alanjjohnstone
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If we hold that socialism is not possible in one country, it is certainly logical to conclude that socialism is not possible in one city (Barcelona), one commune (Kronstadt) or one factory (syndicalism or cooperatives) or one park (Occupy Wall St)
But as you say, lessons can be drawn from all such experiences.
I note, LBird, that my Pannekoek reference goes without comment that your seeming fixation with quoting Marx’s philosophical understanding is unnecessary for workers to make the socialist revolution, which was an earlier observation of mine that despite his contributions, the workers doesn’t require Marx or the turgid interpretations of his acolytes such as yourself to know what is in their interest and how to make a revolution by the intellectual intervention of any elite.
Jeff Bezos Washington Post hypocrisy and self-righteousness when it comes to Cuba’s vaccine project.
Some Standard Cynical CIA-Style Cuba Covid Reporting at The Washington Post
“fossil-fuel free” buildings
“It’s strange to see something described as ‘fossil-fuel free’ when it is made of concrete, steel and glass,” says Joe Giddings, coordinator of the Architects Climate Action Network (Acan) campaign group. “The production of these materials entails burning a huge amount of fossil fuel. The climate emergency is not a game and we can’t just spin our way through it. We need to think about where our materials come from, how they’re made and interrogate the whole supply chain – from construction to demolition and reuse.”
“…The workers’ job is essentially a simple one. It consists in recognising that all previously-existing ruling groups have hindered the development of a truly social production and distribution; in recognising the necessity for doing away with production and distribution as determined by the profit and power needs of special groups in society who control the means of production and the other social power sources. Production has to be shifted so that it can serve the real needs of the people; it has to become a production for consumption. When these things are recognised, the workers have to act upon them to realise their needs and desires. Little philosophy, sociology, economics and political science are needed to recognise those simple things and to act upon the recognition…” Anton Pannekoek
This thread is evidence for all those modern-day neo-Bakuninists who wished that a certain Karl Marx had never existed, as comments regurgitate his words as if they are religious canon.
Socialism for me is not the preserve of any one thinker or activist, no matter how erudite he (or she) might be.
They only make contributions and none are existential to the socialist idea.
https://americancompass.org/essays/speculating-wall-street-investment/
It is a right-wing web-site but it shares in what Marxists say about the present economic stagnation.
It is a long detailed article, a lot of it over my head but the main point if i’m correct is that American capitalists are not investing enough in fixed capital or manufacturing despite the cuts in taxes and low interest rates which should be spurring those things but instead speculating on the stock-market because that is where the big short-term profits are and rewarding themselves by paying out high dividends.
“…Whereas corporations used to retain and reinvest roughly half of their earnings that share has fallen below 10%, with the rest paid out to shareholders…”
“…if $1 trillion in annual buybacks indicates that “there are in fact no better investments to be made, and the corporate sector simply has no use for this vast sum,” then this “calls into question the viability of the free market capitalist system itself…”
“…when we talk about investment generally, from Wall Street. Most of what we call investment today is the acquisition of an asset. When a private equity firm buys a company, it has not invested, it has traded a pile of money for a pile of equity…”
“…One cannot eat, or even cruise the San Francisco Bay on, a stock certificate. The asset valuations that exist on paper today rely on an assumption that the nation’s corporations can and will employ the nation’s workforce in pursuit of increasing productivity and profitability in the decades to come. Recent evidence suggests otherwise, and the trajectory of investment suggests absolutely not…”
Australia’s leading scientists in a report by the Australian Academy of Science stated that the Paris climate agreement limiting global heating to 1.5C was now “virtually impossible”.
“The world is just nowhere near doing what is required for 1.5C,” Peters says. “Saying anything other than 1.5C is virtually impossible is irresponsible and misleading.”
Biden’s Treatment of Asylum-Seekers Looks a Lot Like Trump’s
When the international community and the Great Powers differ
Flower Power
Hundreds turned out on Friday morning and laid flowers in public places to remember victims of a brutal crackdown by the country’s military junta.
https://www.dw.com/en/myanmar-protesters-hold-flower-protests-to-honor-dead/a-57085367
Confirmation of ALB’s prognosis
https://www.dw.com/en/opinion-naive-optimism-threatens-myanmar-protest-movement/a-57085509
The conflict between pro-democracy protesters and the military has reached an impasse…the protest movement will not succeed if it continues to function on naive optimism…The protesters must realize that they will not receive any outside support against the military…Even if all rebel armies work together with an inexperienced protest movement, they cannot compete with the battle-tested and well-equipped “Tatmadaw”…the military has not yet used heavy weaponry against the population. Tanks or helicopters are not yet firing at protesters.
The protesters cannot win through a direct confrontation with the military…Instead of risking lives in hopeless street battles, pro-democracy supporters need to debate what small steps they can take in the long run. Instead of hoping for a quick victory, they need to work on a long-term strategy.
Fish farming condemned for animal cruelty
