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What are you currently reading? v2

StoneHappyMonday said:
Jeez you don't mean UK Red Action surely? From the 80's? SWP breakaway? That was me and about six others.

So I'm guessing you don't mean them.
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That's precisely the Red Action I was talking about. What a coincidence! Always interesting to look back to the days of pre-internet when really small groupings could have significant impact in other countries to a degree which you don't see nowadays, or at least, the way in which such influences travel are very different in this day and age. How do you feel about the legacy you left now so many years later?

Folkmakt published a collective white paper a couple of years ago in connection with the anniversary of the groups disbandment (remnants of the group now continues as Förbundet Arbetarsolidaritet - "Worker's Solidarity League" - which is heavily involved in supporting migrant workers rights and running a SeaSol style support fund, but many of them joined the Left Party or laid off the ultra-leftist criticism of unions and joined the syndicalist SAC union) - http://vitbloggen.wordpress.com/2008/01/24/k/

In it, the member "K" describes the motivation for joining Folkmakt thusly:

To clarify things I must emphasise the fact that Folkmakt was founded as a purely proletarian movement, a sort of ideological class movement, albeit in micro format. As everyone knows we were heavily influenced by Class War, and later also by Red Action - British groups both of them. This proletarian purity was not limited to manifesting itself in crude slogans and texts, but also in our attitudes towards alcohol and the way we dressed. It must have seemed somewhat odd seeing 5 FM:ers, all sporting really short haircuts, boots, jeans, and a beer each in our hands. However, I must say that this was a sound reaction to the attitudes of the day. It wasn't until other people joined that the problem with this whole thing started to become obvious; when the same slogans, haircuts, boots and beer cans were used by researchers, teachers, students, and journalists - that's embarassing. It must be noted that I only have good things to say about ex-Folkmakt members (with one certain person being the exception).
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More about Folkmakt in this English-language interview in the excellent blog "Notes from the Swedish workers' movement"
http://swedishzine.wordpress.com/2009/08/06/interview-about-folkmakt/
 
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knock said:
And rapists.

Well, they have recently had a rape scandal involving some of their key figures.
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Indeed, I've heard that rumour too. The recent one, but also from way back, a good few years ago there was a bloke from the Birmingham branch too. To think when my sis took me to them meetingsd I would sit ther and feel stupid because I didn't know who marx and engels were at the age of 13. Iwas bored stiff, . I know my sister was young herself but she really shouldn't hve encouraged me to stand trying to flog them papers. My dad trusted her judgement dar too much. In fact, the swpies themselves? fucksacke should've said "nah, you're a kid " now it's beginning to make me shudder about the types of people they really were.


StoneHappyMonday said:
PP you say cultish, I say cuntish.

Fucking newspaper sellers, thats all the SWP are.
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ha ha, I was expecting that.
 
Just finished reading "Incognito". Best book on neuroscience I read in years.
 
bob_arctor said:
That's precisely the Red Action I was talking about. What a coincidence! Always interesting to look back to the days of pre-internet when really small groupings could have significant impact in other countries to a degree which you don't see nowadays, or at least, the way in which such influences travel are very different in this day and age. How do you feel about the legacy you left now so many years later?
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I'm fucking amazed and impressed that our influence spread anywhere outside London, let alone Sweden. I see in the response to one of the articles you posted that 'many of the people supported Irish republicanism'. This, for sure, is a legacy from the influence of Red Action. We were nothing if not standard bearers for Irish republicanism.

I find it incredible, and heartwarming, that a dozen people or so can have such influence internationally. Once upon a time there was a pub in North London called the "White Horse"....

Red Action were formed as a reaction to what we saw as bourgeois fucked upness in the SWP. We were a group who wanted to see results through political action, not newsprint. As such, we regularly attacked what, at the time, was a rising tide of fascism expressing itself through boot boys in the East End. Our raison d'etre, at one time at least, was to kick the fuck out of as many fascists as possible in Brick Lane, East London. I like to think we were successful, fairly, at doing so. I'm sure we still bear the bruises.

The joke is, the SWP, rapists an' all Knock, are still going. Still selling their papers. And doing fuck all else. Red Action at least retained their proletarian wholesomeness (?) and had achievable gains with measurable results. Even if it was only in broken heads of fascists.

I remain proud of Red Action and youthful idealism. We made a marked difference when it came to fascists being allowed to roam freely. And apparently we had influence that went not just beyond London but to Scandinavia itself.

One of the coolest things I've read on BL. Thank you.
 
StoneHappyMonday said:
Camus. Coz I is intellectual right?
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It's literally a 2 hour book on the loo. It's not a good 'novel' but I love the way it's written and why.

I think you'll hate it, but maybe prefer the further reading, but still probably hate it (and that) regardless =D
 
I'll tell you in 110 pages. Do you realize the weird thing? The book Kidnapped? Which was good enough but could have been 100x better but what can you expect from Telegraph journalists eh? Anyway, The Outsider gets mentioned in Kidnapped. If you didn't remember/realize this, start playing Twilight Zone music now.
 
StoneHappyMonday said:
I find it incredible, and heartwarming, that a dozen people or so can have such influence internationally. Once upon a time there was a pub in North London called the "White Horse"....
One of the coolest things I've read on BL. Thank you.
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Heartwarming to read as well - the Irish republicanism support thing is still living on in Sweden the form of Irlandinformation (http://irlandinformation.se/ - run by ex-Folkmakt members). I think many of the groups in the UK have had a disproportionate influence on movements in other countries both because of the deep historical roots as in the country as well as the sheer fact of immense anglo-saxon economic and cultural influence in general, especially on countries outside of the franco-latino language spheres.

It is always is incredible what a little can do to influence people across the waters or even the other side of the globe. When the SAC managed to smuggle a dismantled xerox machine across the Russian border into Siberia in the early 90's, this seemed to play a major role in seeing the first free, non-clandestine labor unions in many years set up around the secret military colonies of Omsk and Tomsk as well as help kicking off the "railway wars" of the Russian navvies. Same thing with the www,planka.nu campaign, which inspired people in Brazil to set up protests for free public transport and the major street opposition there during this last year. And that campaign in turn was heavily inspired by the much larger Italian auto-reduction groups... who basically no one knew about in Scandinavia at the time - it only got people inspired after translations and study circles spread in the early 00's (something which in turn - together with listening a whole lot to the KLF - sparked the formation of the Piracy Bureau, and later also the Pirate Bay...)

Cheers!
 
Marmalade said:
It's literally a 2 hour book on the loo. It's not a good 'novel' but I love the way it's written and why.

I think you'll hate it, but maybe prefer the further reading, but still probably hate it (and that) regardless =D
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Wrong Ms Marmz! I'll give you for 100 pages I was questioning the point of the book but that is one of the most stunning final chapters in any book I've ever read. Indeed, I've never read a book quite like that which leaves everything to the final chapter. Brilliant.
 
The last few pages of this thread renews my hope in humanity.....to a degree :) where there was none before, now there is some ...I am stoked to see such erudite and literate musings....bravo, all.
 
Dorian Gray. No ones been much interested in this, but it is fucking fantastic, it is so good it should be made into a film if it hasnt allready been. The subject of opium rears its head on a few occasions. It seems that some Lords and Gentlemen of great wealth had quite a thing for opium and opium dens at the time of writhing that book.

Dorian is at first portayed as a fine natured, but fairly dim/ brainless narcissus and is exttraordinarily good looking. Oh what becomes of him and his soul. Im about 1 hour away from finishing it. A parable on hedonism, 'the only thing to do with temptation is to yield to it' is a pretty good one sentence summary of the book.
 
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In general I am reading-Narcomania: How Britain Got Hooked on Drugs by Max Daly and Steve Sampson-This I think Shambles mentioned it in another thread..started last night, half way through. Worth a purchase.

In bed am reading this but not really in right frame of mind..The Demon by Hubert Selby, Jr.

In the Bath I am mostly re-reading The Sexual Life of Catherine M. by the art critic Catherine Millet

MDB twas made into a film in 2009. It is an OK film and stars Ben Barnes as Dorian Gray and Colin Firth as Lord Henry Wotton.Apparently it was made in to a film in 1945 too which may be an interesting watch:D
 
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Thanks for that Inforesence. I'll defintaley get the 2009 film. I cant easily picture Colin Firth being great and convincing evil hedonistic influence. He allways plays the good guy, dunno if he can play bad guys. We'll see. I'll have to reslisten to the ending, i fell asleep during the final part, only to wake up for the last few paragraphs and hear the ending.:\

I wanna get that Lemmy thing on audiobook. An ex workmate of mine was a roadie for Motorhead. He only lasted a month before burning out.. He was up all the time for the whole month on speed. It is rumoured that he has slept with hundreds of women, perhaps it was his time with Motorhead that gave him sort of extra appeal. I cant tell if he was good looking in his younger days, he's as old as Lemmy now, but he can talk the talk. He was probably even better at it on speed all the time.
 
Im part of the way through and its a wicked book so far, aye they were all massively into speed and all sorts of stuff. thats why theyre called motorhead i thin

ive never been massively into em but gonna listen to more of their stuff. nah hes always been a bit ugly i think
 
snolly said:
Was proud when I had Schroedinger's girlfriend over the other night and she was perusing my bookshelves for summat to read outside of what she usually would. I have a lot of books, I dunno how I choose them but certain things just kinda appeal. I wanted her to read If On a Winter's Night a Traveller but she went for On the Road cos I figured it'd appeal to her. She's mostly into the Jane Austen-y stuff that I Ok drugs will continue post later
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=D<3=D

bookish words to make smiles work
 
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