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Saturday, August 31, 2024

Who pays for capitalism's failure?

 'Sir Keir Starmer says:

“Frankly, things will get worse before they get better.”

“I’ll have to turn to the country and make big asks of you as well. To accept short term pain for long term good. …. And I know that after all you’ve been through, that is a really big ask …”

Actually it’s a bloody cheek. How often have government asked workers to put up with pain on the promise that things will get better? It’s their standard line when the state of the economy forces them to prioritise profit-making over meeting people’s needs.

Just as of course it is standard for an incoming government to blame the outgoing one rather than capitalism.'

Friday, August 30, 2024

SPGB Meeting TONIGHT Friday 30 August 1930 (GMT +1) ZOOM

 

DID YOU SEE THE NEWS? (ZOOM)


Event Details

  • Date:  – 

Discussion on recent subjects in the news
Host: Howard Moss

To connect to a Zoom meeting, click https://zoom.us/j/7421974305

Thursday, August 29, 2024

Tell Capitalism It's time to Cod Off (sic)

 

When you are unemployed, which is to say when you are underfed, harassed, bored, and miserable, you don't want to eat dull wholesome food. You want something a little bit 'tasty'. There is always some cheaply pleasant thing to tempt you. Let's have three pennorth of chips!’

George Orwell The Road to Wigan Pier

Fish and chips, a traditional British meal valued for its affordability, has seen a significant increase in price over the past five years, several UK media outlets reported  citing data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

According to July figures, the cost of fish and chips has surged by around 52% to nearly £10 ($13) per serving from an average of £6.5 in July 2019. According to the ONS, the cost of the popular dish has seen the largest increase over the reporting period in comparison to pizza, kebabs, and Indian and Chinese food.

According to industry representatives who spoke to the BBC, a mix of increased energy and labor costs, poor potato harvests due to bad weather, and Ukraine-related sanctions on Russia, the world’s leading cod producer, were the major drivers behind the spike.

London placed a 35% tariff on seafood from Russia shortly after the outbreak of the Ukraine conflict in 2022, which immediately affected the cost of fish and chips, as around a third of Britain’s white fish at the time came from Russia.

Western sanctions and Russia’s countermeasures also affected energy supplies, which triggered a rise in energy costs for British businesses. As a result, the price of fish and chips spiked by 19% by March 2023. More recently, Russia has also denied the UK’s fishing vessels access to its Arctic fishing grounds in the Barents Sea, ending the Fisheries Agreement signed in 1956 and further affecting prices.

On top of this, extreme weather conditions over the past year have jeopardized potato harvests, which also affects the cost of fish and chips. According to the latest Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs’ Agricultural Price Index (API), in the 12 months to May 2024, potato prices posted the largest increase among UK agricultural goods, surging 4.1%.

Industry representatives warn that fish and chips is becoming less affordable, and may soon lose its status as an iconic British dish.

We’ve had the perfect storm of events in terms of cost pressures. It’s not a cheap meal anymore,” Jon Long of Long John’s Fish and Chips in Dorset told the news outlet, adding that the current economic climate is the “toughest set of conditions” he has seen in the past three decades.

People think that fish and chips is a cheap meal and it just isn’t. People are prepared to pay £15-20 for a pizza but they’re not prepared to pay it for a portion of fish and chips,” Angela Cartwright, the owner of Kingfisher Fish Bar in Salford, said.’







Wednesday, August 28, 2024

Heart of the Matter

 

'Recent research in Canada has shown the dangers of much employment under capitalism. Not hard exhausting physical work in this case, but office work.

A stressful job, a demanding boss, tight deadlines and feeling undervalued can all greatly increase the risk of a serious heart problem, which may make having a stroke more likely. Even a relatively high wage does little to reduce the risks. More generally, work-related stress can increase the risk of high blood pressure.

Work is essential to human society, but employment under capitalism is about making a profit for the employer, not meeting the needs of consumers or those who do the work.'

Monday, August 26, 2024

Socialist Sonnet No. 161

War Gamers

 

Night by night sitting like obsessed gamers

Fixated on screens. This evening’s download

Could be Gaza, Ukraine, somewhere abroad.

Graphics are so realistic, the framers

Ensure all players are fully in-shot,

Both perpetrators and victims portrayed

In role, with impressive weapons arrayed:

Rack up more points than last night? Perhaps not.

A helpful voiceover or avatar

Pops up whenever there’s something to say,

To grab attention when it’s drifting away,

Or tempted to upload another war.

The spectacular needs to be massive,

For viewers to be retained and passive.

 

D. A.

States versus Social Media, continued.


Should the World Socialism Movement send these social media capitalists some free copies of the Socialist Standard? Edifying, or not, as it might be to observe this ongoing conflict between various billionaires and various States there have to be concerns about the longer term implications this power struggle holds for freedom of speech.

As usual capitalism is demonstrating that power over the lives of the majority needs to be abolished sooner rather than later to be replaced by the only sane social system, socialism.

A leading EU parliamentarian has warned Elon Musk that X could be shut down entirely in the European Union if it fails to censor so-called “disinformation and hate speech”.

Sandro Gozi, an Italian Member of the European Parliament who serves as the Secretary-General for the European Democratic Party (Democratic? LOL) and in the leadership of French President Emmanuel Macron’s Renew Europe group in Strasbourg, issued another threat of censorship towards Elon Musk and X, warning of a potential outright ban of the platform if it does not abide by the speech directives in the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA).

Speaking to the Italian paper La Repubblica the MEP said “The former Twitter must also comply with the DSA directive on disinformation and hate speech.”

If Elon Musk does not comply with European rules on digital services, the EU Commission will ask continental operators to block X or, in the most extreme case, will impose a total dismantling of the platform in the territory of the Union,” Gozi added.

The warning from the leading EU parliamentarian came just a week after Thierry Breton, the European Commission’s censorship czar, wrote an open letter lo Musk, demanding that the X boss censor his live interview with former President Donald Trump.

In his letter, the former tech executive turned Eurocrat threatened to use all the powers in his “toolbox” to punish X if the Trump interview violated EU restrictions on disinformation, hate speech, or in any way served to harm “civic discourse and public security” in the bloc. Under the DSA, EU regulators, led by Breton, have the power to impose fines of up to six per cent of the global turnover of large internet firms. The draconian legislation also empowers Brussels to potentially ban platforms throughout the EU.

Breton’s intervention drew pushback from other power players within Brussels as the EU faced accusations of “election interference” in the United States by demanding censorship of the Republican nominee for president. The following day, after Breton’s letter, a spokesman for the European Commission said that it was sent without the knowledge of EU chief Ursula von der Leyen. Other unnamed EU sources slammed Breton for being “attention-seeking” and for engaging in “electoral interference.”

With the intervention of Gozi it appears that Breton is not without allies in the push to launch a censorship campaign against Elon Musk and X.

However, following his threat to ban X, Gozi travelled to Chicago to attend the Democratic National Convention (DNC) and to support the Kamala Harris campaign, perhaps demonstrating his partisan reasons for seeking to censor the free speech-oriented social media platform.

US elections will also have a huge impact in Europe. For years, as European Democrats, we have been committed to strengthening our ties with American Democrats. With our participation in Chicago, we want to show our support for Kamala Harris and her fight for civil rights, for the middle class, and against Trump’s extremism,” Gozi said.’

Breibart 20 August

France has crossed all boundaries by arresting Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov, Chris Pavlovski, the CEO of video-sharing platform Rumble, has said, adding that he left Europe after the news broke.

Durov was taken into custody at a Paris airport on Saturday evening after arriving from Azerbaijan by private jet. While the French authorities have yet to publicly announce the reason for detaining the Russian tech mogul, reports indicate that the charges are related to his alleged complicity in drug trafficking, pedophilia offenses, fraud, as well as failure to address criminal activity on the messenger.

Telegram has denied any wrongdoing, adding that it is “absurd to claim that a platform or its owner are responsible for abuse of that platform.”

In a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Sunday, Pavlovski said he had “safely departed from Europe” in the aftermath of Durov’s arrest. He slammed the move by France, saying it “crossed a red line,” while noting that the country had already threatened Rumble.

Rumble will not stand for this behavior and will use every legal means available to fight for freedom of expression, a universal human right. We are currently fighting in the courts of France, and we hope for Pavel Durov’s immediate release,” he added.

Pavlovski’s platform, which has positioned itself as a free speech alternative to YouTube, has been embroiled in its own legal battle with the French authorities. It began in November 2022 after officials in Paris banned Rumble over its refusal to comply with a request to remove Russian media accounts blocked in the EU due to sanctions over the Ukraine conflict.

Though Durov’s arrest occurred in France, a number of opinion leaders, including American entrepreneur David Sacks, have suggested that the US was behind the move. In April, Sacks also predicted that Washington could go after Telegram, X, and eventually Rumble, given that the US passed a law that would ban the video-sharing platform TikTok if its Chinese-based developer, ByteDance, refused to sell it within 12 months.’









Sunday, August 25, 2024

Telegram: French State arrests Pavel Durov



We hold no torch for billionaires like Musk or for capitalist apologists like Tucker Carlson. Or for Pavel Durov. Durov is CEO and co-founder of the social networking site, Telegram. It does though appear that the French State is determined to silence those who provide, and use, social media platforms.

 It is claimed that Telegram has nine hundred and fifty million users. Telegram messages are encrypted. 

On 24 August Durov was arrested in France. Whilst further information is needed the claim that, Telegram is widely used by criminals, would appear to be a tenuous excuse used by the French State who are likely unhappy with this, and other social media platforms, over not having sufficient control of its content.

The arrest of Telegram founder Pavel Durov in France is a warning to platforms that stand up to censorship, American journalist and political commentator Tucker Carlson has said.

According to French media, the Russian-born entrepreneur was detained at Paris-Le Bourget Airport on Saturday and will appear in court on Sunday evening. The French authorities had reportedly issued an arrest warrant, arguing that insufficient moderation allows for Telegram to be widely used by criminals.

The news of Durov’s apparent prosecution has raised concerns online, including suggestions that it could be politically motivated.

Pavel Durov left Russia when the government tried to control his social media company, Telegram. But in the end, it wasn’t Putin who arrested him for allowing the public to exercise free speech,” Carlson wrote on X (formerly Twitter) on Saturday. “It was a Western country, a Biden administration ally and enthusiastic NATO member, that locked him away.”

Durov’s arrest is “a living warning to any platform owner who refuses to censor the truth at the behest of governments and intel agencies,” Carlson argued. “Darkness is descending fast on the formerly free world.”

Carlson recorded a rare interview with Durov in April, in which the Telegram owner spoke about his disagreements with the Russian government, as well as the pressure he faced in the US. He said that the American government had wanted him to set up a surveillance “backdoor” on his messaging service, and he refused.

X owner Elon Musk also condemned the reported arrest. “POV: It’s 2030 in Europe and you’re being executed for liking a meme,” he wrote in a comment to the news story.



Saturday, August 24, 2024

Argentina: Soaking Pensioners

 

Has Argentina’s President been talking to Rachel Reeves about ways and means to make pensioners poorer?

‘ Argentina’s President Javier Milei is set to veto a pension reform passed by the Senate in a move that is likely to widen the rift between the libertarian leader and the opposition-controlled Congress.

The Senate defied Milei to push through an increase to pension spending in line with the country’s triple-digit inflation, dealing a blow to his tough austerity programme.

The bill, which swept through the lower house in June, was passed by a 61-8 vote in the Senate on Thursday. All but one of the lawmakers who voted against the measure were from Milei’s party, a sign that the president’s allies had failed to negotiate with centrist parties.

Lawmakers could override his veto by passing the law with a two-thirds majority again.

“[The bill’s] only objective was to destroy the government’s economic programme,” Milei’s office said in a statement on X, as it would have required spending an extra 1.2 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP).

“The president promised Argentines that he would maintain a fiscal surplus at all costs, and he will,” his office said.

Milei took office in December with strict austerity measures as part of a bid to tackle rampant inflation in the face of rising poverty now hitting half of the population.

He has promised to strike down legislation that undermines his “zero deficit” plan.

“Anything that goes against public accounts will be vetoed,” presidential spokesman Manuel Adorni said on Thursday.

The bruising defeat for the president once again highlighted his weakness in Congress, where leftist and centrist lawmakers hold sway.’

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/8/23/argentinas-milei-to-veto-pension-reform-to-push-through-austerity-measures

The below is From Socialist Standard December 2005

‘According to the government and the capitalist media, there is a “pensions crisis” in that, given the growing proportion of retired people in the population, the capitalist class is not going to be able to afford to maintain pensioners at the same level as existing ones. Therefore, the argument goes, people must set aside more of their current income to purchase future pension rights. And they must retire later.

It seems to make sense. If there are more retired people compared to those at work, surely that must mean that those at work have to work more and/or consume less? This would be true but for one thing: it ignores the point that over time productivity increases, even if only fairly slowly. This means that more wealth can be produced by a workforce of the same size, out of which, in theory, both current wages and future pensions can be maintained at the same level as today.

“In theory” because the fact that this could happen is no guarantee that it will. But it does show that the capitalist class can’t plead poverty here. They can afford to maintain pensions at current levels. That this is so was confirmed in a report, The Ageing Population, Pensions and Wealth Creation, released on 31 October by a pro-business think-tank, Tomorrow’s Company. According to the BBC News of that day:

“One of the report’s authors Philip Sadler said there was no ‘ageing crisis’. ‘As a society we can afford to grow old,’ he said. ‘Rising productivity will outweigh any negative influence on living standards from an ageing population.'”

The report asked “how can a working population that is expected to remain around 27 to 28 million create sufficient wealth over the next 35 years to support an additional five million pensioners?” and answers:

“The main factor affecting our ability to afford an ageing population without the erosion of living standards is the impact of rising productivity. More than anything else, rising productivity explains the paradox that ageing societies have simultaneously become wealthier. At a mere 1.75 per  cent productivity growth per year, by 2045, an average British worker will be about twice as productive as today. In other words, a doubling of new value and resources being produced while the number and share of over 64s grows by less than 50 per cent.” 

What is interesting in a report from a pro-business lobby is that it acknowledges that it is the “working population” who are the “wealth creators” rather than the usual guff we get from such groups about entrepreneurs being wealth creators. Wealth can only be created by human beings applying their mental and physical energies to materials that originally came from nature.

But they do write as if there was a direct transfer from the “working population” to the pensioners. In fact, this only happens indirectly, as the wealth is taken from its direct producers, the workers, by the capitalist class and then transferred by them, via the state and pension funds, to pensioners. So pensions come out of profits, not wages. Which is why how to pay for pensions is a problem for the capitalist class. However they solve it, what we get will never be enough to compensate for a lifetime of exploitation.’

https://socialiststandardmyspace.blogspot.com/2023/12/pensioned-off-2005.html


Friday, August 23, 2024

Kenya: Soaking the poor


‘Curb pollution at the household level’ It’s capitalism that’s the real problem.

‘A revised version of the controversial eco-levy tax will soon be tabled in Kenya’s Parliament.’

‘Speaking to Citizen TV Kenya, Treasury Secretary John Mbadi confirmed that "about 49 measures" were being considered as part of a tax amendment bill.

The eco-levy tax aims to curb pollution and waste management at the office and household level.

Unlike the initial proposal, this one will exclude sanitary towels, the newly appointed secretary has insisted.

Companies remains in the authorities' sights. The minister rebuked a challenge by US beverage manufacturer Coca-Cola which opposed the 10 percent levy on all locally manufactured plastics.

"They will tell us why they oppose it," Mbadi said. "This country is not a dumping place."

"If you are injurious to the environment then you must pay for helping make good the harm that you have caused."

The government also aims to collect more taxes by prolonging the tax amnesty period by six months.

The cancellation of Kenya's Finance Bill 2024 in June followed widespread anti-tax protests. This forced President William Ruto to reassess the budget and explore alternative revenue sources.

During the handover ceremony last week, Treasury Secretary John Mbadi said he was keen on reinstating some provisions contained in the scrapped finance bill.’

Additional sources • AP

AfricaNews 19 August

https://www.africanews.com/2024/08/19/kenya-to-revive-scrapped-tax-plans-risking-unrest/

‘Kenya's Supreme Court has temporarily suspended a lower court's decision that declared the 2023 finance law unconstitutional. The suspension aims to maintain budget stability until the government's appeal is heard next month.

The finance law, presented annually, outlines the government's tax and revenue measures. A recent ruling by the Court of Appeal that last year's Finance Act was unconstitutional dealt a blow to President William Ruto's administration.

This comes after Ruto withdrew this year's finance bill in June following significant youth-led protests, marking one of the biggest challenges of his presidency.

President Ruto has faced the difficult task of balancing the needs of Kenya's struggling citizens with demands from international lenders like the IMF. He argues that tax increases are necessary to fund development programs and manage the country's debt.

The Supreme Court stated that maintaining stability in the budget process is in the public's best interest while the appeal is being considered. Hearings on the constitutionality of the 2023 finance law are scheduled for September 10 and 11.

The government, which has been using the 2023 law to collect taxes since the withdrawal of this year's bill, has not yet commented on the ruling.

The 2023 law faced legal challenges after violent protests led by opposition parties last year. The law includes measures such as doubling the value-added tax on fuel, introducing a housing tax, and raising the top personal income tax rate.’

AfricaNews 20 August

https://www.africanews.com/2024/08/20/supreme-court-temporarily-halts-ruling-nullifying-finance-act-2023/



Thursday, August 22, 2024

Zimbabwe: Shock horror, government losing out on taxes.


From AfricaNews, ‘Economy’ clutching its pearls and screaming pass the smelling salts, and giss us yer money!

Socialism is still the only answer.

‘Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare, is undergoing a rapid transformation which has seen the proliferation of small, informal shops, known locally as tuck shops.

While they have created employment for many of the country’s citizens who are outside of the labour market, neither the stores nor their staff pay tax.

In the process, they are pushing out big retailers and wholesalers, presenting a complex challenge for the government which wants to formalise the economy.

Economist, Farai Mutambanengwe, says this is obviously not a good development as a country typically would want its economy to consist mostly of large formalised enterprises.

“The moment you start getting informal businesses taking over the economy, first of all, obviously, it reduces the quality of your CBD. It reduces the value of the properties,” he says.

“But it also results in things like people no longer remitting taxes, people no longer using formal business channels, and ultimately, informality, dollarisation of the economy.”

All of these things, he says, are negative for the economy. 

With most of the tuck shops selling illegal imported goods, the government is concerned about this trade bypassing the country’s tax system and therefore not bringing money into the state coffers.

As the number of informal tuckshops continues to rise, the evasion of taxes and regulations presents a thorn in the side of policymakers.

“There’s a proliferation of smuggled and counterfeit goods that are unfairly competing with local products, since the smuggled goods are not subject to taxation and import duties,” says Minister of Publicity, Information, and Broadcasting Services, Dr Jenfan Muswere.

As the ongoing drought continues to impact Zimbabwe’s economy, the finance minister in July warned that the 2024 budget deficit was forecast to be 1.3 per cent of gross domestic product.

Projected 2024 growth of the economy was at 2 per cent, down from 3.5 per cent forecast in November.’

https://www.africanews.com/2024/08/19/informal-traders-present-a-complex-challenge-for-zimbabwe-government/



Wednesday, August 21, 2024

Competition

 

‘The number of US companies that see artificial intelligence as a threat has jumped more than fivefold over the past two years, the Financial Times has reported, citing a survey of corporate filings.

More than half of America’s largest companies (56%) cited AI as a “risk factor” in their most recent annual reports, the outlet cited research by Arize AI, a platform that tracks public disclosures by large businesses.

In 2022, the number stood at just 9%, FT noted.

Among the AI risks mentioned in the financial reports are greater competition fuelled by concerns that some firms will be faster at exploiting the technology than others. Also high on the list were reputational or operational issues stemming from ethical concerns about AI’s potential impact on human rights, employment, and privacy.

“AI may not always operate as intended and data sets may be insufficient or contain illegal, biased, harmful or offensive information, which could negatively impact” a company’s earnings and reputation, telecoms group Motorola said.

The media and entertainment industry emerged as the most concerned, with more than 90% of companies, including Netflix and Disney, seeing fast-growing AI systems as a business risk this year.

The impact of generative AI, a type of artificial intelligence capable of generating text, images, and videos, is already reportedly being felt across an array of industries, FT wrote. More than two-thirds of the companies that discussed that specific type of AI identified it as a risk, it notes.

The companies that highlighted the potential benefits of AI spoke of cost efficiencies, accelerating innovation, improved customer service, and claims analysis.

As many as 40% of companies globally use AI, according to Exploding Topics, a platform that identifies early trends by analysing searches and mentions on the internet. AI is most actively used in India (about 59% of companies), according to the platform. In Russia, roughly 32% of firms were already using AI to perform tasks as of late 2023, according to the National AI Development Strategy.’

The below is from the Socialist Standard January 2024

‘Built into capitalism is competition between states and trading blocs for markets, raw material sources, trade routes, and strategic points to protect these. In fact capitalism is an economic system based on a competitive struggle for profits.

Military spending by states is an aspect of this competition as even in diplomatic negotiations might is right, meaning that states have to spend as much as they can afford on weapons of war. This waste of resources on instruments of death and destruction and training people how to use them is unavoidable under capitalism. When diplomacy reaches an impasse, as it tends to when the stakes for a state are high, this competition leads to wars, often proxy wars fought by local puppets of the major powers.

This competition also severely restricts what governments are able to do about the current climate crisis. If a state does too much to combat it while others don’t, it risks undermining its own competitiveness vis-à-vis other capitalist states and trading blocs.

It’s not just certain capitalist corporations such as fossil-fuel companies that are, or cause, the problem; it’s the whole capitalist system of production for profit. Governments can’t adopt policies to bring about a sustainable economy because that would be to go against the nature of capitalism as a system of unending capital accumulation out of profits, as reflected by rising GDP. A sustainable system of production will only be possible in a world socialist system when there will no longer be the economic pressure to make and accumulate profits as more and more capital.

No effective and lasting measures will be able to be implemented until the Earth’s natural and industrial resources have become the common heritage of all humanity. Then we can tackle this problem in a rational way without profit considerations or vested interests. All working people throughout the world have a common interest in getting rid of capitalism and nation-states and their frontiers. In a frontierless post-capitalist society based on the common ownership and democratic control of the world’s resources, ie, socialism properly understood, we will all be ‘citizens of the world’. Then there will be no waste of armaments or the threat — and reality — of war.’

https://socialiststandardmyspace.blogspot.com/2024/01/what-competition-for-profits-means-2024.html

The below is from the Socialist Standard January 1987 i(Edited)

"If competition is such a wonderful and desirable thing, why does every­body try so hard to avoid it?". For example, when solicitors lose their monopoly in house conveyancing, opticians lose theirs in selling spectacles, or shopkeepers hear that a supermarket is to be built nearby, do they say "Good! Just what we need: the icy blast of competition"? They do not, instead they pro­test bitterly and do everything they can to preserve the status quo.

Although governments try to encourage competition within their own frontiers they assist their own industries to avoid it in internationall trade by loading the dice in their favour. The governments of the EEC protect their own farmers from competition from abroad by erecting tariff barriers and sub­sidising their production. These subsidies produce such mountains of food that the EEC can sell it on world markets at rock-bottom prices – butter sales to Russia are an obvious case. The American government denounces these subsidies because they keep inefficient EEC farmers in business whereas American farming is extremely efficient and could easily undercut EEC farming if only it were given the chance.

Does this mean that the United States is all for free trade? Only in those industries where it can win, such as farming. It is a different story when it comes to steel and textiles so they protect those industries with barriers against Imports. Most serious is the penetration by Japan of American home markets in cars, electronics and consumer goods. The United States’ trade deficit with Japan was over 50 billion dollars last year and members of Congress, business leaders and trade unions are demanding legislation aimed at reducing Japan’s exports to the United States.

Needless to say the Japanese are not in favour of this but they want to have it both ways - free trade for their exports but every obstacle placed in the way of imports from other countries. For example, Scotch whisky is subject to a level of taxation which makes it much more expensive than home produced spirits. Why don't these other coun­tries simply keep out Japan's exports? They are afraid that such a move would spark off worldwide tit-for-tat protectionism with the resulting collapse in world trade. The cure would be worse than the ailment and the Japanese government is taking advantage of this fear.

Groups of governments sometimes band together into a cartel or price-fixing ring to avoid competition among themselves. For years the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) shared out most of the world oil market. Each member-nation was allocated an agreed production quota of oil and no more. This year there has been a drastic fall in oil prices caused by the world slump, resulting in a sharp fall in demand, plus the entry of North Sea oil which is not controlled by OPEC. This fall in price has meant less income for OPEC members and some of them have been breading the agreement by increasing production to try make good the lost revenue.

This is what usually happens with governments or companies which organise themselves into a cartel. They are all for cartel when trade is booming and they can carve up the market but when trade is bad they will break ranks and look after themselves. OPEC has just reached a temporary agreement and the price of oil has started to rise again but no one knows what will happen in 1987.

Nevertheless, western governments do try to avoid monopolies within their own countries. As the executive committee of the national capitalist class a government must look after the interests of that class as a whole and not just one section of it. If a monopoly was allowed in an industry then the other capitalists will feel that they may be held to ransom when they purchase from the monopoly. But surely the soon-to-be privatised British Gas is a monopoly, the very thing the government wants to avoid? There are two reasons for this contradiction. The first is that the gas industry cannot really be split up into several competing companies for practical reasons, among them the cost of setting up alternative nationwide installa­tions. The second is the political factor which is that the government sees wide share ownership as a vote catcher at the next general election end the privatisation of British Gas gives it the opportunity to achieve this aim.

This episode has provided an example of the double standards used by politicians. Tory MP Michael Forsyth, a free market zealot. argued that privatised gas would not be a monopoly as it would have to compete with electricity, oil and nuclear power. This is like arguing that if some company owned the entire meat industry it wouldn't be a monopoly because it would have to compete with fish and chicken.

Companies sometimes need to grow if they are to survive. How could a company meet its competitors if it merely stands still while they grow? This need partly explains the recent merger-mania which saw huge companies being taken over by others.

How does this fact of life in capitalism square with the government's obsession with promoting small businesses and its frequent use of the Monopolies Commission to prevent the mega-mergers which are necessary to enable British capitalism to compete internationally? The simple truth is that many of those who are heavily into capitalism, like some of the free marketeers, don‘t under- stand the basic laws of the system, one of which is that while small may be beautiful in business, big is infinitely more successful.

The supporters of competition claim that it is of benefit to society because it eliminates wastefulness. In fact it is the cause of massive waste of humanity's time and energy.

And just look at the hordes of companies eagerly competing to supply us all with double glazing, fitted kitchens, and the like, with armies of salespeople chasing after the same order and all of them selling exactly the same product. This spectacle is repeated all over the world as millions of useful human beings engage in this wasteful duplication of effort. just how does this benefit society?

So competition isn't what it's cracked up to be. Even the capitalists and politicians only regard it as a necessary evil in the scramble for profit and avoid it whenever they can. Certainly it has nothing to offer the workers except the opportunity to become one another’ s enemies over their exploiters' quarrels and which have nothing to do with them. Socialists work for a society in which the watchword will be co-operation and where capitalism’s competition will seem as strange and awful as we regard cannibalism today.’

Vic Vanni

https://www.worldsocialism.org/spgb/socialist-standard/1987/1980s/no-989-january-1987/competition/


Sunday, August 18, 2024

The S A S, Capitalism's 'Elite Killers.'


The entity masquerading as a newspaper, The Sun, carries a piece, 17 August, about the S A S. Not Scandinavian Airways but the Special Air Service.


The strapline reads: ‘Behind the scenes of top secret SAS headquarters where UK’s most elite killers are deployed at a minute’s notice.’


Wiki has; The unit specialises in a number of roles including counter-terrorism, hostage rescue, direct action and special reconnaissance. Much of the information about the SAS is highly classified, and the unit is not commented on by either the British Government or the Ministry of Defencdue to the secrecy and sensitivity of its operations.


Wiki puts the complement of the SAS at between 400 to 600 personnel.


It has a base in Hereford, better known for cider production and of more value to society that the proud boast in The Sun piece which calls them ‘elite killers.’


For those interested we learn that the type of helicopters the SAS uses; their weapon differing from that of the police; the Diemaco A1 is a variant of the C7 assault rifle, and that "So there is a big table full of uniforms - they can dress up as coppers or other emergency workers. They tend to normally dress as police."


The Sun also published a piece about the SAS on 29 March, strapline, ‘Inside Britain’s top-secret Special Forces unit whose killer spies mingle with public to carry out James Bond-style hits.’


Like the majority of the military those employed within the SAS are members of the working class.


Why therefore do they engage in killing and whatever else their capitalist bosses order them to do are they prepared to act so readily to protect the interests of capitalism, which, are the opposite of the majority working class?


Who would want the soubriquet ‘elite killer’ attached to themselves?


What reason is there for The Sun to continue to publish such material?


Answers on a postcard or in the comments.


Let it not be forgotten that there are many countries across the world which also take ‘pride’ in its own ‘elite killers.’ A sane society, i.e. a socialist one, would have no need of such barbarism.






Friday, August 16, 2024

SPGB Summer School starts today Friday 16 August: On ZOOM


The SPGB Summer School begins today, Friday, 16 August. It is taking place at the University of Worcester.

Bookings are no available to attend in person but the four talks planned will be streamed over Zoom: https://zoom.us/j/7421974305

All timings are GMT+1

Political Consciousness: From Society to Ideology

‘Our understanding of the kind of society we’re living in is shaped by our circumstances: our home, our work, our finances, our communities.

Recognising our own place in the economy, politics and history is part of developing a wider awareness of how capitalist society functions.

Alongside an understanding of the mechanics of capitalism, political consciousness also involves our attitude towards it. Seeing through the ideologies which promote accepting our current social system requires us to question and judge what we experience.

Realising that capitalism doesn’t benefit the vast majority of people naturally leads on to considering what alternative society could run for the benefit of everyone.’

The Socialist Party’s weekend of talks and discussion explores what political consciousness is, how it arises and what we, as a class and as individuals, can do with it.'

What's on and when.

Friday 16 August

1915 Keith Graham on Political Consciousness: What Can We Learn From Marx?

Saturday 17 August

1000: Brian Gardner on "They are many, we are few" The Political Consciousness Of The Capitalist Class?

1400: Paddy Shannon on Political Consciousness: Could GenZ Be Onto Something?

1915: A Q&A with Cat Rylance: An Introduction To Communist Future

Sunday 18 August

1000: Darren Poynton on Socialist Consciousness, Solidarity And Democratic Virtues


Thursday, August 15, 2024

CEOs Workers Disparity

 

It’s reported that ‘Pay for the bosses of Britain’s top companies has increased to the highest level on record and now outpaces the compensation of the median full-time worker in the country by 120 times, a new studyhas revealed.

According to the High Pay Centre, a UK think tank that focuses on the causes and consequences of economic inequality, the median FTSE 100 CEO was paid £4.19 million ($5.34 million) in 2023.

This is the highest level of median executive pay on record, and an increase of 2.2% from 2022. The median earnings of a full-time worker in the country, meanwhile, stood at £34,963 last year. The annual compensation of UK executives is thus higher than what the median worker is able to earn in a lifetime of employment.

The number of FTSE 100 companies awarding eight-figure pay packages of over £10 million more than doubled, from four firms in 2022 to nine in 2023.

The report indicated that the highest paid FTSE 100 chief executive was AstraZeneca’s Pascal Soriot, who topped the list for a second year running, with compensation of £16.85 million in 2023, up from £15.3 million the previous year. This is 482 times what the median UK full-time worker makes.

The researchers argue that excessive spending on top earners by leading firms is making it harder to fund pay increases for the wider UK workforce.

“The huge pay gap between executives and the wider UK workforce is a result of factors such as the decline of trade union membership, low levels of worker participation in business decision-making and a business culture that puts the interests of investors before workers, customers, suppliers and other stakeholders,” said Luke Hildyard, the director of the High Pay Centre.

“These developments have been very good for those at the top but it is more questionable whether they are in the interests of the country as a whole,” he pointed out.’


Tuesday, August 13, 2024

Socialist Sonnet No. 160

Extreme Right or Wrong

 

They gathered with weighty stones in ham fists,

With petrol bitter all along sour tongues,

With words made incendiary by deep wrongs,

And eyes blindfolded with flags that insist

Upon such myopic obedience

To the visceral, that’s so black and white

Consideration for colour is sleight

At best, when outrage remains too intense.

Meanwhile the vision of those leading the blind

Along their dead-end path is all too clear,

They have power in sight, the power of fear,

Preaching the past as the future’s declined.

First there’s anger, but that moment will pass

Until the next night of breaking glass.

 

D. A.

Trust workers? No. Build a wall!


On the 13th August, 1961, the construction of the Berlin Wall began. It remained in place, cutting of West Berlin, Federal German Republic from East Berlin and the German Democratic Republic until 1989.

The extract below is from the Socialist Standard February 2011

The Berlin Wall demonstrates how capitalist states can contain and control their populations. The construction of the ‘Wall of shame’, as the West Berlin state dubbed it, began on the 13th of August 1961. The state capitalist élite of East Germany declared that it was erected as a defence against fascists who were conspiring to impede the ‘will of the people’ from the building of a socialist state – which is a contradiction in terms. Its real function was to prevent the mass emigration of East German workers to the private capitalist workshops of the West. However, by 1989 the economic decline of the Russian empire led to a change in policy by their ruling élite, and access to Russian coercion was to be denied to the puppet states. It was this that brought about the tumbling of the Berlin Wall.

Amid the rejoicing some people in power were not as jubilant as the East Berliners, and millions elsewhere. Margaret Thatcher, wary of a united Germany, was reported to have pleaded with President Gorbachev ‘not to let the Berlin Wall fall’, and to ‘do what he could to prevent it happening’ (The Hindu, Sep 15 2009). Similarly, the French President, François Mitterand warned Mrs Thatcher that a unification of Germany could lead to them making ‘more ground than Adolf Hitler had’, and ‘that Europe would have to bear the consequences’ (London Times, 10 September 2009). Both quotes offer an insight into how the competitive nature of capitalism affects the thinking of its leaders, and directly works against the overwhelming majorities’ hopes, dreams and desires of living in a humane world.’

Andy Matthews

https://socialiststandardmyspace.blogspot.com/search?q=berlin+wall

The below is from the Socialist Standard November 1970 and describes the visit of a socialist to a ‘socialist’ country.

'When socialists visit so-called socialist countries it can be a particularly nauseating experience, because socialists proceed with their eyes open and with a background of understanding. What they sec is a variety of capitalism, which more correctly might be designated as fascism. One should not forget that the Nazis called themselves socialists (National Socialist German Workers Party) The label on the bottle does not always denote the medicine inside.

I have several times been to the so-called “Socialist Republic of Yugoslavia”, but have never seen anything remotely resembling socialism there.

The workers of Yugoslavia arc paid wages, and there is at present much unemployment— just as in other capitalist countries. Money is used as a means of exchange because there is buying and selling — a fundamental of capitalism. This may be new to non-socialists, but indicates to us the true nature of the economy.

Outside the trade union hall in Belgrade, I watched hundreds of workers trying to get into the hall to see an important chess match. At that moment, an enormous car came along — a veritable palace on wheels, and a sort of combination of a Rolls-Royce and a Cadillac. One should appreciate that the average car in Yugoslavia is well below the standard here. I concluded that this car must be that of President Tito. When it pulled up I noticed the Soviet flag flying on the bonnet, and out stepped the Russian chess team, immaculately clad just like film stars. The Yugoslavs beamed at them as if they were from Mars.

When the chess tournament started there was the usual speeches from the platform by the local mayor and other dignitaries, who proudly welcomed the Russians (and others) to the “Socialist Republic of Yugoslavia”, and one speech after the other kept referring to the “Socialist Republic of Yugoslavia”.

I once asked a railway official (who was both interpreter and guide) where 1 could see any signs of socialism in Yugoslavia. “Yes”, he said, as if pleased with my simple question. “Just come with me”. He took me to the square outside the station which was decorated with Russian and Yugoslav flags, following some agreement between those countries at that time. “There”, he said proudly, “that’s positive signs of socialism”. When I told him that flag waving (as socialists saw it) was a sign of jingoism or patriotism, he failed to appreciate my standpoint.

The German Democratic Republic

The crossing of the East German territory when travelling to Berlin by plane presents no difficulties, for one flies straight in. But when going by train, one has to traverse the Eastern zone, known by the false name of “German Democratic Republic”, for no democracy exists there.

In 1946 when the G.D.R. was formed, the Communist Party received only 20 per cent of the vote which gave them power; and in 1953 Russian tanks faced and butchered a mass of hostile workers during an uprising. There can scarcely be anything democratic after that affair.

When the train stops at the West German frontier, the passport authorities quickly walked through the corridors, and their work was finished in a few minutes. Then the train goes on through two or three miles of no-man’s land to the Eastern frontier. The passport inspection is quite another thing here. 1 counted no less than twenty-four officials who swarmed into the train or played a part in the inspection. Two soldiers with rifles were standing at each end of the train, and I noticed a policeman with a large Alsatian dog standing on the line near the end of the train. Then he let the dog off the lease, and the dog went under the train from end to end, for obvious reasons.

Four other officials climbed on top of the train and opened the vents and covers where the water for the toilets is taken in, walking the whole length of the train to perform this task.

The delay caused by this thorough search took up about an hour, and the train was nearly empty. Reports have it that three or four hours delay are not unusual.

From West Berlin foreigners (but not West Berliners) can visit East Berlin by special coach. Passport details, and the amount of money one has, are all checked and entered on a large form which has to be signed before one is allowed to board the coach.

Check Point Charlie” is a special entry point on the Berlin wall. The wall itself is about ten feet high, with concrete blocks and barbed wire to decorate it realistically. There are notices of mines, and soldiers arc patrolling it on the Eastern side; while on the Western side is an electrified wire fence in case one has managed to beat the other obstacles. The atmosphere of the concentration camp dominates everything ; and I began to wonder, as a socialist, what 1 had let myself in for.

At “Check Point Charlie” everybody had to descend from the coach and line up with “permit disc” bearing a letter and number (and in numerical order — like in army or prison), while the East German guards checked every detail of passports, visas, and the form which had been signed in the Western zone. This took about an hour, and frequently visitors are sent back because their passports are not in order for the East section. When one has scaled all these hurdles, you re-board the coach and are permitted to go through from “Capitalist Berlin to Socialist Berlin”.

East Berlin, which remained far behind West in re-building, has now surged forwards and there is a mass of buildings completed, and many still being built. The Russians pillaged all they could lay their hands upon, and Fast Germany suffered as a result. While the West was receiving Marshall Aid, East Berlin was being ransacked and made to pay for the war. No wonder the East Germans wanted to escape to the West.

The coach stopped only once during its three hours in East Berlin, and that was in the middle of a park where there was no possibility of contacting anybody. The real purpose of this stop was for toilet requirements, although the official guide made it appear that the purpose was to visit an enormous war memorial, guarded by Russian soldiers. The Russians evidently knew that if they did not guard their monuments in Hast Berlin, the workers would soon demolish them.

We were several times warned that cameras and newspapers must not be taken into East Berlin — so democratic is their regime.

With all the propaganda and security of this police state, there was absolutely nothing remotely resembling socialism— only a nauseating hypocrisy.'

Horace Jarvis

https://socialiststandardmyspace.blogspot.com/2016/03/a-visit-to-eastern-europe-1970.html


Monday, August 12, 2024

Strange bedfellows and free speech

 

The SPGB holds no truck for capitalism Or for capitalists. Neither do we hold truck with disorder aimed at individuals. We do support fully free speech and abhor attempts by States which, for their own purposes, look to limit it.

Does this mean we should stick up for billionaires when they appear to be resisting more authoritarian control over 1984 State type behaviour? Musk and his social media company, X (formerly Twitter) are apparently at odds with the British Establishment over comments made by Musk. Whether this is a damp squid, time will tell. As we pointed out in the previous SOYMB post, link below, the solution to the ills of capitalism and Big Brother governments is in the hands of the working class.

‘London’s Metropolitan Police commissioner has threatened to charge foreigners for “whipping up hatred” online, naming X owner Elon Musk as someone who could be prosecuted. The warning comes amid a nationwide crackdown against supposed hate speech following a spate of right-wing riots.

“We will throw the full force of the law at people. And whether you’re in this country committing crimes on the streets or committing crimes from further afield online, we will come after you,” Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley told Sky News.

Asked whether the Metropolitan Police planned on charging people posting on social media from other countries, Rowley replied: “Being a keyboard warrior does not make you safe from the law,” and named “the likes of Elon Musk” as potential targets for investigation.

As of 10 August, more than 700 people* had been arrested and more than 300 charged over their alleged participation in the riots, which kicked off after a teenager of Rwandan descent killed three children and injured ten others in a stabbing spree in the town of Southport late last month.

Initially sparked by a false rumour that the knife man responsible for the stabbings was a Muslim immigrant, the demonstrations grew into a wider backlash against Islam and mass immigration, culminating in rioters setting fire to a hotel housing asylum seekers in Rotherham.

Of those arrested, more than 30 have been charged with online offenses, such as sharing footage of the riots or posting content that – according to the Crown Prosecutorial Service – “incites violence or hatred.”

Critics, including Musk, have accused the government of stifling free speech, and of operating a “two-tier” justice system, in which white British suspects are punished far more severely than immigrants.

Musk shared a post on Saturday highlighting the disparity between the cases of Steven Mailen and Mustafa al Mbaidib. Mailen, 54, was sentenced to more than two years in prison on Friday for shouting and “gesticulating” at a police officer during a violent demonstration in Hartlepool last week; Al Mbaidib, a 27-year-old Jordanian national, was fined £26 ($33) last month for assaulting a female police officer in Bournemouth in May.

“Sure seems like unequal justice in the UK,” Musk wrote on X. The billionaire also shared a series of memes comparing British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to a Nazi officer and the British government to the totalitarian dictatorship of George Orwell’s ‘1984’.

Starmer is considering amending Britain’s Online Safety Act to punish social media companies that allow the spread of “legal but harmful” content, The Telegraph reported on Friday. The act, passed by the country’s previous Conservative government, was originally set to include such a clause, but the passage was ultimately pulled after Business and Trade Minister Kemi Badenoch complained that it amounted to “legislating for hurt feelings.”’

Latest internet figures suggest 945.

See also https://socialismoryourmoneyback.blogspot.com/2024/08/the-full-force-of-state.html