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Had a ontopic post removed twise from a campaining facebook group I used to be an admin for.

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XR is not London Boaters related directly. You’ll have to provide context suitable to London Boaters for your posts. Complaints about moderation mean that future posts will have to be approved by moderators for the next month.
Group rules violated
1Don’t be a dick
No description needed … if an admin says “stop being a dick” they are looking at the ban hammer.

“Off topic posts are deleted. Political posts, campaigns (except HS2 / Kill The Bill & traveller rights,) memes, pets lost from locations away from the waterways, news and petitions not directly related to boats or boaters or London canals and rivers will also be deleted. Fly-tipping and bin-porn posts will be locked before they descend into a bin fire. Towpath tidy/litter picking posts will be celebrated – be the change you wish to see.

As this London boaters specific post was removed by admins. Can I ask when this rule was added, and where was the community outreach on for this thanks. As I was an admin on this page for meany years, and this is not a native thing to do.
In London, we need to talk about what works and what does not work to save our practical lifestyle.

We generally agree that [#CRT]is [#notfitforpurpose], and we want to do something about this https://www.bargee-traveller.org.uk/march-on-crts…/ A good reaction post to this “Think this is great, but wouldn’t it be better to do it when the office is actually open?” its the normal A to B march problem and the subject of the #XR big one demo video I made about this here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bQTmYTcCMQ what the #NBTA is doing is not unworthy, but it’s not going to actually change us losing this one. To do that, you would need something more affective. The spiky/fluffy debate in the video above.

Question to London boaters, what can we do to make the change that is needed at #CRT


Thinking about A to B marches as activism, does it work https://www.urban75.net/forums/threads/yet-another-a-to-b-march.165573/


Aditya Chakrabortty: ‘“Common sense” creates the folklore of the future, that is a more or less rigidified phase of a certain time and place.’
Gramsci

Our “common sense” is not our social friend after 40 years of worshipping the #deathcult

 

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NBTA Its the normal A to B march problem

We generally agree that #CRT is #notfitforpurpose, and we want to do something about this https://www.bargee-traveller.org.uk/march-on-crts-offices-stop-the-surcharge/ A good reaction post to this “Think this is great, but wouldn’t it be better to do it when the office is actually open?”

Its the normal A to B march problem and the subject of the XR big one demo video I made about this here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bQTmYTcCMQ

What the #NBTA is doing is not unworthy, but it’s not going to actually change us losing this one. To do that, you would need something more affective. The spiky/fluffy debate in the video.

b

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CRT are not fit for purpose

A. Not a esey ansear: we should break #CRT this is relatively easy as their next state funding round is coming up. This does create chaos, but it also stops the push for privatisation of the London waterways. As replacement of CRT is a government decision the is little point in pushing real change. Scary path #CRTnotfitforpurpose

Q. are C&RT really trying to privatize the London waterways? How are they going about that?

A. They have anounced that the central eco moorings are going to become pay moorings and then roll out more eco moorings. The “safety zones” are going ahead. We are now in a 3 steps forward 2 steps back slow loss of our a
14 day moorings in London.

Q. do you know who gets the money for the pay moorings?

A. #CRT were set up in a way that they would have to pay there own way with out government subsidies. Of course they being #notfutforpurpose they have failed in this after selling off lots of canal side land and buildings. The are asking for more government money in the next year or so.

Q. part of the problem C&RT faces is that the combined income from moorings and licences only covers about a quarter of its maintenance costs. Selling off property helps plug the gap in the short term. Sooner or later some tough financial decisions are going to have to be made.

A. The obvious way #CRT can help “pay there way” is by privatisation of all London moorings, the is domand for static boats. Keep 7,3 and one day “visitors moorings” to keep the outa town boaters happy. This is the outcome already in the waterways of Northern Europe, just came back from a 13 country boating expedition over 5 years. They have a model to Follow.

Q Surely breaking CRT gives the government an even easier opportunity to directly privatise the whole lot though (as one or piecemeal)? If the charitable trust they set up fails to successfully to replace the failed government body and they have to choose a replacement, privatisation might look like the next thing to try (especially given recent government inclinations).

A. The government does not have the focus to deal with such a small issue. So braking #CRT that is forcing their current management to resign by blocking their funding #CRTnotfitforpurpose would leave the waterways with broken management… Kinda like we have now, just with less effective attacking of CC boaters in London.

It’s not a easey path to take. But if people won’t to keep scruffy CC boating inside the M25 then this is likely no other option.

Q I think you are right that chargeable moorings will become more and more common. But C&RT doesn’t seem to enforce its mooring charges for people who overstay at the moment so I’m not sure how that will work. I suppose they could contract the collection of mooring fees out to a private company, as happens now on parts of the Thames.

A.With the safety moorings defeat they have realised they need to play the long game. 3 steps forward 2 steps back, they lose each time but they just keep steping forward.. looking like they have a non dickhead doing strategy, This is a very hard thing to campaign about for groups like #NBTA as every time they “win” they still LOSE… It’s demoralising…

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Looking and learning – life on the water on a scruffy boat

What did I learn from my 3-months back in London, cruising the waterways?

#CRT have learned from their failures in the past and the long history of British Waterways. They are going slow, 3 steps forwarded 2 steps back in their removal of “nuisance” boaters.

A strategy that #NBTA has no solution to “slow change” that is immune to classical campaigning. The old #LondonBoaters which came from the direct action #RTS days could have challenged this, but it has long since moved with the shift in culture to #NGO friendly #failbook agenda to put a friendly face on this change.

We live in the time of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quisling and yes this is an unpleasant apt metaphor, for anyone who is not fighting hard and dirty for our boater life in London.

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Fear and loathing on the river lea is killing rare flowers and plants.

The issue on LondonBoaters #failbook sparked this post off.

The root of the problem comes from the institutions that have duty of care in each case. #CRT and #leavalley are not providing bins for the increasing numbers and diversity of boaters to dispose of their waste.

A new generation of people are moving onto “smart” boats as a first step to buying a flat on land, this is leading to much bigger boats that are badly fitted out for CC life due to excess energy usage in terms of electricity and soiled fuel stoves.

A underclass of boaters is moving onto scruffy boats as a “last step” to the London housing crises, this is leading to an increase anti-social behaver due to alcohol and drug use as coping mechanisms for social exclusion.

Both of these groups are externalizing the ecological/social footprint onto the towpath and surrounding land near the canal. This is coursing a building ecological and social impact that need mediating from all sides. This mediation in the end needs to build the resources, traditions and social cohesion for a better outcome.

Instead, we have all of these groups externalizing their bad behaver by scapegoating the others. We have blocking of mediation that can only escalate the problem. The ending is strongly pushing the privatization of the spaces and the removing of the majority of the boaters, taking commons and making them “pay” is the strong world view pushed as a “solution” to the failing of the organization’s duty of “care” to provide proper waste disposal in the first place.

Working on this problem in the LondonBoaters #failbook group

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Impressions of boating life in London after being back on the lea for a month

A. Getting across the channel was an adventure https://youtu.be/gHpyuw8evBM

Now am starting to get impotently angry with the London boating community as it’s just not here any more and the boats are all full of fearfull hipsters. Kinda expected this but still kinda annoying. Way to meany “boaters” doing crap mooring and leaving piles of trash everywhere…

I left on my boat to get away from it 5 years ago, I arrive back to find it everywhere. Not surprising but kinda hard.

Q. I’m not familiar with the boating world, but my guess would be that as houses become impossible to buy and almost impossible to rent – especially in places like London – more people may be trying to live on the water instead. Free from a landlord.

A. yes the aspiring classes were sold this in meany #mainstreaming articals over the last 5 years. BUT living on a boat is NOT living in a flat… You need a community to be a part of to live on a boat with out this, non boaty people end up miserable poring money down the drain and then sinking when the boat is left empty after a few months of winter.

Its been like this the last few years, xmus is the time of huge run of boat breakins, Both the boats behind me are empty, one of the boats In front has a non comungative hipster types the other is empty. Likely 2/3 of the boats I have moored up next too the last month have been empty. Meany of the rest have fresh faced or scared hipsters.

London boating has not only lost its community, swompted and pushed out of town, but it’s now a slow train reck of abondond to decay dreams.

On a positive side the “policeman” of the waterways #CRT are incompetent, this slows their neo-liberalism based privisation of the remaining inland commons. And the is a relatively affective grassroot’ish counter force in #NBTA who “react” to slow/mediate the privatisation.

BUT this slowing might not survive the inrush of non boaty types who won’t cheap flats on water and happy go with the #CRT agenda as then they can pay to keep their boats static to get the relatively cheap flats on water they desire.

CRT will continue pushing out vagabond boaters by selling off the mooring spots and closeing stretches of canal by development. More “common sense” restrictions are on the way, the community to push back is scattering and srinking.

The #deathcult is killing one more of our few remaining commons.