What is going on?
Hey there. You may have noticed that our online presence has changed a bit. That’s because some of the people who have been running the GAF social media, website, livestreams and reading groups over the last few months have decided to create an independent group organising under the GAF banner but focused on media creation and supporting the wider GAF movement. We are calling ourselves Green Anti-capitalist Media.
We are doing this for several reasons.
Firstly, simply for security. By forming an independent collective isolated from the on-the-ground organising and direct action, we create a degree of separation between the two that limits the information that flows between them and therefore makes both safer. Over the last year we’ve learned a lot of about security culture (you can thank state repression for that) and we are simply putting these lessons into practice.
Secondly, as a matter of practicality. Media creation and direct action require different skills and ways of organising. By making them independent, they can each focus on what they do best.
And finally, out of principle. GAF is a front with no central leadership, organisation or any other sort of structure uniting the different individuals and groups organising under it beyond a common set of aims and principles. So it doesn’t make sense for any media entity to claim to represent the whole of the movement. Not that we ever claimed to do that. But although we tried our best not to exercise any control over the other groups, having social media accounts under GAF as a whole could give the wrong impression. This was a result of the people who started the first GAF group not predicting that it would spread so widely as quickly as it did. But it sure did, and is ever growing, which is one of the greatest joys we’ve experienced. And it’s time we make things more clear so that this growth can continue.
In practice, all of this for now just means taking what we were already doing and putting it under a different name. In the future, we hope the project expands and is able to contribute with many other initiatives. In the mean time, we ask you to bear with us as we set things and slowly transition into this new phase.
Thanks to everyone who has supported us so far and, most of all, thanks to every person around the world fighting for a better future for this planet and all the creatures it gives life to. You are the reason we do this.
Solidarity,
Green Anti-capitalist Media
Next, here’s our statement explaining what is GAM and what it does:
What is GAM?
Green Anti-capitalist Media (GAM) is a collective of individuals that organises under the Green Anti-Capitalist Front (GAF) to create independent media content for the radical ecological movement and to support the constellation of individuals and groups taking action under GAF all around the world. We intend to do this by:
- Spreading actions taken under GAF by other groups and individuals.
- Producing educational material, news and analysis related to anti-capitalism and environmentalism.
- Supporting people organising under GAF, helping them get started, linking them to useful resources and more.
Compared to the terrifying media power of the globalised ruling class, we are but small and insignificant. With truth and justice on our side, however, we believe we can help to fight back against the capitalist propaganda machine and challenge its excuses for the social and environmental catastrophe consuming our planet. We will fight back by sharing our vision of a world better than this one, where human life and harmony with nature are prized above all things, rather than the insatiable profiteering of the current ruling class.
1. Spreading actions taken under GAF by other groups and individuals
GAM aims to provide a safe platform to publicly promote and share the actions taken by other groups and individuals under the GAF banner, so that they may inspire others to join the fight. GAM is one of a number groups that acts under the GAF umbrella, however GAM’s purpose is not to organise or carry out actions itself, it is to amplify the actions of others in the ongoing struggle against global capitalism.
If you would like to report an action or taken under GAF or add the information for your GAF initiative or group, head over to our contact page and send us a message.
2. Producing educational material, news and analysis related to anti-capitalism and environmentalism
GAM will continue to produce, and share, educational material and updates on the real-time collapse of this system around us. We will also continue to produce, and share, resources in the form of flyers, pamphlets, posters, stickers that can be downloaded from our website.
Building on our initial successful panel discussions organised in 2019 and our online run of reading groups, film nights and livestreams over 2020, we will continue to organise opportunities for all people to engage with anti-capitalist and environmental thought. The most recent crisis of this system, in the form of the entirely preventable COVID-19 catastrophe, will force us to remain online, for now.
You can find the details for upcoming activities on our Events Page and the recording of past ones on Media page.
We encourage people to create their own GAF media, such as videos, zines or art. And we’ll be more than happy to host it and share it around. Also articles for the blog, such as guides, analysis, calls to action or anything else. We only ask that is shared either using a creative commons license, under public domains or with any other license that undermines capitalist intellectual property laws. Please get in contact with us to submit any content.
3. Supporting people organising under GAF, helping them get started, linking them to useful resources and more.
Another purpose of GAM is to help comrades across the globe establish their own autonomous chapters. Whoever ascribes to GAF’s 7 Points of Unity is a welcomed comrade in the struggle against capitalism and the destruction of the environment, and anyone wanting to start a new GAF chapter of their own is welcome to do so. GAM will offer them support in setting themselves up by providing materials, resources and whatever other assistance we are able to.
An starting point is our guide on Setting up a new GAF group. If you need more help, contact us and we’ll help you however we can.
We must clarify we will never instruct anyone to take any particular actions nor will we become involved with any kind of organising you do. We will simply share resources that we think may be useful, most of which are already publicly available.