[Campaignforrealdemocracy] Fw: [rdwg] People's Assemblies - beyond resistance

Tue Jun 18 07:28:02 UTC 2013

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-----Original Message-----
From: Mark Barrett <marknbarrett at googlemail.com>
Date: Tue, 18 Jun 2013 08:08:22 
To: rdwg at googlegroups.com<rdwg at googlegroups.com>; squares<squares at lists.takethesquare.net>
Subject: Re: [rdwg] People's Assemblies - beyond resistance

Published
http://www.peoplesassemblies.org/2013/06/peoplesassembly-against-austerity-london-june-22/


On 18 June 2013 07:43, <paul.feldman at talktalk.net> wrote:

> People's Assemblies can move beyond resistance
> ** **
> The powerful response to the call for the People’s Assembly against
> Austerity on June 22 confirms that the build-up of opposition to the ConDem
> cuts is reaching boiling point, presenting a unique opportunity to move
> beyond resistance.
>
>  Over 3,000 people have registered for the Assembly, many with the
> support of the major trade unions. Clearly, people welcome the fact that
> the Assembly brings together all those fighting against austerity. The
> support of key figures like Tony Benn, Owen Jones and Ken Loach has helped
> boost attendance.
>
> What is crucial is the perspective for and beyond the Assembly. The draft
> statement <http://thepeoplesassembly.org.uk/draft-statement/> is
> absolutely explicit about the intended direction of travel, declaring: “We
> have a plain and simple goal: to make government abandon its austerity
> programme. If it will not it must be replaced with one that will.”
> ** **
> The statement insists that the government’s austerity programme is not
> “necessary” and that the “banks and the major corporations should be taxed
> at a rate which can provide the necessary resources”.
> ** **
> To that end, there is a call for a national demonstration and civil
> disobedience towards the end of the year, the building of local Assemblies
> and a recall of the national Assembly in 2014.
> ** **
> In practice, the central demand is based on the notion that this most
> reactionary of governments is for turning and, if not, that Labour is an
> alternative. Both are utterly misguided.
> ** **
> The ConDems are cutting not simply because they are viciously anti-working
> class (which they are) but in response to an historic crisis of the
> financial and economic system, aka capitalism. The dreaded “C” word does
> not get a mention once in the draft statement, however, which is a major
> weakness.
> ** **
> Its exclusion leads to the idea of restoring the status quo of the welfare
> state through taxing the corporations as the main policy idea. With key
> analysts forecasting another global crash, such a policy does not begin to
> match the gravity of the situation we face.
> ** **
> As to installing a government that will “abandon austerity”, the
> implication is that this is Labour. But Ed Miliband’s party, which is
> taking shape as New Labour Mk II, intends to continue with austerity and
> cuts and every day incorporates another ConDem policy.
> ** **
> So Owen Jones’ view that “there is a battle to be won in compelling the
> party to fight for working people” is based on faith rather than judgement.
> Unions like Unite which bankrolled Miliband’s election have put the
> pressure on already – and come away empty handed.
> The central issue is the fact that the system is broken – economically and
> politically. A semblance of democracy is rapidly being replaced by an
> authoritarian, surveillance, security state as the leaks about the US/UK
> spy network reveals.
>
> A minimal amount of time has been found for discussing this crisis of
> democracy. Yet it is the key to our future. A World to Win and others have
> campaigned  <http://www.aworldtowin.net/frontline/C421launch.html>for a
> network of People’s Assemblies since August 2006.
> ** **
> We and others in Occupy and the Agreement of the People for the 21st
> Century <http://www.agreementofthepeople.org/> see People’s Assemblies as
> integral to a strategy for moving beyond resistance towards a real
> democratic political and economic system in place of the façade we have
> today.
>
>  Permanent People’s Assemblies should:
> ** **
> -         be inclusive, inviting all sections of the community to be part
> of their work
> -         discuss in depth why there is a global economic crisis
> -         draw up, with the help of experts, alternatives to
> austerity/cuts that go beyond the profit system
> -         discuss how to introduce democracy throughout society – in
> ownership and control of workplaces, land, etc
> -         debate the crisis of democracy, where our voices/votes count
> for very little
> -         consider alternative forms of democratic government and
> self-rule throughout the **UK**
> -         consider plans to deal with the eco-crisis.
>
>  People’s Assemblies should not develop into talking shops, but into
> rival centres of power to a system that has lost its legitimacy and the
> right to rule over us. That’s the big challenge and we call on others to
> help us campaign for this on Saturday.
>
>  Paul Feldman and Corinna Lotz
> 17 June 2013
> www.aworldtowin.net
>
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>


http://occupylondon.org.uk/
http://www.peoplesassemblies.org

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