From June 4th to 7th, European voters are called to the polls to choose who will "represent" them in the European Parliament.
As anarchist communists, we do not think elections can bring any real change, as we prefer direct democracy to representative democracy. In other words, we prefer decisions affecting all workers to be discussed and made by those workers themselves, collectively.

The European Union's functioning and goals are opposed to this self-managing model and thus to the interests of the workers and the people. Its leaders despise the people so much that, although they may ask for our opinion, the only answer allowed is one which accepts the EU's political line which has already been decided eslewhere. The EU's attitude to the rejection by referendum of the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe exemplifies this fact.

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Deel I van "Vier instrumenten voor gemeenschap controle"

Wederzijdse hulp is een belangrijk en relevant anarchistisch concept. Het laat zien hoe aspecten van een betere wereld al overal bestaan, waaronder in Zuid Afrika, en hoe we deze wereld kunnen bereiken, waarbij we voortbouwen op bestaande culturele praktijken, en die uitbreiden.

Het Zulu woord masakhane, wat "laten we voor elkaar bouwen" betekent, verwijst naar het gemeenschappelijk bouwen van huizen.
Izandla ziyagezana (Zulu) betekent letterlijk "als men zijn handen wast, wast de ene hand de andere hand", en omgekeerd. Iedere hand helpt de andere hand om schoon te worden. Daarom zouden we als mensen elkaar moeten helpen zoals onze handen elkaar helpen.

In de Xhosa cultuur betekent dibanisani "laten we samenwerken voor een betere toekomst". Het is een algemene term die verwijst naar mensen die samenkomen en elkaar helpen. Bijvoorbeeld inwijdingen vinden elk jaar ergens anders plaats en mensen op een plek bereiden er alles voor voor. Als hutten verbranden helpen mensen elkaar ze weer op te bouwen. Bij begrafenissen of huwelijken helpen mensen elkaar, bijvoorbeeld om schoon te maken en te koken.

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Much printers’ ink has been shed by pundits and politicians in attempting to explain, excuse, laud or condemn the rise of Jacob Zuma to the ANC Presidency from where it is just a short hop, skip and jump to the South African Presidency following the 2009 General Election. The rest of us, the people, are reduced to either disgruntled witnesses or ecstatic cheerleaders of “JZ” shifting the weight of his gut from foot to foot in his monotonous mshini-wam song. He knows it doesn’t have to be a particularly energetic dance, for it is pretty much guaranteed that the ill-gotten gains he allegedly sought so assiduously for so long will soon be his when he holds the keys to the Treasury.

Just how did arguably the world’s most famous liberation movement implode so rapidly into a venal kleptocracy, a cabal of back-slapping thugs? Did it in fact implode? Did it descend from great ethical heights or was the rot there all along?

We encourage the support of unions, neighborhood democracy, resistance to police brutality, support for political prisoners, models for mass education, and also a movement with teeth. Above all, we must struggle for what we need, not what the system is willing to give us. In addition, we must all be on the watch for expressions of racist hatred and organized fascist movements in the months and years following the election.

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The biggest merit of this book is to put forward the anarchist case against the State in a very common sensical fashion, free of any deliberately hard to follow rhetoric. Anarchism is desirable and easy enough to grasp, and when properly explained –as this book does- it is hard for anyone not to share the basic anarchist outlook of a cooperative and truly democratic society.

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