alanjjohnstone
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Many thanks for the historical perspective you have provided YMS,“…until a thorough investigation into the implications for the reputation and effective democratic functioning of the Party has been made" (1971)A “thorough investigation”…I question the review of Vin’s by the EC met this criterium of thorough.“That this Conference instructs the EC together with its appropriate subcommittees to make practical plans to be reported to the membership before or at ADM for the production of a Socialist Video Film" (1984).”Goodness me…30 years for this motion to have a result. Confirmation of the slowness of Party. Will it be 30 more years before we produce our next party-approved video? I wouldn't be at ll surprised when we have some members who actually question the need of an introductory video. But i'd be happy with another new election video than a more ambitious video film. “…The EC is therefore called upon to take all necessary steps to thoroughly investigate how this objective is to be achieved, with a view to Reports being prepared for 1987 A.DM and 1988 Conference" (1987)…”Perhaps you can retrieve and post these reports to ADM and Conference, YMS, so we can judge almost 30 years later whether these objectives have ever been achieved. I would suggest we are still struggling to accomplish those objectives…not just in A/V but with new pamphlets, too. The elephant in the room is that stack of cash which can finance well-made videoes by professionals and which isn't being spent on propaganda projects.
In a situation that we cannot even invite sufficient volunteers to fill our committees much less initiate worthwhile propaganda projects, i would be inclined not to be so disparaging of their efforts as YMS has.I do not consider the video to be poor quality but rather a limited success due to an understandable lack of collaboration and resources.Surely we should be encouraging rather than rebuking members for endeavouring to fill gaps in our online communication. I hope Vin learns from some of the criticisms he has had and re-edits his video or embarks upon a new venture.But i think the real issue is a reluctance by the EC to authorise a budget to spend on professionally produced videoes .
One of the more sympathetic views of Sanders is that he managed to re-focus attention upon some of the fundamentals of the socialist case…not just socialism but also class and inequality.This article actually presents a case that from a review of the media, he succeeded in introducing these topics into the debate and opened the door for future progress. http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/37326-how-sanders-shaped-the-national-discourse-on-class-a-media-analysis
Sometimes a thread is already in existence and goes unnoticed where it can be added to. http://www.worldsocialism.org/spgb/forum/general-discussion/interest-rates
Who said she did? I quoted the author on Debs, as comrades know, despite some fundamental flaws, i rather admire his writing. Debs has become a popular icon since Sanders campaign begun. I agree with one of the comments however.
Quote:the idea of running a Debs type campaign in 2016 is ahistorical. What gave his campaigns momentum was a mass socialist and anarcho-syndicalist movement that worked closely together and had overlapping memberships.And another points out the SPA had a wide grassroots presence "Scores of Socialists held municipal office" and Victor Berger was in CongressMakes you wonder, though, whatever happened to Daniel DeLeon's legacy…he seemed to have been written out of the left's labour history and disappeared….as now the SLP itself, it appears. Sorry for the confusion
Quote:political leaders are wondering whether the Rock can do what they call a ‘reverse Greenland’. Though Greenland is ruled by Denmark, which is a member of the EU, the island’s political leaders achieved a deal in 1985 under which it left the EU without severing its political links to Denmark. In Gibraltar, the question is being raised as to whether the territory could remain in the EU when the UK leaves, while continuing to be a British Overseas Territory, its chief minister, Fabian Picardo told the BBC’s Today progamme.The less reported side-effect
Quote:German carmaker Opel has warned it will have to cut hours for its factory workers. The European subsidiary of General Motors said the move came in response to slowing sales after the UK's Brexit vote. Opel executives said Friday they would have to cut workers' shifts at its German factories in Rüsselsheim and Eisenach. About 5,000 employees producing the Insignia and Corsa models would be affected, the company added. "We cannot confirm the exact number of days that will be cut," the firm said in a statement. "That will depend heavily on the sales volume of both models in the UK.GM-owned Opel sells more cars in Britain under its Vauxhall brand than in any other European country. But slowing sales and a weaker pound are likely to hit the carmaker's financial results this year, potentially stalling its emerging recovery after years of hard times…GM estimated it could be $400 million (353 million euros) worse off because of the UK's vote to leave the European Union. "http://www.dw.com/en/shorter-shifts-for-opel-workers-on-brexit-vote/a-19488238
http://www.alternet.org/food/big-food-fights-reformThe food industry lobby fights back by claiming Green credentials using their employed science experts to provide the arguments that all they are concerned with is the consumers' welfare, the workers' health and safety and animal compassion….profits, after all are merely secondary concerns for a business.Sounds like the tobacco/fossil fuel denial tactics being used once again.
Then easily affordable, in my view…in fact, we could even finance a much more ambitious video, or as Vin suggests several specific videoes addressing particualr aspects of the socialist case.
Not being able to post on the Forum is not the end of the world, at least for a few members of the Party.We have as we know, members of the EC and members of important committees, who don't even bother to visit the forum to see what's being discussed, much less engage in the discussion.They perhaps feel less empathy when someone who is "not in the loop" at Clapham High St. is excluded from a crucial part of the Party's social media.
Quote:It would be far better to hand over the whole project of making an introductory video to an outside company such as Lambda, who made the 2015 General Election video for the party.I agree, Gnome. There was an argument one time that we hand over the Party's case to non-socialists to determine but it is a weak argument. The Party can easily explain the outlines of what we wish to see and develop a rudimentary story-board for a commercial company to follow and produce drafts to present to us for final approval. As always he who pays the piper calls the tuneNot sure of the costs but it may not be cheap. What was the price of a very basic video such as the election video? Even relative primitive flash animations can be very effective in getting a message across https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_animation
This article is an analysis of Al Gore, Chomsky's "lesser evil" against Bush, and whether Gore's Iraq policy would have been in any way fundamentally different from the "greater evil's" actions.http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/08/19/liberal-myths-would-al-gore-have-invaded-iraq/
http://www.alternet.org/grayzone-project/company-owned-pro-israel-clinton-mega-donor-haim-saban-just-bought-gawker-medias Haim Saban and his wife Cheryl gave $5 million to the Hillary Clinton’s Super PAC—Priorities USA Action—between 2015 and 2016. Of that sum, at least $3 million was contributed following Clinton’s letter to Haim Saban in July of 2015, in which she sought advice on "how we can work together” to defeat the growing movement to Boycott, Divest from, and Sanction (BDS) Israel.
