alanjjohnstone
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Quote:The RM-ers don't agree with Pannekoek, who claims, rightly, that humans create the so-called 'laws of physics'.
Isn't there a section in the Andrew Kliman talk where he quotes Stephen Hawkings saying …"In physics what you believe doesn't matter "
No free delivery of leaflets is a bummer for me. I'm also guessing we won't have enough candidates standing for a election broadcast, either.The fact that i believed we would be entitled to free postage and Royal Mail would do the foot-work for us was what i was hoping for. The fact we don't get one changes things for me a bit. It is not the cost of the leaflets but the sheer logistics of pushing them through the letter boxes that has to be considered. When you say the cost of distribution of the leaflets will be from party funds, Brian, are you suggesting that tens of thousand of leaflets will have their postage paid. Even with what is called house-hold delivery, that will be costly and that is not even the printing costs. 10,000 = £660 If less than 20g. And if we encountered a dumping problem in the general election, i would guess it would be a tenfold increase with those. http://www.royalmail.com/business/sites/default/files/docs%20part%205/docs%20part%205/Royal-Mail-Door-To-Door-Rate-Card-November-2014_0_0.pdfA limited distribution of leaflets could be an alternative in specific areas and also distribution could be done at railway and underground stations and shopping centres via lit stalls with our banners on show but has Glasgow the labour-power able for this task which surely means committing it to numerous days and not just the odd sunny Saturday outing. Standing would get us invited to hustings and we would receive mentions in the press but those can be accomplished without actually standing candidates. I was an eager advocate of contesting those elections but now i'm slightly less enthusiastic. I'm not too keen on ourselves carrying the full burden of blind targetting in the hope of some response that is not guaranteed. Not good news But if the Party does accept the financial responsibility for the production and distribution of leaflets in adequate numbers plus a couple of local press adverts and Glasgow have sufficient volunteers (if necessary with the occasional assistance from other branches in the election campaign) and not have too high an expectation of fruitful rewards then it should put itself forward I await the outcome of their branch meetings and since the Parliament elections it is almost a full year from now, they can take their time and don't need to reach a hasty decision but debate it over a series of branch meetings, seeking further advice and information from the Election Committee where necesssary and it can also canvas non-attendees for their views as well as get an idea of how many will actually will volunteer and participate in the tasks ahead as candidates and election agents etc.It is a huge commitment for this branch for various reasons but a strategy has to develop for it to not only stop the slide but reverse the trend and instead grow, once more. Thoughts from afar…
Could someone post the details of the flyer that advertises the online video lecture course by Andrew Kliman on capital and marx that is referred to at the meeting
As all on this thread expected Greece had little option but capitulation to the Troika. The full deal here but still no word whether it is still acceptable to the Troika. http://www.naftemporiki.gr/finance/story/976680/the-greek-reform-proposals
The Budget – A lot of spin with pleenty of smoke and mirrors … Anybody the least bit acquainted with pay rises know the devil is in the detail and not the headline figures. http://www.bbc.com/news/business-33463864Thirteen million UK families will lose an average of £260 a year due to the freeze in working-age benefits. Three million families, which are likely to lose an average of £1,000. Even taking into account higher wages, people receiving tax credits would be "significantly worse off," said Paul Johnson, director of the IFS. Higher wages would not compensate for cuts to tax credits."There is simply not enough money going in to the new minimum wage to anywhere near compensate – in cash terms – people on tax credits" Those in work – but receiving low salaries – will be the worst-affected. Those in the second poorest category are likely to lose more than £1200 a year.According to the Resolution FoundationA low-earning single parent with one child, working 20 hours a week at £9.35 an hour, will be £1,000 a year worse off.A low-earning dual-earner couple with two children will be £850 a year worse offA middle-earning dual-earner couple with two children, each earning £15 a hour, will be £350 better off, as a result of increases in the personal tax allowance.Families moving on to Universal Credit, or applying for tax credits after April 2017 could face much bigger losses.For example, a low-earning couple with with three children making a new claim would be £3,450 worse off, following the tax and welfare changes set out in the budget."We shouldn't think that a higher minimum wage will compensate all low income working families for their losses – many working households will be left significantly worse off,"
Quote:‘No’ to Slavery, but ‘Yes’ to Our ChainsIt was a good turn of phrase that i had already noted and saved for using myself for a future blog
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-33438416Mainland Chinese shares continued to plunge on Wednesday, falling over 8% at one point despite more moves by regulators to stabilise the market. The Shanghai Composite was down 5.9% to 3,506.22 in early trade. That came despite the insurance regulator raising the limits for insurers to invest in blue chip stocks to 10% of their total assets, from 5%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was down 5.1% to 23,710.97, following the mainland's fall.Every expert knew the bubble had to burst and most thought it would the property bubble. As you say the knock-on effects will hinder any recovery elsewhere. Australia, shares were lower as the price of a top exporter, iron ore, fell almost 6% to a three month low. (A bit of idle chit-chat…i often came across Australians who boasted of how great their exchange rate and economy was compared with us poor poms…i always replied thay are dependent upon China and that i couldn't wait for a recession to hit the Chinese and watch the Australian economy crumble…schadenfreude as the chickens come home to roost.)
i seriously pondered placing this post in the conspiracy thread for its far-fetched conclusions on Varoufakishttp://journal-neo.org/2015/07/03/what-stinks-about-varoufakis-and-the-whole-greek-mess/
Quote:Varoufakis’ role has been to act as the Western bankers’ Trojan Horse inside the Greek government, to prepare Greece and the Greek people for the slaughter, all the while posing as the tire-less fighter for Greek interestsFirst appeared:http://journal-neo.org/2015/07/03/what-stinks-about-varoufakis-and-the-whole-greek-mess/
Seemed a very worthwhile talk and i look forward to it going online.Did anybody press a Form A into his hand before he left?What was his opinion of ourselves as socialist party?In the beer garden, did he explain where he disagreed and agreed with us on other issues of establishing socialism such as Parliament? Did he or any members think it worthwhile to explore and develop further and future links with the socialist humanist group he is involved with? Did he buy a round?
Piketty provides perspectivehttp://qz.com/445373/thomas-pikettys-wise-words-on-german-hypocrisy-and-how-to-solve-the-greek-debt-crisis/
Quote:We cannot demand that new generations must pay for decades for the mistakes of their parents. The Greeks have, without a doubt, made big mistakes. Until 2009, the government in Athens forged its books. But despite this, the younger generation of Greeks carries no more responsibility for the mistakes of its elders than the younger generation of Germans did in the 1950s and 1960s. We need to look ahead. Europe was founded on debt forgiveness and investment in the future. Not on the idea of endless penance. We need to remember this.Related is the United Nations which is hailing the success of their MDG Goalshttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/ray-chambers/for-those-who-doubted-the_b_7737404.html
In case you have not read this, John, it may help your case http://fcmconference.org/img/CambridgeDeclarationOnConsciousness.pdf
Quote:"We declare the following: “The absence of a neocortex does not appear to preclude an organism from experiencing affective states. Convergent evidence indicates that non-human animals have the neuroanatomical, neurochemical, and neurophysiological substrates of conscious states along with the capacity to exhibit intentional behaviors. Consequently, the weight of evidence indicates that humans are not unique in possessing the neurological substrates that generate consciousness. Nonhuman animals, including all mammals and birds, and many other creatures, including octopuses, also possess these neurological substrates.”Duncan, you say "Where has all this got your movement ? the 99 % want action now not political platitudes I cant sit and watch as the poor are made poorer and die."Please put everything and not merely ourselves into the same historical pretext.Where has YOUR ideas got us of over a hundred years of application, very often, with the powers of government? The same battles are being fought and re-fought, over and over again. The poor and the helpless and the vulnerable are still dying. Thought must precede action. If you want something changed now, please offer some idea of what will be in its place that will end the despair, the desperation and the distress. You cannot merely create a vacuum because we know nature does not permit such a condition. It will be filled, and a very real possibility is that the right may well be enboldened by the failures of Syriza and the resulting disillusionment with promises that are not fulfilled or kept will provide a recruiting ground for them to step into that void. So far Syriza has been fairly honest…they understand that austerity of some degree must continue, that there has to be some middle ground and concessions given to the Troika. The Far Left, on the contrary, argue for no compromise and seek a siege economy and you, i believe, think that Russia might come to the assistance of Greece, although that is not a guarantee or a given. (perhaps you can answer why China with trillions to spend has not come to Greece's aid) Every member of the Socialist Party sympathises with the problems and difficulties of our Greek fellow-workers. In their struggles to defend their living standards and working conditions , we support them even if only by words. But we don't make forlorn promises, hold out false hopes to them but in all honesty and integrity tell the truth, no matter how painful it is. Syriza won't betray them with treachery but they will eventually accede to the demands of international capital and impose further austerity. They have no choice but they may make the cuts less severe on the poor and old and sick. That is their only option if they wish to remain in power. "Real Politik".
holacracy – a social technology or system of organizational governance in which authority and decision-making are distributed throughout a holarchy of self-organizing teams rather than being vested in a management hierarchy.http://www.alternet.org/united-states-inc-corporations-nation-states-silicon-valleys-latest-utopian-management-scheme
