Photo credit: DulcieLee

Common Sense, Common Good, Common Wealth by Dan Hind

(Dan will be speaking at the Great London Street Party on Saturday May 26th)

Let’s start with the good news. The argument about capitalism is over and its opponents have won. The crisis that began in 2007 has exploded the old common sense about political and economic organization. We now know that an unexamined credit system presents an irresistible temptation to insiders. Unregulated markets are an absolutely terrible at securing the common good. Our current arrangements are bankrupt, both literally and intellectually. The apparatus of expertise and prestige that was used to silence opposition to the demands of the rich has collapsed.

Now the bad news. The guardians of this old common sense have, for the most part, refused to admit that anything is amiss. Politicians aren’t fools. They have no choice now but to ignore the obvious and act as if they know what they are doing. They were the advocates and the beneficiaries of what turned out to be a gigantic irresponsibility laced with outright fraud. But so what if they were wrong? They are, after all, in Britain at least, still in charge.

Many in the media, too, cannot bring themselves to admit that they missed the biggest story of their lives. An unsustainable debt bubble inflated while they chatted to their prized contacts in the City and in Westminster. To admit failure would raise awkward questions about the structural weaknesses of print and broadcast journalism. Broadcasters and newspapers cannot illuminate what other powerful interests want to leave in the dark. Their best policy is to stick to the consensus that exonerates them, for all its manifest absurdity.

But there are reasons to be hopeful. The occupations and assemblies in Britain last year, for example, were obviously part of a much wider phenomenon. They consciously imitated Occupy Wall Street, and ran in parallel with occupations in hundreds of other cities worldwide. They were also one point in a series of moves against the established order. They followed, and were influenced by, what happened in the Arab world and in southern Europe. Events in one country inspired people in another. Techniques and styles of action were adopted and adapted to local conditions. This process is going to continue, in ways that are hard to predict. This international dimension makes it more difficult for its critics to dismiss what is happening as a jamboree for extremists. It is the established order that is looking increasingly extreme.

The sequencing is unpredictable. Progress is very far from certain. The governing powers still have some cards to play. They are brilliant at framing matters in simple, easily understood terms that are radically misleading. And the media, as I said, are in large part taking their cue from them. And yet there are signs that their combined power to set the terms of debate is waning.

We are starting to see important changes in the electoral field. Until recently, voters were content to punish incumbent governments for high unemployment and cuts in public services. This has benefited established right-wing parties in many countries. But people are starting to support parties that offer some substantial hope of change, even if it means dispensing with dogmas about the need to satisfy the markets. Politics is no longer defined, implicitly or explicitly, as ‘arguments about things that the rich don’t much care about’.

Greece, which has been living with the policies favoured by the extremist centre for longer than most of Europe, is moving towards a radically different politics, in which the shortcomings of capitalism as a system can be openly acknowledged and addressed. This would have been impossible to imagine in the years before the crisis began.

France has elected a socialist president. Responsible opinion rushes to assure us that François Hollande is a moderate, a technocrat. But he was elected against an upsurge in support for both the National Front and the Left Front. As an aside, the leader of the latter, Mélenchon will run against the former, Marine le Pen, in June, in what will be an important test of the relative strength of those who blame immigration and those who blame the financial sector for the crisis. At any event, President Hollande knows that he cannot govern from the extremist centre without putting his presidency and his party in grave danger. The French socialists have seen what happened to Pasok in Greece. Elites, too, are capable of learning from events elsewhere.

In Britain, too, there are signs that things are changing. In March, in the Bradford West by-election, George Galloway took more votes than the three main parties’ candidates combined. The news media presented this as a setback for Labour. There was more to it than that. And this month a clear majority of the electorate didn’t bother to vote in local elections. Average turnout was around 32%. This and Bradford West are evidence for a remarkable indifference to the political drama staged in Westminster.

The occupations last year derived some of their energy from the exhilaration of trespass. Faced with the transgressions of the governing powers, people transgressed back. They gathered where they wanted and took control of their immediate circumstances. There is an important lesson here, for those who are sick of the shambling, mumbling imitation of public debate that currently surrounds us. And there’s a challenge, too. Can we show the same energy in an effort to occupy and transform the governing institutions of the country?

As movements of protest become movements for change, their challenge to the existing order becomes ever more pointed. The stakes get higher. We can no longer be content with complaint. If we are serious, we need to meet and deliberate, on our terms, in ways that seem right to us, about our response to an ongoing, and deepening economic, social, and environmental crisis.

I am not suggesting that we form an Occupy party, or anything similar, at this stage. I am suggesting that we meet as political publics, and establish programmes that address the needs of most people in the country. The candidates and the campaigns can come later. First we must discover the extent, and hence the limits, of our power. In assembly we can do far more than we realise, far more than our opponents want to admit.

Most people want to be able to discuss the future in ways that respect evidence and reason. At the moment mainstream political and economic debate has a fantastical quality. Only those claims that conform to the old, exhausted dogmas can be permitted a hearing. Capitalism has failed. So we need more capitalism. Finance has proved ruinously expensive. So we need to set finance free.

It is time to break out of this suffocating nonsense. And we’re the only ones who can. Whether that’s bad news or good news depends on what we decide to do now.

*

Dan Hind is an author and journalist. His publications include The Return of the Public and the e-pamphlet Common Sense: Occupation, Assembly, and the Future of Liberty.

This is a guest post for the London UK Uncut action on May 26th, there are more actions taking place all over the country, find your nearest one here

It’s just under two weeks until the only London street party worth going to – UK Uncut’s Great London Street Party. You’ve invited all your friends, you know what bloc you’re going to be in and you’re ready to show that we won’t line up to celebrate the Queen and the Olympics while the government is destroying the services we hold dear – we will celebrate our resistance instead.

Here are the meeting points so you know where you need to be at 11am on Saturday 26th May:

The future’s not what it used to be… for women

Meeting point – outside 1 London Bridge

“Domestic violence victims don’t go and storm the local town hall to demand more help; rape victims don’t go to the local paper to complain that there isn’t a good service for them. They are invisible.” Women are facing the heaviest burden across all of the cuts – it’s time to show this government of privileged white men that women will not be an ‘easy target’.

The future’s not what it used to be… for the NHS

Meeting point – Opposite University College Hospital, Euston Road

It was in this hospital that David Cameron unveiled the results of the ‘listening exercise’, promising that the NHS would be safe in their hands. The NHS is now being starved of cash and sold off to private firms and tax dodgers, yet as we all know “The NHS will last as long as there are folk left with the faith to fight for it”. Show this government that there are still millions of people who still have the faith to fight!

The future’s not what it used to be… for the Welfare State

Meeting point – Waterloo Station Concourse

Half a million disabled people are set to lose government support, EMA is being axed and almost every form of welfare payment is being cut – this bloc is fighting back against the demonisation of ‘benefit scroungers’.

This is the most accessible bloc for the party. In order to maintain access, disabled participants have the option of travelling via a more accessible route that is direct and reduces changing modes of transport. We have checked our travel plans with disabled activists and can provide accessible transport from Waterloo to the party. So, if you’ve got any specific needs or you’re concerned about travel on the day, please email ukuncut@gmail.com so we can make arrangements for everyone.

The future’s not what it used to be… for real democracy

Meeting point – Parliament Square

The Houses of Parliament, the ‘mother of all parliaments’- home to a rich and disconnected elite forcing through law after law that the majority of the public didn’t vote for. Economic policies dictated by bankers and financial markets, unjust wars opposed by millions, and big business calling the shots on every decision – this is not real democracy. Join the movement for real democracy to decide our future together.

Things to bring!

- A tfl zone 1-6 off peak day travel card so you can get to the secret party location (£8.50, best bought in cash)

- Food – it wouldn’t be a street party without plenty of food to share

- Water – you’re going to be out all day, so make sure you’re prepared with lots of water

- Friends! – bring all your mates to this party, the more the merrier

- Costumes – dress up for the day, your vision of the past, the future, or the services closest to your heart that are facing cuts – make it fun and spectacular!

- Games & fun – we’re going to be out in the street all day, so bring fun games, instruments and things to do while we’re there

- All the family – this should be a good day out for all ages from newborns to great grandparents. The Welfare and Women’s blocs are the most accessible for people with push chairs or wheel chairs. Please bring everything you need with you for a full day out, like a folding chair or pillow and the possibility of some standing, walking, dancing and stories of the past and of the future to share.

- Waterproofs, warm clothes, sunscreen and a hat – you just never know!

- Your rights – we never know what police reaction will be like, please come prepared with information from Green and Black Cross.

- Tons of enthusiasm and energy – needed for partying, thinking, making new friends and creating a better future

Don’t bring:

- Bikes – you may need to leave them behind for a little while (up to you)

- Dogs (except guide dogs) – not everyone is a fan

- Loads of booze – Quite apart from the possibility of limited toilets and overpriced bags of salted peanuts at the action, alcohol will dehydrate you very quickly (and may well turn you into a liability for others)

- Huge things or heavy things – make sure you’re able to move around fairly easily and get on public transport

See you at the party!

Meet Rahel (age 6) and Shirley (81+3/4)

Rahel and Shirley would like to invite you to a party. A street party – with a twist. On the 26th May they’ll be taking to the streets to protest against the governments cruel and unnecessary cuts. It will be a celebration of resistance – an alternative street party where we define the future we want to see. A future uncut.

Rahel isn’t new to UK Uncut, her first occupation was back in February 2011. She helped us transform Natwest Camden branch into a creche to protest against the cuts to childcare services. Rahel’s holiday club is closing down because Camden Council cuts, so she’ll be there on the 26th May to fight for her future (hopefully she’ll have mastered the art of making ‘balloon cake’ by then).

Shirley you may recognise from another UK Uncut video, Shirley is 81 years old and has been campaigning to save the NHS for many years. She recently got carried away (literally) whilst unelected Lords voted on Lansley’s disasterous Health & Social Care Bill and says the fight ain’t over yet.

Join Shirley, Rahel, and UK Uncut on the 26th May for our 1948 alternative street party. Bring food, friends and fun.

Go to our action page to find your nearest street party. Look out for announcements running up to the day. Get yourself some bunting.

See you on the streets.

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