DJP
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“it isn’t the Party which is the problem, it’s the working class.”
This type of self-satisfied thinking is definitely part of the problem.
“That sounds nice. Of course, a “socialist summer holiday” in Andalucia would take a lot more organising and probably you would be talking about at least a week if not more to make it worthwhile. I could certainly assist with arranging accommodation and so on.”
The camp I went to was for five days. Two days for arriving and leaving and three for workshops.
Perhaps put some feelers out on Spintcom or contact branches to see if there is an appetite for this kind of thing.
“Hey DJP, Thanks for mentioning that!”
I actually went to the UK camp organised by these people this year. It was a small, I think invite only, gathering of about 15 people in a country house near the Welsh borders. Days were spent with two or three workshops and presentations of texts. The rest of the time socialising and cooking a communal meal in the evening.
Something like this could easily be done with just a small group of around 5, if there was enough people to present work in progress.
“Not much help to me, I know, as I live in the south of Spain but then is a socialist holiday by comrades in the UK in Sunny Spain out of the question?”
Gruppen Gegen Kapital und Nation organises summer camps in Northern Germany which attract 100-200 people each year. An English-speaking summer camp in Spain doesn’t seem that outlandish of a proposal, but would be a lot of work to organise..
I suggest you read through some of the early issues of the Standard, when they dealt with this kind of thing.
If you think there is an appetite for a strike to stop the armament of Isreal, I suggest you start by talking to your colleagues at work. But I’d also warn them that such types of strike are not covered by trade union legal protections.
You’re right in that we should get creative in how we spread awareness of socialist ideas. And you’re right that real world interactions are more powerful than online ones.
But it seems to me that some of what you are saying *is* a change in policy. The stuff about a general strike is just wishful thinking on your part.
Is that 1000 votes figure correct?
Of course, the SPGB will never be on the streets “supporting Palestine” or any other nation-state. Like I said in the beginning, I find it surprising that someone who went through the admissions test is coming up with things like this. Have you had much contact with actual members?
I’m not sure if it’s an urban myth but wasn’t the slogan for one year’s election campaign something like “Don’t vote for us. (Unless you understand what socialism is and are willing to help put it into practice)”
This stands out from those that make promises they can’t deliver and gets people to think.
Manipulative vote chasing is not what the SPGB should be doing. And that’s not how socialism can be reached. You can only get socialism by building a mass of people who understand what it is and are willing to put it into action.
Galloway is a opportunist hack.
I’m just a hanger rounder not a member..
The talk about an economic collapse and finge parties taking power looked like an approval of minority revolution to me..
But this is all stuff you’d have to raise through your branch rather than post here with the vague hope of it being actioned. I don’t fancy your chances though, it all goes against long established, and generally sound, positions.
“But these are all properties of matter.”
I fully admit this is not my speciality, I am not a trained physicist. But what you are describing here is the old Newtonian physics. In modern physics, gravity is the curvature of spacetime. But if you want to build a bridge, Newtonian physics works just fine.
I’m more familiar with the distinction between ‘materialism’ and ‘physicalism’ from a philosophy of mind or philosophy of language background. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/physicalism/#Term
The question of whether the SPGB should admit religious people is a separate one from the question of whether the possibility of socialism turns on the question of the existence or not of god.
I thought the SPGB didn’t want to admit religious people because it had chosen to explain socialism from a naturalistic perspective. Having religious people on board would open up the organisation up to the possibility of an endless derailment.
The “no-self” stuff is also famously in Hume and Buddhism.
My tuppence worth is that it probably makes more sense to think of the self and consciousness as a process rather than an object or entity.
Also, the final paragraph about matter is completely wrong. I’d be careful saying things like “there can be no non-material things acting upon us” – energy, time and gravity all act upon us, but are definitely not matter. It would be better if you used the word “physical” perhaps.
But then, when it comes to arguing for and against socialism, does any of this really matter!
