Category: Thoughts & Ideas

Collective Memories

One of the most important and noticeable aspects of getting older, comes via loosing various friends via ill heath or because they are deceased. Thus we loose the collective memories which goes with it.

‘ Remember the name of such and such ?’ we go, even if one just needs this one name to kick start a lot of other memories.

That is why I keep my old address books, maps, and other ref works. That goes with going to museams and art galleries as much as is possible.Searching on line helps too.

Yet some collective memories just disappear as one gets older, and others die.

I keep going back to memories of people who I used to know over half a century ago, and realise that if these people are alive then they will be in their 80s, 90s, or even older.

For example: Horace king who I used to work with, would be circa 120 or 125 odd if still alive.

Yet there is another aspect of this which does need remembering, and that is just how our geographical and political landscapes have changed over the years.That is important in terms of understanding the effects of climate change and river floodings.

Meanwhile I will look to my archive and making sure to pass on much memories as I have.It all comes down to making my own liturgy of the dead.

Rigid Thinking

I have never understood the concept of Marxist dialectical thinking.

It always reminds me of a form of very rigid Christian theology, debates concerning the Talmud, or the 57 varieties of what the true meanings of the Koran might be.

That is why I do like this line by Emma Goldman in her work – The crushing of the Russian revolution.

Published in 1922.

‘The Bolsheviks are the Jesuit order of the Marxist church.’

Formerly Upon My Address Book

I’ve just completed one of those tasks which should be done from time to time, and that becomes much more so as one becomes older.

That has been going through my email address book and deleting those of old friends and comrades who are no longer with us.

I ‘ve also deleted the ones for people who are no longer working at various places for which I have their old email address.

Though just in case I did print out the list before undertaking the above task.

The sad thing is that it made me realise just how many of my friends have died over the last decade.

 Economic Analysis Without Other Factors

I have just been reading, or rather trying to road, a book by Peter Kropotkin. It is Anarchist Communism.

The problem about it is fourfold.

1. That it is full of mid nineteenth century examples and analysis.

2. That while it is very useful in terms of describing the development and practice of capitalism up to that era, it does need to be updated.

3. That any perspective about economic developments does really need to factor in ecological issues.

&

4. That much of the analysis does remind me of what is to be found in the pamphlet Wage Labour and Capital by Karl Marx.

Away From A Socialist Perspective

One of the greatest problems with both a socialist and Anarcho Syndicalist economic analysis is that both are very good at pointing out the problems, but not so good in giving any ecologically sound solutions.

Rail and Power

One of the most simplistic arguments which I keep hearing from Socialists is that all the problems of both the railways and energy generators can all be solved by re-nationalising them.

That takes no account of how we need to create energy sources at the point of use. i.e. by the use of many more vertical wind turbines and solar panels in our city centres, together with buildings which are properly insulated.

While none of them refer to the need to create local manufacturing workshops which use recycled materials, or returning all goods movements back to both canals and railways.

Or how we can produce better solutions by the use of energy cooperatives.

While all of these solutions will help us to close down the Drax power plant and nukiller power plants.

Dole Not Coal !

There there is the issue of what are and are not socially useful jobs.

Which goes back to the concept that saving jobs is more important than saving the environment.

Historically supporting striking miners was a blow against improving our environment.

While a lot of current political campaigning is focused upon saving totally socially useless work, such as using cash rather than debit cards, or not using self checkouts within supermarkets.

Yet there are still lots of jobs which need many more people working on them.

Here are a few example : –

– More people to build and operate more trains and trams.

– Many more Traffic Wardens.

– More people to building and operate many more sustainable recycling centres.

– People to plant and maintain more urban fruit orchards.

– Creating more wetlands to prevent major floods.

– Building and maintaining vertical wind turbines and solar panels at the point of use. That is within the inner cities.

In the Fields

Now contrast the above with the Following

work of Peter Kropotkin.

Fields Factories and Workshops

Or

Industry combined with is agriculture

and Brain work with manual work.

The chapters on agriculture being of special interest.

Although first published in 1898, while not taken from a Vegan perspective, and pre-dating the effects of climate change, there is still a lot in it which is worth considering.

Colin Ward

Of those political thinkers which I like the best is Colin Ward, as he looked at issues from a practical perspective. The issues which he wrote about were very wide ranging indeed.

The first series of the Freedom Press periodical Anarchy which he edited is well worth reading, as is his book Anarchy in Action.

The Disastrous History of Brexitland.

The Final Ongoing Chapter

The middle and last part of 2022 was a time of uncertainties, economic mess, and major political swings. Yet none of the major ecological, educational, or social issues where being addressed.

Much of this uncertainty was caused by an unstable Rabid Right Wing government which was economically illiterate. While those were in it had no understanding of science, and technologically.

Thus they had no concept of the major social, ecological, and economic damage which they were causing.

All they were concerned with was helping to make the rich much richer, and ways in which they might keep themselves in power.

Still the Rabid Right Wingers managed to stay in power, even when they kept changing their policies by the day.

As one well known commentator said at the time: –

‘ They make it all up as they go along.’

While another one stated that there was no point in reporting, or ever reading, any government policy announcements, as they all changed by the hour.

Then the Expected Unexpected happened, and the Dance of Death changed in to a continual internal battle and debate about just who might command Brexitland.

Thus the economic decline, social poverty, and environmental mess was ignored.

Only when the environmental damage had reached way beyond crisis point did the rabid right wing Brexitland government start to notice it, even though activists had been predicting these problems for many decades.

1902

My grandfather on my mother’s side was born in 1900. That is some 18 months before the end of the Boer War.

That is 120 years ago.

Yet how many people living now would of ever met anyone who was involved in that particular war?

In contrast we still note what happened during World War One, but very few young people would of meet anyone with memories of that conflict.

I was lucky enough to know a number of the extremely brave COs of WW1.

We think of what happened 120 years ago as history, but it is going to take that long to complete decommissioning some of the nukiller power plants.

That is way before any of the radioactive waste becomes safe to handle.

Thus if anyone asks you about decommissioning, just mention the year 1902, and tell them about this.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1902

Radical Orthodoxy

That is the name for a series of articles which I have in mind to write.

This starts from the perspective that the focus of any radical perspective must come from how we might create a more just, and balanced ecologically sound world.

That must include what is by Its nature radical Orthodoxy.

The first of these is about council tax which came in to being after the struggle to abolish the poll tax. Yet council tax is a grossly inequitable burden upon both single people and pensioners. So should we not be looking at a more just version of the poll tax ?

The 2nd issue is about how we might better move goods by rail rather than by road.

After which we can also start to pull down the motorways. Yippy !

In order to do so we will need to extend the rail network, and better use the existing railways. This includes supporting the building of HS2 and HS3.

I know that both of these ideas will produce a lot of criticism way before the articles are written.

Yet we do need to look at these issues with a lot of fresh critical thinking.

So which radical periodical would like to publish either of those pieces ?

Changes

Changes In Our Thinking

As a individual I want to change the kind of world we live in, but first of all that requires a little rethinking from everyone about how this might be achieved.

For example: –

I think discipline is needed – Self Discipline.

While we need to move away from think in terms of consumerism, so that it becomes more about the quality of life.

Just as we need to stop thinking about profits, but think in terms of environmental gains.

While also stopping to refer to the military as defenders. That is because it is health workers who help defend us from ill health.

Changes In What They Should Do

It is so very easy to create a list all ecological and social problems which we need to address, and then produce an even longer one of what needs doing to solve them.

Yet even those who get to understand some of these problems land up creating even more of them.

This is well illustrated by the daily media coverage of politicians who talk about solving out ecological problems, while they continue dinning out on lamb and salmon.

These same politicians pontificate about global warming.

Yet they still continue to promote a technology which causes both global warming and many other forms of pollution.

e.g. Nukiller Power.

Or trade unionists who go on about protecting their members and creating jobs, while at the same time promoting the arms trade.

Never mind how they keep promoting the nukiller power industry, rather than promoting the building of wind farms which will create many more safer jobs.

Neither do we just need to focus our criticism upon the above, as so many individuals who get involved in campaigning take an almost nihilistic back to an illusionary better past in to a better future approach to campaigning.

An Educational Failure

Though in many ways what we have is a failure of the educational system which causes the above, and in particular a failure on basic education.

A society which has so many functionally illiterate, and scientifically illiterate individuals, will always have a problem with people understandings statistics, economics, demographic changes, or be able to criticise bad science.

To that list must be added a failure to teach linguistics and ethical education in our schools.

One only has to glance at the Brexitland press in order to illustrate just how things really are right now.

Looking Back – Looking Forward

Yet for all the criticisms about what is wrong about ill informed so called leaders, politicians, trade unionists, capitalists, and so forth,

we still are left with our own To Do list.

I’ll not repeat this list as I would just be repeating myself, and a To Do list is no use in isolation of an even longer how to achieve changes list.

I’ve always said that the most important job of radicals, be they anarchist pacifists or no, is to identity what needs to be done, initiate campaigns, and then move on when these become main stream concerns.

All of this is doable if we apply a little clear thinking.

Though there is a immense mess to clear up which is not going to be achieved without about what needs doing 10, 20, or 30 years in to the future

—- and yet —

It is possible to improve the education system right now,

but this can only be done by putting more effort in to creating much better Adult Education.

—- and yet —

There are some issues which will take many lifetimes of campaigning to solve.

 

Think Before We Speak

Ideologically Unsound

There is a really strong correlation between what are real insults, and that which is ideologically unsound.

This is why we need to think before we swear at people.

Description not insult.

One of the problems with so called swear words is that most of them are either descriptions of body parts, bodily functions, or pleasurable activities.

Yet there are other ways of showing our contempt.

Problem wording

There are some words or expressions which convey the problems we have.

For example: –

– Management

– Brexit

– Organisational Restructuring

– Driver

– Spycop

&

– Investor

True insults.

While the following are descriptive words which may be used to show our true contempt.

– Butcher

– Militarist

– Manager

– Kapitalist

– Nationalist

&

– Authoritarian

Compliments

In contrast here are just some of the compliments which we should all be using more often.

– Anti Militarist

– Ecologist

– Vegan

– Activist

– Pedestrian

– Anarchist

&

– Pacifist

Last word

There are lots of other word examples which I could give, but I will just conclude this with another expression which might be added to all of the above.

Be Imaginative