Vampire Alert

The Socialist Workers Party (SWP) is once again sniffing around what could be loosely called the direct action movement - the lively culture of resistance that has grown out of reclaim the streets parties, the anti roads protests and so on. Seeing the growing awareness in this scene of capitalism as our enemy, and gutted that an event of the scale and militancy of June 18th could pass with not an SWP paper seller in sight, the party leadership has obviously decided that we're a prime target for recruitment

'Many of the ... anti-capitalists will join the SWP provided we are involved alongside them in campaigning over issues like the World Trade Organisation' Socialist Worker #1673

The SWP has a long history of seizing on every new 'issue' or movement and trying to dominate it, recruiting who they can and then moving on to the next big thing. In fact they had a previous attempt to take over the 'direct action scene' back in '94 when they tried to organise around the anti-criminal justice bill campaign. They got nowhere then and we need to see them off this time as well. Despite their radical language the SWP is fundamentally opposed to our movement.

At our best we have developed radical anti-capitalist ideas through creative actions. Actions brought off with no leaders giving us orders, just mutual aid and solidarity between groups and individuals. The same ideas also inspire the vision of the world many of us want to see - a free community based on co-operation, not competition and hierarchies. The SWP, however, see The Party as all-important. The resistance of the oppressed must be controlled and directed by the party leadership to succeed. Then after the revolution the leadership can impose a 'workers' state on us, and no prizes for guessing who'll be in charge of that. This is the same idea that has fucked up so many opportunities for change in the past - again and again, people have got rid of the bosses and their cops only to allow a new bunch of socialist / communist nationalist bastards to take their place.

It's important to realise that these parasites on resistance are as much our enemy as the bosses. Just because they've got sod all power at the moment is no reason to tolerate them. On the contrary. It's the best time to discredit their ideas completely! Lots of people probably join the SWP because they were the first and only 'alternative' they came across. Not everyone who sells their papers is totally committed to The Party, and hopefully more and more will pack it in and do something useful instead. But The Party itself can only be our enemy. It's not, and never will be on our side.

SO lets learn from the past and tell the SWP and their rivals to stick their leadership and their papers where the sun don't shine.



end.