Occupy Monaco

[Manic Impressive]

Monaco is 2.2 km sq - it has 33,000 inhabitants of whom 84% are foreign born tax exiles. There are around 500 police officers in Monaco - external security is provided by France. The only real standing army of which to speak are the 100 bodyguards provided for the royal household.

The facts are simple the Philip Greens of this world (or rather his wife) inhabit these places. We are told in Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Greece et...c that capital is mobile and that in a global political economy there is not much we can do about it. Hence the structures of reducing corporation tax, dividends tax etc in a 'race to the bottom' which means that large nation states (in which most of us live) find it increasingly hard to fund themselves as viable welfare states at the outset of the 21st century.

Most of the corporate oligarchs of Europe, be they Swedish, Italian etc maintain a presence in Monaco and the European peoples are told there is nothing they can do about it.

Except that is, use our constitutional rights as European citizesn as enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights ( freedom of movement and freedom of association) to show our peaceful disdain for such individuals by occupying their spaces.

From the early modern period of the Peasants Revolt and Wat Tyler to the Jarrow Street marchers there have been dominated peoples march upon the forces of domination and capital (in Britain's case London).

In a global economy with a transnational capitalist class, this action is the exact same response, alneit to changed circumstances.

Instead of Newcastle to London like the Jarrow Workers we go from every nation state of Europe towards this 2.2 km sq. principality and show that the people's of Europe mean business.

Capital is highly mobile in a global economy, but so are people, why shouldn't protest be the same? Thousands of us from across Europe meeting in Monaco would be an intriguing prospect.

Bare in mind that while tax exiles love tax havens for their obvious merits - these places don't actually have standing armies.

So whats stopping us showing our collective disdain? Return flights with exchanges can be the same price as a train to Leeds from London.

http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=119808374756505&notif_t=event_invite

Just came across this via General Strike. What a fantastic idea imagine if we could get thousands of people from across Europe to descend on Monaco, shit 40,000 people could effect a revolution :laugh:.

[bricolage]

If I'm honest I don't think this tax evasion stuff is really anything that communists/socialists/anarchists whatever should be getting involved in. There is this tendency to assume that 'radical' tactics or organisational methods are naturally something that should be supported, forgetting that this can have no relation to the actual content of what is going on. We used to talk about smashing the state and now we collect taxes for it? C'mon.

[Manic Impressive]

While you are right I think it's important as communists to be involved in working class actions and to use them to educate the workers who are protesting. I also think we should support all working class movements that are in the interests of the working class and harmful to the bourgeois. I also think this could be a wonderful opportunity to strengthen international solidarity between the working class and could potentially be a hugely historic protest if it united workers from across Europe. So while I agree that the point of the protest is not progressive enough it is none the less an example of class struggle.

[TC]

For what its worth, Monaco with about 250 quasi-soldiers and about 500 police officers has the highest per capita police presence in the world.

Of course, it actually wouldn't take much to overthrow the government of Monaco...

...until the French military showed up.

[bricolage]

While you are right I think it's important as communists to be involved in working class actions and to use them to educate the workers who are protesting. I also think we should support all working class movements that are in the interests of the working class and harmful to the bourgeois. I also think this could be a wonderful opportunity to strengthen international solidarity between the working class and could potentially be a hugely historic protest if it united workers from across Europe. So while I agree that the point of the protest is not progressive enough it is none the less an example of class struggle.
Ignoring the practicalities that this was only ever really meant as a joke and its a bit strange to be taking seriously the idea that some activists could take over a country...

I'm afraid I disagree.
I don't really think this is a working class action at all. In the first instance the action is being taken under the roles of either 'activists', 'citizens' or 'taxpayers', not as workers. Whilst not quite the same as boycotts it definitely exists more at the point of consumption than production. But beyond that I think there are bigger problems with this.

Anti-capitalism is not about balancing the books, its not about making the economy function better, its not about helping governments find money. When we place demands upon the state it is not because we think the state can afford them or because we think it will be more efficient but because it is part of the general struggle to reclaim control over our lives. A lot of this has been tied up with the student demonstrations but the difference is that while, even in its most reformist stage, those demonstrations were under the banner that education is a right (ignoring the problematic nature of 'rights'...) and so was deserved. Examining the two in conjunction again it doesn't make sense, the rhetoric of the students was that the fee rises and the cutting of EMA was an ideological assault, with this in mind even if the government could get back the money from tax evasion what makes anyone think they would spend it on education? If its ideological then its ideological no matter how much money is lying around.

... but the whole thing takes a very static view of society saying we can do x or we can do y but only in the confines of what there is here and now, not that we can do xyz+infinity because we look beyond what there is now. And this doesn't even just refer to a different society, its not even saying there could be more money than there is now, the only thing is completely trapped within the parameters of the 'realistic', its saying that we struggle because what we struggle for can be afforded therefore saying if it couldn't be afforded we wouldn't struggle for it. Well screw that, the account balances of the state are irrelevant to the communist project.

So what we then see is that by placing the emphasis on tax evasion the analysis shifts from a materialistic one of society as a whole to 'greedy' individuals. In this respect austerity is not a result of capitals tendency towards crisis but of negative character traits in certain business leaders. We completely lose any class analysis of the economy.

This has all been a bit jumbled up but my point remains that just because they use blockades and speak 'radical' doesn't mean it in any way relates to working class politics. UKUncut may shut down stores and the EDL may smash windows, just because communist may have done the same doesn't mean the first two have anything nothing to offer the latter.

[Manic Impressive]

Ignoring the practicalities that this was only ever really meant as a joke and its a bit strange to be taking seriously the idea that some activists could take over a country... Well I was joking about taking over the country that's why I put an emoticon in there. But even if you are correct (which I don't think you are) and this is just a big joke which the organizers never expect to happen then I'd still like to carry this debate on in a hypothetical sense.


I'm afraid I disagree.
I don't really think this is a working class action at all. In the first instance the action is being taken under the roles of either 'activists', 'citizens' or 'taxpayers', not as workers. Whilst not quite the same as boycotts it definitely exists more at the point of consumption than production. But beyond that I think there are bigger problems with this.
It doesn't matter what label they choose to associate themselves with. The fact that they will not be doing this knowing that they are proletarian only accentuates our own failings. (by our I mean communists)


Anti-capitalism is not about balancing the books, its not about making the economy function better, its not about helping governments find money. When we place demands upon the state it is not because we think the state can afford them or because we think it will be more efficient but because it is part of the general struggle to reclaim control over our lives. A lot of this has been tied up with the student demonstrations but the difference is that while, even in its most reformist stage, those demonstrations were under the banner that education is a right (ignoring the problematic nature of 'rights'...) and so was deserved. Examining the two in conjunction again it doesn't make sense, the rhetoric of the students was that the fee rises and the cutting of EMA was an ideological assault, with this in mind even if the government could get back the money from tax evasion what makes anyone think they would spend it on education? If its ideological then its ideological no matter how much money is lying around.Agreed, but it doesn't matter. If I'm right and this is a mainly proletarian movement in the interests of their class against the bourgeoisie then it is our duty to support it.


... but the whole thing takes a very static view of society saying we can do x or we can do y but only in the confines of what there is here and now, not that we can do xyz+infinity because we look beyond what there is now. And this doesn't even just refer to a different society, its not even saying there could be more money than there is now, the only thing is completely trapped within the parameters of the 'realistic', its saying that we struggle because what we struggle for can be afforded therefore saying if it couldn't be afforded we wouldn't struggle for it. Well screw that, Again it's not the working class's job to wake up one morning and say hey lets overthrow capitalism it's socialists job to tell them why.

the account balances of the state are irrelevant to the communist project.
"The communist project"? See this is the problem I see a lot. "if it's not directly fundamentally changing society, then I ain't gonna bother" frankly I find it un Marxist not to support working class movements.


So what we then see is that by placing the emphasis on tax evasion the analysis shifts from a materialistic one of society as a whole to 'greedy' individuals. In this respect austerity is not a result of capitals tendency towards crisis but of negative character traits in certain business leaders. We completely lose any class analysis of the economy. Hypothetically speaking thousands of workers and students from across Europe converging on the "playground of the Rich and Famous" if that's not a historical working class action then I don't know what is.

I think our debate boils to whether this is a class movement or not and if it is then is it in their class interests.

p.s. Dude short trip to the south of France to fuck with the bourgeois what is not good about that

[Dimentio]

Where does Monaco keep it's money?

[bricolage]

It doesn't matter what label they choose to associate themselves with. The fact that they will not be doing this knowing that they are proletarian only accentuates our own failings. (by our I mean communists)

If I'm right and this is a mainly proletarian movement in the interests of their class against the bourgeoisie then it is our duty to support it.
I think our debate boils to whether this is a class movement or not and if it is then is it in their class interests.I think you are right that this is the crux of the matter but I disagree that this is a ‘mainly proletarian movement in the interests of their class against the bourgeoisie’. When I spoke of social roles it wasn’t to do with where you may think your allegiances lie but under what role you act. People can be lots of things at the same time, you can be an activist, a worker, a man, a student etc etc what is relevant is under which social role you are acting. I don't think asking Vodafone to pay more tax is any way related to workers acting as workers.

So I don't think this is a working class movement and I don't think it is in working class interests to balance the books for the state. Its social democracy in a black bloc, liberal activists trying to sort of bourgeois accounts.


Again it's not the working class's job to wake up one morning and say hey lets overthrow capitalism it's socialists job to tell them why.For starters I'm not sure why you see the working class and socialists as separate entities when the latter are part of the former. But even if you are talking about the messages socialists should be putting forwards, is the message that "we can do this, but only if there is enough money, and we can do this, but only if we help the state claw back revenue" a message worthy of being spread?


"The communist project"? See this is the problem I see a lot. "if it's not directly fundamentally changing society, then I ain't gonna bother" frankly I find it un Marxist not to support working class movements.Well the communist project is the culmination of class struggles, in that respect of course it is un [insert word here] to not support such movements and struggles, the point is that I just don’t think this is one.


Hypothetically speaking thousands of workers and students from across Europe converging on the "playground of the Rich and Famous" if that's not a historical working class action then I don't know what is.If we really want to talk about this seriously then its stuntism, the logic of the spectacle leading 'thousands of workers and students' into border controls and a police clampdown. I also think this replicates the inherent flaw to the alter-globalisation movement the idea, of Negri, that we should 'act globally'. But the global is a mythical plain, it is not where domination and exploitation is experienced and it is not where we have the ability to reclaim control over out lives. Political action is not about hopping across the continent (and more to the point how many people do you think could afford to do this and afford to take the time off work?) its about acting in the areas we live, work and engage. This is just activism.


p.s. Dude short trip to the south of France to fuck with the bourgeois what is not good about thatSure we all love holidays, I just don't think this would fuck with the bourgeoisie in any way, in fact I’m sure they’d love to have thousands of people on the streets helping them to get more money that could spend on whatever isn’t being cut right now. Which reiterates the point that austerity measures will go ahead irrelevant to however many millions can be found here or there, they aren’t going to be stopped by tax revenue but by class struggle against those making the cuts.

[Rusty Shackleford]

This is like Miseans moving to Montana for the same purpose.

but in the context of Monaco and communism, its hilarious.