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a brief history of the korean anarchist movement:

in 1894. japan invaded korea under the pretext of protecting korea from china. the struggle for national independence became central to all korean radical political activity, since. the modern anarchist movement in korea began to take form among the exiles who fled to china after the 1919 "march 1st independence movement." as the japanese ruling class started their imperialist drive into other asian countries, they also ruthlessly cracked down on any opposition at home. in 1910, kotoku shusui, a leading japanese anarchist, was executed for rallying opposition to the russo-japanese war and the occupation of korea. with the russian revolutions of 1905 and 1917, the rice riot of 1918, and the mass uprising in korea in 1919, the japanese ruling class was worried. following the bloody suppression of the march 1st movement and the rise in the level of class struggle in japan itself, the japanese ruling class blamed the anarchists and the koreans for the tokyo earthquake of 1923. more than 6,000 korean workers in japan were hunted down with clubs and bamboo spears. all known japanese and korean anarchists were arrested. the "korean anarchist federation" in china was formed in april, 1924. the "korean revolution manifesto," written by a korean anarchist, shin chae-ho, in 1923, was militantly anti-imperialist: "we declare that the burglar politics of japan is the enemy for our nation's existence and that it is our proper right to overthrow the imperialist japan by a revolutionary means." it went on to stress the need to do more than merely exchange rulers, pointing out the difference between a political revolution and a social revolution. it had no doubts about the role of anarchists; it laid emphasis on the leading role of the anarchists in a revolutionary situation. by 1928, the spread of libertarian politics allowed the korean anarchists to organize the "eastern anarchist federation" with comrades from china, vietnam, taiwan, and japan. the "manifesto" was adopted by the eastern federation as its formal programme. the late 20s were dominated by the organization of the movement. armed with the theory of anarchist revolution set out in the "manifesto" and the practical experiences drawn from the march 1st movement, the workers organizations in japan and "the high treason case" groups were organized in seoul, taegu, pyongyang, and other areas. by november 1929, there had been a huge growth, and the "korean anarchist-communist federation" was formed as a national organization.

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112504
happy thanksgiving!

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112204

"the provisions of the rich are stolen property."

- pierre-joseph proudhon

111704
while we're on the subject...







111604

"what does direct action mean? "it means that you are no longer prepared to sit back and allow terrible, cruel things to happen. the cameraman in ethiopia took direct action, he filmed the worst disaster that has ever happened to human beings. he realized it was too enormous a problem to handle himself—so he took the films home in the hope other people would help. they did. are you prepared to sit back any longer? direct action in animal rights means causing economic damage to those who abuse and make profits from exploitation. "it's possible to do things alone: slash tires; glue up locks, butchers, burger bars, the furriers; smash windows; bankrupt the lot; throw paint over shops and houses; paint stripper works great on cars; chewing gum sticks well to fur coats; a seized engine just won't start; sand in the petrol tank means that delivery's going nowhere; when the new death shop opens up, make sure you're the first person to be there; if the circus comes to town, remember: what goes up, must come down; stop contributing to the abuse yourself—don't eat meat; don't buy leather; buy non-animal tested make up; herbal soap and shampoo's better. "try and form a group of people that you know that you can trust and plan ambitious direct action, sometimes risky but a must. only when you have animal liberation will we obtain human freedom. when the last vivisectionist's blade is snapped, it will be that one step nearer to peace. direct action in the animal movement is sussed and strong, and our final goal is not far off. "animal lovers, vandals, hooligans, cranks—recognize the labels? they say we don't care about human beings. we say all sentient beings—animal or human—have the right to live, free from pain, torture, and suffering. they say because we are human and speak the same, we matter more. is our pain and suffering any greater or lesser than that of animals? human versus animal rights is as much a prejudice as black versus white or the nazis versus the jews—an affront to our freedom. "vivisection is a violation of human beings, the same as it is for animals. we have a chemical world built on a pile of drugs to thank for their experiments. drugs are designed for profit, manufactured to suppress symptoms. human freedom, animal rights. it's one struggle, one fight. when animal abuse is stopped, then human abuse will soon stop also an attitude of mind: 'an eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind.' start by protecting the weak, the defenseless animals, the sick, the disabled. compassion and emotion are our most important safety values. "if we lose them, then we lose the vitality of life itself."

- conflict

animal liberation front:







































110704

carrying the soviet hammer-and-sickle flag and singing as they marched, russians marked the anniversary of the 1917 bolshevik revolution on sunday in both a celebration of soviet times and a protest against a parliamentary proposal to scrap a once-revered soviet holiday. at least 8,000 communist party backers and members of the ultra-nationalist national bolshevik party gathered at a square once named for vladimir lenin and marched across moscow toward a statue of karl marx. they bore a giant portrait of lenin and banners proclaiming "u.s.s.r.—our homeland." in red square, aging veterans wearing long, belted world war ii military coats marched in formation, retracing the steps they took in 1941 when soviets defiantly celebrated revolution day in spite of the nazi forces massed 33 miles outside moscow. some pro-kremlin lawmakers have proposed replacing the nov. 7 holiday with a new holiday on nov. 4 to be called national unity day. russia's lower house of parliament, the state duma, is expected to consider the measure wednesday in the first of three required votes. "this day was and will be a landmark event, and its celebration cannot be abolished," communist party leader gennady zyuganov said, according to the itar-tass news agency. "people suffered for this holiday, and no one has the right to trample on our history." criticism of president vladimir putin's government, changes to social benefits and complaints about inequality dominated the speeches. but some also chanted, "america, hands off lukashenko!" a show of support for the authoritarian leader of neighboring belarus, alexander lukashenko, who has resurrected soviet-era symbols and institutions and honored now-disgraced soviet-era officials. the united states has accused lukashenko of human rights violations and threatened belarus with sanctions. young protesters, wearing masks, stomped on the flag of the pro-kremlin united russia party and tried to burn it in chelyabinsk, about 950 miles east of moscow, russia's ntv television reported. police arrested several of the protesters. in the siberian city of tomsk, communist party members carried posters reading, "hands off nov. 7!" the interfax news agency reported. a poll of 1,500 russians by romir polling agency found that 77 percent opposed scrapping the nov. 7 holiday. the poll had a margin of error of 3 percent. the holiday was also marked in other former soviet republics. three hundred elderly people rallied in bishkek, the capital of kyrgyzstan, the only country in former soviet central asia that has preserved both the holiday and a statue of lenin on one of the capital's main squares. about 1,000 ukrainians also marked the soviet holiday, but some bystanders were cynical. "those who make revolutions don't like to work," said oksana levina, a businesswoman in kiev. "the principle of equality kills all initiative."

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www.turnyourbackonbush.com:

the election is over. the fight is not. bush's election is bad for the u.s., and even worse for the rest of the world. but elections are only one part of democracy. we need to think strategically about direct action, learn from a rich history of nonviolent activism, and develop new tactics to take on this administration. let's start from the start: inauguration day. on january 20th, 2005, we're calling for a new kind of action. the bush administration has been successful at keeping protesters away from major events in the last few years by closing off areas around events and using questionable legal strategies to outlaw public dissent. we can use these obstacles to develop new tactics. on inauguration day, we don't need banners, we don't need signs, we don't need puppets, we just need people. we're calling on people to attend inauguration without protest signs, shirts or stickers. once through security and at the procession, at a given signal, we'll all turn our backs on bush's motorcade and continue through his speech and swearing in. a simple, clear and coherent message.

110104
the day before the election—it's looking good.



although, seeing hawaii as a "weak bush" state does make me feel a little uneasy.