That the Greens are linking environmentalism and progressive thinking on social issues is something to be welcomed. We need a party in Britain which stands to the left of the neo-liberal consensus.
I don't worry too much about Green conferences and manifestos including "elements of silliness" because it is exactly these excesses which will disappear in any any coalition administration containing Greens in the future.
I welcome the shift in Green thinking.
19 April 2010
18 April 2010
The Liberal Democrat Straitjacket
If the Tories and New Labour are today cheeks of the same arse, then the Lib Dems are the thing in the middle.
Clegg’s party is straitjacketed by its own support base. Across much of rural England and in the small towns of the south, the Lib Dems are a catch-all anti-Tory Party. In the cities they often function as substitute Tories against Labour. If Clegg were to make a clear policy announcement or signal a choice of coalition partner he would lose half his party.
The goal of progressive voters is to prevent a Tory overall majority. Therefore, in those seats currently not held by the Tories but winnable by them, people should vote for the candidate best placed to defeat the Tory. In all other seats they should vote for the most progressive serious candidate, usually Labour or Green.
Clegg’s party is straitjacketed by its own support base. Across much of rural England and in the small towns of the south, the Lib Dems are a catch-all anti-Tory Party. In the cities they often function as substitute Tories against Labour. If Clegg were to make a clear policy announcement or signal a choice of coalition partner he would lose half his party.
The goal of progressive voters is to prevent a Tory overall majority. Therefore, in those seats currently not held by the Tories but winnable by them, people should vote for the candidate best placed to defeat the Tory. In all other seats they should vote for the most progressive serious candidate, usually Labour or Green.
Slate Elections
Slate elections are anti-democratic nonsense. The leadership puts together a slate in which it has a majority and perhaps includes a couple of independent patsies. If that slate wins, the leadership retains total control of the organisation. If the it loses then a whole new leadership comes into office and the old leaders cry foul and split off to form a new group. A total waste of time.
9 April 2010
No to labour service for young people
In the early 2000s working class youth were supposed to be mopped up by flexible employment in the debt-driven service sector of the British economy. Today the economy has crashed and reactionaries are suggesting that young people be press ganged into unpaid labour.
So-called broken Britain has nothing to do with the young who are nothing but victims of circumstance. If anybody needed to be forced into unpaid labour to reimburse the community, it is the bankers and their ilk who caused this crisis, but this layer of profiteers and parasites are the backbone of the Tory Party.
Military conscription in the rest of Europe is a left-over of a Napoleonic order, and country by country is being abolished.
So-called broken Britain has nothing to do with the young who are nothing but victims of circumstance. If anybody needed to be forced into unpaid labour to reimburse the community, it is the bankers and their ilk who caused this crisis, but this layer of profiteers and parasites are the backbone of the Tory Party.
Military conscription in the rest of Europe is a left-over of a Napoleonic order, and country by country is being abolished.
22 March 2010
Multiculturalism
The trouble with the term multiculturalism is that it obscures rather than clarifies. Here are three very different meanings.
Multiculturalism, as a sociological description of society.
Multiculturalism, as something that is permitted; i.e. different cultural norms are permitted to co-exist within the framework of a universalistic liberal society.
Multiculturalism, as an objective of government policy; i.e. encouraging and/or compelling individuals to be governed by their ethnic group (e.g. religious schools).
The first of the above is a fact. The second is desirable. The third is a form of Apartheid.
Multiculturalism, as a sociological description of society.
Multiculturalism, as something that is permitted; i.e. different cultural norms are permitted to co-exist within the framework of a universalistic liberal society.
Multiculturalism, as an objective of government policy; i.e. encouraging and/or compelling individuals to be governed by their ethnic group (e.g. religious schools).
The first of the above is a fact. The second is desirable. The third is a form of Apartheid.
18 March 2010
Police infiltration of civic organisations
A large part of police undercover surveillance is utterly ludicrous.
I remember in the 1980s running an open seminar on the theme capitalism and crisis. A well dressed young man turned up, a complete blockhead, who showed an interest in obtaining copies of every handout I had. He seemed most keen to know when we were moving on from talk to action.
A few days later I received a fat envelope containing all my handouts neatly stapled together, with a note from the fellow saying he was no longer interested.
I remember in the 1980s running an open seminar on the theme capitalism and crisis. A well dressed young man turned up, a complete blockhead, who showed an interest in obtaining copies of every handout I had. He seemed most keen to know when we were moving on from talk to action.
A few days later I received a fat envelope containing all my handouts neatly stapled together, with a note from the fellow saying he was no longer interested.
9 March 2010
The Liberal Democrats are no answer
Yes, from a progressive perspective New Labour has been a disaster: Iraq, Britain at is most unequal since 1945 and the lights going out on personal and civil liberties. Yet I fail to see how the Liberal Democrats are a solution.
Clegg et al are locked into negativity. In much of Britain they are a surrogate anti-Tory party, while in some cities they are a catch-all anti-Labour Party. They can achieve nothing by themselves and any understanding with Cameron or Brown would split the party.
However hard it may be, if progressives want a party in Britain, they will have to build one themselves.
Clegg et al are locked into negativity. In much of Britain they are a surrogate anti-Tory party, while in some cities they are a catch-all anti-Labour Party. They can achieve nothing by themselves and any understanding with Cameron or Brown would split the party.
However hard it may be, if progressives want a party in Britain, they will have to build one themselves.
5 March 2010
Yiddish, Zionism, Esperanto
Zionism, involving the re-birth of Hebrew, has always has been a chauvinistic and nationalist creed, and only gained ephemeral credibility among progressive people on account of the horrors of the holocaust.
Yiddish, the language of the Ashkenazi proletariat of central and eastern Europe, became the language of internationalism. Ludvik Zamenhof, the founder of Esperanto, in fact constructed his first planned language on a modified Yiddish before using Latin languages as the main basis for Esperanto.
The revival of Yiddish and its culture is to be welcomed both inside and outside Jewish communities.
Yiddish, the language of the Ashkenazi proletariat of central and eastern Europe, became the language of internationalism. Ludvik Zamenhof, the founder of Esperanto, in fact constructed his first planned language on a modified Yiddish before using Latin languages as the main basis for Esperanto.
The revival of Yiddish and its culture is to be welcomed both inside and outside Jewish communities.
4 March 2010
Michael Foot: the establishment dissident
I think the political and economic crisis of the 1970s did throw up an ideological divide. Thatcher won.
Callaghan resigned early to ensure his successor would be elected by Labour MPs alone and not by an electoral college. The right-wing majority in the PLP elected Foot. He had one function: to contain the left until the right could reconsolidate their power in the party. He fulfilled his role perfectly.
Foot was from the British establishment and was a dissident within it. He never gave up his support for either – the establishment, nor being a dissident.
Callaghan resigned early to ensure his successor would be elected by Labour MPs alone and not by an electoral college. The right-wing majority in the PLP elected Foot. He had one function: to contain the left until the right could reconsolidate their power in the party. He fulfilled his role perfectly.
Foot was from the British establishment and was a dissident within it. He never gave up his support for either – the establishment, nor being a dissident.
5 February 2010
Academic fear of studying terrorism
New Labour have created such a tangled knot of laws around terrorism and empowered a bully-boy police service to such an extent that virtually anyone can be dragged from their beds and held in custody.
The academic study of terrorism is a completely legitimate and desirable activity. When people become afraid of studying the world around them for fear of state repression, you know that the lights are going out on personal and civil liberty
The academic study of terrorism is a completely legitimate and desirable activity. When people become afraid of studying the world around them for fear of state repression, you know that the lights are going out on personal and civil liberty
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