Roberto von ArchimboldiI find it darkly amusing that establishment figures are complaining about Iranian influence in the UK through 'radical' charities. This is a country that has literally gone to war to change the government in Iran.
Where do these people get off?
Today is a good day to remember:
No war but the class war
#ClassWar, #NoWarButClassWar, #ButterNotGuns, #AbolishNATO, #AbolishFrontex
The powers that be in Europe are really gunning for war with Russia. I'm terrified.
Thought for the day: If you are opposed to Trump and the US Imperial project, you need to be opposed to NATO. NATO is, and always has been, a vehicle of US power. Non US members of NATO are vassal states of the US. The difference Trump made is to demand that the vassal states pay a larger tribute to the US by spending more on 'defence'. All the European members have accepted the diktat.
I think that I have put my finger on why I find all this cheer leading for European rearmament so depressing. The US has shifted to an old fashioned imperialism where its colonies are sweated and its vassal states made to pay tribute. That is what 'America First' means to the White House crowd.
The demand that Europe rearms is not about developing an independent, European 'defense' policy. It is about paying tribute to the US. It is accepting that the Europeans will pay their tribute to the US. The war in Ukraine will drag on, but now European states will pay the brunt of the costs. Meanwhile the US (elite) get the minerals. Macron, Tusk, Starmer et al are going along with that. It is not some move to create an independent bloc. It is the opposite. It is accepting that the US tribute must be paid.
The oppressed on both sides of the Atlantic must resist this agenda. We must make common cause with those already leading the struggle on the south side of the Med and Rio Grande and the East side of the Urals.
I know lots of people in the UK establishment seem sad about those nasty Americans making us pay for their imperial project. They are all very keen to rearm and hard. I have a radical suggestion: don't.
Don't rearm, cut your military budget to zero. Maybe use it to pay for disability benefits or to end child poverty. You can use it to insulate homes, or pay nurses a bit more. Hell, you could even pay reparations for all your own imperial horrors.
But what about the Houthis and global shipping? Here's an idea: impose heavy sanctions on Israel and cut off diplomatic ties. That should do the trick.
Not so sure what to do about Putin and his invasion of Ukraine, but a bit of negotiation usually works wonders.
In short, stop trying to be loyal clients of the US in the hope that some of the spoils of their empire will come your way.
Of course, they won't do any of that and so we have to overthrow them.
#ButterNotGuns, #NotOnePennyNotOnePerson, #WelfareNotWarfare, #UKPol
Probably not a popular take, but the EU going full on imperialist and ramping up their military spending will not bring liberation to Ukraine or Russia. We need to oppose it. We need to join transnational movements of the oppressed that aim at liberation.