My Optimism

Where we are, now, after the Chief Rabbi and The Archbishop's joint, coordinated assault

Co-option, which always happens, can be minimised if we are:

    a) clear in our objectives (system change from exploitation/capitalism to Co-operative Careship/Co-operative Socialism),

   b) how we plan to achieve the change (nonviolence&genuine participatory democracy) and,

   c), crucially, we, briskly, 'keep moving the flag further out': on all three fronts:

        - the politics of protest and awareness-raising,

        - the politics of practical demonstration and good-news sharing,

        - and, of supreme importance, the politics of political proposition, engagement, proposition and push-to-enactment.

Back in the 1960's, when I was a teen-ager, we lost because we got stopped: the 'sit-ins' got infiltrated by the drug-dealing CIA/MI5/etc paid co-opers.

 . . . Because we were not clear on what we wanted then.

Nowadays, the key point is that the comprehensive policy mix that constitutes the (living) plan for Co-operatiive Socialism was not known then.

It is now.

So, then, in the 60's, protest floundered into the 70's co-option.

 . . .  and we ended up with Thatcher, Reagan and Pinochet.

It's different now: we know what has to be changed, what its feasible replacement is.

 . . . and we have the necessary public support among us, the 88%.

And jitters among the 10% (ie, capitalisms' Praetorian Guard)

Hence my optimism.

The time is right.

We are the people we have been waiting for.