The Means to Inform

How are opponents of a System in Power to publish their ideas?

The crucial opposing factor in informing the general populace of "the truth" has always been the ownership and control of the means of dissemination by a very limited class with very different interests and motives than the bulk of the population in any given country. And this means that it would be universally extremely unlikely to be allowed access via any form of Mass Media (to socialists in a capitalist society for example). And, in the same way the bureaucracies in the so-called 'socialist countries' such as the Soviet Union and China, were in a similar position, and thus determined exactly what was allowed to be delivered to their populations at large.

Yet, though these two supposedly different political systems led to a similar degree of crucial misinformation, it is not necessarily true that the problem cannot be overcome - at least for now! For the answer to the problem is surely the internet.

With minimal resources and a modicum of computer skills, a colleague and I have established several successful websites, and one of them made a worldwide impact. With our Dance-Interactive site, my small team and a professional dance colleague, over a period of some six years, managed to build a global database of some 3,800 genuinely interested contacts, and got our products in users hands in 80 different countries. And, crucially, in spite of the almost universal opposition of the dance education establishment, we did indeed outflank them via a policy of free demo discs offered on the site (in return for their contact details)  while, of course, providing them with what they needed, and indeed wanted, to empower their work - interactive video resources for the teaching of dance.   

Currently, another of our websites, the SHAPE journal, has been augmented by the blog you are currently reading, and the inclusion of videos and animations on Youtube - and our current total visits are approaching 35,000 in a relatively short period.

The point that I believe has been demonstrated, is that the Internet can empower financially poor individuals and fledgling organisations to establish the means to communicate, without being totally controlled by "those in charge".

The socialist organisations must therefore totally back those who fight for online freedom and the exposure of damning 'leaks' from secret areas to inform the public. They may be liberals and not share our political objectives, but they are addressing the area that makes so-called Democracy so clearly a total fraud, when in the sole hands of the privileged classes.

The Arab Spring proved it. Social networking on the web allowed those protesters to not only organise their forces, but also react quickly to counter actions by the forces of repression, and to flexibly deploy their forces in a way that the police and paramilitary forces could not subdue. And, an almost entirely non-violent uprising was still able to be effective. In spite of their liberal tactics they still managed to topple the dictators one after the other.

Needless to say, the leaders of the capitalist powers quickly intervened to ensure both influence (and oil?) from the seemingly non-socialist revolutionaries. But, even that clever move may prove entirely insufficient. In spite of many calls for the Rule of Law in Libya, and for the disarming of the revolutionary fighters, the latter have continued to keep their arms and be ready if required to use them again.

Though some nations have tried it, it has proved difficult to gag the web, and those who know exactly how to use their newfound communications, are already using them to ask new questions of each other.

So, with this relatively cheap and instant media, with all the power to change the world, the question for the socialist groups must be, "What must be published?" For even the dedicated socialist organisations tend to still be doing what they have for decades. The activists of the Arab Spring rushed past them as if they were rooted to the spot! That must change.

A detailed search through what currently exists on the internet, looks more like the old established "socialist news from across the world" - indeed, the reassuring message - "Look! There are others like us across the World!"

But that is nowhere near enough.

Not only must there be a substantial dissemination of Left news, but the far more important regular dissemination of empowering Theory , and by this I do not just mean quotes from the original theorists of the 19th and 20th centuries, but crucially fresh and appropriate Marxist theory being developed NOW. Not just agitational materials, but profound contributions upon all areas of human endeavour, achieved on the basis of the most powerful philosophy and method ever created by mankind.

There needs to be a constant flow of required developments in Marxist theory on literally everything. Fitting up the contributions of the original masters to modern scenarios, just isn't good enough. There are revolutions to be won.

What is currently available upon this powerful media is far from sufficient, and doesn't seem to appreciate what a weapon the internet could really be. 

So, what has to be done?