[Campaignforrealdemocracy] Ladies & Gentlemen.. An Important Question for your Kind Consideration

[Matthew Scott]

To Mark and group
Yes it makes sense
 Need to think through a lot of local organizing leading up to it - motivating committed people so that we get a good turnout at as many places as possible
 Matt

Matthew Scott

CSC Director

020 7336 9461

Work mobile: 07827 258411

Website: www.communitysectorcoalition.org.uk

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From: Mark Barrett [mailto:marknbarrett at googlemail.com]
Sent: 24 November 2009 21:18
To: campaignforrealdemocracy at lists.aktivix.org
Subject: [Campaignforrealdemocracy] Ladies & Gentlemen.. An Important Question for your Kind Consideration

I have an important question for everyone, please consider and say publically what you think about following proposal for next years' election.

The question is: how best to bring local groups and wider disaffected together on the street in context of the 2010 general election? Here's the proposal:
"what could work is for us to put the word around as of from now that on general election eve, or day, may 6th or june ?6th or whenever it ends up being, we could end up at local town halls across london/elsewhere for a real political 'party' ( ie food share, camp fire, breaking down into ward and sub ward barrios) and therefore with the potential, in places to be a healthy, non violent stand off with the state or just a festival picnic and everything imbetween. Why? Because this is what democracy looks like, not voting for others to make decisions on our behalf but  people meeting, independently, sharing ideas, gifts of food and other human things and creating the structures, even in just embryonic form, for the building of the new and better society. And then, from there: to exercise together, and individually, and responsibly, for humanity and planet: whatever power that process brings ie at the town halls on the day or in follow on or both."

As someone put it in response to this suggestion: "can tv really ignore it if there are democracy camps outside every town hall? and if it gets into public consciousness that the alternatives are there (that's not happened yet) then perhaps the demand from the public to know more would become irresistible"

Please don't say it isn't practical. Can we please focus just on whether we think it makes sense as a strategic aim? There are plenty of groups talking about what to do for the election, and there will be a meeting in January to discuss a possible 'rainbow coalition' direct action response, so what's important at this point is to maximise the possibility of all or most of the groups coming together under one riveting campaign..

To expand: the idea so far discussed off list is to replicate the mobilising success of the April G20 at the Bank of England, aswell as the press work that was done back then on a new political economy, both of which worked quite well for the Bank action. People came in numbers and the press read and reported on some of the ideas we stood for, albeit only alongside their obsession with violence which usually overshadowed the ideas. So we would improve upon this. Mobilising in such a way that a new non-violent direct action movement, with clear aims is launched, and done in such a way as to reflect and embody the decentralised, autonomous, compassionate, community-orientated society which the revolutionary part of the movement collectively believes in. Hence the idea to converge locally at Town Halls for a democratic party. Who's going to put on the best one I wonder? Every camp could in theory be filmed and uploaded on line, so the public ie us and lots of others could see enjoy and have their say on that too!

In tandem we'd also need to put forward the ideas necessary for an alternative political economy, based on the ideals of real democracy, local community sovereignty and the structures to achieve it that we have been discussing here over the course of the last 11 months, and in other places before that.

So, as a result of the election and our rainbow coalition response, a turning point could be achieved. A new, grassroots democratic force to be reckoned with in domestic UK politics will have found its way into the public consciousness, convincing a growing portion of society of its power and importance, not just by the success of it getting people onto the streets (which may well appeal to the heart and the guts) but also by the power of the ideas it puts forward, which will help to convince the thinking side of society, appealing to the head too.

And if we can achieve that, the skies the limit. Politicised people will start joining up with local groups in a viral way and unpoliticised people will start see clearly what they know dimly already, which is to say it is ordinary people who have the solutions to the crises in politics, economics and the environment, and not the state, nor the Tories, New Labour, Lib Dems, BNP, UKIP or Greens, with their party political shenanigans and aspirations (well meaning or otherwise) towards the elite that will always, left unchecked continue to socially control everyone else.

What do people think? Would you support / offer this suggestion of a convergence on Town Halls as a really good response to the general election? Remember, at this point it is not really about feasibility, as if we get the groups on board that will be a breeze. At this point, the important question is really about whether you think it would be the right direct action response. Once we have a strong group in support of it, we can persuade others.

My view is that it is the right thing to do because (a) it symbolises what we stand for (b) it will get press coverage (c) it will be a way of building / strengthening the movement and the groups that make it up, in itself and (d) I am bloody lazy so I just want to be able to walk to the demo or take a short bus ride :-)

On that note, another good side to this is that many people take half a day of work to vote on election day, so we could get quite a few people there if it's well publicised in advance..

As I mentioned, the plan is to have a gathering in January of various tendencies within the movement, to discuss this and other proposals. It sure would be good to know you'd support it there too.

So PLEASE let's have a nice debate about it now. That would seem to me a very good use of this list!

Obviously we'll also be mooting it tomorrow night at Passing Clouds..

Mark

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