Nerve 17 Launched at the Bluecoat

The Bluecoat
4th December 2010

By Sebastian Gahan

As the year of our lord 2010 (whoever said Lord is) comes to an end, the only thing inevitable is change, as someone once said. That and taxes. And who knows what else if we just stand there watching?

But on a lighter note - and we'll need lots of those lighter notes soon the way it's going! - revolution both past, present and future was celebrated by our own Nerve magazine this Saturday evening, with the launch of the 1911 transport strike calendar celebrating one hundred years of revolution in Liverpool. There were speakers with inspiring or instructive messages, songs from a variety of performers and a taste of one hundred years ago, with a serving of bread and gruel that had many hungry people queuing for more (luckily, we could actually have more). Times have changed considerably in many ways, yet in some ways they are the same.

In 1911, strikes tore the very fabric of everyday life apart and - in a pivotal message to the probable grandchildren or great grandchildren of the people who set out for what they considered rightfully theirs - had victory as the eventual result. One hundred years later, it's the students who have so far shown the biggest move against government plans to make further education a luxury, with their noteworthy mass protest in London and other areas. Other groups of workers affected directly by and disturbed by the sweeping cuts in almost every department and region are doing so too.

It's not yet 2011, but the resistance bar has been set high by the people who should be concerned the most about the future - the younger generations. Of course, we all play a part in keeping the world a good place for those who come after us, be it environmentally, physically or politically, which seeps into every aspect of our lives like rain from the skies. There's the future, as people are rightly concerned about, but everybody knows that the present can shape the future more effectively than any veiled political manoeuvre or gesture. To many people, it's all too much and more of these people should be out there fighting against that which they perceive wrong.

Life in 1911 was very different to life on the cusp of 2011, and we should all pay our respects to the people who fought tirelessly for what we now consider to be normal. Shorter working weeks, rates of pay that can change for the benefit of the worker as opposed to cost cutting for the employer, numerous social freedoms that we take for granted, and much more. Strikes and unions inevitably played a part in this movement and still do now. Next time you get a raise, think about that fact. Protecting the workers of the country is important, and even if you've never used the union of your particular industry yet, you never know when the need will arise. Be it via strikes, consultation or the application of protective clauses and representation, you are entitled to help. In 1911, when these actions took place all through the year in various industries, this was not the case.

Looking through the calendar should reveal many facts about the times then that are still relevant in the now. Above all, life is never perfect, but there are ways to make it better not just for ourselves but for the common good. In the event, it was an illuminating and successful launch for a never more socially relevant publication. The crowd of people at the launch were attentive and appreciative. If everybody took home the important message that change is possible then the desperately needed revolution to get the country back on track - as every politician claims they want to do - will be closer to real success. Change doesn't always start at the top and if we all let our voices be heard through the vacuum our present leader seems to live in, we can all help to get the country back to what it should be. The students in London put their message across effectively, and in their masses let everybody know what they wanted. If we all put our voices out there, we'd be heard too. We all know perfection isn't possible, but if the lessons of the 1911 transport strike and so many other successful strikes documented in the calendar are to be applied to our present day living, we need to be doing exactly that right now.

Many thanks to those who came to the launch, our speakers Tracey, Tayo, Tony, John, Kathleen, Sue and Jamie, the many people of Nerve who helped organise things for the launch, our comperes Tracey Dunne and Ritchie Hunter, the Socialist Choir for their rousing anthems of freedom, Vinny for his performance, and to Bryan Biggs and the Bluecoat for letting us fill your halls with the seeds of revolution and singing. Let it spread further and soon!

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