HISTORY – The Westcountry Mutineer

MAYBE IT’S MAYDAY, MAYBE WE’RE BORN WITH IT

THE FOLLOWING FROM some of Bristol First of May Group:

May Day has been celebrated as International Workers’ Day since 1890, and is a time to remember our collective history, and to re-ignite our present day struggles for a better world. For May Day 2013, unions in our sister-shitty Bristol are calling for a March Against Austerity on 04/05. We are one of the ones calling for a Radical Block/Bloc (dictionary, anyone?) to march with them.

Come and join us on the streets if you are:

Mad – at the govermint which continues to attack society’s most vulnerable for the benefit of no one, other than themselves (and their rich mates)

Angry – that the costs of living are going up and your boss won’t pay you more

Frustrated – that your working conditions are being destroyed and the bureaucrats at the top of your union don’t seem up for the fight your fellow workers are ready for

Worried – that if we don’t do something soon, there will be no NHS or decent education left for your children

Bored – with the latest lies from the politicians and press you’re expected to believe

Inspired – by the courage of those that have gone before us, who have fought against exploitation, and won us all victories which last to this day

Optimistic – about creating a society that can meet all our needs and seek an end to: sexism, racism, transophobia, ableism, ageism, religious intolerance, homophobia, and the many other oppressive ways we are divided.

Grab your red flag, your black flag, your pirate flag, or no flag at all, and get together at 10.30am, Saturday the 4th of May on College Green to take to the streets of Bristol, and lets rekindle the spirit of resistance!

HUGO A-GO-GO?

HUGO CHAVEZ, THE now former president of Venuzuela, died of cancer yesterday at the age of 58. Left-wingers from around the world are mourning the loss of a great socialist hero, The S.W.P. are probably going to arrange discussions around this issue in the hope that rest of the left will ignore the internal crisis that is currently tearing their party apart, right-wingers will be loving the fact that the commie bastard is dead, and the BBC will be try to be ‘impartial’ out of fear of pissing off pretty much everyone in the entire globe.

As for us, we’re not going to mention too much about how we feel about his death, mostly because we simply don’t give a fuck. This may sound horrible, but that’s how it is. However we do want to use this opportunity to show you readers one of the many ridiculous things that Hugo has said whilst serving in office. Enjoy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPsPUrocP8k

TEN YEARS OF FIGHTING WAR

FEBRUARY 2013 MARKS the 10th anniversary of one of the world’s biggest protests – the day the world stood up and said a huge resounding “NO” to going to war in Iraq. If you weren’t in London that day, chances are that you know someone who was.

Many seeds were sown on that day. Such was the impact, that when the first protests in Tahrir Square in Egypt, the birthplace of the Arab Spring (which was in turn a huge influence on the subsequent Occupy protests), were being organised, they stated that they wanted another Hyde Park.

Although it didn’t stop the war, it showed the world that the general public were not exactly happy about the impending war, and the moment that Tony Blair turned his back on us and went to want anyway, was the moment that all hopes of him being the man of the people some hoped he would be were gone for good.

ANARCHY VS. CHAOS: A REVIEW

ON SATURDAY 24TH November, Bath’s Black And Red Federation (B.A.R.F) hosted a polite public discussion on anarchism at the Manvers Street Baptist Church, complete with tea and (vegan) cake. Anarchism has received a bad press over the centuries, with anarchists forced into stereotypes of either violent thugs or sandal-footed hippies – caricatures repeated by both the media and political establishment on one side, but also by self-proclaimed anarchists on the other. But many anarchists see it differently: the philosophy had become a relevant and mass movement of hundreds of thousands of everyday people fighting for freedom in 1920s Ukraine and 1930s Spain, however briefly. Far from embracing destruction and chaos, anarchists say that ‘Anarchism is Order’! On the day, 25 attended to hear three local speakers’ presentations, examining the Peterloo Massacre and its repercussions, anarchism in the workplace and the links, if any, between anarchism and violence. The day then broke down into a wider discussion on the challenges facing anarchist organising today; all in all, a well-received and thoughtful day. Keep an eye out for the next one!

https://network23.org/barf

ANCIENT HISTORY

WELCOME TO THE first column on westcountry radical history. Radical history for us involves reclaiming our story, uncovering hidden narratives, challenging established narratives, and encouraging new historians from the working class, to read, write and give talks on our story.

We are not particularly interested in John Cabot. But we are interested in seafarers, press gangs, slavery and pirates. For example, were all pirates murderous villains, led by vicious psychopaths only interested in plunder and rape? Not necessarily: most pirate ships were very multicultural affairs, who elected the captains and had democratic structures on board. Discipline was easier than the Royal Navy, and unpopular captains could be deselected if they were unfair and did not secure enough booty. Some pirate ships directly attacked slave ships. On capture most of the crew were thrown overboard, whilst the slaves were freed. They were given the choice of taking the ship back to Africa with them, or joining the pirates. Many pirates had been known as privateers, when Britain was at war with Spain and France, it was accepted by the British government, when ships were attacked. At times these ships carried massive amounts of gold the Spanish had stolen from the Incas an Aztecs. When friendly diplomatic relations were restored, these attacks were now declared the actions of pirates.

You don’t read this in the mainstream history books. But this our story. As it would have been the likes of us who, whilst walking home from the pub late at night, would have been attacked by a press gang. Ripped from family and friends, we would wake at sea, and be forced to live under a brutal regime of discipline, where life was cheap. One means of escape would have been jumping ship at some foreign port, and entering the service of a pirate ship. Years later, whilst attacking an English clipper carrying sugar back to England from the slave plantations, we are captured. Eventually we are taken back home, to be hung by the neck, or further slavery by being transported to the colonies under the penal code.

There are millions of stories like this, and in this column in future editions we are going to tell them. In the next issue: collective bargaining by riot, in a Kingswood style.

If you have any stories or suggestions send them into the West Country Mutineer.

Love and Rage

Bristol Radical Group

ANARCHY VS. CHAOS: AN INTRODUCTION TO ANARCHISM

Black And Red Federation
bathactivistnet[at]yahoo.co.uk

16/11/12

MEDIA RELEASE – for immediate use
Anarchy vs. Chaos: An Introduction to Anarchism

ON SATURDAY 24TH November, from 3 until 6pm in the Coffee Lounge of Manvers Street Baptist Church in Bath (a minute’s walk from Bath Spa train station), the Black And Red Federation will be organising a discussion on anarchism, and invite members of the public to come along and take part. The group feels that recent government policy and business lobbyists have made the UK a better place for millionaires and rightwing politicians, but an increasingly uncertain and unhealthy place for everyone else.

Anarchism has received a bad press ever since its birth 219 years ago, with anarchists forced into stereotypes of either violent thugs or sandal-footed hippies – caricatures repeated by both the media and political establishment on one side, but also by self-proclaimed anarchists on the other. But many anarchists see it differently: the philosophy has come a long way since its roots amongst the Taoists of ancient China and the Christian heretic Anabaptists of 16th Century Europe, promoting mutual respect, equality and rationality, and opposing oppression wherever it appears. Indeed, anarchism had become a mass movement of hundreds of thousands of everyday people fighting for and winning freedom in 1920s Ukraine and 1930s Spain, however briefly. Far from embracing destruction and chaos, anarchists say that ‘Anarchism is Order’!

In Bath on the Saturday, a handful of local speakers will make short presentations on the ideas and history of this important but controversial political philosophy, before breaking down into longer group sessions where all present are invited to discuss and offer their two cents. The group will ask whether, in this current climate of biting austerity and growing global unrest, anarchists and their ideas have any role to play?

Entry is free, food and hot drinks will be available, as will stalls of literature, and all are welcome to come along and join them on the day!

Notes to the Editor:

If you would like any further information, please email bathactivistnet[at]yahoo.co.uk

You may also want to check out any of the following:

network23.org/barf
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IN FULL SWING

THROUGHOUT ENGLAND IN 1830, agricultural labourers, tradesmen and smallholders rose up in their thousands to fight back against the driving down of wages, lengthening of hours, enclosure of public land and the starvation of their families at the hands of wealthy landowners. Nowhere was the rioting more fierce than in Wiltshire.

Between 1770 and 1830, over six million acres of common land had been placed in the ownership of a few rich landowners, leaving farm workers with nowhere to graze their small herds or grow subsistence crops. This, combined with a steep decline in wages for farm workers and the introduction of new machinery robbing them of their livelihoods, meant that many rural people found themselves and their families starving and penniless. The wage for a labourer in Dorset and Wiltshire was far worse than the national average.

Within a week of workers burning a threshing machine in Kent, rioting had spread to Wiltshire, where bands went on the rampage, burning farm produce and equipment and threatening the local gentry with physical force and letters demanding higher wages and food (always signed by the mythical ‘Captain Swing’). Some of the most extreme events occurred in Pewsey and Oare, where local landowner James Self was pushed into the flames as he attempted to save his property! The damage in this spree was estimated at £400. In the same night, the crops of a Mr. Fowler were also burned, with the local aristos surprised that “…the labourers of Oare, instead of assisting to put out the fire, appeared to take pleasure from the situation, and… were lying about enjoying the scene”.

Hoses brought to the scene were immediately sabotaged. Rioting was not only limited to farm labourers either, as demonstrated when a mob of 500 in Wilton gathered to attack and loot the mill of John Bishop: including his employees! And so it was in tens of towns and villages across the county, with workers successfully ‘persuading’ employers and landowners to hand over substantial amounts of money, food and, of course, beer! But before long, the shocked employers retorted, swearing in a ‘yeomanry’ comprised mainly of the local well-to-do, responding to disturbances with violent relish. After four months of sustained unrest – and, predictably, repression from employers and courts – the rioting died down, leaving hundreds imprisoned, dozens deported and 19 hung.

Despite the bloody end to the Swing Riots in Wiltshire, the workers scored some important victories. They met their material needs by looting money and supplies from landowners who were previously happy to let them starve but, possibly more importantly, the rioters experimented with ways to organize themselves to answer their own needs collectively, setting a blueprint for future working class self-organization that would inspire future generations of rebels and society as a whole.