combatting misery by grasping the nettle.....part 1

i came home from a meeting of kuwg/kilburn unemployed workers group which was basically about looking for"a way forward"to fight the miserable impact of"austerity"and"crisis"and "savagely ideologically directed"attack on OUR class,and some of the real people whose lives are devastated by it all.

ive failed because the experiences and the analysis and the solutions posited are too complex to just rush at.i want to honour ALL the people who came to the meeting,and some who did not.

so what i will say is this:that there was lots of pain and distress in the room,as we discussed several personal situations of families coming to terms with very real trauma and difficulty.the 50 or so people present at the meeting went on to discuss meeting the very real needs of the families and many others in the community who are victims of cuts,austerity and plain abuse and insensitivity from"authorites"who should be addressing the needs of vulnerable people and people in distress.after all as my friend cj said"if you take people's livelihoods and money,it creates vulnerable people".

there was a lot of anger about and towards brent council,who increasingly are seen to not even raise the posibility of resistance.and this is a council led by labour who are seen to have failed ALL OF US.there was some discussion about putting up indpendent,alternative candidates in elections,conducting militant fight backs across boroughs and the whole of london,of co-ordinating the various struggles against our ills,and not least impacting to support the very real needs of vulnerable people/families,in a sensitive manner and which might actually"roll  back a cut"that no-amount of co-ordination and networking by itself,seem able to shift.

i admit,my own feelings oscillated between the usual points of alienation(i dont fit.i dont belong here)rage(the way our rulers treat us so carelessly)and love(distress provoked by empathy with others,and i like to hope  a real care for other human beings)

those feelings are powerful and overwhelming.they are shared feelings to.

i need to give this more attention in order to do this situation justice.i will return to this soon.meantime,some of us plane to meet on saturday,at least to leaflet and campaign,and to plan further"actions"that will take the issues"home"and/or to some of the"power points"in our communities.a number of people agreed to form a committee to co-ordinate campaigning that might make it possible to make real change in our lives and the circumstances in which we live them.

it seems to me this has to be to seek to establish communities in which human need and vulnerabilty,and indeed creativity and value come first,last and in the middle,over profit,greed,exploitation-or indeed"political careerism".

and in the meantime,it was a real privelege to be in the room with about 50 other people who clearly have skills,talents and commitment to make those changes with each other.it is not careers that count here but a willingness to fight back and to work together!