SPC report 1 December 2013

[Socialist Party Head Office]

                                               The Socialist Party of Canada

 

Secretary’s Report for December 1, 2013

 

Email Report

–           WSPNZ GAC meeting minutes for October received with thanks.

 

Good of The Movement

–           Two introductory packages sent out.

–           One member questionnaire sent out.

–           Coffee and discussion meeting held November 27.

–           Fall Imagines sent out. Any SPC member who has not received one, please let me know.

 

Finances

–           Secretary’s expenses for November, $69.09

 

Karl’s Quotes

–           On the rate of profit, “ The rate of profit, i.e. the relative growth in Capital, is particularly important for all new off-shoots of capital that organize themselves independently. And if capital formation were to fall exclusively into the hands of a few existing big capitals, for whom the mass of profit outweighs the rate, the animating fire of production would be totally extinguished. It would die out. It is the rate of profit that is the driving force in capitalist production, and nothing is produced save what can be produced at a profit. Hence the concern of the English economists over the decline in the profit rate. If Ricardo is disquieted even by the very possibility of this, that precisely shows his deep understanding of the conditions of capitalist production. What other people reproach him for, i.e. that he is unconcerned with ‘human beings’ and concentrates exclusively on the development of the productive forces when considering capitalist production – whatever sacrifices of human beings and capital values this is bought with – is precisely his significant contribution. The development of the productive forces of social labour is capital’s historic mission and justification. For that very reason, it unwittingly creates the material conditions for a higher form of production.” (Capital Volume III, p 368). Thus profit before people’s needs is the lifeblood of capitalism; capitalism has done its job; now is the time for ‘ a higher form of production’, i.e. socialism.

 

Food For Thought

–           You have to hand it to those capitalists. It only took numerous deadly workplace fires, a building collapse killing over one thousand, conditions of work right out of the nineteenth century, but they have come through with an eighty per cent raise for the Bangladeshi garment workers. They now earn the grand sum of C$72 per month. The capitalists’ generosity knows no bounds!

–           According to Toronto Star business writer, David Olive (November 23), we should all be very grateful for the handouts the super rich give us. So many have given large donations to hospitals, concert halls libraries and the like. Besides, the obscene gap between the rich and the rest of us is not the cause of our poverty (relative or absolute). “That abomination owes chiefly to insensitive governments”. Gee, and I thought it was because the wealth that society produces is distributed in favour of the rich because they own the means of producing and distributing wealth and therefore we get less precisely because they get more.

–           An SPC member’s wife works at the Food Bank. To quote, “ One lady came in, she was wearing very good clothes, very nice make-up and was very attractive, professional looking. After I had finished helping her with choosing food, she started to cry. She was embarrassed about having to go to a Food Bank. Possibly she had lost her job, probably a good one, and had to resort to this.” Not only does capitalism create insecurity, but it can be damn humiliating.

–           Recently, former real estate mogul, Paul Reichmann passed away. When his company took over the Canary Wharf project in London in 1987, Reichmann believed England was on its way to a new era of prosperity under Margaret Thatcher. Contrary to his expectation, Britain slumped and so did its real estate market. So, if a guy who obviously knew his business could be so disastrously wrong, how can anyone predict how a market will perform. Forget the casino economics and opt for socialism.

–           A recent survey said there are now 29.8 million slaves (excluding wage slaves) in the world today. Mauritania was the last country to abolish slavery in 1981. Today there are 140,000 slaves in Mauritania, the most enslaved country in the world. There are now 57,000 slaves in the US and 5,600 in Canada. So socialism will mean more than the abolition of capitalism.

–           In October there were protests against the proposed massive gas extractions from shale formations in New Brunswick. Premier David Alward said,” …the development of twenty-five new wells a year could see more than $300 million investments and 500 jobs.” However, the locals are more than concerned about polluted drinking water among other hazards from the fracking process but it’s a losing battle against the power of capital.

–           According to Jim Leech, who will soon retire as head of the Ontario Teachers’ Plan, more than 60% of employed Canadians do not have a workplace pension but, if you are among the 40% who do, your plan could be underfunded by market upheavals. Your boss may have to make ‘nips and tucks’ to the pension you thought was guaranteed. Security may seem to be attainable in the good times but we know that never lasts and when the slump comes, anything is up for slashing or even wiping out.

–           The Toronto Daily Star of November 1^st. reported that Jamie Dimon, CEO of JP Morgan and Chase & Co., the world’s largest bank, admitted losing $20 billion for the bank. The bank is expected to pay back $11 billion in fines and restitution for “ An equally unimaginable variety of misdeeds. They include allegations of money laundering, peddling deceptive mortgages, ripping off customers with faulty investment products, and manipulating world derivative markets.” Yet, it is expected that Dimon will get a raise in pay because to do otherwise would, in its directors’ eyes, weaken public confidence in the bank. That’s something to reflect upon when a worker might get fired for losing his boss a hundred bucks!

–           On this day (Black Friday) Walmart will be offering great sales and expecting great profits. Not so for the workers though. The employees are not happy and the company is, “running up against a new appreciation of what economic critics call the impoverished social bargain that lies within” (Toronto Star, Nov 24). Apparently, wages are so low that even Walmart has tried to find a solution (apart from raising the darn wages, of course!). Collection bins have appeared in the employees’ backrooms with the sign, “Please donate food items here so associates (i.e. workers) can enjoy Thanksgiving dinner.” This is no joke. The Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper brought it to the public’s attention asking its readers if they thought that this move was a prove of low wages. (Silly question of the year!). It garnered so much attention that Walmart felt compelled to reply, “ It’s unfortunate that an act of human kindness has been taken so out of context.” Maybe the company can put the top executives heads together to come up with some other form of human kindness like a living wage.

–           Canada finally has some allies. No longer is its government alone in trying to delay, diminish, or destroy (Canada’s three D’s rather than the three R’s of environmental responsibility) every environmental conference and piece of legislation to deal with the problem. Now  Australia and Japan have joined in. Last week, Japan, the fifth largest emitter of greenhouse gases announced it was slashing plans to reduce those gases from 25% to 3.8% and since shuttering its nuclear stations will be expected to rely much more on fossil fuels and Australia’s prime minister, Tony Abbott, received a congratulatory telegram from our prime minister for gutting the country’s carbon tax. Also, reported in The New York Times (Nov 10) Peru’s forests are being gobbled up at an unprecendented rate even though preservation of the Amazon basin is considered a key in combating global warming and the Peruvian government has passed laws to protect its forests. As much as eighty per cent of wood exported from the country is done so illegally. In Canada, our Prime Minister Harper has said, “In this party (Conservative), we will not accept that environmental protection must stop economic development.” That’s political speak for doing nothing. Does anyone really think that a capitalist system will ever get serious about spending money on cleaning anything up?

–           Meanwhile, in New Zealand, a man from the low-lying island of Kiribati has a court case citing that the rising seas that have forced him from his home. Although he is bound to lose (it’s nobody’s fault, is it?), it does bring attention to the problem of what to do with the 200 million to one billion people expected to be displaced over the next fifty years. Without  the publicity of court cases like this and other strategies, the environmental question is dying a death in the capitalist newspapers.

–           In the ‘don’t get your hopes up’ category, The Toronto Star (October 20) started an article on the plight of the Cambodian garment workers with, “With a growing role in the global garment trade, Cambodia was to be a model for fair labour practices. Its people finally had hope for a better standard of living. So why are workers still struggling to eke out an existence?” Why indeed? Obviously the people at the Star do not understand capitalist economics. If there is something lower, capital will flow there naturally like water flowing downhill. China is outsourcing its clothing orders to Bangladesh. If Cambodia can’t get lower than Bangladesh in wages, conditions of work, labour and safety legislation, etc., you are out of luck. There are always greener pastures for capital, until, that is, we, the workers wake up and make all property and the resources therein the common heritage of all mankind. Let’s do it!

–           If dangerous, toxic toys are let on the market, Canadian law can get them off the market and out of harm’s way. The same applies to dangerous tools, clothing, and food. But the same does not apply to prescription drugs. Health Canada can only ‘negotiate’ with the manufacturers, a process that can take months, even years. All this depends on the power of the lobby that the industry is willing to mount against common sense – but, then, whoever said this system is about common sense!

–           Our provincial Conservatives are pushing for a new approach to labour in order to attract manufacturing jobs back to the province. Unfortunately, it looks a lot like the ‘Right to work’ legislation adopted by many states below the border. MPP Monte McNaughton said, “ There are three things that are holding Ontario back; sky-high energy prices, growing debt and deficits, and outdated labour laws.” Translation : anything that pays a living wage, demands a safe working environment and comes with benefits must go. We are going backwards, isn’t it time to move on from this system?

 

–           Best wishes for a happy and healthy holiday and New Year,

For socialism, John

–            

    

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