Before all our struggles, there comes a vision, an imagining of the world we want to live in. Creating a totally new society is not only possible, but desirable and necessary. We have many different visions of the world we want, but something we agree on is that we want to build a society based on co-operation, health, respect, long term ecological sustainability, and the development of strong communities. The term economics, at its simplest, refers to how goods and services move between individuals and communities, and so one way to describe our vision is the pursuit of economic justice.
In contemporary society, economics usually means the transfer of money between men in suits on a backdrop of ecological devastation, the displacement of millions, and staggering inequality. The economic system in place here is called capitalism, and it is founded on three basic things: privatization, exploitation of land and labour, and the removal of protection and social services.
Capitalism is destroying our communities, spreading suffering around the world, and killing the planet. We do not believe it can or should be redeemed. We propose to fucking smash it – in our neighbourhoods, on Bay St, and everywhere! Here's the breakdown:
Privatization is the process by which the things people need to survive – like water, food, land, or shelter -- are brought into the control of a capitalist. Once a capitalist owns the things a person needs to survive, they can exploit that person. A common pattern of exploitation is to give people jobs and then only pay them a small percentage of the value of their labour while pocketing the rest and then restricting and charging for their access to necessities.
Poverty and misery are not accidents, they are necessary for the functioning of the capitalist system. People are forced into vulnerable positions of temporary employment, precarious immigration status, or uncertain housing in order that they may be more easily exploited by the rich. The health of the land on which communities depend is seen as having no value, and land is reduced to merely another resource. To a capitalist exploitation is a good thing, and simply means to make the most (money) of your resources.
The removal of protection and social services in modern capitalism is a reaction to gains made by social movements in the past, and is necessary for capitalism to be constantly accessing new markets and resources. Over generations of struggle, people have won many concessions from the powerful, like healthcare, worker's rights, welfare, public education, equal access to infrastructure regardless of wealth, and the right to full participation in the running of their community. These concessions were gained through struggle and they are currently under attack by the elites.
While we work to create the communities we want to live in, we must remember that if we do not stop it, capitalism will sooner or later destroy all that we build. Therefore we must resist, and fight back as if our lives depend on it. When we resist, we stand alongside people all over the world who refuse to allow their communities to be gutted for the profit of the rich. It is the just, co-operative systems that we can create in our daily lives that inspire us to fight against economic injustice in the streets.
All this talk of a financial crisis – it is capitalism that is the crisis. Let it fall. Watch the banks crumble. Accept no substitute for freedom.
Southern Ontario Anarchist Resistance
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