Living outside capitalism? Dear Editors In talking about freeganism (Socialist Standard, October), much of the media has focused on food and lifestyle, which is what plays best in a society obsessed by spectacle. Most freegans I know are very politically motivated, which some of the articles touch on. Many of us are involved in grassroots and direct action projects, and I'd say a lot of our work would fall into the "deep ecology" category. Although the NYC-based group started as an offshoot of an anarchist collective called the Activism Center at Wetlands Preserve, there is no party line among freegans, As of 2003 many people across the world already thought of themselves as freegans; the freegan.info website gathered lots of existing info and resources on the subject. Some of us are primitivists, many others are not. There are freegans who are animal rights activists, liberal ecologists, Christians, and various flavors of leftists. But we are united in our desire to boycott capitalism and its products to the greatest extent we can. Most of us believe that global industrialism, and its drive towards an ever multiplying glut of unneeded commodities, does great harm to all living things. We don't believe humans have a right to all of the world's resources, even if we shared them equally among us. We do not see socialist governments doing a better job with it - look at what's happening in China, for example. We realize that our practice is seen as extreme, but we don't think turning one's back on mass consumer culture has to be a marginal activity. We're seeing lots of people inspired to reduce their consumption - take a look at the book Not Buying It, the internet support groups called The Compact, writing by Colin Beavan (aka No Impact Man), the "freegan experiment" recently undertaken by journalist Raina Kelley in Newsweek, a very mainstream US magazine. Even without political analysis or motivation, we think the consistent practice of not-buying, refusing to let your relations and life be mediated by commodities, is powerful in itself, and leads people to see the world differently. And yes, we use the internet, we use phones, many of us have jobs, many of us pay rent or own our homes, some of us own motorized vehicles. These are clear contradictions. Our goal is to live outside of capitalism to as great an extent possible, but as you note, capitalism is very much the dominant force. Like many activists before us, our aim is to create a new world in the shell of the old. Here's to dialogue among those of us working for social change! Madeline Nelson for freegan.info Reply: If you want to try and “boycott” and “live outside of” capitalism, that’s up to you. We don’t think it’s very practical or a way of ending capitalism. Capitalism can only be done away with by the conscious political action of a majority of the population with a view to making the world’s resources the common heritage of all. In such a socialist world the wastes of capitalism (advertising, packaging, consumerism as well as armaments and everything to do with buying and selling) would be eliminated and the overall consumption of resources per head reduced while still allowing people to consume better food, housing, health care, and the other things needed (desperately needed in many parts of the world) for a decent life. We are not “primitivists” and reject the idea that it is industrial production as such that has caused the problem of wasted resources; this is caused by the misuse of industrialism in the cause of profit. Industrial production is in fact essential if the reasonable needs of the world’s population are to be met. It’s the same with “globalization”: there is nothing wrong with a more united world; the problem is capitalist financial globalization. We don’t think China is socialist, so what’s happening there is irrelevant as an argument against socialism. The Chinese government is a capitalist government (a “socialist government” is a contradiction in terms) presiding over the development of capitalism there with all its attendant problems – Editors. UK BRANCHES &  CONTACTS LONDON Central London branch.   2nd Wednesday of the month at 18:30 at the Plough, 1st Floor, 27 Museum Street, Bloomsbury, WC1A. Tel: Tristan  0207 622 3811 Email: Enfield and Haringey branch. 2nd & 4th Weds, 8pm. Angel Community Centre, Raynham Road, N18. Corres: 17 Dorset Road, London N22 7SL. Email: South London branch.  1st Tues.7.00pm. Head Office. 52 Clapham High St, SW4 7UN. Tel: 020 7622 3811. West London branch. 1st & 3rd Tues.8pm,  Chiswick Town Hall, Heathfield Terrace (Corner Sutton Court Rd), W4. Corres: 51 Gayford Road, London W12 9BY Pimlico. C. Trinder, 24 Greenwood Ct, 155 Cambridge Street, SW1 4VQ.  Tel:020 7834 8186 MIDLANDS West Midlands branch.   West Midlands branch. Meets every two months on a Sunday afternoon (see meetings page for details. Tel: Tony Gluck 01242 235615 NORTHEAST Northeast branch. Corres: John Bissett, 10 Scarborough Parade, Hebburn, Tyne & Wear, NE31 2AL. Tel: 0191 422 6915   Email: NORTHWEST Lancaster branch.  P. Shannon, 71 Coniston Road, Lancaster LA1 3NW. Email: Manchester branch. Paul Bennett, 6 Burleigh Mews,  Hardy Lane, M21 7LB.  Tel:0161 860 7189 Website. Southeast Manchester. Enquiries  Blanche Preston, 68 Fountains Road, M32 9PH Bolton.  Tel: H. McLaughlin, 01204 844589 Cumbria.  Brendan Cummings, 19 Queen St, Millom, Cumbria LA18 4BG Carlisle. Robert Whitfield. Email: tel: 07906 373975 Rochdale.  R. Chadwick, 01706 522365 YORKSHIRE Huddersfield. Richard Rainferd, 28 Armitage Rd, Armitage Bridge, Huddersfield, West Yorks, HD4 7DP Hull. Keith Scholey. Tel: 01482 44651 Skipton.  R Cooper, 1 Caxton Garth, Threshfield, Skipton BD23 5EZ. Tel: 01756 752621 SOUTH/SOUTHEAST /SOUTHWEST Bournemouth and East Dorset. Paul Hannam, 12 Kestrel Close, Upton, Poole BH16 5RP. Tel: 01202 632769 Brighton.  Corres: c/o 52 Clapham High Street, London SW4 7UN Bristol. Shane Roberts, 86 High Street, Bristol BS5 6DN. Tel: 0117 951119 Cambridge. Andrew Westley, 10 Marksby Close, Duxford, Cambridge CB2 4RS. Tel: 01223 570292 Canterbury. Rob Cox, 4 Stanhope Road, Deal, Kent, CT14 6AB Luton. Nick White, 59 Heywood Drive, LU2 7LP Redruth.  Harry Sowden, 5 Clarence Villas, Redruth, Cornwall, TR15 1PB. Tel: 01209 219293 East Anglia East Anglia branch meets every two months on a Saturday afternoon (see meetings page for details).David Porter,Eastholme, Bush Drive, Eccles-on-Sea, NR12 0SF. Tel: 01692 582533. Richard Headicar, 42 Woodcote, Firs Rd, Hethersett, NR9 3JD. Tel: 01603 814343. Richard Layton, 23 Nottingham Rd, Clacton, CO15 5PG. Tel: 01255 814047. NORTHERN IRELAND  Newtownabbey: Nigel McCulloch Tel:02890 860687 SCOTLAND Edinburgh branch.   1st Thursday 8-9pm. The Quaker Hall, Victoria Terrace (above Victoria Street), 2nd Wednesday at West Lothian as below.  West Lothian Also 2nd & 4th Wednesdays, The Lanthorn Community Centre,Dedridge Livingston,West Lothian J. Moir. Tel: 0131 440 0995 Email Website Glasgow branch.  3rd Wednesday of each month at 8pm in  Community Central Halls, 304 Maryhill  Road, Glasgow. Richard Donnelly, 112  Napiershall Street, Glasgow G20 6HT. Tel: 0141 5794109 Email: Website Ayrshire:  D. Trainer, 21 Manse Street, Salcoats, KA21 5AA.  Tel: 01294 469994. Email Dundee.  Ian Ratcliffe, 16v Birkhall Ave, Wormit, Newport-on-Tay, DD6 8PX.  Tel: 01328 541643 West Lothian. 2nd and 4th Weds in month, 7.30-9.30.  Lanthorn Community  Centre, Kennilworth Rise, Dedridge, Livingston.  Corres: Matt Culbert,  53 Falcon Brae, Ladywell, Livingston, West Lothian, EH5 6UW. Tel: 01506 462359. Email WALES Swansea branch. 2nd Mon, 7.30pm, Unitarian Church, High Street. Corres:Geoffrey Williams, 19 Baptist Well Street, Waun Wen, Swansea SA1 6FB. Tel: 01792 643624 Cardiff and District. John James,  67 Romilly Park Road, Barry  CF62 6RR  Tel:01446 405636 INTERNATIONAL CONTACTS AFRICA Gambia. World of Free Access. c/o 21 Dobson St, Benjul. Kenya.  Patrick Ndege, PO Box 56428, Nairobi Namibia.  Anthony Amugongo, PO Box 1502, Oshataki. Swaziland.  Mandia Ntshakala, PO Box 981, Manzini ASIA India. World Socialist Group, Vill Gobaradhanpur. PO Amral, Dist. Bankura, 722122 EUROPE Denmark. Graham Taylor, Spobjervej 173, DK-8220, Brabrand. Germany. Norbert  Email: Norway.  Robert Stafford. Email: COMPANION PARTIES OVERSEAS World Socialist Party of Australia.  c/o Rod Miller, 8 Graelee Court, Kingston, Tasmania 7050, Australia. Email: Socialist Party of Canada/Parti Socialiste du Canada.   Box 4280, Victoria B.C.  V8X 3X8 Canada. Email  : Website World Socialist Party (New Zealand) r> P.O. Box 1929,  Auckland, NI, New Zealand. Email: Website World Socialist Party of the United States P.O. Box 440247, Boston, MA 02144 USA. Email:  Webs

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