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The space for open projects, non-commercial social relations, alternative forms of living and the freedom from state control, from the pressure to consume and discrimination is becoming less and less. Projects have existed for many years representing such freespaces are being bought, evicted, modernised and forgotten! Those who have survived this are facing constantly changing conditons that makes their existence unbearable.
Due to these reasons, different houses in Rigaer Straße have come together in order to fight against the loss of their freespaces which are not yet (completely) under control, in which there is still a possibility of (relative) free movement, which offer people a place where they can realise their ideas, different ways of life and dreams. A space where there is no place for fascists, racists, sexists and anti-semites! Our anti-fascist houses offer a secure place and support to people who are under threat or attacked from these arseholes.
We want to live through the concept of self-organisation and DIY rather than anonymously and as strangers. At the same time, since we are still
living within a capitalist society, we do carry all it's contradictions in ourselves, against which we have to fight against every day. It is exactly this everyday fight we want to bring forward here in Rigaer Straße. However, we also do want to make clear that the problem for us is not merely the one of keeping our freespaces, in order to live "confortably", but rather to have structures and offer them as space to other autonomous projects and groups.
However, what we are faced with now is the modern process of gentrification. Gentrification describes a process where an area is made posh - rent and the cost of living increases, local amenities close down and are replaced with shops selling useless luxury items, local pubs are replaced by souless yuppie bars, the area is cleaned and sterilised. The exisiting residents are forced out, and are replaced by a homogenous mass of white middle class consumers. Speculators invest and demand profit, resulting in the building of more luxury housing and further modernisation and the process accelerates.
Living and social spaces for those who do not have much money are simply disappearing. Many house projects, traveller sites and autonomous structures are being confronted with this problem, and they are fighting for their survival. They are not the only ones who are facing this: it is about many more people, because gentrification means displacement and exclusion for the unemployed, low-waged, ethnic minorities, homeless as well as people like us.
Exactly because of this, it is important to work together now and make clear that there are many people who are unwilling to bow to this pressure, who are still going to be lindividuals and loud! How long would it take before this gentrification process would turn this town into a completely controlled and sterilised place? One of the best examples of this process is the "Media Spree Project": an aggressive development in Kreuzberg and Friedrichshain around the area of the Spree river, which has been transformed into a place for multi-national companies, penthouses and other kinds of expensive rubbish.
Please look out for further information and news about our situation. We are in difficult times and need help and support from our friends around the world. Let’s join together in our fight against the destruction of our lives.
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