Moo
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DJP
‘Sounds like you’re saying reforms are fine so long as you don’t ask for them!’
That is what I’m saying. For example, the SPGB didn’t advocate the post-war ‘welfare state’ (significantly improving state-benefits & old age pensions, and creating the National Health Service), however, they didn’t complain about it when it was established.
Gradualism is the belief that parliament can slowly & steadily reform capitalism into socialism (that is what the Independent Labour Party wrongly believed).
Reformism is the the belief that parliament can solve the problems caused by capitalism without getting rid of it (that is what the early Labour Party wrongly believed, and the Greens still do).
The SPGB was created with the belief that voting in elections will achieve socialism, but voting for a reformist party would (and has) impeded it.
While we have nothing against reforms, we are against reformism: that the proletariat should beg the capitalist state for a few more crumbs, when we can, should, and deserve to take the whole bakery.
Where would the money come from to provide children with free school meals? Answer: through taxation.
Where does tax money come from? Answer: from the profits of the capitalist class.
Where do profits come from? Answer: from exploiting the working class who produce the wealth of society.
The state-corporate media accused Corbyn of being a neo-Stalinist by purging anyone from the Labour Party who disagreed with him (when in fact he accommodated the right of his party). Starmer has been purging the LP of all who disagree with him for over 3 years, and the silence from the state-corporate media is deafening.
The Electoral Calculus is still predicting a Labour super majority for the next general election (73 percent!). SOURCE: https://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/prediction_main.html
By-elections aren’t good predictors of what will happen at a general election because voter turnout for the former is a lot lower than for the latter.
‘Actually, of course, all governments are just in office as no government has the power to overcome the economics laws of capitalism and make the system serve the interest of the majority.’
Very true. Thank God Corbyn didn’t become prime minister, because the current cost of living crisis would have been blamed on his so-called socialist policies.
Populist (adjective): relating to or characteristic of a political approach that strives to appeal to ordinary people [i.e. medium/low paid workers] who feel that their concerns are disregarded by established elite groups.
The state-corporate media describe as populist, parties that are too far to the left or too far to the right of the centre-ground.
Capitalist parties are like Penguin chocolate bars. They come in different wrappers, but they’re all the same on the inside.
I know I’m preaching to the choir, but it’s sort of like being pregnant, in that you can’t be a bit pregnant; you’re either pregnant or you’re not. Just like you can’t have a less profit driven system. Either profit is the driving force in wealth production/distribution, or it’s not.
The Somerton & Frome candidate, Rosie Mitchell, who has labelled herself as an independent socialist, has written in Frome’s local free newspaper that she is committed to: “a fairer less profit driven system that works for society and for the planet”.
Which makes me wonder how the hell socialism went from meaning: “a classless, stateless, moneyless global community of common ownership & democratic control of the earth’s natural & industrial resources, where people live by the principle of: from each according to their abilities, to each according to their needs” to “a less profit driven system”.
There’s a by-election in Somerton & Frome (where I live) also on July 20th. I’ve received a million letters and leaflets from the LibDems and Conservatives, a couple from the Greens, and none from the other candidates (including Labour).
The Greens (in the leaflets) are promising to:
– Improve bus & train services.
– Introduce a financial transactions tax (that old chestnut).
– Re-join the European Single Market & Customs Union, because apparently “our” industries and agriculture have suffered enough. Why don’t they just call a spade a spade, and say they want to re-join the EU?
– Create bigger windfall taxes for the oil companies.
– Close tax avoidance loopholes. Although they didn’t say how they would do this.
– Encourage local “not-for-profit” banks. This will apparently re-generate our town centres.
– Nationalise the energy & water companies.
– Ensure the country is properly provided with charging points for electric vehicles.
– Build more affordable & so-called social housing, using environmentally sustainable methods.
– Quickly process refugee applications in France. This will apparently stop refugees from crossing the Channel in boats.
– Finally, they say they would properly fund the National Health Service & education.
A Simple Plan (1998)
“Three blue-collar acquaintances come across millions of dollars in lost cash and make a plan to keep their find from the authorities, but it isn’t long before complications and mistrust weave their way into the plan.”
A great film that shows what some people would do in order to escape wage-slavery.
(Available to watch for free on BBC iPlayer.)
“Apparently the local elections weren’t quite good enough to ensure Labour gets an overall majority in next year’s general election.”
They have nothing to worry about. The Electoral Calculus predicts (if there were a general election this month) Labour would win 63% of the seats.
The SNP, however, are suffering a set-back. Their prediction has gone down from 8% of the seats (a few months ago) to just 5% now.
SOURCE: https://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/prediction_home.html
Norma-Rae (1979)
“Sally Field is unforgettable as Norma Rae, the Southern millworker who revolutionizes a small town and discovers a power in herself she never knew she had. Under the guidance of a New York unionizer (Ron Leibman) and with increasing courage and determination, Norma Rae organizes her fellow factory workers to fight for better conditions and wages.”
https://www.cinemaparadiso.co.uk/rentals/norma-rae-11142.html
Venezuela isn’t even state-capitalist; the private sector makes-up 70% of its economy.
Another common misconception about Venezuela is that it isn’t a democratic country.
Right-wing commentators also conveniently forget about the role economic sanctions play in the crisis in that country.
