Reformism Fails
Again
It is a basic socialist priciple that no programme of reforms can solve
the problems of capitalism, but here is an example where
well-intentioned reformism has made the situation worse. "Hospitals
were last night accused of keeping thousands of seriously ill patients
in ambulance ‘holding patterns’ outside accident and emergency units to
keep a government pledge that all patients are treated within four
hours of admission. ... An Observer investigation has also found that
some wait for up to to five hours in ambulances because A & E units
have refused to admit them until they can guarantee to treat them
within the time limit." (Observer, 17 February)
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Capitalism And
Euphemism
Capitalism has got to have euphemisms to cover up the sordid nature of
the system. Thus children maimed by napalm bombs is called "co-lateral
damage" and troops blowing up their own troops is called "friendly
fire". A recent addition to this sorry catalogue is "extraordinary
rendition". "David Miliband has admitted two US 'extraordinary
rendition' flights landed on UK territory in 2002. The foreign
secretary said in both cases US planes refuelled on the UK dependent
territory of Diego Garcia. He said he was ‘very sorry’ to have to say
that previous denials made in ‘good faith’ were now having to be
corrected. The renditions - the transport of terror suspects around the
world for interrogation - only came to light after a US records search,
he said." ..."Amnesty International UK director Kate Allen said
extraordinary rendition was ‘a polite way of talking about kidnapping
and secret detention’". (BBC News, 21 February)
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Jobs For The Boys
When in opposition, Gordon Brown criticised the last Tory government
for the "revolving door from the cabinet room to the board room", but
he has remained silent about a similar ploy by his own party members.
"Twenty-eight former Labour ministers have cashed in on their
connections in government and Whitehall by taking jobs in the private
sector in the past two years. It represents the biggest exodus of
ministers into the private sector since Labour came to power and is
worth at least £10M a year in salaries and fees." (Sunday Times,
24 February)
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A Ray Of Hope
Socialists are often told that socialism is impossible because human
beings are innately war-like and agressive, but this report seems to
suggest otherwise. "More and more Israelis are avoiding mandatory
military service— something long viewed in this country as a proud rite
of passage. "In the past, it is true that not serving in the military
was considered the exception," said Dr. Rueven Gal, author of A
Portrait of the Israeli Soldier and former chief psychologist for the
Israeli military. "In more recent years it became more tolerable and
more acceptable to people." In 1997, according to army statistics,
fewer than one in 10 Israeli men avoided their mandatory three-year
military service. These days, it's closer to three in 10. Women, too,
are opting out at a faster pace: Over the last decade, the number of
women avoiding military duty rose from 37 percent to 44 percent."
(Yahoo News, 2 March)
Another Ray Of
Hope
The awful carnage in the hate-filled Middle East and the religious
brutality there fills socialists with gloom but this report would seem
to suggest that all is not lost. "After almost five years of war, many
young people in Iraq, exhausted by constant firsthand exposure to the
violence of religious extremism, say they have grown disillusioned with
religious leaders and skeptical of the faith that they preach. In two
months of interviews with 40 young people in five Iraqi cities, a
pattern of disenchantment emerged, in which young Iraqis, both poor and
middle class, blamed clerics for the violence and the restrictions that
have narrowed their lives. “I hate Islam and all the clerics because
they limit our freedom every day and their instruction became heavy
over us,” said Sara, a high school student in Basra. “Most of the girls
in my high school hate that Islamic people control the authority
because they don’t deserve to be rulers.” Atheer, a 19-year-old from a
poor, heavily Shiite neighborhood in southern Baghdad, said: “The
religion men are liars. Young people don’t believe them. Guys my age
are not interested in religion anymore.” (New York Times, 4 March)
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