Delusion

So I was lucky enough to meet the most beautiful and amazing woman, who for some reason agreed to marry my broke arse. We moved to Sweden where she is from, and on the other side of the globe I now identify as an immigrant (although white, male and from a first world country).

But for some reason people feel they can go on a racist rant about “all these fucking immigrants, should go home” they think I won’t be offended? Whenever I voice my dissent to their bigoted remarks I usually get a response along the lines of, “no but I’m not talking about YOU, it’s all these * insert racial slur *. By no means to I intend to place my self along side people of color in the privilege spectrum, but I’m still not going to listen to some racist asshole rant about jobs he would never do being taken away, or a pittance the government pays migrants in welfare.

Most of the people who the racist’s in this country are trying to get rid of are from places far closer than my homeland and contribute far more to society then I. It is increasingly hard to obtain any kind of welfare unless you have been paying taxes, so I struggle to see the logic behind their case for deportation.

Just because people make an effort to include me in there “pure” swedish upper class, doesn’t mean I, A: want to be included or B: have any more right to it, I can barely speak the language that others have mastered in very short periods of time. Although most often I am lended this heightened status due to my gender and colour, it’s not to say that it’s easy to become an acceptable member of swedish society. Getting a well-paying job, mostly impossible, finding a place to live that isn’t in the boonies, lycka till, affording clothes that will help people perceive you as an equal, forget about it.

I have now been lucky enough to meet another amazing person who is not from Sweden. This guy took me in, gave me a job, and is now teaching me his trade that he has developed of over 35 years. Our paths only crossed because we had mutual friends who could afford to sit in a bar in a small town and drink our money away. This just isn’t a reality for most people.

…and if you think it is, you are seriously fucking delusional.

Happy Invasion Day

So we are all sick of hearing about it right?

Every year is this big hoo-ha on January the 26th, the nationalist pigs get up in arms about the stinking lefty soap dodgers making a big deal over invasion day A.K.A Australia Day.

As a a soap dodger I generally enjoy Jan 26th every year, but it has lost a lot of weight. As this whole charade both sides play out continues, it’s easy to forget why we started hurling all this anti Australian rhetoric round in the first place, because getting your kicks out of riling up some meat head wearing a ‘we grew here, you flew here’ t-shirt which barely conceals their southern cross tattoo is too damn fun sometimes, if you can get a word in between the idiots shouting ‘STRAYA’.

We do it because the blood won’t wash off.

White Australians have it pretty fucking good, the reason we have it so good lay’s in the genocide, baby snatching, boat sinking, slavery, rape, the list goes on. Our financial, geographical and day to day privileged rest’s on the suffering on those treated as substandard in our country.

So let’s keep stirring shit up with these nationalist, right wing assholes, fuck it’s the least we can do.

I’m a boat person, I’m a criminal too, lest we forget where we came from.

x

Hangin’ in there

No matter how good I have it, no matter how well things start going in my life, I’m always under the impression that there is something better going on somewhere else that I am probably missing out on.

The grass is always greener

For the best part of the last decade all I have been aspiring to is living the “punk rock dream”.Living in a squatted warehouse, touring most of the year with a band, not working for some asshole, getting loads of tattoos, eating well, spending loads of time in the country, i.e most things spoilt brats from the suburbs romanticize to the edge of self destruction.

The grass looks a little dehydrated.

No that I am again wondering, “what am I missing out on?” I reluctantly reel myself back in for a reminder that, squatted warehouse’ are dusty and full of idiots ( who think squatted warehouses are cool places to hang out), touring is hard work ( and finding the money for it without selling out is even harder), most people would be happy to have an asshole to work for (as they can then provide for their families), tattoos are poisonous (and never look like you wish they did), eating well is awesome (and expensive) and country is totally always awesome (…). I thank the (un-existant) lord that I have this friend whose voice constantly rings through my head, this friend is always telling me, “check your privilege”. I’m probably only missing out on the things I keep bailing from.

The grass looks a little sunburnt.

So I get my shit together, drink like 15 & ½ cups of coffee, stand in front of the mirror, realize I’m squeezing the cup so hard one of us has got to go (my hand or the cup). I am a member of the most privileged group in society, I got a steady job, a place to live, white skin and people think I’m a dude. My problems really don’t amount to shit, and no matter how many metropolis’ I move to and from, I get bored and restless, and that’s ok. We just gotta spend some energy doing something for people who are worse off then we are instead of being selfish, guilty, cry baby’s. There’s a quote from a movie, I can’t recall it or the name of the film, but it goes something like: “you have to promise me you will take care of the one’s smaller and sweeter then you , ok?”

The grass has seen the hottest summer on record, been set alight by the neighborhood brat, but it’s still alive, and one day it’s gonna be green again.

ok.

The far-right (wrong) swell.

I arrived at Kafe 44 for my weekly injection of radical hang out’s and shit talk, to find that we had a little visit from some gentlemen who felt it necessary to paint the town red (with swastika’s and poorly articulated racist slogans).

As I generally live a day behind the news, yesterday upon discovering the artwork, Kafe 44 was at their battle stations in case these “poets” decided to return for a encore performance of culture and razor sharp wit. Painted on the front of Kafe 44 where slogans that roughly translate to; “kill the red, 1488, kill, kill”, “hail victory” and a plethora of swastika’s. Could they be buddhist’s with unsteady hands and positive attitudes? Probably not.

Round the corner a piece of solidarity graffiti for recently incarcerated comrade Joel Ramirez, reading “free joel”, had been edited to “kill joel”, another couple of scattered swazi’s and another “hail victory”.

Although the anti-fascist community is now out for blood after these baiting attempts, it’s only the tip of the iceberg for far right activity in Sweden recently. Joel has been imprisoned after defending a community demonstration in Karrtorp from around 40 fascist supporters of the SMR (Swedish Resistance Movement) attacking with shanks, fire crackers and broken bottles. Just for the record, this demonstration was made up of families and residence of the local neighborhood who refused to take any more intimidation from Nazi boneheads. There have been similar intimidation felt in Bacarmossen and mosque’s in Stockholm’s southern suburbs. A man in Värmland was sent a bullet in the post and a note reading “This is your last warning before we take action. If it happens any more the next bullet is meant for you. We avoid it willingly, it’s your choice. “.

There has been much speculation over the cause for the rise in racist and fascist activity in Sweden. A common standpoint is that the rise of the Swedish Democrats popularity in the parliament suggests that fascist street gangs are given a longer leash, after some inverted crucifixes and swastika’s were found painted on a church in south Stockholm there has been a suggestion that the groups have Norse anti-Christian leanings.

Whatever the case, the support for the subjects of this harassment and imprisonment of those fighting it has been unrelenting. Flowers, banners and messages of solidarity have been pouring into Kafe 44, the “Free Joel” campaign has exploded onto the public sphere, and following the fascist attack in Karrtorp another demonstration was held with 16,000 – 20,000 attendees coming out to show their support for the Karrtorp community, Joel, and the anti racist movement. A group named “Line 17” has been founded to confront the increased far-right activity in Stockholm.

If there was every a time for you to put down the zine, close the lid on your laptop, I’m pretty sure it’s now. Get outside and feel the cold air of reality, if nothing stands in the way of this swell of racist thought, these dogs may be let off their long leash.

Here’s some links to some stuff I referenced:

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2013/12/thousands-rally-against-racism-sweden-20131222125034697362.html

http://www.vf.se/nyheter/karlstad/fick-pistolkula-i-brevladan

http://forsjutton.se/linje-17-mot-rasism/

http://kafe44.org/

https://www.facebook.com/freejoel

Try-hard(er)

So If it’s all just, slipping away from me, please give me your diagnosis.
I’ll make note of it, on my decent to bat-shit crazy.
Throwing sand-witches out of my picnic basket, taking all the tools and burning down the shed.
So Quarantine me.

I started this here blog to post stuff I write about.
Some social, some accounts of shit I witnessed, no bitching, no crying and no politics, because that is a rich mans game I want nothing to do with. Just ’cause you care about other beings doesn’t mean you want anything to do with the hi-fives and backhanders inherent in the houses of parliament.

Shifty.