Rochester and Strood by-election – 20th November, 2014
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Well the Party isn't better known in the North East, with it's full name. From the early 80's comrades had well over 1500 letters published in the area, using "The Socialist Party", the vast majority I still have in a series of letters books.Not to be unhelpful, I'm pleased this isn't left to you, as there are quite a few members who would oppose this "regression"! Me at the forefront.
News ReleaseROCHESTER AND STROOD BY-ELECTION: WORLD SOCIALISTS CALL FOR ‘WRITE-IN’ VOTE TO REJECT “CYNICAL” POLITICIANSWorld Socialist Prospective candidate Danny Lambert this week called on voters to “reject the cynical politicians who forced this by-election just for party political advantages.”Lambert – who stood for Medway in this years Euro-election – said the Socialist Party “decided not to legitimise this by-election by standing a candidate. Instead we call on voters to make a ‘write-in’ vote and put World Socialism on their ballot paper.”In statement the Party said: “Real power comes from wealth. So long as the tiny minority own the wealth, they have the power. We have to organise ourselves to take hold of that wealth, together. But, since the wealth is controlled worldwide, we need to organise worldwide, without borders, in order to secure the control of the world’s wealth for us all.”“We can make a start by letting other people know that we want this sort of revolution. The more people who stand up for Socialism, the more able we’ll be to force the change we need. Then instead of scrapping to protect a tiny patch of the world, we’ll have the whole to share.”Socialists will be leafleting and talking to voters during the by-election campaign. For more information contact http://www.worldsocialism.org/spgb or phone 0207 622 3811.
Nick Long explains his position elsewhere:
Quote:Nick LongOctober 28, 2013To argue for the organisation of society on socialist lines needs the organisation and growth of a radical socialist party of the mass of working people. Lets follow the path of a establishing such a party – growing and sinking roots in working class communities, helping develop working class militants, holding work shops and study groups, running advice centres, socials, food banks, supporting workers in struggle, helping sustain local campaigns -this is the path we are following in Lewisham with LPBP. Building a broad inclusive party of all those opposing austerity and willing to campaign against it. The SP platform is no different from the founding principles of the SP or SWP and will not attract all those coming into struggle."People before Profit" is not a good slogan. It implies the continued existence of the profit system and that it is possible to get it to put meeting people's needs before profit-making. The occasional victory can be won but the system always wins the war.The proper socialist slogan of course is People NOT Profits
I think the bit about working within the communities with things as advice groups, socials, food banks etc is a positive thing and something the SPgb could involve itself with.I expect I'll get the usual reformist or pandering to popularity accusation from some. I hope I do.
Here is the full statement agreed by the Executive Committee of The Socialist Party of Great Britain which forms the main text of the leaflet being distributed in the constituency:
Quote:“UKIP has forced this by-election to give you a special opportunity to kick both the Government and its lame opposition.And, why not? We all know that the Tories and Labour are no use to us: they have a reverse Midas touch that turns everything to muck. What could be finer than to give them a kick up the pants to get them to smarten up their act?Except, of course, that this is an invitation to give ourselves a good kicking. That’s what Government is there to do, to kick on behalf of the people who own the world. A shoe on the UKIP foot would kick us as hard as one on Labour’s or the Tories’.You can protest vote all you want, but if your call is for a different government, all you’ll ever get is kicked. Real power comes from wealth. So long as the tiny minority own the wealth, they have the power.So, to have democracy, we have to organise ourselves to take hold of that wealth, together. But, since the wealth is controlled worldwide, we need to organise worldwide, without borders, in order to secure the control of the world’s wealth for us all. Without that, we can have no democracy or power.We can make a start by letting other people know that we want this sort of revolution. In this by-election you can do this by making a write-in vote: put ‘World Socialism!’ across your ballot paper.You don’t have to vote for any wanna be leader. The more people who stand up for Socialism, the more able we’ll be to link up, and force the change we need. Instead of scrapping to protect a tiny patch of the world, we’ll have the whole to share.”I'm impressed by the ongoing work comrades are doing in this area. Consitency and succinctness, well done!
advice groupsSP, BrianJ of Swansea branch who has experience of such, once suggested this at a conference/ADM but it was shot down in flames for a number of different reasons but the most obvious is that it does associate us with reformist activity foremost.socialsAlways suggested and always viewed sympathetically. We have a few talented musicians (and plenty of comedians) in the party to make such occasions enjoyable…but apart from limited one-off events we have never ever tried making it a regular gig. Down to size again and members who have the ability being over-stretched (and probably under-paid by the Party) food banks etcBefore my time but didn't ex-member Robin C try to argue for this involvement (LETS) . Again it is down to numbers and the persception that we suggest reformist path and palliatives…In the future i see no problem with a food cooperative…buying in bulk at discount prices, storing at HO for members/sympathisers use, or even simply a notice board at HO of members buy/sell and offers of their DIY services at "mate rates".I think on a couple of threads i suggested one practical thing we could do is offer our premises as a meeting place, and offer internet and printing facilities. I'm always impressed by the Quakers and their welcoming strategy for practically all-comers at their meeting houses, but there is a lesson…It is not a means of recruitment, there is not a knock-on effect of gaining members. But it may widen a little our circulation of literature which we would make freely available.And again, i would think a Saturday/Sunday drop-in coffee-shop/cafe book-shop/reading room is feasible enough to try. Our advantage is that we are situated on a busy High Street and could take more advantage of that.But once more it requires volunteers and members may think they are giving too much time to the Party, although if we can make the activity more pleasurable and ourselves SOCIAL-Party, the tasks are less odious. All the above , of course , has the caveat that it shouldn't impact on our primary purpose…being a political party.
Before comrades (and ex-comrades) get enthusiastic about setting up a cafe at 52 Clapham High St, they should consider the fate of the cafe that Lewisham People before Profit set up. Called "Come the Revolution" it closed under acrimonious conditions:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sg8Uzwe7_xchttp://crossfields.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/people-before-profit-embarrassment.htmlNo doubt in the future. when it's much bigger, the socialist movement will be able to do this sort of thing and succeed, but now, when we are so small, is not the time. We need to build a bigger socialist movement. Which is why (to return to the subject of this thread) we are leafletting Rochester next Saturday.Incidentally, the PBP candidate there, Nick Long, likes us(even though he doesn't agree with our stategy of advocating socialism and nothing else) and helped distribute our leaflets in a recent local council by-election in Lambeth.
ALB wrote:We need to build a bigger socialist movement. Which is why (to return to the subject of this thread) we are leafletting Rochester next Saturday..Providing enough comrades and supporters show up some of us may well cross the Medway and leaflet neighbouring Strood as well.
Class War's contribution to the campaign:Amusing (sort of) and what is expected of Class War but wrong from a theoretical point of view. Our problems are not caused by rule by toffs so it wouldn't make any difference if the rulers all rose from the ranks. They could/would be just as bad if not worse (think Captain Bligh) as it's the system not those who run it that's to blame.
The Courtesans programme:https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B16zO24IUAI1PRm.jpg:largeNot much we'd disagree with, is there?
alanjjohnstone wrote:advice groupsSP, BrianJ of Swansea branch who has experience of such, once suggested this at a conference/ADM but it was shot down in flames for a number of different reasons but the most obvious is that it does associate us with reformist activity foremost.socialsAlways suggested and always viewed sympathetically. We have a few talented musicians (and plenty of comedians) in the party to make such occasions enjoyable…but apart from limited one-off events we have never ever tried making it a regular gig. Down to size again and members who have the ability being over-stretched (and probably under-paid by the Party) food banks etcBefore my time but didn't ex-member Robin C try to argue for this involvement (LETS) . Again it is down to numbers and the persception that we suggest reformist path and palliatives…In the future i see no problem with a food cooperative…buying in bulk at discount prices, storing at HO for members/sympathisers use, or even simply a notice board at HO of members buy/sell and offers of their DIY services at "mate rates".I think on a couple of threads i suggested one practical thing we could do is offer our premises as a meeting place, and offer internet and printing facilities. I'm always impressed by the Quakers and their welcoming strategy for practically all-comers at their meeting houses, but there is a lesson…It is not a means of recruitment, there is not a knock-on effect of gaining members. But it may widen a little our circulation of literature which we would make freely available.And again, i would think a Saturday/Sunday drop-in coffee-shop/cafe book-shop/reading room is feasible enough to try. Our advantage is that we are situated on a busy High Street and could take more advantage of that.But once more it requires volunteers and members may think they are giving too much time to the Party, although if we can make the activity more pleasurable and ourselves SOCIAL-Party, the tasks are less odious. All the above , of course , has the caveat that it shouldn't impact on our primary purpose…being a political party.Hi AlanPleased to hear some positive words about this aspect of social-ism. In essence this is what it is all about people helping each other to create a social-ist society.I know you have a lot of time for ideas that are outside the accepted SPgb realm when it comes to spreading awareness of socialism. As you point out such approaches have been suggested and shot down in the past. The major reason is the reformist label. On that note I have to ask the question, what is reformist about being an active part of a community? I'll be more specific, our brand of socialism advocates a world where we as human beings own in common and control democratically the resources of this planet. It means taking control of our lives and joining with others to create a strong, vibrant, healthy, global community. The ultimate in DIY ethics.Is the SPgb and WSM just another political organisation seeking votes? If the SPgb could find a way to integrate itself into peoples lives in a way that reflects our global vision of socialism then it may be able to transcend mere politics and communicate what we aim for by deeds as well as words. It only becomes reformism when the activities themselves become the sole focus, as in campaigning on single issues etc. Is it reformism to to engage in the sorts of things we advocate we would do in a socialist society? Or put another way, is it reformist to help one another?The big problem the SPgb has is numbers, it may well be impossible to engage in community based activities as a group, even for the largest branches.
ALB wrote:Class War's contribution to the campaign:Amusing (sort of) and what is expected of Class War but wrong from a theoretical point of view. Our problems are not caused by rule by toffs so it wouldn't make any difference if the rulers all rose from the ranks. They could/would be just as bad if not worse (think Captain Bligh) as it's the system not those who run it that's to blame.I agree to a point but this denigrates the role of human agency in history. Humans make things happen. We make choices albiet with limitations imposed by material conditions.'Toffs' may well attack the working class more severely than non-toffs.I would agree that he is just another Toff Wanker but there are plenty of Labour wankers
This is the double-sided A5 leaflet we'll be handing out this Saturday.A clearer image can be found here:www.meetup.com/The-Socialist-Party-of-Great-Britain/photos/25735774/
Look likes he might want to be photographed with you, Gnome:http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/politics/sketch/article4266074.ece
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