[Mike Foster]

I’m pleased to announce the first of the sessions at this year’s Summer School about The Class Divide (19th – 21st August, in Birmingham). Howard Moss will be speaking on:

The Class Divide and the Role of Trade Unions
Historically trade unions were voluntary organisations set up by the working class to enable them to get as good a deal as possible in selling their skills and energies to employers, while at the same time not having the aim or ability to transcend the class divide they were (and are) a player in. But what about circumstances in which workers decide it is not in their interest to be part of trade unions, as many do these days? Do they lose by this? And what about ‘political’ trade unionism where unions manage to get themselves involved not just in trying to protect or improve the pay and working conditions of their members but instead are used as vehicles for campaigning for various reforms of capitalism or even for Trotskyist-style revolution? What should the Socialist attitude be towards such activities by trade unions?

More sessions will be announced shortly. For more details about the event, please go here: https://www.worldsocialism.org/spgb/summer-school-2022/

[Mike Foster]

Thanks for the heads up about the hustings. I’m watching it at the moment (along with 41 other people, according to YouTube).

[Mike Foster]

#IWantARevolution is ‘trending’ on Twitter following Keir Starmer apparently saying that this isn’t what people want. Unfortunately, for a lot of people on Twitter, “I want a revolution” seems to mean “I wish Corbyn was PM”.

[Mike Foster]

I’d say it all looks very smart too.

[Mike Foster]

I’d say that a socialist society would still need places to detain people who should be separated from the rest of the population, including some paedophiles and murderers. These places would be more like hospitals than prisons, with an emphasis on rehabilitation, and their remit would be decided democratically. Similarly, some people may have to be monitored in the community, more from a ‘medical’ perspective than from an ‘enforcement’ one, in a democratically-managed framework. A socialist society would promote people’s development in ways which would mean that very few people would end up requiring such interventions, hopefully.
As for whether a paedophile could be a member of the Socialist Party, they may understand the political and economic ideology, but their disorder involves unhealthy and damaging relationships, which I’d say don’t fit with a socialist mindset.

[Mike Foster]

What’s the difference between state capitalism and free market capitalism?
In state capitalism, people exploit other people. In free market capitalism, it’s the other way around.

[Mike Foster]

It’s a little-known fact that Karl Marx had a sister called Onya, inventor of the starting pistol.

[Mike Foster]

Yes, ZJW, the possibility of a debate is being looked into.

• This reply was modified 4 years, 6 months ago by Mike Foster.

[Mike Foster]

I’ve asked for this to be added to the January EC meeting’s agenda. Thanks for the suggestion.

[Mike Foster]

I agree with that we/the WSPUS should try to arrange a debate, as well as publishing a response.
It’s good that our views are getting critiqued wider afield, but not so good that the criticism is based on a misinterpretation!

[Mike Foster]

Three of us met up in Oxford for yesterday’s Cop26 rally, which had a mile-long route along one of the main roads into the city centre. Where the march ended, there were a few speakers from fringe groups as well as mainstream parties, calling for ‘climate justice’ (whatever that means) and futile appeals to those in charge. There were plenty of Extinction Rebellion banners, along with those from left wing and green groups. This newspaper article https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/19699884.oxford-activists-bring-traffic-halt-cop26-climate-march/ estimates around 3,000 people were there, which seems a bit high, and if true means that we gave leaflets to around 10% of those attending. Fingers crossed we’ll get some decent responses!

[Mike Foster]

Tomorrow (20th) is the deadline for Summer School bookings! There are only a few places left, so any bookings should be made soon.

[Mike Foster]

And here are details of the other session being held at this year’s Summer School:

Richard Field’s talk is titled ‘Socialist Recipes’
Marx was famously shy of writing recipes for future cook shops, and since no one of us is in a position to legislate for the actions of others we can appreciate his reasons. Yet is this refusal a realistic possibility for us today? Fellow workers constantly demand explanations of how a future society will work and will not be put off by a shrug of the shoulders or a few generalised remarks about common ownership. How should we answer? There is no inevitability in the matter. Humanity makes its own history, and socialists in the process of building a post-capitalist society will make choices based on what they believe to be possible and desirable. The success of the socialist project will rest in some measure on the choices made. So what arguments can we make now to ensure a positive outcome?

For more information, including how to make a booking, see earlier messages on this thread. The deadline for bookings will be on 20th July (or before if all the places go). Hopefully the event can run without any Covid-related restrictions, and I’m liaising regularly with the venue about this.

[Mike Foster]

Here are details of another session at Summer School:

Leon Rozanov will ask ‘Do utopias and works of sci-fi offer appealing visions of a socialist world?’
Science fiction literature and films often show how people see the future of our civilisation. But what they most often portray is a failed, utterly cruel or a dying world being ruined by either capitalism, environmental degradation, or some mix of the two. When there is a rare utopia among a swarm of dystopian cyberpunk, it usually presents a primitive pastoralist / agrarian society with some features of anarchist or socialist principles but no real vision of socialist cooperation on the worldwide scale. Are there any works of fiction that offer a vision of an appealing and realistic future socialist society where one really wants to start living right away? Let’s try and find out.

[Mike Foster]

Another Summer School session can be confirmed!

Glenn Morris will present ‘New News From Nowhere’:
In 1890 William Morris wrote the utopian novel ’News from Nowhere’ in which a one William Guest fell asleep and awoke in a socialist society. Ignored and denounced by some Marxists as being too backward looking as it tended to shun technology over an agricultural lifestyle, it nevertheless painted a contemporary picture of a life without money, property and class. Although a huge subject to explore, were it to be covered thoroughly, Glenn will focus on a few areas of what life in a socialist society might look like today over 100 years since Morris’ novel.

For more information, visit https://www.worldsocialism.org/spgb/summer-school-2021/
Please note that the deadline for bookings is 20th July.

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