What's the story with the SWP?

Gael

Prominent in Globalise Resistance and the Anti-War movement. Recently their UCD branch abandoned them and alot of other socialists don't like them at all!

http://www.socialistalternative.cjb.net/


http://www.geocities.com/socialistwanker/biblio.htm


Opinions anyone?

mike65

This sort of nonsense perfectly describes why almost no-one takes the SWP and its like seriously.

Mike.

ReefBreak

I think the latest edition of The Slate sums up the SWP very well:

If there is ever a half-decent protest during your time in college, these cartoon commies will turn up and wreck it. The Socialist Workers publish an incredibly bad newspaper of the same name and specialise in having no fun, shouting at people, and making sure that everyone they come into contact with ends up with no interest in left wing politics. Watch out for the forty year old at the middle of the organisation who thinks he's Che Guevara and tries to womanise all the impressionable young leftie chicks.

So eh, let's all unite, revolt and em, fight the oppressive bourgeoisie.

Sand

People hate the SWP and consider it a concentration of self righteous idiody and laughably pathetic "protests"?

When the hell did this happen

Gael

I see. Any members or former-members here got any comments?

Gael

Is Eamonn MacCann, the journalist and Civil Rights activist , a member of the SWP?

mike65

Originally posted by Gael
Is Eamonn MacCann, the journalist and Civil Rights activist , a member of the SWP?

MacCann always seems such a senseible chap so I doubt it, maybe in the past...

Mike.

daveirl

This post has been deleted.

ReefBreak

You have to admit though, they're very efficient at littering Dublin's streets (during a non-election or referendum period) with posters and fliers espousing the "benefits" of Marxism or other such silly far-left ideologies.

daveirl

This post has been deleted.

The Corinthian

As an organization the SWP is very adept at recruitment, via many of its political avatars. Most of these are opportunistic groups; of a ‘No to War and Water Rates’ campaign flavour that mushroom for the sole purpose of bringing potential recruits to their meetings where they would not go under normal circumstances. The Anti-Nazi League is their most famous front. All these fronts are easily identified by the recognizable SWP style posters that have followed the same template for well over a decade.

Another point that should be noted, as an aside, is that their membership is traditionally drawn from the disaffected middle classes. Thus, I’ve always found it highly amusing to hear SWP spokespeople with double-barrelled names pontificate about workers’ rights.

Beyond this recruitment, in particular in the universities, is akin to the methodology used by other cults (yes, you don’t have to believe in the supernatural to be in a cult) in that individuals looking to belong to a group are targeted. As such, quite a few left leaning individuals will have been members of the SWP at one time or other as a result of aggressive recruitment. As a result the SWP appear to have a very high turnover rate of membership, with only a tiny percentage remaining for longer than two or three years.

Gael

Interesting. Does anyone know anything more about the split with the UCD lot, that hasn't been laid out in the breakaways own explanation on the net?

therecklessone

The words "Life Of Brian" and "splitters" spring to mind...