New left group formed - Part 2

by Bohemian Poet Thu Mar 05, 2009 12:51

It's a good thing to hear that young folks are prepared to take up positions of protest or hands on activism for Nature, for the planet, for the people of Ireland and humanity in general.
From the smallest SEED a great tree will grow

Now there is opportunity for radical change

by Liquorice allsort Thu Mar 05, 2009 14:34

That's the way to do it, at your own pace and unbeholden to any group outside you. Think your own things and do your own things. Think globally and act locally. Best of luck.

by Old codger - Pensioner Thu Mar 05, 2009 14:40

I wish you young folks Good Luck in your endevours and i do hope that you will do your best to get the left to unite. No easy task i know but it is long past the time for our people to come to their senses and stop supporting conmen.

by Worker Thu Mar 05, 2009 15:23

Hope it works out well......Will be interested to see how it develops. Whilst many would argue the last thing we need is another political group I would beg to differ. Whats out there at the moment is pretty stale. ( - :

by Peader Thu Mar 05, 2009 15:58

DEADLY, sounds very exciting. When a group first starts it has the optimism and energy older groups dont have. Just dont forget to fight for mother earth.

I hope it turns out to be a big success! Good luck SEED

Seomra Spraoi is a social centre not too far from Swords. Its in the city and I think it would cater for your needs.

by 'Cramer' - tree hugger Thu Mar 05, 2009 16:09

Hey SEED. I hope you dont let the group fall apart. This is more good news to keep my spirits up!!! There is an interesting website which I would recommended you look at. Its called seedsforchange. It provides training and support to grassroots groups involved in environmental and social justice issues. It aims to share campaigning skills and experiences. It will help your group to become more stable and organised, that is if you arent already well organised. Any which way, its no harm to check it out. And as Paeder said you should go to seomra spraoi too. Do you have a website? If you are interested in environmentalist issues the climate camp group are mobilising at the moment and in May the troops will be mobilising for some shell2sea action. SEED is welcome along.

Good luck with the group, I wish you all the best for the present and future.

by SEED Thu Mar 05, 2009 17:13

Thanks for the links and comments

by Michael Gallagher Thu Mar 05, 2009 21:48

....another single issue group.....an offshoot (sorry) of the Green Party?

Can't you find a lefty party that you agree with that agrees with you?

by SEED Thu Mar 05, 2009 22:12

Hi Michael,
Its not so bad. A few people involved have had no or little experience in activism. We also want to do things for our local community like community workshops and help people to grow their own vegetables. Were not a political group. We definitely have nothing to do with the greens.

We dont want to find another left party! We are happy where we are. There is a lack of community and social activism in a big place like Swords and we want to help our own community rather than join another group. Do you not think this is a good idea?

by Activist Thu Mar 05, 2009 22:51

What does name stand for.
Will u support local election candidates.
Will u speak at other meetings in other areas and endorse linking groups.
Please get in touch.
I am not interested in talk shops and people who are against elections. I have been involved in campaigning for years

by SEED Thu Mar 05, 2009 23:53

We dont agree on every little thing. Anyone can vote for whoever they want. I support the same people I've always supported. The ones who have worked hard in my community.

I dont think anyone is against elections. But I dont know exactly when we will speak in other areas. Hopefully soon enough, but we really want to focus on our own group for the moment. We want to strengthen our own group first.

As for the name, you can interpret it any way you wish.....

by SEED Thu Mar 05, 2009 23:59

Sorry..... ''We want to strengthen our own group first.''

That is, we want to strengthen our own community first...

by Michael Gallagher Fri Mar 06, 2009 11:23

It won't be long before the vulture/leech politicians/partys come along and exploit you, then hijack you. Like what has happened to so many other community/political groups around the country.

Best of luck keeping them away, you will need it.

by SEED Fri Mar 06, 2009 12:11

I know everything is political.... But I meant were not doing anything to get votes, were just doing it for good of humanity. Dont worry about political parties trying to hijack us. It WONT happen.

Cheers Michael.

by dunk Fri Mar 06, 2009 15:10 fuspey at yahoo dot co dot uk

Good luck SEED, you asked for a few views:

"Unlocking the collective genius of the community",
is a fine notion worth exploring from Rob Hopkins, transition town movement founder.

Immediatly the things that are most important that come to mind:

Play, vision, absolute joy, critical learning, experimentation, doing not talking about it, positivity, sharing bikis with new friends, radical creativity, listening, adventures, messing...

Have you a community garden nearby, they help a lot, theres probably much unused land about that might suffice,

have you somewhere to meet, show films, talk, do stuff, make stuff, hang out...

Why not use your public library, put on a film screening and have a chat, present ideas to wider group, ask questions "what do you want and want to do in your community" invite views, collaboration, ideas for things to do (swords home brew group, SEED local tree planters, language exchange, radical film events, art and craft days...)

Learn about local community media, make your own, put out a little free paper once a season, a radio show every month... blogs, WIKI´s, NING sites...

Are you an open group, do you communicate in the public realm what you are, what your not, what your trying to do, can more people get invovled?

Are you familiar with the transition town movement, is there one in swords, that might be an avenue worth exploring...

Think BIG and BOLD, and dont be held back by stuff, try it, that way you learn. say YES, more so than NO. see where you arrive at. Consider doing ridiculous things in public, for fun, to learn, see patch adams views on that...a revolution of joy, fun, love, play....

Enjoy the journey, I expect you will end up having much passionate moments in time,

Chances are it will be with many people in collective actions, projects, experiments, communities and will indeed be truly "left wing"; helping to make a better world for all!

"... (we must) abandon the serious and the sad, and rediscover the joy of the struggle itself, the joy of political ativism and the joy of communities that are constructed through activism."
Michael Hardt, 2009

gardens:
dublin: http://www.indymedia.ie/article/75438
Barcelona: http://itsafunnyoldworld.wordpress.com/2009/02/16/tugz/

transition towns
http://itsafunnyoldworld.wordpress.com/tag/transition/
http://transitionculture.org/
vids: http://transicion.ning.com/video

by SEED-K - SEED Tue Mar 10, 2009 23:04

For the great feed back.

I am a member of SEED and i'd be happy to answer a view of those questions.

We are really only just starting out - less then 6 months now. You might say we're still only a seedling he he!

We don't have a community garden but that is a very nice idea and would tie in with another project we are currently planning to dig and plant vegetable patches for the community.
We do have somewhere to meet - our meetings are held every Thursday at 6.30 in Rivervalley community centre, Swords. We rent a small room to hold our meetings. We would like to see spread from town to town and maybe even country to country - But we need all of you guys for that!

As for films - This Sunday we will be showing screenings of the thought provoking Zeitgeist Documentaries to tie in with the International Z-day on 15th March.

As we are just starting we havn't begun to look at local media - to be honest we are not entirely focused on this aspect right now. We are more about discussion and planning and educating ourselves to better empower us to help our commuity.

Our group is completley open and would be happy to see some new faces, fresh ideas and personalities to get involved or just to listen to friendly discussion, learn and hopefully teach others. Feel free to come along whenever.

In a nut shell we want to restore the values of community both locally and globaly- we value the individual and creativity is nourished - we try to think openly and honestly. We beleive in a better world and it is the duty of all human beings to work toward it - in whatever way we can...

Be the change you want to see in the world...

by sapling planter Wed Mar 11, 2009 03:31

Here's a bit about the Zeitgeist Movement in wiki: http://thezeitgeistmovement.com/wiki/

The wiki entry is still tentative and invites further observations, but it has several click-on key words for the curious.

by Sevinch Karaca - WSM-Lucy Parson Branch Wed Mar 11, 2009 22:25

Congratulations and welcome from Workers Solidarity Movement.We have tried to email you at the address above but I got a delivery error message. Please contact me at nazire.sevinc at gmail dot com at your earliest convinience. I need to get an email to you.
Salute

by spear - spearireland Thu Apr 23, 2009 00:17

Hello there. We're a similar group although we've got people mostly from Dublin with a few others. We started out with a website. Maybe you might link with us if you think it useful. There's some videos designed by people we're close to at the site - but its a small start. If you are interested you can share in developing it and making similar videos. It's meant as a common resource anyhow. We'd be privileged if you'd send us details of what you're at in Swords. In any case, good luck in the struggle.

by Eire 32 - None Fri Apr 24, 2009 00:06

What are your views on the National question? Do you accept the colonial / imperial occupation of Ireland and the British war apparatus in our country?

by Sigmund.Freud Fri Apr 24, 2009 07:50

"Sorry..... ''We want to strengthen our own group first.''

That is, we want to strengthen our own community first.."

Classic!

Excellent example of what I call a "Freudian Slip" SEED.
.
.