[Campaignforrealdemocracy] PS Fwd: [project2012] Re: 'campaign for real democracy'
james holland
james at dogmanet.org
Thu May 14 09:08:06 BST 2009
i would prefer an autonomous social centre as venue, LARC?
James Holland
http://risingclevel.blogspot.com/
Mark Barrett wrote:
> PS on further thought not sure if charge thing is part of the deal or
> just a suggestion. will check if we'd be free to use the space anyway. i
> guess there would be some expectation that we pay something tho, and 2
> seems really reasonable for food and meeting space. in a way this could
> work - those with money can share food with those without which could
> be perfect . :-)
>
> will check and get back.. m
>
>
>
> Agreed, it's not about endorsing any campaigns. I think we should be
> talking about our sense that a campaign for real democracy is what's
> needed in this time of economic and other crises, and now public
> atmosphere of anti-politics (or, desire for a new politics). And
> our belief that what is needed is for local groups and individuals
> concerned to make democracy a reality to link up across cities,
> towns, villages and country. And to encourage people based in London
> interested to do that to get in contact. And for people based on
> other places to do the same and contact us to so we can build a
> movement capable of both local and joined up regional/national
> activity.
>
> Regarding Monday venue. just got this
>
>
> "Fine to use the room - one holds about 20 and the other is a little
> larger. Jesse can sort this out. I don't know how you feel about
> him also providing vegan food - it's mainly the burger/chix
> nuggets/falafel type stuff but he is expanding and will be doing
> salads. He also does a range of vegan pasta dishes. What do you
> think would be the success of charging people, say, £2 a head to
> cover the room and a drink/food? There is a tv in there and the
> room has also been soundproofed.
>
> Actually, whilst I was in there and talking to Jesse there was a guy
> who said that he would be interested in coming to the meetings. I
> got his email address so it may be worth sending him some background
> info. [will send you this separately James]
>
>
> Let me know what you think"
>
> Obviously though the venue sounds lovely this isn't ideal although
> maybe we could use it once or twice for a central London meeting
> over the course of next two weeks, before we find a central free
> space that's suitable. I'd be ok to cover the cost for people who
> come and can't afford 2 pounds. Shall we go for it this coming
> Monday? Also, I will ask around as the 21st C Network meeting on
> Transition Towns this eve as Francis now has some good venue
> contacts. Alt is there anyway of using yr SOAS/CC connections James
> to get a regular space there? Brit Museum courtyard cafe is also a
> stop gap possibility..
>
> Mark
>
> 2009/5/13 james holland <james at dogmanet.org <mailto:james at dogmanet.org>>
>
>
> i'm happy to print something to let people know about it to start
> building up our human resources (i'm already working on some
> text), but
> less happy to start endorsing campaigns. this is a strictly
> consensus
> process that hasn't met yet so this is the kind of thing it
> can't do yet.
>
>
>
>
> James Holland
>
> http://risingclevel.blogspot.com/
>
> Mark Barrett wrote:
> > Hi James & Everyone
> >
> > Maybe we should draft a small flier for the big 23rd May
> United Campaign
> > Aagainst Police Violence demo, to introduce the campaign.
> Hopefully we
> > should have a venue for (bi-weekly?) meetings by then, but
> even if not
> > we can surely drum up some interest. As most of you will
> know, the UCAPV
> > initiative came straight out of the G20 debacle, although it
> has roots
> > going a long way back with police abuses of power.
> >
> > Could we make a strong, short statement making clear our
> position on the
> > police's role in a democratic society and calling on
> campaigners and
> > police alike to join us in our struggle for a very different
> society
> > where power is dispersed so people can act honourably and
> responsibly -
> > and powerfully together?
> >
> > Unrest is linked to injustices, perceived and real and the
> police are
> > being forced to defend a clapped out system - not an easy
> position to be
> > in. People and polcie should be able to steward their own
> neighbourhoods
> > together so that truth, justice and a keeping of peace are
> served and
> > preserved. Likewise - by extension - the whole of our
> > society. Apparently the mood out there anti-politics, and/or for
> > a different kind of politics. Surely we can make some
> democratic hay
> > with that on 23rd May?
> >
> > Mark
> >
> > PS Dawn and Panda, any news on the venue? I'll be in central
> London this
> > afternoon if you need to direct me to the place you suggested
> on Friday,
> > please do! PPS looking forward to Rachel's this Friday! All
> welcome.. xx
> >
> >
> > 2009/5/11 A World to Win <info at aworldtowin.net
> <mailto:info at aworldtowin.net>
> > <mailto:info at aworldtowin.net <mailto:info at aworldtowin.net>>>
> >
> > Hi Mark - thought the 2012 listers might want to read
> today's blog
> > from A World to Win.
> > Cheers, Corinna
> >
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > *Parliament versus the people*
> >
> > The shoddy and demeaning spectacle of MPs milking their
> expenses’
> > system at the taxpayers' expense for all it is worth knows no
> > bounds. They have been claiming for just about
> everything: £60,000
> > (Employment minister Tony McNulty) for second home
> allowances, and
> > £25,000 for security patrols (Barbara Follett) down to
> 69p for a
> > packet of biscuits, £2.50 for eyeliner and even for Kit
> Kats and an
> > Ikea carrier bag.
> >
> > MPs have blatantly engaged in property speculation, using
> allowances
> > to do up homes before selling them on. “Never in my 20
> years in
> > politics have I seen the public as angry as they are
> today and,
> > frankly, who can blame them? It doesn't help that the
> revelations
> > have come at a time of recession.” Thus the Liberal
> Democrat Norman
> > Baker, MP for Lewes, East Sussex, once home of revolutionary
> > democrat Tom Paine. Baker’s remarks are part of a growing
> chorus
> > warning about the yawning credibility gap between the
> electorate and
> > those who purport to represent them in parliament.
> >
> > And are the Honourable Members, who include 13 members of
> Gordon
> > Brown’s Cabinet, expressing any shame or remorse for
> their venal
> > attitude to office? No, sublimely oblivious to criticism,
> they are
> > complaining that their abuses were exposed to public
> scrutiny. The
> > House of Commons authorities are even asking the police
> to track
> > down the source of the leak that showed how deeply MPs’
> snouts are
> > in the trough.
> >
> > As the /Observer/ commented yesterday, the distance
> between MPs and
> > ordinary people is now so big that they consider a
> £24,000 second
> > home allowance as an “incidental” perk. For most, that is
> a lump sum
> > they would never dream of seeing in their bank account.
> And so,
> > warnings of the breakdown of trust upon which bourgeois
> > parliamentary democracy relies are flying thick and fast:
> >
> > * Baker concludes that auditing, transparency and
> limits on
> > expenses must be imposed – warning that “If we do
> not, then
> > the trust between the people and Parliament will
> have been
> > irrevocably damaged, with all the dangers that holds.”
> > * The /Daily Telegraph/, which first blew the whistle
> on MPs
> > expenses, concludes that: "There is no doubt that
> the current
> > system is rotten and cannot survive.”
> > * The /Daily Mail/ says it means a “terminal
> wipe-out” for New
> > Labour and that Blairism’s claim to moral virtue
> has been
> > “blown to shreds”. The question now, it asks, is
> what will be
> > the consequences of all this. “For with such an
> unprecedented
> > breakdown of Parliamentary integrity and loss of
> public trust,
> > we are surely in uncharted territory.”
> > * And last, but not least, a /Guardian/ blogger
> points out that
> > the corruption shows “how alienated the political
> classes are
> > from those they serve”, demanding that Oliver
> Cromwell come
> > back with a peoples’ army to shut the whole thing down.
> >
> > The haughty obliviousness of New Labour after 12 years in
> power is
> > indeed mind-boggling. Of course the Conservatives, and
> indeed Sinn
> > Fein, have also been playing the system for all that it’s
> worth, but
> > New Labour’s arrogance is far greater than that of the rest
> > combined. It comes at a time when income inequality in
> Britain is at
> > its widest point in 40 years after 12 years of Labour
> government, a
> > result of low wages and benefits held below inflation.
> >
> > MPs have justified their greed by pointing to the
> difference between
> > their pay and the vast salaries paid to executives in the
> private
> > sector. In doing so they show that they have nothing in
> common with
> > the people that they are supposed to represent. Instead
> they draw
> > their “morality” from the capitalist economic system which
> > parliamentary democracy oversees and keeps in place.
> >
> > The populist right like the /Daily Mail/ is aware that
> the limits of
> > parliamentary democracy have been reached and that they
> will be
> > breached. By its actions, New Labour is opening the doors to
> > dictatorial rule. It’s time to sound the alarm bells loud
> and clear.
> >
> > The current scandal shows the urgent need to campaign for
> a People’s
> > Charter for Democracy
> > <http://www.aworldtowin.net/about/Rights21C.html>. The
> aim is not to
> > “re-build trust” in a corrupt and undemocratic parliament
> but to end
> > the rule of political elites, and create new forms of
> direct local
> > and national democracy through peoples’ assemblies.
> >
> > Corinna Lotz
> > A World to Win secretary, 11 May 2009
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > >
>
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> Indirect tactics, efficiently applied, are inexhaustible as Heaven
> and Earth, unending as the flow of rivers and streams; like the sun
> and moon, they end but to begin anew; like the four seasons, they
> pass away to return once more. Sun Tzu
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> In all fighting, the direct method may be used for joining battle, but
> indirect methods will be needed in order to secure victory. Indirect
> tactics, efficiently applied, are inexhaustible as Heaven and Earth,
> unending as the flow of rivers and streams; like the sun and moon, they
> end but to begin anew; like the four seasons, they pass away to return
> once more. Sun Tzu
> https://lists.riseup.net/www/subscribe/peopleincommon
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> 'A people's art is the genesis of their freedom'.
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> http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/tobintaxnow/
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> In all fighting, the direct method may be used for joining battle, but
> indirect methods will be needed in order to secure victory. Indirect
> tactics, efficiently applied, are inexhaustible as Heaven and Earth,
> unending as the flow of rivers and streams; like the sun and moon, they
> end but to begin anew; like the four seasons, they pass away to return
> once more. Sun Tzu
> https://lists.riseup.net/www/subscribe/peopleincommon
>
> 'A people's art is the genesis of their freedom'.
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