ALB
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I have come across two people who have told me they are refusing the jab. One is a party member who believes in Nature Cure. The other is the daughter of an ex-party member who thinks that it is a plot by Bill Gates to reduce the world’s population. I suppose this will be a typical cross-section of the small minority of refuseniks.
It isn’t really a military coup as the military have held power there for decades. It is just that for the past few years they have handed over a part of the civil administration to elected civilians. What they have just done is to remove that façade. They never gave up real power. That’s why I can’t see them doing an Erich Honecker and giving up (though I imagine they could have a gilded retirement in China). They are talking of fresh elections. What will they do if they lose those?
So this isn’t really the hypothetical scenario that is put to us. Still, it is a case of a ruling class trying to rule in the face of mass popular opposition. Which they can do for a while. As long as the armed forces remain loyal to them they can see off strikes and street demonstrations.
Not really. The first sentence was a description of what is happening now, i.e. strikes and street demonstractions. The second sentence was saying we can’t predict what will happen next. The military might back down or they might crack down. It’s up to them.
On the face of it the situation is similar to what some imagine will happen if there is a socialist election victory — those in control of state power won’t accept it.
Elections there did give one party an overwhelming electoral victory which the rulers are trying to negate — interestingly from one point of view as they too are appealing to democracy to give some legitimacy to what they have done.
Our answer to this hypothesis has been that if there is a majority for socialism they will win one way or another sooner or later. The immediate reaction could be a general strike and mass demonstrations and civil disobedience as well as refusals in the armed forces and police to obey the government. In fact without this last the ruling clique is likely to win, temporarily. Which is what may happen in Burma. But in the longer term they will have to bow to the popular will. We will have to see what happens as nothing can be predicted. The next move is up to the coup leaders.
Incidentally I defend the use of the name Burma (and Rangoon) on the grounds that we don’t need to pander to the nationalism of the current ruling group. Even the Wikipedia entry says:
“In 1989, the military government officially changed the English translations of many names dating back to Burma’s colonial period or earlier, including that of the country itself: Burma became Myanmar. The renaming remains a contested issue. Many political and ethnic opposition groups and countries continue to use Burma because they do not recognise the legitimacy of the ruling military government or its authority to rename the country.”
We draw the line at voluntarily joining the armed forces. Anyone who does that is ineligible for membership.
I think there is a danger here of mixing up the situation under capitalism and in socialism. Of course there are many jobs that will disappear in socialism but we don’t call for their abolition today. For instance, there will be no banks in socialism but we don’t call for banks to be closed and so for bank workers to lose their jobs.
Nor have we any illusions about swords being changed into ploughshares under capitalism. In fact near where I am living is the site of an aircraft factory that is now a housing estate. At one time a prominent shop steward there was a party member and also served on our executive committee. I don’t think he was campaigning for the factory to be closed because it was producing warplanes.
If he had he wouldn’t have been a shop steward for long. The old Communist Party faced this problem in 1932 when it tried to force one of its leading members who was a shop steward in a munitions factory in Sheffield to popularise the slogan “Stop the Transport of Munitions”. He refused and was expelled. The incident is recorded here.
I think our Canadian comrades were only making the point that this was another example of workers losing their jobs which of course they are dependent on to have a regular above poverty line income. I don’t think that they were supporting the project.
But this shows why eco-campaigners have a problem when they are in effect campaigning that workers should lose their jobs. Understandably the workers involved are unsympathetic and their employers use this as an argument for keeping their project going even though their real reason is to make profits not provide jobs.
The real lesson is that it shows how under capitalism workers are dependent on finding a buyer for their mental and physical energies to live. The only alternatives are stealing, begging or minimal state handouts.
Until I read that SPC piece I hadn’t realised that Biden is trying to out-Trump on this issue, probably in a bid to win over his voters. But then this was a point on which even Sanders agreed with Trump.
https://asia.nikkei.com/Economy/Trade/Biden-tightens-Buy-American-rules-with-executive-order
From the Socialist Party of Canada’s February Newsletter:
Most of you who read this will have seen Joe Biden’s swearing in after he won most of the electoral college votes in America’s sham-democracy. Lady Gaga did a fine job singing the anthem, but what an anthem, the very lyrics speak of violence, which is symptomatic of America’s violent history. JLo sang, “This Land is Your Land,” by Woodie Guthrie. The incongruity being Guthrie, as a member of the so-called Communist Party, was an advocate of state capitalism and his song was banned from being sung in concerts in the 1950’s and early 60’s.
Though none of the above is a big deal, what is big, down and dirty deal is that in his first day in office Biden cancelled the Keystone XL pipeline, much to Trudeau’s dismay. This will mean job losses for Canadian workers, though, however, much workers may suffer, it’s the way of the world under capitalism.
Biden’s decision to cancel the XL pipeline, which was designed to carry 830,000 barrels of crude oil, from Alberta to Nebraska, brought fierce reaction in Canada. TC Energy Corp. is going to eliminate 1,000 construction jobs. Alberta Premier, Jason Kenney, called Biden’s decision, “A gut punch and an insult,” and suggested that if Biden doesn’t change his mind, the federal government should impose trade sanctions. On the same day Biden was talking of “Buy American” – implying there will be less trade with Canada – which would cause more lay-offs in Canada. Under capitalism, if workers do well at all in one area they will do badly in another, and as a class, workers will always be worse off.
We might still have one of one of them at Head Office as they get recycled when members bequeath their library to the party. If you want a copy check first with Head Office.
The World Socialist Party in the US still has some. Did you want a copy of his two books? If so, email Head Office and we can put you in touch with their literature Secretary in Boston or order them for you. Or anyone else who does.
There’s an article on Anton Pannekoek in the latest edition of the US left wing magazine Jacobin. It’s quite a good assessment of his theoretical views and political positions:
https://jacobinmag.com/2021/02/anton-pannekoek-socialist-history-lenin
I expect YouTube will be doing the same to groups at the opposite end of the political spectrum. I read somewhere that Facebook and that lot were thinking of getting out of the business of fact-checking and the hassle for them that it involves to concentrate instead on people using them to post photos and personal rather than political messages.
I didn’t know how you can make money from YouTube either so looked it up. Here’s what they say. We wouldn’t qualify (not enough followers, at least not yet) and wouldn’t accept the condition to carry advertising as well ( would we?).
