George Walford: The (Anarcho-) Socialist Party (50)

MERSEYSIDE SCORE HALF A POINT
To the Editor of IC: In IC‘s third reply to Merseyside Branch (IC49) you say that Merseyside “use quotation marks in a way suggesting that words or phrases come from s.i. sources when (to the best of IC‘s knowledge) they do not. If Merseyside can show ‘abolition determined’ and ‘change-resistant’ in any s.i. publication(s) IC will donate a fiver to their funds.”

IC‘s knowledge is clearly not what it might be, as such phrases appear in IC7, April 1980, pages 25-6. For instance, we are told that “the paradynam is Abolition-determined” and that a protostat’s “whole effort is to resist change.” The entire “ideological series” is represented in such a manner, with epistats being described as Custom-determined, parastats as Change-determined, protodynams as Evolution-determined and epidynams as Revolution-determined.

Merseyside used such terminology in good faith, and nowhere have we seen such usage, or the meaning behind it, repudiated in the pages of IC (in any case, IC says it only repudiates the repudiator, and it is not dear whether it includes itself in this)

We look forward to receiving your kind donation. Yours etc. (pp Merseyside).

REPLY
Merseyside have validated one of the two terms challenged. Half the amount promised for the two looks like fair does and £2.50 has been sent. (Memo from IC to IC: Perhaps this will teach you to check your references).

The use of quotation marks was one of three issues raised in the passage to which Merseyside refer (IC49, p.14, para.3). It seems they accept what was said on the others.

On repudiation: Yes, IC does, while maintaining it, also repudiate its own repudiation; it does not content itself with repudiating the SP’s repudiation of this society but goes on to draw attention to the positive value of a system which enables five billion people to maintain themselves, millions of them at a level unknown to Julius Caesar or Napoleon.

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The cartoon below is reprinted from SPANNER No. 2. (Where it appears without a caption). It shows the full truth of the (A-)SPGB aphorism, “the workers run this society from top to bottom.” They run it, in fact, without the capitalists playing any essential part.

from Ideological Commentary 50, March 1991.