Article for consideration?

Ok, ive only made one or two superficial changes, all we need is a su-heading for the third paragraph then it should be fine to turn into a pamphlet, does anyone have the computer know-how to be able to do that? And stick WMA at the bottom alongside a wildcat?

Council Housing and the class struggle

The attempted privatisation of council housing that the government has been trying to initiate through the guise of PFI (Private Finance Initiative) and ALMO’s (Arms Length Management Organisation’s) is part of an increasingly aggressive attack on the condition of the working class. Since the 1970s the concessions that were brought in, to stimulate and prop up post war capitalist Europe and placate an increasingly restive working class, have been rolled back. Now pensions, welfare benefits, job security and council housing are all under attack as major shareholders and executives seek to maximise profits and weaken working class initiative.

Just as improvements in working conditions, the minimum wage and the eight hour day were brought about as a government response to the direct action of workers fighting for their own self determination, so too council housing was established primarily as an attempt to head off working class initiative that found its expression in the squatters movements of post war Britain. The post war years were ones that saw relative successes for the working class as they gained partial victories against government and capital who were forced to grant concessions to the workers in order to maintain the capitalist system of production and subdue dissent. However the mistake was to see these reforms as permanent characteristics of a new, more benevolent capitalism as opposed to crude manoeuvrings on behalf of an elite seeking to consolidate and maintain their wealth and power. The mistake was the failure to push the hand of capital until no wage rise or benefits increase would suffice to placate the will to self-determination of the working classes. What we can see now in the casualisation of labour, the attack on workers rights, pensions and affordable, good quality housing is the capitalist class, with the support of their friends in government, going on the offensive.

A global offesnive

The move to give private capital a greater control over the provision and running of housing, in the form of the attempted privatisation of council housing, is part of a trend of deregulation of public services across the world. From the privatisation of water to the war on Iraq, global capital is desperately seeking new markets to exploit for ever greater profits. With regard housing the result tends to be that costs (such as rents) escalate while the quality of the service in question plummets together with the wages and rights of those who are employed by the company in question. However this development is not only an indication of the malevolent nature of the profit motive which propels all companies but also an indictment of the nature of government. While council housing is often of a better standard and obviously more affordable than privately rented accommodation, its quality and provision is still dictated by the principles of profit and functionality. Whether provided by government or private companies, both of whom work hand in hand with one another, the purpose of working class housing is still to squeeze as many people into as small a space as possible with the smallest amount of cost. Basing the housing of people on such a principle has for many years resulted in poor quality, cheaply built and cramped housing. Housing has always been developed in this way as it meets the needs of capital, namely the need to provide a large, functioning and easily controllable workforce in any given area.

Of course council housing is preferable to much of the privately rented accommodation or homelessness as it provides affordable accommodation and landlords who are less inclined to turf you out of your premises. However the fight to defend council housing is not one that should stop here. Homelessness is currently on the rise across Britain while what passes as ‘suitable accommodation’ often resembles little more than decorated sheds with bathing and cooking facilities. To exacerbate matters the councils paltry attempts at providing even the most bog standard forms of housing often fall far short of what is needed resulting in a huge deficit in housing provision. The backdrop to this diabolical situation is an economic system that means that 70% of land in Britain is owned by just 1% of the population, namely property developers, the landed gentry, the monarchy and other business groups. The problem is not, as some Labour backbenchers would have you believe, simply a matter of a lack of government investment, rather at its root is the system of privilege and exploitation that the government represents. It is this establishment that puts our standard of living at the whim of people and institutions that consider us as little more than commodities in an economic process to be bought, sold, traded and preserved at the cheapest price possible. As a result the primary interest of housing developers is how many people they can squeeze into a given space at the cheapest possible cost. Until we realise that our housing situation is not imply dictated by whether the private or public sector reside over its provision but is rather a reflection of our position in a hierarchy we will be fighting a battle that can only bring us partial and temporary victories.

From Defending Council Housing to Total Self-Determination

Our aim must be not simply to defend council housing but to move beyond it. To fight for a time when our quality of housing, is not dictated by wealthy landowners, urban planners or politicians but is based upon peoples needs and desires. Such a fight is inseparable from the fight for the generalised self-management of the working classes over every area of society. We shouldn’t be looking to self-serving bureaucrats in parliament or parasitic capitalist land developers to improve our communities; conversely we should be seeking the abolition of such vermin and the management of our own communities through means of direct democracy. It is the bricklayers, carpenters, and plumbers, electricians and architects who build and furnish our homes, like all of society it is our neighbours and fellow workers whose labour provides for the world we live in. It is these people; it is us who have the power to freely construct the urban landscape of a truly free and liberated society. Without the constraints of the profit motive, managers, politicians and the fetters of private land ownership every workers home can be their palace. When the working classes manage all aspects of society, transcending the sham democracies of parliament and district councils, and rid themselves of bosses, leaders and managers the only checks on our standards of housing and quality of life will be the sustainability of the natural environment and the free choice of our communities.