Climate Camp 2008 News Thread

[Taxamo Welf]

Hopefully there's room on here for a "Thanks".

i would like to thank all the brown evelopes from the NGO's that gave me a weeks camping at such a low low price

but seriously, thanks to the set up and clear up crew and to the spokes council, legal team, kitchen wizards, action and site medics etc

 

[kyser_soze]

I have seen 'anarchists' actually cross the road to tell SWP members that they don't want to buy a copy of their paper!

Does that count as anti-Swappie praxis, Tax?

 

[winjer]

Trying to sell you a paper is completely inoffensive, and ffs you're at a politcal event so whats wrong with someone offering you a political tract? Don't want it? Don't buy it then.

It's the scientology style suggestion that buying a paper is part of the solution to whatever issue is involved that pisses people off.

"Yes, I'm also concerned that South Ossetia is merely a pawn in the geopolitical games of the bigger powers, the whole region's a powderkeg and the Spetnaz aren't exactly reknowned for their delicacy. Why not take a free stress test?"

 

[llantwit]

Anyway, i hawked Freedom at the dinner ques at climate camp and sold out in half an hour, so anarchists are just as guilty - if somewhat more succesful.

Hmm. Not sure you claim higher success rate because of the political bias of the potential audience.
I think a 'sell-off' in controlled environment with a neutral audience is needed.
We deserve to know who the best paper sellers are!!

 

[Taxamo Welf]

Hmm. Not sure you claim higher success rate because of the political bias of the potential audience.

well yeah

 

[durruti02]

We deserve to know who the best paper sellers are!!

Class War in the 8ts was THE best ever! final .. we sold 15,000 on one big miners or poll tax march .. and we always outsold any other paperseller we were up against, wherever! he he
tax when is your target for the SnaiLs to compete with that?

 

[e19896]

Class War in the 8ts was THE best ever! final .. we sold 15,000 on one big miners or poll tax march .. and we always outsold any other paperseller we were up against, wherever! he he
tax when is your target for the SnaiLs to compete with that?

ill back that up, it was on a miners march, not sure of the no,s mind you and where but it did happen but i know a man who will http://ianbone.wordpress.com/ what me plug http://ianbone.wordpress.com/ go ask him he shall know for sure.. "and we always outsold any other paperseller we were up against" sometimes twating them, oh those was the days when Sheffield SWP come along and proclaim we had nicked there patch, smack the trot walked of was this the formation of Reclaim The Streets, it was always the case you would sell more than a trot, and forgive i did join them under some fucked delusion and i will confirm class war always out sold them all the time..

 

[Taxamo Welf]

Class War in the 8ts was THE best ever! final .. we sold 15,000 on one big miners or poll tax march .. and we always outsold any other paperseller we were up against, wherever! he he

er, but did not the SWP have about 15,000 members at any time?

Not by the 80's maybe, i'll grant. But still, you had 50 members and you sold some papers once on a big event, they had thousands of members and a weekly paper.

 

[durruti02]

er, but did not the SWP have about 15,000 members at any time?

Not by the 80's maybe, i'll grant. But still, you had 50 members and you sold some papers once on a big event, they had thousands of members and a weekly paper.

the swp did NOT have 15k members - never more than a 5-6 thousend even in the 7ts afair .. i think they use to claim c10k national sales but in hackney ( and i suspect elsewhere ) most of those ended up in the paladins and the members made out to their branch paper sales secreatary that they sold them at 'unemployed rates' ..

cw easily outsold swp on those 2 or 3 big demos AND whereever we sold next to each other at disputes tube stations whatever .. though i do grant you they had a weekly ..

btw you add strength to my argument by pointedly pointing out how few members we had .. yet we produced a paper the like has not been seen before or since

tax .. do you really not think this country could do with a funny and hard hitting paper like the 8ts CW?

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

Did Al Gore give the keynote speech?

 

[october_lost]

CW is a bit of light reading, I wouldn't read anything too political into selling it.

 

[Taxamo Welf]

tax .. do you really not think this country could do with a funny and hard hitting paper like the 8ts CW?

yes. The funny thing is how ridiculously easy it would be as well, compared to writing something that has to be so fucking politically perfect - make it funny, don't just write about obviously 'class struggle' issues. And lets face it, only a few copies of CW were even that professional (issue 50 for instance) most of the time it was DIY as fuck. We can EASILY beat that now.

btw you add strength to my argument by pointedly pointing out how few members we had .. yet we produced a paper the like has not been seen before or since

do i? How do i? You had an easily marketable product. You went to a demo where people hated thatcher and sold the a picture of thatcher being killed. Its like selling iron maiden t shirts outside of an iron maiden gig. My point about membership is manifold, but in particular, a) those sales meant nothing in terms of getting the people who bought it to get involved in CW and b) 'getting involved in CW' means as little as it ever has; there was nothing to report in the paper in terms of what 'involved' was. You must accept you,as a community activist have more of a plan than CW in its entirety, ever.

Now, the SWP has a plan - one i disagree with and one i think is not working, but it has a plan. So whether your paper was funnier of not, the people buying theirs could see what the plan was.

PS - i love CW paper, i hoarde it under me bed. Don't ever get that wrong, i think its mint. It has to be part of something else, something steady and thought out and targetted.

 

[Taxamo Welf]

CW is a bit of light reading, I wouldn't read anything too political into selling it.

Word homie. Double word.

 

[durruti02]

yes. The funny thing is how ridiculously easy it would be as well, compared to writing something that has to be so fucking politically perfect - make it funny, don't just write about obviously 'class struggle' issues. And lets face it, only a few copies of CW were even that professional (issue 50 for instance) most of the time it was DIY as fuck. We can EASILY beat that now.


do i? How do i? You had an easily marketable product. You went to a demo where people hated thatcher and sold the a picture of thatcher being killed. Its like selling iron maiden t shirts outside of an iron maiden gig. My point about membership is manifold, but in particular, a) those sales meant nothing in terms of getting the people who bought it to get involved in CW and b) 'getting involved in CW' means as little as it ever has; there was nothing to report in the paper in terms of what 'involved' was. You must accept you,as a community activist have more of a plan than CW in its entirety, ever.

Now, the SWP has a plan - one i disagree with and one i think is not working, but it has a plan. So whether your paper was funnier of not, the people buying theirs could see what the plan was.

PS - i love CW paper, i hoarde it under me bed. Don't ever get that wrong, i think its mint. It has to be part of something else, something steady and thought out and targetted.

ok fair play i understand where you coming from now .. but i think CW was more organisational than you suggest .. we had a local action page and all that but while there was no specific plan/platform of what people should or should not do the whole ideology was about creating w/c conciousness not giving remedies or creating involvemnt directly

i though see iwca/hi as explicitly in the CW trad ( amongst others ) as it argued firmly for w/c autonomy practically not just theoretically ..

i think the point though is yes it was only one part of a jigsaw ..

the iron maiden thing is interesting .. cos actually selling a decent rev paper to w/c people SHOULD be as easy as selling an iron maiden t shirt at an iron maiden gig

p.s. check the new thread i started as this is kinda off thread

 

[Taxamo Welf]

ok fair play i understand where you coming from now .. but i think CW was more organisational than you suggest .. we had a local action page and all that but while there was no specific plan/platform of what people should or should not do the whole ideology was about creating w/c conciousness not giving remedies or creating involvemnt directly

i though see iwca/hi as explicitly in the CW trad ( amongst others ) as it argued firmly for w/c autonomy practically not just theoretically ..

Yes actually i was a bit too harsh - there were lots of local CW projects which were very much in line with what would become the IWCA style activism, and CW contained loads of people who thought like that (whoever wrote Unfinished Business for starters!). But it wasn't really constant. You could have one area fighting a local council on water rates rises and another area putting together an anaimal rights hit list or something.

the iron maiden thing is interesting .. cos actually selling a decent rev paper to w/c people SHOULD be as easy as selling an iron maiden t shirt at an iron maiden gig

word homie. double word

I'll say somehting on that though - the local and national freesheets and a free listings mags have really struck a deadly blow. In sheffield there were FIVE local music and culture zines paid for by local advertising free to be picked up, and then things like the Metro are everywhere now too.

And where CW was the only place to actually see mad shit and swearing in the 80's, now what with the more relaxed culture and the internet, its not really very niche.