Oil for the Gears of the Movement
“So we have a corpse on our backs, but we won’t be able to rid ourselves of it just like that. Nothing is to be expected from the end of civilization, from its clinical death. In and of itself, it can only be of interest to historians. It’s a fact, and it must be translated into a decision. Facts can be conjured away, but decision is political. To decide on the death of civilization, then to work out how it will happen: only decision will rid us of the corpse.”
The Invisible Committee
If not now, when?
The wheel is turning , the times are changing , the until recently steadfast system seems to be trembling.Many of its servants wake up from their blissful sleep and face reality with terror.The middle and small class on their whole, don’t only lose the earth under their feet but their illusions as well, the ability to get a loan and consume.Unemployment is rising,the wages are falling,the taxes are increasing both in number and in height along with the basic goods’ prices .The system tries, through means of psychological and physical violence, to maintain its control so as not to displease the loan sharks of both the markets and IMF,thing which is hard to manage , because without the carrot the whip is intolerable.
If not us, who?
These are the times of social, economic and political crisis that we have the opportunities to turn our theory into practice ,to create and evolve networks, collectives , communes.
“communes that will replace social structures : family, school, syndicate, athletic clubs etc. Communes which, beyond political action , won’t be afraid to organize for the material and ethical survival of all of its members and the ”poor devils” that surround them”
The fair and solidarity trade is a step towards this direction.The project “oil for the gears of the movement” besides providing a fair price to the producers for their products , wants to go one step further , to deposit the extra profit in a fund that supports structures with subversive – revolutionary targeting like alternative/counter-information media (printed press, online etc), solidarity fund to support imprisoned comrades and political prisoners etc.We find it necessary to create structures that contradict the existing capitalistic economy both ethically and practically , structures that will allow us to make a living ,self-organized and with dignity. Furthermore it is strategically right in these years of economic wretchedness that arises, to have the means to intervene as best as we can with the current political and economical developments, so as to set and continue our struggle in all levels.
Who are we
Becollective is located in Crete(Greece) and wants to become a network, an umbrella under which various agricultural projects will take place and evolve, in purpose to distribute their products self-organized (without merchants and middlemen) among similar-minded projects.Fundamental conditions for this is that all products are a result of labor that respects and doesn’t pollute the environment and the people involved, cooperate freely and equally, without boss-worker relationship.
Becollective Crete – June 2011