alanjjohnstone
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The hurricane wasn't all bad news, ALB. Branson's villa is a wreck nowhttp://www.bbc.com/news/business-41224243I just hope the bastard wasn't insured for the Act of God
It wasn't so much the internecine violence i had in mind but the multitude of schisms that have arisen. They have all influenced and divided one another. I simply think we should not in our attempts to understand it all – over-simplify.Our task is to apply what we know of materialist conception of history and try to analyse our current religions and hope we can expose its fallacies but also to "convert" its practitioners not to drive them into some hermit's cave of belief.
MB, the death of capitalism has been prematurely announced several times but the Socialist Party has not been one of those organisations and produced a message that is rather unpopular – capitalism won't end until working people end it (or perhaps the apocalyptic end of the world climate change events and with it the end of the human race)https://www.worldsocialism.org/spgb/pamphlets/why-capitalism-will-not-collapseWhich conveniently brings me back to my question to you which i can understand why you could have overlooked it in this busy thread.It is contained in Message #192
Quote:It is going to create a lot of fight among the Christians sectsTell us something new, Marcos…That was the point of my last post….Religion and in particlar Christianity is a Gordian knot to untie. Shall we now add all the other religious sects of Islam, Judaism, Buddhism…One way of looking at it is to try and see the unifying element that exists in all …Some would say the Golden Rule.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_RuleIs this principle something that we as socialists can work with in our propaganda?
The Nazareneshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazarene_(sect)The more i try to follow this thread, the more i find just how confusing the study and knowledge isA quick google of Nazereans brought this article and the link to the Ebionites.https://clas-pages.uncc.edu/james-tabor/ancient-judaism/nazarenes-and-ebionites/The author's credentials are listed herehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_TaborIn The Jesus Dynasty, he interprets Jesus as an apocalyptic Messiah whose extended family founded a royal dynasty in the days before the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. The form of Christianity that grew out of this movement, led by the apostle Paul, was, according to Tabor, a decisive break with the Ebionite-like original teachings of John the Baptist and Jesus.I also found the hypothetical and conjectured Gospel of the Nazerenes. Another inconclusive dead-endhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gospel_of_the_NazarenesWhich linked me to the Mandeans and that took me back to John the Baptist Mandaeans maintain that Jesus was a "false messiah" who perverted the teachings entrusted to him by John.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MandaeismRemember James Burke's TV series "Connections"….it goes on and on, ending in a dizzy turning of circlesIt seems the more you get into the topic, the less clarity exists.So perhaps we should limit ourselves to just the one aspect which is relevant to ourselves …common ownership in christianity
https://ehrmanblog.org/did-nazareth-exist/It should be noted on the thread that this link by Roman offers a direct criticism of ALB's link to Salm's bookEhrman's own credentials as a scholar herehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bart_D._EhrmanEhrman argues that Jesus was an apocalyptic preacher and that his main message was that the end of history was near, that God would shortly intervene to overthrow evil and establish his rule on earth, and that Jesus and his disciples all believed these end time events would occur in their lifetimes and he describes himself as an agnostic atheist.Ehrman cites Ken Dark archaeologist to support the idea of Nazarethhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_DarkSo nothing is ever clear-cut as we hope when studying the periodAnd for a bit off topic trivia, one of my bosses in Royal Mail nick-named Wiggy for obvious reasons used to be the drummer for Nazareth, the Dunfermline-based rock band…He left to pursue his career in the post office thinking they were not going to be successful
Oh and this appeared also
Quote:Blair became "obsessed" with creating a British football league as a way of bringing the UK together… he believed merging the Scottish and English leagues would strengthen the bonds between the two nations after devolution…But a British national football team would have been a "step too far".http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-41201279Oh and the GB team was achieved for the Olympics but few Scots volunteered their services even if they were talented enough to play in it
Quote:Nike doesn't "own" it's supply chain exactly, but it has stock in it's supply chain and people on the board of directors of the rubber company that represent Nike ownership shares and look out for nike. Nike also has stock options and other ways of controlling their supply chain such as a "hedge fund"This is a claim you are making and i would like to see some evidence of it. Ownership of even those low in the feeding chain are recorded somewhere.But my impression of the sweated labour i have personally witnessed, not for the major brands, but for the fake copies, is that it depends on a front room with several sewing machines. As i posted, Nike is not the only major player and rivals such as Adidas do exist.Are you saying they too share directorships and controlling stock in "independent" sub-contractors and collude together?Then evidence should be produced for this assertion that the independent owners reduce their prices not out of competition with one another to gain contracts with the transnationals but because pressure is exerted from within those out-sourcers by its major stock-holders – Nike and others.And can we say a company like Foxxconn are insignificant and lack economic power that it's totally dependent on Apple investors. I don't think that is the reality, is it?Those who own the rubber plantations are not impotent and have formed thier own state-supported trade organisations to influence the price of rubber which reflects with the price of oil because of artificial rubber and that is determined by world markets and not a solitary or even a cartel in the garments industry. You seem to endow some capitalist enterprises with a power they simply do not possess.
I think the ramifications of his immigration proposals would not be too far different from FarageChanges he proposed included requiring EU immigrants to register on arrival in Britain so officials could keep track of whether they found work or study. – an ID Card system for aliensEU nationals would also be required to have a confirmed job offer before being able to settle in Britain. Adopting the kalifa system from his Gulf friends, perhaps?Those without permission would be banned from renting property, – except from rogue lanlords over-charging and over-crowdingopening a bank account – No wages through the the bank or direct debits or standing orders to organise your budget and access goodsor claiming benefits…even ones that are supposed to be universal for humanitarian reasonsQualifying for the National Health Service would become more difficult ….thus risking spread of disease and denying treatment to the illand universities would be allowed to charge higher tuition rates for EU nationals…as they do for non-EU…chasing away skilled workersproposes seeking an "emergency brake" for migration when services are stretched…blaming migrants when there is a crisis in the economy or with social services
Purely in regard to Nike
Quote:Yet NIKE owns no factories for manufacturing its footwear and apparel, which make up ~88% of its revenues. Instead, manufacturing is outsourced to third parties because of the cost advantages of doing so. Most raw materials in NIKE’s supply chain are sourced in the manufacturing host country by independent contractorsNor has it a monopolistic control as the main customer
Quote:Overseas manufacturing of products features in the strategies of rivals Under Armour Inc. (UA), VF Corporation (VFC), Lululemon Athletica Inc. (LULU), and Adidas AG (ADDYY) as well.http://marketrealist.com/2014/12/overview-nikes-supply-chain-manufacturing-strategies/
Quote:Water regularly falls from the sky. So then bottled water which cost $2-$5 each should not exist by your theory. Doesn't the existence of a robust market for bottled water kind of disprove your theory.Where i live water can fall from the sky and flood streets and turn lazy streams into raging torrents. For the lucky rural person they have huge storage jars to catch the rain and their well-water levels are replenished keeping it free. Sadly many in the city cannot store water and rely upon municipal water pipes which is metered and we are charged for monthly. The quality and purity of this water is very highly suspect thus there is indeed despite water from the sky an enormous demand for treated bottled water. In fact, most districts possess water dispensers slot-machines ..in exchange for a few coins UV treated water is dispensed to fill up your bottles.There is indeed a big demand for bottled water despite heavy rains but for good reasons.But, yes i am always amazed why people pay for bottled water especially in Scotland when i visit. The tap water there is lovely. Little need to chill even in Summer.I can only put it down to the power of advertising and, of course, the well-known Scot's sugar addiction (even put lemonade or Irn Bru in the whisky) when it comes to marketing flavoured fruity-water.
I have been following this debate and MB if you have not considered that Robbo's rebuttal has not made you feel the necessity to return to your study and re-frame it somewhat, then it has not been a productive exchange at all.A little too often for my personal liking you have said you accept that Marx was correct then off you go endeavouring to prove he was either wrong or wrongly interpreted and only your own insight into what he really meant is accurate.I will now give you the benefit of the doubt. You are indeed correct in your ideas. Marx's analysis of capital led to him declaring that the proletariat because they are robbed (exploited) and because their sustenance is thwarted by capitalist laws then they would be the vehicle for social change. A bit deterministic granted but Marx does add sufficient caveats that other factors arise in creating revolutionary consciousness.A question. Since for argument's sake, i accept your economic analysis…can you tell me how it will be changed and into what. So far i have only the Bakuninist rabble as the agency of change. But even they must have some motivation to spur them into action – and to old some idea of direction.MB please expand on how a new society will come about through an understanding and acceptance of your economic model of "present-day modern capitalism."It's hackneyed to say this …but philosophers have only interpreted the world…the point is to change it.
Tim, i bow to the superior humourist, i'm well beat….but remember, the Greater One who created Paradise – Jock Stein who created a host of avenging angels called the Lisbon Lions.Sorry, ALB, for the repetition but some on this forum require to have things explained more than once and often, more than twice and still no guarantee that simple truths will sink in.
