75 Years since the Spanish Revolution

75 Years Since the Spanish Revolution.

What follows is my rough notes hastily scribbled from Socialism this year, and I shall be doing a lead-off as of tomorrow, starting at Newcastle branch.

We have seen the re-enactment of the Jarrow March. As we know this is a recreation of the march undertaken 75 years ago, during which time workers faced mass unemployment and struggled in their everyday lives. Workers in Spain at the time also faced poverty and struggle. Marx, Lenin and Trotsky all looked back at past attempts at revolution when looking at Spain. Spain should have moved over from the peasantry to a more capitalist class, but there was a strong monarchy, army and church which were all a weight on the peasantry. Spain has also been famous for oppressing much of South America. The Catholic church also sided with Franco and the fascists. This was a key area in influencing the population of Spain, as the church was responsible for the education of the children.
As some lefts wanted to join with the popular front – made up of liberal capitalists – there were echoes of the Russian revolution when Trotsky returned from exile. This had happened to the Bolshevik party. In Spain the heroism of Anarch-Syndicalists were crushed by the right.
A lot of left parties were in league to smash workers. There were illusions of peace with parliament. We can see this echoed today in some sense with Labour-led councils. However, the Popular Front led to conditions of fascism, and also gave the green light for Hitler.

1 month into the war, Stalinist leaders in Russia began the Moscow Trials. These leaders wanted a capitalist government, and many Spanish workers who fought were murdered in these trials. It has been stated many times that anarchists in Barcelona could have taken power but allowed weak capitalist leaders to take it back. Trotsky later said that no party at the time could have led a revolution.
The most socialist organisation at the time, the POUM, had no independent programme. Trotsky elaborates on this in Class, Party and Leadership.
When the Popular Front took over in 1936, workers saw it as a victory and immediately released prisoners and took over without waiting for the leadership. This is the main lesson to learn from this – we need to create a workers’ party before revolution, similar to the experiences of the Bolsheviks. Anarchists, different then than the anarchists of today, expressed themselves through trade unions. However, Stalin’s communists misled them.

A key lesson to learn from the war is that there was a tremendous amount of heroism and bravery of the Spanish fighters and international workers who joined them, 4000 of whom were from Britain. Because of this immense sacrifice, it is important to build a true socialist revolution. Not through fighting, but through the party.
Could it happen again? Southern Europe is the “weak link in capitalism”. People in Spain were suffering in living standards as today. Today left leaders are in bed with the Tories and big business.
There was also a lack of co-operation between left parties in the civil war, and this looks true today, and why it is important for us as a party to form alliances in organisations like TUSC.
In Grenada in Andalucia 8 million people supported the 15th May movement and the government sent in police to break it up. But an hour before this they were told that 2 police unions were not enforcing the law and refused to arrest protestors. Again, no revolutionary party was big enough to take this forward. It did show the unity needed of working people. The strikes that took place on November 30th was a major step in united the working-class under one banner.

Blue Blistering Barnacles.

I have mixed reservations about the new Tintin movie coming out shortly. Firstly, why start with Secret of the Unicorn? Surely starting with The Land of the Soviets or Tintin in America is a more sensible option which sets the series up in order.

Secondly, this is an unnecessary invasion into my childhood memories. To me the books are indeed the sacred texts; I long remember the experience of walking to Newcastle library with my Hassell Street class, and down into the childrens' section and heading for 'picture books for older readers.' Along with Asterix, Tintin was the series I read. Even the old cartoon, in which an unseen narrator proclaimed, "Herge's adventures of Tintin" loudly didn't have the same appeal. Even in my teens, I regularly cycled from Penkhull to Newcastle to continue this trend, as Stoke library was rubbish, unless I wanted to read TekWar, which I did not.

And now, up pops Tintin, for the HD 3D DVD generation. Do I want to see it? Yes. Will it taint my 25-year love affair with the ageless kid and Snowy? Doubtful. But I'd rather continue with the books, and even pass this on to my son.

Jarrow Marchers come to North Staffs

Images from Newcastle College.

This Week's Activity

This week has seen a flurry of activity, with Socialist Students stalls at Fresher's Fairs at both Staffs and Keele Universities. We have had positive feedback thus far from students approaching our stalls. Although we couldn't offer free sweeties or balloons, we did offer a viable alternative to the draconian cuts implemented by the Conservatives; who incidentally were also at the fair, as evidenced by the vast amount of tweed on show.

Newcastle Branch Activity.

On Friday myself and Andy did a Socialist stall outside Newcastle College. It was quite interesting given that it was our first stall at that particular location. The feedback was positive from students, and many felt the frustration of no more EMA, no jobs and tuition fees.
One thing we discussed was linking in action from students with the strikes scheduled for 30th November, so that there is a greater sense of soliarity. Such action has shades of France '68.

Highway to Rhyl.

A few weeks ago my family and I went on a day trip to Rhyl.

If the above sentence resonates with you, chances are you have a good idea of my experiences of family holidays as a child.

That's right, despite the fact that it was summer 2011, I was reminded of some vague notion of childhood experiences. I myself had not visited Rhyl since the early/mid eighties, but as you may know, thousands of people from North Staffs have always gone to Rhyl on their holidays, particularly during the pottery industry's heyday.

I was struck with a real sense of how despite the intervening years, that element of the culture of working-class still pervades the atmosphere; in a cliched sense, nothing has changed. There are still penny arcades that give out garish neon lighting and deafening bleeps and bells; greasy-spooners lining the streets and purveyors of wares that are pretty useless. Anyone who has seen Lindsey Anderson's O Dreamland will understand the sociological and cultural parallels. Granted, the beach-side cafes may now serve decaff lattes instead of some muddy-brown generic 'tea', but this is only a superficial change, not a cultural one.

However, forgetting sweeping ideological statements and focusing on my own personal experiences, I remember not so much my experiences, but photos of my experiences; me in hand-me-down dungarees and sandals, fine sand, murky sea, jellyfish, static caravans and seagulls the size of dogs. It's no wonder I only semi-jokingly claimed "you're not working-class if you've never been to Rhyl or Llandudno."

What's more, not having been to Rhyl since 83/84 means that going there again with a family of my own shows that history repeats itself. It's so special being able to take my kids and my baby to the seaside; a seaside that I, like so many others, went to as a kid. Despite the fact that we may say time changes, some things never change and one day my kids will be taking their kids to some stereotypical British briney beach.

(At the top of the page is me in Rhyl around 1983, and me with my family 2011 not far from where the original was taken. Time changes, but my point is that the habits of the working-class do not. For further reading on how the culture does not change I recommend The Uses of Literacy by Richard Hoggart published in 1957)

First Newcastle Socialist Branch Meeting.

Tonight saw the first meeting of comrades living in Newcastle. The meeting was held at mine and Di's house, and saw us start to develop ideas for a programme in the immediate future.
Although early days yet, we might be able to take this branch further and sustain it, as well as making sure we develop our activities in the area.
Exciting times!

Let Them Eat Cheese

There seems to be a common trend among advertisers emerging. That of the use of poetry that uses a simplistic form of rhyming to sell their wares. The most common example of this is the long-running Cathedral City cheese ads narrated by the late, great Pete Poselthwaite. However, more and more companies seem to be joining the trend. I noticed that great bastion of quality food Iceland getting in on the act.

The problem isn't that poetry is used, my beef with the process is that this is how our food is marketed at the working-class. It's as if this is how we, as the great unwashed masses, accept our food presented to us; we find beauty in our food yet also find something ordinary or functional about our use of food.

For example, the Cathedral City ad continually presents us with, as in my previous post, a functional society. The night workers, the early risers, the backbone of the nation - all able to continue thanks to their daily dose of Cathedral City. Phew! Even the direct address "From Runcorn to Ripon" is slightly more indicative than say "From Bury St. Edmunds to Didcot."

This whole presentation of the working-class and the rhythmic poetry of the commentary instantly reminds us of the classic Night Mail (1936: dir. Grierson, J). However, unike that cultural landmark in documentary history, 'the Nation's Favourite' and the current tripe (almost literally) shown to us by Iceland can surely not compare to W.H Auden. "The washing up shows cheesy bake was a winner." It may be, but it doesn't seem to ring as poetic as "none will hear the postman's knock/Without a quickening of the heart/For who can bear to feel himself forgotten?"

Cathedral City and Iceland are two examples of this kind of cultural significance within advertising. Although there have been ads aimed at a specific class many a time before, I would argue that we are likely to see an increase in adverts that, whilst maybe not using a rhythmic, staccato mode of speech in the tradition of Night Mail, do present goods to us more and more faux-poetically. This is known as a 'centrifugal' process - the associations generated around the product work to sustain the desirablity (or in this case the normality) of specific features of personal and social life. That's why mums, and indeed dads, buy the goods that companies convince them their class depends upon.

Walls sausages anyone?

Children. Children. Future. Future.

Watching Cbeebies with my 10-month old son this morning made me realise something. Namely, that there is something fundamental about children's TV, and more specifically, the ideology behind it.

I am not talking about an educational style, cognitive benefits or anything like that, but how much we as a nation and society understand the importance of public services and how ingrained we are that society functions in such a beneficial way. Or, to put it simply, Pierre Bourdieu in his influential Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste, stated that aesthetic judgements cannot be divorced from social relations.

It occured to me for example, just how many programmes, old and new, encourage the audience to learn about buses. Not cars, aeroplanes or taxis. The first mode of transport represented to children is a public service. Of course, other modes soon follow, but I don't recall that kids' classic song The Wheels on the Family Saloon going round and round.

Other examples in one morning's viewing include the importance of libraries, public parks and the social benefits of an allotment - those council subsidised spaces that almost seem to belong to a bygone age.

It almost seems like a Reithian concept; a leftish BBC trying to "educate, entertain and inform" the masses, but not necessarily what they want to know. It is interesting that this is so. Children it seems, are exposed to the value of public services and the workings of a society operated by the masses from an early age. Surely a good thing, and one that arguably need to continue whilst they still exist, particularly under the draconian measures taken by the Con-Dem coalition.

But this is not a particularly recent development, rather a continuation of ideology stretching back decades. Of course, years ago it was no surprise that children should learn about buses or factories. After all this was the order of the day. For the majority of the working-class, taking a bus to work, riding a bicycle in the country, or walking to church were activities that were sung about, talked about, or for the purpose of this blog, watched with mother.

A Really Useful Trade Union.

In children's literature too, even the bourgeoisie knew the importance of public services, regulation and jobs associated with the mass of working-class. The Rev. W Awdry, the author of the Thomas the Tank Engine series, (the Church of England in the 1950s itself arguably a symbol of middle-class intelligentsia) included Bertie into his canon; a bus.However, this bus is arguably a negative perception of the working-class. The genteel, steam-age locomotives of the middle-class (even their names are middle-class in comparison with 'Bertie') are challenged by the more common bus and all that he negatively represents; the masses, vulgarity, and the development of roads. Even his colour is red!

Many critics have applied social class to aspects of children's media, usually approaching it from a cultural aspect. All I am attempting to do is highlight the fact that the social usefulness of various institutions are still presented to our children, which can only be a good thing. One such critic, Ellen Seiter in Sold Seperately: Parents and Children in Consumer Culture, suggests that in Marxist cultural critique, any attack on the seemingly one-dimensional 'shallowness' of contemporary children's programming automatically yet paradoxically takes the position of the 'old' bourgeoisie in its attack.

But I digress. In the end, despite David Cameron's disgusting and destructive plans for his fabled and unworkable Big Society, the working-class are still teaching its offspring the value and importance of a workable society, and is doing so through its media; its publicly owned media. And if those children grow up with a knowledge of factories, schools, buses, hospitals and the Post Office and the importance of the strength of the workers in those institutions, the more privatisation and deregulation might, just might, be staved off.

TUSC Rally, Stoke-on-Trent

A Bunch of Keys

Under the Boardwalk.

The first season of Boardwalk Empire just finished airing and it's a strange beast to dissect. There doesn't seem to be anything straightforward about anything in the show, least of all the characters.

First of all, Steve Buscemi's character Enoch Thompson. He is definitely the most well-rounded character in the whole series. Buscemi does carry off some pathos throughout the series as the death of his wife and child plays on him. However, as he is essentially the lynchpin of the show, I would argue his character symbolises the show in microcosm; Enoch can often be seen to be plagued by guilt, and Ithink that this is one of the recurring themes of the series. Guilt and redemption (or lack of).

Let's just look closer at this. The Atlantic City of 1920 portayed here has a number Irish or Irish-descended characters, as well as Italians. And all these ethnicities, in keeping with the heavy sense of Catholicism, tend to mention heaven, hell, sin and forgiveness. 'Nocky' Thompson himself, we are told, will often be overcome with guilt because of his criminal transgressions, but then always overcomes this.

And this does not only effect the principal gangsters. Enoch's live-in lover. Margaret (Kelly Mcdonald) does feel guilt for so readily accepting her new lavish lifestyle. However, again poblems present themself in the execution of themes I feel, as this devout and temperate woman is more hurt by the perception of her made by others, which seems a strange trait to so quickly develop.

This brings me on to the next section, the depiction of women. Now first and foremost this is the 1920s, and as such critics can say "in those days women were inferior" should any sexist or misogynistic behaviour occur. However, it occurs to me that misogyny does rear it's ugly head, bit from a modern perspective, not its early twentieth-century setting. It has been argued before that Scorsese, (here the executive producer) perhaps due to his heritage and upbringing, depicts women as one of only two archetypes; the madonna or the whore. This seems to be the case here. Granted, the character of Margaret (Kelly Mcdonald) appears to be a strong-willed, independent woman who alligns herself with the suffragette movement, but as already mentioned, her apparent ease of which she accepts the lifestyle of a politician's girlfriend can be read as a sign of modern womanhood or the 'whoring' of her scruples. As for the other female characters, we can say that the ignorance and simplicity of certain characters is certainly in keeping with the atmosphere of the 1920's, but there is definitely a modern, masculine perspective in some portrayals that Laura Mulvey would simply salivate over. Lesbian affair? Check. Naked opium-addicted call girls with a penchant for abusive men? Check. One can almost imagine Scorses (and indeed exec-producer Mark Whalberg) standing just off-camera dictating the action like it's 'Nocky and Margaret make A Porno'.

However, in the defence of misogynists everywhere, the men are not so easily defined archetypes themselves. Prohibition agent Van Alden, despite perfectly appearing as the epitomy of chisel-jawed machismo with an unbendable will, is not as clean-cut or simplistic a character as first suggested. And Buscemi is perfect as Enoch, as his pasty white frame here is 20's America in microcosm; his wiry frame and sallow face, like his soul, is wasting away as he chases the acquisition of power. This leaves him more and more hollow.

So, a strange breed filled with enigmas and unclear character traits. Lazy writing or inspired protagonist creation? Either way I would argue it's still a good show and I shall continue to watch, even if, like one of the themes, with a degree of guilt.

It's a Wrap.

Saturday 19th Feb saw me shoot the film with my actors who did a brilliant job. Above are a few pics of the shoot.

Sunday 27th Feb saw me screen the film to a select audience at the Potteries museum in Hanley after editing all week.

Shooting Dates

The 19th of February has been chosen to begin filming on A Bunch of Keys. This will be an all-day job, and to alleviate the pressure on myself I may shoot some footage before then; merely cutaways and master shots that introduce the locations.

A Filmmaker's Diary.

Well I have in place all the elements for my next film. A Bunch of Keys will commence filming at some point in the next few weeks. I have my cast and today I was working on possible musical themes for it. Obviously here will be a perfect place to publish the production of this project. For now I am simply trying to arrange shooting dates.