|
Post by Admin on May 1, 2020 17:26:02 GMT
|
|
|
Post by Admin on May 3, 2020 18:12:15 GMT
Co-operative Socialism www.co-operativesocialism.org/About About every five hundred years, the human experiment takes off in a new direction, or rather, it is forced to take off in a new direction. So, for example, in 1066 the Norman Empire's form of feudalism replaced the Tribalism of Wessex, Mercia, etc, here in England. Five hundred years, or so, before that, that form of Tribalism replaced the Roman Empire which, itself had, 500 years before replaced the older family-based Tribalism of Boudica and so on. So, after about 500 years from 1066, Norman feudalism was replaced by capitalism - when, in 1545, Henry VIII allowed usury to be legal for the first time in the English speaking world (Harry Page's book 'In Restraint of Usury' is cited in the book-list page at www.interestfreemoney.org - here is the exact page link: www.interestfreemoney.org/books.htm
|
|
|
Post by Admin on May 3, 2020 20:42:08 GMT
Things to Do in Quarantine: Read Marx! Post on: May 3, 2020 Doug Enaa Greene The thought of reading 150-year-old books on political economy might sound daunting. But Marx was a surprisingly accessible and entertaining writer. If you have already checked out introductory works like the Communist Manifesto, here are eight more short-ish books to continue your studies. www.leftvoice.org/things-to-do-in-quarantine-read-marx
|
|
|
Post by Admin on May 4, 2020 17:39:40 GMT
Opening report to Online International May Day Rally The COVID-19 pandemic: A trigger event in world history By David North 4 May 2020 We are publishing here the opening report delivered by David North to the 2020 International May Day Online Rally held by the World Socialist Web Site and the International Committee of the Fourth International on May 2. North is the chairman of the International Editorial Board of the WSWS and the national chairman of the Socialist Equality Party in the US. * * * www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/05/04/dave-m04.html
|
|
|
Post by Admin on May 5, 2020 19:14:51 GMT
2nd April, 2020, 3:52 pm Exclusive: Labour members still favour radical Corbynite policies, poll finds labourlist.org/2020/04/exclusive-labour-members-still-favour-radical-corbynite-policies-poll-finds/Labour members are overwhelmingly in favour of the radical policies contained in the 2017 and 2019 general election party manifestos developed under Jeremy Corbyn, YouGov polling has found. LabourList can exclusively reveal the results of internal polling conducted by YouGov for the Rebecca Long-Bailey campaign during the Labour leadership election, which closed at noon today. The weighted group of 1,055 party members surveyed expressed significant support for left-wing policy commitments – from public ownership of key industries to introducing a four-day working week. The research also found substantial support for nuclear disarmament, which was personally advocated by Corbyn but not adopted as party policy and not included in the 2017 or 2019 manifestos. Commenting on the findings, Jon Trickett, currently shadow minister for the Cabinet Office and a key supporter of Long-Bailey’s leadership bid, said: “Whoever the next leader is will have the support of our membership to build on the past four years. “This polling shows there’s no support for turning back on what the members have won these past few years. Our party will have a great future if we are proud of who we are, our working-class politics, trade union link and common sense socialist policies.”
|
|
|
Post by Admin on May 6, 2020 19:03:09 GMT
May 4, 2020 REVOLUTION IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY: A RECONSIDERATION OF MARXISM www.hamptonthink.org/read/revolution-in-the-twenty-first-century-a-reconsideration-of-marxismBy Chris Wright In the age of COVID-19, it’s even more obvious than it’s been for at least ten or twenty years that capitalism is entering a long, drawn-out period of unprecedented global crisis. The Great Depression and World War II will likely, in retrospect, seem rather minor—and temporally condensed—compared to the many decades of ecological, economic, social, and political crises humanity is embarking on now. In fact, it’s probable that we’re in the early stages of the protracted collapse of a civilization, which is to say of a particular set of economic relations underpinning certain social, political, and cultural relations. One can predict that the mass popular resistance, worldwide, engendered by cascading crises will gradually transform a decrepit ancien régime, although in what direction it is too early to tell. But left-wing resistance is already spreading and even gaining the glimmers of momentum in certain regions of the world, including—despite the ending of Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign—the reactionary United States. Over decades, the international left will grow in strength, even as the right, in all likelihood, does as well.
|
|
|
Post by Admin on May 7, 2020 10:05:12 GMT
CORONAVIRUS DECADE: POST-CAPITALIST NIGHTMARE OR SOCIALIST AWAKENING? popularresistance.org/coronavirus-decade-post-capitalist-nightmare-or-socialist-awakening/Tech Giants Offer A New Dystopia In The Wake Of The Pandemic. Socialism Presents A Hopeful Alternative. Which post-capitalist world will emerge? The defining event of the 2020s has been established in its first few months. This will surely be the coronavirus decade, unless something much worse is heading our way, which is not out of the question. An epistemic break has occurred, a rupture in the seemingly entrenched mechanisms of neoliberalism. It is no surprise that Lenin’s quote about decades and weeks seems to adorn every other article. Suddenly, unrepentant free-marketers have been usurped by government interventionists, the pull-yourself-up-by-the-bootstraps brigade drowned out by welfare statists, the we’ve-had-enough-of-experts dogmatists transformed into epidemiologists and public health professionals. The principle of utility has been completely altered overnight. It turns out that PR consultants, change managers and lobbyists are not particularly useful in combating a global pandemic. Bullshit jobs, as David Graeber calls them, have finally been exposed as fraudulent. We now know the jobs that are essential to a healthy society; governments can no longer pretend. These rapid developments signify that the 2020s will likely be the defining decade of the century, the moment where humanity irrevocably descends into darkness or pulls back from the brink. The new is about to be born. But are we emerging into a post-capitalist nightmare or is this the beginning of a socialist awakening?
|
|
|
Post by Admin on May 8, 2020 11:21:15 GMT
The Socialist Manifesto: The Case for Radical Politics in an Era of Extreme Inequality Jacobin founder Bhaskar Sunkara explores socialism's history since the mid-1800s and presents a realistic vision for its future, and why the socialist tradition still matters today. Paperback book, 288 pages. jacobinmag.com/store/product/59
|
|
|
Post by Admin on May 14, 2020 13:29:23 GMT
|
|
|
Post by Admin on May 14, 2020 20:52:11 GMT
DEBUNKING SOME CAPITALIST MISCONCEPTIONS
Old post from Oct. 2017*
1.) Myth: Socialism means higher taxes and Capitalism is good for development
Answer: The answer to this old chestnut is plain and simple. Imposing a high-income tax on the people is not what we would consider being called socialism. Socialism is basically workers' or community ownership of the means of production, distribution, and exchange in the economy. Not when the government intervenes and regulates the economy for themselves (social democracy) to bring about more social and economic equality to at least some extent. Calling the 96 % tax during the so-called "Socialist India Era" from 1970 to 1990 would be incorrect as it has nothing to do with the worker's ownership of the means of production and abolishing the functions of capital. Anarchist communism does not promote having a centralized government anyways so it would be incorrect to attribute high-income taxes to that as well if you are going to haphazardly call communism, socialism or anarchism, the same. Winston Churchill implemented high taxes in Great Britain during WW2 and he wasn’t socialist at all. So it is therefore a common misnomer to call levying a tax of some sort as socialist. From 1960-1980 to 1980-2010, the GDP per capita growth rates in developing areas like Sub-Saharan Africa and South America decreased significantly. The IMF, the World Bank, WTO and other institutions shove free-markets down the throats of developing nations which are bad for their economies and the people living there. So to say that capitalism is good for business is bollocks.
2.) Myth: Capitalism is Human Nature
Answer: Again, you have made no clear argument that has been substantiated by facts and evidence for your claim. Capitalism has existed in its earliest form as agrarian capitalism from the 14th to 16th century (Early Renaissance) whereby market relations replaced some but not all of feudal relations in society but wasn’t yet the dominant force in the global economy. Following that, mercantilism in which a country attempts to amass wealth through trade with other countries, exporting more than it imports and increasing stores of gold and precious metals followed suit from the 16th to 18th century. Then came Industrial capitalism in which trade, industry, and capital are privately controlled and operated for a profit from the 18th to 20th centuries, characterized by its use of heavy machinery and a much more pronounced division of labor which featured economists such as David Hume and Adam Smith who wrote their famous economic treatise, The Wealth of Nations. After that came the advent of Modern Liberalism as a result of the great depression. The economic recovery of the world's leading capitalist economies in the period following the end of the Great Depression and the Second World War eased discussion of capitalism's eventual decline or demise. The state began to play an increasingly prominent role to moderate and regulate the capitalistic system throughout much of the world. Keynesian economics became a widely accepted method of government regulation and countries such as the United Kingdom experimented with mixed economies in which the state-owned and operated certain major industries. So in its current form, it has existed for 200-300 years preeeminently and in it's earliest manifestations it has existed 450-650 years ago since the Early Renaissance or the crisis of the 14th century. The earliest societies recorded in human history were foraging societies based on anarchistic principles and without a government. As a matter of fact, Kropotkin pointed out that Darwin stated that in numberless animal societies, the struggle between separate individuals for the means of existence disappears, that this struggle is replaced by cooperation and how that results in the development of intellectual and moral faculties which secure to the species the best conditions for survival. Competition, self-interest, and greed are not innate human conditions that we are born with but depending on the environment we live in, we are made to act in a certain way depending on what the situation or our circumstances demands.
3.) Myth: Capitalism and competition rewards merit
Answer: That is patently incorrect. Competition, greed, and self-interest do not incentivize people to work hard. As a matter of fact, according to a recent study by Gallup's new 142-country study on the State of the Global Workplace, only 13 percent of the global working population have the motivation to work or is engaged in it. In other words, about one in eight workers - roughly 180 million employees in the countries studied - are psychologically committed to their jobs and likely to be making positive contributions to their organizations. Scientific studies have shown that financial incentives are ineffective in motivating the worker to reap the rewards or fruits of their labor and produce results if it involves even rudimentary cognitive skills and conceptual and creative thinking. In fact, it, for the most part, stifles any creative impulses and does not give them the incentive to innovate or improve their work. Rather only under non-competitive, nurturing and caring environments or atmospheres wherein the workers work not necessarily for a financial incentive of some sort but for the love, drive and passion they have for their job and the intrinsic value it has keeps them going. Economists, psychologists and sociologists have posited and concluded there are 3 ways to increase performance and personal satisfaction in one’s work: Autonomy (self-directed labor without a boss), mastery (the urge to hone and develop our craft and skills in a particular task), and purpose, according to 2 economists from MIT, one from The University of Chicago and another from Carnegie Mellon.
t4.) Myth: Capitalism is Freedom Answer: Capitalism is inherently hierarchical and based on the social and economic stratification of the masses between the capitalist and working classes. As a matter of fact, itis just as centrally planned as Leninist or Stalinist state-capitalism from the top-down wherein CEOs, bosses, a Board of Directors, Presidents, managers and etc. rule from the top as the workers have to scrape by with whatever the bourgeoisie gives them, with the exception of having a competitive market. While libertarian socialism is based on a decentralized non-hierarchical free-association of collectives when there are no bosses but instead workers have more of a say in the production and distribution of their products and labor. Capitalism does not guarantee the well-being of an individual either. Hundreds of millions across the globe are starving to death and living on less than $ 1.90 per day while millions of others die from many preventable diseases that could be cured if global capitalism didn’t see people as a means to their own end or a lucrative product to be exploited off of. So it is either live in poverty or involuntarily work under a boss for the rest of their lives or for whatever amount of time they employ them for (as job security depends on market forces). There is barely any such a thing as freedom under capitalism. Even if you have the money, your options are very limited to what you can afford. As a matter of fact, it doesn't guarantee the well-being of the individual either. While in anarcho-communism, its key tenant is not only the right to labor but most importantly, as outlined in most of Peter Kropotkin's works, the right to well-being. So by uprooting certain hierarchies in society which burden especially the working and middle classes with destitution, we are actually liberating the people from subordination and coercion and allowing them to explore and realize their full potential in the workplace.
5.) Capitalism is better at allocating resources:
Answer. Capitalism is just as centrally planned from the top-down as Soviet state capitalism or Maoist China. Not all socialists or communists advocate what you have described of socialism. In fact, they are against centrally planning the state (or even having one at all) and support the worker's ownership of the means of production. This gives them more flexibility in the workplace and thus allows them to explore their full potential and creative capacities as workers. In libertarian socialism, those who specialize in producing a particular good work to produce as such and work with others who similarly specialize in the same profession to manufacture goods to a particular consumer audience. While in capitalism, private owners own the enterprises and have more of a say in the production and distribution of products and use of capital than the average folk. Only a small fraction of society such as the upper- and maybe middle classes can afford to buy resources and capital while the rest are left to subsist with what they have or live in poverty. This can be replaced by a post-scarcity anarchist society in which most goods can be produced in great abundance with minimal human labor needed so that they become available to all very cheaply or even freely. Post-scarcity is not generally taken to mean that scarcity has been eliminated for all consumer goods and services; instead, it is often meant that all people can easily have their basic survival needs to be met along with some significant proportion of their desires for goods and services. In addition to a gift economy, where goods and services are given without an explicit agreement for immediate or future rewards, no one will have to live under circumstances where they can barely necessities afford housing and a means for sustenance. So asserting that capitalism is good at allocating resources doesn’t do much to explain why over 700 million people are in extreme poverty and 800 million people are malnourished while the top 67 richest capitalists in the world have enough wealth to end global poverty 4 times over. Not to forget that 1/3 of the food produced in the world is put to waste by first world consumers yet malnutrition and starvation are running rampant in mainly 3rd world countries. Capitalism has always been allocating wealth mostly to the rich and has never cared about the plight or struggle of the working class if we look at it from a historical standpoint. By extracting the surplus value from the labor of their workers, employers cash in on massive sums of wealth and capital while the worker is overworked and underpaid but can barely afford their basic necessities for most of the time.
|
|
|
Post by Admin on May 17, 2020 16:43:20 GMT
"Momentum Renewal Founding Statement ...Momentum must be transformed for the many Momentum played a vital role in fighting for a radical, socialist Labour Party and in the last four years, especially focused on supporting the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn. In the wake of a brutal election defeat and the election of a new leader, there will be an attempt to water down our politics. There will be an attempt to roll back on policies that defend the working class just at the moment this government prepares to unleash a new, harsher wave of austerity on our people following the current crisis. And there will be calls to adopt a politics which divides the working class and takes the support of BAME and migrant communities for granted. Momentum’s key tasks therefore need to change, and with it the way we organise ourselves. Our movement needs to be bottom up and not simply top down. Now, more than ever, we need left unity. If the Labour left splits and socialists leave, if those who have spent the last five years undermining our party inside and out seize it, then we will be in the wilderness for a generation. We do not have the time to start all over again. Momentum is the largest organisation on the Labour left. We need to reforge it into an organisation that can unite, defend and advance our cause within our party and our country. This means new leadership and a new politics that is as clear and bold in its demands as our opponents have been. This is why, as socialists in the Labour Party, we’re launching Momentum Renewal, our platform for transforming Momentum to make it truly fit for purpose. Democratic, member-led and organised, Momentum Renewal will be rooted in working-class communities, which founded our party and which must be its heartland. Momentum needs to win back the trust of many elements of our movement who have felt side-lined and marginalised over the past few years, and unite socialists within the Labour Party who have made it clear they want a broad, socialist platform. This requires looking outward, not retreating to a bunker. It requires admitting where we went wrong, as well as defending the positive changes we made. It requires breaking with a stifling, suffocating London bubble and ensuring that what you know is always more important than who you know. Most importantly, it requires a truly radical politics rooted in the concerns of the working class of this country, because that’s where socialists have to be to win. If we fail in this task – or worse still don’t even try – then we will never get a majority Labour Government. To this end, we fundamentally believe that the Trade Union movement is central, an anchor which keeps the Labour Party moored to serious working-class politics. Workers, many of whom are politically and socially active, but who found their voice through local issue-based campaigns, in antiracist groups, the environmental movement or anti-war activism must be brought together with the organised labour movement. Momentum is in a unique position to craft that coalition. This means strengthening political education and training, plus building organisational capacity years ahead of an election. Young activists in particular have given so much over the last five years to Momentum, Labour and the wider movement. It is younger people who disproportionately will bear the brunt of climate breakdown, job insecurity and the continued unravelling of social democracy. They must be front and centre within our movement. And this means building local institutions, not just running national campaigns. A real, genuine community organising campaign that begins with listening to what people want rather than telling them, and that meets differences of opinion with openness and compassion, not condemnation. We desperately need a single socialist slate for the next set of NEC elections, and a meticulous plan to prevent the recapture of the institutions of the party by factional forces that seek more internal conflict, or to blunt the boldness of our movement. We need the voice of the membership to be strong and united behind the socialist vision we share. Momentum has the opportunity to renew itself, and in so doing play a key role in the rebuilding of our party and our movement as we resist this callous Tory government. As the debate heats up in advance of the elections to Momentum’s National Coordinating Group, we want to work with anyone who shares our vision for change to ensure that candidates are elected who will drive through reform. We believe that can be done, and will give it our support to meet the challenges of this new era. As a wise person once said, things can, and they will, change." momentumrenewal.co.uk/founding-statement
|
|
|
Post by Admin on May 30, 2020 19:19:38 GMT
MAY 29, 2020 In Search of a Lost Socialism by JOSHUA FRANK In May of 1914 — 107 years ago this month — a small, yet vibrant socialist colony on the edge of Los Angeles County took root that is worth revisiting. In the Age of Covid-19, and with the continued violent assault on black and brown people across the US, one must visualize a more peaceful, egalitarian future, where healthcare is free and police are non-existent. The seeds of revolution are all around us, they just need planting. – JF www.counterpunch.org/2020/05/29/in-search-of-a-lost-socialism/
|
|
|
Post by Admin on Jun 1, 2020 16:32:36 GMT
|
|
|
Post by Admin on Jun 6, 2020 17:40:12 GMT
Latest Red Voice piece, an excellent article by MBSO cadre member Leo Porter on the theoretical shortcomings of Marx's account of primitive accumulation: "But one question remains unanswered [by Marx]: how was such wealth accumulated in the first place, that enabled proto-capitalists to start employing wage-labor on this massive scale? Was it truly, simply, because of the exploitation of freedmen in Europe?" Decolonize Marxism! Part One: Primitive Accumulation The reality is that class structure is built atop the colonial structure of our economy, and the mode of production we call “capitalism” could not, would not, and cannot exist without it. content.redvoice.news/decolonize-marxism-part-one/
|
|
|
Post by Admin on Jun 7, 2020 12:37:01 GMT
|
|