Basing the Revolution on lies

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

A Revolution based on lies will either fail to get off the ground or fail in the end.

When we attempt to create a new society, a socialist society, even a communist one, then it cannot and must not be started with the same means as are being used by the enemy of the people. It must be based on honesty and trust.

While the enemy happily uses lies against us and in general lies must not be part of our arsenal and the fact that the enemy may have trashed trust does not mean that we should resort to lies and even half-truths. Even if we are in the gutter fighting to survive it is and must not be a case of “anything goes”, including lies. The Revolution will not happen if it is based on the same falsehoods as was that that it is meant to replace.

Talking about the enemy having trashed democracy means that we must first of all have had democracy which we have not as there is no democracy in any of the places that call themselves democratic countries. Just being allowed to vote for who is going to be the next captain and crew of the ship that they continues on the same course, right towards the abyss is not democracy, not even the start of it.

Mark Twain was right when he said that if voting would make a difference they would make it illegal. As it is still legal it is but being used by the powers-that-be (but rather should not be) to keep the masses in the belief that they have a say. If voting would really make a difference in the current systems then the powers would have banned it already. But it is useful to keep the masses in a dream and that is what counts.

If we are talking about working with democracy in our respective countries then that is the first lie that we must overcome and inform the people proper that they are not living in any kind of democracy. That the so-called democracy is but a fake, a lie.

However, that is probably the smallest of the lies. Creating fake pictures, even if with noble intent, also is lying and does not advance the course, especially not if and when this lie is being discovered. The same goes for any other half-truths, untruths and outright lies.

Yes, it is true that the enemy will employ all those means against the revolution and the revolutionaries but that still does not make it right that we employ the self-same methods and lies. All it will do is make the movement out to be false and its leadership and membership to be liars and something that cannot be trusted. Lies and falsehoods destroyed the Soviet Revolution and many other countries that attempted socialism, which, alas, was but state capitalism. There were lies against people who were critical of what the leaders were doing, there were lies about production, and so many more lies.

But we, as true revolutionaries must not stoop as low as they are and use the same kind of methods of deceit and of lies, regardless of what they are doing in that way. Our path must be the shining path of truth for only when we are honest with ourselves and with the people will the people back our cause which is, ultimately, their cause.

The system cannot be changed by the same means that it uses, be it lies, deception or others, though there may be a validation for the use of arms.

The revolutionary must be true to himself and with and to the working class and thus any untruths, however small, have no place in this.

© 2015

Permaculture is Revolution disguised as Organic Gardening

Permaculture is Revolution disguised as Organic Gardening

‘Permaculture is Revolution disguised as Organic Gardening.’ Graham Burnett.

Over the past thirty-five years, he’s seen the seeds of permaculture  grow into a thriving global movement. During his recent “Transforming the Australian Dream” tour on the east coast of Australia, David shared a glimpse into the early sparks of permaculture and offered insights into some of the simple principles of growing and living that can now help us transform suburbia into a flourishing ecosystem of sustainable living on all levels.

“It is perhaps surprising to people that when I was a student in Hobart Design School in 1974, there was a huge interest in what today we would call sustainability. It was one year after the oil crisis of 1973 that changed a lot of thinking around the world. And it was two years after the Club of Rome Limit to Growth report which really showed that industrial society couldn’t keep going like it was. 1973 was also the year that E.F. Schumacher wrote the very influential book on my thinking, Small is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered.”

“So a lot of these ideas were around at that time and my interest was really in the overlap between landscape architecture as a design profession, the science of ecology and the practice of agriculture.”

It was at that time that David met Bill Mollison, who was teaching at another university in Hobart, and through their friendship and discussions started to gel the idea of what ultimately became permaculture.

Read more here.

When peaceful protest is made impossible (illegal) violent revolution becomes inevitable

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

When peaceful protest is made impossible and is even outlawed and deemed an act of terrorism then violent revolution becomes inevitable and almost a civic duty.

More and more we see in the USA, Britain, Germany, and other places – all of them so-called free and democratic countries – the people's even constitutional rights to peaceful assembly and -protest being curtailed and even deemed and declared unlawful under anti-terrorist laws – or should we better call them terror laws or plain terror? – with police (and military) being used to violently attack even non-violent protesters that do not offer resistance.

This is more than a recipe for disaster and one that almost makes violent revolution and change of system by means other than peaceful and non-violent ones inevitable.

When governments trample the human rights of the people under foot it become the duty for everyone to rise up against the tyrants and those perpetrating such actions.

While change brought about through non-violent actions as Gandhi stood for should always be preferable when those become regarded as terrorism and handled as such the people are left with little other choice but to change their course of actions and the angle of attack, so to speak.

Any change must, however, not just be political. Such a revolution must be also a social one at the very same time. Political change without social change for the better is no change at all but basically a status quo.

Changing one party in government for another without changing the underlying system that enslaves the people is not change at all but a perpetuation of the exploitative system. This could be seen in Russia after the first revolution (not the October 1917 one) and also when “New Labour” under Blair & Co. The working class ended up worse even than under Thatcher and that already before the economic collapse.

Political change without socio-economic change is no change at all. However, the majority of the people in the so-called free and democratic countries seem to believe that if they just exchange one establishment party for another they will have it better. Talk about brainwashing and dreaming.

True change can only come about when we change the system, and that from the very bottom up and not (just) the government.

© 2013