UC28 June-July 1978 by Christopher Squire

After Windscale-Martin Ince & Dave Elliott

Two new books by John Seymour

If you can't win at the enquiry, do you turn to civil disobedience?

Tvind-Marshall Merriam & Kevin Harris Behind the biggest windmill in the world lies a remarkable experiment in education.

Atlantis-Jenny James A therapeutic community rides the heavy vibes of Ulster.

Mondragon-wish we were there? Anna Whyatt & Keith Smith Despite their fantastic success the Basque-Country cooperatives may be a poor model for British followers.

Eco 2000Ã‘Ke Penney One man's struggle to start an Alternative Technology Centre.

AT-The art and the state-Dave Elliott U K state support for alternative energy i s not just half-hearted, it's misguided.

Alternative sources of dollars- Andrew MacKillop

'Take the money and run' is the motto for Canada's AT promoters.

Can Wales make it?-S\mon Watt A politically independent Wales may still be miles from economic and technological autonomy.

Urban Wasteland-Ti m Cartel I Stark images from a new book on the scandal of Britain's cities.

What turbine?-Stephen Tonkin Don't believe anyone who offers you an 'all-purpose' water turbine design.

Behaviour Modification-John Rowan Meet the guys who can redecorate your psychic cell any colour you want. 7

Maximill-Geott Watson A successful windmill proves that simplicity in execution requires subtlety in design.

A glimpse of reality-Laurence Golding If you've got a good pair of boots you can 'walk into lost worlds' this summer.

The Bicycle. Planning Book-Mike Hudson

I'm a Stranger Here Myself The Story ofa Welsh Farm This sequel to The Fat of the Land recounts the move that the Seymour family made from Suffolk to a small, derelict farm in Pembrokeshire, and the work and problems of settling into a new place and making it habitable for man and beast. With characteristic warmth and perception the author also describes what it is like to belong to a community of Welsh hill farmers, its mutual support and mutual obligations. Â£3.9

An education for townplanners-FOE'S new cookbook for cities fit for cycles. Undercurrents is publithod awry two months by Undercurrents Ltd, a democratic non-profit com.pany limited by guarantee.

ISSN 0306 2392 EDITORIAL OFFICE: 27 Clukenwell d o r , London EClR OAT Telephone 01-253 7303 SUBSCRIPTION DEPT: 12 South Street, Wey, Duntoy, Glos. Telephone 045 386 630 People refponsible for Undercurrents include Barbara Kern, Chris Hutton Squire, Dave Elliott, Dave Kanner. Dave Smith, Duncan Qmpbell, Godfrey Boyle, Hehie Girardet, Joan Turner, John Southnte, Joyce Evens, Lyn Simomn, Martin Inca, Martyn Partridge, Pat Coyne. Pmte Glen, Peter Bonnici, Richard Elan, Rosemary Randall, Sally Boyle, Sir Lobbanburg, Tony Durham, Val Robinson and Vicky Hutchings. There are also dozens of other folk who help out here and there end whose only reward is anonymity. Many thanks t o them. Undercurrents welcomes unsolicited contributions which should, If possible, ba typed, double spaced, on one ride of the paw. The contants of Undercurrents is copyright. PermiiHon t o reprint is freely given to non-profit group* who apply in writing. Thiu iISW is printed on light weight (37gsm) newsprint offered to us a t a special price by our new printer. It rive< us Â£5 per iISW and spam one smallish tree a little longer. What do you think of it? Would you rather pay only 45p end get a flimsy mag or 60p for something solid enough for other purposeswhen you'vefinished r i d i n g it?

The Self-Suff icient Gardener Wherever you live and whatever the size of your kitchen garden this book will help you keep yourself in vegetables, fruit and herbs through the year. It tells you how to prepare the ground, grow the crops, and store or preserve the produce. There are over 600 illustrations, many of them in colour. Â£6.9

Published by Faber

Published b y Undercurrents Limited, 27 Clerkenwell Close, London EC1 R OAT. Full editorial. distribution and subscri~tiondetails aPDear on Page 48

Windscale Demo Torness Rally Seabrook Lucas

Citizens Bani Lead Irish Nukes Br~ceLalond

Civil Now - Disobedient Later? ,NTI-NUCLEAR protesters in Britain have sniffed their first, mild whiff of nonviolent direct action-and enjoyed it. I n a week of cheerful demonstrations against atomic power, beginning with FOE'SWindscale protest march t o Trafalgar Square on April 29th and ending with SCRAM'S rally against the Torness AGR over the weekend of May 6-7, thousands of Britain's nuclear opponents have voted with their feet in answer to Mr Justice Parker's contem~tuousdismissal of their case at the Windscale Enquiry. The mood of the demonstrators who packed Trafalgar Square was probably best captured b y Arthui Scargill, the Yorkshire Miners' President. who told the crowd of more than 10,000 that "If n needs civil disobedience to stop nuclear power, then we shall have t o have civil disobedience,"-words which were greeted by the loudest cheers of the afternoon (though the Master of Ceremonies for the day, FOE Director Tom Burke, was seen as the words ,toi. .shudder .t disobedience" . violently were ctteredl Although Scargill is still very much the minority among British union leaders, he did have some support from fellow trade unionists.

!. :

Arthur Scamill platform-perhaps because they knew that Cumbria journalist Ian Breach would be telling the delighted crowd how his local FOE group had verbally routed their unfortunateMP, Tory deputyleader Willie Whitelaw, during a confrontation over the Windscafe issue the previous day. Message!of solidarity were delivered b y representatives of several other European anti-nuclear groups, including Brice Latonde from Paris (see interview this issue) Other worthies on the platform . included radio personality Jacky Gillott, John Davoll of the Conservation Society, andtprof.

-aA. Y

A-s

-2

The Mother of Parliaments stands aloof and unmoved at the other end of Whitehall as 10,000 of har noisy children f i l l Trafalgar Souare t o demand: "No t o Windscale Now" On theplatform with him were Johh Carroll of the Irish Transport and General Workers' Union, (see " story this issue), and Mike Cooley of the Lucas Aerospace Shop Stewards. Cooley eloquently argued the SERA case that the development o.f nuclear -.. . enerav . .-, will araduallv erode union members' hard-wor right t o strike. "Only a slave hasn't the right t o strike." he observed-a remark which browht w v smiles from *ha surrounding policemen, unaccustomed to having their status as slave labourers so uncomfortably highlighted. The rallv was. of course. addressed by the sprinkling of MPs normally present on such occasions *, -including Labour's Leo Abse and Eric Moonman, and the Liberals' David Penhaligon. But the Tories ' were strangely absent from the

Lending a touch of class t o the ~roceedinos.the Conservative Ecology Group even sported an old school tie

., .

"No Justice From Parker"; "No To Windscais Now"; "We Want Soft Enemy", 'Windscale-It'll Cost The Earthn'-lust a few of the slonans proffired at bemused shoppers by the 'radiation suited'demonstiators as the head of the march passed along Oxford Street

Maurice Wilkins of King's College. Towards the end of the afternoon actress Janet Suzman read out a resounding declaration for delivery to Downing Street, where its arrival - was doubtless awaited by a fearful and trembling Jim Callaghan. Entertainment was provided by musician Roy Harper, and by TV'S Monty Python star Terry Jones, who delivered a heartfelt - -nlca - on behalf o f a new endangered species, The Vale, which is apparently in grave danger of going out of circulation unless subscri~tions from ecologists everywhere are immediately forthcoming.

Undercurrents 28

SOMEBODY Up There must love SCRAM: The torrential downpours which drenched most of Britain for the two days immediately preceding the Torness occupation mysteriously ceased a mere couple of hours before the event began, to be replaced by hazy sunshine and gentle reezes. Quite a few people Down

ere

was carr,/ini had t o be brought

Centre for Alternative Technology's

~~~~r$;;~;;i;~;~l~~~ay bookshop from Edinburgh sold Undercurrents and numerous lesser

~~~~~~~r Of a On Saturday evening, after the rock bands had packed up,

who, in spite of the ominous weather prospects, travelled hundreds of miles t o play their part in the UK's first nuclear site pcupation. ' The 'occupation', unlike most ? similar affairs in Europe and the USA, was quasi-legal i n that the South of Scotland Electricity Board had effectively turned a blind eye to it-presumably hoping that the occupiers, having made their point, would not bother t o come back. Its attitude to future occupations is unlikely t o be so indulgent. The little port of Dunbar, five miles away along the coast, was

incessant rain was the rule o f the day for Britain's f irst socialist holiday this Mayday. Some of the faithful showed up t o p o i n t ' , cameras at the Post Office Tower i n aid of the ABC Defence Campaign, and the following day much the same damp crew showed up at the High Court t o picket the first day of the LevellerlPeace Newsl~ournalisicontempt case

trunk road leading to the Torness

the months of careful planning land neatly Â£4,000 which SCRAM, helped by International Volutary Service and FOE Colne, had put into the event. Laid-on facilities included toilets and water supplies for the campers, and large marquees, electric power and even

headed by a Scottish pipe band wends its way along the main A1

vegetarian masses was provided by the ubiquitous Bath Civil Aid. For

f? A SCRAM banner at the head of the march at it Torness site

Part of the Torness Rally Site. From a stage erected amid the domes, cars, caravans, tenth and windmills, various bands entertained the crowd throughout Saturday afternoon. described as ' the biggest thing t o hit Dunbar in years" were polite but reserved-though some marchers noted a certain dourness when they were being served in the local shops The first major hitch came when Greenpedce Ltd's ship was unable to dock as planned in Dunbar harbour, due t o a combination of low tides and rouqh seas The symbolic windmill she

the carnivorous, hamburgers and hot dogs could be had from an "Emergsncy Feeding Unit" run by the ominously-named East Lothian Disaster Team-who were doubtless getting in some useful practice in preparation for the heavier occupations of future years A T exhibits on display included windmills, solar panels and DIY information from New Age Access see story this issub), and the

in New England These tactics were unexoectedlv out to aood use wher a dozen or so demon~uaiofs sat down in front of a police van to try t o prevent the arrest of someone who had been caught smoking dope by plam clothes police from the Druo Squad After some uneasv negotiations between the police and the organisers, the pot smoker was released and an undertaking was given that no more plain clothes , police would spy on the demonstrators The climax of Sunday's activities was the passing of a "declaration" ~ledaina , ~- - non-violent opposition to nuclear power. followed by the gleeful ceremonial burning of a larqe cardboard model of a nuclear power station. But where t o gchfrom here? , That was the difficult ouestion uppermost in the hinds of the participants in the final general meeting, held in the big marquee. Local support will clearly be a vital inaredient in anv successful

i Dunbar

for the

fishermen and the local tourist inrlii<;~ri --- ,

Another problem is how to deep dp morale and preparedness m rne face of uncertaint~as to when the SSER intends t o move in-is i t nexl year; or the year after, or the year Or tomorrow !n a orea f t ~ that? r e m ~ t ~ v ~ e n c i r c l e m of e nthe t site with barbed wire and guard dogs?

prevent the Greenpeace boat from landing at Dunbar, w a small trawler ferries its cargo (a Winco Windcharger lent by tie Natural EnergyCentre) ashore

Ã‘Ã‘Ã‘

Undercurrents 28

Eminence Verte Unlike the'Ecology' parties in Britain, the French ecology k v e m n t has risen in a few short years to become &,significantforce in French politics. Brice Lalonde of "Amis de la Terre" in Paris is one of the key figures in this new movement-though he describeshimself modestly as an "animateur". Lalonde visited the UK to narticioate in the Trafalaar Square and Torness rallies.~odfreyBoyle interviewed him in anattempt to discover what "Les Verts" have got that wja haven't got. ~

What are the OrHUls the French ecology movement? It started m 1977,reaUy, and it sprang out of four main 'currents'. The first was the 'survive' current -scientific ecologistsimpressed by the CiÃ‡Tt-oRome =Port in '72. The secondrpm from May '68, from people who didn't believe much in big, long ideoldpes, but who wanted to change life here and now, where they were living, in their relations with other people. The thud curient were people who were posing the political question Where are ybu living?^;in other words, who has the right tqdecide that there's going to be a hi@bay in front of your house, ar that<Be,trees are gomg to be cut down, &ho's deciding land use, and so on And the fourth current was m i s c e l p made u p of ad hoe foods, organic agticulfiat.tfiat type of thing. These four currents became axed together because of the iudear catalyst, and formed the mall ecological movement. The noveniegt was nevet 'organised'. h e fi* time it became a dational n o v e m was during the French lresidential elections of 1974, when t presented Rene Dumont as a andidaic^this movement is now , lecoming a big 'wave*m French 'ohtic^slong with other ~ovemerits.You've got feminists, ou've@t legionalists, you've got ituen qiQvements,alongside the c ~ ~ ~ 8 lmovpment. cal ?his nebdous oalition js now joinmg hands with me u*lons-such as the ,,onommu## CFDT (France's second ugest @idnI-in developing an ieology which involves not only siting who owns the means of production, and not only asking where the income of worL isgoing, hut askmg wh\'are we working? that for? .

low do you tccount for the

Strim blonde ft T r a f a l p Square: "The AntiUuclear movement is the most ImDbrUnt political movement o'f the second half of the 20th ctntuw?

It has been growing in two ways. But we must accept fact The fist is theoretical.lased on that ecological success is not the clam that this is the new m a s u r e i by the fact that a so-called interpretation of society. There are 'ecologistsis elected &mewhere, but two major new elements in this only by the fact that ecological ecological interpretation. Firstly, a measures are taken. society is determined not only by What doesl the ecoloBcalmovement its Institutions and its economy, stand for? but also by the way it's inserted into e ~ ~ ~ t e m s Ãinstance. ‘f0 the The ecological movement is probably way it extracts energy or raw the (list movement in France to materials. At the moment, these reject the vision of a united societythm& aredecided by technicians saying instead that it's not tmÃ that who ~ ' elected. f The second new any particular thing is good for element is an attempt to insert the everybody. Our only nationally' histow of society into the history coordinated fight is agamst-against of evolution. This gives a hugs new all the mechanisms which prevent panoramic mew of society, which people locally from doing what they illuminates our understanding Of want. The fight for something what's probably the most important different-for alternatives-js left to thing happening in France and other the local groups. developed countries, a* that is the what kinds of &-natives new place have these local groups promoting? The sewnAfactor in the movement's @owth is that Fiance is In the municipal elections the a very centralised country. you ecologists proposed communal cannot &ak to the Government. h o u s e s and neighhourhoods; much So the steam pregau$ rises.'and the. less transportation; walk based n small, loca}, easily self-managed only way to [get thingsdohe) is to step into politics. Sincp the last jobs like zepairmg,recycling, and elections there's been a huge crisis things like that. In Paris this in political structures in Fiance. approach was so sucbssful that the The parties are falling apart. Nobody other parties had to begin to say . knows what to do, and more and similar things-communal hou s, more people from the classical neighbourhood workshops, e v z political parties are coming to the free radio stations. ecologists and asking what's new. What you like to lee What must we do? What's the happeningin France in the next few strategy? years? But wm.t your vote in the recent Well. for example. we have issued a ^en=* fie=fi~ns in France counter-plan on energy proposing from what it was in the local all solar energy by the year 2000 How do you explain and the different steps to get to it. It wasn't reduced on a national level You start with the biggest industry -it came up. i n the municipal you have in France, which is the car elections it was about one per cent industry, and you start pr ucing at natienal level; now it's two per c u s which last ten years, $yw cent nation all^ But in fact it's five produce lessof them and you start per cent in places where the producme solar collectors on the ecologists were candidates, and that same production linesin ead and means we're in third or fourth so on . . . That kads us 'ciualist' position after the big parties. society in which we have high In the m&cipal elections in production, heavily concentrated some places the scores were much sectors which you control, and

. 7

yourseu

*at!

because municipal elections are much more favourable to the ecologists, because the issues are

-4

Yes, but we don't exactly know what those forces are. We know that the military lobby has a huge part in creating the nuclear industry. We know that accumulation of capital, the mechanism-whether private or public-which tends towards ever. 'increasing amounts of capital invested, is one mechanism we have to stop; another is the ideology of doing t h i n g s ~ u because ~t you can d o them, m science and technology. But we thing the trouble springs more from mechanisms than from identifiable groups. How do you go about organising thisdecentralised movement? we organise on ad Aocissues, We create an ad hoc organisation for one ISSUE.^,^^ example* the chemical industry, or the nuclear industry, or transportation, or land use . . .An even bigger adhoc issue was the elections*so we 'Ieate Our ad for the whkch disappears on the last day of the electlon.

what hi""'you WW' And what failures have there been? In Paris we've won lots of'battles on stopping the building of new highways,.and our President has decided not to allow any more tower blocks to be built-it's a small ttung, but it's important. ~ u wet haven't yet stopped nuclear power, and we haven't banned cars from Paris . .Also, what we haten't yet achieved is how to organise our own movement. We don't want to make the same mistakes as all the other movements 1-ustly,we don't want the fight against things, which is a centrahsed right, to suck out all the energy from the positive, do-ityourself fight. That's very difficult. Secondly, we don't want to create huge pyramds, hwrarchical organisations.

holiday weekend of August 26-28th.

. . .-,

Contact the Festival Conunitme,

146Walwt Stm, 9 t h . 1

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NEW ENGLAND'S anti-nuclear Clamshell Alliance plans to start another citizens' occupation of the re=tor site at Seabrook, New Hampshire, in June.

the public, and the jury agreed that the cancer and death rates in the under Oregan law they were entitsurrounding communities. led t o commit some illegal acts w prevent a threat t o public health The effect of the expert Wit?. and welfare. One witness, Dr Ernest mony was decisive. Not only d i d ,, Last . . in a uniaue exercise in should be no shortage of boats, the jury find the defendants n o t Sternglass' described how the non-violent civil disobedience, the brook being a fishing village (the . Trojan plant routinely releases low guilty, but after the one juror site was occupied by 2000 people. clamshell Alliance,s nahe derives volunteered to work ely against level radiation that finds its way of which 1.414 were arrested and from opposition t o the nuke by local . clam fishetsl, Many other anti. into the food chain and increases nuclear energy. IPNC! incarcerated for two weeks, having refused bail. Some of them have nuclear organisations modelled on recently come u p for trial: four the Clamshell Alliance have now month sentences, the stiffest penalsprung UP i n the us. For example: ties for .trespassing in recent local the *abshellA1liance in Seattle; The crunch has finally come at Lucas Aerospace, i n history have been handed out. the 'Trojan Decommissioning March the company announced a two year reorganisa Undeterred, they expect t o field Alliance, in Portland, Oregon; the perhaps 10,000 people o n June 24. Abalone Alliance i n California; the tion plan effecting some 2,000 workers. The Victor The extensive preparations include, catfish Alliance Tallahassee; and plant in Liverpool which employs 1,400 will be closed, as before, training in non-violence the m e of work being shifted to Birmingham. Ev6n for all occupiers. This time, the Grove, Florida. Contact them via so 1,000 jobs will be lost. In addition the existing Clamshell organisers have added a the clamshell office, 22 Congress ! new requirement: occupiers must Bradford and Shipley plants employing 750 will also street, Portsmouth, N.H. 03801. p u t in a week of door-todoor canbe run down, although a new plant employing 400 vassing in their own communities Civildisobedience by protesters will eventually be built. The coventry Foundry and or i n New Hampshire before they against the Trojan nuclear reactor one of the Hemel Hempstead plants will also be closed. will be permitted t o take part i n at Ranier, Oregon, was recently As a result at least 1,400 jobs in , The Combine Shop Stewards the occupation. As one of them '"laredjustifiable by an Oregon the Aerospace Division will be lost, Committee has condemned the cuts explained, 'We've grown enormousjury. The defendants, charged with as 'socially irresponsible': although the Company claims that ly as a movement since 2000 people trespassing on the reactor site, had alternative work will be available in 'With the present l e a o f unmarched onto the site last spring, argued that the Trojan reactor cone n w l o y ~ nin t the Limrpool other divisions of the Lucas Group But if we are t o cort~inuet o grow, stituted an 'imminent danger' t o area ( 1 l.3%, twice the national - tf people are prepared to move we have to build a movement that is average), the company's decibased upon more than occupations. sion is nothing short of indusTHE ANCIENT craft of milling is still being practised trial vandalism'. By having people go door-to-door, on the farm of Harrie and Annelies Bartelink in Co. Local stewards i n Liverpool are talking about nuclear power, altereven more bitter: native energy, and why they are Wexford, Ireland. Not so ancient is the kind of wind' . , . occupying before the action, they 'we are allfurious a t tfia way mill they are using. It's the first full-scale working the company is treating us, It's will have a clear understanding of prototype of Brian Hurley's vertical axis sailwing diabolical. The first we haafd what they are about to do. and so of the plans was o n the radio. w i l l the .fellow citizens they talk to.' rotor, first described in UCs 12 and 14. We p u t sanctions on immediate rotor to which it is similar i n some I n this configuration it has 8 l y we heard the news. a n d nothsails, which gives a slow speed, other respects. ing will leave the plant until Blockade high torque output, ideally suitthe managernent gives us a The twin reactor at Seabrook is aled to grain grinding. The mill can statement on the situation'. ready part built, and the private be left unattended, as there is a As a first step i n its campaign 'Public Service C o m.~ a n. v 'is current- hopper for feeding grain and to halt closures, the'combine I V drilling tunnels under the sea for Committee"has recommended that another for collecting the milled the cooling system. They also plan these sanctions be applied right grain. A large brake is incorporaacross the company, so noequipto bring one of the reoctor vessels in ted on the main shaft from the ment or parts can be moved beby sea sometime this year or next. rotor. tween sites without the workforces * The Clamshell Alliance has respondThe rotor itself consists of two consent. A t the same time they are ed by preparing for a 'non-violent or more sails mounted vertically pressing for urgent talks with Blockade', to halt the ship bringing at equal distances from a vertical government ministers and local it in. The blockade actions will start MP's with the possibility of a axis, about which i t rotates. The along the shipping route before the government funded product diversails are rigidly fixed t o the rotor reactor vessel reaches New Hampsification programme in mind arms. remembering that the government, shire but will continue o n land if this When the wind impinges on the through the Department of Defenfails. sail i t takes up an airfoil shape ce, already provides about 50% of: The Clams are modelling their with a concave surface facing InLucas Aerospace's work. action on the blockade mounted by to the wind. During rotation the With the prospect of the loss of Japanese fishermen in 1974 against a 1000 or more jobs, support for sail behaves like an airfoil with a a Japanese nuclear-powered ship. the constantly changing angle of the alternative corporate plan (see , ,,,,,~ Mutsu, whose reactor had sprung a attack. One important feature Eddies, Undercurrents 25 and ,." leak and o n the actions by a larger diameter rotor t o be Lucas's Socially Useful ProtofypW,, of the rotor i s that during one wace against whaling vessels. There Undercurrents 26) wtll undoubted more easily constructed. I t also complete revolution of the rotor --. ly be turned into action. Sit-18% , / allows a much more compact the sail automatically switches THE SINCEREST FORM OF and work-ins may well follow '", tower to be built. the concave surface from one side FLATTERY.. oarttcularlv at the Livemool l.~~ ife . A further development of the of the sail to the other. Another - although a company wide rotor which will be aerodynamicall) is that the trailing edqe of the sail . SOMEONE ISN'T READING s i r kc would probably be r n h 'cleaner', and give a higher tipUNDERCURRENTS, at IPC Transshifts its position relative t o the effective in putting pressure o n port Press Ltd. When the people at speed, is currently being investigaleading edge during rotation. the company. Motor Trader (circulation about The trailing edge is claflected to ted. The Lucas workers can do with three times ours) wanted a name for the side away from the wind due all the public support they & Plans for both rotor and tower -. a new regular column by Celia get: bY to the belly developed by the sail, are available for Ă&#x201A;ÂŁ2.0 (incl. p&pl, Freshwater (sic), the name they This has the effect of reducing the from Brian Hurley, Low Energy c a m up with was.. Undercurrents. angle of attack, which delays the Systems, 3 Larkfield Gardens, ay obviously knew a good name stalling o f the sail. Thus the rotor Dublin 6, Ireland Itel. Dublin m they saw one but d i d they is self-starting, unJike the-Darrieus -960663); n a l l v think it was orininal?

LUCAS: The Crunch the

ree en-

---

Heavy Breathing For many years some people have feared that the of lead in our bodies and in the environment have reached toxic, or near toxic, levels. Their fears we confirmed recently by speakers at a Conservation 'Society symposium entitled Lead Pollution-Health Effects held in London on AoriI 6th.

nearly 6 0 0 children in a poor area We all absorb lead i n our f o o d of Brooklyn, New York. He asked water and the air we breathe. The the children's parents, teachers an greatest danaer f r o m thisseems t o guidance counsellors t o assess each lie i n damage t o the developing central nervous systems of foetuses child for such factors as hyperactivity, conduct problems and young children. The research of many academics, particularly the and academic abilities. Dr David found that all these were related to campaigning work of Professor Bryce-Smith at Reading University, the lead levels he measured i n their blood and urine; children w i t h supports this view. However, other problems i n theseareas tended t o academics, especially those i n the have higher leadlevels. employ of the oil companies, have A t the same meeting Dr tried to play d o w n t h e dangers. Stephens f r o m Birmingham Dr Oliver David spoke t o the University described h o w he had symposium of the results of his found that t h e blood lead levels of studies - results that are a challenchildren living close t o Spaghetti ge to those who t h i n k present lead Junction rose b y almost 30%after levels are harmless. He studied

he Junction opened,and concluded hat these children receive half heir lead intake f r o m car emissions. The subjects surveyed i n b o t h tudies had lead levels well below hose generally considered harmful. hat is, sub-clinical levels. These ults all seem t o point t o the ed for a redefinition o f the safe els of leadaround and inside us, pecially because susceptibility t o lead varies widely between different individuals The work o f Professor Wibberly f r o m Aston University also supported the call for revision of permitted lead levels When he studied the amounts o f lead i n placenta he f o u n d considerably more i n those f r o m stillbirthsand deaths soon after b i r t h than i n the placenta f r o m normal births Representatives o f the Octel Company at the symposium tried to play down these results and in

particular tried t o absolve car emissions f r o m blame. Octel is owned b y the o i l companies and manufactures all the lead added t o British petroleums (as lead tetraethvll. This increases their octane ratings: the higher the star or octane rating, the higher the lead content. I n Japan the only leadedpetrol soid isfor use with imported cars, the Japanese having sensibly designed their cars for 2-star petrol. The amount of lead i n British petrols is one o f the highest in the world. CALIP. the Campaign Against ~ m ind Petrol-.arecamoaionino foi the complete removal o f lwd from petrol as it serves n o useful purpose; while the o i l companies are i i t t i n g it out. Which w i l l give y o u l i t t l e comfort neftt t i m e you are pregnant o r walking o r cycling through heavy traffic and b r m t h i n deeply those lovely f u m .

C A L I P ~ A 168,0ora Reed, Ldndon SW19, and would wÃ‘l ropreciam your support. Send

them stamped, addrtÃ‘ &elope for e copy of thÃ procMdings of the vfafmuum.

CB Subculture Flourishes stations o n the air because CITIZENS B A N D Radio pirates 1 The price o f CB equipment in have come t o Britain Two way radio operators- [^J<i?$!^Â¥*'iiiihStates is at an all time low, fixed' mobileand e u portable-hav i @& , ^ ; ; ? t o a too-rapid built in been heardon the 27Mhz band ,iv@bsolescence t i m e scale, which the Undercurrents Radio eans that many transceivers Frequency Emission ~ o n i t o r i n g % J f $ e selling at below the price of Station i n North London I n Britain car A M I F M casette players 27Mhz (or 11 metres at the t o p 7 8 is the first year for really of the HF range) is confined t o the. bleeps and squeaks of model control and paging systems Usually the only speech t o be heard 2. Mobile radio pirates are almost is from'skip' signals f r o m those impossible t o police-the countries where CB is legal and minimum time for 'DFing' established-USA, Italy, Germany, (direction finding) a fixed and Australia. station is 20 minutes, However over Easte it became 3. The resolute refusal of the Home that a apparent t o the Office t o consider any f o r m of lively sub-culture is i n existence, at CB o n any frequency allocation least in the Londonarea, perhaps (plans exist b o t h for a 27Mhz more widely. I n a half hour period system and one based o n V H F I URFEMS heard over eight separate FMI creates the same operators and the conversations preconditions for the indicated that many more exist. A t of CB that existed i n other least one important 'eyeball' (close countries-availability of encounter o f the face-to-face equipment plus government kind) has been held in 'a tall inaction. building near Tottenham Court Meanwhile the Undercurrents Road'. Radio Frequency Emission The operating procedure is a Monitoring Station would be curious mixture of CB slanguage pleased t o receive reports of and orthodox hamese. The loudest interesting radio activity. station, ooerated tointlv b v an Australian, Romeo Victor (sic1 and a British sidekick, the Lone Ranger, uses a 40 channel single sidebander (thÃ most modern avaifable i n the T R A D E UNIONS in Ireland, i n United States1 feeding a linear contrast t o their U K counterparts, amplifwt which boosts the signal seem likely t o oppose nuclear to over 5 0 watts It's n o t surprising power that a few days later he was heard i n contact with an Australian The Irish Transport and General Workers Union (ITGWU) Station (also using a l~near Vice President, John Carroll, amplifier, which would be illegal speaking at a conference o n Nuclear down under), thus achieving a Power organised b y t h e Irish 'QSO'any licensed radio amateur Friends o f the Earth in February, would be unashamed o f argued strongly against building But the purely local activity is nuclear power stations in Ireland o f more long t e r m interpst that's The Irish Republic iscurrently what CRis all about A g o o d time plannmg t o build its first reactor at t o listen is after T V stations close Carnsore Point, Co. Wexfofd. As down. By the end of t h e summer yet no decision has be? taken as, thereare likely to be many more

emf, '&*

~RFEMS

OOH, I DO L I K E YOUR 'AT! Hold onto your hats, folks! This new solar device f r o m the hard-headed boffins at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture in Ibadan, Nigeria, really puts agribusiness i n the shade. The small panel o f silicon cells suspended above the operator's head charges Nickel-Cadmium batteries, which i n t u r n drive the electric motor o f a sorav which b l o w s a fine mist of herbicide over the crops. Or Ray ~ i j e w a r d e n kof the Institute idmits the device is 'somewhat of a gimmick'at the moment. B u t he's sonvinced i t has a serious potential in helping t o boost farm productivity without recourse t o heavy machinery. It's part o f a 'no-till' planting ivstem for erosion control and fertilitv conservation aimed at small farmer in the tropics. Compared w i t h a conventional pumped spray, which sonsumes 5 0 0 litres of chemicals per hectare treated, the battery powered spray consumes only 15 litres per hectare. Battery power brings fringe benefits, too: one switched*" operator has hooked u p his transistor mdio. . . . . "Raindrops keep spraying f r o m m y head . . . . . ." (Picture and information f r o m Appropriate Technology magazine: Â£'? rear f r o m ITDG. 9 Kina Street. London WC2E BHN.1

NO NUKES Says Irish Union t o whether this will b e a US light water plant or a Canadian C A N D U reactor hi T either way the Project is exp ct i + o cost Â£35 Â£400 G.rr-1 w, concerned that a large wit o f thi, m n e y would go out of the cobnt-y t q purchase foreign nuclear re hnologv He stressed that anh ' gh the building of a nuclear plant w o u l d provide some empIovmf!.t the number of-full time, permanently employed people thc-eaft-r n o u l d be significantly less than in c traditional power plant. Nucleai power was, he said, t o o c i p l t a l /

intensive-to the detriment of other areas of industrial activity conservation programmes and the development o f alternative energy sources would create far more jobs The General Secretary o f the I T G W U later saidthat his executivf backed Carroll's grave reservations about the wisdom of going nuclear and that t h e y would be advising local union officials, notably in Wexford, t o that effect. It seems likely t o o that the I T G W U (Eire's largest union) w i l l seek support f r o m other unions in t h e Irish rades Union Congrms for id stam

Undercurren

Brass against1 band Police chiefs have been ordered n o t t o approve of possible citizen's band radio for the UK, the Citizens. Band Association have discovered. A circular was sent o u t t o c h i e f Constables telling them that their opinion o f CB, if asked, was that they were against it. Clearly the government, and the Home Office in particular, are unhappy that growing official support i n the US for C B may spread to Britainbringing w i t h it the entirely hideous idea (for the Home Office) of free, popular access t o the airwaves. One o f the useful features t o American communities of t h e recent rapid spread of Citizen's Band ICE) radio has been the instant availability o f help networks i n an emergency. Travellers t o a strange neighbourhood can ask f o r directions o n the air; many local CB groups have set u p emergency service co-ordination w i t h direct links t o emergency services. A permanent watch is k e p t o n the appropriate channels, and calls passed along prearranged channels

t o fire, ambulance and police services. After an uncertain honeymoon. several US police forces have now come t o lavish thick praise o n the use o f CB. There was a good deal o f o f initial uncertainty about the way that news o f impending speed traps was passed back and forthin fact the police soon learnt the obvious lesson that speed traps worked n o t b y actually fining motorists, b u t b y straightfoward deterrence. Thus the more people w h o knew about 'Smokey Bear', the more the traffic k e p t w i t h i n thi speed limits. The Citizens Band Association, w i t h headquarters at Cheltenham (but definitely unrelated t o GCHQ, has been campaigning f o r the introduction o f CB i n Britain f o r almost t w o years. They have proposed several bands for U K useincluding a section of the V H F spectrum squatted uselessly b y the Ministry o f Defence f o r t h i r t y year since Lancaster bombers used it i n World War 2.

WE DON'T KNOW h o w the A T movement has survived so long without its own Best Seller list. B H nere at last are IL resuits o f Undercurrents' atest c u m p r c h ~ n s i v ~ ~ofiwifli,' rut AT r~udt-rbht[lSJ<veV.wrrtea out uunnq the last 6 months o f 1977 o n our behalf b y the Centre for Alternative Technology. Based o n a carefully balanced, statistiwlly normalised and randornised sample of, er, one (the C A T 'Quarry Bookshop'), w e can now reveal the results, which are as follows: THE A T TOP TEN 1. Garden Compost 2. Handbook o f Country Crafts 3. Make vour Plants work for you 4. Blueprint for Survival 5. House for the Future 6. Self-sufficiency and Small-holding Supplies Catalogue 7. Little Brown Bread Book 8.Pest Control without Poisons 9. Small is Beautiful 10. Save your o w n Seeds

Soil Association Drive Soil Association Ecologist (Penguin Books) McLaughlin ( T V Times Books)

Eno Henry Doubleday Research Association Schumacher (Abacus) Henrv Doubledav Research ~ssociation '

T H E TECHNICAL TOP T E N 1. House for the Future 2. The Autonomous House 3. Wind Driven Generators 4. Self-help Repairs 5. Keeping Warm for Half the Cost 6. Sun Power 7. How t o Build a Solar Heater 8. Domestic Heat Pumps 9. Recoveryand Utilisation of Heat f r o m Waste Water 10. Wind Energy i n the UK

Terence McLaughlin ( T V Times Books) Robert 5 Brenda Vale (Tharnes 5 Hudson) Cliffe Developments Andrew Ingham (Penguin) Colesbv 5 Townsend (Prism Press) Cleland McVeigh (Natural Energy Centre) Lucas J Sumner (Prism Press) Gerry Smith (Cambridge Univ. Dept. of Architecture) Building Research Dept

It's clear that, as Patricia Cawley of C A T puts it, "price has an awful lot t o do w i t h what sells". Another, less obvious, factor was the recent US dock strike which,shesays, meant they couldn't sell normally popular US books like Simplified Wind Power Systems f o r Experimenters b y Jack Park a n d the Homebuilt Wind Generated Electricity Handbook b y Rl ic!->ael Hackleman. Equally clear is the lesson for all disappointed A T auhcii-s who don't like their book's position o n the charts: pay a!! vour friends t o order copies of i t f r o m the Quarry Bookshop-for which we now offer 'he following unashamed plug: Orders to-Quarry Bookshop, Centre for Alternative Technology, Llwyngwern Quarry, Machynlleth, Powys, Wales. (Ever one step ahead o f our readers, the cunning Undercurrents collective will, of course, be choosing a different bookshop f o r its next in-depth survey o f the Alternative market-Editors.)

The Kids Karnival and Envirofair at Sussex University, Falmer, Brighton, will take place o n June 10th. This is another fair that has becomea regular summer feature. The carnival provides3 free day o u t f o r the children t o play games, paint and dress up, plus street theatre and puppet shows. There is also an enviroside t o this event, and i t is hoped that environment groups and A T people w i l l come along t o publicise their activities. There w i l l be a small charge f o r those who want t o sell things, otherwise it is entirely free. More details f r o m Link u p , Falmer House, Farner, Brighton, Sussex. Tel: 0273 680380. ext 11 Save the Whale is the subject of a rally i n Hyde Park o n Sunday, July 25th. The International Whalinq Commission w i l l be meeting i n the Mount Royal Hotel in O x f o r d Street f r o m June 26th t o 30th, and Friends of the Earth have organised this demo t o draw attention t o their proceedings. They need your support and donations t o their Whales Action Fund. Write t o Cornelia Durrant, Friendsof the Earth, 9 Poland Street, London W1 More events at New Mills, Somerset. There's a Rural Alternatives Seminar entitied 'Ideas and Experiments f r o m Europe', f r o m June 30th t o July 3rd. 'Solar Collectors' is the subject of a design and construction seminar (Appropriate Energy Technology), and this will be f r o m June 9 t h t o 1 l t h . I t is organised b y Robert Vale. For details o f these and other events send sae t o The Warden, New Mills Luxborough, Watchet, Somerset

June 17th is the date f o r a one-day conference on Socialism and t h e Environment orqanised b v SERA (Socialist ~ n v i r o n m e n a t nd Resources Association). Workshops o n energy, socially useful work, women, and health. The venue is the Waterloo A m i o n Centre, Bayliss Road, London SET. For further details contact John n g h a r n SERA, 9 Poland Street, London W1. Tel: 01-439 3749. Biggest and best o f this year's summer festivals w i l l b e t h e Lambeth Country Show at Brockwell Park o n J u l y 22nd and 23rd Organised b y t h e benevolent London Borough o f Lambeth, r o admission is free and last year #*; 100 OW people c a m t o see show ?, * + ^ , jumping, traction engines, sheep sheartng farm animalsand vintage ' r machinery, displays o f cookery, Crafts dogs pets community technology etc Details f r o m Lambeth Amenity Services, 1 4 Knights Hill London SE27 Telephone 01 761 1931 The rest of this year's Festivals include. June 17-25: Stonehewe July 1- 9: Glastonbury July 21 -24: Deeply Vale I Lancs contact Rochdale 56287) July 28-30: Cambridge Folk Festival Aug 17-20: Rivington Pike (Lanes) Aug 25-29: Windsor Sept 7 - 9: Whitworth Fair (Lanes. Contact Walter Lloyd, Duckworth Farm, Shawford, Lancs) Two others for which dates haven't yet been fixed are the Meigan Festival (South Wales) and the B I T 10th Birthday Celebration. Both will probably be i n August. For full details of these and other festivals contact BIT. w h o are n o w at 97a Talbot Road, W11 Telephone 0 1 -229 821 9.

on don

WHAT'S RIDDEN This being (believe it or n o t ) the centenary year o f the Cyclists' Touring Club, theirannual ralley is a rather special occasion. I t will be held in York o n the weekend o f July l s t l 2 n d . in an "attractive grass racecourse o n the edge of the city". There w i l l be a camp site open f r o m late afternoon o n the Friday, and the ralley itself will b r i s t l e w i t h marquees. trade tents and Interest group stalls. Further details fromCTC, Cotterell House, Godalming, Surrey.

Strawberries, ripe strawberries. . . No, n o t quite, just the f i f t h annual Strawberry Fair i n Cambridge on June 10th. f r o m l o a m until late. Midsummer Common i s the vet and there'll be domes, radical technology, crafts, music, theatre, inflatables, beer and marine ices! The fair is being organised b y the Mayday Group, which i s a non-profit voluntary body set u p with the intention of putting o n free fairs. For more information contact The Mayday Group, 12 Mill Road, Cambridge. Telephone 10233) 64845 (daytime).

The next issue. . . of Undercurrents will be on Women and Energy.

I I

EGIS (Environmental Information Service) has for sale a package called World Food Prospects. which is designed for lay people and also for older children studying in this field. The package contains sections on the History of Food Habits, Nutrition, and Malnutrition, UK and World agriculture, Fishing, Forestry, Fertilizers, Pesticides, Food and Population, Agribusiness, Vegetarianism, Organic Farming, Food production and Processing, and other Food Sources, together with an introduction, Reading List and a Glossary. Also included are Maps and charts on Fisheries, Farming types, and Diets of the World. The package comes i n a cardboard wallet and is available from EGIS, North Lodge, Elswick Road Cemetary, Newcastle upon Tyne. The price i s Â£1.7 f i n d post and packing in the UK). Other packs also available include Introduction. to Water Pollution (Â£0.751and World Energy Resources (Â£1.75) Undercurrents readers i n Papua New Guinea, that happy hunting ground of Appropriate Technologists and Developmnt experts, are invited t o get i n touch with Geoff Smith, formerly our man in Mendi and now teachingat Minj High School, IPO Box 53) in the Western Highlands Province. Geoff is the latest addition t o the Undercurrents Network of local contacts; see UC 26 for details or write to Dave Elliott at our London office. The demte on nuclear power, when intensified before the 1 recent mass ralley in Trafaigar Square (see news, this issue), is beino taken into the schools. youth Environmental Action a - =ornun - - - - affilliated - - t o FOEand the Conservation Society, has been set up to promote action and discussion on environmental issues among young people of secondary school age. YEA has issued two free Bulletins on nuclear power, one putting the case against, and the other setting out possible alternatives. YEA hopes these illustrated bulletins will be useful in stimulating discussion in schools and youth clubs on this crucial issue. Copies of me buiienns can be obtained by sending an sae t o YEA at 173 Archway Road, London N6 5BL (01-348 30301. The Freewheel Cycle Club based in Wandsworth, South London, welcomes all anarchists/socialists t o its activities. Unfortunately they couldn't get it together t o dive us details of their future ' outinas so interested bikers should try ringing Bob on 0 1 8 7 0 5150 and hope they have more success than we did.

.- .

Nude.. m.Ãˆ, ..anks badges stickers and T-shirts (as o n the back cover of Undercurrents 19) are now available at wholesale proces for local anti-nuclear groups t o resell, from Manchester FOE, 82 Gt Bridgewater Street, Manchester 1. Badges are 12p each and the T-shirts â‚¬1. (large, rnediumor small). Particularly recommended for their instant appeal t o kids of all ages. Valentina Borrema"~of Cuernavaw, Mexico, has sent us a proposal for an International Librarv Guide t o Use-Value ~ r r n t a Convivial d Tools and their Enemies, in other words. t o radical technology. She wants t o help librarians, students and researchers, particularly in the Third World, t o create and use , reference collections for the stude of radical technology. Anyone interested i n helping this project should write t o her at Aodo 479 Cuernavaca. ~ e x i & , enclosing an International Reply Coupon.

The Gay Rural Aid and Information Network (GRAIN), is mainly for gay people already living i n the country or those who want t o move out in the near future. Members from urban areas are also welcome especially if they are practising self-sufficiency type skills such as pottery, street farming, organic aardenina and so forth. I t aims t o give moral support to rural gays, enabling them t o give each other practical support and teach other skills. I t also arranges visits t o relevant events and has information sheets o n relevant books, magazines, suppliers and so on. For more details contact: GRAIN, c/o 50 Riverview Grove, Chiswick, London W4 3QP. enclosing a large sae.

WWOOF (Working Weekends O n Ormanic Farms) islona o n farms needing help and short of volunteers willing t o work for them. Volunteers, naturarly enough as they are unpaid,are reluctant to travel far,and so it is the farms in the outlying partsof England and in Wales that are short of help. This shift in the balance seems quite healthy and will ensure that only those farms which makean effort t o teach their WWOOFers something will attract volunteers i n future. Those than just use themas cheap labour t o dig out their septic tanks will have to do without. â‚ +six sae's t o WWOOF, 56 High Street, Lewes, Sussex, will bring you a bimonthly newsletter listing farms needing help, and it is up t o you t o make bookings for the weekends you wish t o go on. In return for your work you get meals, somewhere t o sleep and (often) homebrew.

The Rural Resettlement Group have published a useful handbook (Bop + large sae from RRG, Lower Shaw Farm. Shaw, Swindon, Wilts) for would-be back-to-the-landers, 100 pages o f sensible advice on h o h t o find a place, pay for i t and keep the planners at bay, and long lists of relevant magazines, books and organisations. Surprisingly, however, they don't mention the oolden rule of rural h o u ~ e h u n t i n g ~it oi n winter. I f your dream place is still desirable set in a sea of mud w i t h a cold east wind at your back then buy it.

Lungo Mai European Cooperatee are running a series o f sunnier camps to further their work of reclaiming abandoned land in the mountains of France, Switzerland and Austria. They provide an opportunity t o learn the skills of forestry, masonry, smallholding and shepherding. 'There will be a voluntary contribution t o t he cost of each camp, according t o the means of each mrticimnt". Details from PO Box 417, CH-4002, Basei. Switzerland.

Concord F i l m area 16mm educational film library specialising i n documentary and T V films about contemporary problems. Their library of 2,000 f i l m includes more than 8 0 thet would interest eco-freaks-for example the World i n Action programme Nuclear Accident on the explosion of nuclear waste in Russia in the mid-fifties, Lovejoy's Nuclear War (direct action i n the US), and A l l Against the Bomb, CNO's Open Door programme censored b y the BBC. Their full illustrated catalogue costs Â£1for their ecology list send an sae t o Concord Films, 201, Feiixtowe Road; Ipswich, Suffolk IPS 9BJ.

Believing that dope smoking is a matter of personal choice, a new campaign was recently launched t o legalise cannabis in the UK. Known as the Legalise Cannabis Campaign, the group has the support of MPs, doctors, musicians and members of the legal profession. Its oolicv . . statement calls for the removal of all penalties for possession and cultivation of cannabis for personal use; for the destruction of cannabis-related criminal records and for the weed t o beavailableon prescription "for therapeutic usaae". campaign has taken heart from the successes of the US dope campaigning organisation , NORML (National Organisation for the Reform of Marijuana Laws) and President ~ a r t k ' sstatement: " Penalties aoainst .oossession o f a drug should n o t be more damaging t.o the-individual than the use o f the - ~ ~ drug itself; and where they are, this should be changed. Nowhere is this more clear than i n the possession of marijuana i n private for personal use. " Although many smokers would question the wisdom of legalisation the model the campaign offers would closely follow the decriminalisation initiated b y 1 0 US states, Holland and Italy. Part o f its argument is based on the harassment suffered b y many people asa result of the wide cowers of stopand search available t o the police under the Misuse of Drugs Act and the high conviction rates-almost 10.000 people in 1976 and 838 imorisonments in 1975. The Leqalise Cannabis Campaign which needs your support, is a membership organisation (Â£ per annum). Its future activities include a public meetina at the Central Hall. westminster on Saturday 3 June at 2pm. Further Details: LegaIiw Cannabis Campaign, 29 Old Bond Street, London W1X 3AB. Tel: 01-289.

Petitionsare not ready part of the Undercurrents party line but none the less here's a plug at\last for the,Safe Energy Petition organised by Jane Pink of Consoc. It has 36,000 signatures already but t o reach its target of 100,000 they urgently need more collectors. $0 if you have time t o spare this summer write tosafe Energy Petitioners, c/o Vineyards Hill Road, London SW19, with sae.

A member of the Workers' Film i c i a t i o n called at the office recently t o advertise filmshows and discussions they organise and the facilities they have available for hire. For more info contact WFA, 38 Dartmouth Park Road, London NW5, or ring 01-267 0547. WFA are i n the process of printing a catalogueof films they have available for hire, which should be ready about mid-May. These include fiimson health, food, foreign policy of different countries. women's health. child care, NHS, nuclear power,arms race, racism etc. Cheap full projection facilities are also available. Mon Oeil is a collective which distributes video tapes and tape slide sequences. Newly added to their catalogue are three tapes o n anti-nuclear struggles, including the 1977 Malville protest. There are also tapes on autonomous houses, solar houses, and the Seveso disaster. Videotapes are %-inch highdensity El AJ standard, though copies of some are also available on the old lowdensity standard. Soundtracksall presumably in French, Catalogue of approx. 100 titles on these and many other subjects from: Mon Oeil, 20 rue d'Alembert. 75014 Paris, France (tel: 331 69 001, open, . . 10.00am t o 1.OO pm.

WHAT'S SMOKED

...

3881. RELEASE have published the latest in their Drug Education serie! Entitled Cannabis, the pamphlet explains the basic historical and medical facts as well as presenting an Argument for legalisation. Available from: Release Publicetioi Ltd, 1 Elgin Ave, London W 9 3PR. Price: 15p + 10p postage or A 5 SJ.

THORP, in particular th means of vitrifying high;houid & proven before for business. So; if we think that Parker's.v.Wct is a travesty, what should we do uestff This depends critically upon whether we think that serious opposition at Whitehaven wa Worth tfc Of course, many thousands'off' people who previously thought that ,, nuclear power was the drily possibk

-:',:

too insubstantial to rely on; and after all, the judge found he couldn't take them :s . seritwsly in tbt end.' ~ow'thek'are only a few political issues as important and hi my view it is nbt un: where fiascos can be afforded. If reformed nuclear enthusiasts have h e i r way, the next such event - a& this yaw!, at that - will be the breeder inquiry. Thi will be a full scale inquiry into a single full scale breeder, and if it finds in favour there may be no further process of'futi; 3 consideration before the full breede iscommenced.

o t a i the i nU Y felt t the a .nquiry itself was run in a relatively fair manner. Obviously there were *problemsdueto lack of finance for the nudear opponents. But Justice Parker seemed to be taking notice of all the arguments and even seemed , zealous in his pursuit of facts. But the final report, which argues hnglemindodly in favour of the BNFL proposals, has been widely attacked as selective, superficial and biased. Even the rarefied science journal Nature felt moved to add words of * caution. HereMartin Ince examines the report and its aftermath,and Dave Elliott looks more closely into the strategic options now open for , the anti-nuclear movement, including 'direct action'.

MERCIFULLY, there is no need for Undercurrents readers to worry about a technical refutation o f justice Parker's ,much anticipated decision to allow

BNFL

to do whatthe hell it wants with Wind-

, ,

Now the nuclear opposition is not/@ ing strength anything like fast enoidgh-p2 win at that inquiry, and if a presences like that at Whitehaven isput up - ess6S-

BNFL's thinking before the case and will ' impose n6 significantcost of inconvenience on the old firm. The only condition which offers the slightesttoehold to BNFL's critics i s that there will have to be more whde-body monitoring of the $ition seem well-meaning MJt wrong. natives, which will mean that people in Opinion differs, but in my view the West Cumbriawill have to go through a best policy for the breeder inquiry probrather alarming process of standing in ' : ably involves appearing, even i f only to-i front of a machine they don't under* ' " say that the whole thing doesn't-mean2 stand and - mostly - being told after a very much. But such a presence would*;?.. worrying wait of a few days that they are 'certainly have to be rn{n'ih+,and w OK. This vyill hardly enhance BNFL's with counterneed to be~assocjgted self-image as the best thing ever to hit the itrquities$de&l'ted rebuttals of t Lake District. sition case outsifle the enervati room atmosphere, and a whole Amazement events designed to make it clear thjrt With that one exception, Parker ha* inquiry is just a way fpr our crn* given BNFL what they want Donald tell us what they are going to'h e do& Avery, BNFL's deputy managing director, One thing that Parker's inquiry (>(W(Â was saying so very loudly to the seven it that nuclear opposition in Britain isfff journalists who could raise the energy to Friends of the Earth. The FOEgroups" go to BNFL - fully half a mile from the which Ihave h e n active (lave all inVo @ Department of the Environment, where two rafter ill-matched"types of activist/, the report was launched - within an hour in a word, the public inquiry type ; of its publication. The next day; one the street campaigner. A UKAEA physicist expressed private but 4 formance at the breeder that Parker had not both, although ortly the n t c ~ ~ d t t i+-,;'i tw k p w w ~ at d . , . + % Â¥m ran^& , . k " A ~ sÃ £ t - - ~ 2 y z

scale..Many cutting cricitisms have already appeared, some before the in-' quiry began, because Parker's thinking i s merely.& juridical rephrasingo f BNFL's own documentation, incorporating none of the objectors' eases onpolitical, social, financial, environmental or other aspects of the Thermal Oxide ReprocessingPlant which will probably be operating in Cumbria by the mid 1980s. It is important to emphasise that BNFL's victow is complete - some of @theobjectors, like Friends of the Earth 1 and the Windscale Appeal, are taken comparatively seriously while others, like Charles Wakstein and Colin Sweet, are not. But in the two and a half pages of conclbions at theend of Parker's report, only the most delicate Geiger counter could detec~anycontamination of BNFL's case with a trace of the opposition arguments. The few piddling conditions - like ail obligation to retain the krypton 85 imposed on BNFL were all anticipated in

Appearance of Democracy

Â '¥

Nuclear workers

,mere is still time to organise a case for '(he breeder inquiry which will use it as a platform for expressing opposition, and perhaps also make the nature of the jnquiry process (reveals as i t hides, ignores as it listens) clear, and with i t the full extent to which our future will be decided for us unless a very complete political display from letters t o Nature to direct action is deployed against it. Have we the strength? I doubt it. . .Martin Ince

' , , it is n o t possible or desirable for me to attempt to make any findings about the safety o f THORP as such' (11.7) Bomb Proliferation: the risk arising from the construction o f the plant 'is a matter which Icannot assess' (6.33) Security and Civil Liberties: because of the security problems Justice Parker 'was n o t able to take any detailed evidence touching either matter' (7.1 2)

TO SOME EXTENT of course i t was inevitable that opponents o f the Windscale expansion would object t o a report supporting a go-ahead. But there is more to their criticisms than this. As Ian Breach put it i n New Scientist (9 March 1978): ' the strongest reaction is likely to wme from those who were under about the possible outno illusions. , come but who were expecting a report that would, as near as realistically as wssible, reflect the detail and the character o f the case. One need not be i n their side to note +at the report fails to do this, and, more, seriously misrepresents views and obfuscates ir distorts the context in which those ws were tendered to the Inquiry.'

Two can play at this game: Some selective quotes from the Parker Report

Morality: 'It is n o t for me to attempt t o reach a conclusion on the morality o f the situation' (13.6) Possible use o f troops against strikers and infringement o f trade union rights: 'It is n o t appropriate that 4 should make any recommendation' (11.22)

.. .

On the other hand Justice Parker did feel able t o recommend that the THORP p l p t and expansion o f reorocessingat Windscale shoyld go ahead.

the objectors, having first formally registered as objectors, then pulled out from, and denounced, the CDFR inquiry, perhaps organising their own 'fringe' alternative inquiry. One of the key arguments for staying involved i n the official procedures is that inquiries force the nuclear authorities to reveal useful information. Some people argue that the anti-nuclear movement should make access t o information and financial resources a condition for further involvement But w h a t h e is more information if they won't listen to your arguments? Another argument for continued involvement is that rehearsing t h i economic, technical, social and environmental objections publicly at an official inquiry at least generates press coverage highlighting the fact that there are counter arguments. But aren't there more effective ways to alert the public to the problem - given that no amount of techhical argumentation seems likely t o influence the official decision makers? For those who believe that rational, technical argument i s no ude, given an entrenched bro-nuclear establishment, it might seem that the only alternative is militant direct action. However, there are conceivable intermediate strategies, for example, a combination o f limited, strategic, involvement in inquiries with careful grass roots organising i n the community as a whole. There are already signs that people threatened by proposals for dumping nuclear waste or digging the uranium (in Loch Doon, Galloway and the Orkneysrespectively) will take to the streets to oooose the plans. '

Civil Disobedience So what next? Jeremy Bugler, writing in the N ~ WStatesman (10 March 1978) commented that: until now the anti-nuclear forces Britain have shown themselves Wing to protest 'within the system '. 'n sharp contrast t o French and 'Herman opponents, they have argued ' that society can be persuaded from ; nuclear power. But Parker does not Ă&#x201A;ÂĽiffedialogue . . it will n o t be surwising if the anti-nuclear movement here now changes its approach'. The ca$e for more effective, direct action through civil disobedience has never been stronger. , This view is reinforced if the likely nature of the next inquiry - on the Fast -,,Breeder - is taken into account. For, in / reality, this isunlikely to be concerned with the Fast Breeder programme rather i t will focus just on the advisability of building a single commercial demonstration fast breeder reactor (CDFR-1). It seems likely that just as ratwindscale wider arguments will be listened to, but sidestepped: CDFR-1 will be portrayed as a way to test out whether the various fears or objection are valid. So is it worthwhile for the antinuclear movement to devote scarce resources to another sham trial? What are the alternatives? Well. i t might make a considerable impact if all

. ..

A t the same time, many workers in the nuclear industry are being brought face-to-face with some of the hazards and problems associated with nuclear power - health and safety problems, security problems, problems related to infringement o f trade union rights and so on. And i t is not just workers i n the nuclear industry itself: other workers are involved in the transport o f nuclear materials by land, sea and air. Then of course the wider economic and employment argument may have an impact on trade unions policy. Nuclear power is very expensive and could soak up capital that would otherwise go to other parts of the economy - and at the same time i t will create few jobs. Already some workers have been campaigning for an alternative industrial strategy based on labour- and skill-intensive technology, Outright bans on nuclear work by, unions worried about the implications of nuclear power have already occurred in Australia - but in Britain it seems more likely that anti-nuclear concern will manifest itself i n branch motions and campaigns geared to shift national union policy. Probably the key area fw the moment is health and safety a t ; work: and this is where the wider ahtinuclear and 'radical science' movement can help: it can devote some of its resources to providing advice to workers in the industry on health and safety issues. I t is vital that the anti-nuclear movement makes clear that although ' i t opposes nuclear power in general, it supports the right of workers in the existing industry to fight for decent pay and conditions. I t should aid them in securing safe working environment, free from constraints on their trade union rights. Obviously it should be made clear, at the same time, that it will be difficult to secure these rights or maintain safety in this industry. But these views can only be got across by demonstrating concern for the problems of people working in the industry. Otherwise the wider anti-nuclear movement risks confrontation with nuclear workers, and with the wider trade union movement. Only the most ardent supporters of 'direct action' believe that occupations or blockades or whatever could actually stop construction o f reactors for all time: they are mainly 'public relations' activities, aimed at demonstrating the strength and commitment of the movement, and thereby putting pressure on the decision makers. Obviously i t is going to be a long struggle. But at least we can avoid wasting our energy in counter-productive efforts. The task now is t o start to build a broad, but politically aware, antinuclear movement, which steers between oo-option and manipulation by meaningless government inquiries on the one hand, and over-zealous, adventuristic, direct action on the other. Dave Elliott

'r , employed income families whose parent? are in qanual labour~andit is

fence collec$ve work, collective living and co-operative study, as they actively create At conditions of their own school fandlife) existence; and it is from this-ewsoective that they examine the sochl,flconomic, and political problenS-pfthe world, with special - referenet) both to Denmark and t o ' the uncterdevelooed third world.

the school's policy that all the pupils rit'for the normal state exams,,even fhmugh many have been discouraged from doing so in (heir former schools n the grounds that they do not have e necessary ability. The teacher's college began i n 1972

I ' There are also over 100 teachers and lecturers at Tvind;giving a total population at any particular time o f seven tceight hundred people, all ot whom - . have - - voluhtarilv - ..., chnspn -..---.. tn -- -heere. ,

Finance and Organbation Tvind insist that theirs

After-schools i n Denmark are provided fib students from $4 t o 18 years of age, on the same 'free' basis as folk hi& schpols. They exist as alternatives to the high schools, but they can" award the same certification for entry into higher education as that awarded 'by the state schools, A t Tvind there ate 120 sttldept in the after-school, drawn accord with Tvind's essentially deliberate policy) from children of l o

(81

i@ the state providing 85% chers' salaries and certain d equipment, while the pupils

I , s

The Tvind endeavour is remarkable 'Gearbox in several aspects. First, consider the technological features o f the machine. It is by far the largest windmill standing i n the wwld today, and by a small margin the largest ever built. A horizontal axis, 3-blade. downwind orooeller. the blades sweeo a circle o f diameter 54 meters. I /IT The hub is 50m above the ground. The tip of a vertically upright blade of the Tvind machine stands higher than the roof of a 20-storey office building. I n addition t o sheer size, and all the engineering that implies, the machine includes a number o f technological features which are imaginative, novel and interesting. The blades, for example, are constructed o f fiberglass and plastic fohn and weigh only five tons each. Along with lower mass, the use o f fiberglasscomposite should have the advantages'from a fatigue point o f view. The Tvind blades were laid up and constructed mostly by Hand techniques. Alarge number of volunteer workers accomplished the task without heavy machinery or modern automation. Fiberglass blades have been used before (though rarely), but not with the same construction technique or on the same scale. The emergency speed control system, amatter o f great importance on a big machine, has novel aspects. I n addition, to more or less conventional shaft brakes and pitch controls, there are parachutes! the first large ae&enerator be designParachutes o f the type used t o slow highed to operate at variable rpm. It is intendspeed airplanes when landing, are stowed ed that it will operate at that rpm which in the wing tips of the windmill, and deploy under emergency overspeed conmaximises efficiency, which means faster ditions when centrifugal forces overcome rotation at higher wind speeds, up t o a magnetic latches. The drag from even one maximum of 42 rpm at the rated wind of the three parachuteslis calculated t o speed (15 m/s). Up t o rated wind speed be sufficient t o slow the rotor to a safe ' the rpm is controlled by controlling the load on the generator; above rated wind sped.

-!i

'Ă&#x201A;ÂĽ

r electric power production pnly.) The generator (2000 kw, 3000 volts) delivers ariable frequency a.c. power t o a nearcontrol house. There-it is transformef 0 volts, rectified to d.c., and inverted t o 50 hertz a.c. synchronously phasec with the local power grid. Resistive load, thermal storage (resistively heated), elec, tric* disconnects, and other control Circuitry are connected between the ' ' windmill and the transformer. A t times will be a surplus which may be sold t o the local power company. Wind generator &tput,in excess of 500 kw wiltbe itsed as h e w ' , Amdi"Petewq, co-founderof the windmill project, puts the total cost o f the windmill at about 4 million Danish kroner ($660,000). Although this is nearly twiceas expensive as originally estimated, the costs are still much less than comparable wind turbines. This is because the project was conceived and carried odtwith volunteer help: with the exception o f a few highly specialised jobs for which outside labour was hired. Despite the Danish government's official interest in developing wind energy devices that could pro- ' vide 10 per cent o f the country's energy. Tvind has received no government assistance. The entire project has been paid for by Tvind's teaching staff. The Tvind researchers estimate that up 9 2 0 per cent of DenmarkBsenergy could be provided b y 1100 Tvind-type wind machines in the Danish wind belts. These would produce the same amount of power as five nuclear power plants. :

Marshall F. Merriam article first appearedln the January 1976 of $8 American rnagazineAain. ,

so on, are all wried out by the students and teaching staff (who also escort

The necessary teacher trai*ning

which decides on matters of finance

THE GUESTGROUP TVINDSKOLERNE 6990 ULFBORG DENMARK

tiantis community practices primal therapy in a hpuse on the coast of Ireland. Locals call them 'the sfweher*'and they have ad some stick from the press, including Peace News. WĂ&#x192; thought we'd t you make U P your own minds about them, Over to Jenny James. MOST PEOPLE, quite rightly, associate

therapy* - whether 'alternative' or not with a kind of bourgeois morbid introversion, a last-ditch stand for hopeless neur~tics,or a narcissistic indulgence for rich American housewives. But the Atlantis Primal Therapy Cornmunity really is something else. What we are about is contacting and nourishing in the shortest possible time the tremendous power which lies at the centre of each individual and freeing ourselves from alt taboos, inhibitions and terrors which hold us down and prevent us from realising our full revolutionary potential iff

the world. 1 always reckoned that the greatest threat to any Status Quo is vibrant, exuberant joyfulness that's why kids are put down so much In any dead and nasty system, be it school, church, family, or any anti-life political regime (and that's rtxiftof them). Well, this belief is no longek theory since we came to Eire. Here, the oppression is so simple, so linear and ticatedthat the facts of life in ized society - which in England example, seem so complex and withi hundred loopholes and b investigate, a million issues,

church and the sexual-misery its frustra- , ere the local vriekis at. mum and led policemen perpetuate. There'd be dad are getting &I now, no point in a revolution overnight i n Ireland if the leaving home at the first IRA put some of their enormous influno. moment as YW alwws vlEXL!?ence and resources into, say, importing the Enemy must be There --' barrel-loa(ls of contraceptives Into the r-where. You know you feel rally mriy, country instead o f guns into canvassing ' 'Â¥yolike to fight and driv6 your gar * like mad, and you'd like to s c m ~ m the churches t o tell young people 'It's OK t o stand up for not believing in stupid women - above all, yousthis crap', into organizing the kidsto "..,! t o Take i t Out on Someone; WeH, stand up against the brutalityof priest round here, there aren'tany British and lay teachers, into encouraging .. soldiers to take it out on (and any ' teenagers t o break away from the age-. good Leftie can sy mpaqizk with popping o f f a few o f those twits). SO . old family to'get away from ! organize ttemselves, into home all that's left are a few.oddbalIs, people organis& women to stand up for them- 3 -who don't quite fit in,a few I R A chaps : who tried t o live their own lives, a fellow ^lv@ ^"S them support when s damn us (without knowing or two with Protestant connections from theydo. ' *I

kids play here, MP tries to get Parliament movus out, the local and Northern A threatens us and abducts

.' -

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- - ....- ... w t every bit that doesn't belong t o Well, we won't shut up andwe won't . stand firm, , . go. Most o f us are prepared t o die i n at most of . order to live here. Because what we are doing here hatters as much as life itIe living here ,'Â¥ anti-British ,, self; we are claiming back our lives, : returning each person to his or her full I f included, rish Republic- : man or womanhood, giving a real . ,those songs,: . childhood back to our children, tendhillside ahd . -ing and caring for the earth (and st thing we'll ; , incidentally replanting it with trees ' , t h a t the British destroyed) and not . chopping up our animals. we are . , . . for a tpotcs

i!W 'PthosB stiff, t-iddh families thty & m e from and talk about sex, or , confront Parents W i t h the violence that they meted out, or to provide younger, siblings with all meinformation and " the support they want^*.''' :'. Blatancy and colour and'& t r e o u s - , ness and flamboy ahce a d djoy ihiidevil- .ry andcheek and. humour and real bra$-; -7 . ery arid real daring are returning to ,, >.:, Ireland, and, Atlantisls the spawnirtg ; ground. Ourpower lies i n our openness . : and lack of organisation: real anarchy '; rules OK.. We invite the priests or. the. . : IRA o r the northern protestants or the*,. ; : kidsor the old people to sit. i n our'. kitchen and see Our houSEand join in'.. - our way of lifeif like.we . , : t h e m absolutely anything they want^. ' , to know about usand we tell them the . ; truth. All of it. The result is akindof,. 'i not a person enerwbombshe''. . in Eire who hasn.'t heard of us, and : *'I1 hearing a lot YeL ': Infear and trembling* . . and joyous,, :

reallyis about people, individual n't like that: I wish it was. What' people and that ifYOU run before the is a painfully twisted and unhappy tide and go theorize about 'the ' - t h i s village could be any in . political situation in Ireland' from.the where the torture is=lf-imsafety of a-big English city, you've died where everyone knows at the q e t that's wrong: you're getting - .: already. To all people in England who can't beaten up every day at school and every make head or tail of the news from evening athome; at the age of fourteen, . , - Ireland, Just like I couldn't, I say: you're everyone knows even more of what's in touch, stickto your confusion, wrong: god obviously doesn'texist, yet everyone has to pretend he does; sex ,. . . t because you're right - there is no truth about the real situation coining f r o m obviously does exist, though mum and . either side. British Interests we expect . darf and the nr& m d the trhool-teachers are pu(ting"ev<rything they've got , o f course not t o tell the truth: that's :. jenny ~anws - their profess@. But the 'revoldtionaries'. into pr<&ingi?doesn't. .Jaw,, pr,m, marw mriw',n don't @,I1 it either; because they haven't ~y the-time-you're btghteen, you've , Your Cam~ w r nby . rim ~~l~~~~ in.,. n e y y forgotten: y@'fcMgjrning to . recognited it. tf thsy hfri,> . they'd be W 2 . , ',

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periment and the

growth has been accompanied by an enviable w o r d o f financial and job stability, and commercial and social achievement Capital t o found new coops is evidently available from within the movement. During these 21 years of rapid expansion only one small coop has collapsed, No redundancies have bpn recorded. By any criterion the Mondragdn co-operatives are a remarkabledevelopment. I n January we visited them to and out why, unlike many GOoperati*edmovements, they were so financially sqccessful and secure and whether this was at the sacrifice o f Arizmendiarrieta arrived ' in Mandragon in 1941, green from his trainjhg as v priest, he found an area of the Spanish suffer$ theafter Civil. ar. As a Republican soldier he had htftself been captured and held prisqher. Now his instructions were t o , p r o v p for the youth of the area and it is *0Â° whiCh he initiated that the Mbndragon COoperatives owe their recent origins. The five founders of Utgor were pupils at and4along withlose ~ ~ i the iarrietadeveloped heeariy philosophy of the movement

ProfitSharing or Co-operative Capitalism? Fundamental t o the running and fipancing of the co-ops is their central bank, the Caja Laboral Popular, a savings bank with $4 branches throughout the region and prestigious central office Wch boas& striking views over the grey mountains and coniferous valleys o f the area The Basque country if littered with' different savings banks (certainly there are moft banks than places t o eat). The Caja differs in that it serves t o acquire capital for the Mondragon co-operatives. But the Caja is not the only source of capital, for on joining a co-operative a new member has t pay the equivalent of around Â£1000 this 25% goes into collective fund and 75% forms thebeginning o f the member's own capital account. Given the established local pattern o f saving it i s not surprising that money is often paid at the outsiilby the member'sfamily but it can &sobededucted from the new mem&'s pay over the first two years ..of work. This policy of requiring members to invest i n their co-operative distinguishes Mondragon from most co-operatives and common-ownerships in Britain. liwach GO-operativeat the end of the financial year approximately 70% of the net wts are paid into the capita) accounts of the members i n proportion to their pay (seeb e l , ~ }The ; rest is '

last year's pay) or on leaving. Members who leave to take a better paid job in main-line capitalismmay receive little as 80%o f their accumulated capital account, otherwise members receive the full sum on leaving. Members receive interest on their capital account at a rate o f up to 6% per annum and can also raise loans against the collatefd of theit capital accounts.

~ - o n e r e ~control? ve

-..

On affiliation t o the federation through the Caia Laboral Popular each new co-op signs the Contract of Assoeiation which limits its practice i n broad terms by binding it to the democratically obtained decisions of the Caia, permitting financial inspection by the Caja, guaranteeing that surpluses will

;

b invested i n the Caiq afterimprewntstandard formula for calculating ing the

dividing profit and agreeing abide Pay by the established democratic practice$ of the Mondragon group of

A 12 person board, the Junta Rectora, n each~ co-operative ~is elected ~ i~ d - on a oneperson-one-vote basis. K was emphasised to us that anyone, from production line workers to management may and does s i t on t h i s board. The Junta Rectora functions much as a Board of Directors. It appoints top executives who i n turn appoint middle management. Inall but the smallest co-ops a Social Council i s also elected by the member, ship, on a constituency b~sis.Since the members-of these Social Councils, (inlike members of the Junta Rectoras, are representatiw o f their electorate and subject to reporting back weekly, i t is important t o know the extent of their power vis-a-vis the junta Rectora, in order to judge the degree of co-operative practice in the Mondragon enterprises. In the time available to us we were unable to form a firm view on this. i t is clear enough that the Social Councils concern themselves primarily with labour matters and have direct access to the Junta Rectora and the management. It is instructive to compare this struchire to the structure of industrial enterprises in Allende's Chile where Administrative Committees were formedof'wotker elected representatives for policy decision making. These were required t o Interact with Production Committees also elected at shop floor level but dealing with labour questions. The exchange of suggeslions and flow of information was facilitated by a co-ordinatingcomhittee composed o f reps from both groups and from the union. Both the Mondragon structure and the Chilean seem t o us to challenge the argument that co-operative structures would make union-type organisations redundant.

amount o f psychological pressure, as h been commented on i n the case of Chi to work long hours and take on high levels o f responsibility if employed at a higher wage scale. The starting wage i n the Mondragon co-operatives i s slightly higher than that for comparable work . in the region. It is thought that if the starting point was higher than this it might lead to envy and social estrangement o f co-operative members within the local social structure. This would detract from the Basque nationalist and socialist philosophy. An estimated 20% to 30%o f ffie _mbers of conperatives receive less pay than they would in local capitalistindustry. % , it is ^^ for,, the comparative of the ment and can lead to disillusionment on the part o f amember's spouse. Staff . turnwer at pr annum customs. in much of the Basoue area, according t o local reports.

^.,

accurhulated experience and manage- ; . ment know-how which is a substantial element i n the key o f economic success held by the Mondragon enterprises. White the Caja accepts that some o f the co-ops have grown too large we were surprised to find very little concern over the dehumanising nature of the ' production-line techniques, which are particularly in evidence in the publicity ' material produced by the Caja. That 1 t h i s has found so little mention in the reportage of Mondragon is demeaning to the co-operatives and fuels the current waves o f Mondragon adulation. Also, disappointing, though less surprising i n Spain, isthe absence of wome i n . management positions. Even i the Caja thereare no on the junta

The Mondragon enterprises fall short , bf the sort of co-operatives that we would like t o see develop in Britain, in particular because their control boards, junta Rectoras, fall outside the s t ~ c t u r a! control o f members. Some o f these shortcomings are readily admitted by the management members 'Participatipn constitutes the essence itself of the co-operative enterprise You have not only t o facilitate participation from the top but from the base a; well .' (Senor I

...

.Calleja, Director at the Caja). We must judge Mondragon as a federation of developing enterprises struggling to determine future directions of development. To date British commentators havc been quicker to claim that Mondragon has 'arrived' than havc the members themselves.

Culture and Basque Nationalism Social and cultural factors have been

as important in determining the development of Mondragon as economic factors such as the nature of capital holdings. The local historical traditions, both social and political constitute a background and a base which gives such groups a head start. (It was pointed out t o us that the immigrant workers, mainly Catalonian, who are now joining the group, work f y about two years before they become interested in the co-operative aspects of the enterprises.) Socially there is a long established tra-

small dispersed farmsteads were dcpendent upon cooperation for their 'survival. The framework of social inter. action is close and conservative and the community. basedexp,icitly In common with many areas o f Spain, socialisitig is carried on in the streets white walking from bar to bar. From an early age social p*er groups of thirty t o forty are formed, called quadrillas.Quadrillas provide the basic social grouping for life. These self-pro'pelling groups i n turn form the nucleus of the community. Group loyalty is set at a premium. Members o f the quadrillas, or amalgamated quadrillas, take on ksponsibiiity for specific social tasks. Subscriptions t o buy or hire rooms in which to hold evening gatherings after the closure o f the bars are raised as a matter of course. Participation and saving are not confined to business activities. & a ,.,

m narc hi st Tradition

i"'

The Basque area has a long tradition of anarchist and socialist theory and practice. The bookshop at Moddragon boasts a selection o f books on political

in the literature from Mondragon. , But by ho means are the enterprises solely fuelled by socialist Basque fervour, local savings and Caja khow-how. There are strong material reasons for joining the co-operatives- the financial security offered both in the work and social' field and the slightly lower personal income tax paid by co-op workers. Mondragpn will admit that It is not + very interested in spreading i t s philo% ophy outside the Basque area. Along with their dependence on world markets, this places them in a position of vulnerability similar to that of the attempts at workers' economies i n Allende's Chile.

for those who don't wantto bye. i collective groups need not radjcafl^l a interfere with first principles. The model of the bank or l o w is one which could be encouraged an<Â¥$ supported. The establishment o f co- '-.*,x~ ODS which could ~ r o v i d e more ~rofes-'. 9. stonal skills and advice on financial matters and legal matters than are ,, available at present, are already taking' fi olace. The Federation o f Northern Wholefoods Collectives is in the process of setting up two service units JS{ for financial management and marketing and'the recently formed Support Centre i n London will bring appr~prm@".~ and experienced financial management', * advice into the arena. Will we use these 3 resources or will we muddle through using the Manpower Service C o m m i t -*s5 don as a temporary prop t o keep some of us afloat? The effective work of the alternacMp5 in linking wcid md labw*x

.'\ $

..*

Mondragon and the UK The

the press and other interests in Britain points to a manipulation and a

conflict o f interest within co-operative movements in Britai'n. We do not want to arme that there is a conscious political

Of the and new opcratrve movement (as it is known tti larger CO-OP groups) to inform imff seriously and in depth about these other developments, places it i n a vulnerable position. It i s also an abdication of responsibility t o others coming into the movement whether through government or social service agencies ' or in the voluntary sector. Workers conw*. -' ' trol Per % is "0 guarantee of s ~ i l e w o r k e CO-OPS f C O U he1~'~ unemployment and ififladoff$ could weaken ash u M in thk i w c s t s of Jatge $Lnf4 Proposals asthat of the ~berds to set up groupsencouraghg co-op development upon the basis o f arbport drawn cq with either the Labour movemcnt or Common. Ownership interests should be,treated with caution. The 'alternative movementr,i$still one o f the few movements in Britain t o maintain an absolute commitment t o direct participation and grass roots practice. I t needs to use its experience and power, which we think is often considerably more than it is prepared to

z:,~

of knowledge among large groups o f people.

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~ollectiveeconomy It is now time foe the new c~-operi*-,~

of their complex fives t o reduce aims and consolidate a practice which , '

and to develop the necessary rapport other groups outside without losing hold : of our first principles. . . "i The workpf the womens' movemen&& and community groups in emphasising, !, theiimportance o f social change at a personal level is right and shouldn'tbe , laid aside. But we need now to take that <Â

Undercurrents 28

and thatno mechanic ever thought about anything, was able to introduce me to the abstruse mysteriesof the internal combustion engine. That night in apub I was able t o show him, using the floor tiles as my 'blackboard', what Pythagoras's theorem was all about. He was surprised that he codd understand and I was surprised that he was interested. We had a real stroke of luck when by chance I me't up with the Devon County Architect, Charles Weekes. He and his staff have been experimenting with a low energy form of building at Bicton College i n South Devon. He shared my enthusiasm for the ECO-2000 project and carefully piloted it through the corridors o f local power at County Hall. Now we have been offered a variety o f sites if we can raise the cash, and Vernon and I have been beivering away with a highly qualified team of architeZts,'quantity surveyors and landscape designers from County Hall, kirawing up the plans for our centre, They have accepted a brief for a series of buildings that will, wait for it:- be built of low energy, local material, be energy conserving, capable o f displaying a wide variety o f AT devices, and of a simple 1 design that can be , copied by semiand unskilled unemployed labourers who have little else, to offerbut their labour. This last is tery important because I feel that small producer cooperatives are in part a solution to the disastrous consequences of the 7 million who are predicted to be made redun-i dant by the communications revolution now taking place. Instead of just bidding our employees 'bye-bye' at the end o f their term o f employmentwith us, we wish t o help them find jobs and trdfning and show them how t o set up small businesses and co-operatives and where to get finance and commercial advice. Financemay not be an overwhelming problem for us, we hope,.but it seems that e acceptance of i t will be. The Cha ity Commission have been playing real fun and games with us. Apparently .one non-charitable aim debars the whole from charitable status, and apparently providing jobs for unemployed people is not deemed to be charitable. Further-, more, once having submitted a nonacceptable schedule o f objective~,the Commission seems t o be highly suspicious if another schedule is thenb ' submitted with the offending objective removed therefrom. Suspicious lot! Nevertheless, it seems very likely that by'the end o f this summer the first ECO-2000centre will be underway down in Devon, in an area o f outstandngnatura l beauty. Then, when this Centre has proved -0 be a success 1Can get t o work on the invitations I have received to set up similar Centre, i n London and Belfast!%

. -34' a>~~.d,/& Ken Penney

The Government is spending more money on alternative energy souru than most of us would have predicted five years ago, but tess than soh of us would like now. Dave Elliott fears that a weird combination of miserliness and megalomania on the Government's part may mean theof death for alternative technology in this country. 'If the entire UK Atomic Energy Authority budget o f Ă&#x201A;ÂŁ118 a year wassuddenly switched toalternative energy it is doubtful whether the cash could be absorbed for years to come'.

In saying this,Peter,Rogers, writing i n the Sunday Times, December 11 1977, reflects current thinking amongst even progressiveenergy planners. The result has been' that the Government envisages that the contribution t o be expectedfrom wave, wind and solar power over the next decade o r so will be amere 10 million tons o f coat equivalent (MTCE) compared to our current codsumption o f around 360

MTCE. Is this really all we can expect? Even the House o f Commons Select Committee on Science and Technology have estimated that we could hope to obtain 15 MTCE each from solar and wave Dower bv the year 2000 . itfid the& are many more optimistic estimate For example Peter Chapman, in his pubmission t o the Windscale Inquiry, sugges ed, ultimately wave power could p f ~ v i d t 120 MTCE. while Musgrove talks of'supplying 25%ofbur electricity needs from (mainly offshore) wind'plants, The UK section of the'InternatipnalSolagEnergy Society's estimate for solar power is 35 MTCE.

. .

hinted, in the research phase. just how real this is, it is difficult to say. It i s something of a chicken and egg problem. Few scientists, technologists and engineers in industry will be veprepared to risk their careers on AT until funding is forthcoming. University researchers, who are less exposed to risk, are few and far between and universities - are not always the best place for such

-,'

institutionalised AT

power cah also be expected to

Bflwgng $mhtaneout-

grass roots, many will think. so,

tricity we uielfor a capital e a t needed employment in the power engineering and construction fields. if f1,500M while Martin Ryie has suggcsthat, following an RAD phase over A 'first generation National A.T. programme' would obviouity be expenMyears, costing Â£-2M, we could obaim.1~7G j (28nd million kwh) annualsive - say f l W each for wind, wave. f@omthe wind by 1985. solar, over thirty years, with an equival- , 1 By1931 we could, he say&.be producent ambunt going into coal-based <12000~nits per annum a programme ' tech~ology(including Improved mininb woutd crests ioha in the aero~ace safety and pollution control). But i t (tfylectrical industries. could produce a significant amount of energy ~ ~ T annually C E fmm the renewable resources, given time. The so c M W a i & l b e made up from coal - the Neil estimates that we3 can obtain 7 6 0 ~ ~ 2M~ y e a And of coursed haye.nnt taken account of tte savings tft# could accrue from c-atiw, an(tfwm alternative

afl

it or not, AT Stems likely

cycl^or At the ke time we have to find ways of keep@ AT under local control. We have to find work with ' centraJized agencies and yet avoidicooption. We must resist the growth of an a alternative bureaucracy. We need to firfit for decentralised agencies sengids And we need to supof, wÃ£ke in relevant for the devel~ industries ~ fighting ~ l opment of socially useful productsapd methods Of productionP ' P-"& It i s a big job, but it must be attempt^ will Hew commodity produced and marketed In. the same old alienating and exploitative way, providing a technical fix allwing the current social and political status quo , tocontinue unchanged.

s,"&?&;piort ^ -^

llTCRnRTIVC SOURCES P DO[[QR$ ^ \

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Andrew MacKillop returned to Britain in 1977 from t!,%:.;n<

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Prince Edward Island, where he had watched supposedly 'self-reliant' technology being sadly distorted by a political and ecohomic system which perpetuates dependence. Has Britain already started down the same path? under monocropping). The costs of these, together with the cost of transporting PEI produce a minimum of 1000 miles to the large markets, has

(renewable energy sources i n particular) from the status of eccentric, 'by gosh and

have also recognized the need t o help out the least e n e m self-reliant Provinces first. leaving those like Alberta and British Columbia to cope with their 'problems' . of still having large reserves of exploitable energy. . , .

and theimore innovative Maritime par* < ticians, such as PEI's Premier Campbhll, began t o speak out for conservation. reason for this was the transfer payment

for a year or more, a poor year can .

Prince Edward Island is Canada's smallcst province, with about'~2O,O~~.people in a land. mass about two-thirds the sfac ; o f Dcvonshirb. ~ ' E Ii s atwayi a~ the ,.

result in very loweconomic y ields. fhen affects the bax base for the Pr vince, VcauseJarming and tourism &?Ifaffectedby high fuel costs in s a econo,.,,~c fir

. i .- . ., nceit was realised that energy short--' and oil dependence could be b l a ~ " r econon'lic weakness it d i d not take' for PEI politicians,to make the tal leap to justifying more transfer ts on this basis. Alternative

ng spent on new Habita

nsecure economic political an ition. The usual one is that the ts are a stepping stone on the r

5 ^, .

WELSH INDUSTRY isnow largely controlled from outside Wales. A survey in 1969 showed that only 38% o f Welsh establishments with 25or more employees are wholly Welsh, 50% controlled from the rest of Britain and 10% from overseas2 More recent information indicates that now 20% o f the Welsh

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have been misled by internal colonialism, that *Y have been obliged to take t o the teaching 2nd preaching professions before practical matters. In 1975, how-

es i s higher than the British aver

4%against 6.7%) and over t w i g

the golden triangle of SE Englan~ Could an independent Walqs re4

d control its economy with the 61

branch factory economy and although, verting them. this is less vulnerable to a recession because it produces 'straight-run' pro- : ducts, there is little spin-off business for , local firms, and management and decision-making are toncentrated outside Wales, so that ambitious and talented , people have t o fewe t o get on. Wales a*, , a peripheral region suffers from neglect 'out of sight out o f mind', and is drain:, ed of capital savings and skilled workers *vy who emigrate hakingthe periphery <~.-,, even less attractive to new industries. ++ This spatial inequality of the 'back-' -'"Ă&#x201A; washed' peripheral areas isimposed asjt i s on the wider pattern o f social inequal- . ity; it is generally talked about as the 'regional problem', the inevitable results , of capitalist development. I t has recently been given the more loaded description o f 'internal colonialism' where 'to the nortnalpattern of economic exploithe problem: more than half of wealth tation is added a subtle cultural hutnilla1 production, manufacturing employment, tion, together they represent the superand exports, i s accounted for by only exploitation of the internal colonies. 100 firms, that represent less than 1% of Is Cymru a colony of England? Thii" the total number of enterprises in the question is important because 'it-isin British economy. And those firms are the colonies that the class sku gle and moving labour intensive parts o f prothe national struggle merge'. fit b duction overseas to the Third World often ~ a i d l h altie~l^fffit6ltig*ntsia t or afq mechanising ie@out 9 ex&&

-Are the English patricians ift Whitehall compradorsf to the interests o f big business? ' The theory Of internal coloniakm i s attractive because it allows a d l r s i t y of critical positions t o be united,,&ut i t also suggests that the many Welsh, Labour MP's are unwitting trail* It gains some strength from the oby@us concentration o f wealth i n the gottentriangle o f S.E, England; its weakness/ lies in i t s inability to account for the neglect o f almost the Whole o f the *. ' North o f England i n these purely nationalistic terms. Are Merseysjders English?and is Merseyside 8 pillaged

$"*en

retreated to build a new p d i t i i

-, :

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no longer yielded a profit to land could not be trd~sformediptv an industrial proletariat.. Labour wia ing! m r e drained @Arm-' '-*re beny ,

Bottom t8&/1 1 entury hoifffsnovir thv Roy:,/ Mile in Edifihurqh iw-r dc'^iohi~/~ed f/f 1973

, .

HY DRO.ELECTRICITY &o<des about 2%bf '~ritain'selectri(!i&,. bht,,it %couldprovide perhaps threetimesas much if all theavailable sm@,.~ur+ were fuUyutilised.Stephen,Tonkinpoint* out that no tingle dwigiof : water tu i~ IS suitable for all sit+ and,describesthe'char.acteri . , . t h r e e types s6 t h e ,an initialchoicecan be'3yde. ' . . ,

.<.

i) penst

currents 28

ice Undercurrents 7 have we touched seriously on the subject of enoviour Modification. Four years ago we reported on the use of drugs, ectric shock and lobotomy in US prisons. But most of the psychologists ho today claim to practise Behaviour Modification would eschew such olent methods, achieving their aims instead by the systematic use of iychological 'rewards'. The objection that Behaviour Modification lanipuiates' other people's actions is easily answered: who can claim sver to have attempted to influence what another person is going to )? But here John Rowan takes the argument a stage further: Behaviour odification, he maintains, does go beyond the bounds of our daily forts to influence our friends, neighbours and children; and at the me time it f a i l s to initiate the deep-seated personal transformation hich can be reached through 'humanistic' methods of therapy. (ant t o know how t o change the world, cause 1 don't like it much the way it is. t I've learnt now not t o bust i n and cade other people with m y aims, m y ights and my plans. It's much better find people who want to change, and help them t o d o it. That way we can what I want and what the other person nts, at the same time. Lately I've become aware that there some people around called 'behaviour idifiers', who claim to be able t o pro:e change too. Only they don't d o it way - a way that is generally called , nanistic - they use a different model. My way is t o go t o a person saying nething like - 'You've p u t up a front please other people, and now you may having difficulty knowing just what's ~ i n di t any more. Let's bring out and rk with what's behind the facade'. d when I say those kind o f things, I assuming that there's's l o t of self:-down behind the front, the facade, mask - and behind the self-putvns there arc some really important lings that can give a l o t more life, and ible the -person to feel their own ver and run their own life a l o t better. The behaviour modifiers try t o work ' ,v with the front. t o make i t more adequate, t o make i t function better as a way o f getting by in the world. They say - 'Actually, one is always dealing with behaviour - w h a t else is there but

behaviour?' The answer t o this is, o f course, there is the person who creates the behaviour. But the behaviour modifier's main plank t o stand on is t o say -- ' I t works. I t works better than any o f your humanistic methods, and I can prove it'. I t is true that behaviour modifiers do more actual research than anyone else (they now have four journals o f their own), b u t what does the research say? A recent paper by Smith & Glass in the American Psychologist suggests that for strictly comparable cases verbal psychotherapy and behavioural psychotherapy are level pegging, in terms of.results. One o f the main differences between me and a behaviour modifier is that he will only take somebody on i f they have somethingspecific that needs putting right. I t may be a phobia, or i t may be some kind o f behaviour which upsets other people. So usually he has a much easier job than I have, in terms o f saying whether he has got t o the end of his work yet. For example, take 'out-of-seat behaviour'. This is when a child in a classroom gets up a lot, and walks around during a lesson. This causes some teachers t o get upset, and they may call in a behaviour modifier t o put matters right. The behaviour modifier lays down three points:

Only one thing is necessary t o make this work, that the reward shall really be a reward (in the sense o f something the child will work t o get) and not just something that is supposed t o be rcwarding. And o f course it is easy t o count up the results. Now this is something which I wouldn't get involved i n at all. I think one o f the least likeable things about behaviour modifiers i s the way they let themselves be used by controllers. So let's look at a phobia. Here someone comes t o a behaviour modifier, who probably gives them a course o f desensitization. The patient is taught how to relax (nowadays often with the help o f a machine which bleeps as long as tensior is present) and i s then asked t o imagine a not-very-frightening scene bringing in tunnels, i f the person i s scared o f going on the Underground. I f the machine then bleeps, the person has another go, and then another, until that scene can be visualised without any tension arising. Then a slightly more frightening scene is visualized, and so on, until the phobia i s gone. Here the patient has agreed t o the whole thing, and is very pleased. So what could be wrong with that? Everything, according t o me. The person isn't being encouraged t o see the thing from the inside, as an '1'. He or she is being encouraged t o see themselves from the outside, as a black box with inputs and outputs - this type o f work was first done with cats. And as soon as people think o f themselves as machines, they will treat themselves and other people as things t o be used, pushed around and exploited. They won't see the difference between working for self-control or spontaneity, and working for control from outside. As Allen Wheelis says: 'If one? destiny is shaped b y manipulation one has become more o f an object, less o f a subject, has lost freedom. I t matters little whether o r n o t the manipulation is known t o the person upon whom i t acts. For even if one himself designs and'provides f o r those experiences which are then t o affect him, he is nevertheless treating himself as object and t o some extent, therefore, becomes an object'. This is a hard line, and the typical answer o f the behaviour modifier is t o say - 'We all manipulate, both ourselves and others all day and every day, and i f you don't admit that, you're a hypocrite!' This I deny. I t is possible to treat people as ends in themselves. As persons. And that is what I am trying t o do, all the time. Whether I always succeed i s for others t o say. The behavioural model o f change is change from outside, seeing the person as a 'me' which needs adjusting. The

This seem< to t o raise all those awkward questions o f ^- Who is reinforcing, whose behaviour for whose benefit? The 'token economy' is of c o u w t h e set-up . where rewards are given in the formof tokens which can be exchanged for food, cigarettes, television-watching, walks in the grounds or other privileges. When y e object to behaviour modificalion, arc we saying that behaviour doesn't matter? Certainly not. Theapproach which I favour has much to say about, the body, about talking to other people, about acting towards, against dr away from other people, about making real chanecsin one's life. Certainly a lot of

y small. W&

the design isam for the tests we wanted tocarry out, a

windmills use along curved blade that has to be very strong with negligible weight, and that has to have a surface firtish like glass. The blades had to have >n exact profile that was constant throughout their length; they were 6 inches wide and over 20 feet long. The definition of 'appropriate' raises itself yet again. The easiest way t o build the blades would be to duplicate the manufacturing method of the only commercial mill o f this type - to extrude thewlike toothpaste from a, specially constructed die. Now the equipment t o undertake this work has to be seen to be believed, but it would produce a virtually perfect blade every 'time, and for batches of several hundfed would be quite economical. It seems likely that thib would be an appropriate method; but i t was out of the question for us. Our solution was t o build up the blades from straight sections, each about 18 inches long, and to join (hem togetherto form an approximation to the curve. Various designs were proposed and some sections were built t o test for strength, aerodynamic performance and ease of construction. The designs , were all very different:

metal strip with two halves polystyrene cut with a hot wire, , sanded and-jthpn covered with a type of-'shrink-wrap' used in model aircraft construction; * solid balsa with a doped tissue skin; * model glider type construction of balsa frames, a hardwood core and a doped nylon skin; and expanded h b n e y c o d paper (used as sound deadener) with a doped nylon skin and hardwood cores. After mu& testing, discussion and leaving the sections out i n the rain for a few months, they were all rejected: * Cutting P O ~ Ys t -rene give5 off poisona s fumes, sanding t o exactly the right profile was arduous, and the shrink-wrap needed considerable skill and luck - but the finished product was about the best aerodynamically, and the worst structurally: steel has a worse strength to weight ratio than any hardwood. One o f the best ' materiafs, bamboo, was virtually unobtainable. * Using solid balsa was also arduous, wasteful o f an expensive material, and it weathered very rapidly. I The glider wing was perhaps the least technological (templa@,sharp knife and kitchen table), but it was still a considerable amount of work to produce a not very wnsistent finished product with doubtful weathering characteristics. * The honeycomb paper was quite an attractive method. It comes as a block and is.cut t o shape and then pulled to form ahoneycomb of considerable

)__

Back t o the drawing board. An o f f e of 1%inch diameter water pipe led t o the final design: essentially a compromise, requiring equipment capable of handling 1% inch piping and % inch plate, but easy mmanufacture. The design, however,

I nts i s the story behind a small-ad you've seen in Undercurrents. Laurence Goldinq- invites you to 'walk into lost worlds and be refreshed'.

ANY DAY now two or three of us will be wheeling out the horse-box (a cunning w i s e - inside it's fitted out like a ship's cabin), filling up the food jars, packing in the tents, turning over the Land Rover and Headi g for the Hills. F o r in the third yea now we will be making our gipsy circuit of England and Wales, seeing for a night or twothe hill farmers who are becoming friends; and deepening our familiarity with the neglected paths between the prehistoric sites in the ten different areas we currently explore. And in October, the season ended, we realise how high you get after six months of walking and sleeping under canvas. Sharing that period wili be groups o f about ten who will join up with us for a week or more at a time, congregating at a car park in some small town, and walking off into what can be generally described as a fundamental experience. It's about five years since I decided that the complications o f doing something as basic as exploring the countryside was too fraught with downers the choice between carrying a weight and suffering institution vibes in youth hostels; inadequate sources of decent food seemed t o result in finding oneself

loo frequently in towns or 6n roadsides. Some facility was needed which simplified the organisation leaving one as free to commune with the Great Goddess for a sustained period as one i s on a twohour romp'. So when I tired of the work I was doing 1 started Head for the Hills. I would provide a well-equipp'ed nomadic home for a small group of walkers. I t would go on ahead to pre-arranged camp. sites. That meant I ivould have to work out the routes and chat up the local farmers. That much of the experience would inevitably be pre-arranged; but the dynamic would not be restricted, it would be allowed to evolve with each party. And a pre-arranged route can be a positive advantage i f you share the wavelength of the person who researched it. There is a continuity to the journey and the satisfaction of having all the best valleys, woods and ridges and none of the urban sprawl, new by-passes and aggressive landowners. Day after night after day the spirit o f nature can infuse deeper with the minimum of disturbance and the fewest obstructions. I'd always imagined the people who'd come would be the sort with whom I had first awakened to nature; that we'd be a little Woodstock, but lost to the

A Head for the Hills group in the Yorkshire Daii Laurence Golding is the suntanned one in the h;

world, making magic where no-one wouli find us. I t did happen once. A t the end o last season 1 invited a commune to cc me on a walk through Shropshire, close t o where they lived. It was amazing. Within a couple o f days their highly developed sense of democratic freedom assessed the set-up, questioned every assumption and then took on complete responsibility for the situation. After that we lived in a dream; nobody had a fixed role, everything got done and there was never a sense of work, and we all had revelations. It has to be admitted that that is the only time i t ' s gone quite so perfectly. More often we are a wide assortment of personalities. Ages range from teens to sixties, lots are professionals but there are cleaners, night club hostesses and postmen too. The range of expectations is just as broad. By the third day i t always jells, and always differently. We've had our triumphs - barriers are constantly broken down, close friends discovered and many come back for more. It i s only to be expected really, nature is the wellspring of inspiration and creativity and if one tunes into it enrichment can only result. So-if our enterprise does not exactly dwell i n th'e clear light i t might, it's at least a glimpse of reality. To receive our programme write, enclosing a stamp, to Head for the Hills, 21 Pembroke Avenue, Hove BN3 SDB, Sussex.

"Planning for motorised transpoit effectively plansagainst t h e bicycle." -But the car need not rule our cities. In The Bicycle Planning Book (Open &oks/Friends of the Earth, Ă&#x201A;ÂŁin a l l g o o d bookshops)~ i k ~ eu d s o n ' k t s out-down to the last bollard, almost-how our streets could be made safe . and pleasant f o r cycl,ists again. Here w e whet your appetite with part of ' t h e f i r s t chapter., [The b o o k is reviewed in this issue of Undercurrents.)

THE BICYCLE is a simple piece o f 'hachinew, which everyone can understand, almost any& can learn toride, i n d most people can afford t o buy ahd . run. No other means of transport cornbines this intrinsic simplicity and : availability, to e whole community. Thus the bicycl can rightly becalled the most equitable means of transport which man has designed. Forccttain groups of pcoplc, such as the under sixteens, the very poor and the elderly (who are not necessarily incapable of cycling), the bicycle may be. the only means of transport which is .-!.' available, particularly in urban areas where transport provision may appear to be good but is not readily available to : $em for practical or financial reasons. . In times of impending energy short. ,age, a machine which offers 1600 miles

+ ,.

',,.'

br-&frenergy equivalent of a gallon of petrd demands toobegiven' serious atten@n:Sfmilarly, the energy needed to -facture just one car could be used : to produce between70 and 100 bic cles. . . The bicycle is also a fastmeans o urban transport. Door to door journey times are not complicated by walking to and from car parks, bus stops of railway stations . Traffic congestion affectsa cyclist's speed less than i t affects motorists. Most journeys to work are welk" within the range of the average cyclist, and for journeys under four miles in urban areas, cycling i s faster than walking or travel by car, taxi, train, tube or ,.bus. The bicycle;makesonly small demands on valuable urban space. Bicycle storage space simply does not rank in the same class as garaging and fifteen cycles can be parked in one car parking space. The bicyck! also takes up little space

takes up roughly the same propo@*.$ of road space as its proportion o f . .-, ,. journeys. -,,.

::,a.-.. i.

Regular exercise has been showmi lessen tension. increase people'seffic cy at work an'd imgr?e sleep! ~ h e a ? rage of cycling is, at it has a purpqsff, in addition to being a deans o f taking:: regular exercise. For recreational es, the bicycle provides freedom! movementtwple~ with d i c t 0 with the etwirohmerit. , .. The bicycle is Virtually silent tion,and it causes no pollution.

.. , ~hedisadvanta~es if the b :

However, there are a numte advantages of cycling which require: consideration. Between 8-9 am and. pm i t rains on average,.in.any spotin UK, on 12 days of the year. To be -

and, in heavy traffic, dangerous.,I~fact wind may be a greater deterrent to cyclists than steep hills or heavyrain.. Other disadvantages, which could be.,.~

!:.:$

ially ome by improved design, ude the susceptibility o f bicycles t o t and their limited carrying capacit!

iflict with the motor car [he bicycle has many advantages as ;ans o f transport. I t is the conflict ween the bicycle and w t o r i s e d sport, and between the bicycle and ad system designed for the motor that turns some o f the advantages ycling into disadvantages. Fravelling in urban areas by any means ransport is a nervous strain. However, strain o f travelling by car (heart rates double) is greater than cycling, and the presence o f these cars that causes strain on the cyclist. Although car ,es can be dangerous when inhaled irge quantities, i t is likely that their [test effect is as a deterrent t o potencyclists and a nuisance t o current ists. iroadly speaking,,roads are designed qaximise their carrying capacity for I speed vehicles. This objective is inipatible with design for the needs of ists. For example, one way systems free flow junctions increase the acity o f a road system but direct the list on unnecessary detours and into gerous manoeuvres. ".r drivers are often inconsiderate neir attitudes t o cyclists. However,

the fact that cyclists' rights are more respected in towns where cycling is prevalent suggests that an increase in the number o f cyclists on all roads would condition car drivers t o expect and allow for them.

Integrating cars and bicycles Cycling can be made very much safer without recourse t o complete segregation of bicycles from motorised transport. I n many areas there will be a large number of backstreets that could be made available only t o cyclists and pedestrians (except for vehicular access). These backstreets, coupled with footpaths, combined bus and cycle lanes, and routes through parks and open land, will be the basic tools for adapting existing cities. These networks of cvclt routes should link major traffic generators (places where journeys begin and end) but, where the bicycle does have to compels with other road traffic, careful attention can. and should, still be uaid t o the needs of cyclis

I n towns wnere greater restrictions are placed on cars, cyclists and pedestrians could be given priority i n the transport system. Roads would be narrower and pavements broader and less cluttered with large and unsightly signposts. Some provision would be required t o allow access for delivery and essential service vehicles, and some form of public transport would operate t o give mobility t o non-cyclists. Land released from car parks and garaging could be used for recreation, housing or simply as open space. Such a town becomes a place designed for people rather than cars. However, the widespread application o f this type o f approach will require substantial changes in the attitudes o f national and local government.

...I-

cyclists should be a p h e 4 e c i . 7 v e . * : Any resultant improvernenl(rftraff/c f l o w in the major roads should be .', regarded solely as a bonus.: ;,

:.,

The technical note on signs shows only ' three signs which may be used without ,, prior approval by the Department. so bicycle schemes wishing to use any other ..Ă&#x201A;ÂĽ signs are subject t o delays. The third document contains a fairly encouraging statement in the recm~end!d guide!in#$! for access networks. .%. : ! .,

4 :,I

m e need to make spe~ialpro$/&.~-~;~.< for cyclists should always @@,n@qfed especially where peak vehicle ftows. : are expected to exceed about. JQCf . ;, , vph, where major segregated fwt&th~ : routes serving local community fad/lti& are proposed in the layout,of the . , ; scheme, or where the scheme can"con-.; tribute to the creation of a cyclenet: work over a wider area. Separate cycle routes and shared routes with.d b p t p ted lanes forpedestrians may both:hq& a part to play'. . , , ' I ,',. > :

;

HOLi-mw. i v w t u m t~iwirunnmaai r a ~ ~managemenr ic in resioennai sireeis in MITI. note use o flower bads, bollards, etc. to discourage drivers from speeding and using the roads for short-cuts and detours. -

Government policy The greatest constraint on the construction of cycling facilities is the difficulty of generating the political will to create change. There is a great future for the bicycle if you make conditions right. I f you make them wrong there isn't any future' (Ernest Marples, Minister of Transport 1968). The problem is that both national and local government lack the political courage to commit themselves to a thorough and positive policy of encouraging and financing allocation o f facilities for cyclists wherever possible. The Government Consultation Paper on Transport Policy gave evidence of no more than a passing interest in bicycles and quoted without qualification the statistic that bicycles are ten times as dangerous as cars, per mile travelled. However, the government's Transport Policy White Paper which followed the Consultation Document representcd'a small but significant change in policy. Rather thancommenting on cyciing facilities, the government requested local authorities to 'consider ways of helping cyclists' and to 'identify their proposals for such schemes in their annual trahsport policies and programmes'. As their part of the bargain, the government proposes to 'contribute to the cost of selective experimental schemes'. I t is also worth noting that the White Paper recognises the importance of conserving oil supplier and, more importantly, that we should aim to reduce our absolute dependence on motor transport. These policies will have to be vigorously applied i f this'cwntry i s to : approach the level of bicycle provision in the rest o f Europe. Government policy has significantly influenced cycling provisions on the continent, and a similar approach in this country

will require a considerably more positive attitude than has yet been demonstrated by the Department of Transport (DTp). Its contribution is limited to three documents, one giving outline guidelines, one giving details of the signs that may (or may not) be used to sign bicycle facilities, and the last giving ideas for the planning of new residential areas. We quote the introduction and Summary to the outline guidelines in full. as evidence of the extreme caution shown by the Department: 'Thepublication of this note does not imply that the Department of the Environment is advocating expenditure on provision for cyclists. The need for provision is a matter for local authorities to consider within their overall transport budget. SUMMARY A. In existing urban areas which are relatively flat it is possible that selected existing side streets can be freed from all but minimum access traffic and designated together to form cycle routes.

& I t may be possible, by the existence of open space or redevelc-. v t , to construct hew cycleways

C. Major road crossing should be controlled and further work is being undertaken on the safest ways to do this, at different cost levels.

0. The majority of the standards given in this document are, for the present, suggestions only. E Cycle parking provisions should be an important consideration in any plan. F. Costs and benefits cannot be acturately estimated: the Improved safety of

In general, however, it can be conclud-, ed that there is little evidence o f a strong .., commitment to making provisions for, ; ;. cyclists. Indeed, it looks more as if the government's policy i s a belated response4:, to pressure from those local authorities . who are interested in doing something. Each local authority has a different : attitude to cycling, but in general they. ,.: appear to hide behind the popular my? that cyclists are few and declining in ; , number, and that cycling i s extremely,..,,,; dangerous. They argue that encouraging ..,.: cycling would increase road accidents. Consequently, little provision has been ' made for cycling except in a few isolated . .:.. cases. . .

.::

The potential for cycling in Britain The position of the government and, !' local authorities reflects a general image,,., of cyclists as second class citizens, out o f date, i n d a danger and a nuisance to other road users. Whilst there is much that cafi be done by planners, by cyclists and by road safety officers to encourage more , . . respect for the wishes and needs of cyclists, a general change of attitude will be'; required because planning for motorised transport effectively plans against the ,! bicycle. Any prediction of a reduction,..; in bicycle use thus becomes self-fulfilling. However, the fact that 80 per cent nf all journeys are under five miles, tt cycling is the fastest means of u r b ~ . ~ transport for journeys under four miles, and that all other forms of transport have become progressively more expensive, suggest that cycling could play an important role in future transport systems. I t . , . is our contention that i f a small proportion o f transport expenditure was used to provide facilities for cyclists, and if all possible opportunities for encouraging cycling are grasped, then the potential for an accelerating return to bicycles becomes! a reality.

Undercurrents 28

v---'ng it Mum I

Most Secret War. R.V. Iones, Hamish Hamilton, Â£6.95 The Ultra Secret, F.W. Winterbotham, ~ u t u r a60p; Bodyguard o f Lies, Anthony Cave Brown, Wyndham, i1.95.SOE i n France, M R D Foot, HMSO Â£5.25 The Codebreakers, David Kahn, Sphere, Â£1.25 THE SECOND WORLD War is, second only t o sex, the publisher's bonanza par excellence. Fortunately, most o f the writing about it is not essential reading, leaving much t o be desired i n terms o f information content. These few books are an almost random selection o f the better, readily available books which actually say something important. Almost random but not quite since they all concern the war's secret and technical aspects. ment at Bletchley where German ultra Jones's book (556 pages long but traffic was decoded. He can't write as delightfully amusing and easy t o read) is well as Jones but his book is important, the wartime autobiography o f a young mainly because ultra is now known to physicist who wandered from astronomy have been a very important factor in keepinto infrared gunsights for the RAF before ing the allies ahead o f Axis intentions the war and ended i t as Assistant Director and because its decipherment involved a of Intelligence (Science). Jones's views on scientific effort by Turing and other the decline o f postwar Britain are close scientists which was at least as important to those o f this reviewer's mother, and and as ingenious as radar or the defeat will find little sympathy among Undero f the v-weapons. Ultra was so vital that currents readers. Having entered military most o f the commandets who used i t science before the war started, he was i n were not allowed t o know its source and it for a decade and would probably be the Russians (whose general staff, it there still had it not been for administraseems, were in almost constant touch tive changes which he regarded as illwith Berlin) may not have been allowed advised. Instead he became professor of in on the secret information at all. what i s known i n Aberdeen as natural Cave Brown i s a former Daily Mail philosophy and i s still there, despite a employee who got most o f the facts for huge number o f interludes at the Minishis book by a colossal amount o f reading try of Defence and elsewhere, and with and interviewing and i t includes at least a formidable reputation as an experimensome information which is available in I tal physicist. Washington but still secret in London. Jones's book i s good'mainly because Bodyguard o f Lies is o f a length suitable its author had a quite extraordinary war (as one o f the Undercurrents collective -his colleagues must have loathed him, who never travels by train puts it) for so young, so sickeningly right all the time, railway journeys o f at least Kings Cross and so unable to contain his despair at to Inverness proportions, although I their apparent stupidity. Although he read most o f it during a force 7 gale on alleges that he was intimidated by their Tiree. His book covers a vast range o f Oxbridge chairs and (in some cases) seats espionage and technical trickery assodatin the Lords, Jones seems to have overed with the war, but its flaws run deep. come his reticence pretty fast when it For instance, it accepts the view that came to telling them what was what and Churchill avoided warning Coventry that apparently came o u t o f i t with more glory it was about t o be bombed flat for fear than he had any right to expect. His book o f compromising the secrecy o f ultra but arovides a marvellously detailed look at Jones demonstrates that the charge is l o w one very important component o f , baseless. Despite these lacunae, Bodyguard Britain's part in the second world war was o f Lies is the best general book in this Fought. As a look at the mixture o f subtle collection as Jones's is the best specific analysis and outright mess which the one. It is the only one which is better lighest levels o f any war seem to involve, written. t w i l l probably remain unmatched, as It's mainly in the light o f the greater veil as being as literate and astounding a detail which more specialised accounts :ollection o f war anecdotes as most. present that the failings o f Cave Brown's Winterbotham's book is the only one book become apparent. One such account i f this bunch which is directly comparable is M.R.D. Foot's SOE in France which win by one o f the war's protagonists. Cave Brown abuses harshly in his book. Nintrbotham saw much less o f the war There is no doubt that the main objection is he was only in charge o f the departt o Foot's book i s well founded - it i s a

Foreign Office snow job, completed i n the 1960s at Macmillan's instruction because persistent allegations that the British special forces had been willing t fight t o the last Frenchman - worse, tt last Gaulrift had been bedevilling AngloFrench relations for twenty years and were impeding Britain's orderly progress into the EEC. Foot's book concludes, amazingly, that the British were far less ruthless than that and took their causalties with the best o f them, b u t fails t o make it stick. Although Foot was let loose with most o f the surviving SOE archives hwcertafniy doesn't l e t the rea close enough t o them. The most astoni, ing example is his frequent obscure reference,Ga top secret paper simply called 'German penetration o f SOE'. In general, although Cave Brown affects ti despise Foot's book and falsifies it mot +an once, it is fair t o say that large pal o f his book lean heavily on Foot's. Foe work (now developed into a major hist called Resistance, published in Paladin and representing a complete history o f continental resistance t o German occur tion) is really one o f the last o f the straight histories o f the second world u These are now being overtaken b y first hand and often rebisionist versions o f events. Why bother about the second world war? Because it i s this centur) 's rnost singular event, because it tells us a lot about our masters, and because what w can't find out i s a c l ~ eto what i s still sensitive That brings us to Kahn's boo1 Most o f what has been published about the secret technology o f the second we war gets very reticent indeed when 11 comes to the postwar period or almost much, to the war against japan, Kahn's book i s a very complex history o f cryp graphy which 15 hard going but told me lot, particularly because i t does mentio the postwar period and because i t con centrates on Japan, admittedly with lar doses o f good honest racism There is a

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.-, .... -.--

...-. "...- ..-

Any o f the books reviewed herewill kept secret for nany years'simply because tell~ndercurrentsreiden who are ultramachines were stillbeing sold to,. interested i n real politicsa lot, J h s ' - : .;;third: world cbuniries which. were probab . ly under'theimpression that theBritish; . . . and Cave Brown especially: but the ac,~couldn',i,decode theiroutput. There is : ;' tion (as the publishing arm of the Agee~^'.now.li$tle.doubt that inyradio traffic :'~.;~.:.,. Hoknball Defencecommittee proved) : f s e n t anywhereinthe world. is open toUS <.. i s really in revisionist history o f the post~%.and~0vietdecipherment.2nd that most . . war wor1d:which is at least as mvstlfiei %-:.is ...a. open'to the British. The cost o f the as'the war itself. Notsurprisingly, sin&. .,co&ealment is that,"forinstance, Church- . whenHosenball called Winterbotham, i'i-iill'smassive * .. eight volume history.o f the , . . about the famous Eavesdroppenarticle war. is,in'th61ight of . he was told t o wtite about the KGB .', ., %&cohd.yorld .. WiijierbOtham's book, littlebetter *an' instead. . Martin Ince. ,h<~<... : . . . . . .. . '

Power houses ;

curory, c h i d and orname 'forinstance, is explained. The ad

isi.mple methods inde available until the Industr dakes the book far more i f it were mere banner for revival o f redundant craft-

ick Fire! Accounts o f the Guerrilla War Qhn4esia. Michael Raebiyn. Julian inn. 243pp. Â£2.95

'YOU KNOW, I had afriend was -.en by a crocodile. He was right there beside me and he was taken. We were crossing a river escaping from Tanzania. Heshouted and stuck his hand in the air. He went under. Blood came up i n the water all around. I tried to look for him but he was gone. I was lucky. I got away'. 'Escaping from Tanzania? What is a guerrilla trained t o fight in Rhodesia doing escaping from Tanzania?' That is just one o f the intriguing passages i n Black Fire!: five stories covering the guerrilla war from the middle sixties t o the early seventies. During this period it changed drasticall and the change is convincingly portra ed in this book. The first story tells how, in July 1965, the five untrained members o f the Crocodile Gang, arme only with knives and petrol bombs, threatened, 'Confrontation Smfth. Crocodile Gang will soon kill all white Beware!' I n the second narrative black Rhod ians, kidnapped by ZANU (the Zimbabwe African National Union), retur ed to Tanzania in 1966 after training in guerrilla warfare in China. They 'found that in the nine months we had been away there had been a lot o f fighting. T h e . . . attacks had all been disasters. These poor fellows had been sent into Rhodesia i n fully-armed platoons o f up t o thirty men, with instructions t o engage the enemy. Needless to say they had all been killed very soon after crossing the border'. 'The main thing that worried us about all this was the terrible waste o f men. It was quite clear that n o t enough groundwork had been done inside the country'. But the guerrillas and their leaders soon got the hang o f things. By the time of the last tale (1973) 'A more sophistibeing waged, cated guerrilla war was. of which thepeasants o f the north-east, were t o be an intrinsic part. their objective was 'People's War'.' By combining first hand accounts with newspaper cuttings and press releases Michael Raeburn has produced a morbidly fascinating work. He has, to quote his introduction, 'portrayed the situation as I have seen it, through the eyes o f the people w h o are living it'.

Consequently he describes the guerlla's home backgrounds, their feelings about the various Zimbabwe liberation groups, their early sufferings a t the hand: o f the white Rhodesians, their reasons for turning, sometimes reluctantly, sometimes joyfully, t o armed struggle, and the anguish o f their relatives. The introduction succinctly describes the history and development o f the conflict. A great deal about black African culture and history is knitted into the narratives. One story tells, at some length, the experiences o f a city educated Zimbabwean hiding out on his uncle's farm. His uncle 'was a renowned nganga, known to the whites as a witch: doctor. This man was not only an excellent herbalist, but also a medium in possession o f the spirit o f a very powerful ancestor named Kundugure Dambunzo who was the family's great grandfather and a famous warrior in the ona Rebellion o f 1896-97 against the tiers'. Gradually the sceptical nephew to terms with the spirit o f his or, the great Dambunzo, and finds ican identity., book is so comprehensive that I have to read it - and it is very Ie t o gauge its measure. one major criticism is that, overall, the stories glamorise the guerrilla war. This is not a glamorous war. This is a war as bloody and as vicious as any. Even black and white children have become targets, as becomes clear from this excerpt. ' . . . there could not have been a better vehicle t o stone than that o f Pieter Johanne Andries Oberholtzer . . who was returning from a shopping trip . . . t o his home i n Melsetter where he worked. . He was accompanied by his wife. . ., and their three-year-old daughter'. The war may seem necessary to some, No doubt as long as Rhodesians o f European origin continue t o act as if white is always right in Zimbabwe, the black Zimbabweans will remain oppressed. However many black Zimbabweans, with good reason, feel reluctant to fight. 'They don't like the whites, b u t that 1s not reason enough to ask a man to risk his life, and his family's also'. Like the Crusaders, many needed a faith, or ideology to justify the War; and many seem to have found it in Maoism. Black Fire! has probably become required reading for the Rhodesian government's security forces, desperate to understand and outwit the guerrillas; but, don't let that stop you reading it. Dave Smith

The Bicycle Planning Book Keith Hudson Open Books/Friends o f the Earth; Â£1.95 154pp; Bicycling Science Frank Rowland Whitt and David Gordon Wilson; M.I.T. Press; Â£3.40 247pp. Bicycles and Tricycles, An Elementary Treatise on their Design and Construction Archibald Sharp, M.I.T. Press; Â£8.95 536pp; (First, !, edition 1896). . , V I T A L FOR A L L cyclists; there are 103 million bicycles in this . country; 5% o f all journeys (and 2% of total passenger miles) are travelled in whole or part by bike; i n 1976, 1.1 million bicycles were sold and there were 1.25 million new car registrations; however the crude accident rate makes cycling 10 times as dangerous per mile. This is the basis o f the Friends o f the Earth campaign to improve the l o t o f the cyclist, andMike Hudson's bicycle Planning Book provides the ammunition that hopefully may turn the current active discrimination against the bicycle into planning assistance to make cycling safer and more pleasant. The potential for the use o f bicycles is enormous. Indeed from one survey the poor conditions and lack o f bike lanes is the greatest impediment to cycling, and increased costs o f both private and public transport would be the large! impetus. The whole o f Mike Hudson's argi ment hangs around the safety question, so the discussion and interpretation o f the available data is the most important chapter. By breaking the accident rate down by age and class o f road i t can be seen that cycling is not always that dangerous an activity, particularly for the over 20's on minor urban roads. The way he puts this, I feel, masks a slight anti-child bias. For example, the 5-9 year old is five times as likely to Iff hurt as the over 30, so I think his casi

undercurrents

would be far stronger if, rather than say that more people over 20 cycling would reduce the average accident rate, he stressed the rights of children more. Cycling is, for kids, an important aspect of their freedom and mobility which should not be limited, as they may not have the money for buses; anyway allowing the road to become even more lethal probably won't stop them. just kill more instead. One can reduce the accident rate by making i t safe where the kids are too. A short chapter explains some anomalies in the law on bicycles and shows why some cycle provisions are difficult or impossible; It then moves on to bicycle planning abroad, in Sweden, Holland and Germany (interesting), and in the UK. (pitiful). The rest proposes many ideas about design of provisions for cyclists, particularly segregated junctions, since iunctions are bv ~,far -. the most dangerous places; and secure I places to park cycles. I t is now up to we cyclists to campaign for all this, so with the Bicycle Planning Book and a Campaign Manual to be published by FOE, we have the information, ideas and proposals to arguewith. The million of you who cycle to work really ought to read this. Ifis important to find out where is safest to ride and the type of accidents that happen, and of course to support the FOEcampaign. For the real bike freak: Bicycling Science will give all those keen cyclists a clearer understanding where all that hard work they are putting into their pedals is going to, and help them to minimize it. Whitt & Wilson's style i s a balance and reconciliation o f empirical studies and the theoretical approach. There is nothing much to criticise, it goes as far as i t goes and if you want more you can dig into the references. So briefly, some chapters are; Power needed for land locomotion, Human Rower Generation, How Cyclists Keep Cool, Wind resistance, the Wheel and its rolling friction, Mechanical Friction, Brakes and so on. Various alternative and new bicycle designs are also assessedalong with a few unusual machines. It i s witty, straightforward and readable " m if it looks otherwise. Also one can make all sorts o f fun

calculations; like if you want to lose some weight, say 7 Ibs (excluding waterloss, equivalent to 4 Ib dry rice & 3 Ib pure lard - yum), you will have tocycle 700-1000 miles (at about 12 hph, power output 0.1 hp, taking 60-90 hours) without eating! Hmmm, perhaps I'll leave i t a week or two. For the total bike nutter; i t starts back at square one in the classroom with Part 1 - the Principles o f Mechanics. If anyone missed out in their schooldays on a bit o f applied maths. and basic physic then here, elucidated , with model (Victorian) clarity, is a lesson in Statics, Dynamis & Kinematics, Friction, Strain and Stress, and Strength of Materials leading into basic engineering. The worked examples are centred round the bicycle, which gives a little more interest and continuity than standard tests.

Artificial Intelligence and Natural Man by Margaret Boden. (an Open University Set Book) Harvester Press, Â£4.9 paperback, Â£3.50 hardback, 473pp + notes & bibliography. MARGARET BODEN'S book 'Artificial Intelligence and Natural Man' is a well-researched, non-hysterical, informative appraisal of 'the science o f making machines do things which would require intelligence if done by people'. Sheleads her reader via a growing appreciation o f current achievements (and the limitations of these achievements) t o an eventual understanding of the present status and potential o f the art, and o f the philosophical and psychological elucidation which it leaves in its wake. To quote from her closing paragraph, by way o f summary: 'Contrary to common opinion. . the prime metaphysical significance ofiartificial intelligence is that i t can counteract the subtly dehumanising influence o f natural science.. It does this by show:

A general section on cycles then follows, showing the development <st bicycles, tricycles and many weird and' wonderful machines for pehistorically minded. The mechanics are put i n t o y tion by examining bicycle stability, steering, and the various forms o f resist ance to its motion which is f u n d a w t a to reducing the effort required. Part Ill, more than half the book is' the treatise proper. Sharp works throug the design o f every detail o f a bike;witt emphasis on the frame and thesire%,%@ analysis of it. Wheels get plenty of i4 tion and all the moving parts are consid ered; bearings, chains, gearing, cranks and pedals. I t is amazing to see how mu& the previous book, Bicycling Science by'."" Whitt and Wilson, derives from this wur of 80 years ago. Wilson, in his tribute t$ Sharp in the Foreword o f the reprint, 0 says, 'the excitement engendered by t h e bicycle was in some ways more wide-' spread and intense than was inspired by the triumphs o f steam. For on the one ' hand it emancipated large numbers of ordinary people, and particularly women, from lifetimes spent mainly within walking distances o f their h o d And on the other hand it gave scope top tinkerers, blacksmiths, and engineers, ,, allowing their imaginations full reign i r i 2 conceiving new designs o f mach'ms and of components'. I am currently looking at designs for bike trailers, this will be my bible. . Pete Gla

ing, i n a scientifically acceptable mwnil how i t is possible for psychologicgl beings to be grounded in a material world and yet be properly distinguished from 'mere matter'. Far from showing that human beings are 'nothing but machines', i t confirms our insistence that we are essentially subjective creqtq es living through our own mental conr, , structions of reality (among which science itself is one). In addition, for those of us who are interested, it offers an illuminating theoretical metaphor for the mind that allows psychological questions to be posed with greater clarity than before'. Margaret Boden's knowledge, depth of understanding and breadth of view stand out clearly throughout the book and significantly, she has not found it necessary t o resort to elitist technical jargon merely i n order to sound clever. I t is the most readable book I have ever come across on this subject: it could eve be described as 'gripping'. Val Robinso

ill you.

The Self-Sufflcient Gardener. John Seymour. Fiber and Faber. Â£6.95 YET ANOTHER BUMPER bundle from the renowned father o f self-sufficiency, this, thesequel t o "The Complete Book of Self-Sufficiency" concentrates o n the it andxgetable garden, with a few ani11sthrown i n for good measure such as ickens, ducks and bees and rabbits. I t is, like its predecessor, amazingly lourfut and beautifully designed with ,y to fellow tables and diagrams. Particrly useful is the table on what to grow 'he corresponding picturesof the n i t s entirety throughout the seaa quick glance one can see what Ã ˆ happening, without wading masses o f type. ne explains i n much detail the impor-

BASTARD TRENCHING THE DEEP BED

I've come across yet!! There's a picture of the K O ~ Yof the i-1 soil i n the Introduction, alongwith some t$k on natural cycles. There,arealso hintson saving your own seed. This is a wonderfully comprehensive and inforntgtive book for the first-time . gardener. Mr. Seymour i s aware &HÃˆgapdening ischanging its image but nowhere families with a little does he emphasise why it's important f(fr

their

un-

pesticides are not fully explained and derstood? He refers t o the waiting-list for allotments i n this country and others and the mepdiminishing lad supply, but makes no reference to hydrownics Theonly other Criticism o f this book is its price. A t Â£6.9 how many people who are tackling bits of wasteland orexperimenting with things in buckets, will ,afford this? Roll on the c h a p and easy-t0-follow l brightly coloured hook that lays down the facts i n simple statements:Dig. Grow what you can. Planet earth needs you.

Stella Small toes belong to the both require damp \

inting. No mention is made of medici,uses but there's quite a lot on what well with mutton, veal and roast

Machine Takeover, The Growing Threat to Human Freedom in a Computer-Controlled Society Frank George. Pergammon press Â £ 3 5 IS.^^^ THIS IS DEFINITELY fuel for the 'PREPARE TO MEET THY DOOM' brigade. If you're not content with attrisomnia to fretting over the n o f the planet's life support

doom I

complicated that even the most intelligent man will seem like an intellectual pygmy i n comparison. It seems we can n o longer-fely on human incompetence and inefficiency to save us from tyranny. According t o Fran '. Orwell's nightmare of 1984 can* and as things a"', will become a real] TKe speed and efficiency o f computer ed information systems, in conjunction with the blind faith people seem to have in the infallibility of the'machine, cot%bine t o create a situation i n which the injurious consequences of inaccurate or misleadingly incomplete information, +

T I

magnified enormously, 'Theefficiency ' of the methods used makes them a danger their inefficiency - lack of proper contextual safeguards o f truth - furthers the danger. We gradually- lose sight of t r u t h altogether'. laving dealt with those aspects of the wing Threat to Human Freedom' which stem from the abuse/misuse of, people by other people (in which the computer is involved by virtue of its power as a TOOL), F. George moves on to announce the official dawn of the a* of the artificially intelligent species. ROBOTS RULE OK. Or, at least, they

rlviuSqr

www IS TO we

believed. Belief though, is all that the author relies on at this point. Unless oneis persuaded by his implicit recourse to his own position as an 'authority' on the subject, there is nothing to!persuade the reader that'his declaration of faith that an artificially intelligent superbrain will inevitably be constructed i n the not I too distant future is anything more than -. the ravings of a loony. Have you ever considered what would be involved in programming a machine to understand that last sentence? I

Listy

worthwhile in itself but can$ wiser conservation: rehab1

How t o Meditate .Lawrence LeShan Sphere 160pp 85p AT LAST we have it, a plain woman's guide to the How and Why of meditation, without the pseudriscientific experiments, promises of instant bliss and the sweet smell of easy money being made. This will not be a popular book in,the boardroom of TM International as they tout their secret mantras as a cure for strikes, inner city decay or as an essential weapon for every soldier: Israel, we are told, is the country with the highest proportion meditators; a curious recommendati so that's why they blast the Lbbanese to smithereens with such glee! If only the Yanks had had TM, they'd have succeeded in bombing the Vietnamese back tdthe Stone Age after all. The trouble with alt this hype is that akes it hard for any.-sensibleperson to the practice-of meditation seriously, lch is a pity, as behind the candyfloss re is something useful, though just at i t is is a bit hard to describe: perhaps e best way to shows sceptic is t o get em to try Breath Counting, a simple exercise designed to develop the a b i l i t y ^ , to do one thing at a time. As LeShan remarks. 'After fifteen mintues o f attempt.ins only to count our breaths and not be thinking ofanythingelse, werealise that if wr bodies were half as unresponsive TO our will as ovr minds we, we would never get across the street aljve. ,we find ourselves thinking ofallior&of other things rather than the simple thing we h w i ~ sdecided t t o think uhut'. Try it and see. ff, having tried it, VQU want to knok more, LeShan's book will take you through the different types of meditation, its psychological and physiologicaleffects, and the c ~ trap5mand pitfalls-that ~ 'will beset you, such as the Great White Lights (ct-mcentrate on your breathing 'lid go away] Or the e big of Guru Is Higher Than Your Guru. Same peo~le,he warns, will do anything (ineluding reading books on How To Meditate) for their own advanc ment except work for it. He particula ly f emphasis& that meditation must be, in the word of The Cloud o f Unknowing

40 '

iays Young, 'means me b<

Val Robinson

varied and so more interesting fiÃ

active, eager, involved. Mixed in with the practical advice chapters on metaphysics, mysticism and the paranormal, which are quite difficult to follow. They follow on from his previous book, The Medium, the M~~~~~ andfie Phvsicjst: Towards a neory of the paranormal ( T Â£3.95) ~in which LeShan ~ ~ asserts that the view o f 'reality' we are forced to by serious meditation is the same as thatchi,,,,, the field theories of modern physics, with the that for physicists it is

difference

no tnore than a working hypothesis, ^^ ^ is ^ time) every bit as a$ our weryday wwld usua,ly is_ under this worldview, Extra Sensory Perception is permissible and 'normal'. So it happens all the time (but if you concentrate on your it goes may). All of which is a bit confusing, to say the least, so it is a relief to to the last chapter. The Social Significance of for some sensible and sober remarks about how t o combine this worldvkw,Athe way of the wi th, of the Can

t~.~ystica[insieht, the vision of man and at one with the universe be to wok for mote than a fortunate few? (t has never been done before. In sum, this book is indeed, as the publis,,erls blurb ,-lacms, -apractical drea,istlcw,_ Mutation is a hard but rewarding road; let LeShan ywF wide, Chris Mutton Souire

Shit & Soviets Lenin ~ bBeginners, r by A & Z (Richard Appignanesi and Oscar Zarate),Writers and Readers Publishing Co-operative, , 1977, 176pp. Ă&#x201A;ÂŁ1.25 THIS IS ONE o f a series o f cartoon books originally inspired by 'Marx for Beginners' by Rius. I prefer 'Lenin for Beginners'because although i t is just as easy to read as the Rius book i t i s ': better researched and informative and l i n a g e s to.avoid treating you like a 12 year old reader of 'The Beano.'. A complete and sometimes overdetailed history o f Lenin from birth to death is covered in dramatic cartoon form, with both obscure and well known characters leaping out at you from every page. The cartoonist, Zarate, is very talented. He has obviously poured over countless fading photographs to get his bold and arresting cariacatures. Two minor criticisms on this score. First the images are so prolific and dense that a little simplicity and space would make the book easier on the mind's eye. The second is that although Lenin sure that 'Tartar eyes', he is made to look overtly paranoid from time to time. In one sense this book i s good. There is real depth in the presentation and at the same time some widely held but mistaken views about Lenin are corrected. Trotskyists and other marxist groups can. always justify some curreptly held position by quoting Lenin because he changed tactics many times according to historical circumstances. So, for example, 'What is to be done' is treated by itralist- ,itsome as a justificat

itrates, en in h'ftnself had to argue against it some years later. Also illustrated is how little Lenin was treated as above criticism. He was frequently outvoted, booed and argued with. Both Trotsky and Stalin's role are shown i n perspective although latter day supporters o f both these figures will be irritated by some historical facts. Anarchists will not be very pleased at the brief passage on the Kronstadt Sailors' mutiny. In fact, it is not possible to write a history o f Lenin without revealing the author's particular angle, which i n this book is the 'enlightened' Leninism o f Grarnsci and Lukacs. In my own view the facts that have most contemporary relevance arose around 1921. Alexandra Kollontai led the 'Workers Opposition' which argued that one-man management and capitalist technological. methods would be disas.. xtineuishine i t s

at that time some consc~ousnesso f the inherently reactionary nature o f large scale technology and the resulting organisational forms. I t was clearly understood that the old state apparatus had to be changed but not that workers' control over some neutral technology was impossible. By this point the book is practically at the end and a crucial event is missing. This is the suppression o f factions, including Kollontais' supporters, i n 1921 by both Lenin and Trotsky (the latter agreeing by 1938-9 that this event probably signalled the start o f bureaucratic degeneration). The irony is that by the time Lenin was producing his last writings he had almost become like an 'Undercurrents Co-op freak', although he is unaware that the basis for the soviets was destroyed by 1921. Hindsight makes you fee! somewhat bitter when you reflect that the situation has not changed in the 'Soviet' Union to this day. Lenin's essay 'On Co-operation' (1923) contains many statements like ' . . much that was fantastic, even romantic, even banal in the dreams o f the old co-operators is now becoming unvarnished reality.' I n a cartoon Lenin is made t o say 'Our revolution is unfinished. . . we still face immense dangers! Then follows this quote, 'Strictly speaking, there is 'only'one thing we have left t o do and that is to make our people so 'enlightened' that they understand all the advantages of everybody participating in the work o f the co-operatives, and to organise this participation. 'Only' that. There are now no other devices needed to advance socialism. But to achieve this 'Only' there must be a veritable revolution - the entire people Aust go through a period o f cultural development'. All in all this i i a good book, worth buying whether or not you are a 'begin.per'. John Southeate

d~ fliuuui JUIIH ~ u c i i i a i n UI Junn neicner s I v play 3rargaz.v on Lummerdown' shown recently on BBC2. The play portrays an image of life in the 23rd century when present ideas and day dehumanising society has collapsed. The ~ l a vcontained some rerilv --. chrileneinc -beautiful dialogue, much of **,^ichwas lost under the welter of the immediacy that TV imposes. Apparently the BBC recei naise < ..through regardler-

Sltpiicn iriuiiiiy

TRURO COMMONWEALTH THE Truro Commonwealth was formed as a subsidiary o f the local branch of the Diggers of Albion, designed t o enable the members and friends of the group t o follow more closely the way of life they desired. Dave Fowkes of the group describes what happenedA t first a common ownership project. The Truro Commonwealth Ltd, was outlined and was soon active \f\ a number of spheres catering I local markets (the main income), the experimental manufacture of beekeeping equipment, and agrmltural contracting. Lack of vision b y some involved and outside catastrophes that decimated membership led to an abrupt stop i n activities However, recently the project has been restarted. A t the momeftt the project has a dual role- that of both a work co-operative and a housing association. Recently the housing association has taken over the house occupied b y some of the members, enabling them t o operate more as a scaring community Negotiations are currently in hand with the local council for the house next door to this one, and for other premises. The work co-operative side of the Commonwealth itself has twoareat of activity The first is the setting UP of a business, manufacturing herbal preparations and marketing them; one retail outlet has already been set up and is flourishing. The second activity is that of acquiring property that is required for the members t o operate their indi91dual small-scale businesses sprinting business already operates from premises in this way. The Commonwealth would like t o hear from people with skill and enthusiasm that can help them re build, particularly at the moment somebody with butldinglcarpentry skills as they have lobs waiting in many places, "perhaps somebody fancies a working holiday - doing the 10bsand getting t o know us with a view t o joining us permanently, we can provide food and accommodation and perhaps show you the sights for a fortnight." Contact-, Dave Fowkes, Truro wealth, 8 Tabernacle Truro. Cornwall.

H A M L E T TRUST HAMLET Trust aco-operative comprising craftspeople, artists, mUSlCianS, organic farmerslgardeners and natural therapists. So far they have two cabinet makers1 Joiners, a painter, several musicians, several experienced small-scale organic farmers, an architect-builder, and several natural therapists. As outside consultants they havean osteopath, two dance-therapists, an acupuncturist and a musical instru. ment maker They now urgently need people experienced i n natural therapies, crafts, organic gardening for any of

wherever you buy sUc the social cost i n u n and alienation at health hazards that c

, and the energy sho

HERE'S the latest news o f co-ocferative projects from In The Making: news received since the latest directory (1TM5)was published. Much more will appear in the next supplement (ITMSa) which is now in preparation, so if you know of a project that warrants an entry please get in touch ith us at the address below. The I T M group $ways like feedback from protects and readers - after all, the directory is for you to use. We now have regular meetings in ift ton Keynes on the first Thursday evening of every'month and would welcome visitors - either for you to see how the directory ticks or for a discussion about your project. Let us know you are coming by ringing Hilarie on Milton Keynes (0908) 316339or 314977. ie above mentioned fields), with line capital t q join them i n leasing o m Ecological Life Style llandBed saving; bond scheme) a farm I Devon as a base for their co-op ative and natural therapies centre. ingle people should be prepared ) invest a minimuht of Â£100 ouples Â£2000t o secure for themlives a home in tile farm. This can f i n the form of Land Bonds iese keep pace with inflation and in-be withdrawn), or shares in amlet Trust as resfden* trustees. Please Write for details i f sen1s1y interested to: Jeffrey Gale, Hamlet Trust co-ordinatpr, Whtteley Farm, Nr. T o t m , S. Doyon.

LTERNATIVES IN ORTHANTS VQ I T M readers i n Kettering, dhants. are seeking people i n at area interested i n joining a d *

put u p fuel prices and cog our o f those who sup power with its accom gers. The goods produc vroup include should ing baskets, bells and They are selling these like Shanti, and at ma l ˆt fairs. By doing this co-o(wa<Ã they can increase the range of& and c u t costs on transportand& for stalls. One larger term dew^f& mejpt could be the setting u p 014 collective workshop. I f you$& be interested i n joining thew* v, .L,,contact: Craft Co-op, c/o Whatworfc; 178 Oxford Rood,

13.

: , COMMUNITY RECORD IPRESS

cussion group to explore alternative ways of life. As yet theyhave no practical projects in mind. but would like t o meet other people for exchange of ideas and information. Contact' Peter and Maoge Keatpey, 8 Shelley Road, Kettering, Northants.

PROPOSEDCRAFT CO-OPERATIVE

A FEW people i n Manchester are at present trying t o get a survival income b y making things and selling them collectively They write This way of getting a living en ables us t o control how and when we work. Other time not used for makingmoney could be used fot dther 'work' such as lookina after children or for doing things for which we cannot be paid We are not producing crafts purely for artistic purposes b u t for usefulness, with the a d d p advan-

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UNITY Records Co-op wS$ ~ f t l formedty a group of KBW red in the music industry wftli^tt aypress jntention of prom&&* #gressive working class muti&&@ Iin direct contrast t o customary commercial ventures. T h e w , Ihave now managed to acy&&M& 3rd-pressingmachinery, Iarea for it t o be housed, workers t o run the machinery and 1the office. The press is to be utilised hi 1the interests of the local corn Iity and other groups or IAfho are concerned with progcass-^ Ive ideas in music, And has rlamed 'Community Record P^Cfi^ rhey have already begun t o V m Ã and say there seem t o be a.nuffib&i 1?f worthwhile ventures i n the pipe Ime, although they are open t o am rww ideas or advice. A t present they are work* 6n , I record entitled 'fhq,WiiI &hi 6'eople' which combines the music 1)f brass bands, choirs, find traditio dl and modern m u s y f s t y l e s Also being developed is a compilation a bum of various groups who haw$& pear& at the Battersea Arts Ce&i Other ventures being considered include a remtdlng o f the band Peoples Liberation MUSIC! The record press can facilities to press short runs of 4 tween 100 and 500 records at cost Iprice. The group are interested in Ipeople sending them tapes of fi d that they would like t o rec rd, that they can determine thfcf su& Iart for their ideas, and arrange fuithe'r @a@ of the recording procÃ§s

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Undercurrents 28

LETTERS 1

Undercurrents

27 Clerkenwell Close London EC1R OAT

I felt 26 years worth of monolithic science crumbling. An anti-gravn ity force of maybe two pounds: a Way back in U/C 5, Peter Hargiggling, mind-blowing miracle. per recalled a comment at a LonI can think of few things more don "Alternative Technologies culturally subversive except maymeeting of February 1972: "What's be public levitation in city parks ail this about revolution? I came one summer's Sunday. I've met here to talk about windmills" three folk who've experienced Plus ca change . . . Recent issues levitation, and my yoga books refer have carried a good few subscriptto it fairly matter-of-factly. Vibes ion cancellations bemoaning your and concentration seem all-importpolitics, mysticism and ventures inant though, so perhaps i t couldn't to Inner Space; hence this letter to be done that way. (Ah, but pigs say "Stay with it." might fly: "Hello, hello. . . !") Perhaps collectively revolving ed- I am serious, and would like to itors are the secret. For me, over hear from anyone interested in any period of a few issues, Underattempting this as a piece of calcucurrents well reflects the weird and lated culture-shock and Ugh eight beautiful terrain that AT now covego-tripping. Or would we, x t h e ers. And why not include i t all: manner of WesCiv's presumed UFO Third World First. Women's Lib and cover-up, be quietly put down? Chicken's Lib, woodstoves and wind- Your paranoia correspondent John Fletcher might have some thoughts mills, orgasmic organic food co-ops, on that. (John, "Stargazy on Zumcommunes, lay psychiatry and leylines? Each leads in the same sane merdown" was a delight) Anyway, all this is by way of direction, and A T is a path with a heart through them all. No one need saying "keep it up". I'm enclosing travel the entire territory, for there's a f 20 supporting sub, hoping you real and worthwhile work to be can make it monthly. dune at every oint But as people grow, so can the nature of the perPhilip Brachi spectives A T offers. 17 Darley Avenue Radical psychiatry, for example, should be important to AT. Carlton I ollowing your articles in U/C 22 Nottingham and 25, whathave Fred Hoyle, Sir John Hill and the Lucas Aerospace management in common? A BRICKBATS & BOUQUETS profound personal insecurity, it seems. With his steady-state cosI'm sorry, your magazine just mology in disarray, Hoyle retreats doesn't live uo to exnerrations: it into paranoia and rates Friends of never rises a ove the undergraduate the Earth as Moscow's awns. engineeringtvel. suggest you have VKAEA Chairman Sir John Hill, a look at some other journals e.g. interviewed by World in Action Earth Garden (the Ozzie equivalent about the proven Urals nuclear of Practical Self Sufficiency ed.) If waste disaster of the 1950s, appear- and when Undercurrents improves, ed positively bionic in his repeated I'd be happy to consider another denials that any such event could subscription. have occurred. And the Lucas manGraham Simmons agement are willing to forego Ă&#x201A;ÂŁ25 Pidgeon Gully million over the next 8 years (their Aralven market research!) to avoid the chal- Australia 26222 lenge to their roles posed by a corporate plan coming "from below". I've just come across your magaThese seem deeply insecure pezine - it's great! I was beginning ople. with so little sense of their to think that the 'alternative press* own worth as individuals that they invest ail in their work roles, which in this country did't exist any they dare not see challenged. Exist- more; instead I can see its grown entially therefore, they do not have up and no longer floats about a yard off the ground in utopian the choice to acknowledge A T s dreamland. critique and the evolution taking Martin Malambert place in the culture; the threat pos3 Southgate Road :d to their identity in each case Gower is simply too peat. West Glamorgan /' , Perhaps man is indeed a rationillsing rather than a rational creature. With those minds so firmly I've had to think twice about reSKI, personalities so rigidly proofed igainst the personal growth and newing my sub as you've forgotten :hange that reasonable response all about LEYS and other possibly, nould demand, AT? arguments important mystical paths open to ,$'illmake no headway. The Parker , us, and now appear to be becoming Report on Windscale bears witness. highly mechanical in your outlook. 'Jot a metaphor this, moving to a The new covers are really great! ion energy path may literally ingolve mass psychosis amongst Richard Gayle oday's Establishment. Beginning. i t h ourselves, we'd do well to Here is 1year's subscription. 1 ,Judymotives more. am renewing because (a) I VAT, Very Alternative Technodo not think the magazine is too ogy, matters too. Take dowsing. politically biased (cf. letter from remember well that first hilariR Nicholls in No. 25) and (b) I )us BRAD May morning when, especially liked No.& and Andrew t'ith that Y-shaped wire wrenching Lycett's review of Schumacher's nd twisting in my clenched fist, last book.

CARRY ON A.T.

I don't understand most of the articles, but may d o some day! I think that the "answer*' to emotional plague is meditation, as this chips away at illusion and fantasy.

John Leach Cheers for an excellent magazine, even though it sometimes runs the gauntlet between trendy mysticism and dogmatic socialism (both equally yawn-provoking!) the balance is about right Barry South

18 Wren Avenue Ipswich Suffolk

HELP WANTED Over the last couple of years I've read Undercurrents and have become. to some extent. involved in Radical Technology. I'A currently in my fmal year of a Sociology course at Newcastle University and the problem I hope you may be able to helo me with is findinr some form of employment when I leave next July. The problem with my particular case is that I suffer from a 'bleeding' condition, 'Haemophilia', which prohibits anv form of excessiveiy hard work of a manual nature. This. coupled with the fact that my political views and general temperament make me unwilling to settle for the 'comfortable' clerical work that well-intentioned social workers, etc. prescribe, tends to put me in an awkward position Many of the orthodox channels, y e not suitable not only in the straight*political sense, but also, morre pragmatically, because as soon as they hear the word 'haemophiliac', quite a few doors are instantly closed. I would not be adverse to learning a while in some form of 'light* eneineerine or similar. I will be very grateful of any information you can send me. David Marshall 174 Heaton Park N. Heaton Newcastle on Ty ne.

DEADLY DEVICES I read with interest your article in Undercurrents No. 26 about ELF electric and magnetic fields. In case you haven't noticed it, a magnetic device for causing stress, disorientation. dehydration and death in rodents, a k s etc. is being marketedin the States and will no doubt appear over here soon. It is claimed to have no effect on man?? man??!! References - Farmers Weekly 20.l.78 p.xix David G. Couper Coinahir House Tyrrells ass Co. weftmeath Ireland

POINT COUNTER POINT I read with some amusement Chris Pitt's letter in U/C 26 which criticised (I think) my 'Positive Sabotage' article in U/C 25. Now, I don't want to start a boring tirade or a tedious wordy boxmg match but .-.. . . Basically the article was speculating on the relationship between current struggles of shop steward combine committees (esn. Lucas Aerospace), and prcvious struggles, and looking tor possible parallels. Cole's Guild Socialism seemed to have something to offer - it's alrieht to talk rhetoric about sociallv useful production, but w e do need to have some fuel for the politics of it. There'sjust a few main points I'd like to argue. First, on the level of generality, he talks about 'we, the masses, have the potential to smash the whole stupid system* really, this is crude pseudo-Marxism (by numbers). And, I must admit, I baulk at 'masses'. the term is redolent of some bureaucrat of the 3rd International, Socialism is about people. Second, he doesn't know much about workers in industry, he seems to assume that they're totally controlled by the State/bosses/press etc. Go into any factory and you'll see somebody working on a 'foreigner', a foreigner is a bit of work done on the side, without permission. The idea that 'the system* (which one??) has total control over working people is facile and daily contraverted by facts. Third, he didn't read the article properly, he assumed that I was proposing that groups of workers just get on and make socially useful goods, and he raises the question of payment for these goods. What I actually said was that a short spell of work-ins on socially useful products will provide a little experience of self-determination, and possibly create embarrassments for Government - dress rehearsals if you like. -'ourth, we're not talking about socially useful productiort as an abstract idea, the Lucas stewards, and those at Parsons, Vickers, etc. produced their corporate plans in the face o f redundancy - quite real, I assure you. Finally, to touch on an earlier point, just how do you' mobilize' the masses'? The Lucas type of initiative is actually mobilising support, it presents possible alternlives, it is rooted in rank and file trade unionism. As far as I'm concerned, one well-argued alternative corporate plan from trade unionists is worth more than 100 volumes of rhetoric about 'mobilising the masses*. By the way, I've never owned an opium pipe, and I work full time for the Lucas Aerospace stewards

Mike George

-..-.-. .-.

GAIT<;

North East London Polytechnic Loughbridge Road Daeenham

I-OPS & POLITICAL CHANGE

A CAUTIONARY NOTE

1 have read with interest your art:in U~idercurrt'ntsNo. 27. It is excellent piece of reporting, ;and hink I would cnsorse the critims you make and the lesson-, that 1 be lciirnt froni this e\pericnci. ICOM has been anxious to rcve the problems you isolate, k>r me time, but the re-requisite 01 :ccss is the developnicnl of an "ectivc regioniiliseii policy within : Movement thiit 112s ;i coliesivc atcgy tor the establishment o f iblc common ownerships. The purse o f ICOM rcgiunalisatiiin is l o able groups in a locality to work t l i e r in :I spirit of nlutual sup,rt and be more responsive t o coni o n s in :I sivcn iireii. 'she social, onomic and pohticiil conditions ry tl~roughoulthe country to ch an extent tliat tno ccntratised reaucracy could iichieve this ob:tivr On the other hand there is a ed to niiiintain sironflatwill links tween rerional g r o i i p ~and mainin ;i natiiwiilly co-ordinak'd body cibtain sy~npathctici;overnnient ,<Ipolitical support, organise tile t o f banking. coinmercial 2nd clinical support you rightly s ~ y needed, ;ind develop wutional and ernatiomil fair triiding relationips. You iiiention hlondi-~gonand lint out the unique condition'i ving rise t o tlieir development. lIe ~livisiveness01' higl~ca~>italis~n I pcrviisive :itid in no \\as can 1 Â ¥ ~ -tliat e p the rtlinic solid:irtty of e l3;isqiic is sufficiently evident in i j part of tlic U.K. I-vcn if it were. would LII':II~ that it \\auld be un-

We thought you might be interesAny water-power users in the ted in the state of the art in the farAnglia Water Authority area (or flung colonies. We read recently any other) who is not being hammered for a license, since the Auth- in the N.Z. Listener o f a certain D.17. I arrell. who wanted t o fit oritv. sav correctiv) that use . (ouite . his house with a solar water heater, i i i ' r piiucr d~beinot involved with mains back-up t o reach the \lr.ii.tiim, nu! not he into >u.h .I required temperature. The system . ) i n 1 thini: JI the\ think. Anglu he plans t o use is recommended i a s trouble with water, and is conby the Department of Industrial sidering some fairly hefty punped and Scientific Research and would transfer schemes t o relocate water also comply with the requirements t o where it is needed. This will alof the West Coast Electric Power most certainly mean that some streams and rivers will have reduced' Board. He writes: "I hare been told e r the flow as a result (perhaps reduced t o hy the ~ n ~ i n e e r / M a n a g of Board. . that I will be charged at zero in some cases). If you have n o a vreater rate per unit of electrilicense t o use the water, then you citv if 1 have a solar water heater cannot cliiiin compensation. firied. An all-electric home with If anyone has any ideas o n this predictiment which (hey would like an electric water heater would be charged about half-a-cent per l o pool and exchange, I am willing unit less. The reason I have been to be used as a switchboard. fiven is that a solar water heater Write, with SAE if you want would reduce the demand for reply. please, to: power and thus reduce the board's Steve Tonkin revenue. With any luck, other Power Boards the world over I 0 Devereux Road will soon catch o n to this brilBattersea liant way o f replenishing coffers London SW11 6JS depleted by the construction of tlieir latests Nuclear Plants. (New Zealand liiisn't w n e that far, thank God - yet.)

trkers ex1>loitini: theiiisclves in tiat arc often n~arginillllliirkct coni o n s ; a point you make yourself. ;rh;ips more importantly in the mg run, is tlie fact that a fragmcn;d org;inis;ition would p h y into the iinds o f those established thinkers lio see common owenrsliip 35 an nielior;itory exercise in u hat they elieve tu be a high technology (and encc liigli levels o f uncrnployiiieniJ :onomy. Tlie Industrial Common Owner,ip Movenient does not believe at workers' co-operatives ;ire ;I nacea fur unemployment. On e contrary that is a fundamental onomic problem requiring J uidcr )litieaI initiative. Nor does IC'OM gard itself as the sole agent tor cia1 change in the U.K. We do, w e v , believe that we have an iportant contribution to make t i the Labour Movement and proessivc forces within our society. i e best, and in my view. the only iy that 1COM ciin make its contrit i o n , is by those interested in arkers' controlled common ownerip t o work within and through the overnent and not outside it. I . Smith Olairman dustrial Common Ownership Movenlent Hare Street

WHO'S AFRAID OF AT?

ENERGY FARMING The other day I came across an article I thought iiiight be of interest to you: it is in the Journal of [fie Institute of Wood Science Vol. 7 N o . 4 p . 4 0 N o v 1976 and is entitled TI!? Role of Forests as a Source of Solar E n c r p . It gives costed details,

applied t o Australia, for the production of ethanol as a liquid t'uel/petrot substitute from wood; it concludes that by the year 2000 Australia could be independent of energy imports (wood ethanol would be partially substituted for coal which in turn would be converted to oil). However this would require the developnient ol'Iar:c scale n o o d production and unfortunateiv the nrticle seems t o think that the only economically viable \yay of doing this would be t o have

...

inti.'n\l\~,~;ri.iil:nr,~lj)riiiti:i-'% 11 1 t i ) HU\IIIII(.I. p r i ~ d i i i t uit! I hi.' ~ l i , i l epr.-ie:i I-. wen I, Iii;hl! centralised and equivalent in the long run to the ro~leof present petroleum refinierics. It seons to me a pity t l u l such an approach should be recommended to the Australian Government without any alternative which could lead t o a more humanly rewarding scheme for exploiting this nevi source of energy. What could Undercurreurs (or its contiicts in the Green Ban movei~~eiit in Australia) come u p with? Arnold West Valley 1 arn~liouse Cast Runton Cromer Norfolk

RANDOM RAPID SCRII

Yet another grow-yer-ow hard t o f i n rap in n o 26 eh^ Not that Fve thegardent such a bad job, just that it's well-worn standby. My ex-professional roach-n ing critique the 2 most import things with the herb are good *Â ty seeds and proper drying. I feed seed tends t o be old, g n low germination rate a n d poi ity Best is t o trade with f n e breed a climdtically-adjusted strain, b u t it y o u have t o bu! t o get started, g o for high qu and freshness (Columbian in ular seems t o h e transoorted Â ¥ v e r at ~ i o i i t h s ~MY . preferre my tcihnique is 1 0 L-utthe pi never uproot, or nipilliiry at1 *nd ,>r ilie drying plant's"re will rciurn lluids t o t h e root 'em upside down i n a moist so they dry slowly, stripsem recommends, stuff t h e leave! ly wetted, in several thickne! paper bags, let ' e m mould sli break u p the clumps, repeat, it improves smoothness i properly, 'cuz y o u ain't smol so much plant matter. Insert of mint, fruit, rum, etc. for I flavour, and separate flowers leaves from stems, in order o ency. Gita and Ian Henderson Hemp is a result o f growi Canterbury nabis packed tightly, produc Ne\v Zealand long tall-stalked unleafy ma11 plants Selective breeding in US produced a subvariety t t makes fine rope, horrible do] a wild weed still occupying a GROWING YOUR OWN Kansas. . . whose wind-born, [en invariably crosses with I0 dope, producing a second get Just a few words t o add t o Eve's tion that's q u i t e inferior. If t Grow Your Own article (Undershould legalize it and go into currents 261. First, bird seed is boiled which makes it about 80% ins canvas a n d fibre, the d o p sterile; you may be lucky with your have grief. . . Kansas etc. is 1 packet but its worth saving the seed homegrown got it's bad rep, as the next packet could be sterile. good farmers import new see yearly. Second, birdy grass is crown for fibre content (budgie all-bran!) so it may not be as good as other c / o T h e Back Bar varieties. The Crown For indoor growing, try the Clerkenwell Green following: select large seeds and place them between blottine paper We 're received a numbe in :i tray: add enough water to cover letters asking where fertile and put in a dark place until the can be got, bur sad t o say i, seeds have sprouted about '/2" know of any oldfasliioned (say a week). Put about 1" of gravel shops selling hemp seed IQC in a plant pot; fill with a nii\ture of iv/iic/i is the traditional sou soil and fertiliser ( t o o much fertilcan anyone help? The both iser will burn the plants) and translremp sold for fish bait is c< plant the shoots. Put the pots in 11, nor ferrile. The black 1m your attic or garage. If you want price of untreated seed is a fja hundred in London, b t o keep down the stalk size withthere is r e p little to be ha1 out sacrificing foliage gro\v under blue liplit for the first thirty days. Guess we'll/tist hare t o stii keeping the light o n for about 1 7 mushrooms after all. hours a day. The lights should be about 14" above the top of the PHENOMENA plants and a temperature at plant It must b e a dull person level must be kept belon 100": able like Nicholas Walter t o if it goes above cut d o u n the amount of light. the enormity of phenomeni triguing. I would remind thi After 30 days change to red Eight. Then reduce the lighting alist' letter writer ( U n d e r c i ~ ~ period t o 1 0 hours over two weeks 27) - who probably has n o and leave at this until they flower. read the book Phenomena t Harvest, dry (20 mins in a very low ply dangerously reacted t o 1 oven), etc. Have fun, view - that the diverse mat' uiiermeshes aldrnimgh and Nick Kropotkin maybe scares off the averag tist (who prefers comQartm

LETTERS 3 ism, specialisation, and t o whom the term interdisciplinary studies is anathema) and that the central point of the book is that it documents repeating phenomena. Science prides itself o n being designed t o study that which is repeatable, but shamefully ignores such events as the frequent showers of frogs as they choose not to fall t o the whims of laboratory conditions. Paul Screeton

NEO-FEUDAL BLISS 'Capitalism without technical progress would be more likely t o turn into neo-feudalism '. (Godfrey Boyle, The Right of Reply, Undercurrents 271. Oh yeah? How is this miracle of reaction t o be achieved? The Normans imposed the feudal system on the English and betrayed by their rulers: even so it took five years, the North Country was laid waste from the Humber to the Tweed and one in five o f the population were killed or starved to death. 'Radical social change' with a vengeance. Imagine telling the workers: Weigh ho, it's back to the land we go, me 10 m y castle and you t o y o u r hovel. A n d don't forget to leave y o u r daughters behind'. 300 years of liberal democracy, 200 of industrialism, 1 5 0 of struggle by the Labour movement, a literate and skilled working class, would all this count for nothing? History may repeat itself but it doesn't go backwards. This is no more than bogey talk masquerading as political analysis. Further criticism of this conceptual confusion would amount to cruelty t o Radical Technologists, already an endangered species. However it is perhaps worth pointing out that the idea that technical progress is the raison d'etre of capitalism and that without it it would turn into producer co-ops is not mine but comes from The Accumulation of Capital by Joan Robinson, an impeccably socialist economist. Following Keynes (Treatise on Money V o l 2 ) , she terms the stagnation of investment that must result from the end of technical progress a state of 'economic bliss': 'All labour is then employed o n producing consumption goods a n d maintaining capital, wages absorb the whole net product of industry, a n d the rate of profit is zero . . . Consump. tion is a t the maximum level which can be permanently main-

Please k e e p y o u r letters s h o r t . T h o s e longer t h a n 300 w o r d s m a y be c u t .

tai~zedin the given technical conditions'. Why would this favour co-ops? It is the constant pressure of the leapfrog of technique, making equipment uncompetitive before it is worn out. that bankrupts weak firms in a competitive market; take away this pressure and the competitive struggle disappears: the task of the entrepreneur becomes mere bookkeeping and stocktaking. Any group of workers could band together t o hire equipment and finance t o set up in business without the risk of being ruined overnight by competition from newer techniques. Meanwhile back in the Real World, technical progress is accelerating and threatens to leave the Radical Technologists far behind if they are not careful. Like Garret & Wright (Micro is Beautiful; Undercurrents 271, I believe that we should assert the liberatory potential of the new techniques rather than harp constantly o n their dangers. On the recent Horizon programme The Chips Are Down, Mike Cooley proposed that the State should intervene t o protect jobs by preventing the introduction of new microcomputer based techniques. Do we really think this is desirable or even possible? What the workers of England need is protection from foreign manufacturers, and no doubt they will get it when all .else has failed, the oil is all gone and five million are on the dole i . c . c. 1995 according tu the forecasts of the dissidentCambridge Economic Policy Group). This will be a mere hundred years after it was first proposed by that great Tory radical Joe Chamberlain. But State-sponsored Luddism is a ludicrous and reactionary idea; Britain is not (yet) a Third World country short of everything except labour power and desperate for ways to keep its people busy. What do the Radical Technologists think about Cooley's coolies? Finally, a word about my 'jibe' that Control of Technology showed a 'nco-Marxist bias': this was not intended as an insult; it seems a perfectly honourable label t o apply to two editors of a radical magazine, even if it is inappropriate. However, if they don't like it I withdraw the 'slur' unreservedly.

Our Galaxy is moving South

.- - .- - - - - -

I1;)

Ecliptic approx. perpendicular t o sun's travel.

Comet north o f ecliptic. This varies with comets.

As our galaxy moves south, the attraction of t h e Sun isdisplaced northwards. This displacement is proportional with distance, 1 part in 1 0 0 if t h e southward speed of t h e Sun is 3,000 krnlsec and attraction propogates a t 300,000 krn/sec.

Because of inertia, comets correct their path with delay and elasticity. Perihelion takes place only north of t h e plane perpendicular t o t h e Sun's travel, more so,o n t h e whole, when orbits are longer (and can then be hyperbolic). Other proofs: R Godart, Georges-Henri 54, 1200 Brussells, Belgium.

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Radical Tec nology by G o d f r e y B o y l e , Peter H a r p e r & Undercurrents; 304pp. A 4 i l l u s t r a t e d ; Â£4.2 i n c l u d i n g p & p . All o r d e r s Bulk o r d e r d i s c o u n t f o r 10 o r m o r e copies: Â£3.70 'For people w h o s t i l l t h i n k a b o u t t h e f u t u r e in t e r m s o f mega-machines a n d a l l - p o w e r f u l bureaucracies, R a d i c a l T e c h n o l o will b e a n eye-opener. T h e r e i s a n alternative. R a d i c a l T e c h n o l o g y o f f e r s a fresh w a y t o t h i n k a b o u t t o m o r r o w . ' Alv

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best b o o k o n small-scale m e t h a n e p l a n t s y e t w r i t t e n . A s the result o f a n arrange This i s g e n e r a l l y a c k n o t o U n d e r c u r r e n h readers a t t h i s special p r i c e . C o n t e n t s i n c l u d e s B u i l d i n g a ment w i t h t h e vertical d r u m digester; a t o p - l o a d e r digester; a full-scale digester; s c u m a c c u m u l a t i o n , gas holders, b i cl o g y o f d i g e s t i o n ; raw materials; use o f gas a n d sludge; safety p r e c a u t i o n ; glossary a n d b i b l i o g r a p h y . A n y o n e interestedI i n t h e c o n v e r s i o n o f organic waste into; clean, u s e f u l f u e l w i l l f i n d Pracr~calMethane i n v a l u a b l e Â

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We l i k e t o t h i n k t h a t U n d e r c u r r e n t s is n o t so m u c h a p e r i o d i c a l as a g r o w i n g c o l l e c t i o n o f u s e f u l i n f o r m a t i o n , m o s t o f w h i c h retains i t s value l o n g a f t e r p u b l i c a t i o n . T h e f o l l o w i n g back-issues are s t i l l available a t 5 0 p f o r o n e c o p y a n d 2 5 p f o r each e x t r a c o .p y. , a n d there's a f o r m a t t h e b o t t o m o f page 48 f o r o r d e r i n g . Undercurrents 8 Undercurrents 18 Intermediate Technology Issue COMTEKlNational A T CentreIOrganic GardcningIFree I T & the Third World/Chinese Science/IT & Second Class Capitall Earth/Windmill Theory/Hermeticism Supennacker Cartoon/Leyhunting the Linear Dream Undecunents 9 Specid Nuclear Power Issue D1Y A-Bomb Dcsign/Kiddies Guide t o Nuclear PowerIEnergy Analysis/ Uranium SupplyfSolar Collectors/Nature et ProgresIGrow Your O w n Vegetables w i t h Resurgence ~ndercurrents1 0 Joint IMUC DLY Solar Collector DesignISward Gardening/Anaichist CitiesIFuture of AT/Land for the People/General Systems Theory/Alternative Culture: Ptrt 1 Undercuirents 12 L u a s Aerospace/Biofeedback/Community Techn Alternative Medicinelwind Power Part 2/Alternative Culture. Part 3 Undercurrents 13 Diggers/Energy & Food Production/Industry, the Community & AT/ Alternative England & Wdles Supplement/Planning/John F r y o n MethaneIAlternative Culture P a r t 4 Undercurrents 14 Jack M u n d e y I A T Round the World/Building With Natural Energy/ nsulatlon D I Y Insulation/AT i n India/Brachi o n B R A D I A T & Industry Conference Report Undercurrents 15 ' w h o Needs Nukes?' Isme Insulation vs. Nuclear Power/Towards a Non-nuclear F u t u r e I A T & Job Creation/Production for Need/Biodynamic GardeningIRadical Techoology/Invertor Design Undercurrents 16 Special Habitat Issue Garden Villages/Wood F o o d GuideIDlY New TownslSelf-sufficien: Solar Terraces/Lifespan/By-passingthe Planners/Ciluens' Band Undercurrents 17 Inner Technology Issue Photography/Chris^ Computer Ley Hunt/Dowse-It-Yourself/Kulian lophtr Wren's Beehive/Saving Your O w n Seed/Women & A T /

Undercurrents 19 Health Issue Limits to Medicine 1 Politics 01 Sell Help / Babes in the h a r d 1 Guide to Alternative Medicine / Findhorn 1 National Centre for A T Undercurrents 20 F i f t h Anruversaiy Issue Tony Benn on the Diggers / 1 arming 'chemicals or organic" / Mike Cooley 1 David Dickson / CTT interview 1 Solar Fnergy Report / Paper Making / Broadcasting 1 Canals Undercurrents 21 The I ascibf C(~unterculturc/ Moiorway Madness / Nuclear Policy / Orgone I nccgy 1 1 ree Broadcasting / d o o d Squdt Guide 1 I r o n Age I arming 1 Laurteston Gardening / Print / Sailing Ships Undercurrents 22 Paranoia power / Windscale background 1 Croftinc / Food Co-ups 1 Stonchenge / Fischkrieg / Primal therapy / Free radio / Methane / F n h [arming / Socialist Environment & Resources Association Undercurrents 23 Seabrook demo / Nuclear power & Trade Unions / Herman Kahn / D I Y Woodstove / Charles F o r t / Solar collector desifin / A small-scale transmitter / Citizens' Band / Paranoia &Conspiracy Undercurrents 24

Eavesdroppers/DIY/AlternativeEnergyICheese & Cider/Compost & Communism/Forestry/Magic Mushrooms/Planning Undercurrents 25, Emotional Plague/Compost & Communism/Water Power/Antur Aelhaern/Findhorn/Oz Community Radio/Saving It/Green Cars Undercurrents 26 A.T. Days that shook Portugal/Growing dope at home/Croi'ting i n the Orkneys/Community Ham radio/Repairing a boat/New Axe Access/ Lucas protuty&es/Extra-low frequency paranoia/Russian weaponry

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