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The response you get depends on how you frame the request.
Here’s what I got when I asked about “modes of production”—responses are warts and all…
Request
Describe the capitalist mode of production
Response
The capitalist mode of production is an economic system in which the means of production (such as factories, land, and resources) are privately owned and operated by capitalists (or capitalists class) in order to generate profit. In this system, the capitalists own the means of production and hire workers (proletariat) to produce goods and services. The workers are paid wages for their labor, but the value of the goods and services they produce exceeds the value of the wages they receive. The difference between the value of the goods and services produced and the wages paid to workers is known as surplus value.
The capitalists aim to maximize their profits by increasing the amount of surplus value they extract from the workers. They do this by increasing the productivity of the workers (by introducing new technologies, for example), by reducing wages and by increasing the length of the working day.
The capitalist mode of production is characterized by the following features:- Private ownership of the means of production
- The exploitation of labor through the extraction of surplus value
- The pursuit of profit as the primary goal of economic activity
- The creation of a class system, in which the capitalists own the means of production and the workers sell their labor power
- The market as the main mechanism for the exchange of goods and services
- The cyclical nature of the economy, subject to booms and busts
It is important to note that the capitalist mode of production is just one of the different economic systems that have existed throughout history, each with its own unique characteristics and dynamics.
Request
Describe the feudal mode of production
Response
The feudal mode of production is an economic and social system that existed in medieval Europe and other parts of the world. It is characterized by the ownership of land by a small group of nobles or lords, who held power and controlled the means of production. The lords granted land to lesser nobles and vassals (or tenants) in exchange for their loyalty and military service. These vassals, in turn, granted land to peasants who worked the land and produced goods and services.
In the feudal mode of production, the lords, vassals, and peasants formed a hierarchy of social and economic classes. The lords and vassals held political and military power, while the peasants were primarily engaged in agricultural production. The lords and vassals extracted surplus labor from the peasants in the form of taxes, rent and labor services such as building and maintaining castles and fortifications, and other duties.
The feudal mode of production is characterized by the following features:
- The ownership of land and the means of production by a small group of nobles and lords
- The use of land as the primary means of production
- A hierarchical social structure based on the ownership of land
- The extraction of surplus labor from the peasantry through taxes, rent, and labor services
- The lack of a market economy, with most goods and services exchanged within local communities
- The dominance of agriculture and the role of the Church in social and economic life
It is important to note that feudalism was not a single, unified system, but varied in its specific forms, depending on the country and time period. The term feudalism is used as a descriptor of a set of social and economic relations, rather than a formal system of government or political ideology.
Request
Describe the slave mode of production
Response
The slave mode of production is an economic and social system in which a small group of individuals, known as slave-owners or masters, own and control the labor of a large group of enslaved individuals. The enslaved people are considered property and are forced to work without pay. The slave-owners use the labor of the enslaved people to produce goods and services that they can then sell for profit.
In the slave mode of production, the enslaved people have no rights and no control over their own labor. They are treated as a means to an end, and are forced to work in conditions that are often harsh and brutal. The slave-owners use their control over the enslaved people to extract as much labor as possible, and thus maximize their profits.
The slave mode of production is characterized by the following features:
- The ownership of human beings as property
- The use of unpaid forced labor as the primary means of production
- The extraction of surplus labor from the enslaved people for the benefit of the slave-owners
- The complete lack of rights and autonomy for the enslaved people
- The use of violence and the threat of violence to maintain control over the enslaved people
- The market economy that exist where goods and services produced by enslaved people are sold for profit
It is important to note that the slave mode of production has existed in many different parts of the world and throughout history. The slave trade and slavery were abolished in many countries during the 19th century but still exist in some form in some parts of the world.
Request
Describe the primitive communist mode of production
Response
The primitive communist mode of production is a hypothetical economic and social system that is believed to have existed in the distant past, before the emergence of class societies. It is characterized by a communal ownership of the means of production, shared labor, and the absence of a ruling class.
In this mode of production, resources such as land, tools, and animals were held in common and were used by the community as a whole. The members of the community would work together to produce the goods and services they needed to survive, and would share these goods and services among themselves.
The primitive communist mode of production is characterized by the following features:
- Collective ownership of the means of production
- Shared labor and cooperation among members of the community
- The absence of a ruling class or hierarchy of social classes
- The absence of private property and the exploitation of one class by another
- The absence of a market economy, with most goods and services being produced and consumed within the community
- The reliance on hunting, gathering, and small-scale agriculture as the primary means of production
It is important to note that the primitive communist mode of production is a theoretical concept that is based on the study of pre-class societies and the study of anthropological data. There is no consensus among scholars about the specifics of how these societies operated, and it is likely that different societies in different parts of the world would have had different variations of this mode of production.
Request
Describe the socialist mode of production
Response
The socialist mode of production is an economic and social system that is based on the collective ownership and control of the means of production. The goal of socialism is to eliminate the exploitation of one class by another and to create a society in which the wealth and resources are distributed more equitably. In a socialist system, the means of production are owned and controlled by the workers or by the state on behalf of the workers, rather than by private individuals or corporations.
In this mode of production, the government plans the economy, and the workers collectively own and control the means of production, with the goal of meeting the needs of all people, rather than maximizing profits for a small group of individuals.
The socialist mode of production is characterized by the following features:
- Collective ownership and control of the means of production
- The absence of private ownership of the means of production
- A planned economy, in which the government directs economic activity
- The abolition of the exploitation of one class by another
- The redistribution of wealth and resources to create a more equitable society
- The use of democratic decision-making to determine economic policies and priorities
- The provision of basic needs such as healthcare, education and housing as a right
It is important to note that the socialist mode of production has been implemented in different ways in different countries and at different times, and there are many variations of socialism. Some forms of socialism have been implemented through democratic means, while others have been implemented through authoritarian means. Some socialist systems have used a market economy, while others have used a centrally planned economy.
In principle, Yes.
In practice, probably No, because of:
- cost of computing resources—many parallel GPUs, high-speed storage, long compute times, etc.
- serious data curation—technically skilled management of the dataset.
Hopefully commercial chat-bot services for small [volunteer] operations like ours will become available soon.
But our greater predicament remains—we cannot ignore the world’s common platform, the internet, which is where ChatGPT is educated and conditioned in the intellectual milieu of capitalistic private-property relations, against socialist property relations of common ownership and democratic control.
From my tests I believe that ChatGPT is objectively “fair-minded” in its current form, even though it is statistically influenced against our position because ours is a minority position. So long as ChatGPT and its successors remain objective in that sense it provides an adequately powerful tool for critical comprehension of the world.
2. Preliminary Considerations
To forestall unfounded criticism it is important, first of all, to recognise that ChatGPT, while “recognising” its strengths, openly “acknowledges” its limitations. [Sorry, but it seems appropriate to consciously anthropomorphize ChatGPT when you are engaging with it one-on-one.]
Request…What are the limitations of ChatGPT.
Response…
ChatGPT, like all language models, has certain deficiencies or limitations. Some of these include:
- Lack of common sense.
- Limited understanding of context.
- Lack of creativity—it does not have the capacity to create something new or original.
- Bias in the data.
- Limited to generate coherent text.
- Requires large amount of computational resources.
- Ethical concerns.
Request…What are the strengths of ChatGPT
Response…
ChatGPT, like all language models, has certain strengths or capabilities. Some of these include:
- Generating human-like text: ChatGPT is trained on a large dataset of text from the internet and can generate text that is similar to human writing in terms of grammar, vocabulary, and style.
- Text completion and summarization.
- Language understanding: ChatGPT can understand and generate text in multiple languages.
- Question answering: ChatGPT can be fine-tuned to answer questions.
- Handling context: ChatGPT is able to keep track of context and maintain coherence across multiple turns in a conversation.
- Handling large amount of data.
- Versatility: ChatGPT can be fine-tuned for a variety of tasks and use cases.
- Large pre-trained models.
This is how ChatGPG “describes” itself (in semi-technical language)
Request…Explain ChatGPT.
Response…
ChatGPT is a language model developed by OpenAI. It is based on the GPT (Generative Pre-training Transformer) architecture and is trained on a large dataset of text from the internet.
…The model uses a neural network with a transformer architecture and has been trained with a variant of the transformer called GPT-3.
…GPT-3 is considered as state-of-the-art model in language understanding.
Fortunately there are numerous, not so technical, explanations on YouTube, but beware of YouTubers who pontificate on ChatGPT incautious of its acknowledged deficiencies or limitations. Of course, the idiomatic ChatGPT way is to ask it to clarify the technical jargon.
It is ChatGBT’s strengths or capabilities that we’ll consider next time.“The materialist doctrine concerning the
changing of circumstances and upbringing…” (Marx)—
West Side Story (music: Leonard Bernstein; text: Stephen Sondheim)
From the 1961 movieSNOWBOY
—Cops believe everything they read in the papers.ACTION
—To them we ain’t human. We’re cruddy juvenile delinquents.
So that’s what we give ‘em.SNOWBOY (Imitating Seargent KRUPKE)
—Hey, you!ACTION
—Me, Officer Krupke?SNOWBOY
—Yeah, you! Gimme one good reason for not dragging ya down to the station house, ya punk?Gee, Officer Krupke!
ACTION
—Dear kindly Sergeant Krupke,
—You gotta understand:
—It’s just our bringin’ upke
—That gets us out of hand.
—Our mothers all are junkies,
—Our fathers all are drunks.ACTION AND JETS
—Golly Moses, natcherly we’re punks!
—Gee, Officer Krupke, we’re very upset;
—We never had the love that ev’ry child oughta get.
—We ain’t no delinquents,
—We’re misunderstood.
—Deep down inside us there is good!ACTION
—There is good!
ALL
—There is good, there is good,
—There is untapped good.
—Like inside, the worst of us is good.SNOWBOY (Spoken)
—That’s a touchin’ good story.ACTION (Spoken)
—Lemme tell it to the world!SNOWBOY
—Just tell it to the judge.ACTION
—Dear kindly Judge, your Honor,
—My parents treat me rough.
—With all their marijuana,
—They won’t give me a puff.
—They didn’t wanna have me,
—But somehow I was had.
—Leapin’ lizards, that’s why I’m so bad!DIESEL (As Judge)
—Right!
—Officer Krupke, you’re really a square.
—This boy don’t need a judge,
—he needs a’ analyst’s care!
—It’s just his neurosis that oughta be curbed.
—He’s psychologically disturbed!ACTION
—I’m disturbed!ALL
—We’re disturbed, we’re disturbed,
—We’re the most disturbed,
—Like we’re psychologically disturbed.DIESEL (Spoken, as Judge)
—In the opinion on this court, this child is depraved on account he ain’t had a normal home.ACTION (Spoken)
—Hey, I’m depraved on account I’m deprived.DIESEL
—So take him to a headshrinker.ACTION (Sings)
—My father is a bastard,
—My ma’s an S.O.B.
—My grandpa’s always plastered,
—My grandma pushes tea.
—My sister wears a mustache,
—My brother wears a dress.
—Goodness gracious, that’s why I’m a mess!A-RAB (As Psychiatrist)
—Yes!
—Officer Krupke, you’re really a slob.
—This boy don’t need a doctor, just a good honest job.
—Society’s played him a terrible trick,
—And sociologically he’s sick!ACTION
—I am sick!ALL
—We are sick, we are sick,
—We are sick, sick, sick,
—Like we’re sociologically sick!A-RAB
—In my opinion, this child don’t need to have his head shrunk at all. Juvenile delinquency is purely a social disease.ACTION (Spoken)
—Hey, I got a social disease!A-RAB (Spoken)
—So take him to a social worker!ACTION
—Dear kindly social worker,
—They say go earn a buck.
—Like be a soda jerker,
—Which means like be a schmuck.
—It’s not I’m anti-social,
—I’m only anti-work.
—Gloryosky, that’s why I’m a jerk!BABY JOHN (As Social Worker)
—Eek!
—Officer Krupke, you’ve done it again.
—This boy don’t need a job, he needs a year in the pen.
—It ain’t just a question of misunderstood—
—Deep down inside him, he’s no good!ACTION
—I’m no good!ALL
—We’re no good, we’re no good!
—We’re no earthly good,
—Like the best of us is no damn good!DIESEL (As Judge)
—The trouble is he’s crazy.A-RAB (As Psychiatrist)
—The trouble is he drinks.BABY JOHN (As Social Worker)
—The trouble is he’s lazy.DIESEL
—The trouble is he stinks.A-RAB
—The trouble is he’s growing.BABY JOHN
—The trouble is he’s grown.ALL
—Krupke, we got troubles of our own!
—Gee, Officer Krupke,
—We’re down on our knees,
—‘Cause no one wants a fellow with a social disease.
—Gee, Officer Krupke,
—What are we to do?
—Gee, Officer Krupke,
—Krup you!Patriotic Songs of
The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists—
Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel
Samuel Johnson (directed at William Pitt)—
* * *
Sons of the Sea — England Expects
British Naval Song (1805)
(First two verses modified for WWI, 1915)
—Have you heard this talk of foreign powers,
—Building ships increasingly?
—Do you know they watch the Isle of ours,
—Watch their chance unceasingly?
—Have you heard the millions they will spend,
—Strengthening their fleets, and why?
—They imagine they can break or bend
—The nation that has often made them fly;
—But one thing we possess, they forget, they forget,
—The lads in blue, they’ve met, often met, often met.
—Sons of the sea, all British born,
—Sailing every ocean, laughing foes to scorn.
—They may build their ships, my lads,
—And think they know the game,
—But they can’t breed boys of the bulldog breed,
—Who made old England’s name.
* * *
Goodbye, Dolly Gray — Spanish-American War Song.
Lyrics: Will D. Cobb; Music: Paul Barnes (1897)
Singer: Edward Woodward—I have come to say goodbye, Dolly Gray,
—It’s no use to ask me why, Dolly Gray,
—There’s a murmur in the air, you can hear it everywhere,
—It’s the time to do and dare, Dolly Gray.
—So if you hear the sound of feet, Dolly Gray,
—Sounding through the village street, Dolly Gray,
—It’s the tramp of soldiers’ true in their uniforms so blue,
—I must say goodbye to you, Dolly Gray.
—Goodbye Dolly I must leave you, though it breaks my heart to go,
—Something tells me I am needed at the front to fight the foe,
—See — the boys in blue are marching and I can no longer stay,
—Hark — I hear the bugle calling, goodbye Dolly Gray.
* * *
Robert Noonan was in Cape Town (1899-1901) when Goodbye, Dolly Gray was a Boer War anthem.
Edward Woodward played Breaker Morant, who was executed by firing squad for war-crime (a crime-within-a-crime) in the Boer War. Breaker Morant is remembered today for the movie metaphor that stands for all war-crime: Rule “303”.
More Songs of The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists—
Words are given for recordings made during Robert Tressell’s lifetime. They preserve the musical soundscape of the Philanthropists’ world.The [hypocritical] religious songs are skipped over as being mainly unlistenable to.
* * *
Tramp! Tramp! Tramp! — Civil War Song (George Root, 1864)
Acoustic recording: 1907; Singers: Harlan and StanleyA Union prisoner’s hope in a Confederate jail
—In the prison cell I sit, thinking Mother dear, of you,
—And our bright and happy home so far away.
—And the tears they fill my eyes ’spite of all that I can do.
—Tho’ I try to cheer my comrades and be gay.
—Chorus:
—Tramp! Tramp! Tramp! The boys are marching.
—Cheer up comrades, they will come.
—And beneath the starry flag, we shall breathe the air again,
—Of the freeland in our own beloved home.
—In the battle front we stood, when their fiercest charge they made.
—And they swept us off a hundred men or more,
—But before we reached their lines, they were beaten back dismayed,
—And we heard the cry of vict’ry o’er and o’er.
Tramp! Tramp! Tramp! The boys are marching…
—So within the prison cell we are waiting for the day
—That shall come to open wide the iron door.
—And the hollow eye grows bright, and the poor heart almost gay,
—As we think of seeing home and friends once more.
Tramp! Tramp! Tramp! The boys are marching…—
(The hymn “Jesus Loves [all] the Little Children” took the melody.)
—
* * *Has Anyone Seen a German Band? (A. J. Mills and Bennett Scott, 1907)
Acoustic recording: 1908; Singer: Fred Vernon—Once a little German girl lonely and sad,
—Came to merry England from her Fatherland.
—Looking for her sweetheart whose front name was Fritz,
—And he played the Trombone in some German Band:
—She searched round the City by night and by day.
—And asked ev’ry one on the way.
—Has any one seen a German Band?
—German Band, German Band.
—I’ve been looking about all upon my own.
—I’ve searched ev’ry street both near and far,
—Near and far, yah, yah, yah.
—I want my Fritz, vot plays twiddly bits
—On der big trombone.
—“Fritz was very fond of me,” Katrina said.
—“When he was in Germany over the seas;
—And he used to come round to mine Fader’s house,
—He’d make love and eat all our Limburcheese.
—He’d serenade me with ‘The watch on the Rhine’,
—And I thought his trombone divine.”
—“Perhaps you wonder why I am over here now.”
—Said the little Katrina. “I’ll tell you true.
—There’s another girl and she’s stolen my Fritz,
—She gives him sweet kisses, and sauerkraut too;
—But wait till I meet him, I’ll get back mine own,
—I’ll jump two times on his trombone.”
* * *
I Live in Trafalgar Square (C. W. Murphy, 1902)
Singer: Roy Hudd* * *
Down at the Old Bull and Bush (Sterling, von Tilzer, Hunting, Krone, 1903)
Singer: Stanley HollowayTwo Lovely Black Eyes
A Ragged Trousered Philanthropists follow up.
Here is the original song to Bert White’s World-famed Pandorama scene — “The bloke on the ground is a Socialist, and the reason why they’re kickin’ ‘is face in is because ‘e said that the only difference between Slumrent and Mandriver was that they was both alike.”
The children innocently sing the familiar chorus.
Two Lovely Black EyesCharles Coburn (1886; music, Neapolitan trad.)
Strolling so happily down Bethnal Green
—This gay youth you might have seen
Tompkins and I, with his girl between
—Oh what a surprise.
I praised the Conservatives frank and free
—Tompkins got angry so speedily
All in a moment he handed to me
—Two lovely black eyes.
Chorus:
—Two lovely black eyes
—Oh what a surprise
—Only for telling a man he was wrong
—Two lovely black eyes.
Next time, I argued, I though it best
—To give the Conservative side a rest
The merits of Gladstone I freely pressed
—When Oh what a surprise.
The chap I had met was a Tory true
—Nothing the Liberals right could do.
This was my share of that argument too
—Two lovely black eyes.
Two lovely black eyes, etc.
The moral you’ve caught I can hardly doubt
—Never on politics rave and shout
Leave it to others to fight it out
—If you would be wise.
Better by far, better it is to let
—Liberals and Tories alone you bet
Unless you are willing and anxious to get
—Two lovely black eyes.
Two lovely black eyes, etc.—
* * *—
Veni sul Mar — Come to the Sea
Enrico Caruso (recorded 1918, digitally remastered — traditional Neapolitan song)
This is the original tune to “Two Lovely Black Eyes”.
No, covvie99, you are not a realist.
A realist investigates social appearance.
You are a naive realist.
You are indistinguishable among the common herd of capitalists, workers, conservatives, radicals who — as you say — desire “security, food and shelter and the opportunity to thrive, concentrate on those similarities between people and we can grow support for real change”.
If social desire conquered, it would have delivered “security, food and shelter,” etc. But, social desire has failed.
A naive realist — like yourself — might swallow his pride and humbly investigate social appearance to discover what social processes thwart, have always thwarted, and necessarily must thwart, social desire.
Until then you remain smugly indistinguishable among your kindred capitalists, workers, conservatives, radicals into whose naive skulls it has never penetrated that:
society — as capitalistically constituted — is governed not by social desire but by social capital.—
For once, read our Object and Declaration of Principles and challenge your naive delusions about the reality of capitalist society.
—piers: “I went to a Q and A with the author/illustrator of this at a local book festival. Impressive piece of work”
Yes, they have skilfully abridged and illustrated the lives of the philanthropists who suffer in the capitalist hell Mugsborough.
They particularly follow the plight of the philanthropists’ women, Ruth, Nora, Mary; of Ruth humiliated by Easton; of Ruth submitting to rape by Slime; of Miss Wade harassed by councillor Rushton, inadvertently rumbled by Owen.
If you’ve dwelt with Frank Owen and the philanthropists before you may “quibble” with some of the sisters’ decisions, but then there’s always Tressell’s original and your own imagination to fall back on.
On the whole, though, this illustrated novel is very well done.
piers: “I suggested they did News From Nowhere next.”
Let’s hope they take up your challenge. William Morris’s socialist vision is a far cry from Robert Tressell’s capitalist hell.
The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists — Graphic Adaptation
Apologies if already known…
A graphic adaptation is available, e.g.,
An interview with illustrator-and-writer sisters Scarlett and Sophie Rickard is at
Songs of
The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists
Robert Tressell (~1910)____________________________—
This masterpiece by Clarion socialist Robert Noonan (pen name Robert Tressell) turns popular song into pathetic irony against the capitalist system and its enforcers — its employers, managers and Christian consolers.
* * *Ch 19. The Filling of the Tank
The Old Dear now put a penny in the slot of the polyphone, and winding it up started it playing. It was some unfamiliar tune, but when the Semi-drunk Painter heard it he rose unsteadily to his feet and began shuffling and dancing about, singing:
—Oh, we’ll inwite you to the wedding,
—An’ we’ll ‘ave a glorious time!
—Where the boys an’ girls is a-dancing,
—An’ we’ll all get drunk on wine.
‘Ere! that’s quite enough o’ that!’ cried the landlord, roughly. ‘We don’t want that row ‘ere.’
* * *While they were pouring this down their throats, Crass took a penny from his waistcoat pocket and put it in the slot of the polyphone. The landlord put a fresh disc into it and wound it up and it began to play ‘The Boys of the Bulldog Breed.’ The Semi-drunk happened to know the words of the chorus of this song, and when he heard the music he started unsteadily to his feet and with many fierce looks and gestures began to roar at the top of his voice:
—They may build their ships, my lads,
—And try to play the game,
—But they can’t build the boys of the Bulldog breed,
—Wot made ole Hingland’s—
”Ere! Stop that, will yer?’ cried the Old Dear, fiercely. ‘I told you once before that I don’t allow that sort of thing in my ‘ouse!’
* * *Ch 21. The Reign of Terror. The Great Money Trick
‘Of course,’ continued the kind-hearted capitalist, ‘if it were not for foreign competition I should be able to sell these things that you have made, and then I should be able to give you Plenty of Work again: but until I have sold them to somebody or other, or until I have used them myself, you will have to remain idle.’
‘Well, this takes the bloody biskit, don’t it?’ said Harlow.
‘The only thing as I can see for it,’ said Philpot mournfully, ‘is to ‘ave a unemployed procession.’
‘That’s the idear,’ said Harlow, and the three began to march about the room in Indian file, singing:
—We’ve got no work to do-oo-oo
—We’ve got no work to do-oo-oo!
—Just because we’ve been workin’ a dam sight too hard,
—Now we’ve got no work to do.
As they marched round, the crowd jeered at them and made offensive remarks. Crass said that anyone could see that they were a lot of lazy, drunken loafers who had never done a fair day’s work in their lives and never intended to.
‘We shan’t never get nothing like this, you know,’ said Philpot. ‘Let’s try the religious dodge.’
‘All right,’ agreed Harlow. ‘What shall we give ’em?’
‘I know!’ cried Philpot after a moment’s deliberation. ‘”Let my lower lights be burning.” That always makes ’em part up.’
The three unemployed accordingly resumed their march round the room, singing mournfully and imitating the usual whine of street-singers:
—Trim your fee-bil lamp me brither-in,
—Some poor sail-er tempest torst,
—Strugglin’ ‘ard to save the ‘arb-er,
—Hin the dark-niss may be lorst,
—So let try lower lights be burning,
—Send ‘er gleam acrost the wave,
—Some poor shipwrecked, struggling seaman,
—You may rescue, you may save.
‘Kind frens,’ said Philpot, removing his cap and addressing the crowd, ‘we’re hall honest British workin’ men, but we’ve been hout of work for the last twenty years on account of foreign competition and over-production. We don’t come hout ‘ere because we’re too lazy to work; it’s because we can’t get a job.
* * *Ch 22. The Phrenologist
They all felt pretty certain that Misery would return no more that day, and presently Harlow began to sing the old favourite. ‘Work! for the night is coming!’ the refrain of which was soon taken up by nearly everyone in the house:
—Work! for the night is coming,
—Work in the morning hours.
—Work! for the night is coming,
—Work ‘mid springing flowers.
—Work while the dew is sparkling,
—Work in the noonday sun!
—Work! for the night is coming
—When man’s work is done!
When this hymn was finished, someone else, imitating the whine of a street-singer, started, ‘Oh, where is my wandering boy tonight?’ and then Harlow—who by some strange chance had a penny—took it out of his pocket and dropped it on the floor, the ringing of the coin being greeted with shouts of ‘Thank you, kind lady,’ from several of the singers.
* * *Ch 23. The “Open-air”
Evolution was not more satisfactory, because although it was undoubtedly true as far as it went, it only went part of the way, leaving the great question still unanswered by assuming the existence—in the beginning—of the elements of matter, without a cause! The question remained unanswered because it was unanswerable. Regarding this problem man was but—
—An infant crying in the night,
—An infant crying for the light
—And with no language but a cry.
All the same, it did not follow, because one could not explain the mystery oneself, that it was right to try to believe an unreasonable explanation offered by someone else.
* * *A bright light was burning inside this lantern and on the pane of white, obscured glass which formed the sides, visible from where Owen and Frankie were standing, was written in bold plain letters that were readable even at that distance, the text:
Be not deceived: God is not mocked!
The man whose voice had attracted Frankie’s attention was reading out a verse of a hymn:
—I heard the voice of Jesus say,
—Behold, I freely give,
—The living water, thirsty one,
—Stoop down and drink, and live.
—I came to Jesus and I drank
—Of that life giving stream,
—My thirst was quenched,
—My soul revived,
—And now I live in Him.
The individual who gave out this hymn was a tall, thin man whose clothes hung loosely on the angles of his round-shouldered, bony form. His long, thin legs—about which the baggy trousers hung in ungraceful folds—were slightly knock-kneed, and terminated in large, flat feet.
* * *Ch 25. The Oblong
‘Oh, of course everybody’s an idjit except you,’ sneered Crass, who was beginning to feel rather fogged.
‘I rise to a pint of order,’ said Easton.
‘And I rise to order a pint,’ cried Philpot.
* * *Ch 29. The Pandorama
‘After a rather stormy passage we arrives safely at the beautiful city of Berlin, in Germany, just in time to see a procession of unemployed workmen being charged by the military police. This picture is hintitled “Tariff Reform means Work for All”.’
As an appropriate musical selection Bert played the tune of a well-known song, and the children sang the words:
—To be there! to be there!
—Oh, I knew what it was to be there!
—And when they tore me clothes,
—Blacked me eyes and broke me nose,
—Then I knew what it was to be there!
While this picture was being rolled away the band played and the children sang with great enthusiasm:
—Rule, Brittania, Brittania rules the waves!
—Britons, never, never, never shall be slaves!
* * *Again we turns the ‘andle and presently we comes to another very beautiful scene—”Early Morning in Trafalgar Square”. ‘Ere we see a lot of Englishmen who have been sleepin’ out all night because they ain’t got no ‘omes to go to.’
As a suitable selection for this picture, Bert played the tune of a music-hall song, the words of which were familiar to all the youngsters, who sang at the top of their voices:
—I live in Trafalgar Square,
—With four lions to guard me,
—Pictures and statues all over the place,
—Lord Nelson staring me straight in the face,
—Of course it’s rather draughty,
—But still I’m sure you’ll agree,
—If it’s good enough for Lord Nelson,
—It’s quite good enough for me.
* * *The crowds of shabby-lookin’ chaps standin’ round the motor cars wavin’ their ‘ats and cheerin’ is workin’ men. Both the candidates is tellin’ ’em the same old story, and each of ’em is askin’ the workin’ men to elect ‘im to Parlimint, and promisin’ to do something or other to make things better for the lower horders.’
As an appropriate selection to go with this picture, Bert played the tune of a popular song, the words being well known to the children, who sang enthusiastically, clapping their hands and stamping their feet on the floor in time with the music:
—We’ve both been there before,
—Many a time, many a time!
—We’ve both been there before,
—Many a time!
—Where many a gallon of beer has gone.
—To colour his nose and mine,
—We’ve both been there before,
—Many a time, many a time!
* * *The bloke on the ground is a Socialist, and the reason why they’re kickin’ ‘is face in is because ‘e said that the only difference between Slumrent and Mandriver was that they was both alike.’
While the audience were admiring this picture, Bert played another well-known tune, and the children sang the words:
—Two lovely black eyes,
—Oh what a surprise!
—Only for telling a man he was wrong,
—Two lovely black eyes.
* * *The only one who had not come prepared in this respect was little Rosie, and even she—so as to be the same as the others—insisted on reciting the only piece she knew. Kneeling on the hearthrug, she put her hands together, palm to palm, and shutting her eyes very tightly she repeated the verse she always said every night before going to bed:
—Gentle Jesus, meek and mild,
—Look on me, a little child.
—Pity my simplicity,
—Suffer me to come to Thee.
Then she stood up and kissed everyone in turn, and Philpot crossed over and began looking out of the window, and coughed, and blew his nose, because a nut that he had been eating had gone down the wrong way.
* * *Ch 43. The Good Old Summer-time
Then the chairman announced that they were coming there again next Sunday at the same time, when a comrade would speak on ‘Unemployment and Poverty, the Cause and the Remedy’, and then the strangers sang a song called ‘England Arise’, the first verse being:
—England Arise, the long, long night is over,
—Faint in the east, behold the Dawn appear
—Out of your evil dream of toil and sorrow
—Arise, O England! for the day is here!
During the progress of the meeting several of the strangers had been going out amongst the crowd giving away leaflets, which many of the people gloomily refused to accept, and selling penny pamphlets, of which they managed to dispose of about three dozen.
* * *Ch 44. The Beano
As soon as silence was obtained, Misery said that he believed that everyone there present would agree with him, when he said that they should not let the occasion pass without drinking the ‘ealth of their esteemed and respected employer, Mr Rushton. (Hear, hear.) … Everyone rose.
‘Musical honours, chaps,’ shouted Crass, waving his glass and leading off the singing which was immediately joined in with great enthusiasm by most of the men, the Semi-drunk conducting the music with a table knife:
—For he’s a jolly good fellow,
—For he’s a jolly good fellow,
—For he’s a jolly good fel-ell-O,
—And so say all of us,
—So ‘ip, ‘ip, ‘ip, ‘ooray!
—So ‘ip, ‘ip, ‘ip, ‘ooray!
—For he’s a jolly good fellow,
—For ‘e’s a jolly good fellow
—For ‘e’s a jolly good fel-ell-O,
—And so say all of us.
‘Now three cheers!’ shouted Crass, leading off.
—Hip, hip, hip, hooray!
—Hip, hip, hip, hooray!
—Hip, hip, hip, hooray!
Everyone present drank Rushton’s health, or at any rate went through the motions of doing so, but during the roar of cheering and singing that preceded it several of the men stood with expressions of contempt or uneasiness upon their faces, silently watching the enthusiasts or looking at the ceiling or on the floor.
* * *The Semi-drunk’s suggestion that someone should sing a song was received with unqualified approbation by everybody, including Barrington and the other Socialists, who desired nothing better than that the time should be passed in a manner suitable to the occasion. The landlord’s daughter, a rosy girl of about twenty years of age, in a pink print dress, sat down at the piano, and the Semi-drunk, taking his place at the side of the instrument and facing the audience, sang the first song with appropriate gestures, the chorus being rendered enthusiastically by the full strength of the company, including Misery, who by this time was slightly drunk from drinking gin and ginger beer:
—Come, come, come an’ ‘ave a drink with me
—Down by the ole Bull and Bush.
—Come, come, come an’ shake ‘ands with me
—Down by the ole Bull and Bush.
—Wot cheer me little Germin band!
—Fol the diddle di do!
—Come an’ take ‘old of me ‘and
—Come, come, come an’ ‘ave a drink with me,
—Down by the old Bull and Bush,
—Bush! Bush!
Protracted knocking on the tables greeted the end of the song, but as the Semi-drunk knew no other except odd verses and choruses, he called upon Crass for the next, and that gentleman accordingly sang ‘Work, Boys, Work’ to the tune of ‘Tramp, tramp, tramp, the boys are marching’. As this song is the Marseillaise of the Tariff Reform Party, voicing as it does the highest ideals of the Tory workmen of this country, it was an unqualified success, for most of them were Conservatives.
—Now I’m not a wealthy man,
—But I lives upon a plan
—Wot will render me as ‘appy as a King;
—An’ if you will allow, I’ll sing it to you now,
—For time you know is always on the wing.
—Work, boys, work and be contented
—So long as you’ve enough to buy a meal.
—For if you will but try, you’ll be wealthy—bye and bye—
—If you’ll only put yer shoulder to the wheel.
‘Altogether, boys,’ shouted Grinder, who was a strong Tariff Reformer, and was delighted to see that most of the men were of the same way of thinking; and the ‘boys’ roared out the chorus once more:
—Work, boys, work and be contented
—So long as you’ve enough to buy a meal
—For if you will but try, you’ll be wealthy—bye and bye
—If you’ll only put your shoulder to the wheel.
As they sang the words of this noble chorus the Tories seemed to become inspired with lofty enthusiasm. It is of course impossible to say for certain, but probably as they sang there arose before their exalted imaginations, a vision of the Past, and looking down the long vista of the years that were gone, they saw that from their childhood they had been years of poverty and joyless toil. They saw their fathers and mothers, weaned and broken with privation and excessive labour, sinking unhonoured into the welcome oblivion of the grave.
* * *At the end of the song they gave three cheers for Tariff Reform and Plenty of Work, and then Crass, who, as the singer of the last song, had the right to call upon the next man, nominated Philpot, who received an ovation when he stood up, for he was a general favourite. He never did no harm to nobody, and he was always wiling to do anyone a good turn whenever he had the opportunity. Shouts of ‘Good old Joe’ resounded through the room as he crossed over to the piano, and in response to numerous requests for ‘The old song’ he began to sing ‘The Flower Show’:
—Whilst walkin’ out the other night, not knowing where to go
—I saw a bill upon a wall about a Flower Show.
—So I thought the flowers I’d go and see to pass away the night.
—And when I got into that Show it was a curious sight.
—So with your kind intention and a little of your aid,
—Tonight some flowers I’ll mention which I hope will never fade.
—Omnes:
—To-night some flowers I’ll mention which I hope will never fade.
There were several more verses, from which it appeared that the principal flowers in the Show were the Rose, the Thistle and the Shamrock.
* * *When he had finished, the applause was so deafening and the demands for an encore so persistent that to satisfy them he sang another old favourite—’Won’t you buy my pretty flowers?’
—Ever coming, ever going,
—Men and women hurry by,
—Heedless of the tear-drops gleaming,
—In her sad and wistful eye
—How her little heart is sighing
—Thro’ the cold and dreary hours,
—Only listen to her crying,
—“Won’t you buy my pretty flowers?”
When the last verse of this sang had been sung five er six times, Philpot exercised his right of nominating the next singer, and called upon Dick Wantley, who with many suggestive gestures and grimaces sang ‘Put me amongst the girls’, and afterwards called upon Payne, the foreman carpenter, who gave ‘I’m the Marquis of Camberwell Green’.
* * *This was followed by another Tory ballad, the chorus being as follows:
—His clothes may be ragged, his hands may be soiled.
—But where’s the disgrace if for bread he has toiled.
—His ‘art is in the right place, deny it no one can
—The backbone of Old England is the honest workin’ man.’
* * *Crass’s fat face was pallid with fear as he clung trembling to his seat. Another man, very drunk and oblivious of everything, was leaning over the side of the brake, spewing into the road, while the remainder, taking no interest in the race, amused themselves by singing—conducted by the Semi-drunk—as loud as they could roar:
—Has anyone seen a Germin band,
—Germin Band, Germin Band?
—I’ve been lookin’ about,
—Pom—Pom, Pom, Pom, Pom!
—‘I’ve searched every pub, both near and far,
—Near and far, near and far,
—I want my Fritz,
—What plays tiddley bits
—On the big trombone!
* * *Ch 45. The Great Oration
The tune of ‘He’s a jolly good fellow’ was still buzzing in his head; he thrust his hands deep down in his trouser pockets, and began to polka round the room, humming softly:
—I won’t do no more before breakfast!
—I won’t do no more before breakfast!
—I won’t do no more before breakfast!
—So ‘ip ‘ip ‘ip ‘ooray!
—So ‘ip ‘ip ‘ip ‘ooray So ‘ip ‘ip ‘ooray!
—I won’t do no more before breakfast—etc.
‘No! and you won’t do but very little after breakfast, here!’ shouted Hunter, suddenly entering the room.
‘I’ve bin watchin’ of you through the crack of the door for the last ‘arf hour; and you’ve not done a dam’ stroke all the time. You make out yer time sheet, and go to the office at nine o’clock and git yer money; we can’t afford to pay you for playing the fool.’
* * *‘Under existing circumstances the community is degenerating mentally and physically because the majority cannot afford to have decent houses to live in. Socialists say that the community should take in hand the business of providing proper houses for all its members, that the State should be the only landlord, that all the land and all the houses should belong to the whole people…
‘We must do this if we are to keep our old place in the van of human progress. A nation of ignorant, unintelligent, half-starved, broken-spirited degenerates cannot hope to lead humanity in its never-ceasing march onward to the conquest of the future.
—Vain, mightiest fleet of iron framed;
—Vain the all-shattering guns
—Unless proud England keep, untamed,
—The stout hearts of her sons.
‘All the evils that I have referred to are only symptoms of the one disease that is sapping the moral, mental and physical life of the nation, and all attempts to cure these symptoms are foredoomed to failure, simply because they are the symptoms and not the disease. All the talk of Temperance, and the attempts to compel temperance, are foredoomed to failure, because drunkenness is a symptom, and not the disease.’
* * *‘A State wherein it will be possible to put into practice the teachings of Him whom so many now pretend to follow. A society which shall have justice and co-operation for its foundation, and International Brotherhood and love for its law.
—Such are the days that shall be! but
—What are the deeds of today,
—In the days of the years we dwell in,
—That wear our lives away?
—Why, then, and for what we are waiting?
—There are but three words to speak
—“We will it,” and what is the foreman
—but the dream strong wakened and weak?
—‘Oh, why and for what are we waiting, while
—our brothers droop and die?
—And on every wind of the heavens, a
—wasted life goes by.
—‘How long shall they reproach us, where
—crowd on crowd they dwell
—Poor ghosts of the wicked city,
—gold crushed, hungry hell?
—‘Through squalid life they laboured in
—sordid grief they died
—Those sons of a mighty mother, those
—props of England’s pride.
—They are gone, there is none can undo
—it, nor save our souls from the curse,
—But many a million cometh, and shall
—they be better or worse?
—It is We must answer and hasten and open wide the door,
—For the rich man’s hurrying terror, and the slow foot hope of the poor,
—Yea, the voiceless wrath of the wretched and their unlearned discontent,
—We must give it voice and wisdom, till the waiting tide be spent
—Come then since all things call us, the living and the dead,
—And o’er the weltering tangle a glimmering light is shed.
As Barrington descended from the Pulpit and walked back to his accustomed seat, a loud shout of applause burst from a few men in the crowd, who stood up and waved their caps and cheered again and again.
* * *Ch 48. The Wise Men of the East
Then a rush was made to Sweater’s Emporium and several yards of cheap green ribbon were bought, and divided up into little pieces, which they tied into their buttonholes, and thus appropriately decorated, formed themselves into military order, four deep, and marched through all the principal streets, up and down the Grand Parade, round and round the Fountain, and finally over the hill to Windley, singing to the tune of ‘Tramp, tramp, tramp, the Boys are marching’:
—Vote, Vote, Vote for Adam Sweater!
—Hang old Closeland on a tree!
—Adam Sweater is our man,
—And we’ll have him if we can,
—Then we’ll always have the biggest loaf for tea.
The spectacle presented by these men—some of them with grey heads and beards—as they marked time or tramped along singing this childish twaddle, would have been amusing if it had not been disgusting.
By way of variety they sang several other things, including:
—We’ll hang ole Closeland
—On a sour apple tree
and
—Rally, Rally, men of Windley
—For Sweater’s sure to win
As they passed the big church in Quality Street, the clock began to strike. It was one of those that strike four chimes at each quarter of the hour. It was now ten o’clock so there were sixteen musical chimes:
—Ding, dong! Ding Dong!
—Ding dong! Ding dong!
—Ding dong! Ding dong!
—Ding dong! Ding dong!
They all chanted A-dam Sweat-er’ in time with the striking clock. In the same way the Tories would chant:
—Grab—all Close—land!
—Grab—all Close—land!
—Grab—all Close—land!
—Grab—all Close—land!
This beautiful idea—’Plenty of Work’—appealed strongly to the Tory workmen. They seemed to regard themselves and their children as a sort of machines or beasts of burden, created for the purpose of working for the benefit of other people. They did not think it right that they should Live, and enjoy the benefits of civilization. All they desired for themselves and their children was ‘Plenty of Work’.
* * *A free fight ensued. Both sides fought like savages, but as the Liberals were outnumbered by about three to one, they were driven off the field with great slaughter; most of the torch poles were taken from them, and the banner was torn to ribbons. Then the Tories went back to the Fountain carrying the captured torches, and singing to the tune of ‘Has anyone seen a German Band?’
—Has anyone seen a Lib’ral Flag,
—Lib’ral Flag, Lib’ral Flag?
* * *Sir Featherstone Blood sat down amid a wild storm of cheering, and then the procession reformed, and, reinforced by the audience from the hall, they proceeded to march about the dreary streets, singing, to the tune of the ‘Men of Harlech’:
—Vote for Sweater, Vote for Sweater!
—Vote for Sweater, VOTE FOR SWEATER!
—He’s the Man, who has a plan,
—To liberate and reinstate the workers!
—Men of Mugs’bro’, show your mettle,
—Let them see that you’re in fettle!
—Once for all this question settle
—Sweater shall Prevail!
* * *Every now and then some of these poor wretches—they were all paid speakers—were surrounded and savagely mauled and beaten by a hostile crowd. If they were Tariff Reformers the Liberals mobbed them, and vice versa. Lines of rowdies swaggered to and fro, arm in arm, singing, ‘Vote, Vote, Vote, for good ole Closeland’ or ‘good ole Sweater’, according as they were green or blue and yellow. Gangs of hooligans paraded up and down, armed with sticks, singing, howling, cursing and looking for someone to hit. Others stood in groups on the pavement with their hands thrust in their pockets, or leaned against walls or the shutters of the shops with expressions of ecstatic imbecility on their faces, chanting the mournful dirge to the tune of the church chimes,
—Good—ole—Sweat—er
—Good—ole—Sweat—er
—Good—ole—Sweat—er
—Good—ole—Sweat—er.
* * *Ch 54. The End
Rushton having concluded his address, Didlum stepped forward to give out the words of the hymn the former had quoted at the conclusion of his remarks:
—Oh, come and jine this ‘oly band,
—And hon to glory go.
Strange and incredible as it may appear to the reader, although none of them ever did any of the things Jesus said, the people who were conducting this meeting had the effrontery to claim to be followers of Christ— Christians!
Jesus said: ‘Lay not up for yourselves treasure upon earth’, ‘Love not the world nor the things of the world’, ‘Woe unto you that are rich—it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.’ Yet all these self-styled ‘Followers’ of Christ made the accumulation of money the principal business of their lives.
Jesus said: ‘Be ye not called masters; for they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves will not touch them with one of their fingers. For one is your master, even Christ, and ye are all brethren.’ But nearly all these alleged followers of the humble Workman of Nazareth claimed to be other people’s masters or mistresses. And as for being all brethren, whilst most of these were arrayed in broadcloth and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day, they knew that all around them thousands of those they hypocritically called their ‘brethren’, men, women and little children, were slowly perishing of hunger and cold; and we have already seen how much brotherhood existed between Sweater and Rushton and the miserable, half-starved wretches in their employment.
Whenever they were asked why they did not practise the things Jesus preached, they replied that it is impossible to do so! They did not seem to realize that when they said this they were saying, in effect, that Jesus taught an impracticable religion; and they appeared to forget that Jesus said, ‘Wherefore call ye me Lord, Lord, when ye do not the things I say?…’ ‘Whosoever heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them not, shall be likened to a foolish man who built his house upon the sand.’
Lizzie’s Game
International Rules
- All nations shall compete against each other—on unequal playing fields.
- National teams shall be selected by the national supporter base—often by democratic poll.
-
National players shall be employees of international consortia—which shall shift their national allegiance according to investment returns.
-
The supporter base shall not shift its national allegiance—even when its national team loses.
-
In compensation, supporters shall sportingly abuse the national team for not delivering at home.
-
The supporter base shall believe that next season’s national team will deliver miracles.
Here endeth the international rules of Lizzie’s game—the bread and circus of capitalist economics and politics.
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Dissecting the Body Politic
Marx, Capital 1, Ch 25, footnote 6 .. .
“Originally, political economy was studied by philosophers such as Hobbes, Locke and Hume; by businessmen and statesmen, like Thomas More, Temple, Sully, De Witt, North, Law, Vanderlint, Cantillon and Franklin; and the theoretical aspects especially were studied, and with the greatest success, by medical men like Petty, Barbon, Mandeville and Quesnay.
Musician Hector Berlioz and, Weimar-playwright before-its-time in 1835, Georg Büchner owe some of their artistic bent to hours spent practicing the fine art of anatomy and human dissection.
(Near-contemporary John Keats operated with the surgeon’s knife at Guy’s Hospital in London, while squeamish medical student Charles Darwin escaped to the tropics on board “The Beagle”.)
Tim Minchin was raised in an extended medical family, like French novelist Gustave Flaubert, whose 1857 “Madame Bovary” was translated into English by Marx’s daughter Eleanor.
As young men, they learnt to stick the knife into a sick body.
Moses Baritz
“[Moses Baritz’s] hatred of Russian Communist trickery and double dealing made him keep valuable information about Engels and his life in Manchester from them, and I hope his material which he was collecting at that time and up to his death can yet be edited and published.”
— Obituary, Western Socialist of May 1938Did anything come of this?
Moses Baritz was a music critic for the Manchester Guardian (as was the brilliant Ernest Newman) and he is recognised as Britain’s first radio “disk jockey” (1924).
Question — Do Party archives contain examples of Moses Baritz’s music criticism?
* * *
Yet another Moses Baritz anecdote, this time supplied by WJC, who was with him on the occasion.
“Moses Baritz wandered off Sydney’s George Street into its snootiest music store (Palings) and was about to be thrown out for touching their grand piano, when he started playing it.
He finished up performing in the front window to a bemused crowd that gathered outside in the street.”
