Socialist Standard Past & Present Blog
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Another year up and running. This time Bing Crosby was THE draw at the box office; Italo Calvino published a book of his that I've actually read; and Celtic finished below Partick Thistle in the league. Link: 1947 – A smile cracked across Glasgow Branch's collective face.
imposs1904 wrote:Just put this here.Link: A Cat Among The Pigeons (1906)Robbo, you may find this interesting.
Vin wrote:imposs1904 wrote:Just put this here.Link: A Cat Among The Pigeons (1906)Robbo, you may find this interesting.
Yes indeed Vin, Cant see the point in banning religious-minded socialists from the party, providing they dont peddle their religious beliefs as party members. I have said it umpteen times before – the ban is completely redundant ot surperflous because if they did happen to flout socialist principles in some way this would "come out in the wash" and can be dealt with directly in terms of the particular principle being flouted. Ditto the argument about "materialism". It is totally possible to adopt a historical materialist position and entertain religious ideas. Each case should be judged on its merits.I wont push the argument because I know I would be flogging a dead horse in the Party at the moment. Its a pity because while I would be delighted to rejoin I cannot in all honesty accept the claim that religious beliefs are necessarily incompatible with socialism which you are obliged to accept as a condition of membership (even if I am not religious myself) Mind you, that is not going to stop me being an active and enthusiasitic supporter of the Party!
A couple of excellent book reviews by Adolph Kohn from 1930:Link: Leon Trotsky's My LifeInteresting wee tit bit about Kollontai in America. I never knew that . . . Link: Riazanov's annotated edition of the Communist ManifestoExcellent commentary by Kohn on the myth of Marx and the 'Dictatorship of the Proletariat'
Another year lined up. 1974 was all about 'The Cruyff Turn' . . . two elections in one year . . . and Abba winning the Eurovision Song Contest:Link: "Forget it, Jake, it's Claphamtown."
Just so people know this thread isn't just about blowing smoke up the arse of the Socialist Standard, I bring before you the worst article I've ever scanned in for the blog. (And I've scanned in a lot over the last few years.)And it's from one of the Standard *star* writers from back in the day:Link: A Blogger's Trauma
Found this old short story of George Bernard Shaw's which dates from 1905 in the PDF of a short story collection by Shaw. (Published in the '30s.)I thought I'd post it on the blog because 1) I enjoyed it. 2) I'd like to think that Shaw was having a dig at the impossibilists of his day. (Yes, I know the 'impossibilist' position is more nuanced than Shaw makes out but since when was it necessary to be exact when throwing out political barbs at your opponents?)Link: Death of an Old Revolutionary Hero by George Bernard Shaw (1905)
A cross-post from SPOPEN.
For those interested in that sort of thing, just a heads up that the entire issue of the January 1969 Socialist Standard is now online:
Link: January 1969 Socialist Standard
Content includes:
– Rosa Luxemburg and the Collapse of Capitalism
– Irish Civil Rights Movement and the Troubles
– The Computer, Karl Marx and the Battery Hens
– Student unrest
– Socialism, Atheism or Religion?
– Book Reviews on Paris ’68, Harold Wilson and French Marxism
For those interested in that sort of thing, just a heads up that the entire issue of the August 1987 Socialist Standard is now online:
Link: August 1987 Socialist Standard
Content includes:
– Interview and debate with Friends of the Earth’s Jonathon Porritt
– The Poll Tax
– One Green World
– Letter on the SPGB and class consciousness
– Capitalism and the Divorce Laws
– A Workers’ Guide to the Soap Operas
– The obsession about Ireland
– Growing up poor
– Book Review on Cuba
– Film Reviews of Prick Up Your Ears and Working Girls
I’m sure there’s something there for everyone.
For those interested in that sort of thing, just a heads up that the entire issue of the December 1988 Socialist Standard is now online:
Content includes:
– On Third World debt
– Maximilien Rubel sticks the boot into the SPGB.
– Margaret Thatcher forever?
– World War Two evacuation
– Private and Public Myths
– The Alternative Queen’s Speech
– Rumpelstiltskin – a fairy story for adults
– 1992 and all that
– Book Reviews on Ecology and Socialism and Ken Smith’s Free is Cheaper
I’m sure there’s something for everyone.
For those interested in that sort of thing, just a heads up that the entire issue of the February 1969 Socialist Standard is now online:
Link: February 1969 Socialist Standard
Content includes:
– Murdoch and Maxwell fight over the News of the World
– Barbara Castle’s In Place of Strife
– The Space Race
– Political Prisoners
– Nationalisation and the steel industry
– Abolish Exchange
– The Human Nature Myth
– Paul Cardan and the Meaning of Socialism
– Book Reviews on the Soviet Union’s Great Terror and Irish Civil War
I’m sure there’s something for everyone.
For those interested in that sort of thing, just a heads up that the entire issue of the May 1930 Socialist Standard is now online:
Link: May 1930 Socialist Standard
Content includes:
– Bombing the ‘natives’
– French Imperialism in Morocco
– Karl Marx on Christianity
– Socialism vs Nationalism
– A report of a debate with J. T. Murphy of the CPGB
– To New Readers
– Choose Your Job — And Get Rich
– Labour Party Leaders Make Unemployment
– A Commentary on the Communist Manifesto
– Tolstoy on Work
– Remember Belgium!
– Book Review on the British Labour Party
I’m sure there’s something for everyone.
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