I’ve not uploaded old articles for a while, mostly because I’ve been busy researching labour strikes under Lenin (to refute the common Leninist assertion that the Bolsheviks had to impose party dictatorship because the working class was “atomised”). However, I thought I had better do so.
It’s a slow process – particularly as many of them were written as news articles for Freedom or as analysis of recent events for Black Flag. I’m not sure whether posting these is a good idea or not. Any comments on this?
I’ve not uploaded old articles for a while, mostly because I’ve been busy researching labour strikes under Lenin (to refute the common Leninist assertion that the Bolsheviks had to impose party dictatorship because the working class was “atomised”). However, I thought I had better do so.
It’s a slow process – particularly as many of them were written as news articles for Freedom or as analysis of recent events for Black Flag. I’m not sure whether posting these is a good idea or not. Any comments on this?
The first thing is this Politics and Industrial Relations in the Media: A Guide for the Perplexed , written in response to the media nonsense sprouted against the fire-fighters strike in 2002. Hopefully people will find it humorous.
Another attempt at political humour is the Dead Dogma Sketch, based on the “Dead Parrot sketch” by Monty Python. It was inspired by my one and only attendance at an SWP Marxism event back in 2001 (I’ve also posted my account of my experiences). Since then, I’ve leafleted it but decided not to waste money by buying a ticket. The meetings are pretty bad – lectures rather than debates, and usually inaccurate lectures at that!
I’ve also posted my comments on the 2006 so-called Nobel Prize for economics (And the Nobel prize for economics goes to… Karl Marx!). I had to rewrite this, combining it with another article, for Anarcho-Syndicalist Review, removing all references to Karl Marx! I’m not a Marxist, but credit should be given when credit is due and Marx’s analysis of capitalism is often spot-on. Of course, he fails to mention any influence Proudhon had on him but that is unsurprising.
Then there is a two articles on the Argentine revolt against neo-liberalism back in 2001. First there is From Riot to Revolution, which attempts to draw out the libertarian aspects of the revolt and show how anarchists should push the revolt forward. It was published in Black Flag. The second, Argentina and the left , analyses two Trotskyist analyses of the revolt, showing their limitations and how they implicitly call for party rule. This was unpublished and I’ve taken the opportunity to expand on the critique of the SWP’s position.
Lastly, I’ve posted Democracy is undemocratic which defends self-management against Leninist claims it is “undemocratic.” I show that the logical position of this Leninist so-called critique (which seems to originate with Hal Draper) is centralised rule by one person. Opps.