Subcultural engagement for the 21st Century...
Barbelith is a new kind of community (find out more)...
You can login or register.

Underground > Switchboard >

Political activism

Strange Machine Vs The Virus with Shoes

17:18 / 02.03.02

This last week has been one of those times when one seems be bombarded by a certain subject although not actively seeking it out.

The subject this week has been politics try as I might (I try to avoid the media), I could not escape the whole Byers debacle. Then there is news that the young are totally turned off politics and the media has to do something to jazz it up a bit. I started to read George Monbiots articles in the Grauniad; the Turkish dam project and the Labour party involvement (ethnic cleansing in another form) , Labour hates the working class and the unions and corporations are getting away with daylight robbery and Labour is helping them(Georges favourite subject).

Then at college, there are a plethora of posters criticising an MP of calling students a bunch of drunks, stuff about fees etc. And my class is about the concept of citizenship and my thinking lead along the lines that most social groups should have some representation in this political machine.

Finally I get to the point. I became fighting mad and that old reptilian part of the brain sent out messages to destroy all the fucking pricks in power. I’ve calmed down now, but do any barbeloids have any pointers on the best ways to conduct activism? I’m not a real radical, I know that at this time a large number of people depend on this (vague) form of system we have. All I’ve decided at the moment is to stop voting Labour and lobby my union to stop donating money to the Labour party, The fucking Traitors.

Also, does anybody care to extrapolate on where the political system in this country or on a global level is going?

[ 07-03-2002: Message edited by: panarchy ]

[ 07-03-2002: Message edited by: panarchy ]

22:13 / 02.03.02

quote:All I’ve decided at the moment is to stop voting Labour and lobby my union to stop donating money to the Labour party, The fucking Traitors.
That's more than a lot of people are doing. Never trust the SU, bunch of political wannabes.

The only thing I can say is, keep aware. Keep looking at things and working out what does and doesn't make sense, and let people know about it. IMO, the benefit of attending protests is less than being an aware, free-thinking person, spreading your ideas in society, even if it's just talking to friends and co-workers.

That doesn't mean don't go to demos of course - just know why you're there as well.

The problem with the reptile brain is that, no matter how much you may want to smash things and get rid of the liars, you won't be able to do it, not on your own and not fast enough to satisfy the primal urges. So, the other thing is, know when to give yourself a break and turn off. (I usually find when I have ten different news sites open, and I'm hitting refresh on all of them, it's time to take a breather.)

"One of the signs of an approaching nervous breakdown is the belief that one's work is terribly important" - Bertrand Russell

gozer the destructor

07:33 / 04.03.02

Would it be possible to turn this thread into a debate on terrorism and the role of revolution? the idea of breaking the system incapable of reform? how do people actually feel about 'revolution' and would people consider the lack of voters turning out last year in Britain a type of revolution? what way forward?

12:51 / 04.03.02

best to start a new thread if that's what you want to do

18:16 / 04.03.02

One of many essentials, to me: read. Don't let reading stop you from acting (as in "ooh, if I just read a little bit more I'll definitely know what to do"). Act on whatever seems the most reasonable issue(s) at the time in the way that seems the most reasonable/effective.
Talk. Form a reading- and discussion group on whatever issue seems relevant, read something with likeminded people, and talk about the issues. If you don't know people who are interested, join an already existing group. Or several, with differing political affiliations/self-definitions. I think you'll find flaws in the analysis of each of them.
Take as long a perspective as possible. Read on past struggles: not only the highlights, but also the slow, tedious building-up-process that has gone before some movements. Also accept that this building-up-process doesn't necessarily lead to any great explosion of action.. But it might. Also, some radical events will surprise you as they occur totally without anyone "planning" for them. When that happens, DON'T EVER try to dominate them or put your brand on them. In stead, go to the kids/grannies/people of a different colour that are throwing rocks or whatever and talk to them. They will be offensive to you, but try to build with them, not over them, and both you and they will learn.
Be revolutionary, even when not doing revolutionary things.
Oh. Once you've taken the long perspective, keep it. And read.
If you want specifics, well, the issues of migration and refugees, the illegalization of people, activism against borders, Fortress Europe and detention camps will probably be an "issue" for some time onwards, as the problematics are not likely to just go away. They are also a good issue in that the long term demands are truly radical and revolutionary, i.e. a world without borders, without nations and nationalism, with an "even playingfield" for all people. And still the practical, everyday things to do are concrete, social and immediately rewarding: working with immigrants or as an immigrant on migration issues, legal and other help, campaigning against structural racism and oppression, teaching english, protesting against internment camps, stopping expulsions. Just as a suggestion.
Oh, on the global politics bit I'd recommend a book called Empire by Toni Negri and Michael Hardt.

Strange Machine Vs The Virus with Shoes

20:52 / 16.03.02

I was thinking about supporting the growing number of people who want Unison to hold or stop its contribution (£1.3 million) to the Labour party.

In a way it is good that a group, which is a semi-public group, can have some influence on mainstream politics. But it is a shame that it boils down to money.
I am asking whether there is any way to have any impact on mainstream politics or is it futile to try?
How effective is radical activism/politics in actually changing things.
I think that radical politics, although important and in many cases true and justified, does not reach/appeal to the “masses” who seem to have the casting vote.

Disco is My Class War

23:36 / 16.03.02

This is probably going to sound arrogant, but I am pretty much an 'activist' and here are my suggestions...

1. There is no 'masses'. (And I know that's gramatically incorrect, but when people talk about the 'masses' as a singularity I get upset.) Stop thinking about the masses and you will be able to see possibilities for change. Everything happens on a micro, local level: learn about your locale and the things that need changing where you are first. Start small, think big. Talk to people. Read read read.

2. The myth that young people are turned off politics is just that, a myth. It's very useful to for governments and the media and corporations to spread the lie of mass apathy, because then it lets them do what they want. They can shrug and say 'But no-one cares.' Right? Young people being active might not be visible to you, but that doesn't mean it's not happening. I mean, frankly, university campuses in English-speaking countries are not the most important sites for change. Look at university campuses in Colombia. Bolivia. East Timor. Indonesia. Palestine.

3. Why do you avoid the media? *Make* media. Write your own stories. All the information is there for you to take in: then all you have to do is find a personal sense of connection with those struggles. Politics os always conplex and always confusing... revel in that. No party line will ever be right.

And think positively about the change you want to make happen; disarm people through laughter, through love, through rage.

I'd also recommend reading Empire.

13:17 / 17.03.02

Both of us being fed up with the two party US system, and the Democrats' "Republican Lite" stance on everything, my partner has decided to run as a Green in our US Congressional district. The current rep has been trouncing the democrats' inept challengers by 2 to 1 in recent elections. Can he win? Wull, it's ooonlikely.

But. People running in smaller parties need help and attention. Consider finding someone who is running for a local office; it's more important that you believe in their stance, less that you believe "they can win." The most important thing is: is there a chance they can make a difference in the public debate? can their running help move the so-called "center" even a milimeter from it's right-ward path.

We need radical left voices and traditional left voices if for no other reason than the very small goal of trying to get the "center" to move back closer to where it was even 20 years ago.

And who knows, kids, "it's crazy but it just might work!"

[ 17-03-2002: Message edited by: alas ]

17:28 / 17.03.02

quote:Originally posted by alas:
The current rep has been trouncing the democrats' inept challengers by 2 to 1 in recent elections. Can he win? Wull, it's ooonlikely.

And who knows, kids, "it's crazy but it just might work!"

Just look at Gov. Jesse Ventura

17:54 / 26.11.03

Here: a protest movement that worked.

Here, from the top of that article:
The bloodless "revolution of roses" that toppled Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze on Sunday might have transpired in the streets of Tbilisi, but in a way it was inspired in the streets of Belgrade.

The Georgian opposition movement modeled its campaign on the popular uprising that deposed Yugoslavia's president, Slobodan Milosevic, in October 2000 and even adopted its slogan. Opposition leaders traveled to Belgrade for advice and brought their Serbian counterparts to Tbilisi. Thousands of Georgians were trained in the techniques honed in Belgrade. And the opposition persuaded Georgia's independent television network to air a documentary on the Serbian uprising not once but twice in the last 10 days.

"Most important was the film," said Ivane Merabishvili, general secretary of the National Movement party that led the revolt. "All the demonstrators knew the tactics of the revolution in Belgrade by heart because they showed . . . the film on their revolution. Everyone knew what to do. This was a copy of that revolution, only louder."

This might be meaty enough for its own thread.
But it's an example of media and networking spreading revolutionary techniques in a practical way. In that, hey, it got the bastards out of power.