The Synergy Project (CoolTan revisited)

[jdaviescoates]

Originally posted by isvicthere?
The pomposity and arrogance of the above beggars belief! What you are doing, or appear to be doing, echoes the "hip young capitalists" of the 60s who used the vocabulary of the "movement" ("moving beyond protest", vilifiying "breadheads" - which you now call "9 to 5ers" as uncool outsiders) while at the same time trying to charge £15 on the door. Which opens you to the charge ( at least prima facie) of hypocrisy.

FWIW I am one of those desperately unhip 9 to 5ers (well, part time anyway) you hold in such contempt and I WOULDN'T DREAM of going to something for £15 because to my unsophisticated senses, befuddled by my beast-of-burden-hood, such an entrance fee smacks of a big fat corporate rip off.

Seems you have choosen to ignore the comments of the only person who has actaully been to a synergy event:

£15 is actually quite cheap for a multi-roomed, 10-6 party in a large legitimate venue (like fuck is it a 'superstar-DJ bar'), with the best production I think I've ever seen and a load of fucking good acts. £20-25 is a more realistic price methinks, looking at the other parties of that scale at that venue. I doubt very much that any of the promoters made any personal profit whatsoever, it's a collectively run ting with open accounting and cash going back to the NGOs etc.

Apologies if you think I'm pompous and arrogant. For 9-5ers, just read people - since that's what most people are. However, the constant "you're an evil corporate" accusatory nature of people on this list astounds me. Aren't we all trying to work for a better world? And if you're not, why not?

Besides, how many people that are complaining about the £15 door charge still shop at supermarkets and drive their oil-guzzling cars to work etc.?

Like I've mentioned before, we are all totally and utterly dependent on big corporates for the provision of our basic needs, and we implicitly support them every day as we go about buying the things we need. The vast majority of money that people spend everyday goes straight into the pockets of big bad corporates. The £15 spent at a Synergy event, on the other hand, goes directly to support a Brixton based social enterprise and a whole arrray of worthy NGOs.

If you still can't see that neither the synergy project, nor http://www.uniteddiversity.com (my own project) are not big bad corporates, then either you're not looking very hard, or you're blind.

If you would like to know how you can reduce your implicit support for the bad guys, please visit http://www.uniteddiversity.com/12steps and read the excellent book 'The Good Shopping Guide' - see http://www.thegoodshoppingguide.co.uk but note that you can get it cheap on my site.

Peace,

Josef.

 

[editor]

Maybe I need to spend more time hanging out with Dr Yakkers and chant "OM TARA TU TARE TURE SVAHA" a bit more, but the following appears to make no real-world sense to me at all

Synergy:

The interaction or cooperation of agents, organisations etc to produce a new or enhanced effect compared to their separate effects!

Synergy is an environmental and cultural information network, creating spaces where those working on the cutting edge of cultural and social expression combine, using a variety of media, to conceive a place where creative energies are liberated and the spiritual dimension of our lives is unveiled.

Could someone explain it to me please?

Could you name some people on the "cutting edge of cultural and social expression" so I know what they look like?

Thanks

 

[jdaviescoates]

Originally posted by editor
Maybe I need to spend more time hanging out with Dr Yakkers and chant "OM TARA TU TARE TURE SVAHA" a bit more, but the following appears to make no real-world sense to me at all
Could someone explain it to me please?

Could you name some people on the "cutting edge of cultural and social expression" so I know what they look like?

Thanks

Mike Slocombe, take a look in the mirror.

Top dog at urban75 qualifies you in my book as someone on the "cutting edge of cultural and social expression" (however much I am in dismay at the inability of urbanites to get along with eachother and to assume good faith).

Allow me to be a righteous pompous twat, but I think you sir could do with some of hatboy's good ole 'self-moderation'.

It genuinely saddens me to see like-minded people pull eachother down when, to me at least, they should so blatantly be supporting one another.

Peace,

Josef.

 

[DaveCinzano]

jdc, do you not see how casually offensive you are being?

 

[editor]

Originally posted by jdaviescoates
Allow me to be a righteous pompous twat, but I think you sir could do with some of hatboy's good ole 'self-moderation'.

In what sense?

Do you have a problem with me expressing my honest opinion here?

What needs 'self-moderating'?

 

[steve indigenou]

Self Moderation

Mike,

I too think you're being pretty rude, but won't get offended by it.

Basically you're jumping to conclusions about people and a project of which you know little. The evidence coming in does not seem to support your opinion, but still you hold on to it.

Perhaps a little more tolerance would be in order - we show respect for your work and way of working, though having tried similar paths, wish to explore other ones.

"A grabbing, money spinning, chakra-chanting capitalist who charges £15 to get into an 'underground' event."

Who said it was an underground event ? The whole point, which perhaps you have missed, is that it seeks to reach out beyond the confines of the self-conscious, self-style and over-idealised underground and engage with a more mainstream audience.

Did you read anything about my back-ground in my original post on the other thread ? Do you perhaps imagine that you migt be wrong about me ? There's far too much in-fighting within the broader anti-capitalist movement and for you to brand someone as a capitalist just because they chrage £15 on the door for a event whose production is not to your personal taste smacks of prejudice to me.

At least the Dubman admits that a main reason for his position is his personal taste.

Of course at the end of the day, abuse will have little impact, far less than the more constructive dicussion elsewhere.

But tell me Mike - what else is going on in Brixton at the moment as far as social centres are concerned ? What happened to Cooltan ? Evicted. Ecotrip ? Evicted. Black Star Collective ? Evicted.

Whether you support what we do makes little difference to me, nor whether you think me a blood sucking capitalist. To be honest, the opinion of the headteachers of the local schools (Loughborough Primary, Larkhall Infants and Juniors, St Julians, Elmhurst, for example) where we work and their assesment of the impact of our work on the lives of their kids means a whole lot more.

I respect your work, which is of an entirely different nature than ours. Why, when you don't really know who we are or of what we are doing, do you insist on being so abusive ?

There are others in Brixton who have an interest in slagging me off - they have more to lose from our success as the balance of influence between the rejectionists and the co-operatists (for perhaps this is the real cleavage) will start to change as the ability of the latter to attract significant levels of wider support for their work will become increasingly apparent. For them, it's an ego issue. For you to ?

Things move on, and so do the ways people seeking meaningful social change seek to work. I think you and Urban 75 will continue to have an impact, though questions must be asked how wide an audience you reach.

Just because we chose to reach out beyond the Green Ghetto to engage with a wider cross section of the populaiton, and need to deal in a certain way to achieve this, THIS DOES NOT MAKE US GREEDY.

For this is basically what you are accusing us of, and you couldn't be more wrong.

Best wishes,

Steve

 

[DaveCinzano]

this is doing my head in

 

[editor]

Self Moderation

Originally posted by steve indigenou
Who said it was an underground event ?

Cooltan was an arts squat that hosted underground parties.

Describing yourselves as 'Cooltan Revisited' suggests that your parties would share those same 'underground' values.

I don't see any similarity between your venture and Cooltan, hence my comments.

As I've already said, my problem is not with your £15 parties in 'London's largest licensed dance venue' but the spurious association being made with Cooltan.

If that link hadn't been promoted, I could guarantee that you would have received an entirely different response from me and, I suspect, many others here.

I'm sure you're doing some great and worthy work, but pissing off the very people you hope to attract doesn't seem the smartest of moves.

Maybe I've got your intentions wrong (I probably have) but hopefully the comments here have made you aware of how people may see you in the wrong light.

Personally, I wish you all the best, but I can't see myself getting involved or interested in something that has a 'mission statement' in what appears to be Goa-hippy gibberish (and that's an honest opinion, not a dig. I truly don't understand what it is you're talking about. Why can't you write it in plain English?)

 

[William of Walworth]

Only just got back to this

Needless to say I've changed my mind a bit since I initially posted on page one!!!!!

I'm with Dubversion essentially -- I responded positively at first because I remembered and liked Cooltan and thought this new thing might be similar-ish (even though I could make neither head nor tail of the website)

As people say -- do what you want, but don't say or imply that it's Cooltan revisted

<goes to check other thread>

 

[hatboy]

We don't need two threads with arguments about Synergy on.

Oh and might I just add that despite being a moderator on this forum I don't consider myself a member of the urban75 "urbanites". This particular use of that word irritates me. I think "u75ers" or "urban75ers" would be better as "urbanites" already means something else. And it sounds like wannabe urban. No offence.

This thread is now closed.