Workers Solidarity No 72 is online
national |
miscellaneous |
news report
Wednesday September 18, 2002 12:13
by Workers Solidarity Movement
wsm_ireland at yahoo dot com
Irish anarchist paper
The latest issue of Workers Solidarity is now online at http://struggle.ws/ws/2002.html You can print out (and if you wish distribute) a PDF version of WS72 from http://struggle.ws/wsm/pdf/ws/72.html
The contents of this issue include
A bosses Europe or an anarchist Europe?
The Nice treaty offers us a bosses Europe, we want an anarchist Europe
Reclaiming the planet - building a movement in Ireland
The libertarian movement in Ireland is growing, the Belfast Grassroots Gathering gives us a chance to meet up
'Libertarians against Nice' launched
LAN is a network of groups and individuals across Ireland campaigning against the Nice treaty from a libertarian perspective
Lindsay Tribunal : The Cuts That Killed
A deliberate decision was made that it was acceptable to risk killing patients in order to save a few bob. Properly screened blood products were more expensive. So, the BTSB didn't recall products which they know to be potentially deadly.
"Did you see what I did to those anarchist bastards"
In 1927, two Italian-born anarchists Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were judicially murdered by the State of Massachusetts in the USA, having been framed for two murders they didn't commit.
Getting involved
What we have been doing and what is coming up
Nice and Nationalism
We desire a global world where national boundaries are of as little relevance as parish boundaries today. We oppose all forms of nationalism that try and set the people of one country above the people of another.
The anti-bin tax battles
According to the council's own figures less then 50% of people paid any part of their bill last year. With the growing success of non-payment only around 20% have paid something so far this year
That's capitalism
Shorts that reveal just how bad capitalism is from Ireland to Africa
Factory worker takes on SIPTU top brass
A radical shopfloor worker has put himself forward in the election for general secretary of Ireland's biggest union, SIPTU. Des Derwin, an assembly operative at the Mouldpro plastics factory in Dublin, is a long-time union activist and independent socialist
Dunboyne Sacking - Union Failed To Act
This dismissal raises many questions for teachers about the role of religion in Irish primary education. Even further it raises serious issues for INTO members about the failure of the union to defend its members from bullying and intimidation by the unaccountable 'owners' of the schools in which we work
Why does the US want war with Iraq?
Like most other wars, this is about control of resources.Wars are also good for the economy, and the US economy certainly could need some help at the moment.
Review: Cuban Anarchism - The History of a Movement
Frank Fernández first gives a detailed and well documented account of how libertarian ideas first took hold in Cuba.
Read the articles online at http://struggle.ws/ws/2002.html
Print out (and distribute) a PDF version of WS72 from http://struggle.ws/wsm/pdf/ws/72.html
printable version
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Comments (7 of 7)
Jump To Comment: 7 6 5 4 3 2 1I was, until recently.
I didn't leave because of any political disagreement (nor was I expelled!), I just didn't have the time and energy any more.
Is Ray a member of the WSM?
Actually we used to sell Workers Solidarity until a little over two years ago. We changed for a good number of reasons but one minor one was that if we were selling it to recover costs we'd have been better spending the same time working in McDonalds. We became anarchists to spread anarchist ideas not because we like selling newspapers so the logical thing was to cover the costs of the paper from our wages and up the circulation (by a factor of around 12).
We still sell 'Red and Black Revolution' because the economics of printing costs mean we could not afford to give away a 20 page magazine but we provide a free PDF version of this online that is identical to the one we sell. (see link)
Primarly though we wanted to free up time selling papers so it could be used for more productive activity. Standing around outside the GPO for a couple of hours to sell a dozen papers is often not the best use of your time!
The WSM pay for their paper through member's subs (and donations).
The money the SWP makes from paper sales don't cover their production costs, it doesn't even come close from what I've been told. They could easily cover the cost of producing the paper by raising their members subs*. But then what would they get all of their members to do each week? If they're not kept busy selling papers all the time, who knows what they might do?
Ray
* I'm sure a lot of their members would actually prefer that. Anecdotal evidence suggests a fair number of members 'meet' their sales targets by putting the papers under their bed and just giving the money themselves, rather than badger their friends and families.
...I'm sure, is simply people not liking the SWP. But a lot of it, I'm equally sure, is that people don't mind being given something as much as they mind being sold something. Paper selling feels more intrucsive. Its also a lot more visible to have half a dozen people standing around holding a paper than to have the same number of people go through a crowd, give everyone a paper, and then put the rest away.
Strikes me as funny when the SWP always get slated by 'anarcho' types (i know Andrew doesn't though) who like to give out about selling papers etc. when the WSM agree that they want to spread their views by 'free' distribution of their paper. i can't really see the difference between this practice of both the SWP and wsm