It’s no longer enough just to get angry

With the rising tide of austerity washing over us in Britain and across Europe it is starting to dawn on people how big this is. This is not the 1980’s and could surpass even the great depression. The crisis has already lasted longer even if not as deep quite yet. The crisis capitalism finds itself in is huge and fundamental. This is not simply a cyclical crisis which a few temporary fix’s can fix this is a crisis of the actual system itself. Not structural but fundamental and this crisis is not going away anytime soon. So I ask you are it enough just to get angry shout at your TV moan with your mates in the pub going on a few demonstrations. Sadly it no longer is bigger bolder action is going to be needed to stop austerity and go further to ending this crisis ridden system of capitalism for good. While the 1% increases their wealth as a result of the crisis the poorest in society are suffering hugely under the weight of cuts, privatisation and an onslaught on their living standards. We can’t simply vote this system out of existence either. I do support the campaign for a new workers party but that alone will not be enough we need to arm people with the ideas and the hope to change society. Show people victories are possible and things do not have to be this way. Sometimes it does feel like the trade union leaders and society is fixed and cannot be changed but society has changed in the past and will again in fact it is under the surface all the time. Marxism the political guidance of revolutionaries gives us a guide to changing society. While things feel and seem quiet on the surface big seismic changes are going on beneath the surface and bubbling under waiting for that “straw that broke the c camels s back” this is the breaking point which turns quantity into quality and produces a shift in consciousness and things at that point can change very quickly. The working class is stunned in many ways under the weight of cuts and austerity and while suffering huge defeats in the 80’s and the collapse of Stalinism has set it back decades in consciousness. It’s for us Marxists to reinspire workers to show that struggle is the only way not hopelessly relying on MP’s and our leaders to do it for us. Only by struggle from below can we affect change. Peoples thinking can catch up very quickly we must be aware of that. I think this April may be a turning point in the fight against austerity. We must be prepared to step up the fight for a 24 hour general strike within the unions and take the fight to our union leaders as well as the capitalists themselves. As more often than not the union leaders are acting as blocks on the movement and holding back struggle. If the leaders won’t budge we will have to go round them or remove them I’m afraid. You cannot halt the progress of society history and the idea of system change is reappearing on the scene and the working class will pick up the mantle of trying to change society. People won’t take this laying down but also we need to provide direction and examples of struggles. It’s no coincidence Trotsky once described Marxists as the memory of the working class looking to speed up the process of drawing workers ideas to the idea of changing society towards a socialist society b asked on the needs of the many over the few.

Why Marxists warn and fight against imperialism

I’m currently reading Lenin’s excellent work on Imperialism the highest form of capitalism. What a fantastic piece I must say to someone still getting to grips with Marxism and learning about the world and how it really works this piece has been a really top read.

Imperialism is as Lenin quite rightly points out is the heights form of capitalism it is born out of monopoly capitalism which arises as a contradiction to the so called free market. It’s the domination of capital on an international scale breaking out of its national confines to invade and plunder foreign markets in pursuit of greater profits and to see off the competition as much like capitalism does on the national scale.

Imperialism. Imperialism is the epoch of finance capital and of monopolies, which introduce everywhere the striving for domination, not for freedom. Whatever the political system, the result of these tendencies is everywhere reaction and an extreme intensification of antagonisms in this field. Particularly intensified become the yoke of national oppression and the striving for annexations, i.e., the violation of national independence (for annexation is nothing but the violation of the right of nations to self-determination).
This piece which Lenin wrote highlights the role imperialism plays on the world stage and the view which Marxists take towards it. The current state of imperialism is a very interesting thing from what I can understand American and British imperialism would appear to be in decline with the rise of German and Chinese imperialism on the rise in its influence and market share. Germany has done well off the back of the Euro one of the few countries powering ahead still in the world although this cannot last it is for now holding great sway over much of Europe and beyond in some cases. China due to its huge growth in the last period has enabled it to enter new markets in Africa and other parts of Asia Taiwan Malaysia etc. It is the so called strength of eastern imperialism including China which capitalists worldwide hope will pull their system out of this deep crisis it is unlikely to do so as China itself is now slowing and cooling off its growth nod a repeat of the 2008 pumping of the economy by a estimated 12 % of GDP in China is simply not possible any longer. This is a desperate stage for capitalism where it goes from here they have no idea the thinkers part of this system. Hense I think imperialism in the US and the UK for example has taken a beaten of late. The fact that Egypt and Tunisia which were both backed by Imperialism for many years have seen their regimes crumble at the force of the working class is proof that imperialism is not indestructible and immune to crisis’s and defeat. The imperialist backed invasion of Iraq by Western troops in 2003 to remove Sadam Hussein now looks a shattered idea as the idea that only imperialist forces can bring down a dictator has been blown wide out of the water.

The mass’s when they unite and bring dictators to their knees such as in Egypt although not a fully developed situation there now with the SCAF still holding the power there shows that workers and the mass’s are finding their voices and their power which has laid dormant for years is now finally being realised again.

The fight against imperialism has to be international much like the struggle for socialism. A national struggle will always be supported by other workers around the world as we all face the same oppression but a global effort to replace capitalism is what is needed more. Ending capitalism will bring an end to imperialism and exploitation. Growing ideas and building the ideas of Marxism around the globe is key to understanding imperialism. Reading Lenin and Trotsky on the matter is very helpful too I’m still learning and always will be learning. Understanding the way capitalism works and doesn’t work is key to bein a Marxist but applying it to the class strugglea and a programme for winning workers to the ideas to change society is far more important though. This is what the socialist party does day to day and will continue to do to realise a better more equal society for the 99%.

Greece a uncertain future left must get organised and lead the fightback

Below i republish the last of Paul Murphy MEP's blog entries Paul is a MEP for the United Left Alliance in Ireland and is a member of the Irish socialist party CWI

So after four days campaigning in Greece, the elections are over and I’m headed to Brussels, where a vital vote on ACTA will take place at the International Trade Committee. I watched the election results with some members of Xekinima, the Socialist Party’s sister organisation in Greece, before going to the Synaspismos (biggest organisation in Syriza) offices where big crowds were gathered.

Although there were a few nailbiting moments, like when the first exit polls came out that put New Democracy’s range of votes only 0.5% higher than Syriza and rumours circulating that Syriza might just do it, in the end the private polls circulating over the past days were accurate and ND beat Syriza by about 2.5%.

The mood at the Synaspismos offices was mixed. On the one hand, Syriza had come so close to becoming the first party and potentially being able to form a left government, and so there was a certain disappointment. But on the other hand, there was celebration at the massive vote of 26.9% that Syriza received, which represents a huge increase of support of 10% since last month’s election and over 22% since the previous election! This demonstrates how quickly left parties can grow in public support in certain conditions.

When the outcome became clear, Alexis Tsipras, the leader of Syriza, rang the leader of New Democracy, Antonis Samaras, He congratulated Samaras and informed him that the responsibility for forming a government now lies with New Democracy, whereas Syriza will lead the opposition. This is undoubtedly the correct approach, any pressure from PASOK to join a ’national government’ in order to provide PASOK political cover must be resisted. Of course, the whole notion of a ’national government’ is a fraud – there can be no government which puts forward both austerity and socialist policies or which represents both the interests of bankers and working people. Afterwards, Tsipras arrived at the party headquarters for a very short press conference and then moved on to a nearby square, where over a thousand people gathered in good mood for another short speech.

Although PASOK initially declared it would not join a government without Syriza’s presence, I think it will be pressured to do the ’responsible’ thing for capitalism in Greece. Nonetheless, they will also try to trap Democratic Left (Dimar) into the government, and it currently seems that Dimar will join, which demonstrates the sell-out character of that party.

The marginal victory of the campaign of terror against the Greek people is likely to be pyrrhic and may be extremely short-lived. The stability promised by New Democracy in the election campaign will not be delivered and there will be a continuation of harsher and harsher austerity measures. The eurozone crisis will deepen and it is likely that Greece will find itself outside of the euro, even with a ND government. The focal point of struggle will move back to the streets and workplaces as workers respond to the renewed austerity attacks.

The left, in particular Syriza, is in a strong position to lead and organise this resistance and opposition, given its enhanced parliamentary position and public profile. If it does so, the incoming government can be defeated and can probably be brought down within a relatively short space of time. An election in such circumstances is likely to favour Syriza massively and it could well be in government within a year.

The continuation of Syriza in opposition will allow some time for a full discussion on what programme to advocate. This will be a vital debate and may be quite polarised, as some of the newer arrivals from PASOK attempt to shift the party to the right, while others, such as Xekinima, correctly emphasise the need for a full socialist programme to deal with the problems facing Greek society and economy. Given the deep nature of the crisis, any illusion that the rule of capital can be maintained, while more ’social’ measures are implemented, should be dispelled in this discussion. Syriza needs to flesh out a programme for repudiating the debt, immediately nationalising the banks and key sectors of the economy under democratic workers’ control and a democratic plan to redevelop the economy.

The other party which is now likely to be convulsed by a major internal debate is the Greek Communist Party (KKE). The drop in the KKE’s vote from 8.5% to 4.5% will provoke a major discussion and opposition to the leadership’s sectarian approach to Syriza. By refusing to implement a united front approach with Syriza, while making criticisms of Syriza’s leadership and programme, the KKE missed a big opportunity to engage with millions of people moving against austerity and towards socialist policies. The reports from the ground suggest that many KKE members, activists and supporters are deeply unahppy with this approach.

The other notable and worrying feature of the election is the vote of the fascist Golden Dawn. They maintained their vote at 6.9%, despite exposing their character with daily assaults on immigrants around Greece and their MP’s attack on KKE and Syriza MPs on a TV channel. This result will embolden them to continue their attacks and with a new government committed to implementing the memorandum programme, they can probably be expected to experience further growth.

With hundreds of dedicated activists and now a wider support in society, they are a real menace. Of course, the majority of their voters are not fascists, but are people affected by the crisis, in particular small businesspeople, who accept the easy answer that the immigrants are the problem and see Golden Dawn as an anti-establishment force.

The Left in Greece must now take this threat seriously – which means joint work now to stop the fascists in their tracks. The left parties together (Syriza, KKE and Antarsya) should take the initiative to form anti-fascist committees in every neighbourhood – bringing together left activists, community and trade union activists. These committees could wage a campaign of education explaining the pernicious anti-democratic and anti-worker nature of fascism. They could also take up and campaign on the issues that the fascists thrive on such as the inadequate provision of housing and public services. In addition, defence committees are needed, to be able to protect immigrants, gay people and left meetings and activists from attack from these emboldened fascists.

The KKE in particular, with its base of thousands of working class activists, could play a particularly important role in combating this threat and should take an initiative in a non-sectarian way. If the left does not take this threat seriously and respond to it now, the problem will only grow greater.

Although Syriza did not win the elections this time around, their massive vote does herald a new period for left parties in Europe and in the so-called peripheral countries in particular. As the crisis and struggles deepen, there will be big opportunities for the left to grow.

All eyes will rightly be on Greece as the crisis deepens. People in Ireland and elsewhere should provide active solidarity and support for those struggling against Greek austerity and capitalism. In addition, each stage of the crisis in Greece should be studied and discussed – because in many ways it is a window into our own future. Above all, the best solidarity that we can give to the suffering Greek people is to develop movements in Britain and across Europe that can defeat austerity policies and put socialist change on the agenda.

The battle of capitalism

Capitalism is a peculiar form of class society. Like previous class societies it involves a minority section of society grabbing the surplus created by the toil of the rest of society. But there are important differences. Previous ruling classes simply seized the surplus, while capitalists get it by buying people's capacity to work (what Marx called 'labour power'). And previous ruling classes used almost all the surplus on their own luxury consumption or on fighting each other. The use of any of the surplus to improve the means of production was spasmodic. Economic growth was usually slow, often non-existent, sometimes negative for centuries at a time. Capitalist ruling classes, however, are driven by economic competition within and between themselves to plough a sizeable portion of the surplus back into expansion of the means of production. There is not merely economic growth, but compulsive accumulation. It is this which has enabled capitalist ruling classes that two and a half centuries ago controlled only fringe areas of north western Europe to engulf the globe today.

Class societies began to emerge in various parts of the world from around 5,000 years ago onwards. Over a period of several centuries, what had once been communal production fell under the control of ruling minorities who ensured it provided them with an increasingly luxurious and leisurely lifestyle. At first they tended to exploit the rest of society collectively, as temple priests or royal households, rather than through private property. On this basis civilisations as diverse as those in the Nile Valley, ancient Iraq, northern China, the Indus Valley, central America, the Andes, Crete, Ethiopia and west Africa developed.25 Over time central control tended to weaken and a class of 'aristocrats', 'gentry' or 'lords' to emerge which exploited direct cultivators in each locality. At the same time, the polarisation of society into classes found its reflection in greater or lesser degrees of disintegration of the old communal forms of agricultural production and the emergence of peasant households as the main productive units. There would then be a continual tussle between the central state administration, with its corps of tax collectors, and the local rulers over who got the lion's share of the surplus which was taken from the peasants in the form of labour services, crops or, sometimes, cash. All these societies had one thing in common--the ruling class, whether made up of lords and aristocrats or of state administrators, took the surplus directly off the peasant producers, without any pretence of exchange of goods.

Such ruling classes increasingly felt the need for products that could not be obtained simply from the local cultivators. They needed materials for palace and temple building, for the making of armaments and for luxury consumption. Such things could often be obtained only by looting distant peoples, or through some sort of exchange with them.

There was some exchange long before the rise of classes. Archaeologists have found artefacts that must have been made many hundreds of miles away among the remains of hunter-gatherer settlements of southern France more than 20,000 years ago, and the circulation of the products of human labour was even more widespread in the agricultural societies that began to emerge ten millennia later. There was no other way, for instance, that the villagers of the river plain of southern Iraq could get metal ores and even wood (since the lower valley of the Tigris and Euphrates was virtually treeless). But the circulation of products in pre-class societies was not trade in the sense that we know the term today. It was not carried out according to strict calculations of profit or loss, but according to traditions of gift-giving and gift-taking, based on customary rites, much as continued to happen in pre-class societies in places like Polynesia right into the 20th century.26

The rise of the ruling classes of the new civilisations transformed this situation. They demanded distantly-obtained products on a scale that could not be satisfied by the old-established customary networks. At the same time, they were rarely prepared to face the hardship and risks involved in procuring such things themselves. People soon emerged who were--in return for a share of the surplus the ruling class had obtained through exploiting the cultivators. So specialised traders got a 'mark-up' by selling to the ruling class goods from a great distance away. Some were individuals from the exploited cultivator class, others from the nomadic peoples living between the centres of civilisation. But regardless of their origins, they began to crystallise into a privileged classes separate from the old ruling classes.

Such merchant classes emerge in similar ways in societies with little or no contact with each other: in second millennium BC Babylon and Egypt; in India, China, Greece and Rome by 300 BC; in Teotihuacan in the Valley of Mexico by AD 200; in the Arabian peninsular by AD 600; among the Mayas of the Yucatan Peninsula by AD 1000; on the northern coast of the Andean region by 1500 BC. Once in existence such a class usually left its mark ideologically and politically as well as economically. The spread of each of the great world religions--Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity and Islam--was along trade routes travelled by the merchants. The world's major languages often developed out of the vernacular forms by which people communicated with each other along trade routes and in marketplaces. And sections of the established agrarian ruling classes repeatedly found the merchants useful allies in struggles with other sections for dominance: the rise of the Ch'in kingdom and then empire in northern China and of the Mauryan empire in India in the 4th and 3rd centuries BC depended on such manoeuvres, and the Arab dynasties that ruled the Middle East a millennium later owed their success to reliance on merchants as well as tribal armies and landed exploiting classes.

But in these alliances the merchants were always the junior partners to the rulers, and much mistrusted by them. Merchant wealth came from siphoning off some of the surplus under the control of the old ruling class, and this was resented. So the most powerful merchant could suddenly be thrown into prison, lose his head or be cut in half. He lacked the independent base in production and exploitation to do much more than kowtow to the old rulers.

Marx made a distinction between merchant capital (that profits from financing trade), usurers' capital (that makes profits from interests on lending) and productive capital (that profits from employing workers to operate its means of production). Merchant capital and usurers' capital existed under all the old empires, wherever there was large-scale trade or moneylending. But productive capital made only a rare and fleeting appearance. In ancient Rome, for instance, the most successful 'capitalists' were the 'tax farmers', whose wealth came from the contracting out of tax collecting by the state. In Ch'in and Han China (300 BC-AD 300) the merchants collaborated with the state in running the salt and iron monopolies. In the Arab empires of the Middle East the goods traded by the merchants were produced by peasants exploited by big landowners, by self employed artisans or, occasionally, by state enterprises--not by enterprises run by the merchants themselves.

The system as we know it today could only come into existence because at some point a capitalist class emerged that did directly control production and was therefore able to directly exploit people on its own account, rather than simply being an intermediary between other exploiters.

One precondition for the emergence of true capitalism, as Marx showed, was the separation of the immediate producers (those who did the work) from the means of production, which passed into the hands of the new exploiting class. The producers then had only one way to get a livelihood. They had to persuade the members of this exploiting class to make use of their capacity for labour (their 'labour power') in return for a remuneration sufficient to keep them alive and fit for work. But the level of that remuneration was substantially lower than the value of the goods produced by their work. The difference, the 'surplus', went straight into the pockets of the owners of the means of production. They gained the fruits of the exploitation of labour, even if it was legally 'free', just as much as the old ruling class that exploited unfree labour.

Marx described in Capital the forcible separation of the workforce in Britain from control over the means of production by the driving of people from the land with the enclosures of the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries and the 'clearances' of the 19th century. In many parts of the world the process continued right into the 20th century with the seizure of 'native' lands in places like southern Africa by white colonists--and also with the so called 'collectivisation' of agriculture under Stalinism.

Without such a separation of the workforce from the means of production the spread of production for the market could lead, not to capitalism, but to a new variant of serfdom, the so called 'second serfdom' of eastern and southern Europe, or to the encomienda system in Latin America. The output of production in these regions was directed towards world markets, but the internal dynamic was very different to that of capitalism, with its drive to competitive accumulation.

Productive capitalism was not possible before a certain point in human history. This was when there was a massive escalation of the use of the products of past labour to increase the productivity of present labour, when the use of relatively simple tools began to give way to the first mechanisation, in the broadest sense of the term.36

This could have a fourfold effect. It (1) increased the output--and therefore the potential surplus--to be obtained from a given quantity of labour. It (2) increased the cost of equipment and materials needed to undertake production--and therefore the likelihood that the individual producers would not be able to supply them themselves. It (3) increased the dependence of production on the initiative and commitment of the producer (if only because more care needed to be taken on the expensive equipment) and therefore the advantage of exploiting 'free' as opposed to serf or slave labour. And it (4) increased the importance of trading networks which could supply raw materials and dispose of the increased output.

Where 'mechanisation' had all four effects it separated immediate producers from control over the means of production on the one hand and encouraged the use of 'free' labour by the new class of controllers on the other. It also increased the integration of the whole production process with the market.

All four effects were not always present. Often in the early stages the individual producer still partially owned and controlled the means of production, although becoming increasingly dependent on merchants, landowners or moneylenders for funds and raw materials. In these cases transitional forms to fully capitalist production flourished--for instance, the putting-out system in the towns, share-cropping in the countryside. As we have seen, there were also many cases in which slave or serf labour was used in early forms of industrial production. And in some cases at least, mechanised forms of production were quite compatible with the denial of any initiative to some groups of labourers. This was true on the sugar plantations of the Caribbean in the 18th century and the cotton plantations of the American South through the first half of the 19th century.

Yet once 'mechanised' processes were under way the possibilities of a transition to capitalist forms of production were there. The development of productive capitalism depended on such developments in the forces of production. By contrast, where such developments did not occur, merchant and usurer capitalism were possible, but not productive capitalism.

This explains why capitalism did not develop in the ancient civilisations of the Middle East and the Mediterranean lands or in the pre-Hispanic civilisations of the Americas. In neither case were the forces of production sufficiently advanced for a new class of capitalist exploiters independent of the old ruling classes to emerge.


But back to Britain today we are currently living in a finance based capitalism based on merchant capital. This has been the more favoured system since the 1960's when Harold Wilson the labour prime minister decided to favour finance capital over industrial capital. This was due to various things really the fact that the workers were getting strong in the industrial field with mining strikes frequent and workers gaining confidence this had to be smashed and a turn to more finance capital where union uptake was sparse and fragmented. The battle for the more dominant form of capitalism was born out and today we survive on a service/finance capitalism system where little value is produced rather than money is transfered and borrowed and delt with. This as Marx tells us produces no long term value as it doesnt have much labour value embodied in what finance capital produced if at all.

In the coming period we may see another battle between finance and industrial capital as i've explained on another post the finance capitalists may be forced to take the wrap for getting the people striking and rioting. To quell this anger the financial sector may be tempered down a bit to relieve the anger but industrial capitalism which may come back into play in the future with an experiment in Greece taking place right now to see if Greek workers will accept very low wages if so they may become competitive with the likes of China in terms of wages.

I cant see this happening myself so a huge class struggle will braek out bigger than what we have at the moment. It is just the start of this crisis in capitalism and the ruling class's have very little answer to the problems they find themselves with.

The only way out of this crisis as we continue to say is a socialist answer a planning of the economy based on needs not greed of a few.

The lengths capitalists will go to protect their system

Every ruling class has attempted to give the impression of its here to stay and it will always be this way but we know its not true. Capitalism hasnt always been around forever as in the fture it will not be around forever. We are passing through a turbulant period of heightened class struggle where teh capitalist system is rocking at its very core. It is strugglign to find anyway out of this crisis it finds itself in.

As i blogged about the other day the lengths capitalists will go to to protect their assets is extraordinary. Lord Ashcroft the tory peer went to great lengths to hide his shady dealings.

So in the future to save the capitalist system with more and more general strikes in country after country i can see a situation where the capitalists turn on eachother. The ruling class has been known to turn oon each other. They can work together but not like we the workers do with our class solidarity they use ita s a means to a end.

As we always say as socialists the bourgeoisie have no hang ups about ditching democracy when it suits to preserve their system from meltdown. It may seem remarkable to us ordinary folk but what matters more to them ultimatly ?

it is the continuation of the wage labour system of exploitation of workers and their labour for the benifit of a rich minorities profits.

That's why i can see a situation where if the financial capitalists are causing too much grief for other capitalists say industrial capitalists and its affecting their profits somewhat i can see them turning on eachother and really going after the banking sector in a way. Just look at this week it may seem all hot air at the chief executive of RBS Steven hester who turn down his bonus which he would have got in shares anyway. There is clearly a feeling within the ruling class that the bankers may have to take the wrap for getting them into this situation.

Now dont think oh they have suddenly become socialist and believe in our ideas this is purely to prevent revolution in the future when teh mass's are banging at teh door demanding action to be taken. This false if you like anger at the bankers from capitalist polititains is clever as it looks like they are taking them on but in reality they wont be. They may sacrifice a few as symbols of them looking tough but ultimatly the basis of the capitalist system will be preserved as best they can.
So we must be wary of any little tactic or ploy the capitalists employ and be intelligent to realise when we are being mugged. As teh capitalist system will not collapse on its own as Marx said there is no final crisis of capiatlism if not over thrown by a revolution of the mass's taking power then capitalism will ultimatly find a way out even if that is long tough and drawn out and painful for many.

Its teh choice we face in the coming years how do we take on capitalism and hit it wheer it hurts. Only by mass action of the united working class can we have a impact. General strikes occupations, dividing the state and looking to expose the system whereever we can will be key.

Lets cut the working week immediatly to free up much needed jobs

A guardian article reposted below highlightes the absolute need to cut the working week. This is what i and many socialists have argued for some time. Now the capitalist think tankers including the new economics fondation who are afterall capitalist as they look for tinkering with the system which is reformist and leads back to the same idea of capitalism. But we as socialists have put forward this demand for yearsa nd years now.

A thinktank, the New Economics Foundation (NEF), which has organised the event with the Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion at the London School of Economics, argues that if everyone worked fewer hours – say, 20 or so a week – there would be more jobs to go round, employees could spend more time with their families and energy-hungry excess consumption would be curbed. Anna Coote, of NEF, said: "There's a great disequilibrium between people who have got too much paid work, and those who have got too little or none."

She argued that we need to think again about what constitutes economic success, and whether aiming to boost Britain's GDP growth rate should be the government's first priority: "Are we just living to work, and working to earn, and earning to consume? There's no evidence that if you have shorter working hours as the norm, you have a less successful economy: quite the reverse." She cited Germany and the Netherlands.

Robert Skidelsky, the Keynesian economist, who has written a forthcoming book with his son, Edward, entitled How Much Is Enough?, argued that rapid technological change means that even when the downturn is over there will be fewer jobs to go around in the years ahead. "The civilised answer should be work-sharing. The government should legislate a maximum working week."

Many economists once believed that as technology improved, boosting workers' productivity, people would choose to bank these benefits by working fewer hours and enjoying more leisure. Instead, working hours have got longer in many countries. The UK has the longest working week of any major European economy.

Skidelsky says politicians and economists need to think less about the pursuit of growth. "The real question for welfare today is not the GDP growth rate, but how income is divided."

Parents of young children already have the right to request flexible working, but the NEF would like to see job-sharing and alternative work patterns become much more widespread, and is calling on the government to make flexible working a default right for everyone.


This is all very well but fails to take account of how capitalism works. They will not do things to benifit the workers if they can help it. Their only real drive is the blind relentless drive for profit and if it is told it may not result in such they will not go down that path. So while this study is good and makes a valid point i cannot see a capitalist country going down this road anytime soon. Anytime the working class has faced up to the ruling class and demanded a shorter working week it has met with huge resistance. It is something the ruling class oppose as it means workers have more time to organise politically and in trade unions leading to a fightback and a possible and hopeflly likely realisation of the bankrupt system we are forced to live under. It will also mean more workers in work which may help their productivity but it will have an affect on the way they can exploit workers. Having workers in work is not helpful for keeping wages down to increase their own surplus value. Which is unpaid labour as marx would put it.

So this kind of idea which as i see it is utopian under a capitalist system which lives on the highest form of exploitation it can get away with and makes its profits through the unpaid labour time the worker unwillingly gives to their boss in return for the nessesary wages to live and get by. Which is the subsisdence of labour as marx put it.

So this kind of society that is being proposed can only be realised under a socialsit democratic planned economy wheer the needs of ordinary people come before the need to make a profit

Where has working class pride gone ?

On twitter a guy i know quite well has been trying to start a trend with the tag #workingclasspride as we feel the idea that you can be proud to be working class and accepting of your class in society is not a bad thing.

Why am i saying all this you may think ?
well for years various polititians new labour and tory have been trying to convince us that we're all middle class now. The idea that you can progress and buy your own home and move up the social mobility ladder has been brought well and truely by many that they are not working class any longer.

I have news for them. Many will realise in the upcoming period that they are not as middle class as they think they are. As this crisis of capitalism deepens and we hit recessions and stagnation over years of slow growth or even contraction many people including those who consider themselves middle class will see their take home pay fall and their living standards slip.

But why is there this stigma about being working class ?

Owen Jones teh author in his brilliant book Chav's highlights it correctly. The working and lower class's have been demonised and pushed from pillar to post so it is seen in the media and everyday society now that it is something to be almost ashamed of to be working class and earn a low wage and get by.

Of course many people are still aspirational but for many that reality of moving on in life and out of being a worker is something the vast majority of us will never realise.

Only when the class based system has been abolished will we see people having true social mobility and being able to fulfill their true potential.

But for the ruling class's including successive governments distorting and masking the fact that more of us are working class than we care to know has worked well for them so far. To convince people they are doing ok and they have little to complain about has worked up till now. But as i say things will change. We are currently going through a transition phase i'd call it where people are starting to realise their potential power as a class. This will take a long time i feel but the opening up of struggles on the industrial plain with strikes and workers action will concentrate many peoples minds that we are the 99% that keeps the 1% going. Not by choice but by nature of the capitalist class based system which keeps us in our place.

But this hash tag on twitter we came up with is great it gets people thinking what is good about being working class and how we can start to feel a sense of solidarity and pride in who we are and face up to the realities of the class system. Only by doing this can we realise our full potential.

Towards socialism, taking workers with us

As you may know on this blog i talk alot about socialism and marxism and so forth but we can often forget that not all workers we are aiming to win over get this and we do always have to remember as rerevolutionary socialists where we are and where the class is in its contiousness. At present we are at a very low form of class contiousness and a even lower socialist contiousness. Many workers do feel something is wrong, some even say so. But as far as an alternative goes very few workers have any idea what there is. Many still dont tag the current crisis up with capitalism. These are all the tasks and challenges we are left to tackle as marxists. To get amongst the working class and firstly find out where they are. What their concerns are immediatly and support those concerns whatever they may be. Extra pay, better working conditions or extra holiday time whatever it may be. We will always support workers in struggle with the boss's just because we see a alternative way of running society and reject the current system does not mean we will stand by and let workers get hammered by the boss's, quite the contary we will lend our support and resources as should the labour movement to fight for working class reforms out of the boss's. But at all times we must be raising ideas that reforms will never be enough that when the boss's grant us a concession with one hand they will look to take from us with the other.

This is why we as revolutionaries are constantly looking to popularise ideas of a better world, a farier way of running society for the majorities needs rather than a select few's personal profitable gains.

The reason i've taken up socialism and marxist ideas more in the last few months is the realisation that we do live in a deeply unfair world and it is deep rooted in inequality that is built into this system we live under and it needs changing and it can be changed.

But as we talk to workers in struggle of all levels of contiousness we must be careful and aware to never preech to workers not to patronise and offend. We are fully aware that we are the most advanced layer of contious workers and have already made the conclusion that society needs to be changed into a different order and capitalism is a bankrupt system. But not all workers currently agree with this. They may feel agrieved that their job is on the line or that their pay is being cut but this may not be enough for them to drawn the same conclusions as us, the marxists. But only by fighting alongside these workers in struggle for a better world which by nature all workers are compelled to do we can explain our own ideas the ideas of Karl Marx and Leon trotsky in a everyday situation and the idea that this doesnt have to be this way at all.

Having a open dialog with workers in struggle is the key to a revolutionary parties success. Being able to gauge the current feeling out there with workers and interveen where we can with the correct ideas is crucial i feel. As the socialist party with lots of very experienced comrades in struggle their experience will be crucial the idea that history does not repeat itself but can certainly be learnt from is key.

Popularising marxist ideas and ideas that can win over workers with a program that can appeal to those who are looking for an alternative will be important in this coming year and i feel that we must and are prepared for this and i am hoping we can win many more over to our ideas if we can.

But we must always be keen to show a empathy and a humility that we do not know it all. We have a good analysis and a correct program but we cannot be with this and look to ask workers themselves what they think first and foremost aragant . We must look to take the class with us if we can not look to lead it from out in front. Being apart of the class struggle but raising socialist ideas all the way will be key but never preeching and dictating our own ideas. Of course being passionate with our ideas and forceful like we expect others to do when countering our own ideas in a comradely way as a clash of ideas in the labour movement is a constant battle for the correct program to win out. We feel confident workers will find our ideas appealing and be drawn to our ideas in time. But let us not be that worker that turns them away but welcomes them with open arms. To take us forward for a fairer society and future for the many not just the few.

contradictions of capitalism part 1 : over production

In this short but could turn out to be something more i will look at the inherent contradictions that exist in the capitalist system of production and how i feel a chance of system namely socialism can help to get around these issues well and truely for good.

As we sit here worrying for our jobs, pay and benifits i thought i'd look at the system which has caused all this and is still causing this and how it knows no way out.

The first contradiction i will look at is the fact that as capitalism has progressed over there years and has been progressive up to a point. When Margret Thatcher declared in the late 70's early 80's that the harder you work you can move up the scale and improve your life. This was true up to a point as some did make it and were able to buy their own home and such like. But for the majority this was not the case their living standards and pay stayed the same. Much like in America many are promised if they work hard they can achieve anything via the American Dream but for many now it is turning into a American nightmare as debts pile up and cheap credit has been ended.

The fact with capitalism as Karl Marx described over 100 years ago now is still relevant today that capitalism and its sheer blind drive for profit can lead to a over production in its products. Leading to a surplus. Marx identified this surplus as a labour surplus and a surplus of capital wrapped up in too much made of one product or another.

For example when the original banking crisis hit in 2008 Honda actually stopped production of its cars for 6 months as it had made too much cars. Sounds remarkable too many cars but this wasnt for the fact there was no need. There is a great need around the world. But capitalism only produces where it feels it can make a profit. The fact that there is a need for something is neither here nor there. Take for example many drugs are needed to help cure diseases around the world in places like Africa but yet Africa which has been raped for its raw materials over the years for capitalist profit over the years has resulted in desimation in Africa.

Going back to my last point even though there is a need there in places like Africa for cars, food, drugs and things that will improve their lives the fact that in Africa few have much capital to invest in these the capitalists in the west ignore Africa and let it starve effectively as there is no profit to be made there.

Where the system which we as socialists advocate would be far more efficient and useful for the majority not just the few would be that there would be no unessesary waste of materials as everything produced and propriated would be for a need and peoples needs as a whole not just to make profit. Indeed there would be a end to a profit driven society where things were only made if a profit could be made.

In socialism things would be run, managed and controlled democratically by workers. Not greedy capiatlists only interested in profit. Only the workers know how to distribute the resources effectively and to help the many not just the few.

Of course this will take some time to bed into peoples minds as capitalist modes of productions and the means of production has been with the capiatlists for so long now and how labourers have had to sell their labour just to live is so ingrained in many peoples minds it will be hard to overcome these ideas but a mass political understanding of what society needs and how their actions can benifit society by working for the collective not a capitalist only interested in profit.

This is just a basic outline of just one of capitalisms many contradictions and i will try to uncover many more where i feel capitalism has failed the mass's and highlighting its weakness's as a system.

The ruling class let their mask slip revealing who really runs the world

in this eye opening video on you tube
http://t.co/iQzsPYzR

a clip from the BBC news channel yesterday they interview a hedge fund invester to talk on teh global economic crisis. He reveals how the ruling class capitalists really see the world and who really has the power. He stated that there is nothing anyone can do about this oncoming crash and its going to be huge. Far bigger than 2008 and we must get prepared for this as people are going to loose a lot of money.

he went on to say when questioned what can governments do to give confidence to the markets. He replies that is a tough question. Fact is now none of the investers have any confidence in any rescue package and are dreaming of a recession as they see it as a way of making money.

The stark honesty of this guy tells us for the first time how the ruling class elite work and how they see a recession. They do not care about people or the destruction it may cause the social impacts only making money.

The guy goes on to say governments do not rule the world, Goldman sachs do. A very telling point i think as i think he is spot on. The governments do the capitalists dirty work making investing and making money easier. They really have no power at all when it comes to the running of their system.

I think as marxists we have known this for a very long time and have been warning people that this is coming long before others in the media caught on. This next crash is going to eclipse the 2008 banking crash. Whether we can recover or be left in a stagment flat economy with little to no growth for a very long time it remaisn to be seen. But it does bring back the point that all cuts need to be opposed limiting the cuts as some on the left seem to strive for will turn out to be fruitless and make no difference at all. We must oppose all cuts to jobs and services and look to push this system down. The working class when strong and organised is f ar more powerful. Class war is really kicking off and we must be ready for the fight of our lives. We simply cannot loose many are saying.

I'd recomend all to watch t hat you tube video though and just think what it really means and who holds the power. It is not government or the tories as you are told. They are just the puppets of a capitalist system ripping this planet and its people apart for what ? for money dirty filthy money and that is all they care for.

We need a different system a system based on peoples needs over greed and profit. A system of socialism where the wealth is not concentrated among a few but the many.

Join the fight today and resist wherever you can. THis is not just about the tories being incompetent thsi is far more than this now.

Broken Britain ? only thing broken in Britain is capitalism

After the UK riots last week we will now be entertained bhy polititian after polititian telling us what we need to do and what we shouldnt do to solve the crisis as they put it.

But if we have learnt anything it is that we havent learnt from our mistakes of the 80's. When there was mass riots in Brixton and Broad water farm in Tottenham. Although on a much bigger scale the same old rhetoric is being churned out by out of touch polititians who have not got the first idea why the people have started rioting. They think to solve this we need better, stronger and more policing to solve this and prevent it happening again.

This is completely missing the point. Looking at the causes and the reasons for the riots is not by any means condoning them at all it is taking time to understand the rioters motives and reasons behind what they did. This is not simply down to criminality although their actions were we must look deeper.

When David Cameron famously said Britain is Broken refering to the country being fragmented and families being disjointed he was not thinking this would come to the fore so quickly into his tenure.

But we did . There has been mass inequality for years in this country gone largely unnoticed by many and the media too. But areas like Tottenham which have not really progressed much at all since the 80's are feeling the force of brutal savage austerity cuts which are making a difficult situation worse still.

It is no coincidence all the areas where rioting took place there is deprevation and povety and a lack of jobs and services for the youth.

So i would say it is not Britain that is broken it is this rotten capitalist system which requires a surplus of workers at any one time when it cant make a profit with something it is not viable to a capitalist despite its social need.

We must highlight to others that Britain is not broken at all but the greed and the nature of the system we live under has failed and failed the people as a whole. Many people in these areas cannot find work and even when they can the pay is poor and not enough for them to live a decent life on.

We must highlight that the root cause of all this is capitalism not a benifit scrounging culture of the lazy and unemployed as many would work if they could find a decent job.

But this goes back years back through previous governments including Labour i'm afraid to say who have let communities such as Tottenham down by providing poor housing, jobs and education in affect ghettoising areas and failing to bring areas up to a good standard for all not just the few.

It is the nature of capitalism that a class based society comes about and one class oppress's another by using the state. We have seen this again with the role and the use of the police by the government.

David Cameron in his wisdom has been talking of bringing in a police chief who has helped solve gang culture in New York and Los Angeles in America. Having not lived there i cant say for sure but i imagine even in those areas there is not a total end to povety and deprevation it is just hidden better no doubt. Just like with next years Olympics in London the poorer run down areas will be kept well away from the tourists and visitors to the games to portray a clean safe image of our capital but yet we all know the issues still remain. Sweeping a problem under the carpet does not make it go away Mr Cameron and you will do well to remember this.

Britain itself is not broken the people are alive and well and starting to wake up to the nightmares of austerity and cuts to their living standards. Be they backdoor inflation or a rise in VAT or a cut to your local youth service we will all before long feel the cuts and austerity bite. It is not time to get depressed and turn to riots but to organise and fightback as a organised collective power of the working class.

CWI summer school- world capitalist crisis

This week, CWI supporters from over 30 countries are attending a CWI Summer School in Belgium. As well as comrades from across western and eastern Europe and Russia, visitors are attending from North and Latin America, Nigeria, Malaysia, Hong Kong and the Middle East.

Below, is a summary of a plenary discussion on world perspectives.

Socialistworld.net

Niall Mulholland, from the International Secretariat of the CWI, introduced the wide-ranging plenary discussion on world economy and inter-imperialist relations by explaining how every part of the globe is affected by the deepening economic crisis. Due to globalisation, no continent has been able to escape and none of the fundamental problems have been resolved.

The ruling class worldwide is attempting to keep their priviledges at the expense of the working class and their rivals in other nation states. This means the development of new revolutionary movements and the developing possibility of global tensions and conflicts.

Capitalism is a system of extreme inequality. In the USA the top executives had a 38% increase in their bonuses in 2010, whilst two million people are currently on the verge of starvation in east Africa. Speculation in food prices has catapulted an extra 44 million people into poverty this year alone.

But the famine in east Africa is not an ’act of god’. Scientists believe that the region’s successive droughts may be linked to climate change. Local conflicts and imperialism’s meddling in Somalia have also contributed to the famine tragedy, as has the destruction of traditonal pastoral and sustainable ways of living by big business agriculture.

The environment is a vital part of perspectives today and forms a crucial part of the CWI’s programme, particularly now that the UK, China, Russia, and India all have plans to build more nuclear power stations. Environmental issues can shake governments and even bring them down.

In Australia, the Labour Party/Green government introduced a very unpopular carbon tax. Unpopular because the costs of the tax will be simply passed onto the working class by big business, while carbon emissions are set to increase.

To end famine, environmental disaster and poverty requires the reorganisation of the world economy based on social need, which is becoming more urgent as the capitalist crisis is prolonged.
New recession?

Until recently many economists were talking about an economic recovery – looking at the financial markets and the growth of the economies of Brazil, India and China. Now they have discovered that the world economy is locked in crisis. The global economy is in a period of stagnation but unless there is a fundamental change, the cycles of ’boom’ and ’bust’ will continue. But the general trend is now for weaker, shorter growth phases in a general depressionary period of world capitalism. The wastefulness of capitalism can be shown through one fact alone – global unemployment has increased by 27 million since 2007, to 205 million worldwide.

The barbarism of capitalism can be seen in the thousands who have died in the drug gang related violence in Mexico. Thousands of soldiers are engaged in occupying cities, carrying out torture and killings in the name of the “war on drugs”.

The response of the ruling classes to the 2007/8 finacial and economic crisis was to bail out the banks and launch a stimulus package but that has brought a new set of problems. The government deficits forced a reduction in social spending, while the big corporations, the banks and households are mired in debt.

In the US, Obama’s stimulus package is exhausted. His 2010 tax cuts have been wiped out by the increase in the cost of oil and rents. The bursting of the housing bubble has resulted in a cut in household wealth. There is a depression in the contruction industry and in household spending. US companies are cutting production and sacking workers. Over 24 million people are unemployed or underemployed. The number of people needing food stamps has increased by 50% from 2008 to 2011, so 45 million people – nearly one in seven people in the US - need help to get enough food to eat.

The ruling class everywhere is trying to destroy the social gains won by the working class in the post war period and there are more cuts planned.

The breakdown in negotiations between the Repubicans and the Democrats in the US over the economic programme has alarmed the markets and the IMF has warned that even just a crisis of confidence in US solvency can trigger a new global recession.

The Democrats argue for cuts and a small increase in the taxation of the rich, whilst the Republicans, under pressure from the Tea Party on the Right, only want huge cuts. One third of the republicans in the House of Representatives were only elected in 2010 and are vulnerable to Tea Party pressure, so they fear losing their seats if they go along with the Democrats.

Given the dire consequences of a default, even a temporary default, compromise is likely, but it will not bring a long term resolution to the US economic crisis. The US ruling class have no short term strategy, let alone a long-term solution, in the face of this systemic and protracted crisis of capitalism.

The US workers have no choice but to fight and they have already shown this in Wisconsin in the mass struggle against the right wing governor’s anti-union attacks and social attacks. But the failure to stop these assaults, largely due to the union tops not developing the mass struggle, also illustrates the need to build an independent party and fight for a change in the trade unions.
China

China is also prone to the global contradictions of capitalism. The 2008 crisis resulted in a drop in its exports, which cost 23 million jobs. Fearing social unrest, a stimulus programme was introduced by state directed banks, resulting in fast growth which boosted the markets and which also resulted in rising prices.

For three years, China seemed to avoid the world economic crisis but its overheating economy has created new problems and contradictions, not least huge ’bad debts’. The development of industrial production was dependent on loans from state banks, while local authorities borrowed heavily to invest in infrastructure. By the end of 2010, the debt in local government was equivalent to 40% of GDP.

Property speculation has meant a rise in prices and a surplus of housing stock. Yet millions of people cannot afford to buy or rent.

Brazil, Australia and Canada supply a lot of the raw materials for this growth in China. But that means those countries are vulnerable to a downturn in the Chinese economy. Equally, any slow down would mean an attack on the wages and conditions of the Chinese working class.

The ongoing economic crisis and the relative growing strength of China, sees a stepping up of big power rivalaries and tensions.

The ruling class in Pakistan has been developing increasing ties to China, while their counterparts in India are linking up more with the US – worsening the tensions between those countries.

The US ruling class aims to try to impose compliant regimes in vital geo-strategic regions of the world and to control oil reserves and other vital resources. In Afghanistan they have become reliant on warlords, as the occupation and puppert Karzai government lacks any real popular support. Obama plans to withdraw 33,000 troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2012, but around 70,000 will stay. They also have 50,000 US personnel in Iraq, in 53 military bases.

There is increasing tensions within the Russian elite in the run-up to presidential elections, mostly around economic policy and the approach to the west. President Medvedev is more pro-western and ’free market’ orientated. Both Prime Miniser Putin and Medvedev want to stand in the elections but both are facing falling support in polls. In the context of growing discontent amongst the massses in Russia, the struggle between Putin and Medvedev could become explosive.
Chavez

In Venezuela, President Hugo Chavez’s serious illness has brought to the surface the competing factions in the regime. Chavez is still popular due to his social reform programmes, including in health and education. But suppport for the ’Bolivarian’ regime is declining against a background of electricity cuts, corruption, a housing crisis and one of the highest murder rates in the world. A new layer of the ruling bureaucracy is becoming enriched.

Chavez has announced he will stand for another six-year term but if his health worsens and he is out of the country for pro-longed peroids, it can open up a power struggle. This will give a boost to the reactionary opposition. And if the Bolvarian revolution unravels, it will have a big effect on Cuba, which relys on Venezuelan oil.

The only way to defend the social gains which have been won in Venezuela and Cuba, is for the working class to organise in defence of the revolution: taking the economy under the democratic control and management of the working class and spreading the revolution across the Americas.

The polarisation between the rich and poor across Latin America has fuelled the class struggle. In Brazil, there have been battles against corruption and tens of thousands of teachers and students marched in Chile on 30 June in defence of public education.
Industrial struggles in Africa

In Africa, the struggles of the working class have been boosted by the revolutionary movements in north Africa and the middle East. In south Africa, a recent three-week strike of engineers resulted in concessions. South African fuel workers are now in battle. These movements shook the pro-market ANC government but the COSATU trade union federation failed to co-ordinate the strikes effectively and to spread the action to meet the needs of millions of workers and poor.

In Nigeria, a three-day general strike over wages has been called off but this issue has the potential to explode again, given the terrible poverty conditions facing millions.There have also been “unprecented” protests in Malawi, where 75% of the population live on less than one dollar a day.

These examples show the potential for workign class resistance to develop. But there is a big gap between the needs of the working class and the level of conciousness amongst workers worldwide. The CWI aims to link struggles of workers worldwide, to campaign for and where possible help build new mass fighting parties of the working class and to also build the forces of Marxism.

During the plenary discussion, speakers from around the world gave inspiring reports of social and workers’ struggles and also about the development of the CWI.

In Australia, exporting raw materials to China and Japan has resulted in a boom in the mining industry, but also a lop-sided aspect to the economy. Mass conciousness may lag behind Europe and elsewhere but this period of relative quiet will not be maintained due to the crisis that will also hit Australia. The Labour Party minority government is at an historic low in the polls, following the imposition of the carbon tax. If there were an election tomorrow the opposition Right would win but only to launch an even more serious attack on the working class. A European-style revolt could develop in Australia. It suffers the same underlying problems of debt and one third of all jobs are identified as “unstable”.

Malaysia has been a fast-growing economy in recent years but it is not immune to the crisis. Exports of raw material, such as rubber to China, resulted in a 7% growth in 2010. But Malaysia is highly dependent on more powerful economies. Once the country is flooded with cheap Chinese goods, the local market will not be able to compete. Meanwhile the government is looking for further ’liberalisation’ – dismantling price control and slashing spending.

Paul Murphy, a Socialist Party MEP (member of the European Parliament), from Ireland, gave an inspiring report of his recent visit to workers in Kazakhstan. Using his position as an MEP, Paul was able to give concrete support to striking oil workers, who are waging one of the biggest industrial battles of workers in any ex-Soviet country since the collapse of Stalinism.

Kazakhstan is the richest country in the world in terms of its natural resources per head of population, but nearly all the money goes to the ruling elite. The oil workers labour in desert conditions, with very hot summers and very cold winters.

The workers are striking over wages, for the right to form independent trade unions and for the release of their union’s lawyer, who were jailed when the dispute began.

Thousands of workers have been on strike for two months with no strike pay and many have to support a family of eight or nine people. Some have been on hunger strike for 40 days in protest at the bosses.

The full force of the state has been used against the workers. Hundreds have been, in effect, locked out and some have received death threats.

Paul Murphy was warmly welcomed at mass meetings of the striking workers and he was able to help in negotiations with the management. Expecting a token visit from a compliant MEP, the top management were shocked when Paul argued vehemently on behalf of the workers.

All of this was reported prominently in the non-government Kazakh press, which helped to boost the confidence of the workforce. The task now is to build support internationally. Paul promised the company that if they did not begin meaningful negotiations there would be a massive international campaign against them.

Meanwhile, the Kazakh government know this is not just an economic strike – it is inspiring workers across the country.
Environment

One of the big questions facing the working class worldwide is the environment. Pete from the Socialist Party (England and Wales) explained that the National Academy of Sciences in the US concluded that emissions of greenhouse gases “stabilised” since 1990. But a 40% cut is needed in the next ten years to tackle global warming.

There has been a massive export of pollution to China. Between 2002 and 2008, greenhouse gas output in China rose from four to seven gigatonnes.

China consumes half of the world’s cement, coal, steel and iron ore and it is the world’s biggest emitter of greenhouse gases.

The majority of Greens argue for a huge cut in consumption, condemning workers in China and other countries like India to eternal poverty. At least the Green Left activists blame the world’s imperialist powers for this situation.

The Chinese government opportunistically echoes this argument. It develops renewable energy sources but as a part of a profit-driven attempt to become the world’s leader in renewable energy.

The CWI argues that there is no long term solution to the environmental crisis on the basis of private profit. Competitive markets downgrade the environment. We need a democratic plan of production, in harmony with the environment, throughout the world.

There were many other interesting contributions to the discussion, including from Hong Kong, France, Bolivia, Venzuela, Brazil, Israel, Russia, Nigeria and India.

Tom from the US explained how the protests in Wisconsin were a small indication of the fighting spirit of workers; an upsurge from below against attacks on the trade unions, pensions and other social benefits. The protests included thousands of unorganised workers and young people.

The election of right-wing governors, last November, has escalated the attacks on workers. The Democrats in many areas are using the Tea Party as a cover for their attacks on workers.

In Wisconsin, Socialist Alternative supporters called for a one-day general strike, whereas the union leadser argued that further action would “risk losing popular support”and refused to build the action.

But Wisconsin was one battle in a war – the next battles will be on a national level. The working class are being asked to pay for the crisis on Wall Street. The CWI is arguing in the trade unions for independent candidates against the cuts.
Ireland

In southern Ireland, Joe Higgins, a Socialist Party TD (member of the Irish Parliament) hit the headlines this week responding to the Fine Gael/Labour government’s announcement of a new €100 a year ’household tax’. Joe Higgins and the Socialist Party call for a mass campaign on non-payment and have called a national forum on 10 September to organise that struggle. This got blanket coverage in the media. In contrast, a Sinn Fein TD, quoted in the press, warned that “a boycott is very dangerous”.

Summing up the discussion, Clare Doyle from the CWI International Secretariat, observed that the CWI has members in more countries than ever before and that there were more of those represented at the CWI School.

It was clear from the discussion that the ideas of struggle and revolution are spreading. Capitalism is in such a deep and prolonged crisis that the ruling elite in every country is worried about the future. One glaring indication of the depth of the crisis is the record price of gold.

Dictatorships worldwide were shaken by the fall of Mubarak in Egypt and Ben Ali in Tunisia. Futher strikes and protests will erupt, often despite of the trade union leaders. Our task in the CWI is to build our forces and a leadership worthy of the sacrifice and fighting spirit of those workers.



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Busting the public sector pensions myth

This is a excellent article from this weeks paper. the socialist which highlights the myths on public sector pay and pensions which the June 30th strikes wre all about. I advise all to read this as it will set the record straight on many a myth portrayed by the capitalist media.

1. Public sector pensions are "too generous"
Surely this can only be answered by considering whether the pension does its job: provides a decent standard of living for a retired worker. On this measure no public sector pension is "too generous". The average pension for ordinary civil servants is just £4,200 a year. The average pension in the education sector is £10,000 a year.

The definition of poverty according to the government is living on less than 60% of the median income (£15,568 a year in 2010). No public sector pension gets close to this level.

2. Public sector pensions are "unfair" to workers in the private sector
True, 'Fred the Shred' Goodwin of bank collapse fame, for example, got £16 million. But most private sector workers get a raw deal on pensions. This is because the Tories already helped big business to decimate their pensions. Now they present the private sector as typical of some "natural" pension level, rather than a conscious pro-big business policy choice 20 years ago.

The Con-Dems will even argue that the tax paid by private sector workers is directly funding public sector pensions. But no government ear-marks funds in this way. Again, it is a pro-big business choice by the Con-Dems to cut taxes on bankers and the super-rich.

A successful campaign to defend public sector pensions must simultaneously be the launch point for a campaign to win back the pension rights of private sector workers. We're not falling for the divide and rule myth.

3. The country can no longer afford "gold-plated" public sector pensions
Arguments about the "national interest" include the following variants: "the public sector is too big", "the public debt is too high", "we're living too long" etc, etc. In other words, we should all take a hit for "the good of the country".

But currently public sector pensions are 1.9% of GDP. According to Lord Hutton's report this proportion will fall to 1.4% by 2060 without making a single change! The teachers' pension pot is self-funding, requiring no money from elsewhere.

The claim that we are living longer is another cover-up for Con-Dem policy choices. There is huge wealth in society that could fund earlier retirement on a living pension for all workers in the public and private sectors. The problem is that it is all locked away with the super-rich. The richest 1,000 people in Britain have £395 billion between them.

Socialist policies that took such vast wealth into democratic public ownership and spent it to the benefit of all would mean we could live into our hundreds without worrying about the "affordibility" of pensions.

4. "We're all in this together"
We have arrived at the big lie that explains the half-truths and obfuscations of the other pitiful arguments: "we are all in this together".

The attack on public sector pensions is part of a broader effort to make the working class pay for the crisis of capitalism. In the biggest rip-off in history the politicians are trying to let the banks and financial markets get away without contributing a penny to fix the economy they wrecked. Instead they think they can make the working class pay.

But of course they can't say that to us plainly and that explains the Houdini style contortions in the "debate" on public sector pensions...


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Economic crisis in them and us Britain

this is the excellent editorial from this weeks edition of the socialist, a weekly paper by the socialist party of England and Wales. if you like this article and wish to view more just like this please do visit
www.socialistparty.org.uk


Wages fall: Office for National Statistics 2010 survey of hours and earnings

For a few at the top, Britain is still booming. In 2010, while the majority suffered the biggest squeeze on their incomes since 1977, the earnings of FTSE 100 chief executives rose by 32%.

The number of billionaires increased from 53 to 73. For the working class, by contrast, the economic crisis which began in 2007 has intensified a long-term trend for its share of the wealth to decrease.

The TUC has produced a report exposing the myth that living standards for the majority were increasing during the boom. On the contrary, the report shows that low-paid workers' incomes have fallen in real terms over the last 30 years.

The number of workers whose wages are at least a third less than median pay has soared from 12% in 1977 to 22% in 2009. Since 2007, as unemployment has rocketed and wages have been squeezed, poverty has increased dramatically.

In March this year the BBC Panorama programme carried out a survey of actual take-home pay. This showed that, on average, workers are taking home £1,088 less a year than two years ago when the sum is adjusted for inflation.

Their real pay has fallen by 5% since the beginning of 2009, which was half way through the recession. Nor is there any prospect of strong growth for Britain's economy, on the contrary stagnation is the rosiest scenario on offer.

As the weak growth in the US stutters, the IMF has also downgraded its growth predictions for Britain this year to just 1.5%, warning that there are significant risks of inflation, low growth and unemployment.

Nonetheless, the IMF has thrown some crumbs of comfort to chancellor George Osborne by backing the government's determination to forge ahead with the biggest cuts to public spending in 80 years.

This is the IMF whose policies have failed in Greece and whose structural adjustment programmes have caused untold misery to workers and poor people across the world.

The IMF's commendation is not, however, the unified position of the strategists of capitalism. The OECD has warned that if Britain's growth is lower 'than expected', as the OECD itself now predicts, the pace of the cuts should be reconsidered.

A number of capitalist economists, including some who wrote to the press supporting the government's strategy just a year ago, are now urging the government to rethink.

For example, Jonathan Portes, the director of the National Institute of Economic and Social Research, who until February was chief economist at the Cabinet Office advising the prime minister, said: "You do not gain credibility by sticking to a strategy that isn't working."

However, these commentators do not have a solution. Like Eds Miliband and Balls they are only arguing for the pain to be less deep but more prolonged.

Nonetheless Osborne's cuts will massively exacerbate the problems. George Osborne has attempted to brush off the criticism and to continue to insist that he 'has no plan B', however, the disastrous results of 'Plan A' are still to be played out.

The government's savage cuts are only beginning to be implemented. As more public sector workers are thrown on the scrapheap, and other cuts hit the public and private sectors, tax revenue will decrease and benefit claims, measly as payments are, will spiral.

The result will be enormous human misery and could even mean an increase rather than a decrease in the government deficit. There is no prospect of 'rebalancing' Britain's economy, of the puny manufacturing sector compensating for the cuts in public spending.

On the contrary, manufacturing is already suffering as consumer spending falls. It is already 2.1% lower than at this time last year, and is likely to fall further.

Production for need
The Con-Dem government can be forced to retreat from its plans. It has already been shaken by the TUC demonstration on 26 March - the biggest trade union demonstration in Britain's history.

On 30 June the government is likely to face the first coordinated strike against its policies by several trade unions. This has to be a step towards a one-day strike of the whole public sector.

This would terrify the government and give enormous confidence to the working class. At the same time a socialist alternative to the capitalist system needs to be put forward.

Capitalism is a blind system, based on the drive for short term profit. It is also in fundamental crisis.

The Socialist Party calls for the nationalisation of the big banking and finance companies. Compensation should be paid on the basis of proven need - without one penny going to the rich speculators who are demanding that the working class pay for the crisis for which they - the speculators - bear responsibility.

It would then be necessary to introduce a state monopoly of foreign trade - so that it would be a democratically elected government - not the market - controlling imports and exports, including capital.

A socialist nationalised banking sector would be democratically run by representatives of banking workers and trade unions, the wider working class, as well as the government.

Decisions would be made to meet the needs of the majority, for example offering cheap loans and mortgages for housing and for the planned development of industry and services and ending all repossessions of people's homes.

However, that would only be the start. The capitalist crisis has led to enormous economic destruction.

In Britain around 10% of wealth has already been lost as a result of the recession, due to factories and workplaces closing, resulting in 2.5 million, and rising, officially unemployed.

That is why a crucial step towards solving the economic crisis would be to also take all the big corporations that dominate Britain's economy into democratic public ownership.

This would then allow for production to be planned to meet the needs of all people and the planet and not for private profit.


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Socialist Party editorial

Economic crisis in 'the