robbo203
Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
In regards to internet isolation, I think one tool that needs to be emphasized is actually this very forum to involve and engage members and sympathisers in discussion and debate but also as a medium for drawing attention to news items to stimulate talking points that can be linked to on various US progressive websites. It features many American focused topics such as the 2020 presidential election, the US intervention in Venezuela, as well as general themes of interest universally.
Another much underrated tool is our blog, SOYMB, which carries many international items and in particular a preponderance of American articles and events. If its blog stats are to be trusted the vast majority of visitors are already from the USA. With more input from US comrades this audience can be cultivated more.Very good points Alan and I shall certainly want to mention these in my report.
Talking of isolation, I am rather concerned to have learnt just today that nothing has become of the proposal to implement a Buddy System which I thought was overwhelmingly agreed at Conference. I say this because the situation in the US desperately calls for such a measure to be adopted there given the extremely scattered distribution of the membership, I had hoped it would be up and running in the UK by now
Can anyone enlighten me on what is happening about this proposal?
I have been in conversation with several ex members of the WSPUS. Hopefully one or two might re-join in the light of current developments.
On a slightly different subject one of these has asked if anyone knows the whereabouts of an SPGB member called BARRY SINCLAIR. The name rings a bell but I cannot quite place him.
Can anyone enlighten me as to where Barry is. Is he still a member or did he pass away as I seem to think
I basically go along with what you say Dave but with two qualifications in the case of WSPUS
- That the SPGB should continue for the time being to take on the responsibility of processing new application for membership from the US because of the absence of an adequate means of doing this in the US at the moment
- That the SPGB should play a key role in assisting the US with a significant advertising campaign in the US in the near future once the necessary support infrastructure has been put in place (see my earlier post) which we are working on right now
The problems that the SPGB faces, which you rightly touched on, such as falling branch attendances etc are of course greatly magnified in the case of the US because of the large size of the country and the small numbers of socialists. But in both cases I suggest the key variable to focus on is the level of connectivity in the organisaton.
I am more and more convinced that the only way we can begin to effectively tackle this problem is to significantly diversify and expand the different ways in which members (and sympathisers) connect with each other. Frankly, we need to adopt a much more holistic approach to this whole issue.
I repeat: isolation is THE great killer of socialist activity. Find new and imaginative ways of overcoming this problem and we WILL see progress. Of that I am certain. Maybe foolishly so but certain I am….
Hi Alan
Yes exploring the possibility of closer collaboration with the SPC is definitely on my checklist of things to do in relation to this project. At the moment I am still at the stage of ascertaining the whereabouts of the members and their potential contribution to a revitalised WSPUS. I am also engaging in discussion with some ex members to see if they might be interesting in re-joining given the new circumstances.
We have to remember that there has been very little in the way of internal communication within WSPUS because of the breakdown of the central administration. The degree of connectivity has been very low and comrades dont know what is happening elsewhere in the country. They feel isolated and this leads to demoralisation and apathy. Key to a potentially resurgent WSPUS is restructuring the Party organisation to facilitate much closer collaboration and communication over vast distances. Video conferencing, resurrection of the internal party forum (I believe there is a little used google based forum which may need to be changed) and, most particularly, implementation of a buddy system (what has happened to the SPGB’s decision to adopt this) will be amongst the various measures that will need to be adopted, in my view.
It cannot be emphasised enough that isolation is the great killer of socialist activity. This applies to the WSPUS as much as it does to any of the other parties of the WSM. Everything we do has to be designed to overcome the isolation that goes with having small memberships. Only then do you stand a chance of breaking the vicious circle that keeps us small as a movement.
It is absolutely clear that for the WSPUS to start growing again it is going to need significant support from the SPGB. In particular, its is going to need significant financing of a comprehensive advertising campaign in various selected journals in the US. But for that to happen what we first need to put in place is a network of local contacts and distribution centres. In other words, the basic infrastructure to convert responses to an advertising campaign into real contacts and potential members.
Its early days yet but I have identified several possible hubs of activity – in Vegas, Chicago and one or two other places. One of the new members in Vegas has talked about the possibility of acquiring office space. If this is possible this could turn out to be very useful indeed. Other distribution centres could be set up elsewhere.
At any rate, the picture that is emerging is by no means as bleak as I thought it might be when I began this project. There is hope and there is enthusiasm. Given current political developments in the US and the huge surge of interest in “socialism” – albeit Bernie Sanders’ type of milk-and-water welfare capitalism – the potential for growth in the US is obvious . We would be foolish not to seize the opportunity with both hands now
Hi Marcos
Whatever may have been the case in the past, the WSPUS does not seem now to be the same kind of entity you are talking about. There are new people around now and a discernible enthusiasm for reviving the WSPUS. It is very important that we support this development. Clearly, there will have to be new ways of organising activity in the future given the scattered nature of the membership in a big country like the US. These will emerge over time and your contribution would be welcomed
I am more positive about the future of the WSPUS than I was when I started this project at the request of the EC a few weeks ago
Hi Neil
OK, yes, I see now where you are linking up with previous conversation on this thread. Still , even so, it might be useful to apply something of what you said to the situation in the US. Do you have any thoughts on this? I am hoping to write up a report next month on my investigation into the WSPUS and would welcome any advice or suggestions from anyone on the question of how to get the organisation up and running again
Hi Neil
I go along with a great deal of what you say. There s an enormous amount of structural waste built into capitalism – like what I called the “extending ladder” phenomenon whereby each little separate household unit owns it own extending ladder which it might use once or twice a year. That’s just daft and a plain misuse of resources. Far better to pool these kinds of things on a community basis
However, I am a little puzzled – how does all this relate to the status of the World Socialist Party in the US? Unless you are referring to the idea of using technology to more effectively reach people and maybe hiring a PR firm to give advice….
I think in the case of the WSPUS there is almost certainly going to have to be a radical change in the structure and procedures of the Party to make it more aligned with the age of the internet. Given the huge size of the country and the small and scattered nature of the membership, communication is going to have to play an absolutely central role to keep everyone in touch with each other and fully committed. Concepts like the Buddy System which the SPGB has agreed to implement (what has become of that?) will become particularly important in the US along with a resuscitated and updated website, a business forum like SPINTCOM, and the widespread adoption of technologies like Skype and video conferencing
It can’t happen too soon!
Just to report I am making some progress in looking into the possibility of reviving the WSPUS as the request of the EC. I am more optimistic now that this can happen that when I began doing this. Thanks to the assistance of some comrades in the US I have been able to email quite a few contacts in the US. Although about 20 of these emails have bounced some have found their intended recipient.
I will be drawing up a comprehensive report for the EC in about a month’s time with recommendations about how we can get the WSPUS up and running again as a viable political organisation. The potential for growth in the US is enormous and we should do everything we can to tap into it
Marcos, could you possibly get in touch with me via my email at 183606 so I can contact you by email of that is OK with you. Cheers Robin
Hi Dave
Yes, as Swami says both were contacted. I have just sent off a further batch of emails to other members this morning whose addresses I have now acquired. Once we have a full list of members in the US, and also sympathisers, we can begin the process of putting everyone in touch with each other. Given the small size of the organisation, and its scattered membership, communication is absolutely vital. I believe there exists some kind of forum on google which has been used for discussion before. This certainly needs to become more prominent and play a role equivalent to SPINTCOM/SPOPEN. The practical assistance of the SPGB will also be absolutely vital in this initial period of revival including possibly managing the processing of new applications for membership for the time being. I am hoping that the Party will be able to assist with a campaign of advertising in selected US journals but we need first to put in place the necessary organisational infrastructure for the distribution of literature and so on, as well as get the website up and running again.
So, all in all, things are looking a bit better than I initially feared There does seem to be the desire amongst comrades in the US to get things moving again. Which is just as well because the potential for growth there is very considerable given recent political developments in that part of the world
Hi All
At the request of the EC (Feb minutes) I am looking into the situation regarding the WSPUS with a view to helping to revive the organisation. The good news is that I have had several quite enthusiastic responses thus far from my initial enquiries. However, I have a very limited list of members that I know of to work with and I am wondering if there are people here who might know of WSPUS members – even lapsed members – who I could contact.
If you know of anyone in the US who is a member or lapsed member or even a sympathiser, please get in touch with at robbo203@yahoo.co.uk
Cheers
Robin
I don’t know whose FB https://www.facebook.com/groups/2126150080743426/ is, but since it is has not been made public-access, those of use who are not Facebook users are not able to see any of it whatsoever. Perhaps someone would send them a message suggesting they do so?
Hi ZJW
I think you have to actually join FB in order to access this site. It is public but only public to FB users unfortunately. As far as I can tell Genuine Socialism I administered by a Canadian and an American comrade and is getting more traffic which is good to see…
Great stuff, Swami. I’m sure that with a bit of enthusiasm and clear thinking about what needs to done we can get WSPUS back on its feet and running again! It would also be very useful to collaborate with the Canadian Party – maybe there are joint endeavours you can get involved in.
On another matter there is a guy from Twin Oaks called Rich who I used to correspond with years ago who was very active in the WSPUS and even did some publishing on its behalf. He could be a very useful contact
We can continue using this word but by far the majority of the world’s population understand Socialism to mean different to what we know it to mean. Thus, the mere mention of the word creates a barrier to those who are averse to the what they believe Socialism is.
I dont think this is necessarily true – or at least not of everyone. In America for example the word ‘socialism’ appears to elicit a positive reaction from a growing number of people. True, what they understand by the term is in almost all cases not what we understand by the term but we are talking here of people’s emotional disposition to the term that allows them to become receptive to what we have to say. In a sense, far from creating a barrier it removes one – the emotional barrier – more than any other term I can think of (most of which would probably not evoke much if any emotional response and come across as meaningless or bland).
The term socialism at least stirs something in people and, for some , this could work to our advantage. This links up with a belief of mine that to be more effective we need to adopt a more targeted approach. The people most likely to respond positively to the term socialism – even if they dont share our definition of it – are likely to be those most receptive to what we have to say anyway and therefore are most likely to constitute our prime target group.
But even in the case of people who respond negatively to the term socialism, this could work to our advantage as it provides us with a way in to discuss with them what the term really means or should mean in our view. The point is that the term socialism elicits strong emotion, either way, and this is the criterion we should use in selecting a term. An over-rationalistic cum technocratic approach to the matter is based on the false promise that there is some sufficiently neutral term out there that can accurately capture what we have to say and draw in people in their thousands by virtue of its own intrinsic appeal
it sucks that theres no administrative structure for the WSPUS right now, but I don’t think that means it should be formally disbanded. I think we could definitely salvage it, American members cant get involved in international politics hands on anyway. even if we only have a few members spread out across the country, I think the easiest thing to do would be to take stock of who we have and develop some form of a plan to spur growth. the SPGB could handle administrative duties until we establish a larger membership.
Hi SwamiNetero
I couldn’t agree more with the above statement of yours and in fact have earlier written to the EC precisely about the need to take stock of who and where the US membership is (a list of sympathisers would help too) as a first step in jump starting the WSPUS back into activity. I also suggested that the SPGB set aside funds for a significant advertising campaign in the US, in collaboration with existing members, who could advise on the appropriate publications to place adverts in and assist in the despatch of materials to respondents.
My impression is that there has been collapse of the internal administrative structure of the Party leaving the membership high and dry and terribly isolated. Existing members and ex members need to be directly contacted as a matter of urgency to prevent a haemorrhage of individuals drifting away in disillusionment and the core administrative apparatus reinstated.
I dont know if you are on Facebook but there seem to be one or two active US comrades in the FB group, Genuine Socialism.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/2126150080743426/
There is also Stephen’s excellent site here
http://www.whatissocialism.net/
