Here’s the result of much reflection on the issue. I don’t think standing for Mayor is a runner. However…….the East London GLA Consituency seat up for election in May 2012 comprises the boroughs of Barking, Dagenham,Newham and Tower Hamlets. This would be in the run up to the Olympics and all the issues that raises in East London plus giving an alternative to the BNP vote in Barking and Dagenham. The area also includes Whitechapel with one of the only viable anarchist groups in London. An election campaign here plus direct action and community campaigining could focus things nicely. I suggest we put all our eggs in this basket…..over to you WAG?
Recent Comments
ianbone on THE Q-TIPS Andy on THE Q-TIPS ianbone on I TOLD YOU REES MOGG WAS … bernadette Macfarlan… on I TOLD YOU REES MOGG WAS … ianbone on MICHAEL SHEEN FOR NEWPORT…
Ian Bone 
I think its worth going for.
I am little wary of putting an anti-Olympic stance at the core of any campaign. Firstly because it will attract all the wankers from the Anarchist movement, but secondly because it has to be pitched in a very sophisticated way so that it does not look like a load of whingers moaning about a sporting event a lot of people actually want to see. By all means criticise corporate excesses and gentrification, but be aware that was happening in the host boroughs already.
Might one element to slip into the mix be secularism? Given the most important political institution in Tower Hamlets is not the Labour Party or the Unions but East London Mosque? Note also the rise of the Christian Party in Newham, and the KICC in Hackney sniffing around the Olympic venues looking for cheap property post 2012.
No Gods, No Masters?
Paul to right much the same here in Sheffield ie 1991 World Student Games, there was some good come out of this, but we are as tax payers are still paying the bill for this and much of the East End of Sheffield is still a ghost town, though we was told it was for the better of Sheffield, go for it WAG blinding thought comrade Ian..
“Firstly because it will attract all the wankers from the Anarchist movement….”
Well lardy fucking dah. Who you calling a wanker then mate?
Is this blog only for intellectual anarchists and not your everyday folk then or what?
What a poncey, clique attitude some people have
as opposed to the non-wankers of the anarchist movement?
@Paul Stott: Snob!
I’ve circulated the info around the Wag’s… I think this could be fun!!
I’m disappointed about your decision Ian but of course it’s up to you. Regarding a Class War campaign for the GLA East London seat. I wish it well – even if I do feel a bit left out in my leafy suburb. I also think that Paul is right on the money regarding the Olympics. There is a real danger of coming across as being a bunch of joyless anti-sport, anti-fun tossers that never had any mates at school. Typical lefties in other words. Exposing the huge rip off and broken promises that are bound to be the reality of post Olympic East London, and at the same time celebrating a great sporting occasion, will be tricky.
If we are supposed to be in agreement that parliamentary democracy is not the way forward then why are we talking about entering this game? Especially at a time when there has been widespread questioning of the role of politicians .
Surely this is the time to push the argument that parliamentary democracy is a shame and has no real control over capitalism. We didn’t vote for the bankers to crash the economy. We didn’t vote for rising unemployment. We didn’t vote for BP to pollute the seas. Yet we got all these things. Voting didn’t bring them about and voting won’t get rid of them. These are the arguments we should be making.
I could see the point of some sort of electoral intervention if we were at a point were there was massive fight back and we needed to use the electoral platform as one small part of a wider arsenal. However at the moment there is no major fight back and anarchists have little influence. Therefore this election foray will look like nothing more than stuntism and ill thought out posing.
An anti-Olympic campaign will attract a lot of support. Most people are not keen on their council tax being wasted on marketing and sponsorship opportunities for Coca-Cola and McDonalds – especially within the context of substantial cuts to eduction and other local services. The fields wide open to anybody who can bust the consensus. A tax resistance campaign would also get a lot of support, and has the added benefit of being illegal.
Go for it!
I think this could be fun too, a chance to air our ideas publicly, and make heard a lot of the fears and frustrations people have over the Olympics. I don’t think it would have to be solely negative -someone pointing out loudly and publicly that whatever you think about the Olympics, it didn’t *have* to be this way, with all the money wasted and corporate sponsorship, would be welcomed by a helluva lot of people.
You could be setting yourself up like the proverbial lined up ducks. Bang; black liberation movements have used the Olympics as a platform for equality and empowerment re Jesse Owens and Mohammed Ali (or the slave decendant Cassisus Clay as he was then). Bang; women from all around the world can demonstrate that they are capable of more than childrearing and domestication. Bang; nationalist villainy is exposed in drug taking, gender cross overs, judgement bias. Bang; the exploitation of children for the benefit of the state is discussed and opposed (the gymnasts). Bang; nationalist hype is exposed, the biggest and best often beaten by the poor and neglected (long distant runners, Kenyans, Eathiopians). Etc Etc and Bang, bang bang.
Of course the media capitalists benefit most from the Olympic spectacle and doubly benefit from the subsidies that the host population coughs up in the name of “The Olympics”. This whole spectacle certainly done for the Greeks.
It’s a minefield for political credibility. If you want a stunt then ok go ahead and face the consequences. If you want a credible stunt then the Mayor Ian Bone is a better bet.
Well said Paul,everyone else,back to sleep-its past your bed time.
Attack the way in which sport has been corrupted by big money – not the athletes or the idea of sport itself. The waste of resources, corruption, the no-go areas created by ‘security’ – the anti-human architecture that fails peoples needs but meets those of the developers, destruction of allotments. A bit of background research will dig out a lot of stuff. And the olympics raises all these issues.
As so often, the elephant in the room is the diamond jubilee. Will no one think of the royalty in 2012?
That would be a good point well made but you are, of course, forgetting that Ian is a direct descendant of Sophia of Hanover and is the bastard son of a bastard son of Edward VII, viz:
Sophia of Hanover → George I → George II → Frederick, Prince of Wales → George III → Prince Edward → Victoria → Edward VII → wrong side of the blanket → Ian Bone
And if all else fails, Madge could kick the bucket just in time thereby sweeping in a (Murdoch led) anti-Charles bout of republicanism. Then it will be left to Mr Bone to save the monarchy by being the first in a dynasty of elected Mayors, also known as “Kings” in London vernacular. Obvious if you think about it.
This seems like it will take a lot of people a lot of time. Personally I think our limited resources should be better spent rather than everyone sitting on their collective arses waiting for another spectacular flop in 2012.
I remember an amusing Bill Hicks routine about it being difficult to get his sort of people – ‘the people who hate people’ party – off the ground. As usual, the points made by most of the above have a lot of credit to them. But if you can’t agree on which side the bed to get out on, you end up just staying in bed don’t you? Anyway folks, I’m gettin’ up…
There’s definitely an opportunity here to try something a bit different; something that’s more positive and imaginative than usual.
A few possible ideas might be:
1. To form an anarchist team to play a demonstration sport like Korfball, Wushu or Orienteering for a non-competitive country or sympathetic micro-nation. There’s a list of recognised demo-sports here – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympic_sports How about representing Tristan De Cunha in the Tug-of-War?
2. We start an alternative tongue-in-cheek ‘Freedom Games’ in Whitechapel. ‘Sports’ would include classic kids games like Kerbie, Tiggie and Hide & Seek.
3. Along similar lines would be a ‘Street Games’. This could be something impromptu like Camping or Mob Football – although the perceived ‘violence’ of these games may be used against us by the media. It might be better to stick to football played in a Reclaim The Streets type situation. This happened at an RTS in Sheffield in the late 90s. As soon as we made a couple of goals and started kicking a ball about a load of kids quickly joined in (and kicked our sorry arses), then one of them knocked a coppers hat off. We waited for it to go pear shaped, but then a handful of police joined in as well! (probably wouldn’t happen with the psycho bastards in the Met though)
3. Sticking with football we could organise a 2012 Anarchist Football League, with games like the Class War v Buddhists which took place during Hackney Anarchy Week in 96 (Buddhists won 1, nil!) – more info at http://anarchistsoccer.org/
4. Being a bit crap at football we might even want to invent our own street sport – a non contact Street Handball might work well. We could have two teams, the ‘blacks’ and the ‘reds’ (possibly signified by ribbons or headbands), and openly invite people to join in. Rules can handed out on flyers which would have an alternative political message on the reverse.
5. The Anarchist 5K. Anarchists clad in black shorts & vests run/walk/crawl an impromptu, unplanned 5K course through the capital during the Olympics. Two years is enough to get even the worst of us in shape for 5K and it’s about time we got a little fitter 😉
These ideas may not be suitable, but surely we can come up with something fun and creative to make ‘the beautiful idea’ as popular as ‘the beautiful game’.
The formation of anarchist darts teams across the country so we can storm the pub leagues?
I can’t say I agree with all this physically active sport malarky, y’see!
Bit late to this, but the idea of an Anarchist 5k is brilliant – easy to organise, easy to get people involved in, easy to run (metaphorically…I’ll probably collapse if I literally run) and gets us all noticed a lot by running through the streets of London-town. Genius idea 🙂
I say throw a Molotov as far as we can at police lines, i mean most Anarchist and there right arms could manage this at least..
Chair Sumo is the the way forward as far as I’m concerned as it doesn’t need anywhere near the highly toned physique required by darts.
There are no set rules to this sport of kings but usualy starts by two competitors sinking a few pints as quickly as possible then sitting on two chairs placed facing each other on a rug, the object is then to push your chair seated opponent out of the ring (off the carpet) using your leg power only.
On the downside this sport can take one hell of a toll in chairs, and has been known to result in competitors being thrown out of Ikea (too right about the Swedes not having a sense of humour). If you try a test run of this sport in your local when the landlords back is turned the resulting toll on chairs is best blammed on a John Wayne style pub brawl he missed.
Isn’t sumo in the hands of organised crime gangs? 😦
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/sumo-pair-otake-and-kotomitsuki-in-betting-scam/story-e6frg6so-1225887740110
CW Barnsdale Brigade has made an outrageous slur against the greatest of all sports – Sumo.
There has not been such a scandal since sumo champion Asashoryu claimed to be injured and was then pictured playing football in a very tight fitting Wayne Rooney t shirt:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2007/aug/01/sport.football
More seriously one area where our image of Japanese society is completely skewed is apparently organised crime. It runs significant parts of Japanese society, and all the big corporations merrily pay off gangsters in a way European capitalists rarely have to.
It turns out that Paul’s right about Sumo. We asked world famous wrestler Takanohana about it and he thought a ‘bung’ was something that stopped your Mawashi going up your arse 😉
Chess boxing?