For Miliband to speak out against business "predators" was hilarious when he has no desire or intention whatsoever to bring predative capitalism to an end. The capitalist system has always preyed on the many to enrich a tiny few. It cannot function any other way. So any attempt to position himself as a "man of the people" was a sick joke.
Even if `Red' Ed lived up to his nickname, and switched from a freemarket capitalist economy to an Old Labour-style state-capitalist economy, as far as the working class majority are concerned, there'd be no difference whatsoever. Whether business activities are under the control of state capitalist `Lefties' or individual multi-millionaires and billionaires has no effect on the lives of those who work, are retired or unemployed. The majority still get exploited, still worry about paying the bills, and still get ignored by those in power whether or not there's a freemarket Prime Minister or a leftie Prime Minister in charge. Neither freemarket capitalism nor state-run capitalism benefit the vast majority of us. The only part of his speech I agreed with was his remark about charting "a new course". But the course Miliband's set on is exactly the same one as Cameron and Clegg are steering already — towards yet more clapped-out capitalism.
The real "new course" we must take to avoid a nightmarish future under out-of-date and predatory capitalism involves us all becoming the new direct and collective owners/managers of the `means of production and distribution' (factories, power stations, farmland, mineral mines etc). When this happens, money will become redundant, since when we all own the factories and natural resources etc, we will also all collectively own everything that's produced, and you don't have to buy what's already yours! There will then be free access to whatever people need. And there'd be no shortage of goods and services, since all those millions presently unemployed will then be able to contribute. And millions more, presently doing idiotic `jobs' involving money (printing the stuff, banking, insurance, creating bills, cold calling, making ATMs etc) will also then be able to do worthwhile jobs of real benefit to people. Such moneyless real socialism has never existed, but it must now replace obsolete capitalism because this profit-driven system has served its purpose and reached the end of its useful life.
"In every generation there comes a moment when we need to change the way we do things. This is one of those moments" said Ed Miliband. Absolutely! So let's have nothing to do with politicians like him, and take a look at a genuinely different economic system backed by the real Socialist Party.
Max Hess
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