Have you ever gone 'door to door' with communist or anarchist press?

[SHORAS]

Sorry if this topic has come up before and been answered well.

I am interested to hear if comrades have sold or distributed anarchist or communist press be it a paper, journal, free sheet or whatever explicitly 'door to door'.

I know it is common for organisations to hold stalls and try and flog their stuff at rallies and protests.

If you are not distributing/selling literature 'door to door' why not? Is it too time consuming, an issue of finance or for other reasons?

What are your experiences?

[Tim Cornelis]

Hell no!

It's annoying as hell.

[Smyg]

Trotskyist newspaper. Door to door a little bit, mainly stalls, standing in malls, schools, etc. For someone with my - in situations where I am to adress strangers directly - social insecurity, it was hell, and I realised later how frustrating it must have been to other people as well.

[SHORAS]

Hell no!

It's annoying as hell.

Can you expand on this?

[Tim Cornelis]

Can you expand on this?

Do you like it when Jehova's Witnesses go door by door? No, it's annoying.

[SHORAS]

Do you like it when Jehova's Witnesses go door by door? No, it's annoying.

I've never come across them in nearly 30 years. And besides, if I was selling a paper I wouldn't be trying to 'preach the message' I would be simply asking people if they wanted to buy a paper for a quid or whatever and if they didn't go to the next door.

The reason I am bringing this whole issue up is because it seems to me communist and anarchist press only gets to a tiny a minority not the class as such but those who already have some kind of interest who simply continue to buy the press at least for a while.

Surely there are some lessons from the old CP's with regards papers and distribution?

[Smyg]

The Trotskyists I was with always tried to preach the message, so to speak. I couldn't do it very well, heh.

[SHORAS]

The Trotskyists I was with always tried to preach the message, so to speak. I couldn't do it very well, heh.

Did you ever try and sell them without a 'message' or on your own? If you didn't really explain in any detail did anyone take an interest?

[Smyg]

People are inclined not to buy random newspapers, as cheap as they might have been. Take a leaflet, sure, but not spend money. Therefore an explanation of who we were was, for the most part, needed. This only didn't apply when I was lucky enough to stumble onto someone who knew of us.

Everyone else tended to turn this into a preaching sessions, as long as possible.

[Nox]

Nobody likes preachers, period.

[Ernesto Che Makuc]

did an religios freak ever came to your door and give you an religion note.
a Christian guy came to our house and my grandma yell at him so hard that he never came again

[Smyg]

Heh, Jehovah's. A priest in the Lutheran Church of Sweden that I happen to know told me about one time when he was studying to join the clergy, one of them came to his door. As he was studying transcripts of some of the oldest known New Testaments texts, in Koine Greek. He offered the Jehovah to come in and compare bibles, an offer that was quickly refused. Hehe, religious revisionists...

[El Louton]

Are you crazy!? In 'Middle England'?

[SHORAS]

No, no one has ever come to where I live and started telling me about the word of God or whatever, if they did I'd probably do one of two things.

1/ Be pretty blunt and tell them I wasn't interested

2/ Go into one about materialism rather than idealism

In fact I did 2/ on someone on a high street once who was trying to get donations for something to do with one of the cult like sub 'religions', I forget which. I recommended some Marx and obviously didn't give him any money. I was slightly pissed at the time having literally come straight from the pub. I took up so much of his time with my half drunken ramblings on The German Ideology that he couldn't get any more money off anyone and in the end had to get back to wherever it was he had to get back to. That's how you combat religion! :D

[eyeheartlenin]

The British Grantists used to go door to door, a long time ago, to sell Militant, which, I think, was a well-known paper in Britain. At least my boss, a Londoner who was for the Liberal Democrats, had heard of Militant, the group, which he said was the scourge of the Labour Party.

When I was in a small social-democratic group, we would stand on corners on the most petty-bourgeois street of the shopping district in the better part of town and hawk our magazine, which had "Socialist" in big letters, on its title page. This was in G.W. Bush's USA. If you could sell in that environment (and our local exec, a young self-taught worker, was really good at selling the magazine -- that guy could sell ice in the Yukon, I think), you could sell socialist literature anywhere. I think that experience was valuable, but not particularly productive. We met a lot more people by selling at demos. Once, while we were trying to do a weekend sell to the PB shoppers, a liberal gave me $10 for one copy of the magazine. That was my most memorable experience in selling.

[Ocean Seal]

Its not a terrible idea to go door to door, just tone down your rhetoric as it will be widely useless if they shut the door on you. I could see this having some effect, and as for those of you who compared this to a Jehovah's witness coming to your door. Here is the difference: A Jehovah's witness doesn't understand moderation. They aren't willing to discuss merely to preach, and they'll sentence you to hell if you don't agree with them. Now you should discuss things, even little things, that'll get people talking.

Gentrification, environmental protections, worker's rights, collective bargaining, what Governor X is doing, what Mayor X is doing, the war, what Wall St. is doing.

Talk about these things. So long as you don't start off with: Here's a history of scientific socialism and why it is to your advantage to join our movement fellow worker. You'll do fine. Relax and try to find an organization to do this with.

[Azraella]

Because I love this sort of thing... (http://objection.mrdictionary.net/go.php?n=5368519)

[Lanky Wanker]

Nope, but for me and many other people this is where shirts and music are a good way of advertising without pushing it into people's faces.

[Rocky Rococo]

I've done tons of door-to-door, but not for explicitly revolutionary stuff. Mostly for community organizing. no, I don't consider it like what the jehovahs do, I'm not trying to convert anybody, just inform them about a local issue or an upcoming meeting. Hand them a flyer with basic information. Maybe collect petition signatures.

Those who dismiss it have never seen how powerful it can be when there's a hot issue in the community, and choose to unilaterally disarm themselves from one of the most efficient means of getting an issue out there, and getting people actively involved. For many people, the beginnings of political consciousness is when an organizer knocks on their door.

[Os Cangaceiros]

I admit to often fantasizing about this activity, actually. Except the broadsheets I hand out in my fantasies are extremely inflammatory, like, terrorist-watchlist shit, articles glorifying cop killers and advocating the impalement of various heads of state & captains of industry.

But no, leftist wank pieces filled with words no one outside the cult understands would not be sold by me.

[pastradamus]

And besides, if I was selling a paper I wouldn't be trying to 'preach the message' I would be simply asking people if they wanted to buy a paper for a quid or whatever and if they didn't go to the next door.

This is ABSOLUTELY VITAL!

I find that there is nothing more annoying then somebody coming up to my door and telling me what to believe with some pre-rehearsed speech. A few incidents of this happened to me over the last few years. One incident was where an SWP member came up to me and was preaching to me about some issue, what he was saying I was in perfectly good agreement with but it was the condecending WAY he was saying it too me as if I was just some idiot with no political gravity of my own. I started commenting on the same situation (I think it was about the coca-cola workers in Columbia) using my own political knowledge he just started a debating me as if we were political opposites. We agreed 100% on everything!

Another incident happened more recently where I visited the occupy protest in Newcastle. I signed petitions and briefly chatted with one of the campaginers, I purchased badges off him. Then I went back to him and asked him if there was any place where I could get something to eat as I was not familiar with the city. He immediatly said "no" as there was no good "independant café's around". As if "Independant" was non-profit or something. He wasn't preaching as such but I found it extremely annoying.

[SHORAS]

Then I went back to him and asked him if there was any place where I could get something to eat as I was not familiar with the city. He immediatly said "no" as there was no good "independant café's around". As if "Independant" was non-profit or something. He wasn't preaching as such but I found it extremely annoying.

Yeah cos the proletariat should not eat lest it be food independent from 'big business'...

To be fair I think you can progress from views like this quite quickly and to some degree it's part of starting to think - without sounding TOO condescending.

Sadly, SWP members are like this far too often (religious/sales person like)
I went to one SWP meeting once and this guy would seriously not stop trying to sell me tickets to Marxism (SWP series of lectures once a year). Given this was the first time I had been to one of their meets and it was a very small group this probably would have put a lot of people off. Given I sort of knew about them and left politics in general I could live with it. But it was still pretty annoying and unwarranted. And I haven't been back since. Though I did see the same guy again and he was pretty much the same with Socialist Worker (the party paper). I can understand some of the reasons why they may act in this way but they seriously need to start taking a different approach or at least reflecting upon it. A lot of it probably rests on the pressure they are under to "build the party" i.e meet recruitment quotas (fucking ridiculous by the way, see latest internal party bulletin). Besides this their whole approach is bonkers in general but there are so many critiques of the SWP I won't go into any more detail here.

In general, what about posting through the letterbox copies of single articles from a paper or journal for free?

[MustCrushCapitalism]

I imagine that handing out socialist newspapers in the US wouldn't exactly be safe. I'd come across a conservative and end up being chased down the street by a redneck with a shotgun. And then of course there'd be the asshole who says "oh so like Obama?" and I'd just have to sigh at their stupidity and leave.

[Tim Finnegan]

The British Grantists used to go door to door, a long time ago, to sell Militant, which, I think, was a well-known paper in Britain. At least my boss, a Londoner who was for the Liberal Democrats, had heard of Militant, the group, which he said was the scourge of the Labour Party.
I do enjoy that myth, don't you? The idea the countries largest party could be brought to its knees not by internal divisions, not by its adherence to a faltering corporatism, not to a revised Conservatism, but to a minor Trotskyist sect that had somehow managed to take over a single local government. These knuckleheads have more faith in the sects than the sects do themselves! :laugh:

[TheGodlessUtopian]

Never gone door to door and don't have any plans to.

[SHORAS]

Never gone door to door and don't have any plans to.

Thanks for that.

[TheGodlessUtopian]

Thanks for that.

No problem.lol

[Ele'ill]

I would go door to door in neighborhoods specifically affected by recent events. I don't think I'd go through all the trouble of going up to the door, knocking and saying hi just to be like 'oh yeah uh wanna buy this, derp.' I'd likely just ask some questions regarding the recent events and if the person was interested I'd give them some lit. I'm much more interested in conversation.

[coda]

I've not had anyone come to my door. Being that I am already a communist.. I would be pretty psyched though! as long as it wasn't Maoist or RCP stuff.. sorry!

<<<"I would go door to door in neighborhoods specifically affected by recent events. I don't think I'd go through all the trouble of going up to the door, knocking and saying hi just to be like 'oh yeah uh wanna buy this, derp.' I'd likely just ask some questions regarding the recent events and if the person was interested I'd give them some lit. I'm much more interested in conversation.">>>>

That would be my ideal way of engaging someone.. however.. I'm pretty bad at social etiquette outside my own circle.. and don't have any time for knocking on doors or having them slammed in my face... therefore, I'm more inclined to wallpaper one-page propaganda & lit on public places --- toilet stalls, buildings, poles, doors,,, with contact/ or meeting information. or dropping stacks of literature at the local library or laundromat or other places they could be found.

wheat paste is the answer!
http://video.about.com/interiordec/Make-and-Use-Wheat-Paste.htm

[SHORAS]

therefore, I'm more inclined to wallpaper one-page propaganda & lit on public places --- toilet stalls, buildings, poles, doors,,, with contact/ or meeting information. or dropping stacks of literature at the local library or laundromat or other places they could be found.


That's a good bit of information. I remember hearing some comrades in London used the place where they put the free London papers, filling them up with their own. Also papers on trains are good because multiple passengers can read them, they often get left about in the train compartments.

http://wapedia.mobi/thumb/cc86505/en/fixed/470/352/Free_newspapers_on_london_tube_train.jpg?format=jp g:D

[coda]

Yes!! trains, buses and subways!

[GiantMonkeyMan]

On a similar vein, has anyone here gone about setting up such a newspaper? Just curious... :)

[Parvati]

I've never done ringing door to door, but I frequently do two similar things
1- Put newspapers in mailboxes (especially when it's the end of a number - the day before the next issue is released, because we print 5000 copies each two weeks so we can't accumulate it on our living rooms ^.^)
2- In small worker towns (you know these cities of like 40 000 - 75 000 hb. where there's a little "downtown", a few shops and stores) during summer, we walk the streets and give it to people standing on their porches or in their front yard. It's pretty cool because people are relax and have time to discuss politics.

Otherwise, we distribute hand by hand our newspaper on Metro & Bus Stations, Schools and Colleges, different shops, Hospitals and Malls.

[coda]

<<Otherwise, we distribute hand by hand our newspaper on Metro & Bus Stations, Schools and Colleges, different shops, Hospitals and Malls.>>

yes, those are all great places...


I don't know about Canada or elsewhere, but putting things in people's mail box is a federal offense in the US, believe it or not! --- such a fucked up place,eh

[SHORAS]

I don't know about Canada or elsewhere, but putting things in people's mail box is a federal offense in the US, believe it or not! --- such a fucked up place,eh

Land of the Free

[Danielle Ni Dhighe]

did an religios freak ever came to your door and give you an religion note.
a Christian guy came to our house and my grandma yell at him so hard that he never came again
My atheist grandfather would just exhibit his shotgun and tell them he was going to count to three. :D

[Sentinel]

Even if it may feel uncomfortable especially if one isn't used to it, talking to people on the streets and at protests, picket lines etc is crucial to spreading our views. Sometimes going door to door may be necessary as well, especially if there is a shortage of time with a campaign etc.

Of course if a comrade actually suffers from severe social phobia of some kind it might be more suitable for them to contribute in another fashion, but in most cases people can learn to initiate conversations etc with strangers even if it feels uncomfortable first.

That kind of mental blocks usually disappear with practice and with age. For me personally it was never really a problem as I've been a worker in the service sector, including selling stuff, since I was 18.

As for the risk of appearing 'preachy', it's about how one does it really. Of course ranting about politics in an abstract manner, or simply trying to get people to buy a newspaper or something else just for the sake of it, can be counterproductive.

But if one adresses current issues that concern people, for example asks them to support a local campaign against cuts or a union struggle (both of which we often take initiatives to), informs them about coming events etc, it's quite easy to see who might be receptive to more indepth political discussions or even willing to buy a newspaper.

I go by the first impression myself; if someone isn't interested I immediately leave them alone and talk to someone else. As long as one does this I really don't think it's justified for people to get annoyed.

[BOZG]

Yes, it was something I did at least once or twice a week when I lived in Ireland.

There are very few people who don't have qualms about it when they first start doing it, but it is something that can be overcome over time or depending on the response you get. It can be much easier if it's linked to some issue or campaign because that can be a certain ice breaker, particularly if it's a new area that you haven't done work in before.

I think there is a cultural side to it too. Door-to-door canvassing. mainly during elections these days, is something that was quite widespread in Ireland (as it is in the UK too), so it's less strange to go door-to-door for those involved but also for the people who answer the door.

It also helps when you're not actually a sect and actually have support in the area being done.

[Lev Bronsteinovich]

The problem with Door-to-door selling would be, at least in most parts of the US, the safety of the comrades involved. It is also a slow way to do this, rather than going to a transportation hub or busy commercial area and selling to the people there. I am a veteran of probably thousands of commie paper sales. Some door-to-door on campuses, but I think it was easier to do that 25-30 years ago. It was not too hard to sell a decent number of papers (I was selling Workers Vanguard) in 90 minutes. The paper is far more interesting/provocative than most on the left -- that helped. Selling subscriptions was much harder, although when I was in a good mood, I noticed I could even do that. Most sales were on college campuses or at factory gates. I came very close to getting the tar beaten out of me at a coal mine once -- we were selling an issue of the paper dealing with an impending strike by the miners. Sold quite a few papers to people going in. Some union goons came out and said, "You guys are COMMUNISTS, right?" I said, "Uh, yes." He then said "We don't like communists, you better leave now." Looking at the six beefy goons in front of me I quickly said, "absolutely, we are leaving." I think he was confused that I didn't try to deny my politics or argue about my legal right to sell papers there. He hesitated for a moment before he and his goons started chasing after us. This gave us just enough time to run to the car without incurring any broken limbs.

Of course, WV was and is not intended to be a paper for the masses, an anathema to many on this site, but not to those that understand and agree with the need for a vanguard party.

[Tim Finnegan]

I wonder, are there any papers out there that don't call themselves things like "Socialist Worker" or "Worker's Vanguard"? I can't help but think that names lifted straight out of the '20s may put people off a bit. They don't make the producers sound like people who have kept with the times, exactly, at the very least on an aesthetic level. (I'm aware of a few anarchist and lib-com papers that are a bit less clunky, but, honestly, a lot of them seem to make the same mistake just shifted forward to the '70s.)

[TheGodlessUtopian]

With me what prevents me from talking with people is how shy I am.Being at occupy has helped a bit and since participating in various marches and other direct actions my phobia has decreased a bit I still have a great fear of public discourse. I try my best and I hope it is something that will decrease with practice.

[pastradamus]

Yeah cos the proletariat should not eat lest it be food independent from 'big business'...

To be fair I think you can progress from views like this quite quickly and to some degree it's part of starting to think - without sounding TOO condescending.




You dont sound condescending at all because you said it in a polite way. Thats exactly the attitude you need going door to door.

Personally I shit bricks when im going door to door for anything but once you get even one polite response that drives you on.

[Sentinel]

I came very close to getting the tar beaten out of me at a coal mine once -- we were selling an issue of the paper dealing with an impending strike by the miners. Sold quite a few papers to people going in. Some union goons came out and said, "You guys are COMMUNISTS, right?" I said, "Uh, yes." He then said "We don't like communists, you better leave now." Looking at the six beefy goons in front of me I quickly said, "absolutely, we are leaving." I think he was confused that I didn't try to deny my politics or argue about my legal right to sell papers there. He hesitated for a moment before he and his goons started chasing after us. This gave us just enough time to run to the car without incurring any broken limbs.


You should have gone with democratic socialist. ;)

Anyway, I hope that the risk for this kind of thing is at least slightly smaller today than during the cold war..?



I wonder, are there any papers out there that don't call themselves things like "Socialist Worker" or "Worker's Vanguard"? I can't help but think that names lifted straight out of the '20s may put people off a bit.


Ours is called Offensiv, at least I don't think it sounds oldfashioned. Not that I think that a name such as Socialist Worker sounds that outdated either.



With me what prevents me from talking with people is how shy I am.Being at occupy has helped a bit and since participating in various marches and other direct actions my phobia has decreased a bit I still have a great fear of public discourse. I try my best and I hope it is something that will decrease with practice.


It will, as said in my experience it does in almost all cases; both when it comes to political work and to customer service jobs etc.

[SHORAS]

Ours is called Offensiv, at least I don't think it sounds oldfashioned. Not that I think that a name such as Socialist Worker sounds that outdated either.


The strangest sounding (so far!) press I have come across is Aurora the free sheet of the ICT in Britain. I only recently realised this was also the name of a Russian cruiser which joined the February Revolution, with many of its crew becoming Bolsheviks apparently (this according to Wikipedia). I presume the ICT paper is named after it! The problem being of course, it's basically meaningless and a slightly odd name to the 'masses'. It's nice sounding I suppose and perhaps less suspicious than a sheet with either 'workers'/'socialist' or anything similar in the title.

I think Aurora may have been mentioned during this excellent documentary otherwise I have no clue how I found out about it. Sorry for derail. As you were.

JYQEl9OxnqM

[Rafiq]

If anyone came to my door preaching politics I'd slam the door on their face.... So that's a no.

[Commissar Rykov]

In Reactionary Zionist Curtain Utah? No thank you I like being able to breathe and I don't look as good ventilated by a crazed Mormon John Bircher with an automatic rifle.

[BOZG]

The strangest sounding (so far!) press I have come across is Aurora the free sheet of the ICT in Britain. I only recently realised this was also the name of a Russian cruiser which joined the February Revolution, with many of its crew becoming Bolsheviks apparently (this according to Wikipedia). I presume the ICT paper is named after it! The problem being of course, it's basically meaningless and a slightly odd name to the 'masses'. It's nice sounding I suppose and perhaps less suspicious than a sheet with either 'workers'/'socialist' or anything similar in the title.

I think Aurora may have been mentioned during this excellent documentary otherwise I have no clue how I found out about it. Sorry for derail. As you were.

Yeah, that's a bit nuts but not totally unexpected...

My favourite paper name, though it probably doesn't sound funny in its homeland, is Espartaco from the Spart's Mexican group. Whenever I see the name, it brings me back to watching Football Italia on Channel 4 as a kid and I get the strange desire to run around shouting "Gooooooooooooooooooooalaccio!".

[Tim Finnegan]

Ours is called Offensiv, at least I don't think it sounds oldfashioned. Not that I think that a name such as Socialist Worker sounds that outdated either.
Well, maybe it's a British thing. Including words like "socialist", "worker", "vanguard", etc. in the titles of papers can just makes them sound like relics from the postwar era rather than something contemporary. Gives the impression of being unrepentant Scargillites. The concepts they refer to may be as relevant to the young people of today as ever (give or take your own politics, of course), but this old terminology just seems to scream "We are out of touch!" http://www.v-strom.co.uk/phpBB3/images/smilies/smiley_shrug.gif

[SHORAS]

Yeah, that's a bit nuts but not totally unexpected...

My favourite paper name, though it probably doesn't sound funny in its homeland, is Espartaco from the Spart's Mexican group. Whenever I see the name, it brings me back to watching Football Italia on Channel 4 as a kid and I get the strange desire to run around shouting "Gooooooooooooooooooooalaccio!".

http://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/images/livornofans

I used to watch that too in the days of Batistuta and when Shevchenko was good. Bring it back I say, they did have Italia on Channel 5 for a while but it wasn't much kop actually it was really terrible apart from John Barnes doing commentary or Graham Taylor. I always preferred ex-player/managers doing a bit and actually talking about football and tactics.

kHXfHFNlJ_w

You've gotta miss James leafing through the Italian press with a coffee and elegant desert haven't you, football wasn't bad either.

[Ele'ill]

With me what prevents me from talking with people is how shy I am.Being at occupy has helped a bit and since participating in various marches and other direct actions my phobia has decreased a bit I still have a great fear of public discourse. I try my best and I hope it is something that will decrease with practice.


I go through spells of this. It gets really bad at times and lasts a while. I can't bring myself to participate and in my mind I am 'being laughed at' by others who 'know something that I don't' or 'know more than I do'. The reality of the situation is that this is probably always true- I'm sure that some people disagree and think of me and my views as 'silly' and I'm also sure that some people know more/something that I don't. So what.

[BOZG]

I go through spells of this. It gets really bad at times and lasts a while. I can't bring myself to participate and in my mind I am 'being laughed at' by others who 'know something that I don't' or 'know more than I do'. The reality of the situation is that this is probably always true- I'm sure that some people disagree and think of me and my views as 'silly' and I'm also sure that some people know more/something that I don't. So what.

The two most important words. :)

And yes, it's probably always true in part, but it's probably also false in part - chances are that there are people who agree and who don't know more / something you don't know.

[Bardo]

Why not just stick a newspaper between the flag on a bunch of mailboxes? You don't really get to talk with the people unless they're out by the mailbox, but you can cover alot of houses if you're in a car and have someone on the passenger side sticking papers to mailboxes. You can distribute flyers/newspapers throughout entire neighborhoods in just a couple hours.

[Rocky Rococo]

Why not just stick a newspaper between the flag on a bunch of mailboxes? You don't really get to talk with the people unless they're out by the mailbox, but you can cover alot of houses if you're in a car and have someone on the passenger side sticking papers to mailboxes. You can distribute flyers/newspapers throughout entire neighborhoods in just a couple hours.

That's the "lit drop" approach, and it has its virtues too. It tends to be most effective in your initial outreach, or when it's communicating one piece of time-sensitive information, "Emergency General Assembly tomorrow at 7pm at Bricklayers Hall!" It's also good for the preliminary effort of a larger more in depth campaign. It gives you something to refer to that will be in peoples minds when you make more direct outreach. "Did you get the flyer we passed out through the neighborhood last week about the city plan to tear down your houses and build a new stadium?"

[BOZG]

Why not just stick a newspaper between the flag on a bunch of mailboxes? You don't really get to talk with the people unless they're out by the mailbox, but you can cover alot of houses if you're in a car and have someone on the passenger side sticking papers to mailboxes. You can distribute flyers/newspapers throughout entire neighborhoods in just a couple hours.

For starters, newspapers cost a lot of money to produce - it's not necessarily feasible to just give them away.

Secondly, I think you've misunderstood what the entire thread is about. The OP isn't asking about whether people wait at the mailbox, they're asking about physically knocking on the door with the express purpose that you can actually get into a conversation with someone, using the paper / magazine / other literature as a certain medium. Mailboxes has nothing to do with this.

Your suggestion is also incredibly American centric, assuming that mailboxes are accessible from a car. In most countries, this isn't the case.

[SHORAS]

Secondly, I think you've misunderstood what the entire thread is about. The OP isn't asking about whether people wait at the mailbox, they're asking about physically knocking on the door with the express purpose that you can actually get into a conversation with someone, using the paper / magazine / other literature as a certain medium.

Sorry BOZG you've got that slightly wrong. I am interested in the door to door method but really for distribution only. It's good that people have been bringing up other and varied forms of distribution. My main criticism is that papers and journals get to too few people and usually only an already on board minority.

Thanks for everyone who has contributed to this thread it has far exceeded the response I imagined. Although I would like to hear from organisations on the rationale behind their press and distribution.

[BOZG]

Sorry BOZG you've got that slightly wrong. I am interested in the door to door method but really for distribution only. It's good that people have been bringing up other and varied forms of distribution. My main criticism is that papers and journals get to too few people and usually only an already on board minority.

Thanks for everyone who has contributed to this thread it has far exceeded the response I imagined. Although I would like to hear from organisations on the rationale behind their press and distribution.

Apologies in that case, I still think I'm closer to what you're suggesting than Bardo :P

[workersadvocate]

My activist experience suggests that using and offering immediately relevant agitational 'call to action' leaflets works best for door-to-door icebreaking.
Don't start by pushing a group's newspaper or trying to get somebody to join a 'vanguard party' right away at the door!

[pastradamus]

My activist experience suggests that using and offering immediately relevant agitational 'call to action' leaflets works best for door-to-door icebreaking.
Don't start by pushing a group's newspaper or trying to get somebody to join a 'vanguard party' right away at the door!

I agree with this point. Icebreakers are the best way to go. As BOZG said, publishing IS expensive. If people are interested they will respond in some way.

[Crux]

Much good has already been said and I am afraid I dont have much new to add. In regards to the original question, I have. But when it comes to actually going door to door I have only done it during election time or when there has been a specific local issue. Other than that I am out selling the paper most weekends. As for our, that would be the cwi's, rationale well I think selling papers is more effective than most people who have never done it know. I could probably expand on that but right now it is very late and i should really get some sleep. I can leave you with a general security tip for when going door to door in several story buildings. Start from the top, that way you wont get treed if you inadvertedly knock the door of a local fash.