When Dave and I first left
When Dave and I first left the party, we often repeated a few predictions of our own: that an upturn in the class struggle and improved prospects for revolution would not come out of nowhere, or out of party propaganda, but out of a crisis of capitalism. We further predicted that following the first signs of this upturn, or of the emergence of a revolutionary or popular movement, the party would condemn it within seconds of hearing about it. Our predictions were fulfilled.It’s an interesting experience to have one’s own views caricatured, and to reflect on what this tells us about the artist(s). I’ve noticed that my objections to party members’ reactions to Occupy (that they were not socialist and based on cynicism and contempt for the working class rather than on solidarity; based on ignorance of what was going on; based on a totally undeserved, in fact ridiculous, confidence in and overvaluation of the worth of ‘theoretical’ conclusions; based on pride in the daft conclusions of a prematurely forestalled education) are now understood to be that I object to people expressing their opinions, and that pro-capitalist views should not be challenged!I believe this caricature was created right from the start when I laughed at Alan’s reaction to the Occupy movement in America, which was to get down there with a truckload of leaflets, presenting them with The Answer, to be swallowed whole on delivery. My laughter was answered with a genuine question: how, then, should we present them with The Answer, to be swallowed whole on delivery? I think the point was perhaps missed, and the missing of the point made the point more forcefully than I could have ever done. In other words, yes indeed Alan, some people do indeed think that their shit smells of roses.