alanjjohnstone
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Vin, i agree that this discussion has to be structured.First of all, we have talked about a special post election conference – there isn't one yet. That was one of my early points that i sought to raise. I fear that it will be tagged on to ADM and the committees will report to it. It will then be crowded out with other topics on the ADM agenda. I did make a compromise suggestion that this year's ADM is extended by a day and the session devoted entirely to the election. I await what the upcoming EC has to say. Or do they need some prodding from the branches?
ALB, Have we ever been in touch with this person and this organisation?I gather that they may well be more influenced by TZM than ourselves but should we not be making comradely approaches towards them.It is a pity that much of the propaganda is duplicated effort.
Quote:The starting point of our propaganda should be that there is a parisitic class leeching from the rest. We have to deal with this reality through revolution. They own the earth and intend to take it from them.That message i think is little different from any of the other left parties, all happy to lay the blame on various sections of the capitalist class…presently the bankers are wankers are getting it but previously its been industrial robber barons, the tax-dodging multinational corporations like Apple etc. and to be even more historical, the right-wing such as the Strasserites have also been anti-capitalist class even if it was an excuse to be anti-semitic. As i keep saying what seaparates us from the rest is that we do possess a vision of socialism, a very different depiction of it from the usual "workers" "socialist" parties. We don't advocate any half-measures but demand the Full Monty .We have to describe our goal and also explain the method of achieving it.And both should now have an added urgency with the prospect of extinction of humanity from environmental self-destruction. (yes i am prone to catastrophism and apocalyptic scenarios) so in a way, yes i may be be classed alongside Christians with their Prepare to Meet Thy Doom placards ..Woe…woe and thrice woe to recall the Frankie Howard's Up Pompeii. There is a convincing case i admit that pessimism and negativism are not effective means of persuasion and don't make converts…it is hope and it is inspiration that produces energy.
i think our problem is that our objective is not related to the present, as Robbo indicated.I mentioned our candidates answers to specific campaigns as did Robbo. He also raised the issue of whether we do enough to connect socialism with the actual resistance that is going on right now but what some members too readily dismiss as reformism.We have to (and i keep using this word) make socialim an immediancy, something that really can be achieved today and tomorrow and not something to be placed on the back-burner for the far-off future that so many on the Left relegate it to (and as i say we too because of our retinence in being more detailed in what socialism will be like).But we have to use the spring-board of where as Robbo says, people are actually at now, and that includes our rivals on the Left and in the environmental movement.We have the NHS and schools and a host of other aspects of current capitaist society where we can say it is provided according to need and free access is the principle of them. I think we failed to link the few positive features of capitalist society to what is possible if the logic was extended. The Universal Basic Income is another example where we should be able to say…great idea and here are where you are right… but why stop short …it is such a small step further to take to actually do away with the exchange economy money and wage labour. To ecologists we acknowledge their aspirations and we agree with nature and people being in harmony…but we stay aloof from the eco-socialists where we should be saying…you are correct in describing the limitations of the market but don't go far enough. It's hard but we have to approach those who disagree with us as comrades with simply the wrong tactics and strategy. Our hostility clause should be reserved for class enemies, not merely our misinformed and the misguided fellow workers.But i say again it is not easy when some of our opponents are suggesting self-destructive alternatives to us. We should however do more to identify potential allies and become more inclusive. I was always impressed by the number of ex-members and non-members who remained closely associated with ourselves, at times it may have seemed we had more sympathisers than members of branches. The WSPUS permitted people like Mattick and Pannekoek to share the columns of their magazine. We now have become more open and permit non-members to share our platform in what we now call forums rather than adversarial debates. We do slowly move forward to becoming a broader party but back away from admitting it.
Religion and membership has been raised on our discussion forum and i think Robbo will be interested in Paddy Shannon's replyhttps://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/WSM_Forum/conversations/topics/52463;_ylc=X3oDMTM1YTI0Y2Q0BF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzE2MDYxMARncnBzcElkAzE3MDgzNjMwNzcEbXNnSWQDNTI0NzAEc2VjA2Z0cgRzbGsDdnRwYwRzdGltZQMxNDMxMTY3MTA1BHRwY0lkAzUyNDYz
In case people missed ALB's earlier post on local councilPrince's by-election resultLabour 3452 (44.5%) LibDem 1748 (22.5%) Tory 1519 (19.5%) Green 901 (11.6%) Left Unity/Trade Unionists and Socialists (Kinglsey Abrams) 99 (1.3%) The Socialist Party (Danny Lambert) 42 (0.5%) Par for the course for us but a poor result for LU/TUSC considering who their candidate was (ex Labour councillor and ex-Labour parliamentary candidate). QUESTION How did Max Hess get on in his local election?
More to read for those inteested in the effects of automation and roboticshttp://www.science20.com/the_conversation/dont_blame_robots_for_the_rise_in_inequality-155408
LibDems, UKIP and the Greens may well join together to further the demand for PR elections rather than FPTP.Here is how the parties would stand based on a voters count http://members5.boardhost.com/medialens/msg/1431118701.html
Brand on the actual election result, reviewing his role in ithttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRUQ6aPvs58
Oh another thing to evaluate and assess is those internet lobbying systems like 38 Degrees…Not simply how we responded, but can we make fuller use of them ourselves in drawing attention to ourselves?
Oh i did forget another problem that arose during the campaign…leaflet dumping by Royal Mail…it seems voter addressed enveloped has more success than mere unaddressed leaflets. Expensive to organise and requires sub-contracting probably to a mail-sort business, but is it better value for the money, in the end. Just another practical thing we learned and should look into more.
Quote:The next elections are those to regional assemblies in London, Scotland and Wales next year.A year is a long time in politics…to paraphrse Harol Wilson…plenty of time to re-group and re-allign for the counter-attack…How is that bank balance right now so i can be sure we can afford to spalsh out on what i think is necessary…How much dosh have we?Regional elections , whats the cost of standing and what do we get for the money in terms of mail-outs?I expect much more than a few leaflets for the EU Referendum and not a repeat of the invisible SPGB that we were during the Scottish Independence Referendum…Neither London, Brussels or Strasburg but World Socialism…well place ads in popular papers.
Robbo , the immediate consequence will be the debate for the new Labour leader…Will he be New Labour or Old Labour? Will it be pragmatic austerity-lite or anti-austerity?The left will be cock-a-hoop at the opportunity to once try and more drive Labour deeper into their camp but the Labour leaders likely to succeed are as much New Labour as Blair…Andy Burnham, Yvette Cooper, Chuka Umunna – all on the very right of the Labour Party (However, Burnham and Cooper do have some sort of trade union background which they will appeal to) But we'll perhaps see someone from the Left emerge. In Scotland to survive Labour will perhaps swing towards more independence but stop short of separation which means positioning itself left of the SNP which i simply don't think is possible right now. But can the pro-business SNP maintain its left-wing radical credentials when the day to day politics begins to take effect.But for the next five years, they have the ready excuse…We can't keep our promises because of the Tories in Westminster…but i don't think this election was in any way a mandate for separation..SNP made it clear a vote for them was simply a tactical vote against austerity.
All the information and facts are not in yet for anyone to come to a conclusion. My initial impression is that the rest of the Left was as poorly rewarded as ourselves (excluding the Greens). I'll probably get a better picture when the Weekly Worker reports as they usually do. i await the reports from all the relevant committees and i urge that they do not delay until ADM but begin to do so nowThe branches involved in the election have to meet and discuss the activities and results of their own election campaignsI suggest the EC formally announce and organise the procedures of a post-election analysis that includes an online component for the input of sympathetic non-members and ex-members , as well. Vin has suggested a "think-tank", we have one in the Elections Committee, but their remit should be expanded to coordinate a wider debate.In advance of the election candidates and interested members were invited to HO election "tutorials" meetings. I would like that repeated so there can be a face to face discussion with those people intimately engaged in the election to share the lessons they themselves acquired and what they feel is now required. I don't know the full financial cost of the election campaign yet.I don't know how many people have contacted the Party and i don't know how many will stay in contact with the party.Our votes was what many predicted. It never went up despite more access to the media but did it bring us closer and strengthen the bond of that audience? Have we been able to identify potential supporters and sympathisers of the party that previously were anonymous. Did the press adverts prove fruitful. Certainly for one branch most definitely not since they didn't realise they could have had one paid for by the party centrally but what about the Morning Star, was it an appropriate paper, what about the Argus(?), should we have had more local newspaper ads or were there other ways of advertising we could have used…bill-board? Campaigns (or is it called Outsourcing now) should be reviewing these ads and telling us the benefits from itI don't know if there will be a local effect on branches as yet but that must be the immediately strategy for them now.i don't know if the confidence and performance of our candidates at hustings have created extra and better public speakers. To sum up, our decision to tackle 10 seats raises more questions that answers at a practical propaganda level.More importantly they have highlighted deeper issues that we must address Our online internet presence was revealed as very weak and ineffectual mid-election by admissions of how we were not using Twitter (and i dare say this applies to Facebook and other social media too) as much as we could have to communicate our messagesOur actual identity was often confused by individuals and the media at the most basic level in that our name was mis-reported or associaited with other parties on the left We are once again without an officially approved Party logo, or one that is acceptable to the electoral commision rulesWe were, as expected, queried on our attitudes to individual reforms , and although we generally side-stepped these questions with our tandard reply, individual candidates were able to respond more specifically to them in a more positve manner, that showed that they were real concerns to us too. So has our anti-reformism overshadowed our support for workers seeking and organising for specific reforms in their interestsI think the core message that succeeded was that a vote for ourselves was a protest vote against capitalism but did we effectively reflect that and make it the central feature of our campaign? Was it head-lined sufficiently?Were people really excited that we were leader-less and our claims of being as the most democratic party believed?Should our election activity included extra-parliamentary actions such as protests and pickets for publicity such as when we were excluded from particular hustings or when those hustings were fronts manipulated by actual political parties. As i said, i hope the next EC meeting offers us a structured way of exchanging feedback on the election rather than only this thread.
