Futile? But this is consciousness raising
A consistent voice of opposition to the demonstrations against banks, in the UK, America, and elsewhere is Brendan O’Neill – editor of the oddball grouping Spiked.
His charge has been that anything which makes bankers smile rather than fear for their necks is futile rather than resistant.
Further, that this is an opportunity for Middle Class sloganeering demonstrates everything that is wrong with the left today (presumably that is why he is aligned with the crumbly libertarian abyss that is former RCP members).
But given his logic, success would be in wiping smiles of faces of Clapham omnibus users. His revolution will be discontinuing avocados from Waitrose.
Even with my limited knowledge those who want to occupy space in the city aren’t in it to make people unhappy with them, and their reluctance to turn consciousness raising into something monstrous is no signal of failure.
Because this is what the point of the occupation is: consciousness raising.
I may disagree with some of these guys as regards the merits of quantitative easing, but one thing we can unite: the conditions on which the bailing of the banks was subject to have not been met, and it is thanks to these demonstrations, whether by young people or old (both represented here in Finsbury Square, and across the way outside St Pauls) that dissatisfaction is not simply being expressed internally, or in stuffy old lefty meetings, with a handful of people in attendance, in a pub function room.
I was there; and for the declaration of the Occupation at St Paul’s.
I’m with you on the great merits of getting the debate out onto the streets, and away from stuffy Lefty committee rooms. I’ve been in a few of those, and they are full of zombies.
With luck, these demonstrations and this protest will sweep away the Leftist claptrap that has colonized and bullied protest in this country and across the globe for the whole of the 20th Century.
As I wish Oscar Wilde had said, “There’s only one thing worse than Capitalism, and that’s Communism (Marxist-Leninist).”
Some free thinking from real people, without a tradition of dogma and away from the bullying attack dogs of the Left is a great place to start.
If the Left moves in and colonizes these protests, then they will die.
Viva La Revolucion!
Shabby Tiger
Most of that is true, but not all that is Left is claptrap
True. I was worried when the occupation began at St Paul’s on Saturday that the Left, in all its Borg-like bodies, would turn up, colonize, recruit, destroy – in that order. I’ve seen something close to that model, or parts of it, in every occupation I have ever been involved in. Gloriously, it hasn’t happened and I was way too cynical.
The Left sometimes places a higher value on taking steps, any steps, towards a revolution and damn the short-term consequences. A glaring example would by the Stalinist Arthur Scargill and his destruction of his own union, and the subsequent death of that industry and a whole slew of tougher trade union legislation to boot, in the 1984-85 strike. How wrong we were to support leaders like him. Still, probably better than that hero of the Left Jack Jones, who betrayed his country to its enemies for decades. Anything, even supporting murderous dictators like Gaddafi, which the NUJ did, is acceptable if it furthers ‘socialism/communism/totalitarianism’.
That would be a fatal dead end for the occupations.
If the occupations are absorbed by the Left, they will just become another Marxism event, like the annual jamboree at ULU.
Shabby Tiger
I think your point misses just how embarrassed the younger generation of activists are of the old, vanguardist modes of leftist thought/action. For all autonomism’s faults, I don’t we think we should neglect to mention how important the difference is between those for whom the left must stay loyal to the dictatorship of the proletariat, and the libertarian socialists who often see trade unions as hopeless bureaucracies (few don’t).
If this set of protests fail, then it won’t be for the same reasons as the old set did.
Thank you for that insightful comments, raincoat. They help me understand. I had missed how embarrassed the young had become at their peers’ models. I am with them on that.
For me, you also go straight to the kernel when you say there are those for whom the Left “must stay loyal to the dictatorship of the proletariat” and the libertarian socialists. Yes, I can see that.
I truly fear that these protests will fail, but my worry that it will be because the Left colonizes them is only partly founded in what I have seen at the occupations. They are quite likely to escape that fate, as you have said they will and I fear they won’t.
So far, younger people have generally not come up with Leftist cliches in public. Older people have. It’s a broad, crude generalisation of what I have seen, and I had not realized it until you pointed it out. But yesterday, I heard some middle-aged protesters having the same-old, same-old tub-thumping call for nationalisation of everything. On the second day of the occupation at St Paul’s I heard a middle-aged trade unionist bring fraternal greetings to the general assembly, and then I groaned inwardly. But immediately afterwards a young protester got up and said we should beware of getting too close to the trades unions.
It all bears out what you say.
Shabby Tiger
Yeah – many of the young people are Green anarchists, who philosophically identify with libertarian socialism. It may not be coincidental that the Green Party, on the subject of party funding, laid into the Labour party and the Tories for having too reliant a funding stream through big business/the unions. Incidentally that was the Liberal Party’s line in the 50s-70s as well – but who are they?
S Tiger is so full of prejudice it is hard to take him seriously. And his prejudice comes straight from the establishment media that he is supposed to be protesting against! Talk about pathetic. Try learning to think in a grown up and conceptual way rather than displaying utter ignorance as if it’s a badge of honour.
Having said all that the new protest movement does need a renewed culture and maybe better people than S Tiger can bring that about but if he is atypical then no wonder the bankers are still laughing.
Edgar, yes I am full of prejudice. I know the Left – very, very well. You should stop thinking in terms of ‘establishment media’ – that’s so 1970s! You’ll be spraying black fists on stone walls next, I dare say. The establishment has changed.
Have you been down to any part of the occupations?
If you had been to any of the occupations you would have more idea of whether I am typical or atypical, but given your confusion of the two terms I doubt it would be enlightening for you.
Shabby Tiger
Brendan O’Neill makes these comments because he is a contrarian prick. If these protests weren’t happening he’d be penning articles blasting the British left for not organising such actions like their counterparts elsewhere.
His journalistic formula is relatively simple: liberals and leftists are saying x, write an article condemning x as overly simplistic, reactionary and/or worthless.
So true, he’s made a career of it – it works for the Telegraph, but if they think they’ve a token leftie on the inside, making shit go down, young people quaking in their boots on the steps of St Pauls, then HA they’ve another thing coming. Or they don’t care and they’re quids in. Probably that one :/
I’d ignored O’Neill, but I just read a few of his postings; he’s a good polemicist.
He’s taken the truth that there are lots of middle class, well-spoken protesters at the occupation, and really worked it. There are working class and unemployed there too, he didn’t talk about them.
He’s also taken the truth that the City has lots of working class people who have decided that the best way out of a working class life is to get off their backsides, work hard and make a lot of money. I think Deng Xiao Ping said, “To make money is glorious’. I’m with him on that. And with O’Neill.
Sitting on your backside, taking the pittance dole hand-out and whinging about what’s wrong won’t get you anywhere. They need to get on their bikes…. and that’s true of some of the protesters. Some, the students, REALLY haven’t done a day’s work in their lives and know nothing about it.
S Tiger – Don’t know why I said atypical, maybe my sub conscious just refused to accept you could be typical of the new movement. I really hope my sub conscious is right!
Now let’s skirt over your depressing Daily Mail letters page type prejudice and both agree that the left have been a failure both in implementing and selling their ideas to the mass of people. Now tell me what exactly are you proposing and don’t come back at me with “Oh you left and your proposals”.
Yes, I am atypical of the attendees, but maybe not of some of the supporters; but I have no way of knowing.
I’m sorry that the tone depresses you and reminds you of the Mail; I loathe the Mail. I aimed for provoking polemic, which is why it was so Mail-like.
Yes, the Left fails to implement and to sell many of its ideas; I don’t have a manifesto, I am just a critic of the Left, because they get so much wrong. Failing to be in power is an ever-present failing, as is failing to make compromises and to deal with the sordid business of governing properly.
From my own personal experience of living and working in a Communist dictatorship for some years, I can say that the dictatorship of the proletariat is just a dictatorship like any other. Crudely put, it is monstrous.
So, when I see signs at the Finsbury Square site, as I did on Thursday night, saying ‘we need to get away from running business for profit and for the shareholders, to running it for job creation’ and for calls for ’0 percent growth with an equal share of assets for all’, I know that this has failed elsewhere in recent history, and would likely be achieved through restricting individual freedoms, choices, and rights.
That is appalling! Don’t go down that path OccupyLSX!
There’s an excellent article on Friday’s op-ed page of the FT, by Martin Wolf, making the point:
“For this to be the beginning of a new leftwing politics, two things have to occur: first, a credible new ideology must emerge; second, some social force must march behind it.”
He then goes on to slam socialism and trades unions as forces of conservatism; I totally agree.
Here’s a link:
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/86d8634a-ff34-11e0-9769-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1c6J1Faqy
There’s also an excellent article by Ken Costa in Saturday’s FT, uncovering the importance of morality, and objective rules of right and wrong, for a free market. That importance has been disregarded by too many in finance and government, and the omission could yet prove more costly than our nightmares can imagine.