From the Prisoohouse o the Slaughterbouse: Reflections on Lives in Captiviey ‘Anthoay Rayses Captatism can only provide the *freedom” of the charnel pit and the *democracy” of the mass grave. Drivea by slavery ofal sors - prison, chatte, contract, wag, sexual — the global "masket”is vicious md fights over the meat. Not just humass, but also animals are exploited in ghasdly. Mengelesque form. Trapped in factory-farmed concetration camps, enduring the gruesome nightmare of mechanizod murder, geneticall alterod pigs, catle sheep. chickens, bens, and turkeys aro ransformed from living, beings into commodities for the machines of planctary profit. Indusrilized enimals are crammed into tiny cages, raped for breoding purpases, and their offspring are forcibly fatiened, confined, druggsd, and rushed to slaughter, al for the cravings of camivorous consumers. ‘Of course, it doesat stop with tho tosture and murder of non-human asimals who suffer snd die n an endless variety of barberities. Human enimals 100 are subjecied o the horrors of forced impriscameat, slavery, starvatiop, and ll manner of unnecessery suffering, experimentaton, end commodification. ‘We know that for capitalism to survive, it must endlessly expand, as its ‘whole modus operandiis driven by the quest for the profits of elites nst the ‘needs of the world. Mountains of soo-biodsgradable garbage, plastics, ‘metal, and radioactive materis contius to socumulats, os global capitalism devours and depletzs dwindling nstural resources. All the while, wars or {alk of more wars 2 looming in the battl of the “fitest” for erritory and scarce resources. [t's a planetary ecological and social tsunami in the: 1t taks a response of equal inteasity and claity, bubbled from the undetground up. For lfe itself, an argiastic panorems of options, i based on *mutual aid,” notthe *survival of the fitest” ike we've been deceptively led o believe. Evolution could't happen without cooperation. But, extinction s distin possibilty, 8 8 lying, dying murdering system goes through ‘Were all gravely treatened by the otherworidly murderous ineat aad “star wars" capabilities of the U.S. systean of neo-con waslord wannabes. Large corperstions set their agendas in their mahagany boardrooms for their sycophantic media end other means they ss te tstill compliance sod acoeptance. Academia, oven “rudical” studies and the “academic Let” are centers forthe detachment from end imssllécmalization of genocidal policy. ‘The rulers of the global capitalist empire develop the "rescarch that easbles ‘maximal profit end control. NAFTA and the World Bank are thers to solve* the problems of third worid *poverty” tey genersted in th first place. Hitler, no wonder you were so damned jealous. Your dream of & *Master Race" has boen realized. Zeig Halliburton! Al aspects of coercive socialfe, such s the schools, the military, and ‘mass culturs constantly reinforce the *goodness” of their bullshit cause — the ‘Washington-run, global terrorist campaign of pillage, theft, extermination, and lis. Those leR live should wear 8 McDonald's besnio snd bieat whea . We getthe “privilege” to dig our own graves, while we live s * Fegulaed ife in service to our oppressors” addicion to wealthsccumlation. s the severely injured fade into the shadows of suffeing. Talk sbout "simal abuse™! And jus think of the "cradlo of civilizsion," ‘modern day Iraq. ‘Bombed and poisoned and forced with infanticide, more invasion, occupation, degredation and consiant bloodshed end suffeing — yet they live on. Al the nimals there no doubtaro uffringterbly, oo, Y aless under the care of normal peaple. The whole system of for-profit \orture must end. 1¢s @ modemn day, worldwide Gulag and system of slavery. ‘Hogo L. A. Pinell is former comrado-ja-arms of the legeadary George Jacksan, Here's what he has to say sbout how this system devastates our soclety: “Our oppression and dehumanization and our living conditions ‘worldwide, are worse then ever because we aro dealing with the most Vicions, malicious and inhumane foroes n history, They cantrol just sbout ‘very sspect of ur physicaland socil livs, and that s ralty we can't Subjugation can' function amidst a sociey of thiaking, feling people who havea' had their humanity lobotommized. Education, knowledge, rth ‘2nd the brave people who make themn theirlfe have been made illegal in way. n the ineteenth ceatury, it was gainst US law o educato slaves, Thei native culture was beaten out o them and servilty, Chrstanity, and hopelessness was forcefully inculcated. “The same goes today in & much more sophisticated, all-encompassing ‘manaer. From the minute a child is born, sk is deluged with never-ending = blizzand of corporate ideology and consumerism, leading tothe intellectual {orpor and vapiditythat passs for socil lfe. Even fumiles areat realy Sarelics, aathe parents aro sving away in the rat race, theletcl-key kids are tught nonsense and obedicnos in schools. Thei “fee” ime is gobbled ip by the idiot box, movies,fst food, and computer games that trumpt the fusciet cry of “Long Live Deathl” o, we livein & society rooted inthe need to zombify it citizens, to mass manufachire armies of uneducsted masses oblivious o their own best nerests, unsble to think critcally and resist. read a story sbout 8 gung-ho Imoron in goverament desth squad who reveled i the “opportunity” ‘massacre people in Fallujeh. Like many soldiers, be was 8 deadbeat and lost ‘Soul. His passion was Tupac Shakur. But Tupac raled against the US slave ‘State, not for t] Yet that wes lost on him. e was killing men, women, and children n Ireq and being told he was a “hero.” “The German Nazis specialized in the “Big Lie” and advanced the wscience” of propaganda. With the end of World War I, the US mede ita it ouppeeti) 11~ nnd oot them at the bead of the nascent CIA and other oppressive systems. The US competed with Russia, ‘who had the seme idea — a nationwide, deoeptive system of capitalism, ‘military aggressive towards others, and intenso repreasive ot bome. Russia. had Stalin, laly had Mussolini, and the US had John Foster Dulles. 2 Al aspeots of ur lives e targeted, with the goal of mindless scquiescence to the wilting of our own being and the Time Machine-like 10 the sireas that blaro when the system wanis ua o do something — be it 10 choerlead for mass murdes, work obediently in factories, participate i ther genocide, o become their jilers and kidnappers. Exploting people i this manner s just a reflection of the tretment the Giobal Gulag accords depletion, global warming, chemical end radiation poisatiing, decimation of the rainforests, ‘nd other signs of ecological collapse are causes end effects of the oppression placed upon people. It's st the crux of our whole problem. "Drugs play a huge role in tis too, because many drugs have a strong - effect on our thinking and behavior. Heroin was brought n from the Marsilles Maia in the wake of the masive bloodletting of WWIL. Air America was the world's larget irine during the Vietmam genacide end they routinely smuggled massive amounts of heroin nto the Staics, ‘sometimes insid the bodies of dead GI's. [ remember sosing pictures of junkies sprawled on stsrwell, victims of a paricularly pure dose. CIA ‘agents inundated the inner cities with crack cocaine 1o destroy the environment of the Black community. ‘Strange Fruit ofthe Prison Indusy In theracist system of the US, i akes 500 times 2s much powdered ‘cocaine (the drug of whites) 8 crack (tho drug of blacks) o get the same ‘mandatory seatencs. Crack is a highly sddictive and debilitating drug that ruins communities. Moreover, ts hyper-llogal status makes t casy for ‘police 1o round-up biacks and further devastato their community. Crack is the epitoms of recist drug law. With fow legal forms of commerce availabl, desling drugs becomes a major part of the economilife n the “hood. Bven though mst ofthe drugs are sold 1o white people, it s black ‘people who aro imprisoned and murdered because of them. Black women 100 arethrown into prisons, leaving ther young children without mothers,in a slave-like ecceleation in the punishment ndustry. An envirorment without love or bopo i & doomed eavironment. Add the fict that poor black ‘communities also suffr the lin's share of industrial waste dumps and Inferior everything, nd you have a systematicall degruded environment that breoda despair and violeace. Prisons began s factories and police forces were created to capture siaves and suppress workers. This s sil their fumction today. Cops of il kinds sill asicaly take their onders from the corporations who pull the stringsin Washingson. “Gangs,” “anarchists,” and “terorists” e all ‘buzzwond that people slmost sutomaticlly acoeds o i order not to nvolve themselves with whoover the government s targeting. Prisons eren’ sbout “crime control,” they're abou for-profit repression. n fact, they aro @ buge, Govemment-run,criminal enerprise, wildly profitable, and compltely paid for by ripped-off taxpayers. Think ebout prison environments for & momeat. People scresming day and night Rape nd the spread of serlous diseases — such as AIDS, hepatits, veneresl diseases, and everything else i epidemic, s if deiberstely cultued in 8 Pei dish. Violence, longing, bitemess, bopelessncss, and self-loathing are ‘coupled with tho schooling in criminality. Useful programs within this madhouse environment have been gutted. There's no real rehabilittion, so social re-entry programs. Peaple areleft to live o di inthis minimalist ‘warehouse nightmare. Then, after consuming the pims of many ives, people arospit out o their dungeon and shoved into the glare of day without any clothes, housing, job prospects,or money. And 8 vast aray of laws and stpulations nearly guarentee that parolees il so0n retum for some perole violstion or new “crime.” “There is an endless poisoning of community environments. First the system snatches up young, dynamic men end women, then foroes them through a helih prison world, then dumps them back into the commurity like human refuse, This insane system leaves people shell-shocked, eambitered, and fther from belng a positive asse o the community than ‘whea it seized them. In Amerika, the sats torures and tries t kill the spirit of people, whereas n clint states like El Saivador, the US-tained ‘authoriics wero allowed to g0 allthe way — o torture,kil, and dump the mutilated bodies for the vultures to pick over - ust ke the US perfected in the Phoenix Program In Vietaam. Givea that o community cannt live withouta posiive sprit and hope of gesuine humanity, wht miserble kind of world s this prison system really breeding? ‘Many of the most articulate and courageous thinkers and doers sre locked down and kept from the public. Once prisoners aise thir voice, they can ‘expect severs repression — beatings, ransfers 1 coatrol units and supermax torture chambers, forced drugging, shackling, and other techniques unique to the US. A huge percentage of the young me from tho most oppressed communities - Blacks, Latinos and Native American men, end increasingly ‘wormen — have been ensnared in round-ups. Notjus n lage ciies, bu also in eservations, rural communities, along the U.S.-Maxican border, suburbs, ‘ind elsewhere, people are continuously fed nto the maws of Mamanon to ftten the for-profic punishment industry. So, really,the vibrancy of these communties, even though separated ‘sexually, exiss in the prisons of America todsy. Everything is coocentrted rom the violenoe and cruelty, o the love and inight. Meswhile, the community sate inmates came from is left without direction; it is earful and ‘Subjected to low-level occupstion, survellance, economio hardship, constaat ‘brainwash, desperstion, and ignorence. Grassroots groupa struggle o do ‘useful community support work, fo, the young lions snd lionesses and the wise eldecs that they so vitally needare locked away. The captives” fumilies have a difficult, dily serugalojust 10 kecp on keeping on. "Those of us who have battied through a fetme of lies snd have regained our abiltytothink have overcome our fear. We ae thus capable of ‘Contrbuting our unique talents end inerests t0 concentrto on addresing the ‘rucialissue o prison reform. This is where the Kevin (Rashid) Johnsons ‘and the Jeffrey Leurs’ are. To rebuild our communities end develop seious resistance requiresthat we collaborate closely Wit these bravo and brillant prisoners. Another debilitating lie the government constantly tries o hammer into people s tha prisoners are dangerous threats to the populace, when in fact they are culled from their own families and communities. Mostly,they ‘comprise poor people of color convicted of non-violeat, often victimess “crimea.” Yet, every night on the news, the headline sory is sbout the latest ‘grussome murder. But, of course, the media never bestows the same atteation tothe innumerable victims of the government killing machinos, the industial ccidents,or the hellof prison lifs, where behind the razor wire people die ke flis. Incarceraton itsel s & crime against humanity. No ‘other animaltreas selfor other specics with such cruel contempt. The prison industry is en-ife, constructed only to oppress,instll fear, snd kep monstrous regime in power. “To sucessaflly overcome this horrible reaty will equire a reversal of the brainwashing prooess. We must break out of our stomized existence and learn o be thinking, ficling peoplo again. All the struggles in the world are interconnected snd theoe connections must be made formed in political alliances. Solidarity, a basic anarchist tenet, is extremely important for revolutionary change. 'As government is increasingly targeting activists and organizers, such as ‘Ward Churchill and tho Anarchist Black Cross, more and more of these ‘people will become prisoners. For the truth they speak is powerful and ‘dangerous,like water to 8 widked witch. Go o the prisons for the real truth ‘about his soclety and know that the girbage you see and hear from ‘governmental mouthpieces isles. ‘Prisoners have experienco with deprivation, lack of resources, repression, and so forth. They have adapted to their situation in ways that show resourcefuiness we nsed to leam from. How do you cook food on a heater? ‘How do you barter coffe, stampe, food, and vrlous services 1o get what ‘you eed? More gencrally, how do you adap to such a restrictive situation ‘and still keep your saity? Prisoners can teach therest o us these type of vitalskills. ‘One thing thet really frustrates me i the obliviousness of outside people tothe powerful education of which prisoners are capable. I focus much of ‘my sttention helping to g the word in and out of the gulags. Prisoners are immeasely grataful when given empowering information. They start study ‘groups and read zines unil the cops confiscats them and then they write: their own mateial. People on the outside seem o care only about how “professional” a zine looks and notthe ideas it contains, Who is really in prison here, mentally? Withot the humanty, treedom, and counsel from Canscious prisaners, | myself would be in a constant state of dread and “The labs where monkeys, cats, dogs, mice, rats, and al kinds of animals are forced to endure gruesome experiments which wil destroy ther sanity ‘and life, s, was, and always has been, duplicated by people on human prisoners. Nazivivisector Joseph Mengele lesmed his methods from US mestors and colleagues who came to Germany 10 teach him their techniques. Atthe close of WWII, tho US grabbed the best and the brightest German “scientists” t leam the latest techniques in everything from developing ydrogen bombs to enforcing seasory deprivation in prisons and madbouses. Miany of these evil police tactcs we're seing more oftoday - violent restaint techniques, igh-frequency concussive blasts fired into crowds, tasers, mass pens of “pre-emptive” arresees, and 50 on — ae developed sfier experimentation on prisoners. Wheo bete 0 lesm from then the initial /- victims themselves? “The modem techniques of sedism, brainwashing, control, stomization, and obfuscation form an ever-expanding and all-cncompassing field of “research.” The shock-and-awe ghastliness of the US government knows no bounds, snd the tens of millions of human beings vaporized in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, butchered throughout Central America, or killed and let for the starving dogs in Fallujsh all bear grim testamet to this sordid fact. The US. is fuscitic,or if you prefe, “democratc,” which oaly means millitarized corporatism, Sham elections don" affect that status one fota. Like everybody else, I el the pressure and bear witness o the camage and suffering experienced throughout our world, because of this extreme aggressor nation. Personally, I gravitated to dealing almost enclusively with the prisons, because it became more.and moro clear to me tht this was “ground zero" on the assault on Americans by the system. s the "black hole” of society, constitutionally sanctioned slavery, where anything goes in the dungeons of the stte. Court cases brought forth by prisoners have been dismissed by no less than by the U.S. Supreme Cou, itng clause in the Thirteenth Amendment that sanctifes slavery for prisoners. S0, when the system makes anti-captalst and ai-tate sctivities “illegal, it has an unlimited source (or poential source) of alaves 0 exploit, without any moral sccountabilty or econornic responsibility. All expenses 10 feed and house prisoners are peid for by the govemmental extortion racket known s taxes. Just astechnologal advances bring forth fistercars, s0 oo does state repression evolve and streamline tself. And the folks with the brightest minds and who are the most giviag to their communites are oficn singled out for the most physical and psychological forment. Black ok fco e extrem, bt all of u ar ke beng meneeed ‘and targeted, s this system devours everything in it peth. We need to 10 the most oppressed in thia nation (Blacks, natves, women, undesirables of every stripe) and sssimilate the analyses of their crperiences, s0 we can thoroughly build a conscious counterforcs of if, love, libertion and giving ‘humanity. Ditty Old Prison Town ‘Stalags are everywhere nowadays and affect everybody. They kidnap their young bounty, usually in urben areas, as opportunities for round-ups for ‘a million-and-one "violations® of their pro-slavery laws sbound. Rural areas have been besieged by corporate fiyms, and the government has most people Prisons come and the glowing promises t into community nightmares. A brother we were able to help parole (a real rarity) in Alsbama was tlling me abouta struggle i his communlty to proventthe erction of prison, He said that ot first tho prison builders claimed they were Constructing a strip malll T politicins, guless wonders usever,never il t0 crow for the greased wheel deal of aprison as 8 means of *economic (" in rural communities. The whoring-out of these hyenas gets shrilerend hoarser, 5o natually, we mus al aoquiesoe, s our conservative presstriesto disdsinfully explain t us the wonders of “progress” Soslap mwmm-'flm-muammumm = anything of it Condoleezza Rice, George W, Bush, Donald Rumsfeld, snd ‘Paul Wolfowitz will "ake caro of things.” Kissinger is always there for advice. A prison s the kiss of death to a community. They bally the whole ‘country (end less convincingly, the world) with an unhealthy, deliberately ruinous, wasteful, oblivious, and pusishing mindset. They also pollute ptilesaly and "egally” cut local deals 0 they can maraud over al areas, ‘economically and culturally. Tm talking sbout all the industies, factories, prisons, animal farm, miltery centers —all of t. Our hard work is exploited for profits, then taxes, 5 that industry and govemment can ruin our communities, force usiato being theie Jilors and soldier, and wreak devastation on our brothers and sisters all across the globe. Democracy in bloodthirsy action! Recently,the stae of linois was going to grace a poor black farming: ‘community in Kankakee County, with a women's prison. This was in Fopkins Park. They thought tha they could use this o balm over centuries of savery and institutional acism by bestowing a beautiful prison in their fuce. Wel, guess what? The citizens responded with militant direct action! Living in Pembroke Townshi, they formed a group called Pembroke Advocates for Truth (PAT). Their newslette, Insight, was the joyous rarity in activism - funny s hell and dead on. They dida't cater 10 the idea that they should welcome a prison. They saw it rightfully 50, as monstrous, as. ‘another example of the oppressive nature of tis setlr, orecker Empirel ‘Despitethe fuctthat these folks vehemently rejected this project, poor though they continue to be, it was strted anyway. Initally, it was plenned to happen diretly across fom n organic farm. Due 10 agitatio, it became known thatthis piece of land — the first piece actually sold t0 8 state ‘govermment for & prison by any sate in decades (al other and had been “gratefully” ceded by municipaities) — was actually a sweetheart land deal between the crooked Govemor, George Ryen and billionsire Kankakee developer, Tony Perry. "A prison always has is glaring lights on twenty fours hours a day. ‘Most have ominous towers occupied by shotgun-toting guards. The dumpiag of sewage, slong with excessive pollution caused by this dresdful economic sysiem of mass incarceration, means that communities are flooded with problems, not*solutions.” Your prison town" environment has been degraded in the most depressing of ways. Your rea will henceforth be known for human suffering and misery for the "cause” of profits instead of ‘whatever vibrancy it once possested or the human potential that is forever squelched by this demented society. Natural habitats of animals are also Torever being mensced by this unrelenting paving of farmland and the introduction of iesel and gas-spewing vehicles into beforehand peaceful, pastoral productive farmland. Everything, alive or dead - even inorganic - has a price on it and is subject 0 the devastation the system clumsily and wantonly causes. “These are serious times and we are greatly in need of lucid, well-written. ‘narmatives nd snlyses, crafed o be empowering and o offr instruction ‘i uidance. We can rise above our fear, develop effoctive working habits, and operate with a riven determination. Humans must lean o usefully apply their energies o the greater good of their community, something that animals do instinctvely. People woud uct spoataneously 100, i allowed to be themselves as individuals who are naturally iterested in mutually supportive, non-coercive community. But being progrummed 1o function as obedient robots and soylent greea-fed consumers is the opposite of genuine froodom and rea lfe. ‘The marvelous braiipower human animals possess gives us the possiblity o transcend this repressive and predatory social eavironment. But tho baser instinct of power sad greed which drivethe smal few who orchestrae ths worldwide death march are bolding our minds and bodies hostage, just ke the animals they exploit. Wo must cross the foar line and develop our human capasites. Work your breia and decide where your ‘greatest talents and interests li, and weave your gifts ino the social struggle. Mutual sid wil see us all through, but it oaly worksif you seriously apply yourself. ) I¢s all partof the struggle forliberation — be it for humaas, animals, or the Barth hersel. People wrenched from poor neighborhoods area vital part of the slaughierhouse cavironment this system eqires t koep creaking. along. Take away athird of the young black men in poor communities — in some areas the percentage kidnspped is well over S0%! — and then ‘warchouse them in dreary prisons, and the social enviroament has been effectively decimated. Family members have no brothers, sons, or husbands. 10 deal with the occupation and forced imniseration of thir "expendable™ ‘communitie of people. Increasiagly, ifs the women, mostly mothers of ‘young children, who are wrenched from the embruce of teir fumilies and forced to languish in cage. ‘Those who have gained useful knowledge must becoms the serious educatorsfor others. Free education must be & fundamental past of ll activiat activity. The knowledgs is sccessible, through websites, zines, distros, apes, etc. We ahould seize the media and sdapt what i useful 10 the situation at hand, as we continually, “raise some fucking issues” us Lorenzo Komboa Ervin eloqueatly puts it 1 call it “agitation-education.” Our fellow bumans ae all being trested like minks on a farm, in one form or another. To liberate them means t be ‘supportive of them and help them rekindl their sense of self. A person Who ‘overcomes his o her fear of the state,is an animal finally freed and capable of anything. SOUTH CHICAGO ABC ZINE DISTRO POB721 HOMEWOOD IL. 60430