Get ready for a post lockdown world by attending online meetings
Post lockdown we’re going to see a struggle between the establishment trying to make us pay for the cost of the Covid-19 lockdown through lower wages, reduced conditions and an even harsher austerity policy. We’ve seen this beginning to play out in the media as the ground is prepared for the magic money tree to vanish.
It doesn’t have to be this way. This is the narrative that the establishment pushes as it supports their ideology where money is taken from us and given to their business supporters and shareholders. The only people who have seen their wealth increase during the recession are those who are already staggeringly rich. The workers, particularly those who are on the front line of risk; Doctors, nurses, care workers, refuse collectors, supermarket workers, delivery drivers and all the rest of the occupations who have kept the country going during this time have been insulted with clapping and being renamed key workers, rather than being respected with the correct personal protection equipment and being paid appropriately.
Yet there was money for a ferry company that didn’t have any ferries, money for Dyson and the F1 team McLaren to fail to make ventilators when the companies who did make ventilators were ignored. Money to give to the consultancy firm Deloitte and Serco to run test centres but not money to ensure there were enough tests and the test centres were where people could get to them. Don’t be fooled by the propaganda, while your social life is non-existent and you have the time, get yourself the information you need to counter these ridiculous narratives.
There’s been a long tradition of worker education flowing through the left. From its roots in the 19th Century Chartists until now, education is a cornerstone to emancipation – the more you know, the less you can be hoodwinked. If you think it’s all too tricky and don’t understand what the concepts the establishment uses as part of their defence of the capitalist ideology, don’t worry neither do they on the whole but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t get yourself a political education.
The difference between the left and the right is that the left always seeks to understand what is happening and why, whereas those who support right wing ideologies are usually (particularly those leaning towards the far right) are happy with an empty slogan and a promise that the few spoils of the system that the government offers us won’t be shared with those who are less fortunate than them.
Education, an understanding how this plays out and what we can do to counter it, is an act of resistance. If you’ve seen how the education system has been reduced to the basics down the last few decades you’ll understand what I mean. Music, sport, languages and arts subjects have all been substantially cut or removed as the government believes that children of the working class don’t need these things to be good little worker drones who don’t question the system. Voter ignorance and disengagement is a benefit to those who like the status quo. Don’t be one of them.
Here’s a list of some of the left organisations that have switched to online meetings during lockdown. You may never have thought of going to a meeting but there’s no reason not to at the moment. You can watch them on your phone, laptop or pc and you don’t have to participate if you don’t want to. If you do, you can type your comment into the chat. If you want to participate a bit more, you can use the online meetings software called Zoom and then you will be able to speak to ask your questions if the meeting allows it. Don’t be shy about attending, some of the meetings I’ve been in down the last few weeks have had over 1,000 people watching, so the more the merrier. I watched Jeremy Corbyn make Lowkey blush, that’s much more fun than junk TV.
I’m giving the Facebook links here as you can watch the online meetings there as they’re usually also streamed on Facebook (and sometimes YouTube) if you don’t want to use Zoom. If you want to see the breadth of the topics covered by each, click on the video link on each page and check it out. I recommend having a look at each of them and signing up to those that take your fancy.
Counterfire. Thoughtful, educational and informative, Counterfire is a collaboration between socialists groups and is dedicated to providing information and analysis on topics that touch us all.
Peoples’ Assembly Against Austerity. This is another group that supports the aims of solidarity and against the impacts of austerity. Like Counterfire, it covers a wide range of topics. Usually chaired by Laura Pidcock and with the occasional input of Ken Loach.
Festival of Resistance. A Chris Williamson supporting group. Originally it was a festival proposed for June 2020 but has rescheduled that to October and has moved online for the time being. There’s always an interesting mix of speakers, including George Galloway and you’ll certainly never hear them toe the Labour Party line.
Stay Home for Labour. Hosted by Crispin Flintoff. Held twice a week, there’s MP guest speakers, music, comedians and other performers with their take on a particular subject.
Arise. The Festival of Labour Ideas. This started out as an annual festival but has moved online and discusses those pesky left wing ideas like solidarity, economic justice and fairness.
Labour Representative Committee. The LRC is a collective of socialist activists and trade unionists, campaigning for socialist policies within the Labour Party, the broader labour movement and in the wider society. The LRC is chaired by the General Secretary of the Fire Brigades Union, Matt Wrack and the president is John McDonnell MP.
The World Transformed. It develops and delivers political education, as well as hosting general information meetings.
Labour Left Alliance. A group for members of the Labour Party. Currently their meetings focus on labour (not Labour) history.
If you want to use Zoom to attend the online meetings but it all sounds too hard, it’s not really. You need to download the software for your pc or phone from here and install it. Once it’s installed, it will ask you to sign in and ask for a name to use in the meeting.
After that, when you sign up for any of the online meetings that use it, they’ll send you a Zoom link. Click on it just before the meeting is due to start and it will take you to it. With your first meeting, check to see that the name you’re using is correct, check your audio and mic, then mute your mic until you need it, click on the chat button at the bottom to see the chat window and you’re ready to go.
The only other thing to say is that if there’s a couple of meetings on at the same time you can’t use Zoom for both, I usually have one on Facebook and the other on Zoom, with the speaker I’m not interested in muted. Bad I know but what else can you do when they’re double booked?
That’s it, except to say stop watching the propaganda on TV, that education is resistance and knowledge can set you free.
