The dangers of the lack of a political alternative

During these tough economic times as we start to feel the bite of the cuts and our living standards slip backwards. The lack of a alternative or a party standing up for people is very evident.

It took the trade unions months to call the first demonstration national demo in London on March 26th last year. They had to be dragged kicking and screaming to do so. They only started organising mass co-ordinated strike action after hard work and lobbying and mass pressure from below by ordinary rank-and-file members.

With the 3 main political parties lib dem, labour and tories all agreeing the need for cuts to some degree people will be left feeling who do we trust now ?

very understandable with no one taking a lead and showing leadership as my post on political leadership last night was about can lead to all sorts of dangers. Not least the idea that we cant affect things and a sense of desperation sets in. Last summers riots were a sign of this. Many young people in poor areas with little opportunities feeling attacked and threatened from every angle felt they had nothing to loose.
As Martin Luther King once said rioting is the voice of the voiceless. Countless generations have been ignored and pushed about, stop and searched as seen as a constant threat but now have even less opportunities with the cutting of EMA and trebling of tuitian fees for university.

Life is a struggle for people from these backgrounds ordinary working class backgrounds who have little hope in finding a job in their area or getting out of the situation they find themselves in.

Youth fight for jobs last year did interveen in these areas to try and offer a constructive programme for youth to get involved in and channel their anger into something constructive and this is helping but still far more needs to be done.

The lack of an alternative for people will also have an affect on peoples political views to the likes of the right and far right for example may find easy picking in areas where there is no alternative to the 3 capitalist parties and play on peoples fears of imigration and heighten those tensions. This could be very dangerous and has already been seen with the senseless murdering of innocent students in Norway last year and the rise of the neo-nazi's in germany.

All this is very worrying and makes the need for a new workers party and a lead to be taken by the unions to offer an alternative right away. They should be acting as the pillars of the communities where political leadership is lacking.

Many confused things will be running through peoples minds at this time but the longer we go on without that clear alternative being made, as socialist alternative the more likely people are to turn to less savoury methods of change which is something as socialists we would not want to see.

EU tells Greeks to take more austerity or no bailout

So the EU and its moneyman have threatened Greeks need to take further actions of austerity before they will be given their new bailout package which will in the long run result in more cuts as they will need to pay this back one day.

This imagine reminds me of some awful medicine when you were younger being forced to take this awful tasting medicine as we are told it will make us better. We are not sure of this and often feel worse because of it.

This is a very similar feeling the Greek workers must be feeling today. When they are being told they require further privatisation and further cuts to their pay and jobs.

We can identify with this in the Uk where we are constantly being told there is no alternative we need to cut. Even Britains opposition the Labour party who claim to stand up for workers, which i completely refute admit there need to be cuts too all be a little slower and nicer.

i dont know about you but i dont know of any cuts that dont hurt or are nice.

EU leaders have urged all Greek politicians to support new spending cuts and tax hikes, saying there is no alternative if debt-laden Athens is to qualify for a second massive bail-out.

The second rescue is being negotiated in Brussels. It is expected to be about 120bn euros (£107bn; $171bn).

"There will be a new programme for Greece, on which the Greek parliament will have to vote next week," said Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel.

The UK says it will not contribute.

EU leaders held a second day of summit talks in Brussels on Friday dominated by the Greek debt crisis, which threatens the stability of the 17-nation eurozone.

"In the case of Britain I sought assurances that Britain wouldn't be pulled into a eurozone package for Greece, and I've received those assurances," UK Prime Minister David Cameron said.

Ms Merkel reiterated: "We will do everything to stabilise the euro."

She spoke of the Greek opposition needing to "fulfil its historic responsibilities".

Separately, the leaders agreed that Croatia should join the EU. The target for Croatia's accession is July 2013. "There are no reservations, as we had with Bulgaria and Romania," Ms Merkel said.

EU pressure on Greece

The BBC's Matthew Price in Brussels says Europe's exasperation with Greece's economic woes is all too clear.

In their summit conclusions the EU leaders called on "all political parties in Greece to support the programme's main objectives", saying "national unity is a prerequisite for success".

Our correspondent says it was a direct challenge to the Greek opposition, which has threatened to reject the budget cuts when they are put to parliament next week.






Of course there has been mass protests on the streets of Greece this week and they have now experienced 9 general strikes. Effort now needs to be to provide a working class alternative to the cuts package and offer a way out of this vicious circle of debt, cuts and austerity leading to more pain for the good working Greeks.

A new working class alternative that can lead the people out of the grips of capitalism and show things do not have to be this way. There is a alternative and that is making the rich pay. By the workers taking over the commanding heights of the economy and running the economy in the interest of the many not just the few in a planned economy benifiting all not just the moneymen will be the first step to helping Greece out of this mess.

Unemployed figure hits 2.5 million yet still no concern from government

Worrying signs today as the unemployed people rose by 35 thousand up to October to hit 2.5 Million people across the country. With the job cuts not set to really bite in hard to the new year where it is estimated half a million jobs will be going in the public sector with a similar amount in the private sector as they are inter-related i can see the unemployed figures hitting and breaking 3 million by the end of next year.

Shouldnt this be a concern to people ? and not least the government who this shows even more that their plan for cutting fast and deep into public sepdning is having a negative affect.

We only hear yesterday that inflation has hit a record high in recent times with teh cost of food and clothing and furniture hitting high prices.

What more concerns me is the VAT rise coming in in January will cripple consumer confidence and spending- which i made reference to in a previous blog post. All together we are in fora very rough ride in the foreseeable future with this tory lead government.

I just hope for everyones sakes they have a plan B. Something tells me they dont or dont want to face the prospect of needing one as they are so hell bent on pushing through these cuts they havent stopped to think waht might happen if this doesnt work and we end up going backwards. Which from where i am sitting is very likely to happen. With growth slowing and unemployment rising are the signs not clear now their plan is not working ?