Hello, I'm not 100% sure if this post fits here, but I figured it might be interesting and (possibly) of use to some people. Namely, for those who don't know, there are major protests going on in Serbia since November, which has caused monumental changes to the society here, and I feel like many aspects of these events align strongly with anarchist principles. With that in mind, I'd like to give a brief rundown of what happened just to give some context, and the effects it had on the society in terms of self-organisation, given that these are real events with real people participating.

1. Corruption and deaths

I'll be brief here. The Serbian government since 2012 has been run by the mafia. By that I mean both things like that the government exerts huge power over everyone employed in the public sector (and abuses it constantly) and things like the fact that the biggest illegal cannabis plantation in Europe was accidentally discovered in Serbia, and the officer who discovered that got suspended and nobody was prosecuted. After dozens upon dozens of scandals, each of which would be enough to bring down a government in any sane country, the general populace basically gave up on the idea of having a country at all, it is taken for granted that every single institution is in service to one man (Aleksandar Vucic, the current president), and the opposition in the parliament was and still is a joke.

On the 1st of November 2024, the canopy above the train station in the city of Novi Sad collapsed, killing 15 people (initially, one more person was confirmed dead last week). The train station was renovated and reopened that same year in July. Students of the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Belgrade started blocking the roads for 15 mins (1 minute for each killed), when they were attacked by a group of hooligans (who are often used as a sort of a paramilitary for the government).

2. The students revolt

As the police did not move a finger, the students from the faculty took over the faculty building and announced that the faculty is blocked. Studets from other faculties and universities soon followed, and soon all universities in Serbia stopped working, as the students took over. They announced 4 demands that they want to be met before things can return to normal. The demands are ingenious in their own right, but the thing I want to focus on here is how the students organised themselves.

First of all, nobody is allowed inside the university buildings except other students, you get checked when entering. They have transformed every building to include places to eat, sleep, and have formed teams, each with their tasks. Food and supplies are given as donations, as the students have overwhelming support from the general populace.

Every major decision is made in a plenary session (or plenum). Every student can participate, make proposals, and voice their opinion on the topic at hand. After the discussions end, the question is decided by voting. If a decision passes, working groups are formed and the decision gets executed. The most important thing here is that there are absolutely no leaders. Every time someone needs to appear in public, the decision is made inside a plenum, and every time the representative is someone else to avoid any one person being perceived as a leader. This has made it insanely hard for the government to battle against the students, as they cannot target a signle person or a small group, and it also made so that the students are receiving support from everyone, from ultranationalists to vegan anarchists, as the movement is based purely around the concrete demands (that can be simply summed up as: "We want the institutions to function as intended"), and not any specific charismatic leader or ideology.

3. Actions taken

The students and people together started regularly blocking the roads all over Serbia every day for 15 minutes at 11:52 (the time when the canopy collapsed). While this went on without incidents most of the time, there were notable moments when thugs came out of a car and started attacking people, and a number of times people rammed the crowd with their cars. Each of these incidents caused more people to join the protests.

Education workers in primary and secondary schools went on strike in support of the student demands, as did the lawyers. Soon, the students started calling for mass protests. They blocked an important highway in Belgrade by staying there for 24h, a few weeks later all 3 bridges in Novi Sad across the Danube were blocked, 2 for 3h and the biggest one for 24h. After the 24h expired, a "citizen plenum" was held, where it was put up to a vote for all present whether the blockades should be extended for 3 more hours (it was just symbolic, but I would call it a notable event). 2 weeks later another mass demonstration was held in Kragujevac, then 2 weeks later in Nis. These three cities are respectively in the norther, central and southern part of the country. The students thus motivated people from all over the country to join in, as most protests have historically been only in Belgrade and Novi Sad, the two biggest cities. Then, two weeks ago, protests were held in Belgrade, the biggest ones in Serbian history.

Also worth noting is that for the protests in Novi Sad, students from Belgrade walked 80km for 2 days to get to Novi Sad, even sleeping out in the open in the middle of winter. They were greated as liberators in every place the passed, and this walking of insane distances became a regular thing thereafter. All this caused more and more people to become involved.

4. The people join

Protests started being held all over the country. Pretty much every place that has more than 1000 inhabitants had at least one protest. It became so insane at one point that a website was created to keep track of upcoming ones (kudanaprotest.rs).

Local groups started being formed based on the exact same organisation as the student ones (all participants are equal, every decision is made inside a plenum). People formed groups to block roads themselves, other groups were formed to collect supplies for the students, other groups were formed to cook and bring fresh food to the students every day, etc etc. When the government announced that teachers in strike will not be receiving their salaries, groups formed a system by which people can donate money that would go towards teachers that have not been paid.

5. Local communities

As the students could not, and didn't even want to, be the leaders of any force, they asked the people to organise themselves by the way of public assemblies, or "zbor" in Serbian. A zbor is essentially the same thing as a plenum. Each city in Serbia is divided up into many 'local communities' or "mesna zajednica". They are not very influential bodies, and most are governed by the ruling party anyways, but they were identified as a perfect way to get people to organise themselves. Groups started popping out everywhere for each mesna zajednica, and thus entire neighbourhoods started connecting and attending zbors in their respective areas, with the idea that neighbourhoods could organise themselves and take over the mesne zajednice officially, and then they could all work together and start taking over the public positions in the cities. A decision made by a zbor can be taken to the city as a suggestion by the citizens, so it does have some limited value, but the main point here is that it made people all over the country come together with their neighbours to discuss how they can make their surroundings better.

6. The rise in popularity of decentralized organisation and the influence of aesthetics on public opinion

Direct democracy is now the norm in the minds of many. Suggesting that anything else is almost contraversial. It came to a point where many people are saying that we don't need any politicians or the parliament, zbors should take over everything. While this of course won't happen, it is very interesting how this idea became so widespread, and how decentralized organisations with direct democracy at their core were widely accepted when everyone saw how far the students managed to get. Also worth noting is that this was all started by students, young people, which dispelled the myth that youngsters nowadays don't care about politics.

On the other hand, people did not suddenly become informed overnight. Very often it can be heard how we should be wary of both the "right wing" and "left wing", instead we should just focus on our problems and solve them, and later we can "divide ourselves". The left is mostly associated with people being "woke" and "hating their nation", so that we have people in decentralised organisations, who participate in plenums, who are talking about forming unions, bashing the left and saying that we should stay away from "ideologies". I think that this really speaks volumes on how the left is thought of by most people. Unless I severely misunderstood the left wing and anarchism, solidarity, equality, direct democracy and local communities are the very pillars upon which these "ideologies" stand on, and they have been shown to be extremely popular in Serbian society, and still if you mention the "left", people will cringe, and if you mention "anarchism", people will run away. We can see right here that the ideas we stand behind are tangible and popular, but that we have a serious branding problem. I guess the conclusion is that actions speak much louder than words, as 'preaching' decentralisation and equality will get your into bad faith debates, whereas the students have shown the way by personal example.

7. Conclusion

Protests came and passed in Serbia many times in the last 13 years, but it is clear to everyone that this is something more. We are going through a change in society. The common people demonstrably can come together, organise, and fight a central authority and take matters into their own hands.

Huge protests were recently held in Greece, in Hungary, in Turkey, in North Macedonia, and other places, and there are many more to come. We still have a long way to go, but I hope that this can be of some use to inspire people in other places in the world. All this show of solidarity and community building was not forced, it formed organically as the students lead the way by personal example and sacrifice. Show people that they don't need a leader to keep them in line, show them that "the masses" are not stupid and can make intelligent decisions, show them how natural solidarity is, and show them how inequality has to be artificially created and upheld, and then they will come to understand.

Thank you for your attention.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/27372186

Rudolf Rocker (1873 - 1958)

Tue Mar 25, 1873

Image: **

Johann Rudolf Rocker, born on this day in 1873, was an anarchist theorist, historian, and activist, known for critical anarchist texts such as "Anarcho-Syndicalism: Theory and Practice" (1938) and "Pioneers of American Freedom" (1949).

Though often described as an anarcho-syndicalist, Rocker was a self-professed anarchist without adjectives, believing that anarchist schools of thought represented "only different methods of economy" and that the first objective for anarchists was "to secure the personal and social freedom of men".

Rocker was involved in helping organize a number of labor strikes and represented the federation at the International Anarchist Congress in Amsterdam in 1907. Rocker was well-read in his lifetime - his readers included figures Thomas Mann, Albert Einstein, Herbert Read, and Bertrand Russell.

"Anarchism is no patent solution for all human problems, no Utopia of a perfect social order, as it has so often been called, since on principle it rejects all absolute schemes and concepts."

- Rudolf Rocker

• Date: 1873-03-25
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, libcom.org, theanarchistlibrary.org.
• Tags: #Birthdays, #Anarchism.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org

cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/19908164

I recently discovered this movement thru this article, there's also a page on Wikipedia.

It seems very interesting to me since it's basically decentralized proactive anti-capialism mutual-aid. I really think in-real-world decentralized projects like this may be the single most efficient "weapon" we have today.

Do you have any experience with this? I feel like RRFMs are more suitable in big cities and not in little ones, but happy to be wrong about it.

The EU announced its 800 billion euro plan to re-arm the EU with Trump being an unpredictable partner and Putin in the east (read more here if you want to know more).

I would like to get your opinions on this from an anarchistic viewpoint because I struggle to give one. As an anarchist I don't like the idea of a central army (let alone an EU one). Also, to get this 800 billion, countries and the EU have to borrow more money in a world that is already effectively running on debt without a proper way out.

On the other hand, I also understand people I speak to their opinions. Both Trump and Putin are unpredictable so I also understand that people want to feel safer by investing in the army. They also find it a waste of money but if we neglect the army, we might one day face the consequence of that.

Is there anyone here technologically savy enough to, say, harvest IP addresses for reddit accounts?

In light of the recent authoritarian takeover on reddit I'm seeing more and more brazen nazis openly advocating their nazi ideology in every subreddit including fednews and other communities directly tied to the suffering being caused.

I want to create a register and publicly expose these people who are out here openly advocating for destroying communities, defunding social programs, and dismantling agencies whose sole function was to improve the lives of those without the means to do so.

I know, I know, "it's wrong to doxx people" but honestly, are nazis people? If the gas chambers start getting filled are those who say "it's just a vote you can't hate people for their votes" going to be held accountable or are they just going to get to watch comfortably as their choices kill millions?

I say we don't let them get the chance to see it. I say we start plastering the names and faces of the people behind these accounts all over social media, linking to their accounts, and highlighting their comments for posterity. These people are disgusting, and I'm sick of seeing it go unpunished. We, the people, need to make it impossible for fascists to congregate or spread their ideas online anymore. Out them, make them feel threatened, make them afraid of who might be coming.

I don't know enough about internet protocols to be able to functionally perform these tasks alone without my Google history becoming an instant red flag. If there are any fine comrades with this knowledge who would be willing to either teach it to others or join in would be greatly appreciated. If there's a real appetite for this we could create a new community specifically for organizing the efforts and directing resources towards the worst offenders.

Thanks for taking the time to consider. If there are better communities for this post or this is not the right space for it please let me know where I should direct this proposition for the best results. Love you <3

cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/19544996

English machine translation below.

French

Action Antifouchiste

Puisqu'il semble que personne n'est au courant on va tirer les choses au clair quant au réseau dégueulasse qui se cache derrière @infolibertaire.net

Ce site pille littéralement tout contenu militant dans le but d'agréger un maximum de trafic et afin d'attirer les internautes dans un réseau mis en place et géré par un seul mec basé au canada.

Plus de 30 sites constituent le réseau fondé par un certain"Anarchoi".

Le plus connu c'est le site de VPC Ni Dieu Ni Maître qui semble faire des profits mirobolants.

Mais attention hein une part des profits sert la cause. T'achète pas un tee-shirt dégueulasse, produit à bas coût dans des conditions lamentables. Non tu achètes un acte de solidarité !

C'est plus qu'un simple teeshirt c'est un acte de solidarité chaque achat permet de lever des fonds pour faire des dons aux mêmes causes que vous défendez

Car une partie du pognon est reversée à une organisation appelée No Gods No Masters (gerée par le même petit malin), orga qui reverse ensuite sous forme de dons à différentes causes en toute opacité bien sûr.

Or... Il se trouve que parmi les causes financées on retrouve la galaxie de sites fondée et administrée toujours par Anarchoi.

Votre teeshirt financé plus de 100 groupes militants Chaque achat récolte des dons mensuels à des initiatives comme info libertaire offrant un hébergement web non commercial sur des serveurs écologique et aidant les militants à construire une présence en ligne

Soutenez la scène punk

Nos teeshirt soutiennent financièrement les plus grandes communautés punk et plateforme de streaming musical comme pirate punk et d'autres outils essentiels aidant les groupes à promouvoir leurs albums

Site qui pille le contenu d'artistes des scènes indépendantes (ou pas) qui ont un grand succès chez les "jeunes ados rebelles", très friands des tee-shirts vendus par Ni Dieu Ni Maître.

C'est l'économie circulaire. Tu ratisses un max des visiteurs sur tes sites en pillant le monde militant et les artistes, pour flécher ton public vers ton site de VPC qui en retour finance l'infrastructure de ton réseau.

Afin de pouvoir offrir gratuitement des milliers de téléchargement là communauté devait trouver un moyen de payer ses frais d'opération sans recourir à des publicités

Anarchoi est célèbre pour son management toxique de ses équipes de modération comme pour l'agressivité légendaire contre toute personne qui ose remettre en cause ses pratiques dégueulasses. En bref fuyez tout ces sites de merde.

Avec le pognon engrangé, ce faux collectif annonce héberger un centaine de sites militants (c'est faux) qui se révèlent pour tous ceux qu'on a pu trouver en tout cas, être les vitrines du même anarchoi. Il va jusqu'à se faire passer pour les fédérations anarchistes locales.

Dans le réseau on retrouve notamment :

• anarcho-punk net
• Pirate punk
• Quebec underground
• Forum libertaire
• Punk download
• Punks and skins
• Anarchist quotes
• Et tout un tas de faux website de fédération anarchiste reproduit en un dizaines de langues.

On sait pas si le montage juridique de son réseau lui permet de défiscaliser les dons. Ou au moins de faire baisser ses bénéfices. Bref tout ça mériterait une enquête approfondie. Si y a des motivé·es hésitez pas à nous contacter. Merci à @doujar.bsky.social

Liste des sites du réseau Anarchoi.

• https://www.nogodsnomasters.org/
• https://www.no-gods-no-masters.com/
• https://forum.anarchistfederation.net/
• https://www.anarcho-punk.net/
• https://www.libertaire.net/
• https://www.pirate-punk.net/
• https://www.ni-dieu-ni-maitre.com/
• https://www.quebecunderground.net/
• https://www.punkdownload.com/
• https://www.punksandskins.com/
• https://www.anarchistfederation.net/
• https://www.infolibertaire.net/
• https://www.federacionanarquista.net/
• https://www.federacaoanarquista.com.br/
• https://www.anarchistischefoderation.de/
• https://www.rivoluzioneanarchica.it/
• https://www.anarquia.cat/
• https://www.anarxiki-omospondia.gr/
• https://www.anarsisthaberler.net/
• https://www.anarchistischefederatie.nl/
• https://www.vegan-news.net/
• https://www.anarchistimages.com/
• https://www.propagande-anarchiste.org/
• https://www.anarquismo.net/
• https://www.anarchistmemes.org/
• https://www.ni-dios-ni-amo.com/
• https://www.sem-deuses-sem-mestres.com/
• https://www.keinegotterkeinemeister.de/
• https://www.defendanimals.com/

Ne vous étonnez donc pas de trouver des contenus antisémites, transphobes, ou du HB. Y a zéro filtre tout est automatisé. Anarchoi la politique c'est juste son business. Screen du site info libertaire

L'idéologie de l'identité de genre est profondément mysogine et homophobe

Le réseau Ni Dieu Ni Maître / No Gods No Masters s’articule autour de plusieurs sites web multilingues qui constituent la plateforme de vente en ligne. Chacun reprend le slogan anarchiste « Ni Dieu ni Maître » dans une langue différente. On dénombre cinq sites principaux interconnectés Ces sites présentent un contenu similaire (catalogue de vêtements, même modèle économique) adaptés à chaque langue, avec une promotion commune : « Livraison gratuite/Free shipping », « coopérative de vêtements éthiques », « chaque vente contribue à des dons pour des causes », etc..

Un visiteur peut naviguer dans sa langue sans être redirigé vers un autre domaine, chaque version étant sur un domaine dédié

Aucune redirection externe apparente n’est visible pour l’utilisateur lors de la commande, mais en back-end les commandes sont transmises à la plateforme Spreadshirt Ces sites sont de simples vitrines : ils proposent des designs et gère le site web, mais n’a pas de stock propre ni d’atelier d’impression. Ce fonctionnement « zéro inventaire » est assumé dans leur communication (« zero inventory, zero waste »)

Concrètement, lorsqu’une commande est passée sur un des sites, c’est Spreadshirt qui la prend en charge en coulisses : Spreadshirt assure l’impression des t-shirts, la livraison au client et gère également les paiements. 100% dropshiping En 2010 un t-shirt était vendu 14,99 $ via la boutique Pirate-Punk/No Gods No Masters, dont 8,90 $ revenaient à Spreadshirt, laissant environ 6 $ de bénéfice net par t-shirt pour “Anarchoi"

La "coopérative" se présente comme « à but non lucratif » et met en avant ses dons, mais il n’y a pas de statut légal clair affiché (pas de n° d’association ou coopérative déclaré publiquement sur le site, ni de rapport financier détaillé). Elle recueille des fonds sous l’étiquette “non-profit” sans cadre légal : les acheteurs pourraient croire à une obligation formelle de donation, là où il s’agit d’un engagement moral unilatéral.

Autant vous dire...

Le catalogue de No Gods No Masters puise largement dans l’iconographie militante, les logos de mouvements, les images d’artistes ou de groupes de musique engagés... Un “pillage” culturel contraire à l’éthique DIY ... Pillage généralisé des petites distro, artistes indépendants, etc, sur les plateformes de téléchargement illégaux qui servent de produits d'appel pour les boutiques. Évidemment aucun site ne comporte de mentions légales, pas de noms de société, et le whois protégé par des services d'anonymisation.

Les sites de VPC affichent des labels du type « 100% vegan – PETA Approved » sur ses produits. Il faut noter que ces certifications proviennent en réalité de... Spreadshirt La réalité les teeshirt de marque "fruit of the loom" sont fabriqués au Honduras...

Comme le dit anarchoi "plus qu'un simple teeshirt", une arnaque bien ficelée. Il existe une possibilité que derrière ce modèle se cache un schéma, hypothétique, d’optimisation fiscale.

Le site de VPC (NGNM) génère des revenus via la vente de t-shirts. Ces revenus sont normalement imposables s’ils sont déclarés en tant qu’activité commerciale NGNM effectue des “dons” à des associations militantes affiliées.

→ Ces dons sont enregistrés comme des charges d’exploitation ou dépenses caritatives, ce qui peut potentiellement réduire le bénéfice imposable L’asso "militante" reçoit les fonds et les utilise pour financer ses propres projets ou ses sites web. Si l’asso est déclarée comme organisme d’intérêt général au Canada, elle peut délivrer un reçu fiscal permettant au donateur de déduire ce montant de ses impôts. L’argent revient indirectement dans le réseau géré par Anarchoi. Si ces associations financent des sites du réseau notamment en payant l'hébergement (Pirate-Punk, Libertaire . net, etc...), alors l’argent circule sans réellement quitter le contrôle du même groupe Là on est dans le domaine de l'hypothèse, mais cependant vu l'opacité organisée par l'administrateur de cette galaxie de sites, on peut s'attendre à tout. Et puis c'est pas comme si par le passé il avait pas déjà été pointé du doigt pour ramasser des dons afin de payer l'hébergement et les serveurs de ces sites de piratage de contenus, alors que les fichiers étaient stockés sur megaupload où d'autres plateformes..

English

Action Antifouchiste

Since it seems no one knows, we're going to clear the air about the disgusting network behind @infolibertaire.net. This site literally plunders any activist content in order to aggregate maximum traffic and attract Internet users to a network set up and managed by a single guy based in Canada.

More than 30 sites make up the network founded by a certain "Anarchoi."

The most famous is the mail-order site Ni Dieu Ni Maître (Neither God Nor Master), which seems to be making huge profits.

But be careful, a portion of the profits goes to the cause. You're not buying a disgusting t-shirt, cheaply produced in appalling conditions. No, you're buying an act of solidarity! It's more than just a t-shirt; it's an act of solidarity. Each purchase raises funds to donate to the same causes you support.

Because a portion of the money is donated to an organization called No Gods No Masters (run by the same smart aleck), an organization that then donates to various causes, all in complete secrecy, of course. However... It turns out that among the funded causes are the galaxy of websites founded and still managed by Anarchoi.

A site that plunders the content of artists from independent (or not) scenes who are very popular among "young rebellious teens," who are very fond of the T-shirts sold by Ni Dieu Ni Maître.

It's the circular economy. You rake in as many visitors as possible to your sites by plundering the activist world and artists, to direct your audience to your mail-order site, which in turn finances your network infrastructure. In order to offer thousands of free downloads, the community had to find a way to cover its operating costs without resorting to advertising.

Anarchoi is famous for its toxic management of its moderation teams as well as for its legendary aggression against anyone who dares to question its disgusting practices. In short, run away from all these shitty sites. With the money it's made, this fake collective claims to host a hundred activist sites (it's false), which, according to everyone we've been able to find, at least, turn out to be the showcases of the same anarchoi. He even goes so far as to impersonate local anarchist federations.

The network includes:

• anarcho-punk net
• Pirate punk
• Quebec underground
• Libertarian forum
• Punk download
• Punks and skins
• Anarchist quotes

And a whole host of fake anarchist federation websites reproduced in dozens of languages.

We don't know if the legal structure of his network allows him to deduct donations from taxes. Or at least reduce his profits. In short, all this merits a thorough investigation. If anyone is interested, don't hesitate to contact us.

Thanks to @doujar.bsky.social

List of Anarchoi network websites.

• https://www.nogodsnomasters.org/
• https://www.no-gods-no-masters.com/
• https://forum.anarchistfederation.net/
• https://www.anarcho-punk.net/
• https://www.libertaire.net/
• https://www.pirate-punk.net/
• https://www.ni-dieu-ni-maitre.com/
• https://www.quebecunderground.net/
• https://www.punkdownload.com/
• https://www.punksandskins.com/
• https://www.anarchistfederation.net/
• https://www.infolibertaire.net/
• https://www.federacionanarquista.net/
• https://www.federacaoanarquista.com.br/
• https://www.anarchistisch/ efoderation.de/
• https://www.rivoluzioneanarchica.it/
• https://www.anarquia.cat/
• https://www.anarxiki-omospondia.gr/
• https://www.anarsisthaberler.net/
• https://www.anarchistischefederatie.nl/
• https://www.vegan-news.net/
• https://www.anarchistimages.com/
• https://www.propagande-anarchiste.org/
• https://www.anarquismo.net/
• https://www.anarchistmemes.org/
• https://www.ni-dios-ni-amo.com/
• https://www.sem-deuses-sem-mestres.com/
• https://www.keinegotterkeinemeister.de/
• https://www.defendanimals.com/

Born So don't be surprised to find anti-Semitic, transphobic, or HB content. There are zero filters, everything is automated. Anarchist politics is just his business.

The No Gods No Masters network is structured around several multilingual websites that constitute the online sales platform. Each uses the anarchist slogan "Neither God nor Master" in a different language. There are five main interconnected sites.

These sites present similar content (clothing catalog, same business model) adapted to each language, with a common promotion: "Free shipping," "ethical clothing cooperative," "each sale contributes to donations for causes," etc.

A visitor can browse in their own language without being redirected to another domain, as each version is on a dedicated domain.

No apparent external redirection is visible to the user when ordering, but in the backend, orders are transmitted to the Spreadshirt platform.

These sites are simple showcases: they offer designs and manage the website, but they do not have their own inventory or print shop. This "zero inventory, zero waste" approach is reflected in their communications.

In concrete terms, when an order is placed on one of the sites, Spreadshirt handles it behind the scenes: Spreadshirt prints the t-shirts, delivers them to the customer, and also handles payments. 100% Dropshipping

In 2010, a t-shirt sold for $14.99 via the Pirate-Punk/No Gods No Masters store, $8.90 of which went to Spreadshirt, leaving approximately $6 net profit per t-shirt for "Anarchoi." The "cooperative" presents itself as "non-profit" and highlights its donations, but there is no clear legal status displayed (no association or cooperative number publicly declared on the website, nor any detailed financial report). It raises funds under the "non-profit" label without a legal framework: buyers might believe it's a formal obligation to donate, when in fact it's a unilateral moral commitment. In other words...

The No Gods No Masters catalog draws heavily on activist iconography, movement logos, images of activist artists or bands... A cultural "plundering" that runs counter to DIY ethics

... Widespread plundering Small distros, independent artists, etc., on illegal download platforms that serve as loss leaders for stores.

Obviously, none of the sites have legal notices, no company names, and the WHOIS is protected by anonymization services.

Mail-order sites display labels like "100% vegan - PETA Approved" on their products. It should be noted that these certifications actually come from... Spreadshirt

The reality: "Fruit of the Loom" brand T-shirts are made in Honduras...

As anarchoi puts it, "more than just a T-shirt," a well-crafted scam.

There is a possibility that behind this model lies a hypothetical tax optimization scheme.

The mail-order site (NGNM) generates income through the sale of T-shirts. This income is normally taxable if declared as a commercial activity.

NGNM makes "donations" to affiliated activist organizations. → These donations are recorded as operating expenses or charitable expenses, which can potentially reduce taxable income.

The "activist" association receives the funds and uses them to finance its own projects or websites.

If the association is registered as a public interest organization in Canada, it can issue a tax receipt allowing the donor to deduct this amount from their taxes.

The money indirectly flows back into the network managed by Anarchoi. If these associations finance sites within the network, particularly by paying for hosting (Pirate-Punk, Libertaire.net, etc.), then the money circulates without actually leaving the control of the same group.

This is hypothetical, but given the opacity organized by the administrators of this galaxy of sites, anything can be expected. And it's not as if he hadn't already been singled out in the past for collecting donations to pay for the hosting and servers of these content piracy sites, while the files were stored on Megaupload or other platforms.

[...] Why do collapses happen? Tainter argues persuasively that societies collapse when marginal returns on complexity begin to decline.

Complexity is a problem-solving tool. We can reap tremendous benefits from complexity. But complexity is also quite expensive. If you’re working as, say, a scientist, someone else is laboring to sustain your life—the food you eat, the clothes you wear, etc—while you engage in research. The more specialized we become, the more those primarily producers must produce to keep everyone else fed and clothed, the more resources we must pour into coordinating and communicating and transporting.

And sometimes, we find that additional complexity begins to generate declining marginal returns—fewer returns per unit of resources invested in complexity. We begin to invest more and more just to sustain things as they are, and when we reach that point and face some new crisis, we have no surplus left to invest in more complexity. [...]

Hypothetical is doing some heavy lifting here. 😉

If you could get close to a hated fascist politician, what would you do?

Cross-posted from "The protests in Serbia are historic, the world shouldn’t ignore them" by @[email protected] in [email protected]

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/25806106

Summary

An investigation by the Texas Observer identified ICE Assistant Chief Counsel James Rodden as the operator of "GlomarResponder," a white supremacist X account.

The account, active since 2012, has posted racist, xenophobic, and pro-fascist content, including support for mass deportations and anti-immigrant violence.

Rodden's identity was confirmed through biographical details, court records, and social media activity. ICE has not confirmed his employment but is investigating.

Legal experts warn that his views compromise his ability to fairly represent the government in immigration proceedings. Rodden declined to comment.