Best of all is serious work in local communities... Don't you just love this injunction? It's common on leftie websites; a phrase (with a few variations) that says everything yet means nothing. As if we were doing silly work up until that point, reeling about in clown outfits going honk-honk or somesuch.
Getting down to some serious/hard work/graft in the (local) community is usually contrasted to high-profile campaigning of various sorts (maybe even involving students - boo! boo!). When it comes down to it serious work can only mean doorknocking about local issues, bin-collections, pest control, meals on wheels, etc, the stuff of local government.
Back in the day it may have been possible to change the world, or at least believe you can change the world, though local government. The recent history of local government, from the abolition of rates up to the Chancellor George Osborne's recent council tax freeze, the role of local goverment has diminished to all but a rubber stamp... and then there's Barnet Council, a mere kitemark on a bundle of services.
What is left of getting down to serious work, other than a rhetorical flourish on Socialist Unity?
