We must become the true social media

by Adrien Welsh

This article is the Editorial of the latest print issue of Rebel Youth - Jeunesse militante.

Two years ago, at the 19th World Festival of Youth and Students, the General Secretary of the World Federation of Trade Unions George Mavrikos addressed the anti-imperialist youth gathered in Sochi for the occasion. Having tackled different issues relating to the trade union struggle at the international level and among the youth, he took the time to broaden his address to young people in general.

"One of the main challenges facing you,” he told us, “is that capitalism has found in the internet a way of alienating you even further. You are being told that you can struggle on the internet, that you can have friends on the internet, and even that you can find love on the internet.”

Freeing the internet from US domination

Prabir Purkayastha,
Peoples Democracy - India

THE NSA skeletons keep tumbling out of the cupboard. Not only were the Brazilian and Mexican Presidents’ –  Dilma Roussef’s and Felipe Calderón’s – emails and phones hacked, NSA had targeted the French President Francois Hollande and the German Chancellor Angela Merkel as well.

None of these leaders threatened the security of the US or were linked to “terrorists”. Der Spiegel reported that in Mexico, “In the space of a single year, according to the internal documents, this operation produced 260 classified reports that allowed US politicians to conduct successful talks on political issues and to plan international investments." In other words, help on international negotiations and investment decisions for US companies. As we also know, NSA has also broken into the secure servers of Brazilian Department of Mines and Petrobas, the Brazilian national oil company. President Dilma, in her tough UN speech, termed this break-in as nothing but “industrial espionage”.

Along with breaking into the emails of senior political and other government figures, the NSA has also been conducting massive eavesdropping operations on the citizens of countries such as France, Germany and Spain. President Hollande and Chancellor Merkel might have forgiven the NSA for conducting such intrusive surveillance on its citizens, except for the disclosure that their personal phones were tapped as well. It is also now known that the US Embassy in Germany was central to bugging of Merkel’s phone in cooperation with GCHQ’s (UK’s equivalent of the NSA) listening station in Mentworth Hill.

The US has responded by claiming that it is the French and Spanish intelligence agencies that collected this data of its citizens and shared it with the NSA. As the thieves fall out, now blaming each other, Snowden’s services to the world in exposing the global surveillance state of the US and its allies cannot be understated.

Beijing brands US internet imperialist

Friday 22 January
Tom Mellen, Morning Star

China has hit back at Washington's claim that it is restricting freedom of information on the internet, charging that the US is engaging in "information imperialism."

On Thursday, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged Beijing to investigate cyber intrusions that led US transnational Google to threaten to pull out of - and challenged it to openly publish its findings.

"Countries that restrict free access to information or violate the basic rights of internet users risk walling themselves off from the progress of the next century," Ms Clinton declared.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said that the Chinese government "firmly opposes such words and deeds, which were against the facts and would harm the China-US relations."

Mr Ma described internet access in China as "open," pointing out that the country now has 384 million Chinese cyber citizens, with 3.68 million websites and 180 million blogs.

He observed that the country's constitution protects citizens' freedom of speech, but he emphasised that Beijing "administers the internet according to its laws and policies," in "accord with the world's common practice."

State media denounced Ms Clinton's speech as part of a US campaign to impose its values and denigrate other cultures, labelling it "information imperialism."

A Xinhua editorial noted that "control of the internet plays a strategic role for the US."

It said that Washington used the internet to "intercept information, export US values and opinions, support a colour revolution, feed opposition powers and rebels against anti-US governments, interfere with other countries' internal affairs and make proactive attacks on enemies' communication and directing networks."

Video review

UPDATE! Jan 2010---

A new video was posted to You Tube. Not bad but I like "The Harper Dictatorship" better.

Now that the federal budget is coming up this week when the House of Commons finally meets I'll talk about this video:

click here if it runs poorly



Now, Hitler and Harper comparisons may be a little much even for communists, but if you look further this is part of a larger phenomenon. The video explains:



I watched the movie Downfall during a matinee one weekend, and I never thought that such a dark movie could find it's way onto You Tube as a funny fad. Here is the original version of the clip. There are many of these clips, in this one below, Hitler explains capitalist greed. (wow I never thought I'd write or say those words together!)




It is interesting to note that this fad has both right and left elements. Unfortunately many clips are racist, sexist, and homophobic in various degrees. I'll admit some of these are funny but a line needs to be drawn somewhere (funny bigotry is still bigotry) and some clips overtly attack various groups while being thinly disguised as comedy. You'll see what I mean if you look further on the web.

The downfall clips are really an interesting grey area for a few reasons. They deal with a taboo subject (Hitler) and make use of comedy to get away with various messages. This can cut both ways. The Left has used it to (rightfully) show Harper's 'control freak' methods and the danger he represents for Canada. Racists on the right can use it to attack various minority groups by hiding behind one of the biggest racists of all, Adolf Hitler. I imagine that the right can use this clip in a creative way to attack left wing ideas in general.

Some clips seem to come across as guerilla advertising, saying Hitler wants this or that food, or product, throwing tantrums if he cannot get them. But the fact is anyone who has access to the technology,can make their version to upload. Whether it is funny or not or right or left is up to the whims of the person.

some highlights:
Hitler has computer problems

I shouldn't have burned all those books

Hitler's address leaked on British Nazi list

He wants fast food