How many meetings have I attended with people, on different issues, only for nothing significant to happen, beyond an agreement the meet again, or, see you on the next demo!
Green matters, ‘alternatives’ and action, have mostly implied ‘building things up’ [positive alternatives] a lot of recent protest has been ‘down with’ etc ….. Some of us think that simply marching with a message on a banner, to try and influence politics to our way of thinking, [especially in bloody London, again] , has not worked for years. Worth the effort of course, but not enough on its own. It is of course a deficit in the democratic process.
For years many of us have decided that rather than have a meeting about it, [whatever] , it is a better use of time and energy to go out into the world and stand in-front of the machine and be obstructive to it! And at other times, to find alternative and sustainable ways of life, and live it! This does not require a meeting, just simple action.
I though it relevant to draw attention to another yahoo group thinggy,
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/directactionagainstwar
I’ve been on for a while and a recent post that seems to illustrate exactly what some of us are saying. Especially about Londoncentric and politic orgs and in this instant, the lack of ‘Coalition’.
The future strategy of the STWC is mapped out by the SWP’s John Rees, a leading member of the STWC at http://www.swp.org.uk/SR/274/SR1.HTM
The coalition aims to become a social democratic alliance run by the SWP that ignores/fails to understand the growth of the global justice movement
I get the impression that there are lots of agendas / political ambitions, that I know little of [or care!] . With this war stuff, it was about an attempt at building coalitions, like , greenies, CND, the left, straight politico, non-politicos, hippies, ravers, anarcho etc. most of these folks have got an attitude about meetings. Not meeting people though, that’s good. But meeting under rules, that’s frequently boring. Now the methods that we had tried have failed, it is all falling apart now, with little else to bind the coalition together.
My support, and I think quite a few others, was / is for opposition to the war. Not the left analyses on the state of things. They have always made me a little tired.
The different agendas of folks had become had, AGAIN, become apparent back in march / april. Many thought the idea of yet another march in London, was only going to be of advantage to the coach companies. Other felt we were past all that, and it was necessary to ‘go to the bases’ and be obstructive!
Menwith Hill, Fairford. Fylingdales, Reclaim the Bases, Fasleine, Northwood, were all suggested many turned out, but ‘the party machine’ was conspicuous in is absence in all these cases. It even got at far in argument that the SWP, not the police, had put about emails and rumours that the Fairford actions had been cancelled, so that more would go to london for the march. And hence further some folks ‘political ambitions’
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/directactionagainstwar/message/929 and messages afterwards.
Many of us remain active, but think boring meetings, follow by a march saying ‘down with sommat’, is not going sell many onions. I wonder if the three days after mayday march in nottingham, might have illustrated that to some. I doubt it.
Nottingham ‘Collected’ Work at:
http://tash.dns2go.com/xtra/stopwar_nttm/index.htm
‘Three Days after Mayday, Mayday March in Nottingham [from gallery pages 9 to 11]
