________________________________________________ A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C E http://www.ainfos.ca/ ________________________________________________ Number 360 26th July 1st August, 1999 IN A TIME OF UNIVERSAL DECEIT - TELLING THE TRUTH IS A REVOLUTIONARY ACT - GEORGE ORWELL SECURITY? All those people who still believe that having a job is the key to security need to think again. Over 30% of people in Australia who have a job are casual workers, of 538,900 jobs that were created for men between 1985 and 1997, 502,400 were casual jobs. During the same period of time of the 920,200 jobs that were created for women, 405,800 were casual. Over 65% of all jobs created over the past twelve years have been casual jobs. Why this newfound love for casual work? Do employees want to stay on permanent part time contracts for the rest of their lives? Of course not, people work to earn an income. Job security has been a goal that most people aspire to. Capitalism by its very nature is an insecure way of living. If you get sick or lose your job, it doesnıt take long to find out what happens when you canıt bring in that money. That old adage that the difference between living comfortably and being poor is six weeks wages, encapsulates the insecurity of living in a capitalist society. The drive towards individual contracts and casual labour has increased the level of insecurity among Australian workers. The pay off for casual work is slanted towards the employer not the employee. Employers donıt have to pay sick pay, annual leave or payroll tax. These substantial savings are not incorporated into casual rates of pay. No wonder the number of casual jobs have exploded over the past fifteen years. Although casual work may seem attractive at first glance, the payback includes reduced productivity, lack of identification with the companies goals and a sense of alienation and insecurity. One of the critical differences between a capitalist and an anarchist society is that sense of security that is such a central feature of life in anarchist community. Anyone who lives in an anarchist society is entitled to share in the decision making processes and the wealth created by that community, not because of what they do or who they are, but because they are a member of that community. CHURCH AND STATE A FIANANCIAL UNION MADE IN HEAVEN The re-election of Howard and his merry band of incompetents has resulted in a financial union between the state and the church in Australia. The privatisation and out-sourcing of the governments community services responsibilities has seen church groups lining up to feed off the government gravy train. The leader of the pack has been the Prime Ministerıs favourite charity, the Salvation Army. Anyone who has any knowledge of the Salvation Armies origins, would realise that the Armies role has not changed since the days it was used to break up socialist and Anarchist organisations in Britain in the 19th century. Those churchıs that have traditionally kept at arms length from the state, have also been attracted to the gravy train. Most are more than keen to line up and tender for government contracts to provide for the "less fortunate in society". The bun fights to land these lucrative contracts have to be seen to be believed. Few church groups can withstand the whiff of a buck at the end of the day. As we have seen with the Salvation Army and its handling of the drug issue, the policies of the church and the state become intertwined and indistinguishable. The churchıs responsibility changes from that of an organisation that looks after the interests of the people it provides services for, to an organisation that administers government policy. Confidentiality clauses in contracts closes the mouths of the more radical elements within the churchıs. The churchıs, not government bureaucracies now administer much of the Federal and state governments community obligations. Most church groups seem to have no ethical dilemmas or qualms about their role as providers and enforces of government policies. One of the few church groups that has resisted the current push to tender for government contracts, is the Melbourne City Mission. Unfortunately even in that organisation, elements within the Melbourne City Mission are pushing to tender for government contracts. It seems that the lure of mammon is too much for most of Godıs organisations in Australia. HIGHWAY ROBBERY You have to laugh about the fuss thatıs being made about the privatisation of another 16% of Telstra. Reading, listening and viewing what laughingly passes as informed comment in the Australian media, you could be forgiven for thinking that the further privatisation of Telstra is a potential bonanza for Australians. Considering that Telstra has been given ten million dollars to advertise the sale, you can be assured that weıre all going to hear about the never to be repeated benefits of privatisation. Unfortunately the reality of the Telstra sale has once again taken a back seat to the glitter surrounding the privatisation process. The privatisation of Telstra is literally highway robbery. An asset thatıs theoretically owned by the people of Australia but actually owned by the state, is being given away to the private sector. Although public assets are owned by the state not the people, the profits made by public assets are normally used by the state for the benefit of the people. It makes no economic sense to sell a gold mine. Telstra was a successful publicly owned asset that literally made billions of dollars for the Australian people. To remove such an asset from the hands of the people and sell it to the private sector is little short of day light robbery. Over the next few months we will see people with disposable private assets buy public assets. The eighteen billion dollars that will be made by the sale is literally a drop in the ocean, if its compared to the profits that could be used for the benefit of the community if Telstra continued to be owned by the public. Ah well thatıs life in Australia, the current Federal government is fulfilling its ideological dream of literally giving away public assets to the private sector. If they were serious about making every Australian a shareholder, they would have given every man, woman and child in Australia an equal parcel of shares, instead of selling Telstra to those people with disposable incomes and to the corporate sector. "HOLDING PATIENTS TO RANSOM" Victoriaıs great helmsmen Kim Il Sungıs clone Kim Il Kennett is at it again. The great man has turned his attention to hospital caterers and cleaners. Attempts to negotiate a new Enterprise Bargaining Agreement with whatıs left of the states public health system. Caterers and cleaners, some of the most poorly paid health workers are seeking a 14% wage rise spread over three years. The Victorian government through their apologists in the Health Area Networks have offered them 9% over three years. Hence the current dispute. In one of the most hypocritical outbursts of the year Kim Il Kennett has accused hospital cleaners and caterers of holding patients to ransom. The head of a government that has gutted public hospital services, undermined staff morale, has been responsible for the introduction of third world standards into the Victorian public hospital sector, has the nerve to accuse cleaners and caterers of "holding patients to ransom". The Victorian regime has placed the health care of Victorians to ransom. Their so called reforms to the public health sector has held patients to ransom. Their indifference to the plight of public hospital patients has held patients to ransom. Kennett and his mediocre cabinet buddies have held public hospital patients to ransom since they were elected to 1992. No amount of lies and hyperbole can draw peopleıs attention away from the mess that the public health sector in Victoria is facing. If anybody is holding patients to ransom, itıs the implementation of the Kennett regimes health policies. Their policies have created a climate of indifference and fear within the public hospital sector. No amount of government bluster can alter the facts about who is "holding patients to ransom" in Victoria. ONLY NEW LABOR COULD GET AWAY WITH IT!! Remember how psychiatry was practised in the Old Soviet Union. If you were anti-communist you were obviously mentally ill. The Soviet Unions mental hospitals were full of political prisoners who found themselves guests of the Communist Party because they dared challenge orthodox thinking. Well it looks like the same psychiatric system is about to be introduced in to Blairıs Britain. The same Labor folk who want to dismantle the social security system, have now taken their pathetic ideas a step further. You see, there is these anti-social personalities, they havenıt done anything wrong and they donıt fit the current mental illness criteria, but they do have an unfortunate habit of asking difficult questions - Well Mr. Blair and New Labor believe itıs time these perky folk were taken off the streets and detained at her Majestyıs pleasure until they recant and beg forgiveness for their anti-social ideas. The only problem is that there are no laws that can be used to detain these potential troublesome blighters. Well Mr. Blair has told one and all who cares to listen that soon laws will be introduced into the British parliament to detain these social nuisances for treatment, although no recognised treatment exists for anti-social behaviour, Iım sure it wonıt take long before political activists are detained and treated for the countries good. I can see a whole new bevy of government bureaucrats drawing up plans to define the anti-social personality. Possibly subscribing to a belief that the state is here to harm not protect ordinary people could land you in one of New Labours proposed social re-engineering units. I wonder how long it will take for the first inmate to graduate from this proposed academy. Considering the extent of these proposed powers to detain and forcibly treat people with personality disorders, it wonıt take long for radical political activity to be viewed by the community, the state and the medical profession as a mental illness. ANARCHIST QUESTION AND ANSWER Q. Globalisation, friend of foe? A. Anarchism is an international movement that wants to break down national boundaries. Anarchists support globalisation. They support initiatives that improve communication between people. They also support initiatives that break down social, cultural, religious and national and economic differences. They donıt support the neo-liberal idea of concentrating economic wealth in fewer and fewer hands. Globalisation of capital is the very anthesis of what anarchism is all about: Anarchists want to see economic power wrestled out of the hands of monopolies and placed back in the hands of the people. The current neo-liberal conversation about globalisation is a conversation about concentrating power, wealth and cultural objectives in the hands of monopolies, not in the hands of the people. A classical example of the type of globalisation anarchists support is the internet. The internet is a decentralised method of communication that potentially allows everyone in the world to communicate with everybody else in the world. The internet is a decentralised global network. When neo-liberals talk about free trade, they talk about powerful economies opening up one way markets in less powerful parts of the world. When anarchists talk about free trade, they talk about the free flow of goods across the globe from areas of plenty to areas of need. Neo-liberals strive to create centralised global networks that are controlled by a few monopolies, anarchists strive to create decentralised global networks. Although both groups have global objectives, one group dominates, the other empowers. As anarchist activists itıs important that we support non-authoritarian decentralised attempts at globalisation and fight neo-liberal attempts to globalise both capital and power in the hands of corporate monopolies. The current privatisation and globalisation craze increases the power of the corporate sector at the expense of the state. Anarchist want to abolish both the corporate sector and the state. The globalisation of capital shifts the focus of power, it does not abolish the seats of power. ACTION BOX - HEARTS AND MINDS Anarchist more than any other social or political activists rely on their communication skills. As anarchism is a voluntary not a authoritarian movement anarchists need to be active in the game of winning hearts and minds. In order to win hearts and minds we need to be able to offer an anarchist opinion on whatıs happening around us and we need to have ideas on how anarchists would tackle particular problems. Itıs no good saying Anarchists donıt believe in blueprints or that a problem would be solved after the revolution. There is no earthly reason why anybody should take anything you as an anarchist say on trust. Chanting Mantras may be good for the soul, but it doesnıt win hearts and minds. Anarchist activists need to be able to subvert and build at the same time. We may not have all the answers on tap but we should have mechanisms by which we can show people how we can arrive at answers for particular problems. Grab a newspaper, turn to page five, look at the news items, apply anarchist principles to the stories and see if you can come up with an anarchist analysis and possible solutions to problems raised in the newspaper. Sports people become good at what they do because they practise. As activists we also need to practice the art of communication if we are to have any hope of winning hearts and minds. Work in anarchist concepts in your everyday conversations. Listen to the news, dissect it and try to analyse it from an anarchist point of view. Before you know it, youıll be able to tackle any question and be able to come up with an anarchist analysis of whatıs happening in your street, town, city or country. Once you start making sense of the world, your confidence as a community and political activist will increase. Soon other people will begin to take notice of what you say and begin to compare their reality with your analysis. Winning hearts and minds through conversations, arguments and practical examples is one of the main challenges that faces each and every one of us. Whether we are able to meet this challenge, will depend on the amount of time we have spent analysing the world around us. AUSTRALIAN RADICAL AND ANARCHIST HISTORY GEORGE CAMPBELL THOMPSON A free speech struggle developed in Brisbane after the defeat of the 1912 General Strike. A number of speakers chained themselves to the verandah posts in Queen St, Brisbane in 1913 to protest about the lack of free speech in Queensland. A number of these protesters were sent to Boggo Road jail for their efforts. One of the prisoners George Campbell Thompson a member of the Socialist Party went on a hunger strike when he was sent to Boggo Road jail. Two prison doctors at Boggo Road jail certified him insane and had him admitted to a locked ward at the Lunatic Asylum at Goodna near Ipswich. Political activists in Queensland were outraged at his confinement. The Inspector for Asylums claimed that Thompson was insane and not fit for discharge. It took over eighteen months of protests before George Thompson was released from the Lunatic Asylum in Goodna, just before May Day in 1915. Interestingly he was only released on probation. George was never arrested again. Later on in his life he moved to Macleay Island and lived a quiet life on the island until his death in 1958. Free speech struggles have been a feature of life in Queensland for most of this century. Successive Queensland governments have stifled protest activity limiting protests to those that have a police permit. It seems that the movement of traffic in Queensland has always been a much more important priority than free speech. BOOK REVIEW Container Deposit Legislation by Georgios Alexandrou, Published by SCAM Publications 1999 Melbourne Georgios Alexandrou has accidentally stumbled on a hidden truth about the anarchist movement in his well researched and convincingly argued case for Resource Recovery and Waste Minimisation. The author examines the history of deposit legislation in Australia and tackles head on the reasons why every state government (apart from the South Australian government) has not introduced Container Deposit Legislation. This book isnıt bedtime reading, although itıs tedious in parts, Georgios has attempted and succeeded in making the topic accessible to ordinary readers. He has kept jargon to a minimum and has looked at every conceivable angle. Governments, industry and can collectors all get a hearing in this seminal contribution to the Container Deposit Legislation debate. In an attempt to give a human face to his report Georgios has included an interview with Lyle, a can and bottle collector at the Victoria Markets in Melbourne. This interview reminded me of the old bottle-O. The bottle-O was a permanent feature of the Australian landscape before disposable containers became all the rage. Most of these people were elderly or disabled, they went from house to house collecting bottles, loading them onto hand pulled carts or into old prams. Disposable containers removed that little extra income that many people on pensions were able to make. If corporations who produced disposable containers are forced to pay for the damage their products cause to the community, tens of thousands of people could earn a decent living from collecting disposable containers. Georgios has stumbled on an old anarchist home truth that is again raising its ugly head. Many of the anarchists involved in the Spanish Revolution were self-employed people who worked long hours to keep body and soul together. Their experiences drew them to the collective aims of the anarchist movement. As individuals they worked all day, without holidays and sickdays, pitting themselves against other people who earned as little as they did. Joining a collective ensured they received a decent reward for their efforts and allowed them to take holidays. As we approach the 21st century the push toward individual contracts has stripped away what little protection workers have. More and more people are becoming self-employed, working longer hours for less, collectivism provides an alternative to the individual contract nightmare. The very people who are championed by the author in this book, find themselves in a similar situation to the barbers, waiters, newspaper sellers and vendors who flocked to the anarchist movement in Spain. Container Deposit Legislation is published by SCAM Publications. Copies of this detailed, well researched, incisive publication can be obtained by writing to Scam Publications, PO Box 756, Brunswick Lower. 3056 Melbourne Australia. Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] PERSONAL OBSERVATION Walking the dog seems to be an Australian preoccupation. Every morning, every evening, tens of thousands of people of all shapes and sizes walk their dogs. Big dogs, small dogs shaggy dogs, black dogs, white dogs, there seems to be as much variety in the dogs as there is in their human handlers. Youıd have to be Rip Van Winkel if you havenıt noticed the collection of doggy poos on every footpath in the land, some as big as a decent sized human turd, but thatıs another story. Morning dog walkers, are normally athletic types, the mutts and their human handlers have a predilection for running. Men, woman and dogs seem to work themselves up into a lather over nothing. The action in the afternoon starts at around 4.00 p.m. Bored, listless, in your face young teenagers are dragged round the suburbs by yap yaps whoıs cuteness and friendship factor has been replaced by a sense of duty thatıs reinforced by a slow trickle of parental pocket money. Around 5.00 p.m. elderly folk emerge from gods waiting rooms to exercise their coiffured, pampered, short legged friends. They stop, start on their promenade using the walk as an excuse to exercise tongues that have been stifled by a daily dose of the young and the restless, days of our lives and Oprah. As dusk falls, middle aged men go through the motions of walking elderly mutts that have outlived the attentions of teenage children who have discovered the attractions of drugs, sex and rock nı roll. These ghosts who walk crawl streets, oblivious of everything except their own impending mortality. Later in the evening young couples with lust on their minds exercise long legged pedigree dogs, coats glistening in the moonlight. Walking hand in hand their dog on a leash, they dream about their future together not realising that mortality will soon puncture any dreams they may have. Around midnight the occasional jogger is harassed from behind suburban fences by forgotten dogs who are dutifully fed but never walked by their owners. STOP PRESS DESPAIR OR REVENGE? Two terrible murder suicides in West Australia in the past two weeks has raised critical questions about family life in Australia. In both cases, a parent has hooked up a hose to a car exhaust and has gassed their children and themselves. The interesting aspect about the current rash of familial murder suicides is peoplesı reaction to these tragedies. Many people are saying that they understand why a parent embarks on such a tragic course of action. Many peoplesı lives are tied up with the lives of their children. Children are seen as private property not as individuals with their own lives, hopes and aspirations. When families break up, or run into difficulties, a parent may decide to end their life and the life of their children because they see their children as an extension of themselves. I donıt think that revenge is the primary motive. I believe that despair and depression drives people to take what they believe is the best course of action for themselves and their children. Suicide is essentially an impulsive action. For every person who succeeds in killing themselves, twenty others survive. Counselling, psychiatric intervention, changes in the way break ups are handled by the courts and changes in the way people interact are long term solutions to the problem. Attaching a hose to a cars exhaust pipe and pumping carbon monoxide into the car is an impulsive painless method of committing murder suicide. A parent stabbing, shooting or bashing children to death is a course most parents wonıt contemplate. In the late 1960ıs a rash of suicides primarily among women occurred as a result of barbiturate overdoses. The number of overdoses were dramatically reduced by introducing one simple measure. Barbiturates were removed from plastic containers and individually packed in foil. As suicide is normally an impulsive act, itıs much much easier to swallow a container of pills than individually remove and swallow a pill thatıs wrapped in foil. This simple measure had the desired effect of reducing the number of suicides in Australia. The same principle can be applied to carbon monoxide poisoning. Car exhausts do not have to produce carbon monoxide. A few additives added to fuel storage points can remove carbon monoxide from exhaust products. This simple act would have prevented the recent murder suicides and would also prevent the deaths of those people who use this method to end their lives. Why havenıt governments looked at this simple solution? They claim that the extra cent or two a litre that would be added to the price of petrol, puts this proposal out of contention. Considering that over 60% of the price consumers pay at the bowser is tax, you really have to wonder why this simple proposal has not been implemented. JOSEPH TOSCANO (Libertarian Workers for a Self-Managed Society). ANARCHIST PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED THIS WEEK FREEDOM VOL.60 No.14 10th Julyı99, 84b Whitechapel High St, London E17QX, Great Britian http://www.tao.ca/~freedom email [EMAIL PROTECTED] LE LIBERTAIRE No.197 Jluy/Augı99 25 Rue dıAplemont 76600 Le Havre, France Tel 02 35533341 Fax 0235532127 email [EMAIL PROTECTED] TIERRA Y LIBERTAD No.139 Junı99 Antonio Oliva, Apdo 74 La Puebla del Rio/SE, 41130 Spain Tel/Fax (95) 5772135 email [EMAIL PROTECTED] ANARCHIST PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED THIS WEEK CONTAINER DEPOSIT LEGISLTATION (See this weeks book review) by Georges Alexandrou, Scam Publications PO Box 756 Brunswick Lower 3052, Melbourne Australia email [EMAIL PROTECTED] NEW FARM NEIGHBOURHOOD NEWS No.5 Julyı99 PO Box 5208 Westend 4101, Brisbane Australia Tel 0738464358, Fax 0738465899. WESTEND NEIGHBOURHOODF NEWS, No.67 Julyı99, PO Box 5208 West End 4101, Brisbane Australia Tel 0738464358, Fax 07 38465899. DEBT ELIMINATION APPEAL UP IT GOES AGAIN!!! Our debt stands at $1942.00. We owe 3CR Community Radio Station $1785.00. ŭWe need to clear this debt by the end of July 1999, otherwise we will be forced to place a number of campaigns for 1999 on hold. One way you can help is by paying in ADVANCE for copies of the Anarchist Age Weekly Review. We ask NET readers of the A.A.W.R. to especially consider sending us a donation. Currently subscribers to the A.A.W.R. & the A.A.M.R are subsidizing net users. DEBT 28.7.99 - $1942.00 Please send STAMPS, MONEY ORDERS OR CHEQUES to L.W.S.S. PO BOX 20, Parkville 3052, Melbourne, Australia. Overseas Donors please note - please have cheques at your end made out in Australian dollars as it costs us ten dollars to convert one overseas cheques to Australian dollars. ANARCHIST WORLD THIS WEEK NOW ON THE INTERNET - FOR ANYBODY ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD TO LISTEN IN TO. LIKE THE PROGRAM - TELL YOUR FRIENDS AROUND THE PLANET ABOUT OUR INTERNET ADDRESS -http://www.freespeech.org/anarchistAge ANARCHIST WORLD THIS WEEK POSTER AVAILABLE FOR THE COST OF A FEW STAMPS Want to help us find new listeners for the Anarchist World This Week, then send us a few stamps to AWTW, PO Box 20, Parkville 3052, Australia & we'll send you out a colour poster (A3) for your use & a black & white poster you can photocopy & put up to help us increase the number of people who listen to the Anarchist World This Week. COMMUNITY RADIO SATELLITE The Anarchist World This Week will be broadcasting live on the Community Radio Satellite, 10am to 11.00am every Wednesday morning from the 23rd of June. Can you tune into a community Radio Station? If you can ask your local community Radio Station to broadcast Anarchist World This Week live at 10am every Wednesday morning or later on in the week. Contact them today to arrange to hear an Anarchist voice on the airwaves in your part of Australia. Send us 4x45 cent stamps for a new Anarchist World This Week Poster. A) Anarchism towards the 21st century B) Towards an anarchist society 1999 handbook Libertarian Workers for a Self-Managed Society Position & Activities 1999. Send $4.00 of stamps to L.W.S.S. PO Box 20 Parkville 3052 Melbourne Australia and we will post out both booklets to you. STAMP APPEAL We normally spend over $400.00 per month on postage stamps. If you have any spare stamps floating about or are about to write to us, stuff a few stamps in the envelope. Every little bit helps. ANARCHIST MEDIA INSTITUTE OBSCENITY OF THE WEEK Has been awarded to the AMA for attempting to dismantle Medicare, although 79% of General Practitioner consultations are bulk billed. Politically manipulated and scorned? Sick of being a peripheral player every time a Federal election comes around, then join:- VOTE INFORMAL TODAY, DIRECT DEMOCRACY TOMORROW, a "political party" that is putting the boot into the Australian Parliamentary Process. Send a stamp self-addressed envelope to VOTE INFORMAL TODAY DIRECT DEMOCRACY TOMORROW PO Box 20, Parkville. 3052. Melbourne. Australia Telephone (03) 9828 2856 (24 hour answering service). We will send information about how to join this unique 21st century Australian phenomena. DONıT PUT IT OFF JOIN THE PUSH FOR CHANGE NOW If You Like What You Have Read, Photocopy This Publication and Leave It In Doctors, Dentists, Vets Waiting Rooms and In Railway Stations, Bus Stops, Libraries and Restaurants Etc. The articles in the Anarchist Age Weekly Review express the opinion of individuals within the Libertarian Workers for a Self-Managed Society/Anarchist Media Institute. 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