I attended a pro-coalition rally to see why so many people in the activist community had put so much effort into propping the liberals into power. The only response I got was that it was the lesser of two evils.  But how much less evil is this coalition?  Is there any actual changes being proposed or is this Canada’s version of Obama fever; False hope. Fake change.

Don’t get me wrong, I, like you, hate Harper and want him out.  If that’s how the rally was billed I could be supportive.  But it was not a Harper out rally.  It was a Liberals in rally.  Although I originally came out with cautious support for my allies, this demonstration made me feel very uncomfortable for numerous reasons.

First off the rally reeked of nationalism and patriotism. Colonial occupation flags (maple leafs) were flying everywhere.  There were people talking on the microphone about this coalition restoring Canada’s reputation as the #1 country in the world.  Number one at what?  Covering up our genocide of indigenous peoples?  Or are we number one at serving Imperialist superpowers as they rape and pillage the majority world?   Or maybe we’re number one in terms of raping the earth through mining.

Other than the Kanadian flags flying everywhere.  It could have easily been confused with an Obama rally.  There was this feeling in the air that change could come from within the institution that perpetuates the status quo.  Obama was actually mentioned in positive ways throughout the rally, and there were incessant chants of ‘Yes We Can!’

Yes we can what?  Settle for nothing we’re working for just to replace one douche-bag politician with another ‘less evil’ douche-bag politician?  I want new targets too, but I will not compromise my soul and my beliefs to prop up my enemy.   I will not settle for supportinga government that has a platform that I disagree with on EVERY POINT

MORE WAR!

I thought we were anti-war activists?  How come everybody is cheering a coalition government that plans on changing nothing in terms of our involvement in Afghanistan?  The coalition platform on Afghanistan is identical to the Conservative party.  So are you anti-war? Or anti-conservative?  Because right now it looks like everybody is OK with endless war as long as the NDP has a few cabinet seats.

So what if we have to compromise and support war, just lookat the positive things this coalition represents:

Stimulate the capitalist economy and restore consumer confidence? The confidence of consumers is problematic in many ways.  First off it automatically labels us as consumers rather than citizens.  Secondly, if consumers are confident they consume MORE!  Are we really trying to promote unsustainable consumerism?  I for one don’t want people to feel confident as consumers. I want them to be confident as people.

Save capitalism with taxpayer bailout of corrupt monetary and industrial institutions?

Do we really want to let our government pump our tax money into the corrupt thieves in the monetary and industrial institutions that created this crisis in the first place? Its their system, let them crash and burn with it.

Save cars and car culture by bailing out the greedy dirty auto companies?

Why are environmentalists trying to save one of the single worst catastrophes for the environment? We really want to keep on producing more cars!?  Aren’t there enough of those death-machines out there already? Should we keep building new roads too, and keep the tar sands pumping to fuel it all?  The oil age is ending, and so is the age of the automobile, there’s no point in keeping this industry on life support.  Let it die.

Capitalists capitalizing on climate change: cap and trade and carbon taxing:

Capitalism got us into this mess and capitalism sure as hell isn’t going to get us out.  The idea that people with money can pay their way around the crimes they commit against the earth is despicable. The earth is priceless. Rich people do not have the right to destroy our planet with their blood money.

I find it extremely sad that my allies are willing to settle for this.  You should be angry that they think they can pull this shit on us. How are we ever going to make any real changes if we’re willing to sacrifice so much of our own principles for so little in return. What saddens me more is that the only group that tried bringing these issues up were met with hostility and a condescending ‘we know better than you’ attitude by veteran activists who should have been happy to see the emergence of a new generation of passionate young activists.

Instead of encouraging young activists to take their stand against war, capitalism, and environmental destruction many of you took their dissenting voice as a personal attack. Even though these are the same people who come out in support of almost every grassroots campaign that you organize in this city.  Was it uncomfortable to be called out on your hypocrisy by your allies? We felt uncomfortable too, but we wouldn’t be allies if we weren’t honest with you.

Remember this.  The liberals are not your allies.  We are.  At the end of the day, we have your back, and we will be the ones you’ll end up working with in the grassroots, not the spineless liberals.  They’ll get their power and use it to rule and oppress you.

This coalition will do nothing for Indigenous people, or the environment, or to stop the war. This coalition will do nothing to end world poverty, the racism that perpetuates it, the capitalist domination of the planet, and the continued raping and pillaging of the global south. This coalition will do nothing for us.  So we shouldn’t do anything for it either.

Harper Out

Resistance In

Coalition Out

Communities In

Psychological Operations (also known as PSYOP, PSYOPS) is planned propaganda to create beliefs (of mass population) using various forms of manipulation to control the support of and outcome of national objectives.  This propaganda method is used to change, alter or affect the opinions of individuals.  Here in Canada various warfare propaganda methods are used, these include: tying yellow ribbons on trees (typically used to suggest support to a soldiers family once the soldier has been killed in warfare), red shirt Fridays (used to show individual support for soldiers fighting in Afghanistan), bumper stickers or magnets (”If you don’t stand behind our troops, feel free to stand in front of them”, and “Support Our Troops”), military co-op placements offered by high schools, media portraying anti-war activists as violent and dangerous, etc.
Here in London Ontario local events are held in support of our troops such as Heroes Day, which take place in Victoria Park where war monuments are on display.  All of these propaganda methods manipulate an opinion about war by ultimately stating or suggesting that the war in Afghanistan is for the greater good of national security, and that “The troops are fighting for our freedom”.

Here are some facts:
•    20% of Canadian soldiers suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder and hearing loss
•    In 2005 over 6,000 US soldiers committed suicide
•    US War Resisters (a soldier who was enlisted in the military who decided to stop participating in the war in Afghanistan) live in Canada to avoid US punishment and military imprisonment
•    Since 2002, 107 Canadian soldiers have died in Afghanistan
•    360 troops have been wounded since 2008 (this doesn’t include injuries between 2002-2005)

If you support the Canadian troops fighting in Afghanistan consider this:  What does supporting our troops mean, and who are you really supporting?  What is the reason Canada has invaded Afghanistan and why is it no longer peacekeeping?  Are there any positive affects of war (consider environmental affects, social affects, authority, government, and corporations)?  How do children react to war?  How much money is being spent on the war knowing that our country is in a recession (50 million Canadian per day)?

Alternative/effective ways of supporting our troops:
•    Contact local and federal MP’s and pressure them to end the war and send the troops home.
•    Come out to a War Resisters Support rally or Peace rally and learn about what soldiers experience during their employment with the Canadian Armed Forces.
•    Take advantage of alternative and independent media: check out www.londonresisters.ca for information and resources.

“We are the Canadian Forces and our job is to be able to kill people”.  - General Rick Hillier, Canadian Forces

“Canada can no longer be called a committed peacekeeper, and certainly it is no longer the prolific peacekeeper”.  - Walter Dorn, Professor of Defence Studies, Royal Military College

By: A Concerned Individual

The World is in an uproar in a new way.  Yes, things have been much worse many times before, but we are facing a new situation.

1] Even in London some people are thinking about perhaps organising some sort of Democratic response to alienation, oppression and exploitation.  Even in London anti-democratic, authoritarian clique-ists are putting on a democratic mask.

2] Globalised “free market” capitalism is facing multiple crises.  The financial crises appears to be under control, however finance actually is based upon the economy and the economy is beginning to tank.  Yes, beginning.  The economic downturn did not become serious until the 4th quarter of 2008.  This quarter expect to see lay-offs increase dramatically.  By this time next year people will be talking depression not downturn.  Of course the economy will never recover.  Get used to it.  Finally, a fiscal crisis is just starting.  Forty four states in the U.S. are now running deficits.  Although the federal government in the U.S. can seemingly run up massive debts the States have trouble selling debt.  They are up against the wall.  New York’s fiscal year begins April 1st.  Their revenue is falling rapidly and their costs are rising.  California is in even worse shape.  Their fiscal year begins July 1st.

The U.K., Ireland, Spain and a few other countries are in worse shape than the U.S.  As social and economic conditions of working people deteriorate political views become more radical.

3] The situation in Gaza (7th January) has become intolerable.  Governments throughout the Middle East and Europe, no matter how much they dislike Hamas and the PFLP are pressuring Israel to stop.  Egypt, Turkey and France are crying for a truce.  Every day that goes by increases the hatred that those peoples have for their governments.  Israel is hastening the overthrow of several anti-popular Arab regimes.  The destruction of Gaza will be very expensive, politically, for Israel.  The longer this incident goes on for, the more isolated Israel will be and the more vulnerable the anti-popular governments in the region will become.

4] On January 1st transit police in California shot a black man in the back and killed him.  This was done a point blank range.  He was lying on the ground face down at the time.  A video was made of the incident by a witness.  It is very clear.  There is no doubt.  There was no riot, unlike in Athens when a similar event occurred.

On the other hand on the night of Dec 31st over 1,100 cars were burnt in France.  What we see here is a radicalisation of the youth in Europe.  This is a point which should be followed closely.  A small shift in popular voting patterns in many Western European states will result in the new governments distancing themselves from U.S. hegemonic projects.

5] Revolutionary forces are continuing to grow in strength and influence both in Latin America and in Asia.  Two revolutionary models are making headway.  In Asia, the model of protected people’s war has been with us for decades and now appears to be assuming greater importance as the economies of the region deteriorate.  In both Asia and Latin America a model more closely aligned with the urban working class and its allies is also becoming more prominent.  Once again, as the promise of a better future under globalised  neo-liberalism proves to be a mirage: people are turning to Marxism-Leninism in both its urban and rural flavours.

Summing up:

Hopefully, throughout 2009 these trends will be reported on in Iconoclast.  From time to time, with any luck, this project will not merely move forward, but will help folks to understand the social-economic forces driving today’s political-economy.

On January 16th, 2009, four demonstrators were arrested at Conservative MP Ed Holder’s office after a sit-in protest calling for the end of the violence in Gaza. Wendy Goldsmith, a social worker, Beth Guthrie, a librarian, David Heap, a professor at the University of Western Ontario and Cory Morningstar, president of the London chapter of the Council of Canadians, made several requests of Holder, including asking him to condemn the Israeli action against Gaza, demanding the full and safe delivery of humanitarian aid to the region, and demanding that the Canadian government reverse its stand on the United Nations’ resolution.

melissaparrott.com

Celente of Trends Research Institute :

“The merger of corporate and government powers in modern America is plain and simple fascism.

You’re gonna start see people taking to the streets, like they do in other countries. People have had it, they are fed up. They can’t afford it anymore. Look at what is going on. Ten major states are raising taxes again as people are losing their jobs, income is going down, they are losing their pensions, they are losing their investments – and the government is saying: more taxes, more taxes, more taxes…”

By The Voice of Treason

Dawn is rising. The dawning of a new era is just over the horizon. Fantastic opportunities for organizing and empowering the working class are about to open up and allow for us to have a hand in shaping a new reality. I believe that these opportunities are going to be made available through Barak Obama. Not that I have any illusions about his plans for ‘Change’. I think that it will be through the failures of his administration that we will have chances for real change.

Should we have faith that a President Obama will be progressive? Those who do, might want to take a look at Howard Zinn’s bestseller “A People’s History of the United States” to review elementary lessons on how big progressive change occurs: through dedicated activism and the threat of radical reconstruction from below. It’s not about managing, manipulating, and propagandizing the electorate.  It’s about expanding and mobilizing the citizenry and creating a more participatory, responsive, and democratic political culture beneath and beyond corporate-crafted,mass-marketed electoral spectacles.

The events we are witness to are going to lead to a series of cataclysmic occurrences that will shock the public, and pull away the facade that covers the real world.  People will lose faith in the lies told by the media. They will seek answers in other places. People will start to believe what was, not very long ago, unthinkable. It has already started. The financial crisis has ordinary people asking about things like fair income distribution, participatory economics, collectivization, and workers control. They can see the people standing up to oppression in Greece, Thailand, Oaxaca, Burma, and elsewhere.

I think that US hegemony will continue to decline as the world becomes more diverse. US power peaked at the end of World War II, when it had literally half the world’s wealth and incomparable military power and security. By 1970, its share of global wealth had declined by about half, and it has remained fairly stable since then. In some important respects, US domination has weakened. One important illustration is Latin America, Washington’s traditional ‘backyard’. For the first time since European colonization 500 years ago, South America is making significant progress towards integration and independence, and is also establishing relations independent of the US.

In my view, it will be an impossibility for the Obama administration to overcome the combined challenges of the environmental crisis, the financial crisis, the economic crisis, with a diminishing American influence and the growing class consciousness in the population. People are starting to see the connections. They are beginning to put it together. As the comfort zone crumbles, average citizens will understand. The elites running this capitalist enterprise are the ones to blame for our current situation. Who else can put us on such a calamitous course? Not only killing the earth, but also strangling the economy with low wages and high debt. Why do we put up with all of this garbage then? Not for long my friends. The end is in sight. The first rays of the new day are breaking through the darkness that has surrounded us for far too long. Dawn is rising.

Dear Prime Minister Harper and Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon:

As representatives of a number of community organizations in London, Ontario, we are writing you to protest your government’s silence in the face of the ongoing Israeli assault on Gaza.

As we write, more than 800 Palestinians have been killed and several thousands wounded, many of them civilians, by Israel’s military attacks over the past 15 days. Food is running low, electricity and power have largely stopped, water is scarce, sewage is overflowing, the hospitals have run out of essential medical supplies, and the territory’s meagre infrastructure is being systemically destroyed.

According to many human rights organizations, including Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and B’Tselem, many of the Israeli military attacks have targeted civilian homes and institutions, such as mosques, schools, universities, police stations and prisons.

Under international and Canadian law, these attacks, and the resulting civilian causalities, constitute war crimes. Even before this latest conflict, Israel had imposed an 18-month blockade of food, medical supplies and fuel from entering Gaza in sufficient quantities, causing what the United Nations Relief and Works Agency has called a serious humanitarian crisis. In international and Canadian law, this amounts to the collective punishment of the civilian population, itself a grave violation. The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the Palestinian Territories, Professor Richard Falk, stated several days ago that: “international humanitarian law, as set forth in the Geneva Conventions, is quietly set aside while the carnage continues and the bodies pile up.”

Your explicit support for the Israeli attacks, and your silence in the face of the deliberate infliction of suffering upon the civilian population of Gaza, are unacceptable. We urgently request that the government of Canada demand:

1-An immediate ceasefire by all warring parties, 2- The lifting of the inhumane siege of Gaza, 3- The condemnation of all those who have committed violations of international law in this conflict, 4- And the rapid implementation of all United Nations resolutions pertaining to the conflict.

Peace in the Middle East and security for Palestinians and Israelis alike will only come with justice. Siding with the aggressor and condemning the victims only lengthens the time that it will take to finally achieve a genuine and durable peace.

Yours in peace.

David Janzen chairperson, Canadian Friends of Sabeel, London Chapter David Heap moderator, People for Peace Beth Guthrie co-ordinator, London War Resisters Support Group Mazen Shahatto president, Canadian Palestinian Association, London Umair Jamil chairperson, Palestinian Student Association Nazih Mroue vice-president, Al-Mahdi Al-Muntathar Union Ahmad Hayek president Canadian Arab Society, London Zan Saleemi chairperson, Association of London Muslims David Hassan chairperson, London Muslim Mosque Hassan Mostafa president Islamic Centre of Southwest Ontario Salkan Burzic president Bosnian-Canadian Islamic Centre Ali Pardhan chairperson, Ahlul-Bayt Islamic Centre Cory Morningstar president, Council of Canadians, London Chapter

Black Power:
A movement among Black Americans (and other countries/nations) emphasizing racial pride and social equality through the creation of Black political and cultural institutions: “Black Power . . . calls for black people to consolidate behind their own, so that they can bargain from a position of strength” (Stokely Carmichael and Charles Hamilton).

Internal Colonialism:
refers to political and economic inequalities between regions within a single society. The term may be used to describe the uneven effects of state development on a regional basis and to describe the exploitation of minority groups within the wider society. The relationship between colonizer and colony is similarly unequal and exploitative in colonialism and internal colonialism. An internal colony typically produces wealth for the benefit of those areas most closely associated with the state, usually the capital area. The members of the internal colonies are distinguished as different by a cultural variable such as ethnicity, language, or religion. They are then excluded from prestigious social and political positions, which are dominated by members of the metropolis (Abercrombie et al., 2000:183).
The main difference between neocolonialism and internal colonialism is the source of exploitation. In the former, the control comes from outside the nation-state, while in the latter it comes from within. One of the pivotal publications on the subject is Michael Hechter’s Internal Colonialism: The Celtic Fringe in British National Development (1975)

‘Class Warfare’ - conflict between social or economic classes (especially between the capitalist and proletariat classes) 2. refers to the conflicts of interest that arise within every society when a wealthy economic elite arises and exploits its economic advantages so as to obtain still greater wealth and/or political power for itself.
‘Proletariat’ -the class of industrial wage earners who, possessing neither capital nor production means, must earn their living by selling their labor.
‘Bourgeois’ -a member of the property-owning class; a capitalist. Upper class or ruling class.
‘Capitalist’- a person who owns a business.

The front cover of this issue speaks directly to the capitalist mentality that corporations and the ruling class operate by – that is to exploit others for personal (or class) gain and putting profit before social and environmental justice. For instance, Nike uses sweatshop labour across the world to make products that can be sold elsewhere for high prices to extract money from consumers. The ironic part about this practice is that the “image” of clothing corporations is to purport that the products of a certain company allows for people to express their “identity” and gives a façade of high socio-economic standing. For example, buying Nike over Puma can suggest that the consumer is more outgoing, stylish or wealthy.  This is all done mind you with the sweat of others across the world who are paid next to nothing to create these “status”, “identity” symbols for the more affluent elsewhere. All corporations try to create an image for themselves. This is now called Public Relations (PR). Corporations use many tools such as advertising, charity donations, and “environmentally friendly” products to create an image of themselves that are designed to hide the true nature of what there goals really are and how they operate. This of course is to maximize profits, and exploit others to transfer wealth into fewer hands, and concentrate control.

by Exarchia

Firebombs and breaking glass, tear gas and burning cars. The images from greee this past month were enough to put the fear of youth into the hearts of European leaders. The ead of the International Monetary Fund recently said that iolent unrest may be sparked around the world by a prolonged global slump unless governments act with greater urgency to jump-start stalled economies. He also claimed that violent protests could break out in countries worldwide if the financial system was not reordered to benefit everyone rather than a small elite. Pay close attention to Greece; at a time of world-wide economi upheaal, it foreshadows disturbances elsewhere in 2009.

The riots in Greece  began as spontaneous protests to  the killing of a 15 year old student by the police in Athens on Dec 6. It spread to university centers around the country, quickly morphing into a wider contest between young people and the police and by extension, the government. Tens of thousands of people continued the protests in the days and weeks that followed.

The Black Bloc Anarchist scene in Greece (as in Italy and Spain) is distint because the divide between right and left is so deep. Greece has a history of violent clashes that dates fro the colonel’s junta in the 70’s. Greek anarchists view theselves as part of a tradition of resistance that started under that military dictatorship. every November 17 the anarchists mark the anniversary of the bloodily suppressed 1973 student revolt at the Athens Polytechnic University.

Arrayed against the rebellion have been the fores of the Greek state, abetted in some places by the fascist thugs of the Golden Dawn organiation. Also playing their allotted role in counter-insurgency have been the political parties includin the Stalinists of the KKE (Communist Party of Greece), who issued vile calumnies of those fightin the police in the streets. More adroitly, the independent “New Left” party SYRIZA (Coalition of Left and Progress) has sought to position itself- by extending a kind of critical support to the protest movement- so as to be able to o-opt the discontent for its own electoral ends.

Faced with governments of the official left and right seeking to make working people shoulder the full weight of the economic crisis, and opposition parties that offer no real opposition to this agenda, young people in Greece have taken to the streets in a mass display of anger and frustration. Make no mistake. We are witnessing the begining of a profound social shift that must assume political forms that will not be confined to the compromised and discedited trade unions and oraniations of the official left.

“We are experiencing moments of great social revolution,” said an activist among those occupying a university building.

By attacking both capital and the state, the Greek insurgents have shown that these are two sides of the same coin, a currency whose denominations are hierarchy, exclusion, and exploitation. They are not seeking another government but another society. Their rebellion has also been a timely reminder that the radical transformation of the world does not depend on the workings of some ineluctable “laws of history”. In addition to the neessary objective conditions, it also requires a decisionon the part of large numbers of people to fight back, to make theselves heard, and to make change.