Click here for more information. If you would like to translate the text to english please contact me (charliesupertramp@riseup.net).
Squat the world – A short introduction
Occupying a building probably seems to most people as something weird and criminal. To me it seems as something necessary which makes perfectly sense, especially in Portugal since there are many abandoned buildings. In present societies the social sphere becomes more and more commercial and the pressure to consume is more and more present. Staying in a building which is not used by the owner and creating an open space allows people to interact outside the conventions of a commodified reality. Exchanging skills, knowledge and things for free can become normal in a free space. People who cannot afford to rent a place to do art or teach get an opportunity to do something. In many cases the state and private owners do not use the space because there are no economic interests and possibilities to gain profit. In this article I will talk about two squats in Portugal.
For further information click here and here.
On the 19th of April 2012 a squatted Primary School in Porto was evicted. The building was occupied after being five years abandoned by the state. On my travel I have spent some evenings there. Each day there was a big dinner made mostly of vegetarian food. I met an older woman there who was very happy to feel useful and helping in the community. While talking to her I found out that her (adult) children were also arround, and soon her grandchildren. What a nice intergenerational concept without the planing of the state.
The project seemed truly beautiful. I have never seen such high level of integration and exchange between a heterogeneous group and a community of a poor neighborhood. The children were enriching the scene enormously. For them it seemed like a big opportunity to get a different inputs since there were people from Portugal, Spain, Greece, Germany, Lithuania, and many other places with different educational background and visions of the world.
The activists and the neighborhood managed together to fill this space with life again – capoeira classes, educational support, movies, yoga, bicycle repairing are some examples for the activities and possibilities at this self managed social center. Everyone was benefiting from the use of this abandoned building. Right now the situation seems unpredictable. There is a lot of support in the population, but the government continues its course of ignorance and capital.
For more information click here.
After the eviction in Porto a house – São Lázaro 94 – was squatted in Lisbon. This building was abandoned since several years and the city administration did not care like in many other cases. The solidary act became little by little a project which could sustain its own. After cleaning, putting banners out and holding assemblies people started making activities at this place. You can take part for free in the yoga classes, there is a growing library and a free shop, some concerts already have happened, walls got painted and an exposition at the second floor was created.
In the beginning the city administration/police gave 
deadline of a ten days to leave the building. Now it seems that the occupiers can stay at least the next days. It is a nice building with a lot of space to be creative. Lisbon is a European capital without a public squat which is a pretty sad fact, but not impossible to change. If you have energy and ideas to do something, go there and do it! You can find the program on the blog.
Whatever will happen – on the 19th of may we all go to the streets. At 15 o’clock at Martim Moniz! Na rua com todos! For further information click here.
A documentary about the degrowth movement in France. It gives you an idea how the world could look like in the future. Different authors and activists explain their opinion in understandable ways. What they say sounds far away from the present reality. On the other hand it seems to be unavoidable to change the way we live and there are plenty of rational arguments that their proposals could work.
The planet is not enough for the consumer lifestyle of the rich societies. We need more than one earth, if everyone wants to live like Americans, Germans or French. This consumer life and material wealth seem to be less and less satisfying even though people still go to the shopping mall. Is there really the need to work so much? If you look for what time, energy and resources are used, it seems that many things we produce do not improve the quality of life. Imagine working less and having more time for other things. Reclaiming the political space, rediscovering the spiritual space and creating an artistic space.
What kind of values do we need? How could and should we live? And what is sense?
If you can find a version with english subtitles please contact me. For now there is this version in french with spanish subtitles. Thanks to a friend from Romania sharing this with me.
After going dumpster diving on Saturday again I had to write a second article about this topic. The amount of food we brought home was just incredible. Calculated with minimum prices we got products at least for 75 euros. I did not expect at all to get so much food for free in less than 30 minutes. It seems like a bad joke. Beside the chips it is a healthy variety of vegetables and fruits.
If you want to get involved and check out your city, go to this page. There is a lot of information about trash all over all the world. German people can find a lot of information here and french folks can go here.
This movie trailer names some facts of how much we waste. The more you find out about this topic, the more stupid it gets. Spread the word and start diving!
For more information click here.
Another source of information could be this book. It seems to be really good. Some people say it changed their life while they had to laugh a lot, especially because of the comic strips. To get an idea click here.
There is so much information about this topic: webpages, movies and books. Even though most of the people in our societies do not talk about it. Here are some proposals to find out more: The film “Dive!“, “Surfing the Waste: A Musical Documentary About Dumpster Diving“, “I Love Trash” and “From Dumpster To Dinner Plate“.
This is the first guest contribution. A text from a friend about a political issue going on in Germany ultimately. Feel free to contact me, if you want to publish something here – in any language.
Was an der Sache mit Wulff gut scheint – ist, dass das Thema der Mensch als ethisch Handelnder exemplarisch in den Blick kommt. Man muss sich dadurch – öffentlich- darüber Gedanken machen: Was ist stimmiges, moralisch adäquates Verhalten? Was ist Würde? Er nötigt dadurch den sonst eher von einer gewissen Flachheit geprägten Diskurs zu einer Tiefe (in dieser Frage).
Darin ist er dann doch auch ein gutes Lehrbild. Er regt – unfreiwillig – an, Fragen nachzugehen, die auch sonst im öffentlichen Leben in Betracht kommen, aber meist unter den Teppich von Pragmatismus und Mauschelismus gekehrt werden. Darin ist er dann doch ein guter Bundespräsident! Er hält uns den Spiegel vor.
In der Homöopathie arbeitet man auch damit, eine Krankheit sich selbst – in geringer Potenz – gegenüberzustellen, auf dass sie durch eine Art inneren Selbsterkenntnisprozess geheilt werde. So gesehen ist “Wulff D12″ ein Heilungsangebot an unsere Gesellschaft, unsere Kultur – eines von vielen. Dafür müsste man es aber schlucken und verarbeiten und die Spiegelung, die in ihm liegt, erkennen, statt das Problem nur da draußen, bei Einzelnen zu sehen. An diesen zeigen sich nur die Blüten eines kranken kulturellen Gewächses und bringen das ihm innewohnende Prinzip in die Sichtbarkeit. Es gälte, sie zu pflücken und in Heilmittel zu verwandeln.
Im Grund ist das ein Vorgang, der zu dem passt, was Martin Heidegger mit der Kehre gemeint hat: Durch das Erkennen, das Bewusstwerden “der Gefahr” erwacht das Bewusstsein für das, wie es besser wäre, es nötigt sich zu einer Besinnung. Dadurch ist sie ein Heilelement. Es entspricht dem von Heidegger häufig zitierten Hölderlin Vers: “Wo aber Gefahr ist, wächst das Rettende auch.” Ein weiterer Umkehreffekt der Wulff-Affäre.
von A. W. (Januar 2012)
Stop wasting and start cooking
Two days ago I went the first time dumpster diving in Lisbon, which means to go to a supermarket and check out the garbage for vegetables, fruits, bread and so on which are still good. And it is quite incredible if you compare it to Germany with all the security cameras and fences. I went to the supermarkets in my neighbourhood to ask how it works. Some were saying I should talk to the manager, others told me to come when they close and some were claiming that they have to throw everything away. I went to one around nine in the evening. Me and a fifty year old guy searched the trash together. This is what I found in 15 minutes.
It is for free and makes fun. The garbage bins were standing in front of the supermarket close to the street. While I was searching for food people passed by with their food they paid for. It made me pretty happy feeling like I was regaining some kind of independency. It is incredible how we waste food in the modern consumer society. This is one of the many examples which show how absurd the present system is. So go out and get some food!
Some facts:
“Food waste or food loss is food that is discarded or lost uneaten. As of 2011, 1.3 billion tons of food, about one-third of the global food production, are lost or wasted annually.” (1)
“The UK, US and Europe have nearly twice as much food as is required by the nutritional needs of their populations. Up to half the entire food supply is wasted between the farm and the fork. – All the world’s nearly one billion hungry people could be lifted out of malnourishment on less than a quarter of the food that is wasted in the US, UK and Europe.” (2)
“Percentage losses in the course of the production chain: Dairy products 12.7% – Fruit and vegetables 56% – Meat 23.8% – Grain 43.5%” (3)
“Given the current state of agriculture in the world, it could feed 12 billion people with no problem. Or to put it another way: any child who dies of starvation today is in fact murdered.” (4)
Some videos:
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For more information, click here.
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Resist or Die
“If your homeland was invaded by aliens who cut down the forests, poisoned the water and air, and contaminated the food supply, would you resist?”
This documentary tells the story of the ecological destruction caused by the western civilization. The suffering of indigenous people in this process is truly exemplifying the barbarian and primitive form humanity has come to. The interrelation between our consumer life and all the violence caused through the fights for resources is another chapter.
Today people are confronted with one form of exploitation which is worth than before. It is wearing a green dress and calling itself green economy. The movie asks if Greenpeace and other big NGOs are part of this green business which continues destroying the planet. This kind of institutionalised and normalized activism is part of the system and maintaining it.
In former times the elites which ruled were backed up by the church or their physical power. Today the main help is science and media selling their false stories. A global industrial genocide is happening while we are getting closer and closer to a crash. The myth of peaceful resistance and protest was made popular through figures like Gandhi and King. This is one reason why the opposition has no chance to (re)act.
The movie is deeply touching and putting up a question – a personal one.
What will you do?
This link has spanish subtitles. To choose a another language click here.
END:CIV features interviews with Paul Watson, Waziyatawin, Gord Hill, Michael Becker, Peter Gelderloos, Lierre Keith, James Howard Kunstler, Stephanie McMillan, Qwatsinas, Rod Coronado, John Zerzan and more.
