Thousands of people have come to leaflet, to party and to protest in the City of London against a System based on profits. Why not take some time off work and join in - you are warmly invited!
Why June 18th? On this day the chief politicians of the Group of 8 (G8) most powerful industrialised States meet in Koln, Germany. As always, they will be making decisions to ensure global business-as-usual - ie a tiny minority of the population continue to rake in profits at the expense of the rest of the world. This is part of a Day of Action in major financial centres in 42 countries around the world.
Why the City of London? The financial institutions, banks and transnational corporations in the Square Mile are exploiting ordinary 'City' workers for their own ends. The City of London produces nothing of real use to people, while its financial dealings serve only to oil the wheels of the current oppressive economic system. There were previous Stop 'The City' days of action in the 1980s - and things have got even worse every year since then.
What's the problem? We can all see that the planet is in a terrible mess. A system, one based on profits and power, has forcibly taken control of the whole world and its resources - it robs the world's peoples of their land, the fruits of their labour, and of their freedom and control over their own lives and communities. No wonder poverty and debt afflict billions of people. In addition military aggression fed by an enthusiastic arms trade causes obscene wars, and the natural environment everywhere is ruthlessly exploited and irrevocably damaged.
Here in the West, each household is forced to struggle to pay the never ending bills. Any sense of community remaining is being steadily replaced by endless work and increasing consumerism both of which leave our lives feeling empty of any real meaning.
What can be done? When people organise together and support each other they show their enormous potential to stand up for their real interests. Mutual aid among people, self-help initiatives, workplace disputes and struggles, residents' networks and community solidarity, defending local green spaces, opposing roads and traffic, doing our own media, campaigning for better local facilities, working on allotments, parents groups in schools, organising parties and festivals and creative and empowering events of all kinds, occupying empty buildings for centres and homes, resisting evictions, and just generally fighting back against all the powers-that-be.... a real, international, movement for change.
Reclaim the World! June 18th is about reclaiming our lives and our planet, not just for one day, but forever! This is not just a protest. We're not making demands or asking for concessions. All useless jobs should be scrapped, and workers should be able to run their own workplaces without bosses, and to do useful, meaningful work and have lots of fun. We want people to build strong, diverse communities in which everyone has control of their own lives and shares the world's resources in an ecologically sustainable way. To achieve this will be a gradual process of empowering ourselves where we live and work, getting organised, and questioning and challenging the way things are currently set up. The ordinary people of the world can then take over, create a sensible society based on freedom and sharing, without any bosses, money or governments. Together we can do it!
____________________________________________________________________________ Friday 18th June 1999.....ALL DAY: A variety of actions, pickets, protests & leafletting in the City. 12 noon: Carnival Against Capital - Meet at Liverpool Street Station. Please copy this leaflet and pass it on. For further info visit: http://www.gn.apc.org/june18 'June 18th', PO BOX 9656, London, N4 4JY