Friday, July 21, 2006

Note to self

Being a radical revolutionary is not all selling papers and learning the latest edition of party notes by rote - oh no - there's much more to it. Much, much more.

Anarchism? Isn't that about having a dog and throwing bombs?Here are six maybes that I need to think about.

1. Maybe a ball breaking polemic designed to crush ideological deviants into dust does not do as much to build the movement as I might hope.

2. Maybe placing a sign around my neck announcing my formal division with everyone else in the room (like holding a paper on my chest or announcing my affiliation to some fee paying sect before I make my contribution) does not help build solidarity and trust.

3. Maybe ensuring my group has a 'high profile' in the campaign I'm involved in actually announces to those I'm working with that my intentions are not unamibuous and I am in the campaign for what I can get out of it.

4. Maybe a robust ideological debate to one person is brain numbing pedantry to others, and effectively places a large neon sign over my head that reads "never disagree with this person! avoid all political discussion!"

5. Maybe jumping on a new attender at a radical meeting in the hope of recruiting them to my bit of the movement will not bring about long term results - only short term point scoring.

6. Maybe I should consider whether the interests of the movement and the interests of my centralist organisation are necessarily the same all of the time - and if not - perhaps I should consider which of these I owe my loyalty to first and foremost.

And once I've thought about them I will write a five volume thesis on why I'm correct about everything. That'll sort things out.

5 comments:

Frank Partisan said...

I'm sure when it comes down to the wire, party first, movement second.

If you put movement first, you end up like a chicken with your head cut off.

In your mass work, you need to put the part of the program you need to use. As long as the mass organization is not turned into an election committee, you are doing ok.

badmatthew said...

But Jim I didn't think you did or thought any of these things! Has someone been annoying you.
And neither (necessarily) does the adherant of the modern sophisticiated revolutionary party.
Of course, we're all individuals with different personalities, skills and degrees of 'emotional intelligence'. When the revolutionary party member is doing the bad things they are frequently just being insecure, inadequate, inept and all the other things we all can be; and the response needs to be love, understanding, encouragement, and engagement.

Jim Jepps said...

lol - it probably looks like someone's annoyed me - but it's not aimed at anyone specific.

self criticism of my past and an attempt to start working through what was good and bad about the leninist model.

renegade's answer is interesting but i don't have time to come back on it right this second - watch this space...

Jim Jepps said...

having said it wasn't aimed at anyone specifically (after writing) have a bizarre 'argument' with someone which made me feel just like I was in the SWP again.

I say argument I sat there and listened as I was moralised at about not being involved in a particular campaign... definately a number one

I've decided ren's commnet deserves a proper post...

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