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Annual Report
for June 2008
by Ben Seattle

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I believe it is useful for revolutionary activists to post,
each year, a summary of their activity over the past year
and plans for the coming year.

Capitalist corporations give a public annual report to
stockholders every year. Our "stockholders" are the workers
and oppressed of the world who, by their own struggles,
inspire us and give us strength. An annual report can assist
revolutionary activists to better understand the work,
activity and priorities of other revolutionary activists.
This can be a small step in the direction of transparency
and eventual greater coordination of effort.

This year, for the first time, three subscribers from the
"party of the future" (pof) lists have joined me in the
effort to make annual reports by revolutionary activists and
organizations a tradition.

These annual reports are of great significance. Over time
the working class and its activists will create a new kind
of organization, far more open than has been possible before
the internet. Annual reports from members and supporters of
this organization will greatly facilitate its
self-organization. For example, if you want to create or
organize a project of some kind--you will be able to find
other comrades with similar interests and with the
experience you need.

To set an example, and declare my work and priorities before
friend and foe alike, I submit the following:

===============================================
Contents:
===============================================

1) What I accomplished in the last year
2) What I plan to accomplish in the coming year
3) Problems that came up and solutions that were developed
4) Additional comments -- notes for the future

===============================================
1) What I accomplished in the last year
===============================================

a) I continued my work with the Media Weapon community
b) I wrote "How to Build the Party of the Working Class"
c) I wrote critical comments on the practice of SAIC and CVO
d) I engaged in a few threads on the Kasama (ex-RCP) blog
e) I created an experimental wiki for our community

(a) I averaged about one post per week to the larger email
list (pof-200) of the Media Weapon community and about three
posts per week to the smaller email list (pof-300). Two new
people with political experience and maturity (Alex and
Paul) emerged to support the community and this was a very
positive development. This is my tenth annual report and,
for the first time, other activists have joined me in
creating annual reports (to see their annual reports, check
out the wiki discussed below). Step by step revolutionary
activists will overcome their isolation from one another and
from the working class!

(b) I wrote an essay, together with diagrams and a number of
sidebar articles, titled "How to Build the Party of the
Working Class". This was a major essay. I hope to
eventually circulate this article within leftist discussion
forums.

(c) I developed by criticism of the practice of the Seattle
Anti-Imperialist Committee (SAIC) and the Communist Voice
Organization (CVO) in several multi-part articles, beginning
with "Cargo-Cult Leninism vs. Political Transparency" (with
22 sidebar articles) and concluding with "Workers' Rule: Is
it Dead or Alive?" (with some killer diagrams and four
appendicies).

(d) I engaged in a number of threads of the Kasama blog (run
by and for activists who used to be around the RCP,USA).
Originally, the Kasama blog seemed to hold promise for the
creation of some kind of revolutionary regroupment that
might have some of the strengths of the RCP without the cult
worship of Avakian that has made the RCP something of a joke
in the left. All that has resulted from this effort, so
far, is a discussion forum with views ranging from
social-democratic to radical, with an emphasis on the
revolution in Nepal.

(e) I also created a new wiki for the Media Weapon
community. This wiki is experimental and its value is still
unclear. However it is very easy to manage and edit and has
a number of advanced features. My limited experience with
it so far suggests it will be valuable. Readers can view it
by going to http://MediaWeapon.com and clicking on the
"wiki" link.

===============================================
2) What I plan to accomplish in the coming year
===============================================

a) disengage from all political work
(to the maximum extent possible)
b) engage in political work
(to the minimum extent necessary)

The circumstances of my personal life demand that I retreat
further from political work for at least the next year. My
main "political" task at this time is to better manage the
challenges of my personal life. This will allow me, in the
long term, to accomplish more politically.

I therefor intend, over the next year, to withdraw from
political work to the maximum extent possible.

I will, however, maintain a bare minimum level of political
activity in support of the existing motion in the Media
Weapon community.

I intend to refrain from posting to our community email
lists for at least the next month.

===============================================
3) Problems that came up in my work
and solutions that were developed
===============================================

I intended to be less active politically in the past year
than turned out to be the case.

Basically, some opportunities came up to develop a more
popular understanding of the principles necessary for the
development of the antiwar and revolutionary movements. I
felt that these opportunities were too valuable to ignore.
My work on them resulted in my essay on "how to build the
party" and my polemical exchanges concerning workers' rule.

I intend to be far less politically active in the coming
year.

===============================================
4) Additional comments
===============================================

I believe that my work on "how to build the party" and the
nature of workers' rule may prove to be valuable, in the
long term, to the revolutionary movement. Some of the
diagrams, by themselves, have potential to make it easier
for activists to understand the important principles
involved. I believe that potential exists to popularize
some of these diagrams and principles in various places,
ranging from RevLeft to YouTube. I will not be able to
organize this or participate much in the coming year. But I
hope to work on this eventually. There are a lot of
activists who are looking for the answers to the more
important and more difficult questions. Our community has
some of these answers. We should make an effort to connect
with these ativists and, so to speak, insert the plug into
the electrical socket.

Sincerely and revolutionary regards,
Ben Seattle
http://struggle.net/ben my website
http://MediaWeapon.com our community website (and wiki)
information war wants to be free to serve the class struggle