who owns north pole - part 27- now Germany joins in

As the Arctic ice melts, Germany wants to make sure its scientists gain unfettered access to the region. They have been hindered by the Russians, and other Arctic nations have been hesitant to cooperate. But Berlin also has its eyes on the bigger North Pole booty: natural resources and sea routes.

What happens in the Arctic in the coming years and decades is everyone's business. The Far North has a decisive impact on the climate of the entire planet. Temperatures in the region are rising at higher rates than elsewhere in the world, which affects people and the environment far away from the Arctic. The German scientists' data are urgently necessary to understand these changes.
"This is why we need access to allow our scientists to move about and work throughout the entire Arctic," says polar scientist Lochte. She is now getting prominent support for her demand. German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, a member of the pro-business Free Democratic Party (FDP), is hosting an international conference on the Arctic in Berlin on Thursday, where the key topic will be future polar research.

However, unfettered access for scientists isn't the only interest Germany is pursuing in the Arctic. From fish to natural resources to shipping routes, the region is of great interest for Germany, according to officials at the Foreign Ministry. The diplomats are worried that the five countries bordering the Arctic -- Russia, Canada, the United States, Norway and Denmark -- plan to divide up the previously ice-covered ocean among themselves. They argue that there is a risk that the Arctic could be completely nationalized when the sea ice melts, providing access to the sea floor. Germany argue, however, that Germany and other countries should also be given a say in what happens in the region. Natural resources that will become much more accessible when the Arctic ice melts are of critical importance for a high-tech country. A similar argument holds true for the possibility of transporting German goods to Asia through the Northwest Passage and the Northern Sea Route off the Russian coast. Germany wants the five countries bordering the Arctic to recognize that other countries have an interest in using the Arctic. For this reason, a representative of China, which pursues interests similar to Germany's, was also invited to the Berlin conference.

COMIC BOOK CAPITALISM

Capitalism is an insane society that values things much more than human beings. The following news item should be read with the knowledge that millions of people are trying to exist on the equivalent of $1.25 a day. "A comic collector has been caught in Spider-Man's web, paying $1.1 million for a near-mint copy of "Amazing Fantasy" No. 15 that features the wall-crawler's debut. The issue, first published in 1962, was sold Monday by a private seller to a private buyer, ComicConnect.com chief executive Stephen Fishler told The Associated Press on Tuesday. It's not the highest price ever paid for a comic book, an honor that goes to "Action Comics" No. 1 with Superman on the cover, which went for $1.5 million." (Yahoo News, 9 March) RD

THE CLASS DIVIDE

In a recent issue of the Guardian newspaper there was an an inserted leaflet from the charity WaterAid. It was appealing for 52 million pounds in a campaign to change the lives of 884 million people who still lack clean water and the 2.6 billion who have nowhere safe to go to the toilet. According to the leaflet "It's a fact that around 4,000 children die every day from diarrhea because they lack clean water and sanitation." If 52 million pounds seems like a lot of money it should be noted in that same paper there was an  article that reported the sale of super luxurious  flats in London. "The property tycoons behind London's most lavish residential development are £62 million better off after fresh details emerged of sales at One Hyde Park. The Candy brothers, Nick and Christian, and their backers have pocketed the sum after selling one sixth floor property for £22m, and one on the second floor for £21.6m .... A penthouse flat in the development is understood to have been sold for £135m, but Land Registry documents have yet to be filed." (Guardian, 16 March) RD

CHANGED DAYS

From time to time we see political parties and religious groups change their tactics to suit changing times but this takes a bit of beating for a turnabout. "Cardinal Keith O'Brien today launches an attack on Foreign Secretary William Hague following the announcement that the UK plans to double overseas aid to Pakistan to more than £445 million. Cardinal O'Brien, the Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh, says the aid package should be conditional on a commitment to religious freedom and a pledge to protect Christians and other religious minorities." (Herald, 15 March) The Roman Catholic Church wanting to protect religious minorities? Could this be the same church that threatened Galileo with the Inquisition, that sponsored the slaughter of the Crusades and persecuted and burnt any that did not bend the knee to Rome? Of course in those days they were all-powerful but in those areas where they are a threatened minority they have found it convenient to champion the rights of religious minorities. Changed days indeed. RD

HYPOCRICY AND TORTURE

The UK and US governments are fond of claiming that they have strict moral rules against the use of torture in dealing with enemies. Recent disclosures from a high ranking ally seems to cast doubt on that claim however."Former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has cast doubt on Britain's public stance that countries should not torture British citizens on its behalf. He said he was never told that was the policy and this may have been "tacit approval of whatever we were doing". His comments raise questions about how much MI5 knew about torture being used in the fight against al-Qaeda." (BBC News, 14 March) The truth is that in the struggle for markets and the sources of raw materials countries go to war and there has never been a war yet that was fought in a decent or moral fashion. RD

LAND OF THE FREE?

American politicians are fond of boasting about the "land of the free" and contrasting the freedoms of people in the USA with that of other countries, but recent developments in the state senate in Ohio seem more dictatorial than democratic. "Ohio joined Wisconsin on Wednesday in advancing a plan to restrict public sector unions, posing a new threat to U.S. labor union power in one of the most politically and economically important states. The Republican-controlled Ohio state senate approved a proposal to curb the collective bargaining rights of public employees and forbid government workers from going on strike." (Reuters, 2 March) RD

HARD TIMES - FOR SOME

We are told ever day by the mass media that we are living in hard times and that we must be prepared to tighten our belts. Longer working lives, lower pensions and the threat of growing unemployment are the prospects for the working class. This period of "economic reality" does not affect the owning class of course."Carlos Slim gets even richer as he beats Bill Gates to the top of the 2011 Forbes billionaires list. Carlos Slim, the world's wealthiest man, saw his fortune jump $20.5bn last year as he beat a record 1,209 rival billionaires, including Bill Gates, Warren Buffett and British resident Lakshmi Mittal, to the top of the Forbes global rich list." (Daily Telegraph, 10 March) In case you imagine that this only applies to Mexican, American or Indian billionaires Forbes informs us that the Duke of Westminster managed to increase his stack to $13 billion last year. RD

Karl's Quote

Before capitalism could get going, it was in need of money capital to finance its operation. Primitive accumulation began with the age of exploration and continued through the mercantile period to provide the necessary capital. Marx comments, "The capitalist mode of production – since its basis is wage labour, and therefore also the payment of the worker in money and the general transformation of services in kind into money payments – can develop on a large scale and penetrate deeply only when there is a quantity of money in the country in question for circulation and for the hoard formation (reserve fund etc.) conditioned by this circulation, This is a historical precondition, even if the situation should not be conceived in such a way that a sufficient hoard has first to be formed before capitalism production can begin. The latter rather develops simultaneously with the development of its preconditions, and one of these preconditions is a sufficient supply of precious metals. Hence the increased supply of precious metals from the sixteenth century onwards was a decisive moment in the historical of capitalist production. In so far as we are dealing with the further supply of money material needed on the basis of the capitalist mode of production, we can say that on the one hand surplus-value is cast into circulation in the product without the money for its conversion, while on the other hand surplus-value in gold is cast into circulation without its previous transformation from product into money."
(Capital, Vol. II, p418 Penguin Classics edition)

Food for Thought

An example of the federal Tory's governing Orwellian style, Human Resources Minister, Diane Finlay, recently replied to critics of her government's decision to scrap a national daycare program that the former government was ready to establish. She described the program as forcing parents to hand their child-rearing duties over to 'other people'. Who
they can hand them to without it being 'other people' is beyond most people's comprehension, and what they will be expected do when the child gets to school age when they are handed over to teachers is not yet clear! John Ayers

Reading Notes

Letter to The Toronto Star (12/Feb/2011)

 "Behold democracy in Canada, a nation where a government rejected by two-thirds of the voters, continually lies to us and withholds information from us as it serves the interests of those who finance and control it. It spends millions of our tax dollars on self-promotion and misinformation and billions more in the service of its masters. It views democratic principles as obstacles to the goals of its hidden agenda, it undermines the sources of truth by withholding access to it, dismantling the census and promoting broadcast journalism that is nothing more than a propaganda machine designed to cloud our minds while serving the rich and powerful. And then it assures us of its commitment to transparency, accountability, and democracy."
The function of the educational system
 "It (the school) was a Victorian building with pointed windows like a church. It had been built by the Fitzherbert family, as the headmaster never tired of reminding the pupils. The earl still appointed the teachers and decided the curriculum. On the walls were paintings of heroic military victories, and the greatness of Britain was a constant theme. In the scripture lesson with which every day began, strict Anglican doctrines were taught…There was a
school management committee, of which dad was a member, but it had no power except to advise. Dad said the earl treated the school as his personal possession." ("The Fall of Giants" by Ken Follett, p11).

For socialism, John. Ayers

THE GANJA OF THE PEOPLE

Away back in the 19th Century Karl Marx once stated "Religion is the opium of the people", but we wonder how he would have responded to this 21st Century news item. "The sale of marijuana has been banned by authorities in Nepal during a popular Hindu festival at which holy men traditionally smoke the drug. About 500,000 people and thousands of holy men travelled to the Pashupatinath temple in Katmandu for the festival, which marks the end of winter. ... Police stopped people from dealing but  did not prevent the holy men from smoking the drug." (Times, 4 March) Perhaps the Christian holy men should take a leaf out of the Hindu's book, it might help their falling church attendance figures. RD

CLASS DIVISION IN iNDIA

A visit to an Indian city such as Calcutta would convince the visitor that it is a country of extreme poverty and qualifies as what the press call a "third world country". You can see homeless families eeking out an existence living on the streets but that is only part of the story. "In a wedding estimated to have cost Kanwar Singh Tanwar, the groom's father and a member of Parliament, £15 million, about 30,000 guests ate 100 different dishes and the couple's main gift was a seven seater helicopter. (Times, 4 March) For a tiny minority of Indians a life of undreamt affluence is the norm in this "third world" country. RD

Food for Thought

Our federal government is pushing the ever popular 'tough on crime' program to protect us from the bad guys. Senator Hugh Segal in the Toronto Star (20/Feb/2011) reveals just who the government is after. Almost 100% live beneath the poverty line; aboriginals, just 4% of the population make up 20% of the prison population; more than 70% did not complete high school; 80% arrive in prison with serious substance abuse problems; 70% have unstable job histories .In other words, the economically marginalized people of society. Segal advocates getting tough on poverty but, of course, is unable to discover the cause of poverty, like so many other people and governments.
But wait! A solution has just arrived. The dean of the Rotman School of Management at Toronto University has commented on the latest figures showing that Canadian workers are low on the productivity scale. If we can match the high producers such as Luxembourg and Norway, we can expect our mortgages to be paid off and have enhanced social programs such as a national day care program, and, presumably, be in a position to eliminate poverty. He was unable to explain, however, why workers in those above mentioned countries still have mortgages and social programs just like ours, or why, in the last 50 years and longer we have increased our productivity many times over and we still have every government chipping away at our services and the banks are still giving out mortgages to workers. John Ayers

Food for Thought

The parliamentary bill to send generic drugs to Africa is still in the works - after eight years! The fact that the original proposer has left parliament, amendments to the bill, and the government's reluctance, have all conspired to make its passage longer and less sure. How many people have died since Canada trumpeted to the world its intention to provide cheap drugs. It was Liberal government in power then!
 On the environmental front, it has been revealed (Toronto Star, 19&26/Feb/2011) that Ontario Hydro sprayed enough agent orange, the deadly chemical, to cut a 30 metre swath four fifths around the world. There was no regard to streams, soils or the mostly student workers who did the job. It continued until 1979 and, not surprisingly, is turning up a lot of people involved with a variety of diseases. John Ayers

Food for Thought

In the 'futility of reform' category, The Toronto Star reported (12/2/2011) that the provincial government, which has continually stated that it will reduce poverty (25% reduction in five years) froze minimum wages at$10.25. Premier Mcguinty commented that Ontario's minimum wage is the highest in the country (except for the territory of Nunavut, to be correct) and that freezing it would help employers to recover from the economic meltdown. To add insult to injury, the provincial government also brought in new rules to make it harder for welfare recipients to access funding for food. This, of course, will affect the already meager diets of their children – nice guys. Strange when minimum wage earners must sacrifice to help the economy after billions of dollars were given to the auto industry!
John Ayers

Reading Notes

A few observations by Jared Diamond in "Guns, Germs, and Steel – The Fates of Human Societies"
"The remaining way for kleptocrats (Diamond's excellent term for societies where the surplus value is stolen!) to gain public support is to construct an ideology or religious justification for kleptocracy. Bands and tribes already had supernatural beliefs…but the supernatural beliefs of bands and tribes did not serve to justify central authority, justify transfer of wealth…When supernatural beliefs gained those functions and became institutionalized, they were thereby transformed into what we term a religion." On the advantages of states over tribes,
" Second, the official religions and patriotic fervour of many states making their troops willing to fight suicidally. The latter willingness is one so strongly inured into us citizens of modern states, by our schools and churches and governments that we forget what a radical break it marks with previous human history.
Every state has its slogan urging its citizens to be prepared to die if, necessary for the state: Britain's "For King and Country", Spain's "Por Dios y Espana" and so on.
" Many Eurasian states and empires had official religions that contributed to state cohesion, being invoked to legitimize the political leadership and to sanction wars against other peoples."

For socialism, John Ayers

Karl’s Quotes

The worker advances his labour to the capitalist; the capitalist does not advance money. Marx says, " It should be noted here that the capitalist 'advances' the capital laid out on wages, to use the mode of speech peculiar to political economy, for different periods, according to whether he pays wages, by the week, by the month, or every three months. In point of fact, the opposite happens. The worker advances the capitalist his labour for a week, a month, or every three months, according to the intervals at which he is paid. If the capitalist did actually buy labour, instead of simply paying for it later, i.e. if he paid the worker for the day, week, month, or three months in advance, then we could speak of an advance for these periods. But since he pays only after the labour has lasted for days, weeks, or months, instead of buying it and paying for the time it is to last, the whole thing is a capitalist quid pro quo, and the advance that the worker makes to the capitalist in the form of labour is transformed into an advance that the capitalist makes to the worker in money." (Capital, part II, p.295, Penguin Classics edition). Another reason capitalism owes its continued existence to the worker!

For Socialism
John Ayers

AND SOME CALL IT COMMUNISM?

For years and years socialists pointed out that Russia was not socialist. We were mocked by the left wing, but eventually they conceded that there were class divisions in Russia. Ah, said our opponents but at least in China we have a classless society. Our opposition to that viewpoint was met with derision but what is the position today? "Sales of luxury goods are exploding, despite a hefty tax on importing them. A new report by CLSA, a broker, forecasts that overall consumption in China (including boring everyday items) will rise by 11% annually over the next five years. .... But sales of luxury goods will grow more than twice as quickly, reckons CLSA: by 25% a year. No other category comes close. ... China is already the largest market for Louis Vuitton, a maker of surprisingly expensive handbags, accounting for 15% of its global sales. Within three years, reckons Aaron Fischer, the report's author, China's domestic market for bling will be bigger than Japan's. By 2020 it will account for 19% of global demand for luxuries." (Economist, 17 February) Our position is simple - all over the world we have capitalism no matter what the ruling elite may choose to call it. RD

LAZY WORKERS?

A defense of capitalism often heard by socialists is that socialism would be impossible because without the goad of the wages system workers would be too lazy to work, but recent statistics seem to contradict that argument. "A record 5.26 million people worked unpaid overtime last year, clocking up an average of more than seven hours a week without pay, according to a new study. The TUC said workers were missing out on almost £5,500 a year, worth £29bn to the economy. One in five employees regularly put in extra unpaid hours last year, with public-sector workers most likely to work unpaid overtime,said the TUC. The number of workers doing unpaid overtime was the highest since records began in 1992, the research found, with 5.26 million people clocking up an average of seven hours 12 minutes unpaid overtime every week." (Independent, 25 February) RD

THE HAPPIEST DAYS?

It is a beautiful picture - the idyllic notion of "schooldays are the happiest days of your life", but for many kids it is a cruel fallacy."Ministers should draw up an emergency plan to tackle extreme levels of poverty as new research showed that more than one in four live in penury in some major UK cities. The figures, compiled by Save the Children, show that 1.6 million youngsters live in severe poverty, which the charity condemned as a "national scandal". With unemployment rising and a radical shake up of the welfare system seeing £18bn wiped from benefits, the charity fears the number of children living without the basics will rise unless action is taken." (Guardian, 23 February) Well-meaning charities may talk about "emergency plans" and "national scandal", but the realities of capitalism dictate government policies not noble sentiments. RD

A WORLD OF INEQUALITY

There is a widespread illusion that we live in more equitable times than previous generations, but recent statistics from the World Bank give the lie to that notion. "A sharp rise in food prices since June has pushed 44 million people in developing countries into extreme poverty - having to live on less than $1.25 a day - according to a report by the World Bank. (New York Times, 15 February) RD

MERCHANTS OF WAR

Politicians like to portray themselves as peace-loving do-gooders who want a peaceful world, but when it comes to selling armaments such scruples are soon forgotten. "David Cameron insisted that selling arms to authoritarian regimes does not clash with his desire to assist the "building blocks of democracy" across the Middle East, as he landed in the Gulf with eight of Britain's most senior businessmen from the defense and aerospace industry. ... He faced questions however, over his decision to bring representatives of  BAE Systems, Thales UK, QinetiQ and Rolls Royce on the private aircraft from London on the next leg of the visit." (Times, 22 February) Mr. Cameron is a realist. Pacific words are all very well at election meetings but the arms trade is big business. He expects to clinch  deals for millions of pounds over the sale of RAF Euro fighters to the Gulf and make a deal with oil-rich Kuwait over the sale of civil nuclear power installations. He is well aware that the Lybian dictatorship used British military equipment to kill peaceful demonstrators, but business is business.RD

the price of kids

The cost of raising a child in Scotland until their 21st birthday has risen to £203,000 – or £26.50 a day – a report has revealed. The study shows the cost of bringing up a child has risen by 50% since the firms’s first Cost of A Child Report in 2003. It has gone up by an inflation-busting 4.5%, from £194,337, in the last year alone.

Childcare and education – excluding private school fees – account for the biggest costs to parents. Childcare is estimated cost £67,430 over the course of a child’s upbringing. Other regular expenses that have risen in cost at a rate higher than inflation include clothing, which is up 11.7% compared to last year, holidays (up 6.4%), food (up 5.9%) and personal care items, such as toiletries, which have risen by 5.1%. Overall childcare costs are £84 for 25 hours a week – more than half the gross average part-time weekly earnings of £160. In addition, Government support to parents to fund childcare is going down – from 80% to 70%.

"Three-quarters of parents said they were having to economise because of the financial pressures they were under, with nearly half making savings on holidays.” Satwat Rehman, director of One Parent Families Scotland, said those on lower incomes were particularly vulnerable to rising costs. "The cost of basics are going up and the greatest impact is on parents who are at the greatest risk of poverty.”

old and young suffer

Save the Children said its research revealed there are 90,000 children in Scotland - or one in 10 - living in what they term the most "severe poverty" and the charity said they feared that number would rise "dramatically" due to Scots having the lowest chance of finding work in the UK.

In January this year, Glasgow had Scotland's highest proportion of youngsters in severe poverty at 18%, followed by North Ayrshire, West Dunbartonshire and Clackmannanshire at 14%, and Dundee at 12%.

The charity said Glasgow had almost 18 people chasing every job vacancy, and that in West Dunbartonshire there are more than 36 people vying for every job.

Douglas Hamilton, Save the Children's head of Scotland, said: "Urgent action is required in Scotland's most deprived areas or we will end up with a lost generation. Some of these children will grow up living in households with no working adults - they have never seen a parent or grandparent work and this becomes the norm. People don't see a route out of poverty or this cycle of worklessness "

Meanwhile, Pensioners should lose a series of benefits, including free TV licences, free bus travel and the winter fuel allowance, to ease the financial squeeze on younger people, according to the think-tank., the Institute of Economic Affairs.

David Manion, chief executive of Age Scotland, said: “Suggesting that all older people enjoy a ‘privileged’ economic position shows total ignorance of the reality of life for the majority of over-65s. In fact the UK has one of the lowest state pensions in Europe, with 1.8 million pensioners living in poverty and many more surviving just above the breadline.”

Yet Elinor McKenzie, chair of the Scottish Pensioners’ Forum, said: “Every year around 3000 older people in Scotland die over the winter months from cold-related illnesses."

Commodity-talk

Millions of people have been trained to think about what they buy through advertising slogans. They go into the grocer for a packet of "exceedingly good cakes" and some "prolongs active life" for the dog; in the sweet shop they pick up a "helps you work, rest and play" bar and perhaps "just one Cornetto" - to the approved tune, of course; then on to the travel agent to book two weeks in Benidorm with "we'll take more care of you"; down to the garage to pick up the "Vorsprung durch Technik" and fill it with a few gallons of the petrol which" you can be sure of". It is hardly surprising that a buying and selling society has taught the consumers to go in for commodity-talk, Think of all the language we'll lose to a world of free access: no more mindless slogans and jolly tunes to persuade us to buy shoddy brand A rather than bargain brand B. In a moneyless society l suppose we will have to learn to survive without the ad-men telling us what we want.

Steve Coleman

Socialist Standard July 1985

FIRCROFT COLLEGE

The Socialist Party Summer School

SUMMER SCHOOL DISCUSSIONS

A CLASS DIVIDED SOCIETY

When socialists describe capitalism as a class divided society some of capitalism's supporters dispute this claim, but here is one dyed-in-the wool supporter of capitalism who seems to be agreeing with us. "Britain is dividing into "two nations", Iain Duncan Smith warns today, as he indentifies a growing underclass for whom life is comparable to the Third World and who can expect to die in their fifties. ... Speaking just days after publishing his Welfare Reform Bill with radical measures to drive people into work, he said: "In Britain today there are pockets that are peculiarly Third Worldish in terms of life expectancy, general expectations, disconnection for a group that is growing in number." (Times, 19 February) Needless to say Smith's determination to "drive people into work" applies to the working class not the useless parasitical capitalists. RD

A WASTEFUL SOCIETY

We live in a very wasteful society but surely this example of its wastefulness takes a bit of beating. Sacha Hall a 21 year old worker was arrested for taking ham, pies and waffles dumped in a caged dumpster at the back of a Tesco Express in Essex. "Arrested at home, she was handcuffed and marched to the police station, charged with the rarely applied crime of "theft by taking", for which she could receive a prison sentence." (Times, 19 February) Sacha who is on a low wage at another supermarket, said she was feeding her extended family. Wasteful? Tesco made a profit of £3.4 billion last year and yet some useful member of society risks a prison sentence for taking something out of their rubbish bin. Wasteful? The police, the courtroom staff and maybe even the prison wardens are spending their time dealing with "a dangerous criminal" like Sacha. RD

heartless system

Deaths of people who were waiting for appeals to be heard against the loss of benefits has prompted calls for a fairer assessment system. The claimants from West Dunbartonshire, died from the conditions which caused them to claim Incapacity Benefit (IB) while waiting for appeals to be heard against cuts to their benefits.

One was deemed fit for work during a work capability assessment, despite having a deteriorating chronic illness, and lost both incapacity benefit and disability living allowance. When his support worker appeared at the appeal tribunal she had to report her client could not be present because he was dead. The appeal was upheld and the backpayment will become part of his estate.

The other had a congenital condition which caused difficulty in walking but was assessed capable of work and his incapacity benefit was withdrawn. He was waiting for a date for an appeal tribunal when he died.

A third person, again from West Dunbartonshire, died recently after winning a second appeal tribunal following three years of repeated assessments and decisions being overturned.He worked as a shop assistant in his 20s but was forced to give up due to severe heart and lung problems caused by a degenerative syndrome.An “indefinite” award of IB and Disability Living Allowance (DLA) was revoked after only two months on the basis of a questionnaire he had filled in.Six months later it was reinstated by an appeal tribunal. Despite this ruling and the finding that his condition was worse than the original assessment, his case was once again referred for medical assessment. Once again, the benefit was withdrawn. He appealed again, with help from staff at the Clydebank Independent Resource Centre, and a tribunal date set for a further six months on. By that time he had been confined to bed with severe pain for several days and his extreme difficulty in reaching the chair in the tribunal room caused the chair of the panel to say the hearing would be as short as possible and that a taxi would be waiting to take him home. He won the appeal but only after three years of unrelenting anxiety over whether his benefits would be cut.

Mary Hodgson, from Annan in Dumfries and Galloway, worked from the age of 16 until she was 41, latterly as a support worker for people with learning disabilities. That ended suddenly when a lower disc cut through her spinal cord leaving her semi-paralysed. “I went from being a fit and healthy person to being unable to walk without crutches and needing a wheelchair to go any distance,” she said. “The damage to my nerves has caused other problems and I need daily care from a nurse.” She was assessed as fit to work. That decision was overturned on appeal and she now receives the higher rate of Employment and Support Allowance, but the experience has left her fearful over her future support.

GROWING OLD DISGRACEFULLY

In pre-capitalists societies the elderly were often respected and even revered but this is capitalism and the poor elderly are looked upon as a burden today. A recent report by the health service ombudsman has accused the NHS of "failing to meet even the most basic standards of care". "Ann Abraham writes in the report: "It is incomprehensible how staff are still neglecting fundamental aspects of care for older people, including food, water and cleanliness." ... Despite a series of scandals over the neglect of elderly patients in several NHS trusts, the report, to be presented to Parliament today, catalogues a "harrowing" array of failings in hospitals and GPs surgeries." (Times, 15 February) It should be noted that it is only those people who are forced to use the NHS because of their poverty that suffer such indignities. The useless, rich, parasitical owning class enjoy the same comfort and ease in old age as they wallowed in their youth. RD

Scottish poverty levels 'not improving'

A BBC report out today argues, "Scotland is facing its "most difficult" challenges in tackling poverty in years, campaigners have warned.

The Assembly for Tackling Poverty, which is due to meet in Glasgow, said levels of poverty in Scotland have "not been improving for a number of years".

It said about 250,000 Scottish children were living in low income households.

The assembly will hear from community and voluntary organisers, faith groups, trade unions, academics and policy makers." ( Faith in reforms is a huge part of resistance to the solution: Added MC)

The assembly is part of a four-year project supported by the Big Lottery Fund in Scotland.

(Capitalism is a lottery right enough but it is stacked from the beginning in favour of those already winners:.Added MC)

It aims to support community and voluntary organisations to become more involved in developing anti-poverty policy.

A spokesman said it was now "crucial" to find solutions to the causes of poverty.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-12491459

However well meaning some of this group are, we would have to point out that there is only ever going to be a solution to poverty however one may define it by getting rid of the system which causes it.Capitalism must be destroyed. ( What is Capitalism?)

Official statistics show that despite taxation the distribu¬tion of incomes and wealth remains as it must be under capitalism: concentrated in the hands of a few. The few are rich through their monopoly of the means of life and their returns on their investments as rent, interest and profit; the workers get as wages and salaries little more than enough to keep themselves and their families in efficient working order. State action, such as tax reform and social security benefits, cannot alter these basic inequalities of capitalism any more than they can solve the problems in housing, health and education which arise for workers as a result.

Don't be fooled either by Labour politiians in opposition now positioning themselves as teh champions of the poor.
On 20 July 1946 the late Aneurin Bevan claimed in a speech at Durham that: "when the next election occurs there will be no housing problem in Great Britain for the British working class" (Hansard, 14 July 1948, Col. 1202); and the Labour Party announced that "destitution has been abolished" (Labour and the New Society, 1950, page 5). Merely to recall these claims is to expose the futility of reformism.

The Labour Party has always shown disdain for the Socialist Party of Great Britain's insistence on first convincing the workers of the need for Socialism,(What is Socialism?) choosing instead to put forward reforms in its electoral programmes in order to gain working class support and thus obtain political power. 'The workers want something now', we have always been told, the implication being that a workers' party should imitate the openly capitalist parties and make promises of reforms in order to catch votes. Such reasoning ignores the fact that a party which rises to power on non-socialist votes can only administer capitalism. The fate of successive Labour governments is proof of this.

The question needing to be put to this group is, can capitalism be made to work differently? Or must there be a social revolution to replace capitalism with some other society? (Reform or Revolution?)

MC

NEW CASUALTIES OF WAR

It does not take a genius to figure out that being a soldier is a very dangerous job, but we usually associate the dangers from enemy fire not from mental stress. Recent figures show that the stress of hostilities can be a ruthless killer. "By some estimates, well over 300,000 troops have returned from Iraq or Afghanistan with P.T.S.D., depression, traumatic brain injury or some combination of those. ...As a result, psychiatric drugs have been used more widely across the military than in any previous war. But those medications, along with narcotic painkillers, are being increasingly linked to a rising tide of other problems, among them drug dependency, suicide and fatal accidents - sometimes from the interaction of the drugs themselves. An Army report on suicide released last year documented the problem, saying one-third of the force was on at least one prescription medication. Prescription drug use is on the rise the report said, noting that medications were involved in one-third of the record 162 suicides by active-duty soldiers in 2009. An additional 101 soldiers died accidentally from the toxic mixing of prescription drugs from 2006 to 2009." (New York Times, 12 February) So  you might survive the enemy worst efforts to kill you only to succumb to prescription drugs. RD

BANKERS AND BAMPOTS

When we were young we were taught at school to respect "our betters". Amongst that learned group we were taught were business men, religious leaders and statesmen. The German Thilo Sarrazin, a former executive member of the Bundesbank would certainly qualify for that august body that is due our respect, but some of his opinions might cause even our old school teacher a moment of doubt. "A German banker who has said "all Jews share a certain gene" and described Muslims as "dunces" will speak tonight at the London School of Economics amid a row over free speech." (Independent, 14 February) Since our schooldays we have learned to doubt whether religious leaders and statesmen are indeed "our betters". We can now add business men to that doubtful list.b RD

PROGRESSING BACKWARDS

One of the illusions peddled by politicians is that we  making progress and we are all better off than we were in the past, but according to the Consumer Price Index prices have risen by 4 per cent against a 2 per cent rise in wages. "Households face a deepening "income recession" as the cost of living rises far more  quickly than wages, analysts warn today. Official figures released tomorrow are expected to show that inflation is rising at approximately twice the pace of salaries, leading to punishing deterioration in living standards." (Times, 14 February) Progress for the working class is a delusion that should fool no one. RD

HE WHO PAYS THE PIPER

Shortly before the last general election David Cameron gave a speech at East London University about political funding. "The Cameron pitch on political reform included a call to limit donations to political parties to a maximum of £50,000, from an individual, a business or a trade union. That way, the impression that money could buy influence would wane in the new world of transparency. Almost exactly a year on, such talk sat uneasily with news that since he became Conservative leader in 2005 funding for the Tories from the City's richest had risen fourfold to £11.4m a year. Just 10 City individuals, it transpired, had given £13.2m over the past five years - 13% of total funding. Rather than practising what he had been preaching Cameron had let an elite group of the very richest tip their millions into party accounts to help it win power." (Observer, 13 February) Despite the pre-election promises it is still business as usual at Tory HQ. RD

THE NATIONAL ILL-HEALTH SERVICE

One of the fallacies much beloved of British politicians is that the NHS is a no-expense spared service that provides patients with unbeatable treatment, but the evidence of Aseem Malhotra seems to contradict that claim.  "The healthcare that clinicians offer is usually exemplary. Why, then, are the ill served such disgraceful meals? I mend hearts. Then I see my patients served junk food by our hospitals. Fry-ups, burger and chips, fizzy drinks and ice cream for pudding. You would expect to see these delights on the menu at a McDonald's or Burger King. But, sadly, this is the sort of food that is also likely to be served at your local hospital. I work as a cardiologist at one of Britain's leading cardiac centres. ... Coronary artery disease is the biggest killer in the western world and a significant part of my job involves performing a lifesaving procedure, angioplasty, to restore the blood supply to the heart muscle. Coronary atheroma (fatty deposit within the artery wall) takes many years to develop and is the culmination of risk factors, of which lifestyle - and diet in particular - is a major contributor." (Observer, 13 February) Dr Malhotra asks why they are served such meals, but the newspaper provides the answer. "The majority of hospitals spend an average of less than £1 on each meal per patient."

THE CLASS STRUGGLE

An article, by Kate Devlin, UK Political Correspondent for (The Herald, February 12.⁾  headed, "60,000 Scots cheats to lose sickness benefits" Discloses, "People claiming sickness benefit will now have to apply for unemployment benefit, potentially losing over one thousand pounds"

Evidence from a socialist's point of view that Trade Unions (TU) should re-examine this idea, that continuous battling with the employers, will be rewarded by a continuous improvement in the wellbeing of the workers.

"ABOUT 60,000 Scots claiming sickness benefits face being told that they are fit for work, according to the results of two pilot projects, including one in Aberdeen.
The move is part of Coalition plans to save £11 billion from the welfare bill. Every person claiming incapacity benefit (IB) across the country will be reassessed between now and 2013.
Under the process, claimants are asked to fill in a medical questionnaire and then invited for interview". (Why bother? you might wonder, the heading implies the Scots are cheats even before the interview)

Socialists don't advocate reforms of capitalism, we would agree that TU do and must struggle against continuous pressures in a capitalist world, however, the evidence is overwhelming, the solution is not continue as before, i.e. "running faster to stay still" as it was once put at a TUC conference. (are we staying still? would you agree?)

"The shake-up of welfare payments could save the Tory-LibDem Coalition up to £40 million in Scotland alone.
The first reassessments of those receiving incapacity benefits –currently worth up to £91.40 a week – found that more than two-thirds were able to work.
Just less than one in three, 30%, was told they were able to work immediately and could no longer receive sickness benefits. Another 39% were told they would be given support to help them back into the workforce, because it was felt they could hold down a job, possibly part-time, in the near future. The rest were allowed to remain on sickness benefits"

"Announcing the interim results from the pilot projects, Coalition ministers claimed too many people had been "abandoned" to a life on benefits". (I don't know the benefits of being abandoned to a life without benefits are, but the coalition ministers are determined that we find out right away)
"Chris Grayling, the UK Employment Minister, said: "The initial findings from Burnley and Aberdeen serve to underline why it is right to reassess IB claimants and to launch the Work Programme to give those who can work the specialist help they need to do so. Too many people were simply abandoned to a life on benefits; we are determined to put a stop to that terrible waste of potential." (What about the terrible waste of potential, most workers know that the cuts will bring to those in employment? When workers can't make a profit for the bosses the problem for bosses is getting the workers back into work i.e. returned to profit making. The urge to reduce there costs is relentless and in the current capitalist crisis any benefits workers are perceived to have gain in boom times are attacked. The years of struggle will have to continue, unless, a new reason for producing is considered).
Socialists appeal to all workers to realise that the future can never be better than chaotic in a capitalist society, where profit overrides needs. We have the ability to produce most necessities in abundance; however, we need the will to get rid of a system that provides abundance for a small class of capitalist and replace it with a system of common ownership of the means of production i.e. Socialism.

 

Hullawrerr- Parliamo Glesga

Glaswegians have the most attractive accent for Japanese speakers of English, a new study has revealed.

"The gemmes a-bogey" - we are in a recession
"Ahve loast mah joab so ahm gaun doon tae sign oan the broo." - unemployment is on the rise

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/japanese-prefer-glaswegian-accent-says-study-2208514.html

A BANDIT MAKES HIS GETAWAY

Amidst the recent turbulent political and social events in Egypt it is sometimes forgotten just how much loot the former leader has stashed away out of the exploitation of the Egyptian working class. "Hosni Mubarak's family fortune could be as much as $70bn (£43.5bn) according to analysis by Middle East experts, with much of his wealth in British and Swiss banks or tied up in real estate in London, New York, Los Angeles and along expensive tracts of the Red Sea coast. After 30 years as president and many more as a senior military official, Mubarak has had access to investment deals that have generated hundreds of millions of pounds in profits. Most of those gains have been taken offshore and deposited in secret bank accounts or invested in upmarket homes and hotels. According to a report last year in the Arabic newspaper Al Khabar, Mubarak has properties in Manhattan and exclusive Beverly Hills addresses on Rodeo Drive." (Guardian, 4 February) The Egyptian protest movement may or may not have brought about a more democratic society but it is clear Mubarak has cleaned up big time. RD

RUSSIAN CONMEN IN ACTION

The development of capitalism in Europe usually took the form of the emergence of the capitalist class ousting the previous feudalic ruling class by political and military means. It led to a dominant capitalist class being served by a military and political group subservient to the capitalists. In Africa and Asia it sometimes occurred that the military group became all powerful. It would seem that in Russia the political group have become the powerful group. "Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev share between them at least two dozen palaces, villas and mansions, according to a respected Russian magazine, in a report that is likely to reignite a debate about privileges enjoyed by the ruling duo. The Russian liberal media and blogosphere have been alive with discussion about possible secret residences belonging to the two since a businessman in December accused Mr Putin, the Prime Minister, of building a £600m palace on the shores of the Black Sea for his own personal use. The magazine Kommersant Dengi reported yesterday that given the Russian regime's opacity, it was impossible to tell how many residences the President and Prime Minister had access to, but noted that some estimates gave Mr Putin 26 separate places to live in." (Independent, 1 February) Irrespective of how capitalism develops, whether leading to an economic, military  or political form of wage slavery it is not in the interests of the working class and must be abolished. RD

SHARING THE PAIN?

In the recent downturn in world stock markets it was common for politicians and economic "experts" to express the view that during this recession everyone would have  to share  the pain, we would all have to make economic sacrifices in order to speed a return to so-called prosperity. It would seem though that the "sharing" was to say the least a little uneven. "Carlos Slim's Mexican holdings from mining to communications helped him beat Bill Gates and Warren Buffett on the stock market for the second straight year, and gains in 2011 may widen his lead atop the global wealth list. Slim's publicly disclosed holdings surged about 37 per cent to $70 billion in 2010, with wireless carrier America Movil SAB representing $48.9 billion of that wealth, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The 22 per cent jump in shares wasn't enough for Buffett to catch up, and Gates's fell, hurting his returns even as he spread his investments to other companies." (Bloomberg, 2 February) Those workers unfortunate enough to suffer from wage cuts, unemployment or foreclosure on their homes know all about sharing the pain unlike the likes of Slim, Buffett and Gates. RD

RELIGION AND MATERIALISM

Religious organisations are fond of lecturing about the evils of materialism and stressing the importance of spiritual values as opposed to mere physical gratification. It is a view expressed by amongst other religious outfits the Church of Scientology, but its leader David Misgavige is known to like the odd physical comfort. "The New Yorker reported claims from former members that Mr Misgavige lived a luxury lifestyle, flying chartered jets and having two chefs, five stewards, a fleet of cars and six motorcycles." (Times, 8 February) Such lavish compensations would be illegal for the leader of a tax-exempt body, but a spokesman for the organisation claimed that such perks were gifts from members to express their "love and affection" for Mr Misgavige. We seriously doubt if such "love and affection" as chartered jet travel and fleets of cars is spread to other members of Mr Misgavige's flock. RD

DEBT LADEN IN BIRMINGHAM

Any student of the Industrial Revolution will tell you of the important part played in its development by the city of Birmingham. It was one of the foremost cities in the new industrial society and a leading light in the  creation of undreamt wealth for the capitalist class. The picture for the working class is very different as depicted by a newspaper today in its description of a tower block in that city and its residents. "Residents of Tower House report that: 36% per cent are in debt - 47% of whom have cut back on basics such as food and heating; 15% have turned to pawnbrokers; 8% have borrowed from moneylenders." (Observer, 6 October) The immense wealth created by the working class has certainly not been enjoyed by the working class of that tower block in Birmingham nor its equivalent throughout capitalism worldwide. RD

THE WIDENING GAP

In an article describing the life of the extremely wealthy and the rest of us The Times recently laid out a list of some of these super-wealthy individuals living at present in London. The Indian billionaire Anil Agarwal worth $6.4 billion, the Russian Alisher Usmanov worth $7.2 billion and the Ukrainian Viktor Pinchuk a mere $3.1 billion. "The extravagance of the super-rich at a time when the vast majority of people are feeling the financial squeeze seems incongruous at best. But the reality is that the gap between the UHNWIs (ultra-high net worth individuals) and the rest is widening. Alan Greenspan, the former Chairman of the US Federal Reserve, said recently that high-income individuals, banks and corporations had rebounded from the global downturn, while pretty well everyone else struggled. ... The world's wealthiest 10 per cent now control 83 per cent of all assets." (Times, 5 February) When even the ultra-conservative Times can report on the widening class differences in capitalism the ultra-rich must be very convinced of the docility of the working class. Fellow workers - wake up! RD

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

A lesson learned? Just a week after the shooting rampage in Tucson, Arizona, that killed six people, thousands of shoppers browsed for guns at a trade show there. Assault rifles and semi-automatic pistols, including the Glock 9mm model used in the shooting, were on sale and no background checks are needed. Stall holder, Randall Record, explained, "People see it as either guns are going to get banned, or I'm going to get shot. Either way it drives sales."

Socialist know that unions are good for fighting a rearguard action against the worst of capitalism but that they are not revolutionary and will never bring socialism. We also recognize that they are increasingly drawn into the system itself, but it was a surprise to see right wing columnist, Angelo Persichilli (Toronto Star, Jan 16, 2011) praising Canadian autoworkers president Ken Lewenza for his part in the auto revival from the depths of two years ago. According to Persichilli, Lewensa had the courage to change the political activism of his predecessors and make the concessions necessary to help out the desperate situation. As usual, if you participate in the race to the bottom you are a great guy, if you stand up for your rights, you are vilified. The futility of reform, and how, in this case.
Finally, the cause of the Mexican hotel explosion last year has come to light. Rather than a build-up of swamp gas, it was a leakage from improperly installed gas pipes that mysteriously did not appear on the blueprint. Chalk another one down to corruption, graft, and greed. - The Toronto Star (Jan 8, 2011) asked the top 100 Canadian CEOs, who average $6.6 million in salary per annum, if they thought they were worth it. Only one replied and he was thankful his salary was set by the board and not him. Considering they have earned the average working man's annual salary by lunchtime of the second day (i.e. 155 times more) and do not produce anything useful or any surplus-value, I think the answer would be a resounding 'NO'. John Ayers

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

According to Jennifer Bain, (Toronto Star, Jan 15, 2011) food is so plentiful in Canada that our garbage cans are full of it. Apparently, we toss away 40 per cent of our edibles a year, valued at $27 billion.
Perhaps someone would care to explain why we have ever-growing line ups at the food banks. The quote, "when I fed the hungry I was called a hero, when I asked why there were starving people, I was called a communist" may apply quite well here.
Recently in Toronto, an unfortunate incident occurred. A man in bare feet and with obvious mental problems stole an unattended snow-plough and proceeded to run amok on the city streets. The police, unable to stop him, finally fired three shots into him but in the process, one constable was run down and killed. The officer was given a state funeral where 12 000 uniformed officers marched through city streets for hours and all major Toronto television stations interrupted normal programming for the entire day to bring wall to wall coverage of the event. All major national newspapers led with the story on the front page. The Saturday Hockey game in Toronto was delayed for a ceremony in his honour. The coverage was way over the top and a thinly disguised attempt at jingoism to make the public forget the black eye that the police have been getting over their handling of the G20 crisis that continues to bring forward incidents of police misconduct. That they can amass so much media support is truly staggering. John Ayers

feeding the poor

Mary's Meals, a Scots-based and Argyll-based charity, provides school meals in 16 of the world's poorest countries is now feeding half a million children.

Founder, Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow, said "There are still one billion children living in poverty, so our work is not done yet."

Sad to say that the work will never be done.

The necessity and prevalence of charity in a world capable of producing a sufficiency of food, clothing and shelter to easily satisfy the needs of all, is an obvious indication that something, somehow, somewhere, is rotten to the core. The socialist claims that it is capitalism. Capitalism automatically produces poverty which in its turn perpetuates charity. Eliminate the cause, and you eradicate the disease. Rather than deal simply and directly by providing ready access to storehouses of goods, as would occur in a sensible world, there are those who prefer instead to deliver the great mass of wealth to the privileged minority and present tear-drenched appeals for charity for the impoverished majority.

Charity! Sweet charity! Upheld as evidence of the innate goodness of man. Providing an outlet for the energies of people who feel that something ought to be done and who might otherwise find time to think about doing things really helpful. Indecent, unwholesome charity! Preying on the natural willingness of ordinary people to help one another, even to the extent of depriving their own of needed things. Charity! Symbol of a society that neither intends nor desires to end the conditions that ensure its existence.

One day the means for producing and distributing the needs of life will become the common property of all the people and will be operated for no purpose other than to provide abundance to all the members of society. On that day a socialist society will be established, bringing an end finally to exploitation, along with all the other abominations of capitalism, including charity.

IT BEGGARS BELIEF

"Beggars are to be cleared from the streets in Bangladesh during the cricket World Cup, which starts next month. The poorest are to be compensated for loss of earnings but most will be put into "welfare camps" until the event is over. ... According to some estimates there are 700,000 beggars in Bangladesh." (Times, 1 February) RD

ROLLING IN THE STUFF

"By Forbes' count, 69 billionaires from 20 countries are expected to attend the annual World Economic Forum confab, which starts tomorrow in the Swiss Alps town of Davos. The helicopters whirring above this afternoon suggest that some may have already arrived.  It may well be the greatest concentration of wealth in any one place. Their total net worth, as tracked by Forbes: $427 billion, greater than the combined gross domestic product of Israel and Egypt. The U.S. has at least 20 billionaires expected to make the trip, more than any other country. (Forbes, 25 January) RD

Wealth gap widens between super rich and rest of us.

Alan Greenspan - the legendary chairman of the United States' Federal Reserve - is the high priest of free market capitalism.

As a young man he was even a devotee and acolyte of arch libertarian writer, Ayn Rand.

Keep that pedigree in mind when you consider the striking observation he made in a television interview last summer:

"Our problem basically is that we have a very distorted economy, in the sense that there has been a significant recovery in our limited area of the economy amongst high-income individuals...Read link

This ,of course, is no surprise to socialists who have been pointing it out as an inevitable concomitant of capitalist economics.

If you are born poor you will most likely die poor.Whether this is in actual real terms ,or in relative terms, in relation to the amount of wealth produced, is neither here nor there.

What is crazy is the notion that capitalism can be reformed or tamed,or have its rapacious appetite curbed in any way.

Its goal, as Marx pointed out so long ago is,to, "Accumulate, accumulate".

"Accumulate, accumulate! That is Moses and the prophets! “Industry furnishes the material which saving accumulates.” ^[23] Therefore, save, save, i.e., reconvert the greatest possible portion of surplus-value, or surplus-product into capital! Accumulation for accumulation’s sake, production for production’s sake: by this formula classical economy expressed the historical mission of the bourgeoisie, and did not for a single instant deceive itself over the birth-throes of wealth. ^[24] But what avails lamentation in the face of historical necessity? If to classical economy, the proletarian is but a machine for the production of surplus-value; on the other hand, the capitalist is in its eyes only a machine for the conversion of this surplus-value into additional capital. " Link for above quote

Capitalist society is a parasitic economic system which sucks out the productive capacities of the vast majority,(working -class) to satisfy a minority class of owners of wealth(capitalist -class)..

The solution is to get rid of the monstrous system and replace it with socialism , a system of common ownership,democratic control and free access to all of society's wealth,everybody having the right to participate in decisions on how global resources will be used. It means nobody being able to take personal control of resources, beyond their own personal possessions.

This then,is in stark contrast to the reformism of the Left, S.S.P.,S.W.P., Solidarity, S.L.P.,or the Labour Party, (all of them result in a case of 'meet the new boss', same as the old one.) which leaves intact the waged- labour versus capital social system.

Socialism ,as we define it in its original context, before the Left besmirched the name in their failed experiments, is a revolutionary solution to capitalism's rationed access. Moreover, it is a real solution,one which ends wage-slavery, poverty, and war.

If a truly human society is to be created where we can relate to each other as members of a real community instead of as isolated atoms colliding on the market place, we need to create the conditions (common ownership of productive resources by the whole community) in which the market has no sense.

One where the organising tenet applied globally , instead of capitalistic, "..... "each man for himself, and the devil take the hindermost" ", is
replaced by, " From each according to their ability ..to each according to their needs".

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

As abominable and useless as locking people up in a cell is, the Canadian government is out to make it worse. Recently prison farms were shut down, including the one at Kingston that had a dairy herd ranking among the best in Ontario, an abattoir that served three hundred local farmers and supplied local shops with $3 million worth of farm produce, to say nothing of the accompanying rehabilitation value and skill development.
Prison building hit a new high (seven stories) or a new low as the latest jail in Ontario goes ahead with prefab modular building blocks that look like something out of a sci-fi picture. It's to cost $600 million in a time when crime is going down.
Finally, some sense coming from the phony war on drugs. The Latin American Commission on Drugs and Democracy basically came to the conclusion that the war on drugs is lost and its time to move away from the punitive aspect and focus on policies based on public health, human rights and common sense. (Toronto Star, Jan 23, 2011). Of course, removing money from the mix would do the trick right away. John Ayers

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

In the review of a book dealing with the mysteries of price, the Toronto Star (Jan 1, 2011) revealed that the amount the US government offered in compensation for lives lost on 9/11 ranged from $6.4 million for the families of the wealthiest victims to $250 000 for the families of the poorest people who died that day.
In the same review we are told that installing seat belts on US school buses would cost the equivalent of $40 million for each child's life likely to be saved (which probably explains why it has not been done). As we say, capitalists know the price of everything and the value of nothing. John Ayers

ALL RIGHT FOR SOME

"Andy Warhol once remarked that he liked "money on the wall". ...While economies crashed and governments slashed spending, an unprecedented number of incredibly wealthy people all over the world were effectively taking Warhol at his word. What they actually hung on their walls and stood in their rooms were Picassos, Modiglianis and Giacomettis, but at the mind-bending prices they paid for them, the effect was almost the same as if they had displayed a bunch of dollar bills or or more pertinently a bunch of Chinese yuan. Their spending spree meant that Christies, the world's largest auction house, announced yesterday sales of £3.3 billion ($5 billion) last year, a jump of 53 per cent on its 2009 performance and the highest total in the company's 245-year history." (Times, 28 January) RD

MINISKIRT MADNESS

"Russian Orthodox Church calls for dress code, says miniskirts cause 'madness'. A top official of the increasingly powerful Russian Orthodox Church has triggered a storm of outrage by calling for a "national dress code" that would force women to dress modestly in public and require businesses to throw out "indecently" clad customers. Women, said Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, can't be trusted to clothe themselves properly. "It is wrong to think that women should decide themselves what they can wear in public places or at work," he said Tuesday. "If a woman dresses like a prostitute, her colleagues must have the right to tell her that." "Moreover," Archpriest Chaplin added, "if a woman dresses and acts indecently, this is a direct route to unhappiness, one-night stands, brief marriages followed by rat-like divorces, ruined lives of children, and madness." (Christian Science Monitor, 20 January) RD

A SENSE OF VALUES

We live in a society where many are concerned about world hunger, homelessness and rising unemployment, but the British Government have much more important issues to concern themselves with - primogeniture. This deals with the perplexing problem of whether or not if Prince William has a daughter before a son she can become queen. "Luckily the Prime Minister has recognised that this a matter of the deepest seriousness ... It is, said his spokesman, " a complex and difficult matter that requires careful and thoughtful consideration..." (Observer, 23 January) A jobless father of several children might consider his unpaid mortgage a trifle more difficult a problem than primogeniture though. RD

UNEMPLOYMENT IN THE USA

"In California, former auto worker Maria Gregg was out of work five months last year before landing a new job - at a nearly 20% pay cut. In Massachusetts, Kevin Cronan, who lost his $150,000-a-year job as a money manager in early 2009, is now frothing cappuccinos at a Starbucks for $8.85 an hour. In Wisconsin, Dale Szabo, a former manufacturing manager with two master's degrees, has been searching years for a job comparable to the one he lost in 2003. He's now a school janitor. They are among the lucky. There are 14.5 million people on the unemployment rolls, including 6.4 million who have been jobless for more than six months." (Wall Street Journal, 11 January) RD

who owns the North Pole - Part 26

Canadians have adopted a confrontational stance. A new opinion poll finds that Canadians are generally far less receptive to negotiation and compromises on disputes than their American neighbours. More than 40 per cent of Canadians said the country should pursue a firm line in defending its sections of the North, compared to just 10 per cent of Americans.

The international survey – conducted by EKOS Research for the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto and the Walter and Duncan Gordon Foundation – found that a majority of Canadians see Arctic sovereignty as the country’s top foreign-policy priority; they also believe military resources should be shifted to the North, even if it means taking them away from global conflicts.

Harper has made the Arctic a major political platform, taking every opportunity to remind Canadians that his government is determined to defend this country’s sovereignty in the Far North. The poll’s findings would suggest that Canadians have embraced his rhetoric.

“It is something that allows him to play the nationalism card, particularly since it resonates with the population,” said Brian MacDonald, a senior defence analyst with the Conference of Defence Associations.

edinburgh-unequalled

The gap between rich and poor in Edinburgh is bigger than in most other UK cities. Centre for Cities analyst Paul Swinney said: "It shows that despite Edinburgh's very strong performance in the ten years before the recession, that prosperity was not necessarily shared equally."

It ranked eighth for earnings, with an average weekly wage of £516.70.

POVERTY IN FLORIDA

"Nearly 1 million South Floridians need food stamps to get by - an increase of almost 200,000 in the last year alone. That jump is more than the entire population of Fort Lauderdale. "It's been a steady increase occurring every month for the last three, four years," said Florida Department of Children & Families spokesman Joe Follick. "It's obviously dramatic." Numbers released Friday show that in April 2007, before widespread layoffs and record unemployment levels, 422,233 people in Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties received food stamps. By December 2010, that number more than doubled to 965,823." (Palm Beach Post, 8 January) RD

BOOZE BONANZA

"He made his fortune through musicals such as Cats and Phantom of the Opera. And now Andrew Lloyd Webber has added an extra £3.5 million to his bank balance with the sale of some choice bottles from his vast wine collection. The eagerly-anticipated sale, held at the Mandarin Oriental hotel in Hong Kong, featured 8,837 bottles of classic French wines, including what experts regard as the finest white Burgundies ever for sale in the region. Pre-sale estimates suggested that the 746 lots (mainly cases of 12 or six bottles, but also some individual bottles) would fetch £2.6 million but the salesroom was filled to capacity with what Sotheby's said was spirited and jovial bidding from all over Asia. Buyers bid in person, over the internet or by telephone." (Sunday Telegraph, 23 January) RD

On January 22 - Bloody Sunday

1905: "Bloody Sunday" occurred in St. Petersburg, when the Czar's troops killed 500 protesting workers

Bloody Sunday: The Revolution of 1905 On January 22, 1905, about 200,000 workers and their families approached the czar’s Winter Palace in St. Petersburg.

They carried a petition asking for better working conditions, more personal freedom, and an elected national legislature. Nicholas II was not at the palace. His generals and police chiefs were. They ordered the soldiers to fire on the crowd. Between 500 and 1,000 unarmed people were killed.

Russians quickly named the event “Bloody Sunday.”

Lenin called the incident a “dress rehearsal” for the later revolution that would usher in the state capitalist Bolshevik regime.

Bloody Sunday provoked a wave of strikes and violence that spread across the country. Though Nicholas still opposed reform, in October 1905 he reluctantly promised more freedom. He approved the creation of the Duma —Russia’s first parliament.

The first Duma met in May 1906. Its leaders were moderates who wanted Russia to become a constitutional monarchy similar to Britain. Hesitant to share his power, the czar dissolved the Duma after ten weeks. Other Dumas would meet later. Yet none would have real power to make sweeping reforms.

WAR IS BIG BUSINESS

"Iraq will buy armaments worth $13 billion from the United States by 2013 and will spend another $13 bn on weapons later, a Baghdad newspaper reported citing an Iraqi Defense Ministry spokesman. Al Ittihad quoted Major General Mohammed Al Askari as saying that Iraq has already concluded a contract worth more than $13 bn with the United States. The money will be used to buy aircraft, helicopters, tanks, other armored vehicles, warships and missiles, to enter service with the Iraqi defense and interior ministries." (RIA Novosti, 9 January) RD

A TALE OF ONE CITY

A trip through London is like a trip through two different cities. On the one hand you have the homeless, the desperate and the down-at-heel individuals that scuttle around the main railway stations like King's Cross asking for your spare change, and on the other you have the undoubted opulence of the extremely rich. Here is a particularly obvious example of the latter. "The £1 billion One Hyde Park building in Knightsbridge, overlooking the park and a stone's throw from Harrods, has become the most desirable address in the world. Each square foot with its polished Breccio Paradiso marble and European Oak woods, costs at least £6,000, a new high for residential property anywhere in the world that is expected to reframe global prices for the super-rich. The average UK salary of £26,000 would pay for only the space occupied by a fitted Gaggenau coffee maker - one of the many gadgets in the high-security residences, with their bomb-proofed windows and panic rooms. The success of the scheme - the four penthouses have already changed hands for as much as £135 million - confirms London as the favoured playground and tax haven of the international elite." (Times, 20 January) RD

one law for the rich ...

The millionaire owner of the House of Bruar retail complex escaped a driving ban and was allowed to stay on the road despite now having 14 points on his licence after persuading a court it would cause him exceptional hardship. Birkbeck claimed he would be forced to sack staff at the shopping complex if he was banned from the road as no-one else in the company was capable of buying the goods on display at the upmarket shopping centre. He was fined £300.

Birkbeck was driving a £70,000, 3.6 litre Range Rover Vogue TDV8 when he was detected by police speeding at 90mph on the M90 motorway.

“If he is disqualified for six months there will be a large number of redundancies at House of Bruar...He would have no option but to let people go – breadwinners who live in the local area." Solicitor David McKie, defending, said.

Actually, to Socialist Courier, that sounds very much like blackmail.

Hero no more..

Sheridan no socialist

“Sheridan told he faces years in prison for lies about sex and socialism”, so ran one newspaper headline the day after a jury found the former MSP guilty of perjury (Times, 24 December).

We don’t know, or care, if he told lies about his sex life to get at a scandal rag that was trying to entrap him. It’s only the political aspect of the case that interests us, and it’s true that, as a reformist politician, he had certainly told lies about socialism. But this is the first time we have heard of this being a crime punishable by imprisonment. If it was, the prisons would be full of journalists, politicians and academics. Of course the Times – like the News of the World, owned by media tycoon Rupert Murdoch – was merely trying to discredit socialism.

Sheridan was a Trotskyist, originally of the Militant Tendency variety, and although he could no doubt explain why the USSR had been a “degenerate workers state”, or why some common or garden reform was a “transitional demand” and so a stepping stone to “socialism”, he was not that kind of Trotskyist.

Trotskyists, being Leninists, hold that workers are incapable of evolving beyond a “trade union consciousness” (defined by Lenin as “the conviction that it is necessary to combine in unions, fight the employers and strive to compel the government to pass necessary labour legislation, etc.”). So, according to them, putting the straight socialist case for common ownership, democratic control and production for use not profit to workers is to cast pearls before swine.

Instead, according to Trotskyists, what must be put before workers are demands that the government introduce this or that reform within capitalism. Getting workers to support such “transitional demands” is the only way they calculate they can get the mass support which, when the government fails to respond, can be used to catapult their vanguard party to power. But this requires people on the ground who are capable of winning a personal following. Normally, the Trotskyist gurus who direct their organisation from the shadows, are not up to this. They require front men. As it happens, Militant has been rather successful in this, with Derek Hatton in Liverpool, Joe Higgins at the moment in Dublin, and Tommy Sheridan in Glasgow.

Sheridan first came to prominence in the anti-Poll Tax campaign of the 1980s when he, along with the rest of the Militant Tendency, was still boring from within the Labour Party. Sheridan earned a reputation for being an indefatigable fighter, defending non-payers before the courts and himself getting a six-month sentence for contempt of court.

The trouble, from the point of view of the Trotskyist gurus in the background, is that such front men have, because of their following, a degree of independence and can prove difficult to control. Which is what happened in Sheridan’s case. When Kinnock clamped down on Militant – Sheridan himself was expelled from the Labour Party in 1989 – the group’s leaders didn’t want to change their tactics. They wanted to continue boring from within the Labour Party, in accordance with the argument they had used for years, that when the workers began to move against capitalism this would begin as a swing to the left by the Labour Party, so that’s where the vanguard cadres should be. Sheridan and most others disagreed. They wanted to form an independent party, opposed to Labour. They won out and a new party called “Militant Labour” was formed (the minority are still somewhere in the Labour Party, so deeply buried as to be invisible). In Scotland this became, in 1998, the “Scottish Socialist Party” with Sheridan as leader. It departed from traditional Trotskyism by embracing the idea of Scottish independence which of course is quite irrelevant from a working class and socialist perspective.

In 1999 Sheridan was elected a member of the Scottish Parliament. He was re-elected in 2003 with 5 other SSP members. This was the heyday of “Scottish socialism” (more properly, Tartan leftwing reformism). Under other circumstances they might have held the balance of power and given parliamentary support in exchange for some reforms to an SNP government. But it was not to be. In 2004 the News of the World published allegations about Sheridan’s sex life. He (apparently) told the SSP executive that there was some truth in them but that he was going to deny them. A majority disagreed and he eventually resigned as leader and, after winning a libel case against the Murdoch scandal-rag, left the SSP to form a new party, “Solidarity Scotland’s Socialist Movement”. In the 2007 elections to the Scottish Parliament both parties were wiped out,

Neither of them stood for socialism, only for reforms of capitalism and an independent Scotland (i.e. an independent capitalist republic like southern Ireland). Solidarity’s founding statement, for instance, declared that it was “a socialist movement that fights for the redistribution of wealth from big business and the millionaires to working class people and their families.” It does do this, but this has nothing to do with socialism, which is not about the redistribution of wealth within capitalism but about the common ownership of the means of wealth production.

Following the end of his career as an MSP Sheridan has only been involved in minor-league reformist politics, standing for Bob Crow’s petty nationalist “No2 Europe” list in the 2009 European elections and for the Militant/SWP TUSC in last year’s general election (the Militant and SWP Trotskyists, despite reservations about his views on Scottish independence, had followed him out of the SSP into Solidarity). On both occasions he stood on a reformist platform, a series of demands that the government must do this or not to do that which would have left capitalism, and its problems, intact.

ALB
From Socialist Standard January 2011