Total Failure of Class War Politics in Britain
Tool Kit | 29.09.2011 00:02 | Public sector cuts | Workers' Movements
The title of this post is meant to be ironic, as the Class War as it's fought both in Britain today and world-wide has been wildly successful, but Class War anarchism is a boat that's sunk...
1. 38 Degrees petition against stealth privatisation of and cuts to the NHS - 439,166 signatures
2. Class War anarchist Ian Bone's petition against Eton private school - 20 signatures
3. Class War anarchist group closes in May 2011 (with just 5 members)
4. Poll which found 71% of Britons now see themselves as Middle Class
The title of this post is meant to be ironic, as the Class War as it's fought both in Britain today and world-wide has been wildly successful. The ruling class seek to destroy the historic achievements of working-class and liberal-reformist political movements, by wrecking public services, creating unemployment (to use unemployment as a selective and strategic political weapon), and using the tax revenues that fund any remaining services to steer billions into the private corporations which they own and which they use to replace the Welfare State's traditional service providers.
Working-class acquiescence to, and (even worse) support for this programme, was achieved by a culturally sophisticated political strategy, which, rather than stealing from the rich to give to the poor, after the model immortalised in traditional British popular culture, instead stole from the State to give to poor, through a daring sleight-of-hand in which the British proletariat were tricked into buying Council Houses which (in theory at least) they already owned. Despite the damage inflicted on the working-class by public service cuts and unemployment, the Monetarist programme was so successful that it was able keep the Tory government that implemented it in power for 18 years, and able to ensure that their New Labour and Coalition successors continue the same basic programme. As the Situationists showed, part of the success of the long-term ruling-class project has been to convince workers that the ruling-class has become (to a degree) democratic, by exaggerating the extent to which, rather than being aristocratic, the ruling-class now appears to be at least partly meritocratic.
In contrast, Anarchist ideas are respected by a significant minority of British people, as a profoundly idealistic expression of the best aspects of human nature, but mocked in equal measure for their failure to realistically address problems of anti-social crime or to address practical issues of social infrastructure. Most Anarchist ideology was forged in the heat of Victorian-era industrialisations, when the State oppressed and taxed without providing public services, but today Anarchist thinking is out of touch with pragmatic realities of the Welfare State, democratic liberalism and consumer society. Faced as we are with crises in part created by the rapid erosion of that Welfare State, Anarchist dogma hasn't even caught-up enough to resolve the contradiction between opposing the State and supporting Welfare, leaving potential supporters confused, alienated and even worse just plain bored by such self-evidently contradictory aspects of Anarchist thinking.
As a case in point, the first issue of Ian Bone's Class War newspaper suggested that "most Anarchists are just liberals (and) those of us who believe in class war shouldn't hesitate to give them the boot", and, as shown above, the long-term political results of that strategy speak for themselves. The American writer T.E. Carhart reports a French aphorism that "life is a river, and we all have to find a boat that floats". Class War anarchism is a boat that's sunk. The purpose of this post is not however to promote division, disillusionment or apathy - the purpose of this post is to encourage radicals to throw their weight behind political strategies that stand the best chance of actually working.
____________________________________________
State strategies to wreck UK Uncut, Dale Farm & March 26 etc...
https://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2011/09/485095.html
The Anti-Cuts movement will succeed if it defends true democracy...
https://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2011/09/485130.html
Occupy! Manchester - 2nd October Tory Party Conference...
https://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2011/09/484933.html?c=on#comments
2. Class War anarchist Ian Bone's petition against Eton private school - 20 signatures
3. Class War anarchist group closes in May 2011 (with just 5 members)
4. Poll which found 71% of Britons now see themselves as Middle Class
The title of this post is meant to be ironic, as the Class War as it's fought both in Britain today and world-wide has been wildly successful. The ruling class seek to destroy the historic achievements of working-class and liberal-reformist political movements, by wrecking public services, creating unemployment (to use unemployment as a selective and strategic political weapon), and using the tax revenues that fund any remaining services to steer billions into the private corporations which they own and which they use to replace the Welfare State's traditional service providers.
Working-class acquiescence to, and (even worse) support for this programme, was achieved by a culturally sophisticated political strategy, which, rather than stealing from the rich to give to the poor, after the model immortalised in traditional British popular culture, instead stole from the State to give to poor, through a daring sleight-of-hand in which the British proletariat were tricked into buying Council Houses which (in theory at least) they already owned. Despite the damage inflicted on the working-class by public service cuts and unemployment, the Monetarist programme was so successful that it was able keep the Tory government that implemented it in power for 18 years, and able to ensure that their New Labour and Coalition successors continue the same basic programme. As the Situationists showed, part of the success of the long-term ruling-class project has been to convince workers that the ruling-class has become (to a degree) democratic, by exaggerating the extent to which, rather than being aristocratic, the ruling-class now appears to be at least partly meritocratic.
In contrast, Anarchist ideas are respected by a significant minority of British people, as a profoundly idealistic expression of the best aspects of human nature, but mocked in equal measure for their failure to realistically address problems of anti-social crime or to address practical issues of social infrastructure. Most Anarchist ideology was forged in the heat of Victorian-era industrialisations, when the State oppressed and taxed without providing public services, but today Anarchist thinking is out of touch with pragmatic realities of the Welfare State, democratic liberalism and consumer society. Faced as we are with crises in part created by the rapid erosion of that Welfare State, Anarchist dogma hasn't even caught-up enough to resolve the contradiction between opposing the State and supporting Welfare, leaving potential supporters confused, alienated and even worse just plain bored by such self-evidently contradictory aspects of Anarchist thinking.
As a case in point, the first issue of Ian Bone's Class War newspaper suggested that "most Anarchists are just liberals (and) those of us who believe in class war shouldn't hesitate to give them the boot", and, as shown above, the long-term political results of that strategy speak for themselves. The American writer T.E. Carhart reports a French aphorism that "life is a river, and we all have to find a boat that floats". Class War anarchism is a boat that's sunk. The purpose of this post is not however to promote division, disillusionment or apathy - the purpose of this post is to encourage radicals to throw their weight behind political strategies that stand the best chance of actually working.
____________________________________________
State strategies to wreck UK Uncut, Dale Farm & March 26 etc...
https://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2011/09/485095.html
The Anti-Cuts movement will succeed if it defends true democracy...
https://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2011/09/485130.html
Occupy! Manchester - 2nd October Tory Party Conference...
https://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2011/09/484933.html?c=on#comments
Tool Kit
Comments
Hide the following 37 comments
If Anarchism ever changed anything they'd make it illegal
29.09.2011 00:44
The US gave African Americans the vote in I believe 1870, but (according to Wikipedia) from 1890 onwards many Southern states passed constitutions that disfranchised blacks, also many poor whites, while govt dirty tricks and KKK violence were used to prevent black people from voting, right up to and including all the "hanging chad" stuff that got George Bush elected (so traditional anarchist wisdom on this subject is simplistic to put it mildly)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voter_suppression
Ian Stone
what is to be done?
29.09.2011 00:58
the anarchist lenin
What is to be done
29.09.2011 01:34
I hate the SWP ideologically but credit due at least they're together enough to actually organise the protests that so many anarchos bitch and moan about, but it's an open question whether their core ideology alienates more protestors than it attracts. As it happens I posted on Indymedia suggesting radicals support a different group that has 12,000+ members, as opposed to Class War's 5 (now 0) members, but Indymedia spiked it for supporting a "hierarchical" group. At the risk of getting spiked again other groups that seem to doing the business include UK Uncut, Coalition of Resistance, Keep our NHS Public and 38 Degrees - no-one's ever above criticism but on balance these groups seem mostly excellent
Oi Oi
Re: Oi Oi
29.09.2011 02:28
The reason we use indymedia to avoid the wittering of these useless liberals, the quote from good ol' crazy Uncle Ian Bone at the end of the original article would seem to relate to you rather well...
Anon
First as facrce never as tragedy
29.09.2011 09:53
2. The fact the bone can colonise, granted an ever decreasing corner, an anarchist aesthetic and call it his own is bewildering.
3. Most anarchists are radical liberals
4. class struggle anarchism is an much a lifestyle as any other form of lifestyle politics
5. Class happens, anarchism does not.
6. It's comedy, freddie starr slapstick, desperate to attain the ultimate in class war politics - a mention in the tabloids/broadsheets.
7. Ian Bone is an unpaid publicity agent for Ian Bone. Anarchism is simply his tool of choice for that endeavour
Miners sons
Troll?
29.09.2011 09:58
Yeah, right. It's doing a very good job of it though.
anon
anarchism today
29.09.2011 10:35
SWP for all their faults are at least showing clear unity and action in the face of the state's repression.
anarchist
soooo?
29.09.2011 13:17
1. 38 Degrees petition against stealth privatisation of and cuts to the NHS - 439,166 signatures
Voices of against NHS privatisation were echoed in many mainstream leftist medium, such as Guardian. The privatisation of public services is one of the kind of topic, that is always gets media attention, because in the grand scheme of things, capitalism are usually associated with private companies and the state is never seen as a major capital owner. So, we have been taught that the less government run business there are, the "more capitalism" we have. Easy equation for the democratically anesthetised masses. You know, there a tendency, that economical, political books are sold in fewer numbers, than "How To Be a Millionaire for Dummies". Let's just do a quick reality check of Marx: "The ideas of the ruling class are in every epoch the ruling ideas, i.e. the class which is the ruling material force of society, is at the same time its ruling intellectual force." Check. If the ruling class sets the ideological premises of capitalism, "anti-capitalism" of the masses will also use the same ideological scheme, even if in the opposite direction.
Strategically speaking, communism should be constituted by actions that sabotages the very premises of the ruling ideology, that is, the categories of capitalist ideology.
2. Class War anarchist Ian Bone's petition against Eton private school - 20 signatures
Who is Ian Bone (poetic question). For one, he isn't anything to anarchism, neither me, neither Kropotkin, neither Marx. Anarchism is a set of practices of those, who wishes to abolish capitalist relations, and bring about a community based society. For second: Such a petition is already doomed to fail, because it involves only a few. If Ian Bone's petition is considered as the highest impact action of anarchists in the UK in the recent times, it certainly poor performance. But, Ian Bone, and the practices of Class War Federation are that of the past, and there are many other kind of organisations, strains, and movements which constitutes the majority of of this "significant minority" of anarchism. In the recent year we witnessed the rising of the anarchist activities, the appearance of black bloc tactic, rioting, identifying the police as enemy and so on. These are considerably part of the anarchist movement and even if they don't form coherent organisations, they had more impact than this petition. Yeah, Class War perhaps is dead, but class war is still going on as you noticed, and class war minded anarchists perhaps doesn't care about Ian Bone at all. Including me.
3. Class War anarchist group closes in May 2011 (with just 5 members)
Every organisation has its life time. Class War had its peak in the early 90's, and as organisation usually do, they stuck with their organisation as a their holy cow, and that kills the movement. I'm not entirely anti-org here, but it definitely true, that sticking to organisations is the way of strangle a movement. So, RIP CW, it was a good joke. We need different tools now!
4. Poll which found 71% of Britons now see themselves as Middle Class
Refer to the #1. Middle class ideology that pestered mostly the "developed industrial societies" in order create a living shield for the bosses. And it is working, because of the caste structure of the class societies. Being working class is a shame: one only could wish for a more sophisticated existence than that.
Following your arguments, I was under the impression although you reveal some of the contradiction of the anarchist organisations (defending Welfare State but actions against the State), but you fail to give any analysis or strategical overview of the situation. Let's just pick the Welfare State issue.
In terms of class war, the Welfare State wasn't a gain but a weapon against the working class militancy. It isn't a gain because it isn't eliminate the wage work by any means, neither it gives a perspective to this goal. Thus welfare state was practical weapon, that helped to raise a fence between the working class and the ruling class with the help of a massive credit system which successfully isolated the strategical aims in the disguise of purely economical shift. Credit is a curious construct as it has already a built-in classification mechanism, where financial institutions are screening the applicants by their credit-worthiness and create layers of good debtors and bad debtors. Middle class can be more or less identified with the credit-worthy layer of the society who has none, or too little profit income to support herself without labour. There are many methods out there for the same purpose, but most of them can be traced back to this very mechanism. Welfare state was created out of sovereign debt as an investment and one way or an other, is maintained as taxation distributes the price of these services (the product) similarly to the trade union cash reserves for pension or health care. It is an enterprise that was set up in order to keep the working class militancy in check by restraining the effects of overexploitation (which is always occur without cross-bourgeois intervention and endanger the existence of the very working class that supposed to produce surplus and profit, and in addition, it was good classification system that united all capitalist interest in central institutions. The tax paying, interest paying working class, which made dependent not only to the wage labour, but of the state's public services, is the ideal exploited. Raising the life-expectancy of the working class people meant that intensive exploitation could go further than it could ever go during the 19th century, like the one that Marx describes as the natural limit of the working day. Without going in to further details of this complex process [in the framework of this comment], we can identify the Welfare State with all its credit scam as a weapon, an opium, which, if it is been cutting off from the masses, will end up in huge impact on the working class, and the middle class. This is the particular reason why most of the (non-Labour) left is in defense against the cuts, and committed to fight for it. Communism has no such a delusion, but there's an other force that impose itself upon the Welfare State: Democracy.
If anything is wrong with the organisational anarchism, that is the fetish of democracy, even if it gets it's modifier, like Real or Direct. Democracy as a tool or a particular ideological stream, is the expression of alienated relationships and as such, is dominated by quantitative practices, underlined in the "decision making". This of course neglect the fact the decision making and productive activities have to be somehow separated in our fight, and the hopefully coming next epoch. The quantitative thinking is a huge pressure especially groups who commit themselves to democratic rhetoric. You can read like this: "We want to raise the working class consciousness therefore we need to deal with their immediate issues. Communism is such a big project that it can't touch the reality of the working class individual as of yet, so participating in their defensive movements certainly gives us opportunity to get in touch with larger crowds of them." Now, you can see their point there, however, it leads to that orgs who are for class war anarchism, ending up as a special kind of activist layers within the democratic mechanisms. On the same end, where SWP, UK Uncut, etc.. So, as from the perspective of a class war advocate, I could conclude that it is not the trouble of class war analysis, it is the issue with the lack of wider strategical considerations. Seeking support, or acting directly (towards communism). The anticut movement is only seeking to end the tory government but to carry on with the more relaxed social policy of capitalism, therefore anarchism/communism supposed to ride the waves, but not getting flushed with it. We need to _act_ directly, but not against the government, not against the cuts, but for communism. Action instead of reaction. Sounds sectarian? Well, perhaps it is, but it is more effective, than seeking democratic consensus within the capitalist framework. Social-democracy anyone? You said that anarchism fails to address the real issues of the working class. Anarchism never was about that. It is addressing the need for communism and the lack of focus on this results a contradictory, weak, almost social-democrat scene.
Shelter of Crime
another interpretation
29.09.2011 16:07
2. Class War anarchist Ian Bone's petition against Eton private school - 20 signatures"
Maybe it's just a sign that the kind of people who would agree with the Class War petition don't have much faith in petitions as a tool for change, and therefore didn't bother signing?
c
Reply to Anon Re - The Green Party
29.09.2011 17:44
And yes it would be a mistake to conflate Ian Bone with Anarchism, his ideas do however characterise a particularly unsuccessful strain of Anarchist thought, which alienates far more people than it attracts.
Whether Ian Bone is (as was widely rumoured in the late 80s) an MI5 plant is an open question, but IMHO he almost completely destroyed Anarchism as a meaningful protest movement in the UK.
Reading Ian Bone's book (which IS good btw) I'm struck by how many of his stunts required dutch courage to see them through. You wouldn't drink-drive a car, so why drink-drive a political movement? Unless of course you WANT that movement to crash?
Oi Oi
Reply to Anon, re - promoting division
29.09.2011 17:51
In fact however what this post is doing is trying to stop misguided activists actively pissing-off idealistic young people for the crime of no longer being part of a culture that sees itself as being working-class
Oi Oi
Reply to Shelter of Crime
29.09.2011 18:14
Obviously there's quite alot more to your analysis, but if it STARTS with utter nonsense there's really no need to pick through all the rest of it, but, finally, if you really think the NHS was just a ploy to keep the workers pliant and prevent the glorious revolution, then please have the courage of your convictions NEVER use NHS services yourself
Star Trek
Re: Oi Oi - The Greens vs Class War
30.09.2011 01:32
And to clarify on the issue of The Greens, as I said, they mostly seem like well meaning, pleasant people but they're a POLITICAL PARTY! As an anarchist that means they pretty much turn me off. They can be as fluffy and liberal as they like but as a political party they're just wannabe oppressors as far as I'm concerned. If this is a tricky concept maybe try moving over to The Guardian's forums or something.
No Gods. No Masters.
Anon
Culture of Failure
30.09.2011 09:34
Ian Bone admits in his book that Class War's strategy (as I remember very well from the time) was to influence young punks who'd ALREADY been politicised by the anarchist/pacifist punk bank Crass, and turn them away from pacifism. To be fair, Class War was a brilliant newspaper, but the political philosophy it represents sucks. It may be that some people were "converted" to anarchism as well but a/ did that achieve anything? and b/ how many more people were actively put off?
The answer to that last question is in the screen-grabs at the top of this page
- If this is a tricky concept maybe try moving over to The Guardian's forums or something?
What, you mean if it's been shown that a particular Anarchist strategy has completely failed then Indymedia's way of dealing with that should be to insist anyone who wants to debate that failure shouldn't post on Indymedia? That, in itself, is another way perpetuating failure.
Oi Boy
I always liked the old Class War
30.09.2011 10:11
It went downhill in the 90s when it tried to go all intellectual with long boring articles on political theory.
But all good things come to an end, there is lots of excellent anarchist activity to replace it.
anon
Is Ian Bone a State plant?
30.09.2011 10:14
Which is why Ian took it there in the first place?!
If Ian takes openly homicidal banners to Eton again, in my opinion that proves he's a State plant, if he doesn't, then good luck to him
Growbag
Re: Oi Boy
30.09.2011 10:35
As for Ian, I really don't know anymore. I've heard every fucking theory from MI5 plant to mental old bastard and I don't know what to think.
Anon
Star Trek and the Welfare State
30.09.2011 10:52
BTW: "middle class bullshit" ... "don't use NHS" ... calm down, read and argue instead of throwing random abuses.
Shelter of Crime
Shelter of Crime
30.09.2011 11:46
The Welfare State is a set of institutions that the working-class movement created to use the resources that the State had taken from them to their own advantage. As for the rest of your argument, statements like "if anything is wrong with the organisational anarchism, that is the fetish of democracy, even if it gets it's modifier, like Real or Direct" (sic) are so flippin' garbled it's impossible to work out what it is you're even trying to say ....
Corn Dolly
325
30.09.2011 11:48
C_F_
On the NHS things
30.09.2011 12:43
Shelter of Crime
325 type
30.09.2011 12:51
SoC
Shelter
30.09.2011 12:59
Honestly, I give up mate, your posts are so bizarre I can't see how attempting rational debate will produce anything else from you except more incoherent weirdness
Julie Andrews
325
30.09.2011 13:03
C_F_
Advice to Ian Bone
30.09.2011 13:13
Ian, please remove those photos from your blog now and please don't take those banners to your next protest at Eton (unless you're actually working for the Daily Mail that is?!)
Fabric Live
Bizarreness and weirdness
30.09.2011 13:23
As long as workers are re-acting, we don't have any weapon in the class war, even the "single issues" are doomed to fail. Consider if a union wins the battle over payment, it is for sure that there gonna be some layoffs.
C_F_: No, I'm not member of 325, but it seemed that you addressed your post to me. However, even if you did not the post it self is just mindless labeling.
SoC
Anarchists who joined the Greens...
30.09.2011 15:29
The Spanish Anarchist CNT formed an alliance government in the early 1930s, and, AFTER the revolution in 1936, anarchists like Federica Montseny become Health Minister, Juan García Oliver become Minister of Justice, Joan Peiró become Minister of Industry, Segundo Blanco become Education Minister, and Melchor Rodríguez become head of prisons in Madrid. The Channel 4 documentary series on the Spanish Civil War interviewed the former Anarchist Minister of Finance, a lovely old lady who, at the time of interview, owned a stall on the fruit and veg market in Barcelona, sadly I forget her name. Similarly several Anarchists were leading figures in the revolutionary government set-up Fidel Castro. In the UK, Anarchist opposition to the State rarely stopped Anarchists from collecting State benefits or using the NHS, likewise, given that Anarchist dogma is clearly contributing not much to changing our present political situation here in the UK, maybe it's time to sacrifice a few holy cows and consider a re-think?
Carlisle
socialist worker burqa
30.09.2011 23:10
just buy a copy
of socialist worker!
socialist ed
Re: Carlisle
02.10.2011 03:55
Bakunin comes to mind:
"Freedom without socialism is privilege and injustice, socialism without freedom is slavery and brutality."
To be honest I think saying that the desire for an autonomous world is an anarchist "Holy Cow" suggests academic lack of understanding of anarchism that doesn't tally with your clear level of knowledge on various individuals. Not a disillusioned anarchist giving in to liberalism I hope!
Anon
Autonomous world
02.10.2011 09:55
Tools
Expanding the floor of the cage
02.10.2011 10:08
Or become 'ministers in government'?
Perhaps we should be promoting anarchist ideals more, as it seems most people know politicians and banks are the problem but can't see any alternatives.
abf
re voting
02.10.2011 13:43
1000s Demobbed and homeless and squatting - plenty of pissed off working class people who knew how to fight and many with guns.
Why do you think they also shifted the population out of the centre of London...
The state were also expecting a revolution aroungd the first world war.
Also why the fuck you having a go at 325 unless there is a load of liberal troll state wankers on Indymedia wanking in front of their fucking computers.
fuck me what a website. supposed to be indymedia not reposting the historical lies of corporate capitalism ( aka fascism) and statism.
an awful lot of trolls/state/corporate funded shit stirrers on here.
long term unemployed and very pissed off anarchist
Reply to pissed-off
02.10.2011 17:18
As for your attacks on Indymedia, get a life you prat. Just because you're "very pissed off" doesn't mean your statements are actually right
https://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2011/09/485178.html?c=on#comments
Clockwork
State Asset?
03.10.2011 12:48
"]Ian Bone is likely to be a paid agent-provocateur working for CI5 to bring about an apathy within the ranks of the working class people."
"As for Ian, I really don't know anymore. I've heard every fucking theory from MI5 plant to mental old bastard and I don't know what to think."
I have never heard any rumours that Ian Bone was a state asset. I was active in the anarchist movement in London in the late 80s, and they certainly weren't widely spread enough for me to hear them.
There were rumours about one person in the orbit of Class War, which in my opinion had some substance behind them. It wasn't Ian though.
I know Ian personally, as I would imagine most people who were anarchists in London in the late 80s would, but have never been in agreement with his politics and have often been extremely critical of them.
To be honest, I find it highly doubtful that there were rumours circulating to this effect in the late 1980s, and think that it is pretty libelous to suggest that there were.
Devrim Valerian
Devrim Valerian
CI5 is a fictional organisation from the TV Series The Professionals
03.10.2011 18:56
"Ian Bone is likely to be a paid agent-provocateur working for CI5 to bring about an apathy within the ranks of the working class people."
Statements like this just make Anarchists look like a laughing stock. Please stop.
anarchist
Ian Bone propaganda FAIL
22.10.2011 11:20
Doyle
488,977 signatures
22.10.2011 19:30
Get down to the occupations in London
Iggy Pop