13/12: A brief ABC of ACAB
Analysis, Dec 12th
Today, the electorate of the UK go to the ballot to choose their flavour of ruler, and on the morning of 13/12, we will wake up to a new government.
This election has already seen ancient anarchist wizards abandoning their 40-year opposition to voting, as well as contentious debates on the responsibilities of anti-state activists in regards to how best to struggle against the murderous tyranny of the Conservatives and their right-wing attack dogs. As Plan B fantastically puts it, a surge of tactical voting for the big government magical socialism promised by the Labour party is the act of voting for the party you hate least so the party you hate most doesn't win automatically. The tension is only heightened by the ongoing Brexit debacle and of course, the fact that our climate is systematically collapsing around us.
The rampant class war being waged by the Tories has become a fullscale state-sanctioned massacre of the poor and marginalised in the UK, with an estimated 130, 000 preventable deaths since it began in 2010. The socialist ideals of Labour could bring genuine relief to people who desperately need support as they are crushed under capitalism's boot. Regardless of who is voted in, two aspects of the social order will remain almost unnoticed, untouched and untroubled by a change of colour in the ties of our rulers.
Capitalism and the human embodiment of its brutal ideology – the police – do not give a fuck about who wins the election.
The police in the UK have worked hard to transform their image, devising a cunning psychological strategy to manipulate the masses, despite deaths in custody being the highest for a decade. Al Capone might have summed up as 'you can get more with a smile and a gun than you can with just a smile.' A PR campaign stretching back 3 decades, which has resulted in the co-optation and collaboration of 'rebels' at protests and the consistent response to any explanations of ACAB as being: 'Oh but I knew a copper and he was a lovely bloke …'
None of us are denying that cops are flesh and blood human beings. Technically. We are sure that some of them don't beat their spouses, or engage in racist practices, or pretend to be someone else for 7 years, or cover up for the crimes of their colleagues, that as this photo proves some of them love animals and they turn out for climate change protests. In this weird year of discord, 2019, Trump is president and Bojo prime minister. Anything is possible.
The point is that if I am in a gang, such as the mafia, or the juggalos, or the Bullingdon Club, and one of my crew murders someone, then that blood is on my hands aswell. The same principle applies to the party you vote for. Beyond being merely custodians of the social order of oppression by the elite, police must be viewed as it's most overt line of defense. They should be perceived as an occupying army sent to maintain the dominance of the capitalist class over the multitude. They should be vilified for class treachery, for being power hungry scabs who have joined the biggest gang because at heart they are cowards. They are the lowest form of mercenary scum whose value systems have become so warped that they are able to justify their collusion in the banality of the evil they perpetuate through what must be either an exhausting and convoluted circus of mental gymnastics or, more likely, becoming completely numb to humanity's suffering by focusing only on their own degrading subservience, sucking the rich's arse for morsels to survive upon.
They should be told this at every opportunity, at great length, and in great detail, at full volume, in a startling variety of ways, by everyone who doesn't risk summary murder by making themselves known to them.
"But we need them because they prevent crime!?" shriek hysterical liberals, as I laugh bitterly into the upended policeman's hat I drink nettle tea from. Remember the economic crash of 2008? And yet 11 years later no high-ranking executive has gone to jail for the systemic crimes that obliterated 40 percent of the world's wealth.
It's the class war, stupid!
The police will continue to protect their masters from judgement, whilst claiming neutrality and objectivity under the rule of law. Any genuine challenge to the status quo is brutally crushed by Tory governments, as with the miner's strike, the Battle of the Beanfield, the student riots. Police act according to the needs of the ruling class, enforcing the law unevenly and giving disproportionate attention to those at the bottom of the social pyramid. Their brutality is tolerated because that is what people with power want.
Whoever you vote for, they will have the cops on their side.
Tomorrow we celebrate ACAB Day. Tomorrow we remember our solidarity. Tomorrow we remember our martyrs, and we turn towards the future where the only blue we see is the clear sky of anarchy.
Don't mourn, organise.
I will end this section with a quote from Italian insurrectionary anarchist Alfredo Bonnano, and combine it with a ruling that states that police should expect abusive language as part of their jobs, so that our dear paper is not liable for incitement to violence. I hope you ponder for a moment as you cast your ballot slip into the void.
"Hurry up, comrade, shoot at once on the policeman, the judge, the wealthy, before a new police will hinder you.
Hurry up and say no, before a new repression convinces you that to say no is nonsensical and crazy and that you should accept the hospitality of an asylum.
Hurry up and attack the capital, before a new ideology makes it sacred for you.
Hurry up and refuse work, before a new sophist tells you: Work makes you free.
Hurry up and play. Hurry up and arm yourself."
George F
For this piece, George F referenced Our Enemies In Blue by Kristian Williams. The concluding part will be published tomorrow.
George F's new book, Good Times In Dystopia, is released on 13/12 from Zero Books. You can pre-order a copy here.
To celebrate 13/12, there will be a public performance of works in combination with an anti-police street art exhibition to be held in the Aldgate area of London. There are more details here (FB)
ACABClass WarCustody deathsElection 2019George F.Policepolice repression