Socialist Standard September 2008

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1 Socialist Standard September 2008

September 08 bdh.indd 1 22/8/08 11:40:56




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-: [email protected]

September 2008

3 eThe cold war re-heats

4 PathsHealing and wedges

5 ps tg

6 m WGeorgia

8 c ds

15 ckg bks 1The coming purge

19 ckg bks 2It’s the system, stupid

20 rvwsThe Impossibilists. A Brief Prole

of the Socialist Party of Canada;

Who runs Britain? How the

Super-Rich are changing our lives.

22 50 ys agThe conict in the Middle-East

23 Gs pWestminster Punch and Judy

24 V bkLearning About Capitalism; The

Mad House Of Capitalism; How

Capitalism Operates, and more.

contents

website: www.worldsocialism.org

reGularSfeatureS

9 a SThe indications are that the economy is heading for a recession, which no

government can prevent.

12 t is nA socialist in Ireland looks at the vote there to reject the EU’s proposed Treaty

of Lisbon.

14 t Ss Qs The Labour Party has always claimed to represent the interest of the worse off

majority but now nds itself deeply unpopular to the point of facing a crisis.

16 W bg Svv?No permanent government has emerged from the elections held in June last

year. Does this matter to the working class there?

18 t h css

A hundred years ago this year Emile Zola’s remains were transferred to the

Pantheon in Paris.

socialist standard

16

12

18





The Socialist Party is like no other political party in Britain. It is made upof people who have joined together because we want to get rid of the prot

system and establish real socialism. Our aim is to persuade others to becomesocialist and act for themselves,organising democratically and withoutleaders, to bring about the kind of society that we are advocating in this

journal. We are solely concerned withbuilding a movement of socialists for socialism. We are not a reformist partywith a programme of policies to patchup capitalism.

We use every possible opportunityto make new socialists. We publishpamphlets and books, as well as CDs,DVDs and various other informativematerial. We also give talks and take partin debates; attend rallies, meetings anddemos; run educational conferences;host internet discussion forums, make

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The more of you who join the SocialistParty the more we will be able to getour ideas across, the more experienceswe will be able to draw on and greater will be the new ideas for building themovement which you will be able tobring us.

The Socialist Party is an organisationof equals. There is no leader and there

are no followers. So, if you are goingto join we want you to be sure that youagree fully with what we stand for andthat we are satised that you understand

the case for socialism.

IntroducingThe Socialist Party

Editorial

The Cold War re-heatsAccording to clausewz, he f-que 19h euy eeal a mlaysaes, wa s “he ua f ply by he meas.” the ee bef – if brutal – coict i the Caucasus is yetahe example f he eveyay auef apalsm u by he meas.

The coict i South Ossetia adAbkhaza, whh appeas havelame husas f lves has bee aae eup, exps he e-lkeplal a em pessues shfbelw he sufae.

these ee eves have bee a wake-up all hse sll elue hkha he e f he l wa (whh was eve a elal baleuayway) wul mea a e sa-ffsbewee supepwes, wh he ulmaepeal f Wl Wa 3.

the cl Wa has jus bee e-heaehe: bu hs me u he bale-lesae lealy aw us f smesuppse elal ffeees. theeae ea elal mal ssuesat stake here. The protagoists (US adrussa) a he alles ae smply valapals emes, eae seuesae avaae, aess esuesad regioal iuece.

i paula, aemp vesfys l su away fm ublesmeregios such as the Middle East, the USs ely a ew ppele va gea whh aps elavely seue sues ceal Asa whle av russaey.

thee ae he seas

hweve. the falue f he ealsemma emy ves f apalsmas practised by the Soviet Uio till itsemse alms 20 yeas a ehe l wa, meely hae he f.

As he em a plal bass fhe Wasaw Pa umble, he ealmlay pa nAto (he nh Ala teay oasa) has bee expafa bey s al “h Ala”spe, wh he saes f he fmeSoviet Uio strategically-attractive

aes f s ee eume ve, asit expads its sphere of iuece. Military coict is a uavoidable

cosequece of the everyday coictf ppey sey. i apalsm allpuve esues – ms expllyl pu a sbu – have be we a lle by smee.Me wafae – wh all he wase,evasa a aes bs s wake – s a pblem f apalsm.i as, a meyless, waeless,lassless a saeless sals sey-e wll w ay puve esue he exlus f aye else. thee wll be laws, ules evefes amse ple suhmplsa.

The World Socialist Movemet isuque as a plal mveme lealya ssely expess s pps wa huhu he las hue yeas. ths s seleve: we ppse all was, a have e s fm Wl Wa1 gulf Wa 2. ou pps has asmple bass: wa s fuh ve ssuesf ees emplyes, lals absses – he apals lass, sh – whle s wkes, ufm vlalh, wh ae he a-fe. the vewhelm majy, he lbal

wk lass – whehe fm gea(Caucasus) or Georgia (USA), have oeess a sake wh she a pf bl ve.





m, h ts ISn’T IT aoyig whe you approach a red trafc lighta have s hee wa f u ee, espe hefa ha hee ae bvusly he as peesascomig from ay directio? What if the trafc light itself was equppe wh a b f ellee a ul ee

u ee f was safe, all he whle alk s fesacross tow, collectively regulatig trafc ow accordig peval s? Apa fm he she f juey mes a he sav ab emsss, wul be a example f smeh we ae lkely seemore ad more i the future, the self-cogurig etwork.

A egieered system implies by deitio a egieer wh eely uesas a ls ha sysem, a

leas s al sae. Bu ely pemae faysettigs i a dyamic system is almost ever efciet,

ad today’s productio systems are so complex advlve s may paamees ha eees fe

have ea wha wll happe f e eal salee, hw bes slve a pblem ha

ases. oe appah hs pblemf mplexy s e he sysemself evse s w slu.

ths may be me effevef he smple eas ha

machies do’t rely ohuma u.

Whh wulmake f a

q u k e ex f a

w f peple, a pe way a way wh a lae bsu f f ? Pehaps supsly, she way wh he bsu. ius u by expeme ha wh ape way eveye ushes a ama sampee, wheeas a bsuregulates the ow, leadig to a more

orderly ad efciet passage for everyoe.i a smla way, hee s a peeveiverse ratio betwee motorway trafcesy a spee f huhpu, buhs a be w. As esy eases,ves hae laes less fe, ahuhpu heeby aually easesahe ha eeases. the p f hss ha u a ake yu he w way whe evs ase sysems.

i e a pu sysem (New

Scientist , Au 9) effs assassembly robots i the most efciet way fale, ul he bs hemselves

wee ve he ask f ashe w wk va a b sysem. the esul was a upeablea ue-uve a-h sheule evse by herobots which was more efciet ad saved $1m per year.

thee s a mpa pple hee ha salss ause. oe f he me eus aumes aas salshey s ha, whu he mea aey f mey,a hhly mplex sals pu sysem wul behpelessly mpehesble, vlv s may paameesha eal pla es ul ealsally maae. Leav ase he auaus hypsy f s whae pefely a hme wh he savae has f he wem sysem, as well as he eey vesae hemplas f a seay-sae emy wh bms,

buss avese-ve sume fasm, suhmplexy as wul exs es eally pese us

with a problem. Just like a itelliget trafc owsystem, we could devise a ‘smart’ resource

sysem, us huhpu, usae aeey fma pmse self,

recogurig wheever ecessary. Thus, our aswer to our critics’

bje ha we ul evesusly eulae

sals pu. Wedo’t have to regulate

, s l as eulaes self.

hw

v

v

(w}g

In 2005 the Socialist Party produced avideo entitled Capitalism and Other Kid’s

Stuff, in which the contention was madethat if as an experiment you take a group of kindergarten kids and deprive all the children of their toys, giving everything to just one child, somevery hostile and competitive behaviour will be the result.Though this was more argument by analogy than rigorousscientic hypothesis, a recent study appears to have conrmed

this proposition by performing exactly this experiment, withthe predicted consequence (Who ever said that girls aren’tcompetitive? New Scientist , June 28). A group of pre-schoolboys and girls were observed, rst with enough toys to go round,

t h e n with all the toys taken away so that only one childwas left with any possessions. The objective of the experiment was to nd out if girls would be

as competitive as boys. The study showed thatthere was a marked increase in competitivebehaviour in both gender groups, differing in

expression between boys and girls yetequally aggressive in their own way. Boystried to grab the toy, or chase the child

w i t h the toy, while girls punished theowner with more subtle ploysincluding social exclusion,whispering and hiding.

What is curious about thisexperiment is not so much the

result but the interpretationplaced on it. Thestudy focussedentirely onthe gender characteristicsof competitive

b e h a v i o u r w i t h o u t

appear ingto consider w h a t

causedit in therst place.

It may bethe fault of the

journalistic news itemrather than the study, butthe impression created isthat boys and girls are a prioricompetitive, not that boys andgirls become competitive if you do

unusually mean things to them. In thisview, the experimenters actually createdthe very behaviour they thought they were‘discovering’. What is missing is any account of thechildren’s behaviour before the toys are removed, butone can reasonably assume a greater level of cooperativeplay. Socialists would draw a quite different conclusion fromall this. Instead of showing that girls are as competitive as boys(and why wouldn’t they be?), the study demonstrates effectivelythat private property is a hugely divisive social factor, evenamong four-year olds. The signicance of this can scarcely be

overstated. In the one interpretation, we are innately and willalways be competitive, implying the inevitability of social modelsbuilt on that behaviour. In the other, such behaviour is provokedin us only when an outside agency actively dispossesses anddisempowers us, implying the desirability of developing a socialmodel which avoids doing this to us.

In

reality

the kids

gave

theowner

a hard

time

4





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the wa gea seems be ve. Hw bea s sllot clear. The rst major

mlay a was gea’ s

bmbame f tskhval, busme lam ha hs was self aespse esala he lw-itesity ghtig i the villages of South Ossetia that has bee goig f may yeas. i ay ase, heGeorgia assault o South Ossetiaave russa a le ppuy pusue s w als ue vef humaaa eve (seelas mh’ s Maeal Wl).

i eeal, bh ses haveexelle hypsy. russa as hepe f small peples – afeChechya? The Uited States as thehamp f aal sveeyaas fe aess – afeiaq? A ye hee ae always peplepepae ake suh uff seusly, pee .

Three levels

the ex f he wa ees beues a hee levels:

Level 1: he sule whgea f l ve ey, wae by ehally base m-saes (gea, Abkhaz, osse).

Level 2: he fa

bewee gea a russa.Level 3: he eewe ea pwe

fa bewee russa ahe Wes, espeally bewee russaad the U.S.

the Wes s ppaaasesses Level 2, as russa asaess a gea as vm whle bsu s w le. russappaaa sesses Level 1, asgeas as aesss a Abkhaza osses as vms, a als Level3, castig the U.S. ad its alliesas aesss a russa as hevm.

oly by fus Level 3 a we asp wha he wa s eallyabu.

Reclaiming a sphere of

inuence

the ules f ea pwes feea he aeas mmeaely beyhe bes as he hful “spheeof iuece.” Thus, the U.S. callsceal Amea a he cabbeas “bakya,” whle russa efesto other parts of the former USSR ass “ea aba.” they ae espeally

ee peve mlay esbewee use pwes a saes their sphere of iuece. Recall the

cuba mssle ss f 1962.Afe a pe f weakess, russa

s w elam ea pwe sausad a sphere of iuece. I the

military eld, the mai goals are topeve gea a Ukae jnAto a blk he eplymef ABM sysems Pla a heczeh republ. i a, russa

will ot allow post-Soviet states tocooperate with the U.S. i ay attack ia.

the russa pea hassueee keep gea u f nAto f he feseeable fuue: has emsae he sks vlvea seveal f he exs Eupeamembe saes ae uwll ake hse sks. Ahe russaal – ye aheve – s usSaakashvili, who is rightly viewedas a Amea le. (the “seevlu” ha buh hm pwe 2003 was fue by heU.S. govermet, through suchaees as he naal Ewmef demay.)

Western ruling class deeply

divided on Russia

i wul be a msake epeeve he kee-jek supp f heAmea mea f gea as

ave f uequval supp. The U.S. ad its allies (with Israelplay a maj le) eae hes f wa by euahe le a by am aa hs fes. Hweve, appears that Saakashvili startedmaj hsles hs w, whuseek p appval fm Bush, wh was ejy he olymps ahe me. ths evely ause smeaoyace. The U.S. refused him thepaal supp whh he wasu. Lke may ambus buexpeee plas befe hm,he veplaye hs ha.

We mus bea m ha heWese ul lass s eeply vee ply wa russa.cea fes, espeally heU.S., are upset that Russia is ole subseve he Wes aea e me as a avesay.ohe fes have a me ealsvew f he shf balae f wlpwe, ae way f mak mayeemies ad ghtig too may warsa e, a wa maa a mepeave elashp wh russa.

these fes ae paulaly s Wes Eupea ues ha aeepee russa as.

Not worth war with Russia

the ma vew amu mases, fuaely, s ha

hey have eess a sake gea wh he sk f wa whrussa. they have ly e eallympa em ees gea: he ppeles ethe Caspia oil ad gas elds with tukey’ s Meeaea as (Baku – ceyha), whh pass huh hesouth of the coutry. Sigicatly,alhuh russa bmbe mayvaluable asses gea ae wasake bmb hese ppeles.Pehaps see assuaes weeve ha he ppeles wul beamae.

the russa ules have eally val em (as ppse sae) ees gea.Abkhaza has l bee hefave vaa sp a sllhas seable us peal.Wese gea s a aalsue f ea, ba, walus aus fu.

Shared responsibility

ou heas u he mayhusas f ay wkpeple wh have be he bu

f suffe hs wa, as hey evey wa – cowerig terried ibasemes as he shells bus abvehem, jump he eah fmbu buls, u al heas e, huy a hsy hesumme hea …

A ye we als have saysmeh ha mus su healess he umsaes. the majyf hese ay wk peple – f he auls am hem – shaeespsbly f he ueplh. Beause was hey whemsae a ve f heplas wh ee he shella he bmb. A ms f hem, appeas, ae sll eay emsae a ve f he sameplas. Beause hey sll beleveha he la f sae besmatters more, iitely more thahe w lves he lves f hehle. Beause hey sll vew ashe eemy ay wk peple wh happe be f ffee esea speak a ffee lauae. these eluss, f s l as heypess, uaaee ha hs wll

be he las wa.STEFAN

War in Georgia





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w s G

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africa

Kenya. Patrick Ndege, PO Box 56428, Nairobi.Swaziland. Mandla Ntshakala, PO Box981, Manzini.Zambia. Marxian Education Group, POBox 22265, Kitwe.asia

India. World Socialist Group, VillGobardhanpur. PO Amral, Dist.Bankura, 722122Japan. Michael. Email:[email protected]

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coMPanIon PartIes

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02144 USA. E-mail: [email protected]

Contact Details

only inSide SocialiSm?

“As we face $4.50 a gallon gas, we alsoknow that alternative energy sources— coal, oil shale, ethanol, wind andground-based solar — are either of limited potential, very expensive,require huge energy storage systemsor harm the environment. Thereis, however, one potential futureenergy source that is environmentallyfriendly, has essentially unlimitedpotential and can be cost competitivewith any renewable source: spacesolar power. Science ction? Actually,

no — the technology already exists.A space solar power system wouldinvolve building large solar energycollectors in orbit around the Earth.These panels would collect far moreenergy than land-based units, which

behind the braVado

“Washington - More than 22,000

veterans have sought help from aspecial suicide hot line in its rst year,

and 1,221 suicides have been averted,the government says. According to arecent RAND Corp. study, roughly onein ve soldiers returning from Iraq and

Afghanistan displays symptoms of post-

traumatic stress disorder, putting themat a higher risk for suicide. Researchersat Portland State University found thatmale veterans are twice as likely tocommit suicide than men who are notveterans. ...The VA (Veterans Affairs)estimates that every year 6,500 veteranstake their own lives. The mental health

are hampered by weather, low anglesof the sun in northern climes and, of course, the darkness of night. Oncecollected, the solar energy would besafely beamed to Earth via wirelessradio transmission, where it would bereceived by antennas near cities andother places where large amounts of

power are used. The received energywould then be converted to electricpower for distribution over the existinggrid.” (New York Times, 23 July)

director for the VA, Ira Katz, said in ane-mail last December that of the 18veterans who commit suicide each day,four to ve of them are under VA care,

and 12,000 veterans under VA care areattempting suicide each year.” (Yahoo

News, 28 July)

What credit crunch?

“A mysterious Russian billionaire hastrumped his big-spending rivals andbroken a world record by splashingout 500 million euros (£392 million)

on one of the most sumptuous villason the French Riveria. (Times, 11August)

califonian niGhtmare

“Stockton has become known asForeclosure Town, USA. With onein 25 houses in foreclosure, there

are more properties with mortgagesin default here than anywhere in thecountry. And it is not as if there isn’tsome stiff competition for Stockton’sdubious accolade in other corners of California, and indeed in the rest of America.” (Observer , 10 August)





the ea ha he make emya pess sealy, pvf eve-s levels f wh,

ae a emplyme, s a faasyeam abu by evey chaell f he Exheque a ms plaseeally. ths was eve me hease ha wh he fme chaellg Bw wh lame epeaely

ha yea--yea em wh was he uque pu f hspue a umspe em

maaeme f Bsh apalsm. the puee f he eswhle

chaell – a w Pme Mse – s suely ub as he emy,a ms mmeas aaalyss, heas was a eesshs veme seems pweless peve. n le mma f everythig he surveys, Brow’s frailties

ae suely all appae, eve may f hs fme suppes.iee, s ees ha may f

The indications are that the economy is heading for a recession, which nogovernment can prevent.

All at

Sea

Brown: thought he could hold back the tide

of capitalism’s business cycle





he mmeas wh saw lleto questio i Brow’s outladishlams ve he las e yeas weeals ms fe he heeleaes fa hus make bubble hey sa wul eve bus, a whh wpves hem wh eless lumhes f ha-h pse w hait ally has.

Befe he hus make ashbea a whe he plas amaseam pess wee sll eal, we ha, he May 2007 Socialist

Standard , a ffee pespeve:‘pas hsy emsaes hase lae, he ue husbubble wll e eas. Wheasse pes beme mpleelyseae fm wha s happe he eal emy whee wealh spue a value eae, a aely susae by eve easamus f ebeess, a

las – apalsm jus es wkthat way’. Accordig to the Financial

Times (9h Auus) hs eb has wse fm 100 pe e 170 pee f husehl me uenew Labu (he hhes he g7ues) a 80 pe e f hs hasbee seue ppey, a pelussua f he hus make paula bu als f he emyas a whle.

Business cycle

gwh he make emy( he hus se a me

eeally) es pee hemae f a sah upwa le asmae a teasuy aph. iseeal e s upwas vehe l-em, bu wh es be ueve, upeable, a pe pe wl yas. F vey eass hs s he way hasalways ue apalsm ahee s h abu he sysem, he plas wh vesee , sues wll happe ay ffeely fuue.

i he eeeh euy he

cocept of capitalism’s ever-recurrigae yle was well-kw, he mshee a -eph aalyss f be evelpe by Kal Max. Aspese w as was he, Maxsummaze hs vew he fllwems:

‘The factory system’s tremedousapay f expa wh suemmese leaps, a s epeee he wl make, eessaly vese he fllw yle: feveshpu, a seque lu he make, he a a f hemake, whh auses pu

be pple. the lfe f usybemes a sees f pes f meae avy, pspey, ve-

productio, crisis ad stagatio’ (Capital , Vlume 1, p.580. PeuE).

thee ae w elae fas whh ve hs bm/slump yle.Fsly, he fa ha puakes plae wh a vew ealsa moetary prot. Without thisprospect of prot, productio will

ake plae. nees whu heably pay ae lef uese, whehe ha be hus f hseuable e a mae f fthose uable to pay for it. Secodly,this prot-seekig is coducted byhues f husas f mpeeepses whse ulmae am s ease make shae, easepu, a huh s

icrease prots. The problem isha he ve mpee f heseeepses s he ly ableefeee p e ahe.Wha hey s -ae

a plae, a lke he emas f he mpaesa uses. isea, hee sa aahy f pu whhpeally leas key ses f abm emy ve-expa ela exs make ema.

tha hs sua uei the US housig market from2006 was, a has se beeasme may he ppeymakes lu ha f he UK, sw bvus eve ms f hse wh vehemely ee wul

happe.

Dening a recession

the teasuy a Bak f Ela (al wh he ue-parts i the Uited States) ofciallydee a recessio as ‘two cosecutiveeave quaes f emgrowth’. By this they mea half a yea f em a. the way ha sass ae eessalymple (espeally sehe me-la fa) s alwayseve ha a eess has beehappe ul afe he eve.

i 2001 was assume ha heUited States was i a recessio,bu afe he eve ue u ha

this was’t (quite) so based o thisdeitio.

Max lame ha f a eess(epess slump – epe yu pefee emly) u,vepu f paula makesha spea a ‘p he ppalarticles of trade’ (Theories of Surplus

Value , p.393). i pae, smemes

hs eealsa f vepu will occur through a ‘kock-o’ effect whe hee s lealy sppaewh a vepu smeuses ha speas me wely,but at other times it does’t spreadsufcietly to cause a oticeably we wu. Fuheme,eve whe es spea hee aeusually uses ha well ahewse el emy, as washe ase he maj 1930s slump whe m a maufau, fsae, ue w whle

he uses ae. thee s lle ub haapalsm ms usalseas s l veue a eess f ss – he las wespea e was 1990-92 a he bm se hehas bee fa le ha he hsaveae. i hs pe apalsmhas suvve he Asa ss f 1997, the collapse of the world’sbes hee fu a yea lae (heally ame L tem capalMaaeme), he speaulabus f he -m bubble whs vaus pae saals, he

aaks he Wl tae ceea he maj plal ses, ahe massve 2000-2003 bea makei equities, all without ofciallyeterig recessio i either the US UK.

ths me hee ae wsigicat forces propellig it i thee f eess, hweve: heafemee ppey makeash whh has see he besmhly huse pe falls bhthe US ad UK i history, adthe serious ‘credit cruch’ that

has evelpe fm . the laehas ue beause s mayvesme pus have bee baseo low-grade (‘sub-prime’) housigeb a as he hus makefalls a peple a pay hemaes muh f hs eb has be we ff. i was eely euh u wha wul have bee a sxmothly prot for the Royal Bakof Scotlad of i excess of £5 billioito a loss of £691 millio istead,ad has led RBS ad may otherbaks e-apalse hemselveshuh ssu me shaes;

the US it early led to the completellapse f e f he laesivestmet baks, Bear Stears.

“t s

s sss s

s g v

ss”





the ma pblem s ha -e, smemes eve he bakshemselves, kw whee all f hesepblema sub-pme vesmesae hw muh ees be weff. i s hs ha famusly le aalms upeeee eluaeam he baks le eahe las yea as hey

us wha was ( ahe o) each other’s balace sheets.iespeve f wha eal bakshave e wh base ees aes, has le e-bak le aesbe pushe up mpaavehs hhs (he spke LiBor – he L ie-bak offeerae – s wha pu pa nheRock’s meteoric rise as it was hugelyepee bw hemey-makes).

the e sysem a he meymakes assae wh ae wha

oil capitalism’s acial machie.Whe hey beme ysfual heee sysem a suffe; baks aeelua le ehe usy vuals, les f ey up a mpaes e difculty d that their oe possiblelfele has bee u ff. iee, she e sysem ha es aas a key asmss mehasmspea pblems sme sesf he emy hes.

Lead indicators

the exe whh he mbe

effes f he hus make asha he esula e uh wlllea a eess s uely hlyebae by aalyss, huh lealyhas he peal be vey seusee. Ha aa he mmhs shul pve lusve e way he he as, uh, heeare few geuie ‘lead idicators’ of a slump that ca tell us deitivelyha e s abu happe, hw eep wll be. F example,pu es fall mseably e he slump s aleay

ueway a uemplyme sahe la a, ly s whe mpaes have sae uback o stafg levels i respose todifcult tradig coditios.

Fall sk makes ae beelea as f a eess; hss beause a he level f vualmpaes s he em apelmay mpay esuls al wh quaely a saemesha ypally ve avae lues as wha s happe he u,a sk makes ae usually quk ea, as hey have bee hs me.

nealy all maj sk makes havea sme p falle 20 pe e me fm he peaks se he

e uh sae, ehallyeterig ‘bear market’ territory. the pblem wh sk makes,hweve, s ha hey a fall he sh-em f all ss f heeass a als have a eey ve-ea eves. Whe UKshaes ls abu 50 pe e f hevalue he 2000-3 bea make

(ad US shares almost as much) thisreected little that was happeig he eal wl f he uelyapals emy f pu aae.

Some ecoomists ad aalystshave aue ha he bes af a mpe eess s whais called a ‘iverted yield curve’ ohe mey makes. ths meas asua wheeby sh-em eesaes ae abve l-em aes (hevese f he usual elashp)a hese umsaes baks

have lle eve le l-em usy whe selevesh-em le s bh safead more protable. I practice, avee yel uve s ee almsalways a peus f eesss.Ufuaely, lke fall skmakes, vee yel uves ahappe at other times too (the UShad a sigicatly iverted yielduve 2000 a ha a uve haatteed ad threateed to ivert i1998, ye hee was eess ehe as). ths me au,the US yield curve iverted i 2006-7

a has se swhe bepsve; he UK yel uve vee he wake f he e uhsa las summe, a hasrecetly started to atte out agai.

Mine’s A Baltic Dry

Auably he bes lea a f a eess exss as a measuemeof what is happeig i the ‘real’ emy f pu a ae capitalism rather tha its acialsupesuue. ths s a uusa lle kw aue f em

avy alle he Bal dy iex. ives y bulk shpp aes a smaae by he Bal Exhae he cy f L.

Eah ay he Bal Exhaeesablshes aveae pes fshpp vaus aes auhe wl, whehe be 100,000es f e fm Bazl heUK 100,000 s f sybeasfrom the US to Idia. Essetially,he ex s a bamee f avyams shpbkes vlve shpp hse aw maeals ha aeypally he peuss pu

au he wl, a measueshe ema f shpp apayvesus he supply f bulk aes.

i s a useful ex beause y bulkmaly sss f mmesha a as aw maeal pus he pu f he s suhas eley, seel a f. Als,ema f hese s vaable aelas wheeas he supply f ybulk shpp s elas, halle he sh-em beause f

he leh f me eee bulew akes. ths meas haes the idex ted to pricipally reecthaes ema. Fluuas he ex have hsally pve be ams he bes lea asf em avy he makeemy hee s.

ths has bee emsaeve he las few yeas, whe heBal dy iex sue he bakf he bm lbal emya he ema f usala aulual mmes le

by cha, ia, Bazl a heeme makes. ieesly,espe a ua f muh f hs avy, he ex has meee mes falee. Fm hebe f 2005 ul he sa f 2008 he ex me ha uble,bu afe sme vlale mvemehas se falle fm a peak f ealy 11,800 eahe May au 7,000 a he me f w,a fall f au 40 pe e. if hsfall ues he auum abey, he a wespea, seuseess s me ha lkely as

will be reective of a massive declie he ema f aw maealseque f he wl emy.

Que hw sevee he emwu pves be s smallmae f ees as wll affehe lves f hues f mllsass he lbe, lea fallpu, fall ppey pes,s uemplyme a aueacial distress for may. Adthis is far more sigicat tha thesess ha s be ause f aPme Mse Ba wh swe

ha hs wul eve happe a wh huh he ul hl bak hetide of capitalism’s busiess cyclethrough his acial maagemetsklls – a ma wh has bee leflk eve me lke K cauesea, sa u sea wh he waves aleay lapp well abve hsakles.DAP





A socialist in Ireland looks at the vote there toreject the EU’s proposed Treaty of Lisbon.

o

n the 12th of June, voters in the Republic of Irelandrejected a constitutional proposal to ratify the LisbonTreaty. The rejection has caused ripples across Europe

and provoked a lively and continuing discussion in the letterspages of the newspapers and in radio phone-in programmes.It is a quintessential example of what passes for ‘politics’ under capitalism with heated debate amongst the protagonists andyet the result is as irrelevant to most people as the compositionof government here after the next election. Closer inspection of the campaign and its aftermath reveals all the pointlessness,chicanery and opportunism of mainstream politics.

The European Union (although that wasn’t its name at thetime) was founded by six, reasonably like-minded Europeancountries by the Treaty of Rome in 1957. The aim then (and

still now) was to make capitalism more efcient throughout the

continent by organising it on a pan-European scale. The basictenets of permitting the free movement of capital, goods and

‘labour’ (people in the real world) between member states hadthe intention of giving capitalists the opportunity to conduct their business in the most protable location at any moment in time.

Over the last 50 years the Union has grown so that it now hasnearly 30 member countries ranging from the Mediterranean,

to the Nordic states and includes most of the pre-1990 Eastern

bloc. In fact most countries in Europe are now either members,candidate members, associate members or at a minimumaspirational members. Like any organisation, as it has evolvedover time, its governing rules require continual amendmentsand the Lisbon Treaty is the latest such initiative. The mainthrust of all these successive amendments has been to put esh

on and develop the principle of free movement and free tradewithin Europe.

The problem for the EU is that there is no longer unanimity

amongst what may be termed the European capitalist class asto how the Union should develop and what are the appropriaterules for possibly completing structures for it. The Irishreferendum debate and result is a manifestation of this andillustration of how the governing ideas in society are those of the capitalist elite. One section of the capitalist class, controllinglarge multi-national enterprises that are involved in internationalmanufacture and tradable services are extremely concernedabout global competition from the USA, China, India, SouthAmerica etc. They want to see more integration of capitalismwithin Europe by the dismantling of any remaining nationalbarriers in order to strengthen their position with respect tothese external competitors. Some of this programme wouldinvolve having a uniform tax base throughout Europe and a‘Services Directive’ whereby capitalists in any country in the

Union would have open access to markets in all the other countries and not be hindered by any local labour or other regulations. Broadly this section of the capitalist class has the

approval of the Brussels Commission,the ruling administration of the EU.Furthermore as part of this programme,they are prepared to accept a stronger social element to the EU in terms of certain aspects of workers rights to ineffect partly compensate workers for the increased competitive environmentin which they will have to sell their

labour. This political philosophy usuallygoes by the name of Christian or SocialDemocracy where capitalist engagewith the organised labour movementtaking a long term view of the benets

to prots that stem from stability and

social cohesion. As against that thereis another rival section to the capitalistclass. These generally operate smaller businesses acting in predominately

national markets or trading almost exclusively with individualcountries outside Europe such as the USA. They see no realneed or advantage to be gained from deeper collaboration andare at a minimum, suspicious or completely opposed to thesedevelopments. To them other capitalists within Europe are as

much a threat as those outside the EU. They also tend to bemore resistant to the social aspects of Europe viewing it as acost that confers no particular advantage to them.

Within Ireland, this uncertainty or confusion in the rulingcircles of Europe also manifested itself. On the Yes or pro-treatyside was an uneasy and in parts unlikely alliance consisting of most of the important political parties, the employers’ umbrellaorganisation IBEC, the corresponding labour organisation,the Irish Congress of Trade Unions and important sectionalgroups such as the Farmers organisations. The political parties,although they spend huge time and effort in ritualistic attackson each other, basically share the same Christian Democraticethos which ts in with the EU philosophy and explains their

support for the Treaty. Given the predominance of multi-nationalcompanies in Ireland’s industrial portfolio (who located herespecically to take advantage of membership of the EU),

it was no surprise that IBEC also solicited a yes vote. Theunions’ governing body, the ICTU was won over by the socialconcessions in the Treaty and a desire to be in line with themainstream labour movement on the continent.

The anti-Treaty side was even more motley in terms of itsmake-up and consisted of two entirely disparate streams (onefrom the Right and one from the Left) each in turn containinga myriad of sub-organisations. From the right of the politicalspectrum were prominent businessmen such as Ben Dunne(retail), Ulick McEvaddy (airlines) and most prominently

Declan Ganley (communications). Joining them were a varietyof free-market commentators, staunch and unchangingEurophobes and some reactionary populists. The main plank

of their opposition to the Lisbon Treaty could be summarisedby the lessening of Ireland’s inuence within Europe due to the

proposed loss of automatic national Commissioners and lessability for Ireland to set independent tax and national macro-economic policies. This Rightist element of the No campaignalso included a curious assortment of very traditional andconservative nationalists and extreme Catholics worried aboutthreats to Ireland’s sovereignty and ability to set independent(i.e. Catholic) social policies. The Left side of opposition toLisbon also had a multitude of identiable sub-groups each

with its own grievance. Although the Green Party is part of thegovernment, a dissident wing of the Green Party opposed thecentralising tendencies inherent in the Treaty. Sinn Fein claimedto be concerned about the effect on the position of Irish workersof unrestricted access to the Irish market by foreign capitalists

and also were unhappy with the increasing role of a potentialEuropean army and its effect on Ireland’s traditional neutrality.The Greens and Sinn Fein were joined in their opposition





by a large number of small groups of Leftist,Trotskyite, Anarchist, ‘Anti-War’ and somebizarre single-issue protest organisations (RuralHospitals, Palestinian Solidarity, etc.).

Most of the debate was ridiculous. The

Yes side warned of economic meltdown if theTreaty was rejected when everyone knew aneconomic recession was already underwaycaused by factors nothing to do with the issue.

Sinn Fein (an organisation responsible for over half of all deaths in the 30-year Troublesthrough its former armed wing, the IRA)claimed to be worried about growing ‘militarism’within Europe. The Left groups opposed theTreaty on the longstanding and remarkablypersistent misapprehension that capitalismorganised on an international basis is somethingreprehensible while if the same society exists on a nationalbasis, then that is something tolerable. This presumably stemsfrom their aspiration that national capitalism can be more easilyconverted into state capitalism than if it has an internationalcharacter. In fact some of the claims, mostly by the No side,made about the EU were so conspiratorial that they had the air of a UFO crank convention.

In any event, the Treaty was rejected by 53 percent to 46percent on a relatively healthy turnout of over 50 percent. Whileboth elements of the No campaign claimed credit for the result,the real winner out of the debate is the mysterious Mr. Declan

Ganley who in the space of a few short weeks went from beingan unknown gure to being the perceived architect of the Irish

rejection. He is a self-made millionaire who made his moneythrough his close contacts with senior members of the AmericanBush administration which yielded a number of lucrativedefence contracts with the US military authorities. Prior to thathe had advised a number of former Communist countries inEastern Europe on the implementation of ‘privatisation’ of stateassets and interests. He set up the campaigning organisation,Libertas which provided the bulk of the resources of the Noside in terms of yers, posters, billboard and newspaper

advertising. The generous funding of this body is mysteriousand under electoral rules does not have to be disclosed untilnext year. Also because it is not a political party, the level of disclosure about its donors is less stringent than it would beotherwise. There are rumours (denied by Libertas) that theorganisation is nancially supported by right wing elements in

the Republican Party in America who see a growing and moreintegrated EU as a future threat in the same way as they nowview China. He is now the toast of Euro-sceptics throughoutEurope (at least those of a rightist persuasion) and has becomea leading standard bearer of trans-European opposition to theimplementation of the Lisbon Treaty. He has been glowinglyendorsed by the British euro-sceptics, UKIP and the Tory right.

It is clear that Libertas outspent all the other bodies involved in the campaign. They werehelped in this by a court ruling, a decade agoin connection with another referendum whichmade it illegal for the Government to spendpublic money on advocating a Yes vote. At thetime this ruling was viewed as a progressivemeasure (levelling the playing eld in referenda

campaigns) but all it has led to is the American

situation where private money now dictates thecampaigns and success usually goes to thebest funded groups and not those with the bestarguments or greater support. The practicaleffect of the ruling is that the Governmentparties had to spend their own party money andresources to encourage a yes vote. This led toa very token campaign on their behalf as the

party loyalists were hardly going to be enthusiastic about sellinga 260-page technical document to the electorate. Although themain opposition parties (Fine Gael and Labour) were nominallysupportive they clearly decided against spending money toobtain a result that the government would ultimately claim asa victory for itself. There is nothing unusual about that; mostpolitical parties only spend real money on getting their own

members elected in sufcient numbers to give them accessto power where the prospects of enrichment and rewards aretangible. Spending money to change peoples’ minds for its ownsake is not a priority. All in all this has left the Irish governmentwith a headache they could have done without. They are under pressure from the leading integrationist countries such asFrance and Germany to resolve it before other countries with ahistory of cold feet about European federalism such as Britain,Denmark and the Czech Republic join the No bandwagon. Atthe same time they are hemmed in by the justiable taunts of

ignoring the peoples’ sovereign will if they ignore or try to legallynesse the outcome of the vote.

What the future holds for this issue, time will tell. Inevitablyit will be resolved by some compromise and the System willcontinue. In ve, ten or twenty years time, people will look back

and marvel at the heat and dust that it has raised and maybewonder whatever became of Declan Ganley. For Socialists suchtinkerings with the system are of no real concern. Given thatthe Treaty itself is mainly technical in nature and independentstudies show it will not make a huge change to the day-to-day operation of the EU, whether it is ratied or not will not

signicantly impact on our lives. Only when the over 90 percent

of the world’s people, who make a meaningful contribution tolife on earth, realize that their interests need a new outlet, canpolitics become real and meaningful.KeVin cronin

“pv

w s

gs

sss s

gs s

gs s

w s

gs”





labu has ha uammelle pwe f ve e

years, ad yet ow ds itself rejected because ithas failed so spectacularly. Berard Shaw oce

we ha ay veme ha bs Pee pay Paula u he supp f Paul. Labu has fale aheve eve hs mes level f ve buy.

Pa f he pblem was ha Pee s jus s le hmself be bbe – he ase aks f apala he sase mh f he make ae seough to see off ay challege that does’t seek to

emve hem eely fm he pue.Labu e ammae self whbusess e aheve mes salals – bu hs smply lef pey hemood swigs of the market, with Paul’sps uhae.

oe eable hae Labu maae e huh was evlu.We’ve discussed i these pages before howhs was as muh jbs f he bys als – as well as pv a hay eubf Labu fes f whe hey wul

evetually lose Dowig Street. Theircolossal votes i Scotlad ad Wales wouldmake hem he pemae aual pay f veme hse aeas, a wul allwhem umve k sl ty e he Elsh suh eas. i wul, heyhpe, syme he hallee fm Welsh aScottish atioalists to their domiace ihse aeas.

Afe all, hey beleve ha he esef he ee f he Ue Km ss. Hee why g Bw has e wap hmself Bshess – a ea b f seal ty lhes w he suppesve, whle hs w suppes have whee

else to go. At least, that’s the theory. Thepblem s, hweve hey wee w abuhe naalss – he ves fu hey ul hem.

i 2007 Labu ls l f heScottish parliamet. They had ever had afull majy hee (he ppal elealsysem hey ue makes ha aulkely eve) bu hey ha bee he bespay. i was a lse u h, bu hey wee beae se plae by e sea(a abu 20,000 ves). n ly ha, bua ew Pr sysem f lal veme meahe smash f he l Labu famly u

efdoms throughout Scotlad, with almostall uls fall veall l.A pa f all ha was he emse f he

Scottish “Socialist” Party, oe of the mostsuccessful leftist parties of the last fty

years. It had had six seats i the ScottishPalame, befe ha mple ve hebehavu f s hasma leae tmmySherida suig the News of the World

over allegatios o his private life (plus a touch of SWPskuluey). i ha lahe eal aalsm,as a suessful meas eleal suess.

The Scottish natioalists had tacked left, makigsal ema ses pk ff Labu suppes. thee s h sally lef-w abu aalsm.

Be a aals es eessaly mm apes ay paula efms em pples.Ideed, techically, the SnP is a oe-issue party – for

The Scottish QuestionThe SNP’s victory in the Glasgow East by-election has kept this irrelevant pot boiling. The Labour Party has always claimed to represent the interest of the worse off majority but now nds itself deeply unpopular to the point of facing a crisis.





a idepedet Scotlad. Their history, though, ismake by ebaes bewee he my f hales wa sa f h bu epeee, a hema pamass wh wa w plal pweby ffe amse he ue sua, akk he maxmum ema he l ass. thsallws peple safely ve f he pay f epeee whu eessaly v f epeee. i uh,hey sa f pple ffee ha he he

paes, ffe epese a wk ha f “you”.Hav fme a my veme, hey pla

use evets i their favour. Just as Labour’s rst Britishgovermet dressed up i Ruritaia Privy Coucillor’scostumes to prove that they were’t revolutioists, so he naalss have aepe plal espsbly wh he U y shw ha hey ae uswhya w peple he ause whle pwe. of use, hey eeae heae ebaes bewee hemselvesa Wesmse, a y pvke vesy. of use, hey e leslae f a efeeum idepedece – but oly after they have bee i ofcesome while. So, eve if that is rejected, they have a fairhae f hl he jbs.

Wha sme mmeas lk , huh, s afe heex UK ele. i seems easly lkely he tes wll e up ahea f Labu. i s eve pssble, afe heGlasgow East by-electio result, that the SnP could takea majority of Scottish seats. Followig the death of JohMaduall Labu MP f he Ffe w f gleheshee wll be ahe by-ele he auum. thss ahe Labu safe sea, a ls aa may befatal for Gordo Brow’s premiership – ad spell almostea sase a he ex eeal ele.

dav came has aue ha he beleves haScottish MPs should ot be able to vote o legislatioi Eglad just as Eglish MPs caot vote o Scottishssues (beause hse maes ae evlve heScottish parliamet). Cosiderig that his party wo amajy f Elsh seas a he las ele, he wulsay that. If Scotlad breaks away this would makeLabour’s retur to power i Westmister that muchharder, ad the SnP would have their cherished dream.

The idicatios are, though, that Scottish voters willot opt for idepedece. At heart, the, the SnP, likeLabu, has aheve plal suess a he expese f s e pje. A hea, bh ases hs s beausehey have suh pwe by ell peple hey aee wh wha hey hk, ahe ha y hae ms. thequick route to power is to buy people’s votes with popularples – bu he ae ha s ha yu aa peple wh supp hse ples, bu eessaly yu wider aims. They’ll simply up ad leave whe someoeffes hem smeh bee. Plal me, eff asusess ae wase au a f suhsese.

Ulmaely, suh baubles ae hw au by he

plal haks e w f hemselves he majpzes. Wkes have h a fm he eawf he buaes, bu eal eepeeus abueauas ealy have a hae f mak f ly hey a pesuae he eleae bak hem.capalsm kws buaes, mey has ae.Yet the Scottish questio cotiues to play a major part he pass shw f UK pls.PIK SMEET

t g g

Is it a depression or just a recession?

According to the Penguin Dictionary of Economics, a recession is “an impreciseterm given to a sharp slow-down in therate of economic growth or a modest

decline in economic activity”. This asdistinct “from a slump or depressionwhich is a more severe and prolonged

downturn”. Government statisticiansregister a recession when GDP falls for

two successive quarters.

On this denition Britain is not in a recession – not yet. But

most economy-watchers expect that this stage will soon bereached. Gary Duncan, economics editor of the Times, evenwrites that this would not be such a bad thing:

“If Britain is to succumb to recession we need to remember that such periods are a virtually inescapable feature of eventhe most successful capitalist economies, even a necessary

one to purge the system of past excesses, inefcient practices

and the weakest links among businesses” (21 July).

That’s what Marx said, but it’s not what the economicstextbooks teach (they still cultivate the illusion, relayed bypoliticians, that governments can engineer a steady growth of GDP, i.e. can avoid such periodic “purges”).

For Marx the accumulation of capital, which is the engine

of economic growth, proceeded in ts and starts, a series

of cycles of moderate activity, boom, crisis, slump, recovery,

moderate activity, boom, crisis, etc. Booms eventually createdthe conditions for the next following slump while slumpscreated those for recovery.

One thing that happens during a slump that helps recovery

is that capital is destroyed. Not just in the physical sense as

when machinery is scrapped or factories pulled down butalso in terms of the depreciation of capital with the physicalelements in which it is embodied not being affected. This is the

purge Duncan talks about. Marx explained:

“Values used as capital are prevented from acting againas capital in the hands of the same person. The old capitalistsgo bankrupt. If the value of the commodities from whose sale

a capitalist reproduces his capital was equal to £12,000, of which say £2,000 were prot, and their price falls to £6,000,

then the capitalist can neither meet his contracted obligationsnor, even if he had none, could he, with the £6,000 restart

his business on the former scale, for the commodity priceshave risen once more to the level of their cost-prices. In thisway, £6,000 has been destroyed, although the buyer of these

commodities, because he has acquired them at half their cost-price, can go ahead very well once business livens upagain, and may even have made a prot. A large part of the

nominal capital of the society, i.e., of the exchange-value of

the existing capital, is once for all destroyed, although this verydestruction, since it does not affect the use-value, may verymuch expedite the new reproduction” (Theories of Surplus

Value, Part Two, p. 496).

“This fall in the purely nominal capital,” Marx went on

“State bonds, shares etc. . . amounts only to the transfer of wealth from one hand to another and will, on the whole, actfavourably upon reproduction, since the parvenus into whose

hands these stocks or shares fall cheaply, are mostly moreenterprising than their former owners.”

As Britain heads for a recession (in whatever sense) theparvenus are already gathering to buy up failed and failing

business at bargain prices. As well as laughing all the way tothe bank they can justify their unpopular activity as performing

a necessary function in capitalism’s business cycle. As indeedthey are.

ckgbks 1





No permanent government has emerged fromthe elections held in June last year. Does thismatter to the working class there?

belgium is a patetly articial state ihabitedby peple speak w ffee lauaes. isuvve f may yeas wh e f hem (Feh)

as he ma lauae beause was he lauaef he ul lass. nw ha hs has ease be hease, a duh (Flemsh) has als beme a lauaef a pa f he apals lass as well as f he sae,Belum s be shw ss f m apa ahe seams. revs f he su — Hw muh

autoomy should the regios be give? Should or should Belum beme a feeal sae? Hw fa u shulhe lms f Bussels (basally a Feh-speak ysuue by duh-speak mmues) ? — hasbeme a ssue peve he ssues be eal wh.

Belum s a sae whh he he gea Pwesallwe be se up 1830. Befe ha he ey hais ow Belgium had formed part, rst, of the territoriesof the Kig of Spai, the of those of the Emperor of Ausa. Afe he Feh revlu Belum beame, 1792, pa f Fae a emae s ul afehe efea f naple 1815. Whle pa f Faehe naple e f law, whh swep away feualemas, was ue a maufau usybega to develop i the South. This, together withsae seas, was e f he ma eass why 1815 Belum was eahe fm Fae: ly wee he fes f Fae be mve fuhe bakfm he rhe, bu Fae was als be epve f aase usal base. Belum beame pa f a k f Bela-duh feea ue K Wllam f Hlla.

i 1830, wha Bela hsy bks efe asa “aal evlu”, he wealhy lasses f Belumbke away fm hse f Hlla a se up aidepedet State. Though Hollad protested, the GreatPwes le hs hae happe as sll lef he eyf Belum eahe fm Fae.

the umsaes whh le he esablshmef Belum ae wh eall ha hey have shape

he Bela plal see hs ay. Hlla wasesseally a a a aulual uy a assuh s ul ups ee favu fee ae. the ase usal apals lass he suh f Belum, hweve, wae aff walls as a peaas Bsh mpe. the duh veme make sme mves ammae hem bu euh. i he e he Bela apalss ee break away. This was ot too difcult i view of the loose,almost federal character of the Belgia-Dutch State; ia, he ppula f Belum was eae haha f Hlla. Bu he ase Bela apals lassi the South eeded support i the Dutch-speakignhe pa f he ey. ths hey maae ,

espe be Feh-speak a a-leal hea f he Feh revlu, by a ppusallae wh he cahl chuh ve he shls ssue. the duh veme wae ue a sysem f

uvesal sae eua. the cahl chuh, (hemajy el Belum, ulke Hlla whh was aProtestat State),vehemetly opposed this, isistig os exlusve h “euae” cahl hle.

the apalss he sae. the Bela suf 1831 was a mel f bues-lbeal veme.Pwe was he has f a palame elee lyby wealhy ppey-wes; he k (a m gemapricelig imported specially to ll the post) was a meregurehead. Their laguage, Frech, became the ofciallaguage of the ew State, despite the fact that a majorityf peple s ey spke duh.

Bu hee was a pe pay: he pwe f he cahlchuh, a s l f s w shls, ha beespee. Fm a sh-em p f vew, he lak f a me eua sysem ha ea avaaes f

he Bela apalss: hey wee able exa veyl hus f wk f vey lw aes f pay, suh aextet that Marx oce described Belgium as “a capitalists’ paase”.

the usalsa f Belum, apa fm Awepa ghe he duh-speak nh, almsexclusively i Walloia, the Frech-speakig Southerpa, buh exsee a usal wk lassa, evably, wk lass aemps a plal ausal asa. A Bela Labu Pay (Parti

Ouvrier Belge ) was se up 1885, al he same lesas was lae he Bsh Labu Pay exep ha he-peaves ahe ha he ae us pve hebulk f he membes a fus. A elbeae es

was take ot to call it the “Belgia Socialist Party” ohe us ha he w “sals” was uaepable may wkes. Wh a sa lke hs, he PoB wasese f a pful aee f aualsm a efmsm. the PoB was eve eally eve a sal-ema payi the sese that the Germa SPD was; it ever acceptedMaxsm as s ely; fa ha a empf hey alehe, ea y epeemeal sal efms f he wk lass; was sh a smple “Labu” pay.

i s ealy yeas he PoB was a leas mla e ssue f mpae he wk lass: he h ve. the eeal ske f l893, whh fe heBela palame exe a ve aul males,

was a magicet episode i the history of the Belgia

wk lass. the ske aheve “e ma, eve”, se he h a euae wee ve me hae ve, bu fe he membes f he Bela

W bgsvv?




17 Socialist Standard September 2008 17

palame, whhhee was a slePoB epeseave, wha ms f hem wee ppse : aa ve aul (male)

wkes. Lae skes y e plual v ablshe wee less suessful, bu by he he PoB ha s wmembes f palame a ha beu e vlve

palameay maeuves wh s ew-fu alles, heaal bues Lbeals.

i fa he Bela Labues ee be, a hsme he al-e lef-w f he Lbeal pay. Afeme ha wey yeas f cahl pay ule, he BelaLbeals wee feel lef u he l, bu hey ealsehey wee ulkely e pwe aa whu suppfm he PoB. Aly, pepaa f he 1910ele hey lauhe a ea a-leal ampa aaempe e he leaes f he PoB vlve. ths was easy, as he PoB leaes wee aleal hemselves(a ee may wee feemass). i s que leathat had the occasio arose (which it did’t, becausehe cahl pay w he ele) he PoB wul havesuppe a Lbeal amsa a wul pbablyhave e s fa as have fme a a-lealal wh hem. ths ub wul have ause astir i the Secod Iteratioal, to which the POB wasafliated alog with other Labour ad Social-Democraticpaes. Afe he Fs Wl Wa, f use, all heSocial-Democratic parties were prepared to take power wh apalsm a aep espsbly f u, bu s a measue f he eph f he efmsm f he PoB ha hey wul have bee pepae hs 1910 whe he fellw efmss sll ha sme ubs.

the Bela Lbeals wee, by a lae, Feh-speak a aleal. As pae he lefw,he PoB shae hese haaess, wh ufuaeesuls f he evelpme f he Bela ae u

mveme, whh k plae maly afe he fu f he PoB a paly ue s auspes. As he usalcetre of Belgium was i the Frech-speakig South it was aual ha he ae u mveme shul beses hee, bu was by meas evable hahs mveme shul have bee mae by a a-leal plal pay, hus u self ff fm wkesf ahl .

i wul be w pu he ee blame he PoBf he pese spl he Bela ae u mveme w ma ups, eah wh abu a mllmembes: he Labue Fédération Générale du Travail

de Belgique a he self-explaay Confédération des

Syndicats Chrétiens (whh s fa he lae). thecahl chuh shaes a equal blame; hey mbaethe POB before the rst world war by orgaisig rival-peaves, sk lubs — a ae us. thetrade uios did’t have much success before therst world war, but grew rapidly betwee the wars asusalza spea he nhe pa f Belum.Emplyes pefee eal wh he less mlacahl us ha wh he “sals” us a healk f he lass sule. Bu he cahl us alsk up a vey eal evae whh he Labue usee ele: he ps f he duh lauae,spke by wkes he nh f Belum.

Frech was the ofcial laguage of Belgium after1830. It was the laguage of the State ad, eve i theduh-speak aea, he lauae f he buese.

thus nhe Belum a duh-speak wklass fae a Feh-speak apals lass. theLabue us, pehaps f he vey eas f

wsh splhe wk lass lus les, hse expl hssua, bu wasake up sme exeby he cahl us.

tay hee svually ffeee

exep ely — he FgtB s, pape,mme “hesappeaae f he waes sysem”, whlethe CSC deouceshe lass sule— bewee he w valae u ups.i pae bh a aspue-a-smple, bea-a-bue us eaover wages ad coditios of work; o the political eldhe leaes ae efmss, be suppes ehe f heBelgia Socialist Party (as, ufortuately for us geuiesalss, he PoB has bee alle se 1945) f heahl plal pay.

the he ea vs he Bela wklass beses he ahl/a-leal e s f uselauae. As sae, espe be he my lauae,Frech was made the ofcial laguage of the BelgiaState set up i 1830. Dutch i fact has oly bee givecompletely equal status with Frech sice 1932. Sicehe las wl wa he ee f em avy Belum has ee shf fm Walla, he Feh-speakig South, to Fladers, the Dutch-speakig north,a he umeal supey f duh-speakes hasbea make self fel he plal see.

the ma wh mus shae a ea espsbly fse-ak he Feh-speak pa f he Bela

wk lass he lauae ssue was a mla aeu leae he Lèe eee usy, Aérea, wh e 1962 a wh s sll smeh f a myh f may mla ae uss Belum, twas he e f he grande grève , he eeal skeof 1960-1 over the govermet’s attempt to cut workers’ lv saas, rea suely ue heque uelae plal ssue f “feealsm”. clamha he wkes he Feh-speak suh, wheehe ske was vually sl, ha bee beaye byhe duh-speakes he nh (whee he cahlus, fllw a lea ve by caal Va rey hs chsmas messae, ue he membes say a wk), rea aue ha f Walla ha he pwe pass s w laws em maes wul be able ay u vaus “a-apals suual efms”. Healle f Belum be vee a lse feea whh wul ve Walla hs pwe, vually a emaf epeee f use. ths ema, a heefms saey beh was suppe by bh hes-alle cmmus Pay (whh, ue ppalepesea, ha a haful f membes f palame)a he tskyss (lu, spuusly, heeaal leae, Ees Mael, wh was fmBelum).

the effe f hs appeal was hehe lauae-susess ams Feh-speakes. i he yeasha fllwe Feh-speak feeals ups easetheir represetatio i parliamet. So, o the other side,

he duh-speak feealss, ase a seesfa h paes. tay, s he Flemsh feealssa sepaass wh have bee mak he u,

Ernest Mandel

continued on page 22





o 4 Jue 1908, a hse aw hease aya cof cotaiig the six years dead corpse of vels Emle Zla was le huh he sees

f Pas. Hues f ple a ps wee afe l he hue hsle ws. Afe ly saeoveright, the boes of the ‘maître’ were iterred i thePahe, he es plae f he ea a f Frace. The ceremoy was solem ad digied, butmmeaely afewas vlee aa bke u wh aeeme assassa aempmade upo a certai army ofcer wh ha beme a lse fe f he ea ma. the vle a be

semes whh ha ampaeZola’s life cotiued after his death.Emle Zla s ppally famus

Ba f hs bsey. ieeZla was he ly we havehs wks ulawe hs uy he eeeh euy. i hepalameay ebae lea the ba Samuel Smith, MP forFlshe mmee: “nhme ablal has eve bee we by he pe f ma; hey aeoly t for swie, ad those whoea hem mus u he ms esspls.” Eve hs w

uy Zla was equally lahe:“n e befe hm has eve eaesuch a heap of lth. That is hismume, he eaess f whh e a es. neve has a ma mae suh a eff vlfy humay, sul evey aspe f beauy alve, ey all ha s a ee” we AaleFrace i 1887. A casual readig of a selectio of Zola’sovels would ideed would give this impressio. Somef he sees hs bks ae as bawy a shkas hey wee whe we he suppsely epesseeeeh euy. Ye he aph sex a vleeseves a pupse. F Zla was a ma wh a salsee, a evluay ealy bu ealy a

radical reformer, which is reected i his writigs. Ad s as a ppaas ha Zla mus be pmaly f ees he sals.

B Pas 1840 bu ase he small w f Ax e Pvee (paye as Plassas may f hsvels), Zla was he s f a vl eee f ialas. Hs fahe e whe he was jus small aheeafe he famly ha lle spae mey. Whe he was 18, Zla mve Pas. A falue as a sue, Zla a mseable jb as a lek, whh he s ave up eve hs lfe pey. Zla aempe eae hslfe ma pey bu fu hee was pssblyf ea a lv fm – ee a hs p hs lfehe was lv a amshakle ae app a easpaws suvve. isea he ue jualsm

fm whee he leae he value f sesaalsm ahe mpae f he expsé.

Zla hweve ha ve up he leay lfe a

withi a few years had writte his rst ovel. His earliestovels were a form of experimetatio i ‘materialism’ - demostratig supposedly ‘scietic’ theories throughleaue. Madeleine Ferat (the ‘impritig’ of a woma

with rst lover) ad the racy Thérèse Raquin (hepredetermiatio of evets by iate ‘temperamets’)date from this time. I fact there was othig scietic atall abu hese vels as he evee was, as ee wul be a vel, maufaue a he hees mee

pseudo-scietic garbage. The mai product of Zola’s

leay aee was he weyvlume ru-Maqua

yle, beu lae 1870ad ished a quarter of aeuy a 2,500,000 wslae. Basally he sees wasee as a hahe jb Louis napoleo ad his SecodEmpe as expeee by heespeable ru famly ahe umeable Maquas. the llapse f he Empe wha yea f he mmeeme f he yle hweve eehe wks f mee hsalees, beause sal aem s

maeally ale ue he threpubl a hus he ru-Maqua beame a eealema f empay

society. The Rougo-Macquart is the rst great familysaa leaue bu eah vel a be ea vuallya may eaes ae awae ha hee eve s suha sees.

The rst few volumes were badly received, despite theleay mes f f sae La Ventre de Paris (“theBelly f Pas” kw as The Fat and the Thin Ba).oly wh L’Assomoir (publshe ue vaus les Ba, lu The Dram Shop ) 1876 fameave. ths lass ale f he effes f alhl was mea

as a sm f he slums (“My vel s smple euh.i elaes he wfall f a wk-lass famly ueby s evs”) bu suk a wh he publ abeame a peeal h wh he empeae mveme. the use f sla a he eal aemp pay wklass lfe was spaal (“if yu wsh have he samesues f spa as he aes, f yu wsh esve he beah f he he aes, yu mus suya ep he mm peple”) a a eal eye ahvely.

i 1880 Zla fllwe up hs suess wh Nana .Wh s aph eps f hh level psu,Nana mae Zla meely able bu uly us.Ye hs was a eeply mal bk wh a hh pupse. Apua eal lfe (eve hs msess seems have bee

aque wh he sle pupse f epu) Zla useshe bk as a wa aas ve am he leaes f aa, as a ause f mlay efea a esu bh

The Homer of the Cesspit A hundred years ago this year Emile Zola’s remains weretransferred to the Pantheon in Paris.

Emile Zola





Book Reviews

t d isssd

The Impossibilists. A Brief Prole

of the Socialist Party of Canada . By Peter E. Newell. Athena Press.

2008.

The SDF i Britai was a reformistasa wh a evluaymy (whh eveually bkeaway). The Socialist Party of Caada was he ppse: a evluaypay wh a efms my.Fme 1905 as a amalamaf paes fm he ffeepves f caaa, suh be “mpssbls”, .e. seekefms f apalsm bu avaely he apue f plal pwe fsalsm.

However, it could’t avoid theefm ssue as w a few seas eles. i heefe ha ee wha hese elee salssshul . ievably (a sesbly) ee ha hey shul usehe ps jus ppaaesals vews, bu als y “avae he eess f he wklass a a wkes he lasssule aas apalsm”. thetrouble was the SPC’s coucillorsha bee elee by salsves ale bu, pesely, as peple wkes see wul saup a speak f hem. Whe heefmss bke away fm heSPC i 1911 (to form the Socialdema Pay f caaa) heSPC’s three British Columbialeslave assembly membes lef

joi them. Oe, Charles O’Brie iAlbea, saye. oe f hs speehes he leslaue was publshe asa pamphle (whh a be fu a www.wlsalsm./aaa/pleaa..pls.hm ), bu hels he ex ele.

the smla ps ake up

by the SPGB o this issue wasudoubtedly iueced by that of theSPC (eve though a miority of SPGBmembes saee, au haSocialist MPs should ever vote foray efm measue). the caaaparty probably also iueced theSPGB’s policy of writig “Socialism”ass he ball pape whe hee was sals aae sa. ths was aleay be avae 1903 by the Socialist Party of Britishclumba.

o ahe ssue he vey ealy

SPC took up a positio that wasever that of the SPGB. The editorf s pape, he Western Clarion ,E. t. Ksley, aue ha he

ae u sule was paf he lass sule, bu ly a“mmy sule”. ths was the view of all SPC members may of whm wee ave uss. Lae,sme wee be jale f he pa as he 1919 WpeGeeral Strike. Other SPC members wee sumeal fu he

oe B U 1919; whh was, as s ame mh sues, a“sydicalist” uio as the SPC wasalways sly sse hempeave ee f he wklass w l f plal pwebefe y hae sey.

Like the SPGB, the SPC had hesa pps he FsWl Wa fm ay e – athe SPC, with some 2000 to 3000membes wul have bee e mesbigger tha the SPGB – bu herussa revlu uhe . the

members of the party’s DomiioExeuve cmmee k he vewha he wk lass ha wl f plal pwe russa nvembe 1917 (eve huhhey ese ha salsm ul be he ume, s be pe f hs). ths wasa vew shae by ms membes; whh mae hem a easy peyf Blshevk ppaass whelbeaely se u, es fmMoscow, to wi over the SPC. They suee, as a efeeumejee he 21 s la w

by Lei for afliatio to the Thirdieaal. thse favu f hs he fme he Wkes Pay

which may former SPC members je (lu he fuue Leaef he caaa cmmus Pay, tm Buk, wh ha eve als beea member of the short-lived SocialistPay f nh Amea whseelaa f pples newellmes was base ha f heSPGB). The SPC staggered o for afew me yeas bu sbae self 1925.

newell es all hese eves,bas hmself seay sues whh he usefully summases.

i 1931 sme fme membesof the SPC decided to recostitute, aep as s plafm heobject ad declaratio of the SPGB. thee has bee sme vesyas to whether the ew SPC wasa ua f he l. newellaues ha was, eve huhother ex-SPC members wet ito thecmmus Pay a vaus Labupaes. Ms f he membes f heew SPC had bee members of the

l e, lu a fme ef he Western Clarion a a fmemembe f he Maba Leslave

Travail is Zola’s oly work of sciecectio ad depicts a harmoioussey whu veme lasses, whee fee lve es ael has e away. Travail s fafm be he Feh News From

Nowhere however. Zola’s brave ew wl aes lal expemeahe ha evlu a s base

he vluay (!) pea f apal a labu. Ulke ealeupa sals shemes, he Travail

mmue s base a seelwksahe ha aulue bu heFues s ae sll ahebvus – he mmue s eme hecèhee, muh ffee fmFourier’s ve gered phalastery.

Zla was fu ea f abmooxide poisoig i his at iParis o 29 September 1902. Therehave bee pesse umus f aelbeaely blke hmey a

he eah was ealy . if was mue, emse a he has f he a-deyfusas he ause f juse wul have bee shamefuleah.

Zola’s work is difcult tosummase. despe he self-applelabels of ‘Realism’ or ‘aturalism’ hee s muh ha s uealsa uaual abu hs vels. Bua s a m a he ably eae haaes lae ha lfe ahe exesve use f allees asymblsm je a ep e he ab eal lfe wl mpaable

with the Coe Brothers lms. Themelama a seemly elessespve passaes ae pehapsot much to today’s taste, but arepreferable to the isipid ‘chick lit’ f me mes. Alhuh smef hs wk was eae puely fetertaimet purposes, Zola’s maiam was use he fm f he vel ase awaeess f sal pblems:“My vels have always bee we wh a hhe am ha meely amuse. i have s hh a p f he vel as a meas f expess

ha i have hse as he fm whh pese he wl wha i wish to say o the social, scietic,a psyhlal pblems haupy he ms f hk me”(quoted i EA Vizetelly’s Zola in

England ). As suh wks suh asGerminal wee ealy suessful ahe me, alhuh ae pehaps w alle ae. Pehaps he ma less be aw fm Zla s ha he besfm f ppaaa s ha whh s see as ppaaa – a maxm we wul all well pay ae.

KAZ





Meetings

S WsSaturday 13 S , 2.00 till 5.00pm

Should socialists go out of their way to

live a greener lifestyle?

Village Pub, 33, Wilton Road,Salisbury.

Further information contact Ray Carr

[email protected] Phone 01202

257556 or Veronica Clanchy veronica.

[email protected], Phone 01202569826.

Please Bring some food to be held in

common.

cswkTuesday 16 S . 8.00pm

The Judeo-Christian-Islamic Religion

Speaker: A. Alan

Chiswick Town Hall, Heatheld St, W4

(nearest tube: Chiswick Park)

es ag

Sunday 21 S , 12 to 4pmLunch at 1pm

Conservatory of the Rosary Tavern,

Rosary Road, Norwich.

ms Monday 22 S , 8.30pm

The Shock Doctrine and Disaster

Capitalism

Unicorn, Church Street, City Centre

lS 20 S, 6pm

Which Way the Revolution - What are our differences?

Ian Bone (Class War) and Howard Moss

(Socialist Party)

Forum followed by open discussion.

Chair: Bill Martin (socialist Party)

52 Clapham High St, Lodon SW4

(nearest tube: Clapham North)

A Season of Free Film nights from

Sunday 14 S to S

23 nv at 52 Clapham High

Street, London. All lms start at 4 p.m.

Sunday 14 September: Animal Farm

S 28 S: Who Killed the

Electric Car?

Sunday 12 October: Judgement Day:

Intelligent Design on trial

S 26 o: The Corporation

Sunday 9 November: Zeitgeist

S 23 nv: The War on

Democracy

Assembly. Hweve, w he ex-membes me well kw hsse f he Ala – chale Lesa Bll Pha – vlve efms pls a bemempssblss aa ll hey lefcaaa, he e f Ba a heother for the US.

the ew pay was muh smalle

a ha fa less mpa ha he lSPC, but it cotiued to publish a jual (he pese e s Imagine )a es eles (he las 1978). newell esbes justhe SPC’s exteral activity from1931 bu als s eal lfe aveses. these happeead should’t be disguised, but a whle hape a asaalspue he 1960s, whh ase ques f hey ply, spossibly too much i a “brief prole”.

newell’s book is ot just a

hle f eves. i als vessuh maes as efms, el,russa, wa, ae usm a sals es ass he sals ase as well as b ehe hsaleseah.ALB

l-m uss

Who runs Britain? How the

Super-Rich are changing our

lives. By Robert Peston, Hodder &Stroughton. 2008.

A Pes, uely heBBc’ s busess e, ’ s he ewsupe-h f pvae-equy ahee-fu apalss. they u heuy he sese ha he peseLabu veme feels he ee kw-w hem f fea f hemak he busesses elsewhee:

“Muh f hs bk s abu hwnew Labu gveme has

ever iched from the view thatem sase f he UK aeleal sase f Labu wulbe evable f he supe-wealhyeve fel he eess wee ueaak he UK. Bla a Bwae ue beleves e f he mammames f he Bk f glbalza: ‘thu shal be see use he ax sysem ake fmhe well-heele, f fea f vhem a all he valuable apal exle’”.

A umbe f hese apalss havebee ve khhs a peeaes

a – this came rst of course – havemae vey eeus bus he Labu Pay amu

al mlls f pus. ifa, hey – ahe ha he aeus – fue Labu’ s las heesuessful ele ampas.Pes’ s hape he ealsbewee Bla, Bw, L Levy ahse he all’ s Labu’ s “pluabeefas” ca oly corm disgusta emp f he leaes f he

Labu Pay f he lehs hey aepepae jus say pwe.

the ew supe-h me assas a buh f lu-muhe upsas wh buy mpaes, “aalse”hem a he expese f he wkfe,a he sell hem, pke a huepersoal prot for themselves. Theirprot is persoal because they owhe w mpaes uh a shave a muh fee ha whahey wa, hav mply whhe mal mpay law ha apples “publ”, shaehle-we

mpaes.Alhuh he ses hem f pay he fa shae f axesa as a peal hea plalemay, Pes a susehs ama f hem, seethem as fulllig a essetial role wh apalsm f haellcapital ito the most protable liesf avy (sea f saa l-esablshe busesses uby suffy ex-Eas). He was hemaaes f pes fus behave he same uhless way was hempaes hey’ ve vese he fus

, s as b me mey fpese a fuue peses.

Hs hape pess – a heru-dow of al-salary compaypes shemes – s suve.Emplyes ally se hese up ea he lyaly f he salaeemplyees, bu ve he yeasvemes have mpse s mayblas hem (fze pess,pes asfes, axes, e) ha has beme le whtheir while keepig them goig. Sohey have bee sps f hem

, am hes, pvae-equycapitalists who hope to make a protu f ves he fus.

i he ws, efms amea pe peple’ s peshs have ha he ppse effe.Emplyes have walke away,leav wkes whu he esepe. Ahe less hefuly f efmsm.ALB

p csv: Walkstation - steelcase, 2007.Punch and Judy - © 2005, Anah. CreativeCommons Attribution 2.02: No to Lisbon - Indymedia.9: Gordon Brown - © 2008, Flickr. Creative

Commons Attribution ShareAlike 2.016: Map of Belgium - www.umsl.edu.

17: Ernest Mandel - source: www.marxists.

org/nederlands/mandel/index.htm, GNU FreeDoc





This declaration is the basis of our organisation and, becauseit is also an important historical document dating from theformation of the party in 1904,

its original language has beenretained.

ojt ss ss s s ws s ss g sgw s w .

d psThe Socialist Party of GreatBritain holds

1.That society as at present

constituted is based upon theownership of the means of living(i.e., land, factories, railways, etc.)

by the capitalist or master class,and the consequent enslavementof the working class, by whoselabour alone wealth is produced.

2.That in society, therefore, thereis an antagonism of interests,manifesting itself as a classstruggle between those whopossess but do not produce andthose who produce but do notpossess.

3.That this antagonism canbe abolished only by theemancipation of the working classfrom the domination of the master class, by the conversion into thecommon property of society of the means of production anddistribution, and their democraticcontrol by the whole people.

4.That as in the order of socialevolution the working class is thelast class to achieve its freedom,

the emancipation of the workingclass wil involve the emancipationof all mankind, without distinctionof race or sex.

5. That this emancipation mustbe the work of the working classitself.

6.That as the machinery of government, including the armedforces of the nation, exists onlyto conserve the monopoly by thecapitalist class of the wealth takenfrom the workers, the workingclass must organize consciouslyand politically for the conquestof the powers of government,national and local, in order thatthis machinery, including theseforces, may be converted from aninstrument of oppression into theagent of emancipation and the

overthrow of privilege, aristocraticand plutocratic.

7.That as all political partiesare but the expression of classinterests, and as the interest of the working class is diametricallyopposed to the interests of all

sections of the master class,the party seeking working classemancipation must be hostile toevery other party.

8.The Socialist Party of GreatBritain, therefore, enters the eldof political action determinedto wage war against all other political parties, whether allegedlabour or avowedly capitalist,and calls upon the members of the working class of this countryto muster under its banner to theend that a speedy terminationmay be wrought to the systemwhich deprives them of the fruitsof their labour, and that poverty

may give place to comfort,privilege to equality, and slaveryto freedom.

Declaration of Principles

The Conict in the Middle East

Another Middle East storm has

developed. This time it is theLebanon, Jordan and Iraq that

occupy the centre of the stage, withKuwait also stirring. Again oil is themainspring of the eruptions and

clashing interests. The struggles

concern the rich oil lands and theroutes to those areas, with other economic advantages for the

privileged seeping in.The revenues from oil are in

the region of the fabulous. They

are cherished by the privilegedpossessors, and sought after byprivileged non-possessors who

want a larger share of the plunder.The toilers who make theserevenues possible have no share

in them. They only receive thecustomary payment for the workthey do; some of the Arab workers

receive hardly enough to buy thenecessities of life.

In spite of the numberlesspronouncements on peace, with

which we have been deluged for decades from all quarters, armedforce, or the threat of it, is always

the nal resource when capitalist

sections feel that their sources of revenue are threatened.

The present are-up, just as the

recent Suez dispute, concerns oiland the interests of the mammothoil companies. There is no secret

about this. Reports, articles, andpronouncements concentrate onthis aspect.

( . . .)It is an old oft-repeated story;

littered with indecision, brokenpacts, duplicity, intrigues and wars.

In the nal chapter the privileged

always occupy the seat of power and the mass of people remain in

subjection. It will be the same inthe Middle East after the present

turmoil has come to an end. At best

the most the mass of the peoplethere can obtain is a standard of

wage slavery that is equivalentto what obtains in the so-calledadvanced countries.

(from leaet reproduced in

Socialist Standard , September 1958)

OBITUARY

Valee MEee

IRISH COMRADES ep hesue eah May f ValMEee. Val je he islbah f he pay L 1982 as a yu ma hs m-wees. A he me hs waspehaps he pay’ s ms yambah a Val was e f s avemembes. He wke he aevesa epame f Bshral, a was a kee phaphe,bul up a lle f phsf pay speakes a Hye Pak aelsewhee as well as ape-emees. i he m-90s he mve iela, a sese bak ielase huh buh up Elahe was f ish avelle , lve a small vllae c. Lmek

whee he eae a s f lvas a pfessal phaphe.i iela he k pa heleaettig ad other activities of he membes hee. Hs eah wassue a, wh he auhesuable a ay elaves, he

was bue he lal cahlhuh, eve huh he pes lael a membe ha he huh he

was a Ala, ub beausef hs Elsh ae a beausehe ’ ae mass. the membeee ha se was he

bee pa f valu a ’ ellhe pes he uh: ha he habue a -beleve seaeu.

reectig the fact that Flemishcapitalists do’t wat to cotiue topay for the state beets receivedby wkes Walla whee heavyusy (al, seel, eee) hasbee seably u w seReard’s day.

tha he wk lass Belumshul be ve lus les

s, fm a sals p f vew amatter for regret, but it also cormshe eess f u pps ‘’leftwig” groups i that they shouldbe paly espsble f .

Whehe Belum wll eveuallyspl up, a leas beme afederal State of some sort, remais be see, bu e h s lea:hs sual ssue s f sequee whaseve f he wk lass f he aea. Whaevehe su wll be ha f a capitalist State ad the workig

lass wll ema ppeyless sellesf labu-pwe he my wh w a l he meas f pu.ADAM BUICK

continued from page 17





Westminster Punch And Judy

W

he he MPs pak he su eam a heaff f he l summe beak hey may leavebeh a umbe f peple wh ae axus ha

he uy s uae f, upee, uvee. thee ae hes wh may smply ese be epveof their weekly x of Prime Miisters Questios . Theselas have uusual ases, sues ha hey wll be easly vee a subsue, hweve ppe.

they wll be sle by sukl a e eam,o the beach at Blackpool or Margate or Southwold,cotetedly watchig a Puch ad Judy Show.

Pme Mses Quess ( PMQs) s asu pme as evee f he vly f Bshpalameay emay. As a eula, mpa paf Huse f cmms peue bea he 1950s,se whe has bee mmuefm he jul a maeuv

usmay u leaes Wesmse. i 1997 ty Blaaue ha new Labu wul ly ablsh pvey, uepe veme a u a ehalfe ply bu als eplae hew 15 mue sess f PMQs

tuesay a thusay wh ef a half hu Weesay. therst questio of each sessio mustbe ee a he Pme Mse,ask abu aaemes f heay; palameay peue heemas ha he same pes museply all he quess, whaevehe subje. By hs use he PmeMse s pevee fm av veequess by pass hem sme aequaelybefe uel squm evusly he fbeh.

Ineffective

the w “aswe” mus be allwe a lseepea hs ex beause wha s eeas a “aswe” s vey fe lle me ha a evas-- pehaps a eply a ques whh has beeaske – a eal, a sahfwa le. All f whhs pefely uesaable f f he Pme Mse

wee eal uhfully wh quess abu hw he

veme was fumbl wh he ypal pblems f apals sey – lke he ue “e uh” –

wul eveal hw uely effeve hey wee. A has suppse be wha PMQs s abu.

Me usually, fa fm be a ppuy opely examie a govermet’s record, PMQs is treatedby he MPs as euaeme behave lke exessvelyuuly hle. Whle a pay leae s speak hees a le f mpla syphas he beh beh, lke emee maees a wha hey wsh us beleve ae ual a lusve ps f aume.

The feeblest of jokes – like Vice Cable’s famous seerabout Gordo Brow trasformig himself from Stali M. Bea – has he MPs paxysms f helplesslauhe. the ms effeve eply a ques - lkeBw elessly e sass whh have beeke up shw, he fae f uel ealy, ha hsveme has us all wallw pspey – wll be

blsee by a hue f appval.Whe he beame leae f hs pay 2005 dav

came pmse ha, as pa f hs ve haehe fae f pls f he bee, he wul e hePuh a Juy aspe f PMQs. Hweve as awe hm ha g Bw was as fmablea ppe a he despah Bx as he ha feaehe f hs pmse a emee as a ehusaspapa he kkabu. o a ee Today pamme ra Fu he ame ha “i wllabsluely hl up my has a say hs s a pmseI have ot bee able to deliver…The quieter toe I’dhpe we mh be able have, he bee sussof politics at Prime Miister’s Questios, does’t

wk”. He say whehe beak hs pmse,mpaavely umpa as

was, should ecourage codece

ha he wll fuue busly keephs w me val maes, whehe he affa expses hmas a kse bee ha hemses he s zesfully aaks.

Aye wh ubs ha PMQsae lle me ha jus aheexample f he up f pls ee ly se hea f he Plae Ques.

these ae aske, usually a sm f jee fm hepps a f appval fmhe veme se, by a bakbehe wh has a assuaeha he mplae wll

exaly amae he pm pspes. A ypalsyle wul be “Wul my rh Huable Fe(that’s the Prime Miister) agree that i spite of whathe baless abble he he se hk hs s hems a, mpee a effeve veme hsuy has eve…” A paulaly suve example

was July, whe rha Bue, MP f Bmhamnortheld – who is ot famous for toeig the party lie – got dutifully to his feet to ask whether Britai’s curretpblems ae ause by em amafm aba. the esula pess wee s sy hathe Speaker told Burde to shut up before he hadished. This sub did ot prevet Gordo Brow

aswe he paal “ques”, alhuh he mh have bee able hea . Eaely j he Puha Juy shw he ha pmse ablsh, camecuttigly commeted that “You do’t have to isha plae ques e a plae aswe” – whhe he fa ha he pas ty vemes weehappy use he same eep.

n pa f u lves a be uuhe by heup be he ppey bass a he lasselashps f apalsm. the pls f he sysem,playe u by he paes he seas f veme, aemmuably shape by . A mes hs up s sblaa ha alms seems he ly ppe espses uae, eulus lauhe. Jus as s whe we

wah M. Puh bea up Juy. Exep ha ha s jus a b f hamless fu a he sease.IVAN

“PMQs are another example of the corruption of politics”




S a y dsk, SvNow and then a wonderful productcomes along that the owning class justlove. This may be one of them. “Themaker of a new product that combines

a treadmill and computer workstation isbanking on the notionthat companies willinvest in products likethe “Walkstation” as away of keeping healthcare costs down andimproving overall tness

levels. The deviceallows people to workon their computerswhile walking on atreadmill at a slowspeed of up to three

kilometers (two miles)per hour, enabling small amounts of movement that supporters say have thepotential to reap big health benets.”

(Yahoo News, 13 July) Now all we needis a “Feedstation” that shovels foodinto your mouth while you work. Oh,Charlie Chaplin already envisaged that inModern Times didn’t he? How about the“Bedpanstation”? Too much perhaps?

W’s es G t d W i?“European and US defencecompanies will this week kickoff talks on a joint code of

ethics to cover arms sales.Representatives from theindustry’s leading trade bodieswill meet at the FarnboroughAir Show in the UK onTuesday. European companieshave recently developedan anti-corruption code in abid to improve the industry’sreputation, which has sufferedin the wake of allegations of bribery and corruptionin connection withsome of its biggest

players.” (Financial Times,13 July) As

these guardians of morality meet todiscuss whether it is more ethical tokill a child with poisonous gas, napalmbombs or good old fashioned highexplosives we ask ourselves what do

sellers of death know of ethics. Theyare money grubbing killers.

cs Wks Wk u“Doing business in China isbeginning to cost real money.Not that Chinese workersare buying second homes or anything like that: Their averagewage is still a little short of adollar an hour. But so manyChinese have now left their villages for the factories that theonce bottomless pool of newyoung workers is beginning to

run dry, and the wages of assembly-lineemployees are rising 10 percent a year.”(Yahoo News, 15 July) We should echothe sentiments of an old song, probablybanned in China now. They occur inThe Red Flag - “Arise like starvelingsfrom your slumber” Let’s hope so!

h a hsThe following announcement causeda storm of controversy in the media.

“Patients cannot rely on the NHS tosave their lives if the cost of doing so istoo great, the Government’s medicineswatchdog has ruled for the rst time. The

National Institute for Clinical Excellence

(Nice) has said the natural impulse to goto the aid of individuals in trouble – aswhen vast resources are used to savea sailor lost at sea – should not applyto the NHS. The disclosure follows lastweek’s controversial decision by Nice toreject four new drugs for kidney cancer even though they have been shownto extend life by ve to six months.”

(Independent , 13 August) To socialiststhe announcement is far from shocking.That is how capitalism operates - if youare rich you have access to the bestfood, clothing, shelter, education andrecreation. Why should it be so shockingto learn that if you are poor you cannotafford the best of medicine either?

t p Wk “A Ugandan ofcial has suggested to

MPs that funerals should be limited to

Saturday afternoons to stop people takingtime off work to attend them. SpeciosaKazibwe, a former vice-president whonow heads a state development agency,noted that Uganda’s death rate was veryhigh. (BBC News, 25 July) Socialists

used to say that the capitalist’sidea of the perfect worker was

one who left school at 15,worked 50 weeks a year for 50years and dropped down deadthe rst day he went to collect

his pension at the post ofce.

We will have to amend this idealblueprint in view of the Ugandanofcial’s view. Ideally he would

die on the Thursday so thathis family could attend hisSaturday funeral without missing

out on a day producingsurplus value for the owning class.

Socialist Standard September 2008

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Transcript of Socialist Standard September 2008