A new website has been launched which challenges “to the core” the thinking of the industrial capitalist system. It presents the ideological alternative of an organic radicalism which it sources from a wide range of thinkers, past and present.
This philosophy, explains the orgrad site, is based on the idea of a living community, a social organism consisting of “horizontal relationships and exchanges between free human beings, rather than on sterile hierarchy”.
We at The Acorn very much identify with this tradition – hence the change in our masthead! Below we reproduce the article on Judi Bari, one of dozens of profiles of key orgrad inspirations on the site.
Published on Friday, April 20, 2018 by Common Dreams
‘Incredible’ News as Banking Giant HSBC ‘vows’ to Ditch New Coal, Tar Sands, and Offshore Arctic Drilling Projects
The development is “yet another signal to Donald Trump and the rest of the world that, despite their worst laid plans, the era of fossil fuels is coming to a close.”
Climate groups applauded HSBC’s announcement that it is moving away from fossil fuels. (Photo: ItzaFineDay/flickr/cc)
In another signal that “the era of fossil fuels is coming to a close,” Europe’s biggest bank, HSBC, announced Friday that it will no longer fund oil or gas projects in the Arctic, tar sands projects, or most coal projects.
The move was cheered by climate campaigners on social media, who said, “This is huge,” and called it “incredible news.”
According to Daniel Klier, group head of strategy and global head of sustainable finance at the financial giant, the bank recognizes “the need to reduce emissions rapidly to achieve the target set in the 2015 Paris Agreement to limit global temperatures rises to well below 2°C and our responsibility to support the communities in which we operate.”The changes are laid out in HSBC’s updated energy policy, which says it will no longer provide financial services for
a) New coal-fired power plant projects, subject to very targeted exceptions of Bangladesh, Indonesia and Vietnam in order to appropriately balance local humanitarian needs with the need to transition to a low carbon economy. Consideration of any such exception is subject to: (i) independent analysis confirming the country has no reasonable alternative to coal; (ii) the plant’s carbon intensity being lower than 810g CO2/kWh; and (iii) financial close on the project being achieved by 31 December 2023
(HSBC finances new coal-fired power plants inBangladesh, Vietnam and Indonesia. All three countries are on the front line of climate change and have significant renewable energy potential, a crucial tool to sustainable poverty eradication.)
b) New offshore oil or gas projects in the Arctic
c) New greenfield oil sands projects
d) New large dams for hydro-electric projects inconsistent with the World Commission on Dams Framework
e) New nuclear projects inconsistent with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) standards
The announcement, said Kelly Martin, director of Sierra Club’s Beyond Dirty Fuels Campaign, “is an important step forward for Europe’s largest bank, and yet another signal to Donald Trump and the rest of the world that, despite their worst laid plans, the era of fossil fuels is coming to a close. There is no future in Arctic fossil fuel operations. There is no future in tar sands. And there is no future in coal.” Continue reading “Victory: HSBC Climate Criminals vow to Ditch Fossil Fuels”
Until:
29 April 2019
00:00 (UTC +01:00) where Worldwide
hosted by Extinction Rebellion
Our leaders have failed us. This twisted system is killing us. It has us headed for extinction.
It’s time to rebel.
From April 15th we are calling for a full-scale Rebellion to demand decisive action from governments on climate change and ecological collapse.
Join us as we engage in acts of non-violent civil disobedience against governments in capital cities around the world. This is not a one-off march – we will keep going for as long as we have to, shutting down cities day after day until our demands are met.
Independent XR groups, allies and protestors will take to the streets. A small number of brave Conscientious Protectors, activists from XR affinity groups prepared to lose their liberty for this cause, will commit acts of peaceful civil disobedience to disrupt the business-as-usual which is sending our species on a one-way track to extinction.
## Sorry BBC, this is far too important to be privatized ..67,368 views
Under our current system, we are headed for disaster. Catastrophic climate change will kill millions, cause food collapse, and render many more homeless. Mass extinction of wild species will lead to ecological collapse. Destruction of natural habitats will lead to genocide of indigenous peoples and the loss of our planet’s life support systems. Continue reading “Extinction Rebellion: Rolling Protests go Worldwide”
It’s always been a no no. Until total Climate chaos is upon us its impossible to imagine a majority of people agreeing to the hardship of a fast conversion to a simpler cooperative lifestyle.Not to mention the rich and powerful who imagine surviving in their luxury bunkers and paradise islands..In the ‘rich’ west we are totally dependent on our jobs in the capitalist mashine, with our CO2 spewing cars and plastic gadgets …… of all types.By the time necessity makes us say YES to real measures it will be far too late, with tipping points long passed and the climate dominoes inevitably falling to make Earth uninhabitable by humans for millions of years.Track Blockades and Sabotage Continue in Hambach Forest .In this scenario, which becomes more obvious every year, we can assert a moral justification and even an obligation to take Direct Action which hurts people as little as possible.This has already begun to happen in various court cases where activists have successfully cited the moral necessity of breaking the law for the greater good.Imagine you are on a sinking ship holed by an iceberg. You know about ships and how to seal off the burst hold. But an official commands you to wait on deck.. .. Now you are morally justified in punching the official on the nose if necessary and closing the bulkheads.Greta Thunberg alludes to the same moral imperative with her magnificent call to youth action ..”I WANT YOU TO IMAGINE YOUR HOUSE IS ON FIRE.”We all live in a thin and fragile layer of breathable gas, no thicker than the skin of an apple, relative to the size of the Earth, with just the right mix of gases to make our lives possible and kept in a miraculous balance by the water and vegetation. The only one of trillions of space rocks that we know has life.so.. Direct Action is JustifiedThe burned hulks of heavy trucks sit on Highway 1806 near Cannon Ball, N.D., on Friday, Oct. 28, near the spot where protesters of the Dakota Access pipeline were evicted from private property a day earlier. Authorities say protesters burned several pieces of construction equipment Thursday during a chaotic confrontation with law enforcement.
The following text was produced by anarchists in so-called Canada with the intention of being distributed to young people taking part in Friday’s climate strike actions on March 15th. It was originally published on North Shore Counter-Info.
First of all, thank you. Thank you for giving a shit. For deciding that there are futures worth fighting for, even when the future being imposed on us looks increasingly bleak.
The good news is that you are here, with your body, along with so many others around the world.
Today we have a chance to acknowledge that we are connected to each other and to the living and non-living beings on this planet, in ways that are far more complex and beautiful than any #hashtag could express.
Every few days, another horror story, or another prediction, reminds us that we’re facing an existential threat.
Experts no longer study how to prevent climate change, instead they discuss how we might mitigateits effects.
We already know that everything is going to change. The question for 2019, for this generation, is: change towards what?
The vultures are already circling.
Corporations ask, “How can we profit?” Whether it’s tapping new oil reserves under the melting glaciers or marketing a ‘green’ product to make us feel comforted, their goal is always profit.Governments ask, “How do we stay in control?” Whether it’s expanding surveillance programs, or encouraging ‘democratic dialogue’ so long as nothing gets out of hand, their goal is always to consolidate power.
The most advanced governments today will do this in the name of combatting climate change. Here in Canada, the government isn’t quite so sophisticated, and still pushes for massive expansions of fossil fuel infrastructure and mining projects, forcing them on indigenous people at the barrel of a gun if they can’t be bought.
Politicians, including some aspiring ones who call themselves ‘activists,’ ask how the growing fear and discontent might be exploited for personal gain.
History clearly demonstrates that if we allow these people to lead our movements, they will pull the plug at precisely the moment that we become a real threat to the existing order.
Those in power rely on funneling our rage towards dead ends. Let’s get organized, but not behind politicians trying to sell us the latest Hope™.
We don’t know exactly what a ‘better world’ could look like. But like you, we feel that we have to try. We don’t want to just feel like we’re on “the right side of history,” a narcissistic trap.
We want to be effective, within an ethical framework that values freedom, autonomy and solidarity. Let’s start taking seriously the idea we might actually have an impact.
To that end, we propose a joyful, strategic, and fierce resistance that might include these ingredients:
Transformation, not reform.Capitalism is killing the planet. It is a system based on endless growth, and only serves the rich and powerful.
Hamburg Stop G20 Demos
No lifestyle change or government reform is going to touch that. It’s gotta go.
Those in power will not simply be persuaded to change their ways and give up the wealth and power they have accumulated through centuries of patriarchy, colonial plunder, and mass exploitation.
The police stand in our way. Maybe you already hold your breath when a cop drives by. If not, remember that even the friendliest cops have to follow orders or get fired. Police are the violent defenders of this rotten system.
To even make a dent, many people will have to break a lot of laws, and not just in the “arrest me for the cameras” kind of way.
Let’s build lives worth living. We’re cynical, but we are not hopeless. When we refuse to resign and instead build lives worth living now, we see glimpses of a different future, and start to feel compelled to defend ourselves.
We want collective lives rife with empathy, creativity, and openness.
Thank you, again, for showing up. This is the beginning of a long road, or maybe a tightrope. Let’s walk it together, trying to avoid the traps that lay ahead.
ALERT – New Research: Save the Last Tiny Scraps of Native Vegetation … #ClimateStrike #ExtinctionRebellion #StopAdani
Scientific thinking changes as new evidence comes to light. One vital new insight is the importance of saving even tiny, isolated remnants of native vegetation.
Decades of research on fragmented habitats has shown that small, isolated patches of habitat are often ecologically depauperate — lacking top predators and large species, and suffering from a wide variety of ecological woes.This research correctly shows the vital importance of protecting Earth’s vanishing wilderness areas.
But such studies have also convinced some people that very small, isolated patches of native vegetation are nearly worthless. In many places, these tiny remnants are being bulldozed and razed to the ground.
I do have a pretty good excuse for being a little late in writing this month’s column, namely being arrested and remanded for a squatting-related offence (of which I am not guilty for the record, as I will be testifying at trial later in the year).
At least I’m not all talk and no walk huh.
Fraguas Lives Again.. Fraguas Revive
A couple of nights in the cells isn’t so bad though – let’s start this round-up with some hard-hitting news from abroad. The Fraguas case in Spain. For those not aware of the situation, since 2013 a group of squatters calling themselves the Association of Rural Repopulation of Sierra Norte, more commonly Fraguas Revive, occupied an abandoned village in Guadalajara near Madrid.
The intention was to breathe life back into the village that was left empty since the expropriation by the Franco regime, and to provide space for people to imagine and act out utopias of the future through self-organisation and sustainability.
This short vid gives an overview and visuals of the Fraguas project (in Spanish) Unfortunately the municipal government of Guadalajara came down hard on the group, for daring to carve out their own destinies. Back in 2018 the provincial courts sentenced six of the people involved in the project to approximately 3,000 Euros in fines each, and an 18-month jail sentence, for the crime of usurping land from local authorities without permission.
They immediately took this to the appeal courts, but unfortunately last month the court upheld the decision, and they will now have to serve their sentences.
In addition they refuse to pay the costs of demolishing the buildings they have repaired, although this may also result in an extra nine months incarceration for non-payment. An impressive stance to take, and my non-existent hat goes off to them.
An interesting note is that the government utilised these laws on the basis that the village was now part of the Natural Park, so therefore couldn’t be considered a dwelling, and they were able to screw them with the serious charges rather than the more administrative process that tends to take place for squatting in Spain.
Similarly there are regulations here in the UK about “royal” parks, and police are able to simply remove with force anyone they wish. I have seen this abused by the Met Police to break in, beat up, and evict people squatting an abandoned caretaker’s in north London.
There isn’t too much more to this analysis than just to say it’s funny that where parks and natures are supposed to be there for people to participate in and enjoy, and where the regulations are supposedly there to protect those notions, they are abused at the first opportunity to uphold social order.
Grow Heathrow cut back
Further bad news, which is a running theme in this column as well as the squatting world in general, is that the eviction process of Grow Heathrow has finally begun.
Started almost nine years ago in Sipson village on the outskirts of London, it is land that was supposed to be the site of the proposed new runway for Heathrow airport. Political protest, land reclamation, and communal living have been part of the project as it has evolved over the years.
The plan to evict has been long fought in the courts, and has been muddied by the squatting of a second adjacent plot of land that is owned by a different owner, making the enforcing of any Possession Orders logistically very difficult. However the time has come that the owner of the original site, Imran Malik, wants it back.
About 7.30am Tuesday (the evening standard reports 8:30am, but our local squat networks of course were on the blower much earlier about the situation – remember to sign up to the “NELSN” London phone network on 07575013111) the first High Court Enforcement bailiffs from the National Eviction Team arrived on the scene, and not long after they had gained access to the front half of the site.
During the eviction Grow Heathrow got some unexpected support from local school children.
Our hippy friends took to the tunnels and the tree-houses, with one person locking themselves to the turbine tower, and another going underground into the tunnels with food and water to last several days. Dig little mole, dig!
While the squatter up the tower has since been cut away, squatters from across London are making their way to support the Grow Heathrow crew as they remain in the second-half of the site, planning resistance, and of course the ninth birthday party in just few weekends’ time. See you there.
The call is still out for people to join the resistance, the bailiffs are booked for up to two weeks to carry out the eviction, so anyone from London (or further) who has the time and energy feel free to go and get involved: Grow Heathrow, Vineries Close, West Drayton, UB7 0JH.
Curent situation: February 28th
Freedom spoke to a Grow Heathrow member today who said: “We want people to know we are still on the back lands! We have lost our kitchen, front garden, bike racks, art space and front guest cabin – and we will be rebuilding those on the back part of site over the coming weeks.
“Most houses are on back lands, as is our music space, toilet, shower, fruit trees, bees and forest area, so the resistance is still strong and bailiffs are letting people through to visit the site.”
Asilo evicted
Sticking with evictions, Asilo (the Asylum), longest-standing squat in Torino, Italy, said farewell on February 7th. For almost 25 years it was a hub of radical and local organising. The premise for the break-in was the arrest of six people purported to be involved in explosive attacks against institutions involved in the detention and deportation of migrants.
Disappointing to say the least that the fire brigade helped the police into the building, and then issued a condemnation notice. It’s always nice to think of the fire brigade as an essential and welcome public service, and there’s no need for them to be complicit in such an action. Boo.
Asilo before the eviction
Eccles upbeat
One bit of good news does exist however, in Eccles, Greater Manchester. In November a group of homeless people took over an abandoned NHS building and have turned it into a homeless centre, helping people to keep a roof over their head while seeking the support they need.
They have since been taken to court by the NHS (see above for institutions that needn’t be complicit in upholding state repression), but were almost immediately after granted a stay on the execution of the Possession Order while they appeal. Your author doesn’t know the current state of the appeal, but as at the time of writing they were still occupying the building.
Beyond the urban
A bit disjointed, this month’s letter is perhaps lacking in a cohesive theme, or particular analysis of things squatirical, but it is interesting to look at some of the squats that exist outside of the cities.
Resistance, and organisation, is often different to that which I and others experience in the cities of abundant ephemeral squats. I certainly have found this to be the case, and found it to be eye-opening and valuable when visiting and participating in more rural resistances.
Then there are many cases of indigenous occupations, that somewhat transcend the conventional understanding of the word squat, even if it indeed describes their legal status.
I won’t offer any attempts at humorous commentary on these situations, they exist in the reality of others’ experiences, but I am seeking to learn more about resistance across the globe, and implore others to do so too.
The world is fucked up, and as capitalism drives people further from feasible housing solutions, squatting, amongst other forms of resistance, becomes more important, if harder to actually live out.
The opportunity to organise ourselves and take charge of our housing, our lives, exists in these spaces. We can’t give them up.
On that note, I’ll be looking to not give up my own squat as we face imminent eviction early next month. Keep your fingers crossed for us all and we’ll see you next time.
We at The Acorn very much identify with this tradition – hence the change in our masthead! Below we reproduce the article on Judi Bari, one of dozens of profiles of key orgrad inspirations on the site.
The Free 