Bijou Drains
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ParticipantI played local non league football in the Newcastle and district leagues until I was well into my forties, I'm not sure about sport or entertainment, but self harm probably fits the description quite well. Given a chance I'd be there again in a heart beat. A socialism without sport is unthinkable to me. A sport without commercial presides sounds like my idea of heaven. Even if the majority disapprove, is it their right to stop the sport freely enjoyed by others if it harms no one but the participants?The thread reminded me of one of the most bizarre incidents that happened at a football match. We had just played and narrowly beaten one of the biggest bunch of nutters in our league and their captain put his head through the door and told us "someone" had just smashed up one of our cars. The look on his face when we told him that we'd all come on the bus! They'd smashed up their own goalies car!
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ParticipantDJP wrote:alanjjohnstone wrote:Quote:It's up to them to develop their ideas.By implication then, the working class doesn't need a socialist party to educate, agitate and organise.
Well socialist ideas certainly do not originate with the SPGB, there's nothing that the SPGB says that others have not thought of independently. I think it's not a case of "making socialists" but of finding socialists, or arranging things so that socialists can find us.
If that is your view, you are within your right to work for socialism in whatever way you choose, what I find odd is that you seem to find it hard to recognise that others want to carry out different kind of activities and appear to be intent on blocking or criticising them for doing so. If you want to sit in your ivory tower, like some Victorian maiden spraying the kind of perfume on that you think will attract the working class to you, off you go, but please have the courtesy to respect others who want to do it differently.
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ParticipantHi LindaThat link only takes me to a BT site?
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ParticipantHi Linda can you post me a link to the site YFS Tim
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ParticipantLBird wrote:alanjjohnstone quote wrote:…“proof” … is rife with the selection and manipulation of facts to fit a desired conclusion…I've been saying for years here that this is 'the scientific method'.The sooner we accept that this is 'science', and begin by presuming that revealing one's own 'desired conclusion' (ie. one's ideological starting point) is the correct method, the better for science.As I've said before, regarding this thread's content, start from 'peace-bands' and 'war-bands' (for example), and the 'proof' will flow.This is how all science works, including physics.The 'disinterested scientist' with a 'neutral method' to produce 'objective Truth' is itself a ruling class idea, a bourgeois myth.Hello, alan.
Nurse, Nurse, he's out of bed again!!!!
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ParticipantDid somebody mention pina coladas…..hic
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ParticipantDJP wrote:Tim Kilgallon wrote:A comrade comes up with an ideaIdeas are very easy to come up with, especially if they are for other people to do. The problem is getting them put into action. If anyone wants to go to France then great! But who? And what effect could we realistically expect it to have?Normally it's Alan that is Private Fraser, so glad to be the fill in.
well to be honest Comrade, if this movement (theirs not ours) is still ongoing in the summer (when I finally get some time off from work) and there are other Comrades whose French is better than my schoolboy attempts at the language, I would probably be able to get across."If anyone wants to go to France then great" Obviously knowing we woould have your approval would be the icing on the cake.As to what effect we could realistically expect to have, well I guess it is more likely to produce results than sitting on the internet discussing how many angels can dance on a pin head with L Bird.
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ParticipantDJP wrote:alanjjohnstone wrote:Quote:Without a platform, program or organisation this will be going nowhere fast (or slowly).So we should try and fill that vacuum, don't you think.
It's up to them to develop their ideas. We could get someone to turn up with some leaflets but we wouldn't be treated like the messiah arriving and would likely have little real influence on the movement. People are, rightly, suspicious of being manipulated by political parties…
And we wonder why we have difficulty recruiting. A comrade comes up with an idea for some positive action and the way forward is to pour cold water with a liberal helping of doom and gloom on it. Have we been the victim of some kind of bizarre entryism from The Socialist Studies/Ashbourne Court Group, with the intent of taking the "slogan boring from within" to its logical conclusion.So instead of approaching members of the working class with ideas about class, production, society and politics with a view to explaining to them our political perspective and attempt to "make socialists" we should just sit in 52 Clapham High Street waiting for the working class to show up, watching Comrade Cheeryarse (DJP) hand in hand with Eyore and Private Frazer wander off into where the sunset would be if it wasn't so bloody gloomy.
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Participantalanjjohnstone wrote:No, while supporting a paid Gen Sec i don't think it will address a problem in that we have reached a position that we cannot do everything we would want to.i would seek the job description of Gen Sec and HOO being combined into one position for a half-decent wage and "above the shop" accommodation provided if required and not as a "job on the side". If so i might just apply myself when i am obliged to return to the UK ;-pSimply look at the attendance of branch meetings…many are barely meeting quorum numbers… …and that includes the London branches which were once the core of the Party in past years. The demographics are clear on the future trend of the Party and it is not promising, TimI think it would be more appropriate to seek out someone who is currently working for themselves doing self employed admin/secretarial work, getting them to do their work, which in my experience is a highly skilled and very complicated task and then paying them their rate for the job, in the same way that we would pay a builder if we needed some building done, or a plasterer if we needed some plastering done.As to the demographics, unless we stopping concentrating on running the admin of the party and start concentrating on building the party we shall die, the fact that we shall die with considerable wealth is of no comfort to me.
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ParticipantWhich is precisely why I shall be voting for the motion put forward by Yorkshire regional branch re paying a General Secretary. If we have a paid General Secretary carrying out the routine, but non political tasks, this should release tie from those voluntarily doing these tasks to do the political style stuff like this.
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ParticipantSurely the answer is to get a few comrades who want to go over, get a whole load of stuff from HO and go over and do it.Do we need to have an endorsed campaign by the EC for everything we do, surely not.In terms of costs, if those who wanted to go over put an appeal on here for some funds in the short term with an application for a retrospective application for funding from the EC, I'm sure funding would be made available.
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ParticipantYoung Master Smeet wrote:Well, in essence, that's what the Labour Party did back in '45, they took out huge loans (or, rather, they converted shares into debt, which they paid interest instead of dividends).yes but if we get a loan from Wonga we can just tell them to F+@! off when they ask for their money back, everyone else does.
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ParticipantCould the Party not just get a huge, huge loan from Wonga and buy the entire global means of production from the capitalists? They might fall for it.
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ParticipantGood lad, if it isn't nailed down nick it, as my dear old Dad used to say.
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Participantalanjjohnstone wrote:London group of the Anarchist Federation will be holding a May Day Social on Sunday May 1st from 5pm till they run out of drinks at the Autonomy Club, Freedom Bookshop, Angel Alley, 84b Whitechapel High Street. London E1. You are cordially invited to attend. There will be (short) speeches on May day, drinks and snacks.I'd be interested in any feedback on how this Autonomy Club functions regards number of customers, regular clientele and if it breaks even financially and how the stock and service is organised.that sounds like your planning a robbery!!!
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