Get your own Free Home PageAll right, we'll say it before you do: isn't the 'greatest hits' collection always the last resort of worn-out old stars who've run out of fresh ideas and think they can make easy money out of repackaging and flogging something their fans already bought the first time around?
Well, yes, fair enough. But that isn't why you've got 'The Best of Subversion' in your hands. We're not stars, we've got plenty left to say, and we certainly don't set out to cultivate passive admiration.
We publish several hundred copies of each issue of Subversion, many of which are given away at meetings, demonstrations etc to people who probably haven't come across us or the bulletin before. Also, however carefully we try to plan the mix of articles in each issue, we can never hope to express the entire A to Z of our politics every time.
Along with our pamphlets on Ireland and the Labour Party, we hope that this selection of articles from Subversion, covering most of the major events and issues which have confronted us since we began the bulletin, will be a useful introduction to the politics of Subversion for those who don't know much about us, but want to find out more.
DOWN WITH POLL TAX DOWN WITH ALL TAXES
Although we'd been working together politically long before the emergence of the anti-poll tax movement, it was this inspiring upsurge of working class struggle right across the country which gave us the impetus to start producing the Subversion bulletin. The many articles on the poll tax in the first few issues also reflected our involvement in local anti-poll tax groups. The following piece, from Subversion 2, typifies much of what we wrote: attacking the Labour Party (it wasn't simply a 'Tory tax'), pressing for community and workplace action, and stressing the need for the anti-poll tax struggle to be linked up with other aspects of the fightback against a generalised attack on working class living standards.
The Gulf War, and its aftermath, also featured prominently in early issues of Subversion. We tried to explain the economic background to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, and the Allies' response, to support our basic standpoint that this was a war in which the only losers would be the workers of all countries whose blood was spilt for the sake of the bosses' profits. 'Gang Warfare In The Gulf', from Subversion 4, also tore apart the various ideologies - and, in particular, 'anti-imperialism' - which were used to whip up support for one side or the other in the slaughter.
YUGOSLAVIA - A GOOD OLD FASHIONED BOSSES' WAR
The wars in former Yugoslavia have been portrayed as springing from deep-rooted religious, national and ethnic antagonisms suppressed under Tito. In 'Yugoslavia - A Good Old Fashioned Bosses' War' we argued that this appearance is deceptive: that the origins of the present conflicts lay in the rivalry between different factions of the ruling class, and its response to the struggles of the working class in Yugoslavia.
A significant stage in the process described in 'Mandela V Working Class', from Subversion 3, was reached around the time that 'The Best of Subversion' was being put together, with Nelson Mandela taking office as President of South Africa. For us though the most interesting phase is yet to come. When the ANC inevitably fails to deliver its promises of jobs, housing and education, and when it becomes obvious that the long-awaited and much-heralded arrival of 'democracy' has made no real difference to the lives of the working class in South Africa, who will be the target of their frustrations, disillusionment and anger?
Sometimes articles we write become all the more pertinent in the light of events which take place after they're published. The BNP's performance in local elections in east London and the subsequent increase in racial attacks in that area, and the success of the neo-fascists in the national elections in Italy, seem to have made it all the more vital to gain a thorough understanding not only of racism and fascism, but also of anti-racism and anti-fascism. 'The Menace of Anti-Fascism', from Subversion 10, set out to provide just that.
Analysis of the class struggle, based on our observations of what has been happening in Britain and elsewhere, and on our exeriences in our own workplaces, has always been a vital element of the Subversion bulletin. While in Britain resistance to the attacks on our working and living conditions has mainly been sporadic and localised, we have drawn encouragement from some of the massive struggles which have taken place in other countries. 'Council Workers - It's Time To Fight', from Subversion 3, and 'Workers' Solidarity Against Unemployment and Wage Cuts', from Subversion 7, also identify the major obstacles, such as trades unionism and nationalism, which have prevented such struggles from developing further, and suggest the new ways in which workers must fight if we are to turn the tide of the bosses' offensive.
The place of riots in the modern-day class struggle has been a recurring subject of debate both among ourselves and in groups close to us politically ever since the major inner city riots in Britain in the 1980s. We don't see this particular manifestation of the class struggle as containing an inherently greater revolutionary potential than any other form, but neither do we dismiss riots as the aimless flailings of the lumpenproletariat. Within these broad boundaries lie many complex issues which will no doubt fuel our discussions for a long time to come. Meanwhile, here's what we wrote about the LA riots of April 1992.
Two comments we frequently get are: it's all very well going on about strikes and riots, but what have they got to do with communism, and, it's all very well going on about communism, but how is it going to be brought about? These are two approaches to the one question - the revolutionary potential of the present-day class struggle - which was the subject of 'Class Struggle and Revolution' in Subversion 2.
ANIMAL LIBERATION OR SOCIAL REVOLUTION? DEBATE
And finally...we have always considered a lively letters page to be arguably the most important feature of every issue of Subversion. We actively seek to provoke and develop a dialogue with anyone who comes across the bulletin, and the letters we receive are a measure of whether we are succeeding or failing in this aim. The following exchange of views, from Subversion 9, was sparked off by the publication of 'ALF Lash Out', on the activities and philosophy of the Animal Liberation Front, in Subversion 8.
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