cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/24046152

Today, the 22nd of August 2024, marks 100 days since army lawyer David McBride was imprisoned in Canberra for exposing war crimes committed by Australian forces in Afghanistan.

David stood up for truth and integrity, yet now he endures death threats and solitary confinement, while those responsible remain free.

This is not how we should treat our whistleblowers in Australia! ⚖️

Demand justice! 📢 Take Action:

• Contact Mark Dreyfus or your local MP today to express your support for David.

• Create and share a social media post or a short video using the hashtag #SpeakUp4McBride to spread the word.

• Donate to support David’s legal appeal to help get him out of jail: https://chuffed.org/project/davidmcbride

• Hang the provided poster in a high-visibility location, take a photo, and share it online to encourage others to join the movement.

• 👍 Like, 💬 comment, and ↪️ share this message!

#FreeMcBride. #Justice4Afghanistan.

Continuing a discussion on an old thread, perhaps we can ask: "Will there be police and prisons under socialism?"

I'm sure there will be a number of different answers from socialists, but this is c/abolition, so of course the answer would be no.

But wait, one might say, weren't and aren't there police and prisons in "actually existing socialism"? Yes, but for varying reasons, the "socialism" of these projects was merely the political ideology of their ruling parties, not in terms of their mode of production. All of these countries had wage-labor, proletarianization, money, commodities, et cetera—all features of a capitalism. Because they had these features of capitalism, these state socialist projects necessarily needed police and prisons to enforce the rule of state capital.

When Marx talked about socialism, he most clearly outlines it in his Critique of the Gotha Program where he uses the term "lower-phase communism" that Second International Marxism and later pre-Bolshevized Comintern Marxism interpreted as "socialism." In socialism or lower-phase communism, the state is already abolished because classes are already abolished. In doing so, we can necessarily expect the cruelest features of the state like police and prisons are necessarily also abolished.

Police and prisons are historically contingent to class society. They serve as a mode of upholding class society. Across Europe and North America during the development of capitalism, police and prisons were used to enforce the rule of wage-labor and force previously non-proletarian peoples into proletarianization. These institutions would drive people off their land, enclose the commons, and then impose regimes of terror to enforce class society.

But how about, a socialist might ask, the enforcement of class rule of the proletariat? The dictatorship of the proletariat? First, it is important to note that the dictatorship of the proletariat is not yet socialism. It is the transition period to socialism. Second, the dictatorship of the proletariat is indeed a class dictatorship, just like the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie we currently live under. Third, the class dictatorship of the proletariat cannot look like previous modes of class dictatorship because it is a class dictatorship for the transition from a class society to a classless society, not a transition from a class society to another class society. Previous modes of class dictatorship used the terror of police and prisons to transition from a monarchist system to a republican system, or the class dictatorship of the aristocracy to the class dictatorship of the bourgeoisie. The proletarian class dictatorship is different in that it is a class dictatorship that abolishes class distinctions, the most important of which is proletarianization. Logically, if proletarianziation needs police and prisons to be enforced, then the class dictatorship to abolish proletarianization likewise does away with police and prisons, simply because one cannot use the enforcement of proletarianization to do away with proletarianization.

However, the crucial feature of class dictatorship is its dictatorship, the ability for a class to enforce its will on all other classes. We have previously noted here that previous modes of class dictatorship does this using police and prisons. How is proletarian class dictatorship supposed to do this without police and prisons? Very simply, the power of a proletariat as a class-for-itself does not come from the barrel of a gun or a ballot box, but by their ability to subvert what they are as proletarianized beings. This does not mean that there will be no violence, far from it, but that this violence is ordered towards subversion of class society rather than reproducing it. Commonly, Second International Marxism, especially as embodied by Lenin in State and Revolution, advocates for a whole armed proletariat as opposed to special bodies of armed force (e.g. police and prisons). For whatever reason, Lenin disregarded this when the Bolsheviks took power in Russia, thus reproducing class society and all that that entailed, leading the Soviet Union down a path of an unambiguous class society where the proletariat continued to be proletarianized.

Abolition communism means moving beyond this failure to abolish police and prisons under a transitional period and forwarding abolition and communization in its place.

So no, there would not be police and prisons in socialism nor in the transitional period to it, unless of course that transitional period was not transitioning to socialism at all but back to capitalism.

picture of burned excavator

in Atlanta early Wednesday at a construction site of a company previously targeted in similar incidents over its role in the building of Cop City

City officials said earlier this year site prep work was almost finished and that actual construction of the facility would soon begin.

They have targeted December of this year for completion of the project. Schierbaum said Wednesday morning a ribbon-cutting ceremony in December is still in the works.

WARNING: Full body cam YouTube link

Alt link

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/17754095

Today's "Wolff Responds", Professor Wolff discusses the prison system in the United Kingdom and the United States

screenshot of https://x.com/MurdochCadell/status/1814279642628710605

ALT text

Dave’s been in jail for 64 days. Due to immediate concerns for his safety, we can’t say more except to say his situation is grim. He has no access to natural light & restricted contact with his daughters. Help #FreeMcBride by donating to his fundraiser👇🏼🙏

https://chuffed.org/project/davidmcbride

This is an extremely difficult topic. I believe this is an amazing documentary, to the point I decided it is worth being posted in these two relevant communities: Documentaries & Abolition of police and prisons

Details

This documentary profiles the tiny Ojibway community of Hollow Water on the shores of Lake Winnipeg as they deal with an epidemic of sexual abuse in their midst. The offenders have left a legacy of denial and pain, addiction and suicide. The Manitoba justice system was unsuccessful in ending the cycle of abuse, so the community of Hollow Water took matters into their own hands. The offenders were brought home to face justice in a community healing and sentencing circle. Based on traditional practices, this unique model of justice reunites families and heals both victims and offenders. The film is a powerful tribute to one community's ability to heal and create change.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.nl/post/17903564

I told the truth about the Australian Defence Force’s unethical, harmful and highly politicised leadership which fostered a culture of impunity in Afghanistan. As my team and I continue to fight these unjust criminal charges, I am asking for your support!

You can support David's appeal here: https://chuffed.org/project/davidmcbride

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(Edit) More information:

David McBride sent to prison | The West Report https://michaelwest.com.au/david-mcbride-sent-to-prison-the-west-report/

What Fate for David McBride? - with lawyer Eddie Lloyd | Consortium News https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Czj540q8YDQ

Michael West interviews McBride - https://michaelwest.com.au/david-mcbride-full-interview/

video by BoyBoy https://youtu.be/sYt4CxFfQUU?si=P_E2FLkKYMKRbHRT

video by friendlyjordies https://youtu.be/jdYYIVoCvsM?si=Nhc2Uxnj0kadKUIu

[Article] Afghan war crimes whistleblower David McBride sentenced to prison, by Michael West | May 14, 2024 https://michaelwest.com.au/whistleblower-david-mcbride-sentenced-to-jail/