On the streets in Scotland

With twice as many deaths as elsewhere in Britain, Scotland is in the throes of a homelessness crisis. Some blame the system, while others point to rampant drug abuse. Whatever the cause, a solution is urgently needed. 

Scotland is a country caught in a homelessness crisis. Against a backdrop of austerity and biting cuts to local government budgets, the numbers of those lacking permanent accommodation  have crept up in recent years.

The Scottish Government has committed to ending homelessness for good, but new statistics paint a worrying picture. In 2018, there were almost 200 homeless fatalities, a year-on-year rise of 19%. The death rate in Scotland is now double that of England. The true number might be higher.

Several solutions have been mooted: decriminalizing personal possession to prevent the downward spiral of a prison sentence; introducing "safe consumption rooms'" so addicts can be professionally supervised while using; and increasing the prescription of substitute drugs like methadone.   

But the root causes go beyond that. Behind both substance abuse and homelessness, there is almost always personal trauma. "A lot of them need treatment for various things. A lot have mental health issues," says "Paul McMillan", a volunteer with See The Invisibles, a Glasgow-based community group.

Every week, he and a handful of others tour the streets with homeless provisions: clothes, food, sleeping bags. Providing protection from the elements is their primary aim, but by interacting with those they come across, the group offers relief from another enemy: isolation and loneliness.

"Folks just like that you treat them normal, that you treat them nice. A lot of them can't believe that you're wanting to hand out stuff and help them," McMillan says.

Kind gestures can only go so far, however. Getting rough-sleepers into accommodation is vitally important to prevent further deaths. While many do have access to temporary shelters provided by local authorities, these halfway houses can be treacherous places. Reports of violence, rampant drug use, and revolting conditions are widespread.  Genuinely "sheltered" accommodation has to be supplied. That means breaking the cycle of desperation and drug use by offering homes away from other addicts. Robust mental health support must also be available: a small but significant number of 2018's deaths — 12% — were due to suicide.

Scotland's housing laws are among the world's most progressive. Every rough-sleeper has the right to make a homelessness application, and while the paperwork is going through, they're entitled to temporary shelter.   Sadly, many people fall through the cracks.

For Shelter Scotland such cases are unforgivable. "It's a problem that there's no mechanism for the government to compel local authorities to follow the law. There needs to be a form of sanction against the local authorities," Graeme Brown, the group's director said.

Glasgow City Council admitted that its homelessness services "need to evolve" as demand increases. Accordingly, an alliance to end homelessness, made up of voluntary sector and private groups, has been launched. A 75% reduction in rough-sleeping by next year is the immediate goal, with a total end to homelessness by 2030.   

https://www.dw.com/en/scotlands-shameful-record-homelessness-fuels-highest-drug-death-rate-in-europe/a-52659386

Making the Co-operative Commonwealth

The Socialist Party is not a reform party, but a revolutionary party. It does not propose to modify the capitalist system, but abolish it. The Socialist Party stands for the common ownership and control of all the means of wealth production and distribution — in a word, socialism. The Socialist Party is necessarily a worldwide party. It is everywhere and always the same. . It refuses to be flattered, bribed, stampeded, or otherwise deflected from the straight course mapped out for it by Marx and Engels.

The Socialist Party teaches that the state, its apparatus as a whole, is the executive committee of the dominant class in society, the task of which is to maintain existing social relations, and thereby to ensure the rule of the class whose state it is. This applies to the capitalist state, whose task is to maintain capitalism and the rule of the capitalists. The task of the Socialist Party is to eliminate the bourgeoisie as a class, and guide the transition to a socialist, class-free society. The political aim of the revolutionary movement, consequently, is not to “reform” capitalism, not to “take over” the capitalist state. All reformist parties – no matter how grandiose their verbal allegiance to “socialism” and socialist ideals – conceive of their political aims as lying within the framework of the capitalist state: as winning reforms from capitalism, winning a majority in the capitalist government, or even as “transforming” the capitalist government into a “socialist government” (i.e., requesting the capitalist state to commit suicide). All reformist parties act in all crucial situations as an agent of the ruling class within the working class. A reformist party is powerless to defeat either war or end poverty. The reason is obvious: a reformist party will not overthrow capitalism, since it functions within the framework of capitalism; and consequently it cannot stop war or solve the poverty problem, both of which follow necessarily from the continuance of capitalism. A reformist party, is not merely non-revolutionary, but anti-revolutionary. It is a device for preserving capitalism, not a means for its overthrow. It is an obstacle in the path of the revolutionary movement, not a way forward.

 The Socialist Party has expressed over and over again the futility of socialists wasting their time in palliative measures. As socialists we base our political policy on the class struggle of the workers, because we know that the self-interest of the workers lies our way. That the self-interest may sometimes be base does not affect the correctness of our position. The constructive work of the Socialist Party is to develop the class consciousness upon which depends the overthrow of capitalism.

The Socialist Party is not afraid of being isolated. There are times when to remain true to our principles, have no other alternative. We have endured smears and slander. We survived. We retract nothing and repent nothing. We will move towards becoming a  mass socialist party when conditions open the way for such a step, bringing to it all our heritage and all our ideas. With our tradition, we urge all workers to add their energies to ours in a common struggle to build a potent party of socialism. 

The Socialist Party today remains more than ever the rallying point for all those who have remained faithful to socialism. We look to the working class as the major force in the modern world with the power to transform the existing disorder and create a new social order on a planet-wide basis, to meet the needs of all humanity – all, that is, except the tiny number who profit from the exploitation and oppression of the vast majority. Because we see the working class as the force for fundamental change in society, we carefully observe what is happening to working people and how they respond to their conditions of life and labour. We reaffirm that a mass socialist party is required to challenge the most powerful ruling class in the world. There are many parties today striving to be the party of the coming revolution or claiming to represent the best interests of workers. They are all competing with each other for influence in the working class. We are socialists, wishful above all things to advance socialism, and by socialism we mean the common  ownership of all the agencies of wealth production, and this involves the complete supercession of the capitalist system, and the conducting of all productions relations on a co-operative basis.

Trust in yourselves

The Socialist Party shows that the master class are able to maintain and continue their rule in society because they control political power. The centre of this power is Parliament. Here the laws are made and the forces (Army, Navy, Police, etc.) are authorised and supported for the purpose of enforcing those laws, the wishes of the master class. This political power is placed in the masters' hands by the workers, as the latter possess the majority of the votes. At every election the candidates depend upon receiving a certain number of votes in every area before being elected. Except for two or three special constituencies the workers have the majority of votes in every area. Hence the necessity for the masters to obtain these votes either for themselves or for their agents, at each election.

Once in control of political power the masters can crush any attempted use of force by the workers, whether such attempt be through economic organisations or secret societies.

The only solution in line with the facts of life around us is for the workers to use the franchise to obtain political power for the purpose of achieving their emancipation. Equally clear is it that, until a majority of the workers understand their slave position and desire to alter it, they will allow the masters to continue to rule by voting them into control of political power. Hence the stupidity of fancying that a "minority" can carry through a revolution. Therefore the Socialist Party must be opposed to organisations that preach such futile methods.

"Trust us," they tell us, "we will look after you." But to give complete power and authority to any individual or group is to give them something they can and may sell out to the class enemy. The only safeguard the working class has in its fight for emancipation is to keep control and power in its own hands. Executive committees, organisers, officials, etc., must all be servants of the working class, taking their instructions from, and carrying out their orders under the control of that class.

Socialism means the social ownership of the means of life. Hence the majority of society must not only be convinced of the necessity for socialism before it can be established, but they must keep control in their own hands if social ownership is to continue.

Chaos, chaos and more Chaos.

Chaos, chaos and more chaos, describes the state of the world at present - floods, fires, droughts, coronavirus, stock markets tumbling and wacko's going off fully cocked shooting people, way to go capitalism. Here in Canada we have our own unfair share of chaos which is known as Blockade. Starting in B.C. the federal government wanted to put the Coastal GasLink Pipeline project on the land of the Wet'suwet'en Indians. The $6.2 billion dollar pipeline is intended to deliver natural gas across northern B.C., where it will be prepared for global markets by converting it into a liquid state. Some but not all indians have objected, knowing full well what happens when the government take, or use, their land. This has caused blockades of freight and passenger rail lines all over Canada as indians and their sympathisers have squatted down on the tracks. On Feb. 26 they caused commuter lines to be blocked in Southern Ontario, which left thousands stranded at Toronto's Union Station. Manufacturing capitalists have been unable to get materials and, since they are unable to produce, have laid workers off. Farmers are unable to get their produce to market nor can they get feed for their animals. At the time of writing, Feb. 28., there is no end in sight. Prime Minister Trudeau is negotiating but has made no progress. To learn more one is advised to check the internet. And to think that for years apologists for capitalism told me a socialist society would degenerate into chaos!
S.P.C. Members.

Crazy Crazy Capitalism.

Canada's cannabis industry has seen a wave of lay-offs this year, including 500 at Aurora Cannabis and 140 at Tilray Inc. as they struggle to make profit. Canopy Growth Corp. says it’s planning cuts because it lost $124.17 million in 2019. It lost 35 cents per share in the quarter ending Dec.31. CEO David Klein said the company has taken steps to reduce the stockbased compensation and implemented tighter cost controls, but still has a lot of work to do. And this is the industry Canada's government legalized! Crazy Crazy capitalism.
S.P.C. Members.

The Best Of Intentions.

New Brunswick's deputy premier, Robert Gauvin, quit both the government and the P.C.'s in protest against the proposed health cuts on February 14. His decision, which was warmly received by his supporters, followed the government’s decision to close overnight emergency wards in six community hospitals. Gauvin said he would run as an independent in the next election, stating: ''I don't feel the premier is protecting citizens, I have to do something.'' Premier Blaine Higgs, said he was convinced the government is doing the right thing for the sustainability of the health care system, which may ring hollow to anyone who needs emergency care at night. Mr.Gauvin means well, but good intentions don't cut it. The most well intentioned thing anyone can do is to work for a socialist society where problems like the above can’t exist.
S.P.C. Members.

Read the Socialist Standard

 Give a person a copy of the Socialist Standard and you have given a three-hour socialist speech to him or her

Under Capitalism Someone Has To Lose?

Canadian National Railways halted more than 150 freight trains between Feb. 6 and 12, when demonstrators set up blockades in British Columbia and Ontario in solidarity with opponents of the Coastal GasLink pipe project that crosses the territory of the Wet'suwet'en First Nation in B.C. Via Rail said that 157 passenger trains have been cancelled, affecting 24,500 travellers on routes between Montreal and Toronto and Ottawa and Toronto. Already wood, pulp and paper producers have lost tens of millions of dollars. It’s easy enough to weep crocodile tears for these capitalists and sympathize with the Native Canadian's who know too well what happens when intrusions are made on their land, but the plain fact is in any situation under capitalism someone has to lose. Far better a society where no-one loses and capitalism gets lost.
S.P.C.  Members.

The Golden Years?

There are now more Canadian's over 65 than under 15. Almost two-thirds of working class Canadians do not have an employer based pension plan. Though Canada has an increasingly aging population, most of them are not financially ready for retirement, according to a report from the National Institute on Aging at Ryerson University, released on February 11. It shows that only 6.2 million of the approximately 19 million of the working class have a company pension. Canadians who enter retirement with one and other plans such as the Federal pension and Old Age Security, have an average income of $55,400, compared to $31,400 for those without a company plan. And people used to refer retirement living as the ''Golden Years''!
S,P,C.  Members.

We need socialism

The capitalist class has shown itself unfit to rule because it cannot even feed its wage slaves! This truth workers in the undeveloped and developing countries are feeling in the pit of their stomachs; American and European workers as yet still have a few more crumbs from the capitalists’ tables. Our world is rich in natural resources, in the skills of its peoples, and in the capacity to produce everything necessary for a good life for all. Our world could be a paradise. But our planet is not a paradise for the people. On the contrary. People are starving. Wars are raging. We face a climate emergency. Who and what is responsible? It is the capitalists. For a lasting solution of all these problems, it is necessary to end capitalism altogether and to replace it by a new system of society in which the working people rule. The causes of the present situation is the fundamental cause of all the sufferings and tribulations of the people, namely, that production is for and by capitalists for their profit and interests. What is wrong is the way society is organised, the “system of society” which prevails. the main features of this society is it is divided into rich and poor—a tiny handful of rich who need to do no work, and the overwhelming majority who work their whole lives. The immense majority of the people own nothing (in the sense that they can live on what they own) but their power to work.  

It is a system of exploitation. 

Capitalism is a system in which the means for producing the wealth (the land, the mines, factories, transportation, etc.) are in private hands. A tiny handful of people own these “means of production” as they are called. By exploitation we mean living off the labour of other people. There have been previous forms of exploitation. In slave society, the slave-owners lived off the labour of the slaves who were their property. In feudal society, the feudal lords lived off the forced labour of the serfs. In capitalist society the worker is neither a slave nor yet a serf, i.e. forced to do free, unpaid labour for a master. But he is exploited just the same, even though the form of this exploitation is not so open and clear as was the case with the slaves and the serfs. 

The essence of exploitation under capitalism consists in this — that the workers, when set to work with raw materials and machinery, produce far more in values than what is paid out by the capitalists in wages. In short, they produce a surplus which is taken by the capitalists and for which they are not paid. Thus they are robbed of the values they produce. This is the source of capitalist profit. It is on this surplus, produced by the workers, that the capitalist lives in riches and luxury. Capitalism is a system in which the means for producing wealth are owned by a few who live by exploiting the workers, i.e. by robbing them of the values they produce over and above the value of their wages. So long as capitalism continues to exist crises are inevitable. It is impossible to plan continuous unbroken production in the interests of the people under capitalism. Only socialism makes crisis-free production possible.

Capitalism is a system in which there are different classes—exploiters and exploited, rich and poor. The interests of these two classes are clearly opposed. The exploiters try to increase the exploitation of the workers as much as possible in order to increase their profits. The exploited try to limit this exploitation, and to get back as much of the wealth as possible of which they have been robbed. 

This is one aspect of the class struggle which arises inevitably out of the whole character of capitalism as a class system based on exploitation. 

The ending of the exploitation, the cruelty and injustice caused by class society in its various forms, has long been the dream of men. It found expression in the teachings of the early Christians, in the writings of men like John Ball, Robert Owen, the Levellers and the Diggers, as well as the Chartists. So long as modern, large-scale production did not exist, socialism would remain only a dream. It was capitalism, in the search for greater profits, which mastered natural forces expanded the production of goods on an enormous scale, united the scattered, individual production of workers into highly developed, large-scale factory production, thus establishing the basis on which socialism can be built. 

But capitalism by itself does not “evolve” into socialism. It has to be transformed into socialism by the conscious action and struggle of men. Capitalism creates the living social force which, by its very position in capitalist society, is compelled to change capitalism into socialism. This force is the working class and its allies. The age-long dream of the thinkers and the fighters of the past can only be transformed into reality when the working class wages the struggle to take political and economic power from the capitalist class and, having succeeded in this, sets about building a socialist society.

Reasons to vote for the Socialist Party

Why does the Socialist Party contest elections when it receives poor results?

 Firstly, because to confront and defeat the arguments of the pernicious apologists for the profit system at election time has considerable propaganda value. 

Secondly, because socialists are democrats. No, not the defenders of that perverse "democracy’ which requires the working class to follow like sheep their political leaders. We are democrats in that we stand for a new system which will not be characterised by the divisions of class, sex, age or race. Only when a conscious majority want and understand socialism will the new social order be created. The ballot box is a means of registering that consciousness. 

And thirdly, because election campaigns help to organise workers in a particular area. 

You cannot be on two sides at once. You either want, work and vote for socialism alone, or you want capitalism one form or another. Vote Labour, LibDems, Tory, or any of the left-wing groups and you will get capitalism. So instead of wasting your time and energy tampering about with the system, go straight to the root cause of nearly every problem you can think of capitalism itself and concentrate solely on its global abolition and replacement with socialism. It is class war and we are the only socialist party in this country, no matter what others may call themselves. 

We are in total opposition to all other parties because not a single one of them can ever abolish this system, no matter what they claim. Ours is not a war of bombs, bullets, street-fighting or any form of mindless violence, but a war in which our weapons are irrefutable facts. 

We expose all who deal in myth, illusion, ignorance and deceit. No problem is fully solved under capitalism by the time one is half-solved another presents itself, and by the time this one is half dealt with the original is festering again. Poverty, war, hunger, homelessness, hardship, monotony. So long as capitalism lasts so will these.

nce the majority understand and want socialism, have purposefully organised within the socialist movement, and have placed in Parliament—and its equivalent in other countries—democratically elected delegates, then there will be absolutely no problem. It will be as simple and straightforward as that. For how could a minority capitalist force stand the remotest chance against the socialist majority? Who would do their fighting for them? This is why we reject political violence, not on pacifist grounds but because it is completely unnecessary, damaging and futile. The act of voting is the only way, since this is how affairs in the new society will be conducted. Forget all about ends justifying means; power obtained by violence can only be maintained by violence and force. The truth is that the means condition the end.

The Socialist Party totally reject all concepts of leadership and why we are one hundred per cent a democratic organisation, where each has an equal right to contribute opinions. Only knowledge and understanding coupled with conscious, democratic political commitment by the large majority can possibly bring world socialism about. Once the majority of the working class—which, remember, means everyone who works for a living—realises its own position and acts accordingly, then it will mean the freedom of everyone whether black, white, yellow, man, woman and child. Simply because it is the wage-slave class — the class you and we belong to — who make up the vast majority of the world’s population.

So there you have it—clear, straight and uncompromising. You agree that socialism is a highly desirable proposition. You agree that it is a straight choice. You agree that this new world can only come about when a majority understand and want it. Now make your choice. Join us and help to bring a sane and harmonious society all the closer. Don’t wait for others to do it—they may be waiting for you.

No Comment Needed.

The Federal government is considering making September 30 a Federal holiday to commemorate the dark history of residential schools. To quote a spokesman for Heritage Minister, Steven Guilbeault,''We need to recognize the harm residential schools have done to Indigenous peoples and want to make Sept.30 the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation to honour the survivors of residential schools.'' In other words the government wish to apologize to native Canadian's for their ancestors coming to Canada, murdering them, stealing their land, stealing their livelihood, stealing their children and putting them in schools to be brainwashed into believing capitalism is the best of all worlds. No comment needed.
S.P.C. Members.

Again Advances In Technology Adversely Affect The Working Class

 Barrymore Furniture Company of Toronto have filed for bankruptcy leaving a throng of angry unpaid workers demanding severance pay and benefits, some as much as $50,000. Roopchand Doon of the United Steelworkers Union, which represents the 48 unionized former employees, said they only received one day’s notice that the company would shut down, and that they were informed they would not receive termination, severance and benefit payments. The company had been in existence since 1919 and was one of Canada's leading furniture makers, but like Ridpath’s and De Boer's suffered from online buying and international retailers selling much cheaper products, many of them made overseas. Again advances in technology adversely affect the working class, when in a sane society they would lead to everyone’s benefit.
S.P.C. Members.