Anarchism

Anarchism «AN uhr kihz uhm», is a belief that every form of regulation or government is immoral, and that restraint of one person by another is an evil which must be destroyed. Anarchism comes from a Greek word meaning without government.

Anarchism dates back to ancient times. The legends of many countries tell of a "golden age" of freedom which preceded organized governments. Anarchism also appeared among early Christian groups.

Later anarchism proposed a social organization that was based on common ownership and free agreements, but its disciples differed among themselves in methods and forms. Pierre Joseph Proudhon of France, often called the father of anarchism, became the first to make anarchism a mass movement. Proudhon's philosophical, or individualistic, anarchism urged the willing cooperation of free individuals without any regulation or government.

Terroristic anarchism began under the leadership of Mikhail Bakunin in Russia during the 1800's. Followers of this type of anarchism believed in the destruction of the government by violence and terror. They thought that land and other means of production should be owned in common. Many anarchists throughout the world resorted to revolution and assassination in the belief that terror would correct what they thought to be evil. They murdered heads of governments, including Czar Alexander II of Russia and President William McKinley of the United States. After the death of McKinley, the U.S. government passed a law barring anarchists from entering the country.

Anarchism under the leadership of Prince Peter Kropotkin of Russia, during the late 1800's, assumed a more rigid communistic form. Kropotkin rejected the terroristic methods of Bakunin, but he also opposed the authoritative type of communism. Under his kind of anarchism, the state would be eliminated and society would be built on the communes, or village communities, which had existed in feudal Russian society. Each commune would be a self-sufficient group.

The strength of anarchism declined throughout the world in the 1900's. Anarchists played a part in the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939). Anarchism also influenced such radical groups as Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) in the United States in the 1960's, and the Baader-Meinhof gang in West Germany in the 1970's. Some groups in Europe practice terroristic anarchism.

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Contributor: • James D. Forman, LL.B., Attorney and author. How to cite this article:To cite this article in a footnote, World Book recommends the following format: James D. Forman, "Anarchism," World Book Online Americas Edition, http://www.worldbookonline.com/wbol/wbPage/na/ar/co/020160, February 15, 2001. To cite this article in a bibliography, or to learn about other citation formats, read our help page about citations, or ask your teacher or librarian for help.

Street Music Band Review - Roots 'N' Boots

The band's foundation was found way back in 1993,when 5 naive young men have had to agree that the only way for them to channel their talent and boisterous energy was; MUSIC...going under several names every now and then...the band would play anything, covering mostly from the late 70's and early 80's British punkrock,loads of streetpunk anthem,well-known Oi! numbers and even some few touches on local punk bands songs...at this very particular time,all they did was rehearsing covers and screwing around...no gigs were played at that time, since they're not even bothered to record anything yet...nevertheless the band had came up with a few decent own materials...and this situation kept on going strong for the next couple of boring years until it was 1996,when most of the bOi!s quit due to other commitments and left Achmed SodD out in the cold to recruit new members...fortunately some good mates from local streetpunk band Social Reject,Oi! outfit Fighting '94 and even the now already a legend?

A.C.A.B gladly chip in to lend a helping hands & boots... with new spirits and enthusiasm they commit themself to enhances Oi!/streetpunk music to the next or better level... well, at least to themself they thought...by this time around the band had steadily go under the banner of "Roots 'N' Boots" and already start doing small shows here and there and mostly everywhere...in 1997,skinheads & punks had became the national issues of the day and slotted nicely in the must-be-banned lists and the power that be would do anyshites to 'silence' anything or even everything that got to do with the cult...be it directly or otherwise...this is when the band had to go through a long break of hybernation and only shitting around rehearsing and practising own numbers...the band did however recorded 2 songs (Made In Malaysia & We're The Crew) to be featured in one of the earliest Malaysian Oi! compilation which is "Oi! It's a Malaysian League" for Strange Culture Records... new dawn came finally in 1998 when the band actively start doing shows again...hope blossom right up till 1999 when they secured a recording deal with Pinn-Up Records and start the recording for their debut album which is "Working Class Heroes",it's been released in 2000...

From there on, the band is now running again on the path of doing small & big shows and gain new fans all thru' out the nation and even recognitions from the worldwide audience...their album even attracts a few European labels and officially DSS Records. were given the honour to distribute it to the ROTWW...2001 & 2002, the band started to work on new songs, which is now featured in their 2nd album and they also did the recording by the end of 2002 up to the 1st half of 2003..."Young, Loud & Proud" was released later that year and received quite a good feedback nonetheless the bad ones<~we welcomes any critics that built to last and please save your shit-talking, wankers!!...2004 is just another year for the bOi!s as nothing much happened except for busying themself with work and play and work and play(again?)and of course focusing on finding new materials to be recorded in their next long-awaited 'Son Of Oi!'...will there be any of it? YOU Tell US!!!~

Grab from the bands site - http://www.myspace.com/rootsnboots

Working Class Hero - lyric

As soon as your born they make you feel small,
By giving you no time instead of it all,
Till the pain is so big you feel nothing at all,

A working class hero is something to be,
A working class hero is something to be,

They hurt you at home and they hit you at school,
They hate you if you're clever and they despise a fool,
Till you're so fucking crazy you can't follow their rules,

A working class hero is something to be,
A working class hero is something to be,

When they've tortured and scared you for twenty odd years,
Then they expect you to pick a career,
When you can't really function you're so full of fear,

A working class hero is something to be,
A working class hero is something to be,

Keep you doped with religion and sex and TV,
And you think you're so clever and classless and free,
But you're still fucking peasents as far as I can see,

A working class hero is something to be,
A working class hero is something to be,

There's room at the top they are telling you still,
But first you must learn how to smile as you kill,
If you want to be like the folks on the hill,

A working class hero is something to be,
A working class hero is something to be,

If you want to be a hero well just follow me,
If you want to be a hero well just follow me.

Artist: John Lennon

Hentikan segera - Skim unit amanah elak pencarum KWSP rugi lebih besar

Oleh Fairol Redza Ismael

KUALA LUMPUR 6 Ogos – Kesatuan - kesatuan sekerja dan persatuan pengguna hari ini menggesa kerajaan dan Kumpulan Wang Simpanan Pekerja (KWSP) menghentikan segera skim pengeluaran caruman untuk dilaburkan ke dalam unit amanah bagi mengelak kerugian yang lebih besar kepada pencarum.

Mereka yang dihubungi Utusan Malaysia menegaskan, selain berhadapan dengan risiko turun naik pasaran, pelaburan unit amanah juga bertentangan dengan matlamat asal simpanan di dalam KWSP iaitu untuk menjamin simpanan di hari tua.

Sehubungan itu, mereka mahu kerajaan mengkaji punca kerugian itu dan pada masa sama menghentikan sementara pengeluaran wang caruman di bawah skim tersebut sehingga kajian mengenainya disiapkan.

Presiden Kongres Kesatuan Pekerja-Pekerja Dalam Perkhidmatan Awam (Cuepacs), Datuk Nordin Abdul Hamid yang terkejut dengan laporan bahawa jumlah terkumpul kerugian ekoran pengeluaran caruman untuk tujuan tersebut berjumlah RM600 juta, mahu kerajaan campur tangan.

"Kita tidak boleh membiarkan perkara ini berterusan. Sesuatu perlu dilakukan sebelum keadaan menjadi lebih teruk," katanya kepada Utusan Malaysia ketika dihubungi hari ini.

Beliau mengulas laporan Mingguan Malaysia hari ini yang memetik sumber kesatuan sekerja mengenai kira-kira RM600 juta wang milik pencarum KWSP yang dilaburkan ke dalam unit amanah mengalami kerugian.

Maklumat yang diperoleh itu menunjukkan berlaku penyusutan daripada jumlah dana yang dikeluarkan oleh pencarum untuk membuat pelaburan tersebut.

Jumlah dana terkumpul yang dikeluarkan para pencarum KWSP sejak skim itu mula diperkenalkan pada 1996 ialah RM9.76 bilion.

Bagaimanapun sehingga Disember tahun lalu, angkanya menyusut kepada RM9.15 bilion.

Nordin berkata, Cuepacs memandang serius perkara tersebut kerana tidak mahu pencarum terus dibebani dengan masalah kewangan.

Sementara itu, Timbalan Presiden Kongres Kesatuan Sekerja Malaysia (MTUC), Shafie BP Mammal berkata, kerajaan khususnya Kementerian Kewangan bertanggungjawab menangani masalah itu sebelum ia menjadi lebih parah.

Katanya, Kerajaan perlu campur tangan menghentikan sementara pengeluaran wang caruman tersebut sehingga kajian menyeluruh dibuat terlebih dahulu.

"Masalah ini sebenarnya timbul kerana tiada pengawasan dari pihak yang berkaitan, bukan semua pencarum faham konsep nak melabur."

"KWSP juga perlu memaklumkan dengan segera kepada pencarum jika wujud sebarang masalah yang boleh menjejaskan wang simpanan mereka," tegasnya.

Justeru, kata beliau, ejen unit amanah harus jujur ketika mencari pelanggan dan tidak hanya ingin mengaut keuntungan sahaja.

Penasihat Gabungan Persatuan-Persatuan Pengguna Malaysia (FOMCA), Profesor Datuk Hamdan Adnan berkata, kerajaan harus bertindak segera menghentikan pengeluaran caruman untuk dilaburkan dalam unit amanah lain kerana ia memberi risiko kepada pencarum.

Beliau berkata, pencarum KWSP harus beringat bahawa simpanan mereka itu untuk kegunaan di hari tua, bukannya boleh dikeluarkan sesuka hati.

"Pihak KWSP perlu mengurus dan memberi khidmat nasihat kepada pencarum agar mereka tidak mengeluarkan wang simpanan tanpa menyedari kesan-kesannya pada masa depan.

‘‘Pencarum pula perlu patuh dengan undang-undang KWSP, jangan bila dah rugi, baru nak menyesal," katanya.

Tambah beliau, jika pencarum ingin mengeluarkan wang untuk pembelian rumah atau kegunaan pendidikan, ia haruslah dikawal kerana dikhuatiri simpanan mereka akan habis sebelum mereka bersara.

Utusan 7 Ogos 2006

PSM Moves Party HQ To Kuala Lumpur

Kuala Lumpur, 21st July. 2006

Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) has finally moved its party’s Head Office to Kuala Lumpur city centre after being located for 8 years in the outskirts. This is a major significant move in the party’s short but challenging history.

The party’s first HQ was in Ampang Lama and briefly after that, the HQ was moved to Kajang in 1998. Since 2004, the Party’s HQ was moved again to Subang located at Seksyen U3, near the Subang Airport.

The decision to move the Head Office to Kuala Lumpur was mooted since the party’s Congress in 2005. This was further emphasised in the party’s last Congress which ended in May 2006. A resolution was tabled by the Central Committee and was reflected in the Chairperson’s address. The suggestion got tremendous support from the members who saw that the previous HQ is far too far from the centre and hence not accessible from people from other parts of the country. The resolution to move the office to KL got overwhelming support and finally it was decided that the new office will be located at a strategic place and it was decided that KL Sentral in Brickfields would be an ideal place. Besides being a place assessable to public transport, it has a huge working class population.

The location of the office is quite near and walking distance from KL Sentral and situated less than 40 meters from the Brickfields post office. The office address is at 22A, Jalan Vivekananda (besides B’Sentral Restaurant). The new office phone number is 603-22747791.

The location also brings memories to two of the party’s veterans - Comrade Nasir Hashim and V.Selvam as in 1989, they started the PSRM Brickfields branch. They left PSRM when the party decided to abandon the word Socialist from the name as well as from the Constitution. The branch office was later closed down .

It is hoped that with the Party’s HQ moving to the centre, PSM would be involved more in the main stream issues. There has been lots of critics from members as well as supporters that the party though has a strong grassroots support among the urban poor and the rural areas, the party had failed to make in-roads into mainstream politics. The party in its last two congresses have accepted these weaknesses.

Though PSM is a small party but the party has made significant in roads in major issues especially leading and initiating the health coalition as well as being the leading opposition to the GST campaign which has now been temporarily been halted by the Government. PSM also suffers from not being given registration by the ruling party which have labelled the party a Threat to National Security. The party awaits the Appeal’s court decision on this.

PSM which believes in a socialist system and who believes that only through a class based struggle can the poor, the workers and the majority of the people will be able to share the wealth of the nation currently being controlled by a small minority of capitalist. Today the people are torn apart from racial and religious divides which would further weaken any movement seeking justice and equality. The people will be kept apart by the forces who desire a divide and rule using all religious, racial and cultural differences.

The majority of the people want peace, harmony and a decent life. No matter what they eat, who they pray to or what language they speak. In Malaysia, to build a multiracial party based on class consciousness is a difficult task but surely not a useless task. It is perhaps the only hope for the future generations.

Capitalism, the system we live in today, is undemocratic and unequal. It is a class society based on the exploitation of the working class (the majority of the population) by the capitalist class (the minority). For the minority to be in power, the majority have to be divided…race, religion, language….you name it.

To win, we have to build a movement cutting across race, religion and language and learn to respect each other as humans. This is what PSM intents to built.

Socialism from below is the way forward and it is hoped that PSM’s move to KL would further enhance the struggle for a better world.