Morning Comrades.
A new sense of clarity and purpose is awakening in the face of the absurdity of the last week and countering the last throes of destruction in the light of post-modernity we find ourselves at the next stage of progress. I believe I have said what I had to in regards to the war in Ukraine and going forward we will continue to what this community can do, not just in light of this war, but all wars, injustices and conflicts.
Logically, this is always a discussion between tactics and strategy and we will be exploring that relationship later. To clarify, strategy is the action plan that takes you where you want to go, the tactics are the individual steps and actions that will get you there. The goal is liberation, the tactics are as individual as to how capitalism affects us all. Given the circumstances, the focus is clearly on tactics, as the current state of affairs requires immediate action.
In a conversation with a fellow comrade, an incredible artist, merch slinger and wonderful human being, we both were frustrated with what little we can do. Hence the title of this email, and I do enjoy coming back to the brother Marx. “Each according to their ability” - thus: “if your little corner of work involves pulling at one of the threads, you’re helping to unravel the whole damn cloth.”, and thus spoke Zarathustra.
I am putting together a larger than usual drop of collaborations for this Friday. Every penny earned will go to Mission Lifeline, a German left-wing non profit who predominantly aid refugees crossing the Mediterranean but in this instance are doing everything physically possible getting EVERYONE out of Ukraine and aiding them with their next steps to escape the war. Three new designs will be available, one from Jeremy Dean aka D/E/S, Branca Studio and myself. Links will go out on Friday to everyone with this newsletter and the other platforms. I am still in the process of fleshing this whole drop out so do stay tuned. I’ll explain the references and details on Friday. On a side note, this will also most likely be the last BL drop for some time, but again, I will get into that on Friday.
The rest of this email is going to be relatively straight forward, the time for action is now. To be sure, there isn’t just one ( correct ) way of getting involved, there never is and yet again, this is where the title to this email comes into play. Just as the repression of capitalism is universally individual and systematic, so is our answer and the future we are building. It is not important what you do, but that you do something. Every little step, every conversation, every action helps and each one carries their own value. It is in our collective response to this final act of madness from which we can build. Do not doubt yourself, everything matters.
I briefly touched upon possible action plans on Monday and I am going to elaborate on these today.
Essentially, the tactical spectrum is immense and therein lies the secret to success. From education, to care work, to protests, to subversion and direct action every aspect of disobedience to the powers that be is now on the table and we need to act accordingly. These aren’t hobbies and the time to jump on some movement for egoistic identity politics is well and truly over. Everything now needs to be focused on stopping this war, helping our comrades on all sides, aiding and abetting anyone wanting out of EVERY war zone, not just the Ukraine, forcing our corrupt and bought for governments to stop their constant escalation of any and all crisis’ to enrich their sugar daddy’s, the so-called captains of industries and rebuilding the world according to the principles of self-determination, equality, solidarity and sustainability ( not the green-washed PR bullshit, but you know what I mean ). It’s a big fight, but truly, what else are we going to do?
Before you embark on this journey I highly recommend reading the Crimethinc Step-By-Step Guide to Direct Action. It has served me and many others well for decades. It sounds more dangerous than it is, truly, it’s a tried and trusted approach to getting shit done and done right.
The readership here is to regionally diverse to give everyone links and resources of how to get involved but I would wager that no matter where you are reading this from, local and national anti-war and refugee support groups already exist. The time now is not for creating new organisations, unless you truly have to, but join those that have been there and done this. That leads me to another aspect to this: be steadfast in your actions and convictions. To be absolutely clear, this path of peace is the baseline of morality. The current state of the western world is the extreme. There is nothing righteous about war-mongering, hysteria, racism, death, destruction and terror. Believing in and working towards a peaceful world of equality is where we start. Be aware, under western capitalism having this opinion will get you flack, I remember my first encounters challenging the expanding neoliberal new world order in the mid-90s, to the post 9/11 anti-war protests all the way through the Occupy Movement, each and every one of them, including myself, was ridiculed for being naive all the way to being threatened for being “pro-Taliban” - it matters not. Again, the hysteria allowing all of the insanity of racism and war-mongering to be out in full force again is the extreme, your opposition to it all isn’t. If there is one lesson I want to pass along from these 25 plus years of disobedience with the norm, let it be this.
The good news is that there are heaps and heaps of experienced organisations that you can volunteer to and get involved with, in which ever way you are able to do.
Now, if you happen to live in mainland Europe, I am certain you will not need my resources, especially if you live in any of the medium to large cities. We all have autonomous book stores, squats, youth centres and so on. Go there, Ask. They will have the resources that will fit your abilities. Most left-leaning bars, book & merch stores will have flyers and info material for you to dig into. Drop in, say hi, throw your preconceptions out the window, 99.9% of the time you will be greeted with open arms. These places should be your first stop IF they exist in your hometown.
Now, the UK and North America are a different ball game, too successful were the waves of destruction kicked off by Thatcher and Reagan all those years ago for a genuine widespread subculture to survive. They do exist, but aren’t as easily accessible as they are here. That is my experience, but fret not, there are other wonderful ways and organisations to help and some of these are:
The International Rescue Committee
Campaign For Nuclear Disarmament
Peace in Ukraine ( this is a new coalition worth your attention )
There are heaps and heaps more but these are the ones I have either worked with or at least know people who work there that I can think of at the top of my hat. That’s the volunteer side covered for now and we have to talk about harassing politicians, we truly do. My problem here, again, is the wonderful diversity in readership. Last I counted there were over 28 different countries represented in this community and I honestly wouldn’t know how to approach and offer solutions to each and every one of you. The fact remains nevertheless, for too long have we let these bastards off the hook. Voting is irrelevant and protest are only the beginning. Again, I wouldn’t ever assume to know how to do this where you are from but talking to the people in your home that do know, is worth your time. Always with the mighty words of Marx in mind: Each according to their ability. You decide what you can offer, and the existing structures can let you know what they need. Granted, go out on yourself also but at this point it is about masses in my humble opinion.
The time has come comrades. Let’s get together and put an end to their madness.
Yours, without compromise,
V.