During one of Stalin's frequent purges, necessary to maintain discipline and focus in the revolution, a Finnish Border Guard was amazed to find two giraffes at the checkpoint pleading to be allowed into Finland.
"Please let us in", they whined, " Comrade Stalin has ordered a purge of all elephants from the Soviet Republic."
"But you have nothing to worry about", said the guard, " You are giraffes".
"Try telling that to the KGB", said the giraffes.
When the revolutionary acts, it is with a broad stroke. Differentiation is a bourgeois illusion designed to induce uncertainty in the proletariat.
Friday, July 25, 2008
Friday, July 18, 2008
Friday Fun
More a witty remark than a proper joke, this weeks choice from the Stalin archives emphasises the importance of the control of the means of production in socialist countries compared to capitalist countries.
When Comrade Stalin reurned from a foreign trip he was asked to give a description of the economies he had seen in the west.
"Tovarisch, " he said, "in the west they have many luxurious objects available in shops -- fur coats, cars, all manners of food and combestibles. But the people are too poor to buy anything. In all my time there I didn't see a single queue !"
When Comrade Stalin reurned from a foreign trip he was asked to give a description of the economies he had seen in the west.
"Tovarisch, " he said, "in the west they have many luxurious objects available in shops -- fur coats, cars, all manners of food and combestibles. But the people are too poor to buy anything. In all my time there I didn't see a single queue !"
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Skirmishes in the Class war
Members should be aware that our supreme theorist, Chomráid O Beacáin, has been involved in skirmishes with capitalist bully boys and their running-dog liberal lackeys.
The incidents began when Chomráid O Beacáin posted a statement on the website http://www.indymdia.ie/ . This website is frequented by the hobbyist socialists and faux communists of the petit bourgeoise. From that website a person with the unfortunate moniker of Zyklon B copied the post to http://www.politcs.ie/, a website frequented by rabble rousers and apparatchiks of no influence. Chomráid O Beacáin had to defend himself against all manner of vile calumny and ridicule from these ivory tower fantasists and immature scaremongers.
Be in no doubt, Chomraidí, that these kind of websites will vanish like snow in a proletarian spring when the revolution finally comes. No more will the good in the world be vilified by the “intellectual” class and their liberal running dogs. These kinds of skirmishes will reinvigorate the broad masses and hasten the day when the capitalists will be on their knees with mouths agape as the broad masses begin to exercise their power.
The incidents began when Chomráid O Beacáin posted a statement on the website http://www.indymdia.ie/ . This website is frequented by the hobbyist socialists and faux communists of the petit bourgeoise. From that website a person with the unfortunate moniker of Zyklon B copied the post to http://www.politcs.ie/, a website frequented by rabble rousers and apparatchiks of no influence. Chomráid O Beacáin had to defend himself against all manner of vile calumny and ridicule from these ivory tower fantasists and immature scaremongers.
Be in no doubt, Chomraidí, that these kind of websites will vanish like snow in a proletarian spring when the revolution finally comes. No more will the good in the world be vilified by the “intellectual” class and their liberal running dogs. These kinds of skirmishes will reinvigorate the broad masses and hasten the day when the capitalists will be on their knees with mouths agape as the broad masses begin to exercise their power.
Friday, July 11, 2008
Towards A New Theory of Feminism
The RSPI is concerned that a feminist perspective that emerges from bourgeois intellectualizing is likely to misunderstand our position on the relationship between sexual and economic (re)production
Currently, such a mindset would typically view our proposals as chauvinistic, irrevocably bound to a male world view. Such a mindset in its more ‘developed’ forms sees even our language itself as always already contaminated by male hierarchical oppression. An example of this would be the fact that the name of the father rather than the mother continues through the generations.
Following the psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan ,feminist theory has seen the primal unity of the child has with its mother as being ruptured by the entry of the father, the phallus .The entry of the phallus is coincident with the entry of the child into the symbolic order or more simply into language itself.
According to this thinking, the child spends the rest of its life trying to regain the lost primal unity. This hankering for lost unity once captured by the field of language defines itself as a longing for a transcendental signifier – something which would ground or be the basis for language and at the same time be transcendental to it.
The RSPI is proud to announce that the days of seeking are now drawing to a close.
How so?
The entrapment process of language is predicated upon the existence of binary opposites such as male/female, rich/poor, beautiful/ugly, national/non-national, white/coloured, city/country.
‘Unity’ is not possible because the individual always sees her/himself self as different to the ‘other’ whether that other is perceived to be, for example, rich or poor relative to oneself. In other words a (wo)man knows her/himself to be poor because s/he sees the difference between her/his poverty and the wealth of others, or we know ourselves to be nationals because of our difference from immigrants etc etc .
The RSPI proposals are designed to smash this whole field of difference by destroying the functioning of the capitalist state. It is the capitalist state which produces this binary opposition because human beings are always defined by economics, by one’s place in a social hierarchy which is itself produced and sustained by one’s access to the means of production. For example, as we have seen the LTW( Lifestyle Trophy Wives) define themselves by their difference from proletariat females. To release such perpetuators of an unjust social hierarchy into forced marriages with the most oppressed of the male proletariat, Nigerian refugees, would immediately subvert the white/black, rich/poor, bourgeois educated/ non-bourgeois educated sets of binary opposites that sustain the capitalist system .
It might be ventured that inevitably a new set of binary opposites will emerge with new hierarchies such as newly liberated children of the forced mixed race marriages/ white children of the newly liberated proletariat. These opposites will not, however, remain static , they will always be in flux. For example, intermarriage between these sets of opposites will occur spontaneously as the class structures that produced and sustained the collusion between capitalists and LTWs is forever sundered.
In Our Brave New World Order binary opposition will function like the classic Marxist dialectic of thesis/ antithesis which necessarily produces a synthesis that itself becomes a new thesis ad infinitum. Economic subjugation of one class by another will not be possible because control of reproduction will pass from the capitalist to the proletariat .Readers will recall the establishment of a clear interdependability between sexual and economic product ion in the capitalist system.
Sexual freedom and enjoyment will be the keynotes of our new world order – the boundaries that divide humans through sexual selection will be smashed.
It might further be ventured that we have not dealt with the male/female divide and the fact the language that we are now using is itself always and inevitably contaminated with the traces of male subjugation of females.
In Our Brave New World government will alternate between female and male control.
As to the language we use itself being soiled by male discourse , we imagine that during the female periods of rule that our dictionaries can be rewritten , our schools will teach new languages as our citizens enjoy new and exciting modes of social and sexual interaction..
As to the final synthesis, the Nirvana of a classless society – when there will be no need for further production of binary opposites – We leave this for another day. In the meantime readers are recommended to visit http//recreationalsocialist.blogspot.com
Here they can begin to get a glimpse of the final solution.
Mick O’ Beachain
11/07/08
The RSPI is concerned that a feminist perspective that emerges from bourgeois intellectualizing is likely to misunderstand our position on the relationship between sexual and economic (re)production
Currently, such a mindset would typically view our proposals as chauvinistic, irrevocably bound to a male world view. Such a mindset in its more ‘developed’ forms sees even our language itself as always already contaminated by male hierarchical oppression. An example of this would be the fact that the name of the father rather than the mother continues through the generations.
Following the psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan ,feminist theory has seen the primal unity of the child has with its mother as being ruptured by the entry of the father, the phallus .The entry of the phallus is coincident with the entry of the child into the symbolic order or more simply into language itself.
According to this thinking, the child spends the rest of its life trying to regain the lost primal unity. This hankering for lost unity once captured by the field of language defines itself as a longing for a transcendental signifier – something which would ground or be the basis for language and at the same time be transcendental to it.
The RSPI is proud to announce that the days of seeking are now drawing to a close.
How so?
The entrapment process of language is predicated upon the existence of binary opposites such as male/female, rich/poor, beautiful/ugly, national/non-national, white/coloured, city/country.
‘Unity’ is not possible because the individual always sees her/himself self as different to the ‘other’ whether that other is perceived to be, for example, rich or poor relative to oneself. In other words a (wo)man knows her/himself to be poor because s/he sees the difference between her/his poverty and the wealth of others, or we know ourselves to be nationals because of our difference from immigrants etc etc .
The RSPI proposals are designed to smash this whole field of difference by destroying the functioning of the capitalist state. It is the capitalist state which produces this binary opposition because human beings are always defined by economics, by one’s place in a social hierarchy which is itself produced and sustained by one’s access to the means of production. For example, as we have seen the LTW( Lifestyle Trophy Wives) define themselves by their difference from proletariat females. To release such perpetuators of an unjust social hierarchy into forced marriages with the most oppressed of the male proletariat, Nigerian refugees, would immediately subvert the white/black, rich/poor, bourgeois educated/ non-bourgeois educated sets of binary opposites that sustain the capitalist system .
It might be ventured that inevitably a new set of binary opposites will emerge with new hierarchies such as newly liberated children of the forced mixed race marriages/ white children of the newly liberated proletariat. These opposites will not, however, remain static , they will always be in flux. For example, intermarriage between these sets of opposites will occur spontaneously as the class structures that produced and sustained the collusion between capitalists and LTWs is forever sundered.
In Our Brave New World Order binary opposition will function like the classic Marxist dialectic of thesis/ antithesis which necessarily produces a synthesis that itself becomes a new thesis ad infinitum. Economic subjugation of one class by another will not be possible because control of reproduction will pass from the capitalist to the proletariat .Readers will recall the establishment of a clear interdependability between sexual and economic product ion in the capitalist system.
Sexual freedom and enjoyment will be the keynotes of our new world order – the boundaries that divide humans through sexual selection will be smashed.
It might further be ventured that we have not dealt with the male/female divide and the fact the language that we are now using is itself always and inevitably contaminated with the traces of male subjugation of females.
In Our Brave New World government will alternate between female and male control.
As to the language we use itself being soiled by male discourse , we imagine that during the female periods of rule that our dictionaries can be rewritten , our schools will teach new languages as our citizens enjoy new and exciting modes of social and sexual interaction..
As to the final synthesis, the Nirvana of a classless society – when there will be no need for further production of binary opposites – We leave this for another day. In the meantime readers are recommended to visit http//recreationalsocialist.blogspot.com
Here they can begin to get a glimpse of the final solution.
Mick O’ Beachain
11/07/08
Friday Fun
A little known fact about Stalin is that he started out as a “shutnik” , a kind of comedian. In Siberia there is a tradition of shutniks going from town to town and performing during festivities, relating stories and performing pranks. It is believed that the shutnik is derived originally from the shaman traditions of Siberia.
Under the new glasnost regime in Russia, it is now possible to access some of his favourite jokes, which he collected throughout his life. It is important to note that these jokes were never treated lightly by his audience, and it was not uncommon for a political officer to offer an appropriate commentary to illustrate the high moral point of the joke.
We are pleased to introduce a selection of some of Stalin’s favourite jokes, with a brief commentary by Chomráid Smirnoff-Boland, our ethnic officer.
Joke No 1
A wife says to her husband : “Go to the shops and get some meat”. Even though it is winter, the man obeys and walks to the butchers. He joins the queue and waits for over eight hours. Eventually, the butcher comes out and says to the queue “ Go home. WE have run out of meat. There is no meat left !”. The man becomes angry and starts to shout “ How dare you treat me this way ! I am a veteran of the 1917 revolution and have been a socialist all my life. You cannot treat me this way !” A man in hat and long coat approached him and led him to one side. This man said : “ Comrade, you must be careful with your talk like that. Things are not so bad now. If you had spoken like that in the old days you know what would have happened.” He pointed his forefinger to his forehead, and pulled an imaginary trigger.
The man went home to his wife and said “ Things are really really bad!”
She asked “ Do you mean they have run out of meat ?”
“It’s worse than that”, he said. “ They’ve run out of bullets! “
Commentary :
In this joke Comrade Stalin makes the point that while revolutionaries march on their stomachs, in is only through the bullet that peace can be maintained.
Under the new glasnost regime in Russia, it is now possible to access some of his favourite jokes, which he collected throughout his life. It is important to note that these jokes were never treated lightly by his audience, and it was not uncommon for a political officer to offer an appropriate commentary to illustrate the high moral point of the joke.
We are pleased to introduce a selection of some of Stalin’s favourite jokes, with a brief commentary by Chomráid Smirnoff-Boland, our ethnic officer.
Joke No 1
A wife says to her husband : “Go to the shops and get some meat”. Even though it is winter, the man obeys and walks to the butchers. He joins the queue and waits for over eight hours. Eventually, the butcher comes out and says to the queue “ Go home. WE have run out of meat. There is no meat left !”. The man becomes angry and starts to shout “ How dare you treat me this way ! I am a veteran of the 1917 revolution and have been a socialist all my life. You cannot treat me this way !” A man in hat and long coat approached him and led him to one side. This man said : “ Comrade, you must be careful with your talk like that. Things are not so bad now. If you had spoken like that in the old days you know what would have happened.” He pointed his forefinger to his forehead, and pulled an imaginary trigger.
The man went home to his wife and said “ Things are really really bad!”
She asked “ Do you mean they have run out of meat ?”
“It’s worse than that”, he said. “ They’ve run out of bullets! “
Commentary :
In this joke Comrade Stalin makes the point that while revolutionaries march on their stomachs, in is only through the bullet that peace can be maintained.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
From THE BEACON Vol 1 Issue 1
Padraig Mac Saoirse is something of a legend in leftist circles, having been involved in almost all the major and minor parties of the Irish left in an active political life of almost 60 years. In that time he has matured from the rash young firebrand of the Trinity Trotskyist movement to the more sober and mature figurehead of numerous parties from the Young Socialists to the International Anarchist Movement. His restlessness was a sign of both increasing commitment to the socialist cause and increasing disillusionment with the various parties he was involved with. Eschewing all forms of personal promotion, he has been a major influence in every movement he was part of.
While he has been criticized as the purist ne plus ultra, he has recently surprised his colleagues and friends by forming a new party, the Recreational Socialist party of Ireland. This party is designed to re-create socialism, to realign it with its original intentions. Fearful of creating a personality cult, Mac Saoirse avoids all photography and does not do interviews. He has agreed though to allow the publication of a dialogue between the two of us, which he has had ample opportunity to comment on. Mac Saoirse is referred to as Mac. I am referred to as Int.
Mac :Socialism has become corrupt , and has become prone to incorrect interpretation. One of the biggest obstacles is the confusion of Marxism with democratic notions, and the mixing of socialism with political parties. It cannot be done as the whole notion of political parties per se creates the illusion of choice when in fact there is none. It doesn’t matter whether it’s Obama or Mc Cain, Fine gael or Fianna Fail, the Socialist workers party or the PD’s ; for the proletariat there is no change. For the capitalist overlords there is no change. Middlle class self-righteous moralists may take some succour in political parties, but that is a form of escapism. Political parties are a product of the capitalist chimera of choice and no self-respecting socialist should have anything to do with them”.
This is what has happened with Chomráid Chavez in Venezuela. He has fallen under the spell of popular approval, forgetting that the revolution when it comes will not be based on bourgeois ideas such as “approval” or “democracy” but on the overthrow of those ideas and those hierarchies of ideology. And the ultimate Armageddon of the confrontation of the capitalists and the proletariat.
Int : But can you have a party without some form of approval ?? I mean, even by its own members ?
Mac :Now we get to the nub of it. Listen to me. You cannot. Yet you must. I repeat. You cannot. Yet you must. What is unique about the Recreational Socialist Party of Ireland is that one of our first acts is to denounce our own existence. We will be the first to put ourselves up against the wall when the revolution comes. This is the only way in which the purity of the revolution can be maintained. Our role at best is catalytical.
Int : But surely that is suicidal ?
Mac : “That is the choice. Either to be first up against the wall, or to be crushed by the proletariat. The former is the more noble.”
Int : So there can be no organisation ?
Mac : The only organisation that matters will spontaneously evolve from the proletariat.
Int :Isn’t this anarchy ?
Mac : No, it isn’t anything that can be recognised because our terms and structures of recognition are based on capitalistic ideology. What occurs will occur outside this ideology.
Int : So what is the role of the revolutionary?
The role of the revolutionary is to wait, to patiently wait, and be prepared to act at all times. This readiness must be coupled with the commitment to never act as all action is determined and provoked by capitalist ideology. The proletariat are the only ones who can be freed of this taint. I cannot and you cannot. We are born bourgeois and remain so to our dying days.
The history of revolution thus far is the history of failure in all cases. We see a creeping revanchement in China, Russia and even beloved Cuba. The international and clandestine forces of capitalism remain strong so the revolutionary must be patient, and ready to pay the ultimate sacrifice at a moment’s notice.
To read the full dialogue and other thought provoking material, buy THE BEACON now.
For subscriptions, email recreational.socialist@gmail.com
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
RTE NEWS
Chomráidí
Fraternal Greetings from the RTE Current Affairs /News Team (CANT) We are dedicated to bringing about the destruction of capitalism by utilising the media at every opportunity to promote the causes dear to our hearts and to point out at all times the failure of capitalism the failings in particular of our capitalist society. For this reason, at all times we feature negative news on the economy and whenever we find any news that capitalists term good, we always include spoiler. Our expert in this matter, though not a party member, is George Lee. Through the astute use of behavioural therapy, and sleep-induced learning, we have programmed Mr Lee to respond like a Pavlov’s dog so that the failure of the capitalist economy is portrayed as an ever present danger.
A second prong of our attack is our promotion of SIPTU and ICTU apparatchiks at every possible opportunity. We try to have union representatives on each of the daily news programmes at least two times so that the ongoing class struggle can be witnessed by the proletariat.
Finally, as a demonstration of our social conscience, should any charity or left wing social organisation make any pronouncement of any kind, we will make that the main headline on our evening news. Where else in the world does the percentage of our beloved citizens (except for capitalists) who are in relative poverty is the main evening news story ? Where else in the world can an a news team be paid by the state to destoy its foundations? Brothers, (except for capitalists) Rejoice -- the day will come soon.
Go néirí na h-oibrí leat
Fraternal Greetings from the RTE Current Affairs /News Team (CANT) We are dedicated to bringing about the destruction of capitalism by utilising the media at every opportunity to promote the causes dear to our hearts and to point out at all times the failure of capitalism the failings in particular of our capitalist society. For this reason, at all times we feature negative news on the economy and whenever we find any news that capitalists term good, we always include spoiler. Our expert in this matter, though not a party member, is George Lee. Through the astute use of behavioural therapy, and sleep-induced learning, we have programmed Mr Lee to respond like a Pavlov’s dog so that the failure of the capitalist economy is portrayed as an ever present danger.
A second prong of our attack is our promotion of SIPTU and ICTU apparatchiks at every possible opportunity. We try to have union representatives on each of the daily news programmes at least two times so that the ongoing class struggle can be witnessed by the proletariat.
Finally, as a demonstration of our social conscience, should any charity or left wing social organisation make any pronouncement of any kind, we will make that the main headline on our evening news. Where else in the world does the percentage of our beloved citizens (except for capitalists) who are in relative poverty is the main evening news story ? Where else in the world can an a news team be paid by the state to destoy its foundations? Brothers, (except for capitalists) Rejoice -- the day will come soon.
Go néirí na h-oibrí leat
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