A Modest Proposal on Cults, Trots, Socialist Unity, the Great Day and LaLa-ism

Since this is the season of goodwill to all I checked out the Socialist Unity website to see the latest brother and sisterhood back stabbing, infighting, petty point scoring, abuse and general hatred. I was not disappointed. The reader comments are just amazing.

While the SWP are busy as usual ritually expelling “traitors” in advance of their annual conference, I was surprised at the post by SU editor Andy Newman  “THE “ALLIANCE FOR WORKERS LIBERTY” – THE DYNAMICS OF A MALIGNANT CULT

I must admit to wondering why Andy has picked on the AWL? Who in my perhaps limited contact so far, have not appeared to be as narrow and dogmatic as the other various Heinz 57 Trotskyite/Anarchist sects?  However, I think that this is actually all just a bit of a red herring (no pun intended).

Since surely all of the “ultra left” are by definition going to be in some form of a cult since they all profess to be “revolutionaries”.  If you think the world is so horrible you need revolutionary change, then you are going to have to have some sort of tight discipline and control to try and bring it about?

The real problem is not that they are “cults” or that they are “revolutionaries”.  Good luck to them if that is what they believe (dare I say, it’s a free country!). The real problem is that they think that by their actions they can bring about “the Revolution” in this country sometime soon.

How on earth can anyone honestly think there any practical likelihood of there being any sort of a revolution in this country?

Now, I want radical change in our society. But all my adult life I have seen articles and posters advertising meetings that proclaim the “great day of the revolution” is just around the corner. What complete and utter rubbish.

The idea that if the unions were just more militant, organised more demos, occupied some phone box and took more strike action, then the masses would come to their senses and storm Buckingham Place is just fantasy and indulgent politics. There was more chance of the Mayan prophesies happening.

Since 2007 there has been an open goal due to the economic crisis and there is not the slightest interest whatsoever in revolutionary class politics. 

This is not about the “politics”. I am a fully paid up believer in reformism, parliamentary democracy, rule of law, equality in all aspects, strong trade unions and a genuine mixed economy. Yet I will work with anyone who may completely disagree with me in the long run but will sees the sense in unity to bring about common and achievable immediate goals.

There cannot in my view be any unity with those who think that their primary purpose is to bring about something (the Great Day) that is silly, ridiculous and laughable. Everything they do is driven by this obsession. So we cannot trust them nor their many and competing “Fronts”. We also cannot work with those who will do what they are told by their central committees regardless of what they believe in or were elected to do.   

My father believed that communism in this country was inevitable, but he thought it would not happen in his lifetime nor for many generations. In the meanwhile he would support the Labour Party and work with others such as the Communist Party of the time, in the interests of working class people.  While they and others may believe in revolution, they are realistic about the prospects and will not sell out the interests of working people to satisfy nonsensical dogma.

So my New Year 2012 Modest Proposal is - we can have a socialist unity of sorts.  But not with LaLa-ism

The Battle's of Matewan and Blair Mountain

Hat tip to Andy Newman at Socialist Unity for this remarkable post on 1920's bloody shoot outs between West Virgina coal miners and Company strike breakers.  The clip is from the 1987 film by John Sayles.

We have this image of a capitalist and conservative America, especially in the "West".   While I remember being astonished by Paul Mason's (BBC Newsnight Editor) book "Live Working or Die Fighting" about just how radical the Labour movement in the United States of America use to be. 

I also recall one of the authors of "The Spirit Level", Professor Richard Wilkinson at this year's UNISON conference being asked a question about what reaction they got when they visited the United States (which gets a lot of stick in their book because of its huge income inequality).  He replied that the US is such a divided society that they have always had a really positive reception on their book tours and lectures.  So there is still support out there for "radical" policies. 

North Korea celebrates Socialist diss-Unity coming 11th in Total Politics Tory guide

It must be true - See Labour Party reformists list here!

Will John McNoHoper stand?

Andy Newman from Socialist Unity is trying to spoil all my fun looking forward to the forthcoming Labour leadership elections by posting a coherent and convincing argument about exactly why John McNoHoper MP should not stand.

The argument is that John, although he is a very principled socialist is also divisive and doesn’t stand a snowball's chance in hell of winning. Worse, some (not all) of his supporters are so hostile and sectarian that they could damage the chances of more credible left wing candidates.

Predictably some of John's supporters are going bananas at such "analysis" in the comments field.

Hopefully - John will ignore such sensible advice and we will have some light amusement during the campaign while the grownups do the real politics.

(sorry Dave)

What has the Labour Government ever done for us?

"...papers cover in detail analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies on the distributional impact of thirteen years of Labour rule. The picture is stunning and represents a clear progressive redistribution from rich to poor with those earning over £100,000 paying the most".

Great graphic and very important research.    Labour supporters ought to spread the  word.

Hat tip thingy Left foot Forward and inspiration for post title from my new best friend ever Andy Newman at Socialist Unity.

About “John’s Labour blog” – surely they don’t mean...?

A couple of dare I say rather cheeky posts about this fine blog.

Firstly a review in Politics.co.uk

“This is a really nice local site - lively, informative and regularly updated. There is a real mixture of content on the site - from political commentary, to bulletin board-style announcements and national campaign videos. (so far so good)

It's not the most searingly well-written site but there's no mistaking its enthusiasm”. (Wot!)

Then the shock horror news here about the editor of Socialist Disunity - Andy Newman and his deep...dark secret:-

“...We all have guilty pleasures that we are slightly embarrassed to admit to. My dirty secret is that I regularly read John Gray’s blog”...

I actually don’t mind since Andy is one of the very few Ultra left bloggers to come across as a well rounded human being. He is probably the exception that proves the rule, despite being (IMO) a fully paid up member of the Lost Deposit Brigade.

SWP Witch-Hunting Students

Editor Andy Newman of Socialist Disunity gleefully reports here on the latest SWP cull of dissenters “co-incidentally” just before the start of their conference.

This time students at the London School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) who were apparently associating with “anti-party” elements have been suspended.

I better warn our secretary of my local Labour Party ward to watch out whom she is seen speaking to or they could be for the chop too!

Hat-tip thingy Col. Roi.

George Galloway: My part in his downfall

Yesterday I received a couple of jolly emails from comrades, who told me that the blog site Socialist Unity, had a post by its editor, Andy Newman, suggesting that “Dave’s Part” and “John’s Labour blog” are responsible for the current split within diss-respect!

Apparently the SWP Central committee are claiming, that one of the major reasons for the split, is that SWP members (who “had gone native” and supported George Galloway) in early September 2007, had “leaked” very sensitive information to the deputy editor of the East London Advertiser, Ted Jeory. This is why they expelled a number of long standing SWPer's and led to a complete and utter breakdown of trust between the Central Committee and the Gorgeous one

The Socialist Unity post refers to a draft article being circulated by a SWP Central Committee member, Chris Harman (who apparently who was the model for a character in a play by Tariq Ali called “Nutty Shardman... who menaces others on the left with whom he has theoretical disagreements” – yep, this figures).

“Nutty” Harman implies that the leak was by the now expelled SWP member and Respect national officer, Rob “where has the money gone” Hoverman.

If true, then of course this would have significantly contributed to the breakup. However, “Socialist Unity” is now a “born again” fervent supporter of the Gorgeous one. They claim that the pure and honest Hoverman did not leak the information; Ted Jeory got it instead from my blog and Dave Osler’s.

“Ted [the journalist who wrote the article] confirmed that he had picked up the letter on two websites, one run by sad sectarian Dave Osler and the other by right wing Tower Hamlets New Labourite John Grey (moi?). Ted had also read comment on the letter on those websites and the key paragraph five was based on what he had read there”.

I think my post that he is referring to is “Respect is cursed; moribund; weak; exhausted; amateur, mismanaged; unhealthy, irresponsible…says Galloway “ 2 September 2007
No further comment on the sources of this post.

Of course, I personally would have been very pleased to have contributed in anyway to the break up of diss-respect. I have been told that I will be awarded the Order of the “Silver Ice Pick" for some old reason?

However, the duplicitous old rogue Galloway is still a MP for now. I still think he is doomed politically. He may have got rid of the SWP and got some new “useful idiots” such as “Socialist Unity” for now. However, I think that he will just “use and abuse” them and they will eventually, just like the SWP, retire hurt licking their wounds. I know this is really political “la la” land, but just check out the posts at Socialist Unity even a few months ago about Galloway, when they all hatred him. Now (1984-ish) he is their hero.

For example... “Even were .....Galloway to have a damascene conversion, would anyone on the activist left trust them?.

It’s equally ironic and enjoyable to see Andy Newman “defending” Rob Hoverman. When in the past Andy (bravely to be fair) published this very personal retort from Rob about him.....

Andy....."You were a complete tosser the last time you flickered on to my radar and clearly nothing has changed. Now flicker off.”