IWW Cymru: not mourning, but organising

Last Thursday there was an event in the Nos Da Hotel in Cardiff to celebrate the life of union organiser and songwriter Joe Hill. The event (organised by IWW Cymru) marked the centenary of his execution by the state of Utah on 19 November 1915 for a murder that he almost certainly did not commit. It is likely that he was framed and executed for his union activism as a member of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) and because his songs – such as The Preacher and the Slave, Power in a Union and Rebel Girl were considered such an inspiration to the militant American working class of the day. These songs are still sung today within the international labour movement as well as the Ballad of Joe Hill which was written in his honour.

The road to freedom

It was in mid 1971 that I purchased my still-possessed copy of Bertrand Russell’s “Roads to Freedom” for the princely sum of 60p, helpfully also priced at 12/- for those who had not yet fully adapted to decimal currency.  It was one of a number of books which influenced my political development.

Russell set out (in the terms of the age; he wrote it in 1918, and I doubt that anyone would use some of his words and phrases in more modern times) his analysis of three alternative roads to freedom, and then concluded with some highly idealistic views of his own as a synthesis of sorts. Socialism, Anarchism, and Syndicalism – three alternative ways of building a utopia.

The relationship between Marx and Bakunin had its moments, of course, but whilst the routes to achieve freedom and the structures of the desired free society might look very different, the essential nature of the freedom which underpins them does have some broad similarities.  Freedom from the tyranny of capital, and the replacement of competition with co-operation as a means of sharing resources are two of the essential pillars of my own political philosophy.