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']

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]

The rise of the… my number 8

There is something really scary happening in Britain. I do not think the British, mainly the working class, are racist, but I can see that awful racist party that is the STD after the sex of British politics getting a bit more electoral success over the coming years. I am not going to even mention their name on this blog post, but I think those British readers will know who I am on about.

There is a massive campaign to stop this party getting the votes it does not deserve, with groups like Fight Against Fascism and the TUC mobilising to try and neutralise the treat of that party. But I do not think this is going to work as their very focus seems to be missing the point.

The reason I think that party is going to get more electoral success is because of the lack of another radical (left) voting alternative. For years people have been saying that New Labour, the Tories and the Lib Dems are all the same, that they are becoming disillusioned with voting because of this. During this time there had been no alternative force to vote for. Sure, you have the Greens, but they wrongly have the image amongst the British public that they are a one issue party, so do not count on them to pose the best alternative to that party. Then you have RESPECT, who, like every other left wing party have (and will do further in the future) become factious and are splitting. So do not expect them to pose an alternative.

The last time the far right ever really got as much support as they do now it was the 1930’s. The time of the Battle of Cable Street. At least this time we had an alternative on the left with the Communist Party. But now where are the alternatives?

People are going to vote for that party because they are different to New Labour, the Tories and Lib Dems. And that makes me sad.

Despite the work of Fight Against Fascism and the TUC (among many others) of which I support, and would gleefully help, I think the best way of countering the threat of that party is with a united left wing party who can give us an alternative vote to the main stream parties, and who can grow like that party have. But that is not going to happen, just look at the last attempt, RESPECT, funnily it was RESPECT’s MP that helped with the split. Ironic as getting an MP should had been the basis of expanding its support.

The best we can hope for is for the Tories to get into power, which could force New Labour to become Labour again and perhaps unite the left. But then they have a chance to get into power regardless, and I am too cynical to actually expect it to happen.

I’ll cheer myself up by listening to my number 8 favourite album of 2008:

8. Does It Offend You, Yeah? – You Have No Idea What You’re Getting Yourself Into

I came across this band as me and Johny 2 walked into the NME Awards tour last year down in Portsmouth. We walked in to what turned out to be the last song of their set, of which we heard about 40 seconds of it. But it only took 40 seconds of a heavy droning bass rift to make me explore this band further.

Before the album had come out with only a few songs released on their myspace, they had already become my going out band. We Are Rockstars, Let’s Make Out, Weird Science and Battle Royale were my essential tunes to listen to before going out for a night on the amber nectar. I cheesily call them rock’n’bass, they are the perfect get up and jump sort of band, get your heart beat racing with their bass and synth driven style of rock.

Then, wam bam, they released Dawn Of The Dead as a single. So different to what I had previously heard, primly cut specifically for the radio, I did not recognise who it was at first. It is essentially a pop song, but not one that you would be embarrassed to be seen listening to.

Apart from Dawn Of The Dead, the rest of the album is a fusion of rock’n’bass and pure punk attitude. Does It Offend You, Yeah want you to know where they are coming from, and they don’t care if that offends you. (Oh my cheese continues)

Oh and did I mention they are from my home town of Reading

Personal highlights on the album With a Heavy Heart (I Regret to Inform You) and Let’s Make Out.

Previous:

9. Vampire Weekend – Vampire Weekend

10. The Magnetic Fields – Distortion

Orwell had a time machine and saw today and my number 9

When i read about this new Confidential Intelligence Unit (CIU) being set up (well it has been about since 1999 according to some sources) to spy on homegrown extremists, i got worried. Not because i am an extremist, as people who know me would say, i would never ever hurt anyone, which means i ain’t attacking no one. The reason i got worried is because part of it’s goal of spying on ‘radical’ left-wing and right-wing groups includes peace protestors… Let that sink in, PEACE protestors. How the hell does homegrown extremists and peace protestors get shoved in the same pot and become one and the same. [http://pakalert.wordpress.com/2009/02/09/secret-police-unit-set-up-to-spy-on-british-domestic-extremists/]

I reacon its just another political tool to destroy debate and soon allow New Labour, the Tories and maybe the Lib Dems to pull the covers over their shared bed and become one big party, i.e. the only party. First the CIU need to destory the smaller parties. Bye bye Greens and RESPECT, but i will not miss the BN… can’t finish it…

Anyway, back on track. It got me thinking about Orwell’s 1984 again, as most of New Labour’s and Jaqui Smith’s policies make me do. I thought, ‘well they could take our freedoms, but they surely can never steal our emotions, our feelings, our compassion, our LOVE’. Then, that same day, i saw this: [http://www.recentnews.co.uk/Kissing-ban-at-railway-station/17242]. They say it is not to be taken seriously, that it’s lighthearted and it is not a rule that is going to be strictly enforced. But then is that not the best way to bring about a policy that would be so unpopular if enforced that it would actually bring 30million plus people onto the streets? Don’t worry, i am not seriously saying this is another example of an Orwellian state etc etc. But, i would not be surprised if this sort of scheme is slowly launched at other railway stations, then at supermarkets, then on the streets, then at pubs… maybe one day we will each have CCTV in our homes making sure that we are not swapping slaiva out of fear that we may forget the time and forget to go to bed at 8:30pm.

Here’s my number 9 for my personal favourite albums released in 2008:

9. Vampire Weekend – Vampire Weekend

I said just before i told you my number 10 that my top 10 included bands that i feel should deserve more recognition, and are perhaps not well known. Well, that does not neccessarily apply for this band- the biggest band in my top 10.

There has been so much said of this album and band that i really do not think i need to say much more.

But i just want to say why i love this album so much. I have been really getting into the simple cultural things in life, such as films like Napoleon Dynamite and Juno, which are so easy to watch, really down to earth, and also the music that goes with those films as well, the single acoustic guitar, one chord one string at a time, simple lyrics that tell you things straight. This is what this album reminds me of.

Admittadely the lyrics are really intelligent, and they do not lead you down one emotional road, so you can take them to whatever meaning you want. Regardless, the music is so cheerful. It makes you happy. How can you not smile when you hear a song like Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa?

I really do not want to say much more about this album, but  that i have still met people who have not heard of this band, and when i tell them i am into Vampire Weekend i often get the response “oh, i didn’t realise you like that sort of music”. Quality.

Personal favourites on the album Oxford Comma and Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa

Previous:

10 – The Magnetic Fields – Distortion