Taken me some time to read this.
The Opening letter is a powerful piece of writing. Much of current class-struggle writing leans heavily on big-beard theory so it's refreshing to read something with a clear forward-looking focus.
"Victory to the Wreckers" is among the best bits of political writing around. It's not laden with jargon and persuades obliquely rather than in-your-face. In describing the way local communities supported themselves from plundered salvage it gives a realistic picture of a working class open to opportunity. Herein realism scores over romanticism. I found this article much more appealling than references linking welfare cuts to rising crime. Welfarism has its own dark side in that it promotes dependency and and dulls initiative. There are legions of compliant citizens, snoozing on sofas, addicted to day-time television.
The rest is ideological. I'm always wary of linking Anarchism in with Marxism. I know of nowhere where Anarchists prospered once Marxists started to pull the strings.
Dave Douglas's tiresome faith in Trade Unions is hard to digest. Trade Unions, before they morphed into business ventures, were either corrupt hierarchies or self-interested conservatives, often both.
The only concession to design is the generous spacing between paragraphs.
There is no postal address.
But overall, this is the best of the current class-struggle magazines. Most of the articles are alive, have real blood flowing through them and inspire me to move away from day-time television.
The Opening letter is a powerful piece of writing. Much of current class-struggle writing leans heavily on big-beard theory so it's refreshing to read something with a clear forward-looking focus.
"Victory to the Wreckers" is among the best bits of political writing around. It's not laden with jargon and persuades obliquely rather than in-your-face. In describing the way local communities supported themselves from plundered salvage it gives a realistic picture of a working class open to opportunity. Herein realism scores over romanticism. I found this article much more appealling than references linking welfare cuts to rising crime. Welfarism has its own dark side in that it promotes dependency and and dulls initiative. There are legions of compliant citizens, snoozing on sofas, addicted to day-time television.
The rest is ideological. I'm always wary of linking Anarchism in with Marxism. I know of nowhere where Anarchists prospered once Marxists started to pull the strings.
Dave Douglas's tiresome faith in Trade Unions is hard to digest. Trade Unions, before they morphed into business ventures, were either corrupt hierarchies or self-interested conservatives, often both.
The only concession to design is the generous spacing between paragraphs.
There is no postal address.
But overall, this is the best of the current class-struggle magazines. Most of the articles are alive, have real blood flowing through them and inspire me to move away from day-time television.
