Dear Brighton Hindus,
Thanks for this. My
message to your readers is that I stand for things which I suspect will appeal
to members of your faith: a society in which exploitation is abolished, where
the participants are able to act towards each other in a spirit of compassion rather
than competition, and where honesty can characterise our dealings. My
[admittedly poor] reading of Hinduism leads me to the sense that it is a
strongly ethical religion, and it is from my ethical considerations that I am
attracted to and an advocate of Socialism [a political system which also has a
strong following in India].
We live currently in a world where wealth and power are very
unevenly distributed, entailing the deprivation and degradation of many people,
throughout the world: poverty wages here, child labour abroad, interference in
overseas regimes and constraints on their markets. The system works to the
advantage of a tiny minority. Yet somehow a belief has gained currency that
this is the only way it can be; that there is no alternative to this system of
haves and have nots; that we need incredibly rich people in order to make the
whole thing work.
I hold that we are a remarkably resourceful and adaptable
people and the advances of technology provides testament to what we can do when
we have the impetus. This convinces me that we could organize this world in a
far more egalitarian manner. Can it be
right that since the start of the recession in the UK the richest 1% have seen
their wealth grow by £77m per day whereas the rest of us have had to endure
cuts to our public services and real terms drops in the value of our earnings?
Changing the world is not a simple process. I wish I could believe in the reforms offered
by other parties of conscience, but I am clear that unless the power balance of
our system is amended, the rich will always have greater influence and move
things to their advantage [and hence against ours]. It is only by the abolition
of the capitalist system that we can progress to a compassionate distribution
of the world’s bounty: the most compassionate maxim I know of in politics is
'from each according to their ability, to each acccording to their need'. Only Socialism can deliver this: vote for me
and/or better still get involved: visit our website for 3 free issues of our
magazine
Kind regards,
Howard Pilott
Prospective Party Candidate
The Socialist Party of Great Britain
While James Kenny e-mailed, “As a Manchester United fan and a
voter in the Brighton, Pavilion constituency, before I vote on May 7th I would
like to know whether you will support legislation to reform football
governance? [to see another candidates response see Bill Martin’s reply here ] We believe legislative changes are necessary as outlined here. Howard Pilott answered:
Hello James,
Thank you for your email.
My understanding is that Manchester United plc is registered in the
Cayman Islands and quoted on the NYSE, and as such is a multinational company.
In 2014 they made over £400m. This is a business which exists for the benefit of
the shareholders [mostly US family the Glazers] selling shirts and viewing
rights and merchandising, oh and also playing some football. Players are predominantly from overseas. The
association with the town of Manchester or England is coincidental to their
activities: if they thought they could make money out of it they'd move to
Milan or Los Angeles.
I have nothing against those who enjoy watching football or
those who play it. I have an issue with
a created marketing culture which treats a local sport as a product to be
ruthlessly advertised and merchandised. I grew up living locally to Arsenal
football ground where you could see players walking along the local streets,
and talk to them; some dated girls at my secondary school; friends went for trials
and we could get in for a song. Now players earn more in a matter of months
than many fans do in a lifetime; they are super celebs. The £250+m wages bill
at Old Trafford means £250+m has been sucked out of our economy when it could
have been spent on schools, hospitals, railways, care of the elderly, etc...But
that's what happens in this cockeyed system. The current system may
produce some great players and even sometimes some great games, but what is
hidden is the real cost of doing so. Somehow our world spent £5.1bn on premier
league viewing rights while we have 4hrs+ waits in A&E. Ask yourself if that is a good balance.
.jpg)
Because football is now big business, you cannot make
meaningful reforms: it's like trying to reform a scorpion - what will always come
out top is what is good for business. A reform here and there - they'll find
ways around it if they want to. However if capitalism was abolished, football
and football teams would no longer be big business: the whole thing would be
run by whoever is involved, not by non-doms or overseas billionaires. Games
would be free and players could play for the sport of it. Ask yourself why
footballers need millions of pounds to play well whereas Olympiads do it for
nothing. I prefer the model of the Olympiads myself.
Not sure this answered your questions but hopefully it may
raise some others.
Regards,
The Socialist Party of Great Britain candidate
No comments:
Post a Comment