We won't pay for their crisis! demo - Less than 1 week away, organsie, mobilise!
Matt Banning | 17.11.2008 17:35 | Social Struggles
Next Saturday (22/11/08) marks the start of a campaign in Bath going under the heading 'we wont pay for their crisis!', demanding no more bank bailouts, and working towards initiating community based solutions to the financial crisis.
People will be meeting at 12.30pm at Abbey Courtyard for a demo taking in the sights of some of Baths banks and seats of local government.
We are hoping for a big turnout for this one to send out a strong political messagen and kickstart a campaign genuinley capable of making changes.
We are hoping for as much support as possible from Bath and the South West, so please try and get yerself down for the demo!
People will be meeting at 12.30pm at Abbey Courtyard for a demo taking in the sights of some of Baths banks and seats of local government.
We are hoping for a big turnout for this one to send out a strong political messagen and kickstart a campaign genuinley capable of making changes.
We are hoping for as much support as possible from Bath and the South West, so please try and get yerself down for the demo!
We won't pay for their crisis!
March on Guildhall - Saturday 22nd of Nov - assemble 12.30pm @ Abbey courtyard
In response to the current financial crisis and looming recession, Bath Activist Network, along with other groups will be marching on Guildhall on Sat 22nd of Nov. The protest will not be a stand alone event, and will be the start of a campaign which will be aimed at guarding our communities against the most damaging effects of the coming recession and taking the fight to the forces that have caused the financial crisis. We see no reason why our taxes should be used to bail out and pay for the bonuses of the people and institutions that are to blame for the crisis. We also take the view that the recession will hit average people hardest, whilst for bosses, politicians and bankers it will be buisness and bonuses as usual. The campaign will have 5 initial demands -
1.Greater subsidies on gas and electric bills
2.Bailiffs and repossesion companies out of our communities
3.Affordable food, housing and living costs
4.Protection of jobs, wages and benefits
5.Control over the banks our money has bailed out
While the campaign will aim to raise awareness of the causes of the recession, we intend to be more than just a protest group. This recession is going to hit average people hard, and we are serious about organising to defend ourselves against increasing gas and electricity prices, growing home repossesions and soaring unemployment - we are organising to win!
In unity is strength!
We are calling on as many groups and individuals as possible to join us in this campaign. We are all going to be (and already are) affected by the financial crisis and looming recession, so it makes sense that we unite to fight against it. We are calling on all pensioners, anarchists, trade unionists, single mothers, benefit claimants, disbled people, radicals, workers and everyone inbetween to join us and make this a campaign that can protect all of our rights and fight back against recession and those who caused it.
We are hoping to build a campaign in which all groups, and tactics can be respected. We do not expect everyone in the group to unite behind a particular ideology, but will not make right wing or xenophobic viewpoints welcome within the campaign.
The campaign will be holding a stall to build support for the upcoming protest on Stall street , near Holland and Barrett on Saturday the 15th Nov from 12 - 3 pm.
Some facts -
*Unemployment is up 20%
*Home repossesions are up over 70%
*Food prices are still rising
*Gas and electric bills are up over 40% (an estimated 22,000 pensioners in the UK are estimated to die from illnesses contacted as a direct result of an inability to afford sufficient heating this winter)
*Bank bosses continue to recieve multi million pond a year bonuses, some of which has come from funds allocated from the recent bank bailout.
The campaign has recently come under fire from a small section of Baths' wealthy elite, who have suggested that the solution to the problem lies in us cutting back our spending (not an option for many). One right wing commentator even suggested that he was sick of paying for council housing with his tax money!
For more information, or to recieve flyers and posters, e-mail
bathactivistnet@yahoo.co.uk
March on Guildhall - Saturday 22nd of Nov - assemble 12.30pm @ Abbey courtyard
In response to the current financial crisis and looming recession, Bath Activist Network, along with other groups will be marching on Guildhall on Sat 22nd of Nov. The protest will not be a stand alone event, and will be the start of a campaign which will be aimed at guarding our communities against the most damaging effects of the coming recession and taking the fight to the forces that have caused the financial crisis. We see no reason why our taxes should be used to bail out and pay for the bonuses of the people and institutions that are to blame for the crisis. We also take the view that the recession will hit average people hardest, whilst for bosses, politicians and bankers it will be buisness and bonuses as usual. The campaign will have 5 initial demands -
1.Greater subsidies on gas and electric bills
2.Bailiffs and repossesion companies out of our communities
3.Affordable food, housing and living costs
4.Protection of jobs, wages and benefits
5.Control over the banks our money has bailed out
While the campaign will aim to raise awareness of the causes of the recession, we intend to be more than just a protest group. This recession is going to hit average people hard, and we are serious about organising to defend ourselves against increasing gas and electricity prices, growing home repossesions and soaring unemployment - we are organising to win!
In unity is strength!
We are calling on as many groups and individuals as possible to join us in this campaign. We are all going to be (and already are) affected by the financial crisis and looming recession, so it makes sense that we unite to fight against it. We are calling on all pensioners, anarchists, trade unionists, single mothers, benefit claimants, disbled people, radicals, workers and everyone inbetween to join us and make this a campaign that can protect all of our rights and fight back against recession and those who caused it.
We are hoping to build a campaign in which all groups, and tactics can be respected. We do not expect everyone in the group to unite behind a particular ideology, but will not make right wing or xenophobic viewpoints welcome within the campaign.
The campaign will be holding a stall to build support for the upcoming protest on Stall street , near Holland and Barrett on Saturday the 15th Nov from 12 - 3 pm.
Some facts -
*Unemployment is up 20%
*Home repossesions are up over 70%
*Food prices are still rising
*Gas and electric bills are up over 40% (an estimated 22,000 pensioners in the UK are estimated to die from illnesses contacted as a direct result of an inability to afford sufficient heating this winter)
*Bank bosses continue to recieve multi million pond a year bonuses, some of which has come from funds allocated from the recent bank bailout.
The campaign has recently come under fire from a small section of Baths' wealthy elite, who have suggested that the solution to the problem lies in us cutting back our spending (not an option for many). One right wing commentator even suggested that he was sick of paying for council housing with his tax money!
For more information, or to recieve flyers and posters, e-mail
bathactivistnet@yahoo.co.uk
Matt Banning
e-mail:
bathactivistnet@yahoo.co.uk
Comments
Hide the following comment
with what?
19.11.2008 15:07
--> would need lots of cash from taxes --> will make people worse off.
2.Bailiffs and repossesion companies out of our communities
--> people not paying bills because they've used all their money buying a 40" plasma tv
Bailiffs take stuff off people who try to get keep their stuff for free. You buy something, you work for it, you pay for it. If you can't pay for it, don't buy it on credit card. I have had bailiffs at my block of flats,... after several people who did a runner.
An overhaul of the penalties applied to debters would be of much fairer benefit. This is a real problem and is extremely exploitive.
3.Affordable food, housing and living costs
--> supply and demand. Houses cost lots of money to make on land that is expensive, so people wont give them away for peanuts. If we choose cram as many people in like Tokyo, then competition for things is higher and the costs will match.
4.Protection of jobs, wages and benefits
--> A company cant keep staff on if no one if buying their products / services
--> sudsidise it all? need more cash from taxes --> unfair to other companies who do not require susidese
--> if jobs are not laid off, company goes under and everyone loses.
5.Control over the banks our money has bailed out
--> I wouldn't know how to control a bank and i suspect the average citizen doesn't either.... but yes, banks needs to become banks again, not businesses. Bring back building societies with proper managers.
Refuse to lend out astronomical amounts to debters (the average debt, per person, excluding mortgages is £30,000 --> spent on cars, clothes, music, tvs, holidays, ride on lawn mowers etc)
*Unemployment is up 20%
--> because less people are spending less on services and products. Companies need to lay off people in order to survive. We are in a recession, unemployment will rise.
*Home repossesions are up over 70%
--> If people didn't greedily borrow x7 times their mortgage to buy a shoebox on interest only mortgage whilst spending all their cash on a leather sofa, plasma tv and new car... this number would be probably be less than 70%
*Food prices are still rising
--> Because growers grow biofuels which pay more that food due to government meddling subsides. Interferring in free market economics has created a food production hole.
*Gas and electric bills are up over 40% (an estimated 22,000 pensioners in the UK are estimated to die from illnesses contacted as a direct result of an inability to afford sufficient heating this winter)
Thats really bad. I though labour had pledged to help pensioners with bills?
*Bank bosses continue to recieve multi million pond a year bonuses, some of which has come from funds allocated from the recent bank bailout.
Percentage wise, a councilor on £200K a year is much more of a fatcat than a banker regarding the size of business they deal with.
Labour has made 1,000,000 more public sector jobs since in power. People who don't produce or manufacturer anything. 1M manufacturing jobs have been lost in same period. Sack them all and put them into producing stuff we need like houses, technology and industry that is profitable so that we have more money to spend on public services.
Under labour, in the 70s, hairdressers were only allowed to operate 3 days a week because we didn't have enough money to buy fuel for the power stations. The country was near bankrupt. We had to go to the IMO for help like some 3rd world country. When i hear of car factories shutting to 4 day weeks, I think we are heading to the 70s again. Spending, spending, spending is not the answer. Its like someone getting more credit cards and more debt, but that is exactly what you are asking our government to do.
"One right wing commentator even suggested that he was sick of paying for council housing with his tax money! "
Thats understandable. A lot of council estate residents on the estate i used to live on spent way too much money on cigarettes, alcohol, plasma tvs, sky satalite dishes (i'd never pay for sky, its a ripoff... but go to any estate and in full of dishes... forking out £17-45 a month.... who can justify paying that?), betting shops, the pub every other night, games consoles, confectionary products (which cost a fortune, are bad for you), soft drugs, high insurance power cars
I didn't, i saved money, didn't spend, spend, spend and managed to move off the estate
I just say what i see every single day.
Polo