robbo203
Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Reform as “the new party of the working class” LOL
Young Master Sweet is correct in his assessment that token money is backed up by the force of the state and is correct in recognising that banks are limited in their transactions by the need to ensure that loans are capable of being settled appropriately by the borrower and by the need to make profits but also by government rules for the administration of banks and the financial sector. As Robbo203 says these rules also exist to prevent bank runs and also ensure the viability of the financial system; something essential to keep production and the economy as a whole running.
Hey Link
But those “rules” that you refer to work to ensure that banks cannot loan out more than what is deposited with them plus what they can borrow from the money market. This is the point. If they exceed this limit, they run the risk of a bank run, and that is precisely what the regulations are designed to supposedly prevent.
It is not just the creditworthiness of the potential borrower that we are concerned with, but also with the ability of the bank itself to finance a loan without jeopardising its other financial commitments, including its ability to repay other banks from which it had borrowed money
This whole idea of “fractional reserve banking” is based on an optical illusion, as this article makes clear
“We have a shared vision of change: Creating a world that is fit for generations to come. We set our mission on what is necessary: Mobilising 3.5% of the population to achieve system change – such as “momentum-driven organising” to achieve this.”
The frustrating thing about all this, and I have noticed this time and time again, is that the individuals or organisations, that utter these sorts of attractive sounding sentiments (like “Creating a world that is fit for generations to come”) hardly ever specify what they concretely mean by this.
What do they mean by “system change”, for example? How do they define the present system, and how do they define the system they want to put in its place? They don’t really say. If commodity production and wage labour still continue under their new system, it will still be capitalism, and the priorities of capitalism will still dictate the outcome, regardless of how they feel about the need to create a world fit for generations to come
I suppose, as a generalisation, one can say that banks do not (and should not) loan out more money than they have in the form of deposits and what they can borrow on the money market. Exceptions may occur now and then but any exception to the rule really only work to prove the rule.
Banks that loan out more than what they have available to loan out are in danger of succumbing to a bank run – when depositors, fearful that the bank may not have the funds to cover or return their deposits, get into a panic and try to withdraw their money which then brings about the very crisis they feared. Bank runs have occurred throughout the financial history of capitalism. A recent and prominent example is the Silicon Valley Bank in 2023, the third-largest bank failure in US history which resulted from a $42 billion bank run.
It seems to me that the phenomenon of bank runs is further proof of the soundness of the view of banks as mere intermediaries in the mobilisation of capital. For banks to loan out more than they have means they face the risk of a bank run particularly today in the turbo-charged world of so called financial capitalism. The law of capitalist jungle in the form of natural selection works to ensure these aberrant forms of economic behaviour – banks loaning out more than they can loan out – are weeded out.
To be viable banks have to be sure, not only of the creditworthiness of their clients (whether the latter can pay back the principal plus interest) but also that they have the funds to cover themselves in case things go pear shaped
what about the military bravado of Putin? what is wrong with you? Putin winning would be like ultra-nationalist hitler winning, guess you are not bothered?
BrianF
The SPGB does not support either side in this stupid, murderous war. We are fiercely anti-nationalist. Our best advice to the workers fighting in the militaries on both sides would be to lay down their arms and desert. Of course, it’s not advice that is going to be heeded, given the degree to which the sick death cult of nationalism has influenced impressionable minds.
However, I am a bit concerned about the way in which you formulate your argument. You seem to be implying that we should be concerned that Russia is winning the war and that, by extension, we should be rallying to the cause of plucky little Ukraine standing up to the invading Hitlerite hordes from Russia.
Forgive me if I misunderstand you, but what you are proposing is itself an ultra-nationalist standpoint. You seem to care that an artificial entity called “Ukraine” should continue to exist in a world alongside other artificial entities such as “Russia”. Socialists, on the other hand, have zero interest in the maintenance of nation states and national borders. These constitute the spatial expression of the organisation of political and economic power under our current system of global capitalism.
Both sides in this war have their share of ultra-nationalistic fascist elements. On the Ukrainian side, you have the Banderites and the brutal Azov brigade that has committed unspeakable atrocities (let’s not forget what happened in Odessa or that 14.000 people lost their lives in Donbas since 2014 due to the Ukrainian bombardment of the territory after it refused to accept the new regime in Kiev that ensconced itself in power after an illegal coup). The Russian “side”, too, has units operating within its ranks that are no less despicable as has been discussed some time ago on this thread.
This is what war (and behind that nationalism) does to people. It can turn them into monsters and cause them to lose their humanity. As far as I am concerned, to hell with both “Russia” and “Ukraine” and their supporters on either side! All of them are complicit in making the world an even more dangerous place to live in today.
We should be opposing the vile ideology of nationalism whenever and wherever it raises its head, not choosing a side.
I don’t think Lowe will get anywhere, if only because nobody’s heard of him outside the Westminster bubble
I noticed he does have quite a fair bit of support on X, but as you say, is very unlikely to get anywhere. Reform now has over 200K members apparently but according to this article about 2000 may leave to follow Lowe into the wilderness
https://www.gbnews.com/politics/reform-uk-opinion-poll-rupert-lowe-nigel-farage
It is looking increasingly like the Reform Party could be facing some kind of serious internal split, with moneybags Musk backing Lowe (who was booted out) against Farage It is somewhat amusingly reminiscent of the splits in various Trotskyist parties in the past. The only drawback is that the absolutely dreadful Anti-Labour Party of Starmer might benefit from the fallout, but who knows?
This could turn nasty. 5 indian jets have apparently been shot down.
Pakistan ‘downs five Indian fighter jets’ in retaliation
Pakistan claims it has shot down five Indian fighter jets in retaliation over India’s air strikes.
The attacks appeared to be the most serious military confrontation between the nuclear-armed neighbours in years.
The confrontation began shortly after 1am on Wednesday when India launched “Operation Sindoor”, conducting strikes across the border.
In response, Pakistan claimed it had downed multiple Indian aircraft and drones, and destroyed several check-posts along the Line of Control (LoC).
Pakistan’s defence minister, Khawaja Asif, said five Indian jets and multiple unmanned aerial vehicles had been shot down.
“We’ve destroyed their positions along the LoC,” he said.
/www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2025/05/06/india-missile-attack-pakistan-latest-news/?WT.mc_id=e_DM579078&WT.tsrc=email&etype=Edi_FTE_New&utmsource=email&utm_medium=Edi_FTE_New20250507&utm_campaign=DM579078
Interesting article here. Well worth reading.
Hmmm- Read it, but I don’t think the suggestion about the Russian economy being on the point of collapse is very credible. I note the author relies on Ukrainian-friendly sources like the Institute for the Study of War and the Euromaidan press, but we have to be careful about accepting anything these bodies say. The Ukrainian regime has an interest in projecting this view of Russia as heading for collapse because that encourages the various European regimes to continue supporting it militarily. (its also to boost morale locally) The reality is that Ukraine is probably far closer to collapse than Russia
Much as I would love to see both regimes collapse and workers on both sides abandon this stupid war in their droves, the reality for the time being is looking more and more like Ukraine is going to lose the war and be forced to sue for peace. Russia will be able to outlast Ukraine and its economy, though struggling, is not on the point of collapse.
This article is I think more balanced…
This para from the article you refer to is particularly questionable
“Ukraine’s battlefield momentum won’t cause Russia to disintegrate overnight. Empires don’t vanish; they crumble slowly, then suddenly. The most likely outcome (65% probability) is a palace coup — security services and business elites removing Putin in favour of a transitional government that can negotiate withdrawal from Ukraine and sanctions relief.”
What battlefield momentum on Ukraine´s part is the author referring to? The Ukrainian military was evicted from Kursk and is steadily, albeit slowly, losing ground on virtually every front. Sadly, Putin´s popularity among the Russian population in March 2025 was 10 percentage points higher than in September 2022 with almost almost nine out of ten Russians saying they approve of his actions (Statista). As for the suggestion that Russia would negotiate a withdrawal from Donbas, let alone Crimea, as Zelensky wants, this is a pipedream and a recipe for a forever war. The Russian speakers in Donbas, 14000 of whom were killed by the Ukrainian military before Russia´s invasion in 2022 would not accept it.
At some point, the war is going to end – obviously – and hopefully the sooner the better. But it strikes me as very odd that the Mainstream Media that is forever going on about the imminent collapse of Russia and how weak it really is are also the very same warmongers telling us now that Russia is about to invade Europe and how Europe needs to massively increase its military spending. etc etc
These two scenarios fundamentally contradict each other, and that is another reason for being careful about not just accepting what the MSM says at face value
This article suggests that on many issues the Reform party is more “left wing” than the average voter
Quite a grim and compelling account of life as a soldier in the Ukrainian army. It’s a long read but very interesting. You do get quite a strong sense of the war weariness and cynicism among the ordinary soldiers and also their dislike of the higher-ups with their cavalier disregard of human life (echoes of World War One)
The middle sections, dealing with the phenomenon of drone warfare, are particularly disturbing. It brings home the point of how lethal these things are. Old-fashioned trenches are no protection against them, day or night. You need to burrow into the earth like a mouse to avoid being spotted. Step outside to take a leak behind a tree, and the chances are you will be spotted and despatched
It’s a picture of a world that is disintegrating in every sense of the word
https://meduza.io/en/feature/2025/03/27/please-don-t-use-my-name
After Rumania and Turkey, another NATO country practises “democracy” by banning the main opposition candidate for President from standing — France.
Perhaps Macron – or should that be, Micron – has misjudged. This could be backfire.
The Daily Fail has got it in for the guy …
Big Serge´s somewhat clinical analysis of the war.
He reckons this:
“I have never made any bones about my belief that the war in Ukraine will be resolved militarily: that is, it will be fought to its conclusion and end in the defeat of Ukraine in the east, Russian control of vast swathes of the country, and the subordination of a rump Ukraine to Russian interests.”
I sincerely hope it ends before then, and no more working class lives, on both sides, are lost in this stupid capitalist conflict
