World AIDS Day

It’s world AIDS Day today and I’d quite like to quote Emma Goldman:

The most violent element in society is ignorance.

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A friend asked me the other day why I thought of HIV/AIDS as a political disease…

In my mind health and healthcare are very clearly political topics

However HIV/AIDS is, perhaps even more than most other illnesses, linked with poverty and inequality(even if Liz Pisani might try to argue otherwise, making a whole lot of very fair points along the way), it is linked with the political influence of some ‘religious groups’ who’ve tried to disincentivise condom use and sex education, it was/is linked to the politics of gay rights, it is linked to the politics of intellectual poverty which prevented and prevents the right drugs from getting to the right people. That’s not to say that each of these has a simple answer, it doesn’t, but they are all fundamentally political questions. Scientists can come up with all kinds of stuff, but the application of it ends up being political.

As an example, I am against intellectual property rights for essential drugs (at the very least in their current form, but probably more generally than just that). That doesn’t mean I can’t see that they serve a purpose and that there are arguments for them (in terms of encouraging drug development: necessary in a capitalist world).But these are political questions which need to be debated in public political fora and we, as a society, need to come up with answers to them. Otherwise, we defer to other interests (including business interests). The first step to answering those questions in a fair and even-handed way must, in my opinion, be raised awareness of and concern about the issues so that we can have informed debate where everyone’s interests, not just those of a minority, are fairly represented.

Sadly, I don’t think we’ll ever be able to have that kind of informed public debate in a world where money talks, dances and walks.

EDIT: My friend Joseph Healy has posted on World AIDS Day here: http://greenmpforvauxhall.blogspot.com/2009/12/world-aids-day-not-just-title.html. Well worth a read.

Green Left Pamphlet Launch

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Housmans – radical booksellers since 1945
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PRESS RELEASE – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
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TALK + PAMPHLET LAUNCH

Green Left
Wednesday 27th May – 7pm
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Summary for listings:

This evening guests from Green Left will be discussing the eco-socialist, anti-capitalist agenda, and launching a new pamphlet on the subject.

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Synopsis

Green Left is an eco-socialist, anti-capitalist current within the Green Party, which started in June 2006 when 36 Green Party members agreed its launch statement (the Headcorn Declaration).

Sarah Farrow, Green Left co-convenor said then: “Activists in the Green Party have founded Green Left because many Greens believe the only path to an ecological, economically and socially just and peaceful society has to be based on an anti-capitalist political agenda.”

This evening guests from Green Left will be discussing their agenda, and launching a new pamphlet on the subjects at hand.

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Event information

Wednesday 27th May – 7pm
Housmans Bookshop
5 Caledonian Road
King’s Cross
London N1 9DX
Tel: 020 7837 4473

Free entry
Nearest tube: King’s Cross
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GPTU

From Romayne Pheonix…

Re-Elect Jean Lambert

From rights in the workplace through to the right to migrate, from campaigning for reduced CO2 emissions through to gay rights, Jean Lambert has done it all. A truly inspiring MEP for London and one of the most hard working in the European Parliament.

Please make sure you’re registered to vote and please make sure you vote for Jean.

Details of what she’s done for the past decade in the European Parliament, along with her colleague, Caroline Lucas, can be found in her End of Term report: http://tinyurl.com/cgtavg. Well worth a read if you want to get an idea what issues they’ve campaigned about. Their tireless work has meant they have been recognised as some of the most principled and thoughtful politicians in Brussels… re-elect Jean for a strong voice to speak for justice and fairness in Europe.

A most unnatural and tragic death

Ian Tomlinson who died at the demonstration on the 1st of April was confronted by police minutes earlier according to the IPCC. This contradicts the initial statements put out by the police.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/apr/07/g20-demonstration-police-death

I hope for the sake of Mr Tomlinson’s family that the truth comes out about what happened in the run up to his death. It is seeming more and more unlikely that the police will be able to claim they are blameless. Their initial claim that he died of ‘natural causes’ is seeming less and less likely with every witness who comes forward and every statement from the IPCC.

Kettling as a tactic must end. Full stop. It is a undermines some basic human rights and has no place at political demonstrations involving peaceful protesters.

I continue to believe that the best way forward is for a full, public inquiry into the policing at the G20. I cannot have confidence in the IPCC after it originally seemingly took the police’s version of events as true and was going to issue a statement confirming this. The temperature has to stay high on this: they cannot get away with this this time.

My thoughts are foremost with Mr Tomlinson’s family and friends.

SM

Guardian: Police ‘assaulted’ bystander who died during G20 protests

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/apr/05/g20-protest-ian-tomlinson

G20 Protester Death

Sympathies and comradely greetings to his family and friends.

The most thoroughly researched account I have been able to find on the web here: http://backtowardsthelocus.wordpress.com/2009/04/03/accidental-death-of-an-anarchist-2/

A thorough and independent public investigation must be held. There cannot be any shortage of CCTV footage given the area.

JimJay has done a good wrap-up of the G20 protests here: http://jimjay.blogspot.com/2009/04/g20-protest-reports.html

G20 demonstrations marred by police violence

Peaceful demonstrators gathered today outside the Bank of England to press for a better world. The protesters arrived at the Bank of England from 4 different directions representing 4 horsemen of the apocalypse (red horse against War, green horse against Climate Chaos, silver horse against Financial Crimes and black horse against Land Enclosures and Borders).

The financial crisis has led to a great strength of feeling by demonstrating the shortcomings of neoliberal capitalism and has also led many to conclude that this is a historic moment of opportunity to push for change. The protest was very good natured with music, banners, dancing and impromptu speakers talking about their visions for a different world. A broad cross-section of society was represented including factory workers, teachers, cleaners, academics, nurses, unemployed people and pensioners all coming together to press for a change in system which has resulted in so much human suffering.

Sadly, the protest was marred by violent and provocative tactics used by the police in their attempts to contain demonstrators. Thousands of demonstrators including pregnant women and young children were ‘kettled’ in to a small area immediately outside the Bank of England with only those who had work ID for the local area or were NUJ members allowed out of the police blockades. Protesters were denied access to food, water and toilets for over 2 hours. A small minority of protesters trying to escape from the enclosure early on were arrested by the police. Furthermore, police on horseback appeared rapidly to prevent protestors advancing down a side street. The use of police on horseback against pedestrian demonstrators is wholly inapprorpiate and stokes up violence and fear in protestors unneccesarily.

Many police medics were present and did not speak out against the tactics: shame on them. Other police officers on the ground were invited to behave in a more human manner by some protesters but all (that I saw) followed orders that were patently unjust and unfair to peaceful protesters.

It was only after the police on horseback appearing (very suddenly) and the police running into the crowd and hitting people with battons that some protestors broke windows at the Royal Bank of Scotland to cheers from the majority of the crowd in that corner: such was the strength of feeling against both the system which has let the world down, and against the police who were detaining peaceful demonstrators for no just reason. Whilst I do not approve of violence as a solution to conflicts, it did not feel unjust that some protestors broke the windows of a bank that had presided over such gross misuse of funds. It was clear that there were no bank staff in the building who might have been physically hurt by the actions of that group of protestors. The financial loss to the bank pales into insignificance when compared to bonuses and pensions paid out to the management.

It was only due to active defense against such unjust imprisonment (in the form of large numbers of demonstrators pushing against the human police barrier in a non-violent way) that the police were overwhelmed by the numbers and some of the crowd was able to leave the area.

Several prominent Greens attended the protest including Cllr Romayne Pheonix (Lewisham) and Shan Oaks (parliamentary Candidate against David Davis in the Haltemprice and Howden by-election last year) and the response from the crowd to the Green Party banners was overwhelmingly positive. I am proud to have been part of such an important protest.

I will be writing to Green Party Assembly Member and member of the Metropolitan Police Authority, Jenny Jones, to describe my personal experiences of police violence and inapprorpriate tactics and would urge any others present to do the same. The wholly inapprorpriate tactics used by the police made peaceful protesters feel that they were doing something illegal and could have resulted in significant injury to both protestors and police had protestors not managed to break free. Some protestors remained behind with the radio saying that the barriers were only finally completely lifted at around 6:30pm.

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At Bishopsgate, police confiscated tents from peaceful demonstrators trying to set up camp on the street earlier on although latest reports from other London Greens suggest that police have allowed the climare camp to set up and that demonstrators are chalking slogans onto the pavement and that the atmosphere is very positive.

Workers for the World Unite! We have only one world and only one chance to save it.

Woolas Detained

Phil Woolas, the minister ultimately responsible for the inhumane system of detention of asylum seekers was ‘detained’ in his office for half an hour by members of ‘Manchester No Borders’.

I can only commend this action as exactly the kind of non-violent direct action which should be part of the political strategy.

Their excellent statement on the current situation:

2,500 people are currently detained in privately-owned immigration prisons in Britain. They are held for an indefinite period, but a significant number are detained for over 12 months. Never mind the debate on 42 days detention without charge for terror suspects. Here we have 30,000 people every year locked up without trial or sentence; 2,000 of them children.

Why? Because they (or their parents) were born on the wrong side of the border, in countries such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Zimbabwe or DR Congo that are being torn apart by atrocious wars, whose natural resources are being exploited by multi-national corporations, where human rights are a farce, where political activity is punished with torture or death.

It would be too easy to make Phil Woolas the sole responsible for this systematic imprisonment of asylum seekers. For a start there are the corporations that profit from the expansion and privatisation of the prison-industrial complex. The longer G4S, GEO or Kalyx can detain migrants, the more money they make. But the policy of immigration detention is also carried by a dominent nationalist ideology that is carried by all political parties.

As the recession leads to unemployment, forced evictions and community tension, Phil Woolas’s response has been nationalist too, reiterating the British jobs for British workers slogan. Migrants are not to blame for the recession, which has been caused by an economic system of exploitation, facilitated by the current and past political elite, and of which migrants are the first and most vulnarable victims.

We are now at a point in time where it becomes obvious that a response to an international crisis has to be international solidarity and cooperation. While the political elites conveniently blame immigrants for the recession, we take inspiration from the Greek insurgency after the shooting of Alexis, from protests that forced out the Icelandic government, from the student and workers struggles in France and Italy, all of which stood in solidarity with the migrant communities that had come under attack from their governments.

The protests against the G20 London summit at the end of this month are the first testing ground for a non-nationalist, anti-capitalist response to the crisis.

The Power of Renewables

The Scientific American this month includes and article on Alternative Energy, in other words the energy which is soon going to have to become mainstream if we wish to avoid climate breakdown.

It states that currently renewables make up less than 7% of US consumption. Most of the EU is not much better. It’s a very interesting article although it leaves me with frustration about how little has been done so far despite the technology being there. Why should we have to wait for it to become profitable before we do something that is clearly in the interests of humanity?

Given how even moderate voices are expressing frustration and the scary predictions coming out of the Copenhagen conference on global warming, can catastrophe really be averted by capitalist solutions? Is capitalism for taming?

Sean Thompson write in October last year on this very topic and his article continues to be some of the best explanation and analysis I have read in the last few months. The Green New Deal, one of the more radical options on the table when it was written (although even at the time nowhere near radical enough) seems like a real puppy now and is even being touted by Al Gore. At the time, my belief was that although it might have helped solve the immediate crisis, it wouldn’t solve the longer-term one. Now, I am certain that the Green New Deal, which uses the market to provide funding for large renewable projects among other things, cannot solve either.

It is high time nations looked beyond the capitalist mind-set, whose solution is always more of the same. Manufactured wants (do we really need a new phone every year?), the breakdown of communities and the disincentivising of sharing our material needs all contribute to global warming and all are inherent within the unstable system that is capitalism. It really is the end of capitalism or the end of the world as we know it. The market must be overcome and replaced by the needs of humanity and the planet.

The plus side, of course, is that if we do manage to steer an ecosocialist solution to this crisis, we will not only have solved this crisis but will have made a better world for our descendants.

(apologies for incoherency!)