Greens & SWP
Independent Anarchist | 06.12.2001 14:36
Regularly the SWP get the Greens to speak at their public meetings. Why is this?
Here are a few possible reasons:
1. Gives them a sense of respectability. The SWP are a middle-class student dominated group. The Greens give them a sense of respectability due to their electoral success.
2. Easier to recruit new members. If a public meeting is advertised with a prominant Green a larger group are likely to turn up. By sharing a platform with the Greens middle class people are not as quickly turned off by the words "Socialist" and "Worker".
3. Some SWP members think that "Socialism" means "extremely liberal on social issues". The Greens are seen by many as liberal/left, therefore the Greens are allies for SWP.
4. SWP is a middle class "anti-establishment" party, so are the Greens.
5. A SWP Covergroup can be made to seem wide and diverse.
6. They would not like to host a public meeting with a Socialist group (or any other working class campaigners) as they would run rings around them and expose them as a Party that flit from issue to issue at the drop of a hat.
What do you think? are the Greens aware of this? I'm sure they are, and they get a bit of "anti-establishment" credibility by sharing platforms with SWP.
Here are a few possible reasons:
1. Gives them a sense of respectability. The SWP are a middle-class student dominated group. The Greens give them a sense of respectability due to their electoral success.
2. Easier to recruit new members. If a public meeting is advertised with a prominant Green a larger group are likely to turn up. By sharing a platform with the Greens middle class people are not as quickly turned off by the words "Socialist" and "Worker".
3. Some SWP members think that "Socialism" means "extremely liberal on social issues". The Greens are seen by many as liberal/left, therefore the Greens are allies for SWP.
4. SWP is a middle class "anti-establishment" party, so are the Greens.
5. A SWP Covergroup can be made to seem wide and diverse.
6. They would not like to host a public meeting with a Socialist group (or any other working class campaigners) as they would run rings around them and expose them as a Party that flit from issue to issue at the drop of a hat.
What do you think? are the Greens aware of this? I'm sure they are, and they get a bit of "anti-establishment" credibility by sharing platforms with SWP.
Independent Anarchist
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