SPC Newsletter for 1st December 2014

The Socialist Party of Canada

Secretary’s Report for December 1, 2014

Email Report

• WSPNZ GAC meeting notes for October received with thanks.

• WSP India EC meeting minutes for October and November received with thanks.

• Discussion with a potential ‘socialist’ who does not believe in evolution and that god created the earth and all on it!

Good of the Movement

– Meeting to be held in Toronto, December 4.

Finances

• Secretarial expenses for November, $7.23

Karl’s Quotes

• Usury and interest have enabled capitalism to become stronger. Marx writes, “ What distinguishes interest-bearing capital in so far as it forms an essential element of the capitalist mode of production, from usurers’ capital is in no way the nature or character of the capital itself. It is simply the changed conditions under which it functions, and hence also the totally transformed figure of the borrower who confronts the money- lender. Even where a man without means obtains credit as an industrialist or merchant, it is given in the expectation that he will function as a capitalist, will use the capital borrowed to appropriate unpaid labour. He is given credit as a potential capitalist. And this very fact so very much admired by the economic apologists, that a man without wealth but with energy, determination, ability and business acumen can transform himself into a capitalist this way – just as the commercial value of each person is always assessed more or less correctly in the capitalist mode of production – much as it constantly drives an unwelcome series of new soldiers of fortune onto the field alongside and against the various individual capitalists already present, actually reinforces the rule of capital itself, widens its basis and enable it to recruit ever new forces from the lower strata of society. The way that the Catholic Church of the Middle Ages built its hierarchy out of the best brains of the nation, without regard to status, birth or wealth, was likewise a major means of reinforcing the rule of the priests and suppressing the laity. The more a dominant class is able to absorb the best people from the dominated classes, the more solid and dangerous is its rule. “ (Capital, Volume III, pages 735/736, Penguin Classics edition). And how the capitalists have recruited the best brains from the working class using its strength, capital.

Food For Thought

• According to Papal doctrine, popes are infallible. The New York Times writes (November 2), “On paper, that doctrine seems to grant extraordinary power to the pope – since he cannot err, the first Vatican Council declared in 1870, when he ‘defines doctrine concerning faith or morals to be held by the whole church.” John XXIII said, “ I am only infallible if I speak infallibly, but I shall never do that.” And I thought we were all sinners!

– Google has actually come out and said that climate change facts are no longer in dispute and has cancelled its membership in The American Legislative Exchange Council, an organization founded in 1973 that  brings corporate and elected officials together to work on hundreds of model policies and bills that are meant for introduction in US state Legislatures. This is how capital can dominate an elected assembly for its agenda. Not surprisingly, it denies the science behind climate change.

• We all know that continual growth is at the center of capitalist economics. It’s nice when the mainstream press says it, too. In the Toronto Star, October 25, in an interview with a staffer, Yuval Noah Harari who wrote the book, “ A Brief History of Humankind” said, “ If you look at modern economic history, the most salient feature is the exponential growth of the economy. Growth has become the central value of the capitalist ideology. People today are obsessed with growth. Everybody wants their income to grow…The thing that frightens everyone is zero economic growth.”

• In an article in the Toronto Star (October 18) titled, “What The World Did Wrong About Ebola: Everything”, Joanne Liu, international president of Medicins Sans Frontiers, said, “The reality is, we failed as an international community.” She didn’t say that funding to the World Health Organization had been cut so badly that there were large gaps in the personnel necessary to conduct health business properly. With our technology, it should have been a relatively simple matter to control the initial outbreak and save thousands of lives. But doing it properly, costs money that must come from profits and here lies the major problem with the capitalist system – profits must trump anything else in the long run.

• In October, Ontarians lost a high stakes bidding war over auto-manufacturing jobs. Unifor, the auto workers’ union, said that Ford will build a new type of engine in Mexico instead of Windsor. The project would have meant about 1,000 jobs. The minister for Economic Development and Employment, Brad Duguid, said, “ Our government is committed to partnering with business in a fiscally responsible way, but we will not invest taxpayers’ dollars in any partnership that does not provide a strong return for Ontarians”. Governments at all levels have been stung hard and often by companies taking the money and running away in short order. It will be, as usual, the working class that loses out with fewer good jobs while the capitalist class can still invest their money in the company no matter where it operates. Many other countries are competing for work by offering huge incentives and low labour costs resulting in higher profits. It’s the natural thing for capital to do. To beat it, drop capitalism.

• Scientists have just become aware of a new aspect of global warming – nearly invisible particles of carbon resulting from incomplete combustion in diesel engines. Some particles are being swept by wind from industrial centers to the Arctic. This phenomenon, called black snow, reduces the ability of snow and ice to reflect sunlight. In fact, in one month this process, called albedo, dropped twenty per cent. A team of French government scientists reported that the arctic ice cap, that is thought to have lost an average of 12.9 billion tonnes of ice a year between 1992 and 2010 due to general warming, may be losing an extra 27 billion tonnes a year because of black snow causing the sea level to rise several centimeters . To put it bluntly, time is running out, and since socialism is the only real solution, we must act fast.

• Statistics Canada recently issued some interesting information on young people. Only one in five children in Canada who need mental health services ever receives professional help; about 3.2. million young people in Canada aged twelve to nineteen are at risk for developing depression; One in four will experience clinical depression by age eighteen; in Canada 75% of mental disorders develop by age 24, fifty per cent by age 14; suicide is the second leading cause of death for young people, after accident, accounting for almost a quarter of all deaths among 15-24 year olds. The pressures and insecurity of life under capitalism affect parents and children. Psychologists and other mental health workers do help patients to cope with the stress of life better but removing the cause would be preferable. Socialism offers security, stability and fulfillment.

• For example, the daily effects of this stress can cause people to do incomprehensible things. Jian Ghomeshi, the former host of the CBC Program, Q, was recently fired after allegations of sexual abuse of several women. Apparently, according to The Stratford Herald, he keeps a stuffed teddy bear to help him deal with anxiety, similar to his childhood bear. Again, it might help to deal with the effects but its cause must be eradicated.

• I walked into the food bank where my wife works. Among the leaflets and brochures there was, “Are you homeless, are you almost homeless?…call the Region of Peel outreach team…we can help with Ontario Works, health care, food, clothing, mental health and addiction support, advocacy for housing, emergency shelter, employment, and so on. One thing that came to mind was the amount of time and resources spent that would not be necessary in a socialist system. One change can do it all.

• The Toronto Star October 25) brought attention to the fact that many of the world’s beaches are disappearing owing to the need for sand for construction. Though the article focused primarily on Cape Verda, the problem is evident in Kenya, New Zealand, Jamaica, and Morocco. Demand for sand has never been greater. It is used in the production of computer chips and mobile phones and especially for cement making. The UN environment program (UNEP) estimates that global consumption of sand is at an average of 40 billion tons annually, three quarters used for concrete. A spokesperson said, “ Sands are now being extracted at a rate far greater than renewal. This means that shorelines are being eroded exacerbating the problem already being caused by global warming. So, once again, capitalism creates a problem it cannot cure and there is zero chance that a world common sense solution can be applied. If there are profits to be made in construction, then damage to the world’s coastlines can go to hell, which happens to be a good place for capitalism.

• Most of you who read this will be aware of the comments made by Stephen Poloz, the Governor of the Bank of Canad, on November 4. He suggested that unemployed youth should work for free until the job market picks up. His remarks came a day after a speech he made saying 200,000 young Canadians are out of work, underemployed or back in school. What he didn’t say was that many of them need money desperately to survive and pay for courses. It was one of the most stupid and irresponsible things a person high up in the capitalist hierarchy has said in a long time. It is a searing indictment of capitalism that the higher one rises, the further out of touch with economic reality he/she is likely to become.

• On November 6, Arnold Abbot was arrested in Fort Lauderdale for violating a city ordinance – feeding the homeless in a public place. This law was passed and enforced because people with businesses do not want the homeless hanging around their area. This is not a new thing. In the 1930s in Canadian cities, Department stores such as Eaton’s and Simpson’s prevailed on Ottawa to open labour camps in the outback for the same reason. But, new or old, one thing is for sure, it’s the same old system.

• Engineering and construction giant, SNC-Lavalin plans to lay off four thousand workers next year, including one thousand in Canada. The Montreal based company claims this is to help the company grow. To quote CEO, Robert Card, “It may be ironic, but it’s a growth move. We have a target to become a $15 billion company in the near future and that’s going to generate jobs.” Imagine how gratifying that must seem to those about to be laid off in the ‘near future’.

• Notes on a Florida vacation – we crossed the Ontario-Michigan border at Sarnia to avoid Detroit, a city that we bypassed on the way south. Even passing through the outer Western suburbs, the devastation of a system that simply abandons people and infrastructure when not wanted, was very evident. The amount of empty, abandoned, rotting buildings resembles the aftermath of a bombing and was enough to bring one to tears.

• Sadly, we learned recently of the passing of John Ahrens, a long time SPC member in Vancouver at 103 years of age.

For socialism, John