Young Master Smeet
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Forums › General discussion › King Charles is dead.
#2502101. The general topic of each forum is given by the posted forum description. Do not start a thread in a forum unless it matches the given topic, and do not derail existing threads with off-topic posts.
“Forum aims and scope
The SPGB web forums are operated by the Socialist Party of Great Britain (SPGB) and are intended to promote discussion of matters related to the SPGB, the World Socialist Movement, and socialism in general.”This post belonged in the off-topic forum.
I think the first error here is seeing refugees/foreigners as a uniform bloc of reactionary ideas: there are reactionary people enough in the UK, what is important is the material basis for said reaction, mostly around trying to secure jobs, and seeing ‘others’ getting all the benefits.
Lets not forget the propagandistic aims of British capitalists in trying to pain foreigners as reactionary others: these claims were all made about the Irish centuries ago: it’s about building a coalition to protect their wealth as Britain’s rulers. the propaganda of a universal worldwide society without nations and borders would intrinsically challenge that.
So, the first point is honest debate is needed to try and change people’s minds alongside social practices that bring people together, a worldwide movement that attacks the reactionary interests everywhere.
Declassified have taken a look at the self-defence angle
“Foreign Office says only one British merchant vessel was targeted by Houthis before the RAF bombed Yemen. And it was registered in the Cayman Islands.”
The British government concept of interest is very expansive.
Ah, and they’re giving the supplement away Here
That’s a good article, and surprisingly well informed for the time: no annexations no indemnities was the standard Social Democrat agreed position at the time (though they added no separate peace): interestingly, one of the articles in the Star makes a virtue of Lenin’s accommodation with the peasantry into a virtue. I’ll plug the hell out of that article.
What they also miss is that the returns on capital are equalised through finance, , as noted before, these billionaires, to avoid having any taxable income live on a sea of debt, their entire wealth goes through financialisation, which in turn distributes profit back in the form of interest which is generalised among savers; likewise, their companies are mostly financed by public issuance of shares, and the market price of shares also does the work, actual genuine monopolies are vanishingly rare, firms like Vollkswagen and Ikea, tetrapack, etc. that remain family owned, perhaps, but even they rely on financing.
There is no guarantee that Operation Prosperity Guardian (fucking really?) will succeed, yesterday we got full bore propaganda that all the drones were shot down, “The naval response, meanwhile, is costly for participating nations. Given the cost of surface-to-air missiles used by western navies to destroy much cheaper Houthi drones, the cost-benefit ratio is negative, although this does not account for the cost of a ship and its cargo.” At the minimum, the insurance rates will go up, inflating all prices of goods going through that route. “Interestingly, instability in the Red Sea is neither in China’s interest nor in the interests of any other non-western large trading nations because their economies are strongly and undeniably dependent on the global maritime supply chain.” I suspect that ‘national self reliance’ may well become the trend, and more regionalised economies.
Also, today marks the beginning to South Africa’s court case against Israel: I don’t hold much hope, but it could be make or break for international law, if the ruling is against Israel, Britain and the US would have to make some tough choices. There may already be some effect, as apparently Netanyahu has made a public statement that Israel does not intend to fully occupy Gaza, nor displace the Palestinians.
Milei rules by decree, interestingly, he doesn’t have a legislative majority: in some ways this is more like Allende than some would admit, but he will have the backing of some powerful people (apparently, including the US).
This will turn into a test of strength for the Unions, but as the article notes, Pinochet won out in the 70’s – I don’t know if our anarcho-capitalist will resort to wholesale slaughter, but I wouldn’t rule it out.
This analysis suggests the Chinese posturing is about bolstering the CCP’s nationalist credentials, but that it may have reached its limits (note, though, the slowed growth rate of 3%, an actual contraction in China could be catastrophic).
I don’t think China wants war in the area, at best America could use Taiwan to try and provoke one: according to this article at least…
As the Ukraine war has shown, missiles can down a fleet, so naval empires don’t have it as easy as they did.
On a similar theme: Giant solar farms may be an issue
“Beyond a certain size, solar farms become large enough to affect the weather around them and ultimately the climate as a whole. In our new research we have looked at the effect such climate-altering solar farms might have on solar power production elsewhere in the world.”What this means is that solar projects need to be co-ordinated, yes, central Australia and the Sahara will always be a good place for solar farms and Scotland less so: but it continues making the case that we need worldwide co-operation to survive the climate crisis.
“The General Confederation of Labour (CGT), Argentina’s main trade union federation, brought the legal challenge. The federation, which has called for a general nationwide strike on 24 January, is a major thorn in the side of the newly elected president, who argues that Argentina’s economy is hampered by regulations such as those he proposed to scrap.”
Important to note the role of unions in resisting and defending workers rights here, however, Milei had 55% of the vote, so he must have some popular support, but we’ll need to see if it survives triple digit inflation. Doubtless he’ll start on about ‘the enemy within’ and resort to more oppressive tactics.
I found her through Occam Oceans, and the only other piece of hers I’ve listened too much is Trilogie de la morte, but I’m sure anything she does is interesting.
Possible a hint at their political bankruptcy, this blog post on the centenary of first Labour government makes some interesting points about how MacDonald emphasised confidence and stability over radicalism and scientific government: and in so many ways it seems to presage the coming government of Mr Starmer (we should normalise calling him Mr Starmer), and it looks like it could be a re-run, which means it will go the same way.
As expected, his book is quite clear sighted:
“Whether or not there is more discontent in the world than was formerly the case, there is no doubt whatsoever that the means of fanning it and exploiting it are infinitely greater than they used to be, because of the increase in literacy and the introduction of wireless and television sets in large numbers.
“Although the same channels of communication are available to those involved in protecting the existing order, they seldom manipulate them as skillfully as their opponents.”
This is from 1972, the lesson has been learned, and propaganda control has been learned very ferociously, up to and including Israel’s apparent targeting of journalists as a war strategy.
“Countries are obliged to fight where their interests demand they should, and this is not necessarily along their geographical frontiers.”
This is a killer quote, Britain has worldwide interests, and it will use force to protect and advance them.
