Building anarchism in Belfast
Sep 2 2009 08:55
A public meeting in which speakers will present a brief overview of the Workers Solidarity Movement, its goals and aim as an anarchist organisation and what struggles it is currently involved in. If you are interested in joining the WSM or simply want to find out more please feel free to come along.
Anarchism is about building a society with maximum freedom and maximum equality, where we as working class people run our own communities and workplaces’ for our benefit.
Anarchist ideas link a vision of a new society with practical methods of getting there-through direct action and solidarity.
When: 3pm, Saturday 12th September
Where: Belfast Unemployed Resource Centre (beside John Hewitt’s bar)
45/47 Lower Donegall Street,
Sep 3 2009 14:40
#2
Let's build an anarchy!!!1!
~J.
Sep 3 2009 10:07
#3
Can't say I'm a fan of the whole 'building' thing, very popular with the Trots over the years (which, of course, shouldn't make it unusuable per se), e.g. building the movement, building the campaign, building the paper etc, made them all sound like frustrated DIY types. Come to think of it, I don't like 'workshop' either.
Sep 3 2009 10:59
#4
In fairness these "what is the wsm" meetings are little more than recruitment sessions geared towards getting fresh young new members in while the organisation is blind to the fact it is losing a lot of good members it gained over the last few years.
WSM don't seem to being doing activity beyond recruitment and doing the paper at the minute, perhaps someone should tell them its ten times cheaper to keep an existing customer than make a new one.
Sep 3 2009 11:06
#5
Pumpsie Green wrote:
Can't say I'm a fan of the whole 'building' thing, very popular with the Trots over the years (which, of course, shouldn't make it unusuable per se), e.g. building the movement, building the campaign, building the paper etc, made them all sound like frustrated DIY types. Come to think of it, I don't like 'workshop' either.
Depends what you're building, don't throw the baby out with the trotwater.
Sep 3 2009 13:30
#6
weeler wrote:
WSM don't seem to being doing activity beyond recruitment and doing the paper at the minute, perhaps someone should tell them its ten times cheaper to keep an existing customer than make a new one.
jesus weeler, you never cease to amaze me... Apart from the fact that the summer months are usally quite quiet, the WSM have been quite active in supporting workers in struggle when they arise such as Thomas Cook and the Dublin Port workers. It is not as if we are in a high point of class struggle at the moment.
Sep 3 2009 13:54
#7
On the 18th of July the Belfast Branch of the WSM had their "Building an effective anarchist movement" and now this - in the meantime Organise! have actually been engaged in effective solidarity work in Belfast, brought out a regular tabloid, got ourselves an office and got quite a few more people involved. The WSM are building nothing in Belfast, so pumpsie really has little to worry about.
The claim that we are not in a 'high' period of struggle is ludicrous and shows Maloneys distance from workers in struggle in the face of the current recession.
Sep 3 2009 14:14
#8
blah, blah.... It is worth remembering that the Belfast branch was only formed early last year and Organise! in various forms have been around alot longer, therefore more of an established presence in the city. Yes, I am delighted Organise! are involved in all these areas and have a newspaper out. It is the very least a group of Organise! size should be doing.
And yes, I am well aware of current struggles workers are involved in and we do as much as we can minus our much smaller size in Belfast. Personally, I am quite happy aand satisfied with the stuff we have been involved in, especially given our size and the fact that Organise! have been around alot longer. We can only do so much depending on our resources.
Sep 3 2009 14:31
#9
Maloney wrote:
jesus weeler, you never cease to amaze me... Apart from the fact that the summer months are usally quite quiet, the WSM have been quite active in supporting workers in struggle when they arise such as Thomas Cook and the Dublin Port workers. It is not as if we are in a high point of class struggle at the moment.
I don't know how I amaze you when I said all of these things to you over the weekend. I also regularly discuss this with WSM members, before you all fuck off and hold a meeting over something I am alleged to have said without consulting me, again.
We are at a higher point in class struggle than ever before in the last few years yet wsm's activity seems to be in at an all time low and they are losing people who have been members for a couple years. Why not hold a meeting to try save the members you have before the dedicated core go off party building again with their "fuck them, if they want to leave we can't stop them*" attitude?
* heard from a few members of your organisation
Sep 3 2009 14:40
#10
weeler, this meeting is a belfast initiative. In relation to your last point that attitude is something I dont share and certainly have not heard it from any of our members. I dont judge an organisation based on hearsay or rumours either. Things of this nature will be sorted out internally, not in public and certianly not on libcom. END OF!
whats with the paranoia cause ive never heard of any special meeting that discusses anything you have said. I generally have you in high esteem and believe you have alot to contribute but your not that special. Your getting shipped of to the mainland anyway. 
Sep 3 2009 22:03
#11
Maloney wrote:
weeler, this meeting is a belfast initiative. In relation to your last point that attitude is something I dont share and certainly have not heard it from any of our members. I dont judge an organisation based on hearsay or rumours either. Things of this nature will be sorted out internally, not in public and certianly not on libcom. END OF!
Holding recruitment meetings is a wsm policy though, how many has belfast wsm held so far?
Maloney wrote:
whats with the paranoia cause ive never heard of any special meeting that discusses anything you have said. I generally have you in high esteem and believe you have alot to contribute but your not that special. Your getting shipped of to the mainland anyway.
Comrade, fuck up, its not paranoia. A number of my closest mates are in WSM and attended this farcical meeting at the teachers club. I am certain you read about it seeing as you comment every single article on their internal and wouldnt have skipped something juicy like that.
Being back on the net is no excuse for being a dishonest git, after a weekend of relatively open discussion.
Sep 3 2009 22:04
#12
ps - rolling your eyes is banned in wsm, please cease
Sep 6 2009 18:41
#13
I have to say, Belfast WSM would be a lot wiser to spend their time actually just gettign their hands dirty in local struggles instead of just holding quarterly public meetings and setting up fake internet accounts.
There have been so many issues and struggles in Belfast recently where the WSM's involvement has been close to non-existent.
I've not seen a single member at any of the traffic warden, Nortel, Thomas Cook etc protests and other than the protest during the Roma attacks, the WSM did not, contrary to their printed claims, stay to help the Roma defend thier houses, unless you count hanging around for half an hour after the protest has ended. I mean fuck sake, I've been living in London for 3 months and still managed to make most of these!
If recruitment really is there concern, i actually think they'd get more members by doing that sort of work, making links with people and showing people they actually mean business instead of just an ongoing campaign of self-publicity, link-posting and empty recruitment drives.
And really, the claim thqt we're not at a high level of class-struggle is stunning.
Sep 6 2009 21:27
#14
weeler wrote:
We are at a higher point in class struggle than ever before in the last few years yet wsm's activity seems to be in at an all time low and they are losing people who have been members for a couple years. Why not hold a meeting to try save the members you have before the dedicated core go off party building again with their "fuck them, if they want to leave we can't stop them*" attitude?
Why are you counterposing the two like that? Surely an organisation can pay attention both to retaining members and recruiting new ones?
Out of curiousity, what was your great crime that necessitated a meeting? I thought you weren't in the WSM any more.
Sep 6 2009 23:14
#15
Mind your business, it didnt even happen. 
Sep 7 2009 09:21
#16
Choccy wrote:
I have to say, Belfast WSM would be a lot wiser to spend their time actually just gettign their hands dirty in local struggles instead of just holding quarterly public meetings and setting up fake internet accounts.There have been so many issues and struggles in Belfast recently where the WSM's involvement has been close to non-existent.
I've not seen a single member at any of the traffic warden, Nortel, Thomas Cook etc protests and other than the protest during the Roma attacks, the WSM did not, contrary to their printed claims, stay to help the Roma defend thier houses, unless you count hanging around for half an hour after the protest has ended. I mean fuck sake, I've been living in London for 3 months and still managed to make most of these!If recruitment really is there concern, i actually think they'd get more members by doing that sort of work, making links with people and showing people they actually mean business instead of just an ongoing campaign of self-publicity, link-posting and empty recruitment drives.
And really, the claim thqt we're not at a high level of class-struggle is stunning.
Yeh, I would like to take that comment back- I was wrong and was making a comparison to something else.
Again, apart from what I have added, I think you are creating a false division between public meetings and activity. I dont know anyone in the wsm who does not believe that supporting workers in struggle should be our central focus.
In Belfast, we are very much constrained by our size and resources, which therefore impacts on our involvement in local struggles. Believe you me, I would love for us to be in a position of being very active in these struggles but there is only so much we can do.
Your are mistaken in relation to ths traffic attendents strike. One member did attend quite a few pickets etc.
I am quite satisfied by our work so far and believe we are still pushing above our weight. Yes, there is always work for improvement which would certainly help if we had 20 odd members in Belfast!
Sep 7 2009 18:28
#17
I still think you'd be much better off just being highly visible and engaging in local issues than holding quarterly public recruitment meetings. It takes far more effort to organise talks than it does to turn up to pickets/protests and make links with workers and communities in my experience, and if your time and resources (and membership) are limited, it might be an idea to focus on concrete support work as opposed to self-publicity and recruitment.
Sep 9 2009 08:36
#18
meeting has been cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances. Nothing to do with libcom!
Sep 9 2009 08:50
#19
Sep 9 2009 14:53
#20
Oh no! Has the WSM building collapsed?
Sep 9 2009 16:25
#21
It just needs a safer and more ambitious pair of hands.
Sep 9 2009 18:22
#22
Choccy wrote:
I still think you'd be much better off just being highly visible and engaging in local issues than holding quarterly public recruitment meetings. It takes far more effort to organise talks than it does to turn up to pickets/protests and make links with workers and communities in my experience, and if your time and resources (and membership) are limited, it might be an idea to focus on concrete support work as opposed to self-publicity and recruitment.
I appreciate the feedback but it is not a question of doing one or other as you are trying to imply. The issue of recruitment, holding public meetings and supporting workers in struggle are all interlinked. It also depends what you hold the talk on and what you want to gain from it as an organisations. ie I dont believe in holding public meetings for the sake of it.. especially when I have to book time off work.
For example a few weeks agao we organised a day of workshops from fighting racism/fascism(concrete struggle) to building an effective anarchist movement in which we invited a speaker from Organise! It was a measured success in terms of new faces coming along(I was pleasently suprised) but also a valuable educational for wsm members also.
Before that we organised a meeting on the visteon workers struggle in which two workers invited spoke at it, coming off the back of wsm members supporting these workers in struggle as much as we could through visiting the site and raising awarness. The meeting in terms of attendence was disappointing but was valuable learning curve for members and it was audio recorded. It also recieved some coverage in the local media. To me it was a win win situation.
So again, I reject any implication that we are deliberately pursuing one form of activity at the expense of the other as false. In fact the WSM branch has not been absent from any of the recent workers struggles except for the Nortel workers- which is because of no particular reason other than it is difficult to know when the picket will be. Further, constrained by having less members.
Sep 9 2009 21:52
#23
So basically all the activities you have done have been public meetings?
I've nothing against public meetings, but when it's literraly ALL your group does then it really is 'meetings for meeting's sake' I'm afraid.
Sep 10 2009 13:02
#24
Choccy, you are missing my point and we are going round in circles. Belfast WSM HAS NOT been absent from any of the recent workers struggles- except the Nortel workers. Despite our limited resources and numbers we have been active in supporting the Traffic attendents, Visteon as well as attending countless marches etc.
Every aspect of our activity including public meetings, supporting workers in struggle from our formation last year is clearly documented in our website.
http://www.wsm.ie/public_newswire?search_text=Belfast&results_offset=20
*loads of moaning about the WSM here*