tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6263577133333272085.post689443790679276873..comments2024-03-28T11:04:16.315+00:00Comments on Boffy's Blog: Ravenscliffe By Election and a Socialist ProgrammeBoffyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08157650969929097569noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6263577133333272085.post-56733812925007419302009-03-03T13:22:00.000+00:002009-03-03T13:22:00.000+00:00I agree. In my own area LP membership has fallen ...I agree. In my own area LP membership has fallen dramatically. But, I'd make the following comments. Just because those left are Councillors - and that's not true completely, and certainly not in still quite a few places - we shouldn't dismiss such people. They are still usually working class people. They are often the Councillors now, because there is no one else left to stand.<BR/><BR/>Secondly, part of the reason for that is that the Left has left, or acted in ways that ensured it was going to get expelled, for example announcing itself effectively as separate organisations, standing and supporting candidates in opposiiton to the LP and so on. If you leave, then by default you hand over control to those who are left. That's what happened when the revolutionaries left the Second International, and look how that turned out for both.<BR/><BR/>About 10 years ago I had a debate with a friend and comrade who was a long standing LP member, an active Trade Unionists - in fact he stood for General Secretary of his union and had at the time Gordon Brown make a press statement in Scotland telling IRSF members not to vote for him, even so he nearly won. He was arguing at the time that there was no point being in the LP, and he had just Left.<BR/><BR/>But, in that last ten years he has really achieved nothing. That's not his fault. He remains ana ctive and commited TU'ist, and I suppose to say he has achieved nothing is not entirely fair or accurate. He has no doubt achieved things in his workplace in defending members. But focusiing on TU work rather than LP work hasn't had dramtic effect in moving the union to the left, or providing the basis for some new alternative workers party.<BR/><BR/>A few years ago, there was a situation relating to the School where one of his kids went. What was his first response to come to me as the local Labour Councillor to help mobilise and organise a group of parents! And that is the point. You can decry the condiiton of the LP as much as you like, but time and agin when a political response is required even those outside the party are reduced to addressing demands to it to act, to seeking the support of local Labour Councillors or members and so on.<BR/><BR/>If you are going to do that then it is stupid not to be in their yourself using the resources and influecne that the LP still has within working class communities as the channel by which such action can be organised. Of course, that may not always remain the case. The LP may lose that function if workers become more and more disillusioned. UNfortunately, all the evidene at the moment is that if that happens it will be even worse news for the left, because it will signify an even greater loss of influecne and significance for the left outside the LP, it will on the contrary mean that the BNP will be the main gainer, perhaps to an irretrievable degree for the foreseeable future. If in ten year time or so we do enter a period similar to the downturn of he 1920's - 30's, that will signify a catastrophic scenario for the British Labour Movement and working class, and even just for bouregois democracy.Boffyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08157650969929097569noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6263577133333272085.post-76787032152369123332009-03-03T11:43:00.000+00:002009-03-03T11:43:00.000+00:00Socialists must join their local Labour Party Bran...<I>Socialists must join their local Labour Party Branch.</I><BR/><BR/>Unfortunately, in a lot of the country working-class people seem to be ignoring your sage advice.<BR/><BR/>In my constituency the membership of the CLP has fallen from over 1000 in 2001 to around 60 last year. Most of those left are councillors.<BR/><BR/>The branches which have 'real contact' with local communities are non-existent.<BR/><BR/>This is in an area that has voted Labour at every election since 1918.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6263577133333272085.post-5845421186651143472009-02-19T20:30:00.000+00:002009-02-19T20:30:00.000+00:00“There is no socialist objection to destroying the...<B>“There is no socialist objection to destroying the planet, speak for yourself. Socialists do not ignore science; this doesn’t mean we have to embrace petit bourgeoisie ideas but we shouldn’t be so flippant about it either.”</B><BR/><BR/>Who was being flippant? There is no real socialist objection to opening up deep coal mines. The question is under what conditions are they opened, and how is the coal used. That is why I said it would require a huge development of technology not just to operate the mines in a way that is not harmful to the interests of workers, and to develop clean coal technology so as not to damage the environment. <BR/><BR/><B>”Your idea for workplace organisations sound like the broad church that George Galloway has attempted in the political arena, so I salute you for that. I agree that all socialists must ditch the cults they have created and work within the Labour party.”</B><BR/><BR/>I’m not sure I like the idea of being lumped together with Galloway, and in any case I don’t think there is anything broad church about the Respect project, but I’m glad you agree with the concept of building workplace rank and file organisation, and working in LP branches.<BR/><BR/><B>”However, your solutions are all organisational, at least in the short-term, hardly Peace, Land, Bread.<BR/><BR/>In fact you do not present the workers with solutions at all, so in the context of this by-election the article seems misplaced.”</B><BR/><BR/>On the contrary. I think the solutions are in the short term organisational, because without the necessary workers organisation any set of demands or solutions is utopianism. The actual problems workers face on a day to day level are not in reality susceptible to broad brush political solutions. Each has to be dealt with in its own specificity, and the key to knowing how to do that lies in the necessary organisation of the workers at that level. I can’t tell workers what solution they should adopt to some problem that might arise in workplace X tomorrow, because I don’t know what that problem is going to be. I do know from my own experience that if a workplace organisation exists that can mobilise the workers there then when such a problem arises there is a good chance the workers themselves will provide the answer as to how to resolve it, and if Marxists are involved in that organisation an even better chance of doing so.<BR/><BR/>Similarly, in terms of some of the larger issues I have set out what the political solutions are. They are not the kind of solutions the left has normally put forward, precisely because those solutions have always been framed in the context of placing demands on the bosses or their state to do something, even if only to make this or that concession. But, the whole point of the politics I am advocating is that of working-class self-activity of the workers taking their own action to resolve their problems. Again what those solutions might be depends on what the particular problem is, and only the workers can decide that with the help of Marxists helping them to organise and understand the world they are in. There’s a problem with debt on an estate, create a Credit Union, the Council is proposing transfer of the housing stock to an ALMO set up a Housing Co-op instead, and so on.<BR/><BR/><B>”What you seem to be saying is that we should ignore the politics (except to point out that all the parties have no solutions –ie the easy bit) and concentrate all efforts on building a base, which is fine but what does it have to do with fighting this election.”</B><BR/><BR/>Fair point. In order to intervene effectively though its not just a matter of drafting a leaflet with some set of policies or solutions, but of working over a period of time in that way. For example, when I was a County Councillor, a scheme was introduced where Councillors had £10,000 a year to use to support various activities and projects in their area. On one part of my ward – the Miners estate – there was a problem with former coal board housing that had been either bought by the tenants or else had been sold off to absentee landlords, who kept selling on the property so that no one could pin them down to do necessary repairs and so on. It was causing a gradual deterioration of the estate. Through the Labour party Branch and with the assistance of one of the Councillors that lived on the estate we set up a Tenants and residents Association to begin to discuss and deal with the problem. I made it clear from the beginning that this was their organisation, and that I was there to advise them and act as their mouthpiece in the Council. They ran it, and came up with various suggestions. For a start they began to clean up the estate themselves. I provided them with finance from the above stated fund to buy a computer, and to buy a mower and other equipment, as well as to cover insurance costs.<BR/><BR/>Those are the kinds of immediate solutions I am talking about on a very low level that say to workers they don’t need the bosses state to resolve their problems, that empower them and return some degree of social control over their lives. That was about 5 years ago, and the Committee is still going strong looking at ways of dealing with the Absentee Landlords, the obvious solution if they could be persuaded to sell would be the establishment of a Housing Co-op. But, its necessary to have the necessary forces to carry out such work within the community. If he left would join the LP Branches and begin to do it, it would have a certain amount of a snowball effect to increase the forces available.<BR/><BR/><B>”I hope your co-op article can throw more light on this process and how it will materially benefit workers in the short term.”</B><BR/><BR/>I hope the above in part answers this question, but I hope to get the Co-op article done in the next couple of weeks. Its turned out to require more work and research than I first anticipated, and in the meantime I’ve been busy also with other more immediate concerns.Boffyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08157650969929097569noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6263577133333272085.post-59188348693825342092009-02-19T13:04:00.000+00:002009-02-19T13:04:00.000+00:00I've been replying to a Nazi on another comrades w...I've been replying to a Nazi on another comrades website <A HREF="http://averypublicsociologist.blogspot.com/2009/02/lindsey-oil-refinery-medias-silence-on.html" REL="nofollow"> here </A>, and I need to finish a further reply. So I'll gt back to your points a bit later.Boffyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08157650969929097569noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6263577133333272085.post-37618809178170468192009-02-19T12:29:00.000+00:002009-02-19T12:29:00.000+00:00There is no socialist objection to destroying the ...There is no socialist objection to destroying the planet, speak for yourself. Socialists do not ignore science; this doesn’t mean we have to embrace petit bourgeoisie ideas but we shouldn’t be so flippant about it either. <BR/><BR/>Your idea for workplace organisations sound like the broad church that George Galloway has attempted in the political arena, so I salute you for that. I agree that all socialists must ditch the cults they have created and work within the Labour party.<BR/><BR/>However, your solutions are all organisational, at least in the short-term, hardly Peace, Land, Bread.<BR/>In fact you do not present the workers with solutions at all, so in the context of this by-election the article seems misplaced.<BR/> <BR/>What you seem to be saying is that we should ignore the politics (except to point out that all the parties have no solutions –ie the easy bit) and concentrate all efforts on building a base, which is fine but what does it have to do with fighting this election.<BR/>I hope your co-op article can throw more light on this process and how it will materially benefit workers in the short term.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com