tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4030563684152585527.post697729791889730934..comments2022-06-24T08:39:14.347-07:00Comments on The Red Plough: The Red Plough Vol 2-1The Red Ploughhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16470196001329926139noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4030563684152585527.post-87442739386006841782011-03-06T12:23:25.930-08:002011-03-06T12:23:25.930-08:00here's a comment i've just copy/pasted fro...here's a comment i've just copy/pasted from gerry's facebook:<br /><br />critically i'll say that the analysis of the dissidents is a bit too close to the SF (or even stoop!) line; that they represent an undemocratic militarist minority, isolated in terms of the political priorities of republican communities, and that their tactics are totally futile. all of the above is true but it's also simplistic to a certain extent, and it doesn't preclude their gaining support due to this this utter political vacuum - SF with little real credibility due to a stalled GFA which can only promise further economic hardship, and an absence of any serious left-republican tendency - which exists amongst nationalist communities in the north (especially in the most deprived areas mentioned in the post, lurgan, west/north belfast, etc). not to mention the concurrent breakdown of "law & order" and its populist exploitation by ONH et al via punishment attacks. the same mixture of accurate and semi-moralistic criticisms were made of the provos in their day yet despite the (at times obvious) futility of their tactics they still harnessed mass support...it's not a perfect analogy but worth bearing in mind.<br /><br />maybe i'm just skeptical as to the extent of the political ambitions of most working-class nationalists when they're besieged by anti-social elements, a hostile and at times nakedly sectarian state, and where the left generally (not just the republican left) is a negligible political force. at least regarding the last point the organisation of éirígí in the west and seemingly the re-organisation of the irps in the lower falls are positive steps. even the electoral support for SF in the saorstát puts them in an awkward position where they have to explain away the lack of congruence between their radical rhetoric in the south and their implementation of austerity in the north. if only a ULA had been sorted in the north it would have solved a lot of electoral headaches (for example 3 or 4 varieties of trots and left republicans running in the west, and none in north belfast) come may and offered an opportunity to display a degree of "revolutionary leadership" as the blog suggests.Tiarnánhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11468500468505625068noreply@blogger.com