Giving their blood for others

Obviously Socialist Courier wonders why a member of the working class should randomly slaughter 14 people in a movie theater. But one lesser publicised fact was that Colorado residents flooded local blood centers and hospitals after the deadly shooting eager to help - literally with their on blood.

About 17.2 million units of blood are collected in the U.S. each year of hich 15 million are transfused. Nearly 11 million donors give blood each year, including about 3.1 million first-timers

Fact of the Day

Critics claim that Britain is over-crowded. They are wrong, whatever you might feel about being packed into a crushed commuter carriage. The UK is only the 39th most crowded nation; we could add almost 10 times the latest population increase and still be less packed than the likes of Belgium or Holland.

A housing crisis

Scotland is facing a housing crisis with local councils planning for 180,000 fewer homes than are needed for the nation’s growing population. Unless there are more homes, the analysis suggests, Scots will face rising house prices, a struggle to secure rented accommodation and family friction as young people are forced to spend years ­living with their parents. Professor Glen Bramley, a lecturer in urban studies at ­Heriot-Watt University, said the consequences of a housing shortage would ripple out across Scotland. “A shortage means house prices rise and only the most affluent can ­afford to buy. This means the middle classes may rent ­instead of buy and they in turn push out other people from the rental market, which puts more pressure on social housing. It will mean young people have to live longer with their parents and that has its own problems if the house is small.”
Planning experts Geddes Consulting studied the housing plans of local authorities in the four main city regions –south-east Scotland, Glasgow and the Clyde Valley, Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire, and Tayside and East Fife. Overall, it says, according to the plans drawn up by the Strategic Development Plan Authorities (SDPAs) that cover the four areas, 352,670 new homes will be needed over the next 12 years. However, the same authorities have set aside land capable of siting just 173,000 new homes, leaving a shortfall of 179,000 homes.

Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire have stated that they will require 35,630 homes before 2027, but, according to their most recent development plans, their land supply is enough to cover just 16,000 new homes, leaving a shortfall of 19,630. Glasgow and Clyde Valley have stated that they will require 183,500 new homes before 2025, but the land set aside for building will allow 85,000 new homes, leaving a shortfall of 98,500. The South East of Scotland (SESplan), which covers East Lothian, Edinburgh, parts of Fife, Midlothian, Scottish Borders and West Lothian, have a projected need of 107,500 new homes but have set aside land for 60,000, leaving a shortfall of 47,500. Similarly, the TAYplan, which covers Dundee City, Angus, East Fife and St Andrews and Perth and Kinross need 26,040 but have land ready for 12,000, leaving a projected shortfall of 14,040.

Fact of the Day

The bottom 50% of American households held just 1.1% of the nation's wealth in 2010 while the top 10% of earners held a whopping 74.5% of the nation's wealth during the same period.

 http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/365404/20120720/bottom-50-percent-1-wealth-income-inequality.htm

Who owns the North Pole - Part 50

We have now reached a land-mark half-century of posts titled Who Owns the North Pole. Why bother? Because it raises questions of national sovereignty over a previously ecologically vulnerable region that will become increasingly exploited for its natural resources as a consequence of climate change. The issue of the arctic reveals the nature of capitalist expansion.

Dan Sullivan, a former state attorney general, is the commissioner of Alaska's Department of Natural Resources says that Alaska has about 40 billion barrels of technically recoverable oil and more than 200 trillion cubic feet of conventional gas.with some experts predicting that the United States could become the largest hydrocarbon producer in the word -- outstripping Saudi Arabia and Russia -- by 2020. Developing Arctic resources will promote our American interests in many ways: securing a politically stable, long-term supply of domestic energy; boosting U.S. economic growth and jobs; reducing the federal trade deficit; and strengthening global leadership on energy issues. Leading academic researchers and economists in Alaska have estimated that oil production from Alaska's outer continental shelf will bring federal revenues of approximately $167 billion over 50 years, and create 55,000 jobs throughout the country.

Sullivan argues that America possesses some of the highest standards in the world for environmental protection. "Developing U.S. resources in the Arctic has the added benefit of enhancing global environmental protection. One of the arguments used by Arctic drilling opponents is that "we aren't ready," but it is obvious that no matter what preparations are made, they will argue that it isn't enough...Delay or disallow responsible resource development, the end result is not to protect the environment, but to drive hydrocarbon investment and production to countries with much lower environmental standards and enforcement capacity. Last year, it was reported that between 5 million and 20 million tons of oil leak in Russia per year. This is equivalent to a Deepwater Horizon blowout about every two months. Russia had an estimated 18,000 oil pipeline ruptures in 2010 -- the figure for the U.S. that year was 341. If we do not pursue responsible development in the Arctic, countries such as Russia -- perhaps even China, which is interested in securing access to Arctic hydrocarbon resources -- will dominate energy production from the Arctic. Such a scenario does not bode well for the global environment."

When Sullivan cites Shell as an example of good providence, it seems he conveniently forgets about their operations in the Niger Delta. The estimated oil spill in the Niger Delta ecosystem over the past 50 years is equivalent to about one “Exxon Valdez” disaster each year.

SOCIALISM SOLVES ALL PROBLEMS

Inside capitalism we have countries, inside socialism we will have no countries. We will live in a worldwide society. There will be no borders. The German energy company EWE has begun construction on an offshore wind park in the North Sea, but Germany and the Netherlands can't agree on which side of the border it is on. "When the Riffgat offshore wind farm is finally finished, it will include 30 gigantic wind turbines jutting above the waves of the North Sea. The columns to be driven into the sea floor are fully 70 meters (230 feet) long and the first of them have already descended to the sea floor. Construction has already gotten underway. And yet, despite the building activity, nobody quite knows if the project site is part of Germany or part of the Netherlands." (Spiegel, 9 July) Inside capitalism one group will win another lose, inside socialism the human race would gain. RD

Failing to report

Roche, one of the world's biggest drug companies, is at the centre of an investigation after failing to report that people died while taking their medication. Roche, which made profits of £6.3 billion in 2010, has a legal duty to examine every suspected side effect and report them to regulators around the world so that potential safety concerns can be investigated. This means that each side effect reported to the patient support call centre should have been immediately sent to the safety team to be assessed. These must then be sent to regulators – within 15 days for the most serious reactions – even if no link between the drug and the reaction be proved.

15,000 people died while taking its medicines. Roche also failed to pass on a further 65,000 reports of suspected side effects that were recorded by patient.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2170317/Roche-investigation-UK-watchdogs-80-000-adverse-reactions.html

How other see us

How the the Small Party of Glesga' Bookies (as the local branch in Glasgow was known in its early days because, it turns out, a number of its members were bookies, an illegal occupation back then) has been seen by others.

“At the Barras market in Glasgow about 25 years ago open air political meetings were not uncommon, and the best were conducted by a fiery brand of working-class revolutionaries called the Socialist Party of Great Britain. Founded about a hundred years ago (and still going, I’m glad to say) and proudly hostile to all other allegedly socialist or communist political parties, they had several fine speakers and in those less apathetic days could always raise a fair crowd of the starvelings whom they hoped to rouse from their slumber. Scorn for their hearers’ meek acceptance of poverty and satire upon the quality of goods and services supplied to the workers were prominent in their arguments, as when the speaker would draw our attention to an evil-looking greasyspoon caff and recite parts of the horrible menu, concluding with Stomach pump free of charge. Once, when challenged by a wee bauchle with scarce a backside to his trousers on the grounds that ‘under socialism we widnae be individuals’, the agitator on the soapbox paused from his remarks on the rival attraction of ‘Jehovah’s Jazzband’ (a Salvation Army ensemble) just down the street, fixed him with a baleful eye, and loosed a withering tirade about how the questioner was obviously a proud specimen of individuality, with your individual Giro and your individual manky shirt and your individual football scarf and your individual council flat and your individual Scotch pie for your individual dinner . . .It went on for ages, a tour de force of flyting”. [Kenneth Wright, Glasgow Herald, 13 February 2001.]

"The Labour Party, Trades Council and the STUC . . . were largely responsible for securing the biggest postwar demonstration in Glasgow till then, at the start of the 1960s. Incidentally, that was the demonstration that produced the slogan to end all sectarian slogans. Just as we were turning round the corner of Sauchiehall Street two grim stalwarts of the Socialist Party of Great Britain were standing heralding the march with a huge banner and slogan which read: ‘This demonstration is useless – You must first destroy capitalism.” [Janet and Norman Buchan, “The Campaign in Scotland”, in The CND Story, edited by Hohn Minnion and Philip Bolsover, 1983, p. 53.]

Scotland's most famous living anarchist, Stuart Christie:

    [Writing of the Workers Open Forum that existed in Glasgow in the 50s and 60s] I remember one exemplary SPGB graduate speaker mounting the platform, drawing a ten-shilling note from his pocket and holding it dangling from his thumb and forefinger for a quarter of an hour or so while delivering a devastatingly witty attack on money. The audience of thirty or so were spellbound. There was not a single heckler, until he set fire to it”. My Granny Made Me An Anarchist: 1946-1964, 2003, p. 157.

CONSPICUOUS CONSUMPTION

There are many events inside the capitalist system that sicken socialists. One of them is reports of world hunger, starvation and death caused by poverty whilst the owning class indulge themselves with all sorts of luxuries. This is a particularly nasty example. "If you're feeling flush with money, this could be the ultimate domestic accessory on which to splash your cash. Toilets made from solid gold have been created by a company that specialises in manufacturing luxury loos for super yachts. Designers customised the bathrooms on board a new £12 million Majesty 135 yacht at the request of a wealthy Arab client. Now other multi-millionaires are said to be queuing up for the bespoke toilets and bidets that cost up to £10,000. Made from regular porcelain, the toilets are then coated in three layers of 21 carat gold. For those who want an extra bit of sparkle, a platinum finish is also available." (Daily Mail, 5 July) Its time we flushed capitalism down history's toilet. RD

RECESSION? WHAT RECESSION?

Not all of the population is experiencing an economic downturn as can be seen from the returns from the auction house Christie's. "A record breaking £53.8 million price tag for an abstract painting by Mark Rothko has helped Christie's to deliver a healthy surge in art sales as wealthy collectors splashed out on postwar masterpieces. The auction houses half-year art sales jumped by 13 per cent to £2.2 billion in a sign that the top end of the market remains largely exempt from global economic uncertainty." (Times, 18 July) The Rotho is by no means unique as a Yves Klein painting went for £23.6 million and a Henry Moore sculpture fetched more than £19 million. The owning class seem to be surviving the recession rather well. RD

scotland's health shame

Scotland's suicide rate is almost 80% higher than England and Wales. More people die by suicide than from road accidents and drug deaths put together. It is the leading cause of death in young men. Over the past year, Tayside Police has collected information about every call where someone was at risk of suicide. It attended about 150 attempted or threatened suicides every month. On average, four suicide deaths a month in just Tayside.

 Detective Chief Inspector Gordon Milne said of the figures: "Extend that out across the whole of Scotland; there is a significant number of calls every day, every week, every month, every year, involving people who are in mental health crisis."

The mental health charity SAMH said even these latest figures from Tayside were still just the tip of the iceberg. Kirsty Keay, the charity's national programme manager for suicide prevention, said: "Suicide devastates Scotland's communities..."

A quarter of patients who end up in intensive care in Scotland have drink problems, most with chronic alcohol disease. The study of 771 patients across all 24 intensive care units published by the Anaesthesia medical journal, said many young and less well off people were affected.

Dr Timothy Geary, an anaesthetic registrar at Glasgow's Victoria Infirmary and report co-author, said: "Alcohol disease adversely affects the outcome of critically ill patients and the burden of this in Scotland is higher than elsewhere in the UK." He added: "In Scotland, the frequency and volume of alcohol consumed is significantly higher than in the rest of the UK, as is the proportion of people with hazardous drinking habits. This corresponds to higher death rates, particularly for Scottish men, but only indicates a fraction of the deaths attributed to alcohol."

DEALING WITH HOMELESSNESS

All over the world millions of workers find themselves homeless but in the city of Guangzhou in China they have come up with a "solution" to the problem of homelessness. "Sharp concrete spikes are cropping up under China's city bridges in a bid to stop homeless people from sleeping there. Pictures of the lethal 20cm high barbs in Guangzhou have sparked online outrage with citizens angry that authorities are trying to 'hide' the homelessness problem. A staggering 200 million of China's 1.4 billion population are believed to be living on the streets, according to recent statistics." (Daily Mail, 3 July) No doubt in some American and European cities the local authorities will soon be considering this Chinese "solution" to homelessness! RD

CLASS DETERMINED BY OWNERSHIP

You can always rely on the political experts in the HM government to come up with facts that are blindingly obvious. "Published this month, the all-party parliamentary group report, 7 Key Truths About Social Mobility, confirms the OECD's findings that the UK has the lowest social mobility rate compared with any other "developed" country and warns that "it does not appear to be improving". Key findings from the report include the discovery that, by the age of just three years old, the "class" of British children is already defined. Also, half of all British children's future prospects will be determined by the circumstances of their parents." (Aljazeera, 27 June) All over the world we live in a class divided society wherein the majority own little or nothing but their ability to work for a wage or a salary and must sell this ability to the owning class who live off the resulting profit. We don't need "experts" to tell us this. RD

Fact of the Day

The six heirs to the Walmart fortune are worth as much as over 40% of all American households.

The Walton family was worth $89.5 billion in 2010, the same as the bottom 41.5% of U.S. families combined, according to Josh Bivens of the Economic Policy Institute. That's 48.8 million American households in total.

Glasgow branch of the Socialist Party

MARYHILL COMMUNITY CENTRAL HALLS
BRANCH MEETING AT 8.30pm
WEDNESDAY JULY 18,
 

HOW LENIN DISTORTED MARXISM

SPEAKER RICHARD DONNELLY

“Of all the distortions of socialism that we have to deal with probably the most obvious one is that the USSR had something to do with socialism. The failure of the USSR to deal with the problems of the working class has been portrayed as the failure of socialism. In this discussion session I hope to have a look at how this distortion became possible and how many workers have become confused about Marxism and Leninism.”

.

LIQUIDITY PROBLEMS

Times are tough even for members of the capitalist class as this news item shows. "Landscape artist John Constable's The Lock has become one of the most expensive British paintings ever sold, fetching £22.4m at auction at Christie's in London yesterday. The sale is also highly controversial. .... But as the BBC reports, the Constable's sale by Baroness Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza has prompted Sir Norman Rosenthal, one of the European art world's most respected art curators, to resign as a trustee of Madrid's Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza in protest. The baroness called the sale "very painful" but said she was forced to part with the painting because the current economic crisis had left her with "no liquidity"." (The Week, 4 July) The Baroness once the beauty queen Miss Spain has been finding things tough recently but £22.4m should keep the wolf from the door for a little while we imagine. RD

doom and gloom

Insolvency body R3 figures could mean 274 retail businesses and 30 hotels in Scotland had a "high risk" of failure. A further 1,238 retailers and 137 hoteliers were "vulnerable to failure" in the next year.

 R3 indicated 26.15% of all retail firms and 17.99% of all hotels were at risk.

 A report last week by accountancy firm PKF suggested Edinburgh's hotels may struggle later this year to compensate for a poor performance in the spring. Its hotel survey for May reported a fall in both occupancy rates and revenues for the third month in a row.

Fact of the Day

In 2012, the World Economic Forum calculated that 1 per cent of the world's population - just 70 million people - own half of the world's wealth.

http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/politics/as-long-as-the-rich-can-speculate-on-food-the-worlds-poor-go-hungry-20120630-219ja.html

Past Reflections 2

 Another installment in the recollections of members and once again from Glasgow member Victor Vanni.

The party’s heyday began with WW2 and lasted into the early 1950’s. During this period party activities and membership grew and this certainly applied to Glasgow branch. Huge audiences attended indoor and outdoor meetings and from 1945 to 1948 the branch even had a rented shop and eventually enough members to form a second branch in the city until 1961 when the two branches amalgamated.

By the time I joined in 1963 the branch’s activities were really expanding. Several parliamentary and council elections were contested while new, successful outdoor speaking stances were established, but the big day of the week was Sunday when two outdoor meetings were held in both Glasgow and at The Mound in Edinburgh. If Donnelly was the speaker in Glasgow then Shaw spoke in Edinburgh with the order reversed the following week.


These meetings at the Mound were my own favourites. The afternoon meeting was usually good but, the evening meeting was the big event, especially during the three weeks of the Edinburgh Festival when the large audiences included visitors from all over the world and the party’s case would always get a good reception. These meetings created enough interest to get Donnelly interviewed on TV at The Mound and we had a regular following who came every week to see our opponents get a drubbing. These meetings paid-off by getting new recruits for the party and soon there were enough to form an Edinburgh branch.


When the Glasgow contingent returned from Edinburgh they would head for the new branch premises to meet other branch members and swap stories about the meetings in both cities. These premises were provided by the generosity of Sid Earp, a veteran Canadian comrade, who was visiting Glasgow and they enabled the branch to hold its meetings and classes there until 1969 when the building was emptied prior to demolition.


But not all speaking stances were successful. An example of this was in the early 1970’s when the branch decided to try holding outdoor meetings in nearby Paisley, a town with a violent reputation. The meeting was held at 3pm on Saturday afternoons in Dunn Square at Paisley Cross but there was trouble ahead. The problem was that when the pubs closed at 2.30pm local yobs would come to Dunn Square to continue drinking until the pubs re-opened  and they gave us a hard time just because we came from Glasgow.


There were some unpleasant incidents but the end came when at one meeting a burly member of the audience was so angered by one of the yobs that he picked up the man and threw him on to a wooden bench which shattered leaving him howling in agony amid the wreckage. We never went back to Paisley after that.


There are other articles in the SOCIALIST STANDARD dealing with branch history. They are the September 1979 and May 2004 issues. There is also an excellent verbatim report of a debate in Edinburgh in 1970 between us and I.S. The party was represented by two Glasgow members.
Vic Vanni    

CRISIS IN CALIFORNIA

We are quite used to hearing of the awful financial straits that exist in European countries such as Greece and Spain but capitalism's crisis is world wide and it even affects the USA. "Stockton filed for Chapter 9 protection on Thursday, making it the largest American city by population ever to declare bankruptcy. The filing comes after officials were unable to reach a deal with the city's creditors to restructure hundreds of millions of dollars of debt under a state law designed to help municipalities avoid bankruptcy. Stockton, a river port of 290,000, is the first California city to file for bankruptcy since Vallejo, which did so in 2008." (New York Times, 28 June) Capitalism is a world wide system when it enters recession it effects even formerly prosperous California. RD