SPC Secretary’s report 1st February 2013

[Socialist Party Head Office]

                                  The Socialist Party of Canada

 

Secretary’s Report, Feb 1, 2013

 

Email Report

–           World Socialist Party, New Zealand, GAC Report received with thanks.

–           Historical documents received from Bataille Socialiste.

 

Good of The Movement

–           The Spring issue of Imagine is under way. Please feel free to send in contributions, suggestions etc. If anyone would like to be listed as a contact in his/her area (email address only), let me know.

–           Annual dues are due. It’s only $25 and it is the source of our ability to

continue with our propagation of socialist ideas. Please send money/cheques to The Socialist Party of Canada, Box 4280, Victoria, BC V8X 3X8. Thankyou.

–           It’s also time to review the voluntary positions of the party. They are:-

General Secretary: John Ayers

                          Treasurer/web site: Steve Szalai

                          History and Archives: John Ames

                          General Administrative Committee: Ron Jenkins, Steve Shannon,

                          Mercedes Martinson, John Ayers, Philippe-Antoine Cormier, Tom Coles,

                          John Ames.

                          French Coordinator: Philippe-Antoine Cormier

                          Spanish Coordinators: Marcos Colome, Jaime Chinchilla-Solano, plus a

                          volunteer supporter.

                          Any nominations for these positions should be sent to the party email

                          address. (spc@iname.com)                      

 

Finances

–           Secretary’s expenses for January,

 

Karl’s Quotes

–           In “The Capitalists’ Grounds for Compensation”, Part 3 of  The chapter entitled “Supplementary Remarks”, Marx explains how profit is evened out, “It has been said that competition equalizes profit rates between the different spheres of production to produce an average rate of profit, and that this is precisely the way in which the values of products from these various spheres are transformed into prices of production. This happens, moreover by the continual transfer of capital from one sphere to another, where profit stands above the average for the time being. Something that must also be considered here, however, is the cycle of fat and lean years that follow one another in a given branch of industry over a particular period of time, and the fluctuations in profit that these involve. This uninterrupted flow of emigration and immigration of capitals that takes place between various spheres of production produces rising and falling movements in the profit rate which more or less balance one another out and thus tend to reduce the profit rate everywhere to the same common and general level.” (Capital Volume III, page 310, Penguin Classics edition.). In other words, although profit arises from the surplus labour congealed in a product, that amount is averaged out by the movement of capital back and forth between areas of high and low profit. As capital moves to areas of high profit, production there is ramped up as capital seeks to maximize its returns but then the extra production produces a surplus of goods there that reduces the prices and therefore the profit. Meanwhile, areas of low profit must curtail production as capital flees from it eventually causing shortages in that area’s production thus raising prices and profit, attracting capital back to begin the cycle over again.

 

Food For Thought

–           The richest people on earth got richer in 2012, adding $241 billion (US) to their total worth according to The Bloomberg Billionaires Index, a daily ranking of the world’s one hundred wealthiest individuals. The overall wealth of the world’s top tycoons stood at $1.9 trillion by January 1^st. “Last year was a great one for the world’s billionaires” said John Casimatidis, the owner of the Red Apple Group. This shows two things – just how much wealth can be made by the exploitation of the working class, and that something is very wrong with our current society where, for many, unemployment and being homeless is the order of the day, and where millions exist on a dollar or two a day.

–           The Toronto Star (Jan 12) had an article that focused on the enormous difference between capitalism and, if not socialism, at least communalism. A young woman, Mariangela, and her boyfriend had moved to Rome having lost their jobs in Italy’s economic slump, one that has resulted in thirty-five per cent youth unemployment. They didn’t move to Rome to find work, but to find a home. They joined other squatters in an abandoned building. Mariangela commented, “ The first night I slept here, I woke up in the morning and thought, how nice! I don’t have to pay rent anymore. I don’t have to worry about not being able to make ends meet.” Though the building leaves a lot to be desired, the communal atmosphere makes up for it. Mariangela continued, “ You don’t have to worry about going hungry. People check on their neighbours and help each other out if they need something.” This proves the communal ethic exists, works, and hasn’t been entirely crushed by the alienating affects of life under capitalism. It’s human nature!

–           Recent years have seen a massive flood in New Orleans caused by neglect, the sub-prime mortgage disaster, the Enron and Lehman Brothers scandals, several European countries on the edge of bankruptcy, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, an un-civil war in Syria, massive unemployment around the world, blatant rape and genocide in the Congo, global warming, destruction of the land, sea, and air by pollution, deforestation, people losing their pensions, escalating violence, riots, and arson. Have we missed something? People tell us that socialism would bring chaos!

–           In a remote corner of the Amazon lies one of its most stunning sites – a series of caves and rock shelters guarding the secrets of human beings who lived there more than 8 000 years ago. The mining companies, with the compliance of the Brazilian government have discovered iron ore in the region, mined and sent to China to make steel. It’s a huge source of income for the country that is hosting the next Olympics and the World Cup of soccer. Expansion of the mining operation will destroy the caves, treasured by scholars. What a dilemma! What to do? As we know, capital will win out in the end as logic goes out of the window.

–           Last month I reported on the expanding military deployments of Japan. This month it is the German’s turn. Chancellor, Angela Merkle, recently told a military gathering that German deployment overseas, “will soon encompass the entire globe.” The German defence minister concurred, “Now we are in a position and have the duty, even, to make our impact felt.” This emphasizes yet again that capitalism is a competitive system where everybody must look out for themselves and he who has the biggest club wins. Not too far from our caveman days are we?

–           The International Energy Agency has said that the US will become energy self-sufficient by 2035 and is counting on massive expansion of the technique of fracking shale to get oil and gas. Sounds good but, as usual, it comes with a price. In this case environmental – what happens to water tables, for example? The drilling industry refuses to disclose the toxins included in the fluid injected into the shale but it is known (Toronto Star, Dec 8, 2012) that it contains the carcinogens benzene and formaldehyde. This and a host of other problems will not stop the mad search for more oil and gas (and profit) as long as we tolerate this system.

–           In 1994 when South Africans voted in Nelson Mandela’s government in the country’s first democratic election, education was the way to raise the level of the black population. Now, as South Africa grapples with poverty, economic inequality, crime, and soaring youth unemployment (welcome to the capitalist norm), the education system, which is training for a job, hasn’t done anything to change South Africa. Of the 1.1 million born since 1994, less than half have taken the Graduation Exam and the ones who take it and pass (75%) are receiving something less than valid as pass marks hover around the 30-40% range, something that probably wouldn’t get them a job if any were available. This is a failure of capitalist education that is job oriented and not to develop one’s knowledge and person to the fullest.

–           The level of paranoia in the US regarding guns and bad people around every corner has spawned some crazy solutions. In a small town in Texas, the local council elected to let teachers carry concealed weapons in the school. School Superintendent Thweatt commented, “ We don’t have money for a security guard, but this is a better solution. A shooter could take out a guard or officer with a visible holstered weapon, but our teachers have master’s degrees and are older and have extensive training. And their guns are hidden. We can protect our children.” Better still, why not arm all the children, then you would have a couple of hundred shooters ready to blast away!

–           The recent news has brought forward another horrific fire at a nightclub in Brazil as you have probably heard. These fires rival those at clothing factories for highlighting the sheer stupidity or outright nastiness of the system. Allegations from this latest one include security staff stopping patrons from fleeing from the fire as they hadn’t paid their tabs (apparently it is the custom there to run up a tab and pay at the end of the night); fire extinguishers that do not work; allowing pyrotechnics by the band members to create a spectacle; expired fire permits; locked doors. Some may not be true but all of these things pop up regularly in these continuing tragedies. There must be thousands of places like this one just waiting for an accident to happen. One must ask why the system allows it. Where are the inspections, the licences, the authorities responsible? Obviously to demand a safe environment and proper supervision would cost money, drive investors away, and lose a large source of tourism dollars. Some system that engenders and accepts such madness for the only sure thing is that it will happen again!

 

Reading Notes

–           From, “Where is Here? – Canada’s Maps and the Stories They Tell” by Alan Morantz. In the chapter on misdirection in mapping he writes, “ To be unkind is to say that many of the notable maps of the age were cynical constructs designed to get financiers to part with money, to boost sales of atlases and to further imperial designs.” Even in the early days of capitalism, (16^th and 17^th C) it was a good thing to earn money by fraud and deception even in the area of map-making!

 

For socialism, John

 

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