alanjjohnstone
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"to keep the building as a pub and community centre"How times change. Many early socialists and Left wingers would have been appalled at the thought of supporting the demon drink as many were teetotallers.I suppose the definition of a community pub is one that has dominoes and darts teams and an old peoples christmas dinner paid for by the big jar of loose change on the bar. Maybe someone might enlighten me if they are something else. The few community pubs in the council estates i know were all about the local tea-leaves flogging stuff, local druggies doing deals, and sad alcoholics drowning their sorrows as the local heavies proved their machoism.Perhaps HO should start a solidarity with the Manor Arms campaign to show our commitment to community pubs. Who's buying the first round?
Perhaps you can remind them of Debs other quotes “I am not a labor leader. I don’t want you to follow me or anyone else. If you are looking for a Moses to lead you out of the capitalist wilderness you will stay right where you are. I would not lead you into this promised land if I could, because if I could lead you in, someone else could lead you out.” And elsewhere he says :- “I never had much faith in leaders. I am willing to be charged with almost anything, rather than to be charged with being a leader. I am suspicious of leaders, and especially of the intellectual variety. Give me the rank and file every day in the week… I would be ashamed to admit that I had risen from the ranks. When I rise it will be with the ranks, and not from the ranks.”
Yet another example of capitalism being re-fashioned into something claimed to be more democratic.http://truth-out.org/progressivepicks/item/13759-is-there-an-alternative-for-capitalist-economics-and-politics-richard-wolff-says-yesWorkers' Self-Directed Enterprises are an "alternative" to capitalism."WSDE entails the workers who make whatever a corporation sells also functioning – collectively and democratically – as their own board of directors. WSDEs thereby abolish the capitalist differentiation and opposition of surplus producers versus surplus appropriators. Instead, the workers themselves cooperatively run their own enterprise, thereby bringing democracy inside the enterprise where capitalism had long excluded it."Mondragon Co-op is once more dragged out as an example, even though it has been debunked repeatedly.It seems that the 19th century produced utopian schemes to protect the craftsmen from industrialisation, the 21st century are re-producing them to protect the new endangered species the "American middle-class" and their "American Dream".
In case there is a misunderstanding , just in football the severity of an offence may deserve an immediate sending off without any warning. Same on the lists. Once more i leave it up to the moderator's discretion.
I have to agree that consistency if it means uniform is not the objective of a moderator. It will always be different strokes for different folks.The most common mistake is that people post on the wrong list, SPOPEN is for discussion and chit-chat , SPINTCOM is for administration. Occasionally there may be an overlapWhen i previously moderated i tried to make it simple for posters to understand and most people were accustomed to football and yellow and red cards. A quiet word in the ear either onlist or off list, first of all …a yellow as a warning, another yellow as final warning and then a red …Moderated posts has the disadvantage of time-lag and having to wait until the moderator is online is sometimes punishment enough. There was also full suspension, the length and duration varying according to my view of the offence and i often changed my mind and cut short a suspension. Of course, a referee will not punish every infringement because that would stop the free flow of the game, same with debate. I am also minded of a guy i knew at work who once said …when he got caught cheating with another man's wife, the husband was fully entitled to a free punch.Sometimes the advantage rule should be played.We see the injustice in the real world of the 3 strikes and automatic life sentence. We shouldn't attempt to replicate it in our decision making.Obviously not every case is identical, some are unintentional infractions, some are persistent needling type, some are simply on the spur of the moment reaction and immediately regretted.Another issue is that sometimes the moderator has to go beyond maintaining neutrality by offering added protection to some of us who may have mental health problems for instance and require the safety net of moderation when risking going over the edge.Language problems may also be a problem. The medium of the internet does not permit irony or sarcasm very easily and offence can be readily taken when it is not meant.The idiosyncrasy of the moderator cannot be avoided. The referee is often called to make a judgement call. At the moment, there is no linesmen or 4th official to consult. Appealing to the Internet Committee or EC may be an option but it is not going to allow immediate redress. Those who believe moderators are taking sides, have they thought about what sanctions are available against those moderators. Dismissing or resigning from the role?…i see no line of replacement moderators eager to take their place. Instead it simply re-produces another aggrieved individual.But the problem goes beyond moderation of the discussion lists when disputes escalate to bullying, physical threats, or questioning socialist credentials. We require a reconciliation and arbitration process for those who wish to accuse others and those members who have been accused to use. In previous occasions, conference was the judge, jury and executioner. In another case, an ad hoc sub-committee was set up to investigate and interview and come to a resolution. We require something easier to set into motion to be quicker to reach a satisfactory conclusion and close the matter.At the end of it all it is about trust in your comrades. If you cast aspersions upon your fellow members sincerity and motives and character as a socialist or a democrat then a moderator is not the person to appeal to for a decision.He can only stop it being done on the discussion lists, regardless of the rights or wrongs or the accuracy or the maliciousness of such claims and accusations.As i said we require some other mechanism for dealing with that which is not too complicated and can be viewed as transparent.
Another banks create money article. "In fact most money is created by private banks, through the process of offering loans"http://www.countercurrents.org/alexander060113.htmBut pushes LETS, Brixton and Bristol £ and Time Banks.Although we have responded to many of those directly perhaps it is time to have a dedicated online pamphlet quickly disseminated to counter such articles.
BasleThe banks keep the rules lax and can it really take 7 years to implement, having already had over 2 years to prepare already.http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-20928354Peston makes a comment that mortgage-backed securities were wholly illiquid and unsellable in the summer of 2007.
"what we are arguing about here is not whether or not a Conference Resolution has been infringed but about whether or not it is opportune to supply the media with a photo if requested. Scottish branches seem to take a harder line on this than London ones."Perhaps it is because our candidates have not been as photogenic as Danny.But, surely we should seize every opportunity to highlight one of the differences we have from mainstream political parties and make an attempt to explain a basic part of our case on leadership. Sometimes we will get the opportunity and other times we won't, as i indicated in my earlier post on Livingston's experience, but we should always try. By posting a photo we will *never* be able to avail ourselves of that possibility. A picture alone says nothing about socialism or the party. It is not the same as a personal appearance or media interview where the socialist case can be made.I cannot understand how "local conditions" can effect the situation, whether they be South London, Swansea or Scottish voters. There is no need for flexibility or experimentation.There is absolute no need for a voter to know what our candidate looks like and if the candidate's first name happens to be unisex, nor know the candidate gender either (or any other personal details except for the legal election law obligatory ones.)As i also suggested, every election leaflet and statement should include an explanatory paragraph. Part of the purpose of standing candidates is educational, not simply only publicity.But as Coleman said and as i also said in earlier post, its not matter of principle or a resigning issue. I can live with the consequencies of seeing Jimmy Moir's face on a leaflet… but Matt Culbert's…i'm not so sure !!As for the interpretation of the resolution, "manifesto" was substituted by the more general "material"…providing an independent party with a photo is "election material", surely. "That this Conference instructs the EC to ensure that in future no photograph of the candidate appear on the election material"…am i nit-picking? Perhaps they just wished to avoid giant bill-boards of Danny's face appearing.
BTW , How much for billboard anyway to publicise our case, just one or two in the Brixton Hill ward couldn't bankrupt us and be money well spent."This is the democratization of production," says Peter Weijmarshausen, CEO of Shapeways, the leader in 3-D printing for personalized manufacturing. "Anyone can produce their own dream product."http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/3d-printing-technology-poised-for-new-industrial-revolution-a-874833.html
As i made clear earlier, i would oppose including a candidates photo or even assisting in it being used in election campaigns. We were presented by a similar situation in Livingston with 2 requests for pictures. Our replies were" I am afraid that the visitors to your blog-spot will have to remain disappointed with the lack of photograph from the Socialist Party candidate , Brian Gardner. We have a policy that it is the Party's case that should be voted upon, not the Party's face. It is the politics not the personality. Note also the lack of biographical information on the candidate in the election leaflet. We want you to vote for the Socialist Party, not the man "" Brian Gardner is the candidate for the Socialist Party. We are standing to argue the case that Capitalism is past its sell-by date, and can now be replaced by its alternative: a wageless, moneyless, classless world community based on production for human need, not profit. This change can only come about once the majority understand it and want it. It won't come about by following leaders or voting for someone else to do it. The birthplace, background, work history or face of our candidate is therefore a complete irrelevance. That's why we have no photo."One of the websites reproduced our explanation.The local newspaper also printed statements by all the candidates with their pics and ours took the opportunity to explain in his statement that "[social change] won't come about by following leaders or voting for someone else to do it. The face of our candidate is therefore a complete irrelevance. That's why we have no photo."http://realsocialism.blogspot.com/I would have chosen that option rather than submit to the personalising of elections. Perhaps every text of election leaflets should have a paragraph describing our opposition to the cult of the personality. It is integral to our approach to politics and should be used as part of our educational task.We came last and it resulted in the party adopting a policy of not contesting Parliamentary by-elections. I doubt a photo would have had any influence. The main problem as i see it is that when we are the only "Socialist Party" standing our vote increases – when another party with "socialist" in its name, our vote decreases. See Brian's post mortem at the blogsite above.There is a grey area of the conference decision in that it concerned our own election material as Adam indicated. I do not, however, find it to be a matter of great principle. It does not undermine my conviction that as a political party we are still the most democratic one. I can live with Danny's mug-shot being used by independent websites. If that is considered a loop-hole in the resolution then it is up to those who want it closed to raise the issue in conference, or at least complain officially to the EC on the validity of the candidates and/or committee's actions. If the election committee are convinced of the advantages of candidates pictures on leaflets then they too are obliged to put a motion to rescind the previous conference decision or at least include their criticism in their reports to conference and ADM, for branches and members to respond to.ADMIN NOTE: REFERENCE TO UNPUBLISHED COMMENT REMOVED
By coincidence the BBC has an article on Anglo-Indianshttp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20857969Slavery, Nazism and Apartheid introduced a whole legal classification of degrees of "race-mixing", sufficient reason i think to declare that we are all mongrels.Out of Africa or multi-regional origins of human beings, does it really matter much these days? I believe there is even some evidence of Neanderthal and Homo Sapians mixing.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiregional_origin_of_modern_humansIt is racism and discrimination against fellow workers that we stand together and oppose. We oppose discrimination based on gender, sexual orientation, age, physical and mental ability, religion, caste and, of course, class. Perhaps in the future we may add we oppose specism but right now it is the divisions fostered by capitalism which hinder human solidarity that we fight against.I think there is also evidence that taller people get preference in the job market and get higher up the career ladder. Symetrical beauty is more desirable than asymetrical looks according to psychological tests. So perhaps some "instinctive" reactions to appearance do exist at a certain level. But they are over-ridden by social factors, otherwise we wouldn't have had Napoleon.Preference for thin or plumper partners depends on cultural conditions, stout equals well fed and healthy which also means rich. Maybe it is the same with height.I read somewhere that in the past native American men preferred women with big backsides because in times of food shortage, he could have a slice of cheek to eat but i could be repeating an urban myth.
i just want to comment on the situation i have often come cross often and that is light skin is better than dark skin. Throughout the world there are various cosmetics and applications for both sexes to lighten the skin (some quite dangerous). Black appears not to be beautiful for dark skinned black people.This is i think not one of aesthetics or race but class. Think back to why we call the aristocrats blue-bloods – because pale skin that showed the veins revealed that you did not work in the fields under the sun or become weather-beaten.Similarly in Third World light skin denotes someone who is city bred, works in an office or school, not outside, doing manual labour.Every successful movie star or singer seems to be light skinned, the menial domestics remain darker. Michael Jackson was no isolated victim and that is the tragedy.Lighter skinned blacks has been demonstated to have better jobs and be higher up the pecking order than blacker blacks in such places as Cuba and Brazil. Thus again reinforcing the cultural class aspirations of the poor with a demand for skin lightening products.Many everyday popular brands re-focus their advertising to the alledged skin lightening qualities of their products such as Nivea to exploit the local market and increase profits. Where in the West it is usually about anti-ageing claims, elsewhere its the blackness of skin.As for kids looking like parents, from anecdotal evidence a lot of asian women want light skinned, big nosed, round eyed mixed parentage babies. Cosmetic surgery in Asia for the more "western" look is big business.
