This tiny A6 zine was distributed anonomously at various anarchist infoshops in London in 2022. It is a guide to Squatting, Shopliftin’, Bunkin Trains & Bussess in London and Hackin’ Elecric Meters to lower costs using the power of magnets
It is (from what we can tell) only online/in print elsewhere in A Black Autonomy Reader, edited by Mutt. (however, he did make a typo in the title of the zine, bless him) published earlier this year, which can be downloaded for free here;
https://seditionist.uk/distro/readables/books/a-black-autonomy-reader-incomplete/
THE COST OF LIVING IS RISING
THE GOVERNMENT IS FUCKING US OVER YET AGAIN
NO SURPRISE
People are in outrage. Gas prices are soaring in British households. Councils are upping their tax bills. National Insurance [Ed. An additional income tax, spun as being used to pay for Welfare for workers] is increasing. Interest rates are doubling. Inflation is at its highest rate in 30 years. The price of consumer goods is experiencing a surge. Altogether are going to be spending much much much more on basic necessities. But don’t worry, the chancellor (now Prime Minister) Rishi Sunak plans to alleviate it all with a “generous” £200 gift. Oh, did I say gift, I meant compulsory loan. The government wants to dress up the Hike in prices as unavoidable due to the financial cost of the pandemic, when, in reality, it would rather squeeze every last bit of our already crumbled stability. Meanwhile, companies like Shell and BP continue to make disgustingly large profits without paying any tax on their North Sea operations.
We all live inside a stinking carcass, which swallows up all living things in order to power its phoney movement. The state will never be on our side: it’s just a board of gluttonous fools that seek
delight in moving the dial further into the pit of austerity. We cannot rely on them. Not now, not ever. They are the ones that rely on us to power their oppressive machine. How do you stop the machine? You break its machinery through direct action. This is anything that attacks the vulnerability of a system, small or large scale.
Right now, with people already unable to pay rent, get basic food or afford travel, we thought it necessary to share some ideas on how to live a more frugal lifestyle. Whilst writing this, we do also want to acknowledge that certain things we have included can be more difficult for people such as those with an unstable immigration status, those that are differently-abled, those that have previous convictions or those that already have a “suspicious” skin-tone. Be confident, be careful, but also, take things at your own risk.
RENT’S TOO HIGH?
SQUAT THE LOT
Squatting is the act of occupying empty buildings and land which removes the need to pay rent, meaning that you can have a home for absolutely no cost. Sounds like a dream, right? The UK currently holds over 600,000 unused buildings, a testament to the waste that spills from this wicked system. These buildings can usually be accessed through open windows, easily penetrable roof hatches or by a simple crowbar to the door, among a multitude of other creative ways. Be Careful though as criminal damage is a punishable offence. The law in the UK states that trespass is currently a civil matter, meaning that the property owner must take you to court to get you out which can be a long and expensive process, but only on commercial buildings. Squatting a residential building is a criminal matter. There are loopholes to this such as occupying a building for protest, but if you’re looking for a more stable building (although you still likely will have to move around a lot) then commercial properties such as pubs, warehouses, banks, shops etc. are a safer option. If you’re interested in getting involved or learning more, get in contact with ASS
(Advisory Service for Squatters https://network23.org/ass/), based in Freedom Bookshop in Whitechapel, London but who also have a phone number and email on their website; you can
also pick up a copy of the Squatters Handbook from here.
Be aware that the squat community can be a very white space, but there is an all-black squat in London and BPOC squatters around so ask about them. Also, if you have certain accessibility needs, squatting can be difficult, but this all depends on how the building is set up. There are so many great empty buildings out there, so fuck off your landlords, grab a crowbar and unsettle private property owners!
THE ART OF STEALING
You can steal most things. A lot of it is about confidence. I have a friend who walked out of a store once with a gigantic octopus plush toy that she didn’t pay for, and no one said a thing. If you act like what you’re doing is normal, then you can usually avoid getting caught. Whilst saying this, there are obviously systems in place which mean that certain people are already automatically suspicious i.e if you have dark skin, so it’s important to be aware of this and take things at your own risk. However, as a Black person with many darker-skinned friends, it has been a very successful method for us.
So, what’s the method? I’m personally a fan of the “stealing bag” approach. This means getting a large bag (bag for life type thing), putting something in it to fill it out a little – like a t-shirt – and then using that bag to put items in whilst you’re in a shop. The more nonchalant you are, quickly sliding things in without breaking face, the less attention you draw, but to be honest, I am
sometimes bait as fuck and it still works. After you’ve filled your shopping bag (maybe arrange the t-shirt so it sits on top of your items if you’re feeling nervous), then you can exit the shop. Usually if I’m doing this, I’ll pay for a couple cheap items like some bread and bananas which makes you look less suspicious. You can also just use your pockets if you have large ones or, if you’re feeling more confident, just walk straight out with items in hand (hidden in plain sight). Stealing is great, it can allow you to get food, toiletries, wavey garms and much much more for virtually no cost. Although do be aware of items with security tags. They will often be quite obvious, however, stores like Decathlon are stocking up with RFID tags which are hidden in products and track the movement of the product around the store. This can make things trickier, but the main thing is to act like you should be there. One of my mates got stopped with an RFID tag in their bag and they managed to get away with it by saying that they had bought it ages ago. You can also try to rip tags out of things (carry some scissors with ya). Finally, while cameras in the store can be daunting, a lot of the time security aren’t looking at every single camera so don’t let this deter you, they’re just trying to do up a panopticon vibe.
BUNKING TRAVEL*
*We’ve just provided a small explanation of this, for more info check out @fthefares on Telegram (t.me/fthefares1312)
This is usually more possible with automated travel such as taking the tube or bus in London, or national rail, but you can try it in other environments. If you’re taking the tube, simply run behind someone who’s tapping their card in or shove your way through the barriers (it’s not as difficult as you may think). London has made it harder to bunk buses since a lot of buses stopped opening the doors at the back, but you can try and get in if there’s a crowd of people. Likely the worst thing that will happen is they won’t let you on the bus. Bunking national rail can be successful a lot of the time as well, as long as there’s no ticket inspectors on the train. Everything is a risk but a lot of the time it can pay off. Beware of the British Transport Police though, who can sometimes be hiding undercover. Check out “fthefares” for more.
FUMBLING WITH ELECTRIC METERS
Word on the street is that if you put a magnet to an electric meter, it will reduce the amount of energy usage on your electric meter. I looked into it and found some very detailed instructions on a website. Find them below. However, do be careful as there is a risk of getting done for illegal abstraction.
“You can save money if you can slow down the spinning of digital electric meters (such as smart meters and old electromechanical ones) with a neodymium magnet. The faster the meter spins, the higher your energy usage will be displayed on your bill, so slowing it down for a few seconds here and there might reduce the total amount you pay. This is because the smart meter will adjust its speed to match your average daily usage.
Here’s how to do it:
1) Locate the magnet which controls the switching of the meter from “read” mode to “standby” mode. It might be hidden behind a panel, so check all sides and the top of the meter. Also, remember that sometimes meters are insulated from the outside world by metal housings, so even if you located the right switch it might not work.
2) Attach the magnet to the outside of the meter, as close as possible to this switch (you can use tape or even sellotape if you like your gadgets to be permanent)
3) Now every time you want to slow it down, just wave this magnet near the meter and wait till the 7-segments display starts blinking; now you know that the current speed is 0.0 and the meter is in “standby” mode.
4) Wave again after a few seconds to turn back tinto “read” mode because the power company might start detecting malfunctions. If you do it too often – the power company will detect speed changes and will send someone to investigate what’s on there. It happens more quickly with old electromechanical meters (which are also more reliable when attacked by EMP).
5) Wave again to slow it down, etc. Repeat this five times, and you will get 1W usageage on your bill instead of 2-3 like in the example above. If you wave the magnet three more times (total of seven) before the power company gets suspicious, you’ll get 3 W instead of 7. The bigger the magnet is – the better for slowing meter; in most cases, even a very big one won’t be visible from the inside of your home unless your electric meter is located near where people can see it from outside through the window or similar opening. Also note that if your meter spins too fast, users might get suspicious because nothing in their home uses so much energy.”
NOTES TO END
As has been said, be careful, but have fun! Try and build up networks of solidarity with people that live close to you or who you feel comfortable with so that you can notify each other if you get in trouble or update each other when gas providers, landlords, bailiffs etc. are snooping around your local area. Also, be mindful that this is not a complete list. Have further chats with people you trust or do your own searching to discover new ways of getting your basic needs met whilst breaking the system intent on upping our bills and emptying our pockets.
xxx