alanjjohnstone
Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
He is right that ONLY central banks such as the Federal Reserve and the B of E etc. can create money by printing it.
It does get a bit more complex when it comes to QE and the issuing of government bonds to the money market which i think he is including in his money creation (i could be wrong). Someone more knowledgeable can explain how it does not pose a threat to inflation.
As for open source banking, it is still part of the exchange economy, prices and commodity production, which MFP has to do away with if they seek to abolish money.
Since he took the time to reply, why not try and establish a further dialogue and query just how long “a temporary monetary system until we make the change.” would be and if such a transition is even possible
I added WSPUS links to the two You Tube videos.
Regards the MFP, i still think it may be worthwhile to reach out to their supporters, indicating the weaknesses of some of the MFP positions.
But more importantly is to link their money-free demand to the socialist traditions that predates the MFP such as the WSPUS and Keracher’s Proletarian Party which i am sure that their audience are quite unaware of and require having that explained to them.
This is all a part of the campaign to bring the WSPUS to the attention of a potentially receptive audience.
The case for a continuation of vote for the lesser evil, a bit more sophisticated and nuanced than the usual arguments so makes interesting reading – But as usal ends with the same conclusion.
https://countercurrents.org/2020/07/dump-trump-then-combat-biden/
https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/07/27/system-change-basic-primer-solidarity-economy
I think this article sums up what we are up against when it comes to an understanding of socialism and what many American progressives believe it is.
And how they re-name their version of “socialism” as the Solidarity Economy
Trump is pressing Australia to increase freedom of navigation exercises in the South China Sea
I think this media story is a classic example of an unpopular political leader stoking up war fears to distract from his personal and political problems at home.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-53511336
Yet the BBC once more accepts and adopts the pro-Israeli narrative
Our work as socialists is indeed a very difficult one.
We are anti-racist which has maintained deep roots within large sections of the working class, setting us apart.
However, there has been a sea-change in prejudice. It is not seen as “alright” to express racist views, as it once was. The number of interracial relationships have risen. Like religion we can detect racial discrimination withering away from societal changes. Racism no longer fully serves the interests of all sections of the capitalist class. (likewise sexism and prejudice against sexual orientation) and so it is destined to disappear.
Unfortunately, it does not seem as if nationalism has followed a similar trend. Despite the existence of supra-nationalist institutions such as the European Union, the African Union, Organisation of American States, the various UN agencies and the rise of transnational corporations, nationalist fervour appears to remain constant. We saw the reinforcement of the national barriers with the pandemic adding to the already strengthening borders against migration and movement of peoples.
We have not witnessed a similar tendency of nationalist feelings withering away. We have even seen the opposite with the rise of separatism such as Scottish and Catalonian independence movements.
Our work is very far from done regards nationalism.
The Mekong River has become a new front in U.S.-China rivalry, environmentalists and officials say.
“This is becoming a geopolitical issue, much like the South China Sea, between the United States and China,” said Witoon Permpongsacharoen of the group Mekong Energy and Ecology Network.
U.S. Ambassador to Cambodia Patrick Murphy described China as “hoarding” water in its 11 dams on its upper portion of the 4,350-km (2,700-mile) river, harming the livelihoods of millions of people in downstream countries.
Gold hit an all-time high as tit-for-tat consulate closures in China and the United States rattled investors.
“US President (Donald) Trump used to say China’s President Xi Jinping is a great leader. But now Pompeo’s wording is becoming so aggressive that markets are starting to worry about further escalation,” said Norihiro Fujito, chief investment strategist at Mitsubishi Securities.
Protesters fall out. BLM complain about the Portland demonstrators
The president of the Portland branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), ED Mondainé, warned that the Black Lives Matter movement in the city is being coopted by “privileged white people” with other agendas. He said the confrontations with the federal officers sent by the president are little more than a “spectacle and a distraction that do nothing for the cause of black equality…The children of the privileged are dancing on the stages of those that gave their lives for this movement,”
Mondainé said “empty battles” were serving Trump’s agenda because the president creates political theatre for electoral advantage. He said Trump is baiting protesters in Portland to light the fuse on a racist backlash across the country before the presidential election. “We have to change that narrative. We cannot let teargas and rubber bullets define the moment that we’re in now. We must seize the moment and assure the world that this time racism will no longer live,”
Teressa Raiford, the African American founder of Don’t Shoot Portland, accused the mayor of using the presence of the federal agents as cover for his own failure to address police reform.
“Our leaders now say: ‘Donald Trump’s attacking you and we care about you’. But the people on the front line realise we were being attacked by them before Donald Trump started attacking us,” he said. “They’re trying to claim that they stand as allies with the protesters. It is political. What you’re seeing with the mayor being sprayed with teargas, that is political propaganda.”
On the issue of policing
Hyung Nam, who has been closely observing police reform as a member of a city committee that advises on how the police budget is spent, said the lack of political will reflects economic realities.“All these liberal cities have extreme inequality, economic inequality, and there’s a major racial dimension to that. As long as we have that kind of economic inequality we’re going to see some form of policing like this,” he said.
We should not forget Herman Goering’s words, Roberto.
“Why of course the people don’t want war. Why should some poor slob on a farm want to risk his life in a war when the best he can get out of it is to come back to his farm in one piece? Naturally the common people don’t want war: neither in Russia, nor in England, nor for that matter in Germany. That is understood. But after all it is the leaders of a country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy or fascist dictatorship, or a parliament or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the peace makers for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country.”
But also we should not forget 2003 that saw millions in the streets who did not fall for the lies and propaganda. It isn’t as easy these days in the words of Lincoln
“You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.”
I don’t think Trump has the credibility to garner support other than his existing base. I don’t think Xi is prepared for an all-out war. But accidents can happen and mistakes are made. Bluffs are sometimes called. Rational compromises such as made by JFK and Khrushchev in the 1962 Cuba Crisis might not appeal to a new generation of leaders who think a limited conventional war might be conceivable. Capitalism is always a gamble, whether it is in the stock exchange or across the diplomacy negotiation table.
Hungary
More than 70 of roughly 90 editorial staff at Hungary’s biggest independent news outlet have resigned. “The editorial board deemed that the conditions for independent operation are no longer in place and have initiated the termination of their employment,” it said.
Zimbabwe
Amnesty International said the arrests were “designed to intimidate and send a chilling message to journalists, whistleblowers and activists who draw attention to matters of public interest in Zimbabwe”.
USA
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jul/24/seattle-protest-photos-police-media-judge
A judge has ordered five Seattle news outlets to comply with a subpoena and give the Seattle police department unpublished video and photos from a 30 May racial justice protest.
And we shouldn’t forget Julian Assange in the UK is still ongoing
A Singaporean man has pleaded guilty in the US to working as an agent of China, the latest incident in a growing stand-off between Washington and Beijing. Jun Wei Yeo was charged with using his political consultancy in America as a front to collect information for Chinese intelligence, US officials say
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-53534941
