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George Walford: Beyond Politics (51)

January 15, 2014

BEYOND POLITICS An outline of systematic ideology by George Walford 160 pages Paperback £2.95 Clothbound £9.95 For subscribers to IC and members of the (A-)SPGB paperback price is £1.95 BEYOND POLITICS shows that the influence of ideology extends beyond political parties and movements. In all our purposeful activities, whether playing with the children, practising a… read more »

George Walford: The (Anarcho-) Socialist Party (51)

January 15, 2014

THE SOCIALIST Standard (March 1991) quotes, with approval, a “socialist” saying that the only thing lacking for the building of “socialism” is “the intellectual factor.” Claiming to be materialists, claiming the conditions of production to be the final determinant of social behaviour, they also say that (what they regard as) the crucial decision, the choice… read more »

George Walford: Doing the Splits (51)

January 14, 2014

Freedom, the anarchist fortnightly (23 February), reported that British opposition to the Gulf War (it came mainly from eidodynamic movements) fell into disarray. A meeting of the umbrella committee “degenerated into a series of bitter disputes and separate meetings,” the leftist groups involved pursued “their private sectarian battles,” and there was no agreed polity nor… read more »

George Walford: Taxes on Knowledge

January 14, 2014

From 1815 to 1836 British newspapers had to pay taxes or duties on every sheet they printed, on each advertisement they contained and on every pound weight of paper used. From 1820 to 1836 both printer and publisher had to to enter into recognizances of £300 and also find sureties for the same amount, and… read more »

Nicholas Walter and Peter Cadogan: Letters to the Editor (51)

August 21, 2014

Sir: You say [IC50, From Hegel-San to Niat] that “nothing is absolutely true.” Is that right? I am assured by my scientific friends that there are two absolutes; the speed of light and absolute zero. This seems to be beyond question. At another level, however, the matter may be mostly semantic. We still have to… read more »

George Walford: The Origin of Socialism

December 29, 2013

Robert Michels: The socialist theory has arisen out of the reflections of philosophers, economists, sociologists, and historians. In the socialist programmes of the different countries, every word represents a synthesis of the work of numerous learned men. The fathers of modern socialism were with few exceptions men of science primarily, and in the second place… read more »

George Walford: The Future of S.I.

January 15, 2014

Systematic ideology has now been around for over half a century. Those critically accepting the theory have not become a large and powerful group and do not seem likely to do so. When examining the (A-) SPGB IC points out that nearly everybody who has heard its case has rejected it, and there is no… read more »

George Walford: Notes & Quotes (51)

December 23, 2013

SEEN FROM OUTSIDE FactSheetFive #41 says of IC “This political journal is a chewy nugget indeed, as it tries to expound the ideas of ‘systematic ideology.’ Their basic tenet is that there is a hierarchy of ideologies, with progressively fewer people at each step; they spin this out into fascinating discussions of everything from history… read more »

George Walford: The Iron Law

December 23, 2013

Robert Michels’ book, Political Parties, a sociological study of the oligarchical tendencies of modern democracy [1], first appeared in 1911, and quickly became famous [2]. The English translation has been available since 1915 (there were also Italian, German, French and Japanese versions) and in those seventy-five years nobody, so far as I have been able… read more »

George Walford: Ideology in Education

August 21, 2014

Should the school be adapted to the child or the child to the school? An inclination in either direction is notoriously linked with political outlook, and this suggests a connection with the underlying system of major ideologies. Zvi Lamm, a professor of education in the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, has cut across these roundabout associations,… read more »