Minority Report: A reply to Derek Walls

Minority Report: : A reply to Derek Walls' Darker Shades of Green By Wayne John Sturgeon

It has been some time now, a good year, since I received an email containing Derek Walls editorial article Darker Shades of Green. It had been published in the 'Socialist' Red Pepper magazine. Sent to me via my friend Tim Bragg from Patrick Harrington of Third Way, the National Liberal Party. My initial reaction was 'Oh no, here we go again!' being myself a victim of attempts by some on the Left to smear ideological opponents as 'fascist'. My crime was to contribute articles to Alternative Green magazine which was anarchist but had a libertarian editorial policy which was open to articles and contributions from individuals and organisations of both the Right and Left so long as they met three criteria: they were environmental, decentralist and non-authoritarian.

It may come as a surprise to some but there are groups and individuals termed 'far-Right' that fit this bill. Some on the 'far-Left' side of the political spectrum do not (particularly individuals like Derek Wall). Let me explain. First let me state where I agree with Derek Wall. I also support 'green parties' amongst Afro-American deep ecologists and within West African, Muslim and and Jewish traditions. I am also against racism, hatred, bigotry, supremacy of any kind, anti-Semitism and Islamophobia (as well as sexism and homophobia for good measure). I hate and fear violence as well, having clear non-violent leanings (although not myself a complete pacifist). Yet Mr Wall seems not to as he thinks violence isn't wrong when it is directed against 'the enemy'. He says:

"Earth First! Now prioritises anti-racist campaigning proclaiming the slogan Monkey Wrench a Fascist."

This is clearly a case of Leftist Orwellian doublespeak. Let me rewrite this to make a point:

"England First! Now proclaims the slogan Monkey Wrench a Commie (or Paki, Queer, Jew etc)."

Clearly an obscene sentiment and one which would appal us all but where I would condemn both examples Derek Wall would presumably not. Derek Wall and the average fascist are not ideological opposites but ideological opposames. They are both authoritarians. Derek Wall, for instance, supports the silencing of David Icke (thrown out and banned by the Green Party after being their official spokesman).

No doubt my credential in writing this short rebuke will be enough to condemn me given the leftist passion for 'guilt by association', the new McCarthyism. Never mind this is a 'minority report'. "England has now been twinned with Tibet and we are now both facing cultural training, the abolition of our identity and autonomy by what Orwell termed 'oligarchical collectivism' but would now just be termed 'New World order'."

So some on the Right advocate ruralism, spiritual values, social credit, animal rights car free cities, and decentralisation. So what? Isn't that a good thing? They had links to the Soil Association in the 1930s. Again, so what? My mate's dad's uncle's next door neighbours' girlfriend's cat had links to the BUF... It seems that some on the 'Left' like to indulge in conspiracy theory as long as it serves their purpose. They are projecting their shadow on a wall. Look into the mirror and face your bogeyman Mr Wall.

Lenin, Mao, Stalin and Hitler. What do they all have in common? A State controlled, regulated economy. A highly centralised State. Restrictions on basic human rights with ideological enemies smeared as:-

1)Reactionaries

2)A Jew or a Mason (or even a Jewish Mason!)

3)A Fascist... pardon? Yes a Fascist. There are many historical examples for organisations and individuals on the left using the term Fascist as a smear (indeed labelling fellow 'leftists' 'fascists'!). Throw enough mud and some will stick. But people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. What's the real difference between 'class warfare' and 'race warfare'? Both are based on and motivated by hatred. Both generalise about a section of the population and make it 'the enemy'.

However much energy is put into writing 'apologetic' pieces, people like Wall will never be satisfied. I have attended many demonstrations and actions, which would fall into the 'left' sphere of political attitude. I have always been opposed to genuine social manifestations of Fascism. My dad both fought in the Second World War and my mum was in the Women's Land Army - I'm proud of them both. I work with people with profound learning disabilities. Just the sort of people that the Third Reich would have killed here if it were not for the countless self-sacrifice of millions - including the drop in the ocean contributed by my mother and father.

Authoritarianism doesn't just come in the form of braces, Doc Martin boots and crew cuts but also with the Saturday afternoon paper-sellers of the SWP and some within more mainstream groups like the Greens who conduct witch-hunts. There is such a thing as a Red Nazi - not an ideology as such, more a state of mind.

I offer the concept of 'polyarchy'. Live and let live in the libertarian sense of life, liberty and property. If someone wants to live in a racially exclusive commune, fine, let him or her. Their loss. Just don't try to impose their views on me. If I fall in love with a nice, sweet, Indian girl and decide to marry her and they object that is really their problem - not mine.

I welcome the synthesis of nationalism and liberalism advocated strongly by Graham Williamson. Both are historical, social philosophies that need reclaiming, reconstructing and renewing. Both far from real far Right positions: imperialism, colonialism etc and far left statism: central planning, authoritarianism etc

From one who was a 'left wing anarchist' but now knows better.

P.S. There is a song by the 70s punk band Buzzcocks entitled 'Shot by both sides'. It reminds me of reading an interview/article on John Hargreaves and the Greenshirt Movement of the 30s. They violently clashed with both the Blackshirts and Communists (despite Hargreaves, Quaker non-violent leanings). For an inspiring historical example of a movement that was genuinely beyond Left and Right, Green and decentralist I sincerely encourage you to research this tragically little known example of a British alternative and counter cultural political landscape.