robbo203

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  • in reply to: Sunday Mail discovers how banks work #257634
    robbo203
    Participant

    “You Know Nothing About Economics” is the title of this article….

    https://vocal.media/education/you-know-nothing-about-economics

    in reply to: US working class consciousness? #257557
    robbo203
    Participant

    DJP,

    Well, I’m not particularly interested in the opinions of the Daily Fail. I only posted a link to the article from this rag because it reproduced the results of a survey conducted by CNN that indicated that Ocasio-Cortez is the first choice among Democrats as to who best reflects the values of that disreputable entity. Presumably, that also means she would be the first choice as a Presidential candidate….

    As for your point about there clearly being a greater evil in the US context my point is simply that, if so, it is equally clear that supporting the lesser evil assuredly paves the way to greater evil. We have seen this with the election of Starmer´s Anti-Labour Party which leftists in their droves supported precisely on the grounds that it was the lesser evil. Can anyone now honestly believe this appalling organisation is somehow an improvement on the Tories? I cant see the difference tbh.

    As for the US, to be honest, here too is difficult to tell at times to tell which is the greater evil. Had Harris won the elections and not Trump, would we even talking about the possible cessation of hostilities in Ukraine, for example? I sincerely doubt it.

    Yes, I agree that what Trump is doing with respect to even basic democratic rights is horrendous but that doesn’t mean you have to align yourself with the so-called Democratic Party, does it? Call it “moralism” but I would rather cut my wrists than do that if I was a worker in the US. Not that it will make much difference as we are so few in numbers but it is perfectly possible and vastly better from any possible angle that we criticise what Trump is doing from a completely independent and socialist standpoint. We may be ineffective at the moment but we would still be ineffective anyway aligning ourselves with some capitalist entity and very possibly nonexistent shortly thereafter

    Nope, I say to hell with the lot of em! They deserve our uncompromising hostility

    in reply to: US working class consciousness? #257553
    robbo203
    Participant

    Apparently, the so-called Democratic Party is now pushing in a somewhat more left-populist direction as a counterweight to Trump´s right-populist position. It seems that pretending to be “anti-establishment” pays dividends these days given that the electors are heartily sick of the “establishment”.

    https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/shock-poll-showing-aoc-next-leader-of-the-democratic-party/ar-AA1BbsWv?ocid=msedgntp&pc=HCTS&cvid=fc11fbd226ae407daf2d0f58a539e315&ei=13

    Expect,then, to encounter a reinvigorated argument about why workers need to vote for the “lesser evil” as represented by such thoroughly obnoxious opportunists as Ocasio-Cortez, Harris (again) and the warmonger, Bernie Sanders.

    Why people can’t just draw the simple conclusion that these people, like Starmer’s repugnant Anti-Labour Party, shouldn’t be touched with a bargepole, I just don’t know…

    The so-called lesser evil invariably prepares the ground for the greater evil to later take power

    in reply to: The Starmer Labour government #257525
    robbo203
    Participant

    The Anti-Labour government´s forthcoming measures to hit the working class even harder

    https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/cost-of-living/five-dwp-benefits-payments-most-31207823

    Also, more spending on military offense at the expense of foreign aid

    https://finance.yahoo.com/news/extra-uk-defense-spending-help-050000860.html

    in reply to: Russian Tensions #257523
    robbo203
    Participant


    I think Starmer and his allies in Europe will start a war with Russia, rather than allow Trump-Putin negotiations to finalise.

    I don’t think that likely at all.

    Trump may say he doesn’t mind British and other troops being deployed in Ukraine, but it is not up to him. It has to be agreed by the Russians and they have flatly ruled out any NATO troops having a role as peacekeepers.

    NATO/Ukraine are pushing the peace deal strongly, and as they see it, it is only AFTER a peace deal has been agreed that they envisage a role for NATO or European peacekeepers in Ukraine. I can’t see them openly moving into Ukraine before a peace deal in defiance of, not only Russia´s wishes, but Trump´s as well

    Macron has said as much

    “European ground troops would only be deployed to Ukraine in a second phase, Mr Macron said in the interview published in Le Figaro”

    /www.msn.com/en-au/news/other/what-we-know-about-macron-s-ukraine-ceasefire-proposal-which-he-says-the-uk-backs/ar-AA1A9Pqm

    To get the Russians to agree to a peace deal in the first place and then to allow European troops in Ukraine will require a massive change of heart and attitude on the part of European powers involved. You can’t ramp up the gung ho warmongering and call on Russia to agree to a peace deal at the same time. These are contradictory goals. Besides, without American support, Europe hasn’t got the means to take on Russia or, probably, the will – particularly if it risks escalating into a nuclear exchange.

    Public support for the Ukraine war is waning, anyway, and this trend is likely to continue as economic hardship kicks in (cuts in social welfare to fund increases in offense spending, the loss of relatively cheap gas from Russia, the effects of Trumponomics and tariffs etc etc). Also, Macron and Starmer are both very likely to lose and be booted out of power come the next round of elections. Here in Spain, there is significant opposition to Sanchez’s plan to increase military spending in line with NATO’s target from some partners in the ruling coalition

    Remember, politicians are basically bullshitters and poseurs and while little Boy Starmer might puff his chest up and beat his little toy drum, there is not much he can do. It’s all a passing show

    • This reply was modified 3 months ago by robbo203.
    in reply to: The Starmer Labour government #257512
    robbo203
    Participant

    Looks like the Anti-Labour Starmer regime is gonna have its work cut out. Won’t be much to spend on all those jolly weapons of mass destruction (distraction?) to prolong the war in the Ukraine. This, after promising to improve the economic circumstances of British workers while making cuts in social welfare

    http://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/mar/12/uk-drops-down-list-of-affluent-nations-after-decade-of-stagnation-niesr-finds

    news.sky.com/story/sir-keir-starmer-says-welfare-bill-is-indefensible-so-what-cuts-could-be-announced-13326286

    in reply to: Russian Tensions #257384
    robbo203
    Participant

    I follow this thread and I’ve been astonished at the vitriol thrown at western politicians as ‘warmongers’ while Putin and his cronies have pretty much got a free pass. A casual reader could draw their own conclusions about the claim that we don’t take sides.
    _____________________________

    Not sure that’s the case at all. The obnoxious Putin regime has been quite frequently attacked on this forum and rightly so. The problem is the dominant narrative in the part of the world we happen to be in is overwhelmingly pro-Ukrainian. Just look at the MSM every day coming out with its delusional pro-nationalist arguments in support of the Zelensky regime. If there is an apparent imbalance in the commentary on the Ukraine situation, it probably reflects these real-world circumstances

    Obviously, we oppose both sides in this war and the war itself. The sooner it ends the better!

    in reply to: Russian Tensions #257359
    robbo203
    Participant
    in reply to: Russian Tensions #257356
    robbo203
    Participant

    I see it as you do—between the “peace” of Trump/Putin and the “Peace” in the European style, I prefer the former, as a socialist world cannot exist with the latter option…

    Yes, I agree with that, Roberto….

    Though Trump’s motives for peace are quite different from ours, at least the possibility of some kind of deal that would lead to the cessation of conflict is on the horizon. Let’s face it, that would never have happened had the Anti-Democrat Party candidate, Kamala Harris, won. That’s about the only good thing you can say about Trump – the prospect of an escalation of the war may have receded and with it the prospect of a nuclear exchange – even if that was highly unlikely in my opinion.

    Interestingly, I’ve come across some more stuff on MSM about Trump going on about “de-nuclearisation”. Can’t see it happening, but still it’s better than issuing nuclear threats

    https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/world/trump-plans-to-get-rid-of-nuclear-weapons/ar-AA1Asm8O

    It is left to the warmongers like the Anti-Labour Party leader, Boy Starmer, to continue beating his little toy war drum. I can’t see his posturing getting him anywhere and the cuts to social welfare spending to boost defence spending is not going to make him popular. Come the next election, this disreputable sleazy outfit could well be pushed into third place, behind Reform and the Tories. Serve the bastards right.

    Of course, the Putin regime is a nasty piece of work, but all the same, better this stupid war ends now than later with yet more workers´ lives lost. In any case, the Russian military seems to be on a roll and the longer conflict goes on, the more territory it will take. Not that socialists give a fig about national sovereignty either way

    in reply to: Russian Tensions #257343
    robbo203
    Participant
    in reply to: Our invisibility. #257314
    robbo203
    Participant

    Pankhurst was one of the UK representatives of “left communism” and so didn’t share the same political views as the SPGB.
    ………………

    There are differences but there are also clear commonalities, surely?

    in reply to: Russian Tensions #257300
    robbo203
    Participant
    in reply to: Russian Tensions #257294
    robbo203
    Participant

    Anything that stops the war has got to be good, although we know Trump’s priorities are not ours.
    …………………………………..

    Absolutely, spot on.

    Surely we wouldn’t want to be seen in any way to be inadvertently supporting contemptible warmongers like Starmer with his pathetic attempts at macho posturing.

    Of course we are equally hostile to the likes of Trump but we cannot possibly be hostile to any moves that are ostensibly aimed at bringing about a cessation of the war – even if such a move was initiated by Trump. You have to separate the aim from the actor or person in question.

    I hope this action leads on to the complete collapse of NATO. That warmongering, aggressive, expansionist entity must take the lion´s share of the blame for the present situation. Had it not lied to Gorbachev and kept its promise not to move eastward in the 1990s, we would not have this horrible situation we are in now

    See this:

    https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-book/russia-programs/2017-12-12/nato-expansion-what-gorbachev-heard-western-leaders-early?fbclid=IwY2xjawI0DZVleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHcArFSc-_kRfESfYWGrxvLlcJPKRmvSVip8B2B0Zh5muC008YHezyGp1_Q_aem_delPvl3Ap4PyQHIY5N7ieA

    It was an utterly stupid strategy on NATO´s part with hindsight and totally unnecessary even from a capitalist viewpoint. Not in any way to defend the Putin regime, but we must remember how the American regime kicked up such a fuss in the 60s when the Russians under Kruschev sent nuclear missiles to Cuba in America´s backyard

    Do they seriously imagine that the present Russian regime would sit back and do nothing if Ukraine were to become part of NATO with missiles sited on its territory within easy striking range of Moscow. C´mon…..

    in reply to: Russian Tensions #257267
    robbo203
    Participant

    https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2025/03/03/rheu-m03.html

    The sight of that obnoxious capitalist warmonger, Bernie Sanders, makes me want to reach for the nearest bucket. He couldn’t care a toss about the lives of workers lost on both sides of the obscene capitalist war….

    I really don’t know who is worse. People like him or Trump

    in reply to: Russian Tensions #257232
    robbo203
    Participant

    Interesting commentary. It rather suggests that Zelensky has scewed himself and his cause through his incaution and manipulative tactics

    https://www.aaronmate.net/p/zelenskys-hostility-to-peace-triggers

Viewing 15 posts - 16 through 30 (of 2,846 total)