The poverty of politics

Real politics:

This blog shows the truth of local politics - councillors posing outside shocking potholes THAT THEY HAVE FOUND AND ASKED OFFICIALS TO FIX!

What will socialists do about the potholes, our putative electors would ask. We pointed to the bloody shovels, and let them work it out for themselves....

Local democracy, for local people

Stuart asks in comments (post below) what my views on the Zapatistas are. Well, I have to say, I've never studied the movement in depth, my cursory impression has been that they have been a typical rural geurilla movement filling a space in a remote region that central government is unable/unwilling to fill, and winning a sort of truce with that state. In other words, they have built local administration where there was essentially (in effect) none at all.

Hence, if I'm not wrong, they represent a construction of local democracy, an improvisation. They may bring some interesting characteristics to the pot, but they needn't necessarilly be imitated where there is functional local democratic administration. Now, Stuart and I have disagreed in the past on this question, I maintain that local administration in the UK is pretty democratic (or at least was, under the old council/committee system, the new leader/cabinet model is fundamentally undemocratic). Of course, I reckon that in an upswelling of political consciousness, that would be transformed by the demands for participation by the community, but that would be a quantitative rather than a qualitative shift, using facilities that are formalities and dead letters now and making them the tools of viable engagement.

I am faintly fond of Murray Bookchin's libertarian municipalism, though suspicious of the fetishisation of face to face meetings. I think that broad based, far flung ballot box democracy is functional and liberating enough - I don't think we need to live in cities where a cry can be heard from the city wall (his Aristotelean example). Further, Militant and the Bennites tried something like that in the UK and found central government on their case.

Thus, I think that we cannot ignore the state, nor need we, we can, through active determined use of existing structures make the changes we desire.

That cigarrette paper, again

The indefatigable Theo Blackwell continues to chart the assualt of the Lib-Dem(Majority)/Tory council in Camden - with the news that they have disbanded the council's Voluntary Sector Unit as part of their drive to hold council tax down, and be seen to be a low tax administration.

Further, he reports of swingeing cuts to mental health care services up in Highgate.

My sources have it, that, in fact, the Tories are leading the administration, and are the real political and intellectual quality of the regime - their major partner is just a bunch of puppets - so I hear.

What this is is an assault on soft targets - probably frequented by non-voters - from the council budget. Not care homes or schools or the sorts of things that might animate non-users of such services, but which do provide a great deal of what makes a community decent - and which you don't really miss till you try to use it and its not there.

This is the cigarrette paper between the mainstream parties, this tiny bit of difference that makes all the difference. Tories and Lib-Dems, for the strong, against the weak, against the vountary sector, against civil society - barricade yourselves up and spend your tax savings on home defence. Cut the social wage, and let the rest sink.

Vote Labour

...well, vote, anyway. If you're in Wales, or Scotland, or in a local authority up for election. Vote. And by that, I mean anything that involves you turning up and being counted. Spoil your ballot (cock alone knows I've advocated and done that for years). Vote for the party of your choice - yes, even the BNP, if you're a viscious fascist I want to know it by you sticking your neck out and voting your colours. I'd rather you weren't a viscious fascist, so stop it, then you won't have to prove you're a fascist coz you won't be. If you see what I eman. But I suspect most of my readers aren't fascists. I hope.

To continue vote - Tory or Lib-Dem (although, Lib-fucking-dems, I mean, come on, what are you thinking? Remember, they sup of the devil's jism). But were I you, in your shoes, able to vote this time round, I'd give it to Labour. Volte face, I know, but hear me out.

Capitalism isn't going away soon. The no matter who you vote for,l the government gets in. Voting shouldn't and can't be about a quid pro-quo gift relationship where you swap your vote for political favours (as Shaw put it, the party that promises to rob Peter to pay Paul can count on the support of Paul). It is about who rules, the inclinations, affiliations and accesses. Governments must make cuts, they don't have a choice, but would you rather have a government for whom cuts are easy, or dificult?

Put another way, the social wage is part of the class struggle, we defend it all we can, and until something comes along to promote democracy and abolish the quckery of government, a vote for Labour is a slight defence against the worst. I've lived under two councils that fell to the Yellow Tories in alliance with the blue, t'ain't pretty. You can stop it.

Voting in Kentish Tahn.

Siân Rebecca Berry	Green	812
Samuel Eric McBratney	Labour	808
Richard James Merrin	Conservative	198
Ralph Scott	Liberal Democrat	1093

Well, there we go then, fun over - all the Lib-Dem treasure thrown into taking the seat seems to have paid off. I got at least four mailshots from the Liberals - maybe they just targetted known voters (they were personally addressed to me).

That's not a bad turnout for a by-election - and it doesn't really change the balance on the council. What it does do is indicate how badly stuffed Labour are, coming third in what used to be their turf.

A creditable show for the Greens - Darren asks whether I was tempted by Siân - however I oppose the Greens and their outlook generally, which reifies Nature and essentially seeks a form of hyper scarcity economics, so I didn't realy even consider them.

This is the end of my firstadventure in political independence, and I'm not sure if it's clarifed anything. Make me miserable living under the Lib-Dem jack-boot, though.