THE SOCIALIST PARTY OF CANADA

 

Secretary’s Report for Sept. 1, 2012

 

Email report

–           The Bullet – The New Student Rebellion and the Mexican Left.

–           The Bullet – Syria: Between Revolution and Counter Revolution.

–           The Bullet – Greece: Syriza Shines a Light.

–           The Bullet – Class Struggle in the Philippines.

–           The Bullet – Fighting for Land and Territory in Urban Caracas.

–           The Bullet – Quebec’s Red Square Movement: The Story So Far.

–           The Bullet – The Process Belongs to the People.

–           Left Streamed – Contested Futures: Tar Sands and Environmental Justice.

–           The Bullet – Echoes of the Past: Marikana, Cheap Labour and the 1946 Miners’ Strike.

–           The Bullet – France: The Rise of the Left Front.

–           The Bullet – The Massacre of Our Illusions and the Seeds of Something New.

–           Please note that The Bullet and Left Streamed are not based on scientific socialism but can be sent to you on request for reading and purposes.

 

Good of the Movement

–           This month’s meeting was held on Thursday, August 30 at the usual coffee shop in Toronto. Discussion was mainly about the content of a proposed video.

–           Production of the Fall Imagine is under way. A comrade in Britain is having a go at putting it together for us. If you have any suggestions, contributions, however small, or you would like to be added to our contact list, please let me know right away.

–           One introductory package was sent out.

–           One membership questionnaire is pending.

–           September is GAC meeting month. If you have comments, questions, suggestions, please send them in.

 

Finances

–           Secretary’s expenses for August, $36.90.

 

Karl’s Quotes

–           Re the organic composition of capital, i.e., the ratio of constant capital (the capital spent on means of production) and variable capital (that capital spent on buying labour-power), important because it affects the rate of surplus value and therefore the rate of exploitation. Marx writes, “At any given time, the organic composition of capital depends on two factors: firstly, on the technical proportion between the labour-power and the means of production applied, and secondly, on the price of those means of production. As we have seen, this must be considered in percentage terms. We express the organic composition of capital that consists of four-fifths constant and one-fifth variable capital by using the formula 80c + 20v. We also assume for the sake of comparison an unchanged rate of surplus-value, say 100 per cent: any rate will do. The capital of 80c + 20v then yields a surplus-value of 20s, which makes a rate of profit of 20 per cent on the total capital (note not just on the variable part – ed.). The actual value of the product depends on how large the fixed part of the constant capital is (that capital laid out on machinery etc.) and how much of it goes into the product as depreciation, how much does not.” (Capital Volume 3, p.254, Penguin Classics edition).

 

Food For Thought

–           The futility of reform – the Liberal government of Ontario has convened early from its summer recess to pass an education act that forces the teachers to show up on September 4^th for the start of school, that forces a contract on them that invokes a pay freeze and loss of benefits such as sick days, that ignores the collective bargaining process entirely, and that suspends the right to strike. After a stormy education scene with the preceding Tory government, the Liberals entered a period of calm and Premier McGuinty actually calls himself the education premier. Many teachers say they feel betrayed but as the economic climate bites, what would you expect. The Liberals have crossed the line into neo-liberal policy. They have given the act the Orwellian title, The Putting Students First Act and have emphasized that they cannot raise wages and deliver all-day kindergarten at the same time, among several other things. The usual claptrap that sounds good but really expects the teachers to pay for educational services out of their wages. This is another example of the recent pit-bull attacks on workers and their wages and benefits, which is what we would expect in any recession.

–           While we are on the far right, The New York Times reported that Tom Morello, of  the metal rap band Rage Against the Machine, described Romney’s pit bull, Paul Ryan thus, “ He is the embodiment of the machine that our music has been raging against for two decades. I clearly see that Ryan has a whole lot of rage in him; a rage against women, a rage against immigrants, a rage against workers, a rage against gays, a rage against the poor, a rage against the environment. Basically, the only thing he is not raging against is the privileged elite he is groveling in front of for campaign contributions.” Nuff said!

–           Canada lost 300 000 jobs in July. There will be more to come caused by the impending arrival of the American chain, Target, taking over Zellers leases for almost $2 billion. Both are almost identical stores in merchandise and prices. Although Target posted earnings of $704 million for the last quarter, they did not take all the Zellers, especially those that are unionized and they will have to close down. Crazy system! That’s $2 billion of social wealth squandered!

–           In the midst of the recession, the banks have some good news(?). Canada’s top five banks posted profits of over $8 billion for the last quarter, a record for two of them. Nice work if you can get it.

–           Americans and guns seem inseparable. A police officer from Kalamazoo, Michigan, on holiday in Calgary, wrote to the Calgary Herald that he felt threatened when two locals approached him and his wife and offered suggestions for sight seeing, including tickets to the Calgary Stampede. He was complaining that tourists should be able to pack weapons to defend themselves. Then in Colorado, the scene of two mass shootings in recent years, the University in Boulder thinks it has the answer to guns. Those packing weapons will be confined to just one dormitory on campus. Come on! It’s a handy thing to have when you are studying!

–           Spare a tear and some sympathy for the world’s richest, the top 40 of whom lost a combined total of $3.7 billion in last week’s stock market decline. Worst was Carlos Slim, telecommunications mogul who dropped $1.7 billion. Not to worry too much though, comrades, he retains $73 billion to tide him over. How ridiculous can this system get?

–           You gotta love those capitalists. They can smell money from a million miles away. To help slow climate change, the UN rated greenhouse gases based on their power to warm the atmosphere. The more dangerous the gases, the more manufacturers in developing nations would be compensated as they reduced emissions. But some soon figured out that they could earn one carbon credit by eliminating one ton of carbon dioxide, but more than eleven thousand credits by simply destroying a ton of an obscure waste gas normally released in manufacturing coolant gas. The credits could be sold on the international market earning tens of millions of dollars per year. Where there’s a mill(ion) there’s a way!

–           A group of nuns in North America is being disciplined by the Vatican. Apparently, their organization, representing more than 80% of the 57 000 (!) nuns on our continent, has been doing nefarious things, like harbouring radical feminist ideas, putting too much energy into social justice, and too little into fighting abortion, contraception, gay rights etc. They have also dared to discuss women’s ordination, priestly marriage, and US health care (vehemently opposed by the Catholic powers). A spokesperson for the nuns said, “It [their response] entails resisting rather than colluding with abusive power.” Imagine!

–           When the South African police opened fire on the striking miners, killing 34 and wounding 78, it brought back memories of the Sharpeville massacre of the 1960s. Only then, it was done by a white racist government. This time, it was done by a mostly black controlled government. This clearly shows that no matter what government you have, they will always put the interests of capital first.

                   –     In the last week The Toronto Star ran the following headlines:-

–           300 000 jobs lost in Canada last month.

–           Relief too late for Corn Crop

–           J.C. Penny posts loss, but sees improvement.

–           Asian economies – Report paints bleak picture.

–           Brookfield profit falls, revenue goes up.

–           Housing market cools – home sales in Toronto down in July.

–           Scorching summer dries up hydro- power. Water based power output falls by 20%.

–           Bigger the IPO, the harder it may fall – think you are going to make money by getting in early? Think again.

–           In the Target Zone – many former Zellers’ employees looking for work with retail giant.

–           OPG blames profit decline on faltering equity market.

–           Is it possible, even faintly, that capitalism may be in a crisis?

–           The British Royal Family in crisis! The government has cut funding to the monarchy to stay in line with wide-ranging budget cuts. In 2011 they had to manage on $50 million and now face a 25% cut. But don’t worry folks, her majesty and her cronies have decided to raised admission prices for tours of Buckingham Palace to make up the difference. I’m sure the millions who have to live on a dollar a day will be greatly relieved.

–           In the Vietnam War, the US dumped 75 million litres of agent orange on about a quarter of former South Vietnam, killing two million hectares of forest about the size of Massachesetts. Now the US is involved in a massive clean-up to remove the dioxin contained in agent orange from a nineteen hectare site that is now a Vietnamese military base. And here I am thinking the American capitalists are all heart, until I hear the Vietnam and the US are getting chummy in order to boost trade and counter China’s rising influence in the disputed South China Sea. This area is believed to be rich in oil and natural resources. The US says protecting peace and freedom of navigation in the sea is in its natural interest. Sure, they’re all heart.

–           The soothsayers tell us that the US economy is in recovery, yet only 56% of Americans laid off between January 2009 and December 2011 have found jobs and more than half of them took jobs for lower pay. One third took pay cuts of 20% and more. It’s nice to know we are in recovery. Next they will tell us the market corrects itself!

 

Happy Labour Day, John