imposs1904
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Vin wrote:Quote:The general staff would not allow a prime minister to jeopardise the security of this country and I think people would use whatever means possible, fair or foul to prevent that. You can’t put a maverick in charge of a country’s security. There would be mass resignations at all levels and you would face the very real prospect of an event which would effectively be a mutiny.”
What does this say about the parliamentary road?Lends credence to our critics
If it's true, what does it say about any road? Our critics on the left and their r-r-r-r-r-revolutionary romanticism of the barricades and molotov cocktails are as fucked as we are.Anyway, I call bullshit on this latest story. It feeds into the paranoia of the capitalist left. They want to believe it.
ALB wrote:As expected the media are really going for him and MacDonnell with guns blazing, The front page of today's Times calls him a "bigot" for not singing the national dirge under a picture showing various members of the Establishment entoning this bigot song.Inside there's an even worse example of bigotry in an article by a certain Oliver Kamm denouncing him for having worn a white as well as/or instead of a red poppy. Declaring "the pacifism symbolised by white poppies is offensive", he justifies this offensive remark as follows:Quote:The white poppy was conceived in the 1930s by the Co-operative Women's Guild and adopted in 1936 by a pacifist organisation, the Peace Pledge Union (PPU). The PPU still exists and sells the poppies as "a symbol of grief for all people of all nationalities, armed forces and civilians alike, who are victims of war".Let's be clear. The armed forces of Nazi Germany were not victims of war. They were aggressors. The red poppies sold in aid of the Royal British Legion are not only signs of remembrance: they are an expression of gratitude for those who took up arms against genocidal despotism. The message of the white-poppy campaign is that Britain's servicemen and women were wrong then and are wrong now. That's what pacifism is. And that's why it's offensive as well as ignorant to treat red and white poppies as complementary.I don't think that's the message of the white poppy. What it is is clearly stated in the passage the bigot quotes. And only a bigot couldn't care a fig for people from the "enemy" country who get killed. It's almost the definition of one.We know lots of journalists are scumbags, this one in particular.
On the matter of the poppy industry – and its use in propagating ruling class ideas – 'Ivan' wrote an excellent article in the Socialist Standardin 1973 on that subject:http://socialiststandardmyspace.blogspot.com/2015/07/day-of-remembrance-for-what-1973.html
https://search.socialhistory.org/Record/ARCH01030Scroll down to Number 22 in the list. It doesn't look like they are accessible online, but it looks like there are 12 items of correspondence between Pannekoek and an M.C. Harris that dates from 1947/48. PS – If you scroll down to number 53, you'll see that there is an item of correspondence from Rab to Pannekoek that dates from 1936.
Ozymandias wrote:Global membership of WSM = 350(?)Average age of membership = 75 (?)= Atrophy…75?Yeah, I'm still a young gun. 44 and counting.
Was the correspondence lost at Pannekoek's end as well?I'm prompted to ask: any idea how he came to know of Pannekoek in the post-war period? After reading the biog of Mattick, it appears it wasn't exactly a fruitful period for Council Coummunists to reach a wider audience. Would it have been via The Western Socialist? I know some of Pannekoek's work was published in the WSPUS's journal in the 40s.
ipod for me. I can't really sit at a computer or a laptop and listen to a talk, so I find it works for me to listen to a talk when I'm walking from a to b.
I agree that Left Unity's time has been and gone. It was even before the Corbyn campaign took off. The sensible thing would be for Left Unity to dissolve itself and join Corbyn's Labour Party en masse.
Liking a page or group on facebook doesn't really qualify as support or sympathy. So I'd scale down that figure of a 1000.
Vin wrote:We can take something possible from this. Rejection of cardboard cutout, career politicians. His phrase 'One World' And his favourite song is after all Imagine.Apparently he didn't mention the word 'socialism' during his victory speech, but I guess he was just seeking to be conciliatory towards all wings of the Labour Party.
I really hope the Party doesn't go down the road of contesting the mayoral election. I don't think there's anything to be gained from it.
alanjjohnstone wrote:A 60% vote certainly gives him a mandate and the thank you speech was littered with sound-bites. But the one that stood out for me was."We are one world." But my hearing was confused at the beginning as he mounted the rostum…i kept hear "SPGB…SPGB.." being chanted…what was it really?"Jezwecan"?
I'm not a big fan of some of the twitter stuff or this month's Socialist Standard front cover, but I still think that the coverage of Corbyn and his campaign within the pages of the Standard has been measured and well presented.
DJP wrote:jondwhite wrote:So now we have Corbynwho is popular among Labour memberswho is popular among Labour supporters who are not memberswho has purportedly engaged non-political people with high turnout meeting rallieswho is averse to personality politics, more keen on movements than leadership and not seemingly a product of focus groupswhose policies are popular among the general publicSo do we continue to attack the man or play the ball?You've missed something from your list.."who is pushing the same old illusions that continually lock the working class into the reformist dead end"And this is "playing the ball" it's a comment on ideas, not the personality.
Hurry up with the like button function, 'cos I like this post. What DJP said.
