... stand for parliament yourselves if your ideas are so fucking brilliant.

Let's just say I've got £500 to risk on running for election.

Let's say that despite the fact I don't have the millions of pounds that each of the mainstream parties get from the companies that bankroll them, I still get enough publicity out there for my future constituents to even know I exist.

I live in Bournemouth, a pretty safe Conservative seat. Let's assume that the Conservative MP gets about as many votes as he did last time. Now let's assume that I manage (on my shoestring budget) to get all of the voters who voted for Libdem, Labour and UKIP last year to vote for me. I would win, just about.

So now let's say I'm the MP for Bournemouth East. Sadly, we all know how private members bills from independent candidates go. So repeat the above until my party has a strong majority in the Commons. This will take quite a few elections.

But let's say that eventually my party gets a majority. Using the whip system, I can pass an act abolishing whatsoever law I desire. But... then there's the House of Lords.

So, let's assume that over time I am able to reform the House of Lords, with all the constitutional wrangling that requires. For the sake of simplicity, I'll assume the queen (well, it'll probably be a king by the time we do the 'politics your way') will still allow the leader of the majority party of the Commons to exercise the Royal Assent, and then the bill passes.


Do you not see how the whole system is manufactured to prevent any kind of policy that is not supported by the big business-run parties? Do you not realise that there is no democracy in this country, except the brief moments of choice ever 5 years for... well, for everyone who lives in a swing seat. If you live in a safe seat, then that's your role in democracy gone.

And what is this role in democracy? The choice of three main parties, all of whom have a practically identical ideology and very similar policies. And you're making the decision based on their manifestos... which bear no relation to what they may do in office. Of course, the individual MPs have no role to play in representing their constituents, because of the party discipline system (so you can forget having any input that way). So the direction of the country is very much decided by those who have the money to fund the dozen or so people who really formulate the policies for each main party. There are hardly any referenda in this country because Parliament is so jealous of the doctrine of Parliamentary sovereignty (which translates as 'once we hoodwink enough people into voting us into some sort of "legitimacy", we can do whatever we want for 4 years'). Give me one example of proper political change achieved by someone thinking 'I don't like this; my ideas are better; I'll run for parliament'. I could give you quite a list of lasting changes made by protesting.

I've spent far too long typing this out and it's probably clear as mud. But it's still a hell of a lot clearer than all the pathetic arguments saying that we can decide things by putting a cross in a few pre-vetted boxes.

So if you don't like the sort of ideas talked about on this site, so be it. Find a different site; or better still, go out into the real world and affect the sort of change that you want to see! Each to his own. Just don't expect the government to carry out your sort of change

:)
C

Nice!

this event is sure to be a chaotic rabble in Parliament Square as on Mayday 2000 - the 4 marches and the peoples' assembly. Some of those organising this have chief concern to visioning the spectacle at the expense of a deep political analysis; if the assembly is just some kind of open mic affair, I'm sure while being entertaining, it will have no meaningful objective outcome apart from being like any other Sunday at Speakers Corner

genuine lodnon anarchists and anti-fascists will not be on or a part of the black horse bloc.

We wary kids, Chris Knight's ego is the onlt thing organising this event.

So what will "genuine london anarchists" be doing, other than milling around waiting for something to happen? Mass, spontaneous, autonomous protest just won't happen, this is London not Athens. May Days in recent years have been complete damp squibs, this demo at least offers something with a little potential, and provides a relatively simple, coherent message that the media should be able to understand and reproduce, rather than distort. And can we not get into personal attacks on organisers, it's predictable and boring and completely counter-productive.
Curtis - i'm not convinced that deep political analysis works at a protest, maybe more suited to workshops and meetings?
Hell it's May Day, do what you want! But I'm looking forward to a little spectacle and chaotic rabble

People's Assemblies are unlikely to attract those who are not already activists. They're essentially meetings and (let's face it) meetings are necessary but generally dull. I really don't see how they're a good way of engaging people or introducing them to anarchist politics.

A People's Assembly ticks all the boxes in terms of a libertarian perspective, appealing to all left-wing sympathies such as anarchist, communist or hard left socialist, antiwar/peace activists, specific issue groups including those concerned with environmental issues, third world development, migrant rights ..etc.

However, it does have a danger of being abit of a circus, free-for-all. Perhaps a criteria should be drawn up as to what the remit of discussion of the assembly should be concerned with/limited to. Themes/issues/identifiable groups I'd recommend featuring would include speechs from family members of any dead soldiers who would be willing to share their thoughts, labour activists in the UK about recent labour disputes such as a representative of the Visteon workers and the 'Cleaners for Justice" (not to be confused with Unite's 'Justice for Cleaners), farmers in struggle against supermarket power (eg dairy), the shrinking of civil liberties in the face of the anti-terror legislation, ending lobbying of MPs by private sector and the corruption of politics (many will say all politics is corrupt .. I am not a continual cynic, as is the fashionable trend), direct democracy, local decision-making power of community, bottom-up solutions to sustainability, and I'd argue, a pre-determined selection of issues from around the world to which governmental power in the UK is directly linked, such as UK military assistance to the repressive government in Colombia and Israel, legacy of intervention in Iraq, impact on civilians in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Gaza, and any other international issues of overwhelming importance such as the continued media blackout on the human rights catastrophe in Sri Lanka last year.

Wheres the pink horse? Unfair to homos.

"I'd recommend featuring would include speechs from family members of any dead soldiers who would be willing to share their thoughts"

How about; speeches from family members of any dead Afghans, Iraqis, Pakistanis, killed by those poor bloody soldiers.

There is too much self pitying leftist, pseudo anarchist agenda going on in little britain these days. Lets think about the innocent foreign victims of this bloody 'new world order'

This event in the empirical capital, if it gets police permission to go ahead, will be some great street theatre, but it's only for show.

The only thing that can make any difference is what tax payers do when it's time for work on monday morning.

its going to be a walk like a zombie day also on may 1st in london

"genuine lodnon anarchists and anti-fascists will not be on or a part of the black horse bloc."
Genuine London anarchists are involved in the planning of this action.
Do you really think Chris Knight is the only one with an ego problem on the london anarchist scene?
I would say that the majority of anarchists who consider themselves key organisers in anarchist scene in london (you all know who you are) have severe ego problems.
I think its fucking rich that so called "serious" or "real" anarchists use the excuse of someone elses ego to prevent them from getting involved in a mayday event.
Its the problem of egos that has resulted in so much sectarianism in london anarchism.

Workplace organising, community organising, marches, specatacles, parties, education, consciousness-raising, direct-action, lifestylism.....theres room for it all in a diverse and strong anarchist movement.

See "no true Scotsman fallacy":

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_true_Scotsman

Imagine Hamish McDonald, a Scotsman, sitting down with his Glasgow Morning Herald and seeing an article about how the "Brighton Sex Maniac Strikes Again." Hamish is shocked and declares that "No Scotsman would do such a thing." The next day he sits down to read his Glasgow Morning Herald again and this time finds an article about an Aberdeen man whose brutal actions make the Brighton sex maniac seem almost gentlemanly. This fact shows that Hamish was wrong in his opinion but is he going to admit this? Not likely. This time he says, "No true Scotsman would do such a thing."

well mate i really hope you are wrong. we have real problems going on now and so many important issues do not get addressed due to anarchos not wanting to mix at all with other left groups. edl march through central london and fuck all people ewer there so there march went ahead. we need as many anarchos at these events to talk with they youth in groups like the uaf, swp, etc. how do you expect our movement to grow in numbers and strength if all we do as anarchists is sit at home and bitch about other groups and peoples egos.
love and riots.

I'm getting bored of hearing all the disdain thrown at certain groups/individuals from people who post on here claiming to be London AFA or Anarchists. At least there is a demo going on. I'm looking forward to it and hoping there will be something on the monday too. Some of the elitism that occurs on this website is getting very dull. I went to Anarchist Picnic down Brick Lane last year, and while being fun, it wasn't a knockout in terms of participation. If those attending were the 'London AFA + Anarchists' who are going to shun the march, then their numbers will easily be replaced by people willing to actually turn out.