MILLION DOLLAR CONMEN

The recent economic downturn has led to millions of workers worldwide becoming unemployed, but for some members of the capitalist class it has led to an obscene growth in their wealth. "The average salary in the U.S. was $33,000 in 2008- and though that is the most recent data, it does not even account for the brunt of the recession. That is basically nothing when compared to the $604.9million made by the top ten earners last year. The elite one per cent group includes anyone making over $380,000 per year, and the top ten CEOs make well above that. The top spot is held by John Hammergren, 52, the CEO of pharmaceutical company McKesson who earned a salary of $131.2million and a net total income, which includes bonuses and profits from stock earnings, of $1.billion." (Daily Mail, 15 October) To use the term "earn" in relation to this group of parasites is of course completely false. RD

THE FAILURE OF CHARITY

Every day we can read about people starving while food production is curtailed if it isn't profitable enough. The latest example is in Yemen. "The World Food Programme (WFP) said Wednesday it is scaling up efforts to feed 3.5 million people who are facing hunger in strife-torn Yemen. 'Rising food prices and political instability have left millions of people in Yemen hungry and vulnerable,' Josette Sheeran, the executive director of the Rome-based UN agency, said in a statement." (Deutsche Presse, 12 October)Despite the efforts of well-meaning charities world-hunger is still endemic to capitalism. RD

THE BOTTOM LINE

In medieval times it is said that an important function performed by flunkies at the royal court was to wipe the King's arse after he moved his bowels, but modern rulers have now a much more high-tech way of dealing with the problem. "Earlier this year, the latest salvo was fired by the venerable bath fixtures manufacturer Kohler. It produced a new toilet, "The Numi Web site." The Numi features a touch-screen remote control. The Numi washes and dries its user. The Numi costs $6,400, or 81 times the price of the basic throne at Home Depot." (New York Times, 12 October) RD

What determines whether you kid goes to university? Their postcode?

SCHOOL pupils can be nearly 18 times more likely to go to university than children educated just seven minutes away, a Sunday Herald investigation has found.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Reply:

It can confidently be said that in recent years education has been more often and more widely discussed than at any time since the public education system began.There is the perennial question of the clamour for “equality of opportunity”; there are the recurrent alarms about illiteracy, delinquency and blackboard jungles. At the same time, springing up in every city were the great glass- walled hives which were the new schools of the nineteen-fifties, visible symbols of changes which have taken and are taking place.

The granting of education and facilities for learning to the working class, even though it is for someone else's reasons, is of immense value. Within the framework of elementary education there have been many improvements and additional benefits over the years.

These, however, have resulted from the increased complexity of capitalism that has demanded more knowledge and more economic participation from even the least skilled worker, and so necessitated a widening of this education.True education, the developing of each individual towards his own well-being and that of society, has not yet been attempted. What is necessary for it is the re-organization not of schools, but of society.

The aim of socialists (not 'left-wing' or Labour nonsense but genuine revolutionary free access socialism) is to bring into being a society in which not only will the problems and privations of the present-day world be absent, but every person will lead a free and satisfying life.

What is wrong with our society is its basic condition of ownership by a class; the answer, therefore, is to establish a new social system based on the ownership by everybody of all the means of production. Can a society like this be achieved? Indeed it can.

The conditions needed for its establishment are with us now: the development of the means and methods of production that could create abundance if the profit motive did not stand in the way. All that is lacking is people to bring it to being.

Thus, the concern of Socialists under capitalism is education of a different kind - showing the facts about capitalism, and the only answer to the problems which it causes. The beginning of this kind of education is the realization that capitalism's educational systems must, because of what they are, hide the facts and direct attention away from the answer.

Here, then, is the great need of today: people to make a different world. People, that is, who have looked at capitalism critically - as one aspect of it has been looked at critically here - and seen that it has long ceased to be useful to man, and that Socialism is wanted now.

M.C.

making cancer victims suffer

New research by a leading charity reveals that hundreds of cancer patients are living close to the breadline due to their illness, with 73% experiencing a loss of income and increased costs such as hospital travel and higher utility bills. Cancer patients in Scotland are skipping meals and worrying about losing their homes because of a drop in income and higher living costs.

Around 30,000 people in Scotland are diagnosed with cancer each year, costing many of them thousands of pounds.

Elspeth Atkinson, director of Macmillan Scotland said: “Cancer is an expensive disease to live with, but this research shows just how close to the breadline many cancer patients really are."

Research has shown that more than half of all terminally ill cancer patients do not claim benefits they are entitled to. Complicated benefits forms, a lack of awareness of entitlements, embarrassment or simply feeling too ill or emotionally drained, prevents many people accessing welfare benefits.

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/health/cancer-patients-forced-to-live-in-poverty-1.1130821

OLD, COLD AND DEAD

"Two hundred people, most of them elderly, will die in Britain of cold-related diseases every day this winter, according to calculations by Britain's leading advocacy group for old people, Age UK. "The fact that these 'excess' deaths occur in winter makes it clear that they are due directly to cold," the organisation's research manager, Philip Rossall, said. "And the fact that other, colder countries have lower excess winter deaths means that there is no reason that they are not preventable." Age UK's special adviser for policy, Mervyn Kohler, asked: "Why is this not a national scandal?" There were 26,156 excess winter deaths during 2009-10, with figures for 2010-11 to be published next month." (Observer, 23 October) RD

Home-lands

Home is where the heart is; the place with overtones of permanence, belonging, security, comfort, childhood memories, bonds between people, familiarity with how things are done, habits and customs taken for granted, the familiar streets, smells, sounds, all the things that framed them and in doing so strengthen the impressions of who they are and what they stand for.

In a broader context home may be perceived as a wider geographical area, a country, a homeland standing for something more than a family’s local community. The "one-world" home, in common to all of the human species, has 200 or so artificially created entities called "nations"

What is it a nation offers its individual inhabitants and what is their offering to it? What do they require from their country and it from them? The country is a geographical, physical place; large, small, populous or sparse, barren or lush, mountainous, coastal, frozen, temperate, fertile or harsh, requiring nurture, husbandry, protection. Physically it can offer minerals and crops depending on its situation and in proportion to the care given it. The shared identity of the inhabitants of the nation will be as has developed over generations – history, customs, religion, community relations, occupations, way of thinking – something impossible to enforce as empire builders and nation creators have been reluctant to accept. A shared identity with universal, mutual respect and acceptance cannot be enforced. It is surely the shared identity, that elusive quality, love of one’s birthplace, hopes, dreams, aspirations, that people feel when they talk of "their country", the tangible and intangible connections.

Confusion of the country with its institutions brings the problems of nationalism and patriotism. Nationalism manifests itself like a sophisticated tribalism, with pride, tradition, attitudes of superiority, patriotism and flag-draped buildings. Ill-considered rhetoric needs to be confronted, contested at any and every opportunity. Self-replicating, regurgitated mantras built on lies, fears and hatred need overturning without hesitation. Chop up society into more and more pieces, more separate entities, create more divisions, more fears and suspicions and when the globe is totally criss-crossed with walls and border posts shall we allow ourselves to become so paranoid, afraid and suspicious of each other that we finally close the door to our minds? The challenge is to dismantle the barriers which deafen, blindfold, shackle and dehumanise us. One of the last things the world needs at the moment is more states, with their own armed forces and divisive nationalist ideologies.

To promote the notion that the area of our birth (‘our’ country) transcends or neutralises our class status or gives us a common cause with a class that socially deprives and demeans us, that imposes either mere want or grave poverty on our lives and the lives of our families, is to be cruelly deceived by the political machinations of capitalism. We are all part of one globalised exploited mass with more in common with each other than with our supposed fellow-countrymen bosses. Workers do not share a common interest with our masters.

The inexorable process of globalisation has increasingly made redundant the question of "national sovereignty". Yet many Scottish nationalists imagine they can buck the trend without even being against capitalism. The growth of multinational corporations, some with a turnover exceeding the GDP of most states, has dramatically transformed the role of government as the locus of economic decision-making. Many of the most important decisions are now made, not by politicians, but in the boardrooms of these multinationals. Likewise, the proliferation of trading links between different states has effectively blurred the lines of demarcation between nominally separate national economies. It would be more realistic now to speak of there being a single global economy. Even so, many locally-based businesses are indirectly tied into this economy as subcontractors to multinationals. Not only that, the ever-deepening nexus of international linkages means they cannot escape recessionary perturbations emanating from elsewhere when these impact upon the local economy. At the same time, the limited leeway of governments to ameliorate such localised effects has been correspondingly reduced.

Supporters of Scottish independence who talk about “democracy” always mean only political democracy since economic democracy - where people would democratically run the places where they work -is out of the question under capitalism, based as it is on these workplaces being owned and controlled by and for the benefit of a privileged minority. You can have the most democratic constitution imaginable but this won’t make any difference to the fact that profits have to come before meeting needs under capitalism. The people’s will to have their needs met properly is frustrated all the time by the operation of the economic laws of the capitalist system which no political structure, however democratic, can control.

The interests of workers who live in Scotland are not opposed to the interests of those who live in England - or France or Germany or anywhere else in the world. Nationalists like the SNP who preach the opposite are spreading a divisive poison amongst people who socialists say should unite to establish a frontierless world community, based on the world’s resources becoming the common heritage of all humanity, as the only framework within which the social problems which workers wherever they live face today. This is why the Socialist Party and nationalists are implacably opposed to each other. We are working in opposite directions. Us to unite workers. Them to divide them. We don’t support the Union. We just put up with it. Socialists oppose both the separatist Scottish nationalism and the unionist British nationalism and support only working-class unity to establish a socialist world.

A DISABLED SOCIETY

The government is hoping to save £600m a year by cutting welfare payments by the year 2013. "Many disabled people risk losing essential payments under planned benefits changes, a charity has warned. Scope says the proposed test of claimants' need is flawed for focusing on the disability but ignoring relevant factors like housing and transport. Thousands could be left with little or no financial support, Scope warns." (BBC News, 21 October) Just another example of capitalism's priorities in action. RD

AN EASY TARGET

In the pursuit of making British capitalism more competitive cuts of government spending must be made. So the government of the day, whether it be Conservative, Liberal, Labour or any amalgamation of any of them look for easy targets. Here's one - they haven't even got a vote - children."The government shakeup of the tax and benefits system will result in a further 400,000 children falling into relative poverty during this parliament, leaving Britain on course to miss legally binding targets to reduce child poverty by 2020, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies. In a bleak assessment of changes in the government's new social contract, the IFS said the number of children in absolute poverty in 2015 will rise by 500,000 to 3 million. Even worse, by 2020 3.3 million young people, almost one in four children, will find themselves in relative child poverty." (Guardian, 11 October) Doesn't capitalism make you sick? RD

Class in the class room

In 1999, just over 83% of pupils at independent schools went to university, while only 31% of children in the state sector made the same choice. Between 1999 and 2010, the number of state school pupils who attended university increased from 31% to 35.7%, an average rise of around 1% for every three years of devolution. But a new comparison of school-leaver destinations has revealed the goal of overhauling university access in the poorest areas has failed in many cases.

Only 5% of pupils from Govan High School went on to higher education in 1999. In 2010, the figure was 5.1%. At Drumchapel High 9% of school leavers attended university last year, up just 3% on 1999. A pupil leaving Drumchapel High is three times more likely to be unemployed than at university. By contrast, the university entrance rate for Jordanhill – a seven-minute car ride from Govan High – is 82.4%. Only 1% of pupils at Drumchapel High achieved five or more Highers in S5 in 2009, compared with 39% at Jordanhill. At the High School of Glasgow a private school is only a few minutes’ drive from Govan High 98% of its pupils end up in higher education.

In Edinburgh the Wester Hailes Education Centre, which serves one of the most deprived areas in the city, 8.4% of pupils left for university in 2010. This was up from a maximum of 5% 11 years preciously. At Firhill High in the adjacent catchment area, the figure is 49.5%. Only 8% of pupils entered higher education last year after attending Craigroyston Community High. But at the nearby Royal High, it was 46.8%. Edinburgh’s fee-paying Fettes College is just two miles from the state school at Craigroyston the figure for Fettes is 97%.

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/what-determines-whether-you-kid-goes-to-university-their-postcode-1.1130731

CAN'T BE BOTHERED?

Arrogant plonkers like Gallagher can't explain the rise and fall of markets and employment by their "can't be bothered" classification. "Last week, the latest figures showed the jobless total had hit a 17-year high of 2.57m. City forecasters think it will climb to nearly 3m. Citigroup, the American bank, predicts "close to" 9% unemployment, or 3m out of work, by the end of next year." (Sunday Times, 16 October) It is strange, is it not that the "can't be bothered" segment of the population was higher in the 1930s than in the 1960s? RD

HEY, LOOK AT ME

One of the aspects of capitalism that socialists detest is the arrogance of the owning class, but even more obnoxious is the attitude of members of the working class who have recently become members of the owning class. Unlike capitalists through inheritance, they have become capitalists by robbing a bank, exploiting workers, winning a lottery or, in the case of the next braggart, recording a couple of successful popular songs. "We were working class, and we were the lowest. There's a level underneath that now: the can't be bothered working class." (Sunday Times, 16 October) That comes from Noel Gallagher, formerly of Oasis, who has now adopted the dismissive capitalist class attitude that says the unemployed workers are unemployed because they can't be bothered. What a plonker! RD

A BRIGHT FUTURE?

One of the defenses of capitalism that we often hear is - "Ah, you are talking about the old days. Wake up, things are gradually getting better". This is a widely held illusion, but now even the official spokesmen of the owning class have to confess such a claim is nonsense. "The average income for middle-earning families will have fallen by 7% by the end of the next financial year compared with 2009-10. It will be the biggest drop for such families since the 1970s, said the Institute for Fiscal Studies. In ten years time one in four children will live below the poverty line." (Sunday Times, 16 October) The truth is that capitalism is not gradually getting better, in fact more and more workers are living in worse and worse poverty. RD

THE PARAPLEGICS PLIGHT

The UK government are facing an economic crisis, so they are looking for ways to cut government spending. Do away with the mammoth spending on the military? Cut down on cabinet ministers generous allowances? None of these - they have thought of a much better cash-saving dodge. "Four in 10 disabled young people in England are living in poverty, amounting to a "staggering" 320,000 children. And the figure will rise because of government cuts to welfare payments, according to a report by The Children's Society. The charity's analysis looks for the first time at the additional costs of caring for a child who might be paraplegic, infirm or seriously physically incapacitated, and concludes that the official poverty rates understate the number of disabled children in penury by a total of 32,000. Counting on the basis of a disabled child living in a household with a disabled adult, the figure for those existing in poverty rose to 49%. The Children's Society says that benefit changes in the controversial welfare reform bill, now being considered in the House of Lords, will cause the component of child tax-credit to drop from £54 to £27 a week." (Guardian, 7 October) RD

HARD TIMES AND HARD ROCKS

It is reassuring to know that even in these hard times some millionaire is prepared to buy his sweetheart a nice present."One of the world's largest diamonds, a pear-shaped 110.3-carat yellow rock, will go under the hammer in Geneva in November expecting to fetch about $15 million, an auction house said Thursday. The Sun-Drop diamond, discovered in South Africa last year, is billed by Sotheby's as the "world's largest known pear-shaped fancy vivid yellow diamond." (Calgary Herald, 7 October) $15 million is a large price tag especially when you know that millions of workers are trying to survive on $1.25 a day. RD

Who owns Scotland

The book "Scotland: Land and Power (The Agenda for Land Reform)" by Andy Wightman explains that 1252 landowners own two-thirds of the 16 million-plus acres of private rural land in Scotland.

It is a legacy of the universal process behind the rise of capitalism: the war on common ownership and the separation of people from land, by sword and by fraud (The Clearances).

Once enough people were denied the autonomy that access to land provided, a class of exploitable wage workers was produced and the rest, as they say, is history.

SOUND ADVICE?

Some press reports just take away a socialist's breath with their sheer insanity. This one takes a bit of beating. "Sting's wife Trudie Styler owns seven homes (one in New York, one in Malibu, two in London, one in the Lake District, a Tuscan villa and a 60-acre pile in Wiltshire) and has a £180 million fortune. She is to guest edit The Big Issue and give advice to the homeless." (Daily Mail,7 October) Presumably her first piece of advice will be - marry a pop-star millionaire. RD

THE BURDENS OF THE RICH

Socialists never seem to appreciate the burdens of the rich. If you are extremely rich you have to take immense precautions to keep your wealth intact. Apparently storing your gold in this particular hideaway can cost you as much as 1% per annum of your hoard."Deep in the Singapore FreePort - a collection of secure storage facilities in a duty-free zone covering 7.4 acres next to Changi Airport - sits the bullion vault of Swiss Precious Metals. The gold there is protected by seven-metric-ton steel doors built to withstand a plane crash or an earthquake." (Bloomberg Businessweek, 29 September) Outside Changi Airport some of the most impoverished people in the world live who have no worries about plane crashes or earthquakes destroying their wealth - they have none.RD

ONE IN SEVEN GO HUNGRY

There are many reasons to be a socialist but it is difficult to think of a more powerful reason than the following. "Today is World Food Day. It might, if one heeds the words of Ban Ki-moon, be more suitably designated Global Lack of Nutrition Day. For, according to a statement by the Secretary- General of the United Nations this weekend, in a world that can produce enough food to feed everyone, nearly a billion people will go hungry today. And that is one in seven of us. A welter of little-noticed reports have been published on the subject in the past week, notably a study of worldwide food insecurity by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)." (Independent on Sunday, 16 October) Inside a socialist society food would be produced for the only sane reason - to feed people. Today it is produced to make a profit RD

BACKDOOR EUTHANASIA

Capitalism is always looking for new ways to cut costs. One of the drains on profit that capitalism detest is the high costs of running the NHS, so they have come up with a cost-saving plan. "Elderly patients are being condemned to an early death by hospitals making secret use of "do not resuscitate " orders, an investigation has found. The orders, which record an advance decision that a patient's life should not be saved if their heart stops, are routinely being applied without the knowledge of the patient or their relatives. ...The findings emerged in spot checks of 100 hospitals undertaken by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), an official watchdog, earlier this year. A charity for the elderly said the disclosures were evidence of "euthanasia by the backdoor," with potentially-lethal notices being placed on the files of patients simply because they were old and frail." (Daily Telegraph, 15 October) Needless to say this sort of heartless treatment only applies to those of us who cannot afford the lavish care enjoyed by the owning class. RD 

LOOKING COOL - AT A PRICE

"Jeans with a distressed, already-worn look have been popular since the 1990s, but one way the effect is achieved is by blasting them with sand - and this can give factory workers an incurable lung disease. ..."I have difficulty breathing... When I return from work I feel so tired. My eyes are in pain from all the dust," says an 18-year-old worker at a garment factory in Bangladesh. Bangladesh is home to more than 4,000 clothes-making factories and many of the world's leading jeans companies use factories based there. The worker, who agreed to speak anonymously to the BBC World Service, says he works 11 hours a day in the choking atmosphere, to earn a salary of $70 a month." (BBC News, 1 October) RD

POLITICAL IGNORANCE

Socialists are often amazed at the political ignorance displayed by otherwise astute British workers, but it is difficult picturing any of them being naive as this group of Russian workers. "Haggard women hike up a hill near the Volga, saying they're following "the Law of Love." The law brings them to a three-story building made of white brick, with golden turrets and a battered gate. They call it the "Chapel of Russia's Resurrection." At the gate they exchange dusty boots for green plastic sandals before spreading out prayer rugs made of foam and pray to their patron saint: Vladimir Putin, Russia's prime minister and soon-to-be president (again). They believe he's a reincarnation of St. Paul." (Spiegel Online, 29 September) RD

Nasty Nats

The concept of the nation is very real force in the minds of people. The outlook of “us and them” is deep within the lives and the mind-set of many people. The idea that the world is naturally divided into nations is so widespread that it is often unquestioned. The world of nationalism is full of contradictions, odd ideas and illogical notions. The idea that a line of a map, a so-called “national border”, should actually mean something concrete to the workers is laughable. The idea of “we” as in the people who live in Scotland is the most profound falsehood. To say “this is our country” implies that we all own it collectively, when we most certainly do not. A country is a group of people living under the same laws; because they themselves or their ancestors have been brought willingly or by force - more often than not by force - to obey the same sovereign, the same government. Patriotism groups people according to their land of origin, as decided by the vicissitudes of history and within every country, thanks to the patriotic link, rich and poor unite against the foreigner. Socialism, however, groups people, poor against rich, class against class, without taking into account the differences of race and language, and over and above the frontiers traced by history. No one country's exploiters are so superior to the rest that the workers should sacrifice themselves in defending them.

Differences of language, food, music and the like will continue to exist in a socialist world. Indeed, we would no longer be subjected to the “McDonalds” globalisation we have today under capitalism. Different cultures can exist in the same geographical area and that individuals can partake of elements of different cultures. People living in the north of an island, off the north-west coast of the Eurasian land mass, can enjoy IrnBru and mutton pies, without being nationalists. But the World Socialist Movement does object to the exploitation of cultural differences for political ends, as for instance to set up or maintain a state or as the basis for a political party. Without the ideology of nationalism, capitalist states would be unstable since, being based on minority class rule, they need a minimum allegiance from those they rule over. Nationalism serves to achieve this by teaching the ruled to be loyal to "their" so-called "nation-state". Patriotism has run through politics like a malignant sore. That its workers should be patriotic is vital to each national ruling class and this, fertilised by official lies, is exploited by all governments. The very idea they all try to spread, alike – that a given country is owned by some inclusive “we”, based on common descent or culture which “we” all have an interest in defending; that “we” owe loyalty toward, and toward our “fellow-countrymen” over folks from other lands – is the very premise that the nationalists latch onto and tout as their glorious cause. The professional politicians do their craven best to pander to this supposed collective identity.

The only way to define such national identity is to define it in terms of what (who) it is not, i.e. negatively. Thus nationalism sets itself as being against other countries, striving to define a uniqueness of national culture so as to once and for all set its country apart from others, to know itself by what is un-like it. At one extreme this can include myths about race and blood, trying to attach the national abstraction to some trait of genetics or similar such nonsense. Since people have a strong desire to retain their own perceived identity, and to have a good opinion of themselves, often the creeds based on such identities function in a highly irrational, and ultimately, defensive way. In the early 1700s Jonathan Swift said “the first principle of patriotism is to resent foreigners.” This setting of one section of population against another has been successful all around the world. Great numbers of people can now rouse themselves against the newest threat, the most recent immigrants, anyone who looks or sounds like they may be from a group other than their own. And those who dare question the status quo become unpatriotic subversives.

People are not machines, they feel lost in this vast meaningless world of capital, just another cog in the machine. So naturally they seek meaning since little meaning for life can be gained from the system of alienated labour. Often they find that meaning in the idea of the nation and often tying nationality to sport to sustain this nationalist mindset. People can be the "Auld Enemy" simply because they compete with them on the football pitch and sense of identity that comes with it, becomes their lives, and they defend it accordingly from within the ranks of the "Tartan Army". Indeed "football nationalism" is of tremendous value to the capitalist class as it makes supporting "your country" socially acceptable. It not only diverts workers minds away from the problems that surround them, it allows politicians to reap the rewards of any "feel good" factor that springs forth from a good set of results. Many socialists play and watch football but it's a shame that nationalism has to taint what should be a wonderful event. As far as socialists are concerned, these attempts to try and make an appearance of a common interest with our exploiters is just like a thief playing on their support for the same football team as their victim. It does not change the relationship one iota.

Nations have taken a great deal of building. There is almost no nation-state that has not had its boundaries drawn in blood, its foundations built upon human flesh and bones. Nations are manufactured, not born. People who have a common history or speak the same language do not have a common interest; they are divided into classes, and a worker who speaks a particular language has a common interest with workers speaking other languages but not with a capitalist who speaks the same one. We see the harm that is done by national boundaries, that prevent workers from moving to be with whom they want to be with; prevent them from sharing their skills and their knowledge as they see fit; prevent them from seeing their common cause.

It is clear, then, that socialists must oppose nationalism in all its forms: not just refusing to espouse their creed, but defying the rituals, the singing of "Flower of Scotland" anthem , flag-waving of the Saltire or Lion Rampant and other expressions of loyalty to the nation-state, that help enforce the idea of nation in our minds. There is no national interest for workers. Self-determination for "nations" just equates with self-determination for a ruling class. It must be opposed in favour of self determination for people. It must be opposed with socialism. Enormous damage has been done, throughout the world, by the notion that one country and its people are superior to the others. Socialism recognises the essential unity of the human race and the urgent need to celebrate it by building society on that basis. In a socialist society the traditional knowledge and expertise held by small communities will be respected, especially where this relates to local ecology and sustainable systems of land use, and hence priority given to local decision-making over whatever has to be delegated to wider regional or global democratic control.

CHINESE CONTRASTS

The Chinese capitalist class and their government officials are drunk with power and think nothing of lavish spending. "Amid poverty, Chinese officials splurge on lavish vanity projects. China is rife with extravagant building projects in backwater towns often grappling with poverty. Reporting from Wangjiang, China - There are no highways running through this impoverished rural county. Children study in dilapidated schoolhouses. On many streets, you're just as likely to run into a chicken as you are a pedestrian. Yet the Wangjiang local government is constructing a headquarters on a slab of land the size of the Pentagon building - a sprawling edifice of granite and glass with a $10-million price tag in a county where the average resident earns $639 a year." (Los Angeles Times, 1 October) The so-called Communist Party splashes out on these grandiose schemes but the working class scrape by on a pittance of an income. RD

A CANCEROUS SYSTEM

For years industrial manufacturers denied that the use of asbestos caused incurable cancers, but eventually they had to bow to the accumulation of more and more scientific evidence. Recent research has shown that tobacco companies have been guilty of the same deceit. "Tobacco companies knew that cigarettes contained a radioactive substance called polonium-210, but hid that knowledge from the public for over four decades, a new study of historical documents revealed. Scientists from the University of California, Los Angeles, reviewed 27 previously unanalyzed documents and found that tobacco companies knew about the radioactive content of cigarettes as early as 1959. The companies studied the polonium throughout the 1960s, knew that it caused "cancerous growths" in the lungs of smokers, and even calculated how much radiation a regular smoker would ingest over 20 years. Then, they kept that data secret." (abc. News, 29 September) When it comes to making bigger and bigger profits capitalism cares little for human health.RD

Food for thought

Five hundred people rallied in the Duferin Grove Park neighbourhood to
protest mayor Ford's cuts to services. Still on the chopping block are
cuts to libraries, the arts, parks, fire, and police. A teacher said
that half of his students rely on the library for internet access and
stated, "These cuts are going to have a detrimental effect on the black
and brown people in wards 1 and 2." Racism is alive and well in covert
ways in Toronto, although the wealth/poverty aspect is strong in the
mix. A black man with a good job will be able to afford internet access
just as well as a white person of the same income level. In other words,
it's mainly economic.

There is money available to society of course to be able to do whatever
society wants. Proof is the ever- increasing wealth of the rich. One
example is that of ex-Yahoo executive, Carol Bartz, who, when fired over
the phone (nice guys) announced that the board f---ed me over" to
Fortune magazine. The upshot is that she may lose a $10 million payout
because she has a non-disparagement clause in her employment contract.
To bandy such money about and then close things like libraries is a sick
symptom of a profit society. Work to get rid of it
Another example of the stupidity of cuts in the face of massive wealth
are the planned cuts by the provincial government to the program that
guarantees visits and calls by nurses to new mothers, specifically
targeting those with feeding problems. I remember in the forties and
fifties that new mothers were able to take their babies to a free clinic
to have its health, checked, discuss problems with a nurse, and receive
free bottles of concentrated orange juice, cod liver oil, and malt with
vitamins. The wealthier we get, the more the workers get shafted!

How about this one -- there are calls for providing proper housing with
sewers and access to clean water, and end to poverty, overcrowding, and
work, especially for youth. Is this in the Third World (never to be
promoted to Second or First?)? No, it's right here in Canada, on the
First Nation's reservations. The nineteenth century herded them off
valuable land, and since then they have been forgotten, by-passed by an
increase in wealth of the nation. The measures, by the way, are to
combat the growing number of teen suicides.

If anyone doubts the influence of the US government on ours, the
Toronto Star article (Sept 3, 2011) should dispel them. It writes,
"Secret US government cables show a stunning willingness by senior
Canadian officials to appease American demands for a US-style copyright
law here." Apparently the American government is virtually writing the
law for us! This Harper government is particularly susceptible to this
kind of arrangement as shown by our security forces handing over
information and even bodies to the US to be sent for torture. John Ayers

Food for thought

David Olive (Star Toronto, Sept 10, 2011) asks, "Should We Raise Taxes
on the Rich". He quotes billionaire Warren Buffet, " While the poor and
the middle-class fight for us in Afghanistan, and while most Americans
struggle to make ends meet, we mega-rich continue to get our tax
breaks." Indeed, Buffet paid just seventeen per cent income tax while
his workers at Berkshire Hathaway Inc paid thirty-six per cent. This
should bring home to the workers that what is given can be easily taken
away. Reforms are not the answer, getting rid of the system entirely is.

The New York Times reports (18 Sept 2011) how India is tackling its
poverty. The world's largest biometric identity database will collect
information on 1.2 billion individuals and enable them to access welfare
benefits, open a bank account, or get a cell phone in remote villages.
This all could help of course, but The Times should be reminded that
welfare does not eliminate poverty. In addition, the paper tells us, the
crippling and corrupt bureaucracy, a legacy of India's socialist past (!
News to me, too) will be circumvented and will wither away.

The indigenous population in Honduras could use some help, too. There,
Miskito Indians dive into the sea to a depth of as much as 30 to 37
metres, 12 to 16 times a day to harvest the spiny lobster. No more than
two dives of that depth a day are recommended, but poverty forces the
divers to dive more to find the means of subsistence in this profit-dominated world,
"Here the problem is strictly about money, where money is given more value than human life."
Says the doctor who treats them for decompression sickness in a hyperbaric chamber.
Welcome to capitalism. John Ayers

SKINT, BUT NOT POOR

For centuries politicians, philanthropists and social observers have tried to solve the problem of the poor, but poverty has remained despite their best efforts. Now however a so-called "think-tank", has ridden to the rescue. "One of Britain's foremost think-tanks wants to ban the phrases "poor people" and "the poor" to describe those in poverty, claiming they amount to discrimination akin to racism and sexism. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) says politicians and members of the public are guilty of "povertyism", an unacknowledged form of prejudice which stigmatises deprived people." (Sunday Times, 9 October) The findings of this think-tank must be a great consolation to those workers who find themselves unemployed, homeless and desperate. They may be skint but they are not poor - thanks very much JRF! RD

A full circle

Scotland's poorest people are facing food shortages akin to Second World War rationing, a charity has claimed. Pensioners and those on the lowest incomes are struggling to feed themselves in the face of rising food prices, Oxfam Scotland said.

Food prices have been rising at over twice the rate of the national minimum wage and at nearly twice the rate of jobseeker's allowance over the past five years.

Danny McCafferty, from Clydebank Independent Resource Centre, which helps unemployed people and those on low incomes, said "In some ways they've gone full circle. Those who are in their 70s and 80s experienced rationing and shortages after the Second World War and now they're going through it all again."

Judith Robertson, head of Oxfam Scotland, said: "It is a gross injustice that poor people in Scotland are finding it increasingly difficult to feed themselves and their families."

GLASGOW BRANCH PUBLIC MEETING

Wednesday 19 October 21, 8.30pm

Resistance, Reform or Revolution

Speaker: Brian Gardner

Community Central Halls, 304 Maryhill Road G29 7YE

 

As capitalism grapples with (what is now being referred to as) its "greatest ever crisis" (Mervyn King), workers in many parts of the world are facing an increased onslaught on their livelihoods and quality of life. Whilst world socialists have never placed much faith in the idea that workers have actually enjoyed the recent economic boom, it appears that we are entering a different era now, where the expectation of ever-increasing living standards is starting to be reversed, and may continue for years or even decades, as the extent of the market correction commenced in 2008 emerges.

 

How are workers taking this? By voting Tory and then rioting? It is a confusing picture certainly, but one worth examining.

 

Since the last major economic downturn in the 1970s, the working class has lost much of its power, confidence and organisational strength. Unions are desperately weak. But workers have also lost confidence in the traditional ways of doing things: the labour/social-democratic parties of the western countries have deserted their traditional support in an effort to gain power to run capitalism. And now their traditional support (working-class) is deserting them. Similarly the Leninist left that once so effectively controlled and neutered worker anger, is now a complete irrelevance.

 

More generally, politicians have haemorrhaged support in recent years, along with other former figures of authority: bankers, police and journalists. In tandem with this, increasing numbers of workers appear to be starting to use social media and internet in a participative, unmediated and political fashion, free from top-down control.

 

As the main party conference season passes workers by, there are possible signs of new forms of organised worker political activity in the UK and beyond. Is there a link between the African Spring and the UK summer riots? Tent cities sprout around the city centres of the world, from Wall St to the City of London. But is this just the same old stuff (lets reform capitalism) being discussed in a different way? Certainly a quick look at the media provides plenty of evidence of the legitimacy of capitalism being up for much more debate than ever before.

 

What views do world socialists take on these events? What bits are positive, and which have downsides? And anyway, should we be interested in what the working class is thinking and doing? Is our audience the same as in 1904? For that matter, is our objective the same as then?

EMPTY PROMISES

Politicians vie with each other in claiming that they can solve capitalism's boom and burst cycle of trade. Beyond their empty boasts there is a reality that they dare not recognise in their bombastic promises. It is that booms and bursts are the way capitalism operates and politicians are powerless to do anything about it. A recent survey by the IFS shows what the future is likely to be. "Falling incomes will mean the biggest drop for middle-income families since the 1970s, says a report from the Institute for Fiscal Studies. The IFS forecasts two years "dominated by a large decline" in incomes, pushing 600,000 more children into poverty, By 2013 there will be 3.1 million children in poverty in the UK, according to the IFS projections." (BBC News, 11 October) All the politicians can do is make empty promises while we suffer empty pockets. RD

CHINESE COLONIALISM

In the 19th and 20th Century European powers such as Britain, France and Holland engaged in a ruthless colonial expansionism throughout the globe, but times change and we now have capitalist China engaging in the same pattern of colonial exploitation. In poverty stricken Zambia the pattern is repeated. "Chinese investment in Africa's leading copper producer topped $1 billion last year and came with the promise of 15,000 jobs as well as an additional $5 billion investment over the next few years. Almost all of the money is ploughed back into Zambia's copper-mining industry, with only 10% invested in construction, agriculture, retail and manufacturing. It is perhaps understandable that in a southern African country the size of Texas, where almost two-thirds of the 13 million citizens live under the poverty line of $1.25 a day, economic growth is the government's priority - even if that growth comes at a cost." (Time Magazine, 19 September) The so-called communist Chinese government once railed against the evils of colonial exploitation but now it enthusiastically engages in it.RD

THE PRICE OF PROGRESS

One of the defenses of capitalism that socialists often encounter is that for all its failings it is at least a progressive society. Well try telling that to the poor Uganda farmers who have recently experienced some of capitalism's progress. "According to a report released by the aid group Oxfam on Wednesday, more than 20,000 people say they were evicted from their homes here in recent years to make way for a tree plantation run by a British forestry company, emblematic of a global scramble for arable land. "Too many investments have resulted in dispossession, deception, violation of human rights and destruction of livelihoods",Oxfam said in the report. "This interest in land is not something that will pass. As population and urbanization soar, it added, whatever land there is will surely be prized." Across Africa, some of the world's poorest people have been thrown off land to make way for foreign investors, often uprooting local farmers so that food can be grown on a commercial scale and shipped to richer countries overseas." (New York Times, 21 September) RD

Food for thought

In the Futility of Reform Department, I take you to Detroit where the new 900 employees of Chrysler Corp. are called the cornerstone of its comeback. Why? Because they are willing and happy to have a job at $14 per hour, less than half what they would have received before. They turn out a Jeep Grand Cherokee every 48 seconds. (Toronto Star, Sept 18, 2011) "What was once seen as a desperate move to prop up the struggling auto industry is now considered an integral part of its future." The union could do nothing but acquiesce to the auto- makers' demands and now hope to begin the wage increase process all over again.
In the same issue, David Herle writes, " The Canadian middle class dream is disappearing. There is more income inequality than ever before, and fewer people find themselves with the trappings traditionally associated with middle- class life -- security in retirement, a little bit of savings to help your kids through school, the ability to splurge on a vacation from time to time." We would substitute workers who have won a few extra crumbs for the 'middle-class' epithet. Nevertheless, things are getting tougher for the workers and nothing can be taken for granted. We will have to fight for every little thing we get, unless we get rid of the whole damned system! John Ayers

FROM DREAM TO NIGHTMARE

As they near retirement age many workers console themselves with the notion that they will at last be free from money worries, but recent research may lead them to reconsider their dreams of rocking chair contentment. "Research published today suggests that many people with private pensions will be as much as 30 per cent worse off compared with those with similar savings who finished work in 2008, because of a combination of tumbling stock markets and interest rates at a record low. PricewaterhouseCoopers, the accountants, said those facing retirement this year would be left "between a rock and a hard place", forced to consider putting off claiming a pension until market conditions improve." (Daily Telegraph, 8 October) Even after a lifetime of work and money anxiety capitalism still holds no respite for many workers. RD

IT'S NOT CRICKET

As school kids many of us were fascinated by the exploits of our sporting heroes and would delight in tales in the Hotspur and Rover comic books about batsmen "hitting sizzling sixes over the tuck shop roof". That of course was in our naive youth before finding out about how capitalism really operates. "A further three Pakistan cricketers have been named in court as being allegedly involved in a betting scam. The prosecution claim that the agent Mazher Majeed, 36, told an undercover reporter he had players he could control in relation to fixing. ....The case at Southwark Crown Court centres around a Test match against England at Lord's in 2010 however evidence is being heard relating to an Oval Test which took place on an earlier date." (BBC News, 6 October) Capitalism corrupts everything it touches and the sporting arena is no exception. RD

A WONDERFUL TOWN?

We have all seem romantic films about what a fascinating city New York is. We have all heard Frank Sinatra sing New York, New York It's A Wonderful Town, but the reality is somewhat different. "Poverty grew nationwide last year, but the increase was even greater in New York City, the Census Bureau will report on Thursday, suggesting that New York was being particularly hard hit by the aftermath of the recession. From 2009 to 2010, 75,000 city residents were pushed into poverty, increasing the poor population to more than 1.6 million and raising the percentage of New Yorkers living below the official federal poverty line to 20.1 percent, the highest level since 2000. The 1.4-percentage-point annual increase in the poverty rate appeared to be the largest jump in nearly two decades. ... Manhattan continued to have the biggest income gap of any county in the country, with the top fifth of earners (with an average income of $371,754) making nearly 38 times as much as the bottom fifth ($9,845)." (New York Times, 22 September) RD

INCREASING THE DEATH RATE

Capitalism in Britain in the midst of one of its many economic slumps is looking desperately for new ways to increase its profits. The latest is motorway speed limits."The speed limit on motorways will rise to 80mph, it will be announced tomorrow. Under the new plans more roads in built-up areas will be reduced to a 20mph limit. The plans will be presented as part of the Coalition's attempts to boost the economy, with ministers arguing that shorter journeys on major roads will help businesses. However, the increase to 80mph for motorways will be criticised by environmental groups, who say that higher speeds mean much higher greenhouse gas emissions." (Daily Telegraph, 29 September) Ecological groups may be concerned by increased emissions but socialists are concerned about the increased death rates amongst workers who have to use the motorways in order to earn a living. Inside capitalism profit is much more important than human life. RD

A DEPRESSING SOCIETY

This is nothing more boring than hearing fervent nationalists making empty boasts about the superiority of "their" country to all others. "The number of anti-depressants being prescribed to people in Scotland is continuing to increase, according to the latest figures. Statistics from the Scottish government suggest that more than one in 10 of the population are on the drugs. In the last financial year a total of 4.6 million anti-depressants were prescribed in Scotland, up more than 350,000 on the previous year. It is estimated 11.3% of Scots, aged over 15, take the drugs daily." (BBC News, 27 September) So it is probably worth reminding yourself the next time you hear a Scottish worker of your acquaintance waxing eloquent about "his" mountains, glens and bonnie blooming heather he is probably high on Prozac instead of his usual whisky. It is marginally cheaper after all. RD

COOL BUT AT A PRICE

"Wow, what do you think sweetheart, don't I look fabulous in this" some workers may say, but behind their delight lurks the awful exploitation of other workers. "More than two dozen global clothing brands on Tuesday pledged to investigate a spate of mass faintings among Cambodian garment workers, the UN's labour agency said. The retailers said they would provide resources and international expertise to find out why hundreds of their suppliers' employees have collapsed recently, the International Labour Organisation said after a meeting in Phnom Penh. Among the retailers who supported the initiative were Gap, H&M, Walmart and Target, a source who attended the gathering but wished to remain anonymous told AFP." (Yahoo News, 6 September) Who cares about fainting Cambodians, don't I look cool. That is capitalism for you. RD

THE CLASS DIVIDE

The severe economic slump in the USA has led to mounting unemployment and mortgage re-possessions but the billionaires are still doing very nicely. "Despite the stalled economy, the nation's wealthiest are worth a combined $1.53 trillion, nearly equivalent to the GDP of our neighbor Canada. Their total wealth is up 12% in the year through August 26, when we took a snapshot of everyone's net worth, meaning these affluent folks did slightly better than the markets; the S&P 500, for instance, was up 10% in that time." (Yahoo Finance, 21 September) The figures compiled by Forbes.com show that Bill Gates is worth $59 billion and Warren Beattie $39 billion. RD

AN EXPENSIVE TIPPLE

The press are fond of depicting large sections of the working class who go out on a Saturday night to have a drink as useless; work-shy lay bouts who drink to excess and behave in an anti-social fashion. It is unlikely that even the most debauched worker would consider spending this amount of money on a night out though. "The world's oldest yet still drinkable champagne has been sold at auction for 30,000 euros. The bottle of Veuve Cliquot, believed to be 170 years old, was discovered by divers uncovering a shipwreck in the Baltic sea in 2010. It was one of only 145 discovered, however only two will be sold as most wines which are that old have turned to vinegar. ....A 10-year wedding anniversary present, the recipient said: "My husband doesn't believe in keeping wines, he wants to open them and enjoy them with his friends." (Huffington Post, 23 September) RD

Food for thought

The staggering proportion of Africa's health and poverty problem never fails to horrify us. The New York Times reported (Sept. 25, 2011) that 750 000 Somalis are likely to starve to death without massive intervention. This, the newspaper reports is 1990s all over again. Like economic crises, it will continue to reoccur as long as the profit system is in place -- no profit, no effective demand, no production. (The Times didn't say that of course!)

The Toronto Star reported (Sept 24, 2011) that one million people die of malaria annually in sub-Saharan Africa, one child every 30 seconds. An Omani doctor whose sister succumbed to the disease, started a campaign to change this situation. Bill and Melinda Gates contributed to the campaign funding 44 research teams finding ways to wipe malaria out. Good effort, but the $450 million invested is a drop in the ocean compared to the amount of money Big Pharma puts out to 'cure' acne' or spider veins on the legs. They could produce a cheap vaccine in no time for everyone as long as they could make the big profits they garner from fake medicine.

The same article tells us that 350 000 women died with pregnancy problems and 7.2 million children die annually before the age of five,  mainly in the developing world (anyone know when it will be developED?).
They claim we are likely to see a vaccine for HIV within ten years and a malaria vaccine is available and it will be commercialized by 2016. Too bad for those who need it in the next five to ten years. John Ayers

Highland lows

In a new report, the health board covering the Highlands and Argyll and Bute said poverty was the biggest issue in its fight to tackle inequality. About 53,000 people were in poverty in the health board area last year. Merkinch in Inverness and Dunoon were among the most deprived areas, according to the NHS Highland report. Alness, the south side of Wick and Campbeltown were also listed among the most deprived places in the health board's area.

NHS Highland's report said the average life expectancy of a man living in Merkinch was 66 years - about 14 years less than a man living in Lochardil.

Its authors said: "Poverty is the biggest issue facing the NHS Highland area in the fight against inequality. With impending welfare reform, rising fuel prices, public sector cuts and a fragile economy, the number of people affected by poverty and financial hardship is set to rise."

Dr Margaret Somerville, director of public health, said: "It is important to note that inequalities in health have worsened over the last 10 years...The worst off in society are likely to suffer most from the economic climate and consequent changes in public sector services..."

POLLUTION AND CAPITALISM

In their mad demand for profit the capitalist class are polluting our world more and more. "Ozone loss over the Arctic this year was so severe that for the first time it could be called an "ozone hole" like the Antarctic one, scientists report. ...Ozone-destroying chemicals originate in substances such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) that came into use late last century in appliances including refrigerators and fire extinguishers. ..... The ozone layer blocks ultraviolet-B rays from the Sun, which can cause skin cancer and other medical conditions. (BBC News, 3 October) On the face of it a scientific report on the BBC may not appear to mean that much to you, until your child develops skin cancer or some other awful medical condition. It will mean a lot then. RD

SURVIVING ON 33 PENCE A DAY

Under the heading of "33p a day is poverty line - and at least 308 million live below it" the Times newspaper outlined the perilous condition of many Indian workers. The Planning Commission of the Indian government recommended that this should be the poverty line and anyone above it would be denied subsidised rice, wheat, healthcare and housing. "But the claim that 35 rupees (33p) per day in rural areas and 32 rupees in cities such as Mumbai and Delhi was sufficient to provide "adequate private expenditure on food, education and health" has provoked outrage in India, where inflation of close to 10 per cent per year and widespread corruption is fuelling resentment against the ruling elite." (Times, 1 October) It is worth noting that India has emerged as one of the countries with more and more millionaires and a recent study by the UN found of the 645 million classed as poor 420 million of these were to be found in eight northern and eastern states of India. RD

Stalin bad, Lenin good???

A terrific article by Richard Montague in this month's Socialist Standard states:

"Josef Stalin, who by an ironic inversion of the ‘Great Man’ theory of history subsequently became the Lucifer of the Left and the architect of evil in the Russian empire, wrote a pamphlet called Socialism or Anarchism in 1905 in which he correctly summed up the Marxian view of socialism:".....and further."Many contemporary exponents of Leninism ascribe the awful saga of totalitarian rule that emerged from this sort of thinking to Stalin. Yes, Stalin did head the list of political gangsters that terrorised Russia following the Bolshevik Revolution, but it was the elitist nonsense promoted by Lenin, as evidenced above, and the undemocratic political structures established by the Bolshevik Party that created the pathway to the massive evils of Stalinism."

You can read it for yourselves on the new website being developed.

SOCIAL IMMOBILITY

One of the boasts of the present government is that we now live in a society of social mobility wherein someone from an impoverished background can still have access to a higher education. Like most of their boast it is nonsense. "A quarter of English universities failed to meet their targets to admit substantially more disadvantaged students last year, a government watchdog has revealed. Cambridge, Bristol, Exeter, Durham and University College London are among 23 institutions that admit making insufficient progress in widening their mix of applicants in 2009-10, leading to accusations that the intake of the most selective universities is "increasingly privileged". David Willetts, the universities minister, said the report was proof that social mobility had stalled." (Guardian, 29 September) RD

THE SICK SOCIETY

Inside capitalism everything has a price. If you can afford it you can get the best food, clothing, housing and entertainment. Conversely if you don't have the money you have to do with the cheap, the shoddy and the second-rate. Regretfully this applies to health-care too. "The lives of thousands of non-cardiac NHS emergency surgery patients are being risked by poor care and delays in treatment, leading surgeons say. The Royal College of Surgeons says poor access to facilities like operating theatres and scans means some abdominal emergencies are not spotted in time. The RCS also says not enough patients receive critical care after surgery. ....The RCS adds that junior staff are often left to deal with complications." (BBC News, 29 September) They call it the National Health Service, the national ill-health service would be more accurate. RD

pay-cut for bank staff

Scottish employees of Clydesdale Bank face a large cut in take-home pay after the Glasgow-based institution said it will ask them to put 9% of their salary into its previously non-contributory pension scheme. Clydesdale will phase in contributions, starting at 3% of salary in 2012 and going up to 9% by 2014

“In common with many other organisations, it has been affected by reduced investment returns as a result of the downturn, the expectation of lower returns in future as well as improvements in life expectancy rates generally.” a spokesman for the bank said

Those who do not want to contribute will be offered a lower benefit based on 1/80 of salary rather than 1/60 for those who put in money. The bank has also cut the annual increases for benefits accrued after April 2012, switching to the lower Consumer Prices Index rather than the Retail Prices Index. This measure will be capped at 5%.

And for the bank executives? Unite union said the people being hit by the latest "substantial" changes "are not wealthy bankers, but frontline banking staff who serve customers in call centres and bank branches". Unite's national officer David Fleming said the move would "trigger hardship for employees" and was a "real blow". He said it was wrong "to introduce changes that will require staff at National Australia Bank to ultimately make a 9 per cent contribution, over three years, when household budgets are already extremely stretched."

POVERTY IN THE USA

The United States of America is the richest country in the world today. Many other capitalist countries envy its vast productive capacity, but the working class of the USA don't share in this abundance. "The ranks of America's poor swelled to almost 1 in 6 people last year, reaching a new high as long-term unemployment left millions of Americans struggling and out of work. The number of uninsured edged up to 49.9 million, the biggest in more than two decades. The Census Bureau's annual report released Tuesday offers a snapshot of the economic well-being of U.S. households for 2010, when joblessness hovered above 9 percent for a second year. ....The overall poverty rate climbed to 15.1 percent, or 46.2 million, up from 14.3 percent in 2009. The official poverty level is an annual income of $22,314 for a family of four." (Associated Press, 13 September) RD

Oily capitalists

Ian Suttie is currently ranked at 13th on Scotland's Rich List with an estimated fortune of £340 million. But the Aberdeen-based tycoon might overtake both metals magnate Mahdi al Tajir, worth about £1.55bn, and Sir Ian Wood, head of the Wood Group and worth £1.119bn, as a result of his company's stake in a significant oil find. Suttie is head of First Oil & Gas, an independent company which has a 30 per cent stake in the Kraken Field discovery. His firm's potential share is estimated at about £3.2bn. Even after development and tax costs, First Oil and Mr Suttie stand to gain more than £1bn once the field begins producing oil in 2015.

Suttie, a director of 40 companies, has had a chequered career since he started out as a chartered accountant. Nine years ago, he took over the Richards textile factory in Aberdeen after the Broadford plant, once one of the city's leading employers, went bust, leaving hundreds of workers without a pension. As part of the deal, the sprawling 8.5-acre site was sold for £5m to a company called Hawkrow, of which Mr Suttie was the sole director. Mr Suttie moved the company's operations to the Northfield area of the city. But the textile firm he created went into receivership in November 2004, leaving the 196 remaining workers without a job. Union leaders accused him of asset-stripping after it was revealed that First Construction, the successor company to Hawkrow, was behind ambitious plans for a £50m urban village development at the Broadford site.

In November 2005, he was cleared of cheating the Inland Revenue out of thousands of pounds in tax which should have been paid on the interest on one of his bank accounts. He had been charged with four counts of fraud in connection with his tax returns over a four-year period, but walked free after he told his trial at the Sheriff Court in Aberdeen he was unaware that his £1m Bank of Scotland account at the centre of the case was an interest- bearing account because he never looked at his statements!

From http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/scotland/Slick-oilman-surges-to-billionaire.6843883.jp

BUSINESS AND POLITICS

One of the illusions that most reformist political parties are keen to foster is that they stand for "the national Interests", "the British way of life" or some such nonsense. They pretend that they represent the interests of the refuse collectors and the shop assistants just as much as the rich business man. This recent piece of legislation gives the lie to that notion. "Britain's top 50 companies are to be given unprecedented access to government ministers in an attempt to spark life into the economy. Bosses of companies including BP GlaxoSmithKline will be able to telephone directly to the top of Whitehall departments in new individually tailored relationships with senior ministers who will act as "buddies"." (Times, 23 September) RD

A living wage or no wages?

According to research by Citizens Advice Scotland workers in Scotland are routinely being exploited by employers who are refusing to pay the minimum wage. The problem is particularly prevalent among young employees, while hotels, restaurants and cafes are the worst offenders.

Susan McPhee, head of policy at CAS, said: “The minimum wage has been law for more than 10 years, but a significant number of employers are refusing to pay it, and as a result workers are exploited on illegal wages. All political parties* accept the principle of a minimum wage, but it seems some employers believe the law is optional. Our experience shows many workers are unaware of their rights or lack confidence in how to fight for them.”

The National Minimum Wage was made UK law in April 1999 and is currently £6.08 an hour for those aged over 21. It lowers to £4.98 for those between the ages of 18 and 21. For 16 and 17-year-olds, the threshold is £3.68. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has the powers to issue a notice of underpayment if an employer is found to be flouting the legal threshold, and employers face a fine to HMRC of 50% of the total underpayment that has occurred since April 2009. The minimum penalty is £100 and the maximum £5000.

* Not all. The Socialist Party doesn't.

We have nothing against workers struggling for and getting higher wages if they can. We favour this, even if we don’t like the term “living wage” any more than “fair wage" and even if we think that ideally this should be tied to struggling to abolish the wages system altogether. What we criticise is to increase the present legal minimum wage and call the result a “living wage”.

First Minister Alex Salmond has spoken in favour of a “living wage” of £7.15 per hour for Holyrood employees. Presumably Salmond has in mind is a wage that would allow a worker to afford decent housing, enough proper food, new clothes, to go on holiday and run a car. Getting employers to increase the wages of anyone paid less £ 7.15 is easier said than done. The unions haven’t been able to do it. Like all reforms of capitalism the minimum wage legislation leaves intact the basic mechanism wherein a small handful live of the surplus value produced by the working class. However even by comparison with previous capitalist reforms this piece of legislation has proved woefully unsuccessful. We pointed out that this was just another empty vote-catching promise which, even if implemented, wouldn’t have had the expected effects.

But let’s assume for a moment that a law forcing employers to pay a higher minimum wage was passed. What would happen?

First, some employers would go bankrupt. Others would withdraw their capital from producing certain goods or services, so their price would rise. Eventually this would stabilise at a new, higher level at which employers would be able to make a profit even when paying the increased minimum wage. So the cost of living would go up, including for workers on the minimum wage. Second, given the increased labour costs, the introduction of previously unused labour-saving machinery would become cheaper vis-à-vis employing living labour. It is generally accepted that higher wages does lead employers to introduce machinery. Employers would do this. So there’d be job losses and unemployment, particularly amongst the unskilled, would grow.

Nor did Marx think much of such demands as “fixing the minimum wage by law”, which was one of the reform demands of the French Workers Party he had a hand in helping to set up in 1880. He wrote, referring to the proposer of this: “I told him: ‘If the French proletariat is still so childish as to require such bait, it is not worth while drawing up any program whatever.' "

Like all reforms of capitalism the minimum wage legislation leaves intact the basic mechanism wherein a small handful live of the surplus value produced by the working class. Socialism is not about redistributing income and wealth from the rich to the poor, but about establishing a society that would not be divided into rich and poor. To adapt Marx, workers should replace the demand for a “Living Wage” by the revolutionary demand for the “Abolition of the Wages System”.

Labour is crap,too

Tom Harris, Labour MP, and aspiring Labour Party leader for Scotland bared the truth to The Herald.

"The only thing keeping us in contention is that all the alternatives are crap. That’s not much of a standard to go by: Vote for Labour because everyone else is crap.”

The Labour Party has no horizons beyond those of capitalism. Throughout its existence, the Labour Party has done everything but what need doing most and said everything but what most needed saying. Although from time to time they paid lip-service by using socialist sounding phrases when it met their purpose of deluding the workers, nothing they have ever said or done has advanced the workers one inch. While certain of their reforms might have helped in keeping workers contented and in staving off unrest, they have had the desired effect of giving the boss class a new lease of life. What would the capitalist class do without a Labour Party to patch up their vile system for them? The past record of the Labour Party in supporting wars, freezing wages, breaking strikes, and forming coalitions, with Tories and Liberals, should be enough to finish them with the working class for keeps; the tragedy is that it won’t.

The miserable failure of the Labour governments has led in Scotland to growing support for nationalist party, the Scottish National Party. The Socialist Party no more supports Scottish nationalism than it does British nationalism.

You can vote for candidates who support all the crap of the capitalist system. For them the only way out is through deception, at times to the extent that they begin to believe their own
lies. Or you can use your vote to show you want to overturn it and end the problems capitalism causes once and for all.

The African "Clearances"

An Oxfam report blames land deals for forcing people off land and destroying homes and livelihoods. It says land deals often have no benefit to the country itself, and instead are aimed at using arable land to grow food for developed nations, to produce biofuels, or simply to speculate for profit.

Dundee West MSP Joe Fitzpatrick “The Oxfam report evokes grave echoes from Scotland’s past, namely the Highland Clearances, when, throughout the Highlands and Islands many thousands of people left their ancestral lands, many after being forcibly evicted.”

Oxfam details that more than 20,000 people forcibly evicted from their land to make way for a British timber company, The New Forests Company, and Fitzpatrick described it as an example of “a new modern-day clearance” in operation.

Oxfam Scotland head Judith Robertson said: “Many of the world’s poorest people are being left worse off by the unprecedented pace of land deals and the frantic competition for land. Global action is crucial if we are to protect local people all around the world from losing what little they have for the profits of a few.”

Cancer of Capitalism

Professor David Cameron, an expert in breast cancer from Edinburgh University, said new treatments were increasingly being developed which targeted specific subtypes of cancer, helping make them more effective.

"These drugs are expensive. Some of that is the real cost of developing them and some of that is if you are only going for a subset of cancer then your total predicted sales will be less," Prof Cameron told The Scotsman. "The business model of the company will be that in order to develop the money to develop the drug your subsequent sales in the patent lifetime have to be sufficient to cover all your costs. So actually, the cost for rarer cancer is likely to be higher and not lower."

A wee butt and ben?

Hailed as "one of the finest sporting estates in Scotland" and will become the most expensive estate sold on the open market if it meets its extravagant guide price, Millden, a vast estate situated in the heart of the Angus glens, long famed for their grouse moors, has been put on the market for an eye-catching £17.5 million.

Stretching to nearly 20,000 acres, the estate has entertained kings and prime ministers over the years and is described by CKD Galbraith, property agents to the gentry, as the "Holy Grail" of grouse shooting. Located near the village of Edzell, Millden was the first of the sporting lodges built for the Earls of Dalhousie on their Glen Esk estate in the Regency period. Shortly before the beginning of the Second World War King George VI and then prime minister Neville Chamberlain enjoyed a week's shooting.

Along with three recently-improved moors spanning more than 10,000 acres, fishing rights to eight miles of the River North Esk, and extensive woodland, prospective buyers of the estate in Glen Esk will acquire a considerable property portfolio. The centrepiece is the grand Millden Lodge, a 19th-century shooting lodge that includes ten bedrooms, a gun room, a bar, a billiard room, and various cottages for gardeners and gamekeepers. Along with two other lodges, Millden, bought by investment banker Richard Hanson in 2004, boasts a dizzying array of more modest accommodation, from cottages to farmhouses. In all, there are upwards of 30 properties included in the guide price, plus numerous lunch huts, sheds, and outbuildings, plus a staff of 16 to help with maintenance.

Chinese Capitalism

http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/features/Anna-Burnside-The-Commie-consumers.6842233.jp

The national average income is 50,000 yuan (£5,000), less than Angola and Albania. Only 24 million of the population's earnings are above the tax threshold.

But the rich spend spend spend...Conspicuous consumption must become less conspicuous so the Party outlawed billboard advertisements that promoted "hedonism, lavishness and the worship of foreign things".

The new Hurun Rich List, of Chinese individuals with a net worth of over 10 billion yuan (£1 billion), numbers 127.

GOVERNMENT PAYMASTERS

Recent proposed legislation by the government to allow house building on previously designated green areas has aroused some opposition, but the background to the proposals is likely to cause even more resentment. "Dozens of property firms have given a total of £3.3 million to the party over the past three years, including large gifts from companies seeking to develop rural land. Developers are also paying thousands of pounds for access to senior Tories through the Conservative Property Forum, a club of elite donors which sets up breakfast meetings to discuss planning and property issues. The disclosures are likely to provoke a new "cash-for-access"row and will give rise to fears that planning policies could have been influenced by powerful figures from the property industry." (Daily Telegraph, 10 September) The newspapers fears about "powerful figures" influencing the government seems somewhat naive. The whole purpose of legislation inside capitalism is to accommodate the wishes of the owning class. RD

Food for thought

How many millions have you lost in the stock market lately? Ellen Roseman in "How to Deal With Angry Investors" (Toronto Star, Aug 29, 2011) tells us investors are frightened and angry, no surprise. She gives portfolio managers advice such as, sit down face to face with  clients; listen to people; talk about the challenges; look at the role of cash; review portfolios more often etc. That should put them at ease as they see their life savings going belly-up and retirement disappearing into the distance. It gets more like Alice in Wonderland everyday!

A letter in The Toronto Star recently opined that the London Riots were no surprise considering 20% unemployment and a loss of rights and freedoms over the last two decades, "This (change from citizens to consumers) is the result of a change from democracy to corporatocracy. Western corporations now control the governments, universities and  media, with lobbyists outnumbering politicians..." We might comment that it's the normal operation of the capitalist system for the last two hundred years or so. The writer also reveals that General Electric US made $10.3 billion last year but ended up owing nothing to Uncle Sam. In fact they recorded a tax benefit of $1.1 billion! John Ayers.

Food for thought

It's harder to find a more pristine wilderness than that of the Peel River Watershed in the Yukon Territory. This year the Yukon government has issued 8 341 mining claims. Near the town of Faro, a large wooden sign proclaims, "Yukon's Best Kept Secret". They are not talking about the once largest zinc mine in the world, a testament to toxic damage. The company has long gone and the taxpayers are stuck with a $1 billion  clean-up bill. Two water treatment plants filter toxins out of the mine  tailings; soil and rock must be sealed in plastic before new soil can be  brought in; they are talking about keeping clean-up operations going  until the year 2500! The mining industry promises they will be more responsibly and clean up when they are finished. How believable!

On the other hand, those protesting outside the White House against Protesters of Trans-Canada Corp's controversial pipeline that will bring the clean tar sands oil (well that's what the ads say about that gooey  muck!) from Alberta down to refineries on the Texas Gulf coast, are  being arrested (more than one thousand to date) for daring to stand on  the sidewalk and disagree, actually for 'failure to obey'. (must be communists, right Mammoliti? Can you smell 'em or is the stink of tar too great?). Among those arrested this week was Canadian activist icon,  Naomi Klein, "She was arrested outside the front door of the president she thought agreed with her." (Toronto Star report). She said, " It  feels inherently weird and uncomfortable for me to do something remotely critical of this president." This shows the level of understanding of how capitalism works that boggles the mind. What does she think was  going to happen, that Obama would agree with her and take on capital?
Unbelievable! So far as we know, none of those responsible for the mess in the Yukon is under arrest. John Ayers

Food for thought

The Toronto gravy issue that newly elected mayor Ford promised to get
rid of but can't seem to find, is back in the news. Ford's mouthpiece on
city council, Giorgio Mammoliti set up a Facebook page to support the
mayor. On it he promised to ban whining communists such as those
citizens who spoke against city budget cuts (libraries, day care, and
other such 'gravy' items). He warned that he could 'smell out'
communists among the Facebook members and defined them as 'anyone who is
able to work, doesn't want to work and wants everything for free.' More
than one thousand anti-Mammoliti complaints immediately filled his
bulleting board. This is the level that our so-called leaders have
dropped. Time to get rid of leaders? Yes! John Ayers

THE US CLASS SYSTEM

A popular myth about the USA is that it is less class-divided than Europe but a glance at recent developments in the housing market should bury that piece of nonsense. At a time when many workers in the USA are losing their homes in re-possessions the owning class is on a spending spree. "Try telling billionaires the U.S. housing market is in the dumps. Many of the world's richest have eagerly been snapping up lavish properties from coast to coast this year. Venture capitalist Yuri Milner broke price records with his $100 million Silicon Valley home purchase, Formula One heiress Petra Ecclestone shelled out $85 million on Los Angeles Spelling Manor, and industrialist scion Alexander Rovt rescued Manhattan Henry T. Sloane Mansion out of foreclosure for $33 million, to name but a few." (Forbes. com, 7 September) RD