Hello from the midlands.

[Mansfield Red]

Hello Revleft members, My name is Ben and I'm a Marxist from Mansfield, Nottinghamshire.

I'm not currently a member of any Communist Party, I nearly joined the CPB but became disillusioned with some of the stuff they came out with. I'm basically here to learn more about the different opinions people may have about left wing ideologies, and to critisize the right. Particularly the BNP.

I'm also a Nottingham Forest season ticket holder, but don't hold it against me. :)

Cheers for reading, I'm looking forward to getting to know my fellow 'lefties'. :hammersickle:

[Q]

Welcome :)

May I ask, what was it that got you disillusioned in the CPB?

[Mansfield Red]

It's quite hard to explain actually, I ordered a package from them about joining the Young Communist League, and read what they had to say. For the most part I agreed with what they had to say but some I didn't. For example one of the big issues was that they did not approve of an EU, whereas I like the idea of a United Europe. I also thought they lacked ambition to get anywhere in the political world, they didn't seem to want to get any election candidates anywhere in the country, or if they did they certainly kept quiet about it.
When it comes to the General Elections and the Euros, I am a supporter of Labour on the principle of them being 'the lesser of two evils', and it frustrated me how the CPB criticised the Labour Government but very rarely attacking Tory of other rightist parties.

I'm not sure if there are members of the CPB on here, I'm not meaning to offend anyone, this is just my opinion.

[RedAnarchist]

Welcome to RevLeft:)

[Pogue]

welcome

The CPB are Euro-Communists, which is a strand of the 'socialist movement' which came about in the 60s following growing disillusionment with leadership from the Soviet Union and Moscow.

It focused on electoralism and 'democratic reform' leading to Communism, i.e winning elecitons and then implementing communism.

All this is outlined in the CPB's programme 'Britain's Road to Socialism'. They think that the CPB and Labour will be elected together and can then implement socialism. Very odd.

Labour are not the lesser of two evils, its the same rubbish mate. Labour are Thatcherite at the moment, you could even argue they are too the right, as a party in power, of theConservatives. Its the same rubbish of the ruling class, there is nothing left in Labour at all, and any support for them in my opinion is imcompatible with socialism.

The CPB are reformist, not revolutionary, so you'll find most people on here will crticise them too but for different reasons to you. I do however think the CPB are justified in attacking Labour, as they are something which needs to be attacked a great deal whilst an alternative also needs to be proposed (revolutionary organising!)

Hope that helps you out, spend some time asking questions and reading, we all learn from each other when we're not fighting!

[Mansfield Red]

Thanks for the welcome, RedAnarchist:thumbup1:

And cheers for the help H-L-V-S. I hadn't actually heard about their plan to join with Labour, how very odd. :lol:

[rednordman]

Welcome to Revleft, Its really nice to see more people from the midlands join.:)

[ls]

Welcome to revleft. :)

[Mansfield Red]

Cheers Comrades, thanks for the warm welcome :thumbup1:

[Q]

It's quite hard to explain actually, I ordered a package from them about joining the Young Communist League, and read what they had to say. For the most part I agreed with what they had to say but some I didn't. For example one of the big issues was that they did not approve of an EU, whereas I like the idea of a United Europe. I also thought they lacked ambition to get anywhere in the political world, they didn't seem to want to get any election candidates anywhere in the country, or if they did they certainly kept quiet about it.
When it comes to the General Elections and the Euros, I am a supporter of Labour on the principle of them being 'the lesser of two evils', and it frustrated me how the CPB criticised the Labour Government but very rarely attacking Tory of other rightist parties.

I'm not sure if there are members of the CPB on here, I'm not meaning to offend anyone, this is just my opinion.
Interesting points. And likesomeone said before me, Labour shouldn't be supported as the "lesser evil". This way, nothing will ever change. Labour no longer has any activist basis either, outside elections you just don't see them on the streets, ever.

What is your opinion of the Socialist Party (http://www.socialistparty.org.uk/main/Home)?

[Mansfield Red]

In truth I don't know tons about them, but from what I've read previously they seem a committed bunch, in fact more so than any others I've seen. I thought it was a bit strange when they joined the No2EU group for the European elections, and in a way I was disappointed because as I've said before I like the idea of a United Europe. I couldn't seem to find an explaination as to why they joined the group either, so I was left feeling a bit confused. In the end I just assumed that it may have been down to Scargill's Socialist Labour Party that was also running. If anyone does know the real reason why they didn't run under their own names I'd be interested in learning, afterall, it's what I'm here for. :)

[Q]

I can understand that, but the SP strives to build a new workers party and saw the No2EU platform as a step in the right direction, although not exactly perfect.

Maybe this article clears some up (http://socialistworld.net/eng/2009/03/1903.html).

[Killfacer]

hi

[Shadow Weaver]

Hi fellow Midlands dude.