BOSNIA aid campaigners in Manchester have developed a new tactic for raising the issue on the streets.
Leafleting the centre of Manchester on Saturday mornings had previously not met much of a response. Shoppers refuse to take leaflets.
So we retreated from the class war to the glass war in a local pub and had a conflab. A new tactic was hatched: using music as a draw.
After discussion with our student supporters it was proposed that they organise a major musical benefit event at Manchester University.
To give our leafleting a lift we decided to experiment with street music. Two of us just hap» Socialist Facing mass unemployment, rampant employers equipped with savage anti-union laws, and a war on hard-won education, health and welfare services, the working class in Britain faces a real crisis - an avoidable crisis created by the historic failure of its official leadership.
Socialist Outlook exists to fight for a new type of working class leadership, based on the politics of class struggle and revolutionary socialism, to tackle this crisis.
The capitalist class, driven and politically united by its own crisis, its requirement to maximise profits at the expense of the workers, has been given determined, vanguard leadership by a brutal class-war Tory high command.
The Tory strategy has been to shackle the unions with legislation, and to fragment and weaken the resistance of the working class and oppressed, allowing them to pick off isolated sections one at HOME a time, using the full powers of the state.
In response, most TUC and Labour leaders have embraced the defeatist politics of 'new realism', effectively proclaiming total surrender on every front, while ditching any pretence that they offer a socialist alternative. Every retreat and concession they have made to the employers and the government has simply fuelled and encouraged the offensive against jobs, wages, conditions and unpened to be blessed with the gift of musicianship, notably the truly amazing Fiddlin' Adam Hartman - can he knock out a tune!
On Tuesday 19th April 'Busking for Bosnia' was born! It was of course, being Manchester, pouring with rain. But that didn't deter us - we headed for Manchester University shopping precinct, which was sheltered and had excellent acoustics.
Violin case
The idea was that two of our number would belt out some Irish music while others leafleted. The public would be invited to put money for Bosnia in Adam's violin case.
The response was truly amazing! In the space of a couple of hours an incredible number of people stopped and gave money.
People were obviously sickened by the shelling of the civilian population of Gorazde and the air strikes against the Serbs.
Just as we were launching into 'Ragtime Annie', an American from San Francisco on holiday (he must be loopy spending it in Manchester) heard our music and introduced himself.
Not only that: he offered to do a stint on the guitar! The sound of their music floating across the precinct was wonderful.
By the end of the session we had lost count of the number of pound coins that had been tossed into the case.
We are planning to do this kind of thing more often in future.
There is more than one way to skin a cat.