Citizens Defence Commitee Meeting

dublin | anti-capitalism | event notice Sunday February 06, 2011 22:24 by CDC - Citizens Defence Committee citizensdefence at hotmail dot com

A meeting for the formation of a Citizens Defence Committee will be held on Saturday the 12th at 2.00pm in the Deluxe Public House on Capel Street, Dublin 1. This will be the first Citizens Defence meeting to be held.

Citizens Defence Formation Meeting

A meeting for the formation of a Citizens Defence Committee will be held on Saturday the 12th at 2.00pm in the Deluxe Public House on Capel Street, Dublin 1. This is the first Citizens Defence meeting to be held, and will include discussions about:

- The short and long term aims and objectives of the Citizens Defence Committee.
- Proposed initiatives, including the Waste Management Relief initiative, Water and Housing Initiatives.
- Suggestions for any other initiatives in which others may suggest.
- The location/area in which such initiatives and the CDC should/will be implemented.

We invite all like-minded radical left wing activists, whether affiliated or independent, to attend and help form this Citizens Defence Committee.

The Citizens Defence is an initiative born from discussions between left wing political activists seeking new and practical approaches to politicise communities which have been alienated hitherto from political participation, and to defend them against the current market induced recession. The ‘Waste Management Relief Initiative’ (WMRI) has been proposed as an initial starting block for the Citizens Defence to begin reaching out to communities and to get them involved. This initiative is a proposal - not a sure runner. It will need to be discussed at the first Citizens Defence organising meeting along with any other ideas or initiatives suggested. See here for further details about the WMRI – http://citizensdefence.wordpress.com/wmri/.

It is clear following recent demonstrations against the 2011 Budget that there exists a political apathy amongst those who the revolutionary left have sought to involve, such as the unemployed. We do not believe an over concentration on gaining seats through elections will help our socialist ends, nor empower the working class.

Through the formation of the Citizens Defence, we hope to employ a new strategy of reaching out to communities and individuals without an existing political culture through practical initiatives they themselves are involved in.

For further information see www.citizensdefence.wordpress.com

To get involved, or to be added to our mailing list, contact citizensdefence@hotmail.com

If you are thinking of attending this initial meeting of the CDC, please let us know and we will forward the planned agenda for the meeting

Initial Statement:

"Citizens Defence Committees

From discussions between individual Republican Socialists and Anarchist left wing activists, it has been decided that there needs to be a process of building Citizens Defence Committees to actively combat the destructive effects of the capitalist market system upon communities, and to begin autonomously organising communities towards practical empowerment and self-management independent of the capitalist state. We see individuals and communities as having become increasingly atomised and overly dependent upon market circumstance and the state. Communities have become fragmented and few organisational structures exist outside de-politicised and generally ineffective residents associations. Most afflicted by this lack of social organisation has been those who find it difficult to become part of the dominant social and economic structures and who often benefit least from them, such as the unemployed, single mothers and youth. Many of these people are repressed by the market system and lose self confidence and worth. Citizens Defence Committees seek to politicise communities, and to encourage political participation from all.

The Citizens Defence Committees aim to organise and co-ordinate the collective abilities, talents and resources communities and individuals have towards mutual assistance and socially beneficial ends. It also seeks to operate politically, through its contacts, outreach and participation to mobilise communities towards political and revolutionary action, and to raise, through its very operation, working class consciousness.

We feel that many on the left have dedicated too much time, resources and energy towards electioneering and gaining seats in capitalist institutions. Demonstration after demonstration are organised with many hundreds turning out only to passively listen to the electioneering and rhetoric of potential electoral candidates. We believe political activism should be more proactive where it should aim to directly empower the working class and not elected representatives. Revolutionary activists should begin the process of practical action - organising the working class towards real power - not the representative power embodied by an individual elected to state sponsored positions.

Waste Management Relief Initiative
To begin the process of reaching out to working class communities, a Citizens Defence Committee has been set up and has proposed its first initiative – Waste Management Relief. This initiative, it is proposed, will be a stepping stone to reach out to vulnerable households such as large families, the unemployed, low paid workers and single mothers struggling in the capitalist market induced recession. The initiative will aim to encourage practical working class co-operation and management, and replace reliance upon private companies and state co-ordinated management.

To outline, at present, those not eligible for the bin charge waiver can end up paying many hundreds for their waste to be collected. The Citizens Defence Committee has devised an alternative waste recycling strategy which will cost at-most €24, and at a minimum €6 per annum per household. The initiative will include the collection, transport and recycling of waste – with households responsible for the separation of household waste into 5 waste categories for collection. It is proposed that recycled waste will be collected by prior arrangement on a monthly basis at a minimum charge of 2euro per household. These collections will require the active assistance of political activists to collect and transport recycled waste to a registered household waste management Depot. The Citizens defence Committee hope to identify a number of housing estates in the greater Dublin area, and proposes to carry out surveys to gauge residents support for such an initiative, and all things permitting intend to put the Waste Management Relief initiative into operation in the New Year.

The initiative will require the active collective co-operation and participation of those households taking part, and will allow for networking opportunities, the pooling and assessment of skills, resources and abilities within local communities for future initiatives, and most fundamentally, an opportunity to begin working class self empowerment, organisation and long term revolutionary aims.

This initiative is just the beginning of what we hope to be many practical initiatives to organise community autonomy through Citizens Defence Committees. Another initiative that has been discussed is the opening up of some of the 23,000 finished housing units contained in the 2,846 ghost estates throughout the free state, for the ever increasing homeless population.

Citizens Defence Committees will not be some charitable relief organisation 'helping the poor'. Rather, its activities will be overtly political and revolutionary, seeking to strengthen working class consciousness, organisation and political awareness, creating community autonomy and political mobilisation for active, not passive, action. "