The Glasgow & Edinburgh Branches Blog. Towards a better understanding of the world, in order to change it.
Highland Kings Ultra, a four-day camping race covering 120 miles on the west coast of Scotland, costs £15,499 per person to enter.
In contrast, the 95-mile West Highland Way Race costs just £120.
It offers luxury few could afford - including butlers, hydrotherapy pools, speed boats and Michelin-star chefs.
'Luxury' race will be among most expensive on earth - BBC News
Many workers are indignant when they are “exploited” and “oppressed.” They have been taught false pride, not the pride of refusing to be exploited, but the pride of refusing to admit that they are exploited. But their denial doesn’t change the fact or the reality that the capitalist barons squeeze the last drop of their sweat for the sake of their profits and the State crushes their resistance. It should be clear to all that the State is the executive committee and the strong arm of entrenched privilege and wealth. There is war. It is a class war. It is waged by the representatives of one class, the oppressors, against another class, the oppressed. In this war, the State is always and invariably on the side of the oppressors. Some representatives of the ruling class may try to achieve their ends of capital using the carrot. But they always keep the big stick ready. The State — that is the big stick of the owners of wealth. Everyone who believes that the State is your ally, a neutral protector, that the State is an honest broker is mistaken.
The Socialist Party is the only political organisation in present-day society that recognise the basic nature of the capitalist State. The State may change its outward appearance. The forms change. The phraseology differs according to time and place. The essence remains. The essence of the capitalist State is service in the employ of capitalism for the preservation of capitalism.
It may use the parliamentary system, with freedom of speech to opponents — as long as this opposition is not too threatening to the capitalist class. If so, then the State tightens the screws to silence opposition.
Progressive liberals on the Left frequently find themselves dissatisfied with the functioning of the State and its “shortcomings.” They complain of inequality. They understand the war-like nature of the capitalist State. But what do they propose? A little tinkering here and there. An improvement in the electoral laws, an extension of the freedom of the press, improve the State — and you have made it more flexible, more capable of adapting itself to circumstances; you have made it a better instrument of oppression. But that has nothing to do with the very nature of the State as a bulwark of private property and capitalist exploitation. no matter how important for the working class, reforms do not touch upon the fundamentals of the capitalist State, namely, its being an instrument of power in the hands of the big owners of wealth.
Nevertheless, limited as it is, bourgeois democracy has prepared for the workers all the means necessary to achieve socialism. Let the workers use universal suffrage, we say, to send socialists into the legislative assemblies. Let the socialists form a majority in these assemblies. When this is done, the road is open to pass laws abolishing the capitalist system. Neither democracy without socialism, nor socialism without democracy.
If capitalism makes prosperity, peace and the end of poverty impossible, then the system must give way to a better one, whose aim is not profit-making but the satisfaction of the needs of humanity and whose basic means of expansion thereby calls for free cooperation instead of the intensification of competition and the exploitation of labour. The Socialist Party programme boils down to the struggle of the workers to end capitalism.
An argument against socialism is the assumption that capitalism had always existed and would naturally always continue to exist because it corresponded with “human nature.” Hard facts upset this naive assumption. Capitalism is but a newcomer among economic systems; it is less than five hundred years old. A related argument was that socialism represented a beautiful ideal but lacked a basis in reality; socialists were, therefore, nothing but Utopians. Marxist theory upset these contentions. The working class, created by capitalism itself, was shown to have a decisive economic interest in the development of socialism, and since socialism signifies a higher level of economy and culture, leading to a class-free society, the working-class movement in this direction represents the interests of society as a whole. In addition, the worldwide industrial system established by capitalism provides a sufficient base for the enormous increase in productivity required to realise socialism.
If we were civilised human beings, we would share in the hunger pangs of our fellow men and women and little children, even if we can not see them. The Earth is ample with the fullness and fruits of its produce, sufficient for all the children of men, women and children. We can possess no stronger reasons for being a socialist demanding the overthrow of capitalist misrule, and the tragedy is continuous, upon the social fabric upon a basis excludes of cooperation, collaboration, and compassion. Partnership with the plutocracy is a fraud upon the workers. Capitalist society’s cornerstone is wage slavery. The control of industry today is left to the care of individuals whose sole concern is to make profits for themselves, although life and death depend upon industry.
By socialism we understand the system of society in which production is for social use; that is, the production of all the means of social existence — including all the necessaries and comforts of life — carried on by the organised community for its own collective use. Today, production is carried on purely in the interest and for the profit of the class which owns the instruments of production. In socialism, production will be carried on for the use of all and not for the profit of a few. Socialism does not mean governmental ownership or management. The State of today, nationally or locally, is only the agent of the possessing class. Socialism is essentially revolutionary, politically and economically, as it aims at the complete overthrow of existing economic and political conditions
The Socialist Party’s vision is one of a new world, a better world, a world worth fighting for, a world to win, an end of the miseries and exploitations we all endure and suffer. Capitalism, for the first time in history, has developed productive forces so huge that everyone in the world can share in what is produced. There is now no longer any need for class society. No person knows exactly what the future society will be like at any given stage. But we do claim to know the direction in which it will tend and this knowledge we teach. Education is not achieved in a day.
Stated simply, the aim of the Socialist Party is the common ownership of the means of production and distribution, and the consequent economic equality of every human being on earth. As plain as this statement is, there are people who construe it to mean all kinds of silly and grotesque things, which no socialist thinks, and which makes socialism seem supremely ridiculous to so many people. The trouble is not with socialism, but with what these people imagine to be socialism. The Socialist Party is basically peacefully preparing the way for the socialist commonwealth. The organisation of industry upon a cooperative basis is its aim. Rent, interest, and profit in every form are to disappear and with them the small clique of parasites. Socialism is the only possible cure for that poverty and its countless accompanying festering ills. Every piece of technology will be used in reducing the hours of labour. The industrial prison, now called a factory, will be transformed into a temple of science and art. Peace and plenty will abound. The cooperation of all for the good of all will inspire compassion for all. The Socialist Party plan for a world free from want. The Socialist Party is the champion of the working people. Granted that the danger of society’s relapse into barbarism now looks more menacing than ever. Throughout history every advance in mankind’s power has increased its capacity for oppression and destruction but
‘Dum spiro spero’ – ‘As long as I breathe I hope’. Socialists presuppose an abundance of material and cultural wealth, that will enable society to satisfy the needs of all its members and abolish class divisions.
Socialism cannot be brought about within its national boundaries. Socialism and the nation-state are incompatible. Socialism cannot be achieved within a single country. The Socialist Party is the only world political party. A socialist is a socialist irrespective of nationality, colour, or sex. The socialist recognises no national boundary lines. The nation in which he lives embraces the working class of the world. Every worker everywhere is his brother and sister. Across the borders of all lands, socialists clasp hands as comrades. The socialist movement, therefore, is a world movement. It knows of no conflicts of interests between the workers of one nation and the workers of another. It stands for the full freedom of all humanity. Socialism means that all those things upon which the people in common depend shall by the people in common be owned and administered; that all production shall be for the direct use of the producers; that the making of goods for profit shall come to an end; that we shall all be workers together.
The national political discourse has been obsessed with immigration and refugees for much of the past decade, with consequences that barely need explaining, yet the issue has been largely absent from the cinema screens. Faced with a determinedly xenophobic government and sections of the media that dehumanise, feature films could be doing much to create understanding.
A Scottish comedy Limbo tells the story of a Syrian refugee seeking asylum.
"Bet you never thought you’d end up here pal, eh?” says a Scottish islander to Syrian refugee Omar in the new movie Limbo.
The place looks idyllic, but if you’re an asylum seeker waiting for your application to be processed like Omar, there’s little to do there except wait. Despite Omar’s plight, and actor Amir El-Masry’s deadpan expression, Limbo is actually a dry comedy that makes us feel immensely for its subjects without patronising, caricaturing or belittling their plight
Its Scottish writer-director, Ben Sharrock, previously worked in Syrian refugee camps).
Why is British cinema so reluctant to tackle immigration? | Film | The Guardian
Capitalism is based on competition. The means of production are owned exclusively by a section of the community; those that are dispossessed must sell themselves to the owning section in order to live.
The owning class give those who sell their life force to them sufficient to keep going as producers of commodities which become the property of the owning class as they are brought into being.
Commodities are articles produced for sale, for profit. The latter cannot be realised until the commodities are sold.
To sell you must find a buyer. The only portion the worker can buy is that equivalent to the wages he receives; all over and above this amount must be disposed of elsewhere.
Markets are found abroad which temporarily relieve the situation, but as the productivity of labour increases, and more and more countries are brought within the orbit of capitalism, the difficulty to sell is intensified.
The world is scoured for raw materials by rival gangs; the wage slaves are driven faster and ever faster so that relative cheapness can enable one exploiter to undersell another, but all in vain.
The markets are decreasing comparatively and the powers of production are increasing. The capitalist class must sell in order to realise profits and yet they are compelled to set in motion factors that make the necessary sale ever more difficult.
The unemployed grow in number in all lands and eventually the situation becomes so bad that the harder pressed gangs of exploiters become desperate, arm their slaves, and demand at the point of the sword certain concessions in the way of a right to raw materials, markets, etc., from their rivals—the war is on.
Amidst the flag-waving and the beating of the war drums let our battle-cry be “the common ownership of the means of life.” When amidst anguish, made bitter by grinding poverty, the disillusioned wage-slaves cry out “What shall we do?” We give the answer. Free yourself from the chains of wage slavery. Make the means of life common property.
We have solved the problem of production. We can produce all that is needed to supply the necessities of life, as well as some of the comforts of life — education and the opportunity for recreation — to all the people. And yet all but a very few are not sure of their livelihood. The existing industrial system is a huge profit-making machine, which has no relation to the happiness and well-being of the people. If the work of reconstruction is to result in a better world, its aim must be the abolition of the profit system. If common ownership is to solve our problem of reconstruction, it must come hand in hand with industrial democracy. Together with the establishment of collective ownership of industry there must be developed the democratic management of industry by the workers' Industry must no longer be conducted as a private business for profit but must become a coordinated, collective process conducted for the purpose of supplying human needs and comforts. Such a transformation can only be accomplished by taking the ownership of resources and means of production and distribution out of the hands of the present owners and vesting the ownership in the people collectively. We can through socialism — through the organisation and coordination of our powers of production, eliminate waste and will enable us to bring into existence more than enough wealth to give a high standard of living.
There is no hope for the working class if they continue to support the political parties representing the interest of the capitalist class. The idea that socialism would be established through a series of legislative acts extending possibly over a decade or two has been shown to be an illusion. Socialism will not be legislated into existence but will be established by a mass movement of the workers. The legislative acts will merely give the accomplished fact the stamp of approval as the will of the majority. The struggle of the working class will henceforth be a political struggle for control of the state because it must gain control of the government before it can hope to establish democracy in industry. For the working class to endeavour to take control of industry while all the repressive power of the class state remained in the hands of the capitalist class would be to invite destruction. The work the workers have to do, the way to freedom, is through building a class-conscious political movement which will carry on the work of educating the workers to an understanding of the system of exploitation which now exists and the class character of the government and to organise the workers for the struggle to wrest control of the government out of the hands of the capitalist class. The Socialist Party is the medium through which this task can be done. At the same time, it is an essential part of the work of the workers to build up organisations in the industries themselves, having as their goal to supersede the capitalists in control of industry. These organisations in the industries are the beginning of the new industrial order that will expand and grow until they become a huge cooperative organisation of the workers for control and management of the work of production and of all matters pertaining to their common interest.
On June 30th 182 more unmarked graves of indigenous children were found in Cranbrook, B.C. Not many native Canadians will be celebrating, surprise, surprise!
Since the Catholic Church ran the residential schools where this genocide occurred, some churches have been burned down and one can understand how the arsonists feel. As expected, native Canadians demonstrated their anger at the genocide of Indian children.
The only great thing about it was when they pulled down the statue of that old parasite Queen Victoria in front of the Manitoba legislature.
Happy Birthday Canada. The only thing worth celebrating will be the day the working class wake up and see capitalism as the great big, useless, mean spirited, impractical, economic piece of junk that it is.
S.P.C.
Members.
In Vancouver, the police said they have responded to 65 deaths since the heatwave began on June 25 and most of them were heat-related. The B.C. Coroners Service said they would normally get about 130 reports of death over a 4-day stretch, but now it’s been 233. Ambulances have been delayed for as long as 2 hours for emergency calls as paramedics are stretched to their limits because of demand across the province.
In Edmonton, the police are handing out water and in Calgary, water wagons are being deployed. The heat is expected to last for a few days then move eastwards so the rest of Canada can sizzle.
This is primarily a poor man’s problem and you can bet your bippy the rich have air conditioning and plenty of water.
The irony is that it’s all part of global warming which eventually will affect the capitalist class too.
Crazy, insane capitalism.
S.P. C.
Members.
The capitalist class possesses power to-day because it has control of the machinery of government, including the armed forces. Not always has the capitalist class been so powerful. It was not able to become the most powerful class in the State until it had wrested from the feudal aristocracy a share in the control of the machinery of government. To-day, the capitalist class still controls the machinery of government. But this is due only to the fact that the working class is immature. The workers still believe their problems can be solved within the framework of capitalism. Consequently, at each election, they send to Parliament and to the local councils people prepared to uphold the capitalist system of society. Thus do the war mongers and financial magnates get their power.
When the workers understand that they constitute a slave class and that their slavery and all its accompanying evils will remain as long as capitalism itself, then they will become socialists. They will cease to vote the supporters of capitalism. Instead, they will elect socialist delegates. Since the working class forms the majority of the population, nothing but its lack of political knowledge prevents it gaining control of the machinery of government for the purpose of carrying out its own wishes.
The power of the capitalist class will have vanished. Whether the capitalist class will be foolish enough to attempt to resist their hopeless position is a question we cannot answer categorically. We do know, however, that were the attempt to be made, it would be impossible for them to put up any serious opposition. They would, of course, be rebels against society, and by rebelling they would make their already hopeless position still more hopeless: their unconstitutional action would cause many fence-sitters to support the socialists—the democracy defenders. The puny efforts of the rebels would be met by the highly developed and organised might of the armed forces.
Slavery is involved in the wages system. As a result of realising the cause of their enslavement the working class will obtain a knowledge of what is essential to their emancipation. Capitalism is the means of exploitation. It is the chain that grows ever heavier. The very chains that the workers are compelled to forge to enslave them.
The left-wing parties has propounded doctrines which have done nothing but obscure the fundamental issues of socialism versus capitalism. How was this made possible? Cunningly and with wilful lying, and distorting the teachings of Marx, through the pages of their journals.
The workers must preserve and strengthen their organisations on an independent basis. Let them hold fast to their right to organise, to meet together, to speak freely, so that they may keep their power of influence and to work for socialism. We hold out our hands in solidarity across the frontiers to the workers of other countries, and over the roar of guns and the thunder of bombs.
The Socialist Party is fully aware of the sufferings of workers under various iron heels of jack-boots and wholeheartedly supports the efforts of workers everywhere to secure democratic rights against the powers of suppression, but history of the past decade shows the futility of war as a means of safeguarding democracy. The retention of capitalism results in the building up of new tyrannies and terrorisms through the inability of the capitalist states to solve the problems created by the system of private ownership of the means of production and distribution and the competitive scramble for raw materials, markets and control of trade routes.
When they understand what capital is and the place they occupy in society as a result of being bound to it the working class will generate within themselves the will to be free.
To those workers who are growing tired of their own exploitation and would like to bring a speedy end to the brutal suppression which capitalism causes everywhere, we extend an invitation. We invite them to join with us in our struggle for socialism—a system of society which will bring to an end their own exploitation and “will involve the emancipation of all mankind without distinction of race or sex.
