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George Walford: From Politics to Ideology

March 11, 2013

This article follows on from the one entitled THE POLITICAL SERIES in IC34. The six groups spoken of are the main-sequence political movements, those known in Britain as conservatism, liberalism, socialism and communism, with the non-political people preceding conservatism and anarchism (including the (A-)SPGB) following communism. – GW We now have before us six groups… read more »

George Walford: Editorial Notes (39)

March 8, 2013

OLD CAUSES and old slogans are losing their appeal; the bright young people no longer see themselves leading the masses into violent revolution. Gender and race resonate more loudly than class. Peterloo may still rank above Waterloo, but the emancipation of the slaves shines brighter than either, while the formerly exploited workers of western Europe… read more »

George Walford: The (Anarcho-)Socialist Party of Great Britain (38)

March 11, 2013

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: Various Small Items

August 21, 2014

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: Reason for Revolution

February 21, 2013

The vast mass of non-political people set the limits within which society is able to operate, anything they refuse to accept being “politically impossible.” Effective prohibition of alcohol is one example of this, effective prohibition of abortion another. The people rarely try to argue a case for drinking or abortion, they just carry on with… read more »

George Walford: Ideology, from “German” towards Systematic

February 20, 2013

By the mid-1840s Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels had begun to use the term “ideology” in something approaching its modern meaning. They showed themselves aware of having broken through into a new area of understanding and encountered something other than the familiar operations of thought, but did not recognise the full significance of their own… read more »

George Walford: The (Anarcho-)Socialist Party of Great Britain (36)

February 13, 2013

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: Would Equality Help?

February 13, 2013

The NEW STATESMAN & SOCIETY of 14 October, in its editorial, describes the consequences of Mr. Nigel Lawson’s current policy as “alarming.” This is the trouble: Sociologists (not that anyone listens to them nowadays) have long been predicting the emergence in Britain of a “two-thirds one third” society. It is one in which a majority… read more »

George Walford: Notes for Critics

August 21, 2014

IC is published for a number of reasons, one of them being to expose systematic ideology to criticism. A number of readers have responded (though the [A-]SPGB have been surprisingly quiet) and among other benefits derived we are now able to list some of the most common misunderstandings. We shall, of course, make extra efforts… read more »

George Walford: Yes, We Did Mean It

February 11, 2013

The suggestion that the political movements form a series (see ‘The Political Series‘ in IC34), sometimes meets with the response: ‘Well, perhaps, but which one is right? Which one do you support?’ The reply, that one supports all of them, is unlikely to be well received, but a commitment to systematic ideology obliges us to… read more »