Alex Callinicos/SWP vs Laurie Penny/New Statesman Facebook handbags

[Idris2002]

55. This here is the wattle, emblem of our land. You can stick in a bottle, or you can hold it in yer hand.

 

[el-ahrairah]

56. love me, i'm a liberal

 

[sihhi]

14. A League of Nations should be set up to guarantee the political and territorial independence of all states.

Sorry LD, the revolutionary youth moment is what matters:

For us, revolution is a retro concept whose proper use is to sell albums, t-shirts and tickets to hipster discos, rather than a serious political argument.
Many of us openly or privately believe that change can only happen gradually, incrementally, that we can only respond to neoliberal reforms as and when they occur. Youth politics in Britain today is tragically atomised and lacks ideological direction. We urgently need to entertain the notion that another politics is possible, a type of politics that organises collectively to demand the systemic change we crave.
Revolutionary politics involve risk. Revolutionary politics do not involve waiting patiently for adults to make the changes. They do not come from interning at a think tank or opening letters for an MP, and I say this as someone who has done both. Revolutionary politics are different from work experience, and they are unlikely to look good on our CVs.
The young British left has already waited too long and too politely for politicians, political parties and business owners from previous generations to give space to our agenda. We have canvassed for them, distributed their leaflets, worked on their websites, updated their twitter feeds, hashtagged their leadership campaigns, done their photocopying and made their tea, pining all the while for political transcendence. No more; I say no more.
A radical youth movement requires direct action, it will require risk taking, and it will require central, independent organisation. It will not require us to join the communist party or wear a silly hat, but it will require us to risk upsetting, in no particular order, our parents, our future employers, the party machine, and quite possibly the police.

That was her speech at the Compass Conference 2010: "I gave this speech yesterday at the youth panel at the Compass conference, 'A New Hope'. After writing this in a fit of pique at the notion of youth politics being co-opted into the conference-going, sandwich-eating mode of adult politics, I got very nervous about actually saying the words out loud, and was sitting next to John Harris of the Guardian as chair, whose columns I adore, which didn't help. Thank you to those who attended and tweeted nice things whilst the event was going on!"

Down with sandwiches! Up with Bengal chai?

Laurie Penny in 2010. Which MP, which Think Tank? Questions must be asked.

 

[Idris2002]

Laurie Penny in 2010. Which MP, which Think Tank? Questions must be asked.

Bloody hell, that radical journalist lifestyle must have aged her pretty badly, if she ended up looking the bould Tariq. I assume that's an old pic of her with the red dye-job?

 

[love detective]

'skinny men with suspicious moustaches'

 

[DaveCinzano]

The smartest PPE in a very smart college.

 

[Bakunin]

72. "The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of the darkness. For he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know I am THE LORD(!), when I lay my vengeance upon you!"

 

[Idris2002]

23. Fnord

 

[rekil]

Owen Jones losin' it on the twitter.

 

[DaveCinzano]

23. Fnord

I believe you meant to say:

23. Fnord

 

[DotCommunist]

Owen Jones losin' it on the twitter.

post tweets

 

[DaveCinzano]

Owen Jones losin' it on the twitter.

I think this sums up his cultural reference points for me:

What is your political activity? Some of this reminds me of 15 year old nu-metal kids who hated the "trendies" and "mainstream"

Makes me feel old. Very old.

 

[rekil]

It gets better. Stand by.

 

[Idris2002]

Stand by.

 

[DaveCinzano]

post tweets

The main conversation:

dominic ‏@casiotone
helen lewis if you shut down the new statesman i will apologise for hurting your feelings

Owen Jones ‏@OwenJones84
@casiotone It's not really politics in the case of many of you, is it? Just nihilism and hatred for "the mainstream"

dominic ‏@casiotone
@OwenJones84 more that I don't think what happens in journalism is "politics" or anything like it

Owen Jones ‏@OwenJones84
@casiotone What is your political activity? Some of this reminds me of 15 year old nu-metal kids who hated the "trendies" and "mainstream"

W ‏@wgllm
@OwenJones84 way to belittle peoples' criticisms

Owen Jones ‏@OwenJones84
@wgllm Joking about killing people and dismembering them counts as "criticisms", does it?

Spitzenprodukte ‏@spitzenprodukte
@OwenJones84 @wgllm although it was pretty distasteful, it's pretty obvious in context it was a crude rhetorical device, no?

Spitzenprodukte ‏@spitzenprodukte
@OwenJones84 @wgllm It's not a level of discourse I'd like to engage with but wasn't a joke about killing, it was taking logic to extreme

Owen Jones ‏@OwenJones84
@spitzenprodukte @wgllm I had a UKIPer calling for my assassination on Jubilee Day. Maybe it was just a rhetorical device

Murray Robertson ‏@muzrobertson
@spitzenprodukte @OwenJones84 @wgllm Shades of var?

Owen Jones ‏@OwenJones84
@spitzenprodukte @wgllm But when people are under sustained attack, that sort of violent imagery can be genuinely intimidating

W ‏@wgllm
@OwenJones84 who's the 'many of you' you're talking about, anyway? who is it you think are nihilistic and hate the mainstream?

Daniel Trilling ‏@trillingual
@spitzenprodukte @OwenJones84 @wgllm Yeah but weak use of rhetoric quite often ends up being offensive.

Spitzenprodukte ‏@spitzenprodukte
@OwenJones84 @wgllm Yeah, I think that's true, and thing everyone should just simmer down, but seemed equivalent to Godwin or something

Owen Jones ‏@OwenJones84
@muzrobertson @spitzenprodukte @wgllm I wonder how you people would deal with the sustained venom and threats some face on Twitter

Murray Robertson ‏@muzrobertson
@OwenJones84 @spitzenprodukte @wgllm We wouldn't get compensated by writing about it in a broadsheet, that's for sure.

Spitzenprodukte ‏@spitzenprodukte
@trillingual @owenjones84 @wgllm yeah that's true. I wouldn't support it at all btw and wouldn't like to be grouped with it.

Owen Jones ‏@OwenJones84
@muzrobertson @spitzenprodukte @wgllm If you think writing left-wing arguments in the mainstream means you deserve what you get, fine

Jonnie Marbles ‏@JonnieMarbLes
@OwenJones84 @muzrobertson @spitzenprodukte @wgllm I dealt with them pretty well, I think

Owen Jones ‏@OwenJones84
@wgllm A certain type of 'anarchist' who regards a supposedly impure left as the biggest enemy of all

 

[rekil]

pointless duplicate post erased in massive huff

 

[rekil]

 

[DaveCinzano]

Your fancy formatting cost you, kamerad.

 

[rekil]

Your fancy formatting cost you, kamerad.

And dinner.

 

[DaveCinzano]

And dinner.

 

[rekil]

That's what it was supposed to look like.

 

[butchersapron]

5 sorts of bean in there.

 

[DaveCinzano]

5 sorts of bean in there.

Only £5.99 at FireBox

 

[butchersapron]

Only £5.99 at FireBox

5 sorts of bean in there.

(you boil 'em up..)

 

[rekil]

Owen Jones ‏@OwenJones84
@oscarpower @JonnieMarbLes @DelroyBooth @muzrobertson@wgllm I do. I deal with reams of right-wing abuse constantly. You don't.


Owen Jones ‏@OwenJones84
@oscarpower @JonnieMarbLes @DelroyBooth @muzrobertson@wgllm I'd wager I get more right-wing abuse in a week than you will ever get

 

[DotCommunist]

Delroy Booth lol

 

[frogwoman]

I'd wager I get more right-wing abuse in a week than you will ever get

wtf

 

[butchersapron]

Owen Jones ‏@OwenJones84
@oscarpower @JonnieMarbLes @DelroyBooth @muzrobertson@wgllm I do. I deal with reams of right-wing abuse constantly. You don't.


Owen Jones ‏@OwenJones84
@oscarpower @JonnieMarbLes @DelroyBooth @muzrobertson@wgllm I'd wager I get more right-wing abuse in a week than you will ever get

On twitter.

 

[DotCommunist]

Its totally a competition

 

[rekil]

It would never occur to him that normals deal with abuse, threats, violence, thieving bullying cunt bosses etc as a matter of routine.