tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21995284.post115928010521923659..comments2023-10-25T12:49:50.074+01:00Comments on The Old Socialist Unity Blog - we have moved: Same as the old bossANhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05901425044840795347noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21995284.post-1160037645455901902006-10-05T09:40:00.000+01:002006-10-05T09:40:00.000+01:00Hi el TomPersonaly i reject the usefullness of the...Hi el Tom<BR/><BR/>Personaly i reject the usefullness of the reform/revolution divide.<BR/><BR/>We have reformist parties that don't give reforms and revolutionary parties that are historical reenactment societies of the situation a pre-capitalist Russia.<BR/><BR/>But I think the example of the Green party shows that you can push you agenda onto the mainstream political parties without winning elections, and the Labour movement has the additional ability to campaign through the unions.<BR/><BR/>The problem with Brown is he absolutley comitted to PFI, etc. So his coronation will weaken the prospect of any alternative.ANhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05901425044840795347noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21995284.post-1160015309361002512006-10-05T03:28:00.000+01:002006-10-05T03:28:00.000+01:00But we do still get some of what we want.Besides, ...But we do still get <I>some</I> of what we want.<BR/><BR/>Besides, what is the point in a reformist party which cannot win elections?* There can be a balance of power and socialist principle, but from my soft-left perspective, neither McDonnell nor Blair acheive that, and Gordon Brown is a largely unknown quantity. It is hard to tell what originates from his domain, and what is due to various actors constraining him.<BR/><BR/>Give the guy a chance, let him set out his stall. Then we can see who gets the balance the best.<BR/><BR/>*<I>About as much as there is in a revolutionary party that fails repeatedly to pull off a revolution, I'll warrant!</I>Tomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07801341846218646357noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21995284.post-1159375336365745852006-09-27T17:42:00.000+01:002006-09-27T17:42:00.000+01:00I didn't mean to suggest that the mould can't be b...I didn't mean to suggest that the mould can't be broken from time to time - I'd never take the position that parliamentary elections are just sham procedures. I'm a flipping reformist after all! <BR/><BR/>I only said I was 'tempted to worry'... The main thing was about this 'time for a change' thing. I do think that the dynamics of the 'time for a change' argument are often set by the media - who do often subscribe to the elitist alternation of 2 parties notion of government, so I'm suspicious of this 'time for a change' feeling being interpreted as the expression of imminent break through for an alternative politics - it's not.Edhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11986710256832859804noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21995284.post-1159299438497017652006-09-26T20:37:00.000+01:002006-09-26T20:37:00.000+01:00well phugebrins - that may all be true - but he di...well phugebrins - that may all be true - but he didn't have to go out of his way to lavish prasie on Blair's foreign policy. Omission would have been quite enough to have sent a message.<BR/><BR/>And Ed - surley there are times even under capitalist democracy where elelctions offer clear ideologcal alternatives whic will result in different practical outcomes. 1974 and 1983 spring to mind. Of coourse what actually happens is part of a more complex and wider dynamic in which parliament only plays a subsidiary role.ANhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05901425044840795347noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21995284.post-1159299123542059672006-09-26T20:32:00.000+01:002006-09-26T20:32:00.000+01:00I went to the Socialist Party fringe at Labour con...I went to the Socialist Party fringe at Labour conference and they could offer no reason not to intervene in the McDonnell campaign.<BR/><BR/>Their Campaign for New Workers' Party has a very similar programme to McDonnell, and at least he's not a Marxist pretending to be something else. The amount of signatures the campaign has is less than double their paper membership.<BR/><BR/>Engage with activist layers, the rank-and-file, build the McDonnell campaign and take the ideological fight to those still left in the party.David Broderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06519934479228292062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21995284.post-1159289179335474792006-09-26T17:46:00.000+01:002006-09-26T17:46:00.000+01:00"almost two thirds of voters believe that Labour d...<I>"almost two thirds of voters believe that Labour does not deserve to win the next election, that the government has “run out of steam” and it is “time for a change”."</I><BR/><BR/>Sometimes I'm tempted to worry whether Elite theorists like Schumpeter were essentially right to argue that democracy consisted, and could only consist, of a kind of perpetual seesawing motion - one elite governs for a bit and is replaced by a rival, the second lot govern for a bit and then lose power, then the first elite gets back into power for a bit etc etc.<BR/><BR/>But I can't help wondering how much the whole 'time for a change' stuff and 'running out of steam' is media generated. Why are the government 'running out of steam'? In part because the media have decided they are - (actually it seems to me that they have lots more zeal for neo-liberal policy left in them). Why is it time for a change? In part because of the media's infatuation with the newness and shinyness of Cameron.<BR/><BR/>This isn't to say that Labour's core electorate are not sick and tired of BLairism and neither is it to say that the Iraq debacle hasn't dented Labour's appeal. But I wonder how much of this 'time for a change stuff' is just a self-fulling prophecy on the part of the media - and the apparent fact that the electorate are now flirting with Cameron rather than an alternative to neo-liberalism seems to suggest, to me, that the thing is largely conditioned and channelled by media guff.<BR/><BR/>If that makes sense.Edhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11986710256832859804noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21995284.post-1159288663182613132006-09-26T17:37:00.000+01:002006-09-26T17:37:00.000+01:00Hm, while I agree that Brown won't really be any d...Hm, while I agree that Brown won't really be any different, I don't think this is good evidence for it. Brown has put so much effort and PR into being seen to stand shoulder to shoulder with Blair so that the LP didn't look divided (before the last General Election, for example) that he can't start laying into him. Nor can he launch a new set of policies as a chancellor or as a leader-to-be, as to do so before Blair has stepped down would make him look arrogant. On the other hand, he can't campaign as a leadership candidate, because that would be hijacking the conference, and would also imply that he's not confident about getting the job. Pretty much all he could do (cynically speaking) is what he did do - pat on the back for Tony, look to a bright future, and urge the party to get back to fighting the tories. In other words, nothing of substance.Phugebrinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10851424524869250015noreply@blogger.com