> --- On Mon, 6/8/09, Yann Morvan <ymorvan at cs.tcd.ie> wrote:
>
>
>> The only thing the numbers show is that there is still a
>> lack of a
>> credible alternative to business-as-usual parties.
>>
>
> [WS:] There is no dearth of alternative parties, IMHO. The problem is
> that there does not seem to be any alternative to capitalism as the mode
> of production.
>
The important word here was 'credible', which puts me fairly close to what you are saying.
> Today, such an alternative does not seem to exist, the rhetoric of
> various "alternative" parties notwithstanding. Solutions offered by
> these parties do not seem more feasible than, say, the prospect of
> colonisation of Mars.
There's no illusion in the Irish Socialist Party that it is a credible alternative. That's why it's calling for the formation of a new mass party with a socialist programme.
> What can offer an alternative is deeds not words - a non-capitalist
> economy that not only prospers but also attracts popular imagination, as
> socialism once did.
I agree about deeds not words. I think it will be difficult to get a mass party off the ground without a palpable project to work on collectively. Do you have an opinion on a good collective project to get us started?
With unemployment soon above 10% and a scarcity of money to pay for services, I'm wondering if something along the lines of time banks would be a good project.
As for socialism, communism, marxism etc, the words still have a bad rep but I think you have to call a spade a spade.
Yann