Song about my hometown ( Medway, Kent )

Its all in the Struggle

Today in Britain's secular society, those on the left of the political spectrum are mainly atheists, and they sometimes claim that this is their tradition. Some of the founders of socialist and revolutionary thought like Lenin and Trotsky were die hard atheists, and I can understand where they are coming from. Maybe they and their contemporary thinkers believed that the act of praying is not only a waste of time, but sowing false reformist illusions that God will change the world rather than human beings themselves.

Reformism (the idea that change comes about through deferment to another, rather than starting with activity that can be done yourself) is the dominant political persuasion and is encouraged by all major institutions from the media to the education system to religious institutions. The idea is that someone else will change things for you. A most influential proponent of this philosophy is the political establishment itself, particularly the Labour Party whose roots belong to ordinary poor and working class families (the ones who need change the most) and who are persuaded out of taking action directly.

There are some very committed and good people in the Labour Party, these days they are in a tiny and perhaps decreasing minority. In fact, parliament itself is a diversion from the real centres of power i.e leaders and bosses of major industries. Although parliament is the official political body, power struggles and structures more often take place outside of it and the outcomes of these struggles are the things that influence government policy most.

So reformism dominates peoples ideas, and so for religion too. The dominant ideas in religious establishment and among religiously minded people are a reflection of those that dominate in society, and just in any aspect of today's society, there room for a good debate ...

One of the wisest things you can do in debates, verbal interactions and philosophical positioning is to not take things too seriously. Especially true when it comes to religion. I might for the sake of debate assume a position of believing in God and all that results in assuming that position. But maybe I don't believe. Although I did had a 'religious moment' whilst at a conference in India in 1999. I believe it was politically necessary to make a stand of portraying myself as religiously minded whether I actually believed or not.

It was to do with the understanding that as one world, the vast majority of people believe in God, this does not stop them from struggling for better lives for themselves and their communities.

Isn't it better to forge political relationships with people that won't involve any attempt to talk a person out of having a belief system, and as comrades you are still prepared to take them seriously? When I was convinced that there is no scientific evidence one way or another, I believed that the philosophy associated with a belief system made the case for Socialism easier to project and defend, and gave you even more strength in your convictions.

Just because a group of people who identify with each other, are politically left wing and don't believe in God does not mean that God will go away. He is here and part of life, whether we like it or believe in it or not. It is futile to fight against something that no human being on earth fully understands or has evidence of its actual existence.

So for those who think there is some sort of fight against religion; I say get a life and get real, there are things far more pressing to be engaging in and things that will have a positive and practical outcome if victorious. In other words the so called fight against religion is surely just barking up the wrong tree...

The Battle for Bolton

John Tipple explains police tactics as the far right EDL who have close links to the nazi BNP arrive in Bolton to spread hate, divisions and generally attempt to intimidate the local black and asian population ... Unite against fascism have stopped them, but this was no mean feat as the state police were determined to allow the far right their goal to frighten and upset the local people.

The Wonderful North

This is a beautiful picture taken by my brother - in - law's Dad, CE Turner. It is of Bamburgh castle Northumberland, and the landscape is typical of this part of the world. Rugged, bracing and beautiful. It has come as a bit of a surprise to me, having lived nearly all of my life down south with only very fleeting trips up north; once to Scotland (Iona) and once to Scarborough, I am beginning to fall in love with this part of the world.

It is light and fresh and of course it helps that my dear big sister and her family live here now for the past three years. I just love visiting.

It has been such great fun spending time with my nephew and niece, we have had some really good times, telling jokes, chasing one another on the beach, but really the prize has to go to my niece this time for making the funniest joke.

Its Sunday morning and we are talking about Christmas, (good topic considering it was mothers day!), we got onto the subject of religion (one of my favorite subjects) and my nine year old niece was surprised to learn from me that the only religious prophesy is that Jesus will one day return to the earth, at this she looked really glad and said " I must remember to leave my Bible out for him to sign "!!!!! What a Classic. What a comedienne!

No Pasaran - Stop Fascism!

This picture is of anti - nazi's holding the ground at parliament today.

A far right dutch minister, Geert Wilders visited parliament, the far right EDL who have close links with the BNP were planning to show their support of the dutch politician who has said publicly that the Koran is equivalent to Mein Kampf (inciting hatred and fostering divisions).

Police at the scene are attempting to arrest some anti - nazi students, put them on buses and allow the far right and fascists to rally.

Once again it shows which side the police are on - they protect the fascists.

Radicals and Rebels

None of us were born to be rebels and radicals; so why are some of us inclined towards radical, revolutionary and rebel politics? What happened that made us become and in many cases stay that way?

For me, turning radical goes back a very long way; to my childhood in fact.

As a young child born and growing up in Toronto, Canada, I was just like every other child who wanted and needed love and to fit in with things. It was a bit traumatic when our family had to up sticks and move to England, but I was still a fairly happy, healthy and normal child. I was liked at school, did well in reading, writing, music, art and PE.

Things changed for me in 1974, I was seven years old and the miners were on strike. We loved the candlelit nights with lemonade and crisps, but the thing that really changed me was a girl in my class with whom I became very close friends, she had recently arrived from South Africa and there was a great deal of curiosity and interest in her from fellow class mates. What she told me about the reality of apartheid South Africa really shocked me, I thought it unfair that black people were mistreated so badly.

The other significant thing about 1974 was the General Election, my political South African friend asked me who I would vote for. I had never considered that question at all, she said she would vote conservative because her Dad did and for other reasons which I cannot remember, but at first I said that it sounded cool! Off I went home to my mother ( we were and still are very close ) I asked her who should I vote for and that I was considering voting conservative.

My dear mother took time to talk to me about this. Her brother (my uncle) who she loved very much had set up the young communists group sometime in the 1950's and she herself and my Dad were more inclined to the left. To a seven year old she explained it very very well; Labour is more for the people she said, it is more about caring for one another. Well, on that note I was sold.

My friend and I proceeded to argue about politics day in day out. We would go to our local park, the Rec, sit on the swings and argue until we both felt sick (not from arguing, but from the motion of the swings that we had forgotten we were on as we were too engrossed in our arguing). Well there you have it, therein started my lifelong commitment to radical politics.

At fourteen, I had come across racist and nazi graffiti at school, I would purposely sit on the back desks where i knew it would be so that I could very carefully scribble it out, one of our books in the library; 'Cry the Beloved Country' had an NF mark on a picture of a young black boy. This really sickened me, but living out in the sticks, I had not come across the anti - nazi league.

Also in 1982, the Falklands war was on and a group of us started to become very anti and vocal about it, and some of the teachers got involved as they were concerned about our interest and our anti tones.

I was starting to long to be involved in something, CND maybe, but how to get involved? I sent off for more information about CND and received some wishy washy things written by Bruce Kent which frustrated me rather than lead me to more involvement. Then a stroke of luck, one of my friends at school, her younger sister had started to go to Labour Party Young Socialists meetings in Nye Bevan Hall in Twydall, Gillingham, and thought that I would like it. Well I jumped at the chance and I kept dragging everyone there who I could think of; my sister, friends from school, anyone, it didn't matter.

Then there were demonstrations to go on, my first being a local CND demonstration, it was at night and we walked with big candle things, I remember the hot wax dripping onto my hand, but that whole experience fired us ( me and my mates) up. The next one and my first national demonstration in London was against Pinochet, the Chilian dictator, it was the tenth anniversary of the military coup in Chile (1983).

Again another really positive experience; I went up with my lovely sister, she is great, basically she was really there for me as she is not politically inclined in the same way I am, so I will never forget how she stood and still stands by me.

During the miners strike of 1984 - 1985, I was aged between 16, 17 and 18, was supportive of the miners and watched the strike closely, I got very depressed when it looked almost certain that it was heading for defeat, my main political activity turned to the many pubs in and around the Medway towns, where we combined politics with booze and fags (those were the days) and we had such great fun.

Then things started to get serious for me as I went off to university and I was starting to suffer from depression ( might have been all that booze), but it affected my political outlook and I turned more towards the frustrated and dead end politics of radical feminism and post modernism (whatever that was, but my friends from Medway fell about laughing when I returned home from college after a year and announced that I was a proud post-modernist!)

However, I stuck to my right ward leaning guns until as luck would have it SWSS ( the Socialist Worker Student Society) arrived on our college campus. I could not win any arguments with them nor persuade them to be post modernists like me, so in the end it was like; if you can't beat them join them. But I was also very impressed with the socialist politics that I was hearing, it had future and they were not just talkers, they acted too, and they were mixed, young and old.

The Socialist Workers Party has now been my political home for nearly twenty five years. The story doesn't end there, at my joining the SWP, there has been lots and lots of goings on, maybe I will chart my history in the SWP in my next blog, until then, Ciao.