By Paul Daly, Socialist Think Tank and Chair, Sedgefield CLP (personal capacity)
About a year ago, in early 2020, a small group of socialists based in County Durham set up a new social media platform, Socialist Think Tank, with content across Facebook, You Tube, Instagram, Twitter and Twitch to promote socialist ideas and provide a source of political education. But why did we do it? What did we think we had to offer that was different? What were our aims and hopes?
Have you ever heard somebody talk about socialism and what they said made your jaw drop? Dangerous, utopian, flawed, naïve, and sometimes even evil!! My guess is yes, although I think we are all becoming a little bit too used to it for these terms to shock us any more, even when we know that it is a complete misrepresentation. Over the past five years, and in truth, for a lot longer, we have heard the establishment throw all of its weight behind the complete destruction of socialism as an ideology, defending itself as only it can: with money and power. While we know that what they said was laughably untrue, it cut through enough with some voters to ensure that the possibility of achieving socialism through the Westminster system, always unlikely, had become even more remote – so much so that within Labour, the only Party with a realistic chance of doing so, its very own section of the establishment is trying to hound socialists out of the party. Something needs to change. We are not going to win by playing a rigged game.
In 2017, the left took the establishment by surprise. Who can forget the Question Time Special where May and Corbyn were quizzed by members of the public? The purpose of this event was to entirely discredit Corbyn and socialism, but this backfired when the public were able to hear socialist ideas in a relatively uncontrolled way. The right-wing media were horrified to find that the public, particularly young people, no longer saw the act of a retaliatory genocide against an imagined nuclear strike to be “common sense”, with the biggest cheer of the night being in response to a young woman who said that she didn’t understand why everyone in the room seemed “so keen on killing millions of people”. The right had been arrogant and bought into their own rhetoric. They were in trouble.
History written by the victors, news reported by the powerful
Supporters of neoliberalism were not about to let this happen again, and from then on, every news story, every debate, every commentator framed everything in the context of socialism’s response to the damage that had been caused by the capitalist crisis, rather than blaming capitalism itself. While lurching from one bad government policy to another, crisis to crisis, every news story was framed in a way that made it appear that the problem was Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party. Socialism was not going to be allowed to speak on its own terms. History is written by the victors and news is reported by the powerful. The establishment found a way not only to discredit socialism to floating voters, who, ironically, were in favour of much of the manifesto, but also split those on the left over the Brexit issue. They even managed to control the framing of the debate around who Labour members should choose as a nice safe pair of hands for the establishment on the opposition benches. Job done!
Whenever I present my core political beliefs, I am usually met with some level of approval. Fair pay, tax billionaires, an economy that works for everyone, not just the elite. But mention the word socialism and you can be met with derision. It is spat out by the right as an insult, in many cases even by people who profess to be on the left.
I started to consider if this was because people simply have no idea what a socialist is or what they believe, even though, in many cases, they hold many socialist beliefs themselves. Then there would be the usual reports of well-funded right wing think tanks, coming out with policy ideas that damage most people’s lives. Where are all the left wing think tanks? They are being ignored.
We wanted a way to combat that narrative. The mainstream media is not a friend of the left and will always represent the interests of Capital. Socialists do not get to tell their own stories in their own terms, and when they do, it is rarely amplified. Socialists are represented as humourless, scruffy, detached from reality and only from London. Having been a trade unionist for many years before I joined the Labour Party, and through my role as Sedgefield CLP Chair, I can say that this is far from my experience. The socialists I know are diverse, working class, funny, kind, strong, fearless, warm and caring. They remind me of my family, my friends, students I have taught, colleagues and volunteers I work with. Many of them are loved in their communities, the same communities where some people oppose socialism with malice. There is some great independent media out there, but none of it was telling people about the socialism I see. It is largely reactive, responding to capitalist crisis, or left wing in-fighting. This will never reach beyond our own circles. If we want people to realise that they have the same values as socialists, they need to see people who are like them. This is what Socialist Think Tank was set up to achieve.
Relatability and hope
The goal was simple. Socialism on its own terms, expressed by relatable presenters and interviewees. People who you might meet (in pre-Covid times) at the pub or on a bus. People who we can understand. People who remind you of friends and family, who explain socialism through a relatable lens, not in academic terms. We wanted to produce something where the interviewee is equally likely to be well known in the movement, or one of the people that we admire from our own circles but who never gets the attention their views deserve. Importantly, we wanted to give people time to fully articulate their ideas, the very opposite of Andrew Neil and the pound shop Paxmans who are looking for a gotcha moment. We believe in socialism. We believe that there are socialists out there who do not yet have the word for it and we believe that we can bring people with us. That, in essence, is what the project is about: relatability and hope.
The longest running project is the “Origins” series, a one-on-one interview with a person who is always asked the question “What is socialism to you?”. This is a surprisingly open question and generates a range of answers, taking the conversation in any number of directions. It has been the greatest learning experience of my life, listening to stories from people we talk to, often from diverse backgrounds. One thing I learned is that if you listen to somebody patiently, they often answer the question you were going to butt in with! With a wide variety of discussions, from mining solidarity to multi-faith explorations of the soul, there is always something new to take away.
Another series is “The Social Ties”, presented by Laura, which explores the work of real socialism in communities, with community groups such as Trademark Belfast and Acorn Union. The uplifting message is that socialism is happening right now. It is not something that is impossible without control of Westminster, but is part of the fabric of our daily lives. We can draw inspiration from the work that goes on and the solidarity that is out there in our communities.
“Political Unmuted” is a live show on current events hosted by John D. Clare with his “Dream Team” of guests. Originally a local political radio show, right wing trolls threatened the radio station and bullied their most popular show off the air. Socialist Think Tank offered the platform for it to continue and it has gone from strength to strength. One of the beauties of it is the live interaction that goes on, with guests genuinely responding in real time to comments made, which are displayed on the screen. Many of the regular audience are far from socialist, some originally watching to criticise, but are now avid watchers who play an active role in the show. Socialists need to reach out and stop speaking only to those who already agree. This is a way to do that. The topics are set by a poll, giving an exceptional level of control to the audience.
Members’ favourite
The final regular event is “Socialist Night Live”, which has become the team’s social life as well as a members’ favourite. With special guests each week, this show has a lot of freedom as well as audience interaction. The audience leads the direction of the discussion, asking questions, making comments and surprising us all the time. If you miss the pub and chaotic conversations, then this is for you!
As well as all this, we like to provide a platform for other groups. We have had a number of channel takeovers. Save our Socialists, the Woman’s Banner Group, Lasscast and Irish socialists have all hosted special events. We are always looking for ways to collaborate and support other projects. We also provide podcast readings for the Political Education Project to help people access the learning materials. This has been a hugely rewarding experience for us all. What is socialism without collaboration and solidarity?
Within a year we have had over 100k views on all platforms and our podcast is listened to in 50 countries. We are quite prolific, releasing 125 podcasts to date, although some listeners have told us they are completely up to date and have listened to, or watched, every minute. Our regular shows have a small but dedicated viewership. When people are watching, they stick with us. In a month we are already approaching 100 members. We are a truly collaborative platform and are dedicated to promoting causes within the movement. Our shows have inspired our viewers to join organisations such as Unite Community, Acorn and the Woman’s Banner Group. We have championed causes such as Save Our Socialists, promoted the work of Trademark Belfast and the Political Education Project and are always looking to grow the wider movement.
Friends and comrades
Socialist Think Tank are a core team of Paul Daly, Laura Daly, James Summerill and Rochelle Charlton- Laine, all from East Durham, which provides a huge contrast to other more London-centric platforms. But the platform would be nothing without its many contributors. The most valuable among these are our members, who suggest content, comment on our live shows and are friends and comrades. It is free to be a member, but many choose to contribute financially if they can. Over time, we envisage them doing their own shows under our banner, in a truly socialist collective style. If this sounds like something you would be interested in, we would love to have you on board!
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