Capitalism and Other Kids' Stuff
Apr 21 2005
I saw this a few days ago, but just got this email to the AF inbox this morning. I really recommend it- a non patronising explanation in simple language, that shows a communist contempt for capital, the state and all it's institutions. Well done them.
===
Calling all anti-capitalists. This is to alert you to a new film – “Capitalism and other Kids’ Stuff” – that has recently been uploaded to the www and can be seen at www.socialist-tv.com , and which argues the anti-capitalist case in simple language.
The film, made by 4 members of The Socialist Party in the UK, is 49 minutes in duration and, beginning with a look at how we treat our children, explains in non-jargonised terms, the insanity of a system that places profit before human need. Please note, this is not some leftie Party political broadcast, just a sane look at an insane world that is very much crying out for real change, change that can only be brought about by a majority, acting in their own interests and without leaders.
(The Socialist Party was formed in 1904 and has not compromised its principles since its formation. It is a leaderless organisation that rejects reformism and has as its object the common ownership and democratic control of the world's natural and industrial resources by and in the interests of all people).
Apr 21 2005
#2
Apr 21 2005
#3
:wanker: -- the low-tech version 
I want the "2 guns" smiley, from here: -
http://www.lushforums.com/misc.php?do=showsmilies
..... something to keep in mind for the new libcom forums? 
Apr 21 2005
#4
John. wrote:
Yeah, cheers for that John.
I am perfectly aware of who produced it, and- unbelievably- I *still* tihnk it is good. strange that, isn't it, not dismissing things out of hand?
Apr 21 2005
#5
pingtiao wrote:
John. wrote:
Yeah, cheers for that John.
I am perfectly aware of who produced it, and- unbelievably- I *still* tihnk it is good. strange that, isn't it, not dismissing things out of hand?
No I quite like the SPGB - Jack posted saying he wanted the wanker smilie, so I posted it for him.
Apr 21 2005
#6
Fucking hell, this thread looks like U-75 
Apr 21 2005
#7
pingtiao wrote:
strange that, isn't it, not dismissing things out of hand?
To be honest, I find the idea of anyone NOT dismissing the SPGB out of hand faintly disturbing.
Apr 21 2005
#8
John. wrote:
No I quite like the SPGB - Jack posted saying he wanted the wanker smilie, so I posted it for him.
Ah, Ok. Grand.
they seem alright to me- non Leninist aren't they?
Apr 21 2005
#9
Very sectarian in practice, though, ping. They infiltrated (not too strong a word, I think) the IWW in Edinburgh a couple of years back, & tried to use the IWW e-mail list to recruit to themselves. Caused a lot of shit in the Branch, too.
Apr 21 2005
#10
pingtiao wrote:
Ah, Ok. Grand.they seem alright to me- non Leninist aren't they?
They hate lenin + trot!
Libertarian Marxists, but they believe in electoralism not direct action. They love denouncing reform.
Apr 21 2005
#11
There theory and propaganda is also attrociously bad and incredibly electoral.
And they were going to sue SPEW (ex-Militant) for 'stealing' their name. I mean, Mili were tossers, but this is just pathetic, claiming to have a monopoly on the use of "Socialist Party". 
They also (used to, not sure if they still do?) denounce strikes for higher wages - because you should be striking for no wages, of course.
In practise, much worse than Trots.
Apr 21 2005
#12
..... another SPGB claim to fame is that they were the first "leftist" organisation to denounce the Russian Revolution. 'Cause the Bolsheviks didn't immediately abolish money
Apr 21 2005
#13
I was saving that one, you fuck!
"We've been going since 1904! We're the granddaddy of the anti-capitalist movement!"
Cunts.
Apr 23 2005
#14
Why do you hate Socialists so much? My family are socialists 
Apr 23 2005
#15
Toxictears wrote:
Why do you hate Socialists so much? My family are socialists :(
Are you joking?
All the people who have posted on this thread are socialists. A couple of people have slagged off the SPGB for having some ridiculous positions.
Apr 23 2005
#16
Oh, Good I thought that Socialism would be a good thing from an Anarchists point of view but when someone called them cunts I suppose I assumed people dont like them.
Apr 23 2005
#17
I used to think that the sketch in Life of Brian was a bit far fetched, anarchists are the same as the situationists, incredibly adept at slagging off everyone else for what are often very true and apparent faults but doing very little of any importance themselves, people hasten to judge others in order not to be judged themselves, its easy to tear apart other groups ideas, tactics and lack of class analysis but do you ever get the feeling we do too much critical analysis and not enough acting? 
Apr 23 2005
#18
pingtiao wrote:
I saw this a few days ago, but just got this email to the AF inbox this morning. I really recommend it- a non patronising explanation in simple language, that shows a communist contempt for capital, the state and all it's institutions. Well done them.===
Calling all anti-capitalists. This is to alert you to a new film – “Capitalism and other Kids’ Stuff” – that has recently been uploaded to the www and can be seen at www.socialist-tv.com , and which argues the anti-capitalist case in simple language.
The film, made by 4 members of The Socialist Party in the UK, is 49 minutes in duration and, beginning with a look at how we treat our children, explains in non-jargonised terms, the insanity of a system that places profit before human need. Please note, this is not some leftie Party political broadcast, just a sane look at an insane world that is very much crying out for real change, change that can only be brought about by a majority, acting in their own interests and without leaders.
(The Socialist Party was formed in 1904 and has not compromised its principles since its formation. It is a leaderless organisation that rejects reformism and has as its object the common ownership and democratic control of the world's natural and industrial resources by and in the interests of all people).
That was so lame, it was just a man standing infront of a white screen where was the action? but nah it had some good info in it.
Apr 24 2005
#19
For some annoying reason, I cant stream the vid . But from the description of it, it sounds pretty sweet! Are their any Anarchist ones like this? Thatd be such a sweet idea! Id love to do something aimed at a young audience to share my opinions 
Mar 26 2006
#20
the button wrote:
..... another SPGB claim to fame is that they were the first "leftist" organisation to denounce the Russian Revolution. 'Cause the Bolsheviks didn't immediately abolish money
Old thread, I know, but this is false.
Funny that someone on a libertarian discussion list would nick an old joke from a Trot (the late David Widgery?) to slag the SPGB.
Mar 26 2006
#21
the button wrote:
Very sectarian in practice, though, ping. They infiltrated (not too strong a word, I think) the IWW in Edinburgh a couple of years back, & tried to use the IWW e-mail list to recruit to themselves. Caused a lot of shit in the Branch, too.
Total lie, but funny how that smear got around.
Mar 26 2006
#22
Jack wrote:
There theory and propaganda is also attrociously bad and incredibly electoral.And they were going to sue SPEW (ex-Militant) for 'stealing' their name. I mean, Mili were tossers, but this is just pathetic, claiming to have a monopoly on the use of "Socialist Party".
They also (used to, not sure if they still do?) denounce strikes for higher wages - because you should be striking for no wages, of course.
In practise, much worse than Trots.
Sue the Millies? - nah, never happened.
Denouncing strikes? -nope again. Funny an anarchist quoting old vanguardist lies to bash the SPGB. Lame.
Mar 26 2006
#23
wheresmyshoes wrote:
pingtiao wrote:
I saw this a few days ago, but just got this email to the AF inbox this morning. I really recommend it- a non patronising explanation in simple language, that shows a communist contempt for capital, the state and all it's institutions. Well done them.===
Calling all anti-capitalists. This is to alert you to a new film – “Capitalism and other Kids’ Stuff” – that has recently been uploaded to the www and can be seen at www.socialist-tv.com , and which argues the anti-capitalist case in simple language.
The film, made by 4 members of The Socialist Party in the UK, is 49 minutes in duration and, beginning with a look at how we treat our children, explains in non-jargonised terms, the insanity of a system that places profit before human need. Please note, this is not some leftie Party political broadcast, just a sane look at an insane world that is very much crying out for real change, change that can only be brought about by a majority, acting in their own interests and without leaders.
(The Socialist Party was formed in 1904 and has not compromised its principles since its formation. It is a leaderless organisation that rejects reformism and has as its object the common ownership and democratic control of the world's natural and industrial resources by and in the interests of all people).
That was so lame, it was just a man standing infront of a white screen where was the action? but nah it had some good info in it.
They jazzed it up, and released it as a DVD. More details here:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3072291302771620276&q=capitalism/
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Mar 26 2006
#24
Hi Imposs - want to back up any of your claims?
Also - cant u just post in one post, instead of posting several times one line each?
Mar 26 2006
#25
rkn wrote:
Hi Imposs - want to back up any of your claims?
To be fair, what he's done is say attempt to debunk the claims of others, and so really the onus is on them to prove theirs...
Having said that I have heard one SPGB member (who was asked to leave the org) criticise strikes as being "reformist".
Mar 26 2006
#26
rkn wrote:
Hi Imposs - want to back up any of your claims?Also - cant u just post in one post, instead of posting several times one line each?
Back up my claims?
Surely it's the other way round? There were a lot of allegations thrown out against the SPGB in that thread, and none of them were backed up with actual evidence. I would argue, because they can't be backed up.
Can I just write for the record. I didn't register to the list to flame or antagonise anyone unnecessarily on the list. I clicked onto the link to a bloke's blog that led me to the Libcom forums, and out of curiosity then typed SPGB into the search engine to see if there was any mention of the Party I'm a member of on the list.
Of course, I read the usual objections and jokes against the SPGB. No problem with that, but accusations of infiltration of other organisations and being opposed to strikes are a bit more serious than that. Crap like that gets read and then repeated, and before you know it evrybody believes that crap.
Mar 26 2006
#27
Fair enough.
Welcome to the forums btw.
Mar 27 2006
#28
imposs1904 wrote:
Sue the Millies? - nah, never happened.
The previous poster said you threatened to sue Militant over their change of name to the Socialist Party. You replied by saying, no you never sued them. That's not a denial of the actual allegation made, is it?
I don't have any idea if the SPGB did threaten to sue Militant, by the way and wouldn't be particularly bothered either way. I'd have thought that the other SPGB would be more likely targets of a writ though given that they really are out to "pretend" to be your party! More generally one of the funnier repeat threads on many left elists happens when some member of the SPGB stumbles out of his coma for a few minutes and posts some rant up about how the Socialist Party (ex-Militant) aren't the real Socialist Party at all but evil name thieves!
Mar 27 2006
#29
imposs1904 wrote:
the button wrote:
Very sectarian in practice, though, ping. They infiltrated (not too strong a word, I think) the IWW in Edinburgh a couple of years back, & tried to use the IWW e-mail list to recruit to themselves. Caused a lot of shit in the Branch, too.Total lie, but funny how that smear got around.
I was on the IWW e-mail list at the time and that's what it looked like to me. And "infiltration" is how the tactics of the SPGB were described to me by a member of the Edinburgh IWW who I have no cause to doubt.
Mar 27 2006
#30
the button wrote:
I was on the IWW e-mail list at the time and that's what it looked like to me. And "infiltration" is how the tactics of the SPGB were described to me by a member of the Edinburgh IWW who I have no cause to doubt.
Does "infiltration" here mean just that they joined the IWW as their union and then at union meetings argued for their political beliefs? Or are you talking about something more "sinister"?
edit - thanks John! Man, I fucking hate SPGB.