Note: English is not our native language, the following is translated mostly with help from the DeepL Translator. If you find errors (or some funky german style sentence structure) feel free to write us.
General Information about us:
We are a small group of people who have come together to create an alternative. An alternative to competition and a dog-eat-dog society. We want to fight against racism, sexism and hate. We don’t want to watch any longer how people are deported to their death and how the Mediterranean Sea becomes a grave of hopelessness.
If you want to get to know us, just come to one of our Open Meetings. We do that on the last Thursday of the month in different bars and pubs in Ulm.
Status summer 2021: Currently due to the pandemic unfortunately no longer possible, if you want to get to know us write us by email or a platform we use. You can find more information at “Contact”.
FAQ / Frequently Asked Questions:
You can read answers to Questions that we are often asked here.
Our own texts:
Texts on individual topics that we have written as a group can be found on “Own texts”.
Self-description – from spring 2016:
Annotation: At the end of 2019 we sat down together and talked about our ideas, topics and goals. We did this also with the ulterior motive to write a new self-description text, because what is written here is a few years old and some of us wish to add or write something new. Therefore, we want to publish something else here at some point, if we find the enough time. However we don't want to distance ourselves from the self-description from 2016 in any way, but rather preserve the earlier text as it is. Kollektiv.26 - December 2019 / Summer 2021
There are a number of grievances that we are bothered by and want to overcome. We would like to list these below: For example, most people are well aware that competition is an essential aspect in our society. Especially in the business world, constant competition and the pursuit of success dominate, which is often even equated with the pursuit of happiness. However, this implies the failure of another.
However, it is important to realize that the origin of this competition lies in the prevailing economic system.
This economic system is based on the logic that there are people who can access the means to satisfy their needs (they have enough money); and secure this access. The others, however, are excluded from this and can only satisfy their needs to a limited extent.
Due to the lack of property, people are forced to offer their labor for sale and to compete against each other in order to obtain the necessary means to live. They have to give up part of their labor without any value in return, otherwise they would lose the competition. The employer, because of his competition with other employers, is forced to hire the worker with the lowest wage or the greatest promise of profit.
To make this condition possible, domination is necessary, which is perceived as bureaucratic, but in its form is violence. This is expressed, for example, in the openly formulated monopoly on the use of force. This rule is created by nation states, which are also in competition with each other. It is the task of the (bourgeois) state to ensure that production functions within its territory, since this is the only way it can ensure its own survival and collect sufficient taxes. For this purpose, it is necessary to fight rebellions inside the country, which is done by means of repression on the one hand and social legislation on the other. In addition, it must ensure international competitiveness in order to prevent the migration of large corporations. The state competes with other states.
In order to provide the necessary raw materials at acceptable prices (for the companies), it must become active in foreign policy, for example, to protect trade routes (e.g. Somalia) or to enable the extraction of raw materials. This results in military operations, wars and poverty among large sections of the population.
If the economy stagnates, for example, due to overproduction, this is often taken as an argument to curtail the aforementioned social legislation. This is generally understood as “tightening the belt. If social contradictions in a nation become more acute, there may be a call for a strong state, up to and including calls for an authoritarian state, such as fascism. Here, the state is wrongly understood as a representative of one’s own interests whose power can be used.
As we have seen, it is not the goal of competition internally and externally – manifested in the nation state – to create “a good life for all”. However, we see this as a necessary goal and ideal of social organization. To achieve it, the root of the problem, namely the competitive relationship, must be understood and attacked. We oppose competition with production in cooperation and according to needs. We reject superficial and symptom-fighting approaches to solutions, because they do not lead to the goal.
This refers to criticism that, for example, aims to portray bankers as the evil of the world. Or the demand for a little more co-determination, a little more social benefits in an otherwise unchanging economic and thus also political system. The construct of the people is also at best suitable for excluding people and finding scapegoats, but by no means for eliminating the cause of the problems.
We organize ourselves against these grievances, we want to create more livable conditions by raising awareness for these circumstances among as many people as possible through educational work. Above all, however, we would like to develop ourselves further. This includes a constant process of reflection, theoretical work in the form of lectures, workshops, etc., as well as direct actions.
For these reasons, we have organized ourselves to join forces and make action possible.
Lets stand up together against exploitation, authority and fascism,
Kollektiv.26 – Spring 2016