Posted by Phil Dickens on 21/06/2010 · 10 Comments
On my other blog, I often write in defence of migrants against the repression of the state. Because of this, and my opposition to border controls, my opponents on the right often presume that I am in favour of multiculturalism and mass immigration. This is not the case. I have already explained, in The case … Read more
Filed under Debate and discourse · Tagged with Anarchism, anarchist communism, assimilation, autonomy, Azal Nafisi, bigotry, border control, Clyde Kluckhohn, Culture, EDL, Esra Erdem, Fascism, Gay Imperialism, homophobia, integration, Iqbal Sacranie, Islam, Islamic Forum in Europe, Jin Haritaworn, Justin Podur, mass migration, moral relativism, moral universalism, multiculturalism, Muslim Council of Britain, Nationalism, normative multiculturalism, Peter Tatchell, polyculturalism, racism, separation, Socialist unity, Stiffkitten, Tamsila Tauqir, UAF, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Whitechapel Anarchist Group
Posted by Phil Dickens on 26/02/2010 · 3 Comments
“The class war is over.” So declared former British Prime Minister Tony Blair in 1999. Of course, Blair was speaking from the perspective of a most zealous convert to centre-right neo-liberalism, but his words held a ring of truth. Over perhaps the last twenty years, and certainly the past decade, there has been a marked … Read more
Filed under Anarchism · Tagged with bigotry, capitalist class, class consciousness, class struggle, class war, Emily Pankhurst, Howard Zinn, Immigration, Lindsay Oil Refinery strikes, Manufacturing Consent, middle classes, Nationalism, Noam Chomsky, Patriotism, ruling class, Tony Blair, trade unions, war, working class
Posted by Phil Dickens on 31/12/2009 · Leave a Comment
Part four in a series of articles discussing the anarchist movement as it relates to non-European peoples and cultures. In the course of this article, I will be discussing struggles in Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and the Americas. This may be surprising given that each prior and coming part of this series deals with a … Read more
Filed under Anarchism, ethnicity & culture · Tagged with Anarchism, Asociacion Minga, colonialism, Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, Environmentalism, ETA, exploitation of resources, EZLN, forced assimilation, Globalisation, Imperialism, indigenous peoples, John Perkins, Kwame Nkrumah, migration, NAFTA, Nationalism, neo-colonialism, second-class citizens, Zapatista
Posted by Phil Dickens on 11/11/2009 · 3 Comments
Ninety one years ago today, at 11:00am, the guns fell silent on the Western Front. Not two minutes earlier, George Lawrence Price became the last Commonwealth casualty of the Great War after being shot in the heart by a German sniper. Up to 16 million people had fallen before him. The war was a case … Read more
Filed under Fascism, The state · Tagged with 11th November, Anarchism, anti-imperialism, anti-war, dulce et decorum est, militarism, Nationalism, Patriotism, peace, Remembrance Day, the rise of fascism, The state, wilfred owen
Posted by Phil Dickens on 23/07/2009 · 6 Comments
In their 1988 book Manufacturing Consent: the Political Economy of Mass Media, Noam Chomsky and Edward Herman sketch out a “propaganda model” of media control. The basic thesis is that the mass media in the west, particularly the United States, serves a very specific propaganda function. Through the mechanisms of the capitalist “free” market, rather … Read more
Filed under Fascism · Tagged with Corporate media, Fascism, free market, manufacture of consent, media control, Nationalism, neccesary illusions, parameters of democratic debate, propaganda model, The state, thought control in democratic societies
Posted by Phil Dickens on 06/06/2009 · Leave a Comment
Sixty-five years ago today, Allied forces took the beachhead in Normandy, France, in one of the most iconic military assaults of the Second World War. The event, which has inspired countless cinematic portrayals, was the pivotal moment in defining the ultimate outcome of the war. Moreover, the anniversary of the Normandy Landings has coincided with … Read more
Filed under Fascism · Tagged with atomic bomb, authoritarianism, d-day, Fascism, holocaust, Nationalism, nazi, neo-nazi, normandy landings, racialism, racism, social darwinism, war crimes
Posted by Phil Dickens on 15/04/2009 · Leave a Comment
In the essay Patriotism: Menace to Liberty, Emma Goldman tells us that “Patriotism … is a superstition artificially created and maintained through a network of lies and falsehoods; a superstition that robs man of his self-respect and dignity, and increases his arrogance and conceit.” There is considerable weight to the truth of this statement. Those … Read more
