[g8-sheffield] Re: g8-sheffield Digest, Vol 4, Issue 15

[IAN WALLACE]

At some point a long way down zero seven four two's very long and probably on the whole very good contribution he (or she) said 'I am not advocating a revolution'. 
Question one: Why not?
Question two: Why don't you read one of the many, many summaries of the ideas of Karl Marx? I think you might find considerable overlap with what you are saying. I can lend you one. 
Ian

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Today's Topics:

1. Workshop offer (jo brierley)
2. Gimme yer money! (Dan)
3. Oppenly Classist.. (zerosevenfour two)


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Message: 1
Date: Thu, 9 Jun 2005 11:01:05 +0000 (GMT)
From: "jo brierley" 
Subject: [g8-sheffield] Workshop offer
To: "g8-sheffield at lists.aktivix.org" 
Message-ID: 170212926926726 at lycos-europe.com
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Message: 2
Date: Thu, 09 Jun 2005 12:09:47 +0100
From: Dan 
Subject: [g8-sheffield] Gimme yer money!
To: g8-sheffield at lists.aktivix.org
Message-ID: <42A8237B.9070902 at aktivix.org>
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Allo,

I'm doing a flyer for the Peace-in-the-Park radical G8-related goings on. 

Thing is - I'm stony broke. Is there any money in the G8 pot to print 
it? If not, I'll go begging elsewhere...

You'll know if ya went to last night's meeting includes:

*'Speakeasy' Info-cafe, wi luvlee scoff and radical info stalls from G8 
Sheffield folk, Indymedia and others
*Workshop space w/ things like legal advice from a solicitor, direct 
action, subvertising from the UHC collective, theatre and action, plus more
*... and we will hopefully also be using the space under CIRCA's awning 
to do some stuff too (plus they have their own info-stall in the 
caravan, w / books for sale n stuff.)

And hopefully some folk will be doing an open discussion about the G8 
coming to Sheffield, and beyond, at maybe 1 o clock...

I want to print em tomorrow, so if there's there's any spare printing 
cash, please let poor broke me know.

Cheers all,

Dan


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Message: 3
Date: Thu, 09 Jun 2005 13:02:40 +0000
From: "zerosevenfour two" 
Subject: [g8-sheffield] Oppenly Classist..
To: g8-sheffield at lists.aktivix.org
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The class system is the injustice at the heart of British, and especially 
English, society. It is the system that I hate with a passion, and one that 
has crushed countless millions of people throughout contemporary history and 
even my own family, parents, grandparents and, if I am honest, me too. That 
I detest the unfairness and injustice of this system with every fibre of my 
being, I cannot state enough. So many millions of people even today, in the 
21st century, are still suffering in one form or another, because in the 
eyes of greater society they are not worthy; not good enough for polite 
society. Not deemed of any value. Surplus to requirements. Third rate. 
Passed over for some kid with more privileged status and a silver spoon in 
the mouth. The detrimental effect this has had on British society is 
impossible to calculate.

The scale of sheer injustice, and, to be frank, evil, is breathtaking, and 
no essay of any kind could fully do it justice. I am one voice in a sea of 
voices after all. Few people in British society have ever looked at the 
class system full on, without blinkers of one kind or another, or waxing 
sentimentally, or in the briefest glances. It is something that by its very 
nature is painful to many of us, even those who have benefited unjustly 
because of this most unjust of structures. Because I believe that not only 
has the system in Britain robbed millions of a full life, it has also 
crippled those, who promoted the injustice and evil, into lives of 
half-truths, double standards, and lives built on every kind of base 
corruption, shoddiness and cowardice. But I am not here to write about the 
moneyed and well off, the socially perfect and correctly spoken, I am here 
to write about those left out of the wealth, those left out of the good jobs 
and opportunities, those like me born at the bottom of the hierarchy, and to 
all intents and purposes, meant to stay there.

Class is such an emotive issue, and it is true that if a middle class person 
meets a working class person, there will very likely be a sense of angst and 
uncertainty on both sides; the animosities, though well buried, would not 
take long to rise to the surface. And in Britain certainly, there is a 
tendency for people, as groups of all kinds, and most definitely class 
groups, to polarise against each other, in many ways and for many reasons. A 
working class person, seeing what he or she thinks are middle class effete 
tendencies, may particularly become harder and less genteel to counter what 
he or she thinks are base middle class values. A middle class person, seeing 
what he or she thinks are base working class values, whatever they may be, 
might very well have a tendency to shun these things. And of course, there 
is then a general national tendency to despise what you don't understand, to 
what you find distasteful, and so on. Of such is the British class system, 
in highly oversimplified form. Class in Britain goes far deeper than this; 
in real terms, it could be said to be about groups who are related in their 
44similar life chances, job opportunities, levels of education, access to all 
the good, or bad, things in life and better, or worse, opportunities in 
general. Working class people will find that many doors to them are closed, 
because they lack a decent education, a 'decent' accent, they live in an 
inner city or council estate or poor neighbourhood, that they come from poor 
backgrounds of some kind, and so on. Much of this might be inferred, some of 
it is spoken about, and a lot of it is internalised over the course of a 
person's life, and in society in general. A working class person will 
definitely for the most part internalise negative values, a belief that he 
or she should keep their head down, accept their lot, and hope one day to be 
lucky.

This is how I felt for chunks of my life. I don't feel this way anymore, nor 
do I believe that any person has to accept anything in life they do not wish 
to. It is about understanding negatives, and it is more importantly 
understanding positives in life. If we as working class people allow other 
more privileged types to an unchallenged position in all areas of life, we 
can't complain when they do just that, maintain a privileged, and of course 
increasingly unjust, position. If, on the other hand, as we hold out for 
better lives ourselves, better jobs, better educations, better housing and 
better all round lifestyles, whilst at the same challenging unjust privilege 
of all kinds, we make our own very immediate environments more just and more 
fairer. It isn't about hating and despising, we can leave that to our 
so-called betters and superiors, it is about finding a liveable and workable 
reality for working class people, that enables us personally and as groups 
of people of all kinds to have better lives, for ourselves, our families and 
friends, and our children to come. It is that simple.

I speak for myself when I write this, and at the same time as someone who is 
highly educated, well read, literate, cultured and so on, but for many years 
I have always felt out of sorts, and that sooner or later someone would find 
me out and send me back to the craphole I grew up in. I have done well for 
myself in some ways, getting the aforementioned degree at university and, at 
this time of writing, a reasonable job as a journalist, and someone who 
likes to pursue hobbies of various kinds; not bad for a kid who grew up in a 
Liverpool slum! But, as with all happy-ever-after stories, I have had hard 
times and bad times too. I have often felt inferior to other people, at 
times this has overwhelmed me and made me feel less and smaller than other 
people. It is not something I can quantify, or explain or understand easily, 
and best left as a simple explanation; that at times I feel less than other 
people. I believe a large part of this is because of the British class 
system, and the nonsensical way British people have related to each other as 
groups and individuals for about the last 200 years or so. Is this what we 
want as a nation, what we demand for ourselves, and the next generation 
after us? It is not what I want for myself, or any member of my family 
anyway. It is up to each reader to think about this for themselves. At any 
rate, I have often felt inferior compared to other people. It has skewed my 
relationships, friendships, family relationships and how I felt about myself 
over the many years of my life. Today, I feel better and stronger. On a 
national scale, these type of feelings create vast waves of anxiety, 
animosity, crime, injustice, indifference, and vast gulfs between those who 
have, often in plenty, and those who have very little of anything at all. 
This is the core of all the class injustice, the vastly unequal resource 
distribution.

It is not just that there are poor people, and people who are richer, it is 
the philosophy that often follows such inequalities, philosophies that, more 
often than not, justify and even promote base and rank injustice, division 
and unfairness. Why does our Head of State, the Queen, who has a private 
fortune of hundreds of millions of pounds, get millions more each year from 
taxpayers, whilst millions of ordinary workers make do on a fraction of 
this, and all the while working hard and paying taxes? It is what I call the 
'philosophy of insanity', and it is the philosophy that underpins much of 
the unequal relations that still exist in the British Isles at this time, 
circa mid-2004. A philosophy that allows rich people to prosper, even when 
they already have everything they need and more anyway, whilst denying a 
basic standard of living to many more British citizens. Unless, and until, 
this 'philosophy of insanity' is tackled, and tackled head on, and it is 
brought into the public forum, we will continue to live in an unjust 
society, and an unjust world. I don't accept of course that any human 
society, or any human relationship of any kind, at this time will ever be 
perfect in entirety, but it is up to us who want and wish to change society 
to do so; if we can't change it, we can write about, if we can't write 
about, we can debate it, and if we can't change the whole world, or even 
Britain, we can change ourselves, and our attitudes to privilege and a 
fairer democracy for all. It is understanding this, that the individual is 
important, that change does and will happen, for you and me. Why shouldn't a 
working class kid from the wrong side of the tracks get on, make a better 
life and have money for once? It is learning to be positive, when all around 
might be negative, that better life chances spring out of the air. We of 
course have to reach out for them, and help others less fortunate to do the 
same.

Justice; justice is a big word, and an idea that cuts through everything, 
that cleans everything, and makes fairness and tolerance where there might 
be no such things. Justice for working class people, for people like you and 
me, is and has been in very short supply. When we demand justice, for 
ourselves, our families, friends and cherish justice as a higher form of 
society, I believe that we go in the right direction. Justice is where it is 
at; where there is justice, there will be harmony, peace, friendship, where 
there is a lack of justice there will be indifference, hatred, oppression 
and a lack of any good will of any kind. Normal people cry out for justice 
all over the world! Then we should hold justice to our hearts, demand it for 
the whole world, and not least for ourselves. It is in just relationships, 
be that marriage, friendships, an office, or even on the street, that humans 
can fire on all cylinders and be the best that all their capabilities and 
ambitions allow. It is in a ready justice that we can all stand on the same 
ground, demand a better life for one and all, and make Britain, even the 
world, a better place to live in. The mere notion of justice itself drives 
away corruption, unfairness and non-level playing fields of every kind. 
Justice is the ideal that all people should live up to, and the ideal and 
reality we should want for ourselves, and the people around us. For justice, 
we need to be just. To be just, we need to accept that we are on a level 
playing field, and that what is truly good for one, is generally good for 
others too.

When working class people dream, when little people dream, the whole world 
sits up and takes notice. It is not the ambitions of the rich and pampered 
elites that have really ever shaped the world, it is always the hungry, the 
impoverished, the slum dweller, the forgotten who shape the world and give 
society impetus and focus. Throughout history, contemporary history and 
today, this has often been the case. When you and I dream, and when we want 
to make our lives better, and have what the rich and powerful and the 
pampered take for granted, we change the world, and we change ourselves too. 
This is an important point. Why shouldn't you have a better education, a 
better job, a good business, a nice house? Why shouldn't you dream, have 
ambition, believe that good things can happen to you? They can, and they 
will, if you are prepared to dream, work towards the goals you want, and 
look at life in the long-term. Nothing happens overnight, but takes time and 
a change in attitudes, life goals, outlook and personal ambitions. Even the 
very idea of your dreams taking shape and hold in the real world is in 
itself for many working class people a revelation, something that I think 
many working class people do not do or do not believe is possible for them. 
It is possible, but it takes time to shape a good character and a winning 
mindset from a mindset and lifestyle that might be used to negative 
realities and situations of many different kinds. It is a revelation, and a 
revolution in thought processes that shapes the world we live in. Thinking 
alone will not bring about change, but thought and action combined can bring 
about the results everyone desires. Everything built, written, made, cooked 
and so much more besides is after all merely the result of someone's idea at 
some time or other. So, the world revolves on thought processes. For a 
working class person, sometimes the only thing you may have are wonderful 
ideas, and dreams of a better life. What starts in the head, can take shape 
in reality. It is holding onto the dream, and pursing it that make dreams 
worthwhile.

As working class people, we have a latent energy that generally is 
underdeveloped and underused, an energy that often comes out negatively or 
destructively in some way, to the detriment of that person, or others around 
them. It is understanding this very potent force, this nervous energy, and 
harnessing it to our better advantage, that any person can make a better 
life for themselves. To waste such enormous potential, such enormous energy, 
is to waste one's talents, dreams and goals and to muddy the path that we 
can all find if we look hard enough. It is accentuating the positive, and 
downplaying the negative. It is being magnanimous in success, and 
matter-of-fact in defeat. It is always being open minded to a better life, 
and resilient in finding that better life. It is using that powerful energy 
for positive results, and making our own lives and the people around us 
better, happier and more productive. It is moving on from such passing 
systems as class, racism, and injustice of very kind, and finding a better 
place spiritually, emotionally, economically and the place very much where 
you wish to be. Of such is the reality of the enormous human potential each 
of us has at our fingertips, assuming we make use of it. When working class 
people unleash this energy, it is an energy that is unstoppable, and 
properly controlled and directed, can take the lowest person to the highest 
place and the best outcome. It is this that I myself labour under at this 
time, and this idea that nourishes me and gives me hope.

Working class people are naturally and obviously more democratic and 
egalitarian in nature. It is something I have known, about myself and 
working class people in general, for a long time. Those born without 
inherited wealth or privilege of any kind seem, in most cases at least, to 
believe almost instinctively in social justice, democracy, egalitarianism 
and equal relations of every kind. It is strange in fact why working class 
people are attacked so, when these beliefs come to most working class people 
almost by default. They are good beliefs, they make the most sense, are the 
basic tenets of many religions, including of course Christianity, and to all 
people in the world are the values that each individual wants for him or 
herself and family, friends and the like. They are self-evident, need no 
real explanation, and the world over craves them; where they are, in nations 
and societies, people desire them the more, where they are not, in military 
juntas and tyrannies, people desire them, cry out for them and have 
revolutions to acquire them! They are, by all accounts, highly desirable 
virtues. And because there is and has been, a societal enmity towards 
working class people, working class culture, working class ideology and 
values, it goes without saying that values such as equality, social justice, 
egalitarianism and a more fair and equal society are dismissed and often 
also held in contempt. Do you see what I am trying to say? That a society 
based on genuine working class values, not in some hippy-dippy, or 
Communist, or even political way, but a heartfelt and honest way, would be a 
society that promoted justice and equality as a matter of course. This would 
involve a fairer wage system, a fairer tax system that took into account 
people's ability to pay, a less centralised and more localised bureaucracy, 
more accountability from our public servants, a nationalised public 
transport system to name but a few important things. The knock-on effect of 
such just and fair policies, though taking a while to adapt to, would make 
Britain healthier economically and socially, and would make Britain a nation 
more genuinely at ease with itself. We would be, in almost all senses of the 
word, citizens of a free nation and not subjects of a once great country but 
now living on past glories. I know which I would choose given the chance. 
And I know what many other British people would choose too given the same 
chance. It is what many of us have only ever half-dared to dream. Class and 
prejudice harks back to a bygone age of unspeakable divisions of all kinds, 
that, for the most part, have thankfully been eclipsed or forgotten. It is 
living on past glories, or looking to build a better tomorrow for us all. 
The choice, I believe, is yours and mine.

The injustice of vastly unequal resource distributions is at the heart of 
the real problem with the class system, in fact any system which is based on 
some form of unfair difference, be that class, racism, religious 
differences, language and culture differences, chauvinism and so on. The 
wealth distribution in the world is so badly out of tilt, that even in the 
wealthy parts of the world, like Britain, America, Continental Western 
Europe, there is much poverty and lack of opportunity, even when we are 
surrounded all the time by the trappings of wealth. Class, racism and so on, 

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