LOW INCOME = LOW LIFEPAN

"A new American Cancer Society report shows that education level can have a profound effect on people's health -- including whether they die from cancer and other diseases. According to the report, death rates among the most educated Americans decreased significantly from 1993 to 2001, while those of the least educated leveled off or went up for some causes. The study offers still more evidence of deepening socioeconomic disparities affecting quality-of-life and survival in the United States. "This study shows a real disparity in mortality between the haves and the have-nots in this country," said Ahmedin Jemal, PhD, American Cancer Society Strategic Director, Cancer Occurrence and lead author of the study." (Yahoo News, 18 May) RD

THE AMERICAN NIGHTMARE

"Philomena Gist understands why it hurts so much to be on food stamps. After all, she's got a master's degree in psychology. "There's pride in being able to take care of yourself," says the Columbus, Ohio, resident, laid off last year from a mortgage company and living on workers' compensation benefits while recovering from surgery. "I'm not supposed to be in this condition." Neither are many of the 27.5 million Americans relying on government aid to keep food on their tables amid unemployment and rising prices. Average enrollment in the food stamps program has surpassed the record set in 1994, though the percentage of Americans on food stamps is still lower than records set in 1993-95. The numbers continue to climb." (USA Today, 18 May) RD

HOW CAPITALISM WORKS 2

In Afghanistan, where people literally live on bread, many are reduced to buying bread crusts by the gram and softening them with water to make their meals. Must be because the harvest failed, right? No, last year was a good harvest but prices have risen sharply on the commodity market putting it out of the reach of ordinary Afghanis. Likewise, in Cambodia, children have to leave school to collect bamboo shoot, frogs and crabs to supplement the family food because rice is scarce in that country – no, it’s actually plentiful but most is exported and what is available is unaffordable. The madness of capitalism! Actually, this is how it works – “The Philippines (govt.) went to the international auction table (for rice) like a high stakes gambler, desperate to win rice for its 88 million people – lots of it, in fact 675,000 tonnes. But when regular supplier Vietnam upped the ante to something close to $1,200 per tonne, The Philippines held its cards and walked away. Gutsy? Or just plain foolish?’ (Toronto Star 11/05/08). This is how food is supplied? Crazy!
John Ayers

HOW CAPITALISM WORKS 1

Workers produce all the goods, in return they receive a wage, what's the problem with that?
Recently, at one of Canada’s favorite coffee Shops, Tim Horton’s, an employee gave a crying baby a tidbit, a tiny donut worth 16c retail. She was fired by the manager. It turned into a public relations nightmare as the story hit the media and the employee had to berehired but the message is loud and clear – employees have no rights to the product they produce.
John Ayres

CLASS RESULTS

While cyclone Nargis devastated Burma leaving thousands dead and more destitute, not only did junta leader Than Shwe refuse much needed help (sound like New Orleans?) but went ahead with his daughters’ glittering wedding, “While millions struggle to fill their daily rice bowls, he(Than) celebrated his daughter’s wedding with a multi-million dollar feast, the bride encrusted in jewels and an ocean of champagne flowing for applauding guests” (Toronto Star 17/05/08)
John Ayres

BIG BROTHER IS COMING

"Ministers are to consider plans for a database of electronic information holding details of every phone call and e-mail sent in the UK, it has emerged. The plans, reported in the Times, are at an early stage and may be included in the draft Communications Bill later this year, the Home Office confirmed. (BBC News, 20 May) RD

IS THIS YOUR FUTURE?

"One in four older people are so worried about their future that they are making themselves ill, a survey has suggested. The ICM poll for Help the Aged showed a fifth of over-65s felt their quality of life had worsened in the last year and one in 10 said they were often lonely. The study of Britain's elderly also highlighted ageism, neglect, poverty, isolation and deprivation.
(BBC News, 20 May) RD

A CYCLONE OF DEBT

The recent cyclone in Burma is estimated to have killed 130,000 people in a few hours but this being capitalism the long term effect of this natural disaster has become a social disaster for thousands of the survivors. Take the case of Daw Aye as reported in The Times (31 May). "There was the disaster of her fisherman son, drowned at sea in a storm that was never noticed outside of Burma. There was the disaster of widowhood: her husband died six years ago of an illness to which Daw Aye cannot even put a name. Cyclone Nargis at least spared the rest of her family, although it destroyed her newly built wooden house along with 300 of the 500 dwellings in the village of Thaungche, on the Rangoon River. Having survived bereavement, flood and homelessness, Daw Aye is now facing a potent and more insidious enemy: crippling debt. She has six surviving children, and in the months since the cyclone she has had only two handouts from the Burmese authorities, a total of no more than a few pounds of rice." Her oldest surviving son works as a farmhand for about £10 a month and her adult daughter earns even less mending fishing nets, so in order to feed her family and build an open-fronted shelter of bamboo and palm leaves in which they now live, she was forced to go to a moneylender. She borrowed about £150 but the village money lending terms are 10 per cent or £15 a month, more than her family can earn. She is faced with the choice of hunger or lifelong debt. Daw Aye's plight is not unique. The latest figures available put the dead and missing at 134,000 and it is estimated that about 750,000 will need long term food aid. This is understandable when it seems that about 280,000 cattle and water buffalo were killed and one million acres of arable land were flooded in southwest Burma. Fish is hardly likely to be counted as a life saver when it is reckoned that 2,649 fishing boats were lost in the storm along with 18,000 fishermen.Brother Thu Sita, a monk from Thaungche monastery, said: "It was hard enough to rebuild their houses. Then the problem is finding enough food to eat. People borrow money, they get into debt to feed themselves. And there is so little from outside. All that we can do as monks is to share a little of our food and help them psychologically. But as far as their future goes, they are on their own." Socialists advocate a completely new society based on production for use not profit, but of course natural disasters like cyclones and earthquake will still occur. The major differences will be that no one will live the hand to mouth existence of Daw Ayre and her fellow villagers. Everyone will work to the best of their ability and take according to their needs. In addition when natural disasters do occur everyone will rush to aid the victims, unlike today where greedy moneylenders exploit their plight and all well-meaning monks can do is offer psychological assistance.R.D.

FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION

Socialist Party Discussion Group

18 June 8.30pm, Central Community Halls,

304 Maryhill Road, Glasgow

Socialism as A Practical Alternative

John Cumming of Glasgow Branch Will Open The Discussion For About 10 to 15 Minutes.

The Rest Of The Evening Will Be Taken Up With Your Questions And Points Of View.

Some of The Ideas that Will Be Discussed Are

Is It Possible To Have A World Without Money?

Can Human Beings Behave In A Cooperative Fashion?

Is Human Nature Compatible With Socialism?

Who Makes The Decisions Inside Socialism?

How Do We Deal with Crime Inside Socialism?

Admission Free All Welcome

CAPITALISM FAILS AGAIN

"The U.N. children's agency said in a statement Tuesday an estimated 126,000 Ethiopian children urgently need food and medical care because of severe malnutrition — and called the current crisis "the worst since the major humanitarian crisis of 2003." The U.N. World Food Program estimates that 2.7 million Ethiopians will need emergency food aid because of late rains — nearly double the number who needed help last year. An additional 5 million of Ethiopia's 80 million people receive aid each year because they never have enough food, whether harvests are good or not." (Yahoo News, 20 May) RD

GOD AND MAMMON

"Employees counting donations at a popular Hindu shrine in southern India will no longer have to take off their underpants at work after the local human rights commission intervened. Police and temple authorities imposed the dress code at the Sabarimala hill shrine in Kerala five years ago after thefts were reported from the shrine's strong room. Employees in the vault, all of whom were men, were made to work topless wearing only a dhoti -- a cotton wrap worn around the waist -- with nothing underneath." (Yahoo News, 23 May) RD

WE ARE NOT ALONE

"Public opinion across Europe, Asia and the US is strikingly consistent in considering that the gap between rich and poor is too wide and that the wealthy should pay more taxes. Income inequality has emerged as a highly contentious political issue in many countries as the latest wave of globalisation has created a “super class” of rich people. (Financial Times, 18 May) RD

HUMAN BEHAVIOUR IN CRISIS

"The dire situations in cyclone-battered Myanmar and quake-tossed southwestern China and the impulse of many to offer relief have a lot to do with human nature. Our hunter-gatherer ancestors likely did it, and non-human primates do it. We are hard-wired to help others, to drop everything in crisis situations, scientists say. "People do really respond in these crisis situations where it's really a short-term matter of life or death," said Daniel Kruger at the University of Michigan's School of Public Health. The motivation to give dates back to our hunter-gatherer ancestors, he said." (Yahoo News, 19 May)) RD

THE BEAR NECCESSITIES

"The polar bear should be removed from the endangered species list because its protected status will hamper drilling for oil and gas in Alaska, the state's Republican Governor has demanded." (Times, 23 May) RD

MEDIEVAL NONSENSE

"Over the past year alone I have received requests from around 350 people who think they are possessed by an evil spirit," says Father Joerg Mueller, who heads a group of priests, doctors and therapists to deal with the problem. "Therapy hasn't worked for them; they want exorcisms - a prayer that can free them." ... "Father Gabriele Amoth, the Vatican exorcist-in-chief, has performed the ritual more than 40,000 times. The Vatican aim appears to be to place one exorcist in each diocese to ensure that the distressed do not drift away from the Church." (Times, 22 May) RD

MORE MADNESS

"The Harry Winston Opus 8 looks like a seventies LCD watch, but it's actually hand-wound and mechanical, with the elements displaying the time pushed up by a tiny disc. Only 50 were made, from white gold, and they sold out fast. The price? Around £215,000." (Times Magazine, 24 May) RD

ADSPEAK NONSENSE

Joan O'Connor, Coca-Cola spokeswoman, on Glaceau Vitaminwater, the company's first bottled water since the Dasani disaster : "This is not water; it’s an active lifestyle brand." (Times, 24 May) RD

CAPITALIST MADNESS

"Even Giorgi Armani has now designed a pen - all understated black with silver embellishment. The fountain pen will be on sale in Harrod's from June for £2,300." (Times, 23 May) RD

Nature loss 'to hurt global poor'

Damage to forests, rivers, marine life and other aspects of nature could halve living standards for the world's poor, a major report is to conclude.

G8 environment ministers meeting in Japan last weekend agreed a document noting that "biodiversity is the basis of human security and... the loss of biodiversity exacerbates inequality and instability in human society". But the main CBD target agreed by all signatories at the Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit in 1992 - to "halt and begin to reverse" biodiversity loss by 2010 - is very unlikely to be met.

A new International

Even in the 19th Century it w2as recognised that capitalism was a world wide system and that the working class required an international workers association to effectively resist the bosses .

Once again trade unions are recognising the global effects of the employers and are re-organising appropriately .

The Finiancial Times reports a historic alliance between Unite, Britain's biggest trade union, and the almost 1m-strong United Steelworkers union in North America is about to create the first transatlantic union, with more than 2.5m working members.

The move is designed to provide greater protection for workers whose jobs are threatened by the spread of global capitalism. The UK and US partners hope unions from other countries will join the alliance, increasing its strength.

Amicus had previously signed co-operation deals with USW and the International Association of Machinists in the US, and the IG Metall union in Germany, while the T&G had forged working relationships in the US with the Teamsters and SEIU, the services sector union.

Previous examples of cross-border union co-operation include T&G's support for the Teamsters' campaign against FirstGroup, the UK-based bus and train operator accused of frustrating attempts by unions to organise workers at its expanding US business.

"One of the main reasons for the merger between Amicus and the T&G was our desire to create an international trade union that would be able to deal with multinational companies on an equal footing and organise working people in even greater numbers," said Derek Simpson, Unite's joint general secretary last year."Multinational companies are pushing down wages and conditions for workers the world over by playing one national workforce off against another. The only beneficiaries of globalisation are the exploiters of working people and the only way working people can resist this is to organise and band together."