Reformism sails under many different flags of convenience – liberalism, socialism, Trotskyism, eco-activism – but the end result is always the same: the maintenance in power of the fascist gang that is nowadays referred to as the “Labour Party”.
Eighteen months ago, the cops predicted riots on the streets if Britain went to war with Iraq. They feared that tens of thousands would march on London and sack the city in an all-night festival of mayhem and destruction. Downing Street would be attacked with bricks and bottles. Parliament would be pelted with Molotov cocktails. Ministers would be dragged from their cars and subjected to a beating at the hands of enraged mobs. “This is going to be worse than the Poll Tax”, as one senior officer put it.
However, they underestimated the persistence and creativity of their friends in the Stop the War Coalition, who, in the space of a few short weeks, managed to transform the British anti-war movement into a mouthpiece for all the middle class day-trippers of the masturbatory ‘Left’.
No one noticed the proletariat quietly jumping ship, or that the few thousand militants who remain are the same blithering idiots who organised the opposition to the Falklands War, the Gulf War, the Kosovo war etc with precisely zero success (unless, of course, success is measured in terms of members recruited and papers sold).
Where were the trade unions while Iraqi prisoners were being tortured and herded into concentration camps, while women and children were massacred, while whole cities were flattened with British bombs? The answer is that they were there all the time, SUPPORTING the government. Who can forget the teachers’ union condemning walkouts by secondary school pupils in the first week of war? The intervention of bureaucrats spells disaster for any social movement. What can be expected of a set-up that demands only your vote, your signature on a piece of paper, and a few minutes of your attention at a Labour Day rally?
Trafalgar Square – once the battleground of the revolutionary proletariat – is now the favoured stomping ground of a formidable caste of managerial specialists. They call for “direct action” with a straight face, only to tell the workers that “direct action” means thousands standing obediently like cattle at the feeding trough of ideology. And let there be no mistake, hecklers won’t be tolerated – we’ve plenty of stewards to ensure public order.
So-called ‘rainbow coalitions’ are never what they seem. Behind the innocent-sounding rhetoric lies a swamp of power-mongering, careerism and bureaucratic attitudes. Who can forget that Blair campaigned in 1982 on a CND ticket? Or that Peter Hain was once a celebrated activist in the anti-apartheid struggle? As for Galloway, he is a miserable turd floating in the bowl of the utterly discredited parliamentary ‘Left’: If only someone would pull the chain and put us all out of our misery.
Conservatives have learned the lesson far better than anyone on the British Left: direct action pays. “Farmers For Action” are on the right track. As one of their spokesmen recently declared: “With five thousand armed farmers we will storm Westminster and topple the Blair regime.” These days you are more likely to encounter the Special Branch in the cowshed than on the campus, and with good reason.
The future doesn’t belong to the likes of Respect – despite their rabble-rousing, political parties have never managed to capture the mood of the people. (The last European elections saw a turnout of 19%.)
And what of the 81% who reject their spoon-fed dose of ideology? What of the hooligans, the dole-scroungers, the inner-city kids, the ranks of the bored and the disillusioned who fill our streets awaiting their moment? At the beginning of the war, I overheard an argument on Parliament Square between a young Muslim woman and two white youths. The Muslim woman was berating the white youths for their lack of interest in the destruction of the National Museum in Baghdad. “We don’t give a fuck about civilisation,” replied one of the boys, “Let it burn.”
Eighteen months ago, the cops predicted riots on the streets if Britain went to war with Iraq. They feared that tens of thousands would march on London and sack the city in an all-night festival of mayhem and destruction. Downing Street would be attacked with bricks and bottles. Parliament would be pelted with Molotov cocktails. Ministers would be dragged from their cars and subjected to a beating at the hands of enraged mobs. “This is going to be worse than the Poll Tax”, as one senior officer put it.
However, they underestimated the persistence and creativity of their friends in the Stop the War Coalition, who, in the space of a few short weeks, managed to transform the British anti-war movement into a mouthpiece for all the middle class day-trippers of the masturbatory ‘Left’.
No one noticed the proletariat quietly jumping ship, or that the few thousand militants who remain are the same blithering idiots who organised the opposition to the Falklands War, the Gulf War, the Kosovo war etc with precisely zero success (unless, of course, success is measured in terms of members recruited and papers sold).
Where were the trade unions while Iraqi prisoners were being tortured and herded into concentration camps, while women and children were massacred, while whole cities were flattened with British bombs? The answer is that they were there all the time, SUPPORTING the government. Who can forget the teachers’ union condemning walkouts by secondary school pupils in the first week of war? The intervention of bureaucrats spells disaster for any social movement. What can be expected of a set-up that demands only your vote, your signature on a piece of paper, and a few minutes of your attention at a Labour Day rally?
Trafalgar Square – once the battleground of the revolutionary proletariat – is now the favoured stomping ground of a formidable caste of managerial specialists. They call for “direct action” with a straight face, only to tell the workers that “direct action” means thousands standing obediently like cattle at the feeding trough of ideology. And let there be no mistake, hecklers won’t be tolerated – we’ve plenty of stewards to ensure public order.
So-called ‘rainbow coalitions’ are never what they seem. Behind the innocent-sounding rhetoric lies a swamp of power-mongering, careerism and bureaucratic attitudes. Who can forget that Blair campaigned in 1982 on a CND ticket? Or that Peter Hain was once a celebrated activist in the anti-apartheid struggle? As for Galloway, he is a miserable turd floating in the bowl of the utterly discredited parliamentary ‘Left’: If only someone would pull the chain and put us all out of our misery.
Conservatives have learned the lesson far better than anyone on the British Left: direct action pays. “Farmers For Action” are on the right track. As one of their spokesmen recently declared: “With five thousand armed farmers we will storm Westminster and topple the Blair regime.” These days you are more likely to encounter the Special Branch in the cowshed than on the campus, and with good reason.
The future doesn’t belong to the likes of Respect – despite their rabble-rousing, political parties have never managed to capture the mood of the people. (The last European elections saw a turnout of 19%.)
And what of the 81% who reject their spoon-fed dose of ideology? What of the hooligans, the dole-scroungers, the inner-city kids, the ranks of the bored and the disillusioned who fill our streets awaiting their moment? At the beginning of the war, I overheard an argument on Parliament Square between a young Muslim woman and two white youths. The Muslim woman was berating the white youths for their lack of interest in the destruction of the National Museum in Baghdad. “We don’t give a fuck about civilisation,” replied one of the boys, “Let it burn.”
Comments
Hide the following 35 comments
well that was nice
28.05.2004 17:01
.
2
28.05.2004 17:24
And everyone turned their backs, wondering to themselves
I`m on a strange journey I didn`t choose to take
Where I`m going I don`t want to think
But no one tries to put on the brakes at all
1
Hardly constructive
28.05.2004 18:18
You completely ignore the fact that if the movement had been focused on direct action, legitimate though that might have been, it would certainly have alienated huge parts of the population and attracted even greater hostility from the media. Obviously a balance has to be found. There's no easy answer. I would have liked to see military bases targeted more but I recognise mass marches have their place too.
Andrew
...cool...
28.05.2004 19:02
your final breath will be an eastern wind
to blow through the valley of death that we've carved in this land
we're accomplices all
it's all beyond our control
we're so innocent when the hammer falls
and nobody tries
nobody tries
no one even fucking tries!
accelerating through industrial haze
past the death camps and the marketplace we've lost our way
i hope we burn up in the wreckage
rather than live another day
in vain in a world without frontiers
we're served our just desserts:
just deserts in burning thirst
and no one tries to put out the flames at all
...
xrichx
and your solution is??
28.05.2004 21:23
nice poems tho'
~~~~~ the third
another-disillusioned......!
28.05.2004 21:40
change starts from within ourselves. Most of us preach hypocrisy ourselves. The amount of time we spend watching palestine movies and chatting shite within ourselves, if we spend half that time actually interacting with the large Plestinian community in Britain, then atleast we can start breaking social barriers that exist. Why dont we rely on direct information through direct interaction with people, why do we have to rely on videos, movies , etc etc for information, when the 'REAL'option exists.
john smith
OPEN YOUR EYES!
29.05.2004 00:13
YOU ARE ALL BRAINWASHED AND NEED TO BE EDUCATED ON
THIS WHOLE CONSPIRACY THAT IS GOING ON RIGHT UNDER YOU NOSES!
WAKE UP!FOR GODSAKE!SMELL THE GOD DAMN COFFEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
VOTE RESPECT-THE UNITY COALITION
SAVE YOURSELVES YOU SODS!
WHAT EVER
What the f are you on about
29.05.2004 04:14
What are we supposed to do?
I have my ctitisism of respect but nevertheless I am voting for them rather than not voting at all.
IF WE DONT VOTE THE BNP WILL GET SEATS
So what is your solution.
I am sick of people who just critise without any positive solution.
I might have voted green but they are so airy fairy,they dont bother to campaign,hold meetings knock on doors etc at least not round here where I live it doesnt matter where I live I expect they are the same everywhere cos there just arent many of them as they dont bother to try and get people to join them
The libdems havnt got a policy on Iraq, Kennedy said he supports the troops,oh I have not heard the say bring the troops home
So you are trying to get people not to vote so Blair will win again
Respect is the only ones to vote for if you are against this bloody disgusting war.
s
to disillusioned activist
29.05.2004 04:33
we dont feel like going on demos in london and standing in trafalga sq either anymore
we dont know what to do
OK respect may not be the answer but it is still worth casting a vote as aminor protest against the war
Have you ever tried talking to any Muslims?
where i live is a mixed commumity and after 9/11 I realised I did not know most of my neighbours so I tried and have had many conversations about politics and life and culture which has enriched my life.
I dont suppose a lot of young white men would care if the british museum disappeared either but so what
many people are brainwashed by tv and the tabloids
we have a long hard road ahead of us
people fought for the vote so use it
and support the demos at the bases too
peace
Dont dissapear up your own arse!!
29.05.2004 11:54
"I am sick of people who just critise without any positive solution"
HERE! HERE!
...is it me or is it getting just like Monty Python's Life of Brian??
"Respect is the only ones to vote for if you are against this bloody disgusting war"
ANSOLUTELY!!
Respect aint perfect but they are the only way of hitting Blair wear it hurts AND stopping the BNP getting in at the same time. Is it not time to forget our differences (only for 1 month!!) and get it together?? You aint gonna hurt Blair by contemplating you naval in your bedroom eh?? What colour is the fluff in your belley button anyway??
Goliath
Some People Never Learn!
29.05.2004 14:35
The old argument that "if we don't vote Trot the fash will get in" is wearing a little thin. I doubt if more than 100,000 in the whole country will vote BNP, and most of these guys require an immediate frontal lobotomy. Did anyone see their pathetic party-political on the telly last night? It was total crap - a five-year old could see through this dross.
“Respect” is very obviously a waste of time, if only because the proportion of likely voters in any forthcoming election corresponds almost exactly to the remainder of the populace who can properly be considered to belong to the bourgeoisie. It makes no sense at all for a Marxist party to concentrate its energies on a middle-class audience (and a rapidly dwindling one at that!). All this does is to reinforce the bourgeoisie as the moral watchdog of “civilized” society: witness a return to CND-style posturing and a retreat from any serious strategy.
Anarchists (for all their organizational dithering) at least recognise this fact. The “proletarianization of society” does exactly what it says on the tin: by recognising potential allies in the urban lumpen-proletariat and in minimum-wage workers, anarchists express a desire to extend their critique onto a far wider front.
It is a misnomer to describe the SWP as “Trotskyist”, since it has long ago given up on a recognisably revolutionary programme. In reality, it is another fake-liberal party that pathetically scrabbles about on the floor for votes without ever realising that its potential constituency is either too politically advanced or too apathetic (depending on your viewpoint) to bother voting at all. (Ironically, the BNP finds itself in a similar fix: either it can appeal to disaffected Daily Mail readers and win a few marginal seats, or it can establish itself in the lumpen-proletariat and forget any pretence at “respectability”).
Kids that I speak to seem to have a natural antipathy to the established “Left”, and I find this very healthy. It won’t take much to finish them off once and for all. For now, we will have to content ourselves with some experiments in constructive sabotage.
I considered insinuating a speaker onto the platform of an anti-war rally, who would then harangue the audience with a blatant pro-Bush, pro-Zionist, pro-capitalist rant. This would at least wake them up, and the ensuing riot would “unmask” the hypocrisies of the liberal-left: firstly, their commitment to diversity is limited to those who agree with everything they say, and secondly, their commitment to non-violence is totally spurious (I have seen enough fistfights on “peace” demonstrations to know that this is true).
Disillusioned Activist
"But comrades, we must unite against our common enemy...
29.05.2004 15:42
Thank you mister "Dissilusioned Activist" for re-inventing the script from The Life of Brian!!
I think the Monty Python crew did a much better job of this the first time round though!!
As for your suggestions for an alternative strategy???? Attacking the left and disrupting anti-war meetings??!!
Seriously WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU ON!!?? You may as well go the whole way and join the BNP!! Actually you could probably get a very well paid job with MI5 doing stuff like this. Yes! MI5 will pay you to go under cover and infiltrate left groups, anti-war groups, CND -and any of the other "bourgois" enemy!! You could even disrupt anti-war meetings as a 5th columnist too!! -and get payed for it, so you would have enough money to get some special device that removes all that annoying fluff from your naval, SO YOU DON'T HAVE TO KEEP CONTEMPLATING IT!!
How ridiculous!
"I am a dissilusioned activist so I am now gonna dedicate the rest of my life to physically attacking the left"???
You forgot one important point: YOU are part of the left (at least I think you are??)!! I know, why not do us all a favour and dedicate the rest of your life to attacking yourself. Oh actually, you have already started doing a very fine job of that. Carry on!
Sounds to me like you are not a "disillusioned activist" but you had a clear agenda right from the start -and a very warped and twisted one at that
Thank you for introducing some very fine comedy into this debate!!
"Open letter" my arse!
For the record I am not a member of Respect, SWP or a "Trot" -or even a member of the People's Front of Judea (or the "bourgoisie"). I am merely shocked by the fact that you propose such a ridiculous argument seriously!!
Goliath
Well, actually . . .
30.05.2004 09:32
When the oil runs out there won't be any more leaders to tell you what to do.
If you want to save your sorry ass, then you will have to START THINKING FOR YOURSELVES!
(And for the record, all the MI5 agents are on the "steering committee" of the Stop the War Coalition.) And the TUC gave New Labour twenty million quid this year so that they can carry on their lovely genocide in Iraq while you sit at home jerking off.
"The world of the imagination is the exact science of possible solutions, not a parallel world granted to the mind in compensation for its real failures." (Raoul Vaneigem.)
Disillusioned Activist
Party politics is fundamentally undemocratic
30.05.2004 10:13
Periodic-election party political oligarchy is rooted in the Newtonian linear paradigm, a paradigm now held to be an inaequate explanation of human society which is complex and dynamic. A good read is 'Complexity Theory and the Challenges to Democracy in the 21st Century' at
The alternative to party political oligarchy is not to start our 'own' party because parties (at least in the conventional, heirarchical centralised sense) can never be 'ours' - they are playing by the rules of the establishment we oppose, and so are closer to co-option and diffusion than progression. As to the direct action/marching argument - THEY ARE NOT MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE. Let people decide for themselves what they feel they can do. STWC do seem to have an anti-direct action agenda though - not promoting fairford, DSEI etc and going out of their way to label pulling down a statue of george bush as 'direct action' - it was barely street theatre. Perhaps this is about control, the old Trot/Anarcho split?
What is needed is nothing short of democratic revolution. I don't know what form this will take - the social centre movement could be a key part. We must overthrow the establishment from below and not replace it, but change the very nature of political power. To be a truely democratic movement this requires mass support, but also targeted actions and constructive, often unglamorous work in communities (eg. social centres). Talk of revolution may instinctively scare some comfortable middle class people, myself included. But oil depletion, climate change, increasingly authoritarian government etc force our hand. If we want a world fit for our children we must act. Self-interest and mutual aid come together in democratic revolution, the alternatives look pretty bleak.
Tom
but nevertheless
30.05.2004 10:32
However, I will not vote in the sham oligarchy that is the general election. A mass boycott (negative action) combined with constructive building of alternatives such as social centres, community assemblies/consultas etc (positive action) seems the way to go if were serious about change, rather than just getting a whole new bunch of 'leaders'. A democracy has no formal leaders - the leaders are those with the best ideas at the right time rather than an institutionalised position occupied by easily bought politicos. In this sense hierarchy inhibits leadership by giving precedence to the rank of the 'leader' over merit of their proposals. Anyway, I'm writing loads of stuff on this at the moment which I'll post back here when its more coherent.
Tom
Tom
none voting politicals will not be registered.
30.05.2004 10:58
not voting means nothing. it's apolitical cop out.it will not register as a political absention, it will mean the BNP more likely to get in, they are doing reasonably well in the polls, the strike a cord with soft racist and we know the more power they get the more lies and myths they will spread, leading to more racist attacks, hysterical press and will make labour stronger.
make sure u vote. i rather u vote Tory than not vote a all.
personally i will be voting RESPECT as it has a princeple stand on the war. Green party is for white middle class , RESPECT is for the oppress and poor people. we desperately need a voice in the mainstream politics, this voice will help everyone who wants a different system.
red letter
missed point
30.05.2004 15:26
Voting gives legitimately to the system of elective oligarchy that is quite frankly, illegitimate. Constantly voting 'to keep the fascists out' ignores the fact that the incumbent factions are all massively dangerous to the rest of the world (they go easy on the domestic population to varying degrees for obvious tactical reasons).
Saying 'not voting is not registered' demonstrates your paradigm. So your dissent must be accepted by those we oppose in order to be valid? Why? Low turnouts mean little legitimacy. Tony Blair's 'landslide' amounts to 26%ish of the electorate!
We do not need to 'register' our protest with the oligarchs. The British parliamentary system was designed by the monarch, A DICTATOR (james i think), to give legitimacy to his tax rises. It was never intended to be a genuinely representitive system, it was designed as a show of 'democracy' to placate the restive masses.
The Chartists realised this, and built a movement bigger than the anti-Iraq war movement at its peak (including a 3 million signature petition, and the UK population was much smaller then). They demanded equal rights for all (except women, hence the suffragettes later). They were shot at by army and police and many were imprisoned. Their demands were later incorporated AT THE STATE'S PACE in such a way as to negate the effects they were intended to have, i.e. genuine popular empowerment.
By voting we consent to the system that disempowers us. Look how worried the state is getting about low turnout - they know it gives them no mandate. The problems are with the system, not who controls it. The leftist Sonia Gandhi recently decided not to take up the Indian PM's post because of the reaction of the stock market. What would the city make of RESPECT's program? How can we ensure that RESPECT keep their promises any more than an other party? Clearly the fear of replacement by a rival party is at best a limited negative power and in reality a false one.
Voting means accepting the system is adequate. It is not. Constantly taking 'the lesser evil' is classic liberal defeatism which results in constant acceptance of 'evil' so to speak. There is no reason to accept this. I realise I may be sounding like a diehard anarchist here - I'm not. I'm not opposed to all laws or property for example. But I do care about democracy, which is why I will not consent to be ruled by a system that is an insult to the meaning of the word - 'Rule by the People'.
Its a big debate, but voting really changes very little. Like I say, I may vote anti-fascist in the Euro elections to stop the BNP getting the euro funding that certain threshold achieving parties get, but things are coming to a head. Authoritarian greed has brought our ecosystem to the brink of collapse. Fossil fuels supply 95% of the worlds energy and they're running out. Imagine a world without plastics. Global oil production looks o have peaked in 2000! Patiently playing by the rules of the rulers is the path to subjugation. It is time to make a stand.
Tom
And . . .
30.05.2004 16:15
Tom
Whose been indoctrinated?
30.05.2004 16:33
Oh dear. Somebody's in love with established power structures.
doctor indoctrinator
A VOICE FROM THE GRAVE
30.05.2004 19:19
I gave up my comfortable life to campaign along with working class men and women for the vote.I went to prison.I went to live among working people and campaigned for workers rights alongside them.
I also campaigned against the Great War
The other suffragettes who only wanted the vote for the borgoisie rejected my ideas.
I travelled to Russia to argue with Lenin(history has shown him wrong)
I was also expelled by the Communist Party of GB for promoting FREE SPEECH
I also helped to set up the 1st world anti racist movement
The sort of people who are telling you not to vote probably have good jobs and have NO understanding of the problems that so many have in the inner cities because they have probably never actually spoke to a realworking class or unemployed person.
Instead they dismiss them as 'dolescroungers' or 'lumpenproletariat'
Now I am not advocating that the vote is the be all and end all
It may be that governmant agents are on steering committees which is why it is so important to get involved.
There really is not much difference between anarchists and some Tories,their philosophy of 'freedom' is very similar.except that Tories want you to vote Tory.
I suspect that some of these people who call themselves anarchist are in fact Government or worse agents themselves.
Comrades USE YOUR VOTE.Or it may be taken from you.
Sylvia Pankhurst
Exactly
30.05.2004 20:29
The Suffragettes (and the Chartists before them) identified structural problems with the system and fought them FROM THE OUTSIDE, with some sucess. However, democracy is not a static end state, it is a complex dynamic process. It is never time to stop and accept the status quo, because democracy by its very nature is adaptive.
I don't consider myself anarchist, so your tory/anarchist comparison is mis-aimed, and I would say somewhat misguided - see www.politicalcompass.org for a useful visual conception of the political spectrum in 2 dimensions rather than the usual left-right divide.
"Comrades USE YOUR VOTE.Or it may be taken from you"
But if that vote makes no difference, endorsing the oppressive system is self-defeating. Systematic change is needed. I find it very hard to believe the suffragettes would be content to work within the system today - it seems more likely they would be storming the summits of our detatched leaders, and taking direct action to secure meaningful democracy. I have great respect for the suffragettes, which is why I believe we need a democratic revolution, not more of the same. It is a con to think voting for another party constitutes dissent - its like those macho metal bands who think Satanism is the opposite of Christianity, but they're trapped in the paradigm they purport to oppose.
"it may be taken from you"
And what would happen then? Insurrection? You seem to accept that the establishment is prepared to declare dictatorship. If this is its true nature, lets stop messing about with their rules and overthrow it.
Tom
Dear disillusioned
31.05.2004 10:59
Forget all these even more disillusioned but desperate people ranting at you. Your analysis was spot-on. You only have to compare the mood of the pre-war 100,000 ish militant anti-war demos where angry Muslim youth threatened to take the city to pieces, wieth what STW had managed to do even by the time of the famous 2million go for a big picnic knowing that they will have had their say and the war can now go on march.
It is important to make this analysis and not to think that it matters one jot if the people who post on indymedia all vote for Respect - The Unity Coalition (George Galloway) or not. But the BIG question is what we do now. I dislike your infiltrating a right wing speaker idea although I see your point (I doubt anyone would even notice, among Charles Kennedy and all the other 'anti-war' rightwingers).
The election is a red herring. All I think we can genuinely do at present is accept that STW/respect is running the visible political show, and try to concentrate on convincing the best of the people who do come to its events that there is more to life, and that they can join the sit-in at Downing Street about Rafah the other week, the pickets of M&S in Oxford Street London and in Manchester every week, the supporters of Brian Haw in Downidng STreet etc. The detractors will say these events/groups are small, sectarian, elitist and not achieving anything. They are certainly small compared to the size of even the diminished rump of STW/RESPECt but in my experience they are not at all sectarian or elitist. As for achieving anything, as STW has not achieved anything itself (ie it didn't stop the war), we are starting on a level playing field there. None of Brian Haw, the Victory to the Intifada Group, the ISM or whoever else is organising these kind of events (one completely spontaneous Downing St protest the other week done by three young Muslims and a flag...) have any illusion that they cannot progress anywhere unless Jeremy Corbyn and GG are on thier platform.
communist
@Tom .get real
31.05.2004 11:55
no offence , but lets say that tom managed to build a movement and managed to convince people to his arguement and in turn 10,000 people in burnley spoiled their ballot papers who say would have otherwise had voted a non-BNP party.
is tom seriously going to say this is a suceess??? when in the meantime Nick Griffin becomes the first BNP MEP. would tom be happy with this outcome? all he could say is that he has proved people are disulioned with mainstream politics given that many people have spoilt their ballot papers.
for heaven sake, we know that millions of people are disullioned, you dont have to prove it. also , there is no mass movement for spoiling ballot papers its a non starter.
i agree voting is the lowest form of demoracy, demostrating is a low form of democrarcy too r u honestly saying u would not enegage in any form of politics unless it is the purist form of revolution. the chartist started of with the lowest form of politics eg collecting signintures which lead to the highest form of expressing ,namely armed insurrection. the chartist made many sacifices to get the vote and now tom shows his apprepriation by not voting.
u anacarist really get on my tits sometimes with your puralist ideas,
red
Some Clarifications
31.05.2004 19:14
Firstly, “Sylvia Pankhurt’s” assumption that I am a “typical” upper-middle class anarchist with a good job is way off the mark. I have been unemployed for the past three years and before that I have only ever worked for the minimum wage.
I use the term “lumpen-proletariat” in its historical sense and not as some kind of derogatory term.
The idea that anarchism and Toryism are somehow amorphous demonstrates a total lack of political awareness: the Tory party is the party of landlords, industrialists and the rural petit bourgeoisie. I can’t say that I’ve ever met an anarchist landlord or an anarchist industrialist!
The Tory party supports a Law and Order agenda (more prisons, more cops, more surveillance), whereas anarchists are the only people in Europe who are actively resisting these things.
There is some truth in the notion that voting is acceptable as part of a generalised effort to raise the level of political consciousness in the working class. However, to judge by the propaganda put out by the current crop of far-Left parties, this isn’t likely to have a great deal of success. Anti-imperialist rhetoric is all very well, but it tends to define what the movement is against without necessarily leading to a coherent analysis of what we are for.
The point I am trying to make is this: political parties cretinize the public by resorting to the lowest-common denominator. Parties represent nothing but the “stale fart of ideology”. As Vaneigem said, “There is more truth in twenty-four hours of a man’s life than in all the philosophies.”
As I said, it isn’t the middle classes who have dropped out – my Dad still votes Tory like the silly old fool that he is – it’s the proletariat. To argue that not voting represents some kind of betrayal turns the world on its head. IT ISN’T THE PROLETARIAT WHO HAVE BETRAYED THE MISSION OF THEIR FOREBEARS, BUT THE BOURGEOISIE. My great-grandfather went on Mayday marches in the 1930’s to get the civil rights that we (theoretically) enjoy today, but he would be horrified what has happened to the world. He couldn’t have foreseen the extent to which corporations have hijacked the political process, or the so-called “golden straightjacket” that neo-liberal economics has imposed on the world’s finance ministers.
Karl Marx said that “the philosophers have interpreted the world in various ways – the point, however, is to change it”. I don’t understand how voting changes anything. I don’t understand how voting even leads to the POSSIBILITY of change. Social movements have to make genuinely RADICAL demands. The moment we accept compromises, we have lost the battle. We may as well pack our bags and go home.
I think it is possible to raise the level of workers’ education without resorting to party politics. I know of a twenty-year old minimum wage worker who has read the complete works of Nietzsche, Debord, Vaneigem etc even though he left school at 16 and has no formal qualifications. Working people are more politically aware than the established Left gives them credit for. They don’t need leaders, and they will switch off very quickly if leaders appear.
I wasn’t being serious when I suggested infiltrating a right-wing speaker onto the platform of an anti-war rally – this was just a little gag to wake everyone up. However, I wasn’t joking about the state of the mainstream Left. I think that it is entirely possible that within the space of my lifetime, we will see the back of these parasites for good. TAKE YOUR DESIRES FOR REALITY!
Disillusioned Activist
some good points
01.06.2004 02:22
sorry for calling you middle class,its just that a lot of the 'anarchists I have met have been that sort
I felt really mad at you for calling people who have campaigned against wars 'blithering idiots'One thing that has happened is that a lot more folk are now involved in anti war and peace activities of all sorts ,they are not all controlled by SWP or any other Party.I happen to be one of them.The numbers of people taking direct action like stopping staff getting in to Menwith hill for instance are growing as are other actions at bases,there are lots of other groups of people doing stuff too and individuals.A lot more people are aware of the corruption in the world and we all have to try and work out ways and means.
I agree with a lot of the critism of the left but you have no coherent alternative,neither have I.
So my reasons for voting Respect are1.to keep the bnp out,2.as a sign to labour that they cannot take their voters for granted.
I dont know where you live but outside of london there are some good candidates
This poem was written by Dave Dillinger who died last week after spending much of his life defying the system
I love everyone,
even those who disagree with me.
I love everyone,
even those who agree with me.
I love everyone,
rich and poor,
and I love everyone of different races,
including people who are indigenous,
wherever they live, in this country or elsewhere.
I love everyone,
whatever religion they are, and atheists too.
People who contemplate, wherever it leads them.
I love everyone,
both in my heart and in my daily life.
SP
Red, you appear to have misunderstood me
01.06.2004 10:05
You assume only non-BNP voters would be part of an election boycott. This is demonstrably false – BNP voters are typically disillusioned and working class – likely to be open to a revolutionary process designed to give people substantive equality. In contrast, voters for the mainstream parties are often more ‘brand loyal’ and less likely to boycott the process. An extrapolation of these facts would suggest that a boycott campaign would be disproportionately supported by would-be BNP voters and thus reduce the BNP vote. It is dangerous and defeatist to consider the BNP vote as a given – the success of the far-right in adopting class war rhetoric to attract support for fascism is in large part a failure of ‘the left’ to support the working classes, or perhaps belong to them in the first place. I could go on, but I think I have shown your assertion to be questionable at best.
“Nick Griffin becomes the first BNP MEP”
I actually explicitly said that I will vote anti-racist in the Euro elections, and did not urge people to boycott them. Therefore the scenario you present is unrelated to my argument.
“there is no mass movement for spoiling ballot papers its a non starter.”
This is reactionary defeatism. There is not currently a mass movement for ballot spoiling. This does not mean there cannot be. Small-scale efforts so far have been mostly exclusionist attempts at thought provocation by often exclusivist anarchists, that doesn’t mean it couldn’t happen if the arguments are properly made.
“r u honestly saying u would not enegage [sic] in any form of politics unless it is the purist form of revolution”
Far from it. I explicitly called for ‘us’ to engage in often unglamorous democracy-building tasks from social centres to grassroots community projects. I understand the word ‘revolution’ is loaded with connotations, but I assure you I am not the purest anarchist revolutionary you take me for – I explicitly stated in one of my posts above that I am not an anarchist – I am not against all rules/laws or all property for instance. Of course my arguments have a libertarian feel because I am advocating a furtherance of liberty, but I am not an ‘anarchist’ according to myself and many anarchists I know. Equally, I am not so deluded in my middle-class comfort to believe Britain is on the verge of revolution. But I believe there is a need for one. The shit will hit the fan with oil depletion, climate change and evermore authoritarian Statism within the next decade or so, certainly within my lifetime. I see it as absolutely imperative to build a society, from below, that on awaking to the immediate personal consequences of disempowering capitalist oligarchy will react in a way likely to produce a more egalitarian society, rather than simply effect regime change (read rebranded repression).
It’s easy, but foolish to put people into ideological boxes so reflexively – it is the very paradigm that is so embodied in parliamentary oligarchy. I get the distinct impression that you have not properly read, or at least not understood, my posts. This may be a fault of my writing (which is not concise, but hopefully not verbose either), but it is unwise to resort to labelling me “stupid” without even responding to my arguments. Please engage with them, I am open to persuasion – it is through such debate that my views have migrated and solidified in their current form from somewhere much nearer yours. I would like to believe you are not as reactionary as your post implies, and are open to persuasion too, if an argument is sufficiently compelling.
And 'dissillusioned activist', I'm in general agreement with your points - we have to build from below and outside, not from inside through party politics, a rigged game.
Tom
:-)
01.06.2004 10:56
Wasn't Bakunin an aristocrat? ;-)
Paz
Well,
02.06.2004 07:50
Kropotkin was certainly an aristocrat. Not sure about Bakunin. But I doubt an IMC poster has met these people though, unless they're several hundred years old!
Any responses to my arguments above? 'Red', have I clarified things?, we seem more in agreement than you realised.
Tom
Vote Heckler and None Of The Above !!!
02.06.2004 10:18
Stuff big business and vote none of the above on June 10th and let's all heckle the future.
The Best Heckler of All Time
To Disillusioned
02.06.2004 22:42
I don't think direct action and demonstrations are counterposed: imagine what would have happend if even 10% of those on the 2 million march had gone to parliament or Downing St. and blockaded it.
One thing we could do is offer asistance to the Iraqi resistance: mdeical and food aid for example. the other thing we could do is organise so that they could come here and talk about the situation and delegations could go from here to see for themselves. Control of the media means that millions of working class people (and I agree the left sometimes patronises them) don't have the information to make up their own minds.
Two final things: the whole system is about profit and the working class has the power to stop the system and that I believe is more effective than either marching or direct action. Secondly, I have lots of criticisms of Respect. Voting is not the be-all and the end-all, but it does give us (a limited) way of showing what we think.
So I'm voting Respect in the hope that it's a step to something better - surely its better than Blair, the Liberals or the BNP (who do appeal to the frustrated working class people as well as to the small business people of the "Farmers for Action" type)
Good Luck!
Trot
Let's do it ALL
07.06.2004 00:40
*Lindsay German has not been campaigning for RESPECT in middle class areas, promoting her ideas only to those who already agree with her ideas. If you don't believe this read her online diary. I mean it could be made up but... nah. Seems compatible with my experiences of her and the party meetings/etc.
*Many old Labour types that I know complain that RESPECT are run by the SWP. This is not entireley true. However I do not feel that their more than healthy presence is a bad thing at all. Although RESPECT is a political party which would obviously aim towards reform if elected, the fact is a lot of people in this country are getting a raw deal, and Marx's predictions have not quite come into effect (although I still feel his work explains modern phenomenon which have rendered them inaccurate, i.e consumerism ((fetishisation of the object))
The fact is living standards have increased rather than decreased (as Marx predicted) in western countries as capitalism has grown. This makes the emancipation of the working class very unlikeley in such societies, and with it revolution. But it is only a matter of consciousness... because living standards HAVE decreased... in other countries where labour is cheap. With the increased physical distance the effects of 'alienation' (as described by Marx) are pushed down much deeper into the human mind into the SUBconcious. With increased living standards (via welfare systems which keep people from revolting) and the increase of consumerism people are effectivley sedated. But WE are now the exploiters, the capitalists, the consumers. Most of us are unhappy, whatever we receive and despite the sedation. So the consciousness CAN be changed.
But how when politics is not taught in state schools? How when coorporations can advertise their wares and market them directly at children,shaping them? How when people are bitter and impoverished, wanting to blame someone their own size,(hence the success of UKIP and the BNP) not a political establishment which they dont understand??
Changes have to be made here... yes, REFORM. that dirty word. Someone mentioned above that the old left/right model is irrelevant. That political compass.com is more relevant. I agree. But the truth is, ANY model will be inaccurate. Therefore any LABEL will be inaccurate. We cannot simply be anarchists, or revolutionaries, or communists, or liberals, or anything, and expect the system or ideology to work in the real world. Because MODELS DONT WORK IN REAL LIFE. This is why markets dont work, because they are based on a pure model of supply and demand which ignores the externalities and basic human interventions which would disrupt it. I guess what I'm trying to say is that as long as the mainstream parties are in power they will have control of the media. They will have control of education. Therefore they will have control of the consciousness. Therefore they will have control over (non)revolution.
We have to take control of the conciousness. FROM EVERY ANGLE. Protest. Direct action. Politics. Campaign. Alternatives, like community projects, squatted houses and alternative media (Like this website!!) why alienate anyone from this campaign? Why eradicate any of these methods which might encourage someone to participate who might otherwise not have participated? LET'S DO IT ALL!!!!!! RESPECT may be taking part in the political processs, advocating reform. But hey do have a strong SWP presence. Good. These people understand about changing the mindset of the sedated working class. They want revolution, ultimatley. What other political breed hae their goals so clearly stated? do we know who the Greens are? The Lib Dems? NO. Therefore we cannot trust them. We know where we stand with RESPECT. Trots. Marxists. And (thank fucking goodness) a whole bunch of ex old labour pensioners and a lot of angry muslims who would otherwise be plodding along or would have voted for one of the mainstream parties instead. UGH.
And RESPECT wont stop us from doing all of the other things. They can only help a movement aimed at raising the general public’s consciousness of social injustice.
Hayley Williams
And Galloway...
10.06.2004 17:47
Jonny
e-mail:
goffjm@hotmail.com
Nobody from the left questions Galloway?
10.06.2004 19:17
Ian
SHUT UP U STUPID IGNORANT BLAIR ASS LICKING BASTARDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
11.06.2004 23:33
RESPECT WILL MAKE HISTORY U CUNTS AND U WILL NEVER BE PART OF THE BEST THING THATS EVER HAPPENED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
SO U CAN GO AND JOIN BUSH,BLAIR,ARIAL SHARON AND ALL THOSE OTHER DICTATING F!"3KERS WHILE THEY ALL BREAST FEED EACH OTHER AND HELP EACH OTHER PLAN THE NEXT TERRORIST ATTACK LIKE THE ONE THEY DID ON 9/11.....
ENGLAND AND AMERICA ARE THE REAL AL QAIEDA!!!!
YOUR MOTHER!
Confessions of a former member of the SWP
19.04.2005 23:18
The reason why the protest movement has failed over the Iraq War II, anti-capitalism, reclaim the streets and other major issues is because these genuine, organic, spontaneous protest movements have been infiltrated and poluted by the activities of the deeply misguided Socialist Worker Party.
Any protest against ANYTHING is the target of the SWP to try and dominate and subvert to their own extremely narrow agenda......which seems to be to take money for the sale of their shite newspaper...which is very strange for a pseudo-marxist political organisation (or is it?). Their organisation is based on the work of many deluded, but usually with hearts in the right place, volounteers who are bullied by local organisers.
I was a member of the SWP for a year.
I joined the SWP in 2000 at the same time as when Ken Livingstone was ejected from the Labour Party for standing as an independent in the London Mayoral Election.
Initially I was optimistic because I believed that the SWP were the only socialist political movement that had any real organisational structure with a network of volounteers in the London area.
Very quickly it became apparent that debate within the SWP was, basically, frowned upon. I and other 'workers' were told by our local 'captain' (the name of the person in any area who is to organise the SWP members until the time comes for an uprising and....and then no-one really knew..) that the policy of the SWP was decided by un-named persons at the top of the party who we might get to see speaking at rallies but basically were unable to be approached by persons as lowly as us. Their judgement on issues was final and that that was the end of the matter.
The most important thing for us was to facilitate, above all other considerations, the selling and distribution of the SWP newspaper...which was written by these esteemed grandmasters. We were also to deliver leaflets to doors in our local area which were sent to us with extreme regularity (about three times a week). Many of which were on a variety of causes, seemingly chosen to be confrontational or of extreme minority interest, and I often did not agree with.
I worked at it for a while. But as my enthusiasm for being an SWP clone waned, and the path to enlightenment within the party was blocked to me by a jealous matriarchal core of militantly nepotistic lesbians (at least in my area, not that I have any problem with lesbians at all).
The SWP has no plan to actually DO anything. It's leaders actively discourage any member from taking part in any other political cause not yet twisted to their aims. It's only policies were this:
Sell "The Socialist Worker".
Oppose anything the government does, no matter what it is.
Oppose anything by any other leftist political group not yet infiltrated by the SWP.
The Unity Coalition is an ramshackle alliance of convenience by two extremist groups both of whom are totally unelectable on their own, and hopefully together. The alliance of the SWP and the radicalised Moslem community.
The election of George Galloway will cause enormous problems for the multi-ethnic and multi-faith community of this constituency. It will inflame already tense relations, empower the worst elements of local radical islam, and alienate the minority of non-moslems around here and cause genuine fear.
Bethnal Green & Bow has many local issues of real importance to people. Neither of these groups intends to do anything to help them. It is extremely concerning that a "left wing" politician - George Galloway - is depending on election by pandering to the extreme right wing views of some moslems in east London. Without exaggeration isn't this how the National Socialist Party began in Germany during the 1920's?
I think the best bet in this area (with a realistic chance of success) are the Lib Dems.
James F
James F, Whitechapel
e-mail:
hornyjamie25@hotmail.com