Nathan

Well done on your article. I think you have conveyed the feelings of many people who are sort of on the fringe of getting involved with some sort of underground/revolutionary activity, but the only outlet appears to be the SWP/GR. You are wondering why there isnt more stuff like Squall, Schnews, etc near where you live, and how you could help distribute more stuff along the lines of EZLN, anarchism, whatever.

The only thing I can reccomend is that you go and do it yourself. That's the beauty of people getting involved with whats going on at the moment. You DONT need any sort of political organisation to spread information and hope. DONT rely on the SWP/GR for activism. There are lots of good people involved with them but ultimately (from my experience anyway) they're way too SERIOUS with everything. Making changes to the way the world works should be FUN as well, and the SWP/GR really take any sort of individuality out of it all, with the same old sloganeering and rhetoric, the same old tired answers of socialism.

If you have posted to Indymedia.org then presumably you are somewhat internet-savvy. You can easily start up a freesheet or fanzine yourself in your local area. Dont wait for someone else to do it! You can pull a load of information from the Net about different groups and movements, and reproduce it and distribute it in your local cafes, bookshops, record shops, schools, wherever you think people might be interested in it (and not!). Instead of waiting around to 'join' something, create something yourself! You'll be surprised how many people get in touch with you and are willing to share experiences, and other useful information such as technical help.

I live in Dublin, which generally doesnt have that much history of 'individual' activity along the lines of Schnews etc. The SWP (and now GR) do tend to monopolise events in the city. I do a freesheet every so often and this year we had our first critical mass around the city, which I am heavily involved with. We had seven or eight of them over the summer, all really cool, the best one was on September 22nd, where we had a game of street football and volleyball, where about 400 people showed up. This was amazing, and about six of us got together and organised this without any SWP involvement (in fact I even mailed GR asking them to send out a mail about it to the Dublin mailing list and they didnt, I am sorry I even bothered in the first place).

The freesheet is all original material but recently I have been collating other material and plan to do a small distro of situationist and 'type 3 anarchism' (bob block, hakim bey, etc) pamphlets (whenever the cash rolls in!).

Anyway I better get back to work. Bottom line: GO AND DO SOMETHING CONSTRUCTIVE YOURSELF. You will feel empowered and you can build contacts, and its work that you actually get a buzz out of (makes the week worth getting through after all the 9 to 5 bullshit).

Get in touch personally if you want.  the.path@gurlmail.com

regards

SWP are on the fringe they are becoming respectable.
Why do you need to be in a group ? you have your own opinion.
Groups are dangerous they get investigated by for example the cops and intelligence agencies, they get infiltrated and they get set up. half the shit circulating about the SWP is probably started by government agencies. You can't be 100% sure of anything. expect that our whole christian society is based upon a fairy tale, ie bullshit , as the right takes over people like Berluscroni start talking about christian values et all. The right reverand tony blur and his team of tory drag queens will no doubt take the christian fundamentalists into the next war singing and rejoicing praising the lord, while hundreds of thousands possibly millions are slaughtered.
CNN get the TV exclusive and the Rothschild finance both sides as they did in the first and second wars. Then we get a period of rebuilding the sons and daughters of 68" the new middle classes / radical chic get yer tits pierced and be cool while you can and so on to WW4 ...
Things are about to take a giant step backwards the economy isgoing tpo collapse, eg a lot of people will lose everything and a very small group of elite will gain everything .
Forget about conspiracy theories concentrate of the conspiracy facts. that is where we are heading ..

Nathan,
Some of us - wombles and other anarchos - did come down to the GR comference with leaflets on what we were doing in Brighton and a list of other groups, for people who wanted to get involved but didn't know where to start, and who were going to GR for a lack of anything else. Sorry we missed you. I've pasted the names and contacts of other groups below for you . A good place to start might be the white overalls egroup - there are many people on there from all over the country who can't get to meetings in London. As a result of this, people have already set up their own wombles groups in Bristol and Cardiff. To subscribe post a blank email to  maydaywhiteoveralls-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Also, Haringey solidarity group and Schnews both have databases on their websites of groups and campaigns all around the country. Anarchism 2001 is a good opportunity to meet people and find out about different groups.

Its also worth making the point that when SWP set up GR they already had SWP groups all around the country and each of those groups where able to set up a GR group. GR are financialy backed by the SWP who own a printing press. This means that it is easy for them to produce lots of glossy leaflets at the drop of a hat, and thay have access to money for coaches etc. Also people have to pay a tenner to join GR so they are better off than most anarcho groups who don't charge people to join and rely on whip-rounds and benefit gigs. I suppose though that most anarcho / anti-capitalist / anti-authoritarian groups are not as rich or organised as GR/SWP but our movement has a creativity and diversity that they lack. We don't tell people what to do. We don't have leaders. And most importantly we do believe in direct action which they really don't.

White Overalls Movement Building Libertarian Effective Struggle [WOMBLES]
Website: www.wombleaction.mrnice.net
Email:  wombles@hushmail.com
Phone: 07960 973 847

Haringey Solidarity Group, PO.Box 2474, London N8 Tel 020-8374 5027
 http://home.clara.net/hsg/hhome.html
produce The Agitator - a database of political, community and action groups.

Anarchist Federation
Address: AF c/o 84b Whitechapel High Street, London E1 7QX
Website: www.afed.org.uk
Email:  anarchistfederation@bigfoot.com

Solidarity Federation
Address: PO Box 1681
London, N8 7LE.
Tel. 0208 374 5027
Website: www.solfed.org.uk

Class War
Email:  classwaruk@hotmail.com

West London Anarchists and Radicals [WAR]
Email:  war1921@altavista.com

Reclaim the Streets
Address: PO BOX 9656
London, N4 4JY
Website: www.reclaimthestreets.net
Email:  rts@gn.apc.org

56a Infoshop
Tel: 020 7281
Email: 462156@ infoshop
Address: 56a Crampton Street
London, SE17

Don’t forget Anarchism 2001 on October 20th at the Camden Centre.
Featuring workshops, lectures, bookfair, and Videos from Anarchist and Autonomist groups from all over Europe and beyond. see
www.anarchistbookfair.org

Earth First! PO Box 487, Norwich NR2 3AL Tel 01603 219811  http://www.eco-action.org/efau

Peoples Global Action Helping to coordinate international days of action  http://www.agp.org


SchNEWS c/o on the fiddle, PO Box 2600, Brighton BN2 2DX. Tel 01273 685913,
www.schnews.org.uk.
SchNEWS publishes a weekly direct action newsletter and yearly compilation book which also includes a comprehensive contacts database.
Website has lots of 'how to' articles (like, how to run a local campaign, how to do an office occupation - click on DIY on the home page) as well as database of over 500 groups and party and protest section with contacts of where to find out about what's going on in your area.

Just to second the comments already made; the best way to do it is just to take the plunge and do things yourself. That doesn't mean you can't use services offered by other groups....I went on a GR coach to Brighton for example, and I have no problem with that...but you don't have to JOIN Globalise Resistance for that. You're a free agent...co-operate with whoever you want!

Matt

I was once very politically active, organising meetings, writing letters and attending demonstrations. After getting caught in the middle of several confrontations between thugs in the police and some hardcore boozers and sociopaths at several demos, I started being put off.

I got corralled by the police in demonstrations and had a few broken bottles thrown at me by the hooligans that hijacked demos. Mass protest never gets us anywhere and don't help us glimpse the possibility of a better world. Ultimately, the point is lost and we've wasted a lot of time standing around being Section 60'd.

My attitude now is that I'm fucked off with the system of violence and capitalism, but I'm no longer prepared to get beaten up because some fuckwits want a fight with the pigs. Demos have also been infected with sectarianism and this drive to recruit - not just by the SWP and other Trots, but also anarchist groups. I'm really totally disillusioned with it and considering the miserable failure of the DSEI and Labour conference protests to attract significant support, I think I'm not the only one.

What the hell is a protest for anyway? It doesn't lead to anything and the government is certainly not interested in changing its course. Do you really think Blair gives a flying fuck if 100 or 100,000 people demonstrate against the coming genocide in Asia? He'll do it anyway, we'll have to foot the bill and cope with the consequences long after he retires.

So, the world be damned. There really isn't any point to protest. However, I'll always carry on my own personal campaign of civil disobedience and passive resistance. I'm looking forward to the introduction of the ID cards under the pretense that they will stop people from bombing the City. This will give all of us the chance to resist without violent confrontation and truly scupper government policy, just as it did during the poll tax boycott.

As someone who believes passionately in building non-hierarchical opposition to global capitalism I find the whole issue of recruitment extremely difficult. On the one hand one wishes to attract people like Nathan into active campaigning on the other hand we must avoid simply being an institution which places its own self reproduction above that of its political aims. The SWP is clearly geared to establishing itself as a dominant brand. In this it is highly effective - notice, for instance, its ability to churn out vast numbers of posters on whatever the latest issue is, each with its logo at the bottom. It is crude but it is also effective. The SWP knows it must attract a high number of new recruits each month in order to replace those who become dissilusioned and leave at an equal rate. The sad part is so many join the SWP or its front organision Globalise Resistance who are not interested in being ranted at or wasting time selling newspapers but simply wish to make a change. They join because the SWP/GR go out of their way to catch them. After a while they become disillusioned and many drop out of political activity altogether. I've seen it happen. So the question is should other groups spend more time recruiting people and risk becomming like the SWP or should they avoid going down this road and chance losing potential campaigners?

What do people think?

Nice one, Nathan, on you piece. spot on mate. I share your frustrations. I recently met some people who live not too far from you and will ask them to contact you. In the meantime, the anarchist bookfare is taking place in London on 20th october, which might be a good opportunity to meet people in your area.
You might even want to start a group in guildford. Maybe check-out the university, knock-out some leaflets and see what sort of a response you get. You could also get in-touch with Guildford hunt sabs, as some of them will no doubt be involved in general anarchist stuff. See Schnews for a contact.
Checkout the bookfare webbie at: www.anarchistbookfare.org
Love and Rage motherfucker!

As is being said you can stick up a notice on things such as Indymedia looking for people in your area, and perhaps also contact various groups such as SolFed, Earth First! whoever to see if they have contacts in your area. Then get together with the people you have, hopefully, found and form your own group. In regard to the Anarchist Federation leaflet if it is the 'Desist' one I've got to agree with you, it's better to show another way rather than just slagg off the wrong way.

Okay, some points.
I am a free spirit. I'm still learning. I don't have the answers but some anarchist ideas attract me. I'm just a student who generally finds little debate usually, but I try to educate people, tell them what I find out. Indymedia has been a good help- but for a person just joining the `movement' the sectarian thing comes as a bit daunting. So, what do I do? Plan to go to the globalise reistance counter conference. I tell some in my circle of friends, and they start saying `Ahh it's the fucking SWP!' This is all new to me. Guy was nice on the phone in any case.
Good speakers and good people. Outside I'm harassed by people who try to sell me their product...
It fucks me off, I'm into the spirit of it and all, but really, do you wanna drive people away? Get some pretty irritating people, `do you wanna join the socialists?' I say, i AM a socialist. I don't need some badge and some pretty poor literature to know that. Anyway, I live in Brighton, and it's hard buying all this fair trade stuff and not from supermarkets and having any money, especially not to give to some party. Suddenly, in the resisiting Mclabour bit, got the sparticists slagging everyone off, and maybe that's a bit healthy, but in something I've just joined in the last couple of years, I feel like it turns everyone against each other. I went a talk on the sixties, the lessons we can learn- it was all about the sectarian aspect, people dividing, and we should build a broad movement. Of course there are limitations, and we don't want our ideals compromised..I'm confused too but I know what I'm against. I live in Brighton. Don't know what the figures were. 1,000-12,000. Strange range.
Tony Blair gives me nightmares. Those signs outside the conference were sickly. Brighton and Hove welcomes new labour. I don't! Liked the chants. I'd like to talk to one of those policemen about the issues..or maybe not. I have respect for everyone who means well but thinking about actions, by shoving stuff down people's noses, the SWP et al might put people off..start alienating people. Fair credit- great conference, the organisation was good. But, let all spirits thrive, diversity is such an advantage. It was so good to see people of all ages, backgrounds. Heartening and makes me quite tearful when I think about it. All us who care outside in the pouring rain, in comparison to the lies and hypocrisy of those inside, holding their humanitarian facades for the cameras, as we're belittled. Love you all, brothers and sisters, I just don't want us to alienate each other as opinions form or the system tries to weaken us..Lets keep up the struggle. Lets not get trapped in their net.

The Swp et al really shove stuff down people's noses. A hard task indeed!






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