alanjjohnstone
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Call me a cynic or whatever but I sort of sympathise with the view that"many people are dissatisfied with mainstream politics, but how many are clued-up on the system and are ready and willing to fight for the alternative in the way that is necessary? It is a sad fact, but the masses are doped with materialism and entertainment, and while Corrie is on the telly and there's a lager and pizza in the fridge we are not going to see revolution". I have been on too many demos and protests and watched them ignored by the crowds on the way to watch the football, and at meetings where no-body turns up but next door the pubs are over-spilling.It is indeed the task of socialists "to stir the masses and wake them from their slumber." and our only reason for optimism is because we do not think them too thick to understand and change attitudes. But let's not ignore our incredible frustration at the time it is taking!
Positive Money tells the Iceland government what to do.http://www.althingi.is/pdf/umsogn.php4?lthing=141&malnr=239&dbnr=855&nefnd=evPerhaps the party can send its own submission to the Icelandic government refuting Positive Money.
It may be relevant or not but less investments and more cash hoarding, even with the low bank interest or government bond rates rather than risk investing.American companies held a whopping $1.74 trillion in cash and other liquid assets at the end of the third quarter, the Federal Reserve said last week. That is $44 billion more than three months earlier. The IT giant Apple alone sits over $ 117 billion. What's the situation in Europe? According to reports, in the Eurozone, Corporate overall hold around Euro 2 trillion, in the UK. The American companies operating in Europe are sitting over a cash pile of US$ 2 trillion. It is therefore quite evident. There is no shortage of money in the world.Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney took a rare swing at corporate Canada in August, accusing companies of sitting on huge piles of “dead money” that should either be invested productively or returned to investors. While acknowledging that companies are wary about the global economy’s prospects, he added that “the level of caution could be viewed as excessive.” “Their job is to put money to work, and if they can’t think of what to do with it, they should give it back to their shareholders,” Carney said.http://www.ibtimes.com/are-high-corporate-cash-balances-constraining-investment-935033U.S. corporations cut an estimated $175 billion in investment from 2009-2011, according to ratings agency Standard & Poor's, in a move that boosted the cash reserves that have helped them through the financial crisis, but could eventually harm their competitiveness.http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323339704578173843183158874.htmlSo the Fed will use inflation to make "dead money" less of an attractive optionhttp://www.examiner.com/article/federal-reserve-announces-steps-to-help-economy-on-wednesdayIndia too is sitting over massive piles of cash. Call it hoarding or surplus, at the end of last financial year ending Mar 31, Indian companies were sitting on cash and cash equivalents — liquid investments that can easily be converted to cash — of over Rs 9.3 lakh-crore (or $ 166 billion).http://post.jagran.com/surplus-cash-crying-for-funds-1355127808
The comments on the accountability of Occupy democratic procedures was one shared by the WSM. For all the jazz-hands, what lacked was the simple basic show of hands, in a majority vote to determine decisions.There was also an element within the party, a very small one albeit, who also desired self-censorship rather than alienate the Occupiers by pointing out their faults.Personally, and I by no means say it is the party view, we missed an opportunity by not highlighting that Occupy were not being utopian enough in their hopes. We permitted those with a reformist agenda to determine the movements demands with recycled "radical" policies rather than maintain the undefined aspirations for something different and something new.
I came across this informative earlier article by James Heartfield called "World War as Class War" for those unable to afford his book.http://libcom.org/history/world-war-class-warThere is wealth of details and facts."…The war changed the balance between labour and capital. Most think that it shifted the balance in labour's favour. The real lesson of the Second World War was that it crushed the independent organisations of the working class…For the workers, wartime regimentation was hard graft on low wages. Business, though, made a fortune out of the war…As well as working more people harder for longer, business and government worked together to hold down their wages – so boosting industry's operating profits. Holding down wages was not easy because putting so many more people to work ought to have pushed wages up. In fact, in cash terms, weekly wages did go up. But on closer inspection we find that hourly wages tended to go down. People were working for much longer hours, sometimes giving up their time for free, often losing out on overtime payments. What increases there were in wages did not keep pace with the increase in output…"…The Allies used forced labour, too. Forty-eight thousand men aged 18 to 25 were sent down Britain's mines between 1943 and 1948. 21,000 seventeen year-olds were forced to dig. They were called the 'Bevin Boys' … the Allies were more brutal to subject peoples. On 1 August 1942 the British colony of Rhodesia passed a Compulsory Native Labour Act to force Xhosa people to work on settlers' farms and as labourers at the large air force bases…In Brazil 55 000 people were drafted as 'Rubber Soldiers' to work in the Amazon under a deal between US President Roosevelt and the dictator, Getúlio Vargas to fill America's rubber shortage – hundreds died of malaria……Britain was the first country ever to introduce conscription for women…Germany did not put many more women to work, even when war production minister Albert Speer begged the Führer t.."
Time certainly affects the memory as you can see by the embellishments I made in my original comment and the actual reference.I can also heartily recommend Turnbull's other book, The Mountain People. It is an account of a society in terminal breakdown, where schadenfreude is the order of the day, where theft and neglect of the vulnerable is common. A community that has become all for self instead of one for all. Turnbull locates the cause to the re-location of the tribe and its inability to provide for itself in the new environment.
Colin Turnbull in the Forest People gave an interesting account of how pygmies because they are brought up in the jungle and have their visibility restricted because of the trees and so when he took one of the pygmies on a trip that involved crossing a vast plain, the pygmy was unable to comprehend perspective…the buffalo in the distance , the hills in the distance were for him not the same ones as when seen closer up. The tiny buffalo far off were just that – a tiny species of buffalo.History of art i think also demonstrates that what we consider a natural trait to see things in perspective is an acquired talent by the brain of interpreting the real world.
i genuinely find this a fascinating thread to read. Some is beyond me so i hope the conclusion is provided in an easily digestible way.
BAH! HUMBUG!i remember the special treats ,,,satsumas and mandarin oranges….but they are available the year around…the Christmas morning with the silent movies and Laurel and Hardy, dvds killed that one… and on the other station those lucky kids in hospitals getting presents from Leslie Crowther or Rolf Harris…how i wanted a broken leg…Best Christmas BookMany socialists have looked to Dickens as a champion for our cause. Even Karl Marx was a self-professed admirer. Many have acclaimed A Christmas Carol, as a condemnation of capitalism.Best Christmas Movie On the face of it It’s a Wonderful Life isn’t the most cheering of films, featuring as it does James Stewart attempting to commit suicide, but what better anti-capitalism Christmas movie is there. The villain of the film, Mr Potter (Boo! Hiss!) is a stock broker and for extra topicality it also features a run on the banks.Best Christmas SongPhil Ochs No Christmas In Kentuckyhttp://yuleplay.com/tag/?t=socialist
Sadly another example of banks make money out of nothing , this time by Professor of Binary Economics at Trisakti University, Jakarta, Indonesia, Rodney Shakespeare is a Cambridge MA, a qualified UK Barrister, a co-founder of the Global Justice Movement and a member of the Christian Council for Monetary Justice."People think that the international banks lend existing money e.g., the bank’s capital or the deposits of customers. Yet they do not. They create out of nothing (merely by pressing computer buttons) the money they lend and then add interest as well as administration cost…" How to solve the recession.?"Governments are in ever-increasing debt because the global elite, assisted by compliant politicians, says that money (borrowed at compound interest) must always come from the commercial banks when, in reality, it could easily be borrowed, interest-free, from a national bank" http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/12/05/276239/tricks-of-global-financial-elite/As an aside, i had no idea what binary economics is so i looked it uphttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binary_economicsBeing a christian i see why the author is a proponent …it combines heaven and hell.
Worth a read. A speculation about motives for the latest outbreak by Norman Finkelstein.http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/11/29/what-really-happened-in-gaza/ "It appears that many Palestinians have concluded from the resounding defeat inflicted on Israel that only armed resistance can and will end the Israeli occupation. In fact, however, Hamas’s armed resistance operated for the most part only at the level of perceptions—the projectiles heading towards Tel Aviv did unsettle the city’s residents*—and it is unlikely that Palestinians can ever muster sufficient military might to compel an Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank.But Gaza’s steadfastness until the final hour of the Israeli assault did demonstrate the indomitable will of the people of Palestine. If this potential force can be harnessed in a campaign of mass civil resistance, and if the supporters of Palestinian rights worldwide do their job of mobilizing public opinion and changing government policy, then Israel can be forced to withdraw, and with fewer Palestinian lives lost than in an armed resistance."* to achieve their longer range the rockets had to forego explosives – Israeli spokesman described Hamas as firing basically pipes.
As long as there was a McDonalds or Burger King to work in we felt safe until… http://www.businessinsider.com/burger-robot-could-revolutionize-fast-food-industry-2012-11
Shadow Banking"Let’s explain: When a bank issues a mortgage, it is required to hold a certain amount of capital against the loan in case of default. But if the bank securitizes the mortgage, that is, it chops the mortgage up into tranches, pools it with other mortgages, and sells it as a bond (mortgage backed security), then the bank is no longer required to hold capital against the asset. In other words, the bank has created money (credit) out of thin air. This is the ultimate goal of banking, to maximize profits off zilch capital.So how is this different than counterfeiting?There’s no difference at all. The banks are creating “near money” or what Marx called “fictitious capital” without sufficient resources, without supervision, and without any regard for the damage they may inflict on the real economy when their ponzi-scam blows up. What matters is profits, everything else is secondary."http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/11/28/shadow-banking/Where is he wrong?
Robots may engage in their own class war.The Centre for the Study of Existential Risk (CSER) will study dangers posed by biotechnology, artificial life, nanotechnology. The scientists said that to dismiss concerns of a potential robot uprising would be "dangerous". He added that as robots and computers become smarter than humans, we could find ourselves at the mercy of "machines that are not malicious, but machines whose interests don't include us".http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20501091
