Communism

George Walford: Various Small Items

FEW OVER MANY Those who maintain that society embodies mainly the preferences of the ruling few land themselves with the task of explaining how these manage to impose their will. They sometimes claim that it is done by force, but again, how? In The Politics of Obedience (Montreal, Black Rose Press 1975), Etienne de in… read more »

George Walford: Leviathan

One of these illustrations shows the masses constituting the state, personified in the figure of the monarch. The other shows them constituting a power which smashes the state, personified in a member of what is commonly called the ruling class. They are separated by three centuries which have seen the introduction of universal franchise, general… read more »

George Walford: Two Suits = 1 Bike

Conrad Hopman, The Book of Future Changes – living in balance in the electronic age. London: Institute for Social Inventions 1988. A4, 153 pages, perfect bound in glossy wrappers. The edition said to be limited but the number of copies issued not given. £9.95 (£14.95 libraries and institutions). Conrad Hopman’s title echoes that of the… read more »

Nicholas Walter: In Defence of Reason

This letter is reprinted, by permission of the author, from the TLS of 1-7 April, 1988. It draws attention to two features of current society, of great importance to all who seek to effect substantial changes, for which s.i. provides a rationale. Fist, that the rationalists possess mainly mental power, the coercive forces of society… read more »

George Walford: Alive or Equal?

Would you rather be alive or equal? The right wing tend to think it an achievement that five thousand million people should be alive, regarding equality as certainly unattainable and probably undesirable. The reformers and revolutionaries tend to pursue equality (or the suppression of socially-imposed inequality), taking the maintenance of the population for granted. In… read more »

George Walford: The (Anarcho-)Socialist Party (33)

IC holds out a continuing invitation: We undertake to print any statement of up to 1,000 words carrying the approval of this party, or one of its branches. Letters from individual members will appear if they are cogent, interesting and concise, and if space permits. If you want your letter to appear unedited or not… read more »

George Walford: Green

We recently attended a meeting at which the speaker represented what used to be the ecological or conservationist movement, now coming to be known as ‘the greens.’ For the readers of IC we need not recite what was said; it was all familiar. The interest begins when one asks why these calm, sensible propositions do… read more »

George Walford: The Ideological Structure of Revolutions

Thomas S. Kuhn’s book, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (2nd Edition, University of Chicago Press, 1975) does a lot to destroy the image of scientists as coldly rational creatures free of prejudice. Before an experimental result can carry any meaning it has to be set against a picture of the world (or that part of… read more »

Ellis Hillman: Information Wanted

I am currently preparing a paper on the life and ideals of Harry Martin, one of the founders of the Socialist Party of Great Britain. He is referred to in Robert Barltrop’s colourful history of the SPGB, The Monument (Pluto Press 1975) on five separate pages. Harry Martin was the first (and last?) prophet of… read more »

George Walford: The End of Work (12)

Under this title IC conducts a campaign, not against work but against the belief that more or less everybody needs work if they are to lead a satisfactory life. Here we speak of the epoch before the beginning of work, a period, far longer than the time for which work has been among us, when… read more »

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