1. Σε μια δημόσια ομιλία κάποιος σας ρωτά, "εντάξει, καταλαβαίνω τι απορρίπτετε, αλλά αναρωτιέμαι για ποιον σκοπό είστε; Ποιους θεσμούς θέλετε που πιστεύετε ότι θα είναι καλύτεροι από αυτό που έχουμε, για την οικονομία, την πολιτική, το φύλο , φυλή, οικολογία ή οτιδήποτε άλλο πιστεύετε ότι είναι βασικό για να έχουμε όραμα;
There’s no guarantee, but I believe that institutions under democratic control are generally less harmful than centralized power. That means workplaces should be under the control of the people who work there, bearing in mind the interests and concerns of people affected by that work. It also means neighbourhoods under the control of people who live there, bearing in mind the interests and concerns of people affected by that community. And that should go for industries and economies and for cities and regions. Wealth should very largely be abolished or dispersed amongst us all. In other spheres, we need to find ways to balance freedom and privacy and anonymity with responsibility and accountability and social bonds. To give people some leverage, some support, from outside the family or community, while not undermining the family or community.
2. Στη συνέχεια, κάποιος στην ίδια εκδήλωση ρωτά, "Γιατί κάνεις αυτό που κάνεις; Δηλαδή, μας μιλάς, και ξέρω ότι γράφεις, και ίσως οργανώνεις, αλλά γιατί το κάνεις; Τι κάνεις; Ποιος είναι ο στόχος σας για την επόμενη χρονιά ή για τα επόμενα δέκα χρόνια;
I write and act because it is possible that what I do will be of benefit to those who suffer from Western power, or those who are at risk. I write and I act because it is possible I can contribute to the building of a powerful and radical peace movement that will halt and reverse the race to confrontation and destruction. I know that my writing and organizing have helped and strengthened some people. As long as I’m being helpful, I have to keep trying and keep improving what I do. Frankly, I act and I write because I’m compelled to, by rage at the world as it is. In the next year I hope to do more of these things. In particular, to help stop an escalation of the confrontation with Iran. In the next ten years, I hope to help build a much stronger, much more radical peace movement in Britain, through an evolving network of organizers, trainers, publications, websites and funders.
3. Βρίσκεστε στο σπίτι και λαμβάνετε ένα email που λέει ότι ένας νέος οργανισμός προσπαθεί να σχηματίσει, διεθνώς, ομόσπονδα εθνικά τμήματα κ.λπ. Σας ζητά να συμμετάσχετε στην προσπάθεια. Μπορείτε να φανταστείτε εύλογες συνθήκες κάτω από τις οποίες θα λέγατε, ναι, θα δώσω τις δυνάμεις μου για να το πραγματοποιήσω μαζί με εσάς τους υπόλοιπους που ήδη συμμετέχετε; Εάν ναι, ποιες είναι αυτές οι προϋποθέσεις; Ή – αντ' αυτού πιστεύετε ότι ανεξάρτητα από το περιεχόμενο της ατζέντας και τη σύνθεση των συμμετεχόντων, η ιδέα δεν μπορεί να είναι άξια, τώρα, ή ίσως ποτέ. Εάν ναι, γιατί;
We definitely need international political forms. I think healthy transnational organizations will grow out of the interaction between top-down initiatives (such as the World Social Forum, which created an open, grassroots-oriented space through a self-starting, self- appointed executive structure) and existing grassroots-connected national institutions. Quite what this interaction will be, I don’t know. I find the idea of a transnational radical organization tremendously exciting.
4. Πιστεύετε ότι οι προσπάθειες για την οργάνωση κινημάτων, έργων και των δικών μας οργανώσεων πρέπει να ενσωματώνουν τους σπόρους του μέλλοντος στο παρόν; Αν όχι, γιατί; Εάν ναι, μπορείτε να πείτε ποιες, πολύ χονδρικά, πιστεύετε ότι θα ήταν μερικές από τις επιπτώσεις για έναν οργανισμό που θα προτιμούσατε;
Radical political organizations should try to embody their values in their structures and their operations. For libertarian socialist or radical pacifist groups, if possible, this should include a balanced job complex, where all those working in an economic unit should have an equally fulfilling and empowering balance of tasks. Peace News, where I work, does not have such a structure, so I cannot in good conscience say any more on thus topic.
5. Γιατί απαντήσατε σε αυτή τη συνέντευξη; Γιατί πιστεύετε ότι οι άλλοι δεν το απάντησαν;
I answered this interview because I felt guilty at my lack of participation in the rest of the ReSoc project. I’ve regularly scheduled time to take part in the mutual commenting process. Just as regularly, more urgent tasks have swamped my day and absorbed those allocated times. Honestly, I don’t think I’ve said anything that won’t be said by dozens of other respondents (probably more concisely or cleverly), so the perceived net benefit to ‘the movement’ or ZNet of my spending 45 minutes on this is pretty close to zero. Why didn’t other people respond? Because of more urgent tasks swamping their days, because of the perceived net benefit of their response being low. Because they don’t have web-enabled mobile phones that allow them to respond in fairly ‘dead’ time during a train journey where they were planning on clipping newspapers.
Το ZNetwork χρηματοδοτείται αποκλειστικά από τη γενναιοδωρία των αναγνωστών του.
Κάνε μια δωρεά