HOW THE OTHER 5% LIVE (2)

"One of my duties was to clean her cigarette holder." Lady Glenconner recalls the delightful days she spent as lady-in-waiting to Princess Margaret." (Observer, 3 August) RD

HOW THE OTHER 5% LIVE

"In a city obsessed with fine dining, one name has always stood out among New York restaurants: Cipriani. ... `Going to Cipriani is restaurant as theatre. It represents privilege when food becomes part of your identity, like buying a luxury car, says Danyelle Freeman, restaurant critic of the New York Daily News." (Observer, 3 August) RD

POLITICAL PROSTITUTES

Inside capitalism reformists politicians will do anything to get support. A well known fornicator like President Kennedy would speak of his Christian convictions, and John Major the UK prime minister could speak of a return to Victorian values while he was screwing a member of his cabinet. So the following piece of religious/political nonsense should not be a great surprise. Votes at any cost are the mantra for this group of job-seeking politicians. "Allies of India's ruling Congress party performed a massive goat sacrifice for the "well-being and stability" of the government to time with a confidence vote last week, a report said Thursday. The regional Samajwadi party, which propped up the government after its left allies withdrew support, sacrificed at least 267 goats and 15 buffaloes in a prayer for the longevity of the government, the Times of India reported. The prayers began a day before the government won the motion on July 22 with 275 votes to 256 for the opposition, which wanted to bring down the ruling party for going ahead with a controversial nuclear pact with the United States." (Yahoo News, 31 July) Kill a goat get a nuclear pact? Really weird. RD

GROWING OLD DISGRACEFULLY

In primitive society one of the greatest sources of human survival was the knowledge of the elderly. If you lived in a gathering/ hunting society the knowledge of where plants occurred, where animals existed and at what times of the year was essential for human society. Knowledge was power. So much was this the case for human survival that one of the first forms of religion was Ancestor Worship.
We no longer live in a gathering/hunting society; we live in a modern capitalist society. This is a society where the majority work for a wage or a salary and a tiny minority live off the surplus value that they produce. Inside this society attitudes towards the elderly are completely different. If they are poor they are looked upon as a burden by the capitalist class and some sort of creature that had they any decency would just disappear.
Away back in 1908 when state pensions were first paid in the UK there was the view that this piece of reform would end old-age poverty. People like David Llyod George and Charles Booth hailed the legislation as a mayor breakthrough on the abolition of old-age poverty.
"Yet 100 years on, 2.5 million pensioners - more than a fifth of all those aged over 65 - still struggle to pay their bills and keep their home warm." (Times, 31 July) Such is the nature of capitalism and the lick-spittles that operate it that they have come up with a great new idea that will save the owning class millions.
"People will be forced to work until they are aged 70 if the basic state pension is to survive into the next century, according to the Government’s pension supremo. Lord Turner of Ecchinswell, the architect of radical reform in which the retirement age will rise to 68 by 2046, said that with no limit in sight for life expectancy, people are going to have to work even longer than he proposed." (Times, 31 July)
When I was very young an elderly man taught me about capitalism. One of the lessons he taught me was - the owning class need young men and women to provide for them, but we don't need them. As in primitive society we must heed the elderly - knowledge is power.
RD

WORDS OF WISDOM

Phil Wark, professional bouncer: "Of course, clubs have admission policies and many have dress codes. Some won't accept trainers. We are like any other workers in the ruthless world of 21st-century UK capitalism: we do what we are told by management." (Times, 31 July) RD

Socialist Standard August 2008 Mini-me

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 editorial: contents: Also available as HTML (image lite) and PDF Pages: 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

Wal-Mart - Anti-union

Wal-Mart , the owners of the supermarket chain , Asda , reveal what happens when capitalists feel threatened by democracy - they use their influence and access to voters to swing the vote . This from the Wall St Journal (via Harry's Place blog)

Wal-Mart in the USA is mobilizing its store managers and department supervisors around the country to warn that if Democrats win power in November, they'll likely change federal law to make it easier for workers to unionize companies -- including Wal-Mart.

In recent weeks, thousands of Wal-Mart store managers and department heads have been summoned to mandatory meetings at which the retailer stresses the downside for workers if stores were to be unionized. Wal-Mart executives claim that employees at unionized stores would have to pay hefty union dues while getting nothing in return, and may have to go on strike without compensation. Also, unionization could mean fewer jobs as labor costs rise.

Wal-Mart don't specifically tell attendees how to vote in November's election, but make it clear that voting for Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama would be tantamount to inviting unions in .

Wal-Mart has fought hard to keep unions out of its stores, flying in labor-relations rapid-response teams from its Bentonville, Ark., headquarters to any location where union activity was building. The United Food and Commercial Workers was successful in organizing only one group of Wal-Mart workers -- a small number of butchers in East Texas in early 2000. Several weeks later, the company phased out butchers in all of its stores and began stocking prepackaged meat. When a store in Canada voted to unionize several years ago, the company closed the store, saying it had been unprofitable for years.

ASDA in the UK have followed moreorless the same policy of discouraging and restricting unions

Investors first and foremost

On Wednesday, British Gas raised gas bills by 35% with immediate effect, to restore "reasonable profitability".
Profits were £992m in the first six months of 2008 , £5m-per-day profits .
"This is a business that has got a million shareholders - a lot of pension funds and people have got their savings invested in British Gas shares and we have to look after them". Centrica's chief executive said.

One-in-three pensioners are likely to be in fuel poverty this winter Age Concern's head of public affairs said.

MINIMUM WAGE? FORGET IT!

1974 Vintage
"Hand crafted in 1974 this noble spirit of rare breeding has been cosseted and nurtured during its long maturation in the beachside warehouses. Undaunted, warmed and comforted by the finest sherry wood, the result is a spectrum of delight with flavours of chewy caramel, crushed hazelnuts, chocolate and warm hints of liquorice, cinnamon and orange peel.
At last this great masterpiece has been awakened for you to enjoy. Sip and savour the very heart of Jura and feel every beat of Island life…

Vintage 1974 / 648 bottles produced / 70cl / 44.5% ABV / £500.00" RD

BEHIND THE BRAVADO

"Washington - More than 22,000 veterans have sought help from a special suicide hot line in its first year, and 1,221 suicides have been averted, the government says. According to a recent RAND Corp. study, roughly one in five soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan displays symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, putting them at a higher risk for suicide. Researchers at Portland State University found that male veterans are twice as likely to commit suicide as men who are not veterans. ...The VA (Veterans Affairs) estimates that every year 6,500 veterans take their own lives. The mental health director for the VA, Ira Katz, said in an e-mail last December that of the 18 veterans who commit suicide each day, four to five of them are under VA care, and 12,000 veterans under VA care are attempting suicide each year." (Yahoo News, 28 July)RD

DYING FOR WORK

"A Nigerian migrant's account of how his two children were thrown overboard after dying of thirst on their voyage to Italy has added fuel to a debate on whether illegal immigration is out of control. The father and 74 other migrants were rescued on Saturday after setting sail from Libya a week ago. They were picked up by the Italian coastguard a day after the government declared a state of emergency for illegal immigration. "The night we left Libya, the youngest one ... died in my arms and we were forced to throw him in the sea," the 30-year- old Nigerian said in comments carried in newspapers on Sunday, though an Ansa news agency report later said police had noted contradictions over some details of his story. A day later, his three-year-old daughter also died, he said. "She wanted water and something to eat. She suffered a lot, resisted a bit longer but didn't make it in the end," he said. Thousands of illegal African migrants arrive in Italy in flimsy boats each summer." (Yahoo News, 27 July) RD

JUNKYARD CAPITALISM

"Francis McConnell is a field supervisor for the Philadelphia Water Department, but lately he is acting more like an undercover police officer. Several hours a day, five days a week, he stakes out junkyards. Pretending to read a newspaper, Mr. McConnell sits near the entrances and writes down descriptions of passing pickup trucks and shirtless men pushing shopping carts. His mission is to figure out who is stealing the city’s manhole covers and its storm drain and street grates, increasingly valuable commodities on the scrap market. More than 2,500 covers and grates have disappeared in the past year, up from an annual average of about 100. Thieves have so thoroughly stripped some neighbourhoods on the city’s north and southwest sides that some blocks look like slalom courses, dotted with orange cones to warn drivers and pedestrians of gaping holes, some nearly 30 feet deep." (New York Times, 23 July) RD

THE PERFECT WORKER

"A Ugandan official has suggested to MPs that funerals should be limited to Saturday afternoons to stop people taking time off work to attend them. Speciosa Kazibwe, a former vice-president who now heads a state development agency, noted that Uganda's death rate was very high. (BBC News, 25 July)
Socialists used to say that the capitalist's idea of the perfect worker was one who left school at 15, worked 50 weeks a year for 50 years and dropped down dead the first day he went to collect his pension at the post office. We will have to amend this ideal blueprint in view of the Ugandan official's view. Ideally he would die on the Thursday so that his family could attend his Saturday funeral without missing out on a day producing surplus value for the owning class. RD

NATIONALISED REDUNDANCY?

Northern Rock unveils job losses
Northern Rock has announced that it expects to make about 1,300 staff redundant as part of its plan to restructure the troubled bank.
It hopes to limit the number of compulsory redundancies to 800, while 500 staff will leave voluntarily.
Northern Rock was effectively nationalised at the beginning of this year after it was hit by a shortage of funds as a result of the credit crunch.

IT’S AN ILL WIND

Comfort eating helps fuel Cadbury's profits

People treating themselves to chocolate and sweets as the economy worsens has helped fuel a 28pc jump in profits at Cadbury, according to its chief executive.
The London-based confectionery company, who makes Dairy Milk chocolate and Trident gum, reported pre-tax profits for the first half of £143m on revenues up 14pc to £2,653m.
However, the results were boosted by strong currencies, which increased the total profits growth from 12pc to 28pc. Cadbury's shares rose 1pc to 631.5p, as the company said it was on target to meet analysts' forecasts for full-year sales growth.
"No matter how bleak things look, people will always go for those small, affordable treats," Mr Stitzer said. "We see confectionery as a particularly robust category."

LUCKY WHITE HEATHER?

"A woman accidentally stabbed herself in the foot with a 3-foot-long sword while performing a Wiccan good luck ritual at a central Indiana cemetery. Katherine Gunther, 36, of Lebanon, pierced her left foot with the sword while performing the rite at Oak Hill Cemetery, police said. Gunther said she was performing the ceremony to give thanks for a recent run of good luck. The ceremony involves the use of candles, incense and driving swords into the ground during the full moon. Gunther said she was aiming to put the sword in the ground, but hit her foot instead." (Yahoo News, 22 July) RD

THEM AND US

"Cleaners, waiters and other low-paid workers from some of London's poshest hotels will launch a campaign for a `living wage` and better working conditions tomorrow. A coalition of trades unionists, students, faith healers and locals will join workers at a rally outside the Hyatt Andaz hotel in Liverpool Street tomorrow. Rooms at the hotel cost up to £640 a night - but many of its staff are struggling to scrape by on the national minimum wage of £5.52 per hour."
(Observer, 27 July) RD

HE SHOULD KNOW

"Gavis Snook is the billion-pound Rok construction boss who believes that home ownership is a `con` perpetrated by financial institutions, which are the only winners in Britain's property-owning democracy. ...And if that's not enough, the son of a scaffolder is not afraid to say on the record that the reason fatalities among construction workers are stubbornly high is because of the casualised work-force encouraged by the industry's biggest players. ... This year there were 72 deaths, compared with 60 two years ago. `Part of the reason why this industry killed more people is that it can't cope with the demand, so corners are cut`, Snook reckons."
(Observer, 27 July) RD

Picking Sides for Another Go?

World trade talks reportedly fail

Marathon talks in Geneva aimed at liberalising global trade are reported to have ended without agreement. The trade talks collapsed after China, India and the US failed to agree on import rules. This politely called "Failure to Agree",is indicative of the aggressive, competitive nature, of the capitalist system .When talks turn to trade war and ultimately real war.

WELCOME TO CAPITALISM

"Childhood is the happiest, most carefree of times. That is, unless your country has been torn apart by war. The United Nations estimates that children in 50 countries are currently growing up in the midst of war or its ugly aftermath. In the past decades, 2 million children have been killed and 6 million injured in war-torn places. And 23 million children have been forced from their homes." (Yahoo News, 18 July) RD