LAND OF THE FREE?

"A chasm still separates the black people of South Carolina, from what Rev Jackson calls their white "brothers and sisters". It is a deep division, as was apparent after a short parade from the porch of Rev Jackson's church to the domed statehouse, where the marchers congregated in the shadow of the South's most defiant symbol of white supremacy, the battle flag of the Confederacy. Across the street from where the marchers were honouring the assassinated civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jnr, a small group of white secessionists jeered. They spoke of keeping alive the memory of the "lost cause", a euphemism for racial domination. Uniformed police and secret service agents mingled with the crowd, watchful for trouble." (Independent, 22 January) RD

HANDS FULL OF DOLLARS

The recent study of the Institute for Fiscal Studies that showed 0.1 per cent of the UK population has an income of £780,000 per annum looks decided modest when compared with the US figures. " ... the IFS's findings will be cited alongside the work of Emmanuel Saez and Thomas Piketty, the US academics who have highlighted how wealth is held in ever fewer hands. Their study, published last year, showed that the most affluent Americans are better off than at any time since the 1920s. The top 10 per cent now account for 48.5 per cent of income, and the top 1 per cent for 21.8 per cent of income." (Times, 18 January) RD

CHINESE CAPITALISM BOOMS

Despite its nonsensical claims to be communist the growth of Chinese capitalism is explosive and inevitably has lead to gigantic differences of wealth. "Growth in China has been spectacular but it has also been unbalanced and has created staggering inequality; the US magazine Forbes identified 66 billionaires on its China rich list last year, their coffers swelled by soaring share prices on the Shanghai exchange. Neither Donald Trump nor Steven Spielberg is rich enough to make it into a table of the top wealthiest Chinese, but most people are still desperately poor, and the Beijing government is worried that rampant food price inflation will lead to serious unrest." (Observer, 20 January) RD

WORDS OF WISDOM

David Attenborough in an interview said: "Every society that's ever existed has felt it necessary to have creation myths. Why should I believe one? People write to me and say: `You show us birds and orchids and wonderful, beautiful things - don't you feel you should give credit to He who created those things?` My reply says: what about a parasitic worm that's boring through the eye of a four-year-old child on the bank of an African river? It confuses me that I should believe in a god who cares individually for each and every one of us and could allow that to happen" (Observer Magazine, 20 January) RD

NO SUB-PRIME MORTGAGE HERE

Many workers as they struggle to pay their mortgage are concerned about the so-called credit squeeze, but it does not affect members of the owning class as can be seen from the following.
"A palatial home complete with a Turkish bath for 20 people has been sold for £50 million, breaking the record for the most expensive new-build house in Britain, which was recently set by a nearby property. Toprak Mansion in north London boasts seven bedrooms, four kitchens and an 80ft dining room containing a 40ft table. It also has a green copper roof, Grecian-style pillars, a grand double staircase, a glass lift, a swimming pool with a glass bridge and a two-acre garden. The new owner, who has not been identified, is reported to be planning to spend £30 million on a makeover by an Italian designer to create a beauty salon, spa, helipad, cinema and squash court. ...The mansion was built on The Bishops Avenue, a street full of palatial homes that was once known as Millionaires' Row, but is now referred to as Billionaires' Row. The price tag trumps that paid for Palladio, a mansion in a nearby street that was bought last year by Lev Leviev, the Israeli billionaire, for £35 million."
(Daily Telegraph, 21 January) RD

LOADS OF MONEY

"In a detailed study of the very rich, the Institute for Fiscal Studies uses data from the HM Revenue and Customs to show that the top 1 per cent of adults - comprising a group of 47,000 people - earn an average of £222,000 a year; while the top 0.1 per cent make a pre-tax income of, on average, £780,000 compared with the average across all taxpayers of £25,000." (Observer, 20 January) No worries here about minimum wage legislation or foreclosed mortgages we imagine. RD

What price a life ?

A cancer patient who was forced to pay out £3,400 per fortnight for the life-saving drug cetuximab has won his battle for funding , having previously been refused the treatment on the NHS , according to the BBC .

Originally ,the Scottish Medicines Consortium said it was not cost-effective because it could only prolong life, not cure him.

Preserving life for as long as possible should be the responsibility of the NHS , the patient is quoted as saying .

Maybe so , but under capitalism , there is always a price tag and a value placed upon a person's life . Not everyone is as fortunate as this patient was .

THE COLD FACTS

Over fifty years ago a popular song of the day was Baby, Its Cold Outside. Today for many workers that song would have to be changed to Baby, Its Cold in Here.
"One in six British households is living in fuel poverty, the highest for almost a decade, according to new figures that threaten the government's target to eradicate the problem in England by the end of the decade. Fuel poverty is defined as when a household spends more than a tenth of its income on utility bills. The consumer group Energywatch said yesterday there are now about 4.4 million of these in the UK, with just over 3 million in England alone." (Observer, 20 January)
Needless to say this "progress" only hurts the poor, the old and the incapacitated; yes only the working class suffer. RD

OF MICE AND MEN

"New research on mice shows the brain processes aggressive behaviour as it does other rewards. .. The mouse brain is thought to be analogous to the human brain in this study, which could shed light on our fascination with brutal sports as well as our own penchant for the classic bar brawl. .... Scientists have known that mice and other animals are drawn to fights. Until now, they didn't know how the brain was involved. The new study, detailed online this week in the journal Psychopharmacology, reveals the same clusters of brain cells involved in other rewards are also behind the craving for violence. "Aggression occurs among virtually all vertebrates and is necessary to get and keep important resources such as mates, territory and food," said study team member Craig Kennedy, professor of special education and paediatrics at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee. "We have found that the reward pathway in the brain becomes engaged in response to an aggressive event and that dopamine is involved." (Yahoo News, 17 January)
Many American apologists for the violence of capitalism have claimed that it is innate in human beings but this is the first time we have heard it blamed on mice. There has been a lot of lynching historically in Tennessee but we have never heard of white mice hanging black mice. The so-called science of "special education and paediatrics" as practiced at Vanderbilt University is to say the least suspect. RD

GOOD NEWS FOR THE HOMELESS ?

"The residence of France's ambassador to Ireland is up for sale with a 60 million euro (45 million pound) price tag that would make it the most expensive home ever sold in the Irish Republic. "It's so big I have to call my wife on her mobile phone if I want to talk to her," Ambassador Yvon Roe D'Albert, who is downsizing to a more modest property, told The Irish Times. The 1,065 square metre (11,450 square foot) house sits on 1.75 acres (0.72 hectares) in Dublin's leafy embassy belt of Ballsbridge and has 10 bedrooms, including one used by former French President Charles de Gaulle. "A residence of such magnitude so close to the centre of Dublin has rarely been offered, if ever, to the market," boasts a sales brochure which also describes it as "possibly one of the finest city homes in Europe".(Yahoo News, 18 January)
We imagine that neither the working class of Paris or Dublin will be making a bid! RD

POLICE ARE WORKERS

Over twenty years ago during the miners' strike the role of the police was questioned by the strikers. There were reports of the police jeering at the miners and holding up bundles of fivers of overtime money and shouting "keep up the strike, we're making a fortune". Now the police find themselves in the position of having to accept a less than generous wage settlement. They are not permitted to strike but they intend to demonstrate their grievances. "Up to 15,000 officers from all 43 forces in England and Wales will march through central London in the biggest police protest for more than a decade. ... Today's protest is the first time that police have marched to demonstrate their anger over a pay deal or unhappiness with a Government reform programme." (Times, 23 January)
Somewhat belatedly some members of the police force may now recognise that they are members of the working class, just like the miners. RD

HEY MAN IT’S A GAS

"British Gas, the UK's biggest power provider, is to raise the amount it charges for gas and electricity by 15%. The announcement followed increases from rivals Npower and EDF Energy, with the firms blaming high wholesale costs. British Gas, owned by Windsor-based Centrica, said that it would make a loss this year without the price rise. Consumer groups and the Unite trade union have criticised the move, saying it would make life harder for firms, the elderly and those on low incomes. Before the British Gas move, Npower raised its electricity prices by 12.7% and gas by 17.2% earlier this month. EDF Energy also put up its electricity tariffs by 7.9% and gas bills by 12.9% this week." (BBC News, 18 January)
But why all the panic? After all we have a caring, sharing Labour government and they will immediately raise the pensions for the elderly and the dole for the unemployed by 15% wont they? What do you mean capitalism doesn't work that way? RD

LABOUR AIDS THE WEALTHY

The Labour Party promised to bring about a more equitable society, but despite these promises the exact opposite has occurred.
"The very rich have grown richer at double the pace of most Britons under Labour and their incomes may have accelerated further in recent years on the back of a rising stock market, research from the Institute for Fiscal Studies shows. Using the most detailed analysis of tax return records to date, the think-tank showed that, in every 1,000 adults, the income of the very richest person rose on average by 4 per cent above inflation every year between 1996-97 and 2004-05. That compared with growth of about 2 per cent for those on middle incomes." (Financial Times, 17 January) RD

CRUELTY AND CAPITALISM

"Amnesty International on Tuesday called on Iran to abolish the "grotesque and horrific" practice of stoning people to death. Amnesty, which opposes the death penalty under any circumstances, said an Iranian man had been stoned to death in July last year for committing adultery, despite a moratorium being imposed on such executions in 2002. The woman he was convicted of committing adultery with still faces the threat of being stoned, a practice that involves the woman being buried up to her breasts in sand and then pelted with stones until she dies. "Amnesty International is calling on the Iranian government to abolish immediately and totally execution by stoning and to impose a moratorium on the death penalty," the rights group said in a 30-page report on the practice. "Iranian law prescribes that the stones are deliberately chosen to be large enough to cause pain, but not so large as to kill the victim immediately ... It is a particularly grotesque and horrific practice." (Yahoo News, 14 January)
It is difficult to quarrel with Amnesty's indignation, but the "grotesque and horrific" practice of starving people in a society capable of producing an abundance and millions of children dying for lack of clean water also seems "grotesque and horrific" to socialists. RD

DIARRHEA BY THE SEA

We are all victims of the allure of holidays by the sea. There is nowhere stronger in its allure than the Mediterranean, but recent reports seem to make that place a little less attractive. "The pristine white beach that stretches for miles here is one of Albania's most popular holiday destinations. But the water is a toxic brew, contaminated with untreated sewage and industrial pollutants. Durres's pollution is among the region's worst, labelled in 2006 by the European Union as a hot spot. But across the Mediterranean, millions of tons of pollution and waste are emptied into the sea each year, according to the United Nations. Some comes from factories or the runoff from agriculture. But untreated sewage is also a major cause. More than half the sewage from Mediterranean coastal development seeps into the sea untreated. Although that percentage is lower than in some other parts of the world – in Latin America, 80 percent of sewage is untreated – the problem is particularly acute in the Mediterranean, whose closed geography means that it takes 100 years to renew its waters."
(Yahoo News, 15 January) Capitalism buggers up everything, even our fortnight "away from it all". RD

DYING FOR THE TOILET

"Five thousand children die every day globally because they do not have access to clean toilets, health experts said on Tuesday. Wealthy governments and donors could make a huge impact on global health by making sanitation a priority, representatives from a coalition of 60 health groups said. They estimated that 40 percent of the world's people do not have access to clean and safe toilets."It is about generating political will, and we also want to see is a real mobilization around sanitation in the aid system," said Henry Northover of Water Aid, which founded the coalition End Water Poverty. "We want to see the G8 (group of industrialized nations) prioritize it this year." This would also go a long way toward meeting global targets aimed at sharply reducing world poverty by 2015, the experts said. Water Aid says 1.8 million children are dying each year before their fifth birthday from diarrhoea." (Yahoo News, 15 January) We've said it before, we will say it again - capitalism is a shitty society. RD

In Debted to Capitalism

Researchers have found that, by the age of 50 years and 90 days, the typical adult will shake off the shackles of debt. In Scotland, debt-free status comes at an average age of 49 years and six months . To pay off their debts, people use a mixture of salary, inheritance, windfalls and profits from investments.

Until then, the average Briton is in debt to the tune of £10,306. Men are deeper in the red, with debts totalling £12,631, while the average woman owes £7,982, excluding any mortgage.

"There are a lot of people in a cycle of debt. They're paying for credit over ten to 15 years, which means they may not pay it off until their retirement." Stuart Glendinning, the managing director of Moneysupermarket.com said .

A spokesman for Your Money Matters said: "As the cost of living continues to rise, we're being forced to save through our twenties and delay the major milestones of life until our thirties. On top of that, the average cost of a house is now well over £200,000 so we're not even getting on the housing ladder until 34. All of this and the average UK salary is just £25,986 for men and £20,488 for women, so it's no surprise that the majority of us are hitting our fifties before shaking off the shackles of debt."

SO MUCH FOR PRINCIPLES

Away back in 1906 when the British Labour Party was formed they made great play of their morality and principles. So they spoke in an almost biblical fashion about ethics. Today however we live in different circumstances and the Labour prime minister has to deal with the real world of capitalism. He represents the British capitalist class and must represent their interests. So while it true that dictatorship and the suppression of democracy may not be very ethical when he visits China he has to remember who are his paymasters.
"He said trade was not "one way" - while Britain would import more goods, it would export its financial services. He and Chinese premier Wen Jiabao have agreed to boost trade by 50% by 2010 and he predicted "tens of thousands" of British jobs would be created. ... Speaking to reporters after talks in Beijing, the two leaders confirmed they had agreed a joint target of increasing two-way trade to $60bn (£30bn) over the next two years." (BBC News, 18 January) And not a word about democracy or free speech we imagine. RD

THE SPORT OF MILLIONAIRES

It used to be said that horse racing was The Sport of Kings now it seems that football is the sport of millionaires. After a series of takeover bids in the premier league, football has moved from the sports page to the financial page. "Manchester United intends to carve out new global sponsorship deals as it seeks to capitalise on a fan base it estimates at 33m, according to David Gill, its chief executive. Announcing a record pre-tax profit of £59.6m for the year to June 30, up from £30.8m the previous year, Mr Gill said future growth would accrue from the first year of the new Premier League TV deal and commercial ventures." (Financial Times, 11 January)
So while United and City football fans might argue in the pub about the merits or demerits of this or that striker's abilities, the real business of football is raking in the loot from sponsorship deals. Capitalism sees everything from a profit angle RD

SMILING WAGE SLAVES

Inside capitalism men and women of the working class have to please the owners. They must be good timekeepers, hard workers and extremely obedient, but now it seems this is no longer enough - we must smile while we are being exploited. "Microsoft is developing Big Brother-style software capable of remotely monitoring a worker's productivity, physical wellbeing and competence. ... The system would allow managers to monitor employees' performance by measuring their heart rate, body temperature, movement, facial expression and blood pressure." (Times, 16 January) "
There will be no frowning in this office, Smith. Smile, damn you. Smile". RD