love detective
there's no love too small
Has the anti-cuts 'movement' in its current form shot its proverbial load and to be consigned to the same place where all the other failed left or leftish projects go?
The initial excitement around students as the driver of a new movement/spirit seems to have gone the way of all previous rummaging around for an agent of change in history, i.e. pretty much nowhere.
Although the various local anti-cuts groups seemed to have initially done a good job of avoiding previous left failures at the macro/national level , they don't seem to have avoided them at the local level, and once again we're left (with a few exceptions) with the same (literally) tired old faces, arguments, methods, delusions, dwindling support, demoralised activists, corny and cringe inducing stunts, and inter lefty sect bickering/posturing.
Fair enough, struggle is part of a process, and one that is transformative of at least those involved in it even if it doesn't achieve it's stated external aims/objectives - so in that sense failure can't be judged purely on the inability to achieve any of its objectives. However to me it seems that this transformative process is currently only being experienced by those who are not really in need of it, i.e. people who would be part of it regardless.
It's stumbling along but despite the material conditions, like most other left initiatives, it's not really sweeping up or invigorating anyone outside of lefty/student politics. It's provided career opportunities for the Penny Red's and acres of comment and analysis from both conservative, liberal & radical quarters, people know a bit more than they previously did about economics, history and political economy, but other than that, a good year or so on, what's actually been achieved in terms of building an opposition or a weapon that can be used in its collective interests? With a year of organising, building, agitating, reading, learning, meeting, forming links etc behind us, is anti-cuts political organisation and politics in a better or worse position than it was?
Perhaps it's far too early to start talking about achieving objectives, but is it better or worse placed than it was a year or so ago to be in a position to even attempt to achieve anything? Is attendance at, and enthuseism for, local anti-cuts meetings, protets and rallies growing so the movement becomes more of a potent weapon, or is it fizzling out and into its own irrelevance? Is support being widened into areas beyond the 'traditional' remit of left projects in the last 25 years, or is it increasingly turning in on itself and becoming an irrelevance to those it should appeal to?
I can't help but feel increasingly negative and disillusioned about it's prospects to achieve anything but give the usual suspects a sense of doing something, anything. If you aren't involved however you're carping from the outside and being negative (but perhaps at least providing constructive criticism), but if you are involved and trying to stay optimistic about possibilities - where is it actually going and what is it actually achieving? I think 25 years of left failure has left the ground so completely and utterly obliterated and lost, that the anti-cuts movement in it's current guise and form, has next to no hope of being anything other than a retreat for optimisitc activists.
Is this too harsh, is it just my personal experience, or is it widespread?
The initial excitement around students as the driver of a new movement/spirit seems to have gone the way of all previous rummaging around for an agent of change in history, i.e. pretty much nowhere.
Although the various local anti-cuts groups seemed to have initially done a good job of avoiding previous left failures at the macro/national level , they don't seem to have avoided them at the local level, and once again we're left (with a few exceptions) with the same (literally) tired old faces, arguments, methods, delusions, dwindling support, demoralised activists, corny and cringe inducing stunts, and inter lefty sect bickering/posturing.
Fair enough, struggle is part of a process, and one that is transformative of at least those involved in it even if it doesn't achieve it's stated external aims/objectives - so in that sense failure can't be judged purely on the inability to achieve any of its objectives. However to me it seems that this transformative process is currently only being experienced by those who are not really in need of it, i.e. people who would be part of it regardless.
It's stumbling along but despite the material conditions, like most other left initiatives, it's not really sweeping up or invigorating anyone outside of lefty/student politics. It's provided career opportunities for the Penny Red's and acres of comment and analysis from both conservative, liberal & radical quarters, people know a bit more than they previously did about economics, history and political economy, but other than that, a good year or so on, what's actually been achieved in terms of building an opposition or a weapon that can be used in its collective interests? With a year of organising, building, agitating, reading, learning, meeting, forming links etc behind us, is anti-cuts political organisation and politics in a better or worse position than it was?
Perhaps it's far too early to start talking about achieving objectives, but is it better or worse placed than it was a year or so ago to be in a position to even attempt to achieve anything? Is attendance at, and enthuseism for, local anti-cuts meetings, protets and rallies growing so the movement becomes more of a potent weapon, or is it fizzling out and into its own irrelevance? Is support being widened into areas beyond the 'traditional' remit of left projects in the last 25 years, or is it increasingly turning in on itself and becoming an irrelevance to those it should appeal to?
I can't help but feel increasingly negative and disillusioned about it's prospects to achieve anything but give the usual suspects a sense of doing something, anything. If you aren't involved however you're carping from the outside and being negative (but perhaps at least providing constructive criticism), but if you are involved and trying to stay optimistic about possibilities - where is it actually going and what is it actually achieving? I think 25 years of left failure has left the ground so completely and utterly obliterated and lost, that the anti-cuts movement in it's current guise and form, has next to no hope of being anything other than a retreat for optimisitc activists.
Is this too harsh, is it just my personal experience, or is it widespread?
