Serious about socialism?
The CPI website proudly announced the start of a Public Housing Campaign with photos and leaflet information from a street stall: “Dublin activists from the Communist Party Of Ireland took part in the first public outing to highlight the demand for Universal Public Housing. Comrades spoke to people on Dublin’s Thomas Street. In what was a worthwhile morning’s work.”
Behind them is a banner: IRISH COMMUNISTS SERIOUS ABOUT SOCIALISM. Really? They are not serious even about themselves. This refers not solely to the activists in the photo but to the CPI generally and to just about all in the various levels of leadership. Take Aaron Nolan for instance. He has been around a while and has had various leadership positions. He looks quite happy with himself in this photo while completely oblivious of the uselessness of the activity he is engaged in. This is 2023, not twenty or thirty or forty or fifty years ago when this was the only way to get a message out. It was not very successful then and it sure isn’t any more successful now.
So, let’s start with the blurb above: Long, long ago, in the land of political make-believe, the Dublin Branch of the CPI initiated a Dublin Campaign Coordination Committee. This committee – after deliberating for six months – in July, 2021 produced a 69-page report and concluded that public housing was the most important issue for the Dublin Branch to campaign on. Fast-forward two years (only kidding, there’s no hurry) and, action! – the “…first public outing…”.
This sort of ‘activity’ is not taking anything seriously. It is another activity ticked off as “a worthwhile morning’s work” regardless of the randomness of who it targeted and the possible numbers of the public who could be engaged and with no regard to the utter waste of time of all those involved. Is this the best use that could have been made of both the potential talent and the time of those involved? Nolan appears to think it is and that says all you need to know about Comrade Nolan. Or, does it? Nolan knows that that sort of activity is a complete waste of time but, if he doesn’t, then he has no business occupying any space that has anything to do with leadership. Either way, his leadership ‘skills’ are exposed for all to see.
However, where was the rest of the leadership when this charade was being planned and executed? They were being serious about socialism, no doubt. How many stalls have to be put up on public pathways, how many times have they to be abandoned, how many times resurrected and then abandoned again? How many members have to be subjected to such nonsense and to such a waste of time and talent, how many times must the enthusiasm of members be extinguished simply because the leadership cannot think of anything different to do? How many ‘demos’, pickets, stalls etc before they understand that they are all tried and tested failures?
Pursuing such useless exercises is not just pointless – it is an insult to the members who probably have so much more to offer but who instead will be subjected to endless meetings and useless activities – if any at all. In the process, they will become timid and then bored and eventually shaped into faithful adherents of the cult. Any resistance to this process will result in an exit from the Party – either of their own volition or with a little help from above.
Leadership is a serious matter. When you assume a leadership position you must accept that you will have to account for both your failures and successes. While we wish Nolan and the Dublin Branch every success with their campaign, we must warn them that no amount of internal back-slapping will shield them from the harsh reality of scrutiny from the outside. That harsh reality might be softened if there was a bit more scrutiny on the inside to start with.
We are promised more public outings on the same subject: it would be interesting for Nolan and the Dublin Branch to outline exactly how this type of activity/activism is going to make any contribution whatsoever to solving the housing crisis.
Slogans like IRISH COMMUNISTS SERIOUS ABOUT SOCIALISM fail to cut any ice and they are more likely to cause embarrassment when the substance of the slogan is put under scrutiny. If we are wrong about any of this then the CPI should exercise its right of reply.
On that subject: in addition to providing the CPI with a right of reply we now extend that right of reply to any individual who is named in any of our posts. However, named individuals may only exercise this right by addressing the specific issues attributed to them – the CPI has to speak for itself.