FFS, Just Agree To Differ!

The BNP get two MEP's and the Left appears to be imploding under it's own hand-wringing introspection. As usual we are getting all manner of calls for a broad Left coalition to be formed (here's another one) while they pick over their ideological differences and squabble about who stood in which constituency and why. I thought Phil BC's post at AVPS was a good one but apparently not judging by the reaction it received at...

Socialist Unity - was ever a site more inappropriately named? I like a lot of what I read there a lot of the time but the sheer nit-picking tedium of what faction is 'right' really gets on my tits. That and the games of 'tennis comments' where the same argument gets knocked back and forth, back and forth, back and forth... zzzz

Let's face it: Socialism and the Left have been largely discredited by the antics of the Labour Party. In most people's minds Labour equals Socialist, however wrong that may be, and having had twelve years of apparent 'socialism' with no gains for the working class, large numbers of Labour voters stayed at home. They didn't choose the alternatives on offer - No2Eu et al - because Labour's socialism has done nothing for them. Whats worth noting is that they also didn't choose the BNP.

I agree with Walker and Nuzz. If we live in a democracy (lol) then lets get the BNP, every socialist party on offer and every other fucker on the polling cards and have PR and then see where we end up. Left blogs make a mockery of themselves when they start calling for tactical voting between one faction or another or, heaven forbid, voting Labour in order to keep the BNP down. "Oh we want a Socialist Revolution but we will stick with the status quo if it means we keep the fascists out." or "Well we have lots of different flavours on offer but we'd like you to choose 'bland' as that keeps the Nazis at bay." Very democratic comrades.

My Dad always maintains that Britain wouldn't rise up in revolt as we are, as a nation, too conservative (note the small 'c'). I disagree. We won't do anything if we don't think there is something in it for us. Well there is something in it for us. The opportunity to run our own lives how we want to without recourse to the state, party intrigues, the ruling class or capitalists and no broad Left coalition, as far as I can see, is going to deliver that. Not unless we have a few hundred years to spare while they sort their differences out.