SPREADING THE WORD ???

On occasion, a newspaper article or letter prompts a response from me. Immediately prior to the 2005 G.8 Summit, "Metro" featured in its "60 Second Interview" one, Norrie MacQueen, Head of Politics at Dundee University - "a published expert on international peacekeeping" and "noted for his writings on African politics".This latter interest stemmed from his days as a radical student, when, "realising that revolution wasn't going to happen in the 'First World'", he perceived that,"Africa seemed to offer a blank sheet that a genuine socialist future could be written on".(!!)
Identifying, correctly, the G.8 as a "self-selecting elite", he nonetheless hoped that despite previous rhetoric,they would this time somehow arrange and honour an agreement of sorts, however flawed this might prove to be! His dearest wish for Africa was for an "international agency to be established to manage its resource relations and ensure fairer distribution of its wealth". He conceded, however, that multitudinous vested interests rendered this impossible!
Ever the cock-eyed optimist, I posted off a copy of our "Africa" booklet, the current "Socialist Standard" plus other assorted leaflets and duly received a courteous acknowledgement that he was looking forward to reading it all. In a frenzy of excitement therefore I awaited his profound responses------and awaited------and awaited------.
Clearly, the learned professor hadn't a clue what the word "socialism" meant, but if he did actually read our material, would rapidly have found out. Why then the failure to engage and why the advocation of strategies that, by his own admission, were doomed from the outset?
Is this guy simply one more of those dinosaurs we all encounter, impervious to reason, seemingly hard-wired to trudging the dreary old leftist/ reformist highway that (genuine) socialists for the past century have pointed out leads nowhere? Or, is he cute enough to know that the nice little career he has carved out for himself depends upon the perpetuation of the GREAT DEBATE? The last thing the GREAT DEBATE needs is the GREAT SOLUTION - which is of course the universal replacement of Capitalism with Socialism.It is an obscenity that human beings across this planet, including the highly-developed "First World", die annually in their millions for want of food, medication, sanitation, etc. etc. Production solely for need; not profit can end this at a stroke. And you don't have to be a sodding academic to work that out!
Andy Armitage.