Bristol: Can't pay, won't pay - from poll tax struggles to resisting recession
Justin Thyme | 19.04.2009 17:17 | Analysis | History | Social Struggles
As the impact of the capitalist crisis kicks in and more and more of us are adversely affected - growing debt, loss of jobs and homes, unable to keep paying our inflated bills etc - we ask what can we do to resist? Many people have no experience of mass campaigns by working class people, and for many older comrades such campaigns are a distant memory! This event is intended to help us learn from recent history and kickstart the debate how how we resist the most recent attacks on us.
event flyer
Thursday 23 April 2009, 7.30pm
The Cube Cinema, Dove Street South, Bristol, BS2
Come and hear from speakers and join in the debate:
- Danny Burns, local anti-poll tax activist & author of The Poll Tax Rebellion (AK Press & Attack International, 1992). Danny was a prominent activist in the Avon Anti-Poll Tax Federation, and an independent member of the All Britain Anti-Poll Tax Federation national executive.
- A member of the East Bristol Debtors Alliance (EBDA), a small local group offering advice and support around debt issues and seeking to build solidarity.
- Plus see the famous poll tax film ‘Battle of Trafalgar’ (Beyond TV, 1990, UK, 54 minutes). This film provides an eyewitness acccount of the massive national anti-poll tax demo in London on 31 March 1990 which turned into a major riot as the cops lost control of central London. If you thought the recent anti-G20 London emos were rough, you aint seen nothing yet! Be shocked as the cops drive vans, cars and horses at speed into packed crowds. Cheer as the crowd responds and sends the cops running. Remember that when we are on the streets in sufficient numbers then anything is possible.
The current economic crisis has been largely created by the basic logic, or raison d’etre, of capital, namely the requirement of bankers, corporations, and stock market speculators to always seek a profit, at any cost to others. Helped along by political misjudgements and deregulation of the financial sector, the promise of continual profit growth and constant personal prosperity has been shown up to be the unsustainable myth it always was. By its nature, capitalism is crisis. This crisis is hitting ordinary people hard as we are forced to pay for their crisis, with rising unemployment and home repossessions, cuts in pay and public services, attacks on benefits, worthless pensions and savings, increases in poverty, and tax rises to come. But we don’t have to just sit back and take it…
19 years ago when the Tories tried to introduce the community charge, or Poll Tax, in England & Wales, they were met with a campaign of mass grassroots community resistance, in the form of anti-poll tax unions. About 17 million people refused to pay, and used a diverse range of tactics to confront the state and tax collectors. What can we learn from that campaign that could help us in the current crisis?
More information from
http://www.eb-da.org and http://www.bristolanarchistbookfair.org
Thursday 23 April 2009, 7.30pm.
£2/3 on the door (nobody turned away due to lack of funds)
The Cube Cinema, Dove Street South, Bristol, BS2
The Cube Cinema, Dove Street South, Bristol, BS2
Come and hear from speakers and join in the debate:
- Danny Burns, local anti-poll tax activist & author of The Poll Tax Rebellion (AK Press & Attack International, 1992). Danny was a prominent activist in the Avon Anti-Poll Tax Federation, and an independent member of the All Britain Anti-Poll Tax Federation national executive.
- A member of the East Bristol Debtors Alliance (EBDA), a small local group offering advice and support around debt issues and seeking to build solidarity.
- Plus see the famous poll tax film ‘Battle of Trafalgar’ (Beyond TV, 1990, UK, 54 minutes). This film provides an eyewitness acccount of the massive national anti-poll tax demo in London on 31 March 1990 which turned into a major riot as the cops lost control of central London. If you thought the recent anti-G20 London emos were rough, you aint seen nothing yet! Be shocked as the cops drive vans, cars and horses at speed into packed crowds. Cheer as the crowd responds and sends the cops running. Remember that when we are on the streets in sufficient numbers then anything is possible.
The current economic crisis has been largely created by the basic logic, or raison d’etre, of capital, namely the requirement of bankers, corporations, and stock market speculators to always seek a profit, at any cost to others. Helped along by political misjudgements and deregulation of the financial sector, the promise of continual profit growth and constant personal prosperity has been shown up to be the unsustainable myth it always was. By its nature, capitalism is crisis. This crisis is hitting ordinary people hard as we are forced to pay for their crisis, with rising unemployment and home repossessions, cuts in pay and public services, attacks on benefits, worthless pensions and savings, increases in poverty, and tax rises to come. But we don’t have to just sit back and take it…
19 years ago when the Tories tried to introduce the community charge, or Poll Tax, in England & Wales, they were met with a campaign of mass grassroots community resistance, in the form of anti-poll tax unions. About 17 million people refused to pay, and used a diverse range of tactics to confront the state and tax collectors. What can we learn from that campaign that could help us in the current crisis?
More information from
http://www.eb-da.org and http://www.bristolanarchistbookfair.org Thursday 23 April 2009, 7.30pm.
£2/3 on the door (nobody turned away due to lack of funds)
The Cube Cinema, Dove Street South, Bristol, BS2
Justin Thyme
Homepage:
http://www.bristolanarchistbookfair.org
Comments
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It all depends...
19.04.2009 22:23
It is deplorable what some people have spent their money on. I had one woman on the phone saying their remortgaged their house to pay for a foreign holiday. Many people have bought new cars which they have sold, leaving themselves in debt. I remember another women, whos home fashion business went under, she had a tight mortgage and had borrowed forty thousand for all the trappings.
Justine