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MyLittleTripod — James Connolly on Irish Nationalism

Published: 2015-12-20 12:33:44 +0000 UTC; Views: 1711; Favourites: 21; Downloads: 16
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Description James Connolly, Irish "Nationalist", Revolutionary Syndicalist (Or Industrial Unionist as he termed it) and perhaps the single most important figure in the Irish Left. Here he argues that Irish Independence means nothing if it still preserves the same Capitalist System. He advocates instead for an Irish "Co-operative Commonwealth" or "Worker's Republic";

"After Ireland is free, says the patriot who won't touch Socialism, we will protect all classes, and if you won't pay your rent you will be evicted same as now. But the evicting party, under command of the sheriff, will wear green uniforms and the Harp without the Crown, and the warrant turning you out on the roadside will be stamped with the arms of the Irish Republic.

Now, isn't that worth fighting for?

And when you cannot find employment, and, giving up the struggle of life in despair, enter the Poorhouse, the band of the nearest regiment of the Irish army will escort you to the Poorhouse door to the tune of St. Patrick's Day.

Oh, it will be nice to live in those days...

Now, my friend, I also am Irish, but I'm a bit more logical. The capitalist, I say, is a parasite on industry...

The working class is the victim of this parasite - this human leech, and it is the duty and interest of the working class to use every means in its power to oust this parasite class from the position which enables it to thus prey upon the vitals of Labour.

Therefore, I say, let us organise as a class to meet our masters and destroy their mastership; organise to drive them from their hold upon public life through their political power; organise to wrench from their robber clutch the land and workshops on and in which they enslave us; organise to cleanse our social life from the stain of social cannibalism, from the preying of man upon his fellow man."(From Socialism made Easy)

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Comments: 7

menapia [2018-06-04 22:55:51 +0000 UTC]

Lovely, actually have a 1930's copy of his "Workers Republic" - by the way check this out by Todyo1798, an alt hist where Connolly survives

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Warsie [2016-03-02 18:14:46 +0000 UTC]

Irish independence still results in class oppression if under capitalism, but the value of culture and identity is still preserved. One can make an argument that that makes socialism easier to attain as there's no ethnic oppression or tensions to deal with (theres people who say without say the blacks in the US, the US would have gone democratic socialist long ago)

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MyLittleTripod In reply to Warsie [2016-03-03 22:06:53 +0000 UTC]

Except of course there was still the massive conflict between Protestants and Catholics in Ireland, and of course the fact that Irish Catholicism (The Cultural Identity the Irish government went with until the 80s/90s) pretty much made Socialism nearly impossible due to the Anti-Communist mindset it had. And how exactly is having no ethnic/cultural groups to cause tension gonna make Socialism easier? In fact wouldn't oppressed minorities be attracted to and thus strengthen the cause of Socialism?

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Warsie In reply to MyLittleTripod [2016-03-04 18:52:08 +0000 UTC]

In Ireland proper, werent the protestants expelled or ethnically cleansed? Northrn Ireland, yeah. Also, AFAIK the early Irish Republic was pretty openly socialist (i.e. James Connolly) but or some reason it went against them. Probably a longer independence struggle would radialize the revolutionaries worse (given the chrch told the IRA to surrender and all that).

Basically the logic is 'without problems with ethnic groups, people won't be easily distracted into diverting all their issues by saying 'discontent into ethnic nationalism which would say 'remove x group and your economic problems go away'. Oppressed minorities could easily say 'our problem isn't capialism, its the people oppressing us' and support their national bourgoeise in struggles against other nations and their bourgoeise. (Stalin talks about this in 'marxism and the national question')

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satanicsocialist [2015-12-24 10:30:42 +0000 UTC]

I have read a bit of Connolly, tbh his stuff was kinda shitty, tho he was an important figure.

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MyLittleTripod In reply to satanicsocialist [2015-12-26 14:01:07 +0000 UTC]

Yeah, truth be told, he wasn't exactly the most Libertarian of the Irish Left. He is however, a preferable figure to James "Sovietphile" Larkin and was willing to side with the Anarcho-Syndicalist IWW over DeLeon.

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satanicsocialist In reply to MyLittleTripod [2016-01-21 23:27:37 +0000 UTC]

Yea, I actually don't know that person, I do know a bit about the Irish republican movement tho.

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