November 6, 2009
The Tories are coming back, the EDL has put politics back on the streets, the BNP are cleaning up on the white working class vote……….us anarchists are nowhere near organising a coherent movement. Attempts to start a new organisation are doomed as shown by failed Trot initiatives over the last year. I believe we need a street level and active revolutionary organisation. After a lot of thinking I come to the conclusion that only Class War has the brand name recognition and potential to become that organisation. Now I have left and joined CW three times to date and before this year’s Bookfair the group looked like it was dead on its feet and not for the first time. Since the bookfair there has been a mini-revival with 5 or 6 new groups – latest being Halifax CW – setting up and the new paper sold out already. If I was to rejoin Class War I would look forward to May 2010 for a relaunch the same time the Tories arrive in power and put forward this proposal
TORIES OUT demo outside Downing Street on May 7th as Cameron glad hands the party faithful on his walk to No.10. ‘The Tories are back….and so are we Class War’. Then the folowing day May 8th a one day conference in London to relaunch the organisation with as many old and new hands as possible on board.
Yes its problematic and it won’t be eay but it’s the only show in town that has the remotest chance of buiding a class based combative and daring and exciting anarchist movement. As I said I’m not even in CW at present so it’s up to others to see if this is the path they want to follow but I do sense big political oportunities out there next year if we have the bottle and organisation to take them.The mode of the music may be changing comrades………
November 4, 2009
The London Review of Books for 27th Feb. 1992 had a full front page reproduction from the TinTin ‘Breaking Free’ book and inside a dense two page review of ‘Class War: A decade of disorder’ by Iain Sinclair. There were some purple passages:
Fire-watchers. Flame freaks. Black air groupies. ‘Burn, baby, burn.’ The dialectic is of secondary interest to the class warrior, who is, before anything else, an arsonist, a connoisseur of incendiary icons. These pages are so much kindling. They stink of siphoned gasoline. Upturned panda cars blaze. Office windows explode, releasing angry fists of smoke. In degraded photo-reproduction jagged white spurts of petrol-bombs orgasm among the pebbled bone helmets of snatch-squads. The mob awaits its impresario. Some shockheaded Struwwelpeter. A Malcolm McLaren whispering of historical precedents: Tyburn, the Gordon riots, Newgate ablaze, ‘Dickensian’ revengers pouring out of the slums and rookeries. It could catch on. It could be the next buzz.
….but Sinclair was mostly blisteringly scathing of both the book and Verso for publishing it. Indeed much oF his analysis is spot on. But he ended with theSe words:
‘If the coming decade delivers nothing more potent than revenge, riot and convulsion Class War will be hailed as the most perceptive analysis of what is on offer.Then God Help Us.
You can still pick up copies of DECADE OF DISORDER on Amazon for £8 – well worth it.
November 2, 2009
The EDL grows ever more difficult to fathom. This post is taken from elsewhere via M.
According to various sources there were between 200-400 people that turned up with for the counter demo against Islam4UK march which was cancelled due to “security reasons”. That number was a mixture of the usual football firm/casuals but also some presence from autonomous nationalists/NF/C18/BM/RVF. What apparently happened was taken from a post by the RVF (racialist volunteer force — how nazi? 
:
“Last night, without our knowledge, Islam4UK cancelled their march through London and we were left with a technical victory today. As the day went on people started leaving/moving to other places in London. We heard that the EDL were down the road singing anti German songs and singing songs with messages basically saying that the people of Dresden deserved what they got in the Dresden bombings. About 15 of us that was left went down there and got ourselves and pint and had a conversation with some of the EDL. The youth were there, including their leader Joel, and the older lot were there too. Somehow, something kicked off about the EDL being pro zionists and supporting Jews, and we opposed it, we were all outside and they started chanting “C18 Nazis”. We 15 ended up kicking off with about 50 – 60 EDL, who were throwing fire extinguishers, pint glasses, bottles, and various other things. We stood our ground to a point but had to disperse. After getting away through Trafalger Square we heard screams and looked around. One of our C18 brothers had been smashed around the back of the head and had fallen flat out on the road unconscious, drowning in a pool of blood. 10 minutes later coming back to the scene, he was still laying there and was cornered off with police tape.”
To some of us that have been following the rise of the EDL then it won’t surprise you to see this happening. As soon as an Israeli flag was displayed in Birmingham 80% of the boneheads in the UK denounced EDL as a “ZOG front group”. Make of it what you will.
November 2, 2009
Well I’m off on Saturday to the RMT organised one dayer on ‘The crisis in working class representation’ – anyone else going. All the speakers apart from Jeremy Corbyn – groan -come from RMT, Socialist Party.,NO2EU but I go with high hopes! Be a nice change rubbing shoulders with non-anarchists for the day! I fully expect to come home with some senior position in a new electoral alliance.
November 2, 2009
Is there a socialist way of playing football? That is a tactical one – not one based on hardwork and stakhanovite effort? When the English pubic schools started to play football dribbling was the only prized skill and pasing frowned upon as unmanly, unsporting or perhaps even socialist. It ws the Northern working class teams like Blackburn Olympic then the Scots who developed the passing game and spread it round the world. But passing is possible within a capitalist society so lets not get carried away comrades. The team that for me was the best ever was the Hungarian team of the early 1950s – the Magical Magyars of Puskas, Nandor Hidegkuti, Kocsics – who played stylish football coming out of the unlikely dour uniform background of Honved the Hungarian army team.
The great deep lying centre forward Hidegkuti
Yet what was basically football on another dimension came from early 50s Hungary and not til 1958from Brazil. But did the Magyars play socialist football – probably not. Helenio Herrera probably the most succesfull manager of all time with Inter-Milan and others was the son of Spanish anarchist exiles but his teams were highly disciplined by him in the most authoritarian way. Is there a socialist way of playing football. I doubt it – but in the meantime….’Hidegkuti…..Puskas…..GOAL….MY WORD ALL IN ONE MOVEMENT,.
Ok – I admit it – I have got a Hungary 56 replica shirt.
November 1, 2009
George Formby was awarded the ORDER OF LENIN by the Soviet government in 1943. What is les welll known is his refusal to play to segregated audiences during a tour to South Africa with his redoubtable wife BERYL INGHAM:
In 1946 she was with George on a tour of South Africa, and despite threats from the National Party leader Daniel François Malan he played to black audiences. Beryl embraced a three year old black girl who had presented her with a box of chocolates and Mr Malan had them thrown out of the country; he was reported to have told them “never come back to this country”. Beryl, with a typical northern response replied “Why dont you piss off you horrible little man
Thanks to Walker and Henry for informing me that it’s a folk myth that Formby was awarded the order of Lenin.The South Africa story is true however. George didn’t play Sun City!
October 30, 2009
Olive Morris adresses Brixton Black Panther rally in 1970. Olive who died tragically young from cancer aged 27 was a leading light in the UK BLACK PANTHERS MOVEMENT 1967-72 as well as a radical activist in Brixton. Jane Nicholl has pointed me in the direction of the newly set up OLIVE MORRIS ARCHIVE COLLECTION which has some amazing stuff on the early Panther and Black Power movements in the UK. Olive Morris showed that the position of women in the Black Panthers need not be as outlined by Stokely Carmichael. I really reccomend this archive and salute OLIVE MORRIS as one who truly deserves to be remembered.Olive was also the original squatter of 121 Railton Road – later the anarchist bookshop – and fouht many battles there from the roof with owner and bailiffs
OLIVE MORRIS CONFRONTS THE OWNER OF 121 RAILTON ROAD WHICH SHE HAD JUST SQUATTED
First photo: Olive Morris at a rally against the SPG presence in Brixton Tate Gardens (c.1975) – Olive Morris Collection (Lambeth Archives)
Second photo: Olive Morris confronting the property agent of the laundrette at 121 Railton Road where she was squatting at the time (1973) Olive Morris Collection (Lambeth Archives
http://rememberolivemorris.wordpress.com
October 30, 2009
There have been many socialist football managers – SHANKLY, FERGUSON, CLOUGH – but only one I know of who wrote a regular column for a leftie group newspaper. Chris Hughton used to write a regular column for the WRP’s daily newspaper NEWSLINE. Hughton seems to be still a solid working class socialist and modest with it.
October 29, 2009
‘Look at me when I’m talking to ya – you google headed 4-eyed twat’
‘Citizen Smith has made only half a revolution…therefore…….’
Captions please………..
October 29, 2009
‘Thought we had agreement………..overnight ripped up………puzzled………different agenda at work……….moving goalposts………….ready anytime anyplace( not Kabul Hilton)……..Lord Mandelson great man……..CWU lemmings………suicidal………headless chickens…..Bridge over troubled water……..Simon and Garfunkel……….beer and sandwiches No.10……anytime anyplace( not Waziristan Hoiday Inn express)…….door always open………..draughty in winter……..always by phone( bit boring)…………Adam Crozier great man……..hands dirty…….only one side wants to play ( not Hull FC)………two teams on pitch………country will never forgive………Christmas……broken toys……..sobs……..Tiny Tim……..sobs…..’
Ends. Martial music.
