Jezz White has shared an interesting post on our Facebook page about an article in the News Statesman by Paul Mason entitled “Labour’s radical left must fight the rise of a new machine politics“. Jezz made the following comments:

“I found this an interesting read. The topic reminded me of a conversation I had with a comrade while stood on a picket line a few months ago. I commented upon the renewed yet diverse vigour, vision and solidarity amongst Labour Party supporters, Trade Unionists and Socialist across many disparate groups and my hope that this would continue after Jeremy Corbyn.
Having read the article it also reminded me of our recent CLP meeting and how it made me aware of my own position, being strongly influenced by my activity and experience within the trade union movement, and in particular my aversion to top heavy and bureaucratic management structures whose sole purpose is to control the many.

One speaker (Chloe) in particular (among others) made me realise that I must be willing to remain open and allow our common aim for social justice and its focus behind Jeremy Corbyn to become sustainable by exploring ways to empower and ‘push’ for this within our party. How to do that while remaining grass roots driven is now a part of my thinking.

How do we all play our part not only in realising where our points of socialist agreement fuse but also how we discover and negotiate, through comradely argument, just how our diversity can lead to an agreed and articulated ethos; founded upon, substantiated, critical political thinking and experience – both past and present?

Having had time to mull over the debates of our last meeting I remember how Bell Hooks explained how both men and women are subjugated within what she called an ‘imperialist white supremacist capitalist patriarchy‘. Whether we agree with her thinking or not what it does succeed at, is drawing those who are fighting a common foe, together within a frame of coherent political philosophy.

We need to articulate ours, particularly if we are to turn our backs upon Blair’s guru Anthony Giddens; we ought to remember that a part of Blair’s strength was that he had an ethos, even if it was flawed!”

If you would like to comment, please click the link to the Post here. Or write to us with your views using the contact form on our Contact page.