alanjjohnstone
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Proletariat, i suppose the problem of dwelling on the history is that as i said in my #5 post, we may well disagree on actual facts of history and get side-tracked. The history should be a different debate. Putilov Works had 30,000 workers and was the largest factory in the world at the time with 40 factory committees to represent them during the revolutionary period Many of the Asia garment factories are a thousand or so workers but it doesn't include the many sub-contractor sweatshops of a few hundred workers. Only when we start talking about the likes of high-tech Foxconn do we begin seeing numbers not in the tens of thousands but the hundred of thousands in what are in effect self-contained cities.See what i mean if we begin talking too much about history, we can get bogged down on the details.
The price is now beginning to be paid. Brussels has frozen grants for Swiss universities worth hundreds of millions of euros in retaliation. In 2011-12, 2,600 Swiss students took advantage of Erasmus, while Switzerland played host to some 2,900 foreign students through the EU-funded exchange program. In addition Switzerland is ejected from Horizon 2020, an 80-billion-euro ($109.5 billion) research and innovation program that distributes funds over seven years (2014-2020). Lausanne’s Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL) said it stands to lose 80 to 100 million francs annually in research grants, while ETH, the Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, could experience a similar slash in funding. http://rt.com/news/switzerland-eu-immigration-law-382/
A workers’ movement that fights for economic gains, yes! A socialist party that fight for the emancipation of the working class, even better!
An interesting read. “Workers began by re-creating councils and these organisations played a key role in driving the revolution forward a 2nd time…During middle of 1917 the Mensheviks and social revolutionaries gained control of the councils and turned them into permanent committees – something which weakened the revolutionary movement from within…” i am not so sure about the historic accuracy of these statements. My readings seem to lead to the conclusion that the political parties set the 1917 soviets up. And goes against Martov's position that they were impromptu organs of democracy. Perhaps we should clarify the difference between the factory committees and the soviets , distinct separate developments and it was the Bolsheviks who endeavoured to integrate these into the nationalised/one man management/trade union structure and remove their independence. His point is moot concerning the reasons why the capitalist class require universal suffrage…in a struggle for political power, there is only a ertain number of capitalist votes and requires the additional strength of the working class, particularly if a rising capitalist class is still struggling against feudalistic relics (in Asia, landlordism) It is a necessary evil that has to be accepted for their own healthy development like bad tasting medicine.The accusation that the SPGB ignores economic struggles is an old one and i would like some empirical evidence for this rather than the customary allegation of it. Certainly our approach to economic struggles is not the same as other groups but no way can it be described as rejection of it. In my view the author has it the wrong way around. Consciousness isn't the creation of the party and we don't say that but rather the party is the creation of the consciousness and sadly we still await the growth (or even arrival) of a mass workers socialist party. I stopped believing the SPGB was it quite a few years ago and i don't think many members believe we are going to be the decisive vehicle to socialist society. We would i think fully endorse his view that :"Economic and political strikes, mass protests and violence* confrontations can be and are part of that experience that raises working class consciousness and make its aware of its capacity to make a socialist revolution. This consciousness emerges because of its whole experience not because political minorities have persuasive skills." And perhaps add others such as environmentalism*sometimes the effect on consciousness is the rejection of violence (and militarisation) of protests as a meanshttp://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/21/us-brazil-protests-idUSBRE95K0JU20130621As i said an interesting debate that we should build upon and perhaps have a series of, concentrating on the issues that we are either misunderstood upon or not fully appreciated for its value.
This may be of interest, the latest research on the rate of child abuse related to poverty rates.http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2014/02/16/350967/us-child-abuse-rising-with-income-gap/
Not too far unrelated to the topic. http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2014/02/did-arab-leftists-betray-revolu-201421674037574769.html " younger leftist groups consider that the main focus should be on social liberation since no real independence can be reached under a capitalist and repressive system….one thing both the traditional and younger left-wing organisations have learned from the Arab uprisings, it would be that their romanticised idea of the revolution is not accurate. In as much as revolutions are powerful and essential, revolutionary periods are not as rosy and easy as the Left would have wished.The Arab revolutions should be understood as a long-term process of deep economic, social and political change that will undergo many ups and downs before it finally settles. During this process, many of the social taboos will be broken, many of the norms and values will change and many movements will grow, but at the same time, many lives will be lost, many people will suffer and entire cities can be demolished in an attempt by the brutal regimes to erase not just the present, but the past as well."Bit too trotty for my liking but interesting take on things, nevertheless
I wonder why the Beatles all of a sudden had a worldwide influence? Motown instead of the Blues? Rock and Roll? The influence of West Indian reggae springing up in Africa. Punk music? Clever marketing by the record companies, somehow i doubt it.How did the Arab Spring, Indignados and Occupy spread so swiftly ?I accept uneven development. The rural interior of China will develop at a different pace as the cities on the coast as will the countryside village in India and Mumbai, just as is happening in capitalism. But, the mobile phone and the internet and satellite tv is going to shorten any gap. The world is divided into particular bases of power, political and economic. In Thailand, the political centre and the economic centre is the capital, Bangkok. No protests elsewhere. What is decided there decides for the nation. I dare say this applies to most places. The mass demonstrations do not take place in Manchester but London. The crisis of the riots a few years back was not the ones in Nottingham but Nottinghill. Who still remembers the 1870 Lyon Commune?The revolution is a process and will be expressed in a variety of ways. I question any recourse to a domino theory.i foresee it being much more unpredictable. One area will implement what it can when it can and how it can. Revolution is all about improvisation, ad hoc actions, and a learning curve. As you say the current manner of interpreting a DOTP is not of any value. But more importantly behind it all is an idea – the spirit of revolution, something less tangible to describe in its absence. And there is no rule as far as i know on how that spreads and permeates peoples consciousnesses. As an aside, it often appears that those who propose the DOTP always assume that it will be some other country and not this one which lags behinds. Shouldn't theY also be considering the tactics to be applied when other regions have moved ahead and left the UK lagging behind alongside Saudi Arabia and North Korea rather than presuming the GB will be in the revolutionary fore-front??!!The SPGB priority is ensuring we have a voice to be heard in any revolutionary episode.
Not being a Foreign Office insider I am dismayed at the criticism of the Syrian government's stance in the unsuccessful peace talks. The agenda is in 4 parts. The agenda comprised four points:Violence and terrorismA transitional governing bodyNational institutionsNational reconciliation What we find is that Syrian Government are emphasising the end of violence and the implementation of a ceasefire,(as is currently being negotiated locally at Homs) but the West insist that the transitory governing body should be given priority i.e. regime change. The BBC quotes UK's Hague and the French Fabious but fails to report the Russian foreign minister, again an example of selective cherry-pickiing of views by the supposed impartial BBC. For the record Lavrov said “The only thing they [the West] want to talk about is the establishment of a transitional governing body,” Sergey Lavrov said Friday after meeting with the German foreign minister in Moscow. “Only after that are they ready to discuss the urgent and most pressing problems, like terrorism.”The same report carries info that the US is bankrolling their proxy Syrian resistance groups and that Saudi have anti-aircraft missiles ready to distribute to their proxy armies. http://rt.com/news/saudis-new-weapons-syria-124/
This thread had experience of this 'scientific' neo-racism based on genetics which this article discusses. http://uk.news.yahoo.com/forms-racism-arise-science-research-133114264.html#AIsflH1
But the report is from a FRENCH research centre, not a Russian source. You explain the reason why a Russian media site would take pains to report it but equally it can be argued there is also a reason why other media, in the UK and the US, failed to highlight it – as it is counter to prevailing government and energy business interests. (The French may have a reason for publicising this report because it confirms their own anti-fracking policy)The report does refer to the Russian market situation as a political/economic reason some will be pro-fracking. "Shale gas could potentially be a complement to this for some countries heavily dependent on coal or Russian gas…"The report is herehttp://www.iddri.org/Publications/Collections/Syntheses/PB0514.pdfIt reinforces those who have already declared that the ordinary consumer will not receive any benefit and it is no cure for fuel poverty. Nor is there much of a benefit for the capitalist class as a whole from any rise in GDP.
The panacea that may not be.http://rt.com/business/shale-benefits-us-europe-037/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-26192983 After 49 days in charge of Delhi, the AAP has resigned when its anti-corruption legislation was blocked. Delhi's chief minister Kejriwal is said by the BBC to describe himself as an anarchist which i never heard before. From all accounts the AAP attempt to enter national politics will not have an immediate impact but may be the first step in a long journey.
Can i suggest that some thought is given to drafting in members, offering board and lodgings and travel expenses. As an ex-mail-worker and having experience of the RM election mail-out during the Livingston by-election, i suggest somebody keeps a watchful eye on the process and is ready to complain if things go awry. And what about some illicit fly-posting for those younger members and sympathisers of fleet-foot wanting some adrenaline-rush direct action?Also raised before is the problem of getting info to the postal voters in time. Any suggestions on how it can be resolved?All the best and good to see early planning in action.
Perhaps a London member could pop around and donate some copies of the Standard and SOYMB book and selection of pamphlets and leaflets. Perhaps also with a formal offer to provide speakers on a variety of topics. Take advantage while it exists and before law and order closes it down. Go to the mountain because they won't be lining up at Clapham High St. (But we could issue an invitation and guarantee a comradely welcome)
