All ideas should be out in the open for debate
A member of Left Unity in Huddersfield gives us her thoughts.
Hello, my name’s Char. I’m so pleased to be part of Left Unity. I have been
dismayed by British politics since Blair’s time, the only party I can put a cross
next to is the Green’s and as a born and bred socialist this dismays me. I have
been politically active since 15th October 2011, with the start of Occupy. It seems
incredulous that this was only 18 months ago…so much damage has been wreaked since
then. Then Ken Loach sent out his appeal and I signed up, the same day! I want
the Left to Unite, all of us, an inclusive party in which all ideas are welcomed.
Finally, something to be optimistic about! I have so much hope for us, we must keep
the momentum going. I am positive we can create a party with a broad appeal.
Political apathy has been growing since 1997 with the four lowest voting turnouts
since 1945. Hugo Young (2002) suggested this is partly because the main parties
are no longer promoting different ideologies; they are all just ‘muddling through’
with the same model, ‘tinkering’ with management details; it’s boring, a turn off
and does not give us much of a democratic choice. Increasingly it appears that the
politicians are promoting nothing but themselves and big business with a ‘do as I
say, not as I do’ attitude. It doesn’t matter that the model they are using is
flawed, no longer the greatest good for the greatest number; they can’t change it
because of the global stance. Decades of this mean that many young people have
never seen a political argument that offers a viable alternative. I’m a mature
student (38), my degree has a politics element; the 18-19 year olds on my course
had never even heard of Neil Kinnock, nevermind the Fabian Society or Lenin.
The last 18 months have been a real turning point for many people; they are angry,
depressed and desperate. The Coalition’s targeted onslaught against the most
vulnerable members of our society, together with their shenanigans with tax
avoidance, expenses scandals and friendly links with journalists, paedophiles and
corporations mean there is now a void. When rapes, child abuse and bar fights are
going on in the Houses of Parliament how can British Politics possibly appeal to
the public? People really want an alternative, a fairer one; one they can
understand. I have been protesting with anti-cuts groups since 2011. The numbers
are growing. Leeds Hands Off Our Homes meetings started with 30 or so people, then
up to 100, to 1000! People care now. NOW! And there numbers are increasing.
They need an alternative. People are literally fighting for their lives,
especially my disabled friends. A far as I’m concerned Left Unity is URGENT. We
have to help the British people overcome this stagnant democracy that is literally
tearing their lives to shreds.
Many people do not understand political history. This does not mean they are
thick. The students on my course are lively and intelligent; they are not
interested in politics though. They thought it didn’t have any relevance to them
and these young adults are doing a degree in social work, where social policy will
directly effect their work and their service-users daily. The majority of my
friends think I’m nuts because I’m so passionate about politics, and my passion is
nothing compared to that of members of the Left wing communist and socialist groups
who have been trying to make voters see sense for decades. People just don’t
understand the Left. When they hear Left it’s normally followed on with negative
commentary; Stalin, Strikes, riots, violence or namby-pamby idealism. No-one is
more upset by this than me.
I understand why there is worry about ‘sects’ within left unity. I understand that
many of the long haulers have burnt fingers. Please can we try to stay united
though? Don’t push the stalwarts out, this has been a long battle for them and I
think they deserve a place here more than me! To suggest barring them from Left
Unity seems ludicrous to me. Why ignore such experience and passion? We need
everyone with a left leaning on board. We need to have wide ranging views; let’s
look at all ideas, from Communism to Capitalist ‘tinkering’. I thought that was
the whole point of Ken Loach’s appeal. All ideas should be out in the open for
debate, that’s how we will find some consensus; with diplomacy. I’m not expecting
to agree with every article posted on the Left Unity site. I do expect people to
accept people have differing ideas though and to discuss them without malice.
The people protesting want an end to Austerity. They want a fairer society.
Unfortunately, they really aren’t interested in socialism as they have no real
understanding, on the whole, of what socialism means. I think it might be a good
idea for any politically historians out there in Left Unity world to put together a
‘Left History’. Maybe as Left Unity grows in membership, our virgin political
activists might be persuaded to read this and move even further Left in their
ideas. In the meantime I feel we need to have propaganda that promotes honesty,
transparency and fairness. I think figures from the civil rights movements would
be a stronger draw than socialist and communist leaders. Feminism is becoming
popular again. Fastfood workers in America have been protesting for a living wage
with banners that proclaim ‘I am a man’, ‘I am a woman’ on them. Martin Luther
King is still taught in schools with the reverence he deserved, as is Gandhi.
While Occupy’s 99% didn’t cause the immediate change I so desperately wanted it did
ring true with many people. These debates have relevance now. Perhaps we could
use more of these ideas in our propaganda. A ‘socio-economics right’ campaign. We
need to be socialist, I agree with Ken Loach on that, socialism is required.
We need to be inclusive of all Left leaning people; we all need a viable
alternative. Perhaps the civil rights movement could be a good, inclusive,
alternative basis for our campaign.
5 comments
5 responses to “All ideas should be out in the open for debate”
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If all ideas should be out in the open for debate, then I want to suggest that those potential voters who don’t know what socialism is are no less subject to the laws of capitalism as the rest of us. Unless we adopt a Marxist critique of capitalism, we will be trading off each others political and economic rights to get out of a crisis of an exploitative and anarchic system. I think we will get on better by convincing the exploited about the nature of this exploitation and if some members of Left Unity are not aware of those arguments then they ought to get up to speed courtesy of a little reading and by discussing this with Left Unity supporters who do have a little Marxism under their belt. If Left Unity is to make any progress and become a player like UKIP, then we need to be relevant to the debates that dominate people’s lives and at the moment the number one topic is the Woolwich atrocity. I have submitted an article and am surprised that Left Unity has not started a thread on Woolwich. If the democraticly elected interim leadership of Left Unity doesn’t want to start such a debate with my article, I am cool with that. Let’s have something else to start it off. Given the broad subject of the title of this post, I am going to propose some ideas open for debate. And that is the summary points of my article:
1 Left Unity needs to condemn terrorist atrocities as counterproductive and a slap in the face of every civilised norm.
2 Left Unity needs to condemn the hypocrisy of the BBC, SKY News, Channel Four News etc for lying about the context that explains why a small section of society are driven into becoming criminally insane.
3 Left Unity needs to condemn the gagging of NATO’s critics on Channel Four News, the BBC, SKY News etc. To the extent we are gagged, the BNP, EDL etc will put their razors and bovver boots where Jon Snow’s mouth is.
4 Left Unity needs to explain that the BBC, SKY News and Channel Four News cannot justify their pro-NATO biases as fair, nor can they deny that tippexing out of the public debate the crimes of NATO against Muslims across the world is any less complicit that a full frontal attack on Muslims. The broadcast media is justifiably damned in the eyes of every democrat because they have the duty to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Their silence when it comes to NATO’s crimes against Muslims speaks volumes. They can hardly shrug their shoulder when the BNP and EDL incite violence against Muslims indiscriminately, then individual members carry out diy ethnic cleansing.
5 Left Unity needs to explain the role of Islamophobia whipped up by Channel Four News, SKY News and the BBC. This is just one more tool in the box of the British establishment when it comes to divide and rule. Scapegoats are selected to distract the victims of capitalist austerity from uniting to fight our real enemy.
6 Left Unity needs to unite our class. We need to unite them against our class enemy. And we need to be the tribunes of all the oppressed. We cannot trade off the legitimate democratic demands of one oppressed group against others.
I agree with your political views Tom. I just don’t feel they are going to draw voters to us at this moment in time, which is what we need. It’s not much use to show people how oppressed they are; they switch off and don’t want to read books on socialist history. If they did, they already would be with us.
hi tom and char,
im not going with this “ukip of the left” stuff. electoral politics is bourgeois politics under capitalism.
Ukip Are a pretty classic reactionary populist set up. they are anti-foreigner, racist, homophobic. they are benefitting from the demise of the bnp and stirring up a racist reaction to economic failure.
like thatcher in 79, cameron, will steal the racists clothes to win back the racist right vote.
what this has to do with a space to the left for a left unity / tusc election campaign, i’m not clear?
im a little wary of those that want to base left unity on bourgeois elections. the left may find that they continue to get small votes anyway. perhaps because british politics is a two party bourgeois pact, many working class people vote labour against the tories.
the unions are overwhelmingly still affilited to and tied to the labour party.
if we want to conduct workers politics in the bourgeois elections, there is a lot more to it than standing candidates.
for example we should take every opportunity to relate to the left inside the lp. we should demand labour candidates support a left platform and actually support their election where they do. same towards green party candidates too, maybe.
in the unions we need to fight to preasurise the labour party, to turn it to the left, to make it accountable to the trade unionists that give it its campaigning money.
but i see such tactical issues as being secondary to the process of actually agreeing a programme for left unity. with out a programme there is no base on which to build.
for a party that refuses to let you see its programme, can rarely be trusted. it tends to twist and turn and avoid political debate. if you cant see a partys programme then it is harder to evaluate whether it really is consistant or whether its playing a game.
i think rushing into an electoral agreement before having agreed its own programme is a potential trap which we should avoid.
swp and sp would clearly like left unity and tusc to have an agreement. i think left unity has more potential than to be demoted to an alliance making schema.
id rather bob crowe say that tusc is a small pool and that rmt decide to promote debate on a left programme with left unity. that would bring his sp and swp entourage along towards a much greater unity of the left. who ever is in left unity needs to get this debate on a programme moving.
for example can we see the statement from the outgoing organising committee that kate hudson was going to put forward, or can new committee draft an initial political appeal?
cheers pete b
I completely agree. I’m quite willing to abide by policies where I might think there are better ways to things, for a party which has broad left wing values.
This isn’t about “class war” in the traditional way. If we use rhetoric, we should build on the 99% – which failed to gain ongoing traction, but did introduce a lot of younger people to left wing ideals and speakers for the first time.
The problem is not people, it’s Capitalism – the control of capital by a few.
BROKEN BRITISH POLITICS – COUNTRY RUN BY CRIMMINALS
Thatcher started the ball rolling with her private talks with Unum.Blair continued and charged them with the overall Welfare System.The years of talks were crucial to the Governments for them to construct the Welfare Bill .Unum is behind ATOS basically an IT company .They are also involved in NHS changes .Mutterings recently about limiting Doctors visits to three per year is the start to force the General Public to take out Private Medical Insurance .UNUM is the World’s biggest Disability Insurer .They are Banned in several states in America as not fit for purpose described as such by US Insurance Commissioners .So successive Governments have colluded with an outlawed Company to take charge of our Benefits System,the NHS and NEST the new Pensions Scheme .Fascist Smith is being led by UNUM for his enhancement and our detriment .Where is the Law of the Land. http://brokenbritishpolitics.simplesite.com