James Kelman on Self Determination
James Kelman talking at the 17th Edinburgh Independent Radical Book Fair.
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James Kelman talking at the 17th Edinburgh Independent Radical Book Fair.
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So how do we get there then?
Fantastic speech, thank you.
Paired with the current contention about Hate legislation, Kelman’s contribution on avoiding the trap of British royalist parliamentarianism ties in with views that Love can be destructive, regressive, belligerent and blinding too: the love of country, the love of national identity and institutions, the worship of ancestors and other parasocial relationships like royalism. I agree that fixation on the Vote can be totemic and unfreeing. I’m not an absolutist on voting, on whether the master’s tools can never be used in the dismantling of the master’s house. But even if you could vote the odd radical into Parliament, the System has multiple defences in depth, and I think the general public perception is that UK politics has been degraded and degrading as long as people have memories.
Reform UK are surprisingly radical, if you bother to read their manifesto. I think you mean socialism, which isn’t particularly radical, but is very stale. Surprisingly, the Workers Party and Reform UK have some very similar tax proposals. The Workers Party makes a big play on Gaza being extremely relevant in Lancashire, and they support a one-state solution with Palestine taken over by Israel. Scotland has a dearth of radical politics to the point of it being irrelevant.
Reform UK isn’t a party it is a business.
Sorry – too late for an April Fool’s Day joke!