May Day

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beat me on the head with a copy of Socialist Worker if i'm wrong but to partake in the consumption of bananas, whilst not necessarily consciously condoning the various methods of which the banana industry operates, is to at least endorse the demand for said bananas and ultimately sustain an industry fundamentally built on exploitation, hierarchy and other 'anti-Marxist' aspects, tolerated by capitalist governments for various politically-related pros and cons that I can't quite get my head round to explain anyway.

Gatinha (rwillmsen), Thursday, 1 May 2003 13:27 (twenty years ago) link

I only eat fair trade bananas. And I don't take drugs. AND I DO NOT LITTER!!!

kate, Thursday, 1 May 2003 13:28 (twenty years ago) link

Fuck anarcho-socialism!

In their world, the litter would stay in my freaking street until it rotted!

kate, Thursday, 1 May 2003 13:28 (twenty years ago) link

oh my God Gatinha you're right...so the protesters are eating bananas as well?! and, fuck, wearing clothes?!

i wasn't really suggesting the protesters are hypocrites but its always difficult to guage these things when all you've got to go on is 'fuck capitalism' banners, smashed windows, litter everywhere...these are the stereotypes the media highlight - and kate's confirming their existence has some justifiction at least. i know many protest for modified solutions based on 'ethical capitalism' i.e. prioritising environment, no sweatshops, slave labour etc. which is all well and good, tho i've never been convinced demos on the streets are an effective way of initiating changes (but then again i was one of the 1.5 million who trudged to Hyde Park a few months back...)

do bananas really cause as many problems as illegal drugs, or rather, the illegalness of drugs? i'll never smoke another one again...

stevem (blueski), Thursday, 1 May 2003 13:38 (twenty years ago) link

beat me on the head with a copy of Socialist Worker if i'm wrong but to not partake in the consumption of illegal narcotics, whilst necessarily consciously condoning the various methods of which the narcotics industry operates, is to at least not endorse the demand for said narcotics and ultimately not sustain an industry fundamentally built on exploitation, hierarchy and other 'anti-Marxist' aspects, tolerated by capitalist governments for various politically-related pros and cons that I can't quite get my head round to explain anyway.

Alex K (Alex K), Thursday, 1 May 2003 13:40 (twenty years ago) link

uh isn't stevem's point more that one of the social functions of drug use is to de-motivate and distract, on a short-term basis, those members of society most likely to complain about the status quo? ie, if you hate your life, take drugs to escape it, don't try and change anything? cf, the drug 'soma' in Brave New World and the glasgow house label.

i don't know what i'm talking about tho.

pete b. (pete b.), Thursday, 1 May 2003 13:47 (twenty years ago) link

Hmm, my post was a bit silly I guess, but I was just objecting to the idea that taking drugs in some way nullifies your objections to inequality and injustice. The idea that leftwingers have to dedicate every moment of their lives to the revolution is an extreme position. People who reject society in a political sense also live in that society. At the same time I don't like to see people drunk or out of their heads on demonstartions because I think demonstrations are a serious matter and it undermines the message, especially with some anarchist types who confuse rebellion with objectionable behaviour.

Gatinha (rwillmsen), Thursday, 1 May 2003 13:48 (twenty years ago) link

I dunno Pete - I just hate it when critics start assuming you must be a rabid Marxist to sympathise with the protestors.

Alex K (Alex K), Thursday, 1 May 2003 13:55 (twenty years ago) link

Alex you are wrong ;)

my point was moot i suppose...but you can imagine people like Millar's 'objections' to the anti-war protests based on the fact that people (like me) don't really have enough of an idea about whats going on and there's a certain herd mentality there - which also applies to a quantity of the 'anti-capitalists' surely.

stevem (blueski), Thursday, 1 May 2003 13:58 (twenty years ago) link

don't we all sympathise with the protesters in that we all despise the uglier aspects of capitalism and believe the system can work if recgonised ethics are prioritised over a quicker or bigger buck?

maybe i should be out there with them i dunno...picking up all the rubbish perhaps.

stevem (blueski), Thursday, 1 May 2003 14:01 (twenty years ago) link

Dude - why the fuck not? What do you lose from going out there and doing just that? If you were sat next to me bro - I promise you we'd be walking out by now to pick the shit up.

"don't we all sympathise with the protesters" - apparently not - see Dave's post above. Or read the Daily Mail tomorrow.

I certainly don't disagree with your last two posts. Any herd will include people who want to be told to follow. But that people's leisure choices somehow immediately invalidate their commitment - I'm not so sure about that, which is what you seemed to imply. Besides, it appeared as a flippant stereotype to me, along with the SWP stuff.

Alex K (Alex K), Thursday, 1 May 2003 14:10 (twenty years ago) link

i suppose i was suggesting its impossible to not be seen as a hypocrite, but this doesnt necessarily discredit someone's argument as was rightly pointed out.

stevem (blueski), Thursday, 1 May 2003 15:17 (twenty years ago) link

Mayday primarily means THAT IT'S MY BIRTHDAY.

DV (dirtyvicar), Thursday, 1 May 2003 15:18 (twenty years ago) link

I noticed that the the plants and trees have grown a lot in the past couple of weeks. That's a good thing.

jel -- (jel), Thursday, 1 May 2003 15:20 (twenty years ago) link

It's also my cat's birthday. Hurrah to you both.

Chris P (Chris P), Thursday, 1 May 2003 15:22 (twenty years ago) link

I think some of us are getting nostalgic for old meanings of May Day here. This is unwise: you are after all in the presence of an old man who grew up in the countryside in England - you are encouraging me towards throughts of sacrificing some/all of you. Good thing I didn't read this before the FAP, or there could have been carnage.

Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Friday, 2 May 2003 16:10 (twenty years ago) link

eight years pass...

my breath is fucking baited

surm, Tuesday, 1 May 2012 02:37 (eleven years ago) link

BLESSED BE HAPPY BELTANE

PUT A CLOTH OUT ON YOUR LAWN AND BATHE IN THE MORNING DEW TOMORROW

homosexual II, Tuesday, 1 May 2012 02:47 (eleven years ago) link

one year passes...

happy May Day!

http://blogfiles.wfmu.org/KF/2010/06/30/bmx2_big.jpg

Pope Rusty I (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 1 May 2013 14:48 (ten years ago) link

More like YAY DAY amirite?! Felicidades a todos!

free your spirit pig (La Lechera), Wednesday, 1 May 2013 19:58 (ten years ago) link

eight years pass...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDrGZMTZC1c

"Gaspar? No way." (sleeve), Saturday, 1 May 2021 18:27 (two years ago) link

I like May Day.

Happy Birthday to Nicky D and the Vicar.

the pinefox, Saturday, 1 May 2021 18:32 (two years ago) link

I love May Day!! Happy May Day 2021 !!!

weird woman in a bar (La Lechera), Saturday, 1 May 2021 19:02 (two years ago) link

one year passes...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jIn3KcCiJg

thinkmanship (sleeve), Sunday, 1 May 2022 14:56 (one year ago) link

Been working like a dog and not enjoying the eight hour work day and i still love to celebrate May Day

💐🌹🎉Happy May Day!!! 💐🌹💪

Piggy Lepton (La Lechera), Sunday, 1 May 2022 15:27 (one year ago) link

may day broadcast stream from blank forms:

https://vimeo.com/event/2070781/videos/704278790/

Celebrating the 50th anniversaries of both Archie Shepp’s Attica Blues and Frederic Rzewski’s compositions “Attica” and “Coming Together,” we will play key compositions and political recordings from the 1970s, including a rare concert of Rzewski’s Attica works featuring Julius Eastman as the reciter and Sonia Sanchez reading at the prison accompanied by incarcerated poets and musicians.

budo jeru, Sunday, 1 May 2022 16:10 (one year ago) link

one year passes...

It's raining and I think I might deep clean the bathroom on this fantastic International Workers' Day

Happy May Day!!!

Piggy Lepton (La Lechera), Monday, 1 May 2023 14:16 (eleven months ago) link


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