As for today, April 30th 2012, 150 cities world wide have called for General Strike on May Day.
It is not a matter of whether all of those involved in the General Strike can or even should come together under some ephemeral political
umbrella to plot a shared course with clear, concise goals and
agreed-upon demands. The truth of the matter is that the General Strike
needs no demands. In fact, ideally it would abhor such a configuration,
insofar as those of us striking out know full well that our own angers
and desires far exceed any demands, or set of demands, that might be
made. No laundry list of fucked up conditions, or of alternatives or
solutions (which always precede, assume, and ultimately fail to attack
the injustices they seek to address) can even begin to exhaust the range
and scope of our rage.
Likewise, the Occupy movement, more and more openly transforms the
tiring effects of excessively passive petition drives, letter writing
campaigns, and permitted marches and rallies where professional
activists are both literally and figuratively penned in, separated not
only from their ostensible targets, but from one another as well.
We are the 99% therefore we need to creatively rethink what a General Strike means for us in 2012.
It means that:
- We act collectively to establish new and inspiring forms of mutual aid and solidarity.
- We imagine how we go against effectively to the systems of racial,
ethnic, gender, sexual, economic, political, and police oppression that
are virtually indistinguishable from one another.
- We realize that many of us live in a “stop-and-frisk” world within
which everyone is illegal (although some certainly more than others),
and terms such as “police brutality” are increasingly recognized as
redundant.
-We govern ourselves is acting upon social problems by our
presence, commitment and by sharing the commons. We are open and public and
we are not afraid to speak and act.
- We create new ways of being and living together, outside of wage
and property relations; this especially means that we are thinking of
ways to support those we work with, rather than those we work for or profit from.
- We start learning how to develop the strength and courage to view and treat our lives as they truly are: NOT NEGOTIABLE!
Most importantly General Strike calls for Infinite Strike and not
just for a day of action because it calls for a social change. It calls
for transformation and it is for each one of us to make that
transformation possible on the streets, in public. We stick with each other and we do not compromise anymore on symbolic gestures but actual actions that promote
and sprung our efforts. We make the city our playground and we abandon the places that oppresses us. We enjoy, we share, we change ourselves and
others. We move forward.
This General Strike then calls for life and only by envisioning how our lives should be we can build this global General Strike.
From the May Day struggle that brought the 8 hour work day, to the
people who want it all for all–
EVERYTHING FOR EVERYONE! GENERAL
STRIKE!!
NO WORK! NO SCHOOL! NO SHOPPING! NO BORDERS! TAKE THE STREETS!
