Common Ownership: The Only Solution

No matter how sincerely a Labour government wishes to protect the interests of the workers, no matter how benignly they impose their unwanted ‘leadership’ upon us, they can do nothing other than be puppets of the economic forces of capitalism. It makes no difference whether Tory or Labour govern, the real power is that of the capitalist system and only its replacement by a genuine socialist society will do.  When will the Left realise that socialism will only be achieved when we have awakened the social consciousness of the working class throughout the world? Socialism will be won by struggling to free the minds of the workers from their capitalist bonds, and never by putting in a Labour government. Decades on from the beginning of the slum clearances, when city planners thought it would be a good idea to house people in a soulless high-rise, the problems continue to exist, and the ideal of abolishing poverty has been quietly dropped. All we are left with is Labour’s ongoing attempts to administer poverty. At least that way, they can be seen to do something. The poor are fated to always be with us, it seems. The political parties just accepted, and thus condoned, that poverty would continue to exist. Poverty is the direct and necessary result of the way the capitalist system works, and nothing can be done to end poverty, so long as the capitalist system remains accepted as the first premise for action. If these communities truly want to help themselves, they will need to begin organising to end capitalism once and for all.

Political parties are bidding for your support and vote with programmes which may seem to offer some hope of easing, or even abolishing, many of the problems of this country and of the world. Millions of people find these programmes attractive enough to vote for one or other of them. The Socialist Party argues that none of them stands up to examination. Every government comes into power pledged to abolish slums and to end the housing crises. They all seem to have it all worked out, with their declarations of intent and their statistics. The result is that today’s housing problem remains a disgrace to any civilised society. It is true that sometimes a particular problem might be alleviated, but this is only for others to take its place. For example; we are told that our lives have been improved by the development of new technology, but we are also faced with the fact that these very developments threaten greater job insecurity.

What causes the problems of the world? This is a society based on the private ownership of the means of wealth production and distribution. Private ownership at once divides society into two classes — the owning, or capitalist class and the deprived, or working class. It is the working class who suffer poverty and all it means in terms of bad housing, inadequate medical services, sub-standard food and so on.

The Socialist Party puts forward the alternative society. Socialism will be a society in which the whole of humanity, without distinction of race or sex, will own in common all we use to make and distribute wealth. Common ownership means a society without classes, without privileges, without different standards of consumption. In a socialist society, everyone will have free access to the world’s wealth and will stand equally in that respect. Socialism will produce its wealth for human use instead of for sale. This will make it a society of cooperation instead of competition. There will be no frontiers to divide the world’s people. Socialism will be one world, with one people working together for the commonwealth. Socialism will be an efficient world, in contrast to capitalism, where waste and shoddiness are profitable. For the first time, men and women in Socialism will realise their capabilities to the full. Socialism will produce an abundance and at only one standard — the best we are capable of.

The Socialist Party is not another collection of leaders telling you to trust us and promising you almost anything for the sake of winning your vote. No leader can give you Socialism, no clever politician can pull you by the nose into the new society. Neither will it happen by accident. Socialism must be your work; it needs a conscious political act by the mass of the people, opting for the new society in full knowledge of what it is.

We are a political party, hostile to all others, including those phoney revolutionaries of the Left. The Socialist Party is different — we are the political instrument to be used by the working class to transform the world from a chaos of deprivation and strife into an order of abundance and harmony. The Socialist Party has consistently argued, that the party aiming at the emancipation of the working class can play no part in the government of capitalism; they must continue building up support for socialism. 

The Edinburgh Divide

Inequality in Edinburgh is unlike any other city in Scotland. The clue is in the fact it’s the “capital” city. Capital in this context being another word for money. Nearly 45 per cent of the population hold a degree or professional qualification

In places like Dundee and Glasgow, social classes usually exist side by side, often just a corporation brick’s throw away from each other. In Edinburgh, it’s a little different. Areas of prosperity are fortified near the centre, while deprived communities tend to exist on the periphery. House prices in some places are enough to make your eyes water.  A quarter of all secondary school pupils attend fee-paying schools.

Yet social deprivation is higher than the national average, which is a bit odd considering the vast wealth so clearly on display. A quarter of all people in Auld Reekie live in poverty, including one in five children – 20,000 to be more specific. Food bank use is at record levels, with one food relief project handing out more than 9500 emergency food supplies this year. That’s an 18.5 per cent rise on last year and more than twice the number being handed out five years ago – when everyone believed food banks were a temporary thing.

https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/rapper-loki-edinburghs-poor-locked-13513965

Wake up, wage-slaves

Workers are encouraged to see in national independence a solution of their economic problems they will—like the Irish, the Poles and many others—suffer a grievous disappointment. It is the duty of the Socialist Party to work to destroy the present illusion and thus avoid the future disillusion. Let the workers organise not as national citizens alongside their home capitalists, but as workers. They should reject the fallacious argument of foreign political parties which urge them to do otherwise. This fallacy is based on an old saying that “The enemies of my enemies are my friends.” In truth, the capitalist enemies of the capitalists are not, and cannot, be the friends of the workers. If the foreign capitalists happen to be at loggerheads with native capitalists, that is no reason why British or foreign workers should imagine they have a friend in the foreign employing class. The real task of the workers everywhere is to fight against capitalism whatever the national flag under which it hides. The duty of the Socialist Party is to keep this issue always to the fore, not to rouse deadly national hatreds which obscure the class divisions in society and retard the growth of socialism. 

The State is the organisation of the division of individuals into masters and subjects and has always been based on the notion of territory, which simultaneously responds to the needs of the various kinds of exploiters to fix their slaves and subjects on a specific territory and to give notice to their potential enemies concerning which regions and inhabitants belong to them.

The nationalist idea is based on the myths of the land of one’s birth, of the foreigner, myths that limit and distort one’s view of the world.  Capitalism conferred worth not on a real community, but on the imagined representation of a community manifested in the fetishism of national anthems and flags and symbolic national heroes.  This invention of a fake community masks the division between socially antagonistic classes, making way for a rationalisation of capitalism’s rule divided by competition, a unity corresponding to the higher interests of the State. While this native capitalist rule shelters behind the borders of the State, it continues to rely on a process of globalisation, on the tendency to conquer and create markets. It has standardised life throughout the world where you find much the same kind of food and everywhere. The carefully nourished local colour is a marketing ploy. Nationalism and xenophobia have developed where a person's knowledge of and sense of belonging in ones environment had diminished and  decayed.

Socialism signals a break with the old ideas of territory, father/motherland, nation, and State. The problems that will have to be solved are global and can only be resolved by a worldwide human community that totally destroys national and international barriers. Men and women will not be imprisoned behind border fences and walls. Cultural and ethnic frontiers will disappear. Socialism will be a single humanity and everybody will be welcome to join and participate in one or another community without birth-place being an obstacle to his being accepted.

To establish socialism the working class must wrest control of the machinery of government and of the armed forces from the hands of the capitalist class and use them to convert the present class ownership of the means of production and distribution into common ownership by the whole of society. In other words, it is necessary to take political action to establish a free society. We maintain and can demonstrate, that Marx’s analysis of capitalism is still valid today.

We also hold that the materialist conception of history is the key to the way in which societies change. The different stages of social development are the result of classes in society pursuing their material interests. Socialism will be the outcome of this class struggle. It will be the outcome of the conscious political action of the vast majority of the working class — the last class in history to achieve its emancipation. It cannot be the work of "enlightened” élites or of a vanguard party of intellectuals. We also hold that socialism means the abolition of the wages system and the institution of a class-free, state-free, moneyless world community with common ownership and democratic control of the means of life with production for use not for sale.

The Socialist Party has always warned against workers following leaders, even if and when the leaders seemed people of some quality. Workers must do their own thinking. But how much more sense does our advice appear when it is obvious that the famous names who monopolise the media and make sure that a socialist voice is almost never heard.

COME AND VISIT TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT SOCIALISM

Socialist Standard No. 1371 November 2018

Socialist Standard November 2018

• Editorial: The First World Slaughter
  
• Pathfinders: Monkey Dramas
  
• Letters: ‘Getting rid of capitalism’, ‘Bone and Mogg’, & ‘Correction’
  
• Cooking the Books: State Capitalism
  
• Wood for the Trees: Invisible Elephants
  
• Material World: Bolivia – Morales comes up against capitalism
  
• The Great War – Opposing ‘A World Gone Mad’
  
• Remembering What?
  
• The First World War and its Aftermath
  
• Ad Nauseam
  
• ‘Resistance is futile’
  
• Cooking the Books: Unpaid Work
  
• Proper Gander: The Great Russian Fake Off
  
• Reviews: ‘Big Capital – Who Is London For?’ & ‘Why Socialists Oppose Zionism and Anti-Semitism’
  
• Exhibition Review: ‘Peace and Plenty? Oldham and the First World War’
  
• 50 Years Ago: The Suffragettes
  
• Human relationships in socialism
  
• Obituaries: Joe Carter, Ian Williamson, & Ron Stone
  
• Rear View
  
• Cartoon: Free Lunch
  

The future is up to us

If humanity is to survive a totally new vision of the way society runs is required. At the root of many, if not all, of the social ills, is our socio-economic - capitalism. The raison d’être of the capitalists is to maximise market share and generate profits, irrespective of the harm to people or damage to the environment.  Capitalists actively work to curtail democracy and deny the establishment of a just economic system; they steer and direct government policy and consistently obstruct anti-business legislation.

Socialism is a shift of an unjust and unsustainable economic model to an equitable and egalitarian participatory way of living. Sharing and solidarity are at the heart of socialism. The Socialist Party is to bring about real change and alter social relationships and express positive democratic ideals, such as social justice, tolerance, and compassion. Sharing of resources, knowledge, skills, ideas that shape our lives is real meaningful participation.  The Socialist Party looks beyond nationalism and seeks a movement forming throughout the world.

Socialists are not overly obssessed solely with the standard of living of the working class and increased their share of income. Our opposition to capitalism strikes at the very root of the working class condition: the need to sell our ability to work to those who own and control the means of production and distribution. The only way to ensure that the interests of the working class are fulfilled is through the abolition of the working class itself. Indeed, the working class is a class whose interests are destined never to be fulfilled. This does not mean that it must give up the struggle to improve its conditions. That would be a disastrous course of action. What it does mean, however, is that in the struggle to improve its conditions, the working class will come up against the limitations of what can be achieved under capitalism. They will necessarily confront the conditions of their existence as a class. This leaves two courses of action open to the working class. First, it can work within the limitations of capitalism to obtain what it can. But the history of the working class shows that this is precious little, and there is no reason to believe that the future will hold anything different. Or it can take the second course of action: to confront the class limitations with the determination to break them down. To abolish the condition which creates and recreates the working class: the ownership of the means of production and distribution by the capitalist class.

A reformist accommodation to capitalism’s problems, disguised as an embattled militancy, not only puts off the time when capitalism will be replaced by socialism but also postpones the discussion of why only socialism is the solution to the problems confronting the working class. But the reformist argues that something has to be done now! If this or that problem can at least be ameliorated, then this is a worthwhile goal; they cannot wait for socialism to provide a solution. When challenged to give an example of a solution to a working-class problem, the reformists will be at a loss. They will even go so far as to agree with the socialist that capitalism has no solutions. But, they will retort, at least a reform will ensure that fewer people are suffering from this or that problem: something is better than nothing, isn’t it? There is a gaping hole in this argument. The justification for supporting reformist proposals is the comparison of the position before and after the reform. Before the reform, there are, say, 60,000 people living in stinking, rotten houses, whereas after the reform there are hoped to be a mere 40,000. How could the socialist deny support for the reform? Not to support it would condemn 20,000 more people to live in stinking, rotten houses than need be.

But socialists, in not supporting the reformist programme, are not advocating that nothing be done. Far from it. We are calling for the working class to unite to introduce socialism now. In comparison with living conditions possible in a socialist society, the reformist changes are a bloody disaster for the working class. The choice for the working class is not between "Reform or Nothing". It is "Reform or Revolution." 

Ragged Trousered Philanthropists

http://townsendproductions.org.uk/shows/a-new-one-man-magic-lantern-show-of-the-classic-book-the-ragged-trouseed-philanthropists/

A socialist classic has been adapted into a one-man show.

Scottish venues are:

NOV 13 - CLYDEBANK TOWN HALL 
BOX OFFICE: From the trade unions in West Dunbartonshire or e mail: tam_morrison@yahoo.co.uk / WEBSITE
NOV 15 - UNITE THE UNION, JOHN SMITH HOUSE, GLASGOW 
BOX OFFICE: E mail: glasgowhnh@gmail.com / WEBSITE 
NOV 16 - 7.30PM - NORTH EDINBURGH ARTS 
15A PENNYWELL COURT, EDINBURGH EH4 4TZ 
NOV 17 - 7.30PM - CHAPLAINCY CENTRE, UNIVERSITY OF DUNDEE 
CHAPLAINCY CENTRE, UNIVERSITY OF DUNDEE, NETHERGATE, DUNDEE, DD1 4HN, SCOTLAND 
BOX OFFICE: 07949635910 / WEBSITE 

Cancer and the poor

People in deprived areas of Scotland are more likely to be diagnosed with cancer and more likely to die from it than their wealthier peers, according to NHS figures released yesterday.

 Diagnosis rates for 2017 were more than a third higher in the most deprived areas when compared to the least deprived, while mortality rates are 76 per cent higher, according to Information Service Division (ISD) statistics.

 The inequalities increased for diagnosis and death by almost ten per cent since 2016.

 In total 16,105 deaths were caused by cancer in Scotland in 2017, up from 15,813 the previous year and the highest number in 25 years.

https://inews.co.uk/news/scotland/deprivation-linked-to-higher-scottish-cancer-death-rates/

Protect the kelp forests

An Ayr-based company called Marine Biopolymers (MBL) is now seeking a licence from Marine Scotland to take kelp from the Scottish seabed using a large mechanical arm. MBL commercially extracts polymers from seaweed for use in industries including food and pharmaceuticals.

Their dredging method would harvest seaweed using a mechanical comb, measuring between three and four metres to trawl the seabed. This method removes entire kelp plants, with the idea that juvenile plants are left to promote more rapid recovery. MBL claims that over five years it will start harvesting 30,000 tonnes per year of the seaweed Laminaria hyperborea, a large, leathery brown kelp.

Researchers in Norway have investigated the effects of kelp dredging on commercially important species, and found 90% fewer young fish in harvested areas. Scottish Natural Heritage suggests that Scottish kelp holdfasts typically house between 30 and 70 different species, including worms, molluscs and anemones. In turn, these animals provide food for fish and mammals like seals and otters. 

Existing Scottish kelp harvesting is limited to hand-cutting fronds, and ensuring that the stems and holdfasts (the part of the plant that connects to the seabed) are left intact. The new proposed dredging method will rip up entire kelp plants, including their holdfasts. Kelp dredging will also lead to a reduction of genetic diversity making kelp forests more susceptible to potential diseases and climate change.

Sir David Attenborough explained,  'These kelp forests - which can be found right here, around the coast of the British Isles - not only form an important part of the food chain, but also act as a vital habitat for a wide array of species. Their thick foliage offers food and safety from predators, and provides a nursery ground where juvenile fish can mature in safety. Look closely among the intricate stems and fronds of kelp, and you will find a range of fascinating sea life, from invertebrates such as sea stars, anemones and limpets, to mammals such as sea otters. Many of the fish species, such as cod, that are so important to us economically and culturally are also found here. For these reasons and many more (carbon storage being just one), it is absolutely imperative that we protect our kelp forests. It is perfectly possible to harvest them sustainably by removing their fronds while leaving the rest of the plant intact. But dredging - or indeed any kind of harvesting that removes the whole plant - is a wholly short-sighted measure that risks the wholesale devastation of our kelp beds. I urge decision makers to take the necessary action to protect these vital, and globally important, habitats.'

http://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/news/2018/october/kelp-dredging-in-scotland-would-be-a-disaster.html

If we don’t abolish capitalism, capitalism will abolish us.

People have been talking about overpopulation for a very, very long time. Overpopulation is a prominent myth that remains largely unchallenged. Liberals, environmentalists, and xenophobes alike assert that the human population is out-growing the “carrying capacity” of the Earth who attribute global warming, mass migration, pollution to the growth of the global human population. However, such claims are emblematic of capitalist attitudes.  Earth is not overpopulated and given current demographic trends never will be. All of the problems that are blamed on 'overpopulation' are not population problems but social problems caused by the nature of our economic system. The idea of 'overpopulation' is rooted in racism and nationalism which targets the poor and people of colour. Africa is poor, not overpopulated. If anything, Africa struggles from UNDER-population. It doesn’t have enough people to effectively exploit its own resources. Africans suffer not because of their own use of its natural resources but because of the manner in which the natural resources are stolen by the West.

The ideal fertility rate is around 2.1 children/woman, but in developing counties (due to war, famine and inadequate medical care), it's closer to 2.3 children/woman. The total global fertility rate for the 2010s (so far) is 2.36 children/woman, and has been consistently falling since the 1950s. If 'overpopulation' was a problem, it seems we've already corrected it. The countries whose fertility rates are above the 2.3 ideal replacement rate are overwhelmingly poor and developing nations: whose citizens consume  fewer resources than the citizens of 'developed' nations. If population rates continue to drop, we're going to need newcomers from high-growth countries to supplement our workforce. We will need immigration from high growth countries to support our ageing populations.

Shit on the Tracks

A railway union has called for urgent action to prevent train operator ScotRail from breaking an agreement not to dump human faeces on Scotland’s railways. A deal between unions and the Scottish government scrapped the practice by December 2017 but a shake-up in the ScotRail fleet will lead to its return.

The RMT general secretary, Mick Cash, said a senior ScotRail staff member has confirmed of the 10 high-speed trains expected to be in service by December, only one will be fitted with a tank for human waste. He has written to the company’s managing director, Alex Hynes, and the Scottish government transport secretary, Michael Matheson, calling for urgent action on the issue and highlighting the “serious health risks” posed.

Cash said: “Our members are rightly appalled that ScotRail have sought to rip up a clear agreement to end the filthy and disgusting practice of dumping human excrement on Scotland’s railways. This disgraceful and retrograde step must be halted now and the union will take whatever action is required to hold ScotRail to their agreement with the union."

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/oct/29/rail-union-urges-scotrail-not-to-dump-human-waste-on-tracks

If we are to survive

What has the world to offer the child born into it? We might be tempted to answer, "Not very much at all,"

The world is and will remain, a mass of trouble as long as capitalism lasts because capitalism with its privileged and unprivileged, its class cleavage, and its hunt for profit for the privileged contains the seeds of trouble. No sooner does one sore appear to be healed than another breaks out. There is only one solution to the misery and insecurity of the mass of the world’s population and that solution requires that its workers of the world realise that they perform all the functions necessary to feed, clothe and house everybody. That the reason so many go short is because the means of production are owned by a relatively small proportion of the population who reap the benefits of the worker’s toil without the need to work themselves. In other words, that the workers carry parasites on their shoulders. When the workers achieve this knowledge they will realise that the solution lies in making these means of production and distribution the common and equal possession of all mankind. When this awakening occurs then genuine optimism will supersede the fatuous and spurious optimism that occasionally appears today.

 so long as world society is split up into rival groups of nations, competing with one another for the sale of their commodities, with 90 per cent. of the national wealth owned by 10 per cent. of the population, causing as it does, the POVERTY which besets the mass of the human race, there can be no solution in agitating for fiddling reforms or hoping for “better times” under the present of any future “governments.”

What is required is the total abolition of class ownership of social wealth, including mines, electricity plants, productive machinery of all kinds and transport on land, sea, and in the air. In short, the abolition of commodity production, with its buying and selling and advertising: shoddy goods for the masses, but diamond tiaras for the few. Its mansions, and its hovels. To say nothing of the colossal waste of human lives and socially produced wealth in recurring wars, etc. Despite their failures—and even though their successes are few and futile—the appeal of the politicians persists. Workers vote for them in their millions with, apparently, hardly a thought for an alternative They are content to be exploited to keep the capitalist system running. The Socialist Party presents a viewpoint that is completely opposed to the other parties —that viewpoint is one of working-class interests. For all the talk of “democracy” and “equality of opportunity,” what has the political parties ever done for you or for the working-class generally? Did it solve the housing problem? Did you become substantially better-off? The answer is an emphatic NO.

Why is this so? The answer is a very simple one. None of these parties sets out to solve your problems or to make you better off—what they set out to do, in fact, is to run this social system called capitalism in the only way that it can be run; that is in the interests of your bosses, employers, ruling class, call them what you will.

What then is the basis of this social system? Capitalism means a social organisation where all the means of producing wealth (mines, land, factories, transport and so on) are owned by a small section of the people. That leaves us, the working class, with nothing except our ability to work. And work we must, or else we suffer. From the employer’s point of view, it is a simple proposition—more for you means less for them, and so they do all that they can to prevent any raising of your living standards. But this isn’t our only objection to capitalism. Our bosses are always squabbling with the ruling classes of other countries over the distribution of the loot, resulting in continual international crises and minor wars, leading sooner or later to major ones.

We say that there is an alternative  Socialism - means a world where the things of life will be produced solely to satisfy the needs of mankind, instead of for the purpose of realising a profit for your bosses; a world where the whole of humanity will own and control the means of living and where wars and international tension cannot exist: a world where people will no longer be subject to the threat of unemployment and to the perpetual struggle to make ends meet—in short, a world where everyone will freely and equally associate and enjoy all the fruits of their labour. 

Housing is one of the most pressing questions and although the Labour and Tory parties talk glibly of the numbers of flats and houses they promised to build, the fact remains that to-day’s housing problem is as bad as it ever was. At root, the lack of decent accommodation for working people is a part of the working-class poverty problem. If you happen to be well-off, there is no shortage of fine houses and flats—at an appropriate price. In other words, workers live in poor housing because they cannot afford anything better, and never will be able to afford anything better as long as they remain members of the working-class.

Education too, under capitalism, means the fitting of our children into the tasks required by the social system; in other words, the production of the engineers, programmers and all the other kinds of worker that are essential to capitalism. The present-day bias towards technology education is but a reflection of the industry’s needs for more and more technical workers. Nothing wrong with that, you might think. But the trouble is that capitalism has no regard for the realisation of a child’s potentialities or for education in the sense of equipping children for full and happy lives.

Your wages, generally speaking, are no more than sufficient to keep you and your family going from one pay-day to the next, and this is affected little, if at all, by the raising or lowering of the level of taxation. We say that all these problems are capitalist problems, which means that they are inseparable from the nature of the society under which we live. All the efforts of the reformers over the years have not altered your basic position one bit. What is required is something far more drastic—a revolutionary change in the nature of society.

Our proposition is a simple one. We, the working-class, not only produce all the wealth but also carry out all the necessary functions to keep society going. The tragedy is that we keep it going for the benefit of a privileged minority. What we suggest is that workers throw off the domination of the ruling class and organise and run society in their own interests instead of in the interests of their bosses. Then and only then will we see an end to the problems that have beset the working class for so long. This is well worth struggling for, hence our participation in elections. Our candidates are a protest against capitalism, and to give working people an opportunity of registering their support for the only constructive alternative to capitalism and for the only effective solution to their problems.

Our fellow-workers should join up with the world movement for the achievement of socialism, helping to abolish the chains of wage slavery. Everyone who joins us in the struggle against this pernicious social system is helping to make the life of capitalism shorter and helping to bring about a sane and rational social order. The need for socialism becomes ever more pressing in a world riddled with frightening problems, and a start must be made in wresting power from the ruling class. Every socialist means another step towards a freer, better world.

The Socialist Party, a party of revolution

Mainly the workers live on wages and any changes that occur in the amount of wages have a definite bearing on their conditions of life. The wages which they receive represent a portion of the wealth they produce. This portion takes the form of money and is given to them by the owners of the places where they work in return for the use by the owners of their ability to work for specified periods of time. This is a condition of existence common to all workers, not less to those who wear white collars than to those who wear overalls.

Over the years working people throughout the world have employed a variety of methods in the hope of improving their living conditions. They have petitioned parliament, supported candidates for office, organised political parties. They have paraded in the streets, erected barricades and fought against police. But most important, they have organised in trade unions, which have provided them with their most effective weapon, the strike.

The trade union exists to protect and improve wages and working conditions. It engages in a number of other activities most of which are worthless, sometimes harmful. Because its members are not politically informed, it often allows itself to be used as a stepping stone to office by aspiring politicians. Indifference and apathy amongst its members sometimes lead to careerism. But the real worth of the trade union must not be overlooked.

It seldom happens that a worker by himself can negotiate with the employer and obtain a pay rise. Certain workers in particular types of employment may be able to do this, but not the average employee. He or she would be more likely to find him or herself on the street searching for a new employer. Workers may influence their wages and working conditions only by collective effort and only by being in the position to stop working if their demands are not met. The ability to withhold their services is a weapon in their possession. It is the only final logic known to employers. Without it wages will tend to sink to subsistence level. With the threat of the strike a substantial check can often be placed on the encroachments of the employers and improvements both in wages and working conditions can be made.

The strike is not a sure means of victory for workers in dispute with employers. There are many cases on record of workers being compelled to return to work without gains, sometimes with losses. Strikes should not be employed recklessly but should be entered into with caution, particularly during times when production falls off and there are growing numbers of unemployed. And it should not be thought that victory can be gained only by means of the strike. Sometimes more can be gained simply by the threat of a strike or a work-to-rule. Workers must bear all these things in mind if they are to make the most effective use of the trade union and the power which it gives them.

But above all, the workers, besides making the greatest possible use of the trade union, must also come to recognise that even at their best the unions cannot bring permanent security or end poverty. These aims cannot be gained within the limits of capitalist society. Yet it is working people themselves who perpetuate this foolish system; who do the useless tasks as well as the useful; the unproductive as well as the productive. The trouble is that the alternative, a world of common ownership and common effort, is frightening in its simplicity. It seems too easy to be true. Nevertheless, true it is. It’s as simple as that! When the workers have raised their sights high enough to envisage a society where there can be no conflict over wages and where each will contribute to the production of wealth according to his ability and receive from the produce according to his needs, they are thinking of a goal that can be gained only after they have become organised into a political organisation having for its object the introduction of socialism. Such an organisation is the Socialist Party.

Penny-pinching employers

THOUSANDS of Scottish workers are being paid by the minute in pennies, The Herald on Sunday can reveal.

The details have emerged as part of a wider investigation into the gig economy, and precarious and insecure employment in Scotland.

 At least 10 per cent of the total Scottish workforce – some 259,000 people – deemed to be in insecure employment.

     • Concerns that some social enterprises – firms meant to provide a social good and often in receipt of support from the taxpayer – are engaged in questionable employment practices.

• The rise of "bogus self-employment" where firms bring staff onboard, including waitresses and baristas, under self-employed terms – thereby not paying tax, national insurance, holiday pay, sick pay, or pension contributions – but treat them on the same terms as if they were staff

     • Evidence of cash-in-hand payments used routinely in the gig economy, raising questions about losses to the exchequer.

Trade union activists have described some of the worst examples of precarious employment as "Dickensian", "Victorian" and a throwback to the relationship between factory owners and workers in the 19th century. They also called on the Scottish government to tackle the problem with action, not words.

The "paid by the minute" scandal centres on the care industry where councils outsource care at home to private or charitable companies. Care staff are electronically monitored – clocking in and out of a client’s home – using technology such as mobile phones or iPads.

As an example, if a carer has five jobs in an hour each lasting six minutes then they will be paid by the minute for a total of 30 minutes. If the worker is on the Scottish living wage – £8.75 an hour – this would see them earn approximately £4.38 for an hour’s work, or just under 15 pence per minute. Many are not paid for the time in between jobs, or for travel to and from jobs.

Scottish Care, which represents private care providers, estimates that the practice of "paying by the minute" occurs in half of Scotland’s 32 council areas. An estimated 15 per cent – or 8550 people – of the private care workforce, which stands at 57,000, are on zero-hours contracts, where most of the "paid by the minute" work is found. However, the numbers on ZHCs rises to 20-25 per cent in the sector of "older people’s care". Care providers and carers are also penalised if workers stay over the allotted time per visit, in the event of a client being ill or distressed.

Scottish Care said: “Over the last few years Scottish Care has continually argued for improvements to conditions which make employment in the care sector precarious for too many individuals. One of these is the call to offer properly funded contracts to providers to enable them to reduce dependency on zero-hour contracts ... While admittedly some staff desire the flexibility that such contracts provide them with, from our research the vast majority of providers wish to move to a situation where adequate funding makes full-time contracts for the care workforce a possibility.

“The main reason for the existence of zero-hours contracts is the discriminatory practice around the way in which care is bought from charitable and private providers by the public authorities. A local authority only pays for the work which is done rather than what may be intended. This makes it impossible to guarantee hours for many, especially smaller care providers. ... At the moment many, especially smaller organisations, are effectively paid by the minute and therefore by extension unless the provider has its own reserves and assets the worker is paid by the minute. This is no way to deliver care in the 21st century. We are faced with a scenario where workers are pressurised to get tasks done in as quick a time as possible and are penalised if they are late for their next client. For the person receiving the care this makes the whole experience less than dignified despite the best efforts of individual care workers ... This is especially unacceptable when we are talking about supporting people with palliative and end-of-life care.”

Dr Donald Macaskill, chief executive of Scottish Care, said: "There is something very wrong about a local authority treating its own staff fairly and well and yet treating the staff of services they buy in, whether they are employed by a charity or private care provider, in a manner which is little less than exploitative. Workers are made to clock in and clock out and their organisations are only being paid by the minute, and even then if a worker is late or stays longer because someone needs more help or is ill they are being penalised."

Jim McCourt, one of Scotland’s most prominent trade unionists who runs the Inverclyde Advice and Employment Rights Centre in Greenock, explained, "It’s the ultimate in the gig economy," says McCourt. He blamed the issue on care providers bidding against each other for council contracts and creating “a race to the bottom” in the market. “They bid with prices they can’t meet and it is their workers who suffer," he said.

"These private care companies are funded by the public purse as they are contracted by councils – so our tax pounds are propping up this system. This is about looking after the most vulnerable people in society. We are looking at a value set here – if people think there is money to be made in this way out of caring for the sick and elderly then there is something very wrong, especially if the public purse is being used."

https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/17104579.working-for-pennies-a-minute-the-merciless-reality-of-employment-in-modern-scotland/?ref=mr&lp=4

Popular Capitalism

 Under capitalism, democracy can have only the most limited of meanings and is usually given a meaning and justification that is completely opposed to its theoretical principles. The principles of majority rule and the recognition of the rights of minorities can only really achieve practical fruition in a world free from economic and social domination. It is only with the establishment of socialism that people will be able consciously to effect their wishes through democratic practice. Only then will today’s empty and hollow cry of “democracy" bear a meaning worthy of human organisation. To talk of “freedom" today, in a world of social and economic class domination, is as absurd as talking of the “democracy" of the capitalist countries, all of whom practice in one form or another the suppression of minorities and the flouting of majority wishes.

Capitalism is a social system in which all the things which are necessary to make and distribute the world's wealth —such as land, factories, transport—are owned by a small section of the world's population. This class, because of their ownership of the means of production, can live without having to work for a wage. On the other hand, the working class is compelled to sell their ability to work to an employer, for they have no other method of getting a living. The capitalists invest money in industries and, because they must have a return on their investments, those industries produce wealth with the motive of profitable sale. This means that industries throughout the world are constantly seeking cheap, abundant fields of raw materials, profitable markets for their products, and trading routes to connect them to their overseas markets and sources of supply. When "peaceful" competition cannot win these, a war breaks out. That was the cause of the last two world wars. A future world war will quite possibly be fought with nuclear weapons. These have been developed because each capitalist power must always strive to arm itself more powerfully—which means more destructively — than its rivals. This has made war an even more urgent problem, which cannot be solved by a conference between prime ministers and presidents. There is only one way certainly to abolish war. That is to abolish capitalism. Until this happens we shall continue to suffer the insecurity which drives many people into mental hospitals and transforms others from co-operative human beings into anti-social criminals. Crime and violence will flourish and with them the escapist drugs and tranquilisers.

We invite you to consider the case for socialism. This is a social organisation based on the ownership of the world’s wealth by the world’s population. When it is established, everyone—man or woman, whatever the colour of their skin —will have completely free access to society's common pool of wealth. There will be no privileged class enjoying the best things in life whilst the majority of people make do with the shoddy. There will be no wars to settle the competition between opposing capitalist groups. There will be no division of interest, such as exists today between employer and employee, to cause strikes and other social dislocation. Everybody’s interests will be the same—to co-operate in producing the best and happiest world which humanity is capable of, for the enjoyment and benefit of the whole of mankind.

This is no empty dream. Socialism can be established tomorrow if the people of the world understand it and want it. Then they can send their delegates to the seats of power—such as Parliament—to carry through the formal process of establishing socialism. That is why we are a political party. Our membership and funds are small and or candidates are not great leaders who promises to work miracles. They are not leaders at all for we do not believe in leaders. They are ordinary members of the working class and of our Party who holds with us that only socialism can solve the world’s problems. That never has been popular — the millions have so far always preferred their the reformist programmes of their parties, and the acrimonious world that they stand for.  Time for you to strike a blow for the freedom and brotherhood of all mankind. You have time before then to become a worker for socialism. Read and understand the simple facts of your class position: get in top gear as soon as you can. For you, the working class is the power that can rid the world of the vast horrors of capitalist civilisation.

Socialism has always meant opposition to capitalism as a system of economic and political power, replacing corporate interests with common ownership leading to a more egalitarian class structure and expanded democratic governance.  Unfortunately, the world is bereft of anti-system movements at a time when global capitalism has solidified its ideological hold. 

Classifying objects by their essential similarities and differences is a necessary step to thought and action. Every trade unionist does this when he or she organises with others who live by receiving wages, against employers who live on profits. The Socialist Party does it when we differentiates the system of society known as capitalism from a basically different system of society we call socialism.

There is presently a Labour Party “to make everyone a shareholder." The new Labour Party plan is for employees to be given shares in large companies. The idea is that it is a good thing to have more people owning a stake in the industry, and that these new share-holders will share in the growth of capital and profits of the companies. Come the next stock-market crash (and there will be one) employees expecting only rising share-prices may find themselves owning worthless shares. The postal workers under privatised Royal Mail are experiencing the fall in their share-prices.  It is always the big speculators, “those in the know,” who have the best chance of selling in time but even they are often caught unawares.

 The relatively small sums that will be owned by employees will only be trifling amounts in comparison with the wealth of the capitalist class with very little voting power at AGMs. But even if the prices of shares and profits of companies went on rising the relative position would be the same, because the wealth of the rich would be growing at the same time. All the changes of the past decades have not altered the basic relationship that about a tenth of the population owns about nine-tenths of the accumulated wealth.

More important still, the relationship between the capitalist, who lives by the wealth produced for him by the working class, and the working class who produce that wealth, but receive only a part of it in the form of wages, is not altered at all. The worker who has a few hundred pounds of shares does not cease to be dependent on wages because he or she receives a dividend of a few pounds a year from the investment.  The possession of a few hundred pounds of shares does not change a worker into a capitalist. A capitalist is a man whose wealth is large enough to enable him to live on the “property income” he receives from it, an income derived from the exploitation of the working class. The worker with £500 in shares is no more a "small capitalist ” than he is a "small millionaire."

Why is the Labour Party fostering this idea? Clearly it is with the purpose, not of making us all into capitalists— which is as impossible as having a social system in which all the population, including the slaves, are slave-owners — but with the intention of deceiving the workers into believing that they have an interest in preserving capitalism  and that the employers’ business belongs to them in some way.

When sachet of sauce is a meal

Child poverty campaigners and politicians in Glasgow have urged UK ministers to seize a “golden opportunity” to ease the financial burden on struggling families in Monday’s budget. It comes after an 8-year-old Glasgow boy was forced to eat tomato sauce sachets because he didn’t have enough to eat.

A community group, which runs a foodbank on the South Side of the city, told how the child was referred by a concerned teacher who caught him stealing from the school canteen.

Crookston Community Group warned politicians at Holyrood that the rise in demand for the services of foodbanks was reaching “crisis point”.

John Dickie, Director of Child Poverty Action Group Scotland, said: “That any child, any family, has to rely on food banks in 21st century Scotland is an absolute disgrace."

https://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/17068629.child-poverty-leaders-urge-westminster-to-act-after-starving-glasgow-boy-is-caught-stealing-sauce-sachets/

The Capitalocene Age

According to environment scientists, the Earth has entered a new geological epoch that will be less stable and less hospitable to human life. Because the change is driven by human activity, it is called Anthropocene – from the Greek anthropos, human being, which blames humanity as a whole for climate change. We’re told that people are the problem and only population reduction can prevent disaster.

The so-called population explosion actually doesn’t exist. Family size has fallen to a global average of 2.45 children and is projected to fall to two or less in the next few decades. The main reason why global population is projected to increase to 9 billion by 2050, and possibly 10 billion by 2100 (a high projection that is disputed by many demographers), is that currently, a large percentage of young people are entering their reproductive years. High fertility persists in only a few countries, mainly in sub-Saharan Africa, because of deep class and gender inequalities and the failure to invest in education, employment and health services, including accessible, high-quality family planning. The overpopulation myth leads to the promotion of policies that are terribly unjust and inhumane.

The real challenge before us is to plan for the additional people on the planet in a sustainable way. Fortunately, that is possible, but only if we address the real causes of environmental pressures. The root cause for widespread misery and environmental degradation is the mode of production and consumption we have.  Instead of blaming overpopulation, people need to get serious about capitalism. We need to address the grotesque and growing inequality of wealth and power of the capitalist system that fuels conspicuous consumption. The dominant mode of agricultural production has huge negative impacts on humans and nature.

The focus on overpopulation is a great distraction from what really ails the body politic and the planet. People aren’t hungry because there isn’t enough food. People are hungry and malnourished because they aren’t getting the food that exists. On a world scale, there is more than enough food to feed everyone. Apart from conflict, famines occur because large numbers of the population don’t have sufficient funds to purchase foods, even though food was available – hence an issue of distribution, not limitation. Also In many developing countries, landowners harvest export crops (such as coffee and tobacco) rather than food crops for local people. Thus, hunger and malnutrition are the results of the existing political economy not any real shortage of food.

So much “overpopulation” propaganda appeals to images of overcrowding. However, population density (i.e., people per square mile) isn’t correlated with abject poverty. Countries like Japan and the Netherlands are among the densest to be found, but also have some of the highest standards of living and the longest longevity. Some of the poorest countries also are very sparsely populated (such as Mali). Thus, high population densities do not by themselves cause abject poverty nor do low densities guarantee health and prosperity. 

1. Certainly, there are millions of families that have more children then they can support, but this doesn’t make the world overpopulated. And in countries where lots of families fit this description, it itself is not a sign that the country is overpopulated. Let’s consider why families are having more kids than they can support. Women (and their mates) have “too many” children for four concrete reasons:
⦁ they have no access to safe and effective contraceptives;
⦁ the women have too few options other than being mothers
⦁ no social security system exists; and
⦁ the infant mortality rate is so high (so giving birth acts as a lottery ticket).

By demanding the more equitable distribution of wealth, education, economic opportunities, and health care, family size will drop. Population stabilizes with the reduction of poverty, increased access to contraceptives and immunizations, and the education and empowerment of women. Global sustainability requires socialism, not population control. Another world is possible if we end the rule of capital enriching the few and immiserating the many. Only a socialist society could establish the democratic economic conditions in which humanity can consciously regulate its numbers. Climate change will not be automatically resolved by the abolition of capitalism, but it is the necessary precondition to viable, long-term, and socially just solutions to such crises. Global warming requires swift action, but we can’t act effectively unless we clearly understand its causes. If we misdiagnose the problem, at best we will waste precious time on ineffective cures; at worst, we will do even more damage. Focusing on population growth isn’t just ineffective, it is harmful. Instead of confronting the real cause, it targets the victims of environmental destruction, people who don’t destroy forests, don’t wipe out endangered species, don’t pollute rivers and oceans, and emit essentially no greenhouse gases. The environmental crisis arises from a fundamental fault in our systems of production—in industry, agriculture, energy, and transportation. Society must confront and resolve the gross imbalance that exists between resources and human needs, including the absurd concentration of population into urban cities while converting productive farmland into cash-crop plantations.

The Socialist Party links environmental issues to a broader vision. Socialism stands for global sustainability and a world where humans live in harmony with the rest of nature.