alanjjohnstone
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If some of us aren’t fearing the outbreak of another European war, the stock market appears concerned.
“Traders continue to be in selling mode as fears mount surrounding the Russia-Ukraine situation,” said David Madden, a market analyst at Equiti Capital.
fears of military conflict in Ukraine spooked investors, wiping £53bn off the value of the UK’s blue-chip share index.
European markets tumbled by 3.8%
Investors rushed to safe-haven assets such as the US dollar, and also the Swiss franc, which hit a six-year high against the euro.
As battle groups of both sides take up positions, France advises against travel to Ukraine
They have been in the game for nearly 1,900 years more than we have, perhaps they’ve picked up a few tricks.
Yup, like The Inquisition ;-p
I recall James Connolly writing somewhere that he rather a child attended a Catholic school where the priest would rail against the British and their atrocities against the Irish than the secular school where the Empire would be praised.
But seriously, is there really a place for us going door-to-door like Jehovah Witnesses and Mormons, proselytizing?
I have yet to hear of any SPGBer who has attended right-wing rallies to leaflet them.
I have been in a few American right-wing forums and found that our differing views on the world are not conducive to any productive exchanges.
There is no common ground despite the initial promise of anti-government libertarian opinions…delve deeper and there are far many more ideological obstacles. It is a fruitless, sterile and barren exercise, in my opinion. Their mind-set is too fixed.
ALB can perhaps offer the history of certain members from the right who joined the Party and how it eventually panned out…(see the two ex-comrade topic).
Are we any better with a liberal, left, trade-unionist slanted person? So far that has not been very successful either and they are equally close-minded.
Hasn’t there been some sort of survey done in the past by the Party on who is more receptive to our literature and message?
I don’t think we should underplay the seriousness of the situation.
For Putin, it is his Cuban Missile Crisis if Ukraine is permitted to join NATO.
New York Times report Biden is considering deploying several thousand U.S. troops, as well as warships and aircraft.
UK and US have sent Ukraine military supplies.
The State Department has ordered family members of U.S. Embassy staff in Kyiv to leave the country, as well as allowing non-essential staffers to leave too. It also advised no travel to Russia itself. US citizens “who are visiting or residing in Russia have been interrogated without cause, and threatened by Russian officials and may become victims of harassment, mistreatment, and extortion.”
Should we be targetting our resources to trying to convert our implacable class enemies?
Or use our limited energy to try and persuade an audience who happen to disagree with us on some aspects of our ideas but accept much of our basic case?
I have not seen any mention of the previous talks and Donbas agreement
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minsk_Protocol
Minsk II appears to have all but forgotten by the media
What has been shown is that the need for a strong independent body is required for dealing with pandemics and global health problems.
WHO has had its hopes of becoming more effective dashed by the USA and other nations.
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/exclusive-u-opposes-plans-strengthen-175732278.html
As tensions rise, the media does its job of being the voice of their respective governments. They present the view their government wants them to present.
They depict what is going on simplistically as goodies v baddies, and , of course, we can guess who the former will always be.
Our task is to explain that war and preparations of war are the normal patterns of capitalism and our fellow workers are being manipulated and manoeuvred into taking sides in a potential conflict.
We all need to understand the context of the confrontation. I think this article presents the deeper historical background.
https://original.antiwar.com/ted_snider/2022/01/05/six-things-the-media-wont-tell-you-about-ukraine/
And Jonathan Cook always has a nuanced analysis of world events that is worth reading
James, I think there is, without doubt, a discriminatory ethnic campaign against the Uyghur, as there is against Tibetans, to remove their cultural connections and that can be considered as genocide according to the UN definition.
Labour and re-education camps do exist but death camps, I have never seen any evidence of their existence.
As always, not being on the ground, we are reliant upon media reporting and as always we are exposed to misinformation.
This article explains the problem we are up against when it comes to getting to the truth of the matter. Think tanks are not always independent sources.
And even this website’s credentials may be in question.
Truss, the British foreign secretary, raised fears that China might join the war by attacking Taiwan if Russia “invaded” Ukraine.
“China could use a Russian invasion of Ukraine as an opportunity to launch aggression of its own in the Indo-Pacific, British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has warned. ‘I don’t think we can rule that out,” Ms Truss said. … “Russia is working more closely with China than it ever has. Aggressors are working in concert and I think it’s incumbent on countries like ours to work together.’”
Former Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating, wrote:
“Remarks by the British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss that China could engage in military aggression in the Pacific, encouraged by Russia’s contingent moves against Ukraine, are nothing short of demented. Not simply irrational, demented.”
As always the media is accepting the press releases of anonymous government officials as genuine military intelligence reports.
Where are the on-the-ground war correspondents that we once possessed such as Robert Fisk?
But personally, I think we can take it as accurate that there is a build-up of forces on BOTH sides.
Sabre rattling? Who will blink first?
Once again workers are left powerless as political leaders face one another down in a stand-off.
The UK has accused President Putin of plotting to install a pro-Moscow figure to lead Ukraine’s government.
The Foreign Office took the unusual step of naming former Ukrainian MP Yevhen Murayev as a potential Kremlin candidate.
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said: “The information being released today shines a light on the extent of Russian activity designed to subvert Ukraine, and is an insight into Kremlin thinking.”
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-60095459
Or is it true?
“The British Foreign Office seems confused,” said former Ukrainian MP Yevhen Murayev, laughing. “It isn’t very logical. I’m banned from Russia. Not only that but money from my father’s firm there has been confiscated.”
Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said in a statement that he predicts that Russian forces would move into Ukraine within the next month, citing U.S. intelligence indicating President Vladimir Putin is eyeing a “very aggressive timetable,”
Just have to wait and see, won’t we
Some background reading
https://www.nationalmemo.com/republican-efforts-to-restrict-voting
When the Republicans win both houses in the 2022 Midterms, we can expect a sea-change in US politics with Biden depicted as an autocrat as he tries to use the presidential veto to hold back Republican policies.
One of the basic reasons for its permanent destabilisation is the constitutional makeup of the USA.
Many of the reasons I see expressed by nationalist politicians in the EU are much the same as those of Americans insisting on their individual state rights.
I cannot comprehend how such basic laws on who can vote and who cannot and the rules of how to vote are not federal, as in the case of that other union of states, India.
America’s state autonomy is a recipe for partisan gerrymandering of the election system.
Add to this, the filibuster, the Electoral College, the disproportionate representation per population of two senators per state, and the US political process is chaotic.
But because of American exceptionalism, American’s cannot recognise its failings and are blinkered to any reforms.
It is designed for glacial change, the sex Equal Rights Amendment passed half a century ago is still to be fully ratified.
The 1960s Civil Rights Act is being amended by the new Lewis Civil Rights Bill but it is being stymied by Republicans in the Senate.
