Olympics/Paralympics Legacy-Remember Atos
Whilst i dont believe in much of the language of evil,i find it very tempting to speak of Atos as exactly that-evil-because whilst i have an intellectual understanding of at least certain aspects of "the world"that understanding does notinclude accepting that things are neccessarrily what they appear. Other parts of me are still sometimes shocked,even though i gave up being a "reasonable" man many years ago,and announced this publicly quite recently.
By reasonableness,i mean the kind of response that gives everything the benefit of the doubt,accepts the sleight of hand that occurs in public discourse and the"that was then this is now"kind of attitude that cuts off chronology,let alone history in critical discussion and thought.
So i admit i am shocked by the evil of Atos and the hypocisy of a so-called government that allows Atos to sponsor the paralympics whilst continueing under government contracts to effectively hound people with disabilities from claiming or out of their entitlement to disability benefits of any and all kinds.
So i cant really do better than choose a starting point here,than quoting the words of Neil Faulkner from a recent leaflet,in decribing Atos as"a global mega-corporation worth £8.5billion......Atos is paid £100million pa to test 11,000 sick and disabled people a week and judge whether they are"fit for work".Millionaire Tory chancellor George Osbourne's aim is to cut £18 billion in welfare benefits over 5 years.Atos is at the cutting edge of the Tory attack on the poor.
Many of the disabled hounded and persecuted by Atos have already comitted suicide.A 1,000 have died of their illnesses since being deemed"fit for work"
I suggest that advocates of"Legacy"infected by the"feel-good"factor latched onto by commentators and politicians alike need to adjust their focus and take a more hard headed,forensic approach to the issue.
I hope that after the DPAC(DisabledPeople Aagsinst Cuts),UK Uncut,(and CON-Counter Olympics Network) week of action against Atos at the end of the paralympics we can continue to give Atos some hell.What i would certainly claim is that alongside the olympian feats of paralympian athletes,is the achievement of some of us"at the bottom of the pile"who on the Friday,managed to shut down the DWP(Department of Work and Pensions)at least for a few hours!
lost
24/09/12d2
Wednesday 26 September 2012
small Thoughts for a BIG World
Time is a strange thing to experience.
Subjectively,it seems to speed up when i am busy,or having fun and certainly as i get older.
I'm led to believe that this has an explanation,at least in part.When we are young everything is new,to us mentally and i guess physically too take in,breathe in,expeience every moment as fully as we are able.We are astonished by it, and it is all new experience.As we get older,we become familiar,perhaps over familiar with it-the world and or own experience of it-our senses take thinsg for granted,and we take in more sensory information,less carefully and at greater speed.I'm told that makes time seem to pass more quickly.
That said,I'm not sure where that all takes me...us except that there are certainly times when events,sensory experience,life itself seems to be teeming around us.And despite getting older,with all that goes with it,experience and time can still be perplexing,exciting,confusing.
Men,apparently,according to cod/pop psychology remain always partly boys.That might be true.What is certainly true for me,is that i still have a reaction to life and the world that i was first conscious of as an adolescent,although im sure it goes back further,before i could identify and name it-that i remain curious about the world,and part of me still responds to things so i can't bear to miss anything!
lost
26/09/12d1
Subjectively,it seems to speed up when i am busy,or having fun and certainly as i get older.
I'm led to believe that this has an explanation,at least in part.When we are young everything is new,to us mentally and i guess physically too take in,breathe in,expeience every moment as fully as we are able.We are astonished by it, and it is all new experience.As we get older,we become familiar,perhaps over familiar with it-the world and or own experience of it-our senses take thinsg for granted,and we take in more sensory information,less carefully and at greater speed.I'm told that makes time seem to pass more quickly.
That said,I'm not sure where that all takes me...us except that there are certainly times when events,sensory experience,life itself seems to be teeming around us.And despite getting older,with all that goes with it,experience and time can still be perplexing,exciting,confusing.
Men,apparently,according to cod/pop psychology remain always partly boys.That might be true.What is certainly true for me,is that i still have a reaction to life and the world that i was first conscious of as an adolescent,although im sure it goes back further,before i could identify and name it-that i remain curious about the world,and part of me still responds to things so i can't bear to miss anything!
lost
26/09/12d1
Monday 24 September 2012
The REAL impact of cuts and austerity on REAL people and REAL lives
On 14th August 2012 Kilburn Unemployed Workers Group(KUWG)scored a major"coup"in calling a public meeting in South Kilburn which was essentially to dscuss the REAL impact of cuts and austerity on REAL people leading ordinary but very REAL lives.
After introductions by us all,about 50 people in all,the chair of the meeting,Robin,a member of KUWG introduced 3 speakers-Anthony Counihan,father of 5 children between 4 and 15,and partner to Isobel Sanchez;then my friend and comrade,CJ spoke briefly about the suicide of Nigel Firminger and Anne,mother of Daniel Roque Hall spoke about the imprisonment of her son.
From Anthony Counihans account,the gist of the Counihan-Sanchez family predicament is this:The family have had a long association with Brent going back many years and on the South Kilburn Estate in particular where they are a well respected family,who not only have support but have always,whatever their own difficulties supported neighbours and others in their community.Some years ago,they returned to Ireland due to Anthony Counihan's fathers illness,giving up their tenancy in Brent.The local authority had at that time failed to advise them properly that they could assist themsleves by subletting to maintain their tenacny for up to a year.When they returned to Brent they were housed in property which it soon became clear was well beyond their income.The family were subsequently deprived of benefits and support entirely when,"too honest for their own good"they declared ownership of waterlogged land inherited from Antony's father on the latters death.This brings in a maximum of £18 pw rent but is virtually unsaleable particulary in the current economic circumstances.rater than apply common sesnse or discretion or simply deduct income from benefits,the family were evicted and presented with a bill for around £56,000 despite the local authoritties denial of any repsnsibility for the family.
Again the family were poorly advised,to sell the land which would have been illegal as they would have been distributing assetts.Now temporarilly rehoused in and by Ealing Council,it seems that both that Council and the local Tory MP have written to Brent advising that they should accept and address its responsibilities. In the meantime,Isabel Sanchez has postponed hip replacement because of the famiy predicament and delivers her 5 children to 5 different schools in Brent everyday.I understand that in the last few days,some"special provison"has been obtained in Brent for Vinny's education,the youngest of their children who is autistic and whose behaviour is so affected by the families distress that months of therapeutic work by therapists and family have been undone in a few weeks over the summer.
It s my and others vew that throughout,this family have been poorly advised and indeed institutionally abused by poor service delivery from social services,housing and benefits departments,who have never excercised proper oversight,applied common sense,discretion or review.Advice and"help from"the local authority has often been bizarre and perverse.It is stretching the point to call it patchy.
Unable to obtain help through"proper channels",a campaign was set up from the public meeting and community political pressure has been applied.
In addition,in that public meeting CJ reported on the suicide of Nigel Firminger, a recent member of KUWG who it seems had been driven to suicide by the insensititvty of a number of government,local authority and third sector agencies,who took no account of the impact of their indiffference on his increased anxiety.This is likely to have led to him accumulating rent arrears as he lost employment and was denied a return to benefits.In the wake of his suicide,some of those agencies are now "falling over themselves" to spout weasel words and to regret their insensitivity to his human needs.
Ann reported that following her son, Daniels own decline in health over several months,he had made the mistake of committing a serious offence but had made admissions from the moment he was apprehended for drug importation when he returned to england from a period abroad. Whilst not denying that the offence was serious,a man in the later stages of a very serious degenerative and debilitating disease was hardly in a position to run away.I do not know what consiederation was given to alternative sentencing,although a judge sentenced him to 3 yaers imprisonment having obtained specific assurances that the prison medical service would be able to meet the health needs of Daniel Roque Hall and to replicate the standards of the NHS(National Health Service).
Within 2 hours of sentencing and incarceration,the absurdity of those promises became cleaer,when he fell from a table to which he had been chained.As Daniel has virtually no control of most of his body,he could neither help himself from falling when he had an involuntary spasmno do anything to call ut or to help himself..He should not have been left alone.As a result he suatined a serious head injury requiring hospitalisation,which was refused.Unable to provide the care he needs in prison,which should include excercise programmes and special equipment,his health is in further constant jeopardy.He is in decline.This amounts to torture.I hear that when eventually hospitalised he was described as being at"deaths door".At a time when no expense is apparently spared for the olympic and paralympic elite, Daniel's experience of casual,institutional brutality could not be much clearer.Prison is no place for such a man.
The public meeting went on to discuss the range of issues raised.Whist appreciating the presence and input of a one of the younger and more junior councillors,the meeting almost unanimously rejected his perspective that the local authorities hands are tied by central government funding and the need for "legality".IT would seem that everyone else views this as the outlook of a spineless,Labour led council which is unwilling to defend its own community/electorate against spinless public sector cuts.Members of the community attending the meeting were highly eloquent in not only refusing that view but proposing an alternative of fighting for a budget which reflects the needs of the community in Brent. At least one person also made reference to George Lansbury who once led an east London council in the 1930s from a prison cell rather than carry out Tory,oppressive laws.There was some discussion about increasing the networking and engagagement across London,regional and wider communities.This came in a clear second to a unamimously agreed proposal to support the Counihan-Sanchez family by establishing a campaign in the community,One activist eloquently pointed out that whilst networking campaigns had not rolled back any cuts anywhere to date, a campaign around one family in need would be emblematic and when victorious would give a very clear demonstration and lead that cuts CAN be rolled back.
From a perssonal point of view i attended the meeting partly on behalf of my comrades in Brent TUSC(Trades Unionists and Socialist Coalition),as a member of the ILN/International Luxemburgist Network(i also write on the Forum/Network website)but not least as an ex-social worker/probation officer.I continue to feel that i can be a "gamekeeper turned poacher"and use my insider knowledge to the benefit of this campaign.I am indeed a member of campaign committee.
Over the approximately 6 weeks thathas elapsed since,the Counihan-Sanchez Family Campaign/Counihan Battlebus has campaigned every saturday at "Kilburn Square"and on the South Kilburn Estate.We have used every possible opprotunity often alongside other issues,campaigns and activist comrades to obtain signatures to the petition and raise wider public awareness.
That has included a lobby of the family's MP,Glenda Jackson,who when originally approached gave only the insensitive advice that"The family could not afford to live in London and should move to Wales." Not only do the family have no connection with Wales,but this sounds like the kind of "social cleansing"advocated by Iain Duncan Smith and Frank Field.At that lobby Ms jackson continued to ignore the family,to treat with them with contempt that fits her hgh handed arrogance and to ignore everyone who wanted to speak about or ask questions about the campaign.Nothing seems to shift this millionaire from her groundless sense of superiority to her electorate.
It is onky simiar lobbies of council meetings and other public events that have mounted a pressure on Cllr.Mo Butts to compel him,the leader of the council to meet with the family,although this has so far produced little oter result.He has however been rattled and dislodged from his previous confidence in his own secure,politicla future which is now much more open to question.Sarah,the 15 year old and oldest daughter in the family has described disruption of such public meetings as only neccessary as a consequence of the famiy being otherwise ignored.
All these people need to realise that if we are to be treated with such complete contempt,then they ned to conider their own fates at the hands of an increasingly class conscious and confident electorate.families like the Counihan-sanchez family and the wider community will no longer accept being treated like a stage army to vote for such careerist,professional politicians.Campaigns like this,along with the SOS Brent Libraries/Save Our Seven Brent Libraries and the emerging education campaigns begin to pose the need for independent political representation based on rejection of all cuts,provision of full services and the restoration of an improved"Welfare State"and a needs led budget.this campaign already has the confidence,courage and persistence to call out these politicians an d to attempt to bring them to account.
Family and campaign members have indicated that tere was a helpful meeting between an allocated
social worker and the family which in my opinion seems at leats to have been some kind of improvement n previous meetings where social workers appeared to use andy and every factor and piece of informatin both against the famiy and to pathologise it.So the childrens understandable anger and hostility,when they felt the social worker was"fishing"forinformation to turn them against their mother was not simply described as "adolscent attitude",which would be bad enough,but was turned on the famiy itself.The parents seem also to hve been accussed of "sharing too much"with their children.In other situatins this would have been praised.I would ask what coice such afamiky have when they are going through such profound difficulties,which are in my and the campaigns opinion oby the local authorities iinstitutional abuse,and revictimisation of them.
Isobel Sanchez was happy to tell me that some new assistanec has been set up to help Vinny,her youngest child who is autistic,although this seems to have emerged from the sensitivity of some staff in aparticular part of the"service"rather than as a result of pressure to resolve the whole burgeoning range of difficuties.Neither the council nor the councilleaderhave"grasped the nettle".Advice from the various parts of the council then,contiue to be perverse,and bizarre and certainly unhelpful.The campaign has evidence that the latest housing advice is that the family move to the waterlogged land in Ireland,which is isolated and without services.implication is that Anthny Counihan should somehow continue to commute from the West of Ireland to Cricklewood Bus Garage to continue to work as a bus driver on almost a daily basis
Whilst the local trades union council umbrella community campaign to defend services and fight cuts has been helpful,it has nevertheless been a little like "pulling teeth",and their seems some over-orientation by Brent Fightback on uncritical relationships with the Labour Party and council leadership.Somehow it seems that although such co-operation makes absolute sense at times,this should not require anyone to remain silent in relation to cuts in general nor urgent need.I form a strong impression that there are times when this body expects community campaigns to come to it almost for validation and approval rather than there being any sense of outreach to pro-actively offer solidarity and support to them.I detect from some,an odd requirment that campaigns demonstrate some kind of ideological uniformity before they are worthy of support and if neccessary critical assistance.Whilst i recognise that this is not Russia in 1917,i cannot help but feel that then the Workers Councils,a much more militant form of organisation that might in some ways be compared with local trades council organisations, rather than demanding that a "struggle" present itself to it,would instead have sent workers(and revolutionary soldiers)and leading activists to support and bolster such battles,and to hammer out positions and strategies to win!
As a member of the campaign committee,i suggested that i amonst others would approach other organisatins and campaigns i am in contact with to seek support.As an ex social worker i had also recently become involved in the SWAN(Social Workers Action Network)particularly in London,where curently i am involved in assisting to organise the SWAN 2013 national Confernec scheduled for 12-13th April 2013.The London grouping,of about 500 on an email list,is part of a wider national network established in 2004.The founders include Michael lavalette who is a preston councillor,a social work educator and a member of the SWP/Socialist Workers Party.
When i took the Counihand_Sanchez family campaign to the last London meeting of SWAN,the contrast with certain other meetings could not have been more striking. whilst no-one revels in the misery of others,I felt when i spoke that i had the full and enthusiastic attention of everyone,about 20 people in all . Everyone was both eager to know more and to help.London SWAN wil mobilise for the campaign dmeonstration in Kilburn on October 6th,and bring its banner.The call for support and further informatin will both go out to all on the London list and it could well be promoted via the SWAN website as a campaign SWAN will suport and take up nationally.London SWAN will be invited to provide aspeaker at the rally on 6th October.
I hope that this article will serve those purposes.As I believe Michael Laveltte is diue to be in London for a meeting with London SWAN on 9th October,i hope he might be available to attend/speak at the Counohan Sanchez campaign ralky on 6th October.I am sure London SWAN will assist the campaign to make other links,such as with the Haringey Travellers Services Team dispute.I am sure that the Campaign will be able to speak and make a presentatin at the SWAN Conference in due course,when i hope that we will be able to present both a victory and further develoments in a wider campaign.
Before i end this article,i want to make 2 more points.One is to observe that although sectarianism on the left and amongst activists is not dead,it is noticeable at least to me that in this and other campaigns i have personal knowledge of recently, there is evidence of a differenet climate and that grous are making some cosiderable efforts to not behave in a sectarian manner.Old habits die hard but i believe the intent really is there and i am finding genuine warmth,comradeship,friendship and greater openness than in the past.I am for example aware that in at numerous of our meetings and activities there have been members of at least 6 differnet grouings/currents who are able to acknowledge the valued contributions we all make as well as to hear and to learn from the many community activities who come from no particular political traditions.It is my firm opinion that we do not need to hide or be silent about our real political differences whikst cntinueing to work effectively togetger to a common and largely shared end. This is very important for me personaly(i am a member of 2 "overlapping"oganisations.We live in times where if we don't"stand together,we will fall apart".Sectarianism is itself an enemy and a luxury in the current political and social climate I would affirm we cannot afford.It is in my opinion better that we fight out the issues openly as they become relevant rather than by shunning each other and other organisations on matters which might have some relevanc at some point but are often too abstruse,abstarct and alienation.I recognise of course that the time of their relevance is itself a key questions,but one which we should remainsensitive and respectful about.
Last but not least,we are aware as acampaign of the dangers of appearing to personalise the issues around one family.ButThat said,the family and the campaign are very well aware that whlst each family and individual need is specal and important,this family are emblematic,and that a victory for one family will in turn enable us to push harder,more quickly and effectively for further change.We will then be in aposition to generalse out from one success.We are already discovering that there is a vast range of need "out there" in our own and oter communities.Most if not all of this is symptomatic not of individual or family pathology but of austerity and crisis compounded by institutional abuse.This in my opinion results from any casually brutal local state machine guided by the demands of capitalism,or indeed anything except a "moral compass"or a commitment to electorate or class.
It is highly relevant to stress that this particular family are not just highly respected but also resilient andstrong.,which facilitates such acampaign.As CJ pointed out in the public meeting,however it remains the case that if"you take away resources,you make people vulnerable".
Past experience as an activist and as a professional social worker for most of my 42 year career,i am aware that there are dangers for activists being dragged into roles as alternative social workers/caseworkers/advisors/service providers. hhaving been involved in seevral discussions over recent months about these issues,i am forming the view that there is aneed to train activists,who in turn would be capable of tarining other in somebasic skills to formulate enough of a"thumbnail"assessment of social need to direct those in need to appropriate services and to monitor those services as provided rather than substitute for them,although this cannot be an absolute and requires sensitivity to the needs of individuals,families and groups.Unfortunatey this is NOT the 1960s-1970s when many"vountary sector"services and campaigns grew up to meet such needs but themselves have either been cut completely over recent decades or have ben reduced to shadows of their former selves,oftenserving radically altered"ends".It seemsto me that now we must seek to develop new alteratives and to demand proper professional and accountable services,rather than to substitute for them.Susbtsitution places those engaged in it at risks-which were not identified in the 1960s-70s,and also defelcets us fom political activism.Activists,i suggest need to maintain an ability to generalise,organise and motivate,whist remaining sensitive to real human need and not to"pass the buck" as too many of the services i/we would criticise,now do.It seems to me that with the focus of the next SWAN conference,and the incresaing demand amongst young social worker-activists to know what radical/transformative social work practice might look like,this camapign and others opens up a rich vein of opportunity to learn and to develop our thinking.Those of us now"outside"employment in such professions and the self-identified radicals and activists within have akey role to play.
I am hearing of similar initiatives to focus on the real impact on real people of cuts and austerity in a number of places including Haringey and Luton.This makes the tasks urgent.They may not need addressing this minute but they do need addressing soon,in the next few months rather than years.I am otimistic that this task can be taken up in the forthcoming SWAN Conference and that i can begin to develo with others some kind of"rolling activist workshop/training in casework skills/issues for activists"
We ought to win this campaign,and whilst the road will be hard for us and for anyone else in anything like similar predicaments,a victory here or anywhere should be maximised,generalised and shared.
I would like to end simply by acknowledgeing the commitment,friendship,comradeship,support,talent,tenacity,endeavour and and courage of many i am working alongside,although I have not named.Mydiscussions with a number of them have contributed to this article.One of the key differences between achievement amongst OUR class and theirs is that we can share and collaborate.We do not need to make stars and celebrities from our shared activity.It does not mean that we should value each other any less. Individual genius is far too overrated.What is important is that we put the efforts of our heads and our hands and hearts together in common endeavour.
lost
24/09/2012d4
After introductions by us all,about 50 people in all,the chair of the meeting,Robin,a member of KUWG introduced 3 speakers-Anthony Counihan,father of 5 children between 4 and 15,and partner to Isobel Sanchez;then my friend and comrade,CJ spoke briefly about the suicide of Nigel Firminger and Anne,mother of Daniel Roque Hall spoke about the imprisonment of her son.
From Anthony Counihans account,the gist of the Counihan-Sanchez family predicament is this:The family have had a long association with Brent going back many years and on the South Kilburn Estate in particular where they are a well respected family,who not only have support but have always,whatever their own difficulties supported neighbours and others in their community.Some years ago,they returned to Ireland due to Anthony Counihan's fathers illness,giving up their tenancy in Brent.The local authority had at that time failed to advise them properly that they could assist themsleves by subletting to maintain their tenacny for up to a year.When they returned to Brent they were housed in property which it soon became clear was well beyond their income.The family were subsequently deprived of benefits and support entirely when,"too honest for their own good"they declared ownership of waterlogged land inherited from Antony's father on the latters death.This brings in a maximum of £18 pw rent but is virtually unsaleable particulary in the current economic circumstances.rater than apply common sesnse or discretion or simply deduct income from benefits,the family were evicted and presented with a bill for around £56,000 despite the local authoritties denial of any repsnsibility for the family.
Again the family were poorly advised,to sell the land which would have been illegal as they would have been distributing assetts.Now temporarilly rehoused in and by Ealing Council,it seems that both that Council and the local Tory MP have written to Brent advising that they should accept and address its responsibilities. In the meantime,Isabel Sanchez has postponed hip replacement because of the famiy predicament and delivers her 5 children to 5 different schools in Brent everyday.I understand that in the last few days,some"special provison"has been obtained in Brent for Vinny's education,the youngest of their children who is autistic and whose behaviour is so affected by the families distress that months of therapeutic work by therapists and family have been undone in a few weeks over the summer.
It s my and others vew that throughout,this family have been poorly advised and indeed institutionally abused by poor service delivery from social services,housing and benefits departments,who have never excercised proper oversight,applied common sense,discretion or review.Advice and"help from"the local authority has often been bizarre and perverse.It is stretching the point to call it patchy.
Unable to obtain help through"proper channels",a campaign was set up from the public meeting and community political pressure has been applied.
In addition,in that public meeting CJ reported on the suicide of Nigel Firminger, a recent member of KUWG who it seems had been driven to suicide by the insensititvty of a number of government,local authority and third sector agencies,who took no account of the impact of their indiffference on his increased anxiety.This is likely to have led to him accumulating rent arrears as he lost employment and was denied a return to benefits.In the wake of his suicide,some of those agencies are now "falling over themselves" to spout weasel words and to regret their insensitivity to his human needs.
Ann reported that following her son, Daniels own decline in health over several months,he had made the mistake of committing a serious offence but had made admissions from the moment he was apprehended for drug importation when he returned to england from a period abroad. Whilst not denying that the offence was serious,a man in the later stages of a very serious degenerative and debilitating disease was hardly in a position to run away.I do not know what consiederation was given to alternative sentencing,although a judge sentenced him to 3 yaers imprisonment having obtained specific assurances that the prison medical service would be able to meet the health needs of Daniel Roque Hall and to replicate the standards of the NHS(National Health Service).
Within 2 hours of sentencing and incarceration,the absurdity of those promises became cleaer,when he fell from a table to which he had been chained.As Daniel has virtually no control of most of his body,he could neither help himself from falling when he had an involuntary spasmno do anything to call ut or to help himself..He should not have been left alone.As a result he suatined a serious head injury requiring hospitalisation,which was refused.Unable to provide the care he needs in prison,which should include excercise programmes and special equipment,his health is in further constant jeopardy.He is in decline.This amounts to torture.I hear that when eventually hospitalised he was described as being at"deaths door".At a time when no expense is apparently spared for the olympic and paralympic elite, Daniel's experience of casual,institutional brutality could not be much clearer.Prison is no place for such a man.
The public meeting went on to discuss the range of issues raised.Whist appreciating the presence and input of a one of the younger and more junior councillors,the meeting almost unanimously rejected his perspective that the local authorities hands are tied by central government funding and the need for "legality".IT would seem that everyone else views this as the outlook of a spineless,Labour led council which is unwilling to defend its own community/electorate against spinless public sector cuts.Members of the community attending the meeting were highly eloquent in not only refusing that view but proposing an alternative of fighting for a budget which reflects the needs of the community in Brent. At least one person also made reference to George Lansbury who once led an east London council in the 1930s from a prison cell rather than carry out Tory,oppressive laws.There was some discussion about increasing the networking and engagagement across London,regional and wider communities.This came in a clear second to a unamimously agreed proposal to support the Counihan-Sanchez family by establishing a campaign in the community,One activist eloquently pointed out that whilst networking campaigns had not rolled back any cuts anywhere to date, a campaign around one family in need would be emblematic and when victorious would give a very clear demonstration and lead that cuts CAN be rolled back.
From a perssonal point of view i attended the meeting partly on behalf of my comrades in Brent TUSC(Trades Unionists and Socialist Coalition),as a member of the ILN/International Luxemburgist Network(i also write on the Forum/Network website)but not least as an ex-social worker/probation officer.I continue to feel that i can be a "gamekeeper turned poacher"and use my insider knowledge to the benefit of this campaign.I am indeed a member of campaign committee.
Over the approximately 6 weeks thathas elapsed since,the Counihan-Sanchez Family Campaign/Counihan Battlebus has campaigned every saturday at "Kilburn Square"and on the South Kilburn Estate.We have used every possible opprotunity often alongside other issues,campaigns and activist comrades to obtain signatures to the petition and raise wider public awareness.
That has included a lobby of the family's MP,Glenda Jackson,who when originally approached gave only the insensitive advice that"The family could not afford to live in London and should move to Wales." Not only do the family have no connection with Wales,but this sounds like the kind of "social cleansing"advocated by Iain Duncan Smith and Frank Field.At that lobby Ms jackson continued to ignore the family,to treat with them with contempt that fits her hgh handed arrogance and to ignore everyone who wanted to speak about or ask questions about the campaign.Nothing seems to shift this millionaire from her groundless sense of superiority to her electorate.
It is onky simiar lobbies of council meetings and other public events that have mounted a pressure on Cllr.Mo Butts to compel him,the leader of the council to meet with the family,although this has so far produced little oter result.He has however been rattled and dislodged from his previous confidence in his own secure,politicla future which is now much more open to question.Sarah,the 15 year old and oldest daughter in the family has described disruption of such public meetings as only neccessary as a consequence of the famiy being otherwise ignored.
All these people need to realise that if we are to be treated with such complete contempt,then they ned to conider their own fates at the hands of an increasingly class conscious and confident electorate.families like the Counihan-sanchez family and the wider community will no longer accept being treated like a stage army to vote for such careerist,professional politicians.Campaigns like this,along with the SOS Brent Libraries/Save Our Seven Brent Libraries and the emerging education campaigns begin to pose the need for independent political representation based on rejection of all cuts,provision of full services and the restoration of an improved"Welfare State"and a needs led budget.this campaign already has the confidence,courage and persistence to call out these politicians an d to attempt to bring them to account.
Family and campaign members have indicated that tere was a helpful meeting between an allocated
social worker and the family which in my opinion seems at leats to have been some kind of improvement n previous meetings where social workers appeared to use andy and every factor and piece of informatin both against the famiy and to pathologise it.So the childrens understandable anger and hostility,when they felt the social worker was"fishing"forinformation to turn them against their mother was not simply described as "adolscent attitude",which would be bad enough,but was turned on the famiy itself.The parents seem also to hve been accussed of "sharing too much"with their children.In other situatins this would have been praised.I would ask what coice such afamiky have when they are going through such profound difficulties,which are in my and the campaigns opinion oby the local authorities iinstitutional abuse,and revictimisation of them.
Isobel Sanchez was happy to tell me that some new assistanec has been set up to help Vinny,her youngest child who is autistic,although this seems to have emerged from the sensitivity of some staff in aparticular part of the"service"rather than as a result of pressure to resolve the whole burgeoning range of difficuties.Neither the council nor the councilleaderhave"grasped the nettle".Advice from the various parts of the council then,contiue to be perverse,and bizarre and certainly unhelpful.The campaign has evidence that the latest housing advice is that the family move to the waterlogged land in Ireland,which is isolated and without services.implication is that Anthny Counihan should somehow continue to commute from the West of Ireland to Cricklewood Bus Garage to continue to work as a bus driver on almost a daily basis
Whilst the local trades union council umbrella community campaign to defend services and fight cuts has been helpful,it has nevertheless been a little like "pulling teeth",and their seems some over-orientation by Brent Fightback on uncritical relationships with the Labour Party and council leadership.Somehow it seems that although such co-operation makes absolute sense at times,this should not require anyone to remain silent in relation to cuts in general nor urgent need.I form a strong impression that there are times when this body expects community campaigns to come to it almost for validation and approval rather than there being any sense of outreach to pro-actively offer solidarity and support to them.I detect from some,an odd requirment that campaigns demonstrate some kind of ideological uniformity before they are worthy of support and if neccessary critical assistance.Whilst i recognise that this is not Russia in 1917,i cannot help but feel that then the Workers Councils,a much more militant form of organisation that might in some ways be compared with local trades council organisations, rather than demanding that a "struggle" present itself to it,would instead have sent workers(and revolutionary soldiers)and leading activists to support and bolster such battles,and to hammer out positions and strategies to win!
As a member of the campaign committee,i suggested that i amonst others would approach other organisatins and campaigns i am in contact with to seek support.As an ex social worker i had also recently become involved in the SWAN(Social Workers Action Network)particularly in London,where curently i am involved in assisting to organise the SWAN 2013 national Confernec scheduled for 12-13th April 2013.The London grouping,of about 500 on an email list,is part of a wider national network established in 2004.The founders include Michael lavalette who is a preston councillor,a social work educator and a member of the SWP/Socialist Workers Party.
When i took the Counihand_Sanchez family campaign to the last London meeting of SWAN,the contrast with certain other meetings could not have been more striking. whilst no-one revels in the misery of others,I felt when i spoke that i had the full and enthusiastic attention of everyone,about 20 people in all . Everyone was both eager to know more and to help.London SWAN wil mobilise for the campaign dmeonstration in Kilburn on October 6th,and bring its banner.The call for support and further informatin will both go out to all on the London list and it could well be promoted via the SWAN website as a campaign SWAN will suport and take up nationally.London SWAN will be invited to provide aspeaker at the rally on 6th October.
I hope that this article will serve those purposes.As I believe Michael Laveltte is diue to be in London for a meeting with London SWAN on 9th October,i hope he might be available to attend/speak at the Counohan Sanchez campaign ralky on 6th October.I am sure London SWAN will assist the campaign to make other links,such as with the Haringey Travellers Services Team dispute.I am sure that the Campaign will be able to speak and make a presentatin at the SWAN Conference in due course,when i hope that we will be able to present both a victory and further develoments in a wider campaign.
Before i end this article,i want to make 2 more points.One is to observe that although sectarianism on the left and amongst activists is not dead,it is noticeable at least to me that in this and other campaigns i have personal knowledge of recently, there is evidence of a differenet climate and that grous are making some cosiderable efforts to not behave in a sectarian manner.Old habits die hard but i believe the intent really is there and i am finding genuine warmth,comradeship,friendship and greater openness than in the past.I am for example aware that in at numerous of our meetings and activities there have been members of at least 6 differnet grouings/currents who are able to acknowledge the valued contributions we all make as well as to hear and to learn from the many community activities who come from no particular political traditions.It is my firm opinion that we do not need to hide or be silent about our real political differences whikst cntinueing to work effectively togetger to a common and largely shared end. This is very important for me personaly(i am a member of 2 "overlapping"oganisations.We live in times where if we don't"stand together,we will fall apart".Sectarianism is itself an enemy and a luxury in the current political and social climate I would affirm we cannot afford.It is in my opinion better that we fight out the issues openly as they become relevant rather than by shunning each other and other organisations on matters which might have some relevanc at some point but are often too abstruse,abstarct and alienation.I recognise of course that the time of their relevance is itself a key questions,but one which we should remainsensitive and respectful about.
Last but not least,we are aware as acampaign of the dangers of appearing to personalise the issues around one family.ButThat said,the family and the campaign are very well aware that whlst each family and individual need is specal and important,this family are emblematic,and that a victory for one family will in turn enable us to push harder,more quickly and effectively for further change.We will then be in aposition to generalse out from one success.We are already discovering that there is a vast range of need "out there" in our own and oter communities.Most if not all of this is symptomatic not of individual or family pathology but of austerity and crisis compounded by institutional abuse.This in my opinion results from any casually brutal local state machine guided by the demands of capitalism,or indeed anything except a "moral compass"or a commitment to electorate or class.
It is highly relevant to stress that this particular family are not just highly respected but also resilient andstrong.,which facilitates such acampaign.As CJ pointed out in the public meeting,however it remains the case that if"you take away resources,you make people vulnerable".
Past experience as an activist and as a professional social worker for most of my 42 year career,i am aware that there are dangers for activists being dragged into roles as alternative social workers/caseworkers/advisors/service providers. hhaving been involved in seevral discussions over recent months about these issues,i am forming the view that there is aneed to train activists,who in turn would be capable of tarining other in somebasic skills to formulate enough of a"thumbnail"assessment of social need to direct those in need to appropriate services and to monitor those services as provided rather than substitute for them,although this cannot be an absolute and requires sensitivity to the needs of individuals,families and groups.Unfortunatey this is NOT the 1960s-1970s when many"vountary sector"services and campaigns grew up to meet such needs but themselves have either been cut completely over recent decades or have ben reduced to shadows of their former selves,oftenserving radically altered"ends".It seemsto me that now we must seek to develop new alteratives and to demand proper professional and accountable services,rather than to substitute for them.Susbtsitution places those engaged in it at risks-which were not identified in the 1960s-70s,and also defelcets us fom political activism.Activists,i suggest need to maintain an ability to generalise,organise and motivate,whist remaining sensitive to real human need and not to"pass the buck" as too many of the services i/we would criticise,now do.It seems to me that with the focus of the next SWAN conference,and the incresaing demand amongst young social worker-activists to know what radical/transformative social work practice might look like,this camapign and others opens up a rich vein of opportunity to learn and to develop our thinking.Those of us now"outside"employment in such professions and the self-identified radicals and activists within have akey role to play.
I am hearing of similar initiatives to focus on the real impact on real people of cuts and austerity in a number of places including Haringey and Luton.This makes the tasks urgent.They may not need addressing this minute but they do need addressing soon,in the next few months rather than years.I am otimistic that this task can be taken up in the forthcoming SWAN Conference and that i can begin to develo with others some kind of"rolling activist workshop/training in casework skills/issues for activists"
We ought to win this campaign,and whilst the road will be hard for us and for anyone else in anything like similar predicaments,a victory here or anywhere should be maximised,generalised and shared.
I would like to end simply by acknowledgeing the commitment,friendship,comradeship,support,talent,tenacity,endeavour and and courage of many i am working alongside,although I have not named.Mydiscussions with a number of them have contributed to this article.One of the key differences between achievement amongst OUR class and theirs is that we can share and collaborate.We do not need to make stars and celebrities from our shared activity.It does not mean that we should value each other any less. Individual genius is far too overrated.What is important is that we put the efforts of our heads and our hands and hearts together in common endeavour.
lost
24/09/2012d4
Saturday 22 September 2012
What Next For CON and ICON?
One of CONs(Counter Olympics Networks) achievements so far in its short life has been the establishment of an Internatonal.This is ICON/International Counter Olympics Network.It would seem obvious that CON should be its secretarait and its british section,as it is highly likely that the bristish section/CON is both the best placed practically and in terms of the historical-political situation at present.
It seems to me that CON is the first long term project relating directly to and critical of the Olympics.Previous campaigns to resist or successfuly reject the "Olympics invasion" have tended to fragment or dissipate once "mission accomplished".
CON has established itself as the first coalition which has gone on to consider developing a long term approach to both international issues alongside a range of issues that might be termed "legacy".In this sense it might be seen as the linchpin,apex or fulcrum of at least a useful experiment and which could potentially develop as an international movement of some significance.It has an opportunity over,i would suggest at least the next 4 or so years,in linking London to Socchi(Winter Games 2014)and Rio De Janeiro(Olympics/Paralympics 2016)as well as collecting the critical experiences of the past-and linking them across both time and space.
It will not be the first time that an international will have started in a small London meeting room and to have grown to much greater,significant stature and influence.Whilst this international,ICON may not attribute to itself a number,it might equally claim to join the fray for a critical approach to and an attempt to change at least one aspect of the world.What has been clear so far,is that CON has established itself as a unique coalition which has drawn together over 50 campaigning organisations and a lot of goodwill,which has enabled it to"punch well above its weight".I hope that the two related organisations will continue to thrive,and that we will also see the development of similar organisations in oter countries well beyond Socchi and Rio.Nothing in this life is predictable,and the future is like the past,a different country.We can but hope and work for that success.
lost
22/09/12d3
It seems to me that CON is the first long term project relating directly to and critical of the Olympics.Previous campaigns to resist or successfuly reject the "Olympics invasion" have tended to fragment or dissipate once "mission accomplished".
CON has established itself as the first coalition which has gone on to consider developing a long term approach to both international issues alongside a range of issues that might be termed "legacy".In this sense it might be seen as the linchpin,apex or fulcrum of at least a useful experiment and which could potentially develop as an international movement of some significance.It has an opportunity over,i would suggest at least the next 4 or so years,in linking London to Socchi(Winter Games 2014)and Rio De Janeiro(Olympics/Paralympics 2016)as well as collecting the critical experiences of the past-and linking them across both time and space.
It will not be the first time that an international will have started in a small London meeting room and to have grown to much greater,significant stature and influence.Whilst this international,ICON may not attribute to itself a number,it might equally claim to join the fray for a critical approach to and an attempt to change at least one aspect of the world.What has been clear so far,is that CON has established itself as a unique coalition which has drawn together over 50 campaigning organisations and a lot of goodwill,which has enabled it to"punch well above its weight".I hope that the two related organisations will continue to thrive,and that we will also see the development of similar organisations in oter countries well beyond Socchi and Rio.Nothing in this life is predictable,and the future is like the past,a different country.We can but hope and work for that success.
lost
22/09/12d3
Friday 21 September 2012
A Future That Works:A Future Worth Fighting For
If October 20th TUC(trades Union Congress)demonstration is about"A Future That Works"then it must also be about"A Future Worth Fighting For",in which we,working people ought not to be just fighting to maintain what is,but also for services,conditions and indeed lives that are"Worth Fighting For",so that society reflects OUR needs,as fully as possible.The demonstration needs to be immense,and to burst any numerical and political limits.It cannot be constrained or restrained.We cannot allow the"usual suspects"to place limits on us and our"movement"
Such a society we seek to build might not be perfect,but it can be better than this one.Whilst i recognise that the struggle to defend what we have and what is might be diffcult enough,when and how else will we get an opportunity to explore an to demand how we would like it to be?If not now,then when?
I do not doubt the Labour Party will make its usual reformist noises,that"we"can't rock the boat,demand too much,...whatever.There will be others who say"wait until after....the election....the revolution"but the reformist road has,i believe come to an end.There will be too many who act like it is possible but i belive that there is no reformist road left-although i do not deny there is always an issue about how our achievements might well fall inevitably short of our ideasl-that need not be quite the same thing.Transition or transitinal might be better words-although i must amdit that ersoanlly,i don't feel that comfortable with those words either(though i'm not rejecting the content).But don't let anyone ever say that i agree to accepting less when there is better to be had.......( i grew to political adulthood in the 60s,when "we wanted it ALL,NOW")
Yes,there is another related issue,that i dont think socilalists have focussed on enough in the past.And that is that in the here and now,in the very acts of campaigning and struggle,we can begin to identify an insight,a window,a living experience of how things might be.And for me at the core of that is the relationships we make with each other.
We may not all like each other,all the time but we can seek to respect and value each other as comrades,as brothers and sisters in at least our class and perhaps,i would hope the vast mass of humanity.This for me is not just an abstraction.
Some time ago,i saw a video on the internet,where a socialist who had been a member of one of the left groups in the 19760-70s(and probably still is active,though in a different organisation)spoke about the luxury of left sectarianism in those times,and its part as a hidden aspect of Stalinism.That thought has stuck with me ever since.If the period of say 1968-1975 was"the fire last time",then perhaps 2010-soonish might be"the fire this time".I'd like to hope and more importantly work so that this time that fire blazes,and leads to genuine,radical social change of the kind i'd like to see-socialism or perhaps to pput it another way a"genuine commonwealth for all to share".
To mix metaphors,the tide appears to be rising.Everything in society now seems to be contested.That leads me to argue the importance of linking every struggle up,and making the connections(i do not ofcourse include fascist and other reactionary struggles,except to turn them in positive/progressive directions).But this is not the 1960s-70s.Then economies,cultures,societies were booming-and workers,particularly the young and students-made demands based on those raised expectations and when tired of boring,dull,grey,repressive societies.Now is very different-in crisis,whne faced with ideaologically motivated attacks based on austerity and where fundamental questions are being asked again,and demands for better made on te back of a threadbare,decadent capitalism.Social and political conditions are different.Sectarianism is it seems to me a dangerous luxury we cannot afford.These really are times in which if we do not"stand together or then we will fall apart!".There is i believe a lot larger space in which to have (principled)disagreements without turning on each other.There is a lot more that ought to hold us together than needs to break us apart,at least,i hope for now and a long time(relative to the wider development of the struggle).If we do not already instinctively know comradeship and solidarity then we need to learn it.In some respects it is difficult to leave old habits behind-so we will also need to be a little thick skinned,and a lot more tolerant.,and to be careful and precise and principled where we see class enemies.
Last but not least,i believe based on my own experience that actually there is a lot of love and friendship and comradeship to be found amongst the people we meet and campaign and struggle with.That actually has been my experience throughout my life,but i have been reminded of it and the lesson has been reinforced for me over the last several years.Unlike our class enemies who seem to have to operate essentially in competition with each other,and to thrive only as businesspeople,stars and celebrities of various kinds,OUR very strength does lie in that we can and do at our best work and live and struggle TOGETHER,and that in order to get the best picture of the world-the one that we want aswell as what we are fighting-we shoudl and do share our knowledge and experience and skills and talent.It really does demonstrate that humankind is(are?)a social being-and that we are best in movement and in finding and making meaning in each other.
IF we can be friends we should be.If we an be comrades we MUST.
Always a"heretic",someone who never quite fits,i admit i have a spiritual life to.two sayings from the tradition i try to follow comes to mind:
One is that"a society that does not have love,has law"and the second and greater one is"never do alone,what you can do with another".
I like to think that this reflects Antonio Gramsci's notion of"good sense"
Lotta continua!
Such a society we seek to build might not be perfect,but it can be better than this one.Whilst i recognise that the struggle to defend what we have and what is might be diffcult enough,when and how else will we get an opportunity to explore an to demand how we would like it to be?If not now,then when?
I do not doubt the Labour Party will make its usual reformist noises,that"we"can't rock the boat,demand too much,...whatever.There will be others who say"wait until after....the election....the revolution"but the reformist road has,i believe come to an end.There will be too many who act like it is possible but i belive that there is no reformist road left-although i do not deny there is always an issue about how our achievements might well fall inevitably short of our ideasl-that need not be quite the same thing.Transition or transitinal might be better words-although i must amdit that ersoanlly,i don't feel that comfortable with those words either(though i'm not rejecting the content).But don't let anyone ever say that i agree to accepting less when there is better to be had.......( i grew to political adulthood in the 60s,when "we wanted it ALL,NOW")
Yes,there is another related issue,that i dont think socilalists have focussed on enough in the past.And that is that in the here and now,in the very acts of campaigning and struggle,we can begin to identify an insight,a window,a living experience of how things might be.And for me at the core of that is the relationships we make with each other.
We may not all like each other,all the time but we can seek to respect and value each other as comrades,as brothers and sisters in at least our class and perhaps,i would hope the vast mass of humanity.This for me is not just an abstraction.
Some time ago,i saw a video on the internet,where a socialist who had been a member of one of the left groups in the 19760-70s(and probably still is active,though in a different organisation)spoke about the luxury of left sectarianism in those times,and its part as a hidden aspect of Stalinism.That thought has stuck with me ever since.If the period of say 1968-1975 was"the fire last time",then perhaps 2010-soonish might be"the fire this time".I'd like to hope and more importantly work so that this time that fire blazes,and leads to genuine,radical social change of the kind i'd like to see-socialism or perhaps to pput it another way a"genuine commonwealth for all to share".
To mix metaphors,the tide appears to be rising.Everything in society now seems to be contested.That leads me to argue the importance of linking every struggle up,and making the connections(i do not ofcourse include fascist and other reactionary struggles,except to turn them in positive/progressive directions).But this is not the 1960s-70s.Then economies,cultures,societies were booming-and workers,particularly the young and students-made demands based on those raised expectations and when tired of boring,dull,grey,repressive societies.Now is very different-in crisis,whne faced with ideaologically motivated attacks based on austerity and where fundamental questions are being asked again,and demands for better made on te back of a threadbare,decadent capitalism.Social and political conditions are different.Sectarianism is it seems to me a dangerous luxury we cannot afford.These really are times in which if we do not"stand together or then we will fall apart!".There is i believe a lot larger space in which to have (principled)disagreements without turning on each other.There is a lot more that ought to hold us together than needs to break us apart,at least,i hope for now and a long time(relative to the wider development of the struggle).If we do not already instinctively know comradeship and solidarity then we need to learn it.In some respects it is difficult to leave old habits behind-so we will also need to be a little thick skinned,and a lot more tolerant.,and to be careful and precise and principled where we see class enemies.
Last but not least,i believe based on my own experience that actually there is a lot of love and friendship and comradeship to be found amongst the people we meet and campaign and struggle with.That actually has been my experience throughout my life,but i have been reminded of it and the lesson has been reinforced for me over the last several years.Unlike our class enemies who seem to have to operate essentially in competition with each other,and to thrive only as businesspeople,stars and celebrities of various kinds,OUR very strength does lie in that we can and do at our best work and live and struggle TOGETHER,and that in order to get the best picture of the world-the one that we want aswell as what we are fighting-we shoudl and do share our knowledge and experience and skills and talent.It really does demonstrate that humankind is(are?)a social being-and that we are best in movement and in finding and making meaning in each other.
IF we can be friends we should be.If we an be comrades we MUST.
Always a"heretic",someone who never quite fits,i admit i have a spiritual life to.two sayings from the tradition i try to follow comes to mind:
One is that"a society that does not have love,has law"and the second and greater one is"never do alone,what you can do with another".
I like to think that this reflects Antonio Gramsci's notion of"good sense"
Lotta continua!
A Future That Works
The next key mobilisation date for the movement,the resistance is the TUC(trades Union Congress) March for a Future hat Works on 20th October 2012.As i write that is less than a calendar month away.I don't have any illusions that this will solve anything by itself but it does provide a hook on which to build.
The TUC flyer for it leaves a lot to be desired but then again the campaigns,the ctruggles,the organisations of trades unionists,socialists,anti-capitalists,anarchists-indeed anyone can produce their own material which could be more inspiring.
The slogan is quite useful and "A Future That Works"sparks off lots of resonances,which are not just about work,employment,wages and ensions-although those issues are important enough.
We live in times when although the regime has some control,it does not and in my opinion has never had legitimacy.I have taken the view from the time of the last election that there is no legitimate government.Given the ballot for these elections are suppossed to be secret(and you can believe that if you like,because i never have)it is difficult to read off any particular"message"from that election.We can only make guesses.My guess is that the electorate were telling politicians that none of them were acceptable,and created a conundrum for them to resolve.Brown and the labour party walked away,which for me is indicative of their attitude ever since-and i never did have much(any?)confidence in them.
The con-dems then conducted negotiations ot come up with an agreement to rule which bore little or no relationship to any manifesto.They then presented themselves as a government.I would say,however,that unlike previous coalitions,this gang have never obtained a mandate from anyone.I'm not aware of any other co-alition which laid out its plans after an election.I may be on my own but i will not acknowledge thatthey have any legitimacy.That said,no-one ever argues the point with me.
Since they "took power",they have done nothing bu break pledges and mount and ideologically driven attack quite openly and blatantly on OUR class.It has no rational justification whatsoever.I feel we need to continuously reject their politics and what passes for their ideas.
We dont just need to fight their cuts;and throw back their crisis and their austerity onto their class,not OURS,but we have to argue and fight for a future that we WANT and that meets our NEEDS.Nothing less is good enough.
Whilst i am aware that the (dominant)ideas in a class-society are those of the dominant class,it is possible to hold different.other ideas.We can have different ideas-but just as it is a struggle to maintain and develop the physical,material conditions that we live in,so there is also a struggle for ideas.Both struggles occur at a variety of levels and it is an uneven and a difficult process.Their class,the class that claim they rulle over us,and impose that rule-for the present-establish circumstances which make it easy for themselves.Sometimes they appear to create fair conditions-the proverbial"even playing field",although rationally,objectively it is not that way.It includes valuations and evaluations that are subtly or not so subtly tilted their way.
And yet......
It is only us that can make"A Future That Works".After all whilst THEY might issue the commands,it is US who not only do the work but make the world,they they always claim is theirs.We need to reclaim our energy,our ideas,our experience,our labour,our imagination-our lives.We indeed,have a new world to build!
http://afuturethatworks.org/
The TUC flyer for it leaves a lot to be desired but then again the campaigns,the ctruggles,the organisations of trades unionists,socialists,anti-capitalists,anarchists-indeed anyone can produce their own material which could be more inspiring.
The slogan is quite useful and "A Future That Works"sparks off lots of resonances,which are not just about work,employment,wages and ensions-although those issues are important enough.
We live in times when although the regime has some control,it does not and in my opinion has never had legitimacy.I have taken the view from the time of the last election that there is no legitimate government.Given the ballot for these elections are suppossed to be secret(and you can believe that if you like,because i never have)it is difficult to read off any particular"message"from that election.We can only make guesses.My guess is that the electorate were telling politicians that none of them were acceptable,and created a conundrum for them to resolve.Brown and the labour party walked away,which for me is indicative of their attitude ever since-and i never did have much(any?)confidence in them.
The con-dems then conducted negotiations ot come up with an agreement to rule which bore little or no relationship to any manifesto.They then presented themselves as a government.I would say,however,that unlike previous coalitions,this gang have never obtained a mandate from anyone.I'm not aware of any other co-alition which laid out its plans after an election.I may be on my own but i will not acknowledge thatthey have any legitimacy.That said,no-one ever argues the point with me.
Since they "took power",they have done nothing bu break pledges and mount and ideologically driven attack quite openly and blatantly on OUR class.It has no rational justification whatsoever.I feel we need to continuously reject their politics and what passes for their ideas.
We dont just need to fight their cuts;and throw back their crisis and their austerity onto their class,not OURS,but we have to argue and fight for a future that we WANT and that meets our NEEDS.Nothing less is good enough.
Whilst i am aware that the (dominant)ideas in a class-society are those of the dominant class,it is possible to hold different.other ideas.We can have different ideas-but just as it is a struggle to maintain and develop the physical,material conditions that we live in,so there is also a struggle for ideas.Both struggles occur at a variety of levels and it is an uneven and a difficult process.Their class,the class that claim they rulle over us,and impose that rule-for the present-establish circumstances which make it easy for themselves.Sometimes they appear to create fair conditions-the proverbial"even playing field",although rationally,objectively it is not that way.It includes valuations and evaluations that are subtly or not so subtly tilted their way.
And yet......
It is only us that can make"A Future That Works".After all whilst THEY might issue the commands,it is US who not only do the work but make the world,they they always claim is theirs.We need to reclaim our energy,our ideas,our experience,our labour,our imagination-our lives.We indeed,have a new world to build!
http://afuturethatworks.org/
Wednesday 19 September 2012
So What Is LEGACY and What Does It Look Like
ON LEGACY:
What follows is my"working paper"for the CON(Counter Olympic Network)"futures"meeting at LARC(London Action Resources Centre)on Saturday 22nd September 3-6pm.Apologies for glitches/editing errors.
.I dont think that there is a clearly articulated view of legacy anywhere.that spells out simply and clearly what it is intended to be.I think the LOGOC(Lodnon Olympic Games Organisng Committee) view is rhetorical and has only begun to be is fleshed out in the face of demand for legacy..I believe a lot of the"promises"are literally empty.Too many promises made so far have already been broken.In turn,I think some commentators along with some of the general public have been swept along in their own understandable euphoria. I suspect that like a soap bubble "Legacy"reflects all the light of peoples hopes but is also empty of content.I also believe that the bubble is highly likely to burst very quickly and at any moment. Much as I would like these ideas to carry substance i suspect that the hopes placed in the booing of politicians,alongside the apparent shift in public attitudes to disability,to foreigness,to a new optimism about"britain"or "britishness" are misplaced.
Emotions are very real but they need to be undeprinned and bolstered by material conditions and real change in order to be sustained.I doubt when measured against a previous outpouring of feelings amongst some sections of the population during the mourning of the "princess diana",that it will last or bear fruit. I do however acknowledge that those were much darker and more negative feelings.History is also against the advocates of legacy.Rational commentary indicates that only in Barcelona was "legacy" marginally significant but that it may actually have had more to do with a wider developmental approach in Catalan/Spanish society at the time than the Olympics themselves.However,even that is now rendered rather irrelevant by the toll of crisis and austerity in spain.
I am not a miserablist or a"Job's comforter",and i would not wish CON to project that outlook.Indeed,i think CON has a strong future in taking popular hopes for"legacy"seriously at face value as a starting point. It can then apply some critical tools to assess the development and the reality of that legacy agenda.CON is by its very nature well placed to take a cool,critical,forensic and demanding look at legacy.So the next section of these notes flesh out an outline of what a critical approach to legacy might look like.These issues might be grouped in the followiing way,although i recognise that these cannot be hard categories and they will inevitably overlap.where possible i indicate examples,a working definition and possible lines of enquiry:-
1.Sport:What will the"transmission belt"for encouraging interest in right through to full participation in olympics and other high level competition?How would programmes be operated and controlled?Need for long term futures,democratic control and innovation.Legacy may need to support"new"sports and initiatives,which would not neccesserally"fit"established ways of doing things:urban golf or free running operate radically differently to more established sports,and might replicate the histories of earlier new sports.
2.Funding and economic issues:This applies to everything.Funding sources,continuity,control.Relationship to and impact on or from the wider economy.
impact on or by the wider economy.Local,and working class initiatives are often"hand to mouth".
3.Social policy issues:impact on housing,community development,local and wider democracy,control and accountability.immigration/racism.implications for employment.impact on health,transport and other services.environmental issues.concern that one policy area should not be held ransom to others.eg clearance of populations,infrastructure,architecture to make way for green issues,road or rail development....leyton marshes.
3.Corporate sponsorship issues-see ICON.These may have specific impacts in the UK or UK experience may have particular impact elsewhere.This is an area where CON and ICON would be drawn particularly close together.
4.Militarisation,security,surveillance,policing:"practics runs",experimentation and testing of policies.
"softening up"of populations.Social and ethnic cleansing.the"no lose/win strategy"-the fact that there was no major incident is used to justify the security issues.had there been an incident,it would be used to justify security etc.The glaring failure of G4S appears to have no consequences for the company,which needs continued exposure!The functionality of failure-eg.even if cases against say CM/critical mass 182 fall and fail,it enabled the police to"demobilise"/control activism and impose surveillance on newly criminalised groups.This has wider impacts on both new and older layers of activists.Our own example would be the impact of police presence on our ability to choose a venue for this meeting.Implications for wider civil liberties.Liason with"defend the right to protest",GBC/green black cross.in this and other contexts-the importance of (re-)skilling communities to represent/defend/act for themselves(i am also involved in "casework skills"for activists in another context-but liaison may be useful here too)-we no longer have access to services/processes which were developed inthe 1970s but have been closed down since.
5.Media and culture:failure of cultural olympics,apart from key opening/closing events.increasing control and development of media and cultural functioning,as social control or"safety valve"-"bread and circuses",distraction,dilution of social responses eg booing of politicians,direction of attitudes to foreigness,disability.The controversy of the cultural aspects.
6.Other,residual and international issues:There is probably lots i have left out.i have intentionally not considered more international issues,which i believe Gail Cheser will address more directly in the context of ICON,elsewhere.
.
Some general points: I suggest as a general approach that we might focus on collecting,publishing,highlighting,researching and writing about these issues from a critical perspective that demands public accountability of those who would seem to think they have unquestioned control(LOGOC and central goverment).I think we need to call and keep them to account at the level of principle,detail and to the letter,NOT the "spirit" of legacy,or else antyhting more elusive will escape our grasp.Vaguaries only serve the interests of those in power,influence,control and"money".We cannot uncritically accept only their own standards and values.Whilst the ideas and values of a society are largely those of the dominant group-we cannot leave this uncontested.I am very well aware that in the scheme of things we are going to be a very small voice but that is no reason to be silent.We can,in our approach attempt to continue to"punch above our weight".
The liaison with the many organisations and campaigns that have constituted CON to date,might be emcouraged to continue to enhance the ongoing work of CON and ICON as well as the constituent parts of the loose coalition that is CON in mutual and cross-support.We should seek to extend such liason,good relationships with,new raltionships with and simply talk to others.This has been a unique feature of CON to date.We might draw onthis unique experience to develop more and wider opportunities from time to time such as real or imagined award ceremonies,commemorative events,flashpoints.We might hold an annual event in relation to either our own or the wider olympics agenda.This could take the form of an annual meting/conference and/or "educational" events.The winter olmypics at Socchi in 2014 and indeed at Rio in 2016 provide obvious opportunities,which might link local to international events,and be placed in some specific relation to those events.eg.linking the fate of Pussy Riot to the Socchi Games to something more local.Im sure we can trawl through a"calendar"imaginatively Other evets will i am sure present themselves for appropriate mobilisations.We can seek to create a variety of press release opprotunities and in working with campaigns/organisations like DPAC and UK Uncut we might stage other public actions/events-which may or may not be mass mobilisations.I am aware that we have made prior commitments to a presence on and activity in or around the TUC Demonstration on 20th October and the student mobilisation in November 212.In addition to physical presence with the banner this might include the publication of a bulletin/newssheet on"Legacy"and indeed other material focussed insome other way.( a collection of material bringing criticism of/resistance to the IOC/olympics(bids)might be valauable to"build our case"intellectually/ideaologically)
Whilst i do not wish to privelege my own idea,i would like to briefly mention the idea which led me to go from critical comment to seeking to find and work with CON myself.allies and assistance.In spring 2011,i began to imagine and propose "Not The Olympics"events.My fantasy was to stage several evensts consisting of say dangerous/alternative/collaborative/non-olympic games/sports ,alongside educational/agit-prop events("tiffin"/afternoon tea:showing say the Ayrton Senna documentary,archive material from 1948,documentary about Mexico 1968) and ending in a rock gig.I even dreamed of a pyramid stage in lee valley olympic park, and beyond.Whilst that came to nought i wondered if it still might be possible to promote such an event or more,perhaps to drawer our achivements together with hopes and plans for the future in some kind of alternative celebration and fund raiser for our and related causes.I am of course aware of issues of"shelf life".
A last throw of the dice:Alongside the formal organisational conection of CON to ICON,in which i believe the latter will concentrate on corporate sponsorship,the IOC and the wider international dimension itself,in addition there might be a useful purpose served in trying to make a very real internationalist connection with both Socci and Rio in 2014 and 2016 respectively.That purpose might be served in sending oberver/solidarity delagations to those places or even organsising some sort of "alternative games"........i will not develop these ideas further here,except to say that they offer further opportunity to raise a critical voice/profile in a manner not entirely determined by the IOC/Olympics movement itself.I am also aware that there are other debates to be had about alternative ways of organising the games,which might even include a permanent home in Greece/Athens/Mount Olympus/Marathon which might actually contribute to the regrowth of the Greek Economy,and might be a real internationalist project?!
The mechanics of it:If during the Olympics period CON has been some kind of movement,then its very loosensess and openness has been amongst its strengths. Its seems to have developed into a unique coalition. I hope it can maintain and strengthen its unsual configuration but i am realistic that it is unlikly to remain a movement,let alone a mass movement- as circumstances simply change.Yet beng realistic does not require CON should shut down.I would recommend that we seek to maintain the strengths of this very special coalition and keep formal strcutures to a bare minimum.Whilst i do not know the ogins of MENA/middle east north africa solidarity which has a very different history,it may be that CON would now emulate it. I also take the view that the time between now and the next Olypmics in 2016 to demonstrate to ourselves that the idea is viable.I would hope that CON can use its unique place at a the apex/fulcrum/crossroads in time and space to self consciously linking the past,present and future alongside making the geo-political link(mexico city,barcelona,athens etc to london to socchi and rio)in building a wider international movement.We cannot uarantee that CON lasts the course.Here i nod to the pessimists and those who adhere to other perspectives.
I think any structure to carry CON forward should be simple and minimal and minimalist.Beyond the basic formal positions,perhaps a small international secretariat makes sense.Otherwise CON should continue to drawer in interested parties as and when it can..We should seek to be visible,active and co-operative with others/partners wherever possible,but otherwise seek to keep meetings to the minimum to be effective and accountable,without requiring disproportionate comitment to organisation over activity.This wil require considerable trust-we seem to have both trust and goodwill.( I would also urge that any international secretariat,likely to orginate in CON as the british section of ICON,should seek to legitimate its role in ICON in order not to simply inhabit a position due to habit,which could lead to other difficulties).A conference of CON/ICON in approximately a years time might also provide a further focus for public actvity,alongside facilitating accountability.I am aware that in addition the international calendar offers further opportunities for raising the CON profile,again independently of the IOC/Olympics agenda.
lost
21/09/12d7
What follows is my"working paper"for the CON(Counter Olympic Network)"futures"meeting at LARC(London Action Resources Centre)on Saturday 22nd September 3-6pm.Apologies for glitches/editing errors.
.I dont think that there is a clearly articulated view of legacy anywhere.that spells out simply and clearly what it is intended to be.I think the LOGOC(Lodnon Olympic Games Organisng Committee) view is rhetorical and has only begun to be is fleshed out in the face of demand for legacy..I believe a lot of the"promises"are literally empty.Too many promises made so far have already been broken.In turn,I think some commentators along with some of the general public have been swept along in their own understandable euphoria. I suspect that like a soap bubble "Legacy"reflects all the light of peoples hopes but is also empty of content.I also believe that the bubble is highly likely to burst very quickly and at any moment. Much as I would like these ideas to carry substance i suspect that the hopes placed in the booing of politicians,alongside the apparent shift in public attitudes to disability,to foreigness,to a new optimism about"britain"or "britishness" are misplaced.
Emotions are very real but they need to be undeprinned and bolstered by material conditions and real change in order to be sustained.I doubt when measured against a previous outpouring of feelings amongst some sections of the population during the mourning of the "princess diana",that it will last or bear fruit. I do however acknowledge that those were much darker and more negative feelings.History is also against the advocates of legacy.Rational commentary indicates that only in Barcelona was "legacy" marginally significant but that it may actually have had more to do with a wider developmental approach in Catalan/Spanish society at the time than the Olympics themselves.However,even that is now rendered rather irrelevant by the toll of crisis and austerity in spain.
I am not a miserablist or a"Job's comforter",and i would not wish CON to project that outlook.Indeed,i think CON has a strong future in taking popular hopes for"legacy"seriously at face value as a starting point. It can then apply some critical tools to assess the development and the reality of that legacy agenda.CON is by its very nature well placed to take a cool,critical,forensic and demanding look at legacy.So the next section of these notes flesh out an outline of what a critical approach to legacy might look like.These issues might be grouped in the followiing way,although i recognise that these cannot be hard categories and they will inevitably overlap.where possible i indicate examples,a working definition and possible lines of enquiry:-
1.Sport:What will the"transmission belt"for encouraging interest in right through to full participation in olympics and other high level competition?How would programmes be operated and controlled?Need for long term futures,democratic control and innovation.Legacy may need to support"new"sports and initiatives,which would not neccesserally"fit"established ways of doing things:urban golf or free running operate radically differently to more established sports,and might replicate the histories of earlier new sports.
2.Funding and economic issues:This applies to everything.Funding sources,continuity,control.Relationship to and impact on or from the wider economy.
impact on or by the wider economy.Local,and working class initiatives are often"hand to mouth".
3.Social policy issues:impact on housing,community development,local and wider democracy,control and accountability.immigration/racism.implications for employment.impact on health,transport and other services.environmental issues.concern that one policy area should not be held ransom to others.eg clearance of populations,infrastructure,architecture to make way for green issues,road or rail development....leyton marshes.
3.Corporate sponsorship issues-see ICON.These may have specific impacts in the UK or UK experience may have particular impact elsewhere.This is an area where CON and ICON would be drawn particularly close together.
4.Militarisation,security,surveillance,policing:"practics runs",experimentation and testing of policies.
"softening up"of populations.Social and ethnic cleansing.the"no lose/win strategy"-the fact that there was no major incident is used to justify the security issues.had there been an incident,it would be used to justify security etc.The glaring failure of G4S appears to have no consequences for the company,which needs continued exposure!The functionality of failure-eg.even if cases against say CM/critical mass 182 fall and fail,it enabled the police to"demobilise"/control activism and impose surveillance on newly criminalised groups.This has wider impacts on both new and older layers of activists.Our own example would be the impact of police presence on our ability to choose a venue for this meeting.Implications for wider civil liberties.Liason with"defend the right to protest",GBC/green black cross.in this and other contexts-the importance of (re-)skilling communities to represent/defend/act for themselves(i am also involved in "casework skills"for activists in another context-but liaison may be useful here too)-we no longer have access to services/processes which were developed inthe 1970s but have been closed down since.
5.Media and culture:failure of cultural olympics,apart from key opening/closing events.increasing control and development of media and cultural functioning,as social control or"safety valve"-"bread and circuses",distraction,dilution of social responses eg booing of politicians,direction of attitudes to foreigness,disability.The controversy of the cultural aspects.
6.Other,residual and international issues:There is probably lots i have left out.i have intentionally not considered more international issues,which i believe Gail Cheser will address more directly in the context of ICON,elsewhere.
.
Some general points: I suggest as a general approach that we might focus on collecting,publishing,highlighting,researching and writing about these issues from a critical perspective that demands public accountability of those who would seem to think they have unquestioned control(LOGOC and central goverment).I think we need to call and keep them to account at the level of principle,detail and to the letter,NOT the "spirit" of legacy,or else antyhting more elusive will escape our grasp.Vaguaries only serve the interests of those in power,influence,control and"money".We cannot uncritically accept only their own standards and values.Whilst the ideas and values of a society are largely those of the dominant group-we cannot leave this uncontested.I am very well aware that in the scheme of things we are going to be a very small voice but that is no reason to be silent.We can,in our approach attempt to continue to"punch above our weight".
The liaison with the many organisations and campaigns that have constituted CON to date,might be emcouraged to continue to enhance the ongoing work of CON and ICON as well as the constituent parts of the loose coalition that is CON in mutual and cross-support.We should seek to extend such liason,good relationships with,new raltionships with and simply talk to others.This has been a unique feature of CON to date.We might draw onthis unique experience to develop more and wider opportunities from time to time such as real or imagined award ceremonies,commemorative events,flashpoints.We might hold an annual event in relation to either our own or the wider olympics agenda.This could take the form of an annual meting/conference and/or "educational" events.The winter olmypics at Socchi in 2014 and indeed at Rio in 2016 provide obvious opportunities,which might link local to international events,and be placed in some specific relation to those events.eg.linking the fate of Pussy Riot to the Socchi Games to something more local.Im sure we can trawl through a"calendar"imaginatively Other evets will i am sure present themselves for appropriate mobilisations.We can seek to create a variety of press release opprotunities and in working with campaigns/organisations like DPAC and UK Uncut we might stage other public actions/events-which may or may not be mass mobilisations.I am aware that we have made prior commitments to a presence on and activity in or around the TUC Demonstration on 20th October and the student mobilisation in November 212.In addition to physical presence with the banner this might include the publication of a bulletin/newssheet on"Legacy"and indeed other material focussed insome other way.( a collection of material bringing criticism of/resistance to the IOC/olympics(bids)might be valauable to"build our case"intellectually/ideaologically)
Whilst i do not wish to privelege my own idea,i would like to briefly mention the idea which led me to go from critical comment to seeking to find and work with CON myself.allies and assistance.In spring 2011,i began to imagine and propose "Not The Olympics"events.My fantasy was to stage several evensts consisting of say dangerous/alternative/collaborative/non-olympic games/sports ,alongside educational/agit-prop events("tiffin"/afternoon tea:showing say the Ayrton Senna documentary,archive material from 1948,documentary about Mexico 1968) and ending in a rock gig.I even dreamed of a pyramid stage in lee valley olympic park, and beyond.Whilst that came to nought i wondered if it still might be possible to promote such an event or more,perhaps to drawer our achivements together with hopes and plans for the future in some kind of alternative celebration and fund raiser for our and related causes.I am of course aware of issues of"shelf life".
A last throw of the dice:Alongside the formal organisational conection of CON to ICON,in which i believe the latter will concentrate on corporate sponsorship,the IOC and the wider international dimension itself,in addition there might be a useful purpose served in trying to make a very real internationalist connection with both Socci and Rio in 2014 and 2016 respectively.That purpose might be served in sending oberver/solidarity delagations to those places or even organsising some sort of "alternative games"........i will not develop these ideas further here,except to say that they offer further opportunity to raise a critical voice/profile in a manner not entirely determined by the IOC/Olympics movement itself.I am also aware that there are other debates to be had about alternative ways of organising the games,which might even include a permanent home in Greece/Athens/Mount Olympus/Marathon which might actually contribute to the regrowth of the Greek Economy,and might be a real internationalist project?!
The mechanics of it:If during the Olympics period CON has been some kind of movement,then its very loosensess and openness has been amongst its strengths. Its seems to have developed into a unique coalition. I hope it can maintain and strengthen its unsual configuration but i am realistic that it is unlikly to remain a movement,let alone a mass movement- as circumstances simply change.Yet beng realistic does not require CON should shut down.I would recommend that we seek to maintain the strengths of this very special coalition and keep formal strcutures to a bare minimum.Whilst i do not know the ogins of MENA/middle east north africa solidarity which has a very different history,it may be that CON would now emulate it. I also take the view that the time between now and the next Olypmics in 2016 to demonstrate to ourselves that the idea is viable.I would hope that CON can use its unique place at a the apex/fulcrum/crossroads in time and space to self consciously linking the past,present and future alongside making the geo-political link(mexico city,barcelona,athens etc to london to socchi and rio)in building a wider international movement.We cannot uarantee that CON lasts the course.Here i nod to the pessimists and those who adhere to other perspectives.
I think any structure to carry CON forward should be simple and minimal and minimalist.Beyond the basic formal positions,perhaps a small international secretariat makes sense.Otherwise CON should continue to drawer in interested parties as and when it can..We should seek to be visible,active and co-operative with others/partners wherever possible,but otherwise seek to keep meetings to the minimum to be effective and accountable,without requiring disproportionate comitment to organisation over activity.This wil require considerable trust-we seem to have both trust and goodwill.( I would also urge that any international secretariat,likely to orginate in CON as the british section of ICON,should seek to legitimate its role in ICON in order not to simply inhabit a position due to habit,which could lead to other difficulties).A conference of CON/ICON in approximately a years time might also provide a further focus for public actvity,alongside facilitating accountability.I am aware that in addition the international calendar offers further opportunities for raising the CON profile,again independently of the IOC/Olympics agenda.
lost
21/09/12d7
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