[For Common Month Correspondences refer to Archives/Gnostic Pagan Calendar of Celebrated Days.]
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NASM Intervenes in Bay Area "Gentrification" Struggle
The NEW AEON SOCIALIST JOURNAL (sponsored by The Gnostic Pagan Tradition) has taken on the fight to curb the rampant gentrification of Northern California. Gentrification is the process in which Working Class and the poor are literally driven from their homes by ravenous Capitalist Real Estate interests. The process always involves environmental degradation, loss of neighborhood character--and GREED. Just north of San Francisco, Sonoma County is the latest target of Bay Area realtors. This former rural area is being bled dry by corrupt and ruthless capitalist tactics. Sonoma County has no RENT CONTROL and average rents have skyrocketed to over 300%. In San Francisco where RENT CONTROL does exist in a very ineffectual form, the Capitalists have managed to contravene the law and rents have soared to over 600% in many areas. Recently a one room "studio" in one of the most dangerous districts in The City went for $675 a month! RENT CONTROL is a minimum Socialist Demand and--judging by the results in San Francisco--doesn't go nearly far enough in protecting the RIGHT TO DECENT HOUSING...
Printed below is a flyer circulated around the Bay Area.
SONOMA
COUNTY UNDER ATTACK!
The People and
Natural Beauty of Sonoma County Are Threatened by Greedy Developers Aided and
Abetted by Local Corruption & Complacency
Poor and Working People Are Facing Eviction, Intimidation
and Astronomical Rent Increases as Part of the Bigwig’s and Realtor’s Plans To
Turn Sonoma County into Yet Another High Priced Suburb of San Francisco.
For Example,
Disabled People Were Served 30 Day Eviction Notices Complements of SF Newspaper
Publisher/Exploiter Bob Ross Who Recently Purchased the Property. Confronted by
the Plight of the Long-time Residents Ross Callously Commented, “It’s not my
problem.” IT SHOULD BE—And WILL BE When People ORGANIZE TO DEFEND
THEMSELVES!!!
The Fountain Grove
Hills Above Santa Rosa Are A Shameful Reminder That Development By and For The
Wealthy Is Top Priority for Corrupt Planning Commissions and Invaders From the
South.
The Destruction of
the Local Landscape is Rapidly Increasing.
Soon the Beauty
That Is Sonoma County Will Be Gone!
Appeals to City
Hall May Be Futile, Doing Nothing is Worse.
Concerned Citizens
Must Form Their Own Action Committees,
Ready To Take
Their Cause to the Streets If Necessary!
FOR RENT CONTROL NOW!
FOR SANE & EFFECTIVE
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION!
FOR MORE INFORMATION
CONTACT: New Aeon Socialist Movement, PO BOX 1083 Forestville, CA 95436.
Email: editor@gnostics.com
SPONSORED BY: The Gnostic
Pagan Tradition, www.gnostics.com
[NOTE: The concerned Russian River community is organizing to
support the evicted tenants mentioned in our flyer. Any FINANCIAL SUPPORT will be
GREATLY APPRECIATED. Please send checks endorsed to RIVER WEST TENANTS FUND, PO
BOX 632, GUERNEVILLE, CA 95446. A benefit to aide the tenants will be held on OCTOBER 28th, from 12-8PM, at the Odd Fellows Hall in
Guerneville.]
Trucker's Blockade Spreads to U.K.
13. Pomona. Truckers in Great Britain, inspired by success of their counterparts in France, set up blockades to halt the delivery of gasoline. The action was taken as a result of rising fuel costs and heavy taxation placed on petrol. Oddly enough, the truckers have received either passive or active support from the person (forced to walk on) the street.
Unlike the French Government that caved in to demands of the blockaders, the Capitalist "Labour Party" Government of Tony Blair has vowed to resist "coercion."
The blockade raises complex issues and problems.
Gas prices have been rapidly escalating all over the world partially as a result of OPEC and distributor manipulation, as well as massive taxation placed on fuel. The U.K. is particularly hard hit with prices easily topping the equivalent of $5.00 a gallon--and Americans are screaming about prices climbing to a comparatively low $1.75 to $2.00 a gallon!
While one can't help but sympathize with the blockade action, it's necessary to look at the big picture. The environment simply cannot sustain the strain gas-burning transportation and overpopulation places on it. At least Europeans have a more rational view of the problem and solidarity with the truckers is based on the understanding that for the truckers it is a question of earning a living. Most Americans are just pissed off because they want to drive whatever they want, whenever they want, and to wherever they want. It's time they woke up to Global Environmental Reality.
Propelled by International Collectivism (Socialism) the oil-producing countries would be collectively owned to benefit the great majority of people, not a few privileged royal families. In the rest of the world Socialist Administration would aggressively pursue safe, sane alternative energy sources and means of transportation...
What the European action does positively demonstrate is THE POWER OF LABOR AND COLLECTIVE SOCIAL ACTION. The People really do possess enormous reserves of political power that can bring down reactionary governments and create a Global Garden of Eden.
Don't be fooled by the seeming invincibility of Capitalism...it can be overthrown by The Power of The People!
Healthcare and HMO's...
Lies, Lies &
More LIES!
16. Pomona
Despite all the BS spewed out by the Democrats and Republicans in regards to "reforming" the health care system in the United States, the REALITY is that Medicare and HMO (Medicare managed health maintenance organization) premiums will MORE THAN DOUBLE next year for elderly recipients--and this in a nation that brags of an ENORMOUS FINANCIAL SURPLUS. What the politicians don't (openly) brag about is the fact that sticking it to the elderly and the poor was a major way that surplus was achieved.
Over the past decade or so "seniors" were deliberately duped into the Medicare HMO program with false promises of free coverage and unlimited access to prescribed medication. Next year coverage will skyrocket to as high as $179 a month with medication limited to $500 a year in many cases. Wealthy recipients may complain, while many low-income patients will receive substandard coverage or worse. (Some prescriptions run as high as $500 a month! Presumably poor patients can do without the wonders of modern science the rest of the year.)
Grinding the last drop of blood from those most vulnerable is the typical and cynical Capitalist American Way...
The Clinton Administration has served its purpose in proving that even phony liberalism is dead in the U.S.
See also, The Dis-Arming Myth of the Liberal Bourgeoisie.
Conservative, rightwing think tanks are funded by the oligarchy to figure out schemes how to dismantle the gains won by hard fought labor struggles in the past. Representatives from these anti-labor organizations are presented on CNN like they are impartial analysts.
So far the reactionary think tankers have been fatally successful in eliminating the rights of the working class and low-income people. Much of their success has been to the sell-out tactics of labor bureaucrats.
The health care system will only get worse with the aging of "Baby Boomers"--it's time for a REAL CHANGE before that system collapses completely for low-income and working people!
U.S. FDA
Approves "Abortion Pill" RU486...
IT'S ABOUT TIME!!!
28. Pomona
RU486 was finally approved for distribution in the United States.
The Federal Food and Drug Administration approved the use of the "abortion pill" over the objections of the powerful, reactionary so-called "Right to Life" religious/political lobby and pressure groups. Almost instantaneously with the FDA decision alarmist, anti-abortion commentators took to the U.S. airways predicting doom, gloom and moral decline. It's difficult to imagine how much further morality can decline in the U.S., but time will tell...
Abortion and birth control is the natural right for women, and a nation's cultural enlightenment can be gauged by the status of women and minorities. Approval of RU486 is a great step forward for everyone.
The Gnostic Pagan Tradition is quite likely the only religious or metaphysical association that openly supports a woman's right to free birth control on demand (including abortion). At the same time we advocate the creation of a Collectivist Society that would create the material basis to promote adoption as a viable alternative to unwanted pregnancy and infertility.
The New Rome (Washington) brokered Middle East policy collapses
There Can Be No Peace Under Capitalism
9. Hathor.
Despite the recent democratic/worker victory in Yugoslavia, the destructive effects of Corporate Capitalism are escalating around the world as shown in the Middle East Crisis.
The recent democratic victory in Yugoslavia--while an inspiring and tremendous event in itself--must be carefully watched. Reactionary elements such as the patriarchal Orthodox Church have gained an undeserved ascendancy as a result of the Yugoslavian coup, and one must keep a careful eye on this monumental development.
Meanwhile events in and around Israel confirm the impotent--yet destructive--nature of Capitalism and Nationalism in the region. The United States has been furnishing the funds and know-how to arm Israel to the hilt since that nation's inception by United Nations decree in 1948, but the latest escalation of violence has proved an embarrassment to U.S. "peace" efforts. Any suggestion that the United States is playing an "even handed" role in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is absurd. Jews have a right to a homeland--just as much as the disenfranchised Palestinians do. However, it is obvious that a peace accord cannot be reached while the two peoples remain divided by Capitalist inequality and Old Aeon religious bigotry. Everyone should have the right to practice their religion as they choose--provided that religion does not infringe upon others. Unfortunately, Old Aeon Religion (Judaism-Christianity-Islam) is based on inequality, intolerance and oppression.
And so is Capitalism.
[NOTE: 10/12/00. The level of violence in the Middle East exploded today with the terrorist bombing of the USS Cole in the Yemen Port city of Aden, the brutal and despicable mob killing of two Israeli soldiers in Ramallah, and Israel's retaliatory bombing of Palestinian Authority sites in that city.
As a further provocation over a thousand people in New York (including Hilary Clinton and other political honchos catering to the powerful pro-Israeli lobby) marched to support Israel--ignoring the fact that over 90 Palestinians have also been killed in the latest escalation of violence in the region.
The terrorist attack on the USS Cole has given the U.S. the "smoking gun" to align itself even more closely with ultra-reactionaries in Israel.
The mob murder of two Israeli soldiers is beyond contempt. Even under the oppressive conditions existing for Palestinians, such barbarism only demonstrates a complete lack of self-control.
Terrorism in all its forms must be denounced.
We support all people who are sincerely striving to create a united world free from exploitation and ORGANIZED STATE VIOLENCE.]
THERE CAN AND WILL BE NO LASTING GLOBAL PEACE
UNDER THE CAPITALIST SYSTEM.
THERE CAN AND WILL BE NO COLLECTIVE LIBERATION
UNDER OLD AEON RELIGION.
Bourgeois Democracy on the Rocks?
SO WHAT'S NEW???
13. Hekate (November).
It's been almost a week since the bourgeois democratic elections in the United States and there's still no President Elect. So what? The cable station Comedy Central's spoof on mainstream news, The Daily Show, expressed the ludicrous nature of the recent elections perfectly--DECISION 2000: CHOOSE AND LOSE!
First the corrupt two-Party Capitalist Establishment virtually blacked out the ideas of all third Party candidates, including Green Candidate Ralph Nader. Both Democrats and Republicans closed ranks on various CNN "Talkback Live" shows in portraying Nader and the Green Party as "Socialists" (which, if true, would be the only reason other than as a protest vote our political wing, The New Aeon Socialist Movement, would have supported him). One snide Republican commented, "What next? Should we allow vegetarian Socialists on the ballot?" To this we say, "Hell, Yes!" And it's long past time these reactionary Democrats and Republicans got themselves off the political stage.
[NOTE: Over 30, 000 ballots have been uncovered in Florida in which voters apparently chose no one for President—a perfectly understandable decision—and yet both Democratic and Republican spinmeisters are claiming, “Gee, they must have voted for somebody!” Oh, really? Why? Maybe they just did what we have recommended all along: Exercise your democratic right to vote by voting your conscience—even if that means no vote at all in certain circumstances.]
There have been a number of interesting remedies suggested re: the current electoral deadlock: Let Gore be President and Bush Vice-President; Elect Clinton to a third term; Eliminate the Presidential Office entirely. We enthusiastically cast our vote for this last alternative. It would be very interesting to see how events would unfold with Congress running the Executive. Perhaps the face of Capitalism would be exposed to a much clearer degree to the people.
{Many Americans complain a lot about Big Government, but they sure have their hands out whenever there's a disaster or there's something in it for them. With no President to blame just imagine how fast Congress would tap dance to a different tune!).
Of course the truth is that it doesn't matter a damn which bourgeois Capitalist becomes the next President. What we are witnessing is the absolute zenith and absurdity of U.S. Corporate Capitalism. The materialistic disintegration of this corrupt and corrupting system has already begun...
"Direct Action" Organizing in Sonoma County
An organizational meeting for Direct Action--the loosely centralized network that was instrumental in the success of this year's WTO Seattle protest--was held in a downtown Santa Rosa Nader-for-President storefront. A Gnostic Pagan and member of the New Aeon Socialist Movement attended the meeting and wrote the following report:
The meeting was small, but this allowed participants who had something to say to basically present their views. The agenda was flexible, if vacillating, and there was really no platform that would have appropriately accommodated the presentation of class struggle. Indeed, it was very clear that any concept of class struggle would NOT have been appreciated. The primary concern of most attendees seemed to center on ecological concerns and the cause to prevent massive pesticide spraying in this semi-rural area.
Basically the group was made up of young adults 17-25, with a few exceptions. These idealists, children of a very wealthy North America, do not relate to, or seem to understand, the elemental concepts of class struggle--let alone the history and social revolutionary goals of International Socialism.
[NOTE: For a more detailed formulation of social class as applied to the 21st Century, see The Socialization of State Authority.]
One of the elder participants spoke about the 1950'sand 1960's Civil Rights Movement and the concept of Non-Violent Civil Disobedience. It was revealing that this speaker did not address the more militant tactics of Malcolm X and the Black Panthers--or the Anti-Vietnam War Movement.
[NOTE: The Gnostic Pagan sponsored NEW AEON SOCIALIST JOURNAL certainly supports non-violent tactics, but we also insist on the right of self-defense.]
The speaker also raised the liberal notion that people busted during an action insist on their "right" to be prosecuted to the fullest extent under the (bourgeois-Capitalist) law. The need for "personal suffering" to achieve the goal of liberation was also raised once again as a matter of principle.
[NOTE: This typically Liberal-Christian idealism might be OK for young middle-class whites, but non-Caucasian cadre may find themselves in a very nasty predicament indeed following this masochistic non-strategy.]
Throughout the meeting various "street people" passed by the former Sonoma County Nader headquarters screaming threatening epitaphs like, "Fucking Nader Fags!" Considering that these characters represented what Marx called "the lumpen-proletariat," it is extremely doubtful that these lost souls were either Bush or Gore supporters. They were just angry at something, anything, and anyone…
Of course there was really no serious threat… but it symbolized the reckless nature of anti-Establishment action divorced from a true International Collectivist/Socialist Class (Marxist) perspective. It would be difficult for Socialists to interact tatically with these well-intentioned idealists, but we can appreciate their motives...
The New Aeon Socialist Journal could conceivably support on the street various single-issue actions, but we would have to march separately and reserve the right of self-defense--and to AVOID being arrested and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
We just can't afford to be tied to the non-violent, liberal "model."
Unfortunately our appeal to form a direly needed Rent Control Committee fell on deaf (closed?) ears...
