[Ssf] G8 n stuff

Thu Jan 20 15:07:43 GMT 2005

DECSY (Development Education Centre South Yorkshire) have sent off for 
the J8 info packs.

Once they come through, I suggest we arrange a meeting, here at Scotia, 
with the following:

DECSY
SSF
People n Planet
PiP
Make Poverty History folk

... to work out a plan leading up to PiP, involving schools and warping 
little children's minds.

Oh bugger, I've just realised I missed a Make Poverty History meeting 
today...

Dan
----

Chris Malins wrote:

> Doing a little red propagandist day-school sounds great, I love 
> propagandising at kids. I'll volunteer to talk to them about any given 
> issue, preferably trade justice if it goes ahead at all.
>
> Chris
>
> Dan wrote:
>
>> Dammit!  Loads of cool stuff to write about!
>>
>> First thing to say is that there's SO MUCH going on, G8-wise, already...
>>
>> A few things to mention first:
>>
>> 1. Make Poverty History meeting, Quaker Meeting House, Thursday 20th, 
>> 12:30 - mostly Sheffield's Christian campaigning groups and P&P.  But 
>> note that the new WDM head has gone on record saying that lobbying 
>> will acheive nothing, and that groups like his need to start direct 
>> action.  There's some synergy to be had here...
>>
>> 2. Peace in the Park: I'm gonna be proposing to SSF that we do a 
>> 'Leftfield' a la Glastonbury.  (PiP folk have already agreed in 
>> principle for SSF to lead on this...) -  a large tent, with many 
>> political goings-on, workshops, debates, exhibitions (e.g. 'this is 
>> what war looks like - only for the strong-stomached!), bits of music, 
>> food and drink hopefully supplied by New Roots (I haven't asked them 
>> yet, but it worked really well last year)
>> This wouldn't replace any of the free-standing political stalls - but 
>> would offer a space for folk to argue, debate, learn and plan - 
>> rather than just lining up like a bunch of traders in the free market 
>> of ideas... (I'll have a pound of Strawberries, half a pound of 
>> Leninism and an Anarchist please...)
>>
>> I propose we nick Joss's idea for a new democracy cafe name, and call 
>> it the 'Speak-Easy'.
>>
>> Note: this was agreed last night at the PiP meeting: Norfolk Park, 
>> 11th June.  This is a few days before the Sheffield mini-summit, and 
>> a month before the main G8.  So - CIRCA will be doing some training, 
>> and maybe they'll do some at PiP.  Also, there's plenty of other 
>> G8-counter possibilities, including asking the Trapeze lot to come 
>> along and do their pub quiz!
>>
>> 3. J8 - the youth G8 global citizenship programme -  
>> http://www.j8changetheworld.com/
>>
>> Awful as the name is (stealing J18 as someone pointed out), it does 
>> offer a door for us filthy radicals to get in there and warp the 
>> minds of the little ones...!  This is also a way to get 13-16 
>> year-olds involved in PiP - we could organise our own 
>> mini-youth-conference on the J8 themes as part of the Speak-Easy.
>>
>>> 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???
>>
>>
>>
>> Again, I think SSF working with others towards PiP is going to be the 
>> best way of doing this... It gives us a focus.  Any thoughts?
>>
>>>
>>> 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".
>>>
>> Dunno if you've seen, but there's a suggestion of starting a monthly 
>> radical newsletter... I'm gonna arrange a meeting about this in the 
>> next couple of weeks.  Fancy writing an article on Gordon Brown's 
>> Giant Debt Reduction Con-Trick?  (Each article can then be uploaded 
>> to Indymedia, and the hard copy can say - 'want to comment on this? 
>> Disagree with what's been said? Go to the article on Sheffield 
>> Indymedia and have your say!)
>>
>> It wouldn't be purely a G8 thing - but having a global and a local 
>> focus would be cool, and it would be good to use the chance to trace 
>> G8 initiatives and other global institutional initiatives right back 
>> to what's happening in the city centre.  (i.e. Solve Poverty?  Easy!  
>> Get loads of tax-payer's money, privatise everything, then sell it to 
>> the private sector with 'incentives'!  Bish, bash, bosh, 
>> World-Bank-Tastic, one-size fits all, sorted!  Oh... still loads of 
>> pesky poor people everywhere...)
>>
>>> 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.
>>>
>> Ooh, lots of things there!  People with time and energy?  That's why 
>> I think we should work with what's happening - the Make Poverty 
>> History stuff, and Peace in the Park especially.
>> Local political success is down to co-operation - without groups 
>> losing their identity.  I think SSF doing the 'Speak-Easy' will allow 
>> us to do something pretty spectacular, whilst helping another 
>> important event, *and* building for the G8.  Can't be bad, can it?
>>
>> On Cuba, John:  you might be interested to read the transcript from 
>> the Hungry for Justice conference - Julia Wright spoke about Cuba and 
>> food sovereignty. (Er... did you go?)  It's really interesting: 
>> particularly the tension between statist and devolved solutions...
>> Here's the download link:
>>
>> http://www.sheffieldsocialforum.org/docs/H4Jtranscript.doc
>>
>>> 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.
>>
>>
>>
>> A friend of mine is very keen on pampleteering!  I'd like to join in 
>> too - we're going to be working on one for the Burngreave Masterplan 
>> stuff, but G8 stuff too... yip!  And I guess this can relate in some 
>> way to the monthly newsletter stuff...
>>
>>>
>>> Greetings,
>>>
>>> JS
>>
>>
>>
>> Exactly.
>>
>> Dan
>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> -----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
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Ssf mailing list
>>> Ssf at lists.aktivix.org
>>> http://lists.aktivix.org/mailman/listinfo/ssf
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>

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