[Campaignforrealdemocracy] Last Night's Meeting

Wed Jun 10 06:54:51 BST 2009

*Hi Comrades,*

@Mark: Thanks for scribing this. Double-thumbs up plus sparkling from me,
with one minor caveat, that mention of “local parliaments”. Earlier that day
I wrote:

*(1) One minor caveat – in para 3, Chris Knight writes:
>
> • “As an umbrella uniting multiple ideological strands, we view ourselves
> as a direct action working class Parliament.”
>
> While I understand the superficial utility of appealing to a term folk
> already know, I’m dead against portraying ourselves in terms of the
> out-dated, corrupt, and politically bankrupt capitalist state institutions
> it is our historic task to destroy – and replace with something way better.
> In 1649, the revolutionary Parliament destroyed the Divine Right of Kings on
> which the ruling class power of the feudal aristocracy was founded, and
> created a Commonwealth – it didn’t regard itself as “a direct action
> merchant class Aristocracy” (and if it had, the tasks of the recruiting
> sergeants of the New Model Army would have been CONSIDERABLY more difficult!
> ;-).  So today, I argue that we do NOT want to sully ourselves with filthy
> dirty rotten institutions of the Ancien Régime, nor pre-empt the naming of
> the C21 analogues of the soviets.  So I recommend we recast just this one
> sentence like this:
>
> • “As an umbrella uniting multiple ideological strands, we view ourselves
> as a direct action working class governing-assembly-in-the-making, a direct
> challenger and rival to Parliament.”*
>
> Source: thelabourparty.pbworks.com/Why 'THE Labour Party' – what's in a
> name<http://thelabourparty.pbworks.com/Why-%27THE-Labour-Party%27-%E2%80%93-what%27s-in-a-name>
>

As above, so below – starting from the bottom up, I'd hope the tasks CRD
carries out will help bring into being the local grassroots C21 analogues of
the soviets, by which we supplant the local capitalist state institutions.

Since your mention of “local parliaments” comes in a [parenthesised comment]
it’s no biggy, but given Mon’s discussion of the terms we use in CRD
discourse, I think it’s important to get off to a good start by ditching
“parliament”.

*Up the Revolution,

Peace & Love,

Tim Dalinian Jones   x  x*
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2009/6/10 Mark Barrett <marknbarrett at googlemail.com>

> Hi everyone who was there last night (monday at RFH) and to the 4
> apologees. And my apologies in turn for not having finished the
> minutes yet. Won't be able to finish them til tomorrow eve at earliest, or
> Thurs AM.
>
> In lieu of that, here, I think, are the action points we more or less
> agreed.
>
> Pls can people comment on them in the next 24 hours?
>
> Cheers
> Mark
>
>
> *CRD Draft Action Points of Consensus*
>
> (1) To support one or more local community struggles in London, and where
> possible help them develop towards the self-governing 'real democracy' /
> local sovereignty project we've been considering, and in a way that suits
> them. To offer info, skills to share and connections with other
> local/democratic community groups in London and elsewhere
>
> (2) To suggest to each other struggles that can be supported in this way so
> we can begin to map, and connect ourselves up with local groups and, ideally
> also connect local groups to each other, in practical solidarity
>
> (3) To invite groups and individuals concerned about democratic community
> to form a properly constituted, initiallly as a
> Localists' Union, (but not limited to that - see E below), union
> with simple, initial basic campaign aims of:
>
> (A) building trust in the idea of community, and in a
> different, emancipatory way of organising society
>
> demanding and doing united actions in support of:
> (B) a community building in every neighbourhood to be run by those around
> it
> (C) pieces of land in and around cities to be ring fenced for new,
> intentional democratic communities to be created
>
> and (D) a commitment to keep relentlessly under consideration key questions
> about structure, eg about what kind of tax system, and other structural
> changes will be necessary to suport a really democratic, community based
> society
>
> and finally (E) recognising the struggle for real democracty is not *just
> *about localism, but that there are many other types of community
> that could and should be democratic, but local is where people actually live
> and work, so it is the right place to start  building a society governed on
> different lines to the one we have now. But also we are for the right to
> organise more widely than that, in workplaces, places of study, prisons,
> hospitals - participation not false representation!
>
> [folks we definitely got consensus on  A and B and i think also E but what
> about C and D? I'll need to include this in the Minutes - and in the invite
> to the next meeting - in some way, so please can people give me feeling on
> these points? C was already agreed in prev discussions on Local Sovereignty
> concept but we didn't go into it in detail last night. And (D) covers our
> talks about tax, local parliaments, banks, job centres etc. Phrased in this
> way, seems uncontroversial and reflective of our discussion last night?
> (4) To arrange a meeting in the next month to take this agenda further
> forward [ I have already got started on this ]
> (5) to invite all our nice colleagues / friends and people of like mind in
> the wider network to get involved
> (6) to consider coming to the picnic on Aug 15th and telling people about
> it, and
> (7) the possibilty of a Winter Right to the City Conference.
>
> Make sense as a 1st draft / summary ?
>
> Obviously I will have to condense all this down but thought it a good idea
> to run the rough draft past you first to see if I'm missing anything
> important.
>
> Mark
>
> PS found this on Flickr
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/chelmsfordblue/3574699495/in/set-72157618865479403
> Got photos too, of us in front of the plasticine paradise from my phone
> camera, do people want me to send them (they are not tiny files, but not
> gargantuan either, but after all the fuss with my phone they are really
> rather nice!!)
>
>
>
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