Dear DB
I see Laurens Otter must have been at the magic mushrooms again.
Something, anyway, has caused him to hallucinate. There is no
other explanation for his vision of an SPGB meeting at which one
member is imagined to have spoken of a transitional "socialist
government" lasting for "millenia" to the general agreement of the
other members present. It's just too unbelievable to be true. In
SPGB circles to talk of a "socialist government" is just as taboo
as talking of a "socialist market" or "socialist wages."
He also imagines that he was once a "candidate member" of the SPGB
but this can't be as there is no such thing. He may well have
applied to join at some point (though you can't be sure of
anything he claims). In fact, he did once tell me that he did
apply but was turned down because he was religious (like Tony
Blair, he's an Anglo Catholic, ie. on the "high church" wing of
the Anglican church believing in hierarchy, Latin, incense and all
that). He then added that the next Sunday he met three SPGB
members at mass who told him he'd been a fool to say he was
religious. Why didn't he just do what they'd done: pretend not
to be? If you believe that one you'll believe anything.
If you're going to publish stuff from him, can't you put it in a
fiction section since some of his tall stories are faintly
amusing.
Adam Buick
