what happened to all the 90s political scenes?

[Sweetpea]

I guess thinking about it, I read all these threads that talk about how the 'left' can reach out to the 'working class' but for me it was the government that 'raised my consciousness'

 

[xslavearcx]

So was it the criminal justice act issues that got you first involvoed in those kinda things sweet pea?

 

[Sweetpea]

if only this thread was done in a zine format rather than internet it would be much better.

I remember rocking up at the Battlebridge centre to collect Schnews to distribute. Can I defend my political motivations? Fuck no, it just seemed fun at the time.

 

[Sweetpea]

So was it the criminal justice act issues that got you first involvoed in those kinda things sweet pea?

Well yes and no. Like I said some of the things it covered were just part of everyday life without being 'political' (my dad's brother was a miner so I knew not to trust the Police) and we were 'told' at school that 3 million unemployed meant that feckless arseholes like us were never going to make it - so why not dance? When they said we couldn't dance and they were going to start fucking up green spaces, that was the last straw.

 

[stuff_it]

I remember rocking up at the Battlebridge centre to collect Schnews to distribute. Can I defend my political motivations? Fuck no, it just seemed fun at the time.

Fun and I needed a place to live...

 

[Sweetpea]

Fun and I needed a place to live...

Exactly, were you making a conscious political decision? All respect if you were but mostly, it seemed to me that people were just getting on with their lives - not nailing their flag to some SWP/IWCA* mast etc.

*forgive me if I named the wrong people, that's the point - we didn't always know and didn't always care.

 

[stuff_it]

Exactly, were you making a conscious political decision? All respect if you were but mostly, it seemed to me that people were just getting on with their lives - not nailing their flag to some SWP/IWCA* mast etc.

*forgive me if I named the wrong people, that's the point - we didn't always know and didn't always care.

Well yes in that I wouldn't have gone and become a Young Conservative just for a place to live even if the parties were epic.

I only really learned about politics after I started getting in to stuff and bouncing around the country on foot (yes complete with dog) around site, protests, squats and raves.

 

[treelover]

Nothing wrong with a political belief system as long as its inclusive and non dogmatic, however, plenty of the key London based RTS figures could be very dogmatic indeed, while many just wanted to 'party' and live the life they wanted, I was amazed just how 'political' many RTS'ers were, however, I don't mean in terms of class politics, many of them were Oxbridge, etc but in anti-capitalism, etc

 

[xslavearcx]

Well yes in that I wouldn't have gone and become a Young Conservative just for a place to live even if the parties were epic.

I only really learned about politics after I started getting in to stuff and bouncing around the country on foot (yes complete with dog) around site, protests, squats and raves.

was your dog a proper heinz 57 effort?

 

[Sweetpea]

Well yes in that I wouldn't have gone and become a Young Conservative just for a place to live even if the parties were epic.

I only really learned about politics after I started getting in to stuff and bouncing around the country on foot (yes complete with dog) around site, protests, squats and raves.

Hehe, good answer. You're right, I doubt if I would have hung about with the Young Conservatives either Thank you for taking me as you find me though and not nit picking. I was trying to say it wasn't a conscious decision to become political, it was just a continuation of my life at the time. That's why I get confused by all this reach out to the w/c stuff, followed by what are the w/c, followed by disappearing up fundaments.

 

[stuff_it]

was your dog a proper heinz 57 effort?

No, I know which seven breeds she was mainly! Here she is on the right barking at a munter in a camo net.

 

[Sweetpea]

was your dog a proper heinz 57 effort?

I seem to remember it was deaf. Or wrong person maybe.

 

[xslavearcx]

Nothing wrong with a political belief system as long as its inclusive and non dogmatic, however, plenty of the key London based RTS figures could be very dogmatic indeed, while many just wanted to 'party' and live the life they wanted, I was amazed just how 'political' many RTS'ers were, however, I don't mean in terms of class politics, many of them were Oxbridge, etc but in anti-capitalism, etc

yeah thats where that rather vague notion of being 'anti-capitalist' seemed to arise but without really much analysis as to what capitalism was which i think really fed into the whole lifestylist trend that was going along at the same time.

 

[stuff_it]

I seem to remember it was deaf. Or wrong person maybe.

No, she was never deaf despite many years spent with her head in a bass bin. She used to like rolling around on the floor in front of the stack to anything with an amen break or some dancehall.

Hehe, good answer. You're right, I doubt if I would have hung about with the Young Conservatives either Thank you for taking me as you find me though and not nit picking. I was trying to say it wasn't a conscious decision to become political, it was just a continuation of my life at the time. That's why I get confused by all this reach out to the w/c stuff, followed by what are the w/c, followed by disappearing up fundaments.

I found Urban in 2002 looking for somewhere to download a section 6 from.

 

[xslavearcx]

No, I know which seven breeds she was mainly! Here she is on the right barking at a munter in a camo net.

View attachment 33569

munter. thats terrible.. lol... my dog looks like something out of the 80s never mind the 90s. you dont see mongrels anymore.

 

[xenon]

People grew up, stop being scenester clichés. hard to say reallr.

Kids today, etc.

 

[twentythreedom]

for a little while, being a raver was pretty much a fairly extreme political stance

*sigh*

 

[xslavearcx]

People grew up, stop being scenester clichés. hard to say reallr.

Kids today, etc.

LOL. them olden days were much better tho

 

[Sweetpea]

Nothing wrong with a political belief system as long as its inclusive and non dogmatic, however, plenty of the key London based RTS figures could be very dogmatic indeed, while many just wanted to 'party' and live the life they wanted, I was amazed just how 'political' many RTS'ers were, however, I don't mean in terms of class politics, many of them were Oxbridge, etc but in anti-capitalism, etc

yep, I'll give you that. It's one of the reasons I don't trust people that try and teach me about 'politics'. As the opening posts said, "people were really up for taking big risks of their own personal lifes for the sake of some political goal."
Even if I didn't know I was involved for a 'political goal' I soon learnt that these people had other lives to go back to, had other resources to rely on (even if that was simply not feeling intimidated) and most of all could close ranks very quickly if their dogma was questioned.

 

[stuff_it]

for a little while, being a raver was pretty much a fairly extreme political stance

*sigh*

Now it's just a niche pursuit, like fell running.

 

[Sweetpea]

yeah thats where that rather vague notion of being 'anti-capitalist' seemed to arise but without really much analysis as to what capitalism was which i think really fed into the whole lifestylist trend that was going along at the same time.

If you want a anecdote about "lifestylist" I remember travelling to Newbury on a subsidised coach from Islington. At the time I was a single mother and the ticket to Islington plus the coach ticket wasn't subsidised enough not to take a chunk out of my food budget. I had to tolerate a woman with fluorescent pink dreadlocked pigtails pointedly discussing how some people were just day trippers along for the glory and not committed to the cause like her.

Eta She actually referred to her hair as part of her commitment, she lived her beliefs every day by way of her looks. Since when does a particular hairstyle prove anything.

 

[xslavearcx]

If you want a anecdote about "lifestylist" I remember travelling to Newbury on a subsidised coach from Islington. At the time I was a single mother and the ticket to Islington plus the coach ticket wasn't subsidised enough not to take a chunk out of my food budget. I had to tolerate a woman with fluorescent pink dreadlocked pigtails pointedly discussing how some people were just day trippers along for the glory and not committed to the cause like her.

unfortunately when i was vegan i used to harbour the idea that the sum total of the worlds problems had something to do with peoples purchasing decisions. i think thankfully that kinda view doesnt circulate as much.

 

[stuff_it]

unfortunately when i was vegan i used to harbour the idea that the sum total of the worlds problems had something to do with peoples purchasing decisions. i think thankfully that kinda view doesnt circulate as much.

Ah, you were a teenage vegan pan-fascist were you?

"No, if you want to cook those free range eggs that you got from the house up the road you have to not only use your own pan, but build your own firepit"

We could see the bloody chickens running about doing chicken stuff ffs.

 

[xslavearcx]

Ah, you were a teenage vegan pan-fascist were you?

"No, if you want to cook those free range eggs that you got from the house up the road you have to not only use your own pan, but build your own firepit"

We could see the bloody chickens running about doing chicken stuff ffs.

wasnt far off how bad i was. i was also straightedge at the time too so i pretty much spent my time looking down my nose at other people all the time!! have to say the buzz of self righteousness is 100000 times better than any class A

 

[Sweetpea]

unfortunately when i was vegan i used to harbour the idea that the sum total of the worlds problems had something to do with peoples purchasing decisions. i think thankfully that kinda view doesnt circulate as much.

Hehe, I was watching the Beak Street eviction online today and when I heard that the utilities had been cut off, I thought 'there's going to be a couple of people who are annoyed about their vegan marg melting'. I think it's funny but also a bit sad at the same time that those sort of concerns really pushed me away from 'politics'.

 

[xslavearcx]

Hehe, I was watching the Beak Street eviction online today and when I heard that the utilities had been cut off, I thought 'there's going to be a couple of people who are annoyed about their vegan marg melting'. I think it's funny but also a bit sad at the same time that those sort of concerns really pushed me away from 'politics'.

i think thats one aspect of the 90s that we can all agree we are glad to see the back of

 

[yield]

I've got lots to say about this. But it'll have to wait till tomorrow.

In he meantime have a read of this: http://libcom.org/library/kill-chill-aufheben-4

The problem they face which seems to be defying any easy resolution is simply the need to impose austerity, the need to attack the gains of an entrenched working class, without destroying the fragile Conservative social consensus represented by the 'Essex Man' phenomenon. With the dream of a property-owning democracy sinking into the nightmare of debt, the consensus is rapidly becoming unravelled, but UK plc cannot retreat. What better tonic than a good old attack on those firmly outside of the deal, the marginalized, whose exclusion the Conservative deal was predicated upon, to stiffen up resolve in the ranks for those attacks which threaten to recompose the class.

Sounds so familiar.

 

[Sweetpea]

i think thats one aspect of the 90s that we can all agree we are glad to see the back of

I agree. But without starting a bunfight (as I said I really want to talk some days) how is the current I hate/love swappies/IWCA thing any different?
Especially as you said yourself -
"have to say the buzz of self righteousness is 100000 times better than any class A"

I am usually seriously intimidated off this forum and will probably regret it tomorrow when I:​

a) sober up​

b) all the usual suspects turn up with their hounding tactics​

eta
c) start trying to translate a private 'in language' that I understand is a pre agreed short hand to allow fast discussion but doesn't exactly reach out

 

[Sweetpea]

The problem they face which seems to be defying any easy resolution is simply the need to impose austerity, the need to attack the gains of an entrenched working class, without destroying the fragile Conservative social consensus represented by the 'Essex Man' phenomenon. With the dream of a property-owning democracy sinking into the nightmare of debt, the consensus is rapidly becoming unravelled, but UK plc cannot retreat. What better tonic than a good old attack on those firmly outside of the deal, the marginalized, whose exclusion the Conservative deal was predicated upon, to stiffen up resolve in the ranks for those attacks which threaten to recompose the class.

Sounds so familiar.

Without being critical, I'm glad it sounds so familiar to you. maybe I am a thick working class cunt but wtf?

 

[stuff_it]

"The problem they face which seems to be defying any easy resolution is simply the need to impose austerity, the need to attack the gains of an entrenched working class, without destroying the fragile Conservative social consensus represented by the 'Essex Man' phenomenon. With the dream of a property-owning democracy sinking into the nightmare of debt, the consensus is rapidly becoming unravelled, but UK plc cannot retreat. What better tonic than a good old attack on those firmly outside of the deal, the marginalized, whose exclusion the Conservative deal was predicated upon, to stiffen up resolve in the ranks for those attacks which threaten to recompose the class."

Without being critical, I'm glad it sounds so familiar to you. maybe I am a thick working class cunt but wtf?

It's a comment on how that is pretty much what is happening now.