OCTOBER 2020 DISCORD EVENTS

 OCTOBER 2020 DISCORD EVENTS

Wednesday 7 October 7.30pm BST

The FAQ Workshop

 SHOULD WE STOP REIFYING CAPITALISM?

We all do it. We talk about capitalism as if it’s a thing, which has ‘qualities’ like being blind, insane, reckless, psychopathic etc and we impute motives to it as if it has living desires and aims. We turn it into a thing –  reify it – because a concrete entity is easier to conceptualise and relate to. But in doing so perhaps we turn the ‘thing’ into a monster, a golem that looks unbeatable. Would it be better to avoid this kind of talk, and refer instead to social relationships and unwritten agreements, thus perhaps demystifying and diminishing the task to a more human scale?

Friday 9 October 7.30pm BST

FRIDAY NIGHT TALK

WHY SOCIALISM? THE POWER AND LIMITS OF SPECULATION

Richard Field speculates on the positive side of socialism and how far we can go in this.

Wednesday 14 October 7.30pm BST

The FAQ Workshop

I S A THIRD WORLD WAR INEVITABLE?

 We issued a pamphlet with this title back in 1982, when the Cold War seemed destined to continue indefinitely. But just seven years later the world changed dramatically, with the collapse of the Soviet Eastern bloc regimes. Now, with the resurgence of capitalist Russia, the rise of China, the possible fragmentation of Europe, and the global economy hit by the double whammy of a slump and a pandemic, the world is more unpredictable then ever. So how would we answer the question today?

Friday 16 October 7.30 BST

FRIDAY NIGHT TALK

GEORGE ORWELL

Richard Botterill looks at his writings and political ideas.

Wednesday 21 October 7.30pm BST

The FAQ Workshop

 SHOULDN’T YOU BE THE ANARCHO-SOCIALIST PARTY OF GREAT BRITAIN?

An opponent once used to make a point of calling us that, in the hope it would annoy us. It didn’t. In fact some members even agreed. Others objected. But since we stand for a stateless society could he have had a point that we could be that contradiction in terms an anarchist political party? But others would object, and it’s not just a matter of the ‘parliamentary thing’, the rift goes deep even if it looks narrow. Perhaps the difference was important in Marx and Bakunin’s day, but does it still matter today?

Friday 23 October 7.30om BST

FRIDAY NIGHT TALK

POPULISM

Paul Bennett looks at the rise of this political phenomena in recent years.

Wednesday 28 October 7.30pm BST

The FAQ Workshop

SHOULD WE CONSIDER DIRECT ACTION?

Occupy Wall St & UK came from nowhere to hit headlines. Extinction Rebellion did the same. How? Because their political ideas were elegant and sophisticated? No. Because of direct action. It doesn’t have to be illegal. It doesn’t have to be dangerous. Could we adopt direct action tactics to publicise the case for socialism?

We have been waiting over a century for the working class to discover our ideas, and yet if anything those ideas are becoming more marginalised than ever. Is it time we considered a change of strategy?

Friday 30 October 7.30pm BST

FRIDAY NIGHT TALK

US ELECTION SPECIAL

General discussion with video clips