Discussion of recent events
Host: Howard Moss
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In William Shakespeare’s play, Henry V, Henry’s exhortation to the English army fighting the French, ‘Cry ‘God for Harry, England, and Saint George!’ holds no resonance for contemporary, or historical socialists of the SPGB as there is no god, gods spring from human imagination, we reject the notion that we are ‘subjects’ of a self perpetuating monarchy and we reject nationalism. Far more relevant, uplifting and purposeful is the call for Workers of the World Unite! You have nothing to lose but your chains!
On Bill’s birthday it’s worth reading his biting piece about money:
‘Gold ! yellow, glittering, precious gold ! No gods,
I am no idle votarist: roots, you clear heavens !
Thus much of this will make black white; foul fair;
Wrong right; base noble; old young; coward valiant.
. . . Why, this
Will lug priests and servants from your sides;
Pluck stout men’s pillows from behind their head;
This yellow slave
Will knit and break religions; bless the accursed;
Make the hoar leprosy adored; place thieves,
And give them title, knee and approbation
With senators on the bench: this is it
That makes the wappen’d widow wed again;
She, whom the spital-house and ulcerous sores
Would cast the gorge at, this embalms and spices
To the April day again. Come, damned earth.
Thou common whore of mankind, that putt’st odds
Among the rout of nations . . .’
Timon of Athens Act Four, scene three.
Date first performed not known but it is to be found in the First Folio of 1632.
The quotation below is from Karl Marx’s Capital Volume One, Chapter 3 "Money" (part 3) Everyman's Library (page 112)
‘As the circulation of commodities extends, the power of money increases, of money which is an absolutely social form of wealth, ever ready for use. Columbus, in a letter from Jamaica penned in 1503, says "Gold is a wonderful thing! Whoever owns it is lord of all he wants. With gold it is even possible to open for souls a way into paradise!" Since money does not disclose what has been transformed into it, everything, whether a commodity or not, is convertible into gold. Everything becomes saleable and purchaseable. Circulation is the great retort into which everything is thrown, and out of which everything is recovered as crystallised money. Not even the bones of the saints are able to withstand this alchemy; and still less able to withstand it are more delicate things, sacrosanct things which are outside the commercial traffic of men.’
The below is from Vaux Populi blog 23 April 2008.
‘Things
have moved a long way since Enoch Powell's rivers of blood speech 40
years ago. Today, all the mainstream parties are against immigration,
as long as it's illegal of course. A border police force has even
been set up to keep them out. St. George's Day was once celebrated
only by fascists. Now the red-and-white coloured rag is even flown on
public buildings. The gentlemen of the League of Saint George (see
http://www.leaguestgeorge.com/) must be happy.
Yes,
unfortunately, St George's Day is upon us again, but what is this
mythical saint supposed to have done?
We
all know that, according to legend, he slew a dragon but in The
History of the Seven Champions of Christendom we
are told that, among his many feats of valour, he did away with
two.
He
was, so the story goes, born in Coventry, son of Lord Albert, High
Steward of England. Having been abducted as a baby and held captive
by the witch Calyb for 14 years, he tricked her into revealing her
magic whereupon he split a rock and imprisoned her in it. This freed
not only St George but also St Denis, patron saint of France, St
James (Spain), St Patrick (Ireland) and St David (Wales), after which
they went their separate ways on great adventures and acts of valour.
These included sorcery, battling against incredible odds and rescuing
princesses.
George,
the legend continues, fought and won many battles, apparently
single-handed. In the course of one he also freed St Denis who had
carelessly allowed himself to be captured. And, of course, he slaved
that dragon.
On
his return to England he wanted to turn to a contemplative life but
the king asked him to slay one more dragon which was terrorising the
people of Dunsmore. This time, although he killed the beast, he also
died from the poison spewed on him by it. He was, we are told, buried
in the chapel at Windsor Castle and his sons - no mention of a wife -
were given high office by the king.
If
you believe all this you'll believe anything, including that St
George's Day is anything more than an excuse for xenophobia - and for
pubs to sell more beer.
We
shan't be celebrating today but will continue distributing our
leaflets in favour of world-wide socialism where the planet and its
resources will have become the common heritage of all humans and the
world won't be criss-crossed by frontiers.
https://spgb.blogspot.com/2008/04/st-george-and-flag.html
Spectacle
Fascist is a
lazy pejorative.
Too often a
head of state struts and preens,
Engineering
unedifying scenes;
His rhetoric
and bluster combative.
The
president becomes the spectacle
Personified,
appears more an unsurer
Il Duce,
than some latter day Fuehrer,
In his
pomposity. The debacle
Unfolding of
governance by whim,
And ideology
of “what I say
Is forever
true”, at least for today:
All resolution
dissolves in him.
Endorsed by
a cabal of the willing,
Willing
themselves a financial killing.
D. A.
The adage, Si vis pacem, para bellum, would appear to be more and more interpreted by the UK and western European countries as Si vis bellum, para bellum. Those with a far better knowledge of Latin than this Blog will no doubt correct us as to the the accuracy of our adaptation.
Whilst such intentions and actions may benefit the Underwood's of the world they place the majority in danger of death and destruction.
Since it is the majority who run capitalism on behalf of, and for the benefit of, the minority exploitative class can we suppose that a section of the working class will welcome the employment opportunities that such pre-war preparation offers?
As the propertyless majority have little choice but to to sell their labour power to the capitalist class in order to obtain wages and salaries in order to acquire the necessities of life and to reproduce themselves should those who choose to work for the various merchants of death concern themselves with the use and consequences of their labour?
Many workers are already employed in various positions which reinforce the repression of others in diverse ways on behalf of capitalists and of the state.
The resonant lines from a Percy Bysshe Shelley poem deserve to have more impact, 'we are many, they are few.'
The solution is not if you want peace you must prepare for war. The solution is a society where quality goods and services are produced for use not profit – a moneyless, leaderless, stateless society. War and weapons manufacture, and the horrendous outcomes of such will have no place in socialism.
'The UK will sharply boost explosives production to reduce dependence on the US, The Times reported. The outlet cited a growing concern over the reliability of American military support.
According to the report, shipping containers will be deployed across the UK to manufacture RDX, a key explosive used in 155mm artillery rounds and other British weapons.
BAE Systems, Britain’s only producer of the rounds, also plans to build three new sites to improve the system’s resilience, according to Steve Cardew, business development director at BAE’s Maritime and Land Defence Solutions.
“One large facility is clearly a big security threat. If you have dispersed facilities, it is much more secure,” Cardew told the outlet.
Traditionally, RDX has been made in large, inefficient plants. Cardew said the container-based model would be faster, cheaper, and more efficient, with each unit capable of producing up to 100 tonnes annually.
He said the ramp-up was essential “to effectively match Russia and other hostile nations,” adding that rising global demand had “forced” BAE to speed up production.
The report noted the UK had supplied much of its 155mm ammunition to Ukraine as part of its multi-billion-pound military assistance.
It also cited US President Donald Trump’s unpredictable foreign policy – including tariffs and a temporary halt to military and intelligence aid to Kiev – as a reason the UK and EU are increasingly wary of relying on American weapons.
Currently, 155mm rounds made with US-sourced explosives are subject to International Traffic in Arms Regulations (Itar), restricting their use and resale without US approval.
Cardew said BAE, which previously imported RDX from the US and France, will be able to market its own ‘Itar-free’ products globally once local production ramps up.
The company aims for a 16-fold increase in 155mm rounds when its new plant in south Wales opens this summer.'
'The UK would support Germany if it decides to give long-range Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine, The Telegraph reported citing British government sources.
London has long backed arming Kiev with the German-made weapons, which have a 500km range and are capable of striking targets deep into Russian territory, the report stated. Moscow has warned that supplying long-range missiles to Kiev and allowing it to strike Russian territory will be considered an escalation of hostilities.
“We continue to work with our partners, including Germany, to equip Ukraine as best we can to defend its sovereign territory,” a British foreign policy official told the outlet, commenting on the potential Taurus deliveries.
The report follows recent remarks by incoming German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who signaled he was willing to supply Taurus missiles to Kiev.
“I have always said that I would do it,” Merz told German state broadcaster ARD.
“Our European partners are already supplying cruise missiles… The British are doing it, the French are doing it, and the Americans are doing it,” he added, referencing the UK’s Storm Shadow and France’s Scalp missiles respectively.
The move must be agreed upon with Berlin’s European partners, Merz said. His CDU party has said the missiles could be used to strike Russian command centres and supply routes, including the Kerch Bridge to Crimea.
Merz’s stance contrasts sharply with that of outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who has repeatedly refused to give Kiev Taurus missiles and warned that the move could escalate the conflict and draw Germany directly into war with Moscow.
Merz is expected to take office in May, once his Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Scholz’s Social Democrats (SPD) finalize a coalition agreement. CDU defence spokesman Roderich Kiesewetter told The Telegraph that the missile delivery issue “remains a point of contention” in coalition talks.
SPD members have
expressed concern over the Taurus’ range and power, arguing it
poses a greater escalation risk than British or French systems. Party
leader Matthias Miersch this week suggested Merz might change course
once he receives classified intelligence on the missiles.
German
Defence Minister Boris Pistorius, an SPD member, has previously
stated there are “many
good arguments”
against the delivery, citing confidential national security
concerns.'
Human ingenuity and inventiveness have, throughout history, provided the world with many things which are of benefit to humankind. Many things have, however been created for the purpose of destroying human life. At this stage in history there are weapons which, if ever used, would wipe out life on this planet completely.
‘Gunpowder was invented in China during the 9th century AD, likely by Chinese alchemists who were trying to create an elixir of immortality.’ Wiki.
‘Chinese researchers have successfully tested a non-nuclear hydrogen bomb that created a sustained fireball, far outperforming traditional explosives, the South China Morning Post has reported.
In an article the newspaper cited the researchers’ study published last month in the Chinese-language Journal of Projectiles, Rockets, Missiles and Guidance. According to the report, a team from the China State Shipbuilding Corporation’s (CSSC) 705 Research Institute — a key player in underwater weapon systems — developed a 2kg (4.4lbs) bomb primarily composed of magnesium hydride, with conventional explosives serving as the catalyst.
In a field test, the device reportedly generated a fireball with temperatures exceeding 1,000 degrees Celsius (1,832 degrees Fahrenheit) that lasted for more than two seconds, which is "15 times longer" than what an "equivalent TNT blast" is capable of producing.
In the reaction, magnesium hydride, a compound originally developed as an efficient fuel, rapidly releases stored hydrogen gas, resulting in a sustained inferno.
The novel explosive device’s destructive power thus is said to lie not in its blast pressure, but rather in the ability to generate extreme heat.
The South China Morning Post quoted CSSC research scientist Wang Xuefeng as explaining that its properties also allow for “precise control over blast intensity, easily achieving uniform destruction of targets across vast areas.”
If fully developed, the method could presumably yield a weapon similar to a thermobaric device – ideal for annihilating defensive structures and armoured vehicles.
While the production of magnesium hydride used to be mostly small-scale and rather complicated, China has recently developed a cheaper and safer production method and built a plant capable of producing 150 tons of the compound per year.’
The below is from the Socialist Standard February 2024
’Modern warfare entails the destruction of both means of production and workers themselves, as we all see on our TV screen at the moment in Gaza and Ukraine. It represents quite the opposite of any progression of our productive potential — a drastic regression — and poses a massive threat to everyone.
What we are referring to here is the technology devoted to the art of killing human beings on a potentially industrial scale and reducing their habitat to an utter wasteland. The very thought of it strikes us as repulsive and inhumane. Little wonder people feel so ambivalent about ‘technological progress’. Little wonder that, for so many, the future has come to look so bleak.
While some innovations have provided us with both benefits and disadvantages, the same most certainly cannot be said of certain other technological innovations one can think of – like, say, a Tomahawk cruise missile costing about $2 million apiece. There are thousands of Tomahawk missiles at the disposition of navies around the world, not to mention all those other kinds of missiles in service. The destruction they could inflict on the planet does not bear thinking about. One cannot even pretend that there is any real benefit to be gained from any of this — unless you count employment for workers in a factory producing such weapons as a ‘benefit’. But then, these same workers could have been far better employed producing something social useful.
There is an argument that is sometimes made that for all sheer waste of human talent and material resources that the military establishment represents, technological innovation in the service of this establishment has had important spin-offs that benefit us all. According to NATO’s website, for instance:
‘Our militaries have one paramount duty: to keep us safe from any threat. Over the years, countless inventors from NATO countries have created new technologies, big and small, that contribute to that ultimate goal. The spill-over effects of this innovation are all around us and have laid the foundations of our modern world. NATO has supported science and innovation for more than 70 years. The Alliance not only provides direct funding to researchers, but also maintains networks that bring together thousands of scientists from around the world to collaborate and build on each other’s work. Military innovation in science and technology has helped to create some of the most iconic and essential items in our streets, offices and homes. Here are seven of the most interesting inventions pioneered and popularised by NATO militaries that are now common in everyday life’.
The article then goes on to list the more well-known inventions initially intended for military purposes, such as the internet, GPS satellite navigation, microwaves, duct tape and so on, plus a much longer list of ‘honourable mentions’ only cursorily referred to.
If this is not an example of special pleading then one wonders what else it could possibly be. Reading this, one might be forgiven for having overlooked that NATO, like any other military bloc, is a huge killing machine that consumes massive quantities of resources and manpower for the purpose of waging war. How is that a socially beneficial use of resources and manpower? Satellite navigation is great if you want to find the shortest route from A to B. But satellite navigation can also deliver a Tomahawk missile to its intended destination resulting in appalling destruction and lives lost. That is not so great.
The spurious reasoning in the NATO piece lies in the apparent implication that but for the existence of the military establishment we wouldn’t have at our disposal something like that handy roll of duct tape to seal our leaking pipe. But who is to say this would be the case at all? It seems presumptuous to make such a claim. Maybe someone would well have invented duct tape or, indeed, something superior to duct tape had there not been any capitalist nation states around or military establishments built up to defend them. One might also note in passing that every military establishment claims its role is purely ‘defensive’ but obviously this cannot be the case otherwise wars would never have occurred in the first place.
The potential for war, however, does not exist because we just happen to possess the means of waging war. On the contrary it is wired into the very system of global capitalism that created these means. Since the so-called Great War of 1914-18, dubbed the ‘war to end all wars’, there has not been a single day when there has not been a war going on somewhere in the world.
War is the military expression of capitalism´s competitive struggle over resources, markets and trade routes where other methods of securing these things have failed. This is notwithstanding attempts to rationalise or justify this conflict in terms of supposedly irreconcilable religious or ethnic or whatever other differences one can conjure up between the warring parties concerned. That, however, is just the froth on the surface of things — the whipped-up pretext for war, rather than its fundamental cause. Dig deeper and you will always find an ulterior, economic motive.
Robin Cox
https://socialiststandardmyspace.blogspot.com/2024/02/material-world-technology-capitalism.html
A record release by Billy J Kramer and the Dakotas, a Lennon-McCartney composition, reached number one in the NME chart in 1963. ‘Listen, do you want to know a secret, Do you promise not to tell.’ The USA apparently has a secret it wants to tell the world about, but it’s still a secret!
“We have weaponry that nobody has any idea what it is, and it is the most powerful weapons in the world that we have. More powerful than anybody even, not even close,” he (Trump) told journalists in the Oval Office.’ To adapt a popular Brady Bunch meme, Sure Donald.
Many people often say if the expense expended on various things viewed as negative and harmful were instead diverted toward world poverty or other damaging and destructive problems caused by capitalism then it would be a much more positive use of resources with far better outcomes.
Perhaps in some cases this might be a short term solution to particular issues. But it would not solve the underlying cause of the untold number of troubles resulting from capitalism.
Now the USA is planning to spend billions on a new version of Ronald Reagan’s 1983 Strategic Defence Initiative.
‘The US possesses technology that can “manipulate” and “bend time and space,” White House innovation czar Michael Kratsios has claimed .Kratsios delivered the remarks at the Endless Frontiers Retreat in Austin, Texas, just weeks after being confirmed as director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.
He emphasized President Donald Trump’s ambition to usher in a new “golden age of America,” which includes fostering scientific research and the application of cutting-edge technologies. According to Kratsios, the US can emerge as a global leader by making “smart choices” regarding public funding and deregulating innovation.
“Our technologies permit us to manipulate time and space. They leave distance annihilated, cause things to grow, and improve productivity,” he stated, without elaborating. Later in his speech, Kratsios insisted that overcoming the “sclerosis of the state” would enable Americans to achieve “scientific discoveries that will bend time and space, make more with less, and drive us further into the endless frontier.”
Trump himself has recently alluded to advanced technologies not yet revealed to the public. Last week, he claimed China would hesitate to escalate trade tensions with the US partly due to the existence of secret weapons in the American arsenal.
“We have weaponry that nobody has any idea what it is, and it is the most powerful weapons in the world that we have. More powerful than anybody even, not even close,” he told journalists in the Oval Office.’
‘President Donald Trump is building a Golden Dome missile defence shield, which will cost hundreds of billions of dollars to cover the entire globe and monitor enemy threats to the US.
The state-of-the-art defence structure could be up and running as early as 2026, with Elon Musk's SpaceX company partnering with software maker Palantir and drone builder Anduril to build key parts of the Golden Dome, six sources told Reuters.
SpaceX's integral involvement in the project - which is expected to cost Musk $10 billion - would include building and launching more than 1,000 satellites around the globe to sense missiles and track their movements.
Another trailblazing fleet of around 200 attack satellites armed with precision missiles or lasers would then bring down threatening enemy missiles, according to sources.
Elon Musk’s SpaceX has emerged as a leading contender to develop a significant portion of US President Donald Trump’s proposed ‘Golden Dome’ missile defence shield, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.
In January, Trump signed an executive order for developing a missile defence system akin to Israel’s ‘Iron Dome’. The president cited a missile attack as “the most catastrophic threat facing the United States.”
The proposed system envisions launching between 400 to over 1,000 tracking satellites, complemented by approximately 200 armed satellites equipped to intercept incoming missiles.
Musk’s rocket and satellite company is partnering with software maker Palantir and drone builder Anduril to build key parts of the Golden Dome, sources told the outlet. While SpaceX is expected to focus on the tracking component, the weaponization aspect may involve other contractors.
SpaceX has reportedly introduced an unconventional subscription-based model for its segment of the project, whereby the government would pay for access rather than own the infrastructure outright. This approach has reportedly raised concerns within the Pentagon regarding long-term costs and control over the system.
Musk’s dual role as a contractor and senior adviser to the president has also prompted scrutiny from members of Congress, who have expressed concerns about potential conflicts of interest. Earlier this month, Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen introduced a bill that would prohibit awarding government contracts to companies owned by special government employees, such as Musk.
The Pentagon is in the early stages of the project, with initial capabilities anticipated by 2026 and full deployment projected only after 2030, according to Reuters. The overall cost for Golden Dome could reportedly run into the hundreds of billions of dollars.’
The below is from the Socialist Standard March 1986
‘...Star
Wars is
officially known by the euphemistic title of Strategic Defence
initiative. The declared intention is to place a "dome'' or
“umbrella" around the United States, making it immune to
attack from ballistic missiles launched from Russia. Existing
anti-ballistic missile systems work on the principle of destroying or
disabling the incoming warheads as they re-enter the earth's
atmosphere over their target. Star Wars envisages this as simply the
third line of defence in a far more sophisticated network. The first
element of this would be to attack the missile boosters just after
they are launched and before they release individual warheads, which
would in turn be the subject of the second set of interceptors. If
each layer of defence destroys 90 per cent of its targets, only 0.1
per cent of the warheads launched will reach their destination.
It
is the first part of this network — against the booster phase —
that represents the biggest innovation and is most dependent on new
technology. Various kinds of beam weapons have been proposed to
accomplish this aspect, including such exotica as X-ray lasers. All
would be incredibly risky and expensive — one proposal, for
instance, would require for its functioning the use of at least
one-fifth of the entire American electricity output. Add to this the
fact that whatever system is chosen would be of enormous complexity,
could never be operationally tested and would have to work perfectly
at the first time of asking. It is no wonder that many leading
American scientists have flatly stated that the whole Star Wars
project is technically just not feasible.
The
arguments about Star Wars display the logic of the madhouse, but this
after all is the logic of capitalism. The American government's
justification for Star Wars is that it is. in Reagan's words, "about
peace, not war". With the US supposedly immune from nuclear
attack, there would be no further place for the deterrence doctrine
of "mutual assured destruction" (MAD), which nuclear
ideologues claim has so far kept the nuclear peace. Instead there
would, it is claimed, be a real incentive on all sides for drastic
reduction of nuclear weapons and their eventual complete
abandonment.
Sceptical
critics have pointed out a number of flaws in this cosy picture. One
is that if the Russian rulers saw as imminent the installation of an
impregnable nuclear shield over the United States, they might be
minded to launch a pre-emptive nuclear strike first; Star Wars would
then have triggered, not prevented, nuclear war. Another shortcoming
in the Reaganesque logic is due to a change of emphasis which has
taken place in the Star Wars plans. In place of the original vision
of watertight security, realisation of the problems with this has
caused its replacement by the idea of almost total security — a
leaky umbrella, as it were. But this radically changes the options
available, for the revised version is only useful for defending
military targets (though this has naturally not been stressed in US
government propaganda). The reason for this is that if only a single
warhead out of one hundred launched at a city gets through to its
target, that city is destroyed. But even the leakiest umbrella may be
able to delay the destruction of missile silos long enough for a
retaliatory nuclear strike to be launched. In addition, a leaky
umbrella might suffice to beat off an attack from any Russian
response to an American first strike — which would make such a
first strike a more "attractive" proposition to American
hawks. It should be noted, too, that Star Wars offers no defence
against low-flying cruise missiles or submarine-launched
missiles.
It
should not be thought, however, that Star Wars represents the first
step in the militarisation of space, for this is something that was
achieved long ago. Over three thousand satellites have been placed in
orbit since Sputnik I in 1957. and three-quarters of these have had
military purposes. Of the huge sums of money spent every year on
space research by Russia and America, about half is on military work
— not taking account of the fact that much work done for civilian
reasons may have military applications. The simple idea of dropping
bombs from satellites is out of the question (the bomb would simply
continue in orbit) but ballistic missiles, spy satellites and
anti-satellite weapons are all very real.
Even
under capitalism, though, not all uses of space are military.
Satellites already provide masses of other kinds of information about
the earth: the position of mineral deposits; the routes of oil slicks
and icebergs; developments in the weather; the effects of soil
erosion; the likely location of earthquakes; and so on. Some of the
information which can be gathered in this way is incredibly detailed.
For instance, healthy and diseased wheat reflect infra-red radiation
to very different degrees, thus making it entirely feasible for
satellites to provide data leading to discovery of the amount of
diseased wheat growing in a particular area.
Satellites
are also useful for communications purposes, such as international
telephone calls. In addition, they can monitor for distress signals.
One such system is said to have saved over two hundred lives (in
maritime emergencies and forced aircraft landings) in a two-year
period. Such undertakings demonstrate that the global co-operation
envisaged in a socialist society is not at all outlandish. All the
information obtained from space could then be used for the benefit of
humanity, not to defend the wealth and power of a few.
There
are, of course, international treaties concerning space. In 1967. the
United Nations negotiated the signing of the Outer Space Treaty
which, for example, bans military bases on the moon. But it does not
outlaw all military uses of space, nor does it define the crucial and
vague term, "space”. A particular bone of contention is what
is known as the geostationary ring. This is the area of space 36.000
kilometres above the equator: satellites located here remain fixed in
relation to an observer on the earth, so that they never set or rise,
thus offering obvious advantages from a communications point of view.
At present "slots" in this geostationary ring are allocated
by a branch of the International Telecommunications Union. But in
1976 a group of representatives of countries on the equator met and
issued a declaration to the effect that any country on the equator
automatically owned that portion of the geostationary ring that was
directly above it. Thus are capitalist property rights extended into
the vacuum of space.
Which
brings us back to Star Wars. The first reactions of Western European
rulers were consternation and disarray. The French government opposed
the whole idea, the British government was divided (Thatcher
for, Howe against).
Then came the news that $26 billion was earmarked for Star Wars
research over the next five years, and that some of this might be
coming Europe's way. Already. Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh has
received a grant of $150,000 to work on optical computers. The French
government is now encouraging French companies to compete for a share
in these research funds. But there is no doubt that the bulk of the
money will go to the large American arms manufacturers such as
Rockwell, Boeing and Lockheed.
What
a waste it all is. All the resources and know-how which, throughout
the world, are devoted to "perfecting" the means of killing
could so easily be devoted to ending hunger and poverty. But to do
that means campaigning not for a change of government or for nuclear
disarmament, but for the only line of defence against war — the
establishment of socialism.’
Paul Bennett
https://socialiststandardmyspace.blogspot.com/2019/03/star-wars-1986.html