robbo203
Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Some of the other posters who participated in these political discussions were ALB, robbo203, Brian, DJP, Young Master Smeet, twc, alanjjohnstone, and others – if you contact them, perhaps they can give you the information about who came up with the elite political concepts of ‘Specialists’ and ‘Generalists’. I’m not sure if these terms are widespread or official within the SPGB (perhaps not), but they were used to combat my political arguments that ‘science’, just like all social production within socialism, must be under our democratic control. ‘Truth’ has to be electable
I am quite happy to stand by the claim that there will be both specialists and generalists in socialism. We can’t all become qualified molecular biologists in socialism because that takes many years of dedicated study. The opportunity costs of everyone striving to become a qualified molecular biologist, is that there will no structural engineers , agronomists, astrophysicists or dieticians in society which also require years of dedicated study. The consequences of that will be devastating for obvious reasons
Thus , a social division of labour is, to that extent, unavoidable in any advanced system of production. That does not mean that molecular biologists in socialism will not try their hand at various others kinds of job. Nor does it mean they will have any power over non molecular biologists. Free access to goods and series coupled with the institution of voluntary labour, dissolves the very basis of elite power and removes any possible leverage any one individual or group could possibly exercise over another.
Unfortunately L Bird has never understood or even addressed this point and continues not to do so
Going back to the original topic, judging by the activity on here and the interesting debates about a range of topics, clearly not. I think the forum is beginning to get back to being a bit more like it was before it was hacked. It’s certainly more active and more interesting than many of the forums of the “left”
Absolutely and as I write I note that there have 1397 visits to this site in the last 24 hours. That’s not bad. We just need to more forcefully promote the SPGB website and forum on other sites like FB sites. A little bit of effort can yield a surprising big return (if you will excuse the capitalist metaphor)
Sorry, I should have said “I cannot quite see how you can propose to both mend capitalism and end capitalism”.
I AM for reforms and palliative measures until we can replace capitalism and public banking is a good one. Yes, they all hit the limits of operating in a (militant) capitalist system as ALB wrote.
Hi Admice
If you go back in history to the late 19th/early 20th century there was a controversy raging at this time within the German SDP over reform and revolution with the revisionists led by Bernstein arguing that revolution was in effect no longer necessary since capitalism was in the process of transforming itself. Rosa Luxemburg and others opposed this position
Criticising, Bernstein’s fellow revisionist, Konrad Schmidt, for his suggestion that the appetite for reform “grows with the eating,” and will ultimately end up in the socialist transformation of society as a consequence of an” apparently mechanical movement”, Luxemburg sought instead to emphasise the importance of the subjective factor in this socialist transformation. It was not true, she contended, that “socialism will arise automatically from the daily struggle of the working class”. Rather, it was the growing awareness of the “very insufficiency of capitalist reforms” that would help produce this outcome
I am not to clear where you would position yourself in this debate but speaking for myself, I cannot quite see how you can propose to both mend capitalism and capitalism. The one thing surely has to be at the expense of the other. If the reforms you have in mind run up against the limits of capitalism how does this transmute into the desire to overthrow capitalism. If anything I would have thought it just leads to a feeling of disillusionment and helplessness
Hi Admice
Perhaps the idea of installing a chat facility on this site could be considered? Matt, how feasible is this?
Interesting article from Nicky Snell, Matt (what became of her BTW Is she still a member?) This bit I find a bit iffy, though
I became disenchanted with the feminism which holds patriarchy to be the world’s primary problem, because I did not like the logical conclusion to which this kind of thinking would lead. If men are simply women’s worst enemies, what should we women do? Shoot men down in the street? Or simply withdraw’?
Is she saying feminism logically leads to misandry? If so, I think most feminists would disagree strongly and would themselves oppose misandry. Depicting feminists as a misandrists is a complete caricature which in a sense assists those who stand to gain from a state of affairs in which women are discriminated against. See for example this article https://www.itspronouncedmetrosexual.com/2012/12/reasons-people-believe-feminism-hates-men/
At its 2019 Annual Conference the Party membership voted by a large majority in favour of the resolution that “This Conference is of the view that a person can be a socialist as well as a feminist.” With that in mind I do rather question the view that being a feminist necessarily means holding patriarchy to be the “world’s primary problem”. I think all socialists would agree that that problem is capitalism
Here’s a piece on another Democratic candidate, Andrew Yang, who wants a “human-centred” capitalism LOL
Alan Its became a habit to talk of the declining fortunes of the Party (Ive done it myself) but are we so certain this is the case. I might be wrong but at least in terms of membership I have the impression that the Party is very slowly growing in size over the last one or two years = almost all of course via the internet
Can someone confirm that this is the case or not?
As a result of publicising the forum, largely on Facebook, six new members (users) have joined in the past 24 hours with 20 users and 891 guests visiting over the same period.
Just goes to show what can be done with a little bit of effort. Good work Dave. Perhaps your advert should be repeated once a month and in all the WSM FB sites
To return to an earlier point – Matt, would it be possible to send a single one-off syndicated email to all users listed on this forum? I understand the “RedMarx option” is not available for the technical reasons you cite but is there another way of doing this?
Re my earlier suggestion I quite like this one . Accommodates up to 18 people from around 3000 quid for 2 weeks. Very nice location also
https://www.groupaccommodation.com/properties/casa-la-negra-periana-malaga-andalucia-spain#location
Some excellent ideas BD! I like also the idea of organising more social events like the recent event organised by Lancaster Branch which I understand was highly successful.
As an organisation the SPGB seems to be predominately internet-based these days (almost all new members come via the internet for example) and there is relatively little in the way of face-to-face interactions. As a consequence one can develop a quite misleading impression of the person with whom one is engaging indirectly via the internet which I suspect is the source of many of the conflicts that occasionally flare up between members.
So there s a strong argument for encouraging more face to face interactions. I have been thinking recently of something, prompted by Lancaster’s example, but on a more ambitious scale – a Socialist Summer Holiday Scheme. Perhaps a week or two abroad in a nice location. Living in Andalucía in Southern Spain I can think of plenty of fantastic locations around here which would be suitable. Group bookings can substantially reduce the average price of accommodation
To take a random example – although this one is slightly pricey – for 2 weeks you could hire this entire 1o bedroom villa accommodating 20 people for 13.7k euros which work at about 600 pounds person for 2 weeks
https://www.holidaylettings.co.uk/rentals/granada/77630
Or if you want something much cheaper there is this one near Cordoba which comes to about 260 pounds per person for 2 weeks
https://www.holidaylettings.co.uk/rentals/hornachuelos/6866581
Or how about this one closer to the Med which accommodates 22 people
https://www.holidaylettings.co.uk/rentals/malaga/9286686
There are plenty of other options . If you arranged it early enough you could get bargain basement prices for air flights or hire a large minibus and drive down. Of course there are other costs like food (though you have to eat anyway even if you didn’t go on holiday) but there again there are savings to be had in bulk buying particularly when it comes to the vino!
Sorry they do have. Because of data protection laws.
You didn’t read the small print when you joined it.OK fair enough. I wasn’t aware of this not being very technically minded. But I wonder if there was a way of contacting all the people on this list in a one-off fashion (not in the way RedMarx does) with a brief syndicated statement encouraging greater participation not only in the forum but also as Alan suggests in the blogs and even our several FB sites.
Would this be too laborious or is there are some other way of syndicating the process using batches of emails at a time?
It seems that the anti-Semite Bakunin might have had a hand in promoting this particular myth
Bakunin on Marx and Rothschild
“Himself a Jew, Marx has around him, in London and France, but especially in Germany, a multitude of more or less clever, intriguing, mobile, speculating Jews, such as Jews are every where: commercial or banking agents, writers, politicians, correspondents for newspapers of all shades, with one foot in the bank, the other in the socialist movement, and with their behinds sitting on the German daily press — they have taken possession of all the newspapers — and you can imagine what kind of sickening literature they produce. Now, this entire Jewish world, which forms a single profiteering sect, a people of blooksuckers, a single gluttonnous parasite, closely and intimately united not only across national borders but across all differences of political opinion — this Jewish world today stands for the most part at the disposal of Marx and at the same time at the disposal of Rothschild. I am certain that Rothschild for his part greatly values the merits of Marx, and that Marx for his part feels instinctive attraction and great respect for Rothschild.
This may seem strange. What can there be in common between Communism and the large banks? Oh! The Communism of Marx seeks enormous centralization in the state, and where such exists, there must inevitably be a central state bank, and where such a bank exists, the parasitic Jewish nation, which. speculates on the work of the people, will always find a way to prevail ….”
Source: Michael Bakunin, 1871, Personliche Beziehungen zu Marx. In: Gesammelte Werke. Band 3. Berlin 1924. P. 204-216.
