Common Ownership is Common Sense

Common sense should tell workers that the cause of declining wages and economic insecurity has nothing to do with which political party is the government. Common sense should tell workers that politicians don't decide when factories will close down or how many workers to lay off. Common sense should tell workers that in a capitalist economy those decisions are made by those who own the factories, mills, mines and other means of wealth production. Common sense should tell workers that capitalists make those decisions in their own interests, not in the interests of the working class.

Increased productivity, declining wages, massive elimination of jobs, spreading economic insecurity and the congestion of wealth proves that the capitalist system of private ownership and profit production is based on the exploitation of the working class. As long as this foundation of society remains this trend will continue regardless of the claims and promises of politicians. As long as the working class of the country tolerates the private ownership and control of the economy, workers will be used and disposed of to suit the profit whims of the tiny capitalist class. How bad must conditions become before workers take action?

Capitalism long ago developed the material conditions prerequisite for socialism. It has created production on a scale sufficient to banish forever want and the fear of want-the forces that historically have fostered class division. Moreover, necessary production is carried out by socialised labour - by a working class organised at the point of production by the very nature of capitalist production itself. At the same time, capitalism no longer works. It is no longer a progressive social system. Instead, its inherent contradictions stand in the way of further progress and disrupt the workings of the productive forces already developed. Yet there has been no revolution. Rather the working class, while angry, suffer confusion, uncertainty, and despair. Faced with economic crises, environmental dangers, workers cannot afford to wait for capitalism to collapse. Such fatalism spells apathy and inactivity. The Socialist Revolution depends, no longer upon material conditions alone; it depends on the clearness of a socialist vision to assist the evolutionary process. Socialism is not an automatic affair, workers as a class must play an active role in the socialist revolution. Capitalism will not disappear of its own accord. It will remain until it is overthrown. And capitalism can only be overthrown as the result of the class-conscious struggle of the people. If we permit capitalism to continue to exist, the likely result is the end of human civilisation.

Promoting class consciousness, however, is no easy matter. Workers are bombarded daily with capitalist propaganda. Politicians and economists obscure falsely predict a better future after a painful period of "adjustment” if only if we shoulder the burden on our backs for a bit longer. Some so-called socialists confuse workers with talk of reforms such as the Universal Income, raising false hopes that the political state and capitalism itself can solve the problems of unemployment and poverty. Such notions can only help convince workers that they have a future under capitalism and that capitalism is, at this late date, somehow capable of being reformed. In truth, ending the effects of capitalism requires ending their cause -- the capitalist system.

It is important that workers come to recognise that there is a genuine alternative to capitalism. For the sooner the people understand that the misery imposed by capitalism need not be endured, the sooner will people turn to socialism. Yet class-consciousness by itself is not enough for revolution. Organisation is required. On the political field, workers need to form a mass revolutionary party to challenge and defeat the political state for the purpose of ousting the capitalist class from the seat of its power and then dismantling it. That will clear the way for the workers' re-organization on the economic field to administer the class-free socialist society in the peoples' interests. It will not occur overnight nor as the result of a heroic act of will. It is the result of the interaction of class-consciousness and working-class organisation. Capitalism can be counted on to produce economic crises in superabundance. However, an economic crisis is not a sufficient condition of revolution. Although economic crisis produces social discontent and unrest which offers opportunities for effective socialist agitation and education, even if the economy should utterly collapse, the result would not necessarily be socialism. For in the absence of revolutionary working-class organisation, the ruling class would readily impose its own authoritarian alternative. It is up to us, the working class. Capitalism won't vanish. It must be overthrown.

The Socialist Party is the political party of the working class. This is so because the Socialist Party is the sole protagonist of the principles which the working class must adopt if it is ever to achieve emancipation from wage slavery and save society from catastrophe.  The Socialist Party is the only organisation demanding the abolition of capitalism and advocating the socialist reconstruction of society. It has been doing so for 114 years. It is, in short, the political organisation through which the workers can establish their power to reorganise society. Through its political agitation and educational activities, the Socialist Party seeks People Power. 

The Guantanamo Express

An investigation into so-called rendition stopovers was ordered in 2013 by the then Lord Advocate Frank Mulholland. In June 2013 that the flights would be probed by police, he said: “It is very important there should be no dilly-dallying on this matter. I am confident that the police will conduct a thorough inquiry. “The use of torture cannot be condoned. It is against international law and contrary to the common law of Scotland.”

Khaled Sheikh Mohammed, was rendered from Afghanistan to Poland for torture in 2003. Gulfstream jet N379P – dubbed the Guantanamo Express – stopped at Glasgow Airport in March 2003 on the way back from dropping him off at a CIA torture prison in Poland known as Detention Site Blue.

Police began investigating at least six stopovers – four at Prestwick airport and two at Glasgow.

 Police Scotland detectives, who have been investigating ever since have yet to even receive a declassified US report on the flights –years after asking for it.

Dr Sam Raphael, of research group The Rendition Project, said: “They are clearly dragging their heels in some way. We are now approaching five years since the Lord Advocate in Scotland directed that police should investigate this."

Scotland's Game of Shame

On 15 June, 1977, the Scottish national team did, as they stepped on to the grass of Chile’s National Stadium in Santiago. The fixture against Chile had the aim of acclimatising the team ahead of the following year’s World Cup in Argentina.

 What is also indisputable is Chile’s national stadium had been used as a de facto concentration camp during the Pinochet coup a few years earlier. More than 40,000 untried Allende supporters, trade unionists and members of left-wing political parties were detained there, with women often raped, in the changing rooms. “Although not much time passed when we were there, I felt that I went in as a 16-year-old girl and came out as a 70-year-old woman,” survivor Lelia Pérez later recalled. “I think that all of the women who were taken into the side rooms there were subjected to sexual violence,” she added. Around 500 Chilean refugees made their way to Scotland during the dictatorship 

Read more at: https://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/teams/scotland/the-scotland-v-chile-friendly-labelled-the-match-of-shame-1-4655623

Some 30,000 signed a petition which was sent to the SFA and 29 different organisations expressed concern to the secretary of state for Scotland within five months of the fixture’s announcement. The Scottish Office appealed to the SFA to call it off. There were protests against the match outside Wembley when Scotland took on England. There was Scottish coverage of a press conference featuring the testimonies of some of the survivors of the camp. Three of them unsuccessfully sought a meeting at the SFA’s offices. The magazine Chile Fights dedicated its front page to the matter and depicted a Scottish player trying to tie the laces of his boots in a pool of blood, with the caption “Don’t play ball with fascists”. There were debates in the House of Commons.

There was even a song written about the situation. “On September the 11th of 1973 scores of people perished in a vile machine-gun spree and a Santiago stadium became a place to kill, but now a Scottish football team will grace it with their skill, and there’s blood upon the grass,” was the start of the powerful piece by Adam McNaughtan.

Those in charge of Scottish football ignored the anger and the protests and pressed ahead with the match. The SFA actually had the backing of most players too, as 70 per cent of those who participated in a poll organised by the Scottish Professional Footballers’ Association stated that they thought the fixture should take place. Only 10 per cent explicitly opposed it. Some players simply didn’t know enough about the Chilean political climate to comment, at least not until they arrived. As goalkeeper Alan Rough explained  many years later: “You take it that the SFA, who are taking you there, know what’s happening.” Asked if the players had been consulted on the decision to play there, Rough’s answer was a simple one. “No.” He added: “When I went into that stadium, I remember going into the dressing room and I remember seeing the bullet holes on the wall where they had lined up people and killed them. I think if we had been given more information, that there were actually people still being killed and still being arrested on the street and being taken away and shot and that it was as bad as it was when we got there, most of the players wouldn’t have gone.”

Adapted from here
https://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/teams/scotland/the-scotland-v-chile-friendly-labelled-the-match-of-shame-1-4655623

For further details see this blog
http://mailstrom.blogspot.com/2007/05/blood-upon-grass.html

Campaign for Socialism -- Capitalism is the Issue

The capitalist economic system lies at the root of all of modern society's major social and economic problems. The Socialist Party has long contended that only socialism can solve the problems plaguing our society today. Many of us understand that capitalism has outlived its usefulness, and that it is time for humanity to move on to the next logical stage. We want to create a sane and productive world. But how can we do so? We need a road map, a plan. No leader is going to come along and set things right. It is useless for us to wait for deliverance by a saviour from the pains caused by capitalism. We will have to deliver ourselves. If we workers stopped cooperating with the political parties of capitalism and actively took part in controlling our world through our own organisations, capitalism would soon wither and die. 

Socialism is the common ownership by all the people of the factories, transportation, and farms. Socialism is production to satisfy human needs, not, as under capitalism, for sale and profit. Socialism means direct control and self-management of the industries and services by the workers through a democratic administration. Socialism means an end to economic insecurity and exploitation. It means workers cease to be commodities bought and sold on the labour market and forced to work as appendages to tools owned by someone else. It means a chance to develop all individual capacities and potential. Socialism isn't the state-controlled system that existed in the former Soviet Union, exists today in China or Cuba, or bureaucratic state control of society in general. It has nothing to do with nationalization, a welfare state or any kind of state ownership or control of industry whatsoever. On the contrary, it would give power not to the state, but to the people themselves, allowing collective control of their own economic future, a free community of free individuals. Socialism means a class-free society, unlike under capitalism, where a tiny minority owns the wealth and the means of producing it. Everyone will share in the ownership of all the means of production. There wouldn't be separate classes of owners and workers. The economy would be administered by the workers themselves through democratic "associations of free and equal producers," as Marx described it. Communities, locally regionally will collectively decide what they want to be produced and how they want it produced. "In every plant, every office and every workplace in socialist society, the workers themselves will meet in a democratic assembly to determine their own workplace policies and elect committees to administer and supervise production. To administer production at higher levels, delegates will be elected to regional and world councils. Instead of economic despotism, socialism means economic democracy. Instead of production for sale and the profit of a few, socialism means production to satisfy the human needs and wants of all. We shall produce everything we need and want in abundance under conditions best suited to our welfare an in harmony with the requirements of our environment. Freed from the compulsions of competition and the profit motive that presently hurl capitalist nations into war, socialism will also be a society of peace.

This all may sound too good to be true. Yet our planet has the productive capacity to provide a high standard of living for all, to provide security and comfort for all, to create safe workplaces and clean industries, and to help other nations reach these same goals. The only thing keeping us from reaching these goals is that the workers don't own and control that productive capacity; it is owned and controlled by a few who use it solely to profit themselves. Only if the people as a whole take control of the economy can we maintain that control and use the forces of production to fill their needs.

You are needed to build a better world and make the promise of socialism a reality. Organising to bring the industries under the ownership of all the people, to build a socialist society of peace, plenty and freedom, is the only real alternative workers have. The purpose of the Socialist Party is to promote class-consciousness among workers while advocating a complete revolutionary change from capitalism to socialism and to challenge the legitimacy and power of the ruling class, to capture the state machinery and to turn the reins of social administration over to people-powered assemblies. We seek class solidarity and a general revolutionary. Workers would be united into a single movement. However, just as class consciousness will not grow of its own accord, neither will the Socialist Party. That responsibility ultimately rests with the audience the Socialist Party reaches. Just as it is the responsibility of a revolutionary movement to promote class-consciousness, it is the responsibility of all those who grasp our message to step forward, to join the party and to enhance its ability to reach the working class. Don't turn your backs on politics or passively wait for a better day that will never come. Join together and change our world. When the Socialist Party has enough members and active supporters to reach large numbers of workers, it will offer candidates for us (the working class majority of the population) to elect our own delegates BUT NOT TO RUN GOVERNMENT OF TODAY BUT TO DISSOLVE IT.

Sticking Plasters When A Major Operation Is Needed.

Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada data show that asylum claimants have increased in Ontario since 2015. Then it was 11,000, which jumped to 15,300 in 2016. As of October of this year, there have been 26.500.

The hardest hit is the youth many of whom cant speak English and have no relatives in Ontario, besides having the abnormal problems of finding accommodation and a job. Therefore great press coverage was given to the purchase of a house by the Christian City Church International, in December, in which 5 unaccompanied youth refugees will live rent-free.

It will be run by Matthew House, a non-profit charity that helps refugees with their settlement needs. To quote Karen Francis, executive director of Matthew House,''These kids don't just need a bed or a room, they need a community, they need a family, they need a place to belong.'' 

Well, she's right about that, but its a case of, ''Hey Lady how about a society where everyone feels like part of the human family, instead of using a band-aid when a major operation is needed?''

For socialism, 

Steve, Mehmet, John & contributing members of the SPC.

Letter from Edinburgh (1962)

From the July 1962 issue of the Socialist Standard

Edinburgh is a city with a population of about half a million. A few of these are very rich but. just like in all other cities in the Capitalist world, most of them are poor.

Edinburgh attracts many visitors from all over the world. They stroll along the mile-long Princes Street, staring at its famous buildings, gardens and floral clock. There, too, stands the Walter Scott monument. Looming over it all is the Castle, from which the visitor can admire the surrounding hills, can look over the Firth of Forth and can see the art galleries on the Mound which have given Edinburgh the name of the Modern Athens.

There is a great tradition of learning and letters in the city. In 1727 Alexander Munro was installed as Edinburgh's first professor of anatomy and laid the foundations for what is now a thriving university. Alan Ramsay the elder (1686-1758). whose monument overlooks the floral clock, was the pioneer of the revival of literature in Scotland. Ramsay was a wigmaker in the High Street; he joined the Jacobite Essay Club and became its Post Laureate about 1717. Desiring to render service to the inside of his customers' heads as well as the outside, he converted his wig-shop into a bookstall. Both Walter Scott and Robert Bums acknowledged the fact that they owed a lot to Ramsay, whom they had taken as their model.

But this is no take-off of a gaudy travel brochure. The Socialist Party of Great Britain is in Edinburgh too, making its voice heard in this centre of learning. Many visitors from abroad listen to our speakers on the Mound and are impressed by the Socialist's scientific case. Here are expounded the theories of historical materialism and scientific Socialism which Karl Marx and Frederich Engels first formulated over a century ago.

Before man can pursue the studies of politics, philosophy, science and art for which Edinburgh is famous, he must first of all eat and drink and have clothing and shelter; he must, therefore, first of all work. It is with this fact and others—that our Socialist speakers are illuminating the minds of their listeners in the Modern Athens north of the Border.

David Lamond

Rugby Union Needs a Union

Former Scotland captain Jason White believes rugby stars can be "viewed as commodities" by clubs. It follows claims that more support is needed to protect mental wellbeing.

"All the clubs I played at, the players are viewed as a commodity," White said. "The coaches have to get them back out on the pitch."

White's former Scotland team-mate, Nick De Luca, told BBC Scotland that mental health is "not really looked after at all" by many clubs.

England's Rugby Players Association (RPA) launched a campaign in early 2017 encouraging players to confront and discuss their mental struggles.

"Looking at what happens in England with the RPA, they're able to provide a lot of support to the players in England," White said. "That's probably the one thing up in Scotland with our two professional teams here - we don't have a players' association with external funding that can come in."

No Scottish players' association exists and the governing body is understood to have no plans to form one.

Former Scotland prop Peter Wright's career straddled rugby's amateur era and the onset of professionalism in 1995. 

"When I was a professional for four years, I found it really boring. You worked and socialised with the same guys. You didn't have that outlet of going to a job and having a different group of friends. Since it's went professional, the way I see it is that your whole life is controlled. You're told when to do weights, when to train, when to eat, what to eat. Your whole life is taken over by conditioning coaches, medics, rugby coaches. How much autonomy do you have as a player?"

Change is Coming and Time Is Running Out

Many of us being born presently right now will be alive in 2100. They will live in the conditions we are creating for them today, a world where it will likely be impossible to feed all of the projected 9 billion people on the planet by 2050, water wars will replace the wars for oil (the US military already plan for water war scenarios), major coastal cities will have long since flooded, and droughts and wildfires will have become year-round events. The Arctic and much of the Antarctica ice-sheets will have melted. Scientists warn that around a quarter of the Earth could end up in a permanent state of drought if the planet warms by two degrees Celsius by 2050. Climate change doesn't simply affect "the planet", it affects every one of us, along with every other species on Earth. Climate change has become a more immediate threat. The impacts are upon us now –  wildfires and super-storms, wars brought on by drought, mass migrations, and deaths.

Capitalism constantly and incessant lurches from boom to slump and is incapable of anything else, and so long as it continues the working class cannot hope for security and freedom from want. Let us spell out the position. Under capitalism, the great majority are called the working class because they own nothing of the means of production and distribution and so are forced to sell their labour-power to those who do. The wage they get is a commodity price: workers can never be better off than that. But because capitalism produces only for sale and profit, stability is impossible for it. Investment in industry reflects the state of trade. In bad times production is reduced or stops, and the workers are out of work. There is nothing a government can do to change this.

We live in a routinely delusional world. In a mass-consumption capitalist society, there’s the delusion that if we only buy more, newer, better products we all will be happier — a claim repeated endlessly in commercial propaganda (commonly known as advertising and marketing).

Capitalism has repeatedly demonstrated that it has failed humanity and has no solutions for problems that are confronting society. The truth is that capitalism continues to bring humanity closer to the abyss, as long as we do not question the race for profits. Capitalism cannot do without growth in markets and capital expansion. Humanity is heading for disaster because of the interests of a wealthy minority are being imposed upon the majority of the population. Therefore the future is socialism.

We, the workers, face formidable opponents. The capitalist class has resources, money, and tools that can thwart our efforts. But this is nothing new.  Throughout our history, we have faced difficult odds and often we have prevailed. We outnumber our enemy when we work together. Collectively, we have greater wisdom than individually.

The Socialist Party is disinclined to speculate about how such an economy might operate but we can sketch with a broad brush some general aspects of it. Socialism is an economic system based upon conscious planning of production by associated producers (nowhere have we said by the state), made possible by the abolition of private property of the means of production. As soon as that private property is completely abolished, goods produced cease to be commodities. Exchange value disappears. Production becomes production for use, for the satisfaction of needs, determined by a conscious choice of the associated producers themselves. Social relations will be based on the abolition of wage-labour and the end of exploitation of the workers.  The wonders of technology not for the few, but for the benefit of mankind as a whole. Common ownership of the means of production and distribution ends all exploitation by dissolving the hostile classes into a community of free and equal producers striving not for sectional interests, but for the common good. The socialist commonwealth, liberates the individual from all economic, political and social oppression, providing the basis for real liberty and for the harmonious development of the personality. Socialism can only come about through a successful overthrow of capitalism by a self-organised working class. 

The Give And Take Of Capitalism.

Justin Trudeau obviously believes in hitching his wagon to a rising star as evidenced by his overtures to China. During his report to the House of Commons, he said,'' We know that engaging with China, to be able to set the rules and ensure opportunities for Canadian businesses to succeed in a globalized world is just the right thing to do.''

It may seem like it, considering China has the world's second largest economy with a gross domestic product in 2016 of $14.9 trillion. Furthermore China wants what Canada has to offer such as raw materials for its construction projects.

 According to Sarah Kutulakos, executive director of the Canada China Business Council, the Canadian economy will grow by $7.8 billion and add 25,000 jobs within 15 years of signing a free trade deal with China.

Sounds great right? But you know what it may not be so great. Ken Neumann, the head honcho of the United Steelworkers Union said there are concerns in some industries, such as steel production,,that the massive capacity of Chinese production could allow China to flood the Canadian market and kill businesses here. 

Though he didn't say it, one doesn't need to be a genius to figure it will cause unemployment in some industries. A typical capitalist situation -- if its beneficial for some, it's a disaster for others.

For socialism,

 Steve, Mehmet, John & contributing members of the SPC.

Re-Learning Socialism

Throughout the world a widespread popular perception that socialism is a coercive system persists. Generally speaking, people fear socialism and this issue is at the heart of socialism's crisis. We identify socialism first and foremost not with state ownership of the means of production, but with common ownership and the democratic control over economic, political, and social institutions and structures. The former Soviet Union was not a socialist country and was totally alien to the Marxist vision. The insistence to identify it with socialism, in contrast of all the studies to the contrary was a propaganda tool to attack Marxism and genuine socialism. The former Soviet Union and its satellite states did not by any criterion, economic or political, represent socialism.   Instead of common ownership of means of production, nationalisation of means of production was adopted. Wages and waged employment, money, exchange value, and the separation of the producing class from means of production, all remained. In fact, after the 1917 revolution, the only historically viable possibility was to maintain the capitalist relations in Russia. The socialist revolution is the abolition of the system of wage labour and the turning of means of production and distribution into common ownership. This was never done in the former Soviet Union.

We are living in extremely frightening times. Global catastrophe is a real and growing possibility.  Life is becoming more difficult for most and many of the reforms that were fought for have been rescinded.  Without a vision of a better world and the organisation that goes with it, even mass protests of working people in response to injustice will likely go nowhere.  The need for a socialist transformation of society has never been greater. We are running out of time. The first and perhaps the easiest step in creating the socialist vision is taking the blinkers off and reveal the truth of the state of our current capitalist society and promote socialism, a society that serves the well-being of humanity and nature alike, where workers participate in decision-making at work along with participation in the community.  Fundamentally, capitalism, based on the private form of ownership of the means of production, on which surplus value is extorted from the working class, imparts to the product a more and more social character. This renders the private form of ownership obsolete. The development of capital itself unwittingly created the conditions for the social ownership of these means, which in turn can put an end to class exploitation. The anarchy of the market is replaced with rational planning and democratic administration for human needs.

We must break the chains of wage slavery but our class emancipation needs no condescending saviours. The socialist revolution is no ordinary revolution. The victory of the working class in its fight to bury the capitalist class will be the last class conflict. It is the war to free the whole of mankind. Socialism is the system of society in which the land, the means of production, and distribution are held in common. Production is for use, as and when required, not for profit, exchange or sale. Each workshop is an autonomous unit working the general welfare and mutual harmony with the other workshops producing the like utility, also with those from whom the raw material is received and to whom the finished articles are transmitted. In this world of double-talk and double-think. It would be in the interests of such workers to scrutinise carefully all the terms spewed out by their bosses. 

Socialism is a class-free society in which all shall have leisure and culture, and all shall be secured from want. There is only one pathway to avert the crisis humanity is heading toward and that is by building a socialist society, a cooperative commonwealth. Identity politics will not get us there. Identity politics is all about atomisation of individuals, not their unity. Patriotism around the nationalist flag will not get us there nor will be worshipping a god. The market system will not get us there, either. Our greatest power for system change is ourselves. We no longer have the luxury to procrastinate or hope for a miracle or leader to save us. People have much more in common than most assume who are unable to see beyond the divisiveness in the world. Our common humanity provides the foundation for a global socialist movement. We need a language and campaign that reaches the heart as much as the head.  We need the vision and have to in ways that resonate with their anxieties of our fellow-workers and offer them hope for a better world.

Making our future for ourselves

The purpose of the Socialist Party is to explain to the workers why it is that, although they produce the wealth, they remain poor. The capitalist buys labour-power and pockets the difference between the value of the workers’ product and the wage he pays them. It is obvious, therefore, that while the wages system remains, exploitation must continue.  The Socialist Party holds a clear and consistent course. The Socialist Party since its inception pointed out the essential facts of the working-class position and laid out its policy. The Socialist Party holds resolutely to the need for the workers to advance to their emancipation through the conquest of the political machinery. One path they have never trodden, one weapon they have never found fail them — the policy and path of the Socialist Party — the weapon of political action on class-conscious, uncompromising, revolutionary lines. So we go on as we have gone on, declaring that the only way is by the capture of the political machinery by means of the ballot, by the organised, politically educated workers. This implies that the first need is to politically educate and organise the workers. Empty platitudes and meaningless rhetoric is not enough to change society. There is a false hope that somehow the ruling class may inexplicably become humane. Or technology and robotics will save us.  It should be noted that political and business leaders do not listen to the scientists and there is no reason why they will forgo their power by reason. False hopes lead to inaction and blind us to real possibilities. Blinkered views produce flawed pseudo-solutions, which if attempted often exacerbate other problems, or at the very least are a complete waste of time and energy. We must act together in a fight that people have never engaged in ever before. A peaceful revolution must be stoked among the working class. The lies of capitalism incite the "us against them” paranoia and fear. Our civilization is headed for a downfall, to be sure, if social change does not come. If global warming were the only problem,(and don’t forget it’s associated problem of acidification of the oceans) humans might in by remote chance still survive. But combine that with pollution (extinction of insect pollinators; poisoning of fresh water resources), the depletion of soil fecundity then the prospects for the survival of homo sapiens becomes even slimmer.

The Socialist Party tries to reveal the truth about society and talk about a whole set of better ways to be humane and human, of how socialism holds the key to sanity and salvation. Today, we are suffering from so many social problems that urgently need to be addressed by the whole humanity – environmental crisis, large-scale poverty and huge inequality, wars an civil wars. So we should not opt for adding more problems by creating nationalism and separatism. Independence movements are only distractions from the main task. It is essential that we build an economy based on mutual aid and solidarity that seeks sufficiency and abundance for all, in balance and harmony with our planet. Only a rationally planned and ecologically-aware system, locally organised and at the same time globally integrated, can solve our crises. Cooperation and reciprocation were the rule for 99.9% of human existence. There is archaeological evidence of large-scale warfare before 4000 BCE. Human society was almost totally peaceful and egalitarian throughout history.

 Imagine a world organising as a world of democratically self-governing yet interdependent communities in which each community bears responsibility for living within the means of its own natural resources,  that recognises our common humanity and fulfils our need to share and care for our brothers and sisters and the planet itself. This will require fostering an internationalist outlook for we are interconnected with human societies worldwide. Socialism calls for sustainable, steady-state economy where distribution is based on need and not on the ability to pay. The capitalist system is suicidal for the planet and our species in the long term. Although it may seem like a pipe-dream today, a  fully-automated “Star Trek” socialism, and it appears that we are a long way from this vision, the longer we wait, the worse things are going to get. In the end, it is up to each and every one of us to decide the type of world we want to help foster. What version of the future do we want?  One where the ruling class expands their exploitation of nearly everything around us for their wanton self-gain? Or we accept the responsibility of good stewardship toward one another and the planet and recognise the underlying interdependence, which all life requires for its continuance?  

Lanarkshire Child Poverty

Damning statistics have revealed that four in 10 children in North Lanarkshire are living in deprivation.

Figures released by the Scottish Government show that 40.7 per cent of youngsters in the region are experiencing material deprivation, with many families unable to afford basic necessities.

A child is classed as living in material deprivation if the family cannot afford three or more items on a list of 22 necessities, such as access to a computer and internet, owning a warm winter coat and having a garden or outdoor space nearby to play safely.

The figure for South Lanarkshire is almost identical, with 40.5 per cent of children suffering from deprivation in the area.

Irn-Bru less strong

Irn Bru are changing the formula of the product to cut the sugar content by almost half.

It is part of a sugar-reduction programme by AG Barr before the government levy on sugary drinks comes into effect in 2018.

The Cumbernauld-based firm announced last year that it would cut Irn Bru's sugar content from about 10g per 100ml to just below 5g.

This will reduce the calorie count per can from just under 140 to about 66.

Changing power?

The carbon footprint of Scottish households has fallen by an average of 25% since 2009, according to WWF Scotland.

The Scottish Climate Change Act was passed in 2009,  encouraging less harmful ways of powering and heating homes. Since then carbon emissions per person have fallen from 2.46 to 1.84 tonnes, UK government figures revealed. The rate of decrease differed between local authority areas, with Highland recording the largest drop at 30.3% and West Lothian the smallest at 21.6%.

Of course, it should not be forgotten that it is the scale of industry that inflicts the most damage, not the contribution of individuals but every little helps, as they say

A Better Solution.

Reports from groups such as United Way, the Childrens Aid Society of Canada and the Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants contain data on the shocking disparities between the richest and the poorest of Canadians and the challenges facing newcomers and the lack of affordable child care in Ontario, to name a few problems.

Particularly appalling is the fact that 475,000 children, or 17.2 per cent are living in poverty, while Ontario's poverty rate is the lowest its been since 2008. The Children's Aid report warns that unless political parties pledge to end child poverty during the next provincial election any ''gains'' over the last eight years could be lost!

Pardon my confusion, but I seem to recall a provincial election in the 1990's where the new government said they would abolish child poverty by 2000; but then why abolish child poverty? Wouldn't it be better to abolish poverty for everyone?

For socialism,

Steve, Mehmet, John & contributing members of the SPC.

We need the socialist vision

Wage-slaves must first understand that they are slaves and why they are slaves before they can free themselves of their chains. Liberty can only be won through knowledge. To bring fellow-workers to a understand things from the standpoint of the socialist idea is the aim of the Socialist Party. It is, of course, to the advantage of the capitalists to keep obscure the fact that the working class live in a condition comparable only to that of the plantation slaves with the difference being that, instead of the lash, it is now the threat of starvation, that hold wage-slaves in submission. While the employing class have in their grasp the means of wealth production, while they control the means whereby the necessaries of existence are produced, then it follows inevitably that they possess the power to give or withhold, the necessities of life. We live under the sufferance of the employing class. “This person is useful to us,” say the employers. “We will therefore give him or her sufficient to exist on, to continue to be useful to us.” Or they will say: "This individual is no good for our purpose, too weak, too stupid, or too independent, not docile enough. Be gone. Away with you” And so the men and women of the working class live or die just as it suits the capitalists. The majority of the working class think in same terms as the capitalist, instead of from the point of view of the workers' own interests. The Socialist Party is endeavouring to bring about a revolution, trying to revolutionise the ideas of their fellow workers, to make them realise their present position. That is the first object of the Socialist Party. The whole vast edifice of modern civilisation is built upon the basis of exploitation.

When workers firmly grasp this elementary fact the reformist cries for "improving” the workers' lot, without attacking the exploiting system itself, will fall upon deaf ears, and the good work we are doing will have received its recompense. The Left are forever looking for new and better roads to socialism yet never asking themselves what happened to their old roads?  Socialism is not a better way of running capitalism but a world wide system of society in which the private ownership of the means of production and distribution would be replaced by social ownership. Not some promised encroachment on private ownership but its abolition. The more capitalism is changed in detail the more it remains at base the same—a system resting on the exploitation of the working class. The only road is to get rid of capitalism and introduce socialism and that is a task for which the Left have no mandate. It is a task for the workers of the world and it cannot be begun until they understand and want socialism and organise politically to bring it about. Workers and capitalists do not have the same interests.They are legalised robbers—We are the robbed.  The truth is that the Left never did put forward a case for socialism and proves just how right the Socialist Party has been from day one to treat these left-wing fakers with complete and utter hostility. It shows how right we were stand our ground and say to our fellow-workers: We, the Socialist Party, have never betrayed our principled stand for the working-class interest and nothing less.

There is more to win than a few welfare reforms; we have a world to win. It is time to show that you are serious about socialism by joining the ranks of a party which is not out to run the profit system, but to end it. It will be the most momentous and militant political move of your life. Our Declaration of Principles was laid down when the Party was founded. Acceptance of these principles is demanded of every applicant for membership, in the interest of the Party and the applicant. We do not want, within our ranks, those who do not subscribe to the principles. Neither would it be honest for workers to be drawn into our organisation without fully realising the implications of the principles and the nature of the party they were joining.

 “One man with an idea in his head is in danger of being considered a madman. Two men with the same idea in common may be foolish, but can hardly be mad. Ten men sharing an idea begin to act. A hundred draw attention as fanatics. A thousand and society begins to tremble. A hundred thousand and there is war abroad, and the cause has victories, tangible and real. And why only a hundred thousand? Why not a hundred million and peace on earth? You and I who agree together, if is we who have to answer this question.” - William Morris

Prices High Rises

Household bills soared to a new high in Scotland last year, adding to a “cost of living crisis”. Bills rose a hefty 15 per cent in 2017. The increase comes despite a freeze in wages, with pay packets failing to even keep pace with inflation.

On average, Scots were paying £2317 last year – up by about £300.

The hike in household bills was blamed on dramatic energy price increases, on top of rising motor insurance premiums.

Comparethemarket.com. director Simon McCulloch said: “It’s been a torrid three years for household finances. A combination of soaring bills and squeezed wages is causing a lot of pain for millions.”

John Dickie, of the Child Poverty Action Group in Scotland, said energy bills are major problem. He added: “Familes are under extraordinary pressure because of the squeeze on income and rising bills." In rural areas, fuel poverty is at 37 per cent of homes.

Pets in Poverty

Andrew's  dog Ebi tucks into a meal, but it is not from a pet shop or supermarket - it's from the Dundee food bank. Andrew, says the rescue dog, who he has had for more than two years, "means the world" to him, but that he would struggle to feed her without the charity's help. Andrew said: "The main worry is how to feed the dog, she'll come first before me."

He was referred to the food bank after his benefits were sanctioned and was surprised to discover that they could offer food for Ebi as well as himself. "When I heard the food bank would help out with food as well, it was a weight off, another relief. I don't know where I would be if I didn't have her kicking about. She'll eat you out of house and home, but she's a good wee pal."

A dedicated pet food bank currently operates from Cumbernauld, covering central Scotland including Glasgow and Stirling. But the majority of food banks also provide supplies for pet owners.

Dundee food bank manager Ken Linton said that about 25% of clients collecting supplies for themselves also pick up food for their pets. He said some of their clients' pets are their only companions.

He said: "Particularly for those who maybe don't have any other family, they're alone or within the city. That pet is their company and a very, very important part of their life. On a number of occasions they'll feed their pet before they feed themselves. What we want to is to give them the dignity and respect they deserve to get food for themselves and pet food for their animal."

Dundee Cats Protection co-ordinator Irene Brown said: "It is quite an issue and a lot of people are very proud and don't like to admit that they're having problems feeding their animals. We've actually come across this regularly. Sometimes people have more than one cat, it can go up as far as five or six. It's OK in the time you are in employment, feeding is very easy.But then that might come to an end and the feeding and finding food for the cat is more difficult."