THE SHEFFIELD ANARC' H VOL 3 N0 9 (cid:9) SUMMER 1985(cid:9) PAY WHAT YOU LIKE • - (cid:9) - -. (cid:9) - -c - 'WHEREVER YOU FIND INJUSTICE, THE PROPER FORM OF POLITENESS IS ATTACK' (1-BONE SLIM) THE SHEFFIELD ANARCHIST P.O. BOX 217, SHEFFIELD. THE SHEFFIELD ANARCHIST is prcdzed by Sheffield Anarchists as an aid to the wider dissemination of Anarchist ideas in the SheffieLd area and further abroard. Volume 1 Wirber 1 was tLished in 1891, and it was intended to appear fortnightLy, but pressure from the police, the church, and authority in general forced a halt in production after onLy 10 issues. It was revived in 1975, and continued to appear, somewhat sppradicaLLy, throughout the 70's. Since March 1983 it has been produced on a qiarterly basis. want of The paper has no fixed price, a caitirujation of the originaL policy of the founders, so that the a few pence shaLl not prevent the sharing of ideas. We pay ourselves no wages rider any guise, have no expense accounts and sI.çrt no other enterprise, (nor are we supported by any other enterprise). All ncrieY recieved for the paper goes towards ensuring that we can print more copies of the next issue, and those who are abLe to give generously ensure that copies can be aval LLe for those who carrot afford to give anything. We have always encouraged our readers to get invoLved with the paper, and with the wider activities of the grow. Contributions of an Anarchist nature are aLways welcaje for publication, be they articles, poems, graphics or whatever - We excercise no editorial- control or censorship over contributions, and inclusion Is subject onLy to availabLe space. ARTICLES, ETC PUBLISHED IN 'THE SHEFFIELD ANARCHIST' ARE EXPRESSING THE VIEWOINT OF THE INDIVIDUAL AUTHCR/ PCET/G&4PHICIST PJ4) DO NUT7NECCESARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF ALL THOSE INVOLVED IN THE PRODUCTION OF THE PAPER, NOR INDEED THE VIEWS OF ALL ANARCHISTS IN SHEFFIELD. The tern "She-f-fieLd Anarchists' has aLways been more of a geographical- description than a political- one, in fact today even this is sanewhat flexible, as many Anarchists Living in places outside of the SteftieLd boundary are involved. These incLie peopLe from Wath, DrcnfieLd, ChesterfieLd, Workscp, CLowre, Wct,tweLL, Rotherham and elsewhere. We have aLways existed as more of a Loose federation than a fixed grouping, we hope that this does not inply any vagueness: We are very cLear that we are Anarchists, but toLerant of the differing varieties of Anarchism, of which there are many - Ccgrnu-iists, pacifists, syndicaLists, etc. We are aLL happy to work with, and learn from, each other. We think that the Looseness of our grouping offers a certain aaünt of protection against dogmatism, power-seekers, poLice-infiLtrators, etc and also acts as a safeguard against the diseases that see" to afflict more rigid organisations - beuracracy, intimidation of the Less-verbally articuLate, Oppression of minorities, hierarchy, etc. We believe that the size of our groIp(ing), its diversity, and the fact that it has been active for so Long proves that our methods of organisation work. We are a very active grow, aid meet together reguLarly. ALthot4-i not afti Liated to a regional or national Anarchist federation we have regular contact with other Anarchists throughout the country, and also with some abroard. 1 R0 R WANT YOU TORE (cid:9) r readers are lc to (cid:9) involved, to work within the Loose THI S POPM 5PNDA KtD-- structure of 'Sheffield Anarchists' or outside of that structure, as - IT'LL MAKE YOU MENTALLY theyseetit. (cid:9) SiCK! THE SHEFFIELD ANARCHIST IS ANTI - CCPYRIGIT. YOU MY DO ps{rrHINs 1W LIKE WITH ANY PART OF IT. CHESTERFIELD caRAk)Es PLEASE NOTE - ANARCHIST 6O(S, PERIODICALS, ETC WKJ ARE NOWAVAILABLE FROM A STALL IN THE NW(Er - EVERY SAThRDPY. (cid:9) flY BUT I PROMISED THE OLD 60? THAT ID r I (cid:9) SJ (cid:9) btAfl ThAT! STANDING FIRM? What a joke the Council's stand over rate-capping turned out to be. They must have spent a fortune inflating their own ego's, what with making records, painting buses, etc, etc, etc. -. all saying how "firm" they were going to be in their "stand" against rate-capping. Arid then they didn't even last out the first round. Further, the discovery of the rate demands already typed-out and hidden in the Town Hall shows just how sincere they ever, were • Blunkett 's apparent U-turn is - seen as positive by the Labore leadership in the same way as "Red Ken' Livingston- e's was - Obviously these treacherous shits will go far as politicians, and both are keen to climb up the Labors Party ladder at the earliest oppertunity. Now the Council is "standing firm" against cutting jobs and services, despite setting a rate which cannot possibly pay for all of these. Their latest propaganda says "We will nqt carry out Government cutbacks in Sheffield. We will keep the promises we have made." Who is there left to believe these hollow statements - which the Council specialise in? They say that they will now be looking to make "the savings other crises have not reached", but no doubt they will riot be starti- ng with the many banquets held at the Town Hall for the Lahore Party faithful, or their own expense accounts, or the parasite Lord Mayor. TEENAGE I RAMPAGE A 25% increase in 'criminal damage" has been spear-headed by local militia forces in the Abbeydale area. In one raid 50 windows were smashed at Abbeydale Grange school, and expensive cars in the nearby posh area of Millhouses have had their paintwork scratched and windows broken. Other cars were driven into walls. Although 'vandalism" has risen by 25% for Sheffield as a whole over the first 3 months of this year, it has risen by 29% in the South-Sheffield sub-division. In Doncaster the figures are up 30, and in Barnsley an incredible 45%. Let's make sure we keep it constructive. "Scabbing Jack" At a May Day rally in Doncaster "Scabbing Jack" Taylor was booed and heckled by miners, many of whom were on "unofficial" strike at the time. Recently, after coming out of a meeting with the NCB, where the decision to axe over 2,000 jobs had just been announced Jack said it had been "a good constru- ctive meeting" Why Not Make It Easy For Subscribe Are you sick of trying to dodge the pigs on pargateso you can get hold of a copy of the paper? Sick of going through all those copies / % "t1Vuit1 of 'Red Drivel' to try and find the last 'Sheffield Anarchist' in your local lefty bookshop? Why not make it easy for yourself and S iCtJJI subscribe. For 4 scintillating issues of your favourite Anarchist mag just send us the trifling sum of £1.60 and we'll send you the next 4 issues + any other publications we do hot off the press. We A41'l-reckon that to cover the cost of printing, postage, envelopes, etc. 'A jyou're getting a pretty good deal for £1.&O. Course if you want to send us a bit mote, we'll put it to good use. (cid:9) - SO WISE 1W BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE AND SUBSCRIBE. 3 njjws Etc A.L.F. There have been several attacks by the Animal Liberation Front in Sheffield recently, the targets have mainly been city-centre fur shops, notably kacichams. where £4,000 worth of windows were smashed and locks glued-up. THE BLUE RINSE STARTS TO RUN Events at the Council's dreary march and rally against ratecapping on inarch the 6th were considerably enhanced by the arrival of striking school students. For one of the passing blue-rinse brigade this burst of creative rebellion was too much to digest. The elderly matriarch seized one of the insurgents, a young boy of 9, while screaming for police assistance: This arrived promptly. However our young hero is not yet thwarted, he boldly declares his innocence of any crime, adding his doubts as to the sanity of the dear lady. Red-faced, she franticly searches for evidence amongst the piles of discarded placards littering the City Hall steps. Much to the amusement of the gathering masses she finds the offending article: a doctored trot placard with the immortal words 'COPPERS ARE WANICERS". (cid:9) - FRUITCAKE OF THE MONTH (cid:9) - Our Fruit-Cake of the Month award goes to local Labour member of Brierly Town Council, Bill Grindrod, who told a. local Lahore Party meeting that it was time vandals were flogged; he was referring to someone who had stolen some flowers from a local cemetery. FORTHCOMING EVENTS THE SHEFFIELD ANARCHIST WALK - (cid:9) - A historical walk round places of local Anarchist Interest including several pubs. Meet Sunday 30th June in The Hanover pub, Broomhall BROOff1ALL StiflER CARNIVAL - The SheffieldAnarchist bookstall will be there. Saturday 13th of July. THE SHEFFIELD ANARCHIST READERS MEETING - Come and let us know what you think of the paper. All comrades welcome. Tuesday 16th of July at Coimnonground on the Wicker, 7.30pm. SHEFFIELD SHOW - The Sheffield Anarchist bookstall will be in the "peace" area. 19thJ20th/21st July In Hilsborough Park. ANARCHIST PICNIC AND GET-TOGETHER - - Bring food, drink, etc. Some for yourself and some to share. All friends welcome. Meet 'The 3'terry Lads', Lodgemoor from 12.00rrn onwards. Catch the 51 bus from Anindel Gate. (cid:9) - COPYDATE FOR 'THE SHEFFIELD ANARCHIST' VOL 3 No 10 - All articles must be in for Thursday 15th of August. GREEN FAYRE - The bookstall will be here too. 2.00prn - 6.00pm at Tintagel House, Meadow Bank Rd. 15th of September. (cid:9) - (cid:9) -. IMPORTANT IMPORTANT IMPORTANT @ IMPORTANT ! INPORTANT IMPORTANT ccj IMPORTANT PLEASE NOTE - WE NO LONGER uoLn OUR WEEKLY MEETINGS AT THE BROWN COW- PUB. 4 - (cid:9) - SCHOOLS-AN IN EXPANDING BATTLEGROUND THE coNTiNuous CLASS WAR THE CARNIVAL OF REVOLT In March this year, schools throughout the country exploded in a carnival of revolt, and nowhere was the battle more intense than in Sheffield. Although March 6th (the 1st anniversary of the miners strike) had been designated "National Fuck School Day" a couple of months previously the actual scale of events must have taken everyone by suprise. An extract from a leaflet distributed to Sheffield schools and re-printed in 'The Star' read "Get wise, use your imagination, make March 6th a hell-raising, colourful, destructive day. Smash your mind-twisting prison of an exam factory. On March 6th - Support the miners." - The fuse had been lit, and on March 6th, (despite the NUN calling off the miners strike), the long-overdue charge went off. After €600 worth of windows were smashed at Hurifield school, pupils marched on nearby Ashleigh school, where they were joined by Ashleigh pupils. "A running riot" ensued in which more school windows were smashed and cars and other vehicles were attacked. A vicar who attempted to help teachers restore order was hit with a brick. Elsewhere, at City school pupils staged a walk-out, and at schools throughout the country pupils hit back at the system. In Sheffield the festivities extended on into theevening, with more actions specifically in support of the miners; putting the NIJMbeuracrats to shame. The large plate glass window of the NCB scab coal shop was smashed, and 5 Halifax Building Society (who had evicted striking miners) branches had their locks and cash machines glued up, graffftti outside one branch read "Stop the Evictions". But the "Carnival of Resistance5.as not to be a one day event. The next day. March 7th, 150 pupils at City school walked out in protest at the "disciplining" of 10 pupils for taking part in the previous days events. After walking out, the City pupils went to nearby Brook school where 50 pupils (including many Orgreave veterans) were already picketting. On March 8th pupils again refused to go into City school, until an amnesty was -offered to all those suspended or expelled, (this demand was eventually met). After holding a meeting outside local shops, they again went to Brook school to join a 50-strong picket already there. Teachers had to barricade the school to stop them storming the building. From Brook they went to Waitheof school, where they were joined by more striking pupils. Here they were charged by riot police, and a 16 year old was arrested and beaten up. (cid:9) - It has been difficult to sketch in all the events that took place during the -. - carnival of revolt, certainly there were many things which were not reported in the capitalist press, and we have heard of some pretty spectacular events involving 'school stoppers' in other British towns and cities. Chronologically the next action we know about in Sheffield took place on March 11th when 60 pupils at Carter Lodge - school, walked out.') (cid:9) - The following day, the 12th, 100 pupils walked out at Carter Lodge school, they went to City school to join pupils there in a picket and demonstration, and 2 arrests were made. Police were also called to Dinnington Comprehensive where a picket of over 100 had formed. The extent of the schools revolt, paticularly as far as unreported actions are concerned was shown when police and education officials appealed to "the- public" to help stop attacks on schools. According to 'The Star', "Virtually every school in the city has now been attacked - with fresh reports reaching police at the rate of 3 or 4 a day." For a week the schools events had dominated the headlines of the local press.but the last schools action to be reported took place on March 13th when pupils from - arter.Lodge school again walked out, and demonstrated outside Hurlfield school. As always, the capitalist press continually tried to distort the truth about the schools revolt, and eventually, as with the '81 riots, they decided that the story had become too hot to handle. (cid:9) - CONTINUED ON FOLLOWING PAGE WJ (cid:9) BACK IN '1 In 1981 the leftist myth that only workers have the power to change society was totally shattered by the evenys in Toxteth, Brixton and 71loss Side. Suddenly the left were forced to gee the potential power of Tithe impossible class', they had to, because they had been left standing by the events that had taken place, insurrection had broken out, and they (of course) were nowhere to be seen. As always, the 'trot' could only see things in the subjective terms of their own narrow, dogmatic arid abstract -politics, trying to cram something that was alive and kicking into the pigeonholes of their dead- ism' s and the confines of 'revolution' according to Marx or some other long-decaying corpse. Parasitically, they tried to ride along on the backs of the coibatartts, attempting to manipulate and distort the truth about what was really going on, and use the impossible class as cannon fodder for their petty power politics (2). They attempted to become armchair spokes(wo)men and leaders, but they never understood anything about what was going on, the insurgents were light- years ahead of them politically, and the trots could not see that they themselves, "the vanguard of the proletariat" were part of that which had to be swept away, they were part of "the enemy". (cid:9) - The Labour Party too were forced to sit up and take notice. Unbridled resistance to the state that would leave them as redundant as the Tortes, had to he smashed (3). But still, after the initial danger to them was thought over, they sought to make petty political capital out of the events, by trying to make out that they were some kind of natural disaster brought about solely by the policies of the Tory government: Something that could be appeased by a little state philanthropy and the reintroducti- on of policemen on bicycles. But this was not a case of the unemployed clamouring for jobs, the insurgents made no reformist demands, they could not be appeased by the state handing out more wage-slavery, but only by an end to wage-slavery and an end to the state. Once you say "NO" all thins follow, and the " street-dancers were alrea- dy a long way down the road of resistance, they sought only the joy of revolution (4). THEY HAVE LEARNED NOTHING (cid:9) - (cid:9) - (cid:9) - (cid:9) - - Four years later, the Labour Party left have been quicker off the mark in seeing - the power of youth, as they reject school, and spread their fight to the streets. Again, they are attempting to neutralise genuine revolutionary class anger by diverting it Into irrelevant single-issues; mere fodder for their power drive. The dirty deed - is being done under the label of the "Labour Party Young Socialists", and the campaign is being closely controlled by the odious so-called "Militant' tendency (better - known as the 'Tapeworm' tendency). Yet again they have underestimated our strength, anger, and lack of submissiveness-How stupid do they think we are, all thiscrap about teachers and pupils being on the same side, (cid:9) - IPYS demands asking slaves to support their would-he masters, (cid:9) teachers are 'soft cops', and those trendies in (cid:9) AsrliE teachers' strike continues, LPYSbrao. the Labour Party are the worst. The question of (cid:9) VsmIi€So itsthlio audld t Ieuvstn ht,ht eb rkia,nflcelnt ,psr oads aac emdo dbeyl tPoo lrat-, how much they get paid is as irrelevant to-the (cid:9) tervene In subscquent student protests: (cid:9) - FpowTTHETolEsNOTTHETeAcllEs.m.a.... - (cid:9) - forcefully educated as - the question of screws pay ru NOT wall paid; h.y !.'n In. ,h.a it,. nang. wa,tw.orkhBOhotn.w.S.Th.Tod..hs. - is to prisoners. The campaign against Youth (cid:9) kept dawn tflomrt PS1 and cul back On tajohara - Joht. Th. Tsach.flunOns and Wotflghth,g.gñmtywa Training Schemes is being used as another vote- (cid:9) thayts learned 1. • catching stunt to rally support round the pink (cid:9) NOT TOOISRUPTVOUREXAMS. NUT POLICY IS flag of the Labour Party, and to gloss over their (cid:9) I Tor,.hav.cutnKan.ofpound.l,ornowant. (cid:9) - lion. th,..t to your tuth,s troill Tory own appalling record. We are not interested in trying .duc,,ioTn. ..I student, mcoirnnt. ,l Ight with cuts Scioi to rearrange the deckcthhea Tiirtasn ioc,n w ten (cid:9) chsn or a MW..ichool .... .. .o.- .n know where we're going, and it isn't up some Labour (cid:9) TSTeUe.DthENarT.S s NtrE.nE9Dt hA MUNeIlO INn ihek uroa; SCKOOL TOOt -. Party -blind-alley, -it's on to real change. (cid:9) The schc&swd.n& union mustantnd: * No gic'IflistLo ot pups. for etriking, ntatl board of OverflI. - (cid:9) CONTINUED ON FOLLOWING PAGE * Rht to the,, ason InalP t. want. sio * .a corperS pdnhshrPTfli0ent, (cid:9) - - (cid:9) * l.,rioved school ,,c11411s. (cid:9) - * Control schoolm.galms (cid:9) - 01 This LPYS leaflet reproduced it, 'Iilitant' shows (cid:9) I (cid:9) *• pfl0Otu pIm.,,0 ngr aton t Itso.r FVushmTart nEkdu*cqat ioSnw. dS. where they put the emphasis in schools - with the (cid:9) * A9uflnte.dlobfQatvIchocMiaaw..ds union tat.. of pay. (cid:9) - teachers — the rest of the leaflet is the usual (cid:9) * End police h.,asm.Ot—STOF the .rt.n of student. forjust sIJng on - prnsm.4& - reformist, diversionary twaddle that they can (cid:9) ni/i Volno. Is count..p,0th1c.lv.. qo..be. dwea1s - ( uStyotth..Ik.RgIfl5thfl,hoi1tlfltfr.sxca. always be expected to come out with. (cid:9) to clamp down. DONT B. PROVOKEOMI No als - n*,dI.n violence: cpnI.. tlwâufl nothe .ctlon. - I (cid:9) (cid:9) THEY HAVE LEARNED NOTHING CONTD. In Glasgow the LPYS got more than they bargained for when they called for a token half-day school strike on (cid:9) - March 21st - a full scale riot: Over £1100 worth of damage was caused as 6000 'laughing, yelling kids ran along the streets, easily avoiding cops on horseback." School exercise books were ripped up by the hundred, and they chanted "Dole is -better than slavery', and "Here we (cid:9) -. go..." One student commented "We're probably- going to get (cid:9) - (cid:9) - expelled tomorrow anyway, so who cares." After the initial (cid:9) S (cid:9) -. confrontation with the police, large groups spread (cid:9) - (cid:9) - throughout the city. One group who had a specific target (cid:9) - in mind headed for a nearby school, and proceeded to put (cid:9) - (cid:9) \ the windows through. According to 'Black Flag' the LPYS (cid:9) 4 were "nowhere to be seen, except for one sighting of a (cid:9) - (cid:9) -r tired steward running behined a group of students." Not content with getting their fingers burnt once (again) the LPYS together with other "Militant" fronts - the so-called "School Students Action Committee" and the "Youth - Trade Union Rights Campaign" tried to organise a national half-day school strike for April 25th. This was supposed to be a protest against YTS, but coincided with a teachers strike the same day. The token strike call was backed by several Labour MP's. Yet again, the "Militant" scum got more than they bargained for, the Glasgow events were simply amplified to a national scale - Ill Barnsley windows were smashed at County Hall, and 500 school strikers wrecked the furniture in ahal1 at a meeting supposedly organised for them. In Bradford youths stormed the Arndale Centre (the scene of earlier rioting). In Reading 41 arrests were made after a rampage. There was "severe disorder" in Caerphilly. And all over the country school strikers went on the warpath, while the LPYS and chums stood helpless. In Sheffield those strikers that bothered to attend the LPYS rally weren't - prepared - to subordinate to the self-imposed authority of the trot scum. On the City Hall steps fires were started with the LPYS/SSAC/YTURC leaflets specially printed for the occassion, and red flags which had been distributed were also set alight, along with the LPYS banner. (5)Hundreds of pounds worth of damage" was caused in the City centre, and half a mile away from the rally protesters attempted to storm the Manpower Services building - they had to barricade the place: Commenting on the fact that they had been totally unable to control the days events, the rally's Sheffield organiser said "The disturbance just proved schoolchil- :dren needed to be properly organised" (from 'The Star')(ó). This echoes what (cid:9) - "Militant" were saying after the '81 riots, Claire Doyle (one of their many paid workers) told a Brixton meeting "You have to organise to defend yourselves", the reply came back; "We will do all our organising ourselves.' On March 25th this was effectively repeated by school strikers throughout the country as they rejected the "Militant"/Labour Party shit-heads and organised their own protest. We should be clear where we stand with these proffessional organisers who attempt to leech off our protest, they are as bad as their counterparts in the Young National Front, and should be treated in the same way. - - It will not be long before more trots try to get their pound of flesh out of the - schools revolt (7), but the revolution does not start when the trot vanguardists decide; the schools protests are becoming an increasingly larger battleground in a revolution that has already begun. nRA BITS (1) There were no luccidents reported over the weekend of the 9th and 10th of March. Various teachers and head-teachers expressed hope that the weekend would he a "cooling-off period", and they pushed further the idea of an amnesty, which had already been offered at most scbools by this point. -- (cid:9) - (cid:9) CONTINUED ON FOLLOWING PAGE XTRA BITS CONTD. was limited to turning up (2)But theleft's real involvement in what was going on armed with leaflets after the riots had already occurred, and holding meetings to try and 'oranise' things. After the riots Tony Cliff of the SWP said at a meeting in Liverpool "The young have provided the steam and now we must provide the engine for the steam to drive" - what a joke. Rightly the trots were condemned and attacked wherever they went by local people. At a meeting in Brixton 3 members of the "Revolu- tionary Communist Tendency" were heckled and booed. One lad said "We are fed up with them hanging round since it started." When the LPYS("iilitant") held a meeting in Southall after the riots, the reaction was the same, they got a rough ride from the Southall Youth Movement. Bali, Sing Purewal said "These people come here to exploit us. We do not want anything to do with them, the Socialist Workers Party, the Workers Revolutionary Party or any Marxist group. We are fed up with these lefties telling us what to (cid:9) - (3)Labour lefty Eric Heifer, IT for Walton, Liverpool, and author of the book "Class Struggle in Parliament" (sic.) which is acclaimed by the SUP, when pressed to make a stement on TV said that the rioters and looters must be punished with all due severity. (cid:9) - (4)One of the first 'outsiders' to refer to the riots as "revolution' was in fact Superpig Andertoni, this was following the assault on Moss Side police station. This analysis was way ahead of the left. (5)When a speaker critisized "bloody Anarchists" for advocating sabotage in schools (a reference to 'THE SC}KL STOPPERS HANDBOOK') he was left in no doubt where the school combatants stood. (cid:9) - (6)The LPYS are attempting to resurrect the National Union of School Students, but as with the insurgents of '81 the very strength of the 'School Stoppers' lies in the fact that they have no leaders to 'control' them or sell them out. The only union mentioned by pupils during the Carnival of Revolt was a "National Union of School Strikers". (7)Two small trot groups have already attempted to do this through the "Youth Trade Union Rights Campaign" - they are "Class Fighter' (Socialist Organiser) and "Revolutionary Youth" (Socialist Action) FURTHER INFORMATION FROM: LPYS orgarriser for Sheffield is Jane of 182 St Aidens Close, Sheffield. YTIIRC/SSAC organisers are Andy Holmes (Tel - 550831) and Paul Stancer, 176 Oldfield Rd Sheffield 6 (Tel - 341333). (cid:9) - THIS LEAFLET WAS Dsig:uTEDTo SHEFFIELD SCHOOLS 111E -DAY 'BEFORE ThE SCHOOL srgjxE On March 6th in Sheffield, and throtzhout the country, schools exploded in a carnival of resistance. After a week of incredible joyous revolt the education 'cops' sheered their -tear of-ourpowor by offering a complete amnesty for those. suspended - more than the miners got. Now Labour Party beu±acrats . are attempting to neutralize our growing anger by cbann4ing it into tokenism - Puck half day token strikes - Remember }larch 6th.- Turn their. .token protest sour for them,- Now that we have experienced the joy of revolt things can never be the same, again- Don't step backwards. NO LEADERS - NO LED 0 UNITE AND SMASH TEL, STATE THE REVOLUTION STARTS - THURSDAY APRIL 1125th 1,' WALKIE-TALKIE (cid:9) Gerd Seyfried COME IJ OPERATOR TO - fl-EASE CCMEW 0 1 9. (cid:9) IM41ED(4ygy, WA E ~;O,-I, I S 5. ~ In' 10 11 ETA cwtsrs H' s' (cid:9) I STATE EDUCATION One would imagine that there are not many among us who would dispute the fact that knowledge is indeed a wonderful thing,the accumulation of facts and figures,the d- iscovery of whole new perceptions and the absorbtion of many new ideas can only a- id us to lead a more agreable existance.So why then do we condemn the present educe tional system that supposedly bestows on us a large proportion of our acadeade int- elligence? The origins of todays state education has it's roots back in the late I700s.The Charity School Movement,which was a religious organisation was developed to combat ignorance amongst the poor which was then at an extreamly high level.This movement because of its small size could only eater for a minute portion of the population, which was probably advantageous as opposed to being a bad thiug,because their form, of education was largely religiou orientated and mainly enhanced the rigid auth- oritarian principles that abound within Christianity. The government first played a part in education in 1833,when it provided a grant for schools which increased in numbers as years went by,but intervention by the s- tate had little effect on the level of literacy amongst the working class up until 1870,when the education system went through massive reform.Certain prominent poli- ticians of the time had their reservations about free education for the proletariat for it would enable them to 'read seditious pamphlets and vicious books and publi- cations against christianityt,but in spite of their cynicsm a bill was passed mak- ing education available to all. This introduction of free education coincided with the birth of the industrial revolution,but it was no coincidence because before the revolution a large amount of the work undertaken by the workers was peace work with no definate set hours.The workers could then work the periods that suited them,collect their wage and leave. After the revolution large industries geared solely for mass production and profit needed regular running periods and regular attendance by workers in the factories and with this in mind,one of the reasons schools were erected was to give the wor- king class atsense of time',to accustom them to being certain places at set times. In addition to this,more mechanized machinery needed workers with a higher uderst- ending of how machinery worked and part of some of the schools programmes included instruction in such things. Even back in 1870,Robert Lowe who was chancellor of the exchequer at the time recognised the fact that this socializing process of ordinary working class people via educational' methods would have a significant effect on the continuation of a hierarchical society,which brings us to the genuine purpose behind governmental education. Contrary to popular belief,the function of the educational system is solely to perpetuate society,that is,to assure that the structure of the unequal authoritarian state remains constant and in tact,and that each person knows their slot in society and has no desire to aspire to any higher levels,or at least no levels higher than that slotted to them by the state. Obviously the judiciary system accompanied by the enforcers of law,i.e.constabulary and the military play a very significant role in maintaining the present political and economic climate by physically stifling any dissent within the ranks of the wor- king clus,but this task is made ultimately easier by breaking the will of the masses at an early age when minds are pliable and impressionable.To liquidate any class consciousness and eradicate any forms of personal liberty and expression in the young (and old)will naturally have a drastic effect on a persons whole outlook on their own personal situation and indeed on the whole shape of society, and thus,because the edu- cation of the young lies in the bands of the state, the state inevitabely,to defend its own existence limits and restrains its victims perspective to that of its own, taking away their own identity and forcing them into a straight-jacket of conformity and dependance.Politicjans of all persuasions,radicals as well as reformists are all un- ited in their stance which is in favour of the educational system-simply because its continued existence contributes enormously to the maintainance of their privileged positions. In addition to schools being run along strict militaristic lines, the actual content of the information fed to children has virtually no usefulness in the society they be- come part of after the age of 16.History for example,a sub3ect that could unleash 10 (cid:9) CONTINUED ON FOLLOWING PACE