Archives: Blog entry

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=kNpNzDoH1II&eurl=http://bravenewfilms

What he says is completely true. The US democratic system is a choice
between two factions of the business party, and to say that it will
not make any difference is also incorrect.

So what he is saying is think long and hard before you decide to vote,
not to vote or even vote green (which is as good as not voting if you
ask me).

The people – the real ordinary people – the working stiff – according
to political scientists do ‘slightly’ better off under the democrats.
So you have to take that into account.

My last letter to Weekly Worker asking about the exact differences between Leninism and Stalinism was ignored. Contributers were too busy bashing the eejit Stalinist who tried to defend that horrific regime.

However, there is a new article on Stalinism in this week’s issue. That made me write another letter, which will hopefully provoke some response. It will be interesting to see if there are any actual differences raised which are not based on the subjective opinions of the leaders in power.

Since I returned from North America I’ve been doing a stint in the newly created role of WSM Internal Secretary. This weekend I get to step down from this role and pass it on to someone else. As the WSM has grown we’ve found it increasingly difficult to have good internal co-ordination but at the same time its been increasingly important that we do. Our first step a few years back was the activation of a monthly Delegate Council meeting where delegates from each branch would meet face to face for mandated decision making. Getting this working was difficult at first, in a part because it was a new process but also because at first we had too many limitations on the sort of decisions that could be made and a cumbersome ratification process.

Good news. I learned at the London anarchist bookfair that volume 1 of An Anarchist FAQ ships this week! This is straight from AK Press, so assuming that it does not meet any icebergs or ends up in Germany (long story), then I should be officially launching it in December in Glasgow!

Over the weekend I traveled to London for the annual anarchist bookfair to do a talk on the North American Anarchist movement (based on my speaking tour) and staff the WSM stall. The London bookfair is possible the biggest single anarchist events of that kind in the world with a few thousand people passing through the doors each year, around 80 stalls and four or five parallel streams of meetings.

Apparently, I should be a plumber:

“Joe was a man who was trying to realise the American dream, McCain went on, working 10, 12 hours a day to build up his business. He was planning to buy up another small business, but realised that under Obama’s tax plans he would be penalised for earning more than $250,000 a year.”

Well, the current crisis of capitalism rumbles on. Of the options I listed in Capitalism in crisis, again!, Brown has went for the Swedish option and nationalised banks (as, ironically, demanded in the 1983 Labour Party manifesto). Rest assured, though, Brown has said the people who got us into this mess with be punished – no big bonuses for them! Only getting a small bonus will teach them…

Another week, another video. This time I’m trying something new which is putting audio over footage of the Health Service demonstration that went through Dublin yesterday. These google videos do attract an audience, two of those I’ve put up so far are over 500 views and another hit 200 in 48 hours.

I’ve added an article on the current crisis. It is a combination of a couple of bits from An Anarchist FAQ plus some general comments I sent to Freedom after being asked to write a few words on it.