SPC Newsletter 1st April

[Socialist Party Head Office]

The Socialist Party Of Canada

Secretary's Report for April 1

Email Report

– WSPNZ meeting notes for December received with thanks.

– WSP India head office photograph received with thanks.

– WSPNZ meeting notes for February received with thanks.

-WSP India report on Spring School and 22^{nd. Annual Conference received with thanks.}

^{-WSP India EC meeting notes for March received with thanks.}

^{– Please note that The Socialist Party of Canada has had a change of address:- PO Box 31024,Victoria , British Columbia, Canada, V8N 6J3.}

^{Good of the Movement}

^{– Three introductory packages sent out.}

^{– February and March socialist discussions held.}

^{– The new issue of Imagine is under way.}

^{– A socialist discussion meeting was held at the end of February and will be followed by another on March31 – see our web site for details.}

^Finances

^{– Secretary's expenses for February and March, $27.12}

^{Karl's Quotes}

^{– Marx emphasizes the antagonism between capitalist and labourer when he speaks for the labourer thus, "The commodity that I have sold to you differs from the crowd of other commodities in that its use creates value, and a value greater than its own. That is why you bought it. That which on your side appears a spontaneous expansion of capital, is on mine extra expenditure of labour-power. You and I know on the market only one law, that of the exchange of commodities. And the consumption of the commodity belongs not to the seller who parts with it, but to the buyer who acquires it. To you, therefore, belongs the use of my daily labour-power. But by means of the price you pay for it each day. I must be able to reproduce it daily, and to sell it again. Apart from natural exhaustion through age, etc. I must be able on the morrow to work with the same normal amount of force, health, and freshness as to-day. You preach to me constantly the gospel of 'saving' and 'abstinence'. Good! I will, like a sensible owner, husband my sole wealth, labour-power, and abstain from all foolish waste of it. I will each day spend, set in motion, put into action only as much of it as is compatible with its normal duration, and healthy development. By an unlimited extension of the working day, you may in one day use up a quantity of labour-power greater than I can restore in three." (From Capital, Volume I as reported in The Marx-Engels Reader.) As one gains the other loses, a true system of antagonisms!}

^{Food For Thought}

^{– In February we received the reassuring news from Factset that companies that buy their own shares are down a collective (if that word can be used to describe any capitalist activity) US$126 billion over the last three years. When a company buys its own shares, it makes its profitability look better and bolsters confidence in would-be investors. This just proves that the only confidence one can have is that things will go bad sooner or later.}

^{– The winter edition of the CAA magazine ran an article about the future manufacture of cars using the 3D printing method. A spokesman for Local Motors, a small vehicle maker based in Phoenix, said, "It takes thirty hours to make a car, but in a year or two, using this method, we can get it down to ten." The technology is incredible and would be a wonderful benefit to humanity in a socialist world to reduce time spent on producing necessary goods, bur under capitalism, where profit rules, it can only lead to unemployment and more misery for the workers.}

^{A Toronto Star article of January 25 reports Milwaukee as the most segregated city in the US. Apart from strictly white and black neighbourhoods, the numbers tell a tale. White employment rate is 88%, Black 58%; white poverty rate 8%, black 39%; whites living in extreme poverty areas, `1.6%, black 33%; white incarceration rate 0.9%, black 12%; median white household income $62,100, black $26,036. One may think this is difficult to believe over 50 years on from the freedom marches but we can easily believe that any equality under capitalism is just a myth.}

^{– In China, a mountain of debris collapsed into apartment buildings killing 69, reported the New York Times, January 24. On examination, it was discovered that duplicity, doctored documents, and approvals ignoring safety rules were the culprit in the tragedy. Not only is China NOT a communist country, it is the wild west of capitalism.}

^{– In 2015, the overall unemployment rate in Toronto fell by 0.5% whereas the that rate for youth rose from 18% to 22% according to Toronto Youth Employment Services. Their explanation was that when there is a lot of choice for employers they will choose older, more experienced workers over youth. Obviously, this makes getting experience a tougher job. It means that our youth face a bleak future unless they learn to organize for socialism and put an end to the capitalist system.}

^{– Against this backdrop, it is reported that many young women are disappointed with finding life partners these days. Not surprisingly, young men don't want the commitment of raising a family and buying a home in an uncertain world where well-paid jobs are scarce and companies come and go at the drop of a hat and job security is low. So, capitalism is not just adept at ruining existing marriages with the economic pressure of low pay and unemployment but is now preventing many even getting started on life's natural path. Great job!}

^{– On January 27, an article in "The Metro News" focused on the reappearance of an old crime, cattle rustling! Police say that it is on the rise in Alberta and Saskatchewan, driven largely by ranch hands stealing livestock when prices are high, "It's still a problem today. It's like any other property, if there is value to it people are going to steal it. In recent years the value of cattle has approximately doubled." said an RCMP spokesperson. The value of a cow varies from $1,500 to $2,000 and in 2015, six hundred were missing, presumed stolen in Alberta, and one thousand disappeared in Saskatchewan. So, clearly, nothing changes under capitalism and wherever there is private property there is value, hence theft. In fact, property is theft from the common ownership of the earth, so let's call it that and be done with it.}

^{In the same vein, farmers in eastern France protested low prices for their products by blocking a highway and burning tires. Obviously, they are working just as hard as ever, paying the same costs, but their income is down, the result – economic hardship. Just the market system adjusting to new stimuli! Get rid of it.}

^{– Home Decor stores in Canada have a new competitor, the US on line retailer, Wayfair, that launched a Canadian web site in January. It claimed to offer more than seven million suppliers. The move into Canada will pit Wayfair against Ikea, Winners, Homesense, and Home Outfitters, owned by Hudson's Bay. Orders will be shipped form Wayfair centres in Kentucky and Utah. Shipping is free on orders over $75 and the average order is triple that according to a spokesperson. Such stiff competition will result in the loss of Canadian jobs, so another promising distribution idea that should benefit all society, simply brings problems to workers in some areas.}

^{-Clean energy is progressing as we expect it to. That is, it's going backwards right now. The British Electric Company, SSE, has recently restarted a shuttered power plant that runs on fossil fuels because cheap fossil fuels are undercutting renewables, and the former is now more profitable. In other words, as we have said over and over again, capitalist production is incapable of resisting higher profits no matter what the human or environmental cost.}

^{– Here is a nice confrontation to report. The ubiquitous use of ads on computers slows down their ability to operate efficiently, apart from being offensive to the brain of anything above an amoeba. Consequently, ad-blocking software grew by 41% last year to the consternation of the $50 billion advertising industry. A spokesperson for The Interactive Advertising Bureau had the unmitigated gall to describe the ad blockers as, "…an unethical, immoral, mendacious coven of techie wannabes." and called the ad blockers action as 'extortion'. Presumable, he said this with tongue in cheek!}

^{– LGBTQ students at the University of British Columbia say they no longer feel safe on campus after a pride rainbow flag was burned on Tuesday, February 9, that caused the cancellation of a march in support of transgender people A coordinator for UBC's Pride Collective said that emotions are running high for the student-run society after learning that the flag was set on fire. Capitalism is a society where pressure to conform is tremendous. Consistent with that is the divisiveness it creates as races, religions and non conformists are pitted against each other. There may be a million differences, but it simply means that at any given time or place, someone is superficially different and must not be tolerated. It is clearly evident that a society whose effects create hate is long overdue being put in the dumpster. A common purpose in in a common ownership society would be a good start.}

^{– China's economy is slowing down, as all economies must when in a given position in the 'business cycle'. Changchun, China is labelled 'the Detroit of China' because its auto plants are going down like pins in a bowling alley. The government has set aside $20 billion to assist unemployed workers in the industrial region but doubts are held that the 150,000 state run companies employing 30 million workers can continue subsidies or let market forces take over. As socialists know from the former USSR, market forces will have to be let loose. China is subject to world-wide economic forces and will be forced to take the capitalist route. Another reason why socialism and capitalism cannot co-exist.}

^{– Arlene Dickinson, that shining example of the 'anyone can make it in capitalism' bullshit recently wept on the TV program, "Dragons' Den", saying, "it's unacceptable that any child in our country should be homeless." This is from a person who has worked extremely hard to perpetuate an economic system that makes children homeless. Perhaps she should be examining that system more closely.}

^{– The Washington Post revealed in February that alcohol is killing Americans at a rate not seen in thirty-five years. In 2014, 30,700 Americans died from alcohol-induced causes. 17.4% of US women binge drink, up from 15.7% in 2002. Seventy-four alcohol-based drinks a week are consumed on average by the top ten per cent of American drinkers. Furthermore, in 2014, there were 28,647 deaths from heroin and prescription pain killers. It must surely occur to some that something is seriously wrong with our society that causes people to destroy themselves.}

^{– US presidential candidates have weighed in against capitalism. Donald Trump criticized Ford Motor Company, Apple Inc, and Kraft Heinz Co. for shipping jobs overseas. Bernie Sanders called financial markets 'a moral cesspool'. Ted Cruz accused Big Business of 'poking its snout in the trough of corporate welfare'. Hilary Clinton argues that the impending Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal should be blocked due to substandard labour and environmental practices. Obviously, they think they are the ones to put capitalism right and turn it into something good. Well, good luck with that.}

^{– Wasil Ahnad, a ten-year-old boy, was declared a hero in Afghanistan after he was shot dead fighting the Taliban. He has become a 'celebrity' with widely -circulated photographs on social media showing him holding a rifle and wearing a uniform and helmet. Though the use of child soldiers is illegal in Afghanistan, the charity, "Child Soldiers International" said both government and rebel forces have been doing it for years. What could be a sicker symptom of the system we live under than the recruitment and killing of children who should be having fun and enjoying life? As long as we have competing sections and each one's interests pursued, we will have these atrocities.}

^{– Canadian food banks are worried that the pinch they are feeling from rising prices will affect their ability to feed the needy. Many say that costs have limited how much food they can buy and it is having an impact on donations while also creating a greater demand for their services. This just goes to show that when capitalism goes into one of its regular slumps no one can cope including organizations that exist to deal with its effects.}

^{– The Toronto Star of March 19 had the headline, "Be Wary of Unmuzzled Scientists, Liberals Told." The new Liberal government appears set to take off the shackles imposed on the scientific community bu the previous government in the interests of hiding the truth about climate change, for one thing. Now senior civil servants are giving this warning to the new government. The thing is, in science, anything that is not true, or controversial, or everything, for that matter, is held under wide scrutiny to prove what has been claimed. No scientist gets away with bafflegab for long before losing credibility. Much wiser to be wary of the crap that capitalism puts out in its own defence.}

^{– Finally, this will be the last monthly report from me as health concerns and family duties take preference. And reduce time available. I'm still a member and willing to contribute where possible. Thanks to all who have responded through the twelve years of reports and fourteen years of Imagine. Many thanks, also, to my good friend, Steve Shannon, who has contributed and supported a great deal to me and to the cause. Thanks to Steve Szalai in Victoria who has shown uncommon patience in vainly trying to make me into a computer whiz, and John Ames in Vancouver for telephone conversations and making me a welcome guest in his home on a very special visit there. I have had the privilege (and unfortunately it is only a privilege in capitalism), of an education at three universities, but the education I have received from the WSM trumps it all. Thank you to all.}



^{For socialism, John and Steve.}





[Author]

Posts