Why this weekends Bahrain grand prix should not be going ahead

This weekend to many peoples astonishment the formula one world championship heads to Bahrain. Despite all that has gone on in that country over the last year the boss’s of F1 is still intent on heading to this country with its fair share of issues.

The semi-feudal dictatorship crushed pro-democracy protests last year and has used torture and show trials against its dissidents.
This weekend Bahrain is due to host a F1 motor racing event. F1 teams are participating on the grounds that the event is "safe", and multimillionaire F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone says 'don't mix sport and politics'.
Other reasons might be that the UK based McLaren F1 team is 40% owned by Bahrain's ruling family who also own 50% of the McLaren car group and that the event is worth $25 million to F1.



It is clear to me that the money for this event is far more important to the likes of Bernie ecclestone and the like far more so than the killings of innocent people protesting against their dictatorial government in Bahrain. If the boss’s of formula one had any conscience at all they’d cancel this race and respect the people of Bahrain and not rub salt in their wounds. It is an insult to hold a race like this as if nothing has happened and is still happening today. No doubt the security will be water tight there and the drivers will be safe but that is no consolation to those ordinary Bahrainians on the outside fighting for a better life for themselves struggling to get by day to day.

To me this symbolises everything about capitalists that they value their money and increasing their profits over the safety of others. They don’t care that hundreds and thousands of people in Bahrain have been brutally tortured and oppressed for months on end just as long as their precious GP and money keeps happening.

But hey what are a few people dead they will never have known to a capitalist wanting to increase his profits though

What it will do is show to the world that profits are put ahead of ordinary people even more. Its time that this was stopped and peoples freedom granted once and for all.

Contradictions of capitalism - where £11 billion is not enough

Banking giant HSBC has said it will cut another 25,000 jobs by 2013 and exit operations in 20 countries as it looks to save billions of dollars.

The announcement came as the bank reported pre-tax profits for the first six months of the year of $11.5bn (£7bn), up 3% on the $11.1bn the bank made a year earlier.

HSBC said it did not expect any of the new job cuts to fall in the UK.

The bank had already announced 5,000 job cuts, 700 of which are in the UK.

Together, the job cuts amount to about 10% of HSBC's total workforce, although the company stressed it will also be recruiting staff by 2013.

"The net number will be a lot smaller than the 30,000 [job losses]," said group chief executive Stuart Gulliver.

As well as the job cuts, bank said it is closing its retail banking operations in Russia and Poland and selling three insurance businesses as part of pre-announced plans to save $2.5bn-$3.5bn by 2013.

On Sunday, it announced the sale of 195 US retail branches, primarily in New York, to First Niagara Bank for about $


This to me is just quite ridiculous and highlights even more the contradictions in teh capitalist system of profit and even mor profit. Even when a global bank like HSBC makes a huge profit of 11 billion pounds it is still deemed not enough and job cuts and branch closures are needed. Why you may ask ?

The bank put it down to efficiency savings and improvements in technology. In reality its cost cutting and in order to squeeze even more profit out of their customers and their overheads.

It is systematic of the capitalist system that a profit is not just enough. They crave more and more and complete domination of a market. This can often lead to monopolies developing in the markets. Which capitalism isnt supposed to do. But still does. The natuarl competition requires business's to compete and under cut eachotehr leading to some dropping out who cant keep up.

Its a real dog eat dog world in the free market and banks are no different.

How can a bank be making 11 billion pounds profit yet the rest of the country is facing tough austerity measures cuts and tax rises.

It is just not on and i urge the banking sector to be taken under democratic workers control where the profits were put back into society and the wealth is spread equally for the benifit of all not justa few.

This is what would happen under socialism where a workers bank was run for the workers by the workers and no rich business.