New Left Project
1. Don't do something simply because it's what you did in the past.3. Encourage questions in meetings. Discourage people from making the same standard 3-minute contribution they've made for years.
4. Avoid the words socialist, communist, Marxist, workers and Party when coining your group's name. It is the 21st century.
5. Avoid 'new' when deciding on a name. Today's new is tomorrow's old.
6. Avoid cliche, jargon and empty phrases. 'Networks' is good. 'Resistance' is good. 'Networks of resistance' is less good.
7. Newspapers out, websites in. Simples.
8. Spend more time discussing ideas than what your logo will be. But get the logo right from the start.
9. Don't waste time slagging off whatever group you belonged to in the past. It's like talking about your ex when you're with a new partner.
10. Learn how to use any available technologies, but do something a bit different with them.
11. Keep a sense of perspective. Your group may be tiny, but so are all left wing organisations. Some are just less tiny than others.
12.. Rediscover the ABC of your tradition. It's all been done before.
Good suggestions :) This got me thinking about the push for a new international, and zmag's petition to endorse particular values and goals for this international.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.zcommunications.org/newinternational.htm
What are your thoughts about this?