I Intend To Escape ......................And Come Back

Why Anarchists Should Say No2AV

Thursday sees the national referendum on the alternative vote.

So far I have seen little discussion amongst Anarchists and libertarians about this. In a way that is not surprising. The precise nature of the franchise arguably matters little if you disagree with representative democracy. I still believe I am worth more than being consulted by politicians every five years or so. Nor I am under any illusions that in a general election my vote matters - the three main parties agree on far more than they disagree (consider the royal wedding we have just seen, and the millions of Republicans who's views are ignored by all the big political parties) whilst the minor parties are usually minor for very good reasons. Choosing someone, anyone to 'represent' my views is in practice a nonsense, especially when I am more than capable of articulating those views myself. The problem is no one in authority will ever listen! 

Of the Anarchist comments I have seen, Sabcat Publishing have come out against AV, largely because of the damage a No vote would do to the Liberal Democrats. To my surprise, a discussion on the Anarchist Studies Network email list appeared slightly in favour, on the grounds that the abolition of first past the post system would damage overtly competitive politics, and bring in elements of consensus. That is precisely why I will be voting No on Thursday. It is consensus politics that I fear most.

Consensus politics takes the decision making process even further away from the man in the street. It takes politics even deeper behind closed doors. With the current system, parties stand on a manifesto. They may, or may not, implement that manifesto in office. If they do not, as the Lib Dems have found out, voters can turn on them. Consensus, and the increased number of coalitions that will inevitably follow, further blurs the commitments politicians make, and make it even harder to hold them to account. AV gives them more excuses, and they have more than enough already.

Back in 2007, I attended the Green Party England and Wales conference in Swansea. It was a profoundly depressing experience. The Greens modernising wing, who had long called for the Greens to be a 'proper' party, with a proper leader, were in the ascendancy. Looking at the individuals there, I could just as easily have been at a meeting of the Labour party in Hackney, or even some Conservative party branches in the Cameron era. Lots of intelligent 30 or 40 somethings, uniformly middle class, uniformly university educated, and all people who's work experience appeared to be solely in politics. There was a polite mixture of genders, sexualities and ethnicities. Only the working class appeared absent.

It is no surprise that the Greens have been some of the keenest campaigners for the alternative vote, even performing the remarkable gymnastics that AV will somehow benefit them, but not other minor parties such as the BNP. They seem to have missed the fact that an informed racist could simply vote BNP first, UKIP second and Conservative third, as a flat vote in constituencies across the land. Thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands, will.

The reason the Greens are so comfortable with the prospect of AV however, is they know full well they can do business with the thirty and forty somethings in the Labour, Lib Dem and Tory parties. They know how easily they all get on - as they are part of the same political class. This class may not be as overt or unpleasant as the Bullingdon Club circles of the Prime Minister and the Mayor of London, but it is a distinct class all the same - and one that is far removed from the day to day experiences of most people.

I shall deal them a blow on Thursday by voting No2AV. My vote may not make the situation any better. But it will not make the situation any worse. Sometimes that is the best we, as Anarchists, can do.

 

For Facebook Users

This message needs acting upon. From yesterday:

Facebook will become owner of the publishing rights of ALL your photos on their site. To prevent this, you need to make a simple change: go to 'account', 'account settings', 'facebook ads'(along the top),then click on 'edit third party settings', choose 'NO ONE' then SAVE. And please share share share. (for those who haven't done this yet)

Scotland Yard Issues Policing Instructions For The Royal Wedding

They are out there. Waiting, watching. The forces of anarchy.

 

Eisenstein To Laibach - 'Drzava'

Fiddling about on You Tube, I found a student who had put Laibach's 'Drzava' onto clips from the Battleship Potemkin by Sergei Eisenstein.

It works, as you can see below.

 

Imitation As Flattery? How Europe's Fascists Are Copying Anti-Fascists

Antifa in the Czech Republic have recently published a fascinating analysis of how some fascist groups appear to be busying themselves adopting the imagery and style of anarchists and anti-fascists.

The Big Neo-Nazi Crib illustrates examples of this from clothing, sticker designs, badges, t shirts and logos. Quite who gains from these maneouvres is another matter entirely - it certainly provides easy fodder for the lazy 'they are all as bad as each other' media talking heads. Here in the UK (where the trend identified by Czech Antifa is nowhere near as pronounced) attempts to link anarchism and fascism are usually the preserve of the secret state and its useful idiots on the last century left such as Searchlight and bloggers such as Andy Newman over at Socialist Unity.

The closest we have perhaps come is some of the literature of the International Third Position in the 1990s, when they attempted to rally against McDonalds and corporate capital - with little real success. Or perhaps the stalled attempts to create 'National-Anarchism' by Troy Southgate and others. Why did they fail? Well firstly you do have to wonder if the participants heart was ever in it - Southgate quickly popped up in BNP circles when Nick Griffin was at his peak. But most importantly, people do tend to prefer the original, to the copy - if they have to copy our ideas to attract young supporters, what does it tell us about the confidence the fascists have in their own belief system?

 

LSE Cancel David Held Ralph Miliband Event

The London School of Economics events series brings together a succession of speakers on subjects as diverse as contemporary politics, religion, climate change and economics.

It is hard not to giggle however at the news that the 10th May event, with Prof Homi Bhaba and Prof David Held has been cancelled. Held, the foremost realist theorist in the field of international relations, was an academic advisor to Saif al-Islam Gadaffi, and has been one of the most compromised academics in the LSE/Gaddafi scandal. And why is next months lecture "Cosmopolitanism: Ideas and Realities" , billed as a special 'Ralph Miliband dialogue and book launch' cancelled?

Because of 'unforseen circumstances'. Unforseen indeed! Although had the LSE listened to Fred Halliday, they may well have been avoided!

American Jihad?

Although the United States had suffered Jihadist violence on its own territory as far back as the early 1990s, many commentators still saw 9/11 as the first instance of Islamist terrorism inside the United States.

In the early days of the Obama administration, US security commentators appeared to switch emphasis from seeing the main threat as Al Qaeda or related individuals from the Middle East or Af-Pak, but - bizarrely enough - the UK. By this they meant British Muslims, with easy understanding of America's culture and few barriers on getting into the US, who were attempting or planning attacks in the country. Richard Reid and Dhiren Barot being two prominent examples. Such claims turn conventional security policy and indeed theories of international relations on their head - that at the same time one nation could be the greatest supporter of another, and at the same time pose the biggest threat to it.

This evening Radio 4's "American Jihad" documentary suggests that the emphasis has now switched again, to what may well be called the British Model - of domestic terrorism from home grown actors, often first or second generation Muslims, who have adopted Jihadi beliefs and practices. American Jihad is at 8pm this evening on Radio 4, and is repeated on Sunday at 5pm. An accompanying BBC article can be read here.

Spare Us............

"I am no doubt not the only one who writes in order to have no face. Do not ask me who I am and do not ask me to remain the same: leave it to our bureaucrats and our police to see that our papers are in order. At least spare us their morality when we write"

Michel Foucault "The Archaeology of Knowledge" (London: Tavistock, 1972) p. 17.

The Rise and Fall of Council Housing

My mother lived in one, I live in one, but there is very little chance of my children, as adults, living in one.

This evening at 9pm on BBC4 the always interesting Michael Collins looks at the history of council housing in the UK. Also, if you have not read Collins' excellent 2004 'The Likes of Us: A Biography of the White Working Class' you really ought to.....

How Hackney Police Receive Protest?

The charming quote below comes the Safer Neighbourhoods Spring 2011 newsletter from the Metropolitan Police's De Beauvoir Team.

"This ward has a factory that receives and distributes fur products. This factory is continually targeted by anti-fur protestors. We have researched and located many of the protestors and will be targeting them when they are next on the ward. The protestors are very vocal and disturb many local residents with their protest."

I can't say they have ever disturbed me, although the rather sinister picture of the officers on the front page of the De Beauvoir Team Newsletter (see pdf on the link above) and the language used about protestors does.

Anarchism v Marxism (Again)

Much to my surprise the SWP's International Socialism journal has published an article by an actual real live contemporary Anarchist - and I assume uncensored.

Lucien van der Walt covers a whole series of issues from freedom through to the use of force, Spain, the Bolsheviks and indeed just about anything you can shake a stick at. Read his article here.

Edited to add: Socialist Worker appears to be going through one of its periodoc needs to address the issue of Anarchism (perhaps out of fear of losing young activists to Black Bloc type actions) judging by this pisspoor article.

Anarchist Jokes

Last week the Anarchist Studies Network email group ran a series of Anarchist jokes.

These were mostly pretty obvious 'How many Anarchists does it take to change a lightbulb?' 'None - the lightbulb must be smashed' but I rather liked this one.

An Anarchist, Trotskyist and a Stalinist each go home and find their partner in bed with someone else.
The Stalinist shoots them both.
The Trotskyist goes into another room and writes a 6000 word denunication of their act and calls for a split.
The Anarchist jumps into bed and joins them.

You can find more of this harmless nonsense at Riot Joke.

 

Upstart Clothing - Blaggers ITA Shirts

This blog has rarely covered fashion, but a plug for Upstart Clothing in Leeds is long overdue.

 
Above is their Blaggers ITA t shirt, and you can view the full range of everything from boots to coats either at the Leeds Corn Exchange or on-line.

That Evangelical - Taliban Dialogue In Full

Pastor Terry Jones and Pastor Wayne Sapp: "Islam is a backward religion that leads to intimidation, violence and murder. Lets burn the Qu'ran in response!"

The Taliban: "Death to the Infidels! They have burned the word of God. Lets murder the nearest Westerners in response!

Repeat. And Repeat. And Repeat.