Our societies are sick. Our planet is sick. Civilization as we know it, is fatally sick.

Decision-makers are not taking the situation seriously. The way the current socioeconomic system works is to add on each one of the successive crises: the public health crisis is now giving birth to social and economic crises. We are wretched. We are getting closer and closer to the point where climate crisis will topple all the crises into the abyss. We are sick, and tired.

We commit to fight against the virus of profit maximization and all the social systems that feed discrimination between and within the peoples.

This is how the manifesto “We are the anti-bodies”, launched by Climáximo in late July and subscribed by already more than 250 anti-bodies, starts.

On 5 October 1910, republican revolutionaries raised red-green flags (current flag of Portugal, as opposed to the monarchical blue-white flag) and built barricades in what is today the Marquês de Pombal roundabout. On 5 October 2020, the “anti-bodies” will reclaim “res publica”, the public thing – that belong to everyone and no one. They will put their bodies on the line and raise red flags (symbolizing what needs to belong to everyone – education, healthcare, housing, food, renewable energy and public transport) and green flags (symbolizing what needs to belong to no one – climate, water, soil, biodiversity).

We are terrified. We are outraged.

Finding the courage within our dread, we rise to build a new civilization.

We commit to decontaminate the economy and regenerate our societies, with non-violent disruptive actions against the toxic socioeconomic system that brought us here.

“We were inspired by the slogan: Solidarity is the cure; justice is the vaccine. We believe that we urgently need to focus the priorities of our societies on what is essential.” explain the organizers.

The Action Consensus, recently published on the action website, underlines that action is directed at the socioeconomic system and not at any individual.

The anti-bodies further released three Emergency Demands. These are the red lines of the action. The anti-bodies state that they are ready to cancel the action and go home if the government agrees to their demands.

The Emergency Demands of the Anti-bodies action are:

1) Carbon Neutrality 2030: zero net greenhouse gas emissions by 2030

2) Universal Basic Services: guaranteeing free public services of healthcare, education, housing, food, renewable energy and public transport, for everyone

3) Maximum Limit for Income: introduction of a new income tax bracket that taxes 99% of the annual income above 150.000 euros

The action is part of a wave of actions for climate justice all across Europe, Climate Care Uprising, called by the By 2020 We Rise Up platform.

#anticorpos

#climatecareuprising

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More information is available in Portuguese on the action webpage: tinyurl.com/anticorpos

The manifesto in English: https://www.climaximo.pt/2020/08/04/manifesto-we-are-the-anti-bodies/

Climáximo is a grassroots climate justice collective based in Lisbon, Portugal.