We’re doomed to a life of unemployment, solitude and discrimination

With unemployment rising amongst the general population and a growing reluctance by the capitalist class to continue recruitment, now is harder than ever for us on the autistic spectrum to find work.

Since graduation over two years ago, I’ve found it really hard to find work. I’ve tried courses with the National Autistic Society (cunts) and Remploy, and have also approached Sacar and the Shaw Trust, and nothing has come of them. I’m no closer to even getting an interview, and my confidence remains lower than Living TV’s audience share.

As recruitment slows, the bosses will be more likely to fire people for petty reasons, and for the 15% of adults on the spectrum who are currently in work, their disabilities may give the ruling class a reason to sack them, and with the amount of money the state are using to prop up capitalism, it looks like they’ll get away with it.

Recently, the state have announced that people claiming incapacity benefit will be means tested to see what work they can do, but there’s no point of doing it when we’re being spurned by employers because they automatically assume that all disabled people, no matter how talented, are fuckwits incapable of doing the same job as normal, able-bodied people.

If we find ourselves without work and money to pay for essentials, we end up losing our confidence and give up completely. We feel alone, depressed and helpless, feeling that nothing can be done to get work, no matter hard we try. I know that I just about have.

As long as capitalism and the state exist, so will discrimination towards people with disabilities, and the only way to stop it is to smash them both.

Anarchoaspie

X

Upset about not feeling up to telling Dad when I break things by accident for fear of the consequences

My first London Anarchist Bookfair – what I hope it will be like

Having sampled the disappointing Manchester version earlier this year, I decided to give the country’s largest a go. I wanted to go to the two previous ones, but money, SolFed stuff and a general distrust of London stood in my way.

I wasn’t sure about going to this one, as it clashed with a counter-demonstration against the British People’s Party’s demo outside HMV in leeds against ‘violent black music’, which to them is apparently more threatening than calling for the forced repatriation of all non-white people from the country and beating up people just for not being bigoted knuckledragging fuckwits like them. However, I realised that I would have less chance of being beaten up by police and having my mug on Redwatch for a third time if I went to London instead.

Hopefully there’ll be more people I know and like than there were in Manchester, and the lighting will be better. Also, I hope that the meetings will be more interesting, and that I won’t feel isolated like I’ve done in all previous political meetings I’ve attended.

Hopefully I’ll come away from it having learnt new things, at least one new friend, a few good memories and even an answer to why Libcom is full of shitty in-jokes about cake.

Anarchoaspie

X

P.S. I can’t be arsed using asterisks in Manchester any more. It’s too much work

So capitalism is collapsing…

The failure of the banking system, the rising cost of living and the inevitable Ridsdaleisation of West Ham as a result of the collapse of the Icelandic economy prove that…

…CAPITALISM DOESN’T FUCKING WORK

Libcom is shit because…

Although sectarianism isn’t as bad within the anarchist movement as it is on the left, it’s still a bit of a problem. One website that tries to unite them, or at least cover it up is Libcom. Libcom has a library of texts from the likes of Bakunin, Kropotkin, Goldman and Malatesta, a heavily active forum and news items, which makes it a lot better than Indymedia. It’s also explicitly libertarian communist, hence its name.

However, the site has a lot of problems. The forums are full of in-jokes about cake. It’s run exclusively by people in South London, so any issues that happen elsewhere in the UK aren’t covered as well as those nearer to them. If you’re not a regular poster, you can feel isolated, as I have done on there.

Something that made me not want to post on there was a thread critiquing Manchester Pride. One poster came out with something that was so transphobic that they made Ahmedinejad look pro-trans. Elsewhere, there was a lot of disagreement with the bulletin published by the Anarchist Federation because it mentioned class, and that transphobic poster wasn’t shot down by everyone.

I really can’t be arsed with that site, and hopefully many others will feel the same.

Anarchoaspie

x

I might as well smash capitalism and the state on my own

Having tried both diet Trotskyism and syndicalism and ending up not liking either, I’ve realised that if I ever want to overthrow the ruling class, it will have to be a solo effort.

Being an Aspie, I work a lot better on my own, and I’m often lost when in a group or team situation. At SP and SF meetings, I was often mute, and sometimes feigned illness just to get out early. Also, when trying to become part of a group, I never manage to fit in, so joining another organisation such as the Anarchist Federation or Class War is completely out of the question.

Part of the reason why I would rather work alone is because at least 80% of the people I’ve met are total cunts: bullies from school, people who’ve turned me down for jobs, tutors who didn’t recognise my talent, people from the SP; that has totally shattered my confidence in others. Working alone means that I wouldn’t have to meet any more potential arseholes.

Another part is the ineffectiveness of the anarchist movement. Although they’re way better than the Leninists, I still feel cold after going to events, like I did after leaving the M********r Anarchist Bookfair.

Maybe I’m writing this because I’m angry. Maybe by Saturday when I’ve gone to the alternative pride thing in M********r, it’ll all disappear and I might end up filling in an AF membership form, but most of the time, this is how I feel about starting a revolution.

Anarchoaspie

x

Autism Speaks and the National Autistic Society can fuck off – I can speak for myself

A few months ago, Autism Speaks threatened to sue an autistic blogger for saying that they don’t speak for them. As a result, there has rightfully been a lot of anger within the autistic community because of the charity’s actions. Later on, they threatened to sue someone else for selling this clever T-shirt:

 

 

 

 

So why are AS stifling free speech? Because all they want to do is keep this stereotype of the ‘helpless aspie’ going, so that they still have something to talk about. The National Autistic Society use similar tactics, by only focusing on a handful of low-functioning autistics to help maintain the stereotype.

What AS and the NAS don’t realise is that most people on the autistic spectrum are capable of thinking for themselves, and don’t need to be told what to do by self appointed leaders. If they like that so much, they might as well join a political party instead.

We in the autistic community don’t need leaders. Many of us rightly question authority, and seek to abolish it. We’re not the fuckwits that the like to think we are. We don’t like being told what to do or think, and we don’t want to put up with the problems of unemployment, being prescribed the wrong medication, loneliness and bullying, but while they still carry on as they are, we’re fucked.

PrideTM: a big disappointment

How do,

The past two Sundays, I went to Gay Pride events at both Leeds and Wakefield. These were significant because they were the first such events I’d ever been to, and having only come out as a bisexual less than two years ago, I thought that this would help to aid my understanding of what it is to be gay. I also hoped that going to pride would help increase by rock-bottom confidence, and that I would at least make a friend.

Although I feel that I might have made a couple of friends, the rest was pretty shite. Leeds was just a sea of advertisements and endorsements from minor celebrities and politicians, desperate to tap into the ‘pink pound’. How depressing is it to find out that you’re part of a community which is little more than a demographic to the bosses? Also, it was the same system which presents itself as part of the emancipation of LGBT people that helped bankroll the homophobic Thatcher regime, which introduced the infamous Section 28.

Hanging out with a couple of other queer anarchists, we got a few questions about what the Red and Black flag we were carrying was about, but thankfully, we got no harrassment from the police or from fascists and religious fundamentalists, who usually stand on the sidelines of the parade, shouting “blasphemy, blaspheyou” and other such bollocks.

Although Leeds Pride was pretty shite, Wakie was far worse. Going with one of the guys I was with last week, we were told by one of the organisers that he couldn’t fly his flag outside the pedestrianised part of Westgate or leaflet because,  by their reckoning, that meant that they could allow the BNP to come. I don’t know about you, but I can’t see any of the fash coming to these things because:
a) they’ll be heavily outnumbered, and
b) being one of the most homophobic parties in the country, they’re unlikely to participate

They also said that it was a ‘non-political’ event, even though we were stood right next to a fair trade stall. What a load of bullshit. How is the idea of gay pride and gay rights not political? The whole movement started with the Stonewall Riots, and one of the main reasons why there are gay pride marches is to try and help combat homophobia, which is still a problem today.

Next year, I reckon that all queer anarchists, or anyone who’s sick of the commercialism and hypocrisy that plagues mainstream marches, should get together in their local areas and hold DIY pride events. A bit like Get Bent in Manchester, if you like.