ALB
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No such step was followed for London, with France’s Europe minister, Clement Beaune, suggesting that was because the UK was a “junior partner” which had accepted its “vassalisation” by the US.
Beaune told reporters the UK was subordinate to the US on foreign policy issues post-Brexit, accusing London of having returned to Washington’s “lap”.This is an accurate description of UK foreign policy since Brexit and would have been one of the things the section of the capitalist class that won the referendum envisaged.
I imagine Beaune had in mind Johnson’s statement that the UK was withdrawing from the EU because it didn’t want to be a “vassal” of Europe.
The UK has always had no choice but to be a vassal either of the US or part of a project to create a European state. For 50 years the ruling class decided to go for the latter. Now it’s government policy to swing back to the US.
The news this morning is that the US says that a comprehensive trade deal with the UK is not on their agenda but so desperate are the government to get in with the US that they are now thinking of applying to join the former NAFTA trading bloc between the US, Canada and Mexico with all the sacrifice of “sovereignty” it involves. It’s out of the frying pan into the fire as far as that’s concerned.
Why don’t they simply apply to become the 51st state of the USA?
Anyone who thinks that capitalism in China is any different from capitalism anywhere else should search “Evergrande” and see what comes up.
This is a property development company — with a name that typifies what all capitalist enterprises must aim at — that has overproduced in relation to its market and risks bankruptcy.
I see the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions has decided to dissolve itself. Individual trade unions will probably continue to exist but they will have to avoid getting involved in politics, at least anti-Peking ones.
Yes, she is missing the point. Several points, actually. Even if more women were to be involved in decision-making (as simple democratic principles demand), under capitalism what can realistically be decided is constrained by the economic laws of the system. After all, we have seen, and still have, plenty of women prime ministers, other ministers, mayors and local councillors and that hasn’t made any difference.
As has been said, humans might propose but capitalism disposes. It is only on the basis of the common ownership of productive resources that the decisions humans make can be effectively put into practice with the desired result, where we can both propose and dispose.
One thing that the Occupy movement did was to make the use of the word “capitalism” more acceptable and more widespread. Unfortunately more in the sense of finance capitalism than in our sense and which gave currency crank ideas a new lease of life, including its anti-Semitic fringe.
It is my guess that this would be how anti-semitism (not just anti-Zionism) got into the Labour Party with a lot of people who had supported Occupy joining under Corbyn. Just a guess, mind you.
In any event, this is why it is important to understand capitalism as the whole system of class ownership and production for profit and not just financial capital and its dealings.
That election does seem to have been a real one for those candidates and lists that passed the “loyalty” test in so far as there was a choice between 14 competing lists. Nothing like in the rest of China where people don’t have even that limited and truncated choice.
Official Chinese government news agency report on the elections here.
I thought I’d look up the result of that election in Macau. Here’s what Wikipedia says:
“The turnout of the election was only 42.38%, marking the lowest since the 1988 election. The mass disqualification was said to be the reason of residents not voting, but officials claimed the weather and pandemic as main factors instead.The number of invalid and blank ballots broke record, with some writing “trashed election”, “democracy”, name of disqualified candidate Antonio Ng, or foul languages.
Pro-democracy camp won 2 seats only out of 33, whilst the remaining were under the control of pro-government and pro-Beijing parties and politicians as expected.”Only 14 of the 33 seats are directly elected.
The official results were:
Eligible voters 323,907
Valid votes 132,056 96.20
Invalid votes 2,082 1.52
Blank votes 3,141 2.38
Turnout 137,279 42.38So blank and spoiled votes were nearly 4 percent. Turnout was down by 15 percent.
There are thousands and thousands of charities, all trying to empty the ocean with a teaspoon. No wonder someone had the idea of deciding which was the most urgent. The trouble is that most of them are.
Here’s a killer admission from the Business Secretary:
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/kwasi-kwarteng-blames-free-market-for-global-warming-l3dm9dpnn
He is reported as saying;
“If market solutions naturally greened the world, we wouldn’t be where we are. Clearly there’s been a market failure.”
Another consequence of these protests is that the government is planning to give the police more power to deal with them. The Police, Crime Sentencing and Courts Bill which is going through Parliament expressly mentions XR’s protest tactics as a justification.
This will make things worse for others too as the new powers won’t just be used against XR.
They did it again this morning and this time nearly caught me. Luckily my satnav diverted me away from junction 9 on the M25 to another route. But if I had have been blocked I confess I would have been tempted to join the angry motorists trying to pull them away. But of course I wouldn’t have done this but handed them some of the leaflets that I always carry in the back on my car as they seem in need of a bit of political education.
I don’t know what they are hoping to achieve. Most people are already convinced that there is a climate crisis and don’t need any more convincing. The only reactions from people I have heard have been: “crazy”, “stupid”, “silly”, “dangerous”.
Anyway, who do they think they are? Arrogating themselves the right to stop workers going to work and socialists going about their activity. And it is not as if they were demanding anything radical or claiming to be anti-capitalist. Just asking the government to spend more on insulating houses quicker. That would only have a minor effect while capitalism, the cause of the problem, continues its destructive way intact.
Although they are being called “vouchers” people there will in fact be given a plastic card with £100 pre-paid on it which they can use in shops and restaurants (as long of course as these have terminals that can accept cards, as most will have these days).
Anyone for labour-time plastic cards? Like the SLP of America and certain Council Communists who still think in these dated terns, for instance.
I suppose it could be seen as a mini version of it except that the consumers are not being given money which they can do what they like with (for instance save it). The NI scheme is handing out vouchers that cannot be saved (or spent on gambling) and which have to be used by a certain date. The aim is rather less ambitious too. It’s to help local shopkeepers rather than to try to relaunch the economy through stimulating consumer spending.
I would say that it has more in common with local currencies, as the aim of both is to help local shops. Also some local currencies devalue if they are not spent within a given time period.
I don’t know if this qualifies as UBI but it is a universal and (very) basic income — everyone over 18 in Northern Ireland who applies is to be given vouchers worth £100 to spend in local shops.
This is not new as it had been done in Taiwan quite a few times.
The Northern Irish vouchers have to be spent in October and November, so that £50 a month or £600 a year if it really was a permanent UBI. Which realistically is about what UBI would pay if ever introduced as a universal payment to everyone.
They’ve gone and done it again , the idiots:
“M25 traffic: Thirty arrested and drivers delayed after climate activists block parts of motorway in rush hour
Protestors blocked at least five junctions, causing miles of queues along the motorway. Footage shared on social media showed angry drivers attempting to drag the protestors from the road.”
