alanjjohnstone
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Quote:We have a name; we've had it for 110 years, and we're on our way to getting a consistent recognisable image.
Recognisable by whom, is the obvious question.While in favour of an official logo/emblem and sympathetic to a name change, i think in previous messages i qualified it by not expecting them to be quick fixes and the importance of them being integral to a broader publicity re-branding of the party which will have an impact on the way we prioritise the socialist case… and this aspect of the debate in my view is lacking in urgency by members.We need to seek out and identify our constituency, is what i am trying to say.On other threads i have offered my personal opinion on where that may lie but by no means do i consider those suggestions as 100% but simply spring-boards for others to contribute their ideas of where we should aim the direction of the party. I have also indicated that we at this particular moment of our history we can financially afford to promote ourselves much more but this opportunity will soon be lost as our money will quickly be swallowed up on operating/running costs.But all kudos to KS branch for taking up the baton and running with a logo from the experience of actual election campaigning, rather than leaving it all to wishful thinking. It is from activity that we discover our weaknesses and strengths.
Quote:the only person in my whole life who can call me whatever he wants, is my father, because he was the one who gave and provided me with love, foods, shelter, cloth, and academic and personal education, after him, I do not allow anybody else to fool around with meBut what about your Mum? Didn't she bear you in her womb for 9 months, suckled you from her tit, washed and dressed you…
Aren't we social individuals? That is to say that we exist in two simultaneous dimensions with the self-directed individual integrating his or her own life with the development of the whole community.
Plus any more boring talk about cricket will risk another breakaway from the Party by some Scottish members.
I may have my party history a little askew but wasn't the breakaway originally spurred by disciplinary charges and expulsions that led to the decision to set up both the SLP and the SPGB. But i think all i am saying is that when we hear echoes of our own message we should seek those voices out. After all i don't think we can expect in the myriad of websites and blogs on the web it is guaranteed they will find us without our help.We do have a few introductory articles in Tagalog we can post if those who have already taken the opportunity to visit their own website take the opportunity of finding a suitable webpage to post them . I have been offline for a few days so i need to catch up speed.http://www.worldsocialism.org/tagalog
I think on a couple of earlier threads i have stressed the importance of engaging in the environmentalist movement and i know some loathe the need for hyphenated adjectives to socialism but we need to declare ourselves eco-socialists and explain the reasons why we are. We require to sow our seeds on soil that is fertile rather than barren.We cannot expect to discover clones of ourselves for many arrive at similar conclusions as ourselves via a different journey and unfortunately they bring their luggage with them , as we do too, so i am not dismayed that from our view some other groups appear confused on certain aspects. What i argue is that the similarities offer an opportunity for further discussion in a more comradely fashion rather than simply to always re-iterate the hostility clause because they are not in 100% agreement or arrived via a different route and still hold attachments to their route. We can be clear on our opposition to elements of anothers case but still seek debate without denouncing every other group as our class enemies. We were all a little confused in our past and it was helpful assistance and advice and education from others that got us beyond that not the finger-pointing and point-scoring. There will be people in the PLM (perhaps only a few) who will be more receptive to ourselves than others and it is for us to try and make contacts. Try and imagine if in 1902 a foreign group of Impossiblists discovered the SDF for tthe first time and judged all the SDF membership on what Hyndman wrote or from the SDF programme and dismissed the existence of Anderson and Fitzgerald et al.
Quote:We disagree in our philosophies, but mine is democratic and can provide a basis for the SPGB's political strategy, whereas yours isn't and can't.i suggested it once before. Why can't you join the party and instead of pissing into the tent, you can piss out of it.Your disagreements are not incompatble with membership as far as i can judge and the party has demonstrated its flexibility for the extensive debates on philosophy topics. Therefore so to contribute to the socialist case and the SPGB's analysis, why not set aside your reservations and your previous unfortunate experiences with party memberships and join us where you will be able to express your views even more effectively and help to actually determine the SPGB's political strategy. I doubt you have any real alternatives or other options, do you, except to continue as that lone voice in the wilderness, isolated from possible comrades and denied opportunities for activity.
What we missed.Apart from smaller protest in Edinburgh, 40,000 were out on the strets in London and 300,000 in NY.http://www.theguardian.com/environment/gallery/2014/sep/21/peoples-climate-march-in-london-emma-thompson-vivienne-westwood-peter-gabrielThese people are looking for solutions and we should we offering them the eco-socialist answer.
I vaguely recall during Occupy that there was an observation that the absence of a socialist analysis permitted space for reformists and so-called radicals such as Positive Money to spread their arguments without sufficient rebuttal.I think we have to step up our influence in the environmental activist arena to counter the Malthusians with their over-population claims and solutions such as the Voluntary Human Extinction Movement. http://www.alternet.org/environment/radical-environmental-solution-youve-never-heard?paging=off¤t_page=1#bookmarkAlthough perhaps an extreme example, we do possess the Deep Greens of the primativists plus the "moderates" of the NGOs who concentrate on population control in the Third World. It is not only ourselves who have produce eco-socialism literature but others too…although we may disagree upon certain aspects of the politics of how to achieve a sustainable socialism but on the wider field we accept why capitalism causes and cannot cure the destruction of the world.
Brand video on the environmenthttp://www.truthdig.com/avbooth/item/russell_brand_capitalists_corrupt_media_profit_deny_climate_change_20140920
Quote:'The real task for progressive movements,' says author and activist, 'is to convince people that change is possible.'http://www.commondreams.org/news/2014/09/20/feeling-its-gonna-be-huge-naomi-klein-peoples-climate-eveHmmmm? So far no takers for the debate. Maybe this interview with Naomi Klein may spark discussion …or will it concentrate upon her mistakingly associating Mao and the Soviet Union with communism?Certainly i think she has pin-pointed the exact problem that we face…one of persuading people of the need of creating an immediancy and urgency in constructing an alternative society and convincing them it is indeed viable and feasible but also accomplishable if people want it.
A playwright's take on anarchism and the Scottish referendumhttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/sep/20/angry-brigade-social-unrest-james-graham
Quote:There is/was a genuine belief in the possibility of change; a genuine belief that your participation means something and matters; that there is a choice about the direction of travel, and nothing can be taken for grantedI found this referendum post-mortem article by Edinburgh Anarchist member a good read. S/he also discusses widening our next challenge to the environmental issue. http://libcom.org/library/dont-mourn-organise
Quote:Too much time has been spent on bourgeois constitutional questions while the rich consolidate their wealth and power, impose austerity and hardship and leave the planet to burn…Never knew about that environment protest…another missed opportunity for ourselves but only myself to blame. And got nothing to give out even if i could get to it which i can't because i got persoanl commitments for my last weekend.But such events is exactly where we are missing. We should be at those gatherings with full table of ecology-related lit. It is another example of how we are failing to make connection with a potential receptive audience. All i am saying is that we should first have a limited objective of getting our presence and our concern noticed then build upon that.
