The rubbish was packed and put out into the pavement the night before, for the dustmen to collect. I usually use very strong grey plastic bags and tie them well to prevent the roaming ,opportunist foxes from helping themselves and leaving a trail of rotting food on the pavement.I even save some tit bits for them when walking the dog and place them in the park as if to tell them to stay away from my front door and snack at their place instead. I know the local mini dictators we call councils and even the do-gooder environmentalists would rebuke me for that .
I could hear the rustling of rubbish sacks. Was that someone interfering with my my rubbish ?,a fox ? or more likely some neighbour putting out their own rubbish.
I continued to wonder as I was lying on the couch half asleep, 6.00 in the morning. The thought interrupted my musings on the cinema show I had seen the night before.
I had gone to the ' Haringey Independent cinema ' the night before and watched 'Mary and Max' an Australian , clay animation film directed by Adam Elliot,2009 .I was so impressed by the film and the cinema . I sat with a bunch of anarchists who apparently run this cinema club. Some of them had huge moustaches and beards in the style of Kropoptin or Bakunin. There was a mixed bag of people , including various militants , disabled people and others that seem to go out of their way to avoid mainstream entertainment and thought. The atmosphere was warm and friendly , with my bowler hat on, I felt comfortable; a misfit amongst misfits.
The animated stop- motion characters made from clay did exactly as I was told they would in the publicity for the film. They had me empathising, laughing and crying with them as they struggled in the big ,bad wicked world.
The story was based on a pen pal friendship made purely by chance as a young Australian , obese school girl wrote to a name she picked out at random from an American telephone directory .
Her letter reached a American Jewish athiesit New yorker who had Asperger's syndrome. He also had problems with obesity and compulsive comfort eating.
Apart from the two main characters who struck up a warm and supportive friendship , the story explored , through other characters and events :the nature of disability , stigmatisation , loneliness, isolation , alienation and many other aspects of the human condition as well as critique of Psychiatry and psychology . And it did this , in my opinion without being patronising to the audience or condescending to the disabled .
Others may disagree , but I thought it was sensitively done and although it could be argued by some that there were scenes and moments where the audience were led to laugh at the characters' imperfectness's and mal adjusted behaviour, or directly at their physical disabilities , I thought it was done in such a way that the viewer would empathise with the characters and laugh more spitefully at the established view of them and those that came up against them.
It was a mini roller coaster of anguish , trial and tribulation with some tragic yet life affirming moments.
I wondered where all these people around me were , were they all members of the 'Haringey solidarity Group' a local anarchist outfit? or were they just people who had taste and sense to attend a decent non mainstream cinema when they saw one?
There was a short film shown after the main one , filmed at the demonstration in central London on 26th March 2011 against the proposed public spending cuts ordered by the government .The film was made by an independent journalist.On the one hand , the film celebrated the richness of costume ,music and creativeness offered by the demonstrators and at the same time carefully showing instances of unprovoked police violence i.e the film maker had got his camera behind the police cordon who possibly from the corporate media's take could be seen gently ushering the crowd away but at the same time from his angle they were discreetly, literally 'sticking the boot in 'to the crowd.
The organiser , after the two films were over , invited discussion , which did not develop much more than one man saying : 'let's all take our money out of the bank on the same day !' and another , who had bruises all over his face telling the crowd that 'enough is enough'...It didn't develop much more and we were all invited to have a drink at the local pub across the road.
At that point I had to leave . I felt that I made a good discovery in this cinema club , I picked a few anarchist publications and made my way.
As I was dozing on the couch I was thinking that I would strongly recommend 'Mary and Max' to anyone who wants to see a really good film.
I also wondered about these anarchist people, I mean those that are 'card carrying anarchists '(contradiction of terms intended ). I wonder what their real goals are and whether they really believe that we can live in a world devoid of our political and economic overlords. I really admire them and how they are against racism and all other forms of bigotry, exploitation , deception and discrimination etc .
But I also fear that their view of human nature , based on their own noble intentions is somewhat flawed.
Of course we should not allow our selves to be ruled by greedy capitalists and governments which are no more than 'political parties of business' as Noam Chomsky calls them . Many altruistic and thoughtful souls would be suited to an anarchist society , yet what of the mob? I am sure many of the people that would be left in this Utopian society without hierarchy, free of police or bosses ,without laws etc would be even worse than they are now.
True Anarchism, this intellectual , angry young man's pipe dream would suit those highly evolved, intelligent and caring individuals who would share and share alike . But what of the majority of us self centred , impatient , egotistical , politically naive, greedy self serving mob rich and poor alike? ; being poor doesn't make one better than the rich.
What would happen?. I just wonder , I am sure many a motorist would run down a cyclist who they think has got in their way and shouldn't be there. And do this with impunity .Unfortunately the Noble Anarchists have a too high esteem of human nature .
Most people would descend into 'anarchy ' in the definition of a cheap and nasty corporate popular newspaper's use of the term.
So the establishment is afraid of the Anarchists , not because they are 'mindless hooligans' as often the mainstream media depicts them, but because they dare to challenge the status quo and offer an alternative ....to those that would listen and have the self discipline and altruism to see it through without allowing themselves to descend into mayhem.
But there is a 'Third way ' to quote that ignominious scoundrel , former prime minister Blair: but not on his terms: The fact that the limited illusion of freedom that we have within the corporate capitalist system , allows for anarchists to live side by side with it . To agitate and influence , using direct action and propaganda against the corporations and their political parties . In this sense , Capitalism and Anarchism go hand in hand , existing together . This is the only way and suggests that any one with an ounce of political awareness or conscience should get involved in their local anarchist group and challenge their 'elected ' business party overlords and strive to achieve at least a fraction of true democracy and justice .
The rustling got louder , I got myself up off the couch . As I got up and looked out of the window I just about caught a glimpse of a young man , whose appearance and complexion , with an educated guess , I can only describe as being an Eastern European Romany . He tore a bag open and pinched something , I do not know what . He moved nimbly as a fox and I called to him to ask him what he was doing. But he had scarpered , possibly on to the next booty .
This angered me as the grey plastic bags which were tied so well together to deter foxes , had been raided by a 'Human Fox ' I have no reservations in calling him that , regardless of what the politically correct would call me.
I still wonder what would any one gain by checking rubbish sacks. Was it that he thought that the sacks' different colour indicated a collection of clothing being donated to some charity which he wanted part of? or just pure dustbin raking in hope of trading anything? Did he find an obsolete computer printer that was chucked ? is he going to strip it down and sell a piece of copper or lead from it? I really don't know but the fact that he had exposed rotten , smelly food really got me angry. The filthy Human fox !, I thought to myself as I secured the rubbish bags one more time to prevent his four legged brethren from finishing off where he started.
There are many people of his back ground living all over this area , they are part of a mass migration from Poland , Romania , Bulgaria and other Eastern European countries that are full card carrying members of the 'European Union ', this ever expanding club of corporate companies and their 'liberal democratic political parties'
The strange thing is that Membership of the 'European Union ' entitles any member to travel to and live in any other member country. That means I can live in Bulgaria and a Bulgarian can live here etc. Yet at the same time It is one of the tenets of the European Union that :
'The European Union sees human rights as universal and indivisible. It actively promotes and defends them both within its borders and when engaging in relations with non-EU countries.
Human rights, democracy and the rule of law are core values of the European Union. Embedded in its founding treaty, they were reinforced when the EU adopted the Charter of Fundamental Rights in 2000, and strengthened still further when the Charter became legally binding with the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty in 2009.
Countries seeking to join the EU must respect human rights. And all trade and cooperation agreements with third countries contain a clause stipulating that human rights are an essential element in relations between the parties.
The Union’s human rights policy encompasses civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights. It also seeks to promote the rights of women, of children, of those persons belonging to minorities, and of displaced persons' .
(From 'Europa ', The European Union's Official Website).
Having read that , I was even more perplexed. Let's look at the plight of Romany people . They are known to be discriminated against throughout the world. I have seen it first hand on my journeys to Greece. My favourite singer is a Greek Romany who often sings about the pains of being treated as a second class citizen in the only country he knows . In my day job I have come across Romany people who explained to me that they are being treated badly in various European , former Soviet block countries.
Then hold on a minute! This so called artificial , non democratic, bureaucratically led group of legislators states that it has standards; That in order to join its club , the members must reach a certain standard i.e treating minorities with respect , and giving all citizens equal opportunities....etc.
This is another of the many lies .
If Romanies were treated equally in these countries , how is it that many thousands of them , at first opportunity have come from all over Eastern Europe , to settle into London , many of them without education , without Knowledge of English, without work skills but large extended families to feed. More importantly how the hell did some tin pot countries from Eastern Europe , who have an established record of traditional, cultural , political as well as institutional racism against various ethnic or religious minorities get accession into this club of corrupt political parties of business called the ' European Union'?
I think my case is made . The anarchists are right: This is a huge multinational corporation whose sole interest in human rights is the 'freedom ' to travel as in free movement of labour thereby lowering workers' wages for the big industries to function at their best. A political club that values the right of humans to compete , be divided and ruled .
As I went back to sleep pondering on the quality of the Anarchist cinema club and the the excellence of 'Mary and Max' , I felt I had explored , and come slightly closer to understanding what makes a 'human fox' walk by one's window and raid the rubbish bag: A two legged human fox, up with the rest of the foxes at the crack of dawn , travelled a few thousand miles to achieve this 'privilege' . What does that say about oppressed minorities? , what does it say about the European Union?, its member states and of that young man's choice of choosing England as his first choice?. Maybe it is because internally this country does try harder than others and maybe he hopes that his children will get an equal opportunity to access education and better themselves?
But guess what ? regardless of what claims are made about the importance of filling in your 'Census ' form , and how it is useful for planning the number of public services etc. Well that is another misconception , as I know from first hand knowledge as a public servant , that many children who have recently come into this country have been left at home without the chance of going to school as most of London's primary and secondary schools are over crowded.
Must go and check the rubbish........that we read....
