jondwhite
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And their view on left unityhttp://www.internationalsocialistnetwork.org/index.php/ideas-and-arguments/organisation/left-unity/33-left-unity-and-the-is-network
Quote:Reflections on the Ecosocialist Conference.Posted on April 22, 2013 by redpleb Chris WilliamsThis past Saturday, April 20th’s Ecosocialist Conference at Barnard College in NYC I would say was a massive success. Over 240 people showed up, when organizers would have be pleased if just 100 had, and 29 different socialist organizations, groups, parties and periodicals cosponsored the event. This is a massive step forward in rebuilding a stronger, more collaborative and more united far-left in an area of dire importance, environmental justice. There were some very minor issues – namely in areas of facilitation of speakers and talks and some other organizational problems for the conference – but for what this was, a big step forward in a number of different socialist organizations working together on a common event for the first time, I really can’t imagine how it could have been any better. Minor mistakes are to be expected, but in all this was a huge success and all the organizers should be incredibly proud of it…..Yep, that's where I found it, in the K&SRB minutes. The picture I used is one from a previous year though.
Ipswich May Day Festival 2013Posted: January 7, 2013 in Uncategorized Tags: 2013, festival, fun, funfair, may, mayday, music, stalls 0Will be held onSunday 5th MayDetails of the events and the music performers can be found on the EVENTS page.If you wish to have a stall at the event please contact the Stall Co-ordinator on the CONTACT page.If you are a musician performing on the day, your contact is the Rock Stage Co-ordinator. See the CONTACT page.If you wish to play 5-a-side football on the day, the co-ordinator for this event can be found on the CONTACT page.Volunteers are always welcome. Please contact the Principal Co-ordinator on the CONTACT page if you are able to offer your time on the day.Otherwise just come down and have fun on the day. The event starts at 12noon and ends at 6pm.See you there!
Asked about participation and they replied stating their decision not to allow political parties to participate as parties.
Call-out for workshops and events: Ideas vs. CapitalismPosted on March 27, 2013 by stopg82013 | Leave a commentCalling all talkers, thinkers, writers, readers, fighters, teachers, learners, artists, rebels, performers, rappers, poets, musicians … and anyone with any skills, ideas or dreams to share … The StopG8 week of resistance is taking place in London on 10-14th June, in the week running up to the G8 World Bosses’ summit. As well as action in the streets, the week will include an events programme of talks, meet-ups, films, games, concerts, and more, all over London and beyond.Please get in touch at stopg8events [at] riseup.net if you would like to run or take part in an event, if you can help with organising or venues or publicity, or if you just have an idea for something you’d like to see happen. We want this to be big, so we’re starting to plan the week right now.The ‘ideas’ bit of the events programme is going to be built around five main themes. Four of these are the main political issues we particularly want to think about during the week. But there is also an open slot if you have any ideas that don’t fit into these. Events could include workshops, talks, plays, performances, films, comedy, art shows, games, skillshares, practical training sessions, and talks about anti-capitalist struggles … or anything else you can think of.***1) Understanding capitalism.Politicians and the mass media try to divert our anger away from the real causes of poverty, inequality, and everyday bullshit. They give us scapegoats: migrants, foreigners, “scroungers”, or a few corrupt “bad apple” cops or bankers. When really it’s the whole system that’s rotten, top to bottom. But just what is capitalism? How does it work? How does it shape our lives, and even try to control our desires? Who’s profiting from the system, and who’s keeping it going?2) Resistance: how to fight, how to win.Every resistance movement that shakes the world has to start small. We can win real victories on our streets, in workplaces and neighbourhoods, in our daily lives, and so we grow. What lessons can we learn from movements in history, and across the world? And we need practical skills. How to be safe and look after each other on the streets. Legal rights: how to support each other against stop and search, police and immigration controls. Direct action: how to fight the powerful, and get away with it. How to organise, publicise, feed an army, heal the wounded, … and much more. Enough hype, enough bullshit: let’s share ideas and skills that will actually work. We especially want to facilitate the sharing of ideas between a diverse range of campaigns and empower people to embark on new struggles.***3) Creating new worlds.We can’t wait until “after the revolution” to create alternatives to capitalism. We need to start now, in our communities, in our daily lives. Put simply, the economics of mass production, mass consumerism, and endless growth is killing our planet. We need new ways of living and working together. And we need to create new cultures, new values, where our lives are more than just things to be bought and sold.***4) Anarchism.Anarchism is the philosophy that says we don’t need governments and bosses, we can make communities based on mutual aid and solidarity. Anarchism means rejecting all forms of domination, oppression, and exploitation, and living as free as we can, right here right now. Anarchism is the most beautiful idea we know. Not everyone in the StopG8 network is an anarchist, but many of us are. We think we need to get the positive message out about what anarchism really means. What can we learn from more than 200 years of anarchist history? What can anarchism mean in the 21st century?***5) Open slot.Anything else that fits our principles but doesn’t fit under the first four headings. Bring it on!→ Leave a commentPosted in General#J11: Carnival in the West End of London.Posted on March 15, 2013 by stopg82013 | Leave a comment11 June 2013. #J11. One Common Struggle. Carnival Against Capitalism.Their London?London is right at the heart of global capitalism. And the West End of London, including elite areas like Piccadilly, Mayfair and Knightsbridge, is where power and greed are most concentrated. The West End is home to:* Corporations. Many of the world’s most brutal and polluting companies, including oil and mining giants, arms dealers, and the businesses profiting from cuts and privatisation. * Vulture funds. Global base of the “hedge fund” and “private equity” industries, laundering the world’s blood money to invest in war, food speculation and debt slavery. * Tyrants. Government offices, embassies, cultural and commercial fronts of colonial powers and murderous regimes. * Playground of the mega-rich. Middle Eastern dictators, Russian mafia oligarchs, and home-grown parasites all see London as a “safe” place to hide and spend their loot.Our Carnival.Traditionally, carnival is the time where the people take over the streets, the bosses run and hide, and the world gets turned upside down. It is a time to celebrate our resistance and our dreams, to bring music and colour to the streets. And also to show our strength and our anger.The powerful feel safe in London so long as they go unchallenged. But the people looting our planet have names and addresses. On #J11 we will party in the streets, point out the hiding places of power, and take back the heart of our city for a day. Our streets. Our world.Join us.Like any good carnival, everyone’s invited: this will be an open, inclusive, and lively event. There will be a main route with sound systems and public meeting points. Bring music, costumes, banners, friends, ideas. We also encourage independent actions, and will publish soon a detailed map of the area to help you make your own plans. The Green and Black Cross group will provide experienced medical and legal support.***Click here to download the PDF of the Week of Action flyer (front)Click here to download the PDF of the Week of Action flyer (back)***“There is one common struggle against those who have appropriated the earth, the money, and the machines“. Voltairine de Cleyre.
Videos published herehttp://media.platypus1917.org/2013-platypus-international-convention-program-and-utopia/
Here are their motionshttp://www.internationalsocialistnetwork.org/index.php/documents/89-inaugural-meeting-motions
Weekly Worker have agreed a rather mawkish open letter to the ISN (ex-SWP)
Quote:Message to ISNDear comradesWe have followed your struggle in the Socialist Workers Party with the greatest of interest and sympathy. You have been through a very painful experience with the SWP’s bureaucratic centralism. Your rebellion took courage and was well fought. Of course, you could never win a conference vote – the apparatus was always going to lie, gerrymander and restrict debate to the barest minimum.The SWP’s crisis is part and parcel of a wider crisis of the left. It shows that the days of the confessional sects need to come to an end. But there is a negative side to the SWP crisis. The SWP leadership handled allegations of rape in an appalling and ham-fisted fashion and its behaviour has brought discredit on the left as a whole.Many of you have been committed SWP members for years and it is natural to express your loyalty to the International Socialist tradition. That tradition need interrogating, of course. But it is vital not to throw the baby out with the bathwater. We are encouraged by statements from ISN comrades about their commitment to internationalism, the building a revolutionary Communist Party and the political independence of the working class.We very much hope that your first national meeting was a success. You have much to discuss and obviously it will take some considerable time for your organisation to get its bearings.Objective circumstances cry out for a viable socialist alternative. The fight for a mass Communist Party, organised along the lines of the pre-1917 Bolsheviks and solidly based on a Marxist programme, is vital. This is only possible if we agree to operate on the basis of genuine democratic centralism – unity in action, freedom of criticism. There must also be the right to form factions and where appropriate to openly criticise majority positions.We would like to invite your elected committee to begin exploratory discussions with our Provisional Central Committee at the earliest opportunity. We would also urge your organisation to take up the invitation to speak at this year’s Communist University in August.In solidarityApril 13 CPGB aggregateI think this may have come up elsewhere, but I've always assumed believing the women is not synonymous with assuming guilt in the absence of other evidence. I think it is more a reference to summarily dismissing the allegation prior to investigating.Having said that, on the face of what little I've read, then SPEW seems to not have handled this as badly as SWP.The latest Weekly Worker has a few things about this, including a letter about thishttp://www.cpgb.org.uk/home/weekly-worker/958/lettersand an article herehttp://www.cpgb.org.uk/home/weekly-worker/958/workers-movement-bureaucratic-justice-and-dealing-with-sex-assault-cases
