct action*, local or global, educate one person or agitate for a change in legislation.

2. Tactics (the MEANS)
Tactics, strategy, methods, plans, to-do-list, techniques – using the most appropriate method for your personal circumstance and objectives. This will vary depending on the desired outcome.
Although, I will cover these in more depth in a follow up piece soon, ‘Planning a Campaign’, a few quick words about Objectives and Tactics.

Getting 5000 names on a petition isn’t an objective, a petition is a tactic to achieve the specific goal. If spending time, money and energy on doing something doesn’t get you close to your goal, then why are you doing it?

Raising awareness is not an objective – you raise awareness, and then what? – you raise awareness so that people will change their behaviour, raising awareness is a tactic.

Networking, socialising, hanging out on social networks are not objectives, that are part of a tactic. Ah, you say, but I like hanging out with my friends. Ok, we all need down-time, some hours to switch off and recharge the brain, let go of the negative tension.

Knowledge without action is useless; action without knowledge is dangerous. – D. L. Chu

What’s Next?

Once you have your Objectives and planned your Tactics, then comes another crucial part of all . . . ACTION.

Napoleon Bonaparte, the French military and political leader said: “A Revolution is an idea which has found its bayonets.” (or as I say: A revolution is a theory with an army.)

Or to paraphrase a leading animal welfare advocate “The philosophers can debate the revolution, but the Bandits must carry it out”.

This is not a suggestion that violence is necessary for a Vegan Revolution** – instead, after all the theorising about Animal Rights, the thinking, planning, debating, in the end, the work still needs to be done.

The military call this “boots on the ground” – those people will to carry out the plans, physically do the work – and often times in AR Activism, the person deciding the plan of action is the same person who is carrying it out.

Activism doesn’t require a lot of people, just dedicated people doing what needs to be done.

As Margaret Mead said: Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.

Do it, and don’t be distracted by people who would tear you down. The haters for some reason are unable to act on their own, and so seek to destroy those who are.

Lead, follow, or get out of the way. — Thomas Paine

Time to stop Feeding the Trolls.

I think most of us have met an ARA at some point, who you just know doesn’t do anything practical, they are “Facebook Crusaders”, you know, the kind of person who says to you:
‘See here, in this 1984 essay you wrote, you said “factory farm”, but all farms involve cruelty… what are you some kind of enabler or something, you are as Evil as a viviesector’.

The Anti-Activists attack you, and other ARAs all of the time, they follow you from blog to blog, from forum to social network, always reminding you of the time you said “factory farm” not “farm”.

They never work on a campaign of their own. You start to think – is this All that you do? have all the animal exploiters suddenly disappeared, and left you with so much free time that you can launch character assassinations on people who are actually doing something for the animals!

And then finally when you tell them you are not wasting any more of your time debating them, you are walking away – they declare they have “won”.

Facebook is not the battle, Facebook is a tool. If these TROLLS think they have “won” something by harassing animal rights activists, then they are not in it for the Animals.

And, what do you “WIN” by continuing to engage with them – nothing much.

If the Anti-Activists are distracting you, they are stealing your time and energy that you could use saving animals. See the trolls for what they are – COLLABORATORS.

You can accomplish a lot of good in the world if you don’t care who gets the credit for it. – Myles Horton

Next post in this series: Rules For Radicals
The phrase “Vegan Bootcamp” comes from the book, ‘Vegan Bootcamp: Guide to Animal Rights Activism’, it inspired me to do a series of posts on AR activism.

*Direct Action
Although some people think direct action means ‘violence’, that is not necessarily so:
Lee Hall “Veganism is direct action“.
**Revolutions can be peaceful.
There are some who hear the word “revolution” and think Molotov’s and Kalashnikov’s, balaclavas and bombs, however, Revolutions can be peaceful, they are simple a change. It could be a change in government, it could be a change in thought process.

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Post 2011 ‘Vegan Animal Liberation Alliance’. Copying and distribution of this entire article, text and / or graphic, is permitted in any medium, but please include the credit:
Written by RedGlitter of VALA https://redglitterx.wordpress.com/
or at least a link to this page, that would be nice

Liberation: for Animals & Earth

No real social change has ever been brought about without a revolution…
revolution is but thought carried into action.
Emma Goldman

From the Liberation archives

Animal liberation = earth liberation = people liberation

The liberation of animals and the earth will require nothing short of a total revolution in thinking and in action.

How can it possibly require anything less? The status quo has produced the largest extinction of plants and animals since the dinosaurs disappeared. And this time it is man-made.

Daytime TV psychologists will tell you “if you keep doing what you have always done, you will keep getting what you have always gotten”.

So why do we continue to do the same “vegan education” that we have always done and expect to produce different outcomes.

Why do we continue to fight each about “direct action”, when we fight each other, the Animal Abusers just laugh at how childish we act and just continue to do what they have always done.

It is not a competition over whose oppression is worse, oppression is oppression, exploitation and cruelty are exploitation and cruelty, the oppressor is the same – a system run by a small group of people (rich, white, male, capitalists) who profit from the exploitation of people, animals and the earth.

From my perspective, a lot of animal rights activists have forgotten what they are fighting for. They are preoccupied with the methods they will use – “non violent education” or “taking action” – but what has been overlooked in the middle is the animals.

The fight for animal liberation and earth liberation needs to be put front and centre of activism, instead of defending our weapons of choice, which is what we are doing now.

As Steven Best has said “It is becoming increasingly clear that human, animal, and earth liberation movements are inseparably linked, such that none can be free until all are free. This is not a new insight, but rather a lost wisdom and truth.” Total Revolution: Revolution for the 21st Century, (Guerrilla News: Dispatches from the Frontlines).

Because it is in the fight to make a difference that revolution will occur, when people began to think differently about the part each one of us can play in the revolution for liberation, then they will begin to speak differently and act differently.

Every person is important, every person can make a difference.

I will stand with anyone who is fighting to make a difference for animal rights, earth liberation or social justice.

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Articles copyright 2010 ‘Vegan Animal Liberation Alliance’. Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article is permitted in any medium without royalty provided this notice is preserved.
Written by RedGlitter of VALA https://redglitterx.wordpress.com/

Feedback welcome.

Liberation, Peace and Justice

Vodpod videos no longer available.

Liberation, Peace, and Social Justice

This is a video clip I made (not just uploaded), against a background of John Lennon’s “Give Peace A Chance”, with quotes, clips, images from the past century. Ranging from women fighting for the vote, to the Gaza freedom flotilla of 2010. Focusing on civil rights and liberation movements, including John F Kennedy, Nelson Mandela, Gloria Steinem, Pearl Bailey and Bishop Desmond Tutu.

Social justice is something people must stand up for. The lessons through history are that people who stand up for their rights and the rights of others get them.

Northern Ireland, feminism, Palestine, Black Panthers, Nelson Mandela, Tienanmen Square, Suffragettes, Australian Aboriginal sovereignty, socialism, peace, justice, fighting hunger, Cesar Chavez, a montage of images and quotes to inspire Liberation of people and animals…

Tags: #46664, Aboriginal, Animal Liberation, Animal Rights, black power salute, burning monk, César Chávez, civil disobedience, civil rights, coffin, cupcakes, Desmond Tutu, Emmaline Pankhurst, famine, feminism, freedom fighter, Gaza, Gloria Steinem, Huey Newton, human rights, Iraq, Israel, It's Time, John Lennon, justice, liberation, Martin Luther King, Nelson Manela, Palestine, protest, revolution, sacrifice, socialist, soldiers, Sudan, Sydney, Tiananmen Square, toxic waste, vegan, Vietnam War, women's liberation