Thoughts on Impact Wrestling Bound for Glory

Impact Wrestling Bound for Glory took place recently, the biggest event of the year for Impact.  The card was as follows.

 Rohit Raju vs Chris Bey vs Jordaynne Grace vs TJP vs Trey vs Willie Mack

20 man Gauntlet match

Moose vs. EC3 in a cinematic match

Ken Shamrock vs Eddie Edwards

The North vs Motor City Machine Guns vs The Good Brothers vs Ace Austin & Madman Fulton

Su Yung vs. Deonna Purrazzo

Eric Young vs Rich Swann

 

First up was the X Division match, with 6 competitors this was perfect for an Ultimate X match which unfortunately it was not so immediately I was disappointed before the match even took place. This was a missed opportunity for Impact to return to their unique selling points.

As a result I struggled to even be interested in the match, there was nothing special to it, no particularly big spots that you would expect from the X division, the only thing of note was the cowardly heel antics of Rohit Raju who left the ring for the others to fight it out and eventually stole a win after TJP hit his finisher to retain the title.

Next up was the gauntlet match, this one I was interested in. The winner getting a title match of their choosing and with the added stakes that if Heath or Rhino win Heath gets a contract but if they don't Rhino is fired. Only half of the 20 participants were announced beforehand so surprise appearances to be expected. The biggest of which was a returning James Storm.

You had some bizarre spots like the farcical self elimination of Hernandez who went after Fallah Bah, who could just as easily gone under the ropes. The final came down to Rhino and Sami Callihan, with Rhino picking up the win which secured both his job and a contract for Heath and earning a title shot, you would imagine you would see the duo challenge for the tag titles.

The third match was a cinematic match, Impact Wrestling being the originator of the cinematic match, but of course the brains behind it, Matt Hardy and Jeremy Borash are no longer with the company so it would be interesting to see what they could produce. Moose took on EC3.

This story line did seem suited to a cinematic match l, with flashbacks to EC3's past which he is trying to escape preventing him from picking up the win and Moose leaving victorious.

Ken Shamrock took on Eddie Edwards next. The match was a hard hitting affair which saw Shamrock pick up a submission win after interference from Sami Callihan, overall a decent match.

Next was the match which I was most interested in a fatal four way for the tag team titles. However before the match started Alex Shelley of the Motor City Machine Guns was taken out meaning Chris Sabin had to go solo. The match was good with a good back and forth pace with all teams. However I kept waiting for Shelley to return to the ring  which did not happen and The North picked up the victory at a surprise moment to regain the titles.

In the semi main event we saw Donna Parazzo defend the knockouts championship against Su Young  this match definitely exceeded my expectations it was a good match which ultimately saw Yung becoming the new knockouts champion.

The main event saw world champion Eric Young defending against Rich Swann. Young was criminally under utilised or should I say not utilised during his run in WWE. His character work is second to none and could easily had a great run in some mid card feuds and him now being a main event in Impact Wrestling is certainly not out of place, particularly with him being a TNA original.

The match itself was good and certainly played to the in ring strengths of Young as opposed to Swann which better suits a main event spot anyway.

Rich Swann came out on top becoming the new Impact Wrestling world champion with a Phoenix splash. A good match overall with the exception of the ending. I don't think Eric Young should have lost the title any time soon.

Overall a good show from Impact, but generally I have a disconnect with what they are putting out, something I feel that slot of people suffer with, I think it is a combination of a variety of factors, the lack of invested fans, which although as a result of the Covid19 pandemic is certainly not new. The loss of known stars, which is beginning to change with returns, debuts and building up the wrestlers they do have, but I think the biggest issue is the commentary. Without commentators like Mike Tenay and Jeremy Borash or even Don West and Tazz there is a problem, even fresh faces might brighten things up but I struggle with Don Callis and Josh Matthews, I just find they miss the mark.

Thoughts of NJPW G1 Climax Final

 

This years G1 Climax tournament from New Japan Pro Wrestling has just concluded. The round robin tournament split into two blocks, with the winner of each block meeting in the final.

The tournament itself was adapted from recent due directly as a result of covid29 restrictions and was better as a result! With Less matches taking place each night, with only one preliminary match prior to the tournament matches, considering that there are 19 nights of the tournament, this slimming down of the tournament and eliminating the multi-man prelimiary matches was a welcome change.

The tournament has some great matches, it also had some not so great matches as well, it struggled as it has in recent years with too many entrants who you know have no chance of winning or even coming close to winning being involved.  

The final night, prelimary matches and the final itself set up future story lines, interestingly the prelimary matches, in my view were more interesting than the final. The card was as follows

1. Chaos (Toru Yano, Yoshi-Hashi, Tomohiro Ishii & Hirooki Goto) vs. Suzuki-gun (Taichi, Zack Sabre Jr., Douki & El Desperado)

2. LIJ (Hiromu Takahashi & Shingo Takagi) vs. Suzuki-gun (Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Minoru Sukuki)

3. Taguchi Japan (Master Wato, Jeff Cobb, Juice Robinson & Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Bullet Club (Gedo, Taiji Ishimori, Kenta & Jay White)

4. Chaos (Sho and Kazuchika Okada) vs. Great-O-Khan and Will Ospreay

5. LIJ (Bushi and Tetsuya Naito) vs. Bullet Club (Yujiro Takahashi and Evil)

6. G1 Climax Final Sanada vs. Kota Ibushi

This was a standard multi-man match under card from New Japan. The first match up pitting Chaos up against Suzuki-gun epitomised this, but it did also include some story line development, Suzuki-gun picked up the win but at the end Douki held up the 6-man tag titles indicated that there will be a challenge from him and Suzuki-gun against Chaos for the titles, a much needed focus on the 6-man titles which have completed dropped off the radar.

The second match was a hard hitting brawl, although a tag team match it centred around the rivalry between Shingo and Suzuki and seemingly set up a future match the Suzuki's Never Open weight Championship. The third match was just a classic multi-man match from New Japan and there is very little to say about it, other than it did seem to show case Master Wato a little, which seems to be perfectly timed for the upcoming Best of the Super Juniors.

The next match was the most interesting, not the match itself, but what it represented With a The Great-O-Khan returning from excursion in the UK and teaming with Ospreay who had turned on Okada, in process looking to setup a new faction. Hopefully something more comes from this. The Chaos stable has been around for years and is completely stale and something new needs to arise in its place.

Next up was a tag team match the Bullet Club up against LIJ, continuing the feud between Naito and Evil, this was run of the mill, but Evil stood tall and the end, likely to be setting up a title match between the two at Power Struggle.

The final was a break back and forth match between Ibushi and Sanada, the only thing that it suffered from was that it was completely predictable. It was obvious that Ibushi was always going to be the winner as as good as Sanada is, he has not been positioned to main event Wrestle Kingdom and that did take away from the match, knowing who the winner would be.

The rise of Welsh nationalism

 This article was original written in October 2019 but has been unpublished until now.

In the last 6 months there has now been three sizeable demonstrations calling for an independent Wales, first in Cardiff, then Caernarfon and most recently we saw over 5,000 march through Merthyr. The motivations of those involved are quite mixed, this of course though is happening with the backdrop of a crisis in British politics after years of seemingly endless austerity.

Large areas of Wales had not managed yet to recover from large scale deindustrialisation and privatisation from the 1980’s and early 1990’s leading to the loss of many large industrial and manufacturing work places. This even before the austerity measures of the financial crisis starting in 2008 has led to a feeling that Wales is getting a raw deal, as with many other working class areas throughout the UK this is very true.

The crisis in Westminster politics, the austerity measures and the prospect of a No deal Brexit which will hit working class people particularly hard. There is also a disconnect between Corbyn and Welsh Labour with many Labour politicians distancing themselves in words and actions from the policies of Corbyn. Corbyn’s main challenger who failed to topple in him Owen Smith is of course the MP for the Pontypridd constituency in Wales and the led Labour led Welsh Assembly and Labour controlled Welsh councils have been more than happy unfortunately to pass on austerity measures.

These factors combined has brought about a huge rise in the idea on an independent Wales. Previously support for independence has typically hovered around the 10%, recent opinion polls have shown that 41% either support Welsh independence or to some extent further autonomy for Wales.  Since then three sizeable demonstrations have taken place and recent reports from the Office of National Statistics show that the Welsh economy is growing 0.1% faster that the UK economy as a whole. Albeit starting from a lower base rate.

The question that we must ask as socialists is what type of Wales do we want. The demonstrations for example have been called under the name ‘All under one banner’ which has taken its name from the organisation in Scotland. This is a mistaken road that many will be taken down. If we talk about independence for Wales in and of itself in isolation of politics then it will mean more of the same.

The Welsh Assembly has now existed for 20 years throughout that time Labour has been in power including one term in coalition with Plaid Cymru. In many respects though this has not helped improve the lives of ordinary Welsh people as the assembly have presided over hospital closures and funding cuts to education, as well as mergers in further and higher education resulting in job cuts and lowering educational standards.

This is symptomatic of the problems of the movement and the official wing in the form of Yes Cymru, the would-be leaders of an independent Wales would be those either from Labour or Plaid Cymru who cannot not see past the capitalist system and therefore will offer little in the way of real change for ordinary people. whilst it is clear that many involved in the movement are actively looking for a working class alternative for Wales. Former Wales rugby International Eddie Butler said at the demonstration in Merthyr “This today is not entirely political – not yet” indicating the need to go further than a simple call for independence Neville Southall the famous ex-footballer for Wales went a lot further when he said:

“There is no point having a dragon if you cannot roar, and at the moment we cannot roar because we do not have the money. We need to build up a country that looks after the lowest of the low We need to treat them the same. There should be o class system in Wales. Everyone should be the same.”

Essentially Eddie Butler asks the question what next and Neville Southall provides the answer, whilst not explicitly saying as such Southall, in reality, is calling for a Socialist Wales.

Welsh people have a proud working class tradition, it should not be lost on anyone that the march in Merthyr started in Penderyn Sqaure, named of Dic Penderyn one of the Martyrs of Welsh working class history, executed for his role in the Merthyr rising which also saw the birth of the red flag.

Questions need to be asked within the independence movement, what type of independence should we have? Independence based on the capitalist economic system will not give us any freedom! A decisive break needs to come within the independence movement amongst those who both want an independent Wales and who oppose the ongoing austerity blighting all our lives.

This needs to be put into practice. Socialist Alternative calls on the Welsh Assembly to stop all cuts to devolved public services in Wales. All cuts already made with the NHS and education must be reversed. The Welsh assembly are also known for using zero hour contract themselves, we call for an immediate end to this and for decent employment with guaranteed hours available for all those currently on zero hour contracts. All public services such as utilities and public transport should be brought back into public ownership and run democratically buy those working in the industries and the communities which rely on them.

This measures would be a prerequisite for a Wales in which as Southall described, there would be no class system.

Socialist Alternative calls for a Socialist Wales, linking up on a voluntary basis in a Socialist confederation of England, Scotland and Ireland as part of a wider Socialist Europe in the interests of ordinary working class people unlike the bosses European Union

Leaving the Socialist Party behind

 This was posted to my facebook profile in July 2019. It is only a short statement by myself followed by the statement of at the time the CWI but now renamed to ISA - International Socialist Alternative.

Whilst only a short extract of this is my writing whilst the rest is the statement released at the time. I have included in because it had a big impact on the way I thought after my 17 years of membership of the organisation which had guided me politically since the age of 17. I will certainly return to this topic in future posts. The picture below was also featured alongside the statement when I posted it with my own words and yes, it is my own membership card.

After 17 years of membership, I thought this day would never come. I was a proud member of the Socialist Party and our international organisation, the CWI. It seems not everyone views it the same way and those of us who support the building of that international organisation and its democratic structures have been forced out. We are told we can stay but only of we abandon all our members throughout the world with any democratic vote within the international.

 

I was with 100+ others who met in London yesterday and who will now work to build a real International.

 

Here's our statement:

The Socialist Party, and before it the Militant tendency, has been a section of the Committee for a Workers International (CWI) in England and Wales since 1974. The CWI is an international organisation based on the ideas and methods of democratic socialism, Marxism and Trotskyism, and further developed by the hard work and sacrifices of comrades across the world.

 

This includes 3 TDs (MPs) in Ireland, an elected councilmember in Seattle, and members fighting in the revolutionary movements in Sudan, Hong Kong and elsewhere. Sadly, after 45 years, the majority of the leadership of the CWI and England and Wales section have chosen to abandon the CWI and the bold ideas it was founded upon.

 

On Sunday 21st July, a Special Congress in London passed a resolution stating that the many members of the Socialist Party who still support the CWI, "will have to do so outside of the Socialist Party". In reality, the resolution is a cowardly method of expulsion from the party, following a campaign of witch-hunts, bullying and lies against the majority of CWI sections.

 

This was all but confirmed when the SP's former Wales Secretary and current NC member said from the platform "goodbye and good riddance" to CWI supporters - a remark the leadership has refused to retract. 

 

The majority of the SP leadership are running scared from a debate about socialist programme and tactics, only half way through an agreed one-year process of debate. Instead of having a discussion in the democratically convened leadership bodies of the CWI – the International Executive Committee and the World Congress (which all sides had agreed to) and risking losing a vote, they have chosen to expel the majority of the organisation and walk away with the resources, including hundreds of thousands of pounds, against the will of the majority of its members. 

 

They have, in effect, attempted to enact the bureaucratic expulsion of the majority of the CWI: entire organisations and groups in Austria, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Greece, Hong Kong, Israel/Palestine, Ireland, Italy, Ivory Coast, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Quebec, Romania, Russia, Spain, Sudan, Sweden, Taiwan, Turkey, Tunisia, and the USA from the CWI, as well as a majority of members in Germany and South Africa who oppose their plans. 

 

Over 100 comrades in England & Wales, including a majority of active members in over a dozen key cities, stand together with the CWI majority in opposing this course of action. A meeting on 22nd July voted unanimously to refound the CWI in England and Wales, rejecting these bureaucratic expulsions and continuing to organise in the proud tradition of Militant in Britain - the traditions of socialist democracy and Marxism. 

 

Further explanation and analysis will follow. We call on all Socialist Party members, and in the wider workers and social movements to join us in fighting for a socialist world!

Contact us at revolutionaryinternationalism@gmail.com

Thoughts on WWE Clash of Champions

Last Sunday WWE Clash of Champions took place. The card had huge potential and I was looking forward to several of the matches on the card which was as follows.

1.Smackdown tag team championship natch

 Shinsuke Nakamura & Cesero  (c) vs. Lucha House Party

2. Intercontinental championship ladder match

Jeff hardy (c) vs. AJ Styles vs. Sami Zayn 

3. Raw women's championship match

Asuka (c) vs. Zelina Vega

4. United States championship match

Bobby Lashley (c) vs. Apollo Crews

5. Raw tag team championship

Street Profits (c) vs. Andrade & Angel Garza

6. Smackdown women's championship

Bayley (c) vs Asuka

7. WWE Championship Ambulance match

Drew McIntyre (c) vs. Randy Orton

8. WWE universal championship

Roman Reigns (c) vs. Jey Uso

 

*there were also two segments between R-truth and Drew Gulak which could be considered matches for the 24/7 championship

The kickoff show had one match before the main show started. Shinsuke Nakamura & Cesero defended the Smackdown tag team championships against the Lucha House Party (Kalisto & Lince Dorado) with Gran Metalik. It was a solid tag team match and a good showing for both teams, nothing special but a fitting kickoff match. Nakamura & Cesero picked up the win with the Cesero swing into a knee from Nakamura.

I would have preferred the Lucha House Party to pick up the win, largely because I think that both Nakamura and Cesero would be fantastic as singles wrestlers, but I have always much preferred a solid tag team as opposed to a throw together team.

The main show started explosively with a triple threat ladder match for the intercontinental championship featuring the champion Jeff Hardy, the self proclaimed champion Sami Zayn (he was stripped of the belt as he did not appear for some time due to restrictions entering the US because of covid19) and challenger AJ Styles.

This was always going to be a good match, AJ Styles, in my opinion is one of the greatest of all time, Jeff Hardy has huge experience in multiple ladder matches and Sami Zayn does not look out of place tangling with these two. This ladder match was instantly better than both the ladder matches at Money in the Bank and Wrestlemania. The absence of the crowd has a huge impact and is much more noticeable in high spot matches like this, but the introduction of the thunderdome has brought an atmosphere back which was much needed and certainly adds to the match.

The match started a little slow, as you would expect for a decent ladder match, there was an usual spot where Hardy dived towards Styles who moved out of the way, only for Hardy to dive on an up turned ladder, these seemed unnecessary, a low impact looking move that in reality was probably quite painful.

There were some great spots too. Styles pulled out his moonsault into an inverted DDT, a move which used to be a part of his regular move set, but one that I can't remember seeing for sometime, certainly not since he has been in WWE. Hardy also, from atop the ladder hit a Swanton bomb on Sami Zayn who himself was draped across a ladder. At this point I thought this was the end of Zayn and we would not see him again.

However, we did see him again with quite an innovative finish. First Zayn handcuffed Jeff Hardy to a ladder, although he could move still the handcuff was through his earlobe severely limiting his ability to move in any meaningful way and ultimately took him out of the action, next Zayn handcuffed himself to Styles, seemingly a bizarre thing to as it limited himself and much as it did Styles. However as they climbed the ladder he switched the cuffs and handcuffed Styles to the supporting strut of the ladder meaning he could not get to the top of the ladder allowing Zayn to reach the top and become the undisputed Intercontinental champion. Although I could not help from feeling that Styles could have simply tipped the ladder st this point, overall it was a great match.

Next up after a few backstage segments Drew Gulak rolled up R-Truth to win the 24/7 championship. It was good to see the title move onto someone other than R-Truth or Akira Tozawa who have been exchanging the title back and forth for sometime now. There is huge potential with the 24/7 title but it seems laziness has resulted in it becoming R-Truth's personal title. He is great with it, but this is definitely a case of over doing it.

The next match was a demonstration of how the women's division is not treated with the seriousness which it is claimed. Zelina Vega challenged Asuka for the Raw women's championship. Zelina Vega is definitely a worthy challenger who can go in the ring, however Vega rarely wrestles and has been used primarily as a manager, a role she also excels in. Whilst she is a great in ring talent, going simply into a title shot without having wrestled much shows how little the division is regarded. 

The match itself had some great spots, Vega held Asuka in what I can only describe as a bridging hammer lock, a very innovative move. The match seemed to suffer a bit and was stop - start at several points, inevitable really with Vega wrestling so infrequently. The match ended with Vega tapping out to the Asuka lock.

The next match I was thoroughly uninterested in. Bobby Lashley defended the United States championship against Apollo Crews. Uninterested because this fued has had the same match up repeatedly. Two great competitors with very different styles, however both need to move on from this fued. Lastly picked up the win with the hurt lock, so hopefully this signifies the end of this story line.

Next up Andrade & Angel Garza challenged the Street Profits for the Raw tag team championships. This was a solid match up, with some great team work from Andrade & Garza. The Street Profits came out on top in what seemed to be a botched finish. The commentators announced that Andrade had kicked out, it certainly looked that way, but the bell rang and the Street Profits where declared winners, the referee did not seem decisive either way so it seemed like a botch of some kind.

Unfortunately another backstage segment led to R-Truth regaining the 24/7 championship from Drew Gulak.

Next Bayley came out to announce that Nikki Cross was unable to compete, (possibly due to self isolating) and after cutting a promo gave an open challenge for the Smackdown women's championship which was answered by the raw women's champion Asuka. This again demonstrated the unseriousness in which the division is treated, the depth the division has and yet it is the same women over and over  including one who had already competed earlier in the night.

This, however was not the main story. After a brief match in which Bayley was disqualified for using a chair outside the ring, therefore retaining the title she was the attacked from behind with a chair by Sasha Banks, setting up a match between the two at a later date, this is a match which has been in the making for sometime and is something fresh to look forward to.

The next match up pitted the current WWE champion Drew McIntyre up against Randy Orton in an ambulance match. McIntyre's rise to the main event was organic and he certainly belongs and still has a lot to give. Orton is currently undergoing a character revival and is currently at the top of his game so I was certainly looking forward to this match.

It was a slow, methodical and brutal affair exactly what you would expect from these two in a no disqualification match. Throughout the match you seemed to have a 'ghost of Christmas past vibe with Orton being attacked first by The Big Show, later by Christain and towards the end by Shawn Michaels and then with Ric Flair driving off the ambulance at the end. All the people that Orton had crossed in recent months. Drew came out on top and won the match to retain the WWE championship, however due to the interference at multiple times throughout, what was missing was that decisive victory that Drew McIntyre needs to solidify his position at the top of the card.

The main event saw the Paul Heyman guy, Roman Reigns take on his cousin Jey Uso, usually a solid tag wrestler, in his biggest singles match to date, with Reigns defending the WWE Universal championship against Uso.

This was a great match, firstly Reigns supporting a new in ring look sans the vest was dominant throughout as he should have been Uso had moments a brilliance and the facial expressions of Paul Heyman were second to none  showing real doubt over who would win.

The dominance of Reigns came to a head but he would not pin Jey Uso instead continued to ruthlessly beat him down until he would acknowledge him as the tribal chief which he would not. This led to an injured Jimmy Uso coming down to the ring an eventually throwing in the towel on behalf of Jey Uso. Usually finishes like this can be hit and miss, especially in the main event. This time is was definitely a hit. Reigns is solidified as a monster heel  will to punish his own family, but Jey's stock is also raised, he was beaten nor did he give up. 

Overall this was a great ppv but with a stacked card how could it not be, stacked it was you didn't even notice that so many top talents were not on the card. Set Rollins, Kevin Owens, Big E, Matt Riddle, Sheamus, Lacey Evans, Naomi, Bruan Strauman, Bray Wyatt and many more were missing. One notable absence though particularly on a show called clash of champions  was that every main roster title was defended with one exception. The women's tag team championships were the only title not to appear, again showing how the women's roster is treated.

Caerphilly County lockdown: We're not all in this together

 This article was originally published on the website of Socialist Alternative on the 10th September this year.

 

 

New lockdown measures started in Caerphilly County at 6pm on 9 September. The reasons for it, and the nature of the new lockdown measures reveal quite starkly the priorities of the Senedd (Welsh Government).

The background to these new measures is a rise in cases with 133 confirmed cases in the last week alone, equivalent to 55.4 cases per 100,000 people (one of the highest in Wales). Wales currently has the highest density of confirmed cases of any nation in the UK (6,000 per million compared to England at 5,272 and Scotland at 4,041).

Vaughan Gething, the Labour health minister for Wales, has attributed this to people (particularly young people) meeting indoors and not following social distancing guidelines, and to overseas summer holidays. He ignores the fact that pubs are open, public transport is crowded and schools have been open, often in a far-from safe manner, with whole-class bubbles of 30 or more. At the time of writing several schools throughout Wales have already been forced to close due to recent outbreaks, including several schools within Caerphilly County itself. Non-essential businesses have reopened. With the furlough scheme coming to an end, many small businesses face a bleak choice of bankruptcy or unsafe working. Recent pictures on social media have shown social distancing not being enforced, perhaps partly because businesses are desperate to get more customers in to attempt to recover from lost earnings of previous months.

Meeting indoors with a lack of social distancing can contribute to outbreaks. But the messages from both the UK government at Westminster and from Cardiff Bay have been very confusing at best, which has contributed to this. Travel abroad may increase the risk. But overseas travel at the moment falls mainly into two general categories – those who travel to visit family members they have not been able to visit for some time due to lockdown measures, and those who have pre-booked holidays who have no option to cancel with a full refund.

The new lockdown measures in Caerphilly Country include facemasks being mandatory for everyone over eleven inside shops (this had not previously been mandatory in Wales) and all gatherings in the home being forbidden. You are also not allowed to leave the county without good reason, such as to attend work or to care for others, but as Caerphilly has transformed increasingly into a commuter town for Cardiff this is largely an ineffective measure and is more for show. Indeed, the very fact that areas of Caerphilly County have become commuter towns is likely a large part of the reason for a spike in cases as many people will be crammed together on buses and trains during rush hour.

Questioned on why pubs would remain open, the health minister stated with certainty that the virus is not being transmitted in pubs but only in gatherings within the home. You now have the farcical situation that you cannot visit a family member (unless you care for them) or simply cycle for exercise from Caerphilly to Cardiff (12 miles) but you can go from Ystryd Mynach to Caerphilly town to go to the pub (also 12 miles). You can’t go to a friend’s house, but depending on your age, you can sit next to them in class or go to the pub with them. The only measures brought in are designed to have zero impact on any economic activity.

The coronavirus pandemic has made 2020 a difficult year for everyone, having to find new ways of communicating, working and socialising. Lockdown measures have been necessary to attempt to stem the spread of the virus. But these new measures are a lockdown for people, not for the economy. The social isolation, which has affected mental health and led to a crisis in domestic violence, will continue. The most vulnerable will be hit hardest through a lack of planning for those who need any type of support with day-to-day activities.

We cannot return to normal and risk overwhelming our already overworked health workers, plus a big rise in the death toll. But neither can we stay in a perpetual state of lockdown which is taking its toll of the wellbeing of everyone. We need a strategy which puts ordinary working-class people and their needs at the heart of solving this crisis.

This will cost money, but they money does exist in society. Jeff Bezos, who runs Amazon, is set to become the worlds first trillionaire, profiting greatly from the pandemic. But Amazon famously uses various loopholes to avoid paying the correct rate of tax. Estimates suggest the shortfall is in the £100’s of millions. The cost of replacing trident nuclear weapons is estimated to be £205 billion! But capitalism is based on the pursuit of profit and not the needs of working-class people like us, and therefore cannot deal with a crisis of this magnitude.

The labour movement must develop a programme is developed which will genuinely find a route out of the current pandemic. This must include democratic workers control over what measures are taken, including at a local level. Is it safe for schools to open, what measures need to be put in place and what resources are needed for this to happen? If it is not possible to open safely then funds must be made available to ensure parents have all the necessary learning tools available at home, if wanted. No one must suffer any loss of income through time taken off work. These decisions should be made by democratically elected representatives of teachers, parents and the community. Is it safe for non-essential businesses to open? If not, there must be funds to ensure full pay to any workers affected by a closure of their workplace, including those who are self employed. We need a huge increase in funding for services for victims of domestic violence, and a dramatic expansion of social care services.

We must fight for the necessary measures to tackle to pandemic. But doing so also presents an opportunity to start a discussion about the type of society we need – one not based on the needs of the economy but based on the needs of ordinary people. The Covid-19 pandemic affects us all, but we are not all in this together. Working class people have lost jobs; become teachers to their children, whilst working or taking huge cuts in pay; been forced to continue in unsafe working environments. Meanwhile the billionaires have increased their wealth even further by taking advantage of the pandemic. We need to fight back against the Covid-19 virus and the virus of capitalism, which can only serve to worsen the pandemic.

Back, but not like before

I guess the two things go hand in hand. I originally started the blog as I returned to higher education, not because of this but the two projects seemed to go together perfectly.

I am no back and coincidentally have also returned to higher education.

The two things are certainly coincidental, there is of course an overlap in the thought process. A blog of the nature this has been, based primarily on politics in some form or another has a particular overlap if someone (myself) has been studying social science of some variety at the same time. I think though the coicidence is more about my mindset and the willingness to write.

This blog has laid dormant for some time now. My last blog post was over 5 years ago, and that was a one off. Prior to that it had been approaching a decade since regular blogging. Incidentally I no longer think I agree with the content of my last post. However I have chosen to leave it as it certainly was what I thought at the time. Perhaps in the future I will write a reply on the same subject outlining what I now think.

So going forward what will this blog be, at times the blog was good. There are some widely read and engaging articles for the correct reasons, there were also some widely read for the wrong reasons. The blog despite the time and effort I had put into suffered for several reasons which I will attempt to address going forward.

Firstly there was a lack of seriousness, not that a blog, without advertisement, and therefore an unpaid endeavor produced as a hobby rather than any other reason should be taken seriously. What I mean by this is that the content was not taken seriously, or rather the quality of the content was not. It was a serious case of quantity over quality. I felt that the way to be a successful blogger was to pump out content. I felt the need to create a post daily. I have no idea why, some of the bloggers I followed did, but even some of the most regular were only posting 2-3 times a week. This meant the quality suffered and also keeping up the regularity became a chore rather than enjoyable. 

That was not the only problem, the blog also suffered from the arrogance and bravado I held in youth, there was present in many a post and was further exacerbated but the drive to churn out articles. 

I was also obsessed with getting hits, I spent more time promoting the posts than actually writing them. Don't get me wrong. I of course want people to read it  no one puts their writings online if they have no interest in being read widely. This time around whilst I still want the hits. I want it to be more organic than before. Initially I have no plans to link blog posts anywhere on social media  instead will focus on writing and publishing and for the blog to regain an Identity at first.

So what is the blogs new identity. In short, at this stage I do not fully know. Previously, despite the flaws, significant as they were the blog had a very clear identity of politics and sociology. It certainly will contain this, but I also feel there will be other subjects covered which have not been previously. I have several ideas for topics to blog about. I won't list them now as it would feel like a commitment to write which I do not want to make.

That brings me on to the other big change which I think would reverse the trend. That being quality over quantity. I plan have no plans to set myself any kind of limit of minimum blog posts and instead simply having a mindset that I will  post regularly (whatever regularly becomes to mean. In fact initially and perhaps for some time. I will limit myself to publishing one article per week. I would only deviate from this for two reasons, either by creating a backlog of unpublished articles or if something I had written was particularly useful at the time of writing. As time goes on this pattern could change. The crucial thing is there will be no unrealistic timetable for publication. This will be done deliberately so that there is so pre-determined regularity without the need to force articles.

Although, as I have stated the articles will have a more serious character, it does not mean that every article will be some masterpiece or a fully worked out essay, there will be some essay or at least essay style posts, but by serious, I simply mean that the post will be more thought out, rather than rushed out.

The next few articles which will be published over the coming weeks have already been written at varying times over the last year, but as I have not been blogging never made it here before.

To future blogging.

Why does transethnicity bring out the bigot in people?

Who would normally be the 'anti-bigots'

Anyone who used to read my blog is obviously aware that I have not written any blog post for a few years now. Work and family life have just gotten in the way. I honestly did not think that  I would write a blog post anytime soon. However I have become so frustrated over this issue I just felt compelled to do so. I might be the one in the wrong but until a full discussion is had on the topic it is impossible to say so really I am just searching for a serious response.

The issue I am talking about is the recent internet sensation of Rachel Dolezal or more broadly transethnicity and the responses to it.

The issue for anyone not already familiar with it surrounds Rachel Dolezal who was born white but for the last 10-15 years has lived as a black women, from the picture it is clear you would not be able to tell at all. She simply looks like a young black women. Another part of the story was that she held a prominent position within the NAACP.

Many people rushed to her defence to say that if it is okay to change gender then it is okay also to change ethnicity.  I agree with that but apparently so many people do not and here comes the controversy.

It is not uncommon for there to be the most absurd responses thrown out on the internet to all manner of issues. However what I have found to be unusual in this instance is that the people making those ridiculous statements are in most cases people I had expected a lot more from. Either because I know them or at the very least know at least partly when they stand ideologically.

Several argumemts have been used against transethnicity however I am very disappointed to say that I have responded to each and every point made in full on various facebook discussions but not a single person has replied to a single point I have made up to this point.

I am going to list each point I have seen raised on the issue and respond to each individually. I would askes anyone who is willing to have a serious discussion to reply to each point. However as my points are not directed at one particular person its possible for you to agree with me on certain points and not others. That is obviously fine, but for the sake of clarity can you also state that you agree with those certain points so i actually know what points are being disputed.

All my points here are on the basis thst everyone supports transgender rights but not all transethnic rights

1. You cannot change your ethnicity because you cannot immerse yourself in the culture fully (or at least only rich people can)

Firstly it is important to state that ethnicity and culture are in no way the same thing and if you also think that then the rest of point 1 is not for you.

If you are to assume they are the same thing then it is possible to immerse yourself in a culure without moving across the globe. This argument is even more ridicilous as the example case is of a black women in America where there is a distinct black culture where blacks and whites live side by side if not completely mixed. I could go on with examples of immigrant communities who have moved on mass. I coule go 10 miles down the road and immerse myself in Somali culture for example.

2. Ethncity is something which has been codified over millenia.

Firstly I do not see why that is a rational reason for not to be able to change their ethnicity,  but secondly it is not even true. Ethnicity is not solidly codified it is full of shades of grey exasperated but more and more population shifts and inter ethnic procrestion. Certainly anything other than codified and less so than gender is.

3. Only priveledged white people support it.

This is bizarre because it doesn't actually address the issue it just employs guilt by association. This was the same argument used for a time against gay rights, they used to say it was bourgoise deviation.

4. Priveledged white people invading the space of black people.

This is exactly what the discredited radical feminists have said about privileged mem transitioning to become women and invade their space.

This of course though is incredibly ethnocentric in and of itself. Whilst white people do hold privilege in the western world I do not see what white priveledge exists in say China or Saudi Arabia for example

5. It is a result of deep psychological issues.

I am yet to see anyone provide any evidence for this assertion and i think the onus is on people to provide evidence thst it is because the same argument of deep psychological issues has been used against homosexuality and teansgenderism in the past (and even by some people today)

Though an important point to make for anyone who does believe this and has then mocked Rachel Dolezal.  Do you think it is ok to make fun of people with serious mental health problems?

6. It only effects white people because only white people can make their skin darker.

Again this is just bizarre, there are many cases of skin bleaching to make it lighter or whiter. It often ends badly but thst doesnt mean that the desire is not there or that with the right technology in medicine it would not be possible to do safely in the future much like changing gender is now.

It also ignores the glaringly obvious point that there are far more ethnicities beyond simply black and white so it there would be far more other ways to change ethnicity anyway.

7. The role of intersectionalism.

I had not heard the term intersectionslism until a few months ago but it has to be said that these ideas and what is wrong with everything here. The idea that transethnicity is not the same as transgender comes down to we are more oppressed than you and nothing more.

When people came to her defence some transgender intersectionalists pleaded it wasnt the same and if you werent transgender you have to accept that and cannot criticise it because you would never understand their section. Like wise some black intersectionalist lambasted her because gosh this could be a slippery slope to allowing all sections to oppose racism and remove the intersectionalist tinge.

The most worrying thing at all is where is the class perspective gone? How in anyway is this anaylsis classed based, in seems so manu are drinking the jntersectionalist coolaid at the moment that they have been allowed to set the terms and gone are the days of solidarity and independant analysis.

Maybe Rachel Dolezal changed her appearance from white to black because she could not be involved in anti racism campaigns as white because the intersectionalists had previously excluded her for not being the right ethnicity (just a thought)

8. Self determination

Many of the people who have commented on this issue would openly support the right of a nation to self determination all culutural or ethnic lines. Surely that can only truly exist if it includes the right to determine their own ethnicity.

9. Where will this road end?

If you oppose the right for somebody to change or modify
their ethnicity then inevitability this will mean policing ethnicity which is bizarre at best. Many people will identify with more than one ethnic grouping already. Ethnicities in Portugal is quite fluid largely as a result of its history of colonialism which differs from Britains as it involved a lot more inter marriage with the colonised. Also though because the climate changes peoples appearance throughout the year. My mother in law for example who is portuguese and lives in portugal looks white in the white and black in the summer.

Many portuguese people who are considered white in Portugal who come to Britain are then informed they are actually black.

So it is important to allow people to define their own ethnicity because if you attempt to control it surely you have to also control sexuality or disability in the same way snd remove the option of self definition in the same way.

10. You cannot actually change your ethnicity.

Some people have claimed thst whilst you can change your skin colour you cannot change the meletonin levels which is what drtermines skin colour anyway.  To this I say so what it doesn't actually mean anything at all. A trans women would still have both XY chromosomes but it doesn't mean they cannot be a women

11. Transgender is different from transethnic.

One person made the argument that birth you are assigned a gender and expected to act is a certain gender role but not assigned an ethnicity at birth - factually incorrect - and not expected to act within a certain ethnicity - again wrong and well simply an enthnocentric view.

12. Rachel Dolezal infiltrated the NAACP

Firstly she was an activist of the NAACP and did nothing to damage it even if a story breaks to the contrary of this, your argument is not based on this. Would you also oppose a trans women joining the Womens Institute or using a female changing room. I suspect not.

Incidentally would the NCAAP was founded by three white people!

Secondly though you are not opposing Rachel Dolezal you are opposing transethnicity in general yet you would not accept anyone else basing thier opinion of immigrants or homosexuality on the basis on one individual.

12. Why are we even having this conversation?

What puzzles me the most is why is this conversation. Why does it matter what someone else does to there own body in a way that effects no one else.

There is a guy who has mutiple tattoos and facial modifications to make himself more feline. It doesnt effect me so i have no problen with it and would defend his right to do so.

Lets me clear if I wanted to turn myself into a goose, and had a way of doing it then i should have ever right to do it. If i then wanted to go for a paddle in the lake with all the other geese i should have the right to do so. Its my body my choice.

But all im seeing is emotive language like 'permanently blacking up' (akin to saying that a trans man is a chick with a permanent strap on) or pseudo scientific theories all in attempt to demonise it in the exact same way  as was used to justify racism, sexism, homophobia and transphobia at some point or other.

Bonus question:

I have never liked it when people say that "well Marx said" or "Lenin wrote" etc as the argument in and of it self but i would like to ask that as many of the people exposing this transethnobia bigotry claim to be marxists how does that square with a materialist approach and a dialectical analysis?

I would like to think there could be a serious disucssion on the subject as sadly that seems lacking. I have made it clear where I stand.  I would appreciate if others did by agreeing/dissgreeing with each point individually and adding any additional points if necessary.

Comradely