{"id":238950,"date":"2022-12-31T16:58:40","date_gmt":"2022-12-31T16:58:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.worldsocialism.org\/spgb\/?page_id=238950"},"modified":"2023-01-28T18:06:31","modified_gmt":"2023-01-28T18:06:31","slug":"january-2023","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.worldsocialism.org\/spgb\/january-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"January 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Mass delusion?<\/h3>August 19, 2026<\/small>

\u2018Mass delusion\u2019 is among the many labels that have been attached to Donald Trump’s rule and the support for him by tens of millions of Americans. But what about the delusion that affects the vast majority of the world’s population? They believe it\u2019s natural and inevitable that millions should suffer grinding poverty while the 56,000 wealthiest people on the planet own assets three times as large<\/a> as those of the poorest half of humanity combined .<\/p>\n

There\u2019s nothing natural\/inevitable about this at all. We can fix it but only if that majority comes together to set up a system of common ownership and voluntary cooperation with free access to the abundant goods and services the world could provide..<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>

Summer of discontent<\/h3>August 12, 2026<\/small>

Grimly facing drought, hosepipe bans, wildfires and yet another heatwave? You won’t be comforted to know that ‘greenhouse gas concentrations, global sea level and ocean heat content all reached record highs in 2025’ (phys.org<\/a>). European rivers are at record lows. The US has had its hottest July<\/a> on record, as has the Sahel, Central America, France and Spain<\/a>. And don’t stock up your freezer with ice cream because you could soon be facing rolling energy blackouts<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It’s not all bad news though. Water company bosses are still getting bonuses<\/a>, oil companies are cashing in<\/a> like never before, and tech stocks are going stratospheric<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Still think capitalism is humanity’s best hope? We say it’s time to consider the alternative.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>

Not for sale?<\/h3>August 5, 2026<\/small>

Infantino\u2019s \u201cshabby, opaque, backroom deal\u201d apparently prepared in secret with private capital is ditched after UEFA and others statement <\/a> that \u201cdemonstrated to FIFA\u2019s President that football is not for sale\u201d.<\/p>\n

Hang on!! Football was sold long ago and is increasingly organised to suit pay-to-view media. This explains why fans of EPL and EFL teams now \u2018benefit\u2019 from league matches on any day from Friday to Tuesday at kick-off times to suit the TV schedules (and bugger the away fans!). This is also why the mis-named Champions League has so much group-stage dross (similarly for the Copa Libertadores) to plug so many mid-week gaps.<\/p>\n

Sadly, the sport I love is now just an interlude between ads for bookies.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>

Keep out of the water<\/h3>July 30, 2026<\/small>

You might expect that a walking trail called the Severn Way would largely be alongside the river from which it takes its name. But in fact most of the section between Shrewsbury and Telford is not along the river at all.<\/p>\n

This is just one illustration of the extent to which there is a lack of public access to river banks in England. In almost three quarters of cases<\/a>, there is no right of way within a hundred metres of the river, with most reservoirs and lakes also being off-limits.<\/p>\n

Private ownership of land drastically restricts people\u2019s ability to enjoy the countryside (not just rivers) and seek some relief from the recent heatwaves.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>

Rough reality<\/h3>July 26, 2026<\/small>

Andy Burnham pledged<\/a> ‘to finally end long-term rough sleeping across the UK\u2019. He previously aimed to prevent rough sleeping in Manchester by 2020, and in 2019 the Conservative Party manifesto<\/a> committed to ending \u2018the blight of rough sleeping\u2019. Instead, in 2025 the number of people estimated to sleep rough on a single night<\/a> in England was the highest recorded, at nearly 4,800.<\/p>\n

Rough sleeping is not just about housing. Rough sleepers are among the most marginalised and victimised in capitalist society. Support services, however ‘well-funded’, can only ever offer limited palliatives as they are working within a system that pushes people into homelessness – why previous attempts to end rough sleeping have failed, despite Burnham\u2019s ambition.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\tNext<\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The Socialist Party\u2019s Summer School
\nWoodbrooke, Birmingham
\n21st\u201423rd July 2023
\n<\/strong>This weekend of talks and discussion looks at different aspects of work, and what they tell us about the society we live in. Book here \u27a4<\/a><\/div>\n
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\"\"First time? START HERE \u27a4<\/strong><\/a>
\nForget what you think you know about socialism…<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"\" JANUARY LIVE \u27a4<\/strong><\/a>
\nZoom link here<\/a>
\nLoads of talks, debates, other audio stuff here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\"\"FORUMS, BLOGS, CHATS \u27a4<\/strong><\/a>
\nWant to chat, discuss, ask a question, disagree? Yes, this is<\/em> the right room for an argument…<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Book Reviews<\/a><\/h5>\n

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The Socialist Party\u2019s Summer School Woodbrooke, Birmingham 21st\u201423rd July 2023 This weekend of talks and discussion looks at different aspects of work, and what they tell us about the society we live in. Book here \u27a4 First time? START HERE \u27a4 Forget what you think you know about socialism… JANUARY LIVE \u27a4 Zoom link here … <\/p>\n

Read more “Rough reality”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2605,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-fullwidth.php","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-238950","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.worldsocialism.org\/spgb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/238950","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.worldsocialism.org\/spgb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.worldsocialism.org\/spgb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldsocialism.org\/spgb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2605"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldsocialism.org\/spgb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=238950"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldsocialism.org\/spgb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/238950\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":239397,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldsocialism.org\/spgb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/238950\/revisions\/239397"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.worldsocialism.org\/spgb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=238950"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}