An index of material available on Libcom relating to the now defunct Revolt Against Plenty website.
The site included an introduction (below) as well as sections named "Recent", "Archive Local" and "Archive Global".
At the time of writing, the original layout of the site from 2022 could sporadically be seen via the Internet Archive Way Back Machine here: https://web.archive.org/web/20221213173308/http://revoltagainstplenty.com/
Work to add material to Libcom is ongoing. Most (but not all) of the original site can be viewed via the Internet Archive link above.
See also these Libcom tags: David Wise, Stuart Wise, BM Blob, King Mob.
Recent
The Internet, The Engine of Capitalism? Written by Phil Meyler
A Contemporary Anarchist in Ukraine Today Written by Ukranian anarchist and Jack de Montreuil
Reflections and Report on the Riots of November 19th 2021 in Rotterdam Written by unknown anarchist
THE DEATH OF STUART WISE, Eco-Situationist. The end is where we start from. A FUTURE AFFIRMATION?
Written by Twin bro' David Wise
The Bordeaux Derive of 2020-21 Written by French friends / Tridni Valka, put together with mini comment by DW
DOWN WITH WILDING The On-going Destructive Domestication of Wormwood Scrubs Common Written by
David Wise
From Russia with Love /Tate Modern Molotovs / A 2018 Palme d'Or prize on the back of some Icteric scruffs -
Wise Twins & Ron Hunt / Covid 19-84 and the possible death of a society of art veneered entertainment Written by David Wise
Feral Wilding Subverts Suicide Capitalism Written by Dave
Covid-1984 Virus-era wall slogans from Spain Written by Dave
Vanishing New York / London Gentrification / Plus Old Anti-Art Text Written by Loren Goldner / Dave Wise
A Past of Wayward Thoughts Written by Stuart and Dave Wise
Four Appreciative-Cum-Critical Comments on Extinction Rebellion (plus 2 short films) Written by Nick Holliman & Stuart Wise
The French Gilets-Jaunes and Direct Democracy Assemblies in Commercy Written by Dave & Stuart Wise
Michel Prigent's many last texts. His last stand.......up Written by Dave Wise
A Desperate Venezuela Today Written by Uruguayan Anarchist Federation
Michel Prigent's Last Wake...... Written by Nicky-Baby
FAREWELL. Michel Prigent's Last Good Night. Final emails... Written by Dave Wise
Genuinely creative (Muros) wall slogans in Latin America (Part 2) Written by Compiled with Intro by Dave And Stu. Wise
Genuinely creative (Muros) wall slogans in Latin America Written by Compiled with Intro by Dave and Stu' Wise
Flauta de Luz and the ZAD of Notre-Dame-des-Landes Written by Dave Wise
The French ZAD of Notre-Dame-des-Landes. Against the Airport and its World Written by Pedro Hidalgo. Raoul Vaneigem. Translated from Portuguese/Spanish by Dave & Stu' Wise
The Modern Retreat from Botany? Written by Nik Holliman
Dialectical Gardening - revision and correction Written by Nik Holliman
Q. Is the first factor of production in the U.K. the dirtiest in Europe? Discuss. Written by Nik Holliman
BIG Garbage / BIG Artwash / BIG Greenwash = BIGGER ECO-DESTRUCTION Written by David & Stuart Wise
Review of The Substance of Capital by Robert Kurz Written by Grant McDonagh
Critique of British Nationalism Written by Michel Prigent
"The World or Nothing" & "Pour Dave": Two texts on the social agitation in France, Spring 2016 Written by Dave
Hands Down. Part 1, Part 2, Part 3..... Written by S Artesian (The Wolf Reports)
ON THE SPOT REPORTS about Nuit Debout and Strikes plus France in Flames? Written by Jack de Montreuil and Dave the Rave
MONEY/MONEY/MONEY/MONEY: Sanguinetti & Alexis Renoir on the arsehole, Jean-Marie Apostolides. Plus speculations on QE, UBI, automation and AI Written by The Monstrous Bastards
A DISSEMBLING ASSEMBLE and the fatuous Turner Prize Written by The Monstrous Bastards
The Joy of Dialectics. On the South African revolution, past and present, and the problem of social consciousness in our time Written by Siddiq Khan
The Hairless Ape's New Clothes Written by Siddiq Khan
On the Banks of the River Styx (Lost Letters to Conchita) Written by Dave
LAUGHING ALL THE WAY TO THE BANKSY VIA REFLECTIONS ON FRANCE GOES OFF THE RAILS Written by The Monstrous Bastards
France Goes off the Rails 1986-7 Written by Nick B, Wise Bros, Os Cangaceiros and others...
The Sick Jagger Blues Written by Michel Prigent
Creating Waste and Wasting Creativity Written by Nik Holliman
Syriza. The Five Stages of Leftism: When No Means Yes Written by S Artesian. The Wolf Report
AN ADDRESS TO THE PUBLIC ON THE BRAZILIAN REVOLT Written by translated by Michel Prigent
The Greek Debt: Reasons To Be Uncheerful Written by S, Artesian. The Wolf Report
On the Pathetic Compromises of Syriza...plus Paul Mason (Ugh) Written by S Artesian. The Wolf Report
Fields Ripe With Calamity: A critique of Incredible Edible Todmorden Written by Wayne Spencer
Self-Organising Systems and the Struggle Against Utopia Written by Jim Fearnley
Financialisation, Digitalisation and the New Capitalist Praxis Written by Jim Fearnley
Don't the new names like Syriza Or Podemos, and the new labels, "anti-capitalist alliance," all sound like somebody's trying to fool somebody into not remembering the last time, and the time before that? Written by The Wolf Report. New York
Workers of the World, Tonight! International Dockers' Struggles Written by David & Stuart Wise. Phil Meyler & Friends. 1984
Bradford's Eco-Peterloo. The Life and Death of Bill Posters Written by The Monstrous Bastards
Bradford's Eco-Peterloo. Briggate: Dial M for Murder (Photos) Written by The Monstrous Bastards
Bradford's Eco-Peterloo. Urban Unnatural Histories Written by The Monstrous Bastards
Bradford's Eco-Peterloo. Wild the Cities or Dead Nature Reserves? Written by The Monstrous Bastards
Bradford's Eco-Peterloo. Sustrans or Natural Born Killers? Written by The Monstrous Bastards
BRADFORD'S ECO-PETERLOO. TRUBLE UP'T GREEN MILL: A WIDE-RANGING INTRODUCTION Written by The Monstrous Bastards
The Greek Cells of Fire Conspiracy Written by Josef Swoboda & Karl Rauschenbach
The folly of frenetic forces for fracking, founded on flinty finances Written by Nik Holliman
Water: A tale of two fluids Written by Nik Holliman
The View from the Bates-Home Motel Written by Dave Black & Michel Prigent
The truth about dogs' lives under capitalism in Britain Written by Michel Prigent
London's Olympic Legacy: TOWN PLANNING FOR INSECTS Written by Dave & Stuart Wise
On Bradford's Reverend Paul - Puff Daddy - Flowers Written by Stuart Wise
New Afterword to The End of Music for La Felguera in Spain Written by Stuart and (David) Wise
THE ORIGINAL: The End of Music (1978) Written by Dave Wise (1978)
Dialectical Gardening Written by Nik Holliman
NEVER WARK Written by Michel Prigent plus Notes from the Sinister Quarter
Yes the present is very severe at least......... plus Robert Kurz Translated by Michel Prigent and friends
Deep into that darkness peering: A critique of 'The Peculiar Romanticism of the English Situationists' Written by Wayne Spencer
Nameless Wilding Stickers and Photos Written by The John Clare Collective
Nameless Wilding (A General Drift) Written by John Clare Collective
Nameless Wilding. Diary No 1 Written by John Clare Collective
Nameless Wilding. Diary No 2 Written by John Clare Collective
EBOOKS. Editions Tsunamis around King Mob Written by Ed Sherman
The Condition of the Working Classes in England Written by Loren Goldner
A Theory of Shattered Fragments Written by Individuals from former Club fur sich
Kurt Schwitters and a Merzbau / Rubbish, Jiggery Pokery and the Wise Bros Written by Stuart & David Wise
CHINA 1. Mao is the hour yet again? Intro to the MINUS Group and Joao Bernardo Written by Stuart & David Wise
CHINA 2. Social Struggles in China by Joao Bernardo Written by Joao Bernardo
CHINA 3. The Four Modernisations. Life in the Countryside and Peasants Discontent. The MINUS Group Written by Lee Yu See & others
CHINA 4. Women and Sex in China. Rebellion of Educated Youth. The MINUS Group Written by Flora Chan
The London Olympics and Mass Market Neo-Psychogeography Written by The Monstrous Bastards
Post Olympics: The New Commons of Urban & Industrial Dereliction Written by The Monstrous Bastards
John Zerzan and The Primitive Confusion Written by En Attendant, Michel Prigent, Nick Holliman
The Palace of Exile. Fragments from the Notes of a Tourist in Prague Written by Wayne Spencer
Creating the Common Blue on The Commons of Industrial & Urban Dereliction Written by The Monstrous Bastards
The Despotism of Speed Written by Jaime Semprun Translated by Stuart Wise
Great Wall St Occupation leaflet Written by Bruce Elwell, The Wolf Report
The Extraordinary Mr. Yves Le Manach Written by Stuart and David Wise
Os Cangaceiros 13,000 Escapes Put together by Dave Wise
Part 2 Situ Reorientation debate. The Red Brigades in Italy Written by David Wise
Memories of the Portuguese Revolution in the Mid 1970s Written by David Wise
Chinese Takeaway. Western Maoism Written by Phil Meyler. Wise Bros
The August 2011 Riots in Britain Written by Wayne Spencer
Part 3. Situ Reorientation Debate 1970. Jean's strike Written by David Wise
Part 1. Situ Reorientation Debate. Never work(ing) worker. Mayakovsky.Tatlin Written by David Wise
Comments on the Recuperation of Dialectical Butterflies on Prime Time Brit TV Written by David Wise
Add-On to the West Yorks Buses Written by Bill & Ben & Weed
The Loire Valley Dam Written by Vernon Brisset
Situ type destruction. AN ADD ON: London 9th December 2010 Written by Dave Wise
Situ type destruction. London. 9th December 2010 Written by The C*nts
"Lachez Tout" by Annie Le Brun Written by Samia & Wise Bros
The Fire, The Fury, The Madness: The Inspirational Magnanimous Despair of Shulamith Firestone Written by Samia & Wise Bros
Fabre, Darwin, Dalton & 'DNA' Watson meet Lautreamont Written by Stuart Wise
Reflections on English & German Romanticism and the Revolt of Poetic Form Written by Stuart Wise
Shelleys Epipsychidion in the prose of everyday life Written by Stuart Wise
Unorthodox Nature Notes Part 2 Written by Stuart Wise
Unorthodox Nature Notes Written by Stuart Wise
A Psychotic amalgam of Architecture/Sculpture/Engineering: Meccano on Crack Written by Stuart & David
Wise
COP15: On the Failure of Ecology to Analyse and Subvert Suicide Capitalism Written by Stuart & David Wise
Rambling Manifesto to the Corus Steel Workers on Teesside Written by David & Stuart Wise
Maltby Colliery: A local Favela and a Dingy Skipper Egg. (A film & filmscript) Written by Stuart & David Wise
Bleak Notes: Agnes Denes & Related Matters Written by Stuart & David Wise
ROTTENBUGGER: aka David Attenborough Written by Stuart Wise
Fuck the 'New' Nature Writing Written by Stuart Wise
The Microscope; eye of the age. Total surveillance or pathway to liberation? Written by Stuart Wise
MABEY BABY: A revolutionary critique of Richard Mabey Written by Stuart Wise
A B(g)rief Relationship - and a wildcat strike at Lindsey oil refinery N. E. Lincs in early 2009 Written by Stuart Wise
Seven Thesis on the Present Crisis Written by Joao Bernardo
Why do we write so badly Written by David & Stuart Wise
Marx & Credit. Sundry discordant reflections on a horribly fractured reality Written by Stuart Wise
On the West Yorks Buses in 2008 Written by Dave & Stu
The End of Hirst Written by Stuart Wise
Their Passed-away Builders Written by Wayne Spencer
Kingsnorth 2008/Lisbon 1982. Miners and ecos. Monbiot & Scargill Written by Wise Bros. Phil Meyler
Reply to Ian Bone over TATE GOLD Written by administrator
Brendon Ward: Builders, Chancers and the Craic Written by Stuart Wise
Archive Local
Filmscripts.Miner/Butterfly Destruction. Part 3 Written by David and Stuart Wise
Filmscripts.Miner/Butterfly Destruction. Part 2 Written by David & Stuart Wise
Filmscripts. Miner/Butterfly Destruction. Part 1 Written by Stuart & David Wise
"Miner" Conflicts Major Contradictions Written by Nick Brandt
INTRODUCTORY EXPLANATIONS TO ARCHIVE LOCAL Written by Dave
Postscript to a German edition of a Summer with a Thousand Julys Written by David Wise
A Hidden History of King Mob (Posters/Cartoons) Put together by Dave
Notes on The Winter of Discontent. Snowstrikes Written by David Wise
Last Orders for the Local Written by Pete D
Once Upon a Time in Notting Hill Written by David Wise
Energy and Extinction 2004 Written by Stuart Wise
The Miners: Jenny Tells Her Tale Written by Jenny Dennis. Written up by Dave Wise
Soaps Written by Nick Brandt
Hope, Faith, Charity, Lottery Written by Nick Brandt
A Malicious Dunciad in Newcastle Written by Stuart Wise
A Critical Hidden History of King Mob Written by David Wise
Reflections On Culture Written by Pete D
Scientists and Social Crap Written by Stuart Wise
Derives, Housing & Real Ecos Written by Stuart Wise
Long Lost Wildcat Strikes in the UK Written by David Wise
Notes Towards the Economics & Aesthetics of the UK's Great Building Disaster Written by Stuart Wise
UK Fuel Convoy in 2000 Written by Nick Brandt, Pete D, Wise Bros
A Destroyed Yorkshire Miner Put together by Dave Wise
Bio-Economy or Bio-Industrialisation? Written by Stuart Wise
On Georges Bataille: Written by Stuart Wise
On Bryan Ferry: "Ferry Across The Tyne" Written by David Wise
On Ralph Rumney: Hidden Connections, Ruminations and Rambling Parentheses Written by David Wise
Alex Trocchi's Hour Upon the Stage Written by David Wise
BM BIS, BM BLOB, Riot and Post-Modernist Recuperation Written by David Wise
Comparisons: From Mass Observation to King Mob Written by Stuart Wise
A Drift on Germaine Greer, Feminism and Modern-Day Shameless Ranterism Written by David wise
For Vicki: On What Happened at Selfridges in 1968 Written by David Wise
Nietzsche, Revolutionary Subversion and the Contemporary Attack on Music Written by Stuart Wise
New Introduction for a Spanish Book on Black Mask & the Motherfuckers Written by Stuart & David Wise
New Introduction to Spanish King Mob Written by David & Stuart Wise
Hot Time - Summer on the Estates: On the 1992 Urban Riots Written by David Wise
The London Poll Tax Riot of 1990 Written by David Wise
Lost Ones Around King Mob Put together by Dave Wise
Land Art, Icteric and William Wordsworth Written by David & Stuart Wise
King Mob: Icteric & the Newcastle Experience from the early to late 1960s Written by Stuart Wise
Samia the Brilliant Nutter Written by Samia
Like a Summer With a Thousand Julys Written by Dave & Stuart Wise
The Redirection of Production: The Lucas Aerospace Plan Written by Wise Bros, Phil Meyler
1969: Revolution As Personal and As Theatre Written by Nick Brandt
The Writings of Jack Common Written by Pete D
Critique of Class War: Two Texts Written by Pete D
Om Sweet Om Written by Pete D
The Lump Written by David Wise
M-m-m-miners Written by Stuart Wise
Notes on the Winter of Discontent 1979-80 Written by Henri Simon, David Wise, Nick Brandt
The Arts, and Other Social Diseases Written by Rex King
Archive Global
Critical Assessment Of "Wildcat Spain" book Written by Wise Bros
INTRODUCTORY EXPLANATIONS TO ARCHIVE GLOBAL Written by Dave
A new publication on Captain White Written by Phil Meyler
Kamikase Kapitalism. War & Peace Written by Nick Brandt
Interview with an Iraqi revolutionary Written by Kaveh, Iranian Revolutionary
Afganistan: A Potted Social History Written by Iranian Revolutionary
French Rebellion 2003 Written by Nick Brandt
Marianela: A Latin American Misfit Turned New Oligarch Written by Stuart Wise
O Jornal Combate Written by Phil Meyler
Strange Defeat Written by Point Blank
Wildcat Spain Encounters Democracy Written by David & Stuart Wise
Freewheeling Reflections on Latin America in Relation to the UK (2006) Written by David Wise
Yet Moore Banalities Written by Nick Brandt
Tentative Impressionistic Notes on the Movements in France, June 2003 Written by Nick Brandt
Culture In Danger - If Only! Written by Nick Brandt
Godfathers of Levant Written by Kaveh, Iranian Revolutionary
Hydro-Jihad Written by Kaveh, Iranian Revolutionary
Algerian Uprising: 2001 Written by Nick Brandt
Pakistan Mummification of Class Struggle Written by Kaveh, Iranian Revolutionary
The Borg Written by Iranian Revolutionary
The Afghan Crisis Written by Kaveh, Iranian Revolutionary
Afghanistan Written by Kaveh, Iranian Revolutionary
Balkan War & Media Written by Nick Brandt
You Make Plans - We Make History Written by Nick Brandt, Pete D, Wise Bros
Os Cangaceiros Written by Anon. Put together by Dave
From the End of Empire, to the Empire of the End Written by Julio Henriques
Memories of a Metropolitan Indian Translated by Stuart Wise
Critique of Italy '77 Translated by Stuart Wise
Puzz in Mid-1970s Italy Put together by Dave
Italy in 1977 Written by David Wise
Bankruptcy of Anarchism Written by Translated by Stuart Wise
And Yet It Moves Written by Phil Meyler
Art and Gentrification Written by News from Nowhere
Bad: The New Afterword Written by Pete D & Dave W
What 'Appen to South Africa? Written by Chris Shutes. Intro by Dave Wise
Original Revolt Against Plenty introduction from the homepage
Welcome to a site distributing articles attacking the very base of this outrageous society.
The contents of this site are grouped into two main categories: Recent (including Local & Global) and Archive (pre-2000) (including Local & Global).
THERE MUST BE SOME KINDA WAY OUTTA HERE... Here we have gathered together and are distributing various writings attacking this society - both by ourselves and also by others that we have some sympathy with. We have no pretension to providing 'authoritative' texts; rather than being the eternally relevant last word on anything, the thoughts presented here - if they are to have any subversive use - can only be a historical reference and partial jumping-off point for the readers' own explorations in theory and practise.
Collective portrait of those who have put this site together...
Where we're coming from......
The 1960s and 70s were high points of class struggle in the UK and elsewhere. The Social Contract, a negotiated compromise between the classes guaranteeing increased productivity in exchange for higher standards of living, could not indefinitely maintain social peace. As the working class gained confidence through struggle, demands and perspectives grew to imply a more general critique of the boredom and alienation of this society, both in its work and its consumerism. The working class appeared to be becoming uncontrollable, as strike waves (mainly wildcats) escaped the control of bosses, union leaders and politicians alike. Struggles outside production in fields such as housing, race and gender occasionally overlapped with workplace agitations. Thatcherism set itself the explicit task of crushing this movement and was remarkably successful - from being "the sick man of Europe" with some of the lowest productivity and highest strike levels the UK was transformed to such an extent that by the 90s strike levels had hit a record low. A restructuring of economic conditions - the creation of the shareholding, stakeholding, property owning, gentrifying society - democratised speculation for the masses and outmaneuvred traditional forms of struggle. The defeat in 1985 of the miners' strike was a turning point - the failure of existing forms of struggle by its most advanced practitioners which signalled the end of the post-war era of labour relations/conflict - and ushered in the bleak social reality of the victorious new economic order.
The totalitarian nature of modern capitalism is not the monolithic authoritarian dictatorship as imagined half a century ago in the "Brave New World" and "1984" novels. It's a far more subtle regime ruled by a bewildering diversity of means penetrating more and more into areas of life previously uncolonised and uncommodified; in the realms of the geographical, sensory, emotional, genetic, etc. It separates people like never before. The technological growth of the capitalist mode of production that fuels these new invasions is an increasing threat to the chances of simple biological survival. This threat to the vast majority of the planet is based also on the increasing destruction of individuality, community and rationality. This so scares people that they can't bear (or bother) to think about it. Yet it's at the back of everyone's mind. Bringing it to the front of their mind - to remind people of the possibility and necessity of revolution - is like talking about intense sex to someone who's long been celibate. Yet if you want to re-discover individuality, community and rationality, if you want to clearly oppose this world, you have to bring these contradictions to the front of your mind, become conscious of them, describe them, analyse them, give them a name. It never goes without saying.
But how many want to look at this, at what is new in this intensified alienation? It's a symptom of this alienation to be indifferent beyond one's own immediate wants and needs increasingly narrowly reduced to only what is immediately approved of by this commodity-defined world - just getting through the day. Questioning this would mean, against virtually all the odds, not just admitting this is hell but finding a way out of it, honestly. This website tentatively tries analysing the enormity we face. It is a small contribution to the desperate efforts being made to fight this increasingly mad world of commodity fetishism and the ruling show that maintains these dangerously crazy contradictions. To analyse the new forms of totalitarianism requires pioneering effort and in these texts we look through some keyholes at modern attitudes, keyholes which hopefully will open onto a clearer view of, and confrontation with, modern totalitarianism. these keyhole fragments of analysis are always open to criticism and to more precise concrete examples by those not into rivalrous attitudes.
But with defeat and retreat there are less and less people who try to look at new developments, both in the ruling show and in the everyday life of those who are forced to endure it and in those visible sparks of opposition to the crap. This includes most of those obsessed with Marxist categories or with the final goal of revolution. Most of them never look at anything new or personal, only with contradictions as general as possible, which makes theory which is also emotional and concrete utterly incomprehensible to them. They are the specialists in interpretation. Whilst dominant society fetishises the particular, these theoreticians fetishise the abstract. What is wrong is not their predictability - some predictable consistency in one's attitude to the world is a healthy quality - but their straight and narrow linear use of radical language to look at everything, symptomatic of a self-satisfied theoretically 'correct' role (in the end they believe that discussion using radical conceptualisations is the revolution, because they believe that words, ideas and analyses, can be definitive, frozen above concrete events, subject only to long term indefinitely delayed consequences which never come and are never made). As we said before, nothing is definitive and if you want to define 'objectively' you can't make progress. Honest revolt and honest critique is always a question of beginning again.
In the past - the 1980s - people said that a new generation was being brought up which had never known a normal life. Today we have the opposite. A new generation is being brought up which has only known a normal life. And normality is social disintegration. In the 80s we knew there was "No Future" outside of a social movement. And this Future is it. Ecological collapse, capitalist wars, suicidal terrorism, mass depression and real opposition portrayed as a hopeless case and hardly ever talked about. The limitations of the little real opposition there is reinforces the madness of the each against all atmosphere. Global recession pushes more and more people into a precarious balancing on the edge of life, which intensified isolation, along with mushrooming increases in illnesses (the physical bodily symptoms of a lack of social resistance) pushes increasing numbers over. This so scares people that they can't bear (or bother?) to think about it. Yet it's there at the back of everyone's mind. But in order to clearly oppose this world you have to bring it to the front of your mind, to become conscious of it, to describe it, to analyse it, to give it a name. It never goes without saying. Yet, in these new movements that have appeared periodically we can see a tentative searching for innovation in tactics and practice.
Areas of life previously relatively undominated (or far less so) by market forces have been intensively colonised; childhood is a good example. The expanded proletarianisation of life as economy is accompanied by the emergence of a petit-bourgeois consciousness as a dominant model of relationships and behaviour - entrepeneurialism (cultural and economic - drugs and housing for example), the gang as the dominant youth social/economic unit, the anxious "narcissistic personality" hungrily consuming and reproducing therapies and "expert" self-help as a compensation for the increased isolation of the social self etc.......
It wasn't always so - this naked vulnerability to the ice cold winds of market "realism". there was a time when revolution appeared to be on the cards. But the counter-revolution ultimately won. It is as important to understand this counter-revolution as a result of this defeat as it was to understand fascism and Stalinism as a result of the defeat of the revolutionary uprisings in Germany, Italy and Russia. since ideas come from practice and are a means towards practice then a comprehension of the effects of this defeat and of what might be a new movement vaguely feeling its precarious way has to be developed. To vaguely assert some optimism is as pointless as crossing your fingers and hoping to win the lottery. Whatever doesn't kill the commodity economy makes it stronger. Defeat has meant that fewer and fewer dared try to struggle out of their narrow lives defended by narrow ideas. The collapse of traditional forms has been accompanied by the collapse of the conscious shared memory of that defeated tradition - we need to look at past flames of opposition to unearth tentatives that should have gone further.
Who remembers the revolutionary critique of art and culture generally now forgotten and abandoned as of no importance? We desperately need to update that critique. We must also look at the the defeat of the traditional combative working class. Brutal and painfully sickening that it was and is, has not, however, meant the end of opposition in the UK - but it has made it marginal. Here we include critiques of Reclaim The Streets and the fuel protests of Autumn 2000. (Despite their weaknesses compared to past struggles, it is in these new movements that have appeared periodically that we can also see a tentative searching for innovation in theory and practise). Who remembers much about the 1970s and the '78/'79 Winter of Discontent ? Who also remembers much about the glorious summer of 1981~the riots? What useful reflection has there been on the miners strike (1984-5) the riots of 1985, the Wapping dispute (1986-87), Poll Tax (1990) and various other aspects of class struggle. We are not looking at all this as history safely in the past but as one of the ways of inciting lived history in the future.
As we build this website up we intend to begin again an investigation of the totality of the new and horrendous conditions of an increasingly unimaginable alienation.
We have resorted to cyberspace in presenting our texts simply because we have had no choice. Most bookshops that once stocked our pamphlets have folded succumbing to the relentless assault of grotesque real estate values. Certainly our presentation here has nothing to do with the often senseless arguments between the purists of cyberspace and hard copy (print). It seems obvious that it is better sitting back and reflecting while reading a book or magazine than staring insanely at a screen in an uncomfortable position. Moreover, seeing none of the people who have created this website have any professional status no book company would be prepared to touch us unless we wangled ourselves a few fine sounding letters after our names. For us our only form of "reaching out" communication is either the occasional leaflet or what we have here. Otherwise all our thoughts and ideas would merely remain as talk among ourselves.
Essentially this website is not like a book (something fixed in a form inherited from literature) but a process in motion and though we won't alter original texts from years ago, some of our texts we are presently working on and in need of comment will alter. In our auto-critique of all texts presented here we will be among the first to never spare ourselves!
2015 Revolt Against Plenty
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