The Black Widow

All day and night she did
nothing more than sit.

Sit in complete stillness.

Whether she was basking in the summer sunshine;
gently reflecting through the stain glass window,
gleaming into the room with a mirroring effect,
providing all of the warmth and comfort she
needed or seeking out the warmest spot to escape
the cold chills of the harsh winter.

She was quite a lonesome, solitary creature
and though many tried to be friendly with
her; very few ever succeeded.

On a summer’s
afternoon you could watch her for hours on end,
and in the meantime swear to yourself that
just by observing her slow, purposeful
movements that time had in fact stood still.

Her name was Mary; but she was known as
“The Black Widow”.

Mary gave off the impression of a dark
and mysterious personality. If you knew her
you would swear that she was walking proof
that still waters run deep.

She just had these piercing eyes that could
draw your attention in, regardless of where
you were in the room.

She had this magnetic quality about her that
seemed, at times, to be impossible to ignore.
That deep gaze Mary had could nearly draw you
in to her soul, or at least that’s how it felt.

It was intriguing to say the least and she had
this effect that would make you feel like every
time you spoke to her, you knew less about her.

Beyond the dark, alluring charm Mary had;
I had further suspicions of her.

Was she keeping secrets locked in her soul of
a troubled past?

What was it about her persona that was
so hard to ignore?

But hey, not all that glitters gold.

I guess it was only a matter of time before
I dusted away the gold dust on her exterior
and unlocked any kind of mystique she may have
been concealing from the rest of the world.

I didn’t know what it was but
I was going to find it.

It was a hard knock life, working in the
mental health industry for the last
twenty-odd years was starting to take
its toll.

Patients came, patients went,
some made it, and some didn’t.

What would seem like such an un-nerving
experience to any normal person outside of
the industry had just become part of every
day life in the workplace for me.

Since when was it ‘normal’ practise for a
patient you had under your care for three
years to commit suicide and not have it stir
any emotion in you whatsoever?

Well that was the stage of my life I was at.

It seemed each day I was becoming more and
more detached from reality.

I was finding it difficult, to say the
least, to feel any kind of emotions.

When Christopher, a patient of mine who
suffered extreme paranoia and schizophrenia,
committed suicide a week ago,
I found it hard to comprehend how I felt.

I knew I should have felt sad, hell,
I should have been feeling the deepest
sorrows I had ever felt, yet I just couldn’t
bring myself to do it.

At that point in time I had just become
so distant and detached from every day
life that I just felt nothing, except
for the shard of ice that had now taken
place where my heart used to be.

Was it all the years working in this
industry that had led me to feel like this?

Surely not.

Anxiety, depression, Bipolar Disorder,
Schizophrenia, it was just well….

it was just a normal day at the office.

I often looked at Mary, hoping she would
say something, anything, or at least just
give me a reassuring nod to let me know
that everything was ok.

But nothing.

All I could ever seem to get out
of her was that deep glare.

There was no movement.

She just lay there in wait.

“Jan, are you coming out for a cigarette?
Smoko break sweetheart.”
Lisa, one of the admin ladies from the
reception desk on the seventh floor,
where I work at the hospital,
yelled out to me.

“Coming Lis.” I was in a rush,
finishing off patient med rounds
before the morning coffee break.
I walked past Mary’s room on my
way out to the smoker’s balcony;
she quickly glanced at me with
that glare, then back to the window
again.

That was probably as good as
it was going to get.

“So how have you been Jan?”

“Yeah….
getting there…I guess”

“That bad; hey? You look like you could
use a holiday or; I don’t know;
something to take your
mind off this place”.

“I need a lot more than a holiday Lis.
I’m just; I don’t know’ it’s a hard
feeling to describe, do you ever get
that feeling that you’re just somewhere
you shouldn’t be?”

“Well, yeah. I guess so;
I’m not really sure it’s something
I can relate to, but
I can empathise”.

“I feel like I’m just beating my head
against a brick wall in this place
sometimes Lis, I just don’t know why
I bother with this shit-hole of a
joint any more, seriously”.

In all my years in this industry
I’ve seen so much shit that most
people couldn’t relate to, felt things
I never thought I would feel.

I’ve seen patients come and go, you
know I’ve had a patient there talking
to me one minute, turned my back the
next and BAM!!!

They’re gone, dead….a schizophrenic
mental break down and they’re gone…
gone”.

I know Lisa tried to understand where
I was coming from. I guess in her own
way she had seen a hell of a lot of
shit come and go through those doors.

I couldn’t tell you what exactly;
but there had to be more to her than
the superficial,
happy-go-lucky exterior.

What had my world been reduced to
when all I could find comfort in was
the deep, intimidating
glare of an old widow?

A widow who had herself
probably seen better days.

In fact it was quite ironic;
the only survivor in this place
that was still really kicking on
was an old widow.

“Oh, hi Belinda, how have you been?
Long time no see, hey?”

Really? This was a good thing,
not that she needed to know that.

It was Belinda, a nurse from the
third floor, the floor where they
kept all the low risk patients.

Not that you would know that form
talking to her, if you asked her,
she spent her days at work wrestling
alligators and saving baby deer
from being eaten by a pride of lions.

“Yeah can’t complain I guess, Jan”

“You know how it is, dealing with
these manic depressives on a
daily basis”.

What did I tell you?
Superwoman is here to save us all,
please, give me a break.

“Tell me Bel; just how would the
world function if you weren’t in it?”

Completely and utterly bored by such
drivel coming from the mouth of the
ditzy twenty-two year old who spoke
like she’d been working in the
industry for as many years as
she’d been alive,
I decided to go and check on Mary
before I got back to work.

Room 19a; the very last room at
the end of the hallway on the western
side of the building was where she
could be found.

I poked my head around the door,
slowly and steadily as I
normally do.

Doing my best not to startle
the poor old dear.

This time, however,
was different.

The black widow had disappeared,
the room was empty.
It was nothing more than a
spiritless room,
as dark as it was daunting.

However; the rocking chair in
the corner, resting underneath
the one solitary pot plant on
the unit of draws, was still
rocking as if still driven
by some kind of human
like presence.

It was an eerie feeling, one I
didn’t quite know how to respond to,
and it felt like any minute all the
windows and doors in the room were
going to slam shut, as if there
was some kind of poltergeist
in the room.

Like a bolt out of the blue I felt
a sudden rush of blood to my head
and instantly fell to the ground.

My vision was blurred and
grainy as I collapsed.

It was a surreal feeling,
like I was being sucked in to
some kind of second universe.

I could hear demonic like
voices playing in my head.

“Beware, you don’t know what
you’re getting yourself in to”,
the voices cried.

I wasn’t sure if I was
hallucinating or in a dream.

The presences that surrounded me
felt like nothing more than
figments of my imagination.

The force they used to keep me
trapped in, though,
wrapping their arms around me,
around my waist,
around my legs,
around my stomach,
around my neck,
it felt as though I was in
a full body straight jacket.

I felt my breath getting shorter
as the forces around me tightened
their grip.
I was at the point of asphyxiation.
All of a sudden I awoke in my
favourite rocking chair,
the one by the window,
where I could just sit for hours
on end and stare up at the sky,
imagining I was free to glide like
an eagle in full flight.

Why was Jan standing at the door and
staring at me like I was some kind of sideshow freak? 

This Reagan guy sounds like a bit of an extremist, says Kim Jong-Il

In news just in this morning, North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Il has released a scathing attack on President Ronald Reagan, in regards to the US stockpiling of nuclear weapons in Europe. “He should at least pretend to be concerned about the safety of citizens of these countries. You’d think for someone who used to be an actor, President Reagan would be able to sell it a bit more convincingly.”

 The North Korean dictator has raised concerns over the US President’s perceived inability to pretend to care about the safety and well being of other people in the past, but believes it has gone too far this time. “I saw the distraught looks on the faces of those laid off auto workers in Detroit, and thought okay he’s just having a bit of fun, maybe just toying with them you know. But then, when he had their houses and all possessions of value repossessed while they were standing on a picket line, that’s when I thought okay, maybe this man is a tad more mentally unstable than I thought.”

 North Korean dictator concerned about US Extremists

The dictator went on to say, “I mean yeah sure I have ambitions of nuking any country in the world which refuses my request for them to become a North Korean colony, but I’d like to do it with as little bloodshed as possible. President Reagan on the other hand, he just doesn’t care, if you question why the rich don’t get taxed very much or ask him why America needs to have nuclear weapons in so many different countries, you just get shot on the spot”.

 The insane dictator also declared that the President really needed to tone down his rhetoric, saying that having your communications director exclaim in the media that aids is nature’s revenge on gay men, might send out a message to people that you’re homophobic. “Personally I would have just left it at, gay men have a date with Satan waiting for them when they die, but he just took that shit to a whole new level right there, even I wanted to cry when I heard it, and I want to blow up half the world for fucks sake”.

 President Reagan’s office was unavailable for comment this morning, however has released a media statement earlier this afternoon, saying that they were in the process of deciding whether there should be a sub-committee, to decided if there should be a committee to decided whether or not human rights is an important issue.  

The exploitation of the human psyche

The alienation associated with the capitalist mode of production is generally associated with alienation during the labour process. Whether it be the undemocratic nature of work, such as healthcare workers having absolutely no say in the funding they receive in order to ensure they can perform their job roles in a safe working environment, with adequate resources, training, breaks and of course pay, or the fact the fact that teachers and students have next to no say in what is being taught in schools, the alienation that takes place during the labour process is done on a mass scale and for mass profit of those who pull the strings.

In a capitalist society, workers experience further alienation through the process of commodification. Every day of our lives we’re exposed to advertising campaigns, hell bent on convincing us that we need to buy the newest make of car on the market or that buying a new watch or stereo system will provide us with all the fulfillment we wish to experience in our lives. We see these commodities as mere objects we’re able to purchase to supposedly “enrich our lives”. However during this process of commodification, we also experience a form of alienation. This is because we can only see goods we’ve purchased, however the faces of the people who actually put the labour time in to producing these products is a complete mystery to us. We experience complete separation from the production of a good such as a phone or laptop, to the point of purchase and take home. We have no knowledge of what labour went in to producing that particular item, just of the item itself. It’s through this method that exchanges between humans become nothing more than an exchange of commodities. However, it’s not only through the labour process that capitalism alienates people from each other.

As human beings it’s only natural that we have a notion of self, or self identity. We all have a basic idea of our own psyche, what makes us tick, our strengths, weaknesses, where we fit in to society etc. Well at least, we should have a basic idea of these kinds of personal attributes we posses, however, due to life in a capitalist society, very rarely does it pan out this way. Given that we’re given no option but to live our lives through a series of commodity exchanges, what impact does this have on the human psyche?

Whilst we’re caught up in the rat race of producing profitable goods and services for the very wealthy in society, this accumulates a majority of what we spend our lives doing. And when we’re not actually at work, we’re thinking about it or stressing over whether we’ll still have a job to go back to the next day, or whether the rubbish pay we get is going to be enough just to pay our rent/bills/mortgage etc. Our value to society is calculated along these same lines, understandably so, this is the only world and way of living most people alive today have ever known, therefore these are the only standards they know how to measure themselves and others with; their value to society based on the capitalist mode of production, the importance of their particular job role, what they produce, how much money they earn, their material possessions and so forth all act as measuring sticks for how people define their own self worth.

Furthermore, this feeds in to another base that capitalism heavily relies on, competition between consumers. In my opinion this is just as much achieved through the exploitation of the human psyche as it is through commodification. With the market constantly being flooded with numerous different brands producing exactly the same product, and models of that same product constantly being updated, the capitalist is able to exploit the psychology of human nature by playing on the insecurities they’ve purposely planted in people. These newer products being released on to the market are designed to create envy amongst consumers, placing them in to two categories, those who own them and those who want to own them. Now the capitalist has already determined how people determine their own self worth through material possessions, thus making it easy for them to further exploit that insecurity. This also ties property relations in to the equation, under capitalist society, your neighbours are nothing more than property owners adjacent to where you live rather than another person you may know or be friends or have some kind of personal relationship with, however given the nature of the human psyche under the conditions of capitalism, people are now more inclined not just to look at the living conditions of an adjacent property owner, but also the material possessions such as cars, furniture etc as a comparison of their status compared to this person. With the nature of competition based on insecurity which has been created, the first reaction of the person whose mind has been molded by capitalist institutions is to increase their own feelings of self worth and elevate themselves to a higher social status than that of their neighbour through purchasing power.

In this sense, the culture of capitalism directly and indirectly influences psychology, the notion of self, the self esteem of the individual and their emotional insecurities. People have unknowingly had these aspects of their psyche decided for them by the institutions of capitalist society. More than the fact that people suffer mental health issues and health issues in general because of a lack of financial security and job security, the fact that the only way they know how to measure their worth to themselves, their friends, their family and their community through materialist measures only adds the icing to the cake. Thus mental health issues are also class issues. Because of the subconscious dictatorial aspect of capitalism, humans very often can only relate to each other as fellow competitors, even amongst friendship groups, family or in personal or romantic relationships, thus for the most part how much they value themselves as a human being comes from a direct comparison between themselves and those around them.

In such a cut throat society where humanity suffers due to the exploitation of one of the most personal aspects of each individual, their emotional wellbeing, and the vicious cycle which is constantly perpetuated because of this, it’s clear that the only way to free those suffering in their personal and social lives because of exploitation is through complete systemic and social change. This can only be achieved through the emancipation of human beings in a free socialist society.

 

 

 

Fully grown man fails to correctly identify who won last night

This afternoon at approximately midday, an incident occurred which has completely shaken the social standings of 34 year old London man, Carl Gallagher. The incident took place when Mr Gallagher, who was at the pub sinking pints with mates at the time, was questioned over the result of the game which took place last night. After a few moments of incessantly mumbling, combined with standing at the bar hoping someone else would interrupt with the score, Mr Gallagher was finally forced to concede that he didn’t actually know who won.

Witnesses have said that he may have been able to bluff his way out by claiming that he was “pissed off his face by the time the match finished”, with another adding that saying “he had picked up at the pub and taken her back to his place” would have most likely also sufficed. Bar staff at on shift at the South London pub at the time also stated that they considered interrupting with the scoreline, however they were busy laughing hysterically at Mr Gallagher’s mates questioning his sexual orientation and his masculinity for failing to correctly answer the question.

One of Carl’s mates who was present at the time, Jason Burns, stated that “it was like da gayest fing I fink I’ve eva seen in me lyfe. Wivin about fwee minutes I was already textin all me mates to tell em innit”.

When asked about the incident Mr Gallagher stated that he looks forward to moving on with his life, at a pub where absolutely no one recognises him or knows who he is.

Smash the state, not shop windows

The poor souls involved in the riots were not “thugs”, nor “criminals”, nor “common vandals”. These people belong to a poor, underprivileged class of society, a class which has been politically and economically robbed over a mass period of time. These people live day to day seeing those who feel they have the right to make decisions for everyone, steal their present and future from right in front of their eyes. Well you can only boil water to a certain point before it simmers and eventually boils over. This tension amongst the poorer working class of society was not created overnight, it has been something simmering for a very long time. You can try to dismiss the concrete evidence that suggests a reaction such a rioting was inevitable after a certain amount of time, theft and exploitation was inevitable, however you would be horribly wrong. The fact of the matter is that if you don’t respect existence, you can expect resistance, and that’s exactly what these people did. Maybe not with the most constructive of outlets to express how they felt about the situation, however they reached a point where enough was enough and decided to fight back. Unfortunately capitalism has created such ab apathetic society where people will not discuss a peaceful protests for days and weeks to come, a riot on the other hand will be talked about for months and possibly years to come. So whether you agree with their methods or not (personally I don’t; a fightback should take the form of organised protests and politicisation of the masses), the fact that we’re still talking about it now means that they have gotten people’s attention over an issue that should have had attention a long time ago. That issue is one of an unjust class society which exploits workers for the gain of mass profits by a privileged few who were often born licking the silver spoon in the first place, and wouldn’t know a days work to make their own money if it punched them in the face. The only way to eradicate these unjust happenings from society is to abolish the state supported class system that creates it. Social change on it’s own will achieve nothing, the only way to achieve complete social change is through a system change.

For Freedom Exit, Take Next Left

Society is a tightly woven web. The web is full of designated roles, which we as people have no say in whether we perform or not. From the day we’re born, before we’re born in fact, it has been decided on our behalf what contribution we will make to society on the basis of gender. Before we even see our first bit of daylight, our sexual orientation has been decided for us. Before the thought of our conception has even passed through the heads of parents with stars in their eyes, the role we must play in society has been decided for us on the basis of what race we are, what colour we are and what religion our parents choose to believe in. Before we see daylight, barely a day old, the socio economic status of our parents has determined what kind of upbringing we will have, and given the baring this has on our future as human beings, ultimately the kind of life we will live/are expected to live.

How can there be freedom in a world where a newborn baby has already had it’s entire future decided for it? How can there be true freedom in a world where the material conditions of our parents dictate our own lives and trap us in to an immediate environment we have no say? There is no freedom when two people have the responsibility of raising a child on their own with little or no help available to them. There is no freedom when society at large fails to grasp the concept that it takes a whole community to raise a child. There is no freedom in this modern day society of tightly woven social constructs designed specifically to constrict every last bit of freedom we could have ever hoped for. There is no freedom when your entire life has been decided for you on the day you were born. There is no freedom when each and every human being is trapped in their immediate environment and is forced to become a slave to the material conditions that surround them on a daily basis.

This modern day society is a form of entrapment, a form of entrapment that needs to be overthrown and done away with. For as tightly woven as it is, nothing is ever foolproof and it can be unwoven just as quickly. Those responsible for the creation of this monster need to have the power they stole to create it taken back from them. That power can be returned to where it rightfully belongs, in the hands of the millions. When the destiny of society is in the hands of many, only then can true freedom be achieved. 

Pretending the UN oppose Malaysia swap deal not easy, says Bowen

Immigration minister Chris Bowen has stated in an interview with ABC’s Lateline news program, that pretending that the United Nations oppose the Federal Government’s refugee swap deal with Malaysia has been one of the toughest challenges of his ministerial career. “Actually sending the illegals to Malaysia, that’s the easy part, you have armed guards pointing guns at them and they get on the plane. But actually making people believe that the UN support human beings being sent to a country where they’ll be caned, starved, tortured and possibly killed, that’s the hard part.”

When asked to guarantee the safety of refugee arrivals in Malaysia, Mr Bowen responded “Look the Federal Government is committed to stopping the boats.” The Immigration Minister also stated that “the Governments message is to simply think twice before you get on that boat” and “illegal immigrants are not welcome on Australian shores”, when asked if he even really cared that Malaysia has no human rights policy in regards to refugees. “Clearly these people don’t get the message that us bombing the shit out of their countries is not an invitation to rock up on our doorstep”, the minister added.

Max Brenner come off it, there’s blood in your hot chocolate!

The Blood Stained Sand

So opposing apartheid makes me anti-semitic?

So feeling sick to my stomach at the fact that millions of Palestinians were forcibly removed from their homes makes me anti-semitic?

So opposing war and imperialism makes me anti-semitic?

So wanting to see the land that is the rightful property of the Palestinian people makes me anti-semitic?

So opposing the merciless, brutal slaughter of millions of Palestinian people makes me anti-semitic?

So condemning war criminals using white phosphorus to take the lives of millions of innocent people makes me anti-semitic?

So realising that Zionism is not Judaism, and that the Torah is being used as a mere excuse to justify this merciless brutality, by promoting falsified stories of the Jewish people having a historical connection with Palestinian land makes me anti-semitic?

So opposing ethnic cleansing and the dispossession of an entire race of people from the land they rightfully own makes me anti-semitic?

From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!

Hands off West bank, hands off Gaza, hands of Palestine, long live the Intifada!

Free Free Palestine!

Rich people not worried about utility rates going up, show figures

A recent study done by the Australian Bureau of Statistics has shown that the rich and well to do are not the slightest bit worried about rising utility rates. Figures compiled in the study done by the bureau have shown that out of all people interviewed in the survey, the 43% who said they were not worried about rising utility rates all had a lot of money.

Toffee Nose Financial Services chairman Michael O’Brien has said that the figures also astonishingly showed that people who are struggling financially, and are already having trouble keeping up with bills, will still find themselves in a position where they’re unable to keep up with bills, except in a worse off position. “I’m really taken aback by the findings of this research”, said Mr O’Brien.

Experts have said that this research suggests that there is a possibility that people with a lot of money don’t struggle to keep up with paying the bills and keeping a roof over their heads, whereas people with not much money might.

“What we have discovered is that in order for bills and rent/mortgage to be paid, it requires a financial transaction to be completed and a particular sum of money to be changing hands. People who happen to be in possession of that particular sum of money are 100% more likely to complete the transaction than people who aren’t.” Said ANZ chairman Clive P.Simmons.

People with money still able to pay bills

“The driving force behind this trend is generally people who don’t have to break the bank to keep up with utility payments”, according to Ten News financial correspondent Todd Maher.

“What the Bureau’s research has shown, is that having more money readily available is a clear advantage when it comes to being able to live comfortably”, he concluded.

The top 2% of Australian’s who earn over $400,000 per year have been buoyed by the findings of the research, one exclaiming “Ha! cop that!”. Another revealed, “Sorry? I can’t hear you from up here, I’m joking, now run along peasant.”