alanjjohnstone
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Quote:they repeat the same methods over and over and still get the same results – mass indifference to their existence!
As you say, Gnome, when we are put alongside the Left, this critique is indeed very much one of the pot calling the kettle black.While we cannot deny the accusation that our influence and impact upon our fellow-workers over the past century has indeed been negligible and insignificant, how many on the Left can justifiably claim differently of any sustained success?They have as you say aligned themselves shamelessly with self-avowed capitalist parties (and not just solely the Labour Party but in Scotland the SNP), they have promised workers in their manifestoes practically every palliative under the sun with no great return at the ballot box and they have invested themselves with many a charismatic figurehead to capture the personal individual vote, only to have these leaders reveal their flawed personalities and distance workers from them.
If i recollect, the restrictions on child labour were often opposed most vehemently by the children's parents as it lowered the family income. Maybe that is what is meant.Today, we have secularists opposing the parent's rights to impose religious ideas upon their children, depriving them of being able to make an informed choice on their beliefs.
Darren's and my letters in WW elicited three replies, now mostly focusing on the merits and demerits of the SPGB itself as a socialist party. I won't answer since i'd rather not over-stay my welcome but would appreciate if other comrades could respond to the criticisms. http://weeklyworker.co.uk/worker/1163/letters/
You may find this article on Amnesty International's view on "destroying Mosul to save it" worth a readhttp://www.truthdig.com/report/item/destroying_mosul_possible_us-backed_war_crimes_iraq_exposed_20170711
"I am not convinced it should be left to a committee: a partywide discussion is needed." And it will be at the appropriate time. We shouldn't pre-empt any recommendations that the still-to-be-appointed committee comes to and what they conclude will be widely discussed…so patience …patience
The anarchists' role-model, the Zapatistas are putting up a presidential candidate.They chose María de Jesús Patricio Martínez, a Nahua indigenous healer, as their spokesperson and presidential candidate for the 2018 elections in Mexico. As a presidential candidate chosen by the CNI and Zapatistas, she is not interested in winning votes, but in grassroots organizing and resisting the destruction that so many communities in Mexico are facing.
Quote:“The political class only see the earth and our natural resources as means of making money, not things that benefit the community and need protecting.” “Our participation is for life,” she explained at a press conference in Chiapas. “It’s to bring together our communities that have been hit hard for years and years and that, I think, right now need to look for a way to keep on existing.” Her goal is for Mexicans to “to join forces to be able to destroy this system that is generally finishing us all off.” Though seeking office, Patricio is less of a candidate and more of a spokesperson for the CNI and Zapatistas. She reflects and represents the democratic indigenous governing council, its consultations with communities, and local indigenous customs. One goal of her candidacy is to expand this network and governing model while rejecting the Mexican political system.In a communique released by the Zapatistas and CNI released in October of 2016, titled “May The Earth Tremble at its Core.” they said "We build rebellion from our small local assemblies that combine to form large communal assemblies, ejidal assemblies, Juntas de Buen Gobierno [Good Government Councils], and coalesce as agreements as peoples that unite us under one identity…In order to defend what we are, our path and learning process have been consolidated by strengthening our collective decision-making spaces, employing national and international juridical law as well as peaceful and civil resistance, and casting aside the political parties that have only brought death, corruption, and the buying off of dignity…We confirm that our struggle is not for power, which we do not seek. Rather, we call on all of the originary peoples and civil society to organize to put a stop to this destruction and strengthen our resistances and rebellions, that is, the defense of the life of every person, family, collective, community, or barrio. "Full article herehttps://www.counterpunch.org/2017/07/10/dismantling-power-the-zapatista-indigenous-presidential-candidates-vision-to-transform-mexico-from-below/ Much of the language and its sentiments i think should make ourselves pause for thought as it appears to resonate somewhat and reflect our own general approach – or at least to a number of our membersExperience is bringing many anti-parliamentarians towards our own nuanced position to political power
Vin, can't we wait for the committee, that is still to be set up, to start its remit and in due course request the views of branches and opinions of individual members.Slow but more systematic is a better approach than a haphazard exchange on this forum so that its report will be gathered in a coherent manner and it submits its report in a cogent way.Patience…patience…
A defence of "liberal" islam.http://www.dw.com/en/islam-makes-germany-more-diverse-scholar-says/a-39629807
Quote:If you want to interpret the scriptures verbatim, you would be a fundamentalist. If you try to translate the meaning of the scriptures into the current context and use intellect to decide what makes sense, what's logical, what is even relevant in our world today, then you'd be liberal. If you say you want to adapt some traditions to today's times but some values are incredibly important to you, even if theoretically you know you would need to develop them further, you would be a conservative or traditionalist.Another interesting article on the rise of militant Islamism
Quote:The export of Wahhabism got off the ground after the Islamic revolution in Iran. The revolution had dramatically shaken the Saudis. When Iran started exporting its Shiite ideology, the Saudis felt threatened by it. Around that time, in 1979, hardliners seized the Grand Mosque in Mecca. The Saudis launched an ideological offensive and said, "Now we are exporting our own ideology. We will show the hardliners in our own country what we are capable of achieving." Then, they started promoting Wahhabism through intermediaries and organizations like the World Muslim League in different countries throughout Asia, Africa and parts of Europe – for example, in former Yugoslavia where Muslims and Christians fought against each other in the civil war. Wahhabists saw it as gateway, where money was needed since the Muslim population was ready for a new and radical ideology.The result is that, in many parts of the world, a radical form of Islam is gaining the upper hand. I have experienced this first hand in Southeast Asia. In southern Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, and sometimes Malaysia, it was always said that a special form of Islam was practiced, a much more open, much more tolerant version. There has been a dramatic development towards radicalism over the past three decades. It is perfectly clear that this development has been encouraged by Saudi money. Moreover, young intellectuals have been recruited with generous scholarships at Saudi universities. These people return to their homes after having studied at Saudi universities and suddenly carry out Wahhabi missionary work in all their home countries.Isn't the end of capitalism and the establishment of socialism our immediate demand? And that does entail many other abolitions such as the wages system, the profit system, the exchange economy and this involves the end of private property, money and nation-states. Aren't these our immediate demands…or d you suggest that the SPGB has a process of reforms and half-measures to accomplish the socialist revolution.But i did accept that my initial letter could have been misconstrued that we expect capitalism to act against the capitalist class self-interests.
I still remember encountering them at the 2005 Make Poverty History march in Edinburgh and their disdainful attitude to our leafleting and coming to the conclusion i still keep saying …they want to make a fashion statement, not a political statement
Just to say i got drawn to the Independent as "the voice of reason" during the WMD and the 2003 invasion (as was the Glasgow Herald) but there was a change of ownership and it got bought by a Russian oligarch and it has indeed gone downhill. Still not too bad on climate change though(a personal grumble is that even if an online newspaper, it has the crappiest download speed for me to cut and copy from)
As expected, Dave Vincent did not take kindly to my reply to his letterhttp://weeklyworker.co.uk/worker/1161/Which required a further response from mehttp://weeklyworker.co.uk/worker/1162/letters/I am sure he will try and answer it but perhaps i might not bite…depends on how provoked i feel at the time.Darren Williams added his supportive comments in WW letters which echoed my own surprise that supposedly knowledgeable left-wingers are ignorant of our attitudes. I can't imagine earlier generations of lefties could make such assumptions as Vincent did.
