The Kirkstall Festival

Was persuaded by my very rotund and frustrated wife to break our normal Saturday malaise with a trip to the Kirkstall Festival this afternoon - weather was nice and I was not much in the mood for housework, so we went, along with our pet labrador, Bonnie.

Amidst the many tents selling their wares for various causes I noticed the following:

• The Labour Party.
• Solidarity With Cuba (replete with Che Geuvera merchandise).
• A group calling itself "Green Labour".
• The UK Communist Party.

Walking along the rest of the Abbey I noticed there was not a single advocate of conservatism, liberalism or libertarianism, and I ask myself why political dialogue was confined to rabid, left-wing ideology.

What was most striking about the event was that these stalls were in the order above as I passed them; reading up on the similarities and differences between the 2 before coming to write this I found the following article; this in particular is telling:

"Socialism is the first step in the process of developing the productive forces to achieve abundance and changing the mental and spiritual outlook of the people. It is the necessary transition stage from capitalism to communism."

Compare and contrast:

"Socialism may be established by force, as in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics—or by vote, as in Nazi (National Socialist) Germany. The degree of socialisation may be total, as in Russia—or partial, as in England. Theoretically, the differences are superficial; practically, they are only a matter of time. The basic principle, in all cases, is the same."

I will be in contact with other members of LPUK next year to see if we can organise something to appear at this and other local fairs; if you like me are few up of a closed-off narrative that merely offs varying levels of theft from your pocket for varying reasons. Then try something different; try LPUK.