SPC Newsletter 1st April 2015

 The Socialist Party of Canada

 Secretary's Report for April 1, 2015

 Email report

– WSP New Zealand GAC minutes for February received with thanks.

– WSP India report on Spring School and Twenty first Annual Conference received with thanks.

 Good of the Movement

– Socialist discussion meeting held, 19^th. March at Toronto.

– Two introductory packages sent out.

– Work continues on the Spring Imagine.

 Finances

– Secretary's expenses for March, $13.72

Karl's Quotes

– On the absurdity of individuals owning sections of the earth, the very antithesis of the common ownership we propose, Marx destroys the very idea in his discussion on ground rent, “The fact that capitalized ground rent represents the appearance of the price or value of land, so that the earth is bought or sold just like any other commodity, provides some apologists with justification for landed property; the buyer has paid an equivalent for it, as with any other commodity, and the greater part of landed property has changed hands in this way. The same justification would then apply also to slavery, since for the slave owner who has paid cash for his slaves, the product of their labour simply represents the interest on the capital invested in their purchase. To derive a justification for the existence of ground rent from its purchase and sale is nothing more than justifying its existence in terms of its existence…In practice, everything that the farmer pays the landowner in the form of the lease-price for permission to cultivate the soil appears as ground rent. Whatever the components out of which this tribute has been put together, and whatever the sources from which it might derive, it has in common with ground rent proper that the monopoly to a piece of the earth enables the so-called landowner to exact a tribute, to put a price on it. What this has in common with ground rent proper is that it determines the price of land, which, as shown above, is nothing but the capitalized revenue from the lease of the land.” (Capital, vol III, pp762/3)

 Food For Thought

– New research from United Way shows Toronto to be the income disparity capital of Canada, says the Toronto Star (Feb 28). No surprise there since it is the financial capital of the country. Inequality of income has grown by thirty-one per cent in the last twenty-five years. But fear not, there are ways to put this right – Access Alliance Health Services is recommending $14 per hour (you would still be under the poverty line!) in order for people to eat healthily (no chance!); John Cartwright of The Toronto & York Regional Labour Council feels that the temporary work economy has gone too far; Kofi Hope of Community Empowering Enterprises wants greater opportunities for youth; Michael Hall of the YMCA thinks that social isolation is the problem and building communities is what is needed; Heather McGregor of YWCA wants improved child care for working mothers. None of these ideas is, of course, original and none of them will do much if anything to address inequality which is endemic to capitalism. However, we have a plan. It's called free access to all goods and services provided by the community based on one's own defined needs. That should do the trick.

– A history teacher in Timmins, a blue collar town in Ontario, bought a package of Kellogg's cornflakes. On opening it he found a message from the workers, “This is the very last bag of Canadian cereal for the Canadian market from Kellogg's London, Ontario plant.” Those stark words document yet another large company that had operated in a town for over one hundred years and simply pulled up stakes when profits became better elsewhere That they were the heart of the community for several generations of workers, and the whole town, means nothing to them when profit is affected. Isn't it time we took charge through common ownership when our livelihoods would not depend on the whims of capital?

– A Tory MP from Winnipeg was widely ridiculed for sending out a postcard to his constituents asking them to let him know whether they supported the latest government attempt to limit freedoms through an anti-terrorist act or if they believed that terrorists were victims too. Apart from the absurdity of attempting to get support for the bill it looks like shades of George Bush – you're either with us or against us.

– The Canadian jobless rate rose in February due to losses in the Alberta oil fields. World prices have plummeted over the last few months and the expensive extraction of oil from the tar sands is no longer viable at this time. The Conference Board of Canada estimates that Canadian oil producers could lose $40 billion this year. That means, dear worker, that you are of no use to the profit making system so you lose your high-paying job and look for something else at probably half the pay and, by the way, we'll call you when we feel it's profitable to do so. Crazy system? You bet!

– Contract professors at York University in Toronto have recently been on strike for better pay and more tenure, or security. (surely an illusion in this economic system). They voted to go back to work when the university promised to turn twenty-four of its many short-term teachers into full time positions. However the usual teaching/research split will not be available for these positions. The Toronto Star commented, “This is a new kind of tenure; one that costs a university less. Stripped of the hefty research component, sabbaticals and blue- chip conferences, it can afford to offer more teachers something rare in today's precarious post-recession economy; job security.” How far we have fallen to have to accept crumbs like these even for highly educated and trained people. It does point to the equality of capitalism, though, – they don't care who you are or what skills you may have, you are in the final analysis, expendable. We are all the same class.

– In the same vein, insecurity, The New York Times (March 22) reported, “Emerging Market's Strong Run Is Ending”. It reports, “In Russia, it's assassinations and war. In Brazil, a corruption scandal may derail the economy. And in Turkey, the president is attacking the country's senior central banker. Emerging markets have lately taken on a toxic quality as messy politics and staggering economies are prompting some investors to reassess their investment rationale.” Only one thing is omnipresent, if you are up, you are bound for a fall, and, as we have seen above, that means bad news for the workers.

– Global warming, is it real? While 7,000 year-old mummies in Chile are turning into black ooze because the air around them is getting more humid, it is reported that Florida state employees have been barred from using the term. 'climate change'. Governor Scott denies there is any prohibition but when asked about global warming, he comes up with the standard Republican answer, “I am not a scientist.” That's a bit harder to do when you are an environments scientist! However, the numbers are in and it's official, 2014 was the hottest year since they began keeping records in 1880. The ten warmest years on record have all occurred since 1997. This data just released by NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration came with a brilliant quote. Their researchers said, “ Human activities have pushed the planet to the brink. A few years ago, Dick Cheyney, when asked by environmentalists why the US did not sign the Kyoto Accord, said, “if we did what you guys want, there will be a depression.” Since we have both global warming and a recession, it's high time to get rid of the cause of both – the capitalist mode of production.

– As confirmation of what was reported here earlier, The Toronto Star reported (March 21) that the slow response to the Ebola outbreak may have cost lives. The World Health Organization has acknowledged its tardiness and blames lack of resources as part of the problem. Oil companies can lose $40 billion in one year and keep going as if nothing had happened but emergency health care is left lacking. See the problem here?

– After the looming oil crisis, or maybe before, the world is going to experience massive water shortfall by 2030 (Toronto Star). In just fifteen years, we could experience a forty per cent shortfall. Underground sources are running low, rain patterns are changing, and population growth are blamed. Time for a world body to oversee the whole problem with, of course, the interests of all humanity as the basis for its decisions.

– The Human Rights Watch has recently been investigating the garment industry in Cambodia. They found that Cambodian women faced a litany of human rights abuses after checking seventy-three factories around Phnom Penh. The sector generates $5.7 billion US a year. Walmart Canada, Loblaws, and Reitmans Canada top the list of Canadian companies doing business there. The whole list of international companies will include many of the culprits in the Bangladeshi building collapse disaster last year. No surprise there but it never fails to amaze how they can wriggle out of their commitments and promises. Capital can never change its spots!

– A recent TV program about the Toronto Zoo included a mention that one thousand species a year are becoming extinct. The zoo has a fine record of acquiring and protecting endangered species, but for this they need money – what else? An economy in a downturn means declining ticket sales and fewer donations, which also means that more endangered species will become extinct. This is another of the multitude of problems capitalism creates and cannot solve.

– A librarian recently showed an SPCer how to operate the automatic book check out. When he asked her whether it would cause unemployment, she replied that no one will be laid off but when someone quits or retires, there will be no rehires, which amounts to the same thing. Unfortunately, in this economic system the benefits of automation accrue to the profit at the expense of the laid off worker rather than it being an asset to society as a labour-saving device that would lessen the work load of all.

– On February 22, those who watched the film business promotion-come-fashion awards called the Academy Awards, saw Patricia Arquette call for equal pay for women doing the same jobs as men. Later, some singers gave a rendition of the theme song from Selma, calling for equality for blacks. Another song that may have been more appropriate for both situations may have been' Chasing After Moonbeams'. Women want equality with men who do not have it with each other. Capitalism is a divisive system that pits worker against worker regardless of gender or colour in competition for jobs as it pits capitalist against capitalist for markets. In the unlikely event that women did get equal pay with men and black people became free from discrimination, it would be but an improvement in capitalism which is no improvement at all. Those who work to improve life within the system in reality work for its continuation. For real equality to exist for all we would need to stand equal in relation to the tools of production, where all would contribute according to their talents and take according to their needs – in other words, a socialist world.

– This may not be the most heart-rending story about life under capitalism, but it does go to show what a crappy economic system it is. The Toronto Star, March 14, ran an article about an eighty-three -year-old man who has lived in the Villa Carlotta, a beautiful Hollywood apartment building for forty years, Over the years, with the salary he has made as a hotel waiter, he bought a grand piano for $10,000 for the lobby. He added couches, chairs, antique tables, paintings, tapestries, crimson drapes, and lamps that shed soft light. Obviously, he loves living there and has done much to beautify the place, but now has been told to get out. The building was sold to a company that wants a luxury boutique hotel catering to a new 'creative' class. They will no longer rent out apartments, but will offer extended stays to those who come to town to work in film or digital media. Under a new state law, rent-controlled tenants can be evicted if the property is converted to non-rental use. Under capitalism, any new law can come along to suit the interests of a particular capital and protect its right to grow and replace a protection for the worker.

– In the same vein, a new law concerning temporary foreign workers has changed their ability to get stable employment in Canada. Up to now, temporary workers can look for more work when their term of employment ends. The new law states that after four years they will have to leave the country and will not be allowed to reapply until four more years has passed. What it means to many is that the money they earn here that lifts them, perhaps, out of absolute poverty and buys a few goods and services that they would otherwise be unable to afford, will no longer be there on a more or less permanent basis. For one worker mentioned in the Toronto Star article, it means her kids will no longer be able to go to school, and for many it may mean that an adequate diet for the family will no longer be possible. What a horrible system that traps people in poverty then can shut them out of any way to escape. Let's hurry up to establish a system that will do away with national boundaries where anyone can travel anywhere to contribute as they wish and there is no need to travel over the world to alleviate poverty at home.

– The airplane crash in the French Alps orchestrated recently by a mentally depressed copilot was indeed a tragedy for the passengers, crew, and their families. What to do? A Toronto Star columnist comments. “You get what you pay for.” She explains that the international drive for cheapness above quality, ever a tenet of the capitalist system to increase profit, has meant that the flight deck that used to have a captain, a first officer, and a flight engineer went down to two. Two pilots are cheaper than three. Most modern cockpits do not even have room for three. The immediate response from most airlines was to ensure that there must be two staff in the cockpit at all times but the third person, if one leaves, has not been named. It's more likely that it will be a stewardess rather than a flight engineer thus eliminating the need for any more hiring. Everything must bend for profit, it seems.

– As it is an election year in Canada, political parties are promising lots of goodies. The New Democratic Party, for example, has promised to close a tax loophole for the rich and give the money to the poor, dollar for dollar. This, according to their leader, would help the party to recommit to a long held pledge of 1989, and put forward by then leader, Ed Broadbent, to eliminate child poverty in Canada, a motion passed unanimously in The House of Commons that year. No need to ask how it's been going – UP! What dreamers these politicians are. Mark your ballot “World Socialism” when the time comes!

 For socialism, John & Steve.