Sol Fed conference and low level of class struggle (split from conference thread)

I only made it to the second day but I was a little disheartened by the lack of discussion about struggle. Instead there was an orientation towards bureaucratic necessities and internal politics. In discussion with the CNT comrades, we agreed that all this IWA bullshit would be utterly irrelevant if we weren't procrastinating in times of horrifically low class struggle. Perhaps I missed all the best discussions on the Saturday, or perhaps we're simply kinda bored and blaming each other. I don't wanna say anymore for fear of being accused of leaking confidential information. I also really don't wanna be flamed. I'd like a productive discussion. Couldn't this forum be made private to Solfed members?

And to answer Raw's question, no it wasn't a Marxist seminar, it was the annual conference of a political organisation.

The private SF forum got lost in the upgrade, not sure on the score atm, maybe i missed something?

They can't do private fora* anymore, IIRC.

* Ponce.

So on a practical front, no decision made by solfed members to kill it? Just a technical issue atm, so will there be one again in the forseeable future?

Question answered.

I wouldn't say so. We're all vaguely aware of why there's such low class struggle and discussing it at conference would be a bit like a discussion on why setting up an anarchosyndicalist union would be kinda fun. Are people aware of the relationship between low class struggle and infighting though? Is there some sort of psychological need for anarchists to have an enemy, and when capitalism's control is too absolute, it becomes displaced onto other organisations (not that I'm defending any of the "enemy organisations" per se, and not that I'm being entirely serious, mind ).

Comrades, it was a genuine question 'cos I think it's one which is rarely discussed and to me it informs our activity in this present period.

cheers

Ales

Hi,

how does conference work for SolFed, does everyone (potentially) attend or is it mandated delegates? Do ye have any sort of decision making structure for in between conferences?

cheers

I realise this. I'm assuming this should be directed at Raw.

I wasn't calling for more discussions, but more of an orientation towards struggle. For a would-be union, the discussions I saw spoke very little of strikes. Perhaps I missed all them on the Saturday. Also, it was my first conference with any political group, so perhaps I was expecting more than what I got.

Indeed, it's a good idea. Pity I'll be at the other end of the globe. I wasn't so much directing criticisms at Solfed (although if the cap fits...). Perhaps it is just a case of me feeling disappointed by the self-reflection that was undertook throughout the conference. The recruitment discussion for instance was comprised of the majority of delegates detailing the problems they've encountered with recruitment. Reasons were given for this of course, although noone had any concrete solutions. There aren't really any in these times. I had a few ideas, but The Button's lentil soup was going cold.

Is SolFed a would-be union then? I thought you weren't?

It's a group which is organising towards the formation of an anarchosyndicalist union.

From the point of view of the average punter there's no evidence to support that claim. You could form such a union today if you wanted, and it would offer the working class nothing.

So the creation of industrial networks is not evidence enough of us pursuing a course towards the formation of anarcho syndicalist unions? the reason we do not say we are a union now is precisely because we could not fulfill such a role in the working class, what is important is that we are creating the foundations of anarcho syndicalist unions now which will be able to take on the tasks of an anarcho syndicalist union.

Well what do you hear? our preamble in our industrial strategy clear say "In the medium term and as an essential forerunner to such a society, SolFed promotes and seeks to initiate anarcho-syndicalist unions. To this end, SolFed seeks to create a militant opposition to the bosses and the state, controlled by the workers themselves. Its strategy can apply equally to those in the official trade unions who wish to organise independently of the union bureaucracy and those who wish to set up other types of self-organisation."

If it wasn't for soup we could have cracked the recruiting problem! It can sometimes seem that we are not moving fast enough, i get disapointed sometimes with the speed of development in SF but i am generally an impatient person anyway, what is important is that we are moving in the right direction.

Did ye actually invite us? I've checked our internal communications and can't see any mention of it - be a pity if this fell through the cracks somewhere as I think it would have been useful to attend - I would have been interested anyway.

Can you look into this and see if an invite went out - and if so how we were contacted?

Cheers

EDIT: To Jack

did you invite us? when/how?
i just checked and didn't find it on the site.
i'm quite curious, because i would have expected us to take it quite seriously and prob send a delegate or two.