Un Swissroll

On a resolution to condemn Israel (and Israel alone) at the WHO, Switzerland didn’t vote NO like Canada, the UK or Germany. Switzerland didn’t abstain like Norway, Sweden, Finland and 29 other countries – or simply joined the 56 « absent ». Switzerland made a point of voting YES to a resolution co-sponsored by Syria, Cuba or Turkey.

Two questions to Foreign Secretary Cassis and the Federal Government:

1. Is this a mistake, for which someone has to be sacked (as it happened recently in Uruguay)?

2. Or is it a naked appeal to votes from dictatorships in the ill-considered candidacy of Switzerland to the UN Security Council?

My latest post (in French) on Un Swissroll. The book is in French, German and Italian.
#LGB

Heidi.News présente l’occupation d’une colline destinée à l’extension d’une carrière à Eclepens comme « la première ZAD suisse », sur le modèle de Notre-Dame des Landes qui n’est pas devenue un aéroport grâce à une action militante. Le mot squat est certes un anglicisme, mais connu de toutes et tous. Le recours à une terminologie franco-française récente, même ironiquement pseudo-administrative, y ajoute-t-il quelque chose?

Mais surtout, la chose n’a rien de nouveau, elle est inscrite depuis longtemps dans l’histoire sociale et la mémoire militante. Et aussi en dehors des problématiques de logement ou d’urbanisme: l’occupation du chantier de la centrale nucléaire de Kaiseraugst remonte à 1975…

In Britain, I am struck how much society is geared for competition rather than cooperation, be it the school system, debating competitions or first past the post. You need a balance between the two, of course. This game looks like an interesting way to show how the Swiss society (and direct democracy, woefully misunderstood here) works.
#politix

Hutton was a hero of swissroll.info, see our posts from August-September 2003.

An occasion to mark the anniversary of this blog, started on 3 August 2003. As we explained elsewhere, Jean-Paul Guisan (aka Guillaume Barry) and I were inspired to start one by reading blogs ourselves, notably the Daily Dish by Andrew Sullivan. He stopped 5 years ago, being a confirmed commentator in mainstream media – but it’s due to reappear as The Weekly Dish! Behold!

#politix #webpublishing

Cet article illustre admirablement la réalité des problèmes auxquels les personnes trans sont confrontées. Ils sont spécifiques et méritent d’être portés par une organisation dédiée plutôt que d’être maladroitement assimilés aux gays, lesbiennes et bisexuel-le-s, qui ont la chance d’être bien dans leur corps et vivent simplement une attraction pour les personnes du même sexe (ou des deux sexes). #LGB

#LGB

Best general introduction to the subject l’ve read so far!

On Un Swissroll, my take on the British General Election (in French). I share here my views on the state of the Left and it’s future.

The 2015 surprise election of Corbyn as leader of Labour has been followed by a complete change of the party:

• The fraction of far left dinosaurs around Corbyn has taken over all the levers of control inside the party. They have no intention to surrender them despite their appalling result at the General Election: they want a corbynite after Corbyn.

• After 4 years the composition of the membership has been transformed, thanks to waves of younger and idealistic members: the party is now solidly out of tune with the aspirations of the voters and society at large, and revolutionarily proud of it!

Some people have started (re)joining Labour in order to take part in the election of the next leadership. But it will go nowhere without organising a proper campaign to transform the party again: now is not the time to trust some invisible hand! Basically, we need a drive for one million Labour (former) voters to join, but where is the potential leader with a clear program of renewal? I don’t really see this happening.

However, there is an alternative: accepting that we are at the end of an historical cycle for a Left based on class struggle (after all, Social-Democracy did win the argument for a regulated market economy with welfare provision!). Corbyn has destroyed Labour, but Johnson is also destroying the old Right.The next elections will be in 4 or 5 years. Now is the time to build anew the two main parties.

Better to abandon the politically, ethically and financially bankrupt remains of the Labour Party to the corbynites. We need the 120 or 150 pragmatic MPs (at the start) to breakaway and elect their leader, who will immediately take over as leader of HM Opposition and the Shadow Cabinet, then call on Labour members and all interested citizens to join and for Unions to stop supporting the corbynite party. They have nothing to loose and a few years to organise. The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan joining the new party could be a welcome boost…

#politix