It maybe holywood but this is the speech of a true leader.

Mattism

The only way to understand the present is by understanding the past, as Tertuliano Maximo Afonso (or should I say Jose Saramago) explained “the only serious discussion to be taken as regards the teaching of history is whether we should teach it from back to front or from front to back”- in that from studing history from front to back you can start to unravel why today’s world is the way it is. That is why I study history. I did so at degree level and I am doing so at masters level. I do this to understand, to learn, to develop, and this is how I see my politics.

Although I consider myself ‘of the Left’ and I full-heartedly disagree with those policies that are associated with those ‘on the Right’, I detest the notion of ‘party line’. As with Orwell, I am unable to find my positioning on the Left, although I am a supporter of the Green Party. I dislike the terminology of ideology, although I believe that ideology is the most important aspect of world development and politics.

It may seem from these comments that I am confused as to my place in the world, but let me assure you I am certain in my standing. We should not be bound by the terms of ideology and the party line. As described I see myself ‘of the Left’, but then the Left can be considered within the bounds of the Communists and Anarchists, to New Labour and arguably (and very loosely) to the BNP- and I feel no affiliation whatsoever to any of these political groupings, especially the later two. My beliefs and political understandings are continuously evolving and will continue to do so throughout my life. So please don’t assert upon me the same views as those on the Left are ‘supposed’ to believe. There is no correct party line to follow to utopia.

Any of those who consider themselves firm in their beliefs or believe they are ideologically sound are denying themselves. They are denying themselves the joys of knowledge, of ideological evolution. They are also denying everyone else of a better life, although this only really applies when in power. Beliefs and ideology should evolve from the ability to learn and to the benefit of society. Of course this does not open the doors from being a Communist one year to a Fascist the next then to a religious fundamentalist the year after. Principles and belief can still evolve along the ideological path you wish to take, but they should not be bound by a particular party line or for what you believe you should believe.

I am forever leaping through spouts of political activism and ‘normal’ life, desperate for things to change but then longing for a simple place in the world I can call my own and live undisturbed by the most serious of stresses of the outside world. I join political activism groups that interest me in which I am mostly active but sometimes dormant but then the affiliation at least feels me with hope in that there are some people out there fighting for what I consider to be right and I am not alone.

Politics is of course about improving the lives of the population and finding the best path to which to do that, so in that sense I believe that the main difference between the left and the right is the disagreement in that path we should take. I do not believe that New Labour and the Tories serve only by self-interest, but at the same time I believe that the electoral system and the attitude of voters (or should I say non-voters) has dramatically changed the shape of what is the majority. Of course it is the voters voice that shapes the country and the less who vote the more direct line the country takes which of course may not suit the population. This is where the self-interest in human nature takes its shape and distorts the reality of the way people really feel.

I also don’t see the country as ‘going down the pits’, this is only the reaction of the right-wing media to issues that are indeed mishandled but not to blame such as immigration and political correctness for example, the later of which I believe is a consequence of right-wing affluence.

I will continue to fight my corner and develop my understanding of the world and what I think needs to be done, but I do ask, before you tell me what you think I believe to ask me first and I will bestow upon you the same graciousness of the absence of ignorance that people tend to forget when discussing politics with a ‘Leftie’.

But until then, please consider my belief’s, my ideology, my understanding as ‘under construction’ for the long foreseeable future.

[Taken directly from the page 'Mattism']

Laughter is the best medicine

I have not seen a more true post than the one on a local bloggers website. After recent shootings in the US, she begs the question that you don’t see many shootings by far-left members.

One of the recent shooting was at a Holocaust Memorial in America by a 88-year old white supremacist called James von Brunn, interesting to note in one American article that:

Von Brunn sometimes spoke of having fought for the wrong side in World War II, Blodgett said, and the two men sometimes attended meetings in Arlington County of the American Friends of the British National Party, which raised funds for the British white supremacist group.

Interesting…. Nick Griffin has been known to speak at these meetings. Here is one such talk from youtube:

Note that he is talking about how to rebrand the BNP to get support, here’s the transcript:

There’s a difference between selling out your ideas and selling your ideas. And the British National Party isn’t about selling out it’s ideas, which are your ideas, but we are determined now to sell them. And that means basically to use these salable words.
As I say, ‘freedom’, ’security’, ‘identity’, ‘democracy’, nobody can criticise them, nobody can come at you and attack you on those ideas: they are salable. Perhaps one day, once by being rather more subtle, we got ourselves into a position where we control the British broadcasting media, then perhaps one day the British people might change their minds and say, ‘Yes, every last one must go’. Perhaps they will one day, but if you offer that as your soul mate to start with, you’re going to get absolutely nowhere. So, instead of talking about racial purity we talk about identity.

As for the comment about von Brunn fighting on the wrong side in the war, my opinion of the BNP winning seats in the European Parliament is that every single person who voted them has raped the memoryof all those who fought for our country and the Allies against the Nazis in the Second World War. They talk about their nationalism, but it is obviously just plain rascism. How can these people who voted BNP call themselves fighting for Britain or being a proud national when they shit all over the memories of those who fought for our country and fought for our freedom against the German version of the BNP.

Anyway, i have been directed towards this twitter profile. Read it, follow it, love it! As one comment said, now that they have become ‘legitimised’ now they are open to satire. Forward to the front pages of a national tabloid and there are financial rewards going for anyone who can hit Griffin with an Indian takeaway!

Going back to the original sentiment, even in Reading we face the threat of nazi and far-right terrorism. Back in November 2008 a local man from my neck of the woods- Tilehurst- was charged under the Terrorism Act, he also owned Nazi propaganda… i bet he would had voted BNP if he were able to… and you don’t have to wonder why…

Please visit this facebook group for some really interesting BNP quotes and comparisons with the Nazis.

What’s Left; What’s Right

“When you call yourself an Indian or a Muslim or a Christian or a European, or anything else, you are being violent. Do you see why it is violent? Because you are separating yourself from the rest of mankind. When you separate yourself by belief, by nationality, by tradition, it breeds violence. So a man who is seeking to understand violence does not belong to any country, to any religion, to any political party or partial system; he is concerned with the total understanding of mankind.” – J. Krishnamurti,

An interesting debate has ensued from the corners of the Liberal Conspiracy website and the BNP’s two European election successes that have led to me to question my presentation of political understanding. That is; what is left, what is right?

It is true that when talking about the BNP we (that includes me) correctly use the term far-right (ultra-nationalist, fascist and racist are also accurate). But then again, are they? Tim Montgomerie, a conservative, has written a letter to the BBC to ask them to properly reflect the BNP’s ‘true’ ideological position on the political spectrum. He argues that instead of being classed as far-right they should be considered far-left. And depending on which way you look at it and the level of your political ignorance, he could have a point. Economically the BNP are a party who believe in big state, in nationalisation, in government intervention and protectionism- traditional positions attributed to the left and socialism. (In essence, their ideology stems from Strasserist economics- that money and big companies are being controlled by the Jews, but then also remember that Karl Marx once wrote: “Money is the zealous one God of Israel, beside which no other God may stand… The God of the Jews has become secularised and is now a worldly God. The bill of exchange is the Jew’s real God. His God is the illusory bill of exchange”).

On the flipside, the left (including general liberalism) have been more open to encompass ideologies such as freedom of movement and expression, civil liberties, human rights. These are certainly not what the BNP stand for. Contrary to this we see New Labour who is considered as centre-left bringing about the destruction of civil liberties and the Tories have become the self-proclaimed vanguard of them. Is this left/right wing politics getting muddled? (Maybe the Tories are just fighting ‘big state’?).

One way of looking upon this is the humble evolution of the political compass. During the Cold War it was a case of you being left, right or centre. Now when you take a simple online quiz to find out what you are you have a Z axis, Y axis, X axis and the other one that no-one can remember the name. You still have the typical left/right wing axis, but now you also have the social axis – authoritarian and libertarian.

Perhaps this is a consequence of the troubles with Stalinism. He was supposed to be left wing, communist in fact, which places him traditionally on the far-left, but the repression he placed upon his people and even his own party members makes him extremely authoritarian. So socially links could be made between the BNP and Stalinism, but they can also begin to be made when it comes to economic policies. But if Stalin was indeed a communist (open to debate but I say no) then does that mean the BNP are?

The fact that the BNP are touted as pulling in a lot of the New Labour vote looks like it supports this idea. The left look towards the working class as the majority, they say the working classes represent the repressed majority. The BNP are directing policies towards the working classes and are also saying they are representing the repressed majority, albeit in a racist way by describing the ridiculous notion of the repressed ‘indigenous’ white majority.

Nick Griffin himself describes the BNP as being outside of left/right wing politics. They choose (sick) issues and (sick) policies that they believe in and to them they don’t fit anywhere on the spectrum.

However no-one wants to be associated with the BNP. Even though some of the centre-right are calling the BNP far-right they are much more in favour of pushing them off to the far-left like Montgomerie is trying to do. One example you can find on comment sections on blogs is by using the name ‘national socialism’ (Nazis) as an example of them being socialist (obviously the same way that the German Democratic Republic was indeed democratic…). In turn the left are pushing them to the far-right. Neither side want to be associated with them, but both sides want the other side to be. To have the BNP be on ‘your’ wing is to announce to the world that what you believe in is only a few doors away from them.

Perhaps Mr Griffin is actually right for a change. Perhaps they don’t belong on either side. Perhaps there is more to politics than left and right. Why is it that people are always classed as left/right/centre?

I personally do class myself as left wing, most things I believe in stem from the left wing ideology. I am proud of ‘belonging’ to the left. However, I don’t associate myself in anyway with New Labour, Stalinism or if they can be considered to be, the BNP- even though they are supposed to also be on the left. Perhaps what we need is this scraping of the left/right associations. The world and politics existed before left/right wing terminology was used, indeed the terminology first evolved with in France and then through Marxist ideology. It also stems from a Cold War positioning, us and them. A way to explain what is happening and what you believe. But why do things have to be so black and white? Even with the new direction political compasses’ are taking people still want to place you on either the left or right with the only alterations being ‘far-‘ and centre-‘.

Taking away these associations is not going to lead to the destruction of left/right ideology and everything in between. Instead it could lead to increased political freedom and understanding. If you are on the left and you like one specific policy from the right, you no longer need to try and ‘reclaim it for the left’. You won’t be bound by thinking ‘I can’t believe in that because it’s a right wing position and I’m on the left. In essence you can pick and choose policies that fit the world or your country best without fear of ‘selling out to the left/right’. These theoretical positions bind us down. Removing the word ‘left wing’ from my thinking is not going to mean that I don’t believe in nationalising the banks anymore, nor does it mean that I think we should tax the rich less, but what it does mean is that it takes away a mental wall that allows others in. Go round telling people you’re left wing then half the world won’t listen to you because they’re right wing, but tell people that your policies and beliefs develop to the needs and best interests of the people you serve then people are more likely to listen. As Krishnamurti said, “When you separate yourself by belief, by nationality, by tradition, it breeds violence”.

[this piece is intended for discussion, debate and evolution]

In the wake of fascism…

So now the dust has settled on a night labelled as ‘a punishment to the left in Europe’ and we find ourselves with two ultra-nationalist fascist salesmen ‘representing’ us in the European Parliament.

The first reactions from anyone on the left are going to be one of disbelief and shock; I am guilty to early morning bouts of hysteria. However, as the day has passed and the events of the previous night have sunk in my understanding of the future of British politics has developed into a new kind of comprehension and hope.

Let me start with the cons of having Brons and Griffin as MEP’s. The first is that they are there to represent us. Unlike UKIP who deliberately vote ‘no’ to every motion regardless of its benefit to the UK (including to EU plans to track child molesters), the BNP representatives in the name of indigenous British people (am I apart of this?) will happily vote on motions to put towards the European Commission that help bolster their racist message. On the upside, they are only two MEP’s out of a parliament of 736, but the diarrhoea will still be coming out of their mouths “on behalf of the indigenous British people”.

The most serious damage coming from the BNP result is that which is inflicted upon New Labour.  Their wins came at the expense of New Labour and their votes which will give New Labour the belief that they can win these voters back. New Labour Minister Andy Burnham has already said that “There are concerns about immigration… the Government have to get a response to those concerns”. As if the UK government’s immigration policy is not strict enough, it seems it will get ignorantly stricter to appease former New Labour voters.

Furthermore any hope of effective electoral reform is bound to be dashed now. Despite its flaws Proportional Representation is often touted as the best alternative to replace First Past the Post as the most commonly used system in the UK. However, as it was PR that allowed the BNP to win their seats the main parties can use this excuse to dismiss PR electoral reform. Here’s to the status quo, New Labour, Tory and LibDems leading the majorities in Westminster far into the future, all in the name of stopping the rise of fascism.

But then it is not all doom and gloom. Having two MEP’s is very much likely to destroy the BNP. By being forced more into the political mainstream their actions can be more widely scrutinised without the claims of ‘fringe party’ and ‘left-wing hysteria’ being thrown at them. During the BBC coverage of the EU election results Jeremy Vine suggested that current BNP councillors in places like Burnley had lost some of their support because the public could see how awful they were in local government. Times this with non-stop scrutiny throughout most of the major press for the next five years and we could well see the implosion of the BNP vote come 2014.

Importantly, it is a safe bet to suggest that a huge majority of those who thought about voting for BNP actually did so. The passion of racists who actually believe in the BNP’s message or those who just want to perform a serious protest vote would have voted. Any remaining votes the BNP would have got if everyone had voted will be small in number and so they will have to rely on selling their brand of racism even more effectively than they already have, unless the left are even better prepared.

Perhaps another plus point is that this could actually help destroy a part of the British public’s apathy. There are people I have spoken to who have accused me of hyping up the BNP threat, suggesting that people will not really vote for them to the extent to giving them any kind of serious representation. Well now that opinion will change, helped by the media hyping up the story. It may force people to go out and vote in the next elections because they are now recognised as a threat.

This could transcend to other ‘fringe’ parties who are considered too small to make a change, too small to vote for. Well now we see that the smaller parties do attract enough votes to win seats in elections. Granted this is a consequence of Proportional Representation, but it could offer that glimmer of hope, a glimmer that will benefit parties like the Greens. For too long the Greens have been pushed to the dark corners of the newspapers. Despite already having two MEP’s, their support ever increasing and the prospect of national electoral breakthrough in places like Brighton, the response of some mainstream media to the party is one of blankness. It is if they are too nice to really attract voters or of the ignorant belief that voters are bored of the ‘go green’ message, as if that is all the Green Party stands for. You can already see that the party to gain the biggest percentage increase in votes in the EU elections is the Green Party, going up 2.4%, much more than the Conservatives (+1%), UKIP (+0.3%) or the BNP (+1.3%).

The most important result of the BNP’s success is that this is going to re-energise the left and British politics. Brons and Griffin are now the biggest indication that ideology politics can still lead to success. The transparency between politicians, New Labour and the Tories has become so diluted that people are searching for an alternative and the only effectively marketed alternative has come from the far right. Well now is the chance for the left to learn from the BNP. Throughout the election campaign I heard nothing from any serious left-wing party (accept the Greens) without going out there to find out about parties myself. For those who are not interested in going to find these parties but still would vote then what chance do they have?

It is also a chance for the left to properly ‘unite’ against the BNP. Sure there are superb campaigns such as Hope Not Hate and Unite Against Fascism that have helped to do this to some extent, but there were still those on the left who did not believe that the BNP were any sort of a threat.  It is going to force the left together, it will be a case of unite or die, especially if the left really did take the sort of pounding around Europe that the EU results have suggested. (Here is a good article that suggests that across Europe the left did score more votes, but because there is more apparent unity on the right the vote was split between the different leftist parties- already one anarchist commentator has suggested that the Socialist Party and Socialist Workers Party are looking at some kind of ‘agreement’).

The next 5 years are going to be exciting, especially if the BNP win a few MP’s as well (I’d rather they do not), as British politics is going to be revitalised- ideology is going to start to rule again. Come the next election when New Labour get kicked out they are going to go through some soul searching to rediscover their leftist routes, far right politics is going to be acknowledged (if not accepted), and the need for a serious alternative is going to allow space for the left to speak up and be counted again.

All you fascists (are bound to lose)

All You Fascists

I’m gonna tell you fascists
You may be surprised
The people in this world
Are getting organized
You’re bound to lose
You fascists bound to lose

Race hatred cannot stop us
This one thing we know
Your poll tax and Jim Crow
And greed has got to go
You’re bound to lose
You fascists bound to lose.

All of you fascists bound to lose:
I said, all of you fascists bound to lose:
Yes sir, all of you fascists bound to lose:
You’re bound to lose! You fascists:
Bound to lose!

People of every color
Marching side to side
Marching ‘cross these fields
Where a million fascists dies
You’re bound to lose
You fascists bound to lose!

I’m going into this battle
And take my union gun
We’ll end this world of slavery
Before this battle’s won
You’re bound to lose
You fascists bound to lose!

Song by Billy Bragg on Mermaid Avenue II, words by Woody Gunthrie

Ecosocialist

I am unashamedly an eco-socialist, and I would like to share with you two pieces that make interesting reading and which help frame my mind set. Saying that, my political mind set is a hectic place, so over the next few weeks I will hopefully show you what I specifically belief in and what I would do if I had the power on the page ‘Mattism’. Enjoy.

The Ecosocialist Manifesto

By Joel Kovel and Michael Lowy (September 2001)

The twenty-first century opens on a catastrophic note, with an unprecedented degree of ecological breakdown and a chaotic world order beset with terror and clusters of low-grade, disintegrative warfare that spread like gangrene across great swathes of the planet—viz., central Africa, the Middle East, Northwestern South America—and reverberate throughout the nations. In our view, the crises of ecology and those of societal breakdown are profoundly interrelated and should be seen as different manifestati

ons of the same structural forces.

Cultural tales of a European wonderer

I am much travelled around Europe. I have been to countries from the old eastern block, through to ‘the West’, from the warmth of the Mediterranean to the chill of Scandinavia, and everything inbetween. The one thing I have really noticed from these travels is how far we, Britain, are culturally and socially behind European countries. For me to compound this statement consider this fact:

While travelling you are going to meet and speak to [local] people.

To communicate you need to be able to speak a common language and although there are a few Britons who can speak another tongue, there are not many. So this means that you have thousands neh millions of people in other countries who are able to speak our language even though it is not their own.

As said, to communicate you need a common language, so it should not be surprising that a local in say France is very likely to speak English with a tourist from Japan. I have seen this happen. Our language has flown around the world and we should be proud of this. It is this which is our greatest export.

I have noticed on buses in Slovenia that announcements are made in English and then Slovenian and I have noticed on underground trains in Sweden and France for example of signs being written in the local language with the English underneath. Go into a restaurant abroad and you are likely to be given a menu written in both the local language and English (sometimes a few other languages as well).

This combination is carried across into media as well. Go to clubs, listen to the radio or go to concerts in another European country and you can hear scores of songs either from Britain/America being played, or local acts singing in English. When I have been to cinemas in Europe there is often the choice between a film in English with local language subtitles underneath or the same film fully dubbed in the local language.

Everywhere you go you can see how the English language has been embraced, but I must stress, not to the extent where it over rules the local language.

It is not just language. Everywhere you go you will always see the same brands: McDonalds, Starbucks, Tescos, Shell and Ford for example (I know not all these are British and this is a consequence of globalisation). There will always be Irish Bars in the major cities showing Premiership football or England rugby games (I watched the 2009 FA Cup final in Prague). You can easily find the English papers. The British flag can be seen in nearly every street in tacky souvenir shops or even outside restaurants where on the menu you can find ‘traditional English breakfast’ served with ‘English tea’.

Yet despite the British and western invasion in European countries you can still grasp and embrace the local cultures. The people are generally friendly everywhere, but you can tell nationalistic personality types among people from different countries. You will always find the local dishes easy to come by and the local beers strongly advertised. If a country is famed for a siesta you can see it’s impact. If the country is known for a specific drinking style you’ll see it (such as drinking for social enjoyment). Countries and cities may generally look the same in Europe, but you can easily culturally tell them apart from country to country. It is one of the joys of travelling and one of the reasons people do it.

But then transcend this ideology back to Britain. Can you image being given a menu at a typical restaurant written in several languages. Can you see the impact of signs on the buses or announcements on the trains being made in several languages. Can you even imagine many British people communicating to a tourist in a way that is not shouting louder and speaking each word slowly and separately. A lot of British people will not accept this and we have not been bought up to be fluent in different languages.

Now we are not a nation of racists, and I despise the idea that society and culture in Britain is or has collapsed, but as a nation we have such a poor outlook on life and idea on living life. Of course we are the country of business where work dominates our lives, but this is to the detriment of our family, our social and cultural lives. It leads us to binge drinking as a means to divert the mind away from earning money to just pay the bills, lending to the image of drunken Brits stumbling out of clubs and throwing up being screened around the world and acted out by British tourists. It also leads us to not appreciate each other, our family, our friends, strangers, we become more socially reserved, it maybe a cultural trait, but it leads to the British being seen abroad with contempt (it’s not all down to our political leaders). I have walked down streets of the major capitals of Europe and streets of obscure villages in Europe and people walk past me (and travelling buddies) uttering the words ‘British *tsck*’ with so much disgust I fear I may had been singing ‘get ya tits out’ really loud instead of wondering where to get lunch.

We in Britain need to start accepting Europe and European culture. More of us need to properly travel to experience local societies instead of purely sightseeing and spending evenings in a hotel. If there is a fear of our culture being destroyed by such an embrace then I would suggest that those people do not really understand our culture or what it really is. I am not calling for all signs to be written in hundred different languages or even two, but I do think we need to be more open to the possibility of these changes. There should be no excuse as to why more of us cannot speak more languages, even if it is not fluent. While we are at it lets revamp our own society and culture and remove the non-political contempt that a lot of Britain’s seem to be met with by some locals in other countries.