by TB, 22/2/06

Hello all,

We in World in Common (WiC) have been interested to see ideas about uniting the various strands of democratic socialists explored on the WSM Forum.

Communication and dialogue is critically important as never before, as the world seems to be hurtling towards ecological meltdown. In the “anti-market, anti-statist sector” we can clearly see the reason for this. We know the nature of the cancer, we have named it, analysed it, traced its history and causes. We know that it needs removing in its entirety, but disagree on the finer points of which surgical instruments should be used and how the patient might fare in the first phase of post-operative care.

If we hesitate, it will most likely be too late to save the patient.

That is why we must start talking to each other, spread the news of the cancerous growth through every channel possible and argue out our differences vigorously in a friendly environment.

The WiC group was formed in November 2002. We are firmly rooted in what we call the “anti-market, anti-statist sector”. Our sector of politics remains relatively small, in our opinion, because groups remain isolated from each other and regard each other with mutual suspicion and often sectarian hostility. WiC was set up to provide a meeting ground for different groups and individuals within our sector, to argue out our differences and – at some point in the future – perhaps even be able to host joint events!

We DO NOT see ourselves as “rivals” to any other group in our sector.

We all know that the road to mass socialist consciousness is a slow and arduous one. In WiC we would certainly celebrate any new recruit to the WSM, SLP or any other branch of our sector as another nail in the coffin of capitalism. Unfortunately, there does not seem to be a magic formula for any of us to start an immediate exponential growth.

We see that members of the WSM Forum (not necessarily all belonging to the WSM) have been discussing the possibility of setting up an organisation which we believe would in effect be another WiC. As we have the organisation, the website and the discussion group we respectfully put it to you that it might be easier to use what is already in place than to re-invent the wheel.

top