counter-conference WAS [Fwd: RE: [Ssf] vacancy: 4 court jester of sheffield political circus

[mud]

Fwd message from J.S:

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Dear noone et al,

(I'm not on the SSF list, please forward it...)

I'm interested in helping make a counter-conference happen, but I can't 
make any meetings until next Tuesday (25 Jan).

A few thoughts...

Deacon Dave expressed a hesitation about the idea in the meeting where 
this was first discussed. He felt that a conference or day-school event 
could be very valuable to the relatively small numbers who would attend, 
whereas what's necessary is a perspective of reaching out to much larger 
numbers with a much simpler message.

The two ideas are not necessarily counterposed. First, the clearer we 
are about the issues, the clearer we will be when we try to present them 
in simpler and condensed form Second, far more more can be done with the
conference/day-school format than people just rolling up on the day to 
hear some experts... IF we could organise it so that people interested 
in coming (or  those interested in the issues but who can't come) could 
get (buy) a kit of crucial info material to help prepare them for the 
day; IF we could set up a website where this material could also be 
downloaded, IF we could persuade a few people from Sheffield's activist 
ranks to go away and research and prepare a brief workshop paper (so 
much is spent providing people with these skills which they end up never 
using!), then the conf/school would be the culmination of an interactive 
education process, not the sum total of it. Why not a Red Open University???

One way such an event could be promoted is through a monthly newsletter
which would carry informative articles written by ourselves or reprinted
from elsewhere. I can imagine one headlined something like "Adding 
Insult to Injury - Gordon Brown's Giant Debt Reduction Con-Trick".

The problem as I see it is whether there is the basis for a team of 
people of sufficient like mind and with time and energy. On both counts, 
I just don't know. Concerning the first of these, I accept that many 
people do not agree with me about Cuba, but I believe that it is 
necessary for Cuba's extraordinary success in protecting its people 
against natural disasters to be held up as a practical example of the 
alternative to the capitalist rule which condemns tens of thousands to 
death along the Indian Ocean coast and tens of millions elsewhere in the 
oppressed nations. This is the clearest, but far from the only issue 
where I do not feel on exactly the same wavelength as many of you, 
lovable as you may be. I feel that there is quite a large distance 
between anti-imperialism and 'anti-globalisation' This could be the 
source of creative tension, or just of friction.

Maybe the way to explore all of these issues and possibilities is to 
agree to produce a pilot mini-pamphlet and see whether we can agree 
about what should go into it.

Greetings,

JS



-----Original Message-----
From: mud [mailto:adam at diamat.org.uk]
Sent: 17 January 2005 18:49
To: ssf at lists.aktivix.org
Cc: John Smith
Subject: Re: [Ssf] vacancy: 4 court jester of sheffield political circus
pleasefeel free to apply

Hi,

11/01/05 22:11 noone noone wrote:

> I am thinking along the lines of what practically  we would need to 
> organise in order to get some sort of counter-conference happening (i.e.
> venue, speakers, groups, publicity etc.. etc..).  I also recognise 
> that i am not the best person for the job, in my opinion john smith is 
> the man because he has the vision, the knowledge and the experience to 
> carry it out and i am not keen on the responsibility - plus it is his 
> idea (more or less).

Has John been invited to Thursdays meeting ?

--
mud